Antigone. Sophocles. Berlin. 1806.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by Tufts University.
Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) (Latin) (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
mvp-comment-92-1 ἐκ πάντων 1 δίχα 2
mvp-comment-92-2 ἔστειλ’ ἱκέσθαι 3 τοῦτο μέν 4
mvp-comment-92-3 σέβοντας 5
mvp-comment-92-4 θρόνων . . κράτη 6
mvp-comment-93-1 ἡνίκ’ Οἰδίπους 7 κείνων 8 κείνων παῖδας 9 ἡνίκ’ . . ὤρθου πόλιν 10 ἐπεὶ διώλετο 11 τοῦτο μέν . . τοῦτ’ αὖθις 12
mvp-comment-93-2 καί 13 καί 14
mvp-comment-93-3 ἐμπέδοις φρονήμασιν 15 ἐμπέδους 16 ἐμπέδοις 17
mvp-comment-94-1 ὅτε 18
mvp-comment-94-2 πρὸς διπλῆς μ. 19 διπλῆς . . μίαν 20
mvp-comment-94-3 παίσαντες . . πληγέντες 21
mvp-comment-94-4 αὐτόχειρι … μιάσματι 22
mvp-comment-95-1 ἐγὼ . . δή 23
mvp-comment-95-2 κράτη 24
mvp-comment-95-3 γένους κατ’ ἀγχιστεῖα τῶν ὀλ. 25
mvp-comment-96-1 ἀμήχανον δέ 26 δέ 27 δέ 28
mvp-comment-96-2 Demosthenes, in his speech on the Embassy (343 B.C.), quotes this passage (vv. 175—190) as illustrating maxims
mvp-comment-96-3 which Aeschines had violated, though, accustomed as he had been to play tritagonists' parts, he ought to have known them by heart (or. 19 § 247).
mvp-comment-97-1 ψυχήν 29 φρόνημα 30 γνώμην 31
mvp-comment-98-1 ἀρχαῖς 32 νόμοισιν 33
mvp-comment-98-2 ἐντριβής 34
mvp-comment-98-3 φανῇ 35
mvp-comment-99-1 ἐμοὶ γάρ 36 γάρ 37 πᾶσαν … πόλιν 38
mvp-comment-99-2 μὴ … ἅπτεται 39 ὅστις μὴ ἅπτεται 40
mvp-comment-99-3 ἐκ φ. του 41
mvp-comment-99-4 ἐγκλῄσας ἔχει 42
mvp-comment-99-5 νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι 43
mvp-comment-100-1 μείζον’ 44 ἀντὶ τῆς...πάτρας 45 ἤ 46 μεῖζον 47
mvp-comment-100-2 οὐδαμοῦ λέγω 48
mvp-comment-101-1 ἐγὼ γάρ 49 γάρ 50 τοῦτο γιγνώσκων 51 ἴστω 52
mvp-comment-102-1 οὔτ’ ἂν σιωπήσαιμι 53
mvp-comment-103-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς 54 ὁμοῦ 55
mvp-comment-103-2 ἀντὶ τῆς σωτηρίας 56 τῆς 57
mvp-comment-104-1 ἄνδρα δυσμενῆ χθονός 58
mvp-comment-104-2 ἐμαυτῷ 59 φίλον 60 θείμην 61
mvp-comment-105-1 ἡ σῴζουσα 62
mvp-comment-105-2 ταύτης 63 ὀρθῆς 64
mvp-comment-105-3 τοὺς φίλους ποιούμεθα 65
mvp-comment-105-4
εὐτυχούσῃ πολλῷ μᾶλλον διασῴζεται. ‘Pericles Thucydidis 11. 60 Sophoclem videtur respexisse, vel eum Sophocles,’ is Dobree's remark (
Adv. 2. 37
); but there is no adequate ground for such a view. The verbal coincidence of
ὀρθῆς with
ὀρθουμένην may well have been accidental. What is really common to poet and historian is the general sentiment of Periclean Athens. For another example of this, cp.
O. C. 116
n.
mvp-comment-106-1 νόμοισι 66
mvp-comment-106-2 αὔξω 67
mvp-comment-107-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε 68
mvp-comment-107-2 τῶν ἀπ’ Οἰδίπου 69
mvp-comment-108-1 δορί 70 δόρει 71
mvp-comment-109-1 τὰ πάντ’ ἐφαγνίσαι 72 ἐπί 73 ἐφαγνίσαι 74 ἀφαγνίσαι 75 ἀπό 76
mvp-comment-110-1 τοῖς ἀρίστοις 77
mvp-comment-110-2 ἔρχεται κάτω 78
mvp-comment-111-1 L has Πολυνείκην 79
mvp-comment-111-2 λέγω 80
mvp-comment-112-1 γτ=ν πατρῴαν . . καὶ θεοὺς . . πρῆσαι 81
mvp-comment-112-2 θ. τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς 82
mvp-comment-112-3 κατελθών 83
mvp-comment-112-4 γ)θέλησε μέν … ἠθέλ. δέ 84 ἠθέλησε μὲν 85
mvp-comment-112-5 πρῆσαι 86
mvp-comment-112-6 κατ’ ἄκρας 87
mvp-comment-112-7 αἵματος κ. πάσασθαι 88
mvp-comment-112-8 τοὺς δὲ … ἄγειν 89
mvp-comment-113-1 The traditional ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι τάφῳ 90 ἐκκεκήρυκται τάφῳ 91 ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι λέγω 92 τάφῳ 93 κτερίζειν 94 τάφῳ 95 κτερίζειν 96 μήτε 97 κωκῦσαι 98 τάφῳ 99 λέγω 100 τάφῳ 101 ἐκκεκ 102
mvp-comment-114-1 ἐᾶν δ 103 ἄθαπτον, αἰκισθέντ’ ἰδεῖν 104 δέμας καὶ πρὸς οἰωνῶν καὶ πρὸς κυνῶν ἐδεστόν 105 αἰκισθέντ 106 αἰκισθέντ 107 ἐδεστόν 108 αἰκισθέν τ’, δέμας 109
mvp-comment-114-2 δέμας 110
mvp-comment-114-3 ἰδεῖν 111
mvp-comment-115-1 φρόνημα 112
mvp-comment-115-2 ἔκ γ’ ἐμοῦ 113
mvp-comment-116-1 The MSS. have τιμὴν προέξουσ’ ..τῶν ἐνδ. 114 τιμήν 115 τιμῆ 116 προσέξους 117
mvp-comment-117-1 τιμήσεται 118
mvp-comment-118-1 I print Dindorf's κἀς 119 καὶ 120 σοὶ ταῦτ’ ἀρέσκει 121 Κρέον 122 ταὔτ 123 ταῦτ’ 124
mvp-comment-119-1 In παντί πού γ’ 125 σοί γ’ … που 126 ἔνεστι 127 χὡπόσοι ζῶμεν 128 πέρι 129
mvp-comment-120-1 ὡς ἂν … ἦτε 130 πῶς ἂν … εἶτε 131
mvp-comment-120-2 σκοποί 132
mvp-comment-120-3 νυν 133 νῦν 134
mvp-comment-120-4 τῶν εἰρ 135
mvp-comment-121-1 πρόθες τοῦτο 136 βαστάζειν 137
mvp-comment-121-2 τοῦ νεκροῦ γ’ 138
mvp-comment-122-1 τί δῆτ’ ἂν … ἐπεντέλλοις 139
mvp-comment-122-2 The reading ἄλλῳ 140 τοῦτο 141
mvp-comment-122-3 ἐπιχωρεῖν 142
mvp-comment-122-4 ἀπιστοῦσιν 143
mvp-comment-122-5 τάδε, 144
mvp-comment-123-1 ὃς 145 ἐρᾷ 146
mvp-comment-123-2 καὶ μὴν 147 γε 148 μισθός 149
mvp-comment-123-3
requital of disobedience is that.’ For
καὶ μήν so used, cp.
O. T. 836
, 1004 f.,
El. 556
.
mvp-comment-123-4 τὸ κέρδος 150
mvp-comment-123-5 διώλεσεν 151
mvp-comment-124-1 ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ 152
mvp-comment-124-2 ὅπως 153
mvp-comment-124-3 τάχους ὕπο 154 τάχους 155
mvp-comment-125-1 ἐξάρας 156
mvp-comment-125-2 φροντίδων 157 ἐπιστάσεις 158
mvp-comment-125-3 ὁδοῖς 159
mvp-comment-125-4 κυκλῶν 160
mvp-comment-126-1 ψυχὴ γὰρ ηὔδα 161 πολλὰ 162 μυθουμένη 163
mvp-comment-127-1 τάλας … τλήμων 164
mvp-comment-127-2 μένεις 165 μενεῖς 166 αὖ 167
mvp-comment-127-3 πῶς … οὐκ 168
mvp-comment-127-4 ἀλγυνεῖ 169
mvp-comment-128-1 ἑλίσσων 170
mvp-comment-128-2 ἤνυτον 171
mvp-comment-128-3 σχολῇ βραδύς 172
mvp-comment-129-1 τέλος γε μέντοι 173
mvp-comment-129-2 ἐνίκησεν 174
mvp-comment-129-3
ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν πόλιν. That
μολεῖν should not be regarded as the subject to
ἐνίκησε, is shown by such an example as
Her. 8.9
ἐνίκα τὴν ἡμέρην ἐκείνην αὐτοῦ μείναντάς τε καὶ αὐλισθέντας μετέπειτα νύκτα μέσην παρέντας πορεύεσθαι, where the length of the interval excludes such a view. The personal constr. occurs below, 274; cp.
Thuc. 2.12
ἦν...Περικλέους γνώμη...νενικηκυῖα.
mvp-comment-130-1 σοί 175 μολεῖν 176 σοί 177 φράσων 178 φράσω δ 179 κεἰ 180 κεἴ σοι 181 σοί. 182
mvp-comment-130-2 τὸ μηδέν 183
mvp-comment-131-1 τῆς ἐλπίδος 184
mvp-comment-131-2 δεδραγμένος 185 πεφραγμένος 186 πεπραγμένος 187
mvp-comment-131-3 τὸ μὴ παθεῖν ἄν 188
mvp-comment-131-4
πάθοιμι ἄν, depending on
ἐλπίδος...δεδρ. as=
ἐλπίζων: for the art. with infin.,
cp. 78
n.
mvp-comment-131-5 τὸ μόρσιμον 189
mvp-comment-132-1 ἀνθ’ οὗ 190
mvp-comment-132-2 τὸ γὰρ | πρᾶγμ’ 191 γάρ 192
mvp-comment-133-1 εὖ γε στοχάζει 193 στοχάζει 194 ἀποφράγνυσαι 195 στοχάζομαι 196
mvp-comment-133-2 κἀποφράγνυσαι 197
mvp-comment-133-3 τὸ πρᾶγμα 198
mvp-comment-134-1 δηλοῖς δ’ ὥς τι ς. 199
mvp-comment-135-1 τὰ δεινά 200 γάρ 201
mvp-comment-135-2 ποτ 202
mvp-comment-135-3 ἀπαλλαχθείς 203
mvp-comment-136-1 καὶ δή 204
mvp-comment-136-2 θάψας 205 κἀπί 206
mvp-comment-136-3 διψίαν 207
mvp-comment-136-4 κἀφαγιστεύσας 208 ἃ χρή 209
mvp-comment-137-1 ἀνδρῶν 210
mvp-comment-137-2 οὔτε του γενῇδος … οὐ δικέλλης 211 οὔτε … οὐ 212 γενῄς 213 γενῄς 214 δίκελλα 215
mvp-comment-137-3 δικ. ἐκβολή 216 ἐκβ. 217 στύφλος 218 χέρσος 219 ἀρρώξ 220
mvp-comment-137-4 ἐπημαξευμένη 221 ἐπ‐ 222 ἐφ‐ 223
mvp-comment-137-5 ἀλλ’ ὁ ἐργάτης ἄσημός τις ἦν 224
mvp-comment-138-1 It is still the early morning of the day on which the drama opens. The Argives having fled in the night, Creon had published his edict shortly before dawn. Antigone had done her deed in the short interval between the publication of the edict and the beginning of the watch over the corpse. ὁ πρῶτος ἡμεροσκόπος 225 ἡμεροσκ. 226
mvp-comment-138-2 δείκνυσι … παρῆν 227
mvp-comment-138-3 δυσχερές 228
mvp-comment-139-1 ὁ μὲν 229
mvp-comment-139-2 τυμβήρης μὲν οὔ 230 τυμβ. 231 λεπτὴ δ’ … ἐπῆν 232
mvp-comment-139-3 ἄγος φεύγοντος ὥς 233 ἄγος 234
mvp-comment-140-1 θηρός 235
mvp-comment-140-2 του 236 θηρός 237
mvp-comment-140-3 οὐ σπάσαντος 238 οὐ 239 σπάσαντος 240 σπάσαντος οὐδ’ ἐλθόντος 241
mvp-comment-141-1 λόγοι δ’ … φύλακα 242 λόγοι κακοὶ ἐρρόθουν 243 ἐρρόθουν 244
mvp-comment-141-2
γλώσσης ῥόθος, of an unintelligible jargon.
mvp-comment-141-3 ἐλέγχων 245
mvp-comment-141-4 κἂν ἐγίγνετο 246
mvp-comment-141-5 τελευτῶς 247
mvp-comment-141-6 ὁ κωλύσων 248
mvp-comment-142-1 ἦν … οὑξειργ. 249
mvp-comment-142-2 ἐναργής 250
mvp-comment-142-3 ἀλλ’ 251
mvp-comment-142-4 ἕφευγε μὴ εἰδέναι 252
mvp-comment-142-5 μὴ 253 εἰδέναι 254
mvp-comment-143-1 μύδρους 255
mvp-comment-143-2
a
red-hot mass of metal, and that the custom was symbolical of an older use of the
μύδρος in ordeals by fire. This would explain how the Alexandrian poets of the 3rd cent. B.C. (Lycophron, Callimachus) came to use the word
μύδρος, in defiance of its etymology, as simply ‘a lump’ (or even ‘a stone’). They supposed that the
μύδροι had been cold masses.
mvp-comment-144-1 πῦρ διέρπειν 256
mvp-comment-144-2 θεοὺς ὁρκ. 258
mvp-comment-144-3 τὸ μήτε δρ 259
mvp-comment-144-4 μήτ’ είργασμένῳ 260 μηδ 261
mvp-comment-145-1 πλέον 262
mvp-comment-145-2 λέγει 263
mvp-comment-145-3 τις εἷς 264
mvp-comment-146-1 προὔτρεψεν 265
mvp-comment-146-2 οὐ γὰρ εἴχομεν 266
mvp-comment-146-3 As ἀντιφωνεῖν 267 δρῶντες 268 ὅπως δρῶντες 269 εἴχομεν 270
mvp-comment-147-1 σοί 271
mvp-comment-147-2 ταῦτ’ ἐνίκα 272
mvp-comment-147-3 πάλος 273 καθαιρεῖ 274
mvp-comment-147-4 τἀγαθόν 275 —ἄκων οὐχ ἑκοῦσιν 276
mvp-comment-148-1 ἐμοί 277 βουλεύει 278 μή 279
mvp-comment-148-2 τι 280
mvp-comment-148-3 θεήλατον, 281
mvp-comment-148-4 ἡ ξύννοια 282
mvp-comment-148-5 πάλαι 283
mvp-comment-149-1 πρὶν ὀργῆς καί με μεστῶσαι 284 καί 285 πρίν 286 μεστῶσαι 287 καί 288 με 289
mvp-comment-149-2 κἀμέ 290
mvp-comment-149-3 μεστῶσαι 291
mvp-comment-150-1 πότερον 292 ἔκρυπτον 293
mvp-comment-150-2 ἀμφικίονας ναούς 294
mvp-comment-150-3 κἀναθήματα 295
mvp-comment-150-4
Her. 1.50
;
Thuc. 6.46
; Isae. or. 7 § 41.) The wealth of Delphi in
ἀναθήματα is already proverbial in
Il. 9.404
; at Thebes the
Ἰσμήνιον (
O. T. 21
) also seems to have been rich in them. After
ἀνάθημα the gen. denotes either
ὁ ἀναθείς (as more oft.), or, as here, the divine owner.
mvp-comment-150-5 γῆν ἐκείνων 296 πυρώσων 297
mvp-comment-150-6 νόμους διασκεδῶν 298
mvp-comment-150-7 διασκεδῶν 299
mvp-comment-151-1 τοὺς κακοὺς τιμῶντας … θεούς; 300
mvp-comment-152-1 ταῦτα 301 μόλις φέροντες 302 καὶ πάλαι 303
mvp-comment-152-2 πόλεως ἄνδρες 304
mvp-comment-152-3 ἐρρόθουν 305
mvp-comment-152-4 ἐμοί 306
mvp-comment-152-5 κάρα σείοντες 307
mvp-comment-152-6 ὑπὸ ζυγῷ 308
mvp-comment-152-7 λόφον 309
mvp-comment-152-8 δικαίως 310
mvp-comment-152-9
equal poise’ (
New Crat. 371).—
ὡς = ὥστε (
O. T. 84
):
στέργειν
311
mvp-comment-153-1 τῶνδε 312 ἐκ 313
mvp-comment-153-2 τούτους, 314
mvp-comment-153-3 εἰργάσθαι 315 ἐξεπίσταμαι 316 παρηγμένους 317
mvp-comment-154-1 νόμισμ’ 318
mvp-comment-154-2 ἔβλαστε 319
mvp-comment-154-3 πορθεῖ 320
mvp-comment-154-4 τόδ’ 321 ἄνδρας 322
mvp-comment-155-1 τόδ’ ἐκδ. καὶ παραλλάσσει 323 ἵστασθαι 324 καὶ παραλλάσσει 325
mvp-comment-155-2 ἵστασθαι πρός τι 326
165-166. mvp-comment-103-1 τὰ Λαΐου. κράτη Knowing that you ever duly reverenced the enthroned authority of Laius. Λαΐου is governed by θρόνων κράτη taken as one word, θρόνων being added to supplement κράτη. σέβοντας and μένοντας, infr. 166, 169, are imperfects = ὅτι ἐσέβετε .. ἐμένετε,
167. mvp-comment-104-1 ὤρθου Kept on a safe course: i. e. Governed prosperously. The word recalls the happiness of the first period of Oedipus' rule. Cp. Plat. Men. P. 99 C, ᾗ οἱ πολιτικοὶ ἄνδρες χρώμενοι τὰς πόλεις ὀρθοῦσιν : Phaedr. 244 B. 168-169. ἀμφὶ .. φρονήμασιν]. Ye still remained loyal to their issue with unshaken minds. ἀμφί, Surrounding, as ready to defend. The apodosis is made to suit the latter protasis, ἐπεὶ διώλετο, and that of the former protasis, ἡνίκ' . . πόλιν (viz. ἐκείνῳ ὁμοίως πειθομένους οι the like), is thus absorbed.
167. mvp-comment-104-2 κείνων . . παῖδας i. e. Sons of Oedipus and grandsons of Laius.
172. mvp-comment-105-1 αὐτόχειρι Fratricidal. See Essay on Language p. 91.
174. mvp-comment-106-1 γένους κατ᾿ ἀγχιστεῖα By privilege of being nearest in kindred (ὡς ἀγχιστεύων) to the dead. Cp. πρωτεία, etc.
175. mvp-comment-107-1 παντὸς ἀνδρός Of any man, and therefore of me.
176. mvp-comment-108-1 ψυχήν. . φρόνημα.. γνώμην As observed in the Essay on Language pp. 91-3, the opposition between these words is chiefly formal. So far as there is any difference between them, ψυχήν is mind, or nature, φρόνημα, spirit, or way of thinking, (cp. infr. 207), and γνώμην, judgment or meaning.
176-177. mvp-comment-109-1 πρὶν ἂν ἀρχαῖς.. φανῇ “Until he be seen in his true colours through being tried in office and administration.' According to the saying of Bias, ἀρχὴ τὸν ἄνδρα δείξει (Arist. Eth. Nic. 5. 1. 16). There is an allusion to the detection of spurious coin through wear. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 390-392, κακοῦ δὲ χαλκοῦ τρόπον | τρίβῳτε καὶ προσβολαῖς | μελαμπαγὴς πέλει | δικαιωθείς (where Herm. says, 'Vereor autem ne non de lapide Lydio loquatur poeta, sed aes adulterinum dicat, quod usu tritum amisso falso splendore cognoscitur'): Hdt. 7. 10, ὥσπερ τὸν χρυσὸν τὸν ἀκήρατον, αὐτὸν μὲν ἐπ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ οὐ διαγινώσκομεν, ἐπεὰν δὲ
178. mvp-comment-110-1 ἐμοὶ γάρ The connection is not strictly logical. γάρ explains not the difficulty of discerning the difference between rulers, but the essential point on which the difference turns. In setting forth this, Creon also declares the spirit of his own policy. He is feeling his way with the elders, of whose submission he is not perfectly sure, and beats about the bush before coming to the point with them. Hence he repeats the same thought in different words.
178-183. mvp-comment-111-1 The sentiment of these lines is closely parallel to Plat. Legg. 9. 856 B, ὃς ἂν ἄγων εἰς ἀρχὴν ἄνθρωπον δουλῶται μὲν τοὺς νόμους, ἑταιρείας δὲ τὴν πόλιν ὑπήκοον ποιῇ, καὶ βιαίως δὲ πᾶν τοῦτο πράττων καὶ στάσιν ἐγείρων παρανομῇ· τοῦτον δὴ διανοεῖσθαι δεῖ πάντων πολεμιώτατον ὅλῃ τῇ πόλει, τὸν δὲ κοινωνοῦντα μὲν τῶν τοιούτων μηδενί, τῶν μεγίστων δὲ μετέχοντα ἀρχῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει, λεληθότα τε ταῦτα αὐτὸν ἢ μὴ λεληθότα, δειλίᾳ δ᾽ ὑπὲρ πατρίδος αὑτοῦ μὴ τιμωρούμενον, δεῖ δεύτερον ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν τοιοῦτον πολίτην κακῇ.
180.
mvp-comment-112-1
ἐγκλείσας Locked up. Cp. Shakespeare, Richard II, 1. 3,
Within my mouth you have engaoled my tongue, | Doubly portcullised with my teeth and lips. Infr. 505, εἰ μὴ γλῶσσαν ἐγκλείσαι φόβος.
182. mvp-comment-113-1 μείζον᾽.. ἀντί Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. Cp. Od. 7. 216, στυγερῇ ἐπὶ γαστέρι κύντερον.
183. mvp-comment-114-1 οὐδαμοῦ λέγω Plat. Gorg. 456 C, οὐδαμοῦ ἂν φανῆναι, supr. 32. 184 ff. Having shown what makes the good and bad ruler, Creon declares his own intentions, first generally, and then (192 ff.) with reference to Eteocles and Polynices. γάρ implies that his opinion will be proved by his acts. In both statements (178-183, 184-190) the stress is laid on the duty of renouncing friendship with the public enemy (182-183, 187-188), which is the ground of the present edict, Polynices being presumably Creon's private friend: supr. 174.
186. mvp-comment-115-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς Menacing my people. Cp. supr. l. 10: Aesch. Prom. 1089-1090, τοιάδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἐμοὶ ῥιπὴ Διόθεν, | τεύχουσα φόβον, στείχει φανερῶς. For the dative, Essay on Language § 12. p. 18.
187. mvp-comment-116-1 δυσμενή χθονός Who is my country's foe. The genitive avoids the awkwardness of two datives, χθονί and ἐμαυτῷ, coming close together.
189-190.
mvp-comment-117-1
She it is who preserves us, and we make friends only while she carries us in the course of public safety; i. e. The friendship that is made against the interest of the state is hollow and insecure. Cp. Thuc. 2. 60: (Pericles loq.) ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι πόλιν πλείω ξύμπασαν ὀρθουμένην ὠφελεῖν τοὺς ἰδιώτας, ἢ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον τῶν πολιτῶν εὐπραγοῦσαν, ἀθρόαν δὲ σφαλλομένην, κ.τ.λ.: Zaleuc. ap. Stob. (Mullach, p. 543), πόλις γὰρ εὖ ἀγομένη μεγίστη ὄρθωσίς ἐστι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πάντα ἔνι, καὶ τούτου σωζομένου πάντα σώζεται καὶ τούτου φθειρομένου πάντα διαφθείρεται: Shakespeare. King John, 3. 1, Pand.
All form is formless, order orderless, | Save what is opposite to England's love. On the change of pronouns (ἥδε.. ταύτης), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 32. The article in τοὺς φίλους points the reference to ll. 182-183.
191. mvp-comment-118-1 τοιοίσδε νόμοισι By such principles as these. Cp. infr. 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;
192. mvp-comment-119-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε i. e. In full accord with them. Cp. Plat. Rep. 4. 421 C, ἆρ᾽ οὖν .. καὶ τὸ τούτου ἀδελφὸν δύξω σοι μετρίως λέγειν; Lys. 2. 64, ἀδελφὰ τὰ βουλεύματα τοῖς ἔργοις : Ο. C. 1262, ἀδελφὰ . . τούτοισιν.
193. mvp-comment-120-1 τῶν ἀπ᾿ Οιδίπου For the pleo- 190 195 200 nastic use of the preposition, see above 150, 182, and notes.
195. mvp-comment-121-1 πάντ᾿ ἀριστεύσας δορί After proving himself in all ways the bravest in the war. For the aor., cp. Hdt. 9. 74, alib.
196. mvp-comment-122-1 τὰ πάντ᾽ ἐφαγνίσαι ‘Το add all sacred offerings.'
199. mvp-comment-123-1 θεοὺς τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς The gods of his race; i. e. Those honoured by the Cadmeans. The gods of the race also include the ancestors of the race. Infr. 938, θεοὶ προγενεῖς.
201. mvp-comment-124-1 πρῆσαι κατάκρας The city (γῆν = πόλιν) is thought of as the main object of the verb.
201. mvp-comment-124-2 ἠθέλησε δ' The correspondence of clauses (with μέν and δέ) is not perfect, the antithesis being due to afterthought.
201. mvp-comment-124-3 αἵματος .. πάσασθαι ‘Το repast him with blood of his own kin.' The expression suits the Epic colouring of the whole speech.
202. mvp-comment-125-1 τοὺς δέ The rest; i. e. Those not slain, as implied in the opposition το αἵματος κοινοῦ πάσασθαι. 203.
202. mvp-comment-125-2 ἐκκεκήρυκται Musgrave's correction has been generally adopted, lopted, and is probably right. The impersonal verb gives absoluteness to the expression. Wolff construes the inf. with λέγω in 198 (deleting the comma after τοῦδε), and Wecklein reads λέγω for τάφῳ. The slight corruption is probably due to a reminiscence of supr. 27.
205. mvp-comment-126-1 δέμας is accusative of limitation, and ἄθαπτον and ἐδεστόν are masculine. To leave him unburied, to have his flesh consumed by birds and dogs.
206. mvp-comment-127-1 αἰκισθέντ᾿ ἰδεῖν A spectacle of indignity. Lit. Outraged to behold. The infinitive is added after the participle, which is masculine.
207. mvp-comment-128-1 Cp. 176, ψυχήν τε καὶ φρόνημα καὶ γνώμην.
209-210. mvp-comment-129-1 θανών | καὶ ζῶν In death as well as in life. The first word is the more emphatic. Essay on Language p. 78.
211-212. mvp-comment-130-1 For the construction of the accusatives τὸν .. δύσνουν. . τὸν εὐμενῆ, after σοὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἀρέσκει as = οὕτω τάσσεις, or the like, cр. О. С. 1120, τέκν᾽ εἰ φανέντ᾽ ἄελπτα μηκύνω λόγον, and see Essay on Language § 16. p. 22. No emendation is necessary.
213. mvp-comment-131-1 παντί πού γ᾽ ἔνεστί σοι γε has been thought a useless insertion, and Dindorf reads πάντι που πάρεστί σοι. But δέ γε is not unsuitable to the connection, introducing the second premiss of an implied argument. The words of the chorus express the barest acquiescence in the will of the ruler. Cp. infr. 509, σοὶ δ᾽ ὑπίλλουσι στόμα. They hide their disapproval, and that is all. Cp. Richard III, 4. 2, 21, Buck. Your grace may do your pleasure.
215. mvp-comment-132-1 ὡς ἂν.. εἰρημένων Sc. οὕτω πράσσετε. The subjunctive with ὡς ἄν follows the implied imperative. Act, then, so as to see my words obeyed. Cp. Ο. Τ. 325, ὡς οὖν μηδ᾽ ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω : Plat. Phaedo 59 Ε, παραγγέλλουσιν, ὅπως ἂν τῇδε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τελευτήσῃ. The ellipse is idiomatic. It is not to be supposed either that Creon hesitates, or that the elders interrupt him.
218. mvp-comment-133-1 τί.. ἔτι 'What means then this charge further given by you to another?' τοῦτο, cogn. acc. = σκοποὶ εἶναι τῶν εἰρημένων : τί, suppl. predic. = With what meaning?' To what effect? ἄλλῳ = to another than the appointed guards. ἄλλο gives a poorer sense, What then is this other thing which you enjoin besides?
220. mvp-comment-134-1 ὃς .. ἐρᾷ As to be in love with death. For the irregular correlative (οὕτω .. ὅς), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 36. There is a confusion of οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐρᾷ and οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτω μῶρος ὥστε ἐρᾶν.
222. mvp-comment-135-1 The emphatic position of ἄνδρας at the beginning of the line shows that the word is intended to mark Creon's unconsciousness of the real source of danger. So infr. 1. 248. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1110: O. T. 928, al. So ὑπ᾿ ἐλπίδων shows how incapable he is of divining the motive of Antigone.
223-330. mvp-comment-136-1 The half-comic or rustic character of the watchman in this play is an extension of the common character of the messenger, whose natural rudeness of speech and thought brings into greater prominence the horror or pathos of the events he describes. The grotesqueness disappears when he speaks of the action of Antigone in 407-440. The employment of this artifice by Sophocles arises from the same motive to which Shakespeare gave a far wider range in such creations as the gravediggers in Hamlet, and the rural fellow in Antony and Cleopatra. The Messenger in the Trachiniae, the Corinthian in the Oedipus Tyrannus, Menelaus in the Ajax, the pretended Shipmaster in the Philoctetes, afford the same sort of contrast to the more tragic personages: and the superstition of the Coloniatae may be compared with the cowardice of the Phrygian slave in the Orestes of Euripides.
223-330.
mvp-comment-136-2
The vulgarity of the common-place Athenian of the fifth century в.с. takes the form of misplaced subtlety of wit. Cp.
Shak. Hamlet, 5. 1
,
We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. The age is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe.
223-224. mvp-comment-137-1 I am out of breath, but not with speed. It is not that I ran nimbly hither. Aristotle, Rhet. 3. 14. § 10, quotes 223 thus, Ἄναξ, ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ ὅπως σπουδῆς ὕπο.., adding, as if from the reply of Creon, τί φροιμιάζῃ; But it is as unsafe to follow his authority in this line, as it would be to substitute τί φροιμιάζῃ for εὖ γε στοχάζει in l. 241. It is evident that he is quoting from memory: and, although it is curious that the Scholiast uses the same word in his explanation, οὐ τοῦτο λέγω, ὅτι μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀσθμαίνων πρὸς σὲ πορεύομαι, yet this does not amount to a proof that this is the right reading. σπουδῆς may be the word which would be more naturally used in prose, but it is less pointed than τάχους in this connection. κοῦφον ἐξάρας πόδα is added in explanation of τάχους ὕπο. ἐξάρας, having set forth from the point of departure, like αἴρειν στόλον.
225. mvp-comment-138-1 For I had many stoppages by reason of thoughts, i. e. My thoughts cried halt to me (ἐπέστησάν με) again and again. Cp. Αj. 869, κοὐδεὶς ἐφίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν τόπος. The genitive φροντίδων is part causal, My thoughts checked me,' and part final, I stopped to think.
226. mvp-comment-139-1 ὁδοῖς As I came. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20. Ср. О. С. 553, ὁδοῖς ἐν ταῖσδ᾽ ἀκούων. Hearing of you on your coming hither.
227. mvp-comment-140-1 This mockery of dialectic is curiously significant of the earlier stage of rhetoric.
229. mvp-comment-141-1 κεἰ has the authority of the oldest MS. The reading of Par. A, καὶ .. ἀνδρός, has a certain liveliness, but is perhaps too abrupt.
231. mvp-comment-142-1 τοιαῦθ᾽ ἑλίσσων Turning round and round such thoughts as these. Cp. Plat. Phil. 19 (of the boyish dialectician), πάντα κινεῖ λόγον ἄσμενος, τότε μὲν ἐπὶ θάτερα κυκλῶν καὶ συμφορῶν εἰς ἕν, τότε δὲ πάλιν ἀνειλίττων καὶ διαμερίζων.
231. mvp-comment-142-2 σπουδῇ βραδύς The reading of L, σχολῇ βραδύς, Slowly because I stopped, is not pointed enough, and it seems probable that an oxymoron is intended in this as in the following line. The correction adopted by the Scholiast, σχολῇ ταχύς, secures this in rather an awkward way. That of Seyffert, which is here adopted (for the collocation of words, cp. the proverb σπεῦδε βραδέως), appears far more probable.
234. mvp-comment-143-1 This line was well explained by Dindorf in 1860: Dicturus erat σοὶ φράσοντα, sed propter verba interposita, κεί τὸ μηδὲν ἐξερῶ, mutata orationis forma infert φράσω δ ὅμως cum δε particula, ut Oed. T. 302, πόλιν μέν, εἰ καὶ μὴ βλέπεις, φρονεῖς δ' ὅμως | οἷᾳ νόσῳ σύνεστιν.' Essay on Language § 35. p. 59.
234. mvp-comment-143-2 τὸ μηδέν ῾Α vain report,' because the doer of the deed was still unknown.
235. mvp-comment-144-1 τῆς has the emphatic force of an antecedent: This hope, that ... δεδραγμένος] This reading is implied in the second scholium on the passage, ἀντειλημμένος τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐλήλυθα, and appears in the text of E and V³. (whence Aldus had it), and as a marginal reading of Aug. b. and of V¹. Clinging fast by the hope, is a natural and forcible expression, well suited to the style of the Φύλαξ : whereas ἐλπίδος πεφραγμένος or πεφαργμένοs, whether in the sense of Shut out from hope,' or Fortified by the hope, is not really admissible.
236. mvp-comment-145-1 That I cannot suffer anything but what is fated for me. Cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 263, πείσομαι τὸ μόρσιμον.
238. mvp-comment-146-1 τὸ γάρ For the light ending, cp infr. 327, 409, Ο. Τ. 553-554. τὸ δὲ | πάθημ᾽ ὁποῖον φῇς παθεῖν δίδασκέ με, ib. 995-996, 1056-1057.
239. mvp-comment-147-1 ὅστις ἦν ὁ δρῶν i. e. τὸν δρῶντα, ὅστις ἦν, The unknown doer of the deed.
241-242. mvp-comment-148-1 (1) You aim carefully, and fence the business off from yourself all round. Some editors read τί φροιμιάζει; from Ar. Rhet. 3. 14, § 10, quoted above. But though the Scholiast of the Rhetoric says τὸ δὲ τί φροιμιάζῃ τοῦ Κρέοντός ἐστι λέγοντος, it is much more probable that the words are a separate quotation from Eur. I. T. 1162. See Cope's edition of Ar. Rhet. vol. 3. p. 175. Others explain the text (2), You lay the ground carefully and hedge your approaches closely round, as if in preparing a stance to watch for game. According to Pollux, 5, 36, στοχασμός, στοχάς, and στόχος, were terms used in describing the setting of a hunting-net: καλεῖται δ᾽ αὐτῶν (τῶν ἀρκύων) ἡ στάσις, στοιχισμός, στοίχος, στόχος, στοχὰς καὶ στοχασμός· στοχὰς δὲ καλεῖται καὶ χειροποιητά τινα οἰκοδομήματα ἐκ λίθων, ἢ ὕλης ὑπὲρ τὴν γῆν ἀναστήματα, κατὰ χρείαν τῆς τῶν δικτύων ἐξ ἴσου στάσεως, εἴ τι κοῖλον εἴη περὶ τὸ ἀρκύστατον.
243. mvp-comment-149-1 τὰ δεινὰ .. πολύν The reply, as often elsewhere, refers to the first part of the previous speech. Cp. O. Т. 361. The frigid tautology belongs to the character of the Φύλαξ.
244. mvp-comment-150-1 εἰτ᾿ ἀπαλλαχθεὶς ἄπει And be off with you. The Scholiast acutely remarks that these impatient words are intended to hold out the hope of impunity, which is withdrawn again in the angry threats of ll. 305, foll.
246. mvp-comment-151-1 Some one has buried the corpse and has disappeared, after not only sprinkling dry dust upon the flesh, but adding all due rites. This last refers to the libation. Cp. supr. 196-197: infr. 430-431. The surprise was increased by observing the completeness of the act. There is a stress on the participles. Essay on Language p. 75 β, 94, 4.
248. mvp-comment-152-1 τίς ἀνδρῶν Cp. supra 222, and note.
249. mvp-comment-153-1 οὔτε .. ἐκβολή No dint of pick-axe, nor earth turned up with hoe.'
250. mvp-comment-154-1 στύφλος .. καὶ χέρσος Hard and bare. χέρσος γῆ is untilled land, and so here, Undisturbed by implements of husbandry. Cp. infr. 773, 1197.
251. mvp-comment-155-1 ἀρρώξ .. τροχοῖσιν Unbroken, and with no mark of wheels. ἐπημαξευμένη τροχοῖσιν] Lit. Carted over with wheels.' Essay on Language p. 88, note.
252. mvp-comment-156-1 ἀλλ'.. ἦν But whoever did it was one who left no trace.
253. mvp-comment-157-1 ὁ πρῶτος .. ἡμεροσκόπος Our first look-out-man for the day. ἡμεροσκόπος in Xen. Hell. 1. 1. 2, is a watchman who stands at his post at daybreak. Cp. ἡμεροφύλαξ, ib. 7. 2. 6, 7. Antigone's act preceded the setting of this watch.
254. mvp-comment-158-1 θαῦμα δυσχερές Α sight of wonder and dismay.
255.
mvp-comment-159-1
τυμβήρης.. κόνις
Not covered with a mound, but sprinkled with dust as by one avoiding pollution. Hor. Od. 1. 28,
Debita jura vicesque superbae | Te maneant ipsum: precibus ibus non linquar inultis | Teque piacula nulla resolvent. | Quamquam festinas, non est mora longa, licebit | Injecto ter pulvere curras. For the gen., cp. Tr. 768.
255. mvp-comment-159-2 τυμβήρης For this use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.
258. mvp-comment-160-1 οὐ σπάσαντος Cp. Aesch. Prom. 451, οὔτε.. δόμους.. οὐ ξυλουργίαν.
259. mvp-comment-161-1 ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν Sc. τοῖς φύλαξιν. Words of abuse were loudly bandied to and fro. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 200, στάσις δ᾽ ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν ὠροθύνετο, sc.
259. mvp-comment-161-2 τοῖς δαίμοσιν.
260. mvp-comment-162-1 φύλαξ ἐλέγχων φύλακα On the nominative out of construction in the clause in apposition, see Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. § 15. p. 21.
260. mvp-comment-162-2 κἂν ἐγίγνετο And it was threatening to come to blows at last. The combination of the imperfect with av here is peculiar, having a force intermediate between ἐγίγνετο and ἐγένετο ἄv; i. e. it was coming to this, that we should have come to blows.
262-263. mvp-comment-163-1 The subtlety of the Φύλαξ deserts him in attempting to express his meaning. The perpetrator was every one and no one of us all every one in vague suspicion, and no one evidently: he escaped being known.' τις gives the indefiniteness required by the sense, = πως.
263.
mvp-comment-164-1
ἀλλ᾽ ἔφευγε *μὴ εἰδέναι (1) But he (the perpetrator) always escaped, so that we could not know him. Böckh and Donaldson read as in the text, interpreting (2) Every man' (πᾶς implied in οὐδείς, the affirmative elicited from the negative)
defended himself by pleading ignorance of the matter. For φεύγειν, * to urge a defensive plea,' cp. Aesch. Suppl. 390, and for the plea, μὴ εἰδέναι, Plat. Legg. 11. 936 E. But the plea of ignorance, although suitable in l. 266, is too special for this place, wherethe non-appearance of the criminal alone is in question. The meaning given above (1) is the same as that required by Hermann (see below), but is more simply expressed by the epexegesis, and the imperfect tense expresses the frustration of continued search. This interpretation involves a rare use of φεύγω, which is, however, analogous to a meaning of ἐκφεύγω that is not uncommon. Cp. Ο. Τ. 111, ἐκφεύγει δὲ τἀμελούμενον : Plat. Phil. 17, τὰ δὲ μέσα αὐτοὺς ἐκφεύγει. Other emendations are ἔφυγε τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι (Porson), explained by Erfurdt to mean
amoliens a se accusationem scire sese negaverat ; ἔφυγε τῷ μὴ εἰδέναι (Herm. 1839),
effugit, eo quod nesciebamus; ἔφευγε πᾶς τὸ μή,
every man pled Not guilty. (Dind.). 264-265. There are few traces of anything corresponding to the trial by ordeal in ancient times. Brunck quotes Virg. Aen. 11. 787,
Et medium freti pietate per ignem | Cultores multa premimus vestigia prima. It seems to have existed in different places as a popular belief, but nowhere to have received positive legal sanction. For a trace of trial by combat' (in Scythia), see Hdt. 4. 180. Cp. also Ar. Lys. 133.
269.
mvp-comment-165-1
His verbis et sequentibus significatur terror quem Creontis auctoritas custodibus incutit. (Dind.).
269. mvp-comment-165-2 λέγει, κ.τ.λ. The sense is interrupted by the relative clause, but resumed in the words ἦν δ᾽ ὁ μῦθος in l. 272. For τις εἷς, cp. Thuc. 6. 61, καί τινα μίαν νύκτα, κ.τ.λ. The emphatic use of little words shows the common mind; cp. infr. 404, ὃν σὺ τὸν νέκυν, κ.τ.λ. Wolff and Weckl. join els with what follows: but the antithesis of eἷς πάντας is too pointless here. Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 496 D, εἰς πᾶσιν ἀγρίοις ἀντέχειν.
274-275. mvp-comment-166-1 κἀμὲ.. λαβεῖν And the lot devotes me, wretched man, to be the recipient of this piece of luck. καθαιρεῖ is used much as in ἡ καθαιροῦσα ψῆφος, not by an extension of the technical sense, but with the same general mean- ing of Fastening upon, Bringing down, Overtaking and subduing.
279. mvp-comment-167-1 *1 This is Nauck's emendation for ἡ. It involves a very slight change, and is extremely probable. Reflection suggests the fear that' (not 'the question whether') this may be some visitation from the gods. The conscience of the elders, which was stifled at first, begins to awaken in the presence of the mysterious fact. For the pause after the 2nd iambus, here and supr. 269, cp. Aj. 340, 342, 719, 791, 803, 988, 1050, 1077, 1140, 1332.
280. mvp-comment-168-1 Cease, ere you have quite filled me with wrath. καί, which is combined with πρίν, according to the common idiom (πρὶν καὶ..), is slightly displaced so as to emphasize the phrase ἐμὲ μεστῶσαι. The language is made clearer by the emendation καί με, but the emphatic ἐμέ is more suitable in the mouth of Creon. Cp. Phil. 1042.
281. mvp-comment-169-1 ἄνους τε καὶ γέρων Cp. О. С. 930-931, καί σ᾽ ὁ πληθύων χρόνος | γέρονθ' ὁμοῦ τίθησι καὶ τοῦ νοῦ κενόν. See Essay on Language § 41. p. 78. 285-286. Who came to burn their pillared shrines and offerings, and to break in pieces their land and laws. It seems more likely that the ἀναθήματα are joined in one expression with ναούς than with γῆν and νόμους, which are in a different category.
289-290. mvp-comment-170-1 ἀλλὰ ταῦτα.. ἐμοί But this explains the murmurs I have long been hearing from men in the city against me;' i. e. Those murmurs have become explicit in this act. Οη ταῦτα, see Essay on Language § 17. p. 25; and for the dative ἐμοί, at me, ib. § 12. p. 18. μόλις φέροντες, which some have connected with ταῦτα (ταῦτα μόλις φέροντες, 'Bearing my edict ill'), seems to be used absolutely, sc. τὸ ἐμὸν ζυγόν, with an allusion to the metaphor in what follows. Cp. Thuc. 5. 80, θυμῷ ἔφερον, sc. τὸν πόλεμον ἢ τὰ πράγματα.
291. mvp-comment-171-1 'Covertly shaking the head,' like an animal preparing to throw off the yoke.
292. mvp-comment-172-1 δικαίως Rightly; i. e. As I had a right to expect that they should.
292. mvp-comment-172-2 ὡς στέργειν ἐμέ So as to accept my sway. To this it has been objected that στέργω implies affectionate allegiance. But this notion, although inherent in the etymology of the word, is dropped in use. Cp. Phil. 538, ἐγὼ δ' ἀνάγκῃ προὔμαθον στέργειν κακά : Aesch. Prom. 11, τὴν Δίος τυραννίδα | στέργειν. What hope was there that Prometheus would be made loyal by loyal torments? The other interpretation, So that I should be content (cp. Phil. 458, τούτους ἐγὼ τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ στέρξω ποτέ), would give but feeble expression to the self-will of Creon. The substitution for these words of εὐλόφως φέρειν from the citation of Eustathius, with the further change of νῶτον for λόφον, is rightly rejected by Dind., who points out that Eustathius, probably quoting from memory, has confused this passage with one of Lycophron.
293. mvp-comment-173-1 ἐκ τῶνδε By these malcontents. Supr. 290.
293. mvp-comment-173-2 τούτους (1) These guards. Infr. ll. 304 ff., supr. 260 ff.: or (2) simply τοὺς εἰργασμένους. The whole of this picture of discontent is the creation of Creon's anger from the hesitation of the chorus when told to see to the execution of the decree. Supr. 215 ff.
294. mvp-comment-174-1 There is a stress on μισθοῖσιν, preparing for what follows.
296. mvp-comment-175-1 νόμισμα, usually = Current coin, is here used in the more general sense which includes this. No such pestilent usance as money is, ever sprang up amongst mankind.
298. mvp-comment-176-1 The object of ἐκδιδάσκει, SC.
298. mvp-comment-176-2 χρηστοὺς αἰσχρά, is absorbed in the expansion of the sentence.