First Episode
εἰ μὴ ʼγὼ παράφρων μάντις ἔφυν καὶ γνώμας
λειπομένα σοφᾶς,
εἶσιν πρόμαντις
475 Δίκα δίκαια φερομένα χεροῖν κράτη·
μέτεισιν, τέκνον, οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου.
ὕπεστί μοι θάρσος,
480 ἁδυπνόων κλύουσαν
ἀρτίως ὀνειράτων.
οὐ γάρ ποτʼ ἀμναστεῖ γʼ φύσας σʼ Ἑλλάνων ἄναξ,
485 οὐδʼ παλαιὰ χαλκόπλακτος ἀμφάκης γένυς,
νιν κατέπεφνεν αἰσχίσταις ἐν αἰκίαις.
ἥξει καὶ πολύπους καὶ πολύχειρ δεινοῖς
490 κρυπτομένα λόχοις
χαλκόπους Ἐρινύς.
ἄλεκτρʼ ἄνυμφα γὰρ ἐπέβα μιαιφόνων
γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθʼ οἷσιν οὐ θέμις.
495 πρὸ τῶνδέ τοί μʼ ἔχει
μή ποτε μή ποθʼ ἡμῖν
ἀψεγὲς πελᾶν τέρας
500 τοῖς δρῶσι καὶ συνδρῶσιν. τοι μαντεῖαι βροτῶν
οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐν δεινοῖς ὀνείροις οὐδʼ ἐν θεσφάτοις,
εἰ μὴ τόδε φάσμα νυκτὸς εὖ κατασχήσει.
Χορός
Πέλοπος πρόσθεν
505 πολύπονος ἱππεία,
ὡς ἔμολες αἰανὴς
τᾷδε γᾷ.
εὖτε γὰρ ποντισθεὶς
Μυρτίλος ἐκοιμάθη,
510 παγχρύσων δίφρων
δυστάνοις αἰκίαις
πρόρριζος ἐκριφθείς,
οὔ τί πω
ἔλειπεν ἐκ τοῦδʼ οἴκου
515 πολύπονος αἰκία.
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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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