Sophocles Antigone 188

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Chorus

872 Illum colere, pium est; sed nequaquam iussa transgredi licet eorum, penes quos est imperium. Te vero, quod se ipso monitore utebatur , perdidit ingenium.

Antigone. Sophocles. Berlin. 1806.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) (Latin) (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (12)

Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 188 focus

ἥδ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ σώζουσα, καὶ, ταύτης ἔπι

Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 188 focus

καὶ νῦν ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε κηρύξας ἔχω

Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 188 focus

πλέοντες ὀρθῆς, οὓς φίλους ποιούμεθα.

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 188.mvp-line-188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῶι, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων, ὁτι

Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 188.mvp-line-188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 188 focus

θείμην ἐμαυτῶι, τοῦτο γιγνώσκων ὅτι

Translations (9)

German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 188 focus

KREON.

In öder Wildniſs, fern dem Pfad der Sterblichen,
750

berg' ich im dichten Felsengrab lebendig sie,

so viel nur Speise reichend als der Sühne gnügt,

dafs Schuldbefleckung diese Stadt nicht treffen mag.

Und dort zum Hades flehend, den allein sie ehrt

der Götter, wird Erlösung etwa sie vom Tod
755

empfahen, oder endlich doch erkennen, daſs

umsonst sich mühe, wer des Hades Reich verehrt.

Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 188 focus

CORO

872 Respetar a los muertos, es piedad; y el imperio, sea cualquiera en quien resida, nunca debe conculcarse. Tu independiente carácter te ha perdido.

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 188 focus

ANT

O grave! my bridal chamber, prison-house

Eterne, deep-hollowed, whither I am led

To find mine own,—of whom Persephonè

Hath now a mighty number housed in death:—

I last of all, and far most miserably,

Am going, ere my days have reached their term!
895

Yet lives the hope that, when I go, most surely

Dear will my coming be, father, to thee,

And dear to thee, my mother, and to thee,

Brother! since with these very hands I decked

And bathed you after death, and ministered
900

The last libations. And I reap this doom

For tending, Polynices, on thy corse.

Indeed I honoured thee, the wise will say.

For neither, had I children, nor if one

I had married were laid bleeding on the earth,
905

Would I have braved the city’s will, or taken

This burden on me. Wherefore? I will tell.

A husband lost might be replaced; a son,

If son were lost to me, might yet be born;

But, with both parents hidden in the tomb,
910

No brother may arise to comfort me.

Therefore above all else I honoured thee,

And therefore Creon thought me criminal,

And bold in wickedness, O brother mine!

And now by servile hands, for all to see,
915

He hastens me away, unhusbanded,

Before my nuptial, having never known

Or married joy or tender motherhood.

But desolate and friendless I go down

Alive, O horror! to the vaults of the dead.
920

For what transgression of Heaven’s ordinance?

Alas! how can I look to Heaven? on whom

Call to befriend me? seeing that I have earned,

By piety, the meed of impious?—

Oh! if this act be what the Gods approve,
925

In death I may repent me of my deed;

But if they sin who judge me, be their doom

No heavier than they wrongly wreak on me!

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 211 focus

Dir, Sohn Menökeus', Kreon, ist es so genehm

Mit dieses Landes Gegner und mit seinem Freund.

Denn jede Sazung anzuordnen steht dir frei,

So für die Todten, wie für uns, die Lebenden.

Kreon.

Seid ihr die Hüter dessen nun, was ich gebot!
215

Der Chor.

Der Jüngern Einem lege dies zu tragen auf.

Kreon.

Die, so den Leichnam hüten, steh'n ja schon bereit.

Der Chor.

Warum denn einem Andern noch gebeutst du dies?

Kreon.

Daß Keinem Nachsicht werde, der dawider thut.

Der Chor.

Wer ist so thöricht, daß er sich zu sterben sehnt?
220

Kreon.

Und dieses wäre, traun, der Lohn; doch Vielen ja

Hat schon die Hoffnung auf Gewinn den Tod gebracht.

Ein Wächter. Die Voriger.

Der Wächter.

Herr, ich will nicht sagen, daß ich athemlos

Vor Eile komme mit behend erhob'nem Fuß;

Denn viel Bedenken schus mir manchen Aufenthalt,
225

Und oft zur Rückkehr wandt' ich unterwegs mich um.

Denn meine Seele sprach zu mir und warnte viel:

„Was willst du dorthin, Armer, wo dir Strafe droht?

Elender, säumst du? Doch erfährt es Kreon dann

Von einem Andern, würde dir's nicht schlimm ergeh'n?"
230

In solchem Grübeln ging ich langsam schnell voran,

Und also streckt sich lange hin der kurze Weg.

Doch siegt' am Ende der Entschluß, hieher zu geh'n,

Zu dir; und sag' ich dir auch Nichts, ich sag' es doch.

Denn an die Hoffnung klammr' ich unverrückt mich an,
235

Nichts könne sonst mich treffen, als bestimmtes Loos.

Kreon.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 188 focus

Creon
883

Know ye not, slaves like her, to death

devoted,

Would never cease their wailings ? Wherefore is it
885

You thus delay to execute my orders ?

Let her be carried instant to the cave.

And leave her there alone, to live, or die ;

Her blood rests not on us ; but she no longer

Shall breathe on earth, [#xit CRrEox,
890

Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 188 focus

CREONTE

Conducida á un lugar desierto, donde no se encuentre huella humana, la haré encerrar viva en la profundidad subterránea de una roca, con el alimento preciso¹ gue exige la expiación, y para evitar á la ciudad entera el crimen de su muerte. Una vez allí que implore á Plutón, único de los dioses á quien ella venera, y tal vez obtenga el no morir; pero se convencerá, probablemente, que es trabajo in- útil rendir cultojá los manes.— Métese' en palacio.

German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 188 focus

ANTIGONAE

O Grab! o Brautbett! unterirdische

Behausung, immerwach! Da werd’ ich reisen

Den Meinen zu, von denen zu den Todten

Die meiste Zahl, nachdem sie weiter gangen,
925

Zornigmitleidig dort ein Licht bezrüfst hat;

Von denen ich die Leztenun anı schlimnisten

In weiter Welt vergehn muss, ehe ınir

Des Lebens Gränze kommt. Doch komm’ ich an,

So nähr’ ich das mit Hoffnungen gar sehr,
930

Dafs lieb ich kommen werde für den Vater,

Auch dir lieb, meine Mutter! lieb auch dir,

Du brüderliches Haupt! Denn als ihr starbt,

Hab’ ich genommen euch mit eigner Hand,

Und ausgeschmükt, und über eurem Grabe
935

Trankopfer euch gebracht. Nun, Poiynikes,

Indem ich deke deinen Leib, erlang”’ ich diess,

Obgleich ich dich geehrt, vor Wohlgesinnten.

Nie nemlich, weder, wenn ich Mutter

Von Kindern wäre, oder ein Gemahl
940

Iın Tode sich verzehret, hätt’ ich mit Gewalt,

Als wollt ich einen Aufstand, diess errungen.

Und welchem Geseze sag’ ich diess zu Dank?

Wär’ ein Geimalıl gestorben, gäb’ es andre,

Und auch ein Kind von einem andern Manne,
945

Wenn diesen ich umarmt. Wenn aber Mutter

Und Vater schläft, im Ort der Todten beides,

Stehtsnicht, als wüch’s ein andrer Bruder wieder.

Nach solchem Geseze hab’ ich dich geelırt,

Dem Kreon aber schien es eine Sünde,
950

Und sehr gewagt, o brüderliches Haupt!

Und jezt führt er mich weg, mit Händen so mich greifend,

Mich ohne Bett und Hochzeit; noch der Ehe Theil

Hab’ ich empfangen, noch ein Kind zu nähren.

Doch einsam so von Lieben, unglükseelig,
955

Lebendig in die Wildnifs der Gestorbnen

Komm’ ich hinab. Welch Recht der Geister übertretend ?

Was soll ich Arme noch zu himmlischen

Gewalten schaun? Wen singen der Waffengenossen?

Da ich Gottlosigkeit aus Frömmigkeit empfangen.
960

Doch wenn nun dieses schön ist vor den Göttern,

So leiden wir und bitten ab, was wir

Gesündiget. Wenn aber diese fehlen,

So mögen sie nicht gröfser Unglük leiden,

Als sie bewirken offenbar an mir.
965

English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 188 focus

Antigone

876 Unwept, unfriended, without marriage-song, I am led forth in my sorrow on this journey that can 880 be delayed no more. No longer, hapless one, may I behold yon day-star’s sacred eye; but for my fate no tear is shed, no friend makes moan,

English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 162-330 focus

Enter Creon, with two attendants.

Creon

My fellow citizens! First, the gods, after tossing the fate of our city on wild waves, have once more righted it. Second, I have ordered you through my messengers to come here

apart from all the rest, because I knew, first of all, how constant was your reverence for the power of the throne of Laius; how, again, you were reverent, when Oedipus was guiding our city; and lastly, how, when he was dead, you still maintained loyal thoughts towards his children.
165

Since, then, these latter have fallen in one day by a twofold doom—each striking, each struck, both with the stain of a brother’s murder—I now possess all the power and the throne according to my kinship with the dead.
170

Now, it is impossible to know fully any man’s character, will, or judgment, until he has been proved by the test of rule and law-giving. For if anyone who directs the entire city does not cling to the best and wisest plans,
175

but because of some fear keeps his lips locked, then, in my judgment, he is and has long been the most cowardly traitor. And if any man thinks a friend more important than his fatherland, that man, I say, is of no account. Zeus, god who sees all things always, be my witness—
180

I would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, marching upon the citizens. Nor would I ever make a man who is hostile to my country a friend to myself, because I know this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only when
185

we sail her on a straight course can we make true friends. Such are the rules by which I strengthen this city. Akin to these is the edict which I have now published to the citizenry concerning the sons of Oedipus: Eteocles, who fell fighting
190

in behalf of our city and who excelled all in battle, they shall entomb and heap up every sacred offering that descends to the noblest of the dead below. But as for his brother, Polyneices, I mean, who on his return from exile wanted to burn to the ground
195

the city of his fathers and his race’s gods, and wanted to feed on kindred blood and lead the remnant into slavery—it has been proclaimed to the city that no one shall give him funeral honors or lamentation,
200

but all must leave him unburied and a sight of shame, with his body there for birds and dogs to eat. This is my will, and never will I allow the traitor to stand in honor before the just. But whoever has good will to Thebes ,
205

he shall be honored by me in death as in life.
210

211

Chorus

That is your will, Creon, towards this city’s enemy and its friend. And the power is yours, I believe, to make use of every law whatsoever, both concerning the dead and all us who live.

Creon

See, then, that you be guardians of my commands.
215

Chorus

Lay the weight of this task on some younger man.

Creon

That is not what I meant—the guards for the corpse are already in place.

Chorus

Then what is this other command that you would give?

Creon

That you not give way to the breakers of my commands.

Chorus

There is no one so foolish as to crave death.
220

Creon

I assure you, that is the wage for disobedience. Yet by just the hope of it, money has many times corrupted men.

Enter Guard.

Guard

My king, I will not say that I arrive breathless because of speed, or from the action of a swift foot.

For often I brought myself to a stop because of my thoughts, and wheeled round in my path to return. My mind was telling me many things: Fool, why do you go to where your arrival will mean your punishment? Idiot, are you dallying again? If Creon learns it from another, must you not suffer for it?
225

So debating, I made my way unhurriedly, slow, and thus a short road was made long. At last, however, the view prevailed that I should come here—to you. Even if my report brings no good, still will I tell you,
230

since I come with a good grip on one hope, that I can suffer nothing except what is my fate.
235

237

Creon

And what is it that so disheartens you?

Guard

I want to tell you first about myself—I did not do the deed, nor did I see the doer,

so it would be wrong that I should come to any harm.
240

Creon

Like a bowman you aim well at your target from a distance, and all around you hedge yourself off well from the deed. It is clear that you have some unheard-of thing to tell.

Guard

That I do, for terrible news imposes great hesitation.

Creon

Then tell it, will you, and so unburdened go away?

Guard

Well, here it is. The corpse—some one has just given it burial and disappeared after sprinkling thirsty dust on the flesh and performing the other rites that piety demands.
245

Creon

What are you saying? What man dared do this?

Guard

I do not know. For there was no scar of a pickax to be seen there,

no earth thrown up by a mattock. The ground was hard and dry, unbroken, not rolled over by wheels. The doer was someone who left no trace. When the first day-watchman showed it to us, a discomforting amazement fell on us all.
250

The dead man was veiled from us—not shut within a tomb, but a light cover of dust was on him, as if put there by the hand of one who shunned a curse. And no sign was visible that any beast of prey or any dog had approached or torn him. Then evil words flew thick and loud among us,
255

guard accusing guard. It would even have come to blows in the end, nor was there anyone there to prevent it: every man was the culprit, and no one was plainly guilty, while all disclaimed knowledge of the act. We were ready to take red-hot iron in our hands,
260

to walk through fire and to swear oaths by the gods that we had neither done the deed, nor shared knowledge of the planning or the doing. At last, when our investigating got us nowhere, someone spoke up and made us all bend our faces
265

in fear towards the earth. For we did not know how we could argue with him, nor yet prosper, if we did what he said. His argument was that the deed must be reported to you and not hidden. This view prevailed, and so it was that
270

the lot doomed miserable me to win this prize. So here I stand, as unwelcome to you as I am unwilling, I well know. For no man delights in the bearer of bad news.
275

278

Chorus

My king, my thoughts have long been deliberating whether this deed is somehow the work of gods?

Creon

Quiet, before your words truly fill me with rage, so that you not be found at the same time foolish as well as old. You say what is intolerable when you claim that the gods have concern for that corpse. Was it in high esteem for his benefactions
280

that they sought to hide him, when he had come to burn their columned shrines, their sacred treasures and their land, and scatter its laws to the winds? Or do you see the gods honoring the wicked? It cannot be. No! From the very first
285

certain men of the city were chafing at this edict and muttering against me, tossing their heads in secret, and they did not keep their necks duly under the yoke in submission to me. By those men, I am certain, they were led astray and bribed to do this deed.
290

Nothing so evil as money ever grew to be current among men. This destroys cities, this drives men from their homes, this trains and warps honest minds to set themselves to works of shame,
295

this teaches people to practise villainies, and to know every act of unholiness. But all the men who did this job for hire have made sure that, sooner or later, they shall suffer the punishment. Now, as Zeus still has my reverence, know this well—
300

I tell you on my oath. If you do not find the very hand that made this burial, and reveal him before my eyes, mere death shall not suffice for you, not before, hung up alive, you have made this outrage plain,
305

so that hereafter you may thieve with better knowledge of where your money should be received from, and learn that it is best not to be fond of money-making from any and every source. For you will find that ill-gotten gains bring more men to ruin than to safety.
310

315

Guard

Will you allow me to speak? Or shall I just turn and go?
315

Creon

Do you not know even now how much your voice sickens me?

Guard

Is the pain in your ears, or in your soul?

Creon

And why would you define the seat of my pain?

Guard

He who did it hurts your heart, but I, your ears.

Creon

God! How plain it is that you are a born babbler.
320

Guard

Perhaps, but never the author of this action.

Creon

Yes, and what is more, you sold your life for silver.

Guard

Ah! It is truly sad when the judge judges wrong .

Creon

Expound on judgment as you will. But, if you fail to

show me the perpetrators of these crimes, you will avow that money basely earned wreaks sorrows. Exit Creon.
325

Guard

Well, may the man be found! That would be best. But, whether he be caught or not—for fortune must decide that—I assure you that you will not see me come here again.

Saved just now beyond hope and belief, I owe the gods great thanks. Exit the Guard.
330

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-262-1 Kvičala and Wecklein reject these four verses, despairing of the difficulties found in vv. 466, 467, which have been variously amended; see Appendix. The alleged difficulties are, (1)

παρ’ οὐδὲν ἄλγος

: (2) the mention of the mother only: (3) the position of

θανόντ’

, which might suggest the sense, ‘slain by my mother’: (4)

ηἰσχόμην

(as L has it). Before dealing with these points, I would call attention to a trait which the impugners of these verses have overlooked, and which speaks strongly for the genuineness of the passage as a whole, corrupt though it be in certain words. That trait is the clause τοῖσδε δ’ οὐκ ἀλγύνομαι ¹

mvp-comment-263-1 ἄλγος ² παρ’ οὐδέν ³

mvp-comment-263-2 adv.: ‘is a pain in no appreciable degree,’ is a pain not worth a thought: as he might have said,

οὐδαμοῦ ἄλγος ἐστί

. The normal use of

παρ’ οὐδέν

, ‘of no account,’ is either ( a) with the verb

εἶναι

, as O. T. 982

ταῦθ’ ὅτῳ | παρ’ οὐδέν ἐστι

, or ( b) with a verb meaning ‘to esteem,’ as above, v. 34,

τὸ πρᾶγμ’ ἄγειν | οὐχ ὡς παρ’ οὐδέν

. The only peculiarity here is that, instead of a word in the general sense, ‘ is esteemed’ (

ἄγεται

), we have a virtual equivalent, tinged with the special thought of the moment, viz., ‘ is a pain.’ Exactly so in El. 1327 we have

πότερα παρ’ οὐδὲν τοῦ βίου κήδεσθ’ ἔτι

, instead of

πότερα παρ’ οὐδὲν τὸν βίον ἄγετε

. Thus the suspicions as to the genuineness of

παρ’ οὐδὲν ἄλγος

are illusory.

mvp-comment-263-3 ἀλλ’ ἄν ⁴

mvp-comment-264-1 ἄθαπτον ἠνσχόμην νέκυν ⁵ ηἰσχόμην ⁶ ἠνσχόμην ⁷

mvp-comment-264-2 In my first edition I placed in the text the emendation of Semitelos (1887) ᾔσχυναν κύνες ⁸

mvp-comment-264-3 Other emendations will be found in the Appendix. Most of them assume that we must have

ἠνεσχόμην

(or

ἀνεσχόμην

), and therefore alter the words

θανόντ’ ἄθαπτον

and

νέκυν

in various ways, —usu. omitting

νέκυν

. The verses produced by these processes are wretched, while, from a palaeographical point of view, they are pure conjectures, which do not attempt to account for the tradition in L.—Two points remain. (1) τὸν ἐξ ἐμῆς | μητρός ⁹

mvp-comment-264-4 or

μιᾶς

(Meineke). (2) τὸν ἐξ ἐμ. | μητρος θανόντ’ ¹⁰

mvp-comment-265-1 σχεδόν τι ¹¹

mvp-comment-265-2 μώρῳ μωρίαν ¹²

mvp-comment-265-3 ὀφλισκάνω ¹³

mvp-comment-266-1 These two verses give a moment of stillness before the storm breaks forth. So at O. T. 404 four verses of the chorus divide the angry speech of Oedipus from the retort of Teiresias.

mvp-comment-266-2 τὸ γέννημα τῆς παιδός ¹⁴ δηλοῖ ¹⁵ ὠμόν ¹⁶ ἐξ ὠμοῦ πατρός ¹⁷ γέννημα ¹⁸

mvp-comment-267-1 εἴκειν … κακοῖς ¹⁹

mvp-comment-268-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι ²⁰

mvp-comment-268-2 πίπτειν ²¹

mvp-comment-269-1 ὀπτὸν … περισκελῆ ²²

mvp-comment-269-2 περισκελής ²³

mvp-comment-269-3 ἐκ πυρός ²⁴

mvp-comment-270-1 θραυσθέντα καὶ ῥαγέντα ²⁵

mvp-comment-271-1 χαλινῷ δ’ ²⁶ σμικρῷ ²⁷

mvp-comment-271-2 καταρτυθέντας ²⁸

mvp-comment-272-1 Suspicion has fallen on ἐκπέλει ²⁹

mvp-comment-272-2 ὅστις ³⁰

mvp-comment-272-3 τῶν πέλας ³¹

mvp-comment-273-1 αὕτη δ’ ³² ὑβρίζειν μὲν … ὕβρις δ’ ³³ ἐξηπίστατο ³⁴ τότ’ ³⁵

mvp-comment-273-2 τούτοις ³⁶

mvp-comment-273-3 δεδρακυῖαν γελᾶν ³⁷

mvp-comment-274-1 νῦν ³⁸

mvp-comment-274-2 εἰ ταῦτα … κράτη ³⁹ κράτη ⁴⁰ κείσεται ⁴¹ πείσεται ⁴² ἀνατί ⁴³ ταῦτα ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-275-1 ἀδελφῆς ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-275-2 εἴθ’ ὁμαιμονεστέρα ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-275-3 Hyperbole is congenial to Creon's excitement; cp. 1040 . But the addition,

τοῦ παντὸς Ζ. ἑρκείου

, ill suits this, while, on the other hand, it agrees well with the nom.

ὁμαιμονεστέρα

. On the whole, then, I incline to prefer the nom.; but the point is a nice one, and the gen. is quite tenable.

mvp-comment-275-4 κυρεῖ ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-276-1 τοῦ παντὸς Ζηνὸς ἑρκείου ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-277-1 ἀλύξετον ⁴⁹ μόρου ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-278-1 καὶ γὰρ οὖν ⁵¹

mvp-comment-278-2 ἐπαιτιῶμαι κείνην ⁵² βουλεῦσαι ἴσον τοῦδε τάφου ⁵³ ἴσον ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-278-3 βουλεῦσαι ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-279-1 καί νιν καλεῖτ’ ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-280-1 λυσσῶσαν … οὐδ’ ἐπ ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-280-2 ἐπήβολον ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-281-1 ὁ θυμὸς τῶν … τεχνωμένων ⁵⁹ φιλεῖ κλοπεὺς ᾑρῆσθαι ⁶⁰ πρόσθεν ⁶¹ κλοπεύς ⁶² ᾑρῆσθαι κλοπεύς ⁶³

mvp-comment-281-2 τεχνωμένων ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-282-1 γε μέντοι ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-282-2 Ismene's guilty terror is contrasted with Antigone's impudent hardihood,—as Creon deems it. μισῶ … ὅταν ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-282-3 ἔπειτα ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-282-4 καλλύνειν ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-283-1 θέλεις τι μεῖζον ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-283-2 ἑλών ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-283-3 ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδέν ⁷¹

mvp-comment-283-4 ἅπαντ’ ἔχω ⁷²

mvp-comment-284-1 ἀρεστὸν οὐδέν ⁷³

mvp-comment-284-2 μηδ’ ἀρεσθείη ⁷⁴ ἀρεσθείην ⁷⁵ ἀρέστ’ εἴη ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-285-1 τἀμά ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-285-2 ἔφυ ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-286-1 καίτοι ⁷⁹ κλέος … εὐκλεέστερον ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-287-1 ἐν τάφῳ τιθεῖσα ⁸¹ τούτοις πᾶσι λέγοιτο ἄν ⁸² τοῦτο ἁνδάνειν ⁸³ ἐγκλῄοι ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-288-1 ἀλλ’ ἡ τυραννίς ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-289-1 μούνη ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-289-2 τοῦτο … ὁρᾷς ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-289-3 ὑπίλλουσιν ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-290-1 σὺ δ’ οὐκ ἐπαιδεῖ ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-291-1 ὅμαιμος ⁹¹

mvp-comment-291-2 ἐκ μιᾶς τε ⁹² τε ⁹³

mvp-comment-292-1 πῶς δῆτ’ ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-292-2 ἐκείνῳ ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-292-3 χάριν ⁹⁶ τιμᾷς ⁹⁷ ὁ κατθανὼν νέκυς ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-293-1 εἴ τοι ⁹⁹ σφε ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-293-2 ἐξ ἴσου ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-294-1 οὐ γάρ τι δοῦλος ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-294-2 cannot complain, for Polyneices was not his slave—his natural inferior—but his brother, and had the same claim on me that he had. Creon insists on the difference between the loyal man and the disloyal. Antigone dwells on the fact that both men had the same claim on her natural piety, and (519) on her sense of religious duty.

mvp-comment-295-1 πορθῶν δέ ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-295-2 ὁ δ’ ¹⁰⁴ ὕπερ ¹⁰⁵

mvp-comment-296-1 τούτους ¹⁰⁶ ἴσους ¹⁰⁷ ἴσους ¹⁰⁸ ὅμως ¹⁰⁹ ἴσους ¹¹⁰ τούτους ¹¹¹ ἴσους ¹¹²

mvp-comment-297-1 The MS. λαχεῖν ἴσος ¹¹³ ἴσους ¹¹⁴

mvp-comment-298-1 κάτωθεν ¹¹⁵ κάτω ’στὶν ¹¹⁶

mvp-comment-298-2 εὐαγῆ ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-299-1 οὔτοι συνέχθειν ¹¹⁸

mvp-comment-300-1 νυ^ν ¹¹⁹

mvp-comment-301-1 καὶ μὴν ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-301-2 εἰβομένη ¹²¹ κάτω ¹²²

mvp-comment-301-3 with

εἴβειν

, for Homer never says

κατὰ δάκρυα λείβειν

. Nothing is more natural than that

εἰβομένη

should have become

λειβομένη

in the MSS., the latter word being much the commoner.

mvp-comment-301-4 κάτω ¹²³

mvp-comment-302-1 νεφέλη δ’ ὀφρύων ὕπερ ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-302-2 αἱματόεν ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-302-3 ῥέθος ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-302-4 αἰσχύνει ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-303-1 σὺ δ’ ¹²⁸ ὑφειμένη ¹²⁹

mvp-comment-303-2 ἔχιδνα ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-303-3

ἡ ἔχιδνα ἐν τῇ συνουσίᾳ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποκόπτει. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ τέκνα, ὥσπερ τὸν θάνατον τοῦ πατρὸς μετερχόμενα, τὴν γαστέρα τῆς μητρὸς διαρρήγνυσιν

. (Cp. Shaksp. Per. 1. 1. 64

I am no viper, yet I feed On mother's flesh.

)

mvp-comment-304-1 λήθουσά μ’ ἐξέπινες ¹³¹

mvp-comment-305-1 ἄτα κἀπαναστάσεις ¹³²

mvp-comment-305-2 ἐπαναστάσεις ¹³³ θρόνων ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-306-1 τὸ μὴ ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-307-1 ὁμορροθεῖ ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-308-1 τῆς αἰτίας ¹³⁷ ξυμμετίσχω ¹³⁸ φέρω ¹³⁹

mvp-comment-309-1 ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐάσει σ’ ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-309-2 ’κοινωσάμην ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-310-1 ξύμπλουν ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-311-1 Cp. Ph. 1293

ὡς θεοὶ ξυνίστορες.

mvp-comment-311-2 λόγοις ¹⁴³

mvp-comment-312-1 μή μ’ ἀτιμάσῃς ¹⁴⁴ τὸ μὴ οὐ ¹⁴⁵ ἁγνίσαι τὸν θ ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-313-1 μή μοι ¹⁴⁷ κοινά ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-313-2 μηδ’ ἃ μὴ ’θιγες ¹⁴⁹ ἅ ¹⁵⁰ ἅ ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-314-1 ποιοῦ σεαυτῆς ¹⁵²

mvp-comment-314-2 ἀρκέσω ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-315-1 σοῦ λελειμμένῃ ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-315-2 φίλος ¹⁵⁶

mvp-comment-316-1 κηδεμών ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-317-1 ἀλγοῦσα μὲν δῆτ’ ¹⁵⁸ δῆτα ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-317-2 ἐν σοί ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-317-3 Heath's εἰ γελῶ γ’ ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-318-1 ἀλλὰ νῦν ¹⁶²

mvp-comment-319-1 κἀμπλάκω ¹⁶³

mvp-comment-319-2 fate? i.e. to be dissociated from it: delib. aor. subj., which can be used, not only in asking what one is to do, but also in expressions of despair as to what one must suffer ( Tr. 973

τί πάθω

;). For

ἀμπλακεῖν

cp. 910 , 1234.

mvp-comment-320-1 εἵλου ¹⁶⁴

mvp-comment-320-2 ζῆν ¹⁶⁵

mvp-comment-321-1 ἐπ’ ἀρρήτοις … τοῖς ἐμ. λ. ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-322-1 σὺ μὲν τοῖς ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-323-1 καὶ μήν ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-324-1 θάρσει ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-324-2 ἡ ἐμὴ ψυχή ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-324-3 πάλαι ¹⁷¹

mvp-comment-324-4 ὥστε τοῖς θ. ὠφελεῖν ¹⁷²

mvp-comment-325-1 L gives τὼ παῖδε φημὶ ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-325-2 τὼ παῖδε … τὴν μὲν … τὴν δέ ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-325-3 ἀρτίως ¹⁷⁵

mvp-comment-326-1 The apology is for her sister as well as for herself: even such prudence ( cp. 68

νοῦν

) as may have been inborn forsakes the unfortunate under the stress of their misfortunes.

mvp-comment-326-2 βλάστῃ ¹⁷⁶

mvp-comment-326-3 τοῖς κ. πράσσουσιν ¹⁷⁷

mvp-comment-326-4 ἐξίσταται ¹⁷⁸

mvp-comment-327-1 σοὶ γοῦν ¹⁷⁹

mvp-comment-327-2 κακοῖς ¹⁸⁰

mvp-comment-328-1 τῆσδ’ ἄτερ ¹⁸¹ μόνῃ ¹⁸²

mvp-comment-328-2 βιώσιμον ¹⁸³ τί ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-329-1 ἀλλὰ … μέντοι ¹⁸⁵

mvp-comment-329-2 ἥδε μὴ λέγε ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-330-1 νυμφεῖα ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-331-1 ἀρώσιμοι ¹⁸⁸

mvp-comment-332-1 οὐχ ὥς γ’ ¹⁸⁹ ἡρμοσμένα ἦν ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-333-1 υἱέσι ¹⁹¹ υἱάσιν ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-333-2

υἷα, υἷε, υἷες, υἷας

: cp. Monro Hom. Gr. § 107.—The dat. of interest goes with κακὰς γυναῖκας ¹⁹³ στυγῶ ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-334-1 It is not of much moment that L, like the later MSS., gives this verse to Ismene. Errors as to the persons occur not seldom in L (see, e.g., cr. n. to O. C. 837 , and cp. ib. 1737 ); and here a mistake would have been peculiarly easy, as the dialogue from v. 561 onwards has been between Creon and Ismene. To me it seems certain that the verse is Antigone's, and that one of the finest touches in the play is effaced by giving it to Ismene. The taunt,

κακὰς γυναῖκας υἱέσι

, moves Antigone to break the silence which she has kept since v. 560: in all this scene she has not spoken to Creon, nor does she now address him: she is thinking of Haemon,—of the dishonour to him implied in the charge of having made such a choice, —

ὡς αἰεὶ τὸν ὁμοῖον ἄγει θεὸς ὡς τὸν ὁμοῖον

. How little does his father know the heart which was in sympathy with her own. This solitary reference to her love heightens in a wonderful degree our sense of her unselfish devotion to a sacred duty. If Ismene speaks this verse, then

τὸ σὸν λέχος

in 573 must be, ‘the marriage of which you talk’ (like El. 1110

οὐκ οἶδα τὴν σὴν κλῄδον

'), which certainly is not its natural sense.

mvp-comment-334-2 Αἷμον ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-335-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς ¹⁹⁶

mvp-comment-336-1 The MSS. give this verse to Ismene; but Boeckh is clearly right in giving it to the Chorus. Ismene asked this question in 568, and Creon answered: she rejoined to this answer (570), and Creon replied still more bitterly. She could not now ask her former question over again. But there is no unfitness in the question being repeated by a new intercessor, since to ask it thus is a form of mild remonstrance.

mvp-comment-337-1 ἐμοί ¹⁹⁷ ἔφυ ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-338-1 This verse clearly belongs to the Chorus, to whom L assigns it. The first words of the next verse show this. Hermann objected that in similar situations the Chorus usually has two verses. It is true that this is usually the case. But O. T. 1312 is enough to show that there was no rigid rule; why, indeed, should there be? And, here, surely,

πλέον ἥμισυ παντός.

mvp-comment-338-2 δεδογμένα ¹⁹⁹

mvp-comment-339-1 καὶ σοί γε κἀμοί ²⁰⁰

mvp-comment-339-2 μὴ τριβάς ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-339-3 νιν ²⁰²

mvp-comment-340-1 ἐκ δὲ τοῦδε ²⁰³ γυναικας ²⁰⁴ ἀνειμένας ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-341-1 χοἱ θρασεῖς ²⁰⁶ πέλας ²⁰⁷ εἰσορῶσι ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-343-1 κακῶν ἄγευστος ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-344-1 σεισθῇ θεόθεν ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-344-2 ἄτας οὐδὲν ἐλλείπει ²¹¹ ἐλλείπει ²¹²

mvp-comment-344-3 γενεᾶς ἐπὶ πλῆθος ²¹³ γενεᾶς ²¹⁴

mvp-comment-345-1 ὅμοιον ²¹⁵

mvp-comment-345-2 ποντίαις ²¹⁶ πνοαῖς ²¹⁷ ὅταν οἶδμα ²¹⁸ ποντίαις δυσπν. Θρ. πνοαῖς ²¹⁹ ἐπιδράμῃ ἔρεβος ὕφαλον ²²⁰ Θρῄσσαισιν ²²¹

mvp-comment-346-1 κελαινὰν θῖνα ²²²

mvp-comment-346-2 δυσάνεμοι ²²³ δυσάνεμον ²²⁴

mvp-comment-346-3 στόνῳ βρ.· ²²⁵

mvp-comment-346-4 ἀντιπλῆγες ²²⁶ ἀκταί ²²⁷

mvp-comment-347-1 ἀρχαῖα ²²⁸

mvp-comment-347-2 ὁρῶμαι ²²⁹ οἴκων ²³⁰ φθι^τῶν ²³¹

mvp-comment-348-1 ἀπαλλάσσει ²³²

mvp-comment-348-2 γενεὰν γένος ²³³ ἔχει ²³⁴

mvp-comment-348-3 λύσιν ²³⁵

mvp-comment-349-1 νῦν γὰρ ἐσχάτας ²³⁶ ὃ τέτατο ²³⁷ ἐτέτατο ²³⁸ κατ’ αὖ ²³⁹ ὑπέρ ²⁴⁰ ὅπερ ²⁴¹ ὃ τέτατο ²⁴² νιν ²⁴³ φάος ²⁴⁴ ἐσχάτη ῥίζα ²⁴⁵ φάος ²⁴⁶ νιν ²⁴⁷ φάος ²⁴⁸ θάλος ²⁴⁹ τέτατο ²⁵⁰ ῥίζας ²⁵¹

mvp-comment-350-1 κατ’ αὖ … ἀμᾷ, ²⁵² κοπίς ²⁵³ κόνις ²⁵⁴ κόνις ²⁵⁵

mvp-comment-350-2 (1) If κόνις ²⁵⁶ καταμᾷ ²⁵⁷

mvp-comment-350-3 (2) If we read κοπίς ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-350-4 It has further been urged against

κοπίς

that the word is too homely. This may be so; but we lack proof.

κοπίς

seems to have been a large curved knife, known to the Greeks chiefly as ( a) a butcher's or cook's implement, ( b) an oriental military weapon. It does not follow, however, that the effect here would be like that of ‘chopper,’ or of ‘scimitar,’ in English. The dignity of a word may be protected by its simplicity; and

κοπίς

is merely ‘that which cuts.’ Pindar was not afraid of homeliness when he described a chorus-master as a

κρατήρ

, or an inspiring thought as an

ἀκόνα

(cp. O. C. 1052 n.). Nicander could say, of the scorpion,

τοίη οἱ κέντροιο κοπίς

( Ther. 780 ). If

κοπίς

be right, the change to

κόνις

may have been caused, not by a misreading of letters, but by mere inadvertence,—the copyist having the word

κόνις

in his thoughts at the moment: it has already occurred frequently ( 247 , 256 , 409 , 429 ).—See Appendix.

mvp-comment-351-1 λόγου … ἄνοια ²⁵⁹ φρενῶν ἐρινύς ²⁶⁰

mvp-comment-352-1 τεάν ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-352-2 δύνα^σιν ²⁶²

mvp-comment-352-3 κατάσχοι ²⁶³

mvp-comment-353-1 The MS. παντογήρως ²⁶⁴ παντοθήρας ²⁶⁵ παντόθηρος ²⁶⁶ πάντ’ ἀγρεύων ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-354-1 The MS. οὔτ’ ἀκάματοι θεῶν ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-354-2

οὐδὲν ἕρπει

. Far the best emendation is οὔτε θεῶν ἄκματοι ²⁶⁹ θεῶν ²⁷⁰ θεῶν μῆνες ²⁷¹ θεῶν ²⁷² οὔτε ²⁷³

mvp-comment-354-3 ἄκματοι ²⁷⁴

mvp-comment-355-1 I doubt whether the dat. χρόνῳ ²⁷⁵

mvp-comment-355-2 μαρμαρόεσσαν ²⁷⁶

mvp-comment-356-1 τό τ’ ἔπειτα ²⁷⁷ τὸ μέλλον ²⁷⁸

mvp-comment-356-2 καὶ τὸ πρίν ²⁸² ἐπαρκέσει ²⁸³

mvp-comment-357-1 πάμπολύ γ’ ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-357-2 ἕρπει ²⁸⁵ ἕρπειν ²⁸⁶ ἕρπει ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-357-3 πάμπολις ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-358-1 ἁ γὰρ δή ²⁸⁹ γάρ ²⁹⁰ πολύπλαγκτος ²⁹¹

mvp-comment-358-2 oft tossed up and down, ploughing a sea of vain deceits.’—

πολύπλαγκτος

might also be act., ‘causing men to err greatly’; but this is less fitting here.

mvp-comment-359-1 πολλοῖς μὲν ὄνασις ²⁹²

mvp-comment-360-1 ἀπάτα … ἐρώτων ²⁹³

mvp-comment-360-2 κουφονόων ²⁹⁴

mvp-comment-361-1 The

ἀπάτη

, or final frustration of his desires, ἕρπει ²⁹⁵ οὐδὲν εἰδότι ²⁹⁶

mvp-comment-362-1 πρὶν … προσαύσῃ ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-362-2 προσαύσῃ ²⁹⁸

mvp-comment-362-3 πόδα ²⁹⁹ προσαύσῃ ³⁰⁰

mvp-comment-363-1 σοφίᾳ ³⁰¹

mvp-comment-363-2 ἔκ του ³⁰²

mvp-comment-363-3 πεφάνται ³⁰³

mvp-comment-364-1 τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ’ ³⁰⁴ ποτέ ³⁰⁵

mvp-comment-364-2 1676 Among them he a spirit of phrenzy sent, Who hurt their minds. Cp.

βλαψίφρων, φρενοβλαβής

. Il. 19.137

ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ἀασάμην, καί μευ φρένας ἐξέλετο Ζεύς

. Theognis 403

σπεύδει ἀνήρ, κέρδος διζήμενος, ὅν τινα δαίμων | πρόφρων εἰς μεγάλην ἀμπλακίην παράγει, | καί οἱ ἔθηκη δοκεῖν, ἃ μὲν ᾖ κακά, ταῦτ’ ἀγάθ’ εἶναι, | εὐμαρέως, ἃ δ’ ἂν ᾖ χρήσιμα, ταῦτα κακά

. Lycurgus in Leocr. § 92

οἱ γὰρ θεοὶ οὐδὲν πρότερον ποιοῦσιν ἢ τῶν πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν διάνοιαν παράγουσι· καί μοι δοκοῦσι τῶν ἀρχαίων τινὲς ποιητῶν ὥσπερ χρησμοὺς γράψαντες τοῖς ἐπιγιγνομένοις ταῦτα τὰ ἰαμβεῖα καταλιπεῖν· ὅταν γὰρ ὀργὴ δαιμόνων βλάπτῃ τινά, | τοῦτ’ αὐτὸ πρῶτον, ἐξαφαιρεῖται φρενῶν | τὸν νοῦν τὸν ἐσθλόν, εἰς δὲ τὴν χείρω τρέπει | γνώμην, ἵν’ εἰδῇ μηδἐν ὧν ἁμαρτάνει

. The schol. on our verse quotes an unknown poet's lines,

ὅταν δ’ ὁ δαίμων ἀνδρὶ πορσύνῃ κακά, | τὸν νοῦν ἔβλαψε πρῶτον, ᾧ βουλευεται

. (‘Quem Iuppiter vult perdere, dementat prius.’ See n. in Appendix.)— The epic ἔμμεν ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-365-1 ὀλίγιστον ³⁰⁷ ὀλιγοστόν ³⁰⁸ πράσσει … ἐκτὸς ἄτας ³⁰⁹ ἄτας ³¹⁰

mvp-comment-366-1 μήν ³¹¹

mvp-comment-366-2 νέατον ³¹²

mvp-comment-366-3 to a person,

νέατος

could not be said of a sole survivor unless he was also the latest-born.

γέννημ’

: cp. 471 n.

mvp-comment-366-4 ἀχνύμενος ³¹³ μόρον ³¹⁴

mvp-comment-367-1 In the MS. reading (see cr. n.)

νύμφης

is a gloss on τάλιδος ³¹⁵ τῆς μελλογάμου ³¹⁶ τῆς μελλογάμου ³¹⁷ τάλιδος ³¹⁸

mvp-comment-368-1 ἀπάτας ³¹⁹ λεχέων ³²⁰

mvp-comment-370-1 μάντεων ὑπέρτερον ³²¹

mvp-comment-371-1 τελείαν ³²²

mvp-comment-371-2 ψῆφο<*> ³²³

mvp-comment-371-3 ἆρα μή ³²⁴

mvp-comment-371-4 τῆς μελλονύμφου ³²⁵

mvp-comment-371-5 λυσσαίνων ³²⁶ σοὶ μέν ³²⁷ θυμαίνων ³²⁸

mvp-comment-372-1 σοὶ μέν ³²⁹

mvp-comment-372-2 πανταχῇ δρῶντες ³³⁰

mvp-comment-373-1 σός ³³¹

mvp-comment-373-2 γνώμας ἔχων χρηστάς ³³² ἀπορθοῖς ³³³ μοι ³³⁴

mvp-comment-374-1 ἀξιώσεται ³³⁶ ἀξ. μείζων φέρεσθαι ³³⁷ ἀξίως ἔσται ³³⁸

mvp-comment-374-2 σοῦ καλῶς ἡγουμ. ³³⁹ μείζων ³⁴⁰

mvp-comment-375-1 γάρ ³⁴¹

mvp-comment-375-2 διὰ στέρνων ἔχειν ³⁴² διά ³⁴³ ἔχειν ³⁴⁴ οὕτω ³⁴⁵ ἔχειν ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-376-1 (One ought to think thus),—that is, ὄπισθεν ἑστάναι πατρ. γνώμης ³⁴⁷ πάντα ³⁴⁸ ἑστάναι ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-377-1 ὡς ³⁵⁰

mvp-comment-377-2 ἀνταμύνωνται ³⁵¹ κακοῖς ³⁵²

mvp-comment-378-1 ἄλλο ³⁵³ φῦσαι ³⁵⁴ πλήν ³⁵⁵ ἄλλο ³⁵⁶ εἴποις ³⁵⁷

mvp-comment-378-2 πόνους ³⁵⁸

mvp-comment-378-3 γέλων ³⁵⁹

mvp-comment-379-1 τὰς φρένας γ’ ³⁶⁰ γε ³⁶¹ φρένας σύ γ’ ἡδονῇ ³⁶²

mvp-comment-379-2 φρένας … ἐκβάλῃς ³⁶³

mvp-comment-379-3 ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς ³⁶⁴

mvp-comment-380-1 ψυχρόν ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-380-2 παραγκάλισμα ³⁶⁶

mvp-comment-381-1 δόμοις ³⁶⁷

mvp-comment-381-2 ἕλκος ³⁶⁸

mvp-comment-381-3 φίλος ³⁶⁹

mvp-comment-382-1 πτύσας ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-382-2 ὠσεί τε δυσμενῆ ³⁷¹ τε ³⁷²

mvp-comment-383-1 νυμφεύειν ³⁷³

mvp-comment-384-1 ἀπιστήσασαν ³⁷⁴ ψευδῆ ³⁷⁵

mvp-comment-385-1 κτενῶ ³⁷⁶

mvp-comment-385-2 πρὸς ταῦτ ³⁷⁷

mvp-comment-385-3 ἐφυμνείτω ³⁷⁸

mvp-comment-385-4 Δία ξύναιμον ³⁷⁹

mvp-comment-386-1 τά γ’ ἐγγ. φύσει ³⁸⁰

mvp-comment-386-2 ἄκοσμα ³⁸¹

mvp-comment-386-3 θρέψω ³⁸²

mvp-comment-386-4 κάρτα τοὺς ἔξω γ. ³⁸³

mvp-comment-387-1 Seidler transposes vv. 663—667, placing them after 671. The object is to bring vv. 668—671 into immediate connection with 662. In this there is one slight grammatical gain; since, as the vv. stand in the MSS.,

τοῦτον ...τὸν ἄνδρα

(668) means, ‘the man who acts thus’ (viz., as described in vv. 666 f.). But the order given in the MSS. is right. The transposition obliterates one of the finest touches in the speech. Creon demands that the obedience of the citizens to the ruler shall be absolute (666 f.). And then he supplements this demand with a remark on the dignity of such obedience. The man who so obeys gives the best proof that he could also rule (668 ff.). Seidler destroys the point of vv. 668 ff. by placing them after 662.

mvp-comment-387-2 The connection of thought in the whole passage—which is slightly obscured by compression—may be most clearly shown by taking the verses in small consecutive groups. (1) 659 f. If I tolerate disloyalty

mvp-comment-387-3 in my own relatives, I shall encourage it in other citizens. (2) 661 f. For (

γάρ

) only a man who is firm (

χρηστός

) where his own relatives are concerned will be found to uphold justice in the State (i.e. will have the authority necessary for doing so). (3) 663 f. Now, I recognise disloyalty in any one who breaks the law and defies the government, as Antigone has done. (4) 666 f. Instead of so doing, the citizen is bound to obey the government in everything. (5) 668—671. There is nothing slavish in that; on the contrary, it shows that the citizen is not only a good subject, but would, if required, be a good ruler;—as he would also be a good soldier.—Then comes the general censure on unruliness (672—676). And then the conclusion:—I must vindicate my authority, and punish Antigone (677 —680).

mvp-comment-388-1 ὑπερβάς ³⁸⁴

mvp-comment-388-2 τοὐπιτάσσειν ³⁸⁵

mvp-comment-388-3 νοεῖ ³⁸⁶

mvp-comment-389-1 στήσειε ³⁸⁷

mvp-comment-389-2 καὶ τἀναντία ³⁸⁸

mvp-comment-390-1 τοῦτον … τὸν ἄνδρα ³⁸⁹

mvp-comment-390-2 καλῶς...εὖ ³⁹⁰

mvp-comment-390-3 ἄν ³⁹¹ ἄρχειν ³⁹² θέλειν ³⁹³

mvp-comment-391-1 δορὸς … χειμῶνι ³⁹⁴

mvp-comment-391-2 προστεταγμένον ³⁹⁵

mvp-comment-391-3 παραστάτην ³⁹⁶

mvp-comment-392-1 πόλεις ὄλλυσιν, ἥδ’ ³⁹⁷ πόλεις τ’ … ἥδ’ ³⁹⁸

mvp-comment-393-1 συμμάχου ³⁹⁹ συμμάχηι ⁴⁰⁰ σὺν μάχῃ ⁴⁰¹

mvp-comment-393-2 τροπὰς καταρρήγνυσι ⁴⁰²

mvp-comment-393-3 τῶν δ’ ὀρθουμένων ⁴⁰³ τὰ πολλὰ σώματα ⁴⁰⁴

mvp-comment-393-4 ἡ πειθαρχία ⁴⁰⁵

mvp-comment-394-1 ἀμυντέ’ ⁴⁰⁶

mvp-comment-394-2 τοῖς κοσμουμένοις ⁴⁰⁷ τοῖς κ. ⁴⁰⁹

mvp-comment-395-1 κοὔτοι … ἡσσητέα ⁴¹⁰

mvp-comment-396-1 δεῖ ⁴¹¹ ἐκπεσεῖν ⁴¹²

mvp-comment-396-2 thrust out: oft. of dethronement (

ἐκπ. τυραννίδος, ἀρχῆς, κράτους

, Aesch. ), or of exile (

χθονός

, O. C. 766 ).

mvp-comment-396-3 κοὐκ ἂν...καλοίμεθ’ ἄν ⁴¹³

mvp-comment-397-1 μέν ⁴¹⁴

mvp-comment-397-2 τῷ χρόνῳ ⁴¹⁵

mvp-comment-397-3 κεκλέμμεθα ⁴¹⁶

mvp-comment-398-1 δοκεῖς λέγειν φρονούντως περὶ ⁴¹⁷

mvp-comment-399-1 θεοί ⁴¹⁸

mvp-comment-399-2 κτημάτων ⁴¹⁹

mvp-comment-400-1 ἐγὼ δ’ ὅπως ⁴²⁰

mvp-comment-400-2 μὴ ⁴²¹ ὅπως ⁴²² μή ⁴²³ ὀρθῶς ⁴²⁴

mvp-comment-400-3 μήτ’ ἐπισταίμην ⁴²⁵

mvp-comment-401-1 καλῶς ἔχον ⁴²⁶ γένοιτο ἂν καὶ ἑτέρῳ ⁴²⁷

mvp-comment-402-1 σοῦ δ’ οὖν ⁴²⁸ σοῦ ⁴²⁹ σοί ⁴³⁰ σὺ δ’ οὐ πέφυκας ⁴³¹ τις ⁴³² μῆνίν τιν’ ἢ κότον τιν ⁴³³

mvp-comment-403-1 τὸ γὰρ σόν ⁴³⁴ ὄμμα ⁴³⁵

mvp-comment-403-2 δημότῃ ⁴³⁶

mvp-comment-404-1 λόγοις τοιούτοις ⁴³⁷ λόγοις τοιούτοις ⁴³⁸

mvp-comment-404-2 οἷς ⁴³⁹ τέρψει ⁴⁴⁰ κλύων ⁴⁴¹ μή ⁴⁴² τέρψῃ ⁴⁴³

mvp-comment-405-1 ὑπὸ σκότον ⁴⁴⁴ ἀκούειν ⁴⁴⁵ ὀδύρεται ⁴⁴⁶

mvp-comment-406-1 κάκιστ’ … εὐκλεεστάτων ⁴⁴⁷

mvp-comment-406-2 ἀπ’ ἔργων ⁴⁴⁸

mvp-comment-407-1 ἥτις ⁴⁴⁹ μήθ’ … μήθ’ ⁴⁵⁰ εἴασε ⁴⁵¹ ὀλέσθαι ⁴⁵²

mvp-comment-407-2 αὐτάδελφον ⁴⁵³

mvp-comment-407-3 ἐνφοναῖς ⁴⁵⁴

mvp-comment-408-1 χρυσῆς ⁴⁵⁵

mvp-comment-408-2 λαχεῖν ⁴⁵⁶ ἀξία ⁴⁵⁷

mvp-comment-409-1 ἐπέρχεται ⁴⁵⁸

mvp-comment-410-1 θάλλοντος ⁴⁵⁹

mvp-comment-410-2 μεῖζον εὐκλείας ⁴⁶⁰

mvp-comment-410-3 πρὸς παίδων ⁴⁶¹ εὐκλεία ⁴⁶²

mvp-comment-411-1 νυν ⁴⁶³

mvp-comment-411-2 φόρει ⁴⁶⁴

mvp-comment-411-3 ἦθος ⁴⁶⁵ ὡς φὴς σύ ⁴⁶⁶

mvp-comment-411-4 κοὐδέν ⁴⁶⁷

mvp-comment-411-5 τοῦτο ⁴⁶⁸

mvp-comment-412-1 μόνος ⁴⁶⁹ φρονεῖν ⁴⁷⁰ ψυχήν ⁴⁷¹

mvp-comment-412-2

αὐτὸς μοῦνος ποικίλα δήνε’

(devices)

ἔχειν, | κεῖνός γ’ ἄφρων ἐστί, νόου βεβλαμμένος ἐσθλοῦ, | ἴσως γὰρ πάντες ποικίλ’ ἐπιστάμεθα

. Isocr. or. 3 § 43 joins Theognis, Hesiod and Phocylides as

ἀρίστους...συμβούλους τῷ βίῳ τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων

. They were read in schools.

mvp-comment-413-1 οὗτοι ⁴⁷²

mvp-comment-413-2 διαπτυχθέντες ⁴⁷³

mvp-comment-413-3 κενοί ⁴⁷⁴

mvp-comment-414-1 ἄνδρα ⁴⁷⁵ μανθάνειν ⁴⁷⁶ τό ⁴⁷⁷

mvp-comment-414-2 κεἰ … ᾖ ⁴⁷⁸

mvp-comment-414-3 τείνειν ⁴⁷⁹

mvp-comment-414-4 παρὰ ῥείθρ. ⁴⁸⁰

mvp-comment-414-5 χειμάρροις ⁴⁸¹

mvp-comment-415-1 ὑπείκει ⁴⁸²

mvp-comment-415-2 αὐτόπρεμνα ⁴⁸³

mvp-comment-416-1 αὔτως ⁴⁸⁴

mvp-comment-416-2 ναός ⁴⁸⁵

mvp-comment-416-3 ἐγκρατῆ ⁴⁸⁶

mvp-comment-416-4 πόδα ⁴⁸⁷

mvp-comment-417-1 μηδέν ⁴⁸⁸

mvp-comment-417-2 κάτω στρέψας ⁴⁸⁹ τὸ πλοῖον ⁴⁹⁰ τὸ λοιπόν ⁴⁹¹

mvp-comment-417-3 σέλμασιν ⁴⁹² ὑπτίοις ⁴⁹³

mvp-comment-418-1 εἶκε θυμοῦ ⁴⁹⁴

mvp-comment-418-2 καὶ μετάστασιν δίδου ⁴⁹⁵

mvp-comment-418-3 δίδου ⁴⁹⁶ εἶκε ⁴⁹⁷ καί ⁴⁹⁸ καί ⁴⁹⁹

mvp-comment-419-1 εἴ τις γνώμη πρόσεστι καὶ ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ ν. ⁵⁰⁰ καί ⁵⁰¹

mvp-comment-419-2 πρεσβεύειν ⁵⁰²

mvp-comment-420-1 φῦναι ⁵⁰³

mvp-comment-420-2 πάντ’ ⁵⁰⁴

mvp-comment-421-1 εἰ δ’ οὖν ⁵⁰⁵ φιλεῖ γάρ ⁵⁰⁶

mvp-comment-421-2 τοῦτο … ταύτῃ ⁵⁰⁷ ταύτῃ ⁵⁰⁸

mvp-comment-421-3 ῥέπειν ⁵⁰⁹

mvp-comment-422-1 καὶ τὸ τῶν εὖ λεγόντων μανθάνειν καλόν ⁵¹⁰

mvp-comment-423-1 σέ τ’ ⁵¹¹ διπλᾶι ⁵¹² διπλᾶ ⁵¹³ διπλῇ ⁵¹⁴ διπλᾶ ⁵¹⁵

mvp-comment-423-2 On the other hand, διπλῇ ⁵¹⁶

mvp-comment-424-1 καὶ ⁵¹⁷ διδαξ. ⁵¹⁸

mvp-comment-424-2 δή ⁵¹⁹

mvp-comment-424-3 τὴν φύσιν ⁵²⁰

mvp-comment-425-1 μηδέν ⁵²¹ τὸ μὴ δίκ. ⁵²²

mvp-comment-425-2 τὸν χρόνον ⁵²³ τἄργα ⁵²⁴

mvp-comment-426-1 ἔργον ⁵²⁵

mvp-comment-426-2 τοὺς ἀκοσμοῦντας ⁵²⁶

mvp-comment-426-3 σέβειν ⁵²⁷

mvp-comment-427-1 οὐδ’ ⁵²⁸

mvp-comment-428-1 τοιᾷδε … νοσῳ ⁵²⁹

mvp-comment-428-2 ἐπείληπται ⁵³⁰

mvp-comment-429-1 Θήβης ⁵³¹ ὁμόπτολις ⁵³²

mvp-comment-430-1 ἡμῖν ⁵³³ ἐμέ ⁵³⁴

mvp-comment-431-1 ὡς ἄγαν νέος ⁵³⁵

mvp-comment-432-1 Dobree's με ⁵³⁶ γε ⁵³⁷ χρή ⁵³⁸ ἄλλῳ ἢ ’μοί ⁵³⁹ ἐμοί ⁵⁴⁰ χρή γε ⁵⁴¹

mvp-comment-433-1 πόλις γὰρ οὐκ ἔσθ’ ⁵⁴²

mvp-comment-433-2

τυραννίς

is

ἔσχατον πόλεως νόσημα

, Rep. 544 C. de Rep. 3. 31

ubi tyrannus est, ibi...dicendum est nullam esse rempublicam.

mvp-comment-434-1 νομίζεται ⁵⁴³

mvp-comment-435-1 καλῶς ἐρήμης γ’ ⁵⁴⁴

mvp-comment-436-1 Though at least one late MS. (Paris E) has

συμμαχεῖν

, it is needless to assume here the same mixed constr. as Tr. 1238

ἁνὴρ δ’ ὅδ’, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ νεμεῖν ἐμοὶ | φθίνοντι μοῖραν

.

mvp-comment-437-1 οὖν ⁵⁴⁵ προκήδομαι ⁵⁴⁶

mvp-comment-438-1 ὦ παγκάκιστε ⁵⁴⁷

mvp-comment-438-2 διὰ δίκης ἰὼν πατρί ⁵⁴⁸

mvp-comment-439-1 ἀρχάς ⁵⁴⁹

mvp-comment-440-1 οὐ γὰρ σέβεις ⁵⁵⁰

mvp-comment-440-2 τιμάς ⁵⁵¹

mvp-comment-441-1 ὦ μιαρόν ⁵⁵² γυναικὸς ὕστερον ⁵⁵³

mvp-comment-442-1 ‘I may be inferior to a woman, but at least you will never find me yielding to base temptations.’ It would have been

αἰσχρόν

if he had allowed fear or self-interest to deter him from pleading this cause. ( Cp. 509 .) Cp. Tr. 489

ἔρωτος...ἥσσων

: fr. 844

ἥσσων...ὀργῆς.

mvp-comment-442-2 οὔ τἄν ⁵⁵⁴

mvp-comment-442-3 γε ⁵⁵⁵

mvp-comment-443-1 γοῦν ⁵⁵⁶

mvp-comment-444-1 καὶ σοῦ γε ⁵⁵⁷

mvp-comment-445-1 Objections have been made to the traditional order of these verses, chiefly in two respects. (1) 755

εἰ μὴ πατὴρ ἦσθ’

is—it is argued—the strongest thing said by Haemon, and ought therefore to come immediately before Creon's final outburst,

ἄληθες

; (758). How could it be followed by merely so mild a phrase as

μὴ κώτιλλέ με

?—We may reply:— Haemon says that, if Creon were not his father, he would have thought him mad. It is to this that

μὴ κώτιλλέ με

refers, meaning, ‘Do not seek to deceive me by an affectation of filial deference.’ (2) 757

βούλει λέγειν τι

is too mild a remark—it is said—to form the climax of provocation to Creon's anger. We may reply:—It is in substance, if not in form, such a climax, —for a father who holds that unquestioning obedience (640) is a son's first duty. It asserts Haemon's right to maintain his own views against his father's,—

διὰ δίκης ἰέναι

, as Creon put it (742). The traditional order seems, therefore, to be right.

mvp-comment-445-2 Three modes of transposition have been proposed. (1) Enger puts 756 and 757 after 749. Then

κώτιλλε

(756) refers to Haemon's plea that he has his father's cause, and that of religion, at heart. We lose nothing by such a transposition; but neither do we gain.

mvp-comment-445-3 (2) Donner (in his transl., ed. 1863) simply transposed verses 755 and 757, leaving the rest as they stand. For this it may fairly be said that 757 comes very fitly after 754. On the other hand it seems to me that 756 does not aptly follow 757.

mvp-comment-445-4 (3) Pallis arranges thus:—749, 756, 755, 754, 757, 750—753. Thus

κενὰς γνώμας

(753) becomes the last sting.— The fact is that, in a stormy altercation, we do not look for a closely logical texture and a delicately graduated crescendo. The MS. order is (to my mind) the best; but other arrangements are possible, and would be nearly as good.

mvp-comment-445-5 Creon, instead of replying to v. 749, abruptly repeats his resolve.

οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς ταύτην ἔτι ζῶσαν γαμεῖς

(fut.)

ποτέ

, it cannot be that you shall ever wed her while she yet lives; i.e. she is to die at once, and can become your bride, if ever, only

ἐν Ἅιδου

(654). Cp. 1240 .— ὡς ⁵⁵⁸ ποτέ ⁵⁵⁹ ταύτην ⁵⁶⁰

mvp-comment-446-1 ἥδ’ ⁵⁶¹ ὀλεῖ τινά ⁵⁶²

mvp-comment-447-1 ἦ ἐπεξέρχει και ἐπαπειλῶν ὧδε θρασύς; ⁵⁶³ καί ⁵⁶⁴

mvp-comment-448-1 κλαίων ⁵⁶⁵

mvp-comment-448-2 φρενώσεις ⁵⁶⁶

mvp-comment-449-1 οὐκ εὖ φρονεῖν ⁵⁶⁷

mvp-comment-450-1 δούλευμα ⁵⁶⁸

mvp-comment-450-2 μὴ κωτιλλέ με ⁵⁶⁹

mvp-comment-450-3 Cp. Theognis 363

εὖ κώτιλλε τὸν ἐχθρόν

(cajole)'

ὅταν δ’ ὑποχείριος ἔλθῃ, | τῖσαί νιν, πρόφασιν μηδεμίαν θέμενος

: id. 851

Ζεὺς ἄνδρ’ ἐξολέσειεν Ὀλύμπιος, ὃς τὸν ἑταῖρον | μαλθακὰ κωτίλλων ἐξαπατᾶν ἐθέλει

.

mvp-comment-451-1 λέγειν … κλύειν; ⁵⁷⁰ λέγειν τι ⁵⁷¹

mvp-comment-452-1 ἄληθες; ⁵⁷²

mvp-comment-452-2 οὐ τόνδ’ Ὄλ. ⁵⁷³

mvp-comment-452-3 ἴσθ’ ὅτι ⁵⁷⁴

mvp-comment-453-1 χαίρων ⁵⁷⁵

mvp-comment-453-2 ἐπὶ ψόγοισι δεννάσεις ⁵⁷⁶ ἐπί ⁵⁷⁷ ἔτι ⁵⁷⁸

mvp-comment-454-1 ἄγετε ⁵⁷⁹ ἄγ’ ἄγε ⁵⁸⁰ ἄγαγε ⁵⁸¹

mvp-comment-454-2 τὸ μῖσος ⁵⁸²

mvp-comment-454-3 κατ’ ὄμματ’ ⁵⁸³

mvp-comment-454-4 παρόντι … πλησία ⁵⁸⁴

mvp-comment-455-1 ἔμοιγε ⁵⁸⁵ οὔτε ⁵⁸⁶ τε ⁵⁸⁷

mvp-comment-455-2 οὐδαμά ⁵⁸⁸

mvp-comment-455-3 ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ⁵⁸⁹

mvp-comment-456-1 ὡς ⁵⁹⁰

mvp-comment-456-2 τοῖς θέλουσι ⁵⁹¹

mvp-comment-457-1 ἐξ ὀργῆς ταχύς ⁵⁹²

mvp-comment-457-2 βαρύς ⁵⁹³

mvp-comment-458-1 μεῖζον ἢ κατ’ ἄνδρα ⁵⁹⁴

mvp-comment-458-2 ἰών ⁵⁹⁵

mvp-comment-458-3

αἱρήσοιμ’ ἰών

: Ai. 304

ὅσην κατ’ αὐτῶν ὕβριν ἐκτίσαιτ’ ἰών

. So here it scornfully suggests some daring enterprise.

mvp-comment-459-1 For δ’ οὖν ⁵⁹⁶

mvp-comment-459-2 τὼ … τώδε ⁵⁹⁷

mvp-comment-459-3 καί ⁵⁹⁸ κατακτ. νοεῖς ⁵⁹⁹ κατακτ ⁶⁰⁰

mvp-comment-460-1 θιγοῦσαν ⁶⁰¹

mvp-comment-460-2 γὰρ οὖν ⁶⁰²

mvp-comment-461-1 καί ⁶⁰³ βουλεύει ⁶⁰⁴

mvp-comment-461-2 σφε ⁶⁰⁵

mvp-comment-462-1 ἔνθα ⁶⁰⁶

mvp-comment-463-1 πετρώδει … ἐν κατώρυχι ⁶⁰⁷

mvp-comment-464-1 ὡς ἄγος μόνον ⁶⁰⁸ ὡς ⁶⁰⁹ ὅσον ⁶¹⁰

mvp-comment-464-2 ἄγος ⁶¹¹

mvp-comment-464-3 Creon's edict had announced that the transgressor would be publicly stoned to death (36). It is to this that the anxious question of the Chorus alludes (772). Creon had already said that Antigone's doom was to be

κάκιστος

(489). But now, at least, he feels that he cannot inflict such a death on the maiden, his kinswoman. She shall die, not by stoning, but by starvation. The choice is not prompted by cruelty, but simply by the desire to avoid physical violence.

mvp-comment-464-4 The danger of a

μίασμα

—to be avoided by a dole of food—has no relation to the special circumstances,—Antigone's royal birth, and the nature of her offence. In the ancient belief, that danger existed whenever a person was put to death by starvation. Two notions were probably blended; ( a) that, if a little food was given, the death was nature's work, not man's; ( b) that the

νέρτεροι

claimed an indemnity for the usual

ἐναγίσματα

. So the Greeks put Philoctetes ashore on desolate Lemnos, —

ῥάκη προθέντες βαιὰ καί τι καὶ βορᾶς | ἐπωφέλημα σμικρόν

( Ph. 274 ). So, too, when a Vestal was to be buried alive, the small vault in the Campus Sceleratus was furnished with a couch, a burning lamp, and a small table, on which the dole was placed,—bread, olives, milk, and a jug of water ( Plut. Num. 10 ).

mvp-comment-465-1 πᾶσ’ ⁶¹²

mvp-comment-466-1 ὃν μόνον σέβει ⁶¹³

mvp-comment-466-2

ἐγγενεῖς

(199). By honouring him, and Hades (519), she has dishonoured those other gods.

mvp-comment-467-1 τὸ μὴ θανεῖν ⁶¹⁴ τεύξεται ⁶¹⁵

mvp-comment-468-1 ἀλλὰ τηνικαῦτα ⁶¹⁶ τἀν ⁶¹⁷

mvp-comment-470-1 ἀνίκατε μάχαν ⁶¹⁸

mvp-comment-471-1 ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις, ⁶¹⁹

mvp-comment-472-1 ἐν μαλακαῖς παρειαῖς ⁶²⁰

mvp-comment-472-2 ἐννυχεύεις ⁶²¹

mvp-comment-473-1 ὑπερπόντιος ⁶²²

mvp-comment-473-2 ἔν τ’ ἀγρ. αὐλαῖς ⁶²³

mvp-comment-474-1 οὔτ’ ἀθανάτων ⁶²⁴

mvp-comment-474-2 σὲ … φύξιμός ἐστι ⁶²⁵

mvp-comment-475-1 σέ γ’ ⁶²⁶

mvp-comment-475-2 ὁ δ’ ἔχων ⁶²⁷

mvp-comment-476-1 ἀδίκους ⁶²⁸ παρασπᾷς ⁶²⁹

mvp-comment-477-1 ξύναιμον ⁶³⁰

mvp-comment-477-2 ἔχεις ⁶³¹

mvp-comment-477-3 ταράξας ⁶³²

mvp-comment-478-1 ἐναργής ⁶³³

mvp-comment-478-2 βλεφάρωνἵμερος ⁶³⁴ εὐλέκτρου νύμφας ⁶³⁵

mvp-comment-478-3 εὐλέκτρου ⁶³⁶

mvp-comment-479-1 πάρεδρος ἐν ἀρχαῖς ⁶³⁷ πάρεδρος ⁶³⁸ ἐν ἀρχαῖς ⁶³⁹

mvp-comment-479-2 The words answer metrically to

φύξιμος οὐδείς

(788). The first two syllables of

πάρεδρος

therefore represent a resolved long syllable. Pindar affords some instances of such resolution (see Appendix), and there is a probable example below (970

ἀγχίπολις Ἄρης

, where see n.). But it is rare, and certainly unpleasing. As

mvp-comment-479-3 a whole, too, the phrase

πάρεδρος ἐν ἀρχαῖς

is suspicious. A yet stronger objection is the strangeness of describing the power which is in conflict with the

θεσμοί

as their assessor, or peer, in sway; an expression which would seem appropriate only if that power was working in harmony with them; as when Eur. ( Eur. Med. 843 ) speaks of

σοφίᾳ παρέδρους...ἔρωτας, | παντοίας ἀρετᾶς ξυνεργούς

,—‘the loves that sit with wisdom, co-workers of all excellence,’—those aspirations of the soul which assist intellectual effort.

mvp-comment-479-4 The best line of emendation yet suggested is that of Semitelos, who writes ὥστε πέρα δρᾶν ⁶⁴⁰

mvp-comment-480-1 ἐμπαίζει ⁶⁴¹ νικᾷ ⁶⁴²

mvp-comment-481-1 καὐτὸς θεσμῶν ἔξω ⁶⁴³

mvp-comment-481-2 φέρομαι ⁶⁴⁴

mvp-comment-481-3 ἴσχειν δ’ ⁶⁴⁵

mvp-comment-482-1 πηγάς ⁶⁴⁶

mvp-comment-483-1 παγκοίτην ⁶⁴⁷

mvp-comment-483-2 of Antigone are brought into finer relief by the different tone of the choral anapaests. Cp. 822 , and see Appendix on 110.—Cp. O. C. 1578 (Death)

τὸν αἰένυπνον

. The word θάλαμον ⁶⁴⁸

mvp-comment-483-3 ἀνύτουσαν ⁶⁴⁹

mvp-comment-485-1 νεάταν … νέατον δέ ⁶⁵⁰

mvp-comment-485-2 νέατον ⁶⁵¹

mvp-comment-485-3 κοὔποτ’ αὖθις ⁶⁵²

mvp-comment-486-1 παγκοίτας ⁶⁵³ πάγκοινος ⁶⁵⁴

mvp-comment-487-1 ἄγει … ἀκτάν ⁶⁵⁵

mvp-comment-488-1 οὔθ’ ὑμεναίων … οὔτ’ ἐπινύμφειος … ὕμνος ⁶⁵⁶

mvp-comment-488-2 οὔτε … ἔγκληρον, … οὔτε … ὕμνησεν ⁶⁵⁸

mvp-comment-488-3 ἐπινύμφειος ⁶⁵⁹ ἐπινυμφίδιος ⁶⁶⁰ ἐπὶ νυμφείοις ⁶⁶¹ ἐπινυμφίδιος ⁶⁶²

mvp-comment-489-1 Ἀχέροντι νυμφεύσω ⁶⁶³

mvp-comment-490-1 ξιφέων ⁶⁶⁴ ἐπίχειρα ⁶⁶⁵

mvp-comment-491-1 αὐτόνομος ⁶⁶⁶

mvp-comment-491-2 δή ⁶⁶⁷ μόνη ⁶⁶⁸ Ἀΐδην ⁶⁶⁹ Ἅιδην ⁶⁷⁰

mvp-comment-492-1 ἤκουσα δή ⁶⁷¹

mvp-comment-492-2 λυγροτάταν ⁶⁷²

mvp-comment-492-3 ξέναν ⁶⁷³

mvp-comment-493-1 Ταντάλου ⁶⁷⁴

mvp-comment-493-2 Σιπύλῳ ⁶⁷⁵

mvp-comment-494-1 ἀτενής ⁶⁷⁶

mvp-comment-494-2 πετραία βλάστα δάμασεν ⁶⁷⁷ αι^ ⁶⁷⁸

mvp-comment-495-1 καί νιν ὄμρροι ⁶⁷⁹ τέγγει δ’ ⁶⁸⁰ ὄμβρῳ ⁶⁸¹ τακομέναν ⁶⁸² τέγγει … δειράδας ⁶⁸³ ὄμβροι ⁶⁸⁴ ὄμβρῳ ⁶⁸⁵

mvp-comment-495-2 χιών ⁶⁸⁶

mvp-comment-495-3 οὐδαμά ⁶⁸⁷

mvp-comment-496-1 τέγγει δ’ ὑπ’ ὀφρύσι … δειράδας ⁶⁸⁸

mvp-comment-496-2 The Niobe of Sipylus has usually been identified with a colossal rock-image on the N. side of the range. It is rudely carved in relief, within a rectangular niche on the face of a limestone cliff, and represents a woman seated on a throne. (See Stark, Niobe, pl. 1, Leips. 1863: cp. Baumeister, Denkm. p. 1029). Prof. W. M. Ramsay, however, holds that this image is the ‘very ancient’

ἄγαλμα

of Cybele mentioned by Paus. 3.22.4 . In two respects it differs from the ancient accounts of the Niobe (quoted below): ( a) it does not ‘weep,’—for the rainwater drops from the front of the niche, clear of the figure; and ( b) the likeness to a human form grows, instead of vanishing, as one approaches. ( Journ. Hellen. Studies III. 61 ff., 1882.) This has been confirmed by another traveller, Herr Schweisthal (as reported in the Berl. Phil. Wochenschr., May 28, 1887, p. 704). He finds the true Niobe at no great distance from the Cybele, but nearer Magnesia, and in the vicinity of a stream (the Jarikkaia) which Humann, in his ‘Excursion into Sipylus’ (1881), had already identified with the Achelous of Il. 24.616 . It is a natural phenomenon,—the semblance—as seen from a distance—of a draped woman, seated high on the rocks; she looks towards the right, and lifts her right arm, as if in lament.

mvp-comment-496-3 The best ancient description is by a poet whose native place was in that neighbourhood,—Quintus Smyrnaeus (1. 293— 306):—‘Her streaming tears still fall from the heights of the rugged cliff; and in sympathy with her the sounding waters of the Hermus make lament, and the lofty peaks of Sipylus, over which the mist that shepherds dread floats evermore. A great marvel is she to passers by, because she is like a sorrowful woman, who mourns some cruel grief, and weeps without stint. Such verily seems the figure, when thou gazest at it from afar; but when thou drawest near, lo, 'tis but a sheer rock, a cliff of Sipylus’ (

φαίνεται αἰπήεσσα πέτρη, Σιπύλοιό τ’ ἀπορρώξ

).

mvp-comment-496-4 Nonnus was thinking of the effect from the road, when he wrote (2. 160),

ἕσσομαι ὡς Νιόβη καὶ ἐγὼ λίθος, ὄφρα καὶ αὐτὴν | λαϊνέην στενάχουσαν ἐποικτείρωσιν ὁδῖται

. Pausanias, too, says that, at a certain distance from the cliff,

δεδακρυμένην δόξεις ὁρᾶν καὶ κατηφῆ γυναῖκα

, but that the illusion vanishes on a nearer approach (1. 21 § 3).

mvp-comment-497-1 ὁμοιοτάταν ⁶⁸⁹

mvp-comment-498-1 ἀλλὰ … θανοῦσαν ⁶⁹⁰ καίτοι ⁶⁹¹ ζῶσαν ⁶⁹² θανοῦσαν ⁶⁹³ οἴμοι γελῶμαι ⁶⁹⁴

mvp-comment-498-2 θεός ⁶⁹⁵

mvp-comment-498-3 θεογεννής ⁶⁹⁶ θειογενής ⁶⁹⁷

mvp-comment-499-1 καίτοι ⁶⁹⁸ φθιμένῃ ⁶⁹⁹

mvp-comment-499-2 κἀκοῦσαι ⁷⁰⁰ μέγ’ ἀκοῦσαι ⁷⁰¹

mvp-comment-500-1 τοῖς ἰσοθέοις σύγκληρα ⁷⁰² ἔγκληρα ⁷⁰³

mvp-comment-500-2 Hipp. 1011 : or (2) pass., included in one's

κλῆρος

, as H. F. 468

ἔγκληρα πεδία ...κεκτημένος

(‘by inheritance’). Here,

ἔγκληρα

was perh. partly due to a reminiscence of

ἔγκληρον

in 814.—The change of τοῖς ἰσοθέοις ⁷⁰⁴ τοῖσι θεοῖσιν ⁷⁰⁵ ι— ⁷⁰⁶ α— ⁷⁰⁷ τοῖς ἰσοθέοις ἔγκληρα ⁷⁰⁸

mvp-comment-501-1 ζῶσαν … θανοῦσαν ⁷⁰⁹

mvp-comment-502-1 γελῶμαι ⁷¹⁰

mvp-comment-503-1 πολυκτήμονες ⁷¹¹

mvp-comment-504-1 κρῆναι ⁷¹²

mvp-comment-504-2 εὐαρμάτου ⁷¹³

mvp-comment-504-3 ἄλσος ⁷¹⁴

mvp-comment-504-4 ἔμπας ⁷¹⁵

mvp-comment-505-1 ὔμμ’ ⁷¹⁶

mvp-comment-505-2 ἐπικτῶμαι ⁷¹⁷ ἐπί ⁷¹⁸

mvp-comment-506-1 οἵα ⁷¹⁹

mvp-comment-506-2 φίλων ἄκλαυτος ⁷²⁰

mvp-comment-507-1 ἕργμα τυμβόχωστον ⁷²¹ ἕρμα ⁷²²

mvp-comment-508-1 ποταινίου ⁷²³

mvp-comment-509-1 Though every treatment of this verse must remain subject to doubt, far the most probable (to my mind) is Seyffert's modification of Boeckh's βροτοῖς οὔτ’ ἐν νεκροῖς κυροῦσα ⁷²⁴ οὔτε ⁷²⁵ κυροῦσα ⁷²⁶ νεκροῖς ⁷²⁷

mvp-comment-510-1 μέτοικος ⁷²⁸

mvp-comment-511-1 προβᾶσ’ … πολύ ⁷²⁹ προσέπεσες ⁷³⁰

mvp-comment-511-2 πολύ ⁷³¹ ἐσχάτου ⁷³² προσέπεσες ⁷³³

mvp-comment-512-1 πατρῷόν τινα … ἆθλον ⁷³⁴ τινά ⁷³⁵

mvp-comment-512-2 ἐκτίνεις ⁷³⁶

mvp-comment-513-1 μερίμνας ⁷³⁷ οἶκτον ⁷³⁸ πατρός ⁷³⁹ πότμου ⁷⁴⁰ οἶκτον ⁷⁴¹

mvp-comment-513-2 to taking

οἶκτον

as acc. in apposition with

ἔψαυσας...μερίμνας

is that this would imply

τό

(

σε

)

ψαῦσαι ἀλγ. ἐμοὶ μερίμνης οἶκτός ἐστιν

: as Eur. Or. 1105

Ἑλένην κτάνωμεν, Μενέλεῳ λύπην πικράν

, implies,

τὸ Ἑλένην κτανεῖν Μενέλεῳ λύπη πικρὰ ἔσται

: Aesch. Ag. 224

ἔτλα δ’ οὖν | θυτὴρ γενέσθαι θυγατρός, γυναικοποίνων πολέμων ἀρωγάν

, implies,

τὸ θυτῆρα γενέσθαι ἀρωγὴ ἦν

. Now, if we had, for instance,

ἀνεμνήσθην μερίμνης

, it is conceivable that

οἶκτον

, as acc. in appos., should mean

οἴκτου ἀφορμήν

or

ἔγερσιν

. But when, as here, the subject of

ἔψαυσας

is distinct from the person who makes the lament, it seems impossible that

οἶκτον

should have this pregnant sense.

mvp-comment-513-3 ἀλγ. μερίμνας ⁷⁴² οἶτον ⁷⁴³

mvp-comment-513-4 τριπόλιστον ⁷⁴⁴

mvp-comment-513-5 κλεινοῖς Λαβδακίδαισιν ⁷⁴⁵ πότμου ⁷⁴⁶

mvp-comment-513-6 ἁμετέρου ⁷⁴⁷

mvp-comment-514-1 ματρῷαι λέκτρων ἆται ⁷⁴⁸ πατρῷαι ⁷⁴⁹

mvp-comment-514-2

λέκτρον οὐκ ὀκνεῖν με δεῖ

; and ( b) with

πατρῷαι

the explanation by

ἐμῷ πατρί

, etc., would have been less needed.

mvp-comment-515-1 κοιμήματα . . αὐτογέννητα . . ματρός ⁷⁵⁰

mvp-comment-515-2 ἐμῷ πατρί ⁷⁵¹

mvp-comment-515-3 δυσμόρου ⁷⁵²

mvp-comment-516-1 οἵων ⁷⁵³ ποτέ ⁷⁵⁴ οἵων ⁷⁵⁵ ποτέ ⁷⁵⁶ οὕς ⁷⁵⁷ οἵων ⁷⁵⁸ ματρός.—ἀραῖος ⁷⁵⁹

mvp-comment-516-2 μέτοικος ⁷⁶⁰

mvp-comment-517-1 κασίγνητε ⁷⁶¹

mvp-comment-518-1 θανὼν ἔτ’ οὖσαν ⁷⁶²

mvp-comment-518-2 κατήναρες ⁷⁶³

mvp-comment-519-1 σέβειν ⁷⁶⁴

mvp-comment-519-2 sense,

εὐσέβεια

’: i.e. though it is not complete

εὐσέβεια

—which the Chorus regard as including loyalty to the State's laws— yet, so far as it goes, it deserves praise of the same kind. Cp. 924

τὴν δυσσέβειαν εὐσεβοῦσ’ ἐκτησάμην

: by practising

εὐσέβεια

towards the dead, she had come to be thought, on the whole,

δυσσεβής

—as a law-breaker. The Chorus is here the apologist of Creon, and this concession is meant to emphasise the next sentence. Hence the purposed vagueness of σέβειν ⁷⁶⁵

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus

466. mvp-comment-269-1 παρ᾿ οὐδὲν ἄλγος Is a grief of no account. Cp. supr. 35.

466. mvp-comment-269-2 ἐμῆς Meineke conj. ἐκ μιᾶs, Seyffert ὁμῆς, unnecessarily. The emphatic use of ἐμós is frequent in Sophocles.

467. mvp-comment-270-1 ἄθαπτον *ἠνσχόμην ἠνσχόμην (1) may be defended by the analogy of the syncopated ἀνσχήσεσθαι, ἄνσχεο, in Epic Greek. Otherwise (2) νέκυν may be cancelled as a gloss, and ἄθαπτον *ὄντ᾿ ἠνεσχόμην read, according to the conj. of Prof. E. L. Lushington. Or (3) ἐσχόμην may be read in the sense of ἠνεσχόμην. Ε. on L. § 55, 4. p. 101. But this is doubtful.

470. mvp-comment-271-1 μώρῳ i.e. One whose judgment is self-condemned, because opposed to the eternal laws. The word is not prompted by mere petulance, but is uttered with profound conviction.

471. mvp-comment-272-1 'The maiden's lineage declares itself in the fierce vein that comes to her from her fierce sire.' Phil. 1045-1046.

472. mvp-comment-273-1 ἐπίσταται Sc. ἡ παῖς.

473. mvp-comment-274-1 σκληρά Unbending, and so Stubborn, Obstinate.

473. mvp-comment-274-2 The self-will of Creon appears with increasing distinctness. (1) He asserts his confidence in the use of power to suppress insubordination. (2) He speaks of his ward, whom he does not care to name, as in the place of a slave (479): (3) he implies that to cede an inch of authority is to give the sovereignty to another (485). (4) He throws the tie of kindred to the winds. The first words of his speech are ominous of his own doom. See Introduction.

475. mvp-comment-275-1 ὀπτὸν .. περισκελή Baked to exceeding hardness. Cp. Aj. 649, καὶ περισκελεῖς φρένες.

476. mvp-comment-276-1 θραυσθέντα καὶ ῥαγέντα Broken and shattered. The strongest word is put first in the Greek. Essay on Language § 41. p.77.

477. mvp-comment-277-1 σμικρῷ has a strong emphasis. Ibid.

478. mvp-comment-278-1 ἐκπέλει Hesych. ἐκπέλει, ἔξεστι. Hdt. uses ἐκγίνεσθαι in a similar sense. See Essay on Language § 55. p. 101.

479. mvp-comment-279-1 δοῦλος Creon shows his coarsely tyrannical spirit by boasting of his absolute power over his orphan relative.

481. mvp-comment-280-1 Cp. Hdt. 3. 83, νόμους οὐκ ὑπερβαίνουσα τοὺς Περσέων.

484. mvp-comment-281-1 Cp. Eur. I. Α. 952 ff., ἢ Σίπυλος ἔσται πόλις, ὅρισμα βαρβάρων, κ.τ.λ.

485. mvp-comment-282-1 If this authority is to be allowed to rest with her unchallenged. By an exaggeration of feeling like that in l. 208, he thinks that to pardon disobedience is to yield authority to the offender. For κείσεται, cp. El. 361, σοὶ δὲ πλουσία | τράπεζα κείσθω: ἀνάκειμαι in Hdt. 1.97, γνοὺς ὁ Δηϊόκης ἐς ἑωυτὸν πᾶν ἀνακείμενον.

485. mvp-comment-282-2 κράτη, as in l. 173, ἐγὼ κράτη δὴ πάντα καὶ θρόνους ἔχω.

486. mvp-comment-283-1 ὁμαιμονεστέρα is the more rational and stronger reading: although in weighing a hyperbolical expression of this kind, that is perhaps hardly a sufficient argument, and may be urged on the other side as accounting for the alteration of the MS.

487. mvp-comment-284-1 τοῦ παντὸς.. Ζηνὸς ἐρκείου i.e. Our whole family, the presiding numen being put for the thing held sacred.

489. mvp-comment-285-1 μόρου For the genitive with ἀλύξετον, cp. Phil. 1044, τῆς νόσου πεφευγέναι.

489. mvp-comment-285-2 ἴσον is probably to be construed both with ἐπαιτιῶμαι and βουλεύσαι (‘I accuse equally of plotting equally'), and τοῦδε τάφου is partly gen. after ἐπαιτιῶμαι, partly after ἴσον.

491. mvp-comment-286-1 ἀρτίως Viz. after l. 331, when Ismene knew that the deed was done, and, alone of those in the palace, knew also by whom.

493-494. mvp-comment-287-1 And it commonly happens that the spirit of those who are plotting some utter wickedness in secret is convicted of its occulted guilt before the act.

493. mvp-comment-288-1 ᾑρῆσθαι κλοπεύς Το be arrested in some stealthy enterprise. The perfect tense marks that the detection is completed before the purpose is carried into effect. Cp. πεπραγμένα .. ἡμαρτημένα, in O. T. 621.

495. mvp-comment-289-1 Yet I hate it equally when one who is caught in actual mischief tries to make a virtue of the offence.

495. mvp-comment-289-2 ἐν κακοῖσι = In trouble, i. e. In crime, and not merely, like Ismene, in the consciousness of crime. Cp. Fr. 843, αἰδὼς γὰρ ἐν κακοῖσιν οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖ.

496. mvp-comment-290-1 καλλύνειν Creon affects to regard Antigone's appeal to the higher law as a piece of hypocrisy. Cp. Fr. 845

496. mvp-comment-290-2 κλέπτων δ᾽ ὅταν τις ἐμφανῶς ἐφευρεθῇ, | σιγᾶν ἀνάγκη, κἂν καλὸν φέρῃ στόμα.

497. mvp-comment-291-1 Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1211.

500. mvp-comment-292-1 μηδ' ἀρεσθείη Sc. μηδὲν τῶν σῶν λόγων.

501. mvp-comment-293-1 ἔφυ Are by nature, and so cannot fail to be.

505. mvp-comment-294-1 λέγοιτ' ἄν For the passive, see Essay on Language § 31. P. 54 *ἐγκλείσαι] Cp. supr. 1. 180. Dindorf's correction (with εί for ῄ) is retained in preference to ἐγκλείοι. The future optative is clearly wrong.

506-507. mvp-comment-295-1 These two lines have been considered spurious. But their scornful tone may be compared with supr. 469-470.

509. mvp-comment-296-1 ὑπίλλουσι ἴλλειν (cp. supr. 340) is To move within bounds, or To limit motion. So here, 'They move their lips under your restraint; i. e. They curb their speech under your will.

510. mvp-comment-297-1 τῶνδε .. φρονεῖς; If you hold a course divergent from theirs. Cp. supr. 375, μήτ᾽ ἴσον φρονῶν.

512. mvp-comment-298-1 καταντίον In opposition to him.

514. mvp-comment-299-1 Why then do you honour a service which involves impiety to him? Honour, i. e. By zealously performing it.

515. mvp-comment-300-1 ὁ κατθανών νέκυς Eteocles.

516. mvp-comment-301-1 i. e. If you honour the impious one equally with him.

517. mvp-comment-302-1 For the omission of the participle, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.

519. mvp-comment-303-1 τοὺς νόμους τούτους Cp. supr. 452.

519. mvp-comment-303-2 ἴσους, the reading of the corrector of L, rather injures the line by dividing the emphasis, which rests entirely on ὅμως. Essay on Language § 41. p. 76 (4).

520. mvp-comment-304-1 ἴσος Of equal right. ἴσos has the construction of ἄξιος or δίκαιος. Essay on Language § 36. p. 64.

521. mvp-comment-305-1 Who can tell if this be not esteemed pious in the under-world? τάδε, this, which you count impious, the burial of Polynices. Schol., τίς οἶδεν εἰ καθ' Ἅιδου ἀλλήλοις διαλλάσσοντες ἡγοῦνται εὐσεβῆ τάδε. τίς οἶδεν εἰ, like Haud scio an in Latin, suggests an affirmative as possible, as in the lines τίς οἶδεν εἰ τὸ ζῆν μὲν ἐστι κατθανεῖν | τὸ κατθανεῖν δὲ ζῆν; κάτωθεν, see v. rr., is possibly right.

522-523. mvp-comment-306-1 Creon means that Eteocles must still hate Polynices after death. To which Antigone rejoins, in the line which expresses what is deepest in her, If it be so, his hatred is no rule for me. Creon sees that further argument is useless, and breaks off impatiently with an abrupt sentence of death.

524-525. mvp-comment-307-1 Go, then, to your grave, and there, if you must love them, love the dead below! κείνους, sc. τοὺς κάτω, with particular reference to Polynices.

526-530. mvp-comment-308-1 Here comes Ismene forth, shedding sisterly tears; from clouds above her brow, that moisten her fair cheek, doing disgrace unto her flushed countenance. Cp. Sh Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, 1. 1, Lys. Why is your cheek so pale? | How chance the roses there do fade so fast? | Herm. Belike, for want of rain, which I could well | Beteem them from the tempest of mine eyes. Ant. and Cleo. 3. 2. 52. Il. 17. 591, ἄχεος νεφέλη: Eur. Hipp. 173, ὀφρύων νέφος: Aesch. Prom. 144-145, ὀμίχλα .. πλήρης δακρύων.

527. mvp-comment-309-1 δάκρυ᾽ εἰβομένη is the Triclinian reading for δάκρυα λειβόμενα. δάκρυ λειβομένη has been conjectured. But the construction, with φιλάδελφα adverbial, is less simple and therefore less pathetic. δάκρυα εἰβομένη is read in M³.

529. mvp-comment-310-1 ῥέθος Eur. Η. F. 1204, πάρες ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων | πέπλον . . ῥέθος ἀελίῳ δεῖξον.

531. mvp-comment-311-1 ὡς ἔχιδν᾽ ὑφειμένη Having slid in secretly like a snake; i.e. Like a serpent lurking. For the feeling associated with ὑφίημι, cp. Ο. Τ. 387, ὑφεὶς μάγον τοιόνδε μηχανορράφον.

532. mvp-comment-312-1 ἐξέπινες Cp. Tr. 1055-1056, ῥοφεῖ ξυνοικοῦν· ἐκ δὲ χλωρὸν αἷμά μου | πέπωκεν ἤδη.

533. mvp-comment-313-1 ἄτα κἀπαναστάσεις Abstract for concrete. See Essay on Language p. 94.

533. mvp-comment-313-2 θρόνων, obj. gen. Ib. § 9. p. 12.

536. mvp-comment-314-1 εἴπερ ἥδ᾽ ὁμορροθεῖ The Scholiast has noticed the apparent absurdity of Ismene's adding this condition to her avowal; and Schneidewin alters the line το δέδρακα τοὔργον, εἴπερ ἥδ᾽· ὁμορροθῶ. But the inconsistency is touchingly significant of the irresolute character of Ismene, and of the ascendancy of Antigone's stern nature over hers.

537. mvp-comment-315-1 τῆς αἰτίας is directly governed by ξυμμετίσχω, the notion of participation being silently continued in καὶ φέρω. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 331, πάντων μετασχὼν καὶ τετολμηκὼς ἐμοί.

539. mvp-comment-316-1 οὔτ᾽ ἐγὼ 'κοινωσάμην Supr. 69.

541. mvp-comment-317-1 ξύμπλουν Essay on Language p. 94.

542. mvp-comment-318-1 Antigone's offering to the dead was made in solitude, and without the presence of the sun.

545. mvp-comment-319-1 ἁγνίσαι τιμῆσαι Schol. Ismene means, Though I shrank from the deed, let me share the glory of it by accepting the consequences.

546. mvp-comment-320-1 ἅ = ταῦτα ὧν. Essay on Language § 35. P. 59. μή, ibid. § 29. p. 48.

548. mvp-comment-321-1 τίς βίος i. e. πῶς ὁ βίος; See Essay on Language § 22. p. 36.

549. mvp-comment-322-1 'Ask Creon. He has your care and duty;' i.e. Creon is more to you than your brother is.

551. mvp-comment-323-1 εἰ γέλωτ᾽ ἔν σοι γελῶ Schneidewin's explanation of this line, It is painful to me to be mocking you, my sister, is out of harmony with the tone of Antigone, although it is true that in this line her bitterness is somewhat softened. Either δή, κεἰ must be read, or εἰ explained as = κεἰ. I have grief enough, I assure you, though I laugh a bitter laugh at thee. Cp. 728, εἰ δ' ἐγὼ νέος = Though I am young: Eur. Or. 484, εἰ δὲ δυστυχεῖ, τιμητέος. See Essay on Language § 28. p. 47.

552. mvp-comment-324-1 ἀλλὰ νῦν Essay on Language § 26. p. 43. Par. E suggests ἐπωφελοῖμ᾽.

554. mvp-comment-325-1 κἀμπλάκω i. e. ἢ σώσω ἐμαυτὴν καὶ ἀμπλάκω.

556. mvp-comment-326-1 ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ . . λόγοις But not without my saying what I said, was this choice made. Ismene would clear herself from the imputation of merely shrinking from the attempt through cowardice, or without laying before her sister the grounds of her own conduct, as she had done supr. 49 ff. She also wishes to remind Antigone of ll. 78, 99, which acquit her of indifference towards the dead. But Antigone only recalls the argument against opposing those in power. Wolff compares Eur. Ion 228, ἐπὶ δ' ἀσφάκτοις μήλοις μὴ πάριτε.

557. mvp-comment-327-1 Your counsel seemed wise to these' (Creon, etc., τοῖς ἐνθάδε), but mine to those (Polynices and the powers below, τοῖς ἐκεῖ). The form of the sentence is accommodated to the latter part of it. If the first part were fully expressed it would be ἐδόκεις ἄν. G. Wolff and Wecklein prefer the reading σὺ μὲν σοί. But the opposition of τοῖς μὲν, τοῖς δέ, is more pointed.

558. mvp-comment-328-1 (1) Ismene reiterates, still feebly, what she had asserted in 536-537. Or (2) 'We are both in equal error,'-you against the state, and I against the dead. The first (1) is best. In either case, Antigone rejoins, You need not trouble yourself to make confessions. You are safe.

559-560. mvp-comment-329-1 ἡ δ᾽ ἐμὴ.. ὠφελεῖν My soul has long been with the dead, to do them service. In these words Antigone may be supposed to say, either (1) From the moment when my resolution was taken, my life has been with the dead, devoted in sacrifice to their aid; cp. supr. 72 and note: or (2) I have long been dead to all the joys of life, and am therefore a fit sacrifice to the service of the dead. So Wecklein. Cp. Shak. Merch. of V. 4. 1, I am a tainted wether of the flock, etc. But the former meaning (1) is alone consistent with the betrothal of Antigone to Haemon.

562. mvp-comment-330-1 τὴν δ᾽.. ἔφυ We learn from this line, and from supr. 499-501, that there had never been much sympathy between Antigone and Creon.

563-564. mvp-comment-331-1 The unfortunate never retain even the reason that was born with them, but lose it in distraction. Ismene intends her excuse to cover Antigone.

564. mvp-comment-332-1 Creon echoes κακῶς πράσσουσιν. You lost your wits when you chose to share the guilt of the wicked. Cp. 536 ff., 558.

566. mvp-comment-333-1 Why, what life that deserves the name could be mine in loneliness apart from her?

567. mvp-comment-334-1 Say not "this maiden." She is no longer here. The word ἥδε remains in the nominative. This often happens when a word is quoted with the article; which, however, is elsewhere omitted in similar cases, as for instance when the word so quoted is the predicate of a sentence. Cp. Plato, Theaet. 164 Β, τὸ δέ γε οὐχ ὁρᾷ οὐκ ἐπίσταταί ἐστιν, εἴπερ καὶ τὸ ὁρᾷ ἐπίσταται, where ἐπίσταται is equally out of construction with ἥδε in this line.

568. mvp-comment-335-1 νυμφεῖα Essay on Language p. 94.

569. mvp-comment-336-1 Ср. О. Т. 1211, 1497-1498, foll.

570. mvp-comment-337-1 Not as their hearts were plighted. Literally, Not in such a way as harmony had been prepared between him and her. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 9.13, ξυνὸν ἁρμόζοισα θεῷ τε γάμον κούρᾳ θ' Ὑψέος εὐρυβία.

571. mvp-comment-338-1 The plural generalizes the expression.

571. mvp-comment-338-2 υἱέσι Dative of the person interested.

572. mvp-comment-339-1 *AN. The MSS. have ΙΣ. But Böckh has given strong reasons for following Aldus in assigning the line to Antigone. The last speech of Creon might well move her to break silence, which she does naturally by resenting the words not for herself, but for Haemon. There is also greater bitterness in this line than in any speech of Ismene. Then, granting that τὸ σὸν λέχος, addressed to Ismene, might mean The marriage you prate of, the words express a much deeper feeling as addressed to Antigone. Outwardly a mere expression of impatience, they convey the only touch of natural feeling which Creon betrays. 574 and 576 are then most naturally given to the chorus. The act of Creon in sacrificing his son's happiness is more solemnly marked when his words are addressed to the coryphaeus. While adhering to this view I am bound to add that some of the best critics prefer the other arrangement of the persons.

577. mvp-comment-340-1 καὶ σοί γε κάμοί Sc. δεδογ μένα: i. e. σὺ μὲν οὕτω δοκεῖς, ἐμοὶ δὲ δέδοκται. We are agreed so far.

577. mvp-comment-340-2 τριβάς Sc. ποιείσθε. Essay on Language §39. p. 74.

578. mvp-comment-341-1 'Henceforth these must be really women, and not left at large;' i. e. They must be treated as women. Cp. l. 484. This reading, although defaced in L, may well be defended against such would-be improvements as εὖ δὲ τάσδε χρὴ | γυναῖκας εἶλαι (Dind.), and εὖ δετὰς δὲ χρὴ | γυναῖκας εἶναι (Seyffert), which are to be condemned, amongst other reasons, for destroying the singleness of the emphasis. Creon, as usual, covers his self-will under the appearance of principle. Cp. Plat. Legg. 1.637, ταχὺ γάρ σου λάβοιτ᾽ ἄν τις τῶν παρ' ἡμῶν ἀμυνόμενος, δεικνὺς τὴν τῶν γυναικῶν παρ' ὑμῖν ἄνεσιν : Ar. Pol. 2. 6. The words indicate that Antigone's going beyond the gate, supr. 18, 19, was an exceptional freedom, consequent on the war. Thus Sophocles is contented with a hint, where Euripides thinks an explanation necessary: Phoen. 89-91.

582. mvp-comment-342-1 The fate of Antigone is sealed, and the chorus moralize over the power of fate and of Zeus, as shown in the continued calamities of the race of Labdacus, and the infatuation ('quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat ') of Antigone. The spectator is left free to apply the same reflections to the case of Creon.

582. mvp-comment-342-2 'Calamity is like a storm that stirs the lowest depths and sounds afar. The race once touched is never free. Each generation as it rises is struck down.

582. mvp-comment-342-3 'The house of Labdacus has sorrow upon sorrow. Amidst the ruined grove one root was springing, only to be swept under by the cruel dues of Hades in a frenzy of infatuation.

582. mvp-comment-342-4 Who can restrain the power of Zeus? Unchecked by sleep or age he ever dwells in the light of Olympus. This was and shall be now and evermore, a truth that spareth not the lives of men, whom hope deceives, giving comfort indeed, but also inspiring passionate folly, till disappointment comes, before the man hath seen that he is treading on fire. Wise was he who said that evil seemeth good to one whom God is drawing to perdition. Few are the days of his exemption from that dark lot.

582. mvp-comment-342-5 The 1st strophe opens solemnly with three dactylo-epitritic or Doric lines, which are followed by iambic and trochaic rhythms. The 2nd strophe is logaoedic, with syncope of thesis in ll. 3, 5, 7, 11 a'. β'. ILCCICcl alcl- LullLCClcclcla 10101010 51-1 CLL下CICLI トCICICI CCICCICLI 1101007ID トトー CCCII 100II

582. mvp-comment-342-6 οἶσι .. αἰών Whose life is free from taste of misery. Blessed, because of the rarity of their lot, and because of the unsparing persistence of calamity when it comes to any. For κακῶν ἄγευστος, cp. Ο. Τ. 969, ἄψαυστος ἔγχους.

583. mvp-comment-343-1 θεόθεν The adverb of place supports the metaphor of a storm coming from a certain quarter. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1089, ῥιπὴ Διόθεν.

583-584. mvp-comment-344-1 ἄτας | οὐδὲν ἐλλείπει Cp. l. 2, ff.

585. mvp-comment-345-1 ἔρπον The real subject of this is πᾶσα ἄτη (or τὸ πᾶν ἄτης) implied in the preceding words, the positive being educed from the negative. Calamity stints not, but goes on till it fulfils the number of the race.

586-589. mvp-comment-346-1 ὅμοιον.. πνοαῖς Like as when the billow courses over the darkening deep before fell Thracian blasts from the Euxine sea. Some interpreters make ἔρεβος subj, and οἶδμα obj. of ἐπιδράμῃ, when the darkening wave courses over the main. But οἶδμα elsewhere in Sophocles is not the expanse (aequor) but the swelling of the sea, and ἔρεβος ὕφαλον can hardly be anything else than the nether darkness of the deep. For the accumulation of adjectives, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 37. Seyffert reads ὡς προποντίδος. 589 ff. It rolls from depths below the black tempestuous drift. 591. And the cliffs, returning the shock, groaningly resound.'

586-589. mvp-comment-346-2 δυσάνεμον A sign of tempest, 'Associated with bad winds, because only seen when the wind has been blowing hard on shore. Ventorum vehementiorum comitem.' Musgr. 593, foll. From of old I see with pain' (ὁρῶμαι, ethical middle, Essay on Language § 31. p. 52) 'the calamities of the house of Labdacus accumulating on the calamities of those that are gone; nor does one generation free another, but some god casts them down; nor is there hope of redemption.'

586-589. mvp-comment-346-3 ἀρχαῖα has the stress as suppl. predicate. Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.

595. mvp-comment-347-1 The reading of this line has been much questioned, but the meaning is clear, although it is uncertain what word (whether φθιτῶν or some other) has been supplanted by the unmetrical φθιμένων: which may be due to a reminiscence of Aesch. Cho. 403. 4, παρὰ τῶν πρότερον φθιμένων ἄτην | ἑτέραν ἐπάγουσαν ἐπ᾿ ἄτῃ.

596. mvp-comment-348-1 γενεὰν γένος There is no distinction of meaning (such as One generation, .. 'The whole race'). Cp. O. C. 27, 28, ἐξοικήσιμος .. οἰκητός.

596. mvp-comment-348-2 ἐρείπει Sc. γενεὰν ἑκάστην. Cp. infra 601, κατ᾽ αὖ νιν, κ.τ.λ.

597. mvp-comment-349-1 οὐδ᾽ ἔχει Nor does the case admit of. Cp. Ο. C. 545, ἔχει δέ μοι ..

597. mvp-comment-349-2 πρὸς δίκας τι.

600. mvp-comment-350-1 ῥίζας Ἀντὶ τοῦ, ὅπερ ἔβλαστεν ἄνω τῆς ῥίζης, Schol. The root, for the plant.

600. mvp-comment-350-2 *ἐτέτατο The Scholiast notes the asyndeton (λείπει ἄρθρον τὸ ὅ): which is expressive and allows viv to be referred to ῥίζας, to which it naturally belongs. And in the reading ῥίζας δ τέτατο, the order of words is questionable. For ἐτέτατο φάος, cp. Phil. 831, αἴγλαν, ἃ τέταται τανῦν. The light is the grace and nobleness of Antigone, and her bright hopes. The conj. θάλος, for which, cp. Pind. Οl. 2. 45, Ἀδραστιδᾶν θάλος, is uncalled for.

601. mvp-comment-351-1 κατ' was rightly restored by Triclinius for κατ' (ⅰ.e. καὶ εἶτα), which had been introduced to avoid the asvndeton. (Schol. ἐάν στίξωμεν κᾷτ᾽ αὖ νιν, οὐδὲν λείπει τῷ λόγῳ.)

602-603. mvp-comment-352-1 ἀμᾷ θερίζει καὶ ἐκκόπτει. ἢ καλύπτει, Schol. The latter is right.

602-603. mvp-comment-352-2 Ας καταμᾶσθαι κόνιν is ‘Το cover oneself with dust,' so, by a poetical inversion, the dust may be said καταμᾶν, To cover, or Sweep out of sight. Essay on Language § 42. р. 80, β.

603. mvp-comment-353-1 λόγου τ᾽ ἄνοια καὶ φρενῶν Ἐριvús The reasoning of Antigone in 450 ff. seems wild to the chorus, and her conduct shows her to them as possessed with a fatal frenzy. It may be thought strange that κόνις should be retained against a reading which has been so generally ap- proved as κόπις, first suggested by Jortin. But see Essay on Language pp. 92, 93. The grotesque image of Death, or Hades, armed with a bloody chopper or cleaver, however agreeable to the manner of Euripides, or some other poets, has no parallel in the language of Sophocles. And the transition from this concrete imagery to the spirits of fury and madness is, to say the least, awkwardly abrupt. The words λόγου τ᾽ ἄνοια καὶ φρενῶν Ἐρινύς are most natural if they are added to expand an obscure allusion to the deed which had brought Antigone into danger. And the words φοινία θεῶν τῶν νερτέρων .. κόνις, The deadly dust sacred to the gods below, convey such an allusion not more obscurely than do the words in Tr. 836 ff., δεινοτάτῳ μὲν ὕδρας προστετακὼς φάσματι, κ.τ.λ., express the condition of Heracles in the poisoned robe. Triclinius was therefore not absurd in saying εἰκότως δὲ τὸ κόνις τέθειται. διότι γὰρ ἐκάλυψεν Ἀντιγόνη ἀδελφὸν Πολυνείκην κόνει, διὰ τοῦτο τεθνήξεσθαι ἔμελλε.

604. mvp-comment-354-1 This is suggested by the position of Antigone, whose offence brings swift retribution; but is felt by the spectator to be more applicable to that of Creon.

604-605. mvp-comment-355-1 τίς .. κατάσχοι Essay on Language §36. p. 62. Ср. O. T. 937, and esp. Pind. Οl. 11. 20, 1, ἐμφυὲς οὔτ᾽ αἴθων ἀλώπηξ | οὐδ᾽ ἐρίβρομοι λέοντες διαλλάξαιντο ἦθος.

606. mvp-comment-356-1 Not slumber that brings age to all things.' Cp. Hom. Il. 14. 242, where Sleep says, ἄλλον μέν κεν ἔγωγε θεῶν αἰειγενετάων | ῥεῖα κατευνήσαιμι, καὶ ἂν ποταμοῖο ῥέεθρα | Ὠκεανοῦ, ὅσπερ γένεσις πάντεσσι τέτυκται | Ζηνὸς δ' οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγε Κρονίονος ἆσσον ἱκοίμην, οὐδὲ κατευνήσαιμ᾽, ὅτε μὴ αὐτός γε κελεύοι. For αἱρεῖ, cp. Il. 24.5, οὐδέ μιν ὕπνος ἥρει πανδαμάτωρ: Od. 9. 372, κὰδ δέ μιν ὕπνος ἥρει πανδαμάτωρ. The conjecture of Bamberger, παντοθήρας, is plausible. But for the closeness of the association between Age and Sleep, cp. O. T. 870-871, οὐδὲ λάθα κατακοιμάσει .. οὐδὲ γηράσκει.

607-608. mvp-comment-357-1 The reading adopted involves the simplest change which avoids a breach of metrical rules. Others suppose, the loss of a syllable after θεῶν, reading ἄκοποι for ἀκάματοι, with ἕρπει in the fourth line of the antistrophe. For θεῶν added as a sort of epithet = Divine, cp. supra 454, 369: Ο. Τ. 647 : Αj. 711, θεῶν.. πάνθυτα θέσμια : Phil. 198: also Tr. 1191, Ζηνός. The indefiniteness of this use obviates the objection of Schneidewin, that the months of the Gods are opposed to Zeus, who is generally the orderer of time, as in Hom. Il. 2. 134, Διὸς μεγάλου ἐνιαυτοί. There is possibly, however, in θεῶν some allusion to the heavenly bodies, who, as Plato says, are the ὄργανα χρόνου.

608. mvp-comment-358-1 ἀγήρῳ δὲ χρόνῳ δυνάστας With power whose duration is untouched by age. For the personification of χρόνος, see Essay on Language pp. 81, 82. The reading ἀγήρως seems to be of some antiquity, and is embodied in one of the Scholia.

610. mvp-comment-359-1 αἴγλαν Cp. Hom. Il. 1. 532, ἀπ᾿ αἰγλήεντος Ὀλύμπου. The conception of Olympus is here more Homeric than elsewhere in Sophocles. See on O. T. 867, О. С. 1655.

611-612. mvp-comment-360-1 τό τ᾽ ἔπειτα καὶ τὸ μέλλον καὶ τὸ πρίν] Cp. Thuc. 2. 64, § 8.

613. mvp-comment-361-1 The reading οὐδὲν *ἕρπων is to some extent confirmed by the Scholium ση πάμπολις, ὁ κατὰ πᾶσαν πόλιν ἕρπων νόμος, and is the most probable of the emendations of this passage. It has been supposed that οὐδὲν ἔρπει, and also ἐκτὸς ἄτας, have crept in from below; but this stasimon is peculiarly full of verbal echoes. See Essay on Language § 44. p. 76. This principle' (the sovereignty of Zeus) will last the coming time, and the time to come, as well as the time past, never swerving, as it moves onwards, from calamity to the life of mortals in all their cities. Lit. Coming to the life of mortals (a law of every city) in no respect out of the way of calamity. οὐδέν, adverbial.

613. mvp-comment-361-2 βιότῳ, dat. of reference (Essay on Language § 12. p. 18). πάμπολις, universal, i.e. law not of any one state, but embracing all. For ἕρπων ἐκτὸς ἅτας θνατῶν βιότῳ, cp. infra l. 1318: ἐμᾶς.. ἐξ αἰτίας (= ἐκτὸς αἰτίας ἐμοί): Ο. C. 1575, ἐν καθαρῷ βῆναι .. τῷ ξένῳ: Essay on Language § 42. p. 79.

615. mvp-comment-362-1 πολύπλαγκτος There is no clear instance of an active use of πολύπλαγκτος, for in Hom. Il. 13. 308, έξ ἀνέμοιο πολυπλάγκτοιο ἰωῆς, The fartravelled wind, is a probable enough meaning. Cp. Shakespeare's Empty, vast, and wandering air. So here Widely roving' is better than Muchdeceiving.' Cp. infr. 785-786.

617. mvp-comment-363-1 ἀπάτα . . ἐρώτων ἐρώτων is not genitive of object, but of cause: not Disappointment of desire, but De ception through desire. To many, hope is but the deceitfulness of winged desire.

618. mvp-comment-364-1 εἰδότι δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἕρπει And it comes to him all at unaware, i. e. The event or calamity comes. For the vague subject, cp. supra 597, οὐδ᾽ ἔχει λύσιν, and note. This is better than Nothing befals him while he is aware. 619. Till his foot be scorched in the hot blaze.' For the insertion of τις in the second clause, cp. Aj. 964, τἀγαθὸν χεροῖν | ἔχοντες οὐκ ἴσασι πρίν τις ἐκ βάλῃ : Τr. 2, 3, ὡς οὐκ ἂν αἰῶν᾽ ἐκμάθοις βροτῶν, πρὶν ἂν θάνῃ τις. Seidler's conj. προσαύρῃ is less good than the reading of L.

620. mvp-comment-365-1 σοφίᾳ Dative of manner. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20, 2.

625. mvp-comment-366-1 πράσσει, SC. ὁ τοιοῦτος, supr. l. 619, τις, l. 623 , τῷδ'. Cp. Aesch. ap. Plat. Rep. 2, p. 380 Α, θεὸς μὲν αἰτίαν φύει βροτοῖς | ὅταν κακῶσαι δῶμα παμπήδην θέλει.

625. mvp-comment-366-2 ὀλιγοστόν ὀλίγιστον has been read, and is possibly the Ist hand of L; see v. rr. But ὀλιγοστός χρόνος may mean a time that is one of few, i. e. one that comes rarely or seldom. πολλοστός in Legg. 10. 896 B, is not small, but many times removed, and has the force of a superlative, as it has also in Phileb. 44 E, where it means minutest.

626-627. mvp-comment-367-1 See Essay on Language § 40. p. 75.

628. mvp-comment-368-1 νύμφης had probably been written over μελλογάμου or τάλιδος as a gloss. The words τῆς μελλογάμου νύμφης are omitted in VM¹. This whole expression may have been a gloss on τάλιδος, or on τῆς μελλονύμφου φου infr. 633.

629. mvp-comment-369-1 μόρον Ε. on L. § 16. p. 23.

630. mvp-comment-370-1 ἀπάτας (1) Gen. of cause; or (2) with ὑπερ. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 260.

631. mvp-comment-371-1 μαντέων ὑπέρτερον Better than a seer could tell us. Creon thus vents his impatience at the anticipation of the chorus, and also indicates his scorn of prophecy. Cp. infr. 1034 ff.

632. mvp-comment-372-1 τελείαν ψήφον The fixed, irreversible, decree. Creon means by his first words to exclude hope.

632. mvp-comment-372-2 ἆρα μή Can it be that.., expressing doubt mingled with surprise.

633. mvp-comment-373-1 τῆς μελλονύμφου Objective genitive. Essay on Language § 9. p. 12.

633. mvp-comment-373-2 λυσσαίνων · Madly raging; as if opposition to a father could only be accounted for by madness. The word is ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, and is for this reason preferable to the weaker θυμαίνων.

634. mvp-comment-374-1 σοὶ μέν i.e. Whatever we may be to others.

635-765. mvp-comment-375-1 Haemon professes obedience to his father, but with the implied condition that his father commands what is right. Not heeding this, Creon welcomes his general profession, and enlarges on the blessings that follow from obedience in public and private. He urges Haemon to renounce Antigone. Haemon replies by repeating the praise of her which he has heard in the city (Ar. Rhet. 3. 17, ἕτερον χρὴ λέγοντα ποιεῖν.. ὡς Σοφοκλῆς τὸν Αἴμονα ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἀντιγόνης πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ὡς λεγόντων ἑτέρων), and begs his father not to be deaf to all opinions but his own. Creon is impatient at this, and, after an altercation, in which both speakers become exasperated, Creon orders Antigone to be brought for immediate execution, and Haemon breaks away in sullen anger. This episode interposes a necessary pause between the condemnation of Antigone and its results, i. e, between the two chief crises of the action, and assists the main impression by bringing the light of natural affection and common opinion to bear on the situation.

635-636. mvp-comment-376-1 σύ μοι γνώμας ἔχων | χρηστὰς ἀπορθοῖς Sc. ἐμέ. You, having good advice for me, direct me. μοι is in construction with the nearer word.

637. mvp-comment-377-1 No marriage can, if I think rightly, be a more valued prize to me. ἀξίως ἔσται has been changed to ἀξιώσεται. But ἀξιοῦσθαι μείζων φέρεσθαι, To be deemed of more importance to obtain, is an awkward and unauthorized expression and, for the position and emphatic use of the adverb, which is the only difficulty, see Essay on Language § 24. pp. 37, 38, and cp. the adverbial use of ἄξιος in El. 1260 ff., τίς .. ἀξίαν μεταβάλοιτ᾽ ἂν .. σιγὰν λόγων ;

638. mvp-comment-378-1 For μείζων, = τιμιώτερος, cp. Ο. Τ. 776, ἀστῶν μέγιστος τῶν ἐκεῖ.

638. mvp-comment-378-2 φέρεσθαι is in the middle voice.

638. mvp-comment-378-3 σοῦ καλῶς ἡγουμένου Than you and your good guidance. The condition is assumed to be inseparable from the subject, as in Plat. Rep. 1. 335 A, τὸν μὲν φίλον ἀγαθὸν ὄντα εὖ ποιεῖν, τὸν δὲ ἐχθρὸν κακὸν ὄντα βλάπτειν.

639. mvp-comment-379-1 οὕτω .. διὰ στέρνων ἔχειν Το be thoroughly imbued with this.

640. mvp-comment-380-1 'In all things to follow your father's judgment.' The image is that of taking up a position behind a leader: i. e. Not to break rank, but to follow in good order. Cp. Plat. Protag. 315 B, (the disciples of Protagoras) εὖ πως καὶ ἐν κόσμῳ . . ἀεὶ εἰς τὸ ὄπισθεν καθίσταντο κάλλιστα.

643. mvp-comment-381-1 τὸν ἐχθρόν 'Their father's enemy.'

646. mvp-comment-382-1 τί .. ἄλλο is governed by the general verbal notion, without distinctly anticipating φῦσαι.

648. mvp-comment-383-1 τὰς φρένας γ᾽ ὑφ᾽ ἡδονῆς The reading of Vat. is retained, not as clearly right, but as more probable than later corrections. γε may be supposed to give a strong emphasis to φρένας. Do not lose your wits, whatever you do. And this is rather confirmed by the way in which Haemon echoes the word in l. 683.

650-651. mvp-comment-384-1 ψυχρὸν παραγκάλισμα . . ἐν δόμοις 'Small comfort comes of such a union, of having a bad wife to share one's couch at home.'

653. mvp-comment-385-1 πτύσας Rejecting with abhorrence. Here and in l. 1232, πτύειν seems to imply a gesture of dislike or loathing, directed towards a person or thing. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1192, ἐν μέρει δ' ἀπέπτυσαν | εὐνὰς ἀδελφοῦ.

653. mvp-comment-385-2 ὡσεί τε Αn Epic or Ionic form. See Introd. p. 456.

654. mvp-comment-386-1 The construction is rather μέθες τήνδε τινὶ νυμφεύειν, Leave her for some one to wed, than μέθες τήνδε νυμφεύειν τινί, Leave her to wed some one.

657. mvp-comment-387-1 ψευδή .. πόλει I certainly will not break my word to the state.

658. mvp-comment-388-1 ἀλλὰ κτενῶ The abruptness of the pause helps the incisiveness of Creon's language.

659-660. mvp-comment-389-1 εἰ γὰρ .. γένους For if I fail to bring up orderly those born akin to me, most surely I shall fail with those remote. Creon turns Antigone's nearness of kindred to him into a reason for severity. If he cannot control his kinswoman, how much less can he control the state! Authority begins at home.

659. mvp-comment-390-1 For ἐγγενή φύσει, see Essay on Language § 40. p. 69, and p. 82, B.

661. mvp-comment-391-1 τοῖς .. οἰκείοισιν Neuter. Creon characteristically relies on commonplace maxims.

663. mvp-comment-392-1 The transgressor who either violates the laws. The alternative is thought of after the sentence is begun. νόμους is in two constructions, (1) with ὑπερβάς, (2) with βιάζεται.

664. mvp-comment-393-1 τοὐπιτάσσειν Cp. supr. 485, and note.

664. mvp-comment-393-2 τοῖς κρατύνουσιν νοεῖ The reading of L here is rather more uncommon than the alternative reading, which may notwithstanding be right.

666. mvp-comment-394-1 For the optative, in a perfectly general supposition, see Essay on Language §36. p. 61.

666. mvp-comment-394-2 κλύειν Το obey.

667. mvp-comment-395-1 τἀναντία τὰ μεγαλὰ καὶ ἄδικα.

668-671. mvp-comment-396-1 And of this man (the man who obeys the ruler) I would have no fear but that he would rule nobly, and be a good and willing subject, and if posted near me in the storm of battle, would stand firmly as a staunch and trusty comrade. For the vague reference of the pronoun, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34. And for δορός .. χειμῶνι, ib.

673. mvp-comment-397-1 αὕτη .. τίθησιν The anacoluthon (for which see Essay on Language p. 65) has been avoided in two ways, (1) by omission of τε, (2) by reading ἠδ' for ἥδ'. This Homericism is defended by comparing ὥσει τε in l. 653. There is slight MS. authority for both these changes (see v. rr.). But strong reasons are required for the introduction of a particle not used elsewhere by Sophocles, and after the regularly balanced τε.. ἠδέ, the asyndeton in the next line would be too abrupt. If any change were necessary, the omission of τ' would be preferable, but the lines are more expressive as they are.

674. mvp-comment-398-1 σὺν μάχῃ δορός Bothe conjectured συμμάχου δορός, The rout of the leagued war. But the reading of the MS. has a more vivid meaning. This, aiding the conflict of the spear, breaks down (the vanquished) into shapeless rout: i. e. Disorder helps with battle to make utter rout. For μάχῃ δορός, see Essay on Language p. 75, and for the accusative τροπάς, ib. § 17. p. 25, etc.

675. mvp-comment-399-1 τῶν δ᾽ ὀρθουμένων Of those who are not routed, but are successful. Opposed to οἱ ἡσσώμενοι implied in τροπάς. Cp. El. 742, ὠρθοῦθ' ὁ τλήμων ὀρθὸς ἐξ ὀρθῶν δίφρων.

677. mvp-comment-400-1 οὕτως.. κοσμουμένοις 'Thus one ought to support one's own decrees.' Thus, viz. as I am doing. For this use of the passive participle, see Essay on Language § 17. p. 25, с. Some would explain the words as masculine, One must defend the cause of the orderly subject. Cp. Thuc. 8. 24, ἐκοσμοῦντο ἐχυρώτερον. But such an immediate application of the γνώμη is less in character than the arbitrary assertion of authority. Cp. Hdt. 1. 100, τὰ δὲ δὴ ἄλλα ἐκεκοσμέατό οἱ.

681. mvp-comment-401-1 The form κεκλίμεθα (supposed from κλίνω) was supported by the authority of Thomas Magister.

683. mvp-comment-402-1 θεοὶ.. ὑπέρτατον Wisdom, whose value is above all possessions in the world, is the Gods gift.' Haemon begins by echoing his father's thought, supr. 648, that sound sense is to be prized most highly, but gently hints that Heaven only knows on which side the true wisdom lies. The reading χρημάτων requires ὑπέρτερον, as in L2.

686. mvp-comment-403-1 μήτ᾽ ἐπισταίμην λέγειν i. e. And may I never bring myself to say it. Cp. Trach. 543. 4, θυμοῦσθαι μὲν οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι | νοσοῦντι κείνῳ πολλά.

687. mvp-comment-404-1 χἀτέρῳ Schol. δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως καλῶς μεταβουλεύσασθαι. Hence Erfurdt and others conjectured χἀτέρως, χατέρα, χἄτερον. Hermann, retaining χἀτέρῳ, interprets, Another also may have wisdom as well as you: i.e. καλῶς ἔχον, sc. τὸ τῶν φρενῶν. But the context rather suggests καλῶς ἔχον, sc. τὸ λέγειν σὲ μὴ ὀρθῶς λέγειν. 'That you are wrong in what you now say I have no power, and may I never have the skill, to affirm. But it may be that from another's mouth such an assertion were not ungracious.' καί in this case belongs to the whole sentence. See Essay on Language § 25. p. 43. 4.

688. mvp-comment-405-1 σοῦ δ᾽ οὖν πέφυκα is decidedly better than σὺ δ᾽ οὐ πέφυκας, which seems to have been suggested by τὸ γὰρ σὸν ὄμμα δεινόν, κ.τ.λ., in what follows. The true connection is, It is not for me to say that you are wrong, though another might do so. However, as your son, it naturally belongs to me to consider in your interest what men do, or say, or find fault with. For the common citizen does not speak his mind in your presence, but I may freely hear. Haemon winds about his father with all this circumstance before pleading for Antigone under shelter of the common opinion, which he professes to quote in the interest of Creon. The tact shown in this is noticed by Aristotle (Rhet. 3. 17) and by the Scholiast. The reading of A, V pr., V³, σοὶ δ' οὖν πέφυκα, deserves consideration.

690-691. mvp-comment-406-1 τὸ γὰρ .. κλύων For your eye overawes the subject in conversation which will displease you to hear. λόγοις τοιούτοις is dative of the occasion or reason, assisted by the attraction of οἷς. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20.

690-691. mvp-comment-406-2 τὸ γὰρ σόν The order puts an emphasis on σόν, as in O. Τ. 671, τὸ γὰρ σόν, οὐ τὸ τοῦδ᾽ ἐποικτείρω στόμα.

692. mvp-comment-407-1 ἐμοὶ δ᾽.. τάδε But I may hear all this under shadow (out of the light of your eye). The words ὑπὸ σκότου might equally have been connected with the following line. I hear in secret what is spoken in secret.

694. mvp-comment-408-1 ἀναξιωτάτη Sc. τοιαῦτα παθεῖν.

695. mvp-comment-409-1 ἀπ᾿ ἔργων See Essay on Language § 19. p. 28.

697. mvp-comment-410-1 πεπτῶτ᾽ ἄθαπτον i. e. πεπτώτα καὶ ἄθαπτον ὄντα.

697. mvp-comment-410-2 μήθ'.. μήθ' μή, not oὔ, because ἥτις, κ.τ.λ. = εἰ αὕτη, κ.τ.λ.

700. mvp-comment-411-1 ἐρεμνή Dark, i.e. Fraught with hidden danger. (Cp. ὑπὸ σκότου, supra). The word is used with something of the association of awe and dread attaching to night and darkness. Cp. Hom. Il. 1. 47. ὁ δ᾽ ἤτε νυκτὶ ἐοικώς.

701. mvp-comment-412-1 σοῦ πράσσοντος εὐτυχῶς Cp. supra 638, σοῦ καλῶς ἡγουμένου.

703. mvp-comment-413-1 πατρὸς θάλλοντος εὐκλείας The good renown of a prosperous sire. Haemon thus gently hints his fear of the effect of the sentence on Creon's reputation in the city.

704. mvp-comment-414-1 ἄγαλμα A cause of glorying or delight. Cp. infra 1115, Καδμείας νύμφας ἄγαλμα.

704. mvp-comment-414-2 ἢ τί πρὸς παίδων πατρί ; Or what greater ornament (than their own good fame) can children confer upon their father?

705-706. mvp-comment-415-1 Do not, I beseech you, wear one unchanging temper in your breast, and hold that nothing else is right but as you say. τοῦτο is added because of the imperfect correlation of the clauses. See Essay on Language p. 75.

707-709. mvp-comment-416-1 For ὅστις .. οὗτοι, ib. § 20. p. 31.

707-709. mvp-comment-416-2 For the formal distinction of φρονεῖν, γλῶσσαν, ψυχήν, cp. supra 176, ψυχήν τε καὶ φρόνημα καὶ γνώμην, and see Essay on Language pp. 92, 3.

710. mvp-comment-417-1 ἄνδρα Ε. on L. § 22. p. 37.

710. mvp-comment-417-2 κεἴ τις ᾖ Ε. on L. § 27. p. 44.

710. mvp-comment-417-3 τὸ μανθάνειν Essay on Language § 21. p. 34-38.

711. mvp-comment-418-1 καὶ τὸ μὴ τείνειν ἄγαν And not to hold too hard. This absolute use of τείνειν is generalized from the examples given below.

713-714. mvp-comment-419-1 Note the antithesis of κλῶνας .. αὐτόπρεμνα. The one save even their branches, the others are destroyed root and branch. For the image, cp. Webster's Appius and Virginia, p. 203. (iii. 3), The bending willow, yielding to each wind, | Shall keep his footing firm, when the proud oak, | Braving the storm, presuming on his root, | Shall have his body rent from head to foot.

715. mvp-comment-420-1 ναὸς .. ἐγκρατῆ πόδα The sheet which has power over the vessel. This is a more poetical and rhythmical expression than the other reading, ναὸς εἴ τις ἐγκρατής, πόδα | τείνας, ὑπείκει μηδέν.

716-717. mvp-comment-421-1 ὑπτίοις.. ναυτίλλεται Upsetting, makes the rest of his voyage with benches overturned. Join κάτω στρέψας. τὸ λοιπόν as in ll. 310, foll., where there is a similar contradictory expression. The omission of the accusative after στρέψας is natural in speaking of so familiar an occurrence as the over-setting of a boat. Essay on Language pp. 73, 98. τὸ πλοῖον, which Hermann reads for τὸ λοιπόν, is hardly a correct synonym for ναῦν or σκάφος.

718. mvp-comment-422-1 ἀλλ᾽.. δίδου Nay, yield. Be not wholly irremovable in anger. Lit. Afford also a removal from anger. This seems to be the best arrangement of this difficult line; i. e. εἰ θυμὸν ἔχεις, ἀλλὰ πεισθῆτι καὶ μεθίστασθαι τοῦ θυμοῦ. The asyndeton is expressive (Essay on Language § 34. P. 58). The reading of LA, ἀλλ᾽ εἶκε θυμῷ, is perhaps due to a false reminiscence of Il. 9.598, εἴξας ᾧ θυμῷ. Seyffert reads θυμῷ .. διδούς.

719-720. mvp-comment-423-1 γνώμη .. πρόσεστι For if any judgment proceed from me (ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ) though younger in years. Cp. Τr. 52, 3, εἰ δίκαιον τοὺς ἐλευθέρους φρενοῦν | γνώμαισι δούλοις; ib. 61, κἀξ ἀγεννήτων ἄρα | μύθοι καλῶς πίπτουσιν.

720-722. mvp-comment-424-1 The real stress is on the last line. The paratactic form of sentence is retained, the sense being, However excellent a thing perfect knowledge is, yet, since it is rare, it is well to take good advice.

720-722. mvp-comment-424-2 πρεσβεύειν] The active of this verb is rare in the metaphorical sense.

720-722. mvp-comment-424-3 πάντ᾽ ἐπιστήμης Of knowledge in all things. Essay on Language § 17. p. 24, b.

720-722. mvp-comment-424-4 εἰ δ᾽ οὖν Sc. μή, which is to be assumed from the next clause, where μή has a strong emphasis. For the sentiment, Hermann compares Hesiod, Op. 293, ἐσθλὸς δ᾽ αὖ κἀκεῖνος, ὃς εὖ εἰπόντι πίθηται.

725. mvp-comment-425-1 διπλᾶ is better than διπλῇ, because dwelling merely on the two speeches, and not on their divergence from each other.

726-727. mvp-comment-426-1 And at our age shall we forsooth be schooled by one so juvenile? For the inverted order, see Essay on Language § 26. p. 44: § 41. p. 77.

727. mvp-comment-427-1 For φύσιν, see Essay on Language p. 96.

728. mvp-comment-428-1 μηδὲν τὸ μὴ δίκαιον The combination of the indefinite μηδέν with the definite article is curious, and suggests the idea that μηδέν is adverbial.. But the Scholiast is probably right in explaining the words as equivalent to μηδὲν διδάσκου ὁ μὴ δίκαιόν ἐστί σοι μανθάνειν. Cp. supra 360, οὐδὲν .. τὸ μέλλον. Essay on Language § 22. p. 36. And for emphatic el, ib. § 28. p. 47, supr. 551.

729. mvp-comment-429-1 You ought not to regard differences of time, but rather to face the actual requirements of the case.' τἄργα are not the merits of Haemon, but the truth of his plea.

730. mvp-comment-430-1 What? Is it a "requirement" to fall down and worship rebels? Creon, as usual, represents mercy as submission. ἔργον ἐστί seems to have the same meaning as in σὸν ἔργον, and the like phrases; i.e. ἔργον almost = Duty.

731. mvp-comment-431-1 Nay, I would not bid thee reverence the wicked.

732. mvp-comment-432-1 'Why, is not she possessed by this disease?" viz. τῇ κακίᾳ.

733. mvp-comment-433-1 Not so declare her fellow-citizens in this town of Thebes.

736. mvp-comment-434-1 Is it right, I say, for another than me to rule this land? The reading of L and most MSS, ἄλλῳ.. μοί, (cp. Eur. Ion 1317) is supported by Thom. M. s. v. χρή, and is certainly the durior lectio. But he may have reasoned from a faulty text. See note on l. 681. γε is expressive. For M4 see list of MSS. in the Preface to this edition.

737. mvp-comment-435-1 Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 370, σύ τοι πόλις, σὺ τὸ δήμιον; Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1. 2,

When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome, | That her wide walls encompassed but one man? | Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough, | When there is in it but one only man.

The genitive ἀνδρὸς .. ἑνός is ambiguous between possessive genitive and genitive of content. A city belonging to one man, and A city composed of one man.

738. mvp-comment-436-1 Is not the city counted a possession of the ruler? Essay on Language § 9. p. 12, b.

739. mvp-comment-437-1 A splendid monarch would you make to rule a desert land.

742. mvp-comment-438-1 This line is sometimes printed with a note of interrogation, as if the words διὰ δίκης ἰὼν πατρί were epexegetic of σοῦ.. προκήδομαι. ('Villain, when you are wrangling with your father?') But the connection of the lines in this στιχομυθία is not very close, and the more obvious meaning (Villain, to wrangle with your father!') is more probable.

743-745. mvp-comment-439-1 οὐ γὰρ δίκαια .. οὐ γὰρ σέβεις] Here, as in 730, ἔργον γάρ ἐστι, there is the same tendency to play on the word (κομψεύειν) that was observed in the speeches of the Φύλαξ.

745. mvp-comment-440-1 οὐ.. σέβεις It is not reverence when you trample on the honours of the Gods. Essay on Language § 53. p. 98, с.

751. mvp-comment-441-1 τινά i. e. σέ. Essay on Language § 22. p. 34, 4. Interpreters have avoided taking these words in their obvious meaning as implying a threat, which Haemon all but carries into execution afterwards in ll. 1233-1234. It is true, however, that this intention is less distinctly present to his mind than the conviction that vengeance will come to Creon from the gods and from popular feeling.

752. mvp-comment-442-1 κἀπαπειλών For the participle, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 63, €, b.

753. mvp-comment-443-1 τίς Almost = πῶς. Cp. О. С. 775, τίς αὕτη τέρψις;

756. mvp-comment-444-1 'Woman's minion that you are, mince not your words with me.' The subdued tone of Haemon (εἰ μὴ πατὴρ ἦσθ', εἶπον ἄν) only adds fuel to the wrath of Creon.

756. mvp-comment-444-2 For the contempt expressed in δούλευμα and μῖσος (760), see Essay on Language pp. 84, 85.

758. mvp-comment-445-1 άληθες See on O. T. 350.

759. mvp-comment-446-1 ἐπὶ ψόγοισι δεννάσεις Reproach and revile me. For the prepositional phrase, cp. El. 108, ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ, and see Essay on Language § 18. p. 27.

765. mvp-comment-447-1 So that you may exhibit your madness to those of your friends who can brook it. θέλουσι, sc. σοὶ μαινομένῳ ξυνεῖναι. There is a strong emphasis on this participle.

767. mvp-comment-448-1 And at his age the spirit, when chafed, is dangerous. Cp. O. C. 751, τηλικοῦτος, οὐ γάμων | ἔμπειρος ..: and for voûs, see Essay on Language p. 93.

768. mvp-comment-449-1 Cp. O. T. 1075, where Oedipus, with similar unconsciousness, says of Jocasta, who has just rushed out, ὁποῖα χρήζει ῥηγνύτω.

770. mvp-comment-450-1 The order of words shows that the chief emphasis is on ἄμφω : Essay on Language § 41. p. 77. Hence καί is to be taken with the whole sentence: ib. § 25. P. 43, 4. Do you really intend to put them both to death?

773. mvp-comment-451-1 ἔρημος.. στίβος Where track of human footstep there is none. The privative ἔρημος is used for the negative by a redundancy like those adduced in Essay on Language § 40. p. 75; and ἔρημος = ἄστειπτος (Phil. 2), so that the expression = Where no track of mortals has been trodden.

775. mvp-comment-452-1 i. e. τοσοῦτον μόνον, ὅσον ἄγος εἶναι. Essay on Language § 39. p. 74. For ἄγος = expiation, see Hesych., ἄγος· ἅγνισμα θυσίας, Σοφοκλῆς Φαίδρα.

776. mvp-comment-453-1 i. e. Lest the whole city might suffer pollution.

780. mvp-comment-454-1 περισσός Bootless. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 383, μόχθον περισσόν. It is characteristic of the time (cp. Thucydides) that the political energy of Creon is combined with scepticism.

781-800. mvp-comment-455-1 Haemon's disobedience to his father, against his own interest, is due to the might of love.

781-800. mvp-comment-455-2 'Never-vanquished love, that layest riches waste, keeping nightly watch in the fair, soft, youthful cheek: love that roamest over seas and findest out the wildest nook! No god, nor any mortal man, escapes thy maddening power. By love the upright mind is drawn to wrong unto its hurt. By love this present strife is kindled between kinsmen. And clearly triumphant is the influence of desire that cometh from the looks of the fair bride - desire that divides empire with the majestic law: so resistlessly doth goddess Aphrodite mock mankind.

781-800. mvp-comment-455-3 This little ode consists of a strophe and antistrophe, of which the scansion is as follows:- CCLトしてし CICCICII CCCICII IICIICCIト(CLトー 5-0-0-ICCICI-

781-800. mvp-comment-455-4 A glyconic quatrain is followed by two choriambic lines, and the strophe ends with a return to the glyconic rhythm. L. 7 admits of being otherwise divided, viz.: CCLCー.

781. mvp-comment-456-1 ἀνίκατε μάχαν Cp. the similar personification of θυμός by Heraclitus, χαλεπὸν θυμῷ μάχεσθαι, ψυχῆς γὰρ ὠνέεται.

782. mvp-comment-457-1 ὃς ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις (i. e.

782. mvp-comment-457-2 ἐμπίπτεις κτήμασι.) These words have been variously interpreted and emended. They probably mean, Who fallest upon wealth, i. e. art the destroyer of possessions, ruining worldly fortunes in various ways, as the love of Helen wasted Troy, etc. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 538, foll., Ἔρωτα δὲ τὸν τύραννον ἀνδρῶν |.. πέρθοντα καὶ διὰ πάσας | ἰόντα συμφορὰς | θνατοῖς, ὅταν ἔλθῃ. So, in this instance, Haemon is losing all for love. Others interpret, Desire who makest wealth thy object (Schol. rec.), Love, who by attacking enslavest, or Who makest victims of the wealthy.

783-784. mvp-comment-458-1 ὃς .. ἐννυχεύεις Cp. Milton, L'Allegro, 29, 30, 'Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, | And love to live in dimple sleek.' Love is still figured as an enemy, who keeps nightly watch where he is ready to spring forth armed on the unwary. Pind. Nem. 8. 2, ὥρα .. παρθενηΐοις .. ἐφίζοισι γλεφάροις.

785. mvp-comment-459-1 The poet is thinking of legendary examples, such as Paris, Leander, Anchises, etc.

786. mvp-comment-460-1 σε .. φύξιμος i.e. δύναταί σε φεύγειν. Cp. Hom. h. Ven. 34. 5, τῶν δ' ἄλλων οὐ πέρ τι πεφυγμένον ἔστ᾽ Ἀφροδίτην, | οὔτε θεῶν μακάρων, οὔτε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων. But see on 796 ff.

790. mvp-comment-461-1 ἁμερίων ἐπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων The insertion of the preposition, although omitted with θεῶν, is no objection to this reading. See Essay on Language § 19. p. 27: and for ἐπί, with the genitive, meaning In the case of, So far as extends to, cp. Plato, Rep. 3. 406 C, 8.. ἐπὶ .. τῶν δημιουργῶν αἰσθανόμεθα, alib. The force of the preposition and case here is nearer to the original locative sense, = Extending over, 'Quantum hominum genus propagatum extenditur. (Ellendt.)

790. mvp-comment-461-2 ὁ ἔχων Sc. τὸ νόσημα. Wecklein compares ἔχει, he is wounded, with reference to the arrow of love. But this is fanciful.

791-792. mvp-comment-462-1 ἀδίκους.. παρασπᾷς i. e. εἰς ἀδικίαν παρασπᾷς. Drawest awry to wrong. For this proleptic use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 23. P. 39; § 38. p. 71.

792. mvp-comment-463-1 ἐπὶ λώβᾳ ‘Το their hurt or disgrace.'

794. mvp-comment-464-1 ξύναιμον is an emphatic epithet added by an afterthought (Essay on Language § 23. p. 38) and by hypallage made to agree with the principal word, although more properly belonging to ἀνδρῶν. (Ibid. § 42. p. 80).

795. mvp-comment-465-1 νικᾷ δ᾽ ἐναργής i. e. ἐναργής ἐστι νικῶσα.

795. mvp-comment-465-2 βλεφάρων ἵμερος The modern poet speaks of love as engendered in the eyes, with gazing fed: the ancients rather spoke of an influence passing from the eye of the beloved (τὸ ἐρωτικὸν ὄμμα, Plat. Phaedr. 253 E) to the soul of the lover. Desire was viewed as an emanation from the object. Hence Plato's account of ἵμερος, Phaedr. 251 Β, C, δεξάμενος γὰρ τοῦ κάλλους τὴν ἀπορροὴν διὰ τῶν ὀμμάτων, ἐθερμάνθη ἢ ἡ τοῦ πτεροῦ φύσις ἄρδεται .. ὅταν μὲν οὖν βλέπουσα πρὸς τὸ κάλλος, ἐκεῖθεν μέρη ἐπιόντα καὶ ῥέοντα, ἃ δὴ διὰ τοῦτο ἵμερος καλεῖται, δεχομένη ἄρδηταί τε καὶ θερμαίνηται, λωφᾷ τε τῆς ὀδύνης καὶ γέγηθεν. This ancient conception, which had a root in language as well as in philosophy, is reflected even in Milton, L'Allegro, 1. 121, With store of ladies, whose bright eyes | Rain influence, though in this case probably with a further allusion to astrology.

796-799. mvp-comment-466-1 τῶν .. θεσμῶν In the counsels of princes holding an equal place with the majesty of law. This seems the best way of taking these words, which have been variously interpreted; e.g. Equal to the laws in power. 'Assessor in the authority of the laws, etc. There is an allusion to Haemon, who, though a prince, has been led to disobey his father, and to disregard the edict of the king. Cp. Hdt. 4. 165, ἐν βουλῇ παρίζουσα. The resolution of the arsis in πάρεδρος is extremely unusual; see Christ's Metrik, § 178; and Arndt suggested ξύνθρονος ἀρχαῖς, 'Assessor with the rule of majesticlaw. But qy. πάρεδρος *ἀρχαῖς, with "πέφευγεν οὐδείς in 786 ff.? (IILUCCICII).

800. mvp-comment-467-1 Wecklein finds here an oxymoron, turning on the opposition of μάχη and παιδιά. She is resistless, though sport is her only weapon. But this is doubtful.

804. mvp-comment-468-1 παγκοίταν.. θάλαμον The chamber where all must lie. The implied contrast between the fate of Antigone and her intended bridal recurs repeatedly throughout the latter part of the play. Supr. 575, Ἅιδης ὁ παύσων τούσδε τοὺς γάμους γάμ ἔφυ: infr. 891, νυμφεῖον : 1205, νυμφεῖον" Αιδου κοίλον.

806-802. mvp-comment-469-1 Antigone bewails her untimely death, and the chorus attempt to console her by pointing to the singularity of her end. She quotes the example of Niobe, who was encrusted with rock. But Niobe, rejoin the chorus, was a Divine Being. Then the maiden bursts into a cry against such vain comfort, and appeals to the forms of nature around Thebes to bear witness to the strangeness of her fate. The tone of the chorus changes to admonition. Thou hast offended against the majesty of law. Some curse, inherited from thy sire, must have led thee on. At last they have touched her, but it is only to aggravate her sorrow. Dire indeed had been the curse upon her parents; and now she is going to be with them, having never tasted any joy. Her brother's seeming success in marriage had been death to him and to her. The chorus reiterate that piety towards her brother should have yielded to authority. Selfwill has been thy ruin. Antigone: 'Friendless, unmourned, uncomforted, I leave the holy light of day. I die unmarried, and no one weeps for me.'

806-802. mvp-comment-469-2 The metres in this commos, ll. 806-833, chiefly logaoedic. and for the most part glyconic, are as follows:- α΄. 806-816, 823-833. 805 luclu IIC1CCI II1CCIC ―トしかしCICLL Anapaests of cho. 817-822, 834-837- β'. Second strophe and antistrophe. 51IC (トートートートー ICCICII にかくCIトトに CICLC- トトロー CCLCICIC 15010し! 이기 5- ἐπ. } Iambic. ひトしレトCCICI- 51110CIRKIICCI CICCートリート ―トしーしトー

806-802. mvp-comment-469-3 The effect produced by the epitrite rhythm in a' 9. β΄ 8, ἐπ. 5, and of the spondees in ß' 6, is especially noticeable.

808. mvp-comment-470-1 νέατον is an adjective. See on Ο. Τ. 155.

810. mvp-comment-471-1 κοὔποτ᾽ αὖθις Sc. ὄψομαι φέγγος ἀελίου.

810. mvp-comment-471-2 παγκοίτας is here active='That seals up all in rest.' Essay on Language pp. 98, 101. The metre suggests πάγκοιτος, cp. infr. 828, the corresponding line of the antistrophe.

812-813. mvp-comment-472-1 Ἀχέροντος ἀκτάν Hom. Od. 10. 509, ἔνθ᾽ ἀκτή τε λάχεια: ib. 513, ἔνθα μὲν εἰς Ἀχέροντα πυριφλεγέθων τε ῥέουσι, κ.τ.λ.

815. mvp-comment-473-1 *ἐπινύμφειος, which Dindorf has restored for ἐπινυμφίδιος, is more probable than ἐπὶ νυμφείοις, although this appears to be supported by the note of the Scholiast, λείπει θύραις ἢ κοίταις.

816. mvp-comment-474-1 Ἀχέροντι As other maidens have been wedded to rivers upon the earth.

820. mvp-comment-475-1 ξιφέων ἐπίχειρα The wages of the sword; i.e. Death given by the sword.

821. mvp-comment-476-1 αὐτόνομος The Scholiast explains this, ἰδίοις αὐτῆς νόμοις χρησαμένη. This is not free from ambiguity; but the true meaning is rather By an ordinance peculiar to your case (ἰδίᾳ τινὶ σεαυτῆς νόμῳ), than In your independence of law, or As being a law to yourself. The chorus nowhere speak with admiration of the independent attitude of Antigone, although they secretly sympathize with her pious motive. The word is used with consciousness of the derivation. The νόμος which is peculiar to Antigone is the privilege of a living death.

823. mvp-comment-477-1 λυγροτάταν In sorriest plight. Supplementary predicate.

824-825. mvp-comment-478-1 τὰν Φρυγίαν ξέναν Ταντάλου] Our friend far off in Phrygia, Tantalus' daughter.' Sipylus was placed by some in Phrygia, by others in Lydia. (Strabo, 12. p. 571.) Donaldson well remarks that févar is applied to Niobe, because she married Amphion, king of Thebes.

828. mvp-comment-479-1 ὄμβρῳ τακομέναν The conjectural emendation ὄμβροι has been very generally received. But the Highlands of Phrygia are not subject to perpetual showers. It is more natural to think of a snow-capped peak ever running down with moisture from the melting snow. On the general sense thus given to ὄμβρος, see Essay on Language § 52. p. 98. And as she flows down with moisture, the snow leaves her not, but still she wets the ridges of her neck beneath her tearful brow. The position of T' need cause no difficulty. Essay on Language pp. 65,6. It has been observed that the words ὀφρύς and δειράς are equally applicable to a mountain and to a human being. The subj. of τέγγει is not χιών but ὁ Νιόβα.

834. mvp-comment-480-1 It is doubtful whether θειογενής οι θεογεννής (= θεογέννητος) should be read for the unmetrical θεογενής.

836. mvp-comment-481-1 Of the two readings, φθιμένα and φθιμένῳ, both of which are given by L, and were known to the Scholiast, the feminine is more likely to be due to a corrector.

837. mvp-comment-482-1 The words ζῶσαν καὶ ἔπειτα θανοῦσαν have little point, and being omitted by Aldus (as in A), have never been restored except by Seyffert, who reads μέγα κἀκοῦσαι in l. 836. Those who omit 837, invert the preceding lines for the sake of the paroemiac, and read καίτοι φθιμένῳ τοῖς ἰσοθέοις | ἔγκληρα λαχεῖν μέγ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι. For ἀκοῦσαι, to have said of one, cp. Phil. 1074, ἀκούσομαι μὲν ὡς ἔφυν οἴκτου πλέως.

840. mvp-comment-483-1 *οὐλομέναν The conjecture of Martin. οἰχομέναν (Wunder) also deserves to be considered.

842. mvp-comment-484-1 She first turns from the elders to the city at large; and then, remembering how little sympathy she has had from man, she appeals, like Philoctetes (936 ff.), in a fresh outburst, to the familiar presences' of nature.

843. mvp-comment-485-1 πολυκτήμονες Thebes was proverbially a wealthy city.

844. mvp-comment-486-1 ἰώ Here she breaks into a louder cry.

845. mvp-comment-487-1 ἄλσος The open ground about the city. Cp. Εl. 5, τῆς οἰστροπλῆγος ἄλσος Ἰνάχου κόρης.

847. mvp-comment-488-1 οἷα, like ὀμοιοτάταν in 832, and λυγροτάταν in 823, is supplementary predicate, and equivalent to an adverb.

851. mvp-comment-489-1 Hermann (ed. 1839) was contented to read οὔτε βροτοῖσιν οὔτ᾽ ἐν νεκροῖσιν, but remarked that the long anacrusis of the second part of the line, οὔτ᾽ ἐν νεκροῖσιν = γάμων κυρήσας is very rare. Qu βροτοῖς, οὔτε τις ἐν νεκροίσιν? But the original line is probably lost.

852. mvp-comment-490-1 Advancing to the utmost verge of daring thou didst fall violently, my daughter, against the lofty throne of Right. ἐκτίνεισ Α.

854. mvp-comment-491-1 βάθρον is here the pedestal on which the image of justice is imagined to rest. Cp. Plat. Phaedr. 254 B, ἰδόντος δὲ τοῦ ἡνιόχου ἡ μνήμη πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κάλλους φύσιν ἠνέχθη. καὶ πάλιν εἶδεν αὐτὴν μετὰ σωφροσύνης ἐν ἁγνῷ βάθρῳ βεβῶσαν, Ο. Τ. 865, νόμοι. . ὑψίποδες.

855. mvp-comment-492-1 πολύ is allowed to pass by Hermann without comment, but has been more recently called in question, partly on the metrical ground that the line should end with a long syllable.

855. mvp-comment-492-2 πολύς is certainly no improvement. On the attempt to give special force to such a general word, see Essay on Language § 51. p. 97.

856. mvp-comment-493-1 But thou art paying some debt of expiation inherited from thy sire.' άθλος is here a task or burden imposed by some higher power, like the labours of Heracles, and is perhaps associated by Sophocles with the derivative ἄθλιος. The combined metaphorical use of ἆθλος and ἐκτίνειν is not too great a stretch of language for Sophocles. Essay on Language p. 105.

857. mvp-comment-494-1 Thou hast touched my saddest thought, the thrice-told tale of my father's sorrow.' Boeckh has cleared up the difficulties of this passage (1) by showing that οἶκτον harmonizes better with the context than οἶτον or οἶκον, and also gives a construction to πότμου: (2) by tracing the derivation of τριπόλιστον from πολίζω = πολέω, which occurs in the compound avναπολίζω : (3) by rightly explaining the dative Λαβδακίδαισιν. See Essay on Language § 13. p. 19. He also points out that μερίμνας is genitive, because the singular is more forcible, and μέριμναν would have suited the metre equally well. The only remaining doubt is the construction of οἶκτον.

857. mvp-comment-494-2 ψαύειν may govern the accusative, as appears from 961. But the change from the genitive to the accusative is still to be accounted for. (1) The word ἔψαυσας was chosen with special reference to μερίμνας. ἔλεξας, or some other general word, would have been sufficient if this had not intervened. Hence the general meaning of the verb (= ἔλεξας) is alone continued. (2) The case is partly governed by the verbal notion in μερίμνας = 8 μεριμνῶ. (3) The tendency of a Greek sentence is to pass from a more special to a more general construction. Essay on Language pp. 64, 5, οἶκτον is to be resumed with πότμου, which is co-ordinate with πατρός. Thou hast harped on what my mind broods over with saddest care, the thrice renewed pity for my father, and for the general fortune of our race, the lot that fell upon the famed Labdacidae. Seyffert thinks that in τριπόλιστον Antigone is thinking of her own ever-deepening grief. But the Scholiast and Boeckh are probably right in explaining the word (like κλεινοῖς) with reference to the widely felt compassion for Oedipus. Cp. O. C. 517, τό τοι πολὺ καὶ μηδαμὰ λῆγον: ib. 597, πᾶς τοῦτό γ' Ἑλλήνων θροεῖ. For τριπόλιστον, cp. Phil. 1238, δὶς ταὐτὰ βούλει καὶ τρὶς ἀναπολεῖν μ' ἔπη.

861. mvp-comment-495-1 κλεινοῖς is said with bitterness, as in O. T. 1207, κλεινὸν Οἰδίπου κάρα. The dative is used in explanation of ἁμετέρου, Ist as clearer than the genitive with so many genitives preceding; 2nd with an ethical' force; the lot that fell on us. 863. O my mother, to whom marriage was calamity, O my hapless father, who in wedlock with a mother, held guilty intercourse with her from whom he came.' ματρῷαι λέκτρων ἆται] ‘My mother's calamity in marriage.' λέκτρων is descriptive or distinctive genitive (Essay on Language § 9. p. 12), and the possessive ματρῷαι is joined to λέκτρων ἆται taken as one word. In observing Antigone's tenderness for her mother we are reminded that the plot of the Oedipus Tyrannus was not yet conceived.

865. mvp-comment-496-1 ματρός is objective genitive, after κοιμήματα = ξυνουσίαι, and also descriptive, like γάμοι τέκνων, Ο. C. 945. For the condensed expression κοιμήματά τ᾿ αὐτογέννητ᾽ = τὸ κοιμηθῆναι σὺν ταύτῃ ἐξ ἧς αὐτὸς ἐγεννήθη, see Essay on Language § 43. p. 81, and for the force of αὐτός in composition, ibid. p. 101. The dative ἐμῷ πατρί (Ε. on L. § 13. p. 19, see on l. 861) is occasioned by the adjective; i. e. αὐτογέννητ᾽ ἦν αὐτῷ τὰ κοιμήματα. The nature of constructions in such condensed expressions can only be explained by expanding each phrase into a sentence. The meaning of the passive verbal termination in αὐτογέννητα is extremely indefinite. The other way of taking the words ('Connubium dicit Jocastae cum Oedipo quem ipsa pepererat,' Dind.), although giving a more obvious construction to the dative, has the fatal blemish of making a twofold apostrophe to Jocasta, whereas οἵων implies a reference to both parents, which is much more forcible.

865. mvp-comment-496-2 The Laur. reading δυσμόρῳ is preferable, because of the peculiar significance of κοιμήματα ματρός.

866. mvp-comment-497-1 οἴων is to be immediately referred to κοιμήματα, Such wedlock as gave me birth.

868. mvp-comment-498-1 μέτοικος may possibly have the association of an alien,' because she could not expect to meet with proper burial. But for the generalised meaning of μέτοικος, cp. supr. 852: О. С. 934: infr. 890, μετοικίας.

872-875. mvp-comment-499-1 There is some piety in pious action; but, as towards him who wieldeth it, authority must in no wise be transgressed. A self-determined impulse hath undone thee.' Cp. Phil. 138, τέχνα γὰρ τέχνας ἑτέρας προὔχει | καὶ γνώμα παρ' ὅτῳ τὸ θεῖον | Διὸς σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσεται, where there is a similar ellipse of the antecedent. The meaning is, He who has authority must not suffer authority to be thwarted. This may be made clearer by supplying ἐκείνῳ, as dative of the person interested, for the antecedent to ὅτῳ. He must not have it (i.e. suffer it to be) transgressed.