ἁθρήνεις. The MS. reading, ἃ θροεῖς, conflicts with the metre of the antistrophe (864), where the corresponding words are “ἁ λώβα”. In Ai. 582, where “θρηνεῖν” is right, “θροεῖν” was a v.l. (Paris A). The reasons for preferring “ἁθρήνεις” to ἃ θρηνεῖς are two. (1) A lengthening of “α^” before “θρ”, though not impossible in lyrics (cp. Ant. 612“το_ πρίν”), would be unusual. (2) The context favours the imperfect. In 850—852 Electra refers to the woes which she has so long endured. The Chorus now reply, ‘We have seen what thou wast mourning,’—‘the course of thy sorrow,’—through all those years (cp. 140 f.). The compromise, “ᾇ θρηνεῖς”, meets the first point, but not the second.
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VI: The Electra. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1894.
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