This passage has given great trouble to commentators, who cannot see how Electra should say that no person but herself could have owned this lock, which yet she knew was not her own. They have, accordingly, at least LIN., PEILE, and PAL., adopted DOBREES' emendation of ἑνος (one person, _i.e._, _Orestes_), instead of ἐμου, mine, which, though ingenious, does not appear to me at all necessary. Electra means to say, _nobody here could have done it but me; and yet it is not mine_ (this implied); _therefore, of course, the conclusion to be made is clear,_ ἐυξύμβολον τὸδ ἐστι δοξάσαι, _it must have been Orestes!_ Note 18 (p. 105). ". . . But lo! a further proof." Imagine such evidence produced as a step in the chain of circumstantial evidence before a court of justice! Even the perturbed state of Electra's mind may not redeem it from the charge of being grossly ludicrous. WELL. and FR., with that solemn conscientious gravity for which the Germans are notable, have, however, taken it under their wing, followed here, strangely enough, by PEILE. If the circumstance is to be defended at all, we had better suppose that Æschylus has given the details of the recognition exactly as he had received them from the old popular legend in the mouth of some story-teller. But why should not the father of tragedy, as well as the father of Epos, sometimes nod? Note 19 (p. 105). "Pray that fair end may fair beginning follow." This seems to have been a sort of proverbial prayer among the Greeks, used for the sake of a good omen, as we find Clytemnestra, in the Agamemnon (p. 57 above), saying the same thing. ῏Ευ γὰρ πρὸς ἐυ φαν(ε)ισι προσθήκη πελοι. v. 486. Note 20 (p. 106). ". . . behold this web." "The ladies, in the simplicity of ancient times, valued themselves much, and, indeed, were highly esteemed, for their skill in embroidery; those rich wrought vests made great part of the wealth of noble houses. Andromache, Helen, and Penelope, were celebrated for their fine work, of which Minerva herself was the patroness, and Dido was as excellent as the best of them."--POT. The student will recall a familiar instance from Virgil-- "Munera praetrea Iliacis erepta ruinis Ferre jubet; pallam signis auroque rigentem Et circumtextum croceo velamen acantho Ornatus Argivae Helenæ."--ÆNEID I. 651. evidently modelled on Odys. xix. 225. {362} Note 21 (p. 106). "May Power and Justice aid thee, mighty Twain." The reader will note this theological triad as very characteristic of the Greeks. POWER (Κράτος) is coupled with Jove, as being his most peculiar physical attribute. Personified, this attribute appears in the Prometheus; and in Homer, "Jove, the lofty-pealing Thunderer, and in power the chiefest god," answers to the opening words of our own solemn addresses to the Supreme Being--ALMIGHTY GOD. JUSTICE, again, belongs to Jove as the highest moral attribute; and this conjunction we find also very distinctly expressed in Homer.