A bow and arrows are scattered on the ground,
which formerly were borne by my arms to shield me,
they protected my ribs and were protected by me (whatever that’s supposed to mean)
My translation of παρασπίζοντ is based on LSJ,
A. [select] bear a shield beside, i.e. fight beside, stand by, “ἅρμασιν” E.Ion 1528 ; τινι D.H.3.19 : abs., E.Ph.1435 : metaph., [“τόξα] παρασπίζοντ᾽ ἐμοῖς βραχίοσι”
The “metaphorical” annotation is too elliptical for me but I think they might mean it’s used in the sense of “to shield” (to protect) rather than to “bear a physical shield”. On the other hand, “my arms used to bear a shield that protected my ribs” would make a lot more sense than the bow and arrrow protecting his ribs. I’m utterly mystified by the final words about the bow and arrow (or shield) being protected by Heracles.
Almost the normal description of a tight hoplite formation where you protect the guy next to you and he protects you.
I haven’t ever read this play, but from these 3 quoted lines, it seems that he is metaphorically describing his weapons as his fellow soldiers, now dead and scattered on the ground after battle.
The metaphor consists in the participle’s momentarily conferring the defensive function of the shield on the conventionally offensive weaponry of bows and arrows. (To lose your shield is seriously shameful, cf. the outrageous nonchalance of Archilochus’ notorious ἐρρέτω· ἐξαῦτις κτήσομαι οὐ κακίω, “The hell with it. I’ll get another one just as good.”)
I don’t mean to ruin mwh’s Christmas like whatever it was I said to provoke his Thanksgiving tantrums, but that doesn’t explain the third line.
I don’t see any scholium for this line, but I see that Coleridge’s translation explicitly follows my understanding with his “like trusty squires to my arm”.
The next line continues the metaphor:
οὔ που κατῆλθον αὖθις εἰς Ἅιδου πάλιν
He is surrounded by the “corpses” of his bow and arrows, and therefore wonders if he is in the realm of the dead.
He has just awoken from his madness and sees his arrows scattered about and finds himself in a room in chains.He doesn’t know where he is and asks whether he’s gone to hell a second time (he went the first time to rescue Theseus). I don’t see how mwh’s explanation is inconsistent with vv. 1100 or 1101. I suppose the translator extracts “like a trusty squire” from παρ- in παρασπίζοντ’, and maybe Joel’s observation that παρασπίζοντ’ conveys the idea that H.'s arrows are like a protective shield wielded by someone else alongside H. has merit, but I don’t think it runs counter to mwh’s explanation of the metaphor. And I don’t see any suggestion that the arrows are likened to corpses of fallen comrades.
I guess the third line could also mean that he is accustomed to bearing the bow and arrow on his person where he shields them from being damaged by others, as opposed to being scattered on the floor of the temple, where they could be trampled on by anyone.
Thanks for the slug-fest of interpretations, in any case. It’s really hard to imagine how a whole amphitheater could understand such abstruse metaphorical speech on the fly when it requires so much analysis. Or maybe there was some idiomatic use of those terms that isn’t clear to us moderns but was readily understandable to contemporary audiences.
Joel, What is this about my “tantrums”? And what is it with your hostility? You say you’ve never read the play. Now is your chance to remedy that.
The metaphor is quite simple: his weapons are described as formerly παρασπίζοντ’ ἐμοῖς βραχίοσιν, as if they are not bows and arrows but shields. It’s a classic example of a metaphor. The next line is quite independent and has nothing metaphorical about it.
Scattered on the ground are my bow and feathered arrows, stout allies ere now to these arms of mine, allies who saved my skin while I took care of them.
It’s true he’s surrounded by corpses, but they’re his wife and kids.
You had one of your regular outbursts of emotional incontinence in the Thanksgiving thread. Yes, I’m going to be hostile to you going forward.
Hylander,
The Kovacs translation (or revision) personalizes the weapons just as much as the Coleridge translation does. Coleridge’s “trusty squires” now become “stout allies”. Both translators saw what Euripides was doing here.
Yes, the corpses of the family add to the pathos and power of the image.