πήματα †φθιμένων ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντ',
595
Antigone. Sophocles. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.
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Current edition Experimental
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
Editions (11)
Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 595 focus
θεῶν τις, οὐδ᾽ ἔχει λύσιν.
595
Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 595 focus
πολλοῖς δ᾽ ἀπάτα κουφονόων ἐρώτων·
595
Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 595 focus
τεὰν, Ζεῦ, δύνασιν τίς ἀνδρῶν
595
Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 595 focus
πήματα φθιμένων ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντ᾽,
595
Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 595.mvp-line-589 focus
πήματα φθιμένων ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντ’,
595
Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 595 focus
πήματα † φθιμένων † ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντ᾽,
595
Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 595 focus
νῦν γὰρ ἐσχάτας ὅπερ
595
Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 595 focus
πήματα φθιτῶν ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντ᾽,
2
595
Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 595.mvp-line-589 focus
πήματα φθιμένων ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντ᾽,
595
Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 595 focus
πήματα φθιτῶν ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντʼ,
595
Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 595 focus
πήματα φθιμένων ἐπὶ πήμασι πίπτοντ᾽,
595
Translations (2)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 593 focus
So seh' ich in Labdakos' Haus uraltes Leid sich
Fort und fort auf's Leid der Geschiedenen stürzen:
1
590
Nicht Befreiung schafft ein Geschlecht dem Geschlecht; hinab stößt
Ein Gott es, löst niemals den Fluch.
Denn die lezte Wurzel, die
2
Das Licht umleuchtet in dem Haus des Dedipus,
Auch die mäht nun der Todesgötter
595
Blutigrothe Sichel ab,
Der Rede Thorheit und des Geistes Wahnsinn.
3
Zweite Strophe.
So seh' ich in Labdakos' Haus uraltes Leid sich
Fort und fort auf's Leid der Geschiedenen stürzen:
1
590
Nicht Befreiung schafft ein Geschlecht dem Geschlecht; hinab stößt
Ein Gott es, löst niemals den Fluch.
Denn die lezte Wurzel, die
2
Das Licht umleuchtet in dem Haus des Dedipus,
Auch die mäht nun der Todesgötter
595
Blutigrothe Sichel ab,
Der Rede Thorheit und des Geistes Wahnsinn.
3
English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 583-630 focus
Chorus
Blest are those whose days have not tasted of evil. For when a house has once been shaken by the gods,
no form of ruin is lacking, but it spreads over the bulk of the race, just as, when the surge is driven over the darkness of the deep by the fierce breath of Thracian sea-winds,
585
it rolls up the black sand from the depths, and the wind-beaten headlands that front the blows of the storm give out a mournful roar.
590
Blest are those whose days have not tasted of evil. For when a house has once been shaken by the gods,
no form of ruin is lacking, but it spreads over the bulk of the race, just as, when the surge is driven over the darkness of the deep by the fierce breath of Thracian sea-winds,
585
it rolls up the black sand from the depths, and the wind-beaten headlands that front the blows of the storm give out a mournful roar.
590
Chorus
I see that the ancient sorrows of the house of the Labdacids
are heaped upon the sorrows of the dead. Each generation does not set its race free, but some god hurls it down and the race has no release. For now that dazzling ray of hope that had been spread
595
over the last roots in the house of Oedipus—that hope, in its turn, the blood-stained dust of the gods infernal and mindlessness in speech and frenzy at the mind cuts down.
600
I see that the ancient sorrows of the house of the Labdacids
are heaped upon the sorrows of the dead. Each generation does not set its race free, but some god hurls it down and the race has no release. For now that dazzling ray of hope that had been spread
595
over the last roots in the house of Oedipus—that hope, in its turn, the blood-stained dust of the gods infernal and mindlessness in speech and frenzy at the mind cuts down.
600
Chorus
Your power, great Zeus—what human overstepping can check it? Yours is power that neither Sleep, the all-ensnaring, nor the untiring months of the gods can defeat. Unaged through time,
605
you rule by your power and dwell thereby in the brilliant splendor of
Olympus
. And through the future, both near and distant, as through the past, shall this law prevail: nothing that is vast comes to the life of mortals without ruin.
610
Your power, great Zeus—what human overstepping can check it? Yours is power that neither Sleep, the all-ensnaring, nor the untiring months of the gods can defeat. Unaged through time,
605
you rule by your power and dwell thereby in the brilliant splendor of
Olympus
. And through the future, both near and distant, as through the past, shall this law prevail: nothing that is vast comes to the life of mortals without ruin.
610
Chorus
See how that hope whose wanderings are so wide truly is a benefit to many men, but to an equal number it is a false lure of light-headed desires. The deception comes to one who is wholly unawares until he burns his foot on a hot fire.
615
For with wisdom did someone once reveal the maxim, now famous, that evil at one time or another seems good, to him whose mind a god leads to ruin.
620
But for the briefest moment such a man fares free of destruction.
625
See how that hope whose wanderings are so wide truly is a benefit to many men, but to an equal number it is a false lure of light-headed desires. The deception comes to one who is wholly unawares until he burns his foot on a hot fire.
615
For with wisdom did someone once reveal the maxim, now famous, that evil at one time or another seems good, to him whose mind a god leads to ruin.
620
But for the briefest moment such a man fares free of destruction.
625
Enter Haemon.
Chorus
But here is Haemon, the last of your offspring. Does he come grieving for the doom of Antigone, his promised bride,
and bitter for the deceived hope of their marriage?
630
But here is Haemon, the last of your offspring. Does he come grieving for the doom of Antigone, his promised bride,
and bitter for the deceived hope of their marriage?
630
Commentary
Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus
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.