ὦ ταλαίφρων γύναι. We should expect either “ὦ ταλαῖφρον γύναι”, or “ὢ ταλαίφρων γυνή”, exclamatory, like El. 150“ἰὼ παντλάμων Νιόβα”. But the reading given above has the best MS. authority, and is tacitly accepted in several recent editions. I retain it, because the words, though addressed to Tecmessa, are in fact rather a comment upon her fate. Hence it is conceivable that the nom. of the adjective, usual in exclamations, should here be combined with a vocative of the person.
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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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