Sophocles Antigone 65

Custos
Rex, mortalibus nihil est abiurandum: nam quae príus animo sederant sequeris frustratur cogitatio: quandoquidem confidenter ego spopondisem mnumquam me huc rediturum, ob minas tuas illas, quibus me antea conturbasti. Verum (nulla enim voluptas est tanta, quam quae desiderata percipitur ex insperato gaudio) venio tamen, licet sacramento abiuraverim, puellam hanc adducens, quae deprehensa est cadaveri sepulturam parans. Sors liic iacta nón fuit, sed meüm est, non alius, hoc lucrum. Et nunc, rex, hanc ipse prehensam interroga, ut lubet, et redargue: me vero liberum ab istis malis abire decet.

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)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 65.mvp-line-65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 65.mvp-line-65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 65 focus
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν αἰτοῦσα τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονὸς
65
Translations (10)
German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 65 focus
CHOR
Vieles Gewalt'ge lebt, und nichts
ist gewaltiger als der Mensch.
330
Er durchschneidet in Südes Sturm
auch die dunkele Flut des Meers,
hinschwebend zwischen den Wogen
auf ringsumbrauster Bahn.
Er müdet ab der Götter höchste,
335
Erde die ewige nimmer ermattende,
während die Pflüge sich wenden von Jahre zu Jahr, sie
furchend mit den Rossen.
Flüchtig gesinnter Vögel Schwarm
fängt er schlau sie umgarnend ein,
340
und wildschweifende Thier' im Wald,
und die wimmelnde Brut des Meers
mit netzgeflochtenen Schleifen,
der witzbegabte Mann.
Mit List bezwingt er auch das freie
345
Höhen erklimmende Thier, und dem mähnigen
Nacken des Rosses umschirrt er das Joch und dem unauf-
reiblich starken Bergstier.
354
Die Rede, den luftigen Flug des Denkens ersann er, erfand
Staatlenkende Sitte; des Regenstromes,
350
der rauhen Nacht Pfeilgeschofs,
den scharfen Frost wehrt er ab.
Rathes allerfüllt ist rathlos nie er für die Zukunft;
dem Tod allein weiſs er nimmer zu entfliehn,
doch gegen schwerer Seuchen Noth fand er Heilung.
355
365
Mit listiger Künste Geschick wohl über Verhoffen begabt
geht jetzo zum Bösen er, jetzt zum Guten ;
des Lands Gesetz kehrt er um,
der Götter schwurheilig Recht.
Auf des Staates Höh' ist staatlos, wem das Edle fern wohnt;
360
tollkühnes Sinns, mög' er nicht zu meinem Heerd
gelangen noch in meinen Rath, solch ein Frevler!
Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 65 focus
EL CENTINELA
Señor, para los hombres nada hay irrevocable, porque la reflexión modifica el primer pensamiento. Cuando a duras penas hubiera creido yo volver aqui, por las amenazas con que me helé de terror entonces [pero porque la alegria súbita e inesperada no tiene comparación con ningún otro placer, vengo, aunque sea faltando a mis juramentos], con esta muchacha, que ha sido sorprendida cuando preparaba la sepultura. Ahora no se han echado suertes, sino que mio es, y no de otro, este mensaje. Y ahora, ¡oh señor!, que aquí la tienes, interrógala a tu gusto y júzgala; que yo, en justicia, quedo absuelto y libre de este crimen.
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 65 focus
WATCH
My lord, no mortal should deny on oath,
Judgement is still belied by after thought
When quailing ’neath the tempest of your threats,
Methought no force would drive me to this place
390
But joy unlook’d for and surpassing hope
Is out of bound the best of all delight,
And so I am here again,—though I had sworn
I ne’er would come,—and in my charge this maid,
Caught in the act of caring for the dead
Here was no lot throwing, this hap was mine
395
Without dispute. And now, my sovereign lord,
According to thy pleasure, thine own self
Examine and convict her. For my part
I have good right to be away and free
From the bad business I am come upon.
400
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 69 focus
Nicht mehr verlang' ich's, möchte dich zur Helferin
Nicht mehr, erklärtest du dich auch bereit dazu.
70
Nein, wähle deinem Sinne nach: ihn werd' ich selbst
Bestatten; ruhmvoll ist der Tod für diese That.
Bei ihm, dem Lieben, werd' ich ruh'n, die Liebende,
Die frommen Frevel übte; muß ich länger doch
Den Todten dort gefallen, als den Lebenden.
75
Denn dort ja ruh' ich ewig; du, wenn dir's gefällt,
Entehre, was in Ehre selbst bei Göttern steht.
Ich acht' es auch der Ehre werth; indeß der Stadt
Zum Troz zu handeln, fühl ich mich nicht stark genug.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 65 focus
Guard
O my lord !
Never should man too confident assert,
Much less by oath should bind himself to aught,
For soon our judgments change, and one opinion
Destroys another. By thy threats alarmed
But now, I vowed I never would return ;
Yet thus preserved beyond my hopes, I come,
Bound by that duty which I owe to thee
And to my country, to bring here this virgin.
Whom, as she sprinkled o'er her brother's dust
The varied wreath, we seized. The wilKng task
Was mine, nor as of late by lot determined.
Receive her then, O king ! Judge and condemn
The guilty as it best becomes thy wisdom ;
Henceforth I stand acquitted.
Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 65 focus
CORO
343 El hombre industrioso caza los pájaros de rápido vuelo, y las fieras de las selvas, y los peces de los mares, con redes sutiles en que los envuelve y aprisiona. Su astucia triunfa de los monstruos salvajes de las montañas, y sujeta al yugo al corcel de larga crin y al toro indómito y montaráz.
German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 65 focus
BOTE
Mein König, Menschen müssen nichts verschwören.
Bildung lacht aus die Meinung. Was ich sag’;
405
Ich dachte nicht so leicht hieher zurükzukonımen,
Der Drohungnach, die mich zuvor herumgestürmet.
Deni Ueberraschen einer Freude gleicht jedoch
In keinem Grad ein anderes Vergnügen.
Beschworen komm’ ich, obich gleich es abschwur,
410
Die Jungfrau bringend hier; die ward erfunden,
Wie sie das Grab geschmükt. Da ward kein Loos
Geschwungen. Sondern dieser Fund ist mein,
Und keines andern; nimm, o König, nun
Sie selber, wie du willst, und richt’ und strafe!
415
Ich bin mit Recht befreit von diesem Unglük.
English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 65 focus
Guard
O king, against nothing should men pledge their word ; for the after-thought belies the first intent. 390 I could have vowed that I should not soon be here again,—scared by thy threats, with which I had just been lashed: but,—since the joy that surprises and transcends our hopes is like in fulness to no other pleasure—I have come, though ’tis in breach of my sworn oath, bringing this maid; who was taken showing grace to the dead. This time there was no casting of lots; no, this luck hath fallen to me, and to none else. And now, sire, take her thyself, question her, examine her, as thou wilt; but I have a right to free and final 400 quittance of this trouble.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 65 focus
Antigone
But in the realms _
Beneath who knows if pious this be deemed ?
English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 100-160 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-102-1 οὔτ’ ἂν σιωπήσαιμι 1

mvp-comment-103-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς 2 ὁμοῦ 3

mvp-comment-103-2 ἀντὶ τῆς σωτηρίας 4 τῆς 5

mvp-comment-104-1 ἄνδρα δυσμενῆ χθονός 6

mvp-comment-104-2 ἐμαυτῷ 7 φίλον 8 θείμην 9

mvp-comment-105-1 ἡ σῴζουσα 10

mvp-comment-105-2 ταύτης 11 ὀρθῆς 12

mvp-comment-105-3 τοὺς φίλους ποιούμεθα 13

mvp-comment-105-4

εὐτυχούσῃ πολλῷ μᾶλλον διασῴζεται
. ‘Pericles Thucydidis 11. 60 Sophoclem videtur respexisse, vel eum Sophocles,’ is Dobree's remark ( Adv. 2. 37 ); but there is no adequate ground for such a view. The verbal coincidence of
ὀρθῆς
with
ὀρθουμένην
may well have been accidental. What is really common to poet and historian is the general sentiment of Periclean Athens. For another example of this, cp. O. C. 116 n.

mvp-comment-106-1 νόμοισι 14

mvp-comment-106-2 αὔξω 15

mvp-comment-107-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε 16

mvp-comment-107-2 τῶν ἀπ’ Οἰδίπου 17

mvp-comment-108-1 δορί 18 δόρει 19

mvp-comment-109-1 τὰ πάντ’ ἐφαγνίσαι 20 ἐπί 21 ἐφαγνίσαι 22 ἀφαγνίσαι 23 ἀπό 24

mvp-comment-110-1 τοῖς ἀρίστοις 25

mvp-comment-110-2 ἔρχεται κάτω 26

mvp-comment-111-1 L has Πολυνείκην 27

mvp-comment-111-2 λέγω 28

mvp-comment-112-1 γτ=ν πατρῴαν . . καὶ θεοὺς . . πρῆσαι 29

mvp-comment-112-2 θ. τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς 30

mvp-comment-112-3 κατελθών 31

mvp-comment-112-4 γ)θέλησε μέν … ἠθέλ. δέ 32 ἠθέλησε μὲν 33

mvp-comment-112-5 πρῆσαι 34

mvp-comment-112-6 κατ’ ἄκρας 35

mvp-comment-112-7 αἵματος κ. πάσασθαι 36

mvp-comment-112-8 τοὺς δὲ … ἄγειν 37

mvp-comment-113-1 The traditional ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι τάφῳ 38 ἐκκεκήρυκται τάφῳ 39 ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι λέγω 40 τάφῳ 41 κτερίζειν 42 τάφῳ 43 κτερίζειν 44 μήτε 45 κωκῦσαι 46 τάφῳ 47 λέγω 48 τάφῳ 49 ἐκκεκ 50

mvp-comment-114-1 ἐᾶν δ 51 ἄθαπτον, αἰκισθέντ’ ἰδεῖν 52 δέμας καὶ πρὸς οἰωνῶν καὶ πρὸς κυνῶν ἐδεστόν 53 αἰκισθέντ 54 αἰκισθέντ 55 ἐδεστόν 56 αἰκισθέν τ’, δέμας 57

mvp-comment-114-2 δέμας 58

mvp-comment-114-3 ἰδεῖν 59

mvp-comment-115-1 φρόνημα 60

mvp-comment-115-2 ἔκ γ’ ἐμοῦ 61

mvp-comment-116-1 The MSS. have τιμὴν προέξουσ’ ..τῶν ἐνδ. 62 τιμήν 63 τιμῆ 64 προσέξους 65

mvp-comment-117-1 τιμήσεται 66

mvp-comment-118-1 I print Dindorf's κἀς 67 καὶ 68 σοὶ ταῦτ’ ἀρέσκει 69 Κρέον 70 ταὔτ 71 ταῦτ’ 72

mvp-comment-119-1 In παντί πού γ’ 73 σοί γ’ … που 74 ἔνεστι 75 χὡπόσοι ζῶμεν 76 πέρι 77

mvp-comment-120-1 ὡς ἂν … ἦτε 78 πῶς ἂν … εἶτε 79

mvp-comment-120-2 σκοποί 80

mvp-comment-120-3 νυν 81 νῦν 82

mvp-comment-120-4 τῶν εἰρ 83

mvp-comment-121-1 πρόθες τοῦτο 84 βαστάζειν 85

mvp-comment-121-2 τοῦ νεκροῦ γ’ 86

mvp-comment-122-1 τί δῆτ’ ἂν … ἐπεντέλλοις 87

mvp-comment-122-2 The reading ἄλλῳ 88 τοῦτο 89

mvp-comment-122-3 ἐπιχωρεῖν 90

mvp-comment-122-4 ἀπιστοῦσιν 91

mvp-comment-122-5 τάδε, 92

mvp-comment-123-1 ὃς 93 ἐρᾷ 94

mvp-comment-123-2 καὶ μὴν 95 γε 96 μισθός 97

mvp-comment-123-3 requital of disobedience is that.’ For

καὶ μήν
so used, cp. O. T. 836 , 1004 f., El. 556 .

mvp-comment-123-4 τὸ κέρδος 98

mvp-comment-123-5 διώλεσεν 99

mvp-comment-124-1 ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ 100

mvp-comment-124-2 ὅπως 101

mvp-comment-124-3 τάχους ὕπο 102 τάχους 103

mvp-comment-125-1 ἐξάρας 104

mvp-comment-125-2 φροντίδων 105 ἐπιστάσεις 106

mvp-comment-125-3 ὁδοῖς 107

mvp-comment-125-4 κυκλῶν 108

mvp-comment-126-1 ψυχὴ γὰρ ηὔδα 109 πολλὰ 110 μυθουμένη 111

mvp-comment-127-1 τάλας … τλήμων 112

mvp-comment-127-2 μένεις 113 μενεῖς 114 αὖ 115

mvp-comment-127-3 πῶς … οὐκ 116

mvp-comment-127-4 ἀλγυνεῖ 117

mvp-comment-128-1 ἑλίσσων 118

mvp-comment-128-2 ἤνυτον 119

mvp-comment-128-3 σχολῇ βραδύς 120

mvp-comment-129-1 τέλος γε μέντοι 121

mvp-comment-129-2 ἐνίκησεν 122

mvp-comment-129-3

ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν πόλιν
. That
μολεῖν
should not be regarded as the subject to
ἐνίκησε
, is shown by such an example as Her. 8.9
ἐνίκα τὴν ἡμέρην ἐκείνην αὐτοῦ μείναντάς τε καὶ αὐλισθέντας μετέπειτα νύκτα μέσην παρέντας πορεύεσθαι
, where the length of the interval excludes such a view. The personal constr. occurs below, 274; cp. Thuc. 2.12
ἦν...Περικλέους γνώμη...νενικηκυῖα
.

mvp-comment-130-1 σοί 123 μολεῖν 124 σοί 125 φράσων 126 φράσω δ 127 κεἰ 128 κεἴ σοι 129 σοί. 130

mvp-comment-130-2 τὸ μηδέν 131

mvp-comment-131-1 τῆς ἐλπίδος 132

mvp-comment-131-2 δεδραγμένος 133 πεφραγμένος 134 πεπραγμένος 135

mvp-comment-131-3 τὸ μὴ παθεῖν ἄν 136

mvp-comment-131-4

πάθοιμι ἄν
, depending on
ἐλπίδος...δεδρ
. as=
ἐλπίζων
: for the art. with infin., cp. 78 n.

mvp-comment-131-5 τὸ μόρσιμον 137

mvp-comment-132-1 ἀνθ’ οὗ 138

mvp-comment-132-2 τὸ γὰρ | πρᾶγμ’ 139 γάρ 140

mvp-comment-133-1 εὖ γε στοχάζει 141 στοχάζει 142 ἀποφράγνυσαι 143 στοχάζομαι 144

mvp-comment-133-2 κἀποφράγνυσαι 145

mvp-comment-133-3 τὸ πρᾶγμα 146

mvp-comment-134-1 δηλοῖς δ’ ὥς τι ς. 147

mvp-comment-135-1 τὰ δεινά 148 γάρ 149

mvp-comment-135-2 ποτ 150

mvp-comment-135-3 ἀπαλλαχθείς 151

mvp-comment-136-1 καὶ δή 152

mvp-comment-136-2 θάψας 153 κἀπί 154

mvp-comment-136-3 διψίαν 155

mvp-comment-136-4 κἀφαγιστεύσας 156 ἃ χρή 157

mvp-comment-137-1 ἀνδρῶν 158

mvp-comment-137-2 οὔτε του γενῇδος … οὐ δικέλλης 159 οὔτε … οὐ 160 γενῄς 161 γενῄς 162 δίκελλα 163

mvp-comment-137-3 δικ. ἐκβολή 164 ἐκβ. 165 στύφλος 166 χέρσος 167 ἀρρώξ 168

mvp-comment-137-4 ἐπημαξευμένη 169 ἐπ‐ 170 ἐφ‐ 171

mvp-comment-137-5 ἀλλ’ ὁ ἐργάτης ἄσημός τις ἦν 172

mvp-comment-138-1 It is still the early morning of the day on which the drama opens. The Argives having fled in the night, Creon had published his edict shortly before dawn. Antigone had done her deed in the short interval between the publication of the edict and the beginning of the watch over the corpse. ὁ πρῶτος ἡμεροσκόπος 173 ἡμεροσκ. 174

mvp-comment-138-2 δείκνυσι … παρῆν 175

mvp-comment-138-3 δυσχερές 176

mvp-comment-139-1 ὁ μὲν 177

mvp-comment-139-2 τυμβήρης μὲν οὔ 178 τυμβ. 179 λεπτὴ δ’ … ἐπῆν 180

mvp-comment-139-3 ἄγος φεύγοντος ὥς 181 ἄγος 182

mvp-comment-140-1 θηρός 183

mvp-comment-140-2 του 184 θηρός 185

mvp-comment-140-3 οὐ σπάσαντος 186 οὐ 187 σπάσαντος 188 σπάσαντος οὐδ’ ἐλθόντος 189

mvp-comment-141-1 λόγοι δ’ … φύλακα 190 λόγοι κακοὶ ἐρρόθουν 191 ἐρρόθουν 192

mvp-comment-141-2

γλώσσης ῥόθος
, of an unintelligible jargon.

mvp-comment-141-3 ἐλέγχων 193

mvp-comment-141-4 κἂν ἐγίγνετο 194

mvp-comment-141-5 τελευτῶς 195

mvp-comment-141-6 ὁ κωλύσων 196

mvp-comment-142-1 ἦν … οὑξειργ. 197

mvp-comment-142-2 ἐναργής 198

mvp-comment-142-3 ἀλλ’ 199

mvp-comment-142-4 ἕφευγε μὴ εἰδέναι 200

mvp-comment-142-5 μὴ 201 εἰδέναι 202

mvp-comment-143-1 μύδρους 203

mvp-comment-143-2 a red-hot mass of metal, and that the custom was symbolical of an older use of the

μύδρος
in ordeals by fire. This would explain how the Alexandrian poets of the 3rd cent. B.C. (Lycophron, Callimachus) came to use the word
μύδρος
, in defiance of its etymology, as simply ‘a lump’ (or even ‘a stone’). They supposed that the
μύδροι
had been cold masses.

mvp-comment-144-1 πῦρ διέρπειν 204

mvp-comment-144-2 θεοὺς ὁρκ. 206

mvp-comment-144-3 τὸ μήτε δρ 207

mvp-comment-144-4 μήτ’ είργασμένῳ 208 μηδ 209

mvp-comment-145-1 πλέον 210

mvp-comment-145-2 λέγει 211

mvp-comment-145-3 τις εἷς 212

mvp-comment-146-1 προὔτρεψεν 213

mvp-comment-146-2 οὐ γὰρ εἴχομεν 214

mvp-comment-146-3 As ἀντιφωνεῖν 215 δρῶντες 216 ὅπως δρῶντες 217 εἴχομεν 218

mvp-comment-147-1 σοί 219

mvp-comment-147-2 ταῦτ’ ἐνίκα 220

mvp-comment-147-3 πάλος 221 καθαιρεῖ 222

mvp-comment-147-4 τἀγαθόν 223 —ἄκων οὐχ ἑκοῦσιν 224

mvp-comment-148-1 ἐμοί 225 βουλεύει 226 μή 227

mvp-comment-148-2 τι 228

mvp-comment-148-3 θεήλατον, 229

mvp-comment-148-4 ἡ ξύννοια 230

mvp-comment-148-5 πάλαι 231

mvp-comment-149-1 πρὶν ὀργῆς καί με μεστῶσαι 232 καί 233 πρίν 234 μεστῶσαι 235 καί 236 με 237

mvp-comment-149-2 κἀμέ 238

mvp-comment-149-3 μεστῶσαι 239

mvp-comment-150-1 πότερον 240 ἔκρυπτον 241

mvp-comment-150-2 ἀμφικίονας ναούς 242

mvp-comment-150-3 κἀναθήματα 243

mvp-comment-150-4 Her. 1.50 ; Thuc. 6.46 ; Isae. or. 7 § 41.) The wealth of Delphi in

ἀναθήματα
is already proverbial in Il. 9.404 ; at Thebes the
Ἰσμήνιον
( O. T. 21 ) also seems to have been rich in them. After
ἀνάθημα
the gen. denotes either
ὁ ἀναθείς
(as more oft.), or, as here, the divine owner.

mvp-comment-150-5 γῆν ἐκείνων 244 πυρώσων 245

mvp-comment-150-6 νόμους διασκεδῶν 246

mvp-comment-150-7 διασκεδῶν 247

mvp-comment-151-1 τοὺς κακοὺς τιμῶντας … θεούς; 248

mvp-comment-152-1 ταῦτα 249 μόλις φέροντες 250 καὶ πάλαι 251

mvp-comment-152-2 πόλεως ἄνδρες 252

mvp-comment-152-3 ἐρρόθουν 253

mvp-comment-152-4 ἐμοί 254

mvp-comment-152-5 κάρα σείοντες 255

mvp-comment-152-6 ὑπὸ ζυγῷ 256

mvp-comment-152-7 λόφον 257

mvp-comment-152-8 δικαίως 258

mvp-comment-152-9 equal poise’ ( New Crat. 371).—

ὡς = ὥστε
( O. T. 84 ): στέργειν 259

mvp-comment-153-1 τῶνδε 260 ἐκ 261

mvp-comment-153-2 τούτους, 262

mvp-comment-153-3 εἰργάσθαι 263 ἐξεπίσταμαι 264 παρηγμένους 265

mvp-comment-154-1 νόμισμ’ 266

mvp-comment-154-2 ἔβλαστε 267

mvp-comment-154-3 πορθεῖ 268

mvp-comment-154-4 τόδ’ 269 ἄνδρας 270

mvp-comment-155-1 τόδ’ ἐκδ. καὶ παραλλάσσει 271 ἵστασθαι 272 καὶ παραλλάσσει 273

mvp-comment-155-2 ἵστασθαι πρός τι 274

mvp-comment-156-1 πανουργίας … ἔχειν 275

mvp-comment-156-2 εἰδέναι 276 παντὸς ἔργου δυσσέβ. 277 παντὸς ἔργ 278 πανουργίας 279

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

186. mvp-comment-115-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς Menacing my people. Cp. supr. l. 10: Aesch. Prom. 1089-1090, τοιάδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἐμοὶ ῥιπὴ Διόθεν, | τεύχουσα φόβον, στείχει φανερῶς. For the dative, Essay on Language § 12. p. 18.

187. mvp-comment-116-1 δυσμενή χθονός Who is my country's foe. The genitive avoids the awkwardness of two datives, χθονί and ἐμαυτῷ, coming close together.

189-190. mvp-comment-117-1 She it is who preserves us, and we make friends only while she carries us in the course of public safety; i. e. The friendship that is made against the interest of the state is hollow and insecure. Cp. Thuc. 2. 60: (Pericles loq.) ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι πόλιν πλείω ξύμπασαν ὀρθουμένην ὠφελεῖν τοὺς ἰδιώτας, ἢ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον τῶν πολιτῶν εὐπραγοῦσαν, ἀθρόαν δὲ σφαλλομένην, κ.τ.λ.: Zaleuc. ap. Stob. (Mullach, p. 543), πόλις γὰρ εὖ ἀγομένη μεγίστη ὄρθωσίς ἐστι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πάντα ἔνι, καὶ τούτου σωζομένου πάντα σώζεται καὶ τούτου φθειρομένου πάντα διαφθείρεται: Shakespeare. King John, 3. 1, Pand.

All form is formless, order orderless, | Save what is opposite to England's love.
On the change of pronouns (ἥδε.. ταύτης), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 32. The article in τοὺς φίλους points the reference to ll. 182-183.

191. mvp-comment-118-1 τοιοίσδε νόμοισι By such principles as these. Cp. infr. 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;

192. mvp-comment-119-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε i. e. In full accord with them. Cp. Plat. Rep. 4. 421 C, ἆρ᾽ οὖν .. καὶ τὸ τούτου ἀδελφὸν δύξω σοι μετρίως λέγειν; Lys. 2. 64, ἀδελφὰ τὰ βουλεύματα τοῖς ἔργοις : Ο. C. 1262, ἀδελφὰ . . τούτοισιν.

193. mvp-comment-120-1 τῶν ἀπ᾿ Οιδίπου For the pleo- 190 195 200 nastic use of the preposition, see above 150, 182, and notes.

195. mvp-comment-121-1 πάντ᾿ ἀριστεύσας δορί After proving himself in all ways the bravest in the war. For the aor., cp. Hdt. 9. 74, alib.

196. mvp-comment-122-1 τὰ πάντ᾽ ἐφαγνίσαι ‘Το add all sacred offerings.'

199. mvp-comment-123-1 θεοὺς τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς The gods of his race; i. e. Those honoured by the Cadmeans. The gods of the race also include the ancestors of the race. Infr. 938, θεοὶ προγενεῖς.

201. mvp-comment-124-1 πρῆσαι κατάκρας The city (γῆν = πόλιν) is thought of as the main object of the verb.

201. mvp-comment-124-2 ἠθέλησε δ' The correspondence of clauses (with μέν and δέ) is not perfect, the antithesis being due to afterthought.

201. mvp-comment-124-3 αἵματος .. πάσασθαι ‘Το repast him with blood of his own kin.' The expression suits the Epic colouring of the whole speech.

202. mvp-comment-125-1 τοὺς δέ The rest; i. e. Those not slain, as implied in the opposition το αἵματος κοινοῦ πάσασθαι. 203.

202. mvp-comment-125-2 ἐκκεκήρυκται Musgrave's correction has been generally adopted, lopted, and is probably right. The impersonal verb gives absoluteness to the expression. Wolff construes the inf. with λέγω in 198 (deleting the comma after τοῦδε), and Wecklein reads λέγω for τάφῳ. The slight corruption is probably due to a reminiscence of supr. 27.

205. mvp-comment-126-1 δέμας is accusative of limitation, and ἄθαπτον and ἐδεστόν are masculine. To leave him unburied, to have his flesh consumed by birds and dogs.

206. mvp-comment-127-1 αἰκισθέντ᾿ ἰδεῖν A spectacle of indignity. Lit. Outraged to behold. The infinitive is added after the participle, which is masculine.

207. mvp-comment-128-1 Cp. 176, ψυχήν τε καὶ φρόνημα καὶ γνώμην.

209-210. mvp-comment-129-1 θανών | καὶ ζῶν In death as well as in life. The first word is the more emphatic. Essay on Language p. 78.

211-212. mvp-comment-130-1 For the construction of the accusatives τὸν .. δύσνουν. . τὸν εὐμενῆ, after σοὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἀρέσκει as = οὕτω τάσσεις, or the like, cр. О. С. 1120, τέκν᾽ εἰ φανέντ᾽ ἄελπτα μηκύνω λόγον, and see Essay on Language § 16. p. 22. No emendation is necessary.

213. mvp-comment-131-1 παντί πού γ᾽ ἔνεστί σοι γε has been thought a useless insertion, and Dindorf reads πάντι που πάρεστί σοι. But δέ γε is not unsuitable to the connection, introducing the second premiss of an implied argument. The words of the chorus express the barest acquiescence in the will of the ruler. Cp. infr. 509, σοὶ δ᾽ ὑπίλλουσι στόμα. They hide their disapproval, and that is all. Cp. Richard III, 4. 2, 21, Buck. Your grace may do your pleasure.

215. mvp-comment-132-1 ὡς ἂν.. εἰρημένων Sc. οὕτω πράσσετε. The subjunctive with ὡς ἄν follows the implied imperative. Act, then, so as to see my words obeyed. Cp. Ο. Τ. 325, ὡς οὖν μηδ᾽ ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω : Plat. Phaedo 59 Ε, παραγγέλλουσιν, ὅπως ἂν τῇδε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τελευτήσῃ. The ellipse is idiomatic. It is not to be supposed either that Creon hesitates, or that the elders interrupt him.

218. mvp-comment-133-1 τί.. ἔτι 'What means then this charge further given by you to another?' τοῦτο, cogn. acc. = σκοποὶ εἶναι τῶν εἰρημένων : τί, suppl. predic. = With what meaning?' To what effect? ἄλλῳ = to another than the appointed guards. ἄλλο gives a poorer sense, What then is this other thing which you enjoin besides?

220. mvp-comment-134-1 ὃς .. ἐρᾷ As to be in love with death. For the irregular correlative (οὕτω .. ὅς), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 36. There is a confusion of οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐρᾷ and οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτω μῶρος ὥστε ἐρᾶν.

222. mvp-comment-135-1 The emphatic position of ἄνδρας at the beginning of the line shows that the word is intended to mark Creon's unconsciousness of the real source of danger. So infr. 1. 248. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1110: O. T. 928, al. So ὑπ᾿ ἐλπίδων shows how incapable he is of divining the motive of Antigone.

223-330. mvp-comment-136-1 The half-comic or rustic character of the watchman in this play is an extension of the common character of the messenger, whose natural rudeness of speech and thought brings into greater prominence the horror or pathos of the events he describes. The grotesqueness disappears when he speaks of the action of Antigone in 407-440. The employment of this artifice by Sophocles arises from the same motive to which Shakespeare gave a far wider range in such creations as the gravediggers in Hamlet, and the rural fellow in Antony and Cleopatra. The Messenger in the Trachiniae, the Corinthian in the Oedipus Tyrannus, Menelaus in the Ajax, the pretended Shipmaster in the Philoctetes, afford the same sort of contrast to the more tragic personages: and the superstition of the Coloniatae may be compared with the cowardice of the Phrygian slave in the Orestes of Euripides.

223-330. mvp-comment-136-2 The vulgarity of the common-place Athenian of the fifth century в.с. takes the form of misplaced subtlety of wit. Cp. Shak. Hamlet, 5. 1 ,

We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. The age is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe.

223-224. mvp-comment-137-1 I am out of breath, but not with speed. It is not that I ran nimbly hither. Aristotle, Rhet. 3. 14. § 10, quotes 223 thus, Ἄναξ, ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ ὅπως σπουδῆς ὕπο.., adding, as if from the reply of Creon, τί φροιμιάζῃ; But it is as unsafe to follow his authority in this line, as it would be to substitute τί φροιμιάζῃ for εὖ γε στοχάζει in l. 241. It is evident that he is quoting from memory: and, although it is curious that the Scholiast uses the same word in his explanation, οὐ τοῦτο λέγω, ὅτι μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀσθμαίνων πρὸς σὲ πορεύομαι, yet this does not amount to a proof that this is the right reading. σπουδῆς may be the word which would be more naturally used in prose, but it is less pointed than τάχους in this connection. κοῦφον ἐξάρας πόδα is added in explanation of τάχους ὕπο. ἐξάρας, having set forth from the point of departure, like αἴρειν στόλον.

225. mvp-comment-138-1 For I had many stoppages by reason of thoughts, i. e. My thoughts cried halt to me (ἐπέστησάν με) again and again. Cp. Αj. 869, κοὐδεὶς ἐφίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν τόπος. The genitive φροντίδων is part causal, My thoughts checked me,' and part final, I stopped to think.

226. mvp-comment-139-1 ὁδοῖς As I came. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20. Ср. О. С. 553, ὁδοῖς ἐν ταῖσδ᾽ ἀκούων. Hearing of you on your coming hither.

227. mvp-comment-140-1 This mockery of dialectic is curiously significant of the earlier stage of rhetoric.

229. mvp-comment-141-1 κεἰ has the authority of the oldest MS. The reading of Par. A, καὶ .. ἀνδρός, has a certain liveliness, but is perhaps too abrupt.

231. mvp-comment-142-1 τοιαῦθ᾽ ἑλίσσων Turning round and round such thoughts as these. Cp. Plat. Phil. 19 (of the boyish dialectician), πάντα κινεῖ λόγον ἄσμενος, τότε μὲν ἐπὶ θάτερα κυκλῶν καὶ συμφορῶν εἰς ἕν, τότε δὲ πάλιν ἀνειλίττων καὶ διαμερίζων.

231. mvp-comment-142-2 σπουδῇ βραδύς The reading of L, σχολῇ βραδύς, Slowly because I stopped, is not pointed enough, and it seems probable that an oxymoron is intended in this as in the following line. The correction adopted by the Scholiast, σχολῇ ταχύς, secures this in rather an awkward way. That of Seyffert, which is here adopted (for the collocation of words, cp. the proverb σπεῦδε βραδέως), appears far more probable.

234. mvp-comment-143-1 This line was well explained by Dindorf in 1860: Dicturus erat σοὶ φράσοντα, sed propter verba interposita, κεί τὸ μηδὲν ἐξερῶ, mutata orationis forma infert φράσω δ ὅμως cum δε particula, ut Oed. T. 302, πόλιν μέν, εἰ καὶ μὴ βλέπεις, φρονεῖς δ' ὅμως | οἷᾳ νόσῳ σύνεστιν.' Essay on Language § 35. p. 59.

234. mvp-comment-143-2 τὸ μηδέν ῾Α vain report,' because the doer of the deed was still unknown.

235. mvp-comment-144-1 τῆς has the emphatic force of an antecedent: This hope, that ... δεδραγμένος] This reading is implied in the second scholium on the passage, ἀντειλημμένος τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐλήλυθα, and appears in the text of E and V³. (whence Aldus had it), and as a marginal reading of Aug. b. and of V¹. Clinging fast by the hope, is a natural and forcible expression, well suited to the style of the Φύλαξ : whereas ἐλπίδος πεφραγμένος or πεφαργμένοs, whether in the sense of Shut out from hope,' or Fortified by the hope, is not really admissible.

236. mvp-comment-145-1 That I cannot suffer anything but what is fated for me. Cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 263, πείσομαι τὸ μόρσιμον.

238. mvp-comment-146-1 τὸ γάρ For the light ending, cp infr. 327, 409, Ο. Τ. 553-554. τὸ δὲ | πάθημ᾽ ὁποῖον φῇς παθεῖν δίδασκέ με, ib. 995-996, 1056-1057.

239. mvp-comment-147-1 ὅστις ἦν ὁ δρῶν i. e. τὸν δρῶντα, ὅστις ἦν, The unknown doer of the deed.

241-242. mvp-comment-148-1 (1) You aim carefully, and fence the business off from yourself all round. Some editors read τί φροιμιάζει; from Ar. Rhet. 3. 14, § 10, quoted above. But though the Scholiast of the Rhetoric says τὸ δὲ τί φροιμιάζῃ τοῦ Κρέοντός ἐστι λέγοντος, it is much more probable that the words are a separate quotation from Eur. I. T. 1162. See Cope's edition of Ar. Rhet. vol. 3. p. 175. Others explain the text (2), You lay the ground carefully and hedge your approaches closely round, as if in preparing a stance to watch for game. According to Pollux, 5, 36, στοχασμός, στοχάς, and στόχος, were terms used in describing the setting of a hunting-net: καλεῖται δ᾽ αὐτῶν (τῶν ἀρκύων) ἡ στάσις, στοιχισμός, στοίχος, στόχος, στοχὰς καὶ στοχασμός· στοχὰς δὲ καλεῖται καὶ χειροποιητά τινα οἰκοδομήματα ἐκ λίθων, ἢ ὕλης ὑπὲρ τὴν γῆν ἀναστήματα, κατὰ χρείαν τῆς τῶν δικτύων ἐξ ἴσου στάσεως, εἴ τι κοῖλον εἴη περὶ τὸ ἀρκύστατον.

243. mvp-comment-149-1 τὰ δεινὰ .. πολύν The reply, as often elsewhere, refers to the first part of the previous speech. Cp. O. Т. 361. The frigid tautology belongs to the character of the Φύλαξ.

244. mvp-comment-150-1 εἰτ᾿ ἀπαλλαχθεὶς ἄπει And be off with you. The Scholiast acutely remarks that these impatient words are intended to hold out the hope of impunity, which is withdrawn again in the angry threats of ll. 305, foll.

246. mvp-comment-151-1 Some one has buried the corpse and has disappeared, after not only sprinkling dry dust upon the flesh, but adding all due rites. This last refers to the libation. Cp. supr. 196-197: infr. 430-431. The surprise was increased by observing the completeness of the act. There is a stress on the participles. Essay on Language p. 75 β, 94, 4.

248. mvp-comment-152-1 τίς ἀνδρῶν Cp. supra 222, and note.

249. mvp-comment-153-1 οὔτε .. ἐκβολή No dint of pick-axe, nor earth turned up with hoe.'

250. mvp-comment-154-1 στύφλος .. καὶ χέρσος Hard and bare. χέρσος γῆ is untilled land, and so here, Undisturbed by implements of husbandry. Cp. infr. 773, 1197.

251. mvp-comment-155-1 ἀρρώξ .. τροχοῖσιν Unbroken, and with no mark of wheels. ἐπημαξευμένη τροχοῖσιν] Lit. Carted over with wheels.' Essay on Language p. 88, note.

252. mvp-comment-156-1 ἀλλ'.. ἦν But whoever did it was one who left no trace.

253. mvp-comment-157-1 ὁ πρῶτος .. ἡμεροσκόπος Our first look-out-man for the day. ἡμεροσκόπος in Xen. Hell. 1. 1. 2, is a watchman who stands at his post at daybreak. Cp. ἡμεροφύλαξ, ib. 7. 2. 6, 7. Antigone's act preceded the setting of this watch.

254. mvp-comment-158-1 θαῦμα δυσχερές Α sight of wonder and dismay.

255. mvp-comment-159-1 τυμβήρης.. κόνις Not covered with a mound, but sprinkled with dust as by one avoiding pollution. Hor. Od. 1. 28,

Debita jura vicesque superbae | Te maneant ipsum: precibus ibus non linquar inultis | Teque piacula nulla resolvent. | Quamquam festinas, non est mora longa, licebit | Injecto ter pulvere curras.
For the gen., cp. Tr. 768.

255. mvp-comment-159-2 τυμβήρης For this use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.

258. mvp-comment-160-1 οὐ σπάσαντος Cp. Aesch. Prom. 451, οὔτε.. δόμους.. οὐ ξυλουργίαν.

259. mvp-comment-161-1 ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν Sc. τοῖς φύλαξιν. Words of abuse were loudly bandied to and fro. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 200, στάσις δ᾽ ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν ὠροθύνετο, sc.

259. mvp-comment-161-2 τοῖς δαίμοσιν.

260. mvp-comment-162-1 φύλαξ ἐλέγχων φύλακα On the nominative out of construction in the clause in apposition, see Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. § 15. p. 21.

260. mvp-comment-162-2 κἂν ἐγίγνετο And it was threatening to come to blows at last. The combination of the imperfect with av here is peculiar, having a force intermediate between ἐγίγνετο and ἐγένετο ἄv; i. e. it was coming to this, that we should have come to blows.

262-263. mvp-comment-163-1 The subtlety of the Φύλαξ deserts him in attempting to express his meaning. The perpetrator was every one and no one of us all every one in vague suspicion, and no one evidently: he escaped being known.' τις gives the indefiniteness required by the sense, = πως.

263. mvp-comment-164-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἔφευγε *μὴ εἰδέναι (1) But he (the perpetrator) always escaped, so that we could not know him. Böckh and Donaldson read as in the text, interpreting (2) Every man' (πᾶς implied in οὐδείς, the affirmative elicited from the negative) defended himself by pleading ignorance of the matter. For φεύγειν, * to urge a defensive plea,' cp. Aesch. Suppl. 390, and for the plea, μὴ εἰδέναι, Plat. Legg. 11. 936 E. But the plea of ignorance, although suitable in l. 266, is too special for this place, wherethe non-appearance of the criminal alone is in question. The meaning given above (1) is the same as that required by Hermann (see below), but is more simply expressed by the epexegesis, and the imperfect tense expresses the frustration of continued search. This interpretation involves a rare use of φεύγω, which is, however, analogous to a meaning of ἐκφεύγω that is not uncommon. Cp. Ο. Τ. 111, ἐκφεύγει δὲ τἀμελούμενον : Plat. Phil. 17, τὰ δὲ μέσα αὐτοὺς ἐκφεύγει. Other emendations are ἔφυγε τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι (Porson), explained by Erfurdt to mean amoliens a se accusationem scire sese negaverat ; ἔφυγε τῷ μὴ εἰδέναι (Herm. 1839), effugit, eo quod nesciebamus; ἔφευγε πᾶς τὸ μή, every man pled Not guilty. (Dind.). 264-265. There are few traces of anything corresponding to the trial by ordeal in ancient times. Brunck quotes Virg. Aen. 11. 787,

Et medium freti pietate per ignem | Cultores multa premimus vestigia prima.
It seems to have existed in different places as a popular belief, but nowhere to have received positive legal sanction. For a trace of trial by combat' (in Scythia), see Hdt. 4. 180. Cp. also Ar. Lys. 133.

269. mvp-comment-165-1

His verbis et sequentibus significatur terror quem Creontis auctoritas custodibus incutit.
(Dind.).

269. mvp-comment-165-2 λέγει, κ.τ.λ. The sense is interrupted by the relative clause, but resumed in the words ἦν δ᾽ ὁ μῦθος in l. 272. For τις εἷς, cp. Thuc. 6. 61, καί τινα μίαν νύκτα, κ.τ.λ. The emphatic use of little words shows the common mind; cp. infr. 404, ὃν σὺ τὸν νέκυν, κ.τ.λ. Wolff and Weckl. join els with what follows: but the antithesis of eἷς πάντας is too pointless here. Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 496 D, εἰς πᾶσιν ἀγρίοις ἀντέχειν.

274-275. mvp-comment-166-1 κἀμὲ.. λαβεῖν And the lot devotes me, wretched man, to be the recipient of this piece of luck. καθαιρεῖ is used much as in ἡ καθαιροῦσα ψῆφος, not by an extension of the technical sense, but with the same general mean- ing of Fastening upon, Bringing down, Overtaking and subduing.

279. mvp-comment-167-1 *1 This is Nauck's emendation for ἡ. It involves a very slight change, and is extremely probable. Reflection suggests the fear that' (not 'the question whether') this may be some visitation from the gods. The conscience of the elders, which was stifled at first, begins to awaken in the presence of the mysterious fact. For the pause after the 2nd iambus, here and supr. 269, cp. Aj. 340, 342, 719, 791, 803, 988, 1050, 1077, 1140, 1332.

280. mvp-comment-168-1 Cease, ere you have quite filled me with wrath. καί, which is combined with πρίν, according to the common idiom (πρὶν καὶ..), is slightly displaced so as to emphasize the phrase ἐμὲ μεστῶσαι. The language is made clearer by the emendation καί με, but the emphatic ἐμέ is more suitable in the mouth of Creon. Cp. Phil. 1042.

281. mvp-comment-169-1 ἄνους τε καὶ γέρων Cp. О. С. 930-931, καί σ᾽ ὁ πληθύων χρόνος | γέρονθ' ὁμοῦ τίθησι καὶ τοῦ νοῦ κενόν. See Essay on Language § 41. p. 78. 285-286. Who came to burn their pillared shrines and offerings, and to break in pieces their land and laws. It seems more likely that the ἀναθήματα are joined in one expression with ναούς than with γῆν and νόμους, which are in a different category.

289-290. mvp-comment-170-1 ἀλλὰ ταῦτα.. ἐμοί But this explains the murmurs I have long been hearing from men in the city against me;' i. e. Those murmurs have become explicit in this act. Οη ταῦτα, see Essay on Language § 17. p. 25; and for the dative ἐμοί, at me, ib. § 12. p. 18. μόλις φέροντες, which some have connected with ταῦτα (ταῦτα μόλις φέροντες, 'Bearing my edict ill'), seems to be used absolutely, sc. τὸ ἐμὸν ζυγόν, with an allusion to the metaphor in what follows. Cp. Thuc. 5. 80, θυμῷ ἔφερον, sc. τὸν πόλεμον ἢ τὰ πράγματα.

291. mvp-comment-171-1 'Covertly shaking the head,' like an animal preparing to throw off the yoke.

292. mvp-comment-172-1 δικαίως Rightly; i. e. As I had a right to expect that they should.

292. mvp-comment-172-2 ὡς στέργειν ἐμέ So as to accept my sway. To this it has been objected that στέργω implies affectionate allegiance. But this notion, although inherent in the etymology of the word, is dropped in use. Cp. Phil. 538, ἐγὼ δ' ἀνάγκῃ προὔμαθον στέργειν κακά : Aesch. Prom. 11, τὴν Δίος τυραννίδα | στέργειν. What hope was there that Prometheus would be made loyal by loyal torments? The other interpretation, So that I should be content (cp. Phil. 458, τούτους ἐγὼ τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ στέρξω ποτέ), would give but feeble expression to the self-will of Creon. The substitution for these words of εὐλόφως φέρειν from the citation of Eustathius, with the further change of νῶτον for λόφον, is rightly rejected by Dind., who points out that Eustathius, probably quoting from memory, has confused this passage with one of Lycophron.

293. mvp-comment-173-1 ἐκ τῶνδε By these malcontents. Supr. 290.

293. mvp-comment-173-2 τούτους (1) These guards. Infr. ll. 304 ff., supr. 260 ff.: or (2) simply τοὺς εἰργασμένους. The whole of this picture of discontent is the creation of Creon's anger from the hesitation of the chorus when told to see to the execution of the decree. Supr. 215 ff.

294. mvp-comment-174-1 There is a stress on μισθοῖσιν, preparing for what follows.

296. mvp-comment-175-1 νόμισμα, usually = Current coin, is here used in the more general sense which includes this. No such pestilent usance as money is, ever sprang up amongst mankind.

298. mvp-comment-176-1 The object of ἐκδιδάσκει, SC.

298. mvp-comment-176-2 χρηστοὺς αἰσχρά, is absorbed in the expansion of the sentence.

299. mvp-comment-177-1 πρὸς .. ἵστασθαι Το address themselves to shameful enterprizes.' Cp. Thuc. 6. 34. § 7, τῶν δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ αἱ γνῶμαι ἵστανται.

300. mvp-comment-178-1 πανουργίας The plural of the abstract noun gives the concrete notion.

300. mvp-comment-178-2 πανουργίας ἔχειν, like θήραν ἔχειν, Αj. 564: ὕβριν ἔχειν, Od. 1. 368, etc.

301. mvp-comment-179-1 παντὸς ἔργου δυσσέβειαν The impiety of every deed; i. e. Every kind of impiety in action. Cp. O.T. 864-865, εὔσεπτον ἁγνείαν λόγων | ἔργων τε πάντων.