“For thee, in that thou comest to my halls.”
The best exposition that I have seen of the various difficulties of this speech, is that of Schoe., unfortunately too long for extract. As to κατηρτὺκὼς, Lin. has, in the notes to his edition, justly characterised his own translation of it, in the Dictionary as durissimum. The first ὃμως, of course, must go; and there is nothing better than changing it with Pauw, Müll., and Schoe., into ἐμ(ο)ις. The second ὅμως must likewise go; say ὁσιὼς with Müll. or ὅυτως with Schoe. There is then no difficulty.
Choral Hymn. This chorus contains a solemn enumeration of some of the main texts of Greek morality, and is in that view very important. The leading measure is the heptasyllabic trochaic verse so common in English, varied with cretics and dactyles. I have amused myself with giving a sort of imitation of the rhythm, so far as the trochees and cretics are concerned; to introduce the dactyles in the places where they occur, would produce—as I found by experiment—a tripping effect altogether out of keeping with the general solemnity of the piece.
“But who sports, a careless liver.”
’Tis impossible not to agree with Schoe. that these two lines are corrupt beyond the hope of emendation. He proposes to read—
τίς δὲ μηδὲν ἐυσεβεῖ
καρδίας ἄγᾳ τρεων.
A very ingenious restoration; and one which, as matters now stand, I should have little scruple in introducing into the text; but, for poetical purposes, I have not been willing to lose the image with which the present reading, ἐν φάει, supplies me and Fr.—