ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν goes closely with φίλους,—‘friends, as it was reasonable to suppose them.’ The only peculiarity is that “ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν” here refers to a just hope felt at a past moment, and not to the fitness of a past fact (as if the sense was, ‘friends, as they naturally were,’—or, ‘having gone, as I naturally did’). Cp. Plat. Menex. 247B “φίλοι παρὰ φίλους ἡμᾶς ἀφίξεσθε.” τά τ᾽ ἄλλ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἦν: Homer describes the “κλισία” of Achilles as handsomely furnished (cp., e.g., Il. 24. 597), and it now contained the treasures which Priam had brought as the “Ἑκτορέης κεφαλῆς ἀπερείσἰ ἄποινα” (ib. 228—236: 579).
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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