ἐξίσταται “κ.τ.λ.”: cp. Soph. Ph. 543“νυκτός τ᾽ ἀφεγγὲς βλέφαρον ἡλίου τε φῶς ι ἴσον βαδίζει τὸν ἐνιαύσιον κύκλον”, | “κοὐδέτερον αὐτῶν φθόνον ἔχει νικώμενον”. Plut. Mor.p. 604 A “καίτοι τῶν πλανήτων ἕκαστος ἐν μιᾷ σφαίρᾳ, καθάπερ ἐν νήσῳ, περιπολῶν διαφυλάττει τὴν τάξιν: Ἥλιος γὰρ οὐχ ὑπερβήσεται μέτρα, φησὶν ὁ Ἡράκλειτος: εἰ δὲ μή, Ἐρινύες μιν δίκης ἐπίκουροι ἐξευρήσουσι”. (Frag. XXIX of Heracleitus, ed. Bywater.) αἰανὴς has L's support here, as in El. 506, where see n. The prevalence of “αἰανῆς” in the texts of this passage may be partly explained by a desire of symmetry, since in v. 673 an epithet is given to “ἡμέρᾳ”. Both “αἰανής” and “αἰανός” were probably classical. Reading αἰανὴς here, we may best take κύκλος with ref. to the course or ‘round’ of night; cp. El. 1365“πολλαὶ κυκλοῦνται νύκτες”. τῇ λευκοπώλῳ: Aesch. Pers. 386“λευκόπωλος ἡμέρα ι πᾶσαν κατέσχε γαῖαν εὐφεγγὴς ἰδεῖν”, where the last two words suggested φέγγος … φλέγειν here,—epexegetic of “ἐξίσταται” (‘makes room for her, so that she may kindle,’ etc.). As to the ascription of white horses to deities or heroes, see on El. 706.
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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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