First Stasimon
μέγα τι σθένος Κύπρις ἐκφέρεται νίκας ἀεί.
καὶ τὰ μὲν θεῶν
500 παρέβαν, καὶ ὅπως Κρονίδαν ἀπάτασεν οὐ λέγω,
οὐδὲ τὸν ἔννυχον Ἅιδαν
Ποσειδάωνα τινάκτορα γαίας·
ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τάνδʼ ἄρʼ ἄκοιτιν
τίνες ἀμφίγυοι κατέβαν πρὸ γάμων,
505 τίνες πάμπληκτα παγκόνιτά τʼ ἐξῆλθον ἄεθλʼ ἀγώνων;
μὲν ἦν ποταμοῦ σθένος, ὑψίκερω τετραόρου
φάσμα ταύρου,
510 Ἀχελῷος ἀπʼ Οἰνιαδᾶν, δὲ Βακχίας ἀπὸ
ἦλθε παλίντονα Θήβας
τόξα καὶ λόγχας ῥόπαλόν τε τινάσσων,
παῖς Διός· οἳ τότʼ ἀολλεῖς
ἴσαν ἐς μέσον ἱέμενοι λεχέων·
515 μόνα δʼ εὔλεκτρος ἐν μέσῳ Κύπρις ῥαβδονόμει ξυνοῦσα.
Χορός
τότʼ ἦν χερός, ἦν δὲ τόξων πάταγος,
ταυρείων τʼ ἀνάμιγδα κεράτων·
520 ἦν δʼ ἀμφίπλεκτοι κλίμακες,
ἦν δὲ μετώπων ὀλόεντα
πλήγματα, καὶ στόνος ἀμφοῖν.
δʼ εὐῶπις ἁβρὰ
τηλαυγεῖ παρʼ ὄχθῳ
525 ἧστο, τὸν ὃν προσμένουσʼ ἀκοίταν.
ἀγὼν δὲ μαργᾷ μὲν οἷα φράζω·
τὸ δʼ ἀμφινείκητον ὄμμα νύμφας
ἐλεινὸν ἀμμένει·
κἀπὸ ματρὸς ἄφαρ βέβακεν,
530 ὥστε πόρτις ἐρήμα.
Tap any Greek word to look it up
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.

Tap any Greek word to look it up