Sophocles Antigone 197

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Teiresias

977 Princes of Thebes, we have come with linked 990 steps, both served by the eyes of one; for thus, by a guide’s help, the blind must walk.

Antigone. Sophocles. Cambridge, UK. 1904.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (12)

Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 197 focus

τὸν δ᾽ αὖ ξύναιμον τοῦδε, Πολυνείκην λέγω,

Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 197 focus

πρῆσαι κατάκρας, ἠθέλησε δ᾽ αἵματος

Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 197 focus

ὃς γῆν πατρῴαν καὶ θεοὺς τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς,

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς·

Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς·

Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 197.mvp-line-197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς·

Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς·

Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς.

Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς·

Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 197.mvp-line-197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς·

Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς.

Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 197 focus

ἃ τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔρχεται κάτω νεκροῖς·

Translations (9)

German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 197 focus

CHOR.

Wohl heilig Todter Heiligung!

Doch dessen Macht, dem Macht gebührt,
840

zu überschreiten ziemet nicht.

Ja dich stürzt' eigenwill'ger Trotzsinn!

Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 197 focus

CORO

944 También sufrió Dánae cambiar la celestial luz por las tinieblas en mansión ceñida de bronce, y escondida en funerario tálamo está aprisionada. Y en verdad que por su nacimiento era ilustre, ¡oh niña, niña!, y guardaba en su seno los gérmenes de la lluvia de oro de Júpiter. Pero la fatalidad tiene una fuerza terrible ni las riquezas, ni Marte, ni las torres, ni las negras naves que sufren el embate de las olas la pueden evitar. 955 Fué Fue encadenado también el irascible niño hijo de Driante y rey de los edones, quien, por su indole índo- le procaz, fué fue encerrado por Dióniso en pétrea cárcel; y así, la terrible y vigorosa violencia de su iracundia se desvanece gota a gota; reconoció él que en su furor había insultado a un dios con su ultrajante lengua. Quería, en verdad, acabar con las endemoniadas bacantes y con el báquico fuego, y ultrajaba a las musas amantes de las flautas. 966 Y junto a las negras rocas de los dos mares¹ están las orillas del Bósforo y la inhospitalaria Salmideso de los tracios, en donde Marte, el protector de la ciudad, vió vio la execrable herida que a los dos hijos de Fineo infirió la fiera madrastra, que les arrancó los ojos de las órbitas, cruelmente doloridas, sin valerse de espada, sino con sangrientas manos y aguda punta de lanzadera; 977 y deshaciéndose en lågrimas lágri- mas los desdichados, lloraban la desdichada suerte que les cupo por nacer del ilegitimo ilegítimo casamiento de su madre; y ella era de la raza de los antiguos Erectidas, y se había criado en los lejanos antros, en medio de las tempestuosas tormentas de su padre Bóreas, que, rápido rápi- do como un corcel, corría a pie firme sobre el helado mar, pues era hijo de un dios. Pero sobre ella estaban las Parcas de larga vida, ¡oh hija!

Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 197 focus

Chorus

944 Sustinuit etiam Daneë coelesti lumine privari in aereo. conclavi, abditaque sepulcralis thalami iugum tulit; atqui o nata, nata, genere erat nobilis, gremioque recondita servabat auriílua Iovis semina. At ingens est fati vis; quam nec fortis vel Mars, vel turris, neque undisonae nigrae naves effugiant.

955 Iugum accepit etiam impotens irae filius Dryantis , rex Edonum, quem Bacchus, ob infestam indolem, saxoso conclusit in carcere. Adeo a furore destillare terribilem noxiamque poenam, adgnovit demum ille, qui rabiei petulantibus conviciis deum laesit. Enimvero entheas cohibuit feminas, sacrasque Bacchi exstinxit lampades, et tibiarum amantes irritavit Musas.

966 Iuxta Cyanea aequora gemini maris, litora sunt Bosporia et Thracius Salmydesus, ubi vicinas urbes colens Mars geminos Phinei filios a fera noverca vidit lumine orbatos execrabili vulnere, inficto non lancearum, sed cruentae manus et pectinum cuspidibus.

977 At miseri dolore tabescentes miseram matris lugebant vicem, coniugii quippe experti vitae geniti; quae sane genus antiquis ab Erechthidis ducebat, remotisque in antris mutrita fuerat procellas inter paternas, Boreae filia, equos cursu praevertens celso super iugo, deorum progenies: haud tamen secius hanc quoque longaevae Parcae invaserunt, o nata.

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 197 focus

TI

I will instruct thee, if thou wilt hear my voice.

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)) — 197 focus

Antigone
Scene Vlll. 944

Chorus.

Remember what fair Danae endured,

Condemned to change he^iven's cheerful light
945

For scenes of horror and of night,

Within a brazen tower long time immured ;

Yet was the maid of noblest race,
950

And honoured e'en with Jove's embrace ;

But, oh ! when fate decrees a mortal's woe

Naught can reverse the doom or stop the blow —

Nor heaven above, nor earth and seas below.

955

The Thracian monarch, Dryas' hapless son,
955

Chained to a rock in to rment lay.

And breathed his angry soul away,

By wrath misguided, and by pride undone ;

Taught by the offended god to know
960

From foul reproach what evils flow ;

For he the rites profaned with slanderous tongue,

The holy flame he quenched, disturbed the song,

A.nd waked to wrath the Muses' tuneful throng.
965
966

His turbid waves where Salmydessus rolled,

And proud Oyaneji-'s rocks divide the flood,

There from thy temple. Mars, didst thou behold
970

The sons of Phineus weltering in their blood ;

A mother did the cruel deed,

A mother bade her children bleed ;

Both by her impious hand, deprived of light,

In vain lamented long their ravished sight,

And closed their eyes in never-ending night,
975

Long time they wept a better mother's fate,

977

Unhappy offspring of a luckless bed ?

Yet nobly born, and eminently great
980

Was she, and midst sequestered caverns bred —

Her father's angry storms among,

Daughter of gods, from Boreas sprung —

Equal in swiftness to the bounding steed.

She skimmed the mountains with a courser's speed,

Yet was the nymph to death and misery decreed.
985

fjo

ANTlGOiSlE.

Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 197 focus

ANTÍGONA

858 Me has despertado el recuerdo de nuestras dolorosas desgracias, la desdicha de un padre que afectó á tres generaciones, y la triste fabalidad que pesa sobre nosotros los inclitos Lab= dácidas. Fatal himenco de mi madre, enlace incestuoso, que unió á una madre y á un hijo infortunados, y del cual naci yo, por mi dosgracia. Cargada de imprecaciones, y privada de la dicha del himeneo, voy á reunirme con los autores de mis dias.

¡Oh, hermano mio! qué funesta unión has llevado á cabo!... Sucumbiste, y á mi, viva, me has asociado á tu muerte.

German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 197 focus

TIRESIAS

Ich will es.sagen , höre du den Seher.

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-581-1 κατά ¹

mvp-comment-581-2 μέλεοι μελέαν ²

mvp-comment-582-1 ματρὸς ἔχοντες ἀν. γονάν ³ γονάν ⁴ ματρός ⁵ ἀνύμφ. ⁶ ματρός ⁷ πάθαν ⁸ ματρὸς … γονάν ⁹

mvp-comment-583-1 σπέρμα ¹⁰

mvp-comment-583-2 ἀρχαιογ. ¹¹

mvp-comment-583-3 ἄντασ’ Ἐρ. ¹²

mvp-comment-584-1 τηλεπόροις ¹³

mvp-comment-585-1 ἅμιππος ¹⁴

mvp-comment-585-2 ὀρθόποδος ¹⁵

mvp-comment-586-1 κἀπ’ ἐκείνᾳ … ἔσχον ¹⁶ μακραίωνες ¹⁷

mvp-comment-588-1 ἄνακτες ¹⁸

mvp-comment-589-1 αὕτη κ. ¹⁹ πέλει ²⁰

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

944-987. mvp-comment-537-1 The chorus, in the manner of Pindar, moralise on the fate of Antigone through examples drawn from the circle of mythology and legend; and thus suggest the same cold comfort as in their mention of Niobe. The effect of this ode is to repress the excitement and solemnize the thoughts of the spectator. 'Danaë, though of royal lineage, and entrusted with the golden shower, was bound by all-constraining destiny in her brazen cell. 'Bound, too, in a prison of rock, was Lycurgus, who provoked the God. He knew his madness when it was too late. And on the Thracian promontory Phineus sons, blinded by their father's wife (Idothea), bewailed their rejected mother Cleopatra's hapless lot, who, descended from an ancient line, and endowed with swiftness by her divine sire, was notwithstanding overtaken by the long-lived fates.' Danae and Cleopatra were, like Antigone, of royal birth, and, like Antigone, were bound in a living tomb. So also was the son of Dryas, himself a king: and this, in his case, was the penalty of an impetuous and defiant spirit. Sophocles seems to have followed one version of the obscure and variable legend of Phineus, according to which Cleopatra did not die, but was rejected by Phineus for Idothea, and imprisoned in a cave, from which she was afterwards released by Heracles. The sons were blinded by their step-mother. The first strophe and antistrophe are choriambic with an iambic close; the second, logaoedic. The choriambi here were probably chanted slowly, so as to have a weighty, solemn effect. The scheme is as follows: a'. First strophe and antistrophe. IILUCI LUCILー LUCILIITUCICートに IICClluclトー IIICCILUCIトに ICICICI KLCICICI CトートUICIK β'. Second strophe and antistrophe. UCCTCCICCI IICCICCII!یں ILU TUCI くいくいトCICIK Cトートしーーー ―トビトCICIK CÚCCICICICC

980. mvp-comment-564-1 κλαῖον ματρός, | ἔχοντες ἀνύμφευτον γονάν This punctuation is preferred to κλαῖον, ματρὸς ἔχοντες ἀνύμφευτον γονάν, simply because the fate of Cleopatra, and not that of the Phineidae, is the chief point of the illustration.

980. mvp-comment-564-2 ἔχοντες ἀνύμφευτον γονάν Having a birth not honoured by wedlock: because their mother's marriage was repudiated, and their legitimacy was therefore not acknowledged. Note the repetition of γονά γονάν in a different sense after yovás in 950.

981. mvp-comment-565-1 And she in lineage reached even unto the ancient race of the Erechtheidae.' Because her mother Orithyia, whom Boreas rapt from the Ilissus (Plat. Phaedr. 229 B), was a daughter of Erechtheus. Qy. ἀρχαιογενήτων?

983. mvp-comment-566-1 τηλεπόροις δ᾽ ἐν ἄντροις The exact meaning of the compound epithet is doubtful. Either (1) Far-piercing,' i. e. Extending far into the mountainside: or (2) Distant, the second part of the epithet being redundant, or merely repeating the notion of a hollow passage implied in ἄντροις, i.e. δι' ὧν τηλόσε πορευόμεθα.

985. mvp-comment-567-1 Βορεὰς ἅμιππος Cp. Ο. Τ. 466, and note. And for ἅμα, Hom. Il. 19.415. Keeping pace with the steed over the steep path of the hill. On the compounds of πούς, see Essay on Language $55. p. 101. ὀρθόπους is literally Raising the foot upright. The second part of the compound is subordinated, but in this connection must have reference to the foot of the climber, and not to the foot of the hill. The words ὀρθόποδος ὑπὲρ πάγου are in construction with the verbal notion in ἅμιππος, sc.

985. mvp-comment-567-2 ἅμα ταῖς ἵπποις τρέχειν δυναμένη.

986-987. mvp-comment-568-1 ἀλλὰ κἀπ᾿ ἐκείνᾳ .. ἔσχον But even on her the long-lived fates laid hold. Cp. Hom. Il. 21. 110, ἀλλ᾿ ἔπι τοι καὶ ἐμοὶ θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κραταιή. ἐπέχειν is To extend to, and the tmesis gives the preposition a fresh construction with the dative. The Fates are ever-living, and therefore can afford to bide their time.

987. mvp-comment-569-1 ὦ παῖ Antigone is apostrophized after her departure, like Oedipus in Ο. C. 1567, πάλιν σε δαίμων δίκαιος αὔξοι. 988, foll. The coming of Teiresias is the beginning of the περιπέτεια, The change in the spirit of Creon's dream. The external marks of the prophet are noticed more prominently than in the Oedipus Tyrannus. Cp. especially 998-990, with O. T. 371, τυφλὸς τὰ τ᾽ ὦτα, κ.τ.λ., and 444, καὶ σύ, παῖ, κόμιζέ με: 992-995, with Ο. Τ. 436, γονεῦσι δ', οἵ σ᾽ ἔφυσαν, ἔμφρονες. The figure of the blind prophet is more ideal in the Oedipus Tyrannus, and the peculiarity of his position is brought out, in a higher mode of art, with one or two light touches. On the other hand, his sudden and unlooked-for coming suits exactly with the purpose of this drama and the person of Creon.

990. mvp-comment-570-1 αὕτη Essay on Language § 22, p. 35.