Menelaus
1185 τίς ἄρα νέατος ἐς πότε λήξει πολυπλάγκτων ἐτέων ἀριθμός,
τὰν ἄπαυστον αἰὲν ἐμοὶ δορυσσοήτων
μόχθων ἄταν ἐπάγων
1190 ἄν τὰν εὐρώδεα Τρωΐαν,
δύστανον ὄνειδος Ἑλλάνων;
ὄφελε πρότερον αἰθέρα δῦναι μέγαν τὸν πολύκοινον Ἅιδαν
1195 κεῖνος ἁνήρ, ὃς στυγερῶν ἔδειξεν ὅπλων
Ἕλλασιν κοινὸν Ἄρη.
ἰὼ πόνοι πρόγονοι πόνων·
κεῖνος γὰρ ἔπερσεν ἀνθρώπους.
ἐκεῖνος οὔτε στεφάνων
1200 οὔτε βαθεῖαν κυλίκων
νεῖμεν ἐμοὶ τέρψιν ὁμιλεῖν,
οὔτε γλυκὺν αὐλῶν ὄτοβον,
δύσμορος, οὔτʼ ἐννυχίαν
τέρψιν ἰαύειν.
1205 ἐρώτων δʼ ἐρώτων ἀπέπαυσεν, ὤμοι.
κεῖμαι δʼ, ἀμέριμνος οὕτως,
ἀεὶ πυκιναῖς δρόσοις
τεγγόμενος κόμας,
1210 λυγρᾶς μνήματα Τροίας.
καὶ πρὶν μὲν αἰὲν νυχίου
δείματος ἦν μοι προβολὰ
καὶ βελέων θούριος Αἴας·
νῦν δʼ οὗτος ἀνεῖται στυγερῷ
1215 δαίμονι· τίς μοι, τίς ἔτʼ οὖν
τέρψις ἐπέσται;
γενοίμαν ἵνʼ ὑλᾶεν ἔπεστι πόντου
πρόβλημʼ ἁλίκλυστον, ἄκραν
1220 ὑπὸ πλάκα Σουνίου,
τὰς ἱερὰς ὅπως
προσείποιμεν Ἀθάνας.
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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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