Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-19T05:15:22.879Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Notes on Euripides' Supplices1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

C. Collard
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool

Extract

This difficult passage has been much discussed and the text of L emended usually by rearrangement of the verses. The work of commentators before Wilamowitz is practically valueless, for their inexact knowledge of Theban topography, with which Euripides' account of this battle shows a good acquaintance, was based largely upon the unsatisfactory description of Pausanias: despite the good sense of Markland, they misunderstood 653.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

page 178 note 2 Analecta Euripidea (Berlin, 1875), pp.106f.Google Scholar

page 178 note 3 ‘Die Sieben Thore Thebens’, Hermes xxvi (1891), 191242 (esp. 233–4).Google Scholar

page 178 note 4 Euripides iii, Collection des Universités de France (Budé) (Paris, 1923): Les Suppliantes, p. 126 n. 1. I refer to this and the following editions by the name of the editor only: Markland, J., Euripidis Supplices Mulieres, 2nd ed. (London, 1775)Google Scholar; Weck-lein, N., Euripides Fabulae II. ii; Supplices (Leipzig, 1898)Google Scholar: Wecklein's smaller ‘Schulausgabe’ (Die Schutzftehenden, erklärt von Wecklein, N. [Leipzig, 1912])Google Scholar is cited as Wecklein (ed. min.); Murray, G., Euripidis Fabulae ii, 3rd ed. (Oxford, 1913)Google Scholar; Italie, G., Euripides' Smekende Vrouwen (Groningen, 1951)Google Scholar; Ammendola, G., Euripide: Supplici, ‘a cura di Agostino, V.’ (Turin 1956).Google Scholar

page 178 note 5 ‘Der Schlachtbericht in den Hiketiden des Euripides’, Wiener Studien lv (1937, 4854.Google Scholar See also McCracken, G., ‘Topographica in Euripides’, Mnem. 3° Série ix (1941), 164–7,Google Scholar wno bases his analysis on Nauck's text, not on L.

page 179 note 1 ‘Thebai (Boiotien)’, in Pauly-Wissowa, R.-E. v A.2, 1423–52 (published in 1934).

page 179 note 2 Bacc. 780 ff.; Paus. 9. 8. 7; Ziehen 1430.

page 179 note 3 seems to have no tribal or racial implication, despite thoughts of are the 654, the 660, and the 662—as Markland established long ago.

page 179 note 4 Paus. 9. 10. 2; Ziehen 1441.

page 179 note 5 Cf. Mesk, , op. cit., p. 52 n. 4.Google Scholar

page 179 note 6 Op. cit., p. 234.Google Scholar

page 179 note 7 Ares' fount was guarded by his dragon: Schol. ad A. Sept. 102 ff.; E. Phoen. 657 ff., 931 f., 1009 ff.; Wilamowitz, , op. cit., p. 198Google Scholar; Ziehen 1426.

page 179 note 8 9. 10. 5.

page 179 note 9 The Ismenion and Paraporti are about 500 metres apart. Commentators protest at this length for an infantry line: ‘das ist viel’, Mesk, , op. cit., p. 52.Google Scholar Euripides was a poet first, not a military historian, despite the intricate construction of this narrative: he states just the general direction of the Adienian positions only (it is important to note that though he stood upon the walls of Thebes, the Messenger reports the battle as an Athenian: 694 f. he is content to put the Thebans in defence of their walls, without further detail (664–7). Euripides' sense of realism allows an excited slave, liberated against his hope, a little in accuracy in his account.

page 179 note 10 L made only a small slip: of the word as Tr1 left it, the letters are by the original scribe.

page 180 note 1 Cf. E. Fragm. 381

page 181 note 2 A. Sept. 527 f.: Topographical and archaeological evidence conflict with Pausanias (9. 17. 4), who locates the tomb only vaguely in the neighbourhood of the north-east gate of Proteus: cf. Ziehen 1446. Wilamowitz, , op. cit., p. 234,Google Scholar thought Amphion's tomb a ‘movable’ monument inherited from Epic.

page 181 note 3 694–702 are sound: 697 (deleted by Dindorf) follows well on 696, particularly after 694: Creon only suspected, vas not sure the Athenians were gaining. His arrival at once endangered the soldiers of Theseus (697), so he himself entered die ray (698), and on both sides the battle raged 699 f.). 702 represents the opposing cries of he two armies: (so Jackson, J., Marginalia scaenica [Oxford, 1955], p. 190,Google Scholar who compares Her. 838 f.).

page 181 note 1 It was reached independently: Mesk, , op. cit., p. 50.Google Scholar

page 181 note 2 Murray too wrote but transferred 662 to precede 659, joining Also, he moved 663 to follow 665.

page 181 note 3 It was adopted by Nauck, Wilamowitz, Wecklein, Paley, and Italic.

page 181 note 4 Against as ace. masc. (sc. ): are surprisingly rare in the sense ‘on the right’, ‘on the left’ when used of people. I know no example in Tragedy; in Theogn. 944 and Il. 24. 320 is already ambiguous in sense.

page 181 note 5 Examples in Kühner-Gerth, , Gr. Gram- matik i. 14Google Scholar; Schwyzer, E., Gr. Grammatik ii (München, 1950), 41.Google Scholar

page 181 note 6 Kühner-Gerth i. 13.

page 182 note 1 So Kayser, who conjectured 659 662, 663, 660, 661, 664; or Wilamowitz, , op. cit., p. 233 n. 1Google Scholar, who suggested 659 662, 660, 661, 663; or Murray (above, p. 181 n. 2).

page 182 note 2 For the confusion, cf. I.A. 599 Canter: L.

page 182 note 3 Kühner-Gerth i. 53 f. give no analogy, except, for example, etc., always with plural participles.

page 182 note 4 Op. cit., p. 234.

page 182 note 5 See, for example, the disputed readings of L and P at Cyc. 498 (Wecklein, N., Beiträge zur Kritik des Euripides V, Sitzungsberichle … [München 1899], ii 299;Google ScholarLloyd-Jones, H., Gnomon xxx [1958], 506,Google Scholar a review of A. Turyn's Byzantine Manuscript Tradition of Euripides).

page 182 note 6 Norwood, G., Essays in Euripidean Drama (London, 1954), pp. 156f.Google Scholar, calls 714–17 ‘wild nonsense out of the question for Euripides’. He compares the extravagant picture of Theseus' prowess with Phoen. 1183–5 , verses deleted by Nauck and most editors—but see the Commentaries of A. C. Pearson (Cambridge, 1909) and J. U. Powell (Cambridge, 1911), who sensibly defend what only modern attitudes feel to be ‘lack of taste’. Cf. Supp. 692, where is used of men hurled from chariots.

page 183 note 1 It was retained by Murray, Grégoire, Ammendola, and Italie, the four most recent editors.

page 183 note 2 For cf. Phoen. 1183 (p. 182 n. 6 above), where Capaneus' limbs ‘whirl’ in his spinning fall, and a remarkable use of the world in Axionicus Comicus (fourth century B.C.) apud Athen. 95 c: (a fish recipe). Compare Euripides' description of the circular swinging of a Hel. 1361 f. (quoted by Gow on Theocr. 2. 30); ‘whirl round’, of the action of the thrower: Il. 19. 131; Od. 8. 189.

page 183 note 3 caused L difficulty elsewhere: 827 Kapa L: P: (recte) Schilling; 831 L and P: (recte) nescioquis.

page 183 note 4 e.g. Luc. , ‘with wooden pegs’. Kühner-Gerth i. 237 Anm. 7 accept the use for fifth-century Greek on the analogy of (likewise late Greek, except for Herod. I. 171. 4 where the accusative has to be supplied to the personal participle). Paley compared Ar. Pax 542

page 183 note 5 Proc. Camb. Philol. Soc., Michaelmas Term 1897, p. 16.

page 183 note 6 is rare, but cf. Thuc. 2. 76. 4 a cogent parallel.7 Compare the imagery of 448–9

page 183 note 7 Compare the imagery of 448–9 ὃταν τις ὡς λειμ⋯νος ἠρινο⋯ στ⋯χυν τ⋯λμας ⋯φαιρῇ κ⋯πολωτ⋯ζῃ ν⋯ους

page 183 note 8 It was printed by Paley, Wecklein (both editions), Murray, Grégoire, Ammendola, , Allen in the Concordance to Euripides (Cambridge, 1954)Google Scholar and, with some hesitation, by Nicklin, T. (The Suppliant Women of Euripides [Oxford, 1936]).Google Scholar

page 184 note 1 Cf. Hel. 654

page 184 note 2 Herod. 9. 102. 2; Thuc. 2. 22. 2, 7. 5. 4, 7. 36. 3, 8. 61. 3 (in these examples, with instrumental dative, or e.g. Thuc. 8. 61. 3); Dem. de Cor. 124, in Steph. 77; Xen. Hell. 3. 4. 8; with a comparative genitive of person at Dem. in Mid. 187.

page 184 note 3 Or, apparently, in Aristophanes or Menander; for later poetry, see Theoc. 8. 36, 11. 42. The converse, appears however absolutely in E. Fragm. 425. 1, with comparative in Theogn. 606 and Herod. 9. 70. 2 , see Xen. Cyr. 1. 3. 18, Gow on Theoc. 8. 17.

page 184 note 4 Oxford, 1939.

page 184 note 5 L.S.J, s.v. A.I.8: II. 3. 412; Il. 5. 895; II. 13. 2; Od. 20. 83.

page 184 note 6 Essays in Euripidean Drama (London, 1954). P. 149 n. 6.Google Scholar

page 184 note 7 Walbank, F. W., A Commentary on Polyrius i (Oxford, 1957)Google Scholar, ad loc, accepts the oeading of L; he records the discovery at ifannina recently of a similar verse inscribed on a marble relief: : see J.H.S. lxvi (1946), 112.Google Scholar

page 184 note 8 See the Commentary of E. R. Dodds, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1960).

page 184 note 9 See the Commentary of M. Platnauer Oxford, 1938).

page 184 note 10 He had great wealth (861), but used it moderately (862); his disposition was that of a poor man, shunning the lavish tables of the ostentatious (862–4) moderation was for him the chief virtue (864–6); a true and honest friend, he upheld his promise without fail (867–71).1 This is Murray's text, followed by E. R. Dodds; Plutarch, Solon 1, has

page 185 note 1 This is Murray's text, followed by E. R. Dodds; Plutarch, Solon I, has τυφομ⋯ν ⋯δροῡ

page 185 note 2 Musgrave, S., Exercitationum in Euripidem Libri Duo, (Lugd. Batavorum, 1762), pp. 133–7Google Scholar, ‘emendationes in Euripidem viri mihi amicissimi’.

page 185 note 3 On the meaning (and accentuation) of see Wilamowitz's, Com mentary on H.F. 253.Google Scholar

page 185 note 4 See Zuntz, G., The Political Plays of Euripides (Manchester, 1955), p. 11.Google Scholar

page 185 note 5 Cf. the notorious passage Hipp. 1102–25, where masc. participles (singular) occur in the strophes, fern, in the antistrophes. Some editors accept the masc. forms from the female Chorus (cf. Kühner-Gerth i. 83), others follow Verrall in arguing the appearance of a second Chorus of huntsmen (i.e. from w. 61–73)—or yet other explanations are found. There is no defence for the masc. in Supp. 967: 969, 970.

page 185 note 6 Gr. Grammatik i–iii (München, 1939–53).

page 185 note 7 Sophoclis Fabulae (Oxford, 1924).Google Scholar

page 185 note 8 Sophocle (Collection Budé) iii (Paris, 1960).Google Scholar

page 185 note 9 ‘Sivera lectio’: L.S.J. The form does not occur in the remains of Isocrates: see Preuss, S., Index Isocrateus, Leipzig 1904Google Scholar. Cf. Isoc. Epist. 4 (Antipater). 13 (obelized by Blass, F., Isocrates, 2nd ed. [Leipzig, 1904]Google Scholar, and by Mathieu, G., Philippe et Lettres à Philippe [Paris, 1924])Google Scholar: has Pollux's citation of in this passage become corrupted?

page 186 note 1 Pearson, A. C., Heraclidae (Cambridge, 1907),Google Scholar ad loc, also doubted the superlative in —but in his Sophocles of 1924 he accepted it in O.C. 1579.

page 186 note 2 It was admitted by Bechtel, F., Die griechischen Dialekte, iii (Berlin, 1924), pp. 222–4.Google Scholar

page 186 note 3 Oedipus Coloneus (Cambridge, 1885).Google Scholar

page 186 note 4 His remedy was proposed with typical bluntness in Griechische Verskunst (Berlin, 1920, p. 550.Google Scholar

page 186 note 5 In Analecta, Wilamowitz proposed in his translation of the play, Der Mütter Bittgang (Berlin, 1899)Google Scholar, Fritzsche's conjecture was from Hel. 213

page 186 note 6 Nomenclator Metricus (Heidelberg, 1929), p. 22.Google Scholar

page 186 note 7 Dale, A. M., The Lyric Metres of Greek Drama (Cambridge, 1948), p. 134.Google Scholar

page 186 note 8 Forms of (Schwyzer, , Gr. Grammatik i. 297, 358Google Scholar) were restored by Elmsley in Bacc. 15 and Arnaldus in A. Pers. 567.

page 186 note 9 Od. 17. 115; Pindar.

page 186 note 10 Cf. 1000 = 1023, H.F. 676 = 690, Ion 210 = 223; Denniston, J., Euripides' Electro (Oxford, 1939), p. 215.Google Scholar

page 186 note 11 In 94, Tr3 wanted to write for L's at the end of the verse. I discount the conjectures of Paley () and Murray () in 969: neither word is Tragic. Similarly, Headlam's in 970, integral to his general reconstruction of 968–70 (he deleted 960 in the strophe: C.R. xvi [1902], 254–5Google Scholar), deserves no place in the apparatus of Murray's Oxford Text.

page 187 note 1 Single seems never to stand intra metrum: I.T. 845 L ante corr. (trim. iamb.: Schroeder, O., Euripidis Cantica, 2nd ed. [Leipzig, 1928])Google Scholar: L post corr. (Tr1?) = P: Hermann: the lyric context (monostrophic) is mixed iambic and dochmiac.

page 187 note 2 Denniston, J., Greek Particles, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1954), p. 251,Google Scholar and Kühner-Gerth ii. 125, exemplify postponed (usually in Comedy or prose), but never with preceding in the same clause ( here goes closely with the pronoun : cf. 980 , on the entry of a new character (Evadne); Or. 348; Denniston, , op. cit., p. 208).Google Scholar

page 187 note 3 Fix, T., Euripides (Paris 1844).Google Scholar

page 187 note 4 C.Q. x (1916), 123.Google Scholar

page 187 note 5 Scaliger corrected L's : perhaps the error was unconscious (from ), or scriptural (confusion of and ∈: cf. 139 L: L (though Tr rewrote ∈): P).

page 187 note 6 Kühner-Gerth i. 346 accept the active in the sense ‘take hold of’ for poetry, comparing e.g. Od. 5. 428 , II. 23. 711; cf. 348 Anm. 5. Compare the analogous use of the active for the normal middle in Hel. 116 ; Tro. 882, And. 710.

page 187 note 7 is usual: Tro. 193, S. Aj. 890 in Tragedy; Homer