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ἐπὶ σμικρὸν, lit. ‘to a small extent,’ like “ἐπὶ πολύ, ἐπὶ μέγα, ἐπὶ μακρόν”, etc. Cp. Plat. Soph. 254B “κοινωνεῖν..τὰ μὲν ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγον, τὰ δ᾽ ἐπὶ πολλά”. G. Wolff's reading, ἐπὶ σμικρῶν, could mean, ‘in a few words,’ but is less natural here.

φράσαι is almost redundant, as in O.C. 35, 50, 1582.


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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    • Plato, Sophist, 254b
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