Chapter 27

[632]v. 73: ἐξ αἱμάτων γοῦν ξάνθ’ ἔχει τριχώματα, a grotesque thought which we have just heard (as Murray points out in hisapparatus) from Iphigenia as part of her dream.[633]vv. 281sqq.[634]vv. 961sqq.[635]θεᾶς βρέτας is now the prescription, as we may call it. Cp. vv. 980, 985-6, and 1038-40.[636]vv. 939sqq.[637]ψῆφος (v. 945). He means “assembly (which votes),” but he has ψῆφος on the brain, as well he might have (vv. 965sq.).[638]vv. 739sq.and 1046: Πυλάδης δ’ ὅδ’ ἡμῖν ποῦ τετάξεται φόνου—if this is a task set by Apollo there must be murder in it.[639]v. 933.[640]Arrangement: protagonist, Electra; deuteragonist, Orestes, Clytæmnestra; tritagonist, farmer, old man, messenger, Castor. Pylades and Polydeuces were represented by a mute actor.[641]From vv. 1347-56 it is clear that the Sicilian expedition had already sailed, but that news of the disaster had not yet reached Athens.[642]Bernhardy,Geschichte der griechischen PoesieII, ii. p. 490.[643]vv. 1041-3.[644]vv. 9-10.[645]1142-6.[646]vv. 652-60.[647]v. 54.[648]The peasant tells us that Electra’s banishment to the country is due to her mother’s efforts when Ægisthus wished to kill her (vv. 25sqq.). Electra puts the matter very differently (vv. 60sq.). The horrible story in vv. 326sqq.is probably untrue; cp. ὡς λέγουσιν.[649]vv. 77-8, 354sq.[650]vv. 367sqq.[651]vv. 255sqq.[652]vv. 1294, 1296sq., 1302.[653]vv. 737-45.[654]Expedit esse deos.[655]“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.”[656]vv. 1245sq.[657]vv. 1327sqq.[658]vv. 1301-7. The first line, μοῖρά τ’ ἀνάγκης ἦγ’ ᾗ τὸ χρεών, is an exceptionally fine instance of misty verbiage.[659]See Verrall’s discussion in his edition of theChoephorœ(Introd. pp. xxxiii-lxx).[660]Probable Arrangement: protagonist, Helen, the god (whether Castor or Pollux); deuteragonist, Teucer, Menelaus, Egyptian messenger; tritagonist, old woman, Greek messenger, Theonoe, Theoclymenus.[661]v. 616: ὦ χαῖρε, Λήδας θύγατερ, ἐνθάδ’ ἦσθ’ ἄρα;[662]v. 151.[663]vv. 832, 1048, 491, 1050-2.[664]vv. 183sqq.[665]vv. 1107sqq.[666]vv. 878sqq.[667]vv. 1013-6:—καὶ γὰρ τίσις τῶνδ’ ἐστὶ τοῖς τε νερτέροιςκαὶ τοῖς ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. ὁ νοῦςτῶν κατθανόντων ζῇ μὲν οὔ, γνώμην δ’ ἔχειἀθάνατον, εἰς ἀθάνατον αἰθέρ’ ἐμπεσών.The precision of the wording is remarkable.[668]Troades, 884sqq.[669]SeeFour Plays of Euripides, pp. 43-133 (Euripides’ Apology).[670]vv. 1301sqq.[671]The idea is taken from the famous recantation of Stesichorus, which asserted that Helen never went to Troy.[672]In the inflated affectation of such things as vv. 355-6 and 629 parody of some contemporary lyrist is quite possible.[673]vv. 20-1, 256-9 (rejected by Murray, after Badham).[674]vv. 138sqq., 205sqq., 284-5.[675]vv. 744-60.[676]Arrangement(according to Croiset): protagonist, Jocasta, Creon; deuteragonist, Antigone, Polynices, Menœceus; tritagonist, pædagogus, Eteocles, Tiresias, messengers, Œdipus.[677]Perhaps one reason was the great sweep of story which it covers.[678]See Mr. J. U. Powell’s careful and lucid account in his edition (pp. 7-32).[679]Verrall,Eur. the Rationalist, pp. 236sq.[680]Mr. J. U. Powell, whose edition should be consulted.[681]vv. 1233sq.:—ὑμεῖς δ’ ἀγῶν’ ἀφέντες, Ἀργεῖοι, χθόνανίσεσθε, βίοτον μὴ λιπόντες ἐνθάδε,are out of the question as work of Euripides. There are several other faults.[682]vv. 1259sqq.[683]Mr. Powell, however, rightly remarks that vv. 1265-6 are “strained”.[684]vv. 1758sq.[685]vv. 1524sq.[686]So the scholiast: ὅ τε ἐπὶ πᾶσι μετ’ ᾠδῆς ἀδολέσχου φυγαδευόμενος Οἰδίπους προσέρραπται διὰ κενῆς.[687]vv. 1090-1199 (the ῥῆσις containing the description of the Seven).[688]vv. 1182sqq.[689]Verrall (Eur. the Rationalist, pp. 231-60) believed that those parts which introduce Antigone are un-Euripidean. The terrace-scene has already been discussed. In the body of the play, as he argues with much point, wherever mention of Antigone occurs, it is obtrusive and embarrassing. Her lament with Œdipus at the close contains many inappropriate features. He concludes that Œdipus is an allegory of Euripides himself, leaving Athens in sorrow at the end of his life, and that Antigone represents his literary offspring, the plays. The Sphinx is “the spirit of mystery and darkness,” which the poet has fought and quelled. All this was composed by a poet of the Euripidean circle to commemorate the master; it includes a compliment—the quotation from theŒdipus Tyrannus—to Sophocles, who had shown public respect to his rival when the news of his death reached Athens.[690]One notices the criticism (vv. 751sq.) of Æschylus,Septem(vv. 375sqq.) when Eteocles declares that to give a list of his champions would be waste of time.[691]The “popular” character of thePhœnissæis brought out by the relish with which theArgumentenumerates its murderous happenings.[692]In this passage an allusion has by some been supposed to Alcibiades’ return to Athens (411B.C.).[693]Cp. vv. 302sq.(γηραιὸν πόδ’ ἕλκω) with v. 316 (περιχορεύουσα).[694]vv. 528sqq.[695]Croiset gives the probablearrangement: protagonist, Orestes, messenger; deuteragonist, Electra, Menelaus, Phrygian; tritagonist, Helen, Tyndareus, Pylades, Hermione, Apollo.[696]See Murray’s text.[697]vv. 1167sqq.[698]vv. 491-525.[699]vv. 28sqq.[700]vv. 285sqq.Menelaus (v. 417) casually calls Apollo “stupid”.[701]vv. 380sqq.[702]v. 386.[703]v. 388.[704]v. 390.[705]vv. 544sqq.The flatness of the translation given above is not, I think, inappropriate, νῦν δὲ σὴν ταρβῶ τρίχα (v. 550), is merely hideous. μαστοῖς τὸν ἔλεον θηρώμεναι (v. 568), is even worse.[706]v. 551.[707]v. 634.[708]v. 397.[709]vv. 640sq.[710]vv. 658-61.[711]vv. 932sqq.[712]v. 1576: ποτέρον ἐρωτᾶν ἢ κλύειν ἐμοῦ θέλεις;[713]v. 396.[714]His “progression, upward in strength and downward in reason, is visible throughout,” says Dr. Verrall (Four Plays, p. 245), whose eloquent and vivid essay on this drama should be carefully studied.[715]vv. 1204sqq.: ὦ τὰς φρένας μὲν ἄρσενας κεκτημένη....[716]vv. 615sqq.[717]vv. 72-92. Compare the amusing little passage-of-arms, vv. 107-11 (see Verrall,Four Plays, pp. 219sq.).[718]vv. 126sqq.[719]vv. 1-3.[720]vv. 78sq.[721]v. 121.[722]vv. 960sqq.[723]At v. 1539 (very late in the day) they discuss whether it is their duty to inform the State of the murderous plot against Helen and Hermione. Even then they decide to do nothing.[724]vv. 1547sqq.[725]Note vv. 743, 745, 747, 749, and the excitement in the last two verses.[726]vv. 481sqq.[727]vv. 371sqq.[728]v. 1323.[729]vv. 37sqq.[730]vv. 395sqq.[731]Contrast v. 420: μέλλει· τὸ θεῖον δ’ ἐστὶ τοιοῦτον φύσει; with v. 423: ὡς ταχὺ μετῆλθόν σ’ αἷμα μητέρος θεαί.[732]vv. 360sqq.[733]v. 373.[734]First Menelaus says that Glaucus spoke to him “from the waves” (v. 362), but from v. 365 (ἐμφανῶς κατασταθείς) it seems that the person is standing on the shore. Such inconsistencies are significant, and in Euripides common. They indicate how much accuracy the narrator commands.[735]vv. 1493sqq.[736]vv. 1662-3.[737]Professor Gilbert Murray (Euripides and his Age, pp. 160sqq.) has some beautiful and striking observations on the epiphany of Apollo and its effect on the raving mortals below: a trance falls upon them from which they awake purged of hate and anger. But could Euripides, can we, attribute this to a god who has commanded matricide? And the effect is largely spoiled by Orestes (vv. 1666sqq.): “Prophetic Loxias, what oracles are thine! Thou art not, then, a lying prophet, but a true. Yet had I begun to dread lest, when I heard thy voice as I thought, it was that of a fiend.” ... These are not the tones of blissful faith.[738]Paley says that this play is more frequently quoted by ancient writers than all the works of Æschylus and Sophocles together.[739]vv. 174sqq.[740]Arrangement: Protagonist, Pentheus, Agave; deuteragonist, Dionysus, Tiresias; tritagonist, Cadmus, guard, messengers.[741]Before Cadmus’ speech, a passage has been lost in which the mourners adjusted the torn fragments.[742]There is another gap at this point. A considerable number of Dionysus’ lines are missing, and no doubt also further conversation between Cadmus and Agave.[743]See Professor Murray (Euripides and his Age, pp. 183sq.). I now think that what I wrote about the psychology of Dionysus and Pentheus (The Riddle of the Bacchæ, pp. 66sq., 87-101) is over-elaborated.[744]vv. 824-45.[745]vv. 732-51.[746]Professor Murray’s beautiful translation of these lyrics will be familiar to most readers.[747]Murray,Euripides and his Age, p. 196. My quotation, of course, does not imply that Professor Murray is guilty of the confusion of thought in question.[748]The view mentioned in this paragraph will be found worked out in the present writer’sRiddle of the Bacchæ. This theory has met with much scepticism, but received the honour of almost entire acceptance by the late Dr. Verrall inThe Bacchantes of Euripides. Dr. Verrall improved the statement of the theory, in particular by rejecting the supposition of a plot between Tiresias and the Stranger. Mr. W. H. Salter, in his delightfulEssays on Two Moderns, also accepts this view of the play in the main (pp. 50-68). Dr. R. Nihard, inLe Problème des Bacchantes d’Euripide(Louvain, 1912), a useful study, rejects it.[749]vv. 632sq.:—πρὸς δὲ τοῖσδ’ αὐτῷ τάδ’ ἄλλα Βάκχιος λυμαίνεται·δώματ’ ἔρρηξεν χαμᾶζε. συντεθράνωται δ’ ἅπαν ...συντεθράνωται, however, is elsewhere only known to us by the explanation of Hesychius, συμπέπτωκε, and Verrall points out that it ought to mean “it has all been put together again”.[750]To this view no complete answer has yet been made. All that can possibly be said is what Professor Gilbert Murray (Euripides and his Age, pp. 186sq.) and (in a letter to the present writer) Professor U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff suggest, that the palace is in the main destroyed, but the façade is more or less undamaged. This does away with the testimony to Dionysus’ imposture which the audience receive from their own eyes, but it leaves untouched the incredible silence of Pentheus. Moreover, Dionysus’ words as they stand mean that the building is utterly destroyed. That they do not mean this is only suggested in despair, because, if they do mean this, they are absurdly and patently false.[751]v. 233sq.: ξένος, γόης ἐπῳδός.[752]The attachment between Artemis and Hippolytus is a remarkable exception. The stories concerning the “loves” of gods and goddesses for mortals are evidently beside the question.[753]vv. 1325sq.[754]Bellerophon,fr.294, 7: εἰ θεοί τι δρῶσιν αἰσχρόν, οὐκ εἰσὶν θεοί.[755]Arrangement: Croiset gives: protagonist, Agamemnon, Achilles; deuteragonist, Old Man, Iphigenia, messenger; tritagonist, Menelaus, Clytæmnestra.[756]For these see Professor Murray’s text, especially his preface.[757]It contains, for instance, unmetrical verses.[758]vv. 1366sq.[759]vv. 919-74.[760]For what follows cp. Professor Murray,Euripides and his Age, pp. 173-5.[761]v. 414.[762]The elision of αι in v. 407.[763]Poetic, 1454a.[764]Arrangement: protagonist, Odysseus; deuteragonist, Silenus; tritagonist, Polyphemus.[765]TheDetectives(Ἰχνευταί) of Sophocles is now known to us by extensive fragments, see pp. 175sq.[766]Murray puts it “perhaps even before 438”.[767]It attracted little attention from ancient scholars. There are no scholia, and the hypothesis is incomplete.[768]Odyssey IX.105-566.[769]Cp. vv. 549, 672-5, withOd. IX.vv. 366, 408-12.[770]Cp. vv. 460-3 withOd. IX.384-8.[771]See p. 2.[772]Anapæsts in other feet than the first, and occasional violations of the rule of the final cretic (seeChapter VI).[773]vv. 316-41.[774]Thearrangementof the cast is not clear; perhaps: protagonist, Hector, Odysseus; deuteragonist, Æneas, Rhesus, Diomedes, charioteer; tritagonist, Dolon, herdsman, Athena, Muse. The brief part of Paris may have been taken by Diomedes or Odysseus, possibly by a fourth actor.[775]ἀνθρωποδαίμων (v. 971).[776]vv. 474-84.[777]vv. 546-56.[778]An excellent summary of the evidence (to which I am indebted) is to be found in theIntroductionto Professor Murray’s verse-translation.[779]Its author, however, is by no means convinced by them. He gives also interesting information on other points.[780]That is, the two prologues mentioned in theArgumentwere added for later performances.[781]Another argument on this side, which is perhaps new, lies in the fact that almost all the action takes place at night—an unique feature. The ancient theatre, of course, could not be darkened. It might be urged that the drama was meant for readers only, and so comes from one of the ἀναγνωστικοί of the fourth century (see p. 32).[782]vv. 319-23.[783]vv. 422-53.[784]It suffices to mention Scaliger, Böckh, Hermann, Valckenaer, and Wilamowitz-Moellendorff.[785]Upheld,e.g.by Christ and Murray.[786]Schol. on v. 528.[787]vv. 962-73.[788]On the whole question see Mr. W. H. Porter’s excellent paper, “The EuripideanRhesusin the Light of Recent Criticism” (Hermathena, xvii. pp. 348-80), and his useful edition of the play.[789]Cp. pp. 119sq., 165sq.[790]Euripides revises even the diction of his predecessor. Æschylus wrote φαγέδαινα δ’ ἥ μου σάρκας ἐσθίει ποδός; Euripides repeats the line with the verb altered to θοινᾶται (Aristotle,Poetic, 1458b).[791]vv. 1520-7.[792]Quomodo historia conscribenda, § 1.

[632]v. 73: ἐξ αἱμάτων γοῦν ξάνθ’ ἔχει τριχώματα, a grotesque thought which we have just heard (as Murray points out in hisapparatus) from Iphigenia as part of her dream.

[633]vv. 281sqq.

[634]vv. 961sqq.

[635]θεᾶς βρέτας is now the prescription, as we may call it. Cp. vv. 980, 985-6, and 1038-40.

[636]vv. 939sqq.

[637]ψῆφος (v. 945). He means “assembly (which votes),” but he has ψῆφος on the brain, as well he might have (vv. 965sq.).

[638]vv. 739sq.and 1046: Πυλάδης δ’ ὅδ’ ἡμῖν ποῦ τετάξεται φόνου—if this is a task set by Apollo there must be murder in it.

[639]v. 933.

[640]Arrangement: protagonist, Electra; deuteragonist, Orestes, Clytæmnestra; tritagonist, farmer, old man, messenger, Castor. Pylades and Polydeuces were represented by a mute actor.

[641]From vv. 1347-56 it is clear that the Sicilian expedition had already sailed, but that news of the disaster had not yet reached Athens.

[642]Bernhardy,Geschichte der griechischen PoesieII, ii. p. 490.

[643]vv. 1041-3.

[644]vv. 9-10.

[645]1142-6.

[646]vv. 652-60.

[647]v. 54.

[648]The peasant tells us that Electra’s banishment to the country is due to her mother’s efforts when Ægisthus wished to kill her (vv. 25sqq.). Electra puts the matter very differently (vv. 60sq.). The horrible story in vv. 326sqq.is probably untrue; cp. ὡς λέγουσιν.

[649]vv. 77-8, 354sq.

[650]vv. 367sqq.

[651]vv. 255sqq.

[652]vv. 1294, 1296sq., 1302.

[653]vv. 737-45.

[654]Expedit esse deos.

[655]“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.”

[656]vv. 1245sq.

[657]vv. 1327sqq.

[658]vv. 1301-7. The first line, μοῖρά τ’ ἀνάγκης ἦγ’ ᾗ τὸ χρεών, is an exceptionally fine instance of misty verbiage.

[659]See Verrall’s discussion in his edition of theChoephorœ(Introd. pp. xxxiii-lxx).

[660]Probable Arrangement: protagonist, Helen, the god (whether Castor or Pollux); deuteragonist, Teucer, Menelaus, Egyptian messenger; tritagonist, old woman, Greek messenger, Theonoe, Theoclymenus.

[661]v. 616: ὦ χαῖρε, Λήδας θύγατερ, ἐνθάδ’ ἦσθ’ ἄρα;

[662]v. 151.

[663]vv. 832, 1048, 491, 1050-2.

[664]vv. 183sqq.

[665]vv. 1107sqq.

[666]vv. 878sqq.

[667]vv. 1013-6:—καὶ γὰρ τίσις τῶνδ’ ἐστὶ τοῖς τε νερτέροιςκαὶ τοῖς ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. ὁ νοῦςτῶν κατθανόντων ζῇ μὲν οὔ, γνώμην δ’ ἔχειἀθάνατον, εἰς ἀθάνατον αἰθέρ’ ἐμπεσών.The precision of the wording is remarkable.

[667]vv. 1013-6:—

καὶ γὰρ τίσις τῶνδ’ ἐστὶ τοῖς τε νερτέροιςκαὶ τοῖς ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. ὁ νοῦςτῶν κατθανόντων ζῇ μὲν οὔ, γνώμην δ’ ἔχειἀθάνατον, εἰς ἀθάνατον αἰθέρ’ ἐμπεσών.

καὶ γὰρ τίσις τῶνδ’ ἐστὶ τοῖς τε νερτέροις

καὶ τοῖς ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. ὁ νοῦς

τῶν κατθανόντων ζῇ μὲν οὔ, γνώμην δ’ ἔχει

ἀθάνατον, εἰς ἀθάνατον αἰθέρ’ ἐμπεσών.

The precision of the wording is remarkable.

[668]Troades, 884sqq.

[669]SeeFour Plays of Euripides, pp. 43-133 (Euripides’ Apology).

[670]vv. 1301sqq.

[671]The idea is taken from the famous recantation of Stesichorus, which asserted that Helen never went to Troy.

[672]In the inflated affectation of such things as vv. 355-6 and 629 parody of some contemporary lyrist is quite possible.

[673]vv. 20-1, 256-9 (rejected by Murray, after Badham).

[674]vv. 138sqq., 205sqq., 284-5.

[675]vv. 744-60.

[676]Arrangement(according to Croiset): protagonist, Jocasta, Creon; deuteragonist, Antigone, Polynices, Menœceus; tritagonist, pædagogus, Eteocles, Tiresias, messengers, Œdipus.

[677]Perhaps one reason was the great sweep of story which it covers.

[678]See Mr. J. U. Powell’s careful and lucid account in his edition (pp. 7-32).

[679]Verrall,Eur. the Rationalist, pp. 236sq.

[680]Mr. J. U. Powell, whose edition should be consulted.

[681]vv. 1233sq.:—ὑμεῖς δ’ ἀγῶν’ ἀφέντες, Ἀργεῖοι, χθόνανίσεσθε, βίοτον μὴ λιπόντες ἐνθάδε,are out of the question as work of Euripides. There are several other faults.

[681]vv. 1233sq.:—

ὑμεῖς δ’ ἀγῶν’ ἀφέντες, Ἀργεῖοι, χθόνανίσεσθε, βίοτον μὴ λιπόντες ἐνθάδε,

ὑμεῖς δ’ ἀγῶν’ ἀφέντες, Ἀργεῖοι, χθόνα

νίσεσθε, βίοτον μὴ λιπόντες ἐνθάδε,

are out of the question as work of Euripides. There are several other faults.

[682]vv. 1259sqq.

[683]Mr. Powell, however, rightly remarks that vv. 1265-6 are “strained”.

[684]vv. 1758sq.

[685]vv. 1524sq.

[686]So the scholiast: ὅ τε ἐπὶ πᾶσι μετ’ ᾠδῆς ἀδολέσχου φυγαδευόμενος Οἰδίπους προσέρραπται διὰ κενῆς.

[687]vv. 1090-1199 (the ῥῆσις containing the description of the Seven).

[688]vv. 1182sqq.

[689]Verrall (Eur. the Rationalist, pp. 231-60) believed that those parts which introduce Antigone are un-Euripidean. The terrace-scene has already been discussed. In the body of the play, as he argues with much point, wherever mention of Antigone occurs, it is obtrusive and embarrassing. Her lament with Œdipus at the close contains many inappropriate features. He concludes that Œdipus is an allegory of Euripides himself, leaving Athens in sorrow at the end of his life, and that Antigone represents his literary offspring, the plays. The Sphinx is “the spirit of mystery and darkness,” which the poet has fought and quelled. All this was composed by a poet of the Euripidean circle to commemorate the master; it includes a compliment—the quotation from theŒdipus Tyrannus—to Sophocles, who had shown public respect to his rival when the news of his death reached Athens.

[690]One notices the criticism (vv. 751sq.) of Æschylus,Septem(vv. 375sqq.) when Eteocles declares that to give a list of his champions would be waste of time.

[691]The “popular” character of thePhœnissæis brought out by the relish with which theArgumentenumerates its murderous happenings.

[692]In this passage an allusion has by some been supposed to Alcibiades’ return to Athens (411B.C.).

[693]Cp. vv. 302sq.(γηραιὸν πόδ’ ἕλκω) with v. 316 (περιχορεύουσα).

[694]vv. 528sqq.

[695]Croiset gives the probablearrangement: protagonist, Orestes, messenger; deuteragonist, Electra, Menelaus, Phrygian; tritagonist, Helen, Tyndareus, Pylades, Hermione, Apollo.

[696]See Murray’s text.

[697]vv. 1167sqq.

[698]vv. 491-525.

[699]vv. 28sqq.

[700]vv. 285sqq.Menelaus (v. 417) casually calls Apollo “stupid”.

[701]vv. 380sqq.

[702]v. 386.

[703]v. 388.

[704]v. 390.

[705]vv. 544sqq.The flatness of the translation given above is not, I think, inappropriate, νῦν δὲ σὴν ταρβῶ τρίχα (v. 550), is merely hideous. μαστοῖς τὸν ἔλεον θηρώμεναι (v. 568), is even worse.

[706]v. 551.

[707]v. 634.

[708]v. 397.

[709]vv. 640sq.

[710]vv. 658-61.

[711]vv. 932sqq.

[712]v. 1576: ποτέρον ἐρωτᾶν ἢ κλύειν ἐμοῦ θέλεις;

[713]v. 396.

[714]His “progression, upward in strength and downward in reason, is visible throughout,” says Dr. Verrall (Four Plays, p. 245), whose eloquent and vivid essay on this drama should be carefully studied.

[715]vv. 1204sqq.: ὦ τὰς φρένας μὲν ἄρσενας κεκτημένη....

[716]vv. 615sqq.

[717]vv. 72-92. Compare the amusing little passage-of-arms, vv. 107-11 (see Verrall,Four Plays, pp. 219sq.).

[718]vv. 126sqq.

[719]vv. 1-3.

[720]vv. 78sq.

[721]v. 121.

[722]vv. 960sqq.

[723]At v. 1539 (very late in the day) they discuss whether it is their duty to inform the State of the murderous plot against Helen and Hermione. Even then they decide to do nothing.

[724]vv. 1547sqq.

[725]Note vv. 743, 745, 747, 749, and the excitement in the last two verses.

[726]vv. 481sqq.

[727]vv. 371sqq.

[728]v. 1323.

[729]vv. 37sqq.

[730]vv. 395sqq.

[731]Contrast v. 420: μέλλει· τὸ θεῖον δ’ ἐστὶ τοιοῦτον φύσει; with v. 423: ὡς ταχὺ μετῆλθόν σ’ αἷμα μητέρος θεαί.

[732]vv. 360sqq.

[733]v. 373.

[734]First Menelaus says that Glaucus spoke to him “from the waves” (v. 362), but from v. 365 (ἐμφανῶς κατασταθείς) it seems that the person is standing on the shore. Such inconsistencies are significant, and in Euripides common. They indicate how much accuracy the narrator commands.

[735]vv. 1493sqq.

[736]vv. 1662-3.

[737]Professor Gilbert Murray (Euripides and his Age, pp. 160sqq.) has some beautiful and striking observations on the epiphany of Apollo and its effect on the raving mortals below: a trance falls upon them from which they awake purged of hate and anger. But could Euripides, can we, attribute this to a god who has commanded matricide? And the effect is largely spoiled by Orestes (vv. 1666sqq.): “Prophetic Loxias, what oracles are thine! Thou art not, then, a lying prophet, but a true. Yet had I begun to dread lest, when I heard thy voice as I thought, it was that of a fiend.” ... These are not the tones of blissful faith.

[738]Paley says that this play is more frequently quoted by ancient writers than all the works of Æschylus and Sophocles together.

[739]vv. 174sqq.

[740]Arrangement: Protagonist, Pentheus, Agave; deuteragonist, Dionysus, Tiresias; tritagonist, Cadmus, guard, messengers.

[741]Before Cadmus’ speech, a passage has been lost in which the mourners adjusted the torn fragments.

[742]There is another gap at this point. A considerable number of Dionysus’ lines are missing, and no doubt also further conversation between Cadmus and Agave.

[743]See Professor Murray (Euripides and his Age, pp. 183sq.). I now think that what I wrote about the psychology of Dionysus and Pentheus (The Riddle of the Bacchæ, pp. 66sq., 87-101) is over-elaborated.

[744]vv. 824-45.

[745]vv. 732-51.

[746]Professor Murray’s beautiful translation of these lyrics will be familiar to most readers.

[747]Murray,Euripides and his Age, p. 196. My quotation, of course, does not imply that Professor Murray is guilty of the confusion of thought in question.

[748]The view mentioned in this paragraph will be found worked out in the present writer’sRiddle of the Bacchæ. This theory has met with much scepticism, but received the honour of almost entire acceptance by the late Dr. Verrall inThe Bacchantes of Euripides. Dr. Verrall improved the statement of the theory, in particular by rejecting the supposition of a plot between Tiresias and the Stranger. Mr. W. H. Salter, in his delightfulEssays on Two Moderns, also accepts this view of the play in the main (pp. 50-68). Dr. R. Nihard, inLe Problème des Bacchantes d’Euripide(Louvain, 1912), a useful study, rejects it.

[749]vv. 632sq.:—πρὸς δὲ τοῖσδ’ αὐτῷ τάδ’ ἄλλα Βάκχιος λυμαίνεται·δώματ’ ἔρρηξεν χαμᾶζε. συντεθράνωται δ’ ἅπαν ...συντεθράνωται, however, is elsewhere only known to us by the explanation of Hesychius, συμπέπτωκε, and Verrall points out that it ought to mean “it has all been put together again”.

[749]vv. 632sq.:—

πρὸς δὲ τοῖσδ’ αὐτῷ τάδ’ ἄλλα Βάκχιος λυμαίνεται·δώματ’ ἔρρηξεν χαμᾶζε. συντεθράνωται δ’ ἅπαν ...

πρὸς δὲ τοῖσδ’ αὐτῷ τάδ’ ἄλλα Βάκχιος λυμαίνεται·

δώματ’ ἔρρηξεν χαμᾶζε. συντεθράνωται δ’ ἅπαν ...

συντεθράνωται, however, is elsewhere only known to us by the explanation of Hesychius, συμπέπτωκε, and Verrall points out that it ought to mean “it has all been put together again”.

[750]To this view no complete answer has yet been made. All that can possibly be said is what Professor Gilbert Murray (Euripides and his Age, pp. 186sq.) and (in a letter to the present writer) Professor U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff suggest, that the palace is in the main destroyed, but the façade is more or less undamaged. This does away with the testimony to Dionysus’ imposture which the audience receive from their own eyes, but it leaves untouched the incredible silence of Pentheus. Moreover, Dionysus’ words as they stand mean that the building is utterly destroyed. That they do not mean this is only suggested in despair, because, if they do mean this, they are absurdly and patently false.

[751]v. 233sq.: ξένος, γόης ἐπῳδός.

[752]The attachment between Artemis and Hippolytus is a remarkable exception. The stories concerning the “loves” of gods and goddesses for mortals are evidently beside the question.

[753]vv. 1325sq.

[754]Bellerophon,fr.294, 7: εἰ θεοί τι δρῶσιν αἰσχρόν, οὐκ εἰσὶν θεοί.

[755]Arrangement: Croiset gives: protagonist, Agamemnon, Achilles; deuteragonist, Old Man, Iphigenia, messenger; tritagonist, Menelaus, Clytæmnestra.

[756]For these see Professor Murray’s text, especially his preface.

[757]It contains, for instance, unmetrical verses.

[758]vv. 1366sq.

[759]vv. 919-74.

[760]For what follows cp. Professor Murray,Euripides and his Age, pp. 173-5.

[761]v. 414.

[762]The elision of αι in v. 407.

[763]Poetic, 1454a.

[764]Arrangement: protagonist, Odysseus; deuteragonist, Silenus; tritagonist, Polyphemus.

[765]TheDetectives(Ἰχνευταί) of Sophocles is now known to us by extensive fragments, see pp. 175sq.

[766]Murray puts it “perhaps even before 438”.

[767]It attracted little attention from ancient scholars. There are no scholia, and the hypothesis is incomplete.

[768]Odyssey IX.105-566.

[769]Cp. vv. 549, 672-5, withOd. IX.vv. 366, 408-12.

[770]Cp. vv. 460-3 withOd. IX.384-8.

[771]See p. 2.

[772]Anapæsts in other feet than the first, and occasional violations of the rule of the final cretic (seeChapter VI).

[773]vv. 316-41.

[774]Thearrangementof the cast is not clear; perhaps: protagonist, Hector, Odysseus; deuteragonist, Æneas, Rhesus, Diomedes, charioteer; tritagonist, Dolon, herdsman, Athena, Muse. The brief part of Paris may have been taken by Diomedes or Odysseus, possibly by a fourth actor.

[775]ἀνθρωποδαίμων (v. 971).

[776]vv. 474-84.

[777]vv. 546-56.

[778]An excellent summary of the evidence (to which I am indebted) is to be found in theIntroductionto Professor Murray’s verse-translation.

[779]Its author, however, is by no means convinced by them. He gives also interesting information on other points.

[780]That is, the two prologues mentioned in theArgumentwere added for later performances.

[781]Another argument on this side, which is perhaps new, lies in the fact that almost all the action takes place at night—an unique feature. The ancient theatre, of course, could not be darkened. It might be urged that the drama was meant for readers only, and so comes from one of the ἀναγνωστικοί of the fourth century (see p. 32).

[782]vv. 319-23.

[783]vv. 422-53.

[784]It suffices to mention Scaliger, Böckh, Hermann, Valckenaer, and Wilamowitz-Moellendorff.

[785]Upheld,e.g.by Christ and Murray.

[786]Schol. on v. 528.

[787]vv. 962-73.

[788]On the whole question see Mr. W. H. Porter’s excellent paper, “The EuripideanRhesusin the Light of Recent Criticism” (Hermathena, xvii. pp. 348-80), and his useful edition of the play.

[789]Cp. pp. 119sq., 165sq.

[790]Euripides revises even the diction of his predecessor. Æschylus wrote φαγέδαινα δ’ ἥ μου σάρκας ἐσθίει ποδός; Euripides repeats the line with the verb altered to θοινᾶται (Aristotle,Poetic, 1458b).

[791]vv. 1520-7.

[792]Quomodo historia conscribenda, § 1.

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