ἕως ἂν is a certain emendation of ὡς ἂν, which would mean ‘in whatever way,’ ‘however’ ( Ai. 1369). But, ‘however the sun may rise,’ etc., could not stand for, ‘so long as the sun continues to rise.’ “ὡς ἄν” never means, or could mean, ‘while.’ For “ἕως” scanned as one syllable (by synizesis), cp. Il. 17. 727, Od. 2. 148.Cp. O. C. 1361“ἕωσπερ” (“ὥσπερ” MSS.) “ἂν ζῶ”: Ai. 1117“ἕως” (“ὡς” MSS.) “ἂν ᾖς οἶός περ εἶ. ” αὑτὸς ἥλιος. Cp. Her. 8. 143“νῦν τε ἀπάγγελλε Μαρδονίῳ ὡς Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι, ἔστ᾽ ἂν ἥλιος τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἴῃ τῇ περ καὶ νῦν ἔρχεται, μήκοτε ὁμολογήσειν ἡμέας Ξέρξῃ”. ‘While the same sun rises,’ etc.,=‘while the sun rises as he now does.’ It is possible that αὑτὸς may be a reminiscence of “τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδόν” in Her. ; at any rate it is decidedly more forcible here than Brunck's οὗτος, which he illustrates from Plut. Arist. 10, “τὸν ἥλιον δείξας: ἄχρις ἂν οὖτος ταύτην πορεύηται τὴν πορείαν, Ἀθηναῖοι πολεμήσουσι Πέρσαις”. The gesture implied by οὗτος would be superfluous here, since in saying ταύτῃ, τῇδε, he points to the east and to the west. (For the combination of these pronouns, cp. 841 n.) αἴρῃ: there seems to be no other classical instance of this intrans. use; but cp. “ἀνίσχω, ἀνέχω” (of sunrise).
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part IV: The Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1932.
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