TWO NOTES ON EURIPIDES' "HECUBA"

The first note attempts to corroborate N. Lane's view according to which the phantom of Polydorus in the prologue of Hecuba does not appear on the roof of the stage-building but at the level of the stage. For this interpretation a) the correction of αἰωρούμενος to αἰωρούμενον (32) with σῶμα as its subject is suggested, on the basis that the verb does not function as a staging clue, and b) the meaning of αἰωροῦμαι "to wave, to float", as in Plutarch's Alc. 28, 3, seems preferable. The second note argues that the weather conditions which impeded the sailing of the Greek fleet should not be associated with Achilles' demand that Polyxena be sacrificed on his tomb, as suggested by K. Synodinou in her commentary on the play, and instead should be attributed to some god (Hec. 900), who should probably be identified with Zeus.