Note 93 — THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.
Theodore Alois Buckley translation
Perhaps we might render φράξαι, dam, in order to keep up the metaphor of the ship. Cf. Hom. Od. V. 346, φράξε δέ μιν ῥίπεσσι διαμπερὲς οἰσυίνῃσι. The closing the ports of a vessel to keep out the water will best convey the meaning to modern readers.