κατηναρισμένας: for “ἐναρίζω” ‘to slay’ (properly with the further notion of ‘despoiling’) cp. O. C. 1733, Tr. 94.From the cognate form “κατεναίρομαι” we have “κατήναρες” in Ant. 871. ἐκ χειρὸς, by a human hand. The military sense, ‘at close quarters’ ( H. 7. 2. 14 “ἐνέβαλον καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς ἐμάχοντο”), is less fitting here. αὐτοῖς ποιμνίων ἐπιστάταις: cp. fr. 873 “αὐτοῖσιν ὅπλοις”. The idiom occurs in the Iliad (as 8. 24),—sometimes with “σύν” added (as 14. 498), a form of it found also, though not often, in later poetry ( Eur. Ion 32“αὐτῷ ξὺν ἄγγει”). ἐπιστάταις, ‘overseers,’ ‘masters’ or ‘guardians’ of them; as a warrior is “ὅπλων ἐπιστάτης” ( Aesch. Pers. 379), and a rower, “ἐρετμῶν” ( Helen. 1267). Cp. Eur. fr. 188. 4 “σκάπτων, ἀρῶν γῆν, ποιμνίοις ἐπιστατῶν”. The herdsmen being dead, there was no one who could identify the assailant.
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VII: The Ajax. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1907.
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