[B-Greek] Sophocles' Ajax (was "Voice matters again")

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Mar 26 15:41:07 EDT 2009


On Mar 26, 2009, at 2:46 PM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:

> Soph Ajax lines 7-8
>
>
> Εὖ δέ σ’ ἐκφέρει
> κυνὸς Λακαίνης ὥς τις εὔρινος  
> βάσις·
>
> EU DE S' EKFEREI
> KUNOS LAKAINHS hWS TIS EURINOS BASIS:
>
>
> On Mar 26, 2009, at 4:17 AM, Carl Conrad wrote:
>
>> I know that most B-Greekers could care less about verbal voice
>
> Carl,
> I read the EN EFESWi post. M. Aubrey mentioned the notion of demoting
> the agent. This morning I went back to Athena's opening words in Ajax
> to resolve some difficulties. Here the agent appears to be demoted by
> ellipsis, at lest that is how Jebb treats it. SE is the object of
> EKFEREI and there is no agent mentioned in the preceding context.
>
>
> It might be worth pointing out that subscribing to idea of a demoted
> agent does NOT necessarily indicate that one is working within a
> generative/transformational framework. Also, I don't see any reason
> why the notion of a demoted agent should conflict with the notion of
> subject affectedness.
>
> Another thing that caught my eye was the medial position of hWS, not
> sure I have ever seen this in the GNT.

But Sophocles is a poet, and no mean one at that. I hardly think that  
this passage offers significant evidence regarding any sort of  
standard practice of voice usage or modes of indicating agent. And I  
get the impression that it's the Sophoclean passage rather than voice  
that you really want to talk about here. And as I begin, I note that  
you've added a thought that perhaps BASIS is the subject of EKFEREI  
(yes, and I'd say with a SH implicitly attached to it: "your pacing (=  
TO PROBHNAI) brings you nicely forth. just like some keen-scented  
(pacing) of a Spartan hound. The context is Athena's observation of  
Odysseus sniffing out the tracks (of Ajax) and seeing that they lead  
to his tent.

    καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ σκηναῖς σε ναυτικαῖς  
ὁρῶ
    Αἴαντος, ἔνθα τάξιν ἐσχάτην ἔχει,
5 πάλαι κυνηγετοῦντα καὶ μετρούμενον
    ἴχνη τὰ κείνου νεοχάραχθ᾽, ὅπως  
ἴδῃς
    εἴτ᾽ ἔνδον εἴτ᾽ οὐκ ἔνδον. εὖ δέ  
ς᾽ ἐκφέρει
    κυνὸς Λακαίνης ὥς τις εὔρινος  
βάσις.
[KAI NUN EPI SKHNAIS SE NAUTIKAIS hORW
AIANOS, ENQA TAXIN ESCATHN ECEI,
PALAI KUNHGETOUNTA KAI METROUMENON
ICNH TA KEINOU NEOCARACQ', hOPWS IDHiS
EIT' ENDON EIT' OUK ENDON. EU DE S' EKFEREI
KUNOS LAKAINHS hWS TIS EURINOS BASIS.]

I don't think we have any "demotion of the subject" here. Athena has  
been watching the hunting "coursing" of Odysseus, and she makes that  
the subject of the sentence calling attention to the hunt's successful  
"outcome" (EKFEREI).

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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