Prologue
ῥά σε Ταυροπόλα Διὸς Ἄρτεμις
μεγάλα φάτις,
μᾶτερ αἰσχύνας ἐμᾶς
175 ὥρμασε πανδάμους ἐπὶ βοῦς ἀγελαίας,
πού τινος νίκας ἀκάρπωτον χάριν,
ῥα κλυτῶν ἐνάρων
ψευσθεῖσʼ, ἀδώροις, εἴτʼ ἐλαφαβολίας;
χαλκοθώραξ μή τινʼ Ἐνυάλιος
180 μομφὰν ἔχων ξυνοῦ δορὸς ἐννυχίοις
μαχαναῖς ἐτίσατο λώβαν;
οὔ ποτε γὰρ φρενόθεν γʼ ἐπʼ ἀριστερά,
παῖ Τελαμῶνος, ἔβας
185 τόσσον, ἐν ποίμναις πίτνων·
ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος· ἀλλʼ ἀπερύκοι
καὶ Ζεὺς κακὰν καὶ Φοῖβος Ἀργείων φάτιν.
εἰ δʼ ὑποβαλλόμενοι
κλέπτουσι μύθους οἱ μεγάλοι βασιλῆς
190 τᾶς ἀσώτου Σισυφιδᾶν γενεᾶς,
μὴ μή, ἄναξ, ἔθʼ ὧδʼ ἐφάλοις κλισίαις
ὄμμʼ ἔχων κακὰν φάτιν ἄρῃ.
Χορός
ἀλλʼ ἄνα ἐξ ἑδράνων, ὅπου μακραίωνι
στηρίζει ποτὲ τᾷδʼ ἀγωνίῳ σχολᾷ
195 ἄταν οὐρανίαν φλέγων.
ἐχθρῶν δʼ ὕβρις ὧδʼ ἀτάρβητα
ὁρμᾶται ἐν εὐανέμοις βάσσαις,
πάντων καγχαζόντων
γλώσσαις βαρυάλγητα·
200 ἐμοὶ δʼ ἄχος ἕστακεν.
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An open-access project
Jebb 1913
Loeb
Jebb, Cambridge, 1913 · 1913
The Editor

Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb (1841–1905) was one of the greatest Greek scholars in the English-speaking world. Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge and Member of Parliament for the University, Jebb produced monumental commentaries on Sophocles (7 volumes, 1883–1896) that remain indispensable. His editions combined minute textual criticism with a profound sensitivity to Greek poetry and dramatic art.

About This Edition

Jebb's editions of Sophocles, published by Cambridge University Press, set a new standard for Greek dramatic commentary. Each play received a critical text, prose translation, and detailed commentary that addressed textual, linguistic, dramatic, and archaeological questions. Jebb's texts are conservative, preferring the manuscript tradition where defensible, and his commentary remains the starting point for serious study of each play. While the OCT by Lloyd-Jones and Wilson (1990) now provides the standard critical text, Jebb's commentary is still regularly consulted.

Translator

F. Storr (Loeb Classical Library)

Text Basis

Text based on Jebb's Cambridge edition. Storr translated for the Loeb Classical Library.

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