ἰὼ δυσπότμων κασίγνητε γάμων κυρήσας,
8
Antigone. Sophocles. Cambridge, UK. 1906.
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Funding provided by Tufts University.
Table of Contents
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Current edition Experimental
Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
Editions (11)
Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 866 focus
θανὼν ἔτ᾽ οὖσαν κατήναρές με.
Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 866 focus
χοὰς ἔδωκα· νῦν δέ, Πολύνεικες, τὸ σὸν
Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 866 focus
τὸν δὲ πότμον ἀδάκρυτον ἐμὸν
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 866 focus
οἵων ἐγώ ποθ᾽ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν·
Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 866 focus
οἵων ἐγώ ποθ᾽ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν·
Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 866.mvp-line-858 focus
οἵων ἐγώ ποθ’ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν·
Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 866 focus
οἵων ἐγώ ποθ᾽ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν·
Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 866 focus
παραβατὸν οὐδαμῇ πέλει,
Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 866.mvp-line-858 focus
οἵων ἐγώ ποθ᾽ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν·
Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 866 focus
οἵων ἐγώ ποθʼ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν·
Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 866 focus
οἵων ἐγώ ποθ᾽ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν
Translations (2)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 872 focus
Fromm handelt, wer die Todten ehrt;
Doch dessen Macht, dem Macht gebührt,
Zu verachten, ziemt sich nimmermehr :
Ja, dich stürzt' eigner Troz in's Unheil!
865
Schlußgesang.
Fromm handelt, wer die Todten ehrt;
Doch dessen Macht, dem Macht gebührt,
Zu verachten, ziemt sich nimmermehr :
Ja, dich stürzt' eigner Troz in's Unheil!
865
Antigone.
English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 883-940 focus
Enter Creon.
929
Creon
Do you not know that dirges and wailing before death would never be given up, if it were allowed to make them freely?
Take her away—now! And when you have enshrouded her, as I proclaimed, in her covered tomb, leave her alone, deserted—let her decide whether she wishes to die or to live entombed in such a home. It makes no difference, since our hands are clean so far as regards this girl.
885
But no matter what, she will be stripped of her home here above.
890
Do you not know that dirges and wailing before death would never be given up, if it were allowed to make them freely?
Take her away—now! And when you have enshrouded her, as I proclaimed, in her covered tomb, leave her alone, deserted—let her decide whether she wishes to die or to live entombed in such a home. It makes no difference, since our hands are clean so far as regards this girl.
885
But no matter what, she will be stripped of her home here above.
890
Antigone
Tomb, bridal-chamber, deep-dug eternal prison where I go to find my own, whom in the greatest numbers destruction has seized and Persephone has welcomed among the dead!
Last of them all and in by far the most shameful circumstances, I will descend, even before the fated term of my life is spent. But I cherish strong hopes that I will arrive welcome to my father, and pleasant to you, Mother, and welcome, dear brother, to you.
895
For, when each of you died, with my own hands I washed and dressed you and poured drink-offerings at your graves. But now, Polyneices, it is for tending your corpse that I win such reward as this.
And yet I honored you rightly, as the wise understand.
900
Never, if I had been a mother of children, or if a husband had been rotting after death, would I have taken that burden upon myself in violation of the citizens’ will. For the sake of what law, you ask, do I say that? A husband lost, another might have been found,
905
and if bereft of a child, there could be a second from some other man. But when father and mother are hidden in Hades, no brother could ever bloom for me again. Such was the law whereby I held you first in honor, but for that Creon judged me guilty of wrongdoing
910
and of dreadful outrage, dear brother! And now he leads me thus in his hands’ strong grasp, when I have enjoyed no marriage bed or bridal song and have not received any portion of marriage or the nurture of children. But deserted by friends,
915
in misery I go living to the hollow graves of the dead. What law of the gods have I transgressed? Why should I look to the gods anymore? What ally should I call out to, when by my reverence I have earned a name for irreverence?
920
Well, then, if these events please the gods, once I have suffered my doom I will come to know my guilt. But if the guilt lies with my judges, I could wish for them no greater evils than they inflict unjustly on me.
925
929
Tomb, bridal-chamber, deep-dug eternal prison where I go to find my own, whom in the greatest numbers destruction has seized and Persephone has welcomed among the dead!
Last of them all and in by far the most shameful circumstances, I will descend, even before the fated term of my life is spent. But I cherish strong hopes that I will arrive welcome to my father, and pleasant to you, Mother, and welcome, dear brother, to you.
895
For, when each of you died, with my own hands I washed and dressed you and poured drink-offerings at your graves. But now, Polyneices, it is for tending your corpse that I win such reward as this.
And yet I honored you rightly, as the wise understand.
900
Never, if I had been a mother of children, or if a husband had been rotting after death, would I have taken that burden upon myself in violation of the citizens’ will. For the sake of what law, you ask, do I say that? A husband lost, another might have been found,
905
and if bereft of a child, there could be a second from some other man. But when father and mother are hidden in Hades, no brother could ever bloom for me again. Such was the law whereby I held you first in honor, but for that Creon judged me guilty of wrongdoing
910
and of dreadful outrage, dear brother! And now he leads me thus in his hands’ strong grasp, when I have enjoyed no marriage bed or bridal song and have not received any portion of marriage or the nurture of children. But deserted by friends,
915
in misery I go living to the hollow graves of the dead. What law of the gods have I transgressed? Why should I look to the gods anymore? What ally should I call out to, when by my reverence I have earned a name for irreverence?
920
Well, then, if these events please the gods, once I have suffered my doom I will come to know my guilt. But if the guilt lies with my judges, I could wish for them no greater evils than they inflict unjustly on me.
925
Chorus
Still the same tempest of the soul
grips this girl with the same fierce gusts.
930
Still the same tempest of the soul
grips this girl with the same fierce gusts.
930
Creon
Then because of this her guards will have reason to lament their slowness.
Then because of this her guards will have reason to lament their slowness.
Antigone
Ah, no! That command verges close on death.
Ah, no! That command verges close on death.
Creon
I cannot console you with any hope that your doom is not to be fulfilled in that way.
935
I cannot console you with any hope that your doom is not to be fulfilled in that way.
935
Antigone
O city of my fathers, land of
Thebes
, and you gods, our ancestors! I am led away now; there is no more delay!
Look at me, you who are
Thebes
’ lords—look at the only remaining daughter of the house of your kings. See what I suffer, and at whose hands, because I revered reverence!
Antigone is led away by the guards.
940
O city of my fathers, land of
Thebes
, and you gods, our ancestors! I am led away now; there is no more delay!
Look at me, you who are
Thebes
’ lords—look at the only remaining daughter of the house of your kings. See what I suffer, and at whose hands, because I revered reverence!
Antigone is led away by the guards.
940
Commentary
Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))
mvp-comment-8-1 θεῖναι 1
mvp-comment-8-2 τὸν στρατηγόν 2
mvp-comment-9-1 ἔχεις 3
mvp-comment-9-2 κεἰσήκουσας 4
mvp-comment-10-1 τῶν ἐχθρῶν κακά 5
mvp-comment-11-2 Ἀντιγόνη 8
mvp-comment-11-3 φίλων 9 μῦθος 10
mvp-comment-11-4 ἐξ ὅτου 11
mvp-comment-12-1 δυοῖν … δύο 12 δύο 13
mvp-comment-13-1 θανόντοιν 14
mvp-comment-13-2 διπλῇ χερί 15
mvp-comment-14-1 ἐπεί 16
mvp-comment-14-2 ἐν νυκτὶ τῇ νῦν 17
mvp-comment-14-3 ὑπέρτερον 18
mvp-comment-14-4
As
οἶδ’ εὐτυχοῦσα = οἶδ’ ὅτι εὐτυχῶ, so the participles
εὐτυχοῦσα
19
ἀτωμένη
20
mvp-comment-15-1 ᾔδη 21 καλῶς 22
mvp-comment-15-2 αὐλείων πυλῶν 23
mvp-comment-15-3 ἐξέπεμπον 24
mvp-comment-16-1 τί δ’ ἔστι 25 δηλοῖς 26
mvp-comment-16-2 καλχαίνουσ’ ἔπος τι 27
mvp-comment-16-3
is figuratively used like the Homeric
πορφύρω. In
πορφύρω the idea of trouble precedes that of colour: in
καλχαίνω,
vice versa.
mvp-comment-17-1 οὐ γάρ 28
mvp-comment-17-2 τὼ κασιγνήτω … τὸν μὲν … τὸν δέ 29
mvp-comment-17-3 The place of τάφου 30 προτίσας 31 τάφου 32 ἀτιμάσας 33
mvp-comment-17-4 ἀτιμάσας ἔχει 34
mvp-comment-18-1 σὺν δίκῃ | χρησθεὶς δικαίᾳ καὶ νόμῳ 35 χρησθεὶς 36 σὺν δίκης | χρήσει δικαίᾳ καὶ νόμου 38 δίκης 39 σύν 40 δίκῃ 41 χρήσει 42 χρησθείς 43 χρῆσθαι δικαιῶν 44
mvp-comment-18-2 νόμου 45
mvp-comment-19-1 τοῖς ἔνερθεν ἔντιμον νεκροῖς 46 πᾶσι κλεινός 47
mvp-comment-20-1 θανόντα … Πολυνείκους νέκυν 48
mvp-comment-21-1 ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι 49
mvp-comment-21-2 τὸ μὴ … καλύψαι 50
mvp-comment-22-1 ἐᾶν δ’ 51 ἄταφον ἄκλαυτον 52
mvp-comment-23-1 θησαυρόν 53
mvp-comment-23-2 εἰσορῶσι 54 εἰσορμῶσι 55
mvp-comment-23-3 Take πρὸς χάριν βορᾶς 56
mvp-comment-23-4 πρὸς χάριν 57
mvp-comment-24-1 σοί 58 κἀμοί 59 κηρύξαντ’ ἔχειν 60
mvp-comment-24-2 τὸν ἀγαθόν 61
mvp-comment-24-3 λέγω γὰρ κἀμέ 62
mvp-comment-24-4 Two other explanations may be noticed. Both make σοι 63 σοι 64 τοιαῦτα 65 κἀμοί 66 σοι 67 σοι 68 ἀγαθόν 69
mvp-comment-25-1 νεῖσθαι 70
mvp-comment-25-2 τοῖσι μὴ εἰδόσιν 71
mvp-comment-26-1 παρ’ οὐδέν 72 ὡς 73
mvp-comment-26-2 ὃς ἂν … δρᾷ 74
mvp-comment-27-1 προκεῖσθαι 75
mvp-comment-27-2 δημόλευστον 76
mvp-comment-28-1 σοι 77
mvp-comment-28-2 ἐσθλῶν 78
mvp-comment-29-1 ὦ ταλαῖφρον 79
mvp-comment-29-2 εἰ τάδ’ ἐν τούτοις 80 ἐν τούτοις 81
mvp-comment-30-1 λύουσ’ … ἢ ’φάπτουσα 82 εἵθ’ ἅπτουσα 83
mvp-comment-30-2 προσθείμην 84
mvp-comment-30-3 πλέον 85
mvp-comment-31-1 ξυμπονήσεις 86 ξυνεργάσει 87
mvp-comment-31-2 ποῖόν τι κινδύνευμα 88
mvp-comment-31-3
Read
ποῦ γνώμης...εἶ (from
εἶναι): cp.
El. 390
ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν. The question between
ποῦ
89
ποῖ
90
mvp-comment-32-1 εἰ 91 ξὺν τῇδε χερί 92
mvp-comment-32-2 κουφιεῖς 93
mvp-comment-32-3 ἦ γὰρ 94
mvp-comment-32-4 σφε 95
mvp-comment-32-5 ἀπόρρητον 96
mvp-comment-32-6 πόλει 97
mvp-comment-33-1 τὸν γοῦν ἐμὸν 98 ἐμόν 99 καὶ τὸν σόν, ἢν σὺ μὴ θέλῃς 100 τὸν ἐμόν 101 τὸν σόν 102 ἀδελφόν 103 γοῦν 104 τὸν … ἐμὸν καὶ τὸν σόν 105 καὶ 106 ἤν 107
mvp-comment-34-1 ἀδελφὸν … ἁλώσομαι 108 ἀδελφόν 109 οὐ γὰρ δή 110
mvp-comment-35-1 ὦ σχετλία 111
mvp-comment-35-2
σχετλία τόλμης. (
b) ‘Suffering,’=
τλήμων, as
Aesch.
PV 644
(of Io),
Eur.
Hec. 783
. Neither Homer nor Soph. has this use. (2) Of
things, ‘cruel,’ ‘wretched,’—a use common to all the poets: so
Ai. 887
σχέτλια γάρ (‘'tis cruel’),
Tr. 879
.
mvp-comment-36-1 οὐδέν 112 μέτα 113 τῶν ἐμῶν 114 εἴργειν 115
mvp-comment-37-1 νῷν 116 ἀπώλετο 117 ἀπεχθής 118 ἀπώλετο 119 ἔπειτα 120
mvp-comment-38-1 πρὸς … ἀμπλακημάτων … ἀράξας 121
mvp-comment-38-2 αὐτοφώρων 122
mvp-comment-38-3 ἀράξας 123
mvp-comment-38-4 αὐτὸς αὐτουργῷ χερί 124 αὐτός 125 αὐτ. χερί 126
mvp-comment-39-1 διπλοῦν ἔπος 127 πάθος 128
mvp-comment-39-2 ἀρτάναισι 129
mvp-comment-40-1 δύο … μίαν 130
mvp-comment-40-2 αὐτοκτονοῦντε 131
mvp-comment-41-1 κατειργάσαντ’ 132
mvp-comment-41-2 ἐπαλλήλοιν χεροῖν 133 ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοιν 134 χεροῖν 135 οιν 136 ἐπαλλήλοιν 137 χεροῖν 138
mvp-comment-42-1 νῦν δ’ αὖ 139 δ’ 140 νῦν αὖ 141 αὖ 142
mvp-comment-42-2 μόνα δή 143
mvp-comment-43-1 ψῆφον 144
mvp-comment-43-2 τυράννων 145
mvp-comment-43-3 κράτη 146 ἢ 147 καὶ 148
mvp-comment-44-1 τοῦτο μὲν 149 ἐννοεῖν 150 ἔπειτα δ’ 151
mvp-comment-44-2 ὡς 152 οὐ μαχουμένα 153
mvp-comment-45-1 οὕνεκ’ 154
mvp-comment-45-2 ἐκ 155
mvp-comment-45-3 ἀκούειν 156 ταῦτα 157 ἀλγίονα 158
mvp-comment-46-1 ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν 159
mvp-comment-46-2 τοὺς ὑπὸ χθονός 160
mvp-comment-46-3 βιάζομαι τάδε 161
mvp-comment-47-1 τοῖς ἐν τέλει βεβῶσι 162 βεβῶσι 163
mvp-comment-47-2 τὸ γὰρ | ...πράσσειν 164
mvp-comment-47-3 περισσὰ πρ 165
mvp-comment-47-4 οὐκ ἔχει νοῦν οὐδ. 166
mvp-comment-48-1 ἔτι 167
mvp-comment-48-2 πράσσειν … δρῴης 168 δρῴης 169 ἄν 170 ἡδέως 171 γε 172 ἡδέως γε ἂν ἐμοῦ 173 <)μοῦ 174 γε 175 ἐμοί γ’ 176 μέτα 177 ἀσμένης 178 ἡδέως 179 ἐμοῦ γε 180
mvp-comment-49-1 ἴσθ’ 181
mvp-comment-49-2 όποία σοι δοκεῖ 182 ἴσθ’ 183 ὁποῖά σοι δοκεῖ 184
mvp-comment-50-1 θάψω 185
mvp-comment-50-2 φίλη … φίλου 186
mvp-comment-50-3 μετ’ αὐτοῦ κείσομαι 187 μετά 188
mvp-comment-51-1 ὅσια πανουργήσασ’ 189 ὅσια 190
mvp-comment-51-2 ἐπεὶ κ.τ.λ. 191
mvp-comment-51-3 τῶν ἐνθάδε 192
mvp-comment-52-1 κείσομαι 193
mvp-comment-52-2 σοὶ δ’ 194 σὺ δ’ 195 εἰ δοκεῖ 196
mvp-comment-52-3 τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἔντιμα 197
mvp-comment-52-4 ἀτιμάσασ’ ἔχε 198
mvp-comment-53-1 ἐγὼ 199 μέν 200 δέ 201
mvp-comment-53-2 ἄτιμα ποιοῦμαι 202
mvp-comment-53-3 τὸ δὲ | ...δρᾶν 203
mvp-comment-54-1 τάδ’ ἂν προὔχοιο 204
mvp-comment-54-2 δὴ 205
mvp-comment-54-3 τάφον χώσουσ’ 206
mvp-comment-55-1 Join οἴμοι ταλαίνης 207
mvp-comment-55-2 μὴ ’μοῦ προτάρβει 208 τὸν σόν 209 μὴ ’μοῦ 210 προτάρβει 211
mvp-comment-55-3 ἐξόρθου 212
mvp-comment-56-1 ἀλλ’ οὖν … γε 213 ἀλλά 214 οὖν 215
mvp-comment-56-2 κρυφῆ δέ 216
mvp-comment-56-3 σὺν δ’ 217
mvp-comment-56-4 αὔτως 218
mvp-comment-57-1 καταύδα 219
mvp-comment-57-2 πολλόν 220 πολλὸν 221
mvp-comment-57-3 σιγῶσ’ 222 ἐὰν … τάδε 223 πᾶσι 224
mvp-comment-58-1 θερμὴν ἐπὶ ψυχροῖσι 225 ἐπί 226 θερμήν 227
mvp-comment-59-1 ἁδεῖν 228
mvp-comment-60-1 εἰ καὶ δυνήσει γ’ 229 καὶ 230 δυνήσει 231 εἰ καί 232
mvp-comment-61-1 Since οὐκοῦν 233 δὴ 234 ὅταν 235
mvp-comment-61-2 πεπαύσομαι 236
mvp-comment-62-1 ἀρχήν 237
mvp-comment-63-1 ἐχθαρεῖ 238
mvp-comment-63-2 ἐξ ἐμοῦ 239
mvp-comment-64-1 ἐχθρὰ...τῷ θανόντι προσκείσει δίκῃ 240 προσκείσει 241 ἐχθρά 242
mvp-comment-64-2
Lehrs proposed
Δίκῃ, i.e. ‘you will fall under the chastisement of justice.’ Donaldson, following Emper, reads
ἐχθρᾷ... δίκῃ, as
iure inimicorum apud mortuum eris: i.e. on the part of the dead you will be deemed to have only the rights of a foe. This is impossible. The ordinary reading is sound.
mvp-comment-65-1 ἔα 243
mvp-comment-65-2 τὴν ἐξ ἐμοῦ δυσββουλίαν 244
mvp-comment-65-3 τὸ δεινὸν τοῦτο 245
mvp-comment-65-4 πείσομαι γὰρ οὐ 247
mvp-comment-65-5 μὴ οὐ 248
mvp-comment-66-1 τοῖς φίλοις δ’ ὀρθῶς φίλη 249 ἴσθι 250
mvp-comment-68-1 ἀελίου 251
mvp-comment-68-2 τὸ κάλλιστον ...φάος 252
mvp-comment-68-3 ἑπταπύλῳ 253
mvp-comment-68-4 τῶν προτέρων 254
mvp-comment-69-1 ἐφάνθης 255
mvp-comment-69-2 χρυσέας 256
mvp-comment-69-3 βλέφαρον 257
mvp-comment-69-4 Διρκαίων 258
mvp-comment-70-1 τὸν λεύκασπιν...φῶτα 259
mvp-comment-70-2
The words
τὸν λεύκασπιν Ἀργόθεν answer metrically to 123
πευκάενθ’ Ἥφαιστον ἑλεῖν. Instead of
Ἀργόθεν (¯˘¯) we therefore require ¯˘˘¯. The short final of
λεύκασπιν is legitimate, the metre being Glyconic (see Analysis Metr.). In the antistrophic verse, the H of
Ἥφαιστον is ‘irrational,’ i.e. is a long syllable doing duty for a short: and Nauck is incorrect in saying that the metre ‘requires’ (though it admits) a choriambus beginning with a
consonant. The simplest remedy is to read
Ἀργόθεν ἐκ | βάντα φῶτα
260
Ἰναχόθεν
261
mvp-comment-71-1 πανσαγίᾳ 262
mvp-comment-71-2 φυγάδα πρ. 263 κινήσασα 264
mvp-comment-71-3 πρόδρομον 265
mvp-comment-71-4 ὀξυτέρῳ...χαλινῷ 266
mvp-comment-71-5 ὀξυτέρῳ 267
mvp-comment-72-1 The MSS. have ὃν...Πολυνείκης 268 ὃς ...Πολυνείκους 269
mvp-comment-72-2 Πολυνείκους … νεικέων 270
mvp-comment-72-3 ἀρθείς 271
mvp-comment-72-4 νεικ. ἐξ ἀμφιλόγων 272
mvp-comment-73-1 ὀξέα κλάζων 273
mvp-comment-73-2 αἰετὸς εἰς γᾶν ὣς ὑπερέπτα 274 ὥς 275
mvp-comment-73-3 ὑπερέπτα 276
mvp-comment-74-1 λευκῆς χιόνος πτ. 277
mvp-comment-74-2 στεγανός 278
mvp-comment-74-3 ὅπλων … κορύθεσσι 279 ξύν 280 μετά 281 ξύν 282
mvp-comment-75-1 In στὰς δ’ ὑπὲρ μελάθρων 283 πτάς 284
mvp-comment-75-2 The words φονώσαισιν ἀμφιχανὼν... λόγχαις 285
mvp-comment-75-3 φονώσαισιν 286
mvp-comment-75-4 ἑπτάπυλον στόμα 287
mvp-comment-76-1 ἔβα 288
mvp-comment-76-2 πρίν ποθ’ 289 αἱμάτων 290
mvp-comment-76-3 γἑνυσιν 291 πλησθῆναι 292 τε 293 τε 294
mvp-comment-76-4 στεφάνωμα 295
mvp-comment-76-5 πευκάενθ’ Ἥφαιστον 296
mvp-comment-77-1 τοῖος 297
mvp-comment-77-2 ἐτάθη 298
mvp-comment-77-3 πάταγος 299
mvp-comment-77-4 ἀντιπάλῳ δυσχείρωμα δράκοντος 300 ἀντιπάλῳ ... δράκοντι 301 ἀντιπάλου … δράκοντος 302 ἀντιπάλῳ … δράκοντος 303
mvp-comment-77-5 The interpretation of the passage turns primarily on two points.
mvp-comment-77-6 (1) The δράκων 304
mvp-comment-77-7 (2) The δυς 305 δυσχείρωμα 306
mvp-comment-77-8 Those who read ἀντιπάλῳ … δράκοντι 307 ὲτάθη 308
mvp-comment-77-9 Those who read ἀντιπάλου … δράκοντος 309
mvp-comment-78-1 μεγάλης 310
mvp-comment-78-2 ῥεύματι 311 ῥεύματι πολλῷ 312
mvp-comment-79-1 χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπεροπλίαις 313
mvp-comment-79-2
μέγας. In post-Homeric poetry
ὑπέροπλος is a freq. epith. of overweening strength (
ἠνορέη, βίη, ἥβη, etc.).—Other readings are:—(1)
χρυσοῦ καναχῇ θ’ ὑπερόπτας, ‘and haughty in the clang of gold.’ This involves an improbable change; the subst.
ὑπερόπτης, too, is unsuitable here, and cannot be defended by
Theocr. 22. 58
πρὸς πάντα παλίγκοτος ἠδ’ ὑπερόπτης. Wecklein, reading
ὑπερόπτας, keeps
καναχῆς in the sense,
hoffärtig
auf: but a genit. after
ὑπερόπτης could not denote that
in which one takes pride. (2)
χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπερόπτης, or
‐όπτα, i.e., ‘Zeus, a despiser of the clang of gold.’ (3)
χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπέροπτα, adv. neut. plur. (as
O. T. 883
), ‘advancing haughtily in a great stream of clanging gold.’ But the adv. comes weakly at the end, and
χρυσοῦ κ. is harshly joined with
π. ῥεύματι.—Aesch. , too, gives prominence to
gold in picturing the Argive chiefs: Capaneus has golden letters on his shield (
Aesch.
Th. 434
), Polyneices has the image of a warrior in golden armour, with a golden legend (644,
Aesch. Th. 660
).
mvp-comment-79-3 καναχῆς 314
mvp-comment-80-1 παλτῷ πυρί 315
mvp-comment-80-2 βαλβίδων ἐπ’ ἄκρων 316
mvp-comment-80-3 ὁρμῶντα 317
mvp-comment-80-4 νίκην 318 ἀλαλάξαι 319
mvp-comment-81-1 ἀντιτύπᾳ 320
mvp-comment-81-2
As regards the sense,
ἀντίτυπος was regularly used of hard surfaces, which, as it were,
repel that which strikes them (for the accent
ἀντίτυπος, not
ἀντιτύπος, though the sense is act., see on
O. T. 460
).
Probl. 5. 40
οἱ...ἐν ἀντιτύποις περίπατοι. Lucian
Amor. 13
τὴν ἀντίτυπον οὕτω καὶ καρτερὰν τοῦ λίθου φύσιν. So, fig.,
Plat.
Crat. 420D
τὸ...ἀναγκαῖον καὶ ἀντίτυπον, what is necessary, and what
resists us.
mvp-comment-81-3 τανταλωθείς 321
mvp-comment-82-1 πυρφόρος 322
mvp-comment-82-2 βακχεύων 323
mvp-comment-82-3 ῥιπαῖς...ἀνέμων 324
mvp-comment-83-1 εἶχε δ’ ἄλλᾳ τὰ μέν 325 εἶχε δ’ ἄλλαι τὰ μὲν ἄλλαι τὰ δ’ ἐπ’ ἄλλοις 326 τὰ μέν 327 ἄλλα δέ 328 τὰ μέν 329 ἄλλᾳ 330
mvp-comment-83-2 ἐπενώμα 331 στυφελίζων 332
mvp-comment-83-3 δεξιόσειρος 333
mvp-comment-83-4 The old v.l. δεξιόχειρος 334
mvp-comment-84-1 ἑπτὰ λοχαγοί 335
mvp-comment-84-2 ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους 336
mvp-comment-84-3 Ζηνὶ τροπαίῳ 337
mvp-comment-84-4 πάγχαλκα τέλη 338
mvp-comment-84-5
It was the ordinary practice to set up a
τρόπαιον (old
αττ.τροπαῖον) after a victory, on the spot where it had been won, or, in the case of a sea-fight, on the nearest land (
Thuc. 2.92
). Such a trophy ordinarily consisted of shields, helmets, and weapons, conspicuously displayed on wooden supports, and dedicated, with an inscription, to a deity. Cp.
Eur.
Phoen. 1473
(of the Thebans after the victory)
οἱ μὲν Διὸς τροπαῖον ἵστασαν βρέτας (i.e. a wooden image of
Ζεὺς Τροπαῖος), |
οἱ δ’ ἀσπίδας συλῶντες Ἀργείων νεκρῶν | σκυλεύματ’ εἴσω τειχέων ἐπέμπομεν. Part of the armour would be affixed to the walls of Theban temples (cp.
Aesch.
Ag. 577
,
Th. 276
).
mvp-comment-85-1 πλὴν τ. στυγεροῖν 339 πατρός 340
mvp-comment-85-2 καθ’ αὑτοῖν 341
mvp-comment-85-3 δικρατεῖς λόγχας 342
mvp-comment-85-4 στήσαντε 343
mvp-comment-86-1 ἀλλὰ γάρ 344 γάρ 345 γάρ 346
mvp-comment-86-2 μεγαλώνυμος 347
mvp-comment-86-3 πολυαρμάτῳ 348
mvp-comment-86-4 ἀντιχαρεῖσα 349
mvp-comment-87-1 ἐκ...πολέμων τῶν νῦν 350 ἐκ 351 νῦν 352
mvp-comment-87-2 θέσθαι 353 θέσθε 354 παννυχίοις 355
mvp-comment-87-3 ὁ Θήβας 356 ἐλελίχθων 357
mvp-comment-87-4 Βάκχιος 358
mvp-comment-87-5 ἄρχοι 359
mvp-comment-88-1 ἀλλὰ … γάρ 360 Κρέων 361
mvp-comment-88-2 Μενοικέως 362
mvp-comment-88-3 νεοχμὸς νεαραῖσι 363
mvp-comment-88-4 their equivalents. See Appendix I prefer the first of these views. An anapaest or spondee, meaning ‘ruler,’ has probably dropped out before νεοχμός 364 κρείων 365 ἄρχων 366 ταγός 367
mvp-comment-88-5 θεῶν … συντυχίαις 368 ἐπί 369
mvp-comment-89-1 μῆτιν ἐρέσσων 370
mvp-comment-89-2 σύγκλητον 371
mvp-comment-89-3 προὔθετο 372 λέσχην 373
mvp-comment-89-4
not the meeting, but the discussion which is to take place there: thus the poet's phrase, true to Attic usage, corresponds with
γνώμας προθεῖναι rather than with
ἐκκλησίαν προθεῖναι. Herod. uses
λέσχη of a public discussion (9. 71): cp.
O. C. 167
. The midd.
προὔθετο
374
mvp-comment-89-5 κοινῷ κ. πέμψας 375
mvp-comment-91-1 There is a general dramatic analogy between this speech and that of Oedipus in O. T. 216 —275. In each case a Theban king addresses Theban elders, announcing a stern decree, adopted in reliance on his own wisdom, and promulgated with haughty consciousness of power; the elders receive the decree with a submissive deference under which we can perceive traces of misgiving; and as the drama proceeds, the elders become spectators of calamities occasioned by the decree, while its author turns to them for comfort.
mvp-comment-91-2 τὰ μὲν δὴ πόλεος . . ὑμᾶς δ’ 376
mvp-comment-91-3 πόλεος 377 πολλῷ σάλῳ σείσαντες 378
mvp-comment-91-4
The image of the State as a ship dates in Greek literature from Alcaeus (whom Horace copied,
Carm. 1. 14
), fr. 18. The ship of Alcaeus is labouring in the trough of a wild sea,—water is coming in,—the sail is torn,—the anchor will not hold:
νᾶϊ φορήμεθα σὺν μελαίνᾳ | χείμωνι μοχθεῦντες μεγάλῳ μάλα, κ.τ.λ. It is only through Heracleides
Alleg. Homer. 5 that we know the meaning of Alcaeus to have been figurative and political. Aesch. often uses the image (
Aesch.
Th. 2
,
Aesch. Th. 62
,
Aesch. Th. 208
etc.). Creon returns to it at 189. It is peculiarly well suited to his point,—the unity of the public interest.
mvp-comment-91-5 ὤρθωσαν 379
mvp-comment-92-1 ἐκ πάντων 380 δίχα 381
mvp-comment-92-2 ἔστειλ’ ἱκέσθαι 382 τοῦτο μέν 383
mvp-comment-92-3 σέβοντας 384
mvp-comment-92-4 θρόνων . . κράτη 385
mvp-comment-93-1 ἡνίκ’ Οἰδίπους 386 κείνων 387 κείνων παῖδας 388 ἡνίκ’ . . ὤρθου πόλιν 389 ἐπεὶ διώλετο 390 τοῦτο μέν . . τοῦτ’ αὖθις 391
mvp-comment-93-2 καί 392 καί 393
mvp-comment-93-3 ἐμπέδοις φρονήμασιν 394 ἐμπέδους 395 ἐμπέδοις 396
mvp-comment-94-1 ὅτε 397
mvp-comment-94-2 πρὸς διπλῆς μ. 398 διπλῆς . . μίαν 399
mvp-comment-94-3 παίσαντες . . πληγέντες 400
mvp-comment-94-4 αὐτόχειρι … μιάσματι 401
mvp-comment-95-1 ἐγὼ . . δή 402
mvp-comment-95-2 κράτη 403
mvp-comment-95-3 γένους κατ’ ἀγχιστεῖα τῶν ὀλ. 404
mvp-comment-96-1 ἀμήχανον δέ 405 δέ 406 δέ 407
mvp-comment-96-2 Demosthenes, in his speech on the Embassy (343 B.C.), quotes this passage (vv. 175—190) as illustrating maxims
mvp-comment-96-3 which Aeschines had violated, though, accustomed as he had been to play tritagonists' parts, he ought to have known them by heart (or. 19 § 247).
mvp-comment-97-1 ψυχήν 408 φρόνημα 409 γνώμην 410
mvp-comment-98-1 ἀρχαῖς 411 νόμοισιν 412
mvp-comment-98-2 ἐντριβής 413
mvp-comment-98-3 φανῇ 414
mvp-comment-99-1 ἐμοὶ γάρ 415 γάρ 416 πᾶσαν … πόλιν 417
mvp-comment-99-2 μὴ … ἅπτεται 418 ὅστις μὴ ἅπτεται 419
mvp-comment-99-3 ἐκ φ. του 420
mvp-comment-99-4 ἐγκλῄσας ἔχει 421
mvp-comment-99-5 νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι 422
mvp-comment-100-1 μείζον’ 423 ἀντὶ τῆς...πάτρας 424 ἤ 425 μεῖζον 426
mvp-comment-100-2 οὐδαμοῦ λέγω 427
mvp-comment-101-1 ἐγὼ γάρ 428 γάρ 429 τοῦτο γιγνώσκων 430 ἴστω 431
mvp-comment-102-1 οὔτ’ ἂν σιωπήσαιμι 432
mvp-comment-103-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς 433 ὁμοῦ 434
mvp-comment-103-2 ἀντὶ τῆς σωτηρίας 435 τῆς 436
mvp-comment-104-1 ἄνδρα δυσμενῆ χθονός 437
mvp-comment-104-2 ἐμαυτῷ 438 φίλον 439 θείμην 440
mvp-comment-105-1 ἡ σῴζουσα 441
mvp-comment-105-2 ταύτης 442 ὀρθῆς 443
mvp-comment-105-3 τοὺς φίλους ποιούμεθα 444
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 445
mvp-comment-106-2 αὔξω 446
mvp-comment-107-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε 447
mvp-comment-107-2 τῶν ἀπ’ Οἰδίπου 448
mvp-comment-108-1 δορί 449 δόρει 450
mvp-comment-109-1 τὰ πάντ’ ἐφαγνίσαι 451 ἐπί 452 ἐφαγνίσαι 453 ἀφαγνίσαι 454 ἀπό 455
mvp-comment-110-1 τοῖς ἀρίστοις 456
mvp-comment-110-2 ἔρχεται κάτω 457
mvp-comment-111-1 L has Πολυνείκην 458
mvp-comment-111-2 λέγω 459
mvp-comment-112-1 γτ=ν πατρῴαν . . καὶ θεοὺς . . πρῆσαι 460
mvp-comment-112-2 θ. τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς 461
mvp-comment-112-3 κατελθών 462
mvp-comment-112-4 γ)θέλησε μέν … ἠθέλ. δέ 463 ἠθέλησε μὲν 464
mvp-comment-112-5 πρῆσαι 465
mvp-comment-112-6 κατ’ ἄκρας 466
mvp-comment-112-7 αἵματος κ. πάσασθαι 467
mvp-comment-112-8 τοὺς δὲ … ἄγειν 468
mvp-comment-113-1 The traditional ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι τάφῳ 469 ἐκκεκήρυκται τάφῳ 470 ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι λέγω 471 τάφῳ 472 κτερίζειν 473 τάφῳ 474 κτερίζειν 475 μήτε 476 κωκῦσαι 477 τάφῳ 478 λέγω 479 τάφῳ 480 ἐκκεκ 481
mvp-comment-114-1 ἐᾶν δ 482 ἄθαπτον, αἰκισθέντ’ ἰδεῖν 483 δέμας καὶ πρὸς οἰωνῶν καὶ πρὸς κυνῶν ἐδεστόν 484 αἰκισθέντ 485 αἰκισθέντ 486 ἐδεστόν 487 αἰκισθέν τ’, δέμας 488
mvp-comment-114-2 δέμας 489
mvp-comment-114-3 ἰδεῖν 490
mvp-comment-115-1 φρόνημα 491
mvp-comment-115-2 ἔκ γ’ ἐμοῦ 492
mvp-comment-116-1 The MSS. have τιμὴν προέξουσ’ ..τῶν ἐνδ. 493 τιμήν 494 τιμῆ 495 προσέξους 496
mvp-comment-117-1 τιμήσεται 497
mvp-comment-118-1 I print Dindorf's κἀς 498 καὶ 499 σοὶ ταῦτ’ ἀρέσκει 500 Κρέον 501 ταὔτ 502 ταῦτ’ 503
mvp-comment-119-1 In παντί πού γ’ 504 σοί γ’ … που 505 ἔνεστι 506 χὡπόσοι ζῶμεν 507 πέρι 508
mvp-comment-120-1 ὡς ἂν … ἦτε 509 πῶς ἂν … εἶτε 510
mvp-comment-120-2 σκοποί 511
mvp-comment-120-3 νυν 512 νῦν 513
mvp-comment-120-4 τῶν εἰρ 514
mvp-comment-121-1 πρόθες τοῦτο 515 βαστάζειν 516
mvp-comment-121-2 τοῦ νεκροῦ γ’ 517
mvp-comment-122-1 τί δῆτ’ ἂν … ἐπεντέλλοις 518
mvp-comment-122-2 The reading ἄλλῳ 519 τοῦτο 520
mvp-comment-122-3 ἐπιχωρεῖν 521
mvp-comment-122-4 ἀπιστοῦσιν 522
mvp-comment-122-5 τάδε, 523
mvp-comment-123-1 ὃς 524 ἐρᾷ 525
mvp-comment-123-2 καὶ μὴν 526 γε 527 μισθός 528
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 529
mvp-comment-123-5 διώλεσεν 530
mvp-comment-124-1 ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ 531
mvp-comment-124-2 ὅπως 532
mvp-comment-124-3 τάχους ὕπο 533 τάχους 534
mvp-comment-125-1 ἐξάρας 535
mvp-comment-125-2 φροντίδων 536 ἐπιστάσεις 537
mvp-comment-125-3 ὁδοῖς 538
mvp-comment-125-4 κυκλῶν 539
mvp-comment-126-1 ψυχὴ γὰρ ηὔδα 540 πολλὰ 541 μυθουμένη 542
mvp-comment-127-1 τάλας … τλήμων 543
mvp-comment-127-2 μένεις 544 μενεῖς 545 αὖ 546
mvp-comment-127-3 πῶς … οὐκ 547
mvp-comment-127-4 ἀλγυνεῖ 548
mvp-comment-128-1 ἑλίσσων 549
mvp-comment-128-2 ἤνυτον 550
mvp-comment-128-3 σχολῇ βραδύς 551
mvp-comment-129-1 τέλος γε μέντοι 552
mvp-comment-129-2 ἐνίκησεν 553
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 554 μολεῖν 555 σοί 556 φράσων 557 φράσω δ 558 κεἰ 559 κεἴ σοι 560 σοί. 561
mvp-comment-130-2 τὸ μηδέν 562
mvp-comment-131-1 τῆς ἐλπίδος 563
mvp-comment-131-2 δεδραγμένος 564 πεφραγμένος 565 πεπραγμένος 566
mvp-comment-131-3 τὸ μὴ παθεῖν ἄν 567
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 568
mvp-comment-132-1 ἀνθ’ οὗ 569
mvp-comment-132-2 τὸ γὰρ | πρᾶγμ’ 570 γάρ 571
mvp-comment-133-1 εὖ γε στοχάζει 572 στοχάζει 573 ἀποφράγνυσαι 574 στοχάζομαι 575
mvp-comment-133-2 κἀποφράγνυσαι 576
mvp-comment-133-3 τὸ πρᾶγμα 577
mvp-comment-134-1 δηλοῖς δ’ ὥς τι ς. 578
mvp-comment-135-1 τὰ δεινά 579 γάρ 580
mvp-comment-135-2 ποτ 581
mvp-comment-135-3 ἀπαλλαχθείς 582
mvp-comment-136-1 καὶ δή 583
mvp-comment-136-2 θάψας 584 κἀπί 585
mvp-comment-136-3 διψίαν 586
mvp-comment-136-4 κἀφαγιστεύσας 587 ἃ χρή 588
mvp-comment-137-1 ἀνδρῶν 589
mvp-comment-137-2 οὔτε του γενῇδος … οὐ δικέλλης 590 οὔτε … οὐ 591 γενῄς 592 γενῄς 593 δίκελλα 594
mvp-comment-137-3 δικ. ἐκβολή 595 ἐκβ. 596 στύφλος 597 χέρσος 598 ἀρρώξ 599
mvp-comment-137-4 ἐπημαξευμένη 600 ἐπ‐ 601 ἐφ‐ 602
mvp-comment-137-5 ἀλλ’ ὁ ἐργάτης ἄσημός τις ἦν 603
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 604 ἡμεροσκ. 605
mvp-comment-138-2 δείκνυσι … παρῆν 606
mvp-comment-138-3 δυσχερές 607
mvp-comment-139-1 ὁ μὲν 608
mvp-comment-139-2 τυμβήρης μὲν οὔ 609 τυμβ. 610 λεπτὴ δ’ … ἐπῆν 611
mvp-comment-139-3 ἄγος φεύγοντος ὥς 612 ἄγος 613
mvp-comment-140-1 θηρός 614
mvp-comment-140-2 του 615 θηρός 616
mvp-comment-140-3 οὐ σπάσαντος 617 οὐ 618 σπάσαντος 619 σπάσαντος οὐδ’ ἐλθόντος 620
mvp-comment-141-1 λόγοι δ’ … φύλακα 621 λόγοι κακοὶ ἐρρόθουν 622 ἐρρόθουν 623
mvp-comment-141-2
γλώσσης ῥόθος, of an unintelligible jargon.
mvp-comment-141-3 ἐλέγχων 624
mvp-comment-141-4 κἂν ἐγίγνετο 625
mvp-comment-141-5 τελευτῶς 626
mvp-comment-141-6 ὁ κωλύσων 627
mvp-comment-142-1 ἦν … οὑξειργ. 628
mvp-comment-142-2 ἐναργής 629
mvp-comment-142-3 ἀλλ’ 630
mvp-comment-142-4 ἕφευγε μὴ εἰδέναι 631
mvp-comment-142-5 μὴ 632 εἰδέναι 633
mvp-comment-143-1 μύδρους 634
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 635
mvp-comment-144-2 θεοὺς ὁρκ. 637
mvp-comment-144-3 τὸ μήτε δρ 638
mvp-comment-144-4 μήτ’ είργασμένῳ 639 μηδ 640
mvp-comment-145-1 πλέον 641
mvp-comment-145-2 λέγει 642
mvp-comment-145-3 τις εἷς 643
mvp-comment-146-1 προὔτρεψεν 644
mvp-comment-146-2 οὐ γὰρ εἴχομεν 645
mvp-comment-146-3 As ἀντιφωνεῖν 646 δρῶντες 647 ὅπως δρῶντες 648 εἴχομεν 649
mvp-comment-147-1 σοί 650
mvp-comment-147-2 ταῦτ’ ἐνίκα 651
mvp-comment-147-3 πάλος 652 καθαιρεῖ 653
mvp-comment-147-4 τἀγαθόν 654 —ἄκων οὐχ ἑκοῦσιν 655
mvp-comment-148-1 ἐμοί 656 βουλεύει 657 μή 658
mvp-comment-148-2 τι 659
mvp-comment-148-3 θεήλατον, 660
mvp-comment-148-4 ἡ ξύννοια 661
mvp-comment-148-5 πάλαι 662
mvp-comment-149-1 πρὶν ὀργῆς καί με μεστῶσαι 663 καί 664 πρίν 665 μεστῶσαι 666 καί 667 με 668
mvp-comment-149-2 κἀμέ 669
mvp-comment-149-3 μεστῶσαι 670
mvp-comment-150-1 πότερον 671 ἔκρυπτον 672
mvp-comment-150-2 ἀμφικίονας ναούς 673
mvp-comment-150-3 κἀναθήματα 674
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 675 πυρώσων 676
mvp-comment-150-6 νόμους διασκεδῶν 677
mvp-comment-150-7 διασκεδῶν 678
mvp-comment-151-1 τοὺς κακοὺς τιμῶντας … θεούς; 679
mvp-comment-152-1 ταῦτα 680 μόλις φέροντες 681 καὶ πάλαι 682
mvp-comment-152-2 πόλεως ἄνδρες 683
mvp-comment-152-3 ἐρρόθουν 684
mvp-comment-152-4 ἐμοί 685
mvp-comment-152-5 κάρα σείοντες 686
mvp-comment-152-6 ὑπὸ ζυγῷ 687
mvp-comment-152-7 λόφον 688
mvp-comment-152-8 δικαίως 689
mvp-comment-152-9
equal poise’ (
New Crat. 371).—
ὡς = ὥστε (
O. T. 84
):
στέργειν
690
mvp-comment-153-1 τῶνδε 691 ἐκ 692
mvp-comment-153-2 τούτους, 693
mvp-comment-153-3 εἰργάσθαι 694 ἐξεπίσταμαι 695 παρηγμένους 696
mvp-comment-154-1 νόμισμ’ 697
mvp-comment-154-2 ἔβλαστε 698
mvp-comment-154-3 πορθεῖ 699
mvp-comment-154-4 τόδ’ 700 ἄνδρας 701
mvp-comment-155-1 τόδ’ ἐκδ. καὶ παραλλάσσει 702 ἵστασθαι 703 καὶ παραλλάσσει 704
mvp-comment-155-2 ἵστασθαι πρός τι 705
mvp-comment-156-1 πανουργίας … ἔχειν 706
mvp-comment-156-2 εἰδέναι 707 παντὸς ἔργου δυσσέβ. 708 παντὸς ἔργ 709 πανουργίας 710
mvp-comment-157-1 ἤνυσαν 711
mvp-comment-157-2 χρόνῳ ποτέ 712 δοῦναι δίκην 713
mvp-comment-157-3 ἐξέπραξαν ὡς 714
mvp-comment-158-1 Ζεύς 715
mvp-comment-158-2 ὅρκιος 716
mvp-comment-158-3 τὸν αὐτόχειρα 717 τάφου = ταφῆς 718
mvp-comment-159-1 μοῦνος 719 πρὶν ἂν . . δηλώσητε 720 κρεμαστοί 721 ζῶντες κρεμαστοί 722
mvp-comment-159-2 δηλώσηθ’ 723
mvp-comment-159-3 ὕβριν 724
mvp-comment-160-1 ἵν’ … ἁρπάζητε 725
mvp-comment-160-2 τὸ κέρδος 726 ἔνθεν οἰστέον 727
mvp-comment-160-3 μάθηθ’ 728
mvp-comment-160-4 ἐξ ἅπαντος 729 τὸ κερδαίνειν 730
mvp-comment-160-5
πιεῖν. In
O. C. 807
ἑξ ἅπαντος εὖ λέγει =speaks well on any theme (starting from anything).
mvp-comment-161-1 τι 731
mvp-comment-161-2 δέ 732 δώσεις 733
mvp-comment-161-3 οὕτως 734
mvp-comment-161-4 ἴω 735
mvp-comment-161-5 καὶ νῦν ὡς 736 ἀνιαρῶς 737 ι— 738
mvp-comment-162-1 ἐν 739 ὠσίν 740
mvp-comment-162-2 ἐπί 741
mvp-comment-163-1 τί δὲ 742 τί δαὶ 743
mvp-comment-163-2 ῥυθμίζεις 744 ὅπου 745 ὅπου 746
mvp-comment-164-1 τὰς φρένας...τὰ δ’ ὦτ’ 747 σε 748
mvp-comment-164-2 οἴμ’ ὡς 749
mvp-comment-164-3 λάλημα 750 ἄλημα 751 ἄλημα 752
mvp-comment-164-4 δῆλον, 753
mvp-comment-165-1
‘At any rate (
οὖν—babbler or not) I certainly have not done this deed.’
εἰμί
754
οὔκουν … γε
755
mvp-comment-166-1 ‘Yes, (you have done it,) and that, too, at the cost of betraying,’ etc. The particle γε 756 καὶ ταῦτα 757 προδούς 758
mvp-comment-167-1 ἦ δεινόν 759 καὶ 760 γε 761
mvp-comment-168-1 κόμψευε . . τὴν δόξαν 762
mvp-comment-168-2 τὴν δόξαν 763
mvp-comment-168-3
κληδόν’ (the
κληδών of which you speak), not merely, ‘the word
δόξα.’ If the
v. l.
τὸ δόξαν (see cr. n.) was intended to mean the latter, it should have been
τὸ δόξα.
mvp-comment-168-4 νυν 764 νῦν 765 ταῦτα … τοὺς δρῶντας = τοὺς ταῦτα δρῶντας 766
mvp-comment-169-1 δειλά 767
mvp-comment-169-2 δεινά 768 ν 769
mvp-comment-170-1 ἀλλ’ 770 εὑρεθείη 771 καὶ 772
mvp-comment-171-1 καὶ 773 γάρ 774
mvp-comment-171-2 γνώμης 775
mvp-comment-173-1 πολλὰ … κοὐδέν 776
mvp-comment-173-2 καί 777
mvp-comment-173-3 τὰ δεινά 778
mvp-comment-174-1 τοῦτο 779 πέραν 780 πέρα 781
mvp-comment-175-1 χειμερίῳ νότῳ 782
mvp-comment-176-1 περιβρ … ὑπ’ οἴδμασιν 783
mvp-comment-177-1 ὑπερτάταν 784
mvp-comment-178-1 ἀκαμάταν 785
mvp-comment-178-2 ἀποτρύεται 786
mvp-comment-179-1 ἰλλομένων ἀρότρων, 787 ἀρότων 788
mvp-comment-179-2 ἔτος εἰς ἔτος 789 εἰς 790
mvp-comment-180-1 ἱππείῳ γένει 791
mvp-comment-180-2 πολεύων 792 τοῦτο 793
mvp-comment-181-1
Man's conquests over the animal world are here taken in two groups. First, those of which the primary aim is to kill or to capture. Here the means is netting (
ἀμφιβαλὼν σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις), in its threefold sporting use, as applied to fowling (
ὀρνίθων), hunting (
θηρῶν), and fishing (
πόντου φύσιν). Secondly, those conquests which aim at reducing wild animals to man's service. These are effected by
μηχαναί (349),— arts of taming and training. And their result is aptly expressed by the word
mvp-comment-181-2
κρατεῖ: here, man is not merely the slayer or captor; he becomes the master of docile toilers. The horse and the bull are types.
mvp-comment-181-3 Thus, in this ode, the scale of achievement ever ascends: man (1) conquers inanimate nature: (2) makes animals his captives: (3) trains them to be his servants: (4) develops his own social and intellectual life.
mvp-comment-181-4 κουφονόων 794
mvp-comment-181-5 ἀμφιβαλὼν 795
mvp-comment-182-1 πόντου … εἰναλίαν φύσιν 796
mvp-comment-183-1 περιφραδής 797
mvp-comment-184-1 μηχαναῖς 798 ἀγραύλου 799 ὀρεσσιβάτα 800
mvp-comment-185-1 λασιαύχενά θ’ 801
mvp-comment-186-1 ὀχμάζεται 802 ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγῶν 803
mvp-comment-186-2
Rhod. 1. 743
κυρίως ἐστὶν ὀχμάσαι τὸ ἵππον ὑπὸ χαλινὸν ἀγαγεῖν ἢ ὑπὸ ζυγόν. The midd. voice does not occur elsewhere; but this cannot be regarded as an objection, when we remember how many rare middle forms occur in the dramatists. Thus
προσορωμένα in
O. C. 244
is a solitary example of that verb in the midd., and if the license could be taken with so common a word, much more might it be allowed with a comparatively rare one. Blaydes writes
ὀχμάζει ὑπ’ ἀμφίλοφον ζυγόν: but the Ms.
ἕξεται indicates that the verb, whatever it was, was of the midd. form.
ὀχμάζεται was published by G. Schöne in 1833, and by Franz in 1846: they appear to have made the conjecture independently. Donaldson (1848) printed
ὁχμάζεται ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγῶν, and seems to ascribe
ζυγῶν to Franz and Schöne; though Franz, at least, proposed
ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγῷ. ζυγῶν has been revived (seemingly without knowledge of a predecessor) by H. Schütz (1886). Sophocles would write
ΑΜΦΙΛΟΦΟΝΖΥΓΟΝ, and thus
ζυγῶν changes no letter. Aesch. used the fut.
ζυγώσω (fr. 110), and Soph. has the verbal
ζυγωτῶν (
El. 702
). To
ἀμφιλόφῳ ζυγῷ it may be objected that, being clear, it was not likely to become -
ον ‐όν: but, when
ἀμφίλοφον had once been written,
ζυγῶν (or
ζυγῷ) would easily become
ζυγόν. As to the schol. on
ἀμφίλοφον,—ἀντὶ τοῦ, περιβαλὼν αὐτῷ ζυγὸν περὶ τὸν λόφον, ὑπάγει,—it cannot fairly be urged for
ζυγῶν (or for any partic.), since it may be merely a paraphrase of
ἀμφίλοφον.—Schütz's
ἐφέζεται
804
mvp-comment-187-1 φθέγμα 805
mvp-comment-187-2
beginnings of speech...Speech is the development, through imitation, of a capacity of man—the capacity of making a noise.’ This is quite compatible with
ἐδιδάξατο.
mvp-comment-187-3 ἀνεμόεν φρόνημα 806
mvp-comment-188-1 ἀστυνόμους ὀργάς 807
mvp-comment-189-1 ἐδιδάξατο 808
mvp-comment-190-1 πάγων 809
mvp-comment-190-2 ἐναίθρεια 810
mvp-comment-190-3 βέλη 812
mvp-comment-191-1 παντοπόρος 813
mvp-comment-191-2
οὐδὲν … τὸ μέλλον = οὐδὲν ὃ μέλλει (
ἔσεσθαι), nothing that is to be (cp. the absolute
τὸ μέλλον, τὰ μέλλοντα). So
Plat.
Lach. 197
A
ἔγωγε ἀνδρεῖα καλῶ οὔτε θηρία οὔτε ἄλλο οὐδὲν τὸ τὰ δεινὰ ὑπὸ ἀγνοίας μὴ φοβούμενον = οὐδὲν ὃ μὴ φοβεῖται. This negative form is as correct as (though actually rarer than) the positive
πᾶν τὸ καλῶς ἔχον (
Plat.
Rep. 381A
) for
πᾶν ὃ καλῶς ἔχει. Donaldson took
τὸ μέλλον adverbially: ‘in regard to the future, he comes to nothing without resources.’
Cp. 728
,
μηδὲν τὸ μὴ δίκαιον, where
μηδέν is subst., not adv.
mvp-comment-192-1 μόνον 814 μόνου 815 φεῦξιν — ἐπάξεται 816
mvp-comment-193-1 ἀμηχάνων 817
mvp-comment-193-2 φυγάς 818
mvp-comment-193-3 ξυμπέφρασται 819
mvp-comment-194-1
The ode closes with a more direct reference to the incident which suggested its theme. The daring ingenuity shown by the unknown breaker of Creon's edict is an instance of the subtlety which leads to ruin. The implied contrast with Creon—
ὑψίπολις by his care for the laws—is effective in view of the destined
περιπέτεια.
mvp-comment-194-2 σοφόν τι … ἔχων 820
mvp-comment-194-3 τὸ μηχανόεν τ 821
mvp-comment-195-1 τοτὲ μὲν … ἄλλοτ’ 822
mvp-comment-195-2 ἐπ’ 823
mvp-comment-196-1 γεραίρων 824
mvp-comment-196-2
5. 67
ἐτίμων τὸν Ἄδρηστον καὶ δὴ πρὸς τὰ πάθεα αὐτοῦ τραγικοῖσι χοροῖσι ἐγέραιρον.
Ar.
Th. 960
γένος Ὀλυμπίων θεῶν | μέλπε καὶ γέραιρε φωνῇ.
mvp-comment-197-1 θεῶν τ’ ἔνορκον δίκαν 825
mvp-comment-198-1 ὑψίπολις 826
mvp-comment-198-2 ἄπολις 827
mvp-comment-198-3 τὸ μὴ καλόν 828 τόλμας χάριν 829
mvp-comment-199-1 παρέστιος 830
mvp-comment-199-2 ἴσον φρονῶν 831
mvp-comment-200-1 ἔρδει 832 ἔρδοι 833
mvp-comment-202-1 The choral ode has closed with an allusion to the unknown man ( ὅς 834 ἀμφινοῶ 835 ἐς 836
mvp-comment-202-2 δαιμόνιον τέρας 837
mvp-comment-203-1 πῶς εἰδὼς 838
mvp-comment-203-2 ἀντιλογήσω 839
mvp-comment-204-1 ὦ δύστηνος 840
mvp-comment-204-2 δ. πατρός 841
mvp-comment-204-3 Οἰδιπόδα— 842
mvp-comment-205-1 τί ποτ’ 843
mvp-comment-205-2 οὐ δή που 844
mvp-comment-205-3 ἀπιστοῦσαν 845
mvp-comment-205-4 ἄγουσι 846
mvp-comment-205-5 colloquialism, it would be nearly as bad as, ‘Have they taken you up?’
mvp-comment-205-6 καὶ 847 ἀπιστοῦσαν 848 καθελόντες 849
mvp-comment-206-1
Second
ἐπεισόδιον. Antigone, brought before Creon, avows and justifies her deed. Creon declares that she shall die. Ismene, when led in (531), associates herself with the act, but is not permitted by her sister to claim any part in it. Creon orders that both sisters shall be kept prisoners.
mvp-comment-206-2 ἐκείνη 850
mvp-comment-206-3 τοὔργον ἡ ’ξειργ 851
mvp-comment-207-1 ἐς δέον 852
mvp-comment-208-1 ξύμμετρος 853
mvp-comment-209-1 ἀπώμοτον 854
mvp-comment-210-1 ψεύδει 855
mvp-comment-210-2 ἡ ’πίνοια 856
mvp-comment-211-1 ἐξηύχουν ἄν 857 σχολῇ ἥξειν ποτὲ δεῦρο 858
mvp-comment-211-2 σχολῇ 859
mvp-comment-212-1 ταῖς σαῖς ἀπειλαῖς 860
mvp-comment-212-2 ἐχειμάσθην 861
mvp-comment-213-1 ἡ...ἐκτὸς 862 ἐκτός 863
mvp-comment-214-1 οὐδὲν ἔοικε μῆκος 864 α+λλῃ ἡδονῇ 865 οὐδέν 866 μῆκος 867 ἔοικε 868
mvp-comment-215-1 δῑ ὅρκων … ἀπώμοτος 869
mvp-comment-216-1 καθῃρέθη 870
mvp-comment-216-2 τάφον κοσμοῦσα 871
mvp-comment-216-3 ἐπάλλετο 872 ἕρμαιον 873
mvp-comment-217-1 κρῖνε 874
mvp-comment-217-2 δίκαιός εἰμι 875
mvp-comment-217-3 ἀπηλλάχθαι 876
mvp-comment-218-1
Observe the order of the words as marking his amazement. For the double interrog. cp.
Il. 21.150
τίς πόθεν ει<*>=ς ἀνδρῶν;
Ph. 243
τίνι | στόλῳ προσέσχες τήνδε γῆν, πόθεν πλέων;
mvp-comment-218-2 πάντ’ ἐπίστασαι 877
mvp-comment-219-1 ἦ καὶ 878
mvp-comment-219-2 ὀρθῶς 879
mvp-comment-219-3 mean to say? (Not, merely, ‘truly,’ i.e. in accordance with the fact: cp. 99 n.)
mvp-comment-220-1 τὸν νεκρόν 880
mvp-comment-221-1 ἆρ’ ἔνδηλα 881
mvp-comment-222-1 ὁρᾶται...ᾑρέθη 882
mvp-comment-222-2 ἐπίληπτος 883
mvp-comment-223-1 ἥκομεν 885
mvp-comment-224-1 τὰ δείν’ ἐκεῖν’ 886
mvp-comment-224-2 τὸν | νέκυν 887
mvp-comment-225-1 καθήμεθ’ 888
mvp-comment-225-2 ἄκρων ἐκ πάγων 889
mvp-comment-225-3
ἐξ Οὐλύμποιο ἀπὸ ῥίου. Here,
ἀπὸ ῥίου goes with
εἰσεῖδε: but
ἐξ Οὐλύμποιο, however much
εἰσεῖδε may have influenced it, at least cannot be disjoined from
στᾶσ’. (2)
Eur.
Phoen. 1009
ἀλλ’ εἶμι καὶ στὰς ἐξ ἐπάλξεων ἄκρων | σφάξας ἐμαυτὸν σηκὸν εἰς μελαμβαθῆ | δράκοντος, ἔνθ’ ὁ μάντις ἐξηγήσατο, | ἐλευθερώσω γαῖαν. It is impossible to sever
στάς from
ἐξ ἐπ., even if we partly explain
ἐξ by
σφάξας. (3)
ib. 1224
Ἐτεοκλέης δ’ ὑπῆρξ’ ἀπ’ ὀρθίου σταθεὶς | πύργου κελεύσας σῖγα κηρῦξαι στρατῷ. The position of
σταθείς forbids us to sever it from
ἀπ’ ὀρθ. π., even though
ὑπῆρξε or
κελεύσας is used to explain
ἀπό. (4)
Eur.
Tro. 522
ἀνὰ δ’ ἐβόασεν λεὼς | Τρῳάδος ἀπὸ πέτρας σταθείς. A similar case. In all these passages, a picture is presented, and we have to glance from a remoter to a nearer object. The mental eye is required to measure the space between Hera on the peak of Olympus, and Poseidon on the plain of Troy; between Megareus on the walls of Thebes, and the cavern into which his corpse is to fall. And, in each case,
ἐκ or
ἀπό denotes the
quarter in which the remoter object is to be looked for. This, which might be called the ‘surveying’ use, is distinct from that in which the prep. has a pregnant force, as being directly suggestive of motion (
οἱ ἐκ Σικελίας ἥξουσι); but it springs from the same mental tendency,—viz., to take a rapid glance over the dividing interval. Cp.
ἵστασθαι πρός τινος (‘on his side’). So here: in the foreground of the picture is the corpse, which they have just laid bare. Now look to the hillocks behind it; in that quarter you will see the guards at their post.—I have not cited
Od. 21.419
τόν ῥ’ ἐπὶ πήχει ἑλὼν ἕλκεν νευρὴν γλυφίδας τε | αὐτόθεν ἐκ δίφροιο καθήμενος, because there
ἐκ δίφροιο goes with
ἕλκεν, not with
καθήμενος (he drew the bow, just from the chair, where he sat).
mvp-comment-225-4 ὑπήνεμοι 890
mvp-comment-226-1 βάλῃ 891
mvp-comment-227-1 ἐγερτί 892
mvp-comment-227-2 κινῶν 893
mvp-comment-227-3 ἐπιρρόθοις κακοῖσιν 894
mvp-comment-227-4
the adj. expressing the loud, continuous noise of tongues. The
ἐπι- does not mean ‘bandied to and fro’: see
Tr. 263
πολλὰ μὲν λόγοις | ἐπερρόθησε. In fr. 521
ἐπίρροθα δώματα=‘open to reproach.’ Elsewhere (as with Aesch.)
ἐπίρροθος= ‘helper’ (
ἐπιρροθέω, to come with shouts to the rescue). Cp.
ἐρρόθουν 259 n., Aesch. 290.
mvp-comment-228-1 ἀκηδήσοι 895 ἀφειδήσοι 896
mvp-comment-229-1 The incident of the storm was a dramatic necessity, to account for Antigone reaching the corpse unobserved. A powerful picture is compressed into seven lines. (Cp. O. C. 1315 ff. for a like instance of self-restraint in description.)
mvp-comment-230-1 κατέστη 897
mvp-comment-230-2 χθονὸς 898
mvp-comment-231-1 τυφώς 899 σκηπτός 900
mvp-comment-231-2 οὐράνιον ἄχος 901
mvp-comment-232-1 πίμπλησι 902 αἰκίζων 903
mvp-comment-232-2 ἐν δ’ ἐμεστ 904
mvp-comment-233-1 μύσαντες 905
mvp-comment-233-2 νόσον 906
mvp-comment-233-3 ἐν χρ. μακρ 907
mvp-comment-234-1 πικρᾶς 908
mvp-comment-235-1 εὐνῆς...λέχος 909
mvp-comment-236-1 οὕτω δέ 910
mvp-comment-236-2 ψιλόν 911
mvp-comment-237-1 γόοισιν ἐξῴμωξεν 912
mvp-comment-237-2 ἐκ δ’ … ἠρᾶτο 913
mvp-comment-237-3 διψίαν 914
mvp-comment-238-1 φέρει κόνιν 915
mvp-comment-239-1 The πρόχους 916
mvp-comment-239-2 εὐκρότητος 917
mvp-comment-239-3 ἄρδην 918
mvp-comment-240-1 χοαῖσι 919
mvp-comment-240-2 τρισπόνδ. 920 στέφει 921
mvp-comment-241-1 ἱέμεσθα 922
mvp-comment-241-2 σὺν δὲ … θηρώμεθ’ 923
mvp-comment-242-1 ἠλέγχομεν 924
mvp-comment-242-2 ἄπαρνος … οὐδενός 925
mvp-comment-242-3 καθίστατο 926
mvp-comment-243-1 ἅμ’ 927
mvp-comment-244-1 φίλους 928
mvp-comment-245-1 πάντα ταῦθ’ 929 λαβεῖν 930
mvp-comment-246-1 σὲ δή, 931
mvp-comment-247-1 φὴς δεδρακέναι, ἢ καταρνεῖ μὴ δεδρ 932 καταρνεῖ 933
mvp-comment-248-1 καὶ......κοὐκ 934
mvp-comment-248-2 τὸ μή 935
mvp-comment-249-1 σὺ μέν 936 κομίζοις ἂν ς 937
mvp-comment-249-2 ἔξω 938 β. αἰτίας 939 ἐλεύθερον 940
mvp-comment-250-1 μῆκος 941
mvp-comment-251-1 ᾔδησθα 942 ᾔδης τὰ 943 σθα 944
mvp-comment-251-2 κηρυχθέντα 945
mvp-comment-252-1 ᾔδη 946
mvp-comment-252-2 τί δ’ οὐκ ἔμελλον 947
mvp-comment-252-3 ἐμφανῆ 948 ἐκφανῆ 949
mvp-comment-253-1 καὶ δῆτ’ 950
mvp-comment-254-1 Ζεύς 951
mvp-comment-255-1 τῶν κάτω θεῶν 952 ξύνοικος 953 τοιούσδ’ … ὥρισεν 954 οἳ τούσδ’ … ὥρισαν 955 τάδε 956
mvp-comment-256-1 ἄγραπτα … νόμιμα 957
mvp-comment-256-2
quotes vv. 456 f.) Cp.
O.T. 865 ff.
νόμοι... | ὑψίποδες, οὐρανίαν | δἰ αἰθέρα τεκνωθέντες, with notes there.
Thuc. 2.37
(
νόμοι)
ὅσοι ἄγραφοι ὄντες αἰσχύνην ὁμολογουμένην φέρουσι. When ‘the unwritten laws’ are thus called
νόμοι, the latter word is used figuratively.
νόμιμα
958
mvp-comment-256-3 ἀσφαλῆ 959
mvp-comment-256-4 θνητὸν ὄντ’ 960
mvp-comment-256-5 ὑπερδραμεῖν 961
mvp-comment-257-1 νῦν γε κἀχθές 962
mvp-comment-257-2 ζῇ 963
mvp-comment-257-3 ’φάνη 964
mvp-comment-258-1 τούτων 965 τὴν δίκην 966 τούτων 967
mvp-comment-258-2
shows that, like
ταῦτα just before, it refers to the
νόμιμα: we cannot, therefore, render, ‘the penalty of such an act’ (
sc.
τοῦ ὑπερδραμεῖν).
mvp-comment-258-3 ἐν θεοῖσι 968
mvp-comment-259-1 δώσειν 969
mvp-comment-259-2 θανουμένη γάρ 970
mvp-comment-259-3 τί δ’ οὔ 971
mvp-comment-260-1 κεἰ μὴ σὺ προὐκήρυξας 972
mvp-comment-260-2 τοῦ χρόνου 973
mvp-comment-260-3 αὔτ’ 974
mvp-comment-261-1 φέρει 975
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
976
mvp-comment-263-1 ἄλγος 977 παρ’ οὐδέν 978
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 979
mvp-comment-264-1 ἄθαπτον ἠνσχόμην νέκυν 980 ηἰσχόμην 981 ἠνσχόμην 982
mvp-comment-264-2 In my first edition I placed in the text the emendation of Semitelos (1887) ᾔσχυναν κύνες 983
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
984
mvp-comment-264-4
or
μιᾶς (Meineke). (2)
τὸν ἐξ ἐμ. | μητρος θανόντ’
985
mvp-comment-265-1 σχεδόν τι 986
mvp-comment-265-2 μώρῳ μωρίαν 987
mvp-comment-265-3 ὀφλισκάνω 988
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 989 δηλοῖ 990 ὠμόν 991 ἐξ ὠμοῦ πατρός 992 γέννημα 993
mvp-comment-267-1 εἴκειν … κακοῖς 994
mvp-comment-268-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι 995
mvp-comment-268-2 πίπτειν 996
mvp-comment-269-1 ὀπτὸν … περισκελῆ 997
mvp-comment-269-2 περισκελής 998
mvp-comment-269-3 ἐκ πυρός 999
mvp-comment-270-1 θραυσθέντα καὶ ῥαγέντα 1000
Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus
1-17. mvp-comment-1-1 The opening speeches reveal the contrast between the sisters, while the affectionate address of Antigone in l. 1 gives greater emphasis to her violent outbreak in l. 69. Cp. О. Т. 85, and note.
7-8. mvp-comment-7-1 πανδήμῳ.. στρατηγόν The Thebans had gone forth πανδημεί under Creon's generalship, and he had made the proclamation as στρατηγός, before assuming the civil power. Cp. Thuc. 5. 60, § 5, τὰς ἀπὸ στρατείας δίκας πρὶν ἐσιέναι κρίνουσιν. The publicity of the edict makes it more painful. Antigone knows what she is doing. Infr. 44, 907.
9. mvp-comment-8-1 τι is adverbial.
10. mvp-comment-9-1 τῶν ἐχθρῶν When evils devised by enemies are threatening those we love. In the vehemence of her resentment she already speaks of Creon as an enemy. Cp. infr. 62. τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν κακά, Schol. According to others τῶν ἐχθρῶν is abl. gen. passing from enemies, i.e. no longer directed towards them, or descriptive, evils which belong to enemies, i. e. which should be confined to them.
11. mvp-comment-10-1 οὐδεὶς μῦθος.. φίλων Νo word concerning any of our friends. Essay on Language § 9. p. 13.
12. mvp-comment-11-1 ἐξ ὅτου Sophocles has not been careful to mark the exact sequence of the events preceding the action of the Play. (See Introduction.) But the death of the brothers is supposed to have taken place some little time before the rout of the Argive host. Infr. 144-148.
14. mvp-comment-12-1 μιᾷ.. διπλῇ Essay on Language p. 69.
17. mvp-comment-13-1 μᾶλλον is redundant, the whole expression being epexegetic of οὐδὲν ὑπέρτερον, and in construction with οἶδα.
18-19. mvp-comment-14-1 καί σ'.. ἐξέπεμπον And it is for this that I have been leading thee forth. Thus a probable reason is given for the appearance of the two maidens before the gate. Their usual seclusion has been somewhat relaxed during the absence of Creon and Eteocles with the army. Infr. 578-579. Cp. El. 517.
20. mvp-comment-15-1 δηλοῖς γάρ τι καλχαίνουσ᾽ ἔπος It is plain that your thoughts are darkening with some troublous word.
20. mvp-comment-15-2 καλχαίνω is formed on a fancied analogy to πορφύρω, as this is used in Homer of the agitation of the sea, and, metaphorically, of the mind. According to others the first notion of καλχαίνω is to stir from the depths, as in dredging for the murex (κάλχη).
21. mvp-comment-16-1 τάφου is genitive of respect with both participles, but chiefly privative genitive ve ἀτιμάσας. See Essay on Language p. 66, 1, 68. She implies that both brothers had been dishonoured by the decree. Cp. infr. 515-517, οὐ μαρτυρήσει ταῦθ᾽ ὁ κατθανὼν νέκυς.. οὐ γάρ τι δοῦλος, ἀλλ᾽ ἀδελφὸς ὤλετο.
23. mvp-comment-17-1 ὡς λέγουσι, resumed in φασιν l. 27, φασι l. 31, points to the fact that the maidens in their seclusion could only know of the edict from hearsay.
23. mvp-comment-17-2 σὺν δίκῃ | †χρησθεὶς δικαίᾳ καὶ νόμῳ χρησθείς has been generally condemned, and ἐχρήσθην only occurs elsewhere in a strictly passive sense. Yet, as Shilleto observes (Journ. of Phil. No. 13, p. 149), ᾐδεσάμην and ᾐδέσθην, the former in lyric verse, the latter in senarii, are found within a few lines of each other in O. T. 647, 651; and χρησάμενος does not occur in Sophocles.
23. mvp-comment-17-3 Ἐτεοκλέα ἔκρυψε, χρησθεὶς (αὐτῷ) σὺν δίκῃ, is not impossible in point of syntax. On the other hand neither χρησθεὶς δίκαια, nor χρηστοῖς δικαίᾳ, nor προσθεὶς δίκαια, can be approved. In 1871 I suggested προθείς. After laying him out in state, with the righteous meed of honour and all customary observance, he has covered him in earth. Cp. Hdt. 1.112-115. 8, τρεῖς μὲν ἡμέρας προτιθέασι τὸν νεκρόν: inf. 196, καὶ τὰ πάντ᾽ ἐφαγνίσαι. This part of the treatment of Eteocles would contrast with the prohibition even to mourn for Polynices. Cp. Thuc. 2. 34, where the words καὶ ἐπιφέρει τῷ αὑτοῦ ἕκαστος ἤν τι βούληται throw some light on the custom implied in σὺν δίκῃ δικαίᾳ καὶ νόμῳ. For the emphatic δικαίᾳ, cp. Αj. 1100, ἐς ταφὰς ἐγὼ θήσω δικαίως: Hdt. 8. 106, νόμῳ δικαίῳ χρεώμενοι. προθείς may have been changed to προσθείς (which Donaldson conjectured), and to this may have been added an interlinear gloss ἃ χρή. Cp. 1. 243. κάφαγιστεύσας ἃ χρή. Another guess is χρῆσθαι δικαιῶν (sc. αὐτῷ). For similar fullness of expression on a solemn occasion, cp. O. T. 219, 259.
25. mvp-comment-18-1 τοῖς .. νεκροῖς Holding his honours amongst the dead; i.e. not ἄτιμος, or deprived of common rights.
26. mvp-comment-19-1 θανόντα .. νέκυν Cp. infr. 515, ὁ κατθανὼν νέκυς.
27. mvp-comment-20-1 ἐκκεκηρύχθαι Passive. That proclamation has been made. Cp. προκεῖσθαι, l. 36 .
29. mvp-comment-21-1 ἐἂν. Sc. πάντας. The affirmative subject is supplied from the negative Cp. the language of the proclamation in O. T. 241, and see Essay on Language p. 59.
29. mvp-comment-21-2 ἄκλαυτον, ἄταφον Cp. Od. 11. 72; Il. 22. 386; Eur. Hec. 30.
29-30. mvp-comment-22-1 οἰωνοῖς .. βορᾶς (1) To the vultures a sweet treasure as they eye him with a view to the gratification of food. Cp. infr. 371 τόλμας χάριν : 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω; Or, perhaps. (2) To the vultures, eyeing him, a glad store of food to gratify their desire. For πρὸς χάριν in the latter rendering, cp. Phil. 1156, ἀντίφονον κορέσαι στόμα πρὸς χάριν, and for the combination of adverbial phrase and noun, El. 1336, σὺν χαρᾷ βοῆς.
31. mvp-comment-23-1 τὸν ἀγαθὸν Κρέοντα Cp. Phil. 873, ἁγαθοὶ στρατηλάται.
31-32. mvp-comment-24-1 σοι | κάμοί, λέγω γὰρ κἀμέ] Antigone first says, There is Creon's proclamation for you! (σοι unemphatic as in l. 37:) then, going off upon the word, For you, did I say? ay, and for me too, for I count myself also amongst those forbidden. This is said with bitter emphasis, showing that she has fully counted the cost of the act she meditates. The proclamation extends to me-I accept the consequences. For λέγω in this sense, cp. Aesch. Prom. 973, καὶ σὲ δ᾽ ἐν τούτοις λέγω: Cho. 989, Αἰγίσθου γὰρ οὐ λέγω μόρον. Others take κἀμέ as κάμοί, Το me, I say! (whose spirit he little knows).
35. mvp-comment-25-1 ὃς ἄν Essay on Language § 22. p. 35, 2. §39. p. 72.
35. mvp-comment-25-2 τούτων τι For this idiomatic use of τι, cp. Thuc. 5. 13, δρᾶν τι ὧν ἐκεῖνος ἐπενόει.
36. mvp-comment-26-1 δημόλευστον By stoning of the people. Essay on Language p. 98, a, line 15.
38. mvp-comment-27-1 For εὐγενής in the ethical sense, cp. Eur. El. 363, οὔτοι τό γ' ἦθος δυσγενές παρέξομαι. And for the genitive ἐσθλῶν, cp. Αj. 763, ἄνους καλῶς λέγοντος εὑρέθη πατρός.
39-40. mvp-comment-28-1 Alas for thy rash spirit! What help, if things be at this pass, can I afford, either to undo what is done, or to confirm it?' ταλαῖφρον points to the daring spirit of Antigone and to the tone of her last words. For λύουσα, cp. Aesch. S. c. Т. 270, λύουσα πολεμίων φόβον. The choice lies between ἢ 'φάπτουσα and εἴθ' ἅπτουσα. The implied negative is in favour of εἴθ' ἅπτουσα, which comes near the first hand of L. Cp. О. Т. 517, λόγοισιν εἴτ᾿ ἔργοισιν, where, however, ei precedes. But εἴτε is slightly too emphatic, and ἢ ᾿φάπτουσα is an early reading. The expression is proverbial. Cp. Aj. 1317.
42. mvp-comment-29-1 ποῦ γνώμης ποτ' εἶ; Although ποῖ with the verb of motion is not unlikely (cp. El. 922, ὅποι γνώμης φέρει), the future tense does not suit the passage. Hence the reading of Par. A. (with εἶ from εἰμί) is preferable. Cp. Ε1. 390, ποῦ ποτ' εἶ φρενῶν; but see Eurip. Iph. A. 480, for el from εἶμι with present meaning.
43. mvp-comment-30-1 Antigone's first intention is to lift the body with Ismene's help and give it proper burial. Being unable to do this unaided, she sprinkles the dust. Cp. El. 938-1057.
43. mvp-comment-30-2 ξὺν τῇδε .. χερί Aiding this hand, i. e. taking part in my labour. Cp. Ο. Τ. 811 ἐκ τῆσδε χειρός. Essay on Language § 22. p. 34.
44. mvp-comment-31-1 ἀπόρρητον πόλει A thing forbidden to the whole city. ἀπόρρητον is neuter accusative in apposition to the action of θάπτειν. Essay on Language § 17. p. 25.
45-46. mvp-comment-32-1 I will certainly bury my brother and yours, though you do not choose to do your part. The second of these lines has been needlessly suspected. The rejoinder of Ismene comes in more effectively when the στιχομυθία is broken. ἣν = κἄν, cp. Phil. 52, ἄλλ' ἤν τι καινὸν .. κλύῃς, ὑπουργεῖν.
48. mvp-comment-33-1 He has no right in what is mine, to part me from my own. τῶν ἐμῶν is partitive genitive with οὐδὲν μέτα: privative genitive with εἴργειν. Essay on Language p. 61.
50. mvp-comment-34-1 vῷν Ethical dative.
51. mvp-comment-35-1 αὐτοφώρων Self-detected; i. e. Brought to light by his own act. πρός = In consequence of,' connects the phrase with the preceding rather than the following words. Although the action of O. T. is not presupposed, this part of the fable had been already developed by Aeschylus. See S. c. T. 778 ff. Others take αὐτοφώρων to mean clearly proved, manifest to all men: cp. Od. 11.247, ἄφαρ δ᾽ ἀνάπυστα θεοὶ θέσαν ἀνθρώποισιν. But the emphatic repetition of αὐτὸς αὐτουργῷ in the next line agrees better with the more pregnant meaning. αὐτουργῷ = εἰς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα ἐρξάσῃ.
53. mvp-comment-36-1 διπλοῦν ἔπος A two-fold name, suggesting the horror of the double relationship. Cp. Ο. Τ. 928, γυνὴ δὲ μήτηρ ἥδε τῶν κείνου τέκνων.
54. mvp-comment-37-1 λωβᾶται βίον Destroys her own life. Cp. Tr. 887, τάνδ᾽ ὕβριν.
56. mvp-comment-38-1 αὐτοκτονούντε By mutual fratricidal slaughter. αὐτός in composition here is partly reciprocal and partly, as in αὐτόχειρ, suggestive of the murder of kindred: cp. 1. 172. The same is true of κοινόν: cp. 1. 147.
57. mvp-comment-39-1 ἐπαλλήλοιν Mutual. The read. ing of L and Hermann is justified by the awkwardness of the double genitive dual and the doubtful use of ἐπί in the other reading.
58. mvp-comment-40-1 δή emphasizes μόνα with reference to what precedes. Thus left alone.
60. mvp-comment-41-1 ψῆφον τυράννων ἢ κράτη The will or authority of the ruler. 64. For the epexegesis, see Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. And for the accusative, to obey in this, cp. infr. 666-667.
66. mvp-comment-42-1 βιάζομαι τάδε This passive use of βιάζομαι occurs again in l. 1073, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ σοῦ βιάζονται τάδε.
67. mvp-comment-43-1 τοῖς .. βεβῶσι Those whose position is supreme; i.e. the present ruling power.
68. mvp-comment-44-1 περισσὰ πράσσειν ‘Το act beyond one's sphere.' Cp. Tr. 617, τὸ μὴ πιθυμεῖν πομπὸς ὢν περισσὰ δρᾶν.
70. mvp-comment-45-1 ἐμοῦ.. μέτα Would your acting with me be any pleasure to me. For the adverb ἡδέως, implying a predicate, see Essay on Language § 24. p. 40.
71. mvp-comment-46-1 ἴσθ᾽ ὁποία This reading is acknowledged by the Scholiast equally with ἴσθ' ὁποῖα, the reading of LA. Be such as you choose to be' (i. e. base, cp. supr. 38) is more forcible than Hold what principles you please, even if εἰδέναι can have this meaning. Cp Phil. 1049, τοιοῦτός εἰμ' ἐγώ: Eur. Or. 1680, κἀγὼ τοιοῦτος. ὁποία is nominative by attraction to the antecedent. Hermann thought the dative ὁποίᾳ was required.
72. mvp-comment-47-1 Antigone knows clearly from the beginning, with the heightened consciousness of passion, the consequences of her act. There is no irony of fortune, so far as she is concerned.
74. mvp-comment-48-1 ὅσια πανουργ. Cp. infr. 924.
75. mvp-comment-49-1 τῶν ἐνθάδε See Essay on Language § 10. p.15. The form of expression resembles Hdt. 3. 124, βούλεσθαι οὖν παρθενεύεσθαι πλείω χρόνον ἢ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐστερῆσθαι. For the thought, cp. Plat. Legg. 9.881 Α, θάνατος μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν ἔσχατον, οἱ δὲ ἐν ῞Αιδου . πόνοι .. εἰσὶ μᾶλλον ἐν ἐσχάτοις : Sim. Am. 3, πολλὸς γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐστι τεθνάναι χρόνος, κ.τ.λ.
76. mvp-comment-50-1 σοὶ δ᾽ εἰ δοκεῖ The emphasis really rests on the subject (σύ), but is transferred to the dative, as in Phil. 1395, ὡς ῥᾷστ᾽ ἐμοὶ μὲν τῶν λόγων λῆξαι, σὲ δὲ | κ.τ.λ. Essay on Language § 41. pp. 78-79. The change to σύ (see v. rr.) is slight, but rather weakens the expression.
77. mvp-comment-51-1 τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἔντιμα What is held honourable amongst the Gods. Cp. θεῶν νόμιμα, infr. 454-455: 1.ε. τὰ τῶν θεῶν ὄντα καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν ἀγόμενα ἐν τιμῇ. Hh ἀτιμάσασ᾽ ἔχε] Persist in slighting. 78. ἐγὼ ποιοῦμαι I do not mean to show disrespect. She shrinks from saying distinctly τὰ τῶν θεῶν.
79. mvp-comment-52-1 ἔφυν By nature and position.
82. mvp-comment-53-1 ταλαίνης after οἴμοι: σου after ὑπερδέδοικα. But this distinction is hardly felt in the Greek.
83. mvp-comment-54-1 ἐξόρθου Continue to direct safely, as if steering a vessel.
85. mvp-comment-55-1 σὺν δ' See Essay on Language § 18. p. 26.
86. mvp-comment-56-1 The Epic πολλόν is curious, but need not be changed. Cp. Tr. 1196, πολλὸν δ᾽ ἄρσεν᾽ ἐκτεμόνθ᾽ ὁμοῦ | ἄγριον ἔλαιον. Other Epic forms in this play are ὡσεί τε, infr. 653; ὑπαί, infr. 1035: εἰν ῞Αιδου δόμοις, 1241. A lukewarm spirit is above all hateful to Antigone. If Ismene disapproves her act, let her denounce it. ἐὰν μή, κ.τ.λ., further explains σιγῶσ'. Cp. Ο. Τ. 57, ἔρημος ἀνδρῶν μὴ ξυνοικούντων ἔσω.
88. mvp-comment-57-1 θερμὴν .. ἔχεις Your courage is hot upon a cold enterprize.
88. mvp-comment-57-2 ψυχροῖσι] Chilling, i.e. Causing a cold thrill of horror. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 691-693, οὐδ᾽ ὧδε δυσθέατα καὶ δυσοιστὰ ... ψύχειν ψυχὰν ἐμάν. Also with an association from the meaning fruitless; cp. Hdt. 9. 49, ἐπαρθεὶς ψυχρῇ νίκῃ.
91. mvp-comment-58-1 Cp. 1. 926, παθόντες ἂν ξυγγνοῖμεν ἡμαρτηκότες.
94. mvp-comment-59-1 ἐχθρὰ .. δίκῃ And our dead brother will justly hold you as an enemy: ἐχθράν σε προσθήσεται: ср. Eur. Τr. 185, τῷ πρόσκειμαι δούλα; Who has me for his slave.
95. mvp-comment-60-1 τὴν ἐξ ἐμοῦ That proceeds from me; i. e. For which I alone am responsible. See Essay on Language § 19. p. 28. 1
96. mvp-comment-61-1 πείσομαι γὰρ οὐ The reading οὐ, for which some critics would substitute οὖν, is confirmed (1) by the tendency to a vehement accumulation of negatives in the speeches of Antigone in this scene: (2) by the similar emphatic inversions noticed in the Essay on Language § 41. p. 78.
99. mvp-comment-62-1 τοῖς φίλοις δ᾽ ὀρθῶς φίλη But unfailing in kindness to thy friends; i. e. A faithful sister to thine own brother. Cp. Eur. Or. 424, ἀληθὴς δ᾽ ἐς φίλους ἔφυν φίλος. Antigone goes to perform the sepulture, and Ismene returns into the palace. The stage is left vacant. As in the Ajax, there is a distinct break after the prologue, which has laid the ground of the action so far as Antigone is concerned. The first episodion, ll. 163 ff., is in one sense a fresh beginning, as setting forth the motives of Creon, and still only preparing for the collision. The parados, ll. 100 ff., introduces us to the public feeling of Thebes, and to the wider sphere of which the action forms the central point. 100 ff. Instead of a long series of anapaests, followed by lyrical strophes and antistrophes, as in the Ajax (with which cp. Aesch. Agamemnon), we have here two strophes and antistrophes alternating with anapaestic systems of about seven lines each: making a form of parodos intermediate between that of the Ajax and that of the O. T., in which there are no anapaests. The α' (100-109=117-133). chorus on its first appearance chants ll. 100-109, then advances while the coryphaeus recites 110-116, then the antistrophe is chanted, then another advance is made during the recitative of 11. 127-133, then strophe B' is chanted, the chorus by this time standing near the stage; then they make a final advance, and, during the second antistrophe, are standing full in front of the stage. Lastly, as Creon is seen approaching, the coryphaeus chants ll. 155-162, which thus form at once the conclusion of the parodos and the introit or prelude of the first episodium.
99. mvp-comment-62-2 The total effect is that of a stately and solemn triumph, in which the bright influence of the glyconic opening is tempered with slow movements (---), as in ll. 106, 122, 137, 151, and interrupted rhythms, as in ll. 103, 120, 138, 152; the notes of triumph and solemnity being combined in the choriambi, which bring the lyrical part to a close. Thus we have- β΄ (134-140=148-154). CI IICCーしー CLトくトCCI 51--10CICIC ト 1001010110010||| ――トしてトー luclcclcULCII) C- 「SƆIDII7 5トレトしし LCCLLCCLLCCLLCCLI トリトー The culmination of feeling is marked by the dactylic opening of β'. The rhythms of a' 3. 4, 6, and β' 3, 4, show the correlation of the two movements. The adaptation of sound to sense is specially obvious in the resolved trochees of a' 7, while the concluding lines, a' 8, β' 7, serve to harmonize the logaoedic with the anapaestic measures. Cp. O. C. 135-137, 167-169.
99. mvp-comment-62-3 'Never did morning rise so fair as this which thou didst bring at length to waiting Thebè, O eye of golden day! For thy first beams, shooting over Dircè's rills, stirred into quicker flight the Argive warrior, who for Polynices' quarrel swooped upon our land on snow-white wing, with many a shield and many a plumèd helm.
99. mvp-comment-62-4 Threatening our halls in towering pride he stood, and gaped with bristling spears around our gates, thirsting for our blood: but he is gone, or ever his desire was slaked, or ever the fire-god caught our coronal of towers. Such fight displayed the serpent writhing in his gripe, not easily subdued. Such din of war assailed him as he turned to flee. For Zeus abhors the boaster and contemns the clank of gold. And when he saw them moving in a full proud stream, he smote with lightning from on high the daring climber who had gained the pinnacle and was eagerly preparing to shout victory. And swung to earth he fell with a rebound, the firebearer, who with mad rush was breathing his blast of enmity against the wall. And various was the fortune of the day. But terrible was the War-god as he plunged amidst our enemies, a mighty helper for us.
99. mvp-comment-62-5 'For at all our gates their captains, seven against seven, left their panoplies as trophies to our cause. All, save the horrid pair, who fell together with the guilt of mutual fratricide.
99. mvp-comment-62-6 But forget we the griefs of war. For victory came with smiles of joy to greet our smiling town. So visit we the temples of the gods with dances all night long: and let Theban Bacchus be the master of our revelry.
103. mvp-comment-63-1 χρυσέας χρυσέας, as in O. T. 158-187.
106. mvp-comment-64-1 The rivulet of Dircè was to the west of Thebes. The sun had risen just as the retreat of the Argives became a rout, and the army returning from pursuit would see the morning light reflected in the stream, which they would cross on their way back to the city. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 730. The ode is not chanted at sunrise, but celebrates the glorious morning which had seen the discomfiture of the enemy. The chorus of elders imagine themselves in the position of the victorious army.
106. mvp-comment-64-2 λεύκασπιν Cp. Aesch. S. c. Т. 96, λευκοπρεπή λέων: Eur. Phoen. 1099, λεύκασπιν εἰσορῶμεν Ἀργείων στράτον.
106. mvp-comment-64-3 Αργόθεν The correspondence of a dactyl in the antistrophe to the trochee Αργό- in this line justly leads to suspicion of the text, and Hermann conjectured Ἀργόθεν ἐκ. Qy. Ἀργόλεων ? or Ἀργογενή ?
108. mvp-comment-65-1 φυγάδα πρόδρομον (1) Running before us in flight. Said from the point of view of the pursuing host. Or (2), In the van of the flying host. The Schol. on Phoen. 409 says, φασὶ .. τὸν Ἀδραστον .. μόνον φυγάδα σωθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου ἵππου Ἀρείονος. Cp. Paus. 8.25. § 5.
109. mvp-comment-66-1 χαλινῷ Either (1) literally Riding with hastier rein, or (2) metaphorically, With thy hastening bridle in his lips. The first (1) is best. If (2) were adopted, the reading ὀξυτόρῳ, galling (see v. rr.), might be preferred.
110. mvp-comment-67-1 *ὃς .. *Πολυνείκους The emendation of Scaliger improves the sense as well as the grammar. The imagery throughout represents not Polynices, but his Argive ally. The subject of the single fight between the two brothers is passed lightly over, as unsuited to a triumphal hymn.
111. mvp-comment-68-1 ἀρθεὶς.. ἐξ ἀμφιλόγων Carried forth in consequence of the doubtful quarrel (the quarrel and debate) of Polynices. ἀρθείς is said with allusion to αἴρειν στόλον, but also suggests the image of the bird mounting in air. Cp. Il. 13. 63, of the hawk, ἀπ' αἰγίλιπος πέτρης περιμήκεος ἀρθείς, Eur. Phoen. 636-637. For the play on the name of Polynices, see Essay on Language § 44. p. 82.
113. mvp-comment-69-1 The omission of ὡs in this line, which Herm. suggested, is hardly necessary, although it does not impair the sense. The correspondence of strophe and antistrophe does not extend strictly to the anapaests, although the anapaestic systems in this passage are nearly of the same length.
114. mvp-comment-70-1 λευκῆς χιόνος πτέρυγι See Essay on Language § 9. p. 11, and cp. l. 106.
114. mvp-comment-70-2 στεγανός Covered all over; i. e. There were no gaps in their array.
115-116. mvp-comment-71-1 πολλῶν μεθ᾽ ὅπλων | ξύν θ᾽ ἱπποκόμοις κορύθεσσι Accompanied with many a shield and armed with many a helm.
117. mvp-comment-72-1 στάς Staying his flight, like the bird of prey preparing to stoop. At this point the image, which has hitherto grown in distinctness, becomes less definite, the figure of an eagle passing into that of a flying dragon, with spears for teeth. Cp. Shak. K. John, 2. 1, O, now doth Death Line his dead chaps with steel, etc. Also the image in Milton's Samson Agonistes, 11. 1692-1696.
117. mvp-comment-72-2 φονώσαισιν Boeckh's emendation at once cures the metre and supplies a poetical touch which corresponds to the explanation of the Scholiast, ταῖς τῶν φονῶν ἐρώσαις λόγχαις. It is confirmed by the reading of L² pr. See v. rr.
118. mvp-comment-73-1 ἀμφιχανὼν.. στόμα Yawning round our seven-mouthed gates.
120. mvp-comment-74-1 ἔβα He went his way. For the use of the aorist of βαίνω in this sense, cp. Od. 22. 249, καὶ δή οἱ Μέντωρ μὲν ἔβη, κενὰ εὔγματα εἰπών: Τr. 115, βάντ᾽ ἐπιόντα τ', Some gone, others coming on.
121. mvp-comment-75-1 γένυσιν With his jaws. Instrumental dative.
121. mvp-comment-75-2 πλησθῆναί τε καὶ ἑλεῖν For the change of subject in these lines, cp. Aj. 458, ἐχθαίρομαι, μισεῖ δέ, κ.τ.λ. And for στεφάνωμα πύργων, cp. Pind. Ol. 8. 32, Ἰλίῳ μέλλοντες ἐπὶ στέφανον τεύξαι : Hom. h. Dem. 151, .. κρήδεμνα πόληος | εἰρύαται ...
124. mvp-comment-76-1 τοῖος .. δράκοντι (1) Such din of war was spread about his rear by the reluctant snake, no easy matter to subdue. So the Scholiast, who wrote τὸ δὲ ἀντιπάλῳ δράκοντι ἀντὶ τοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀντιπάλου δράκοντος, ὡς Ἀχιλῆϊ δαμασθείς (Il. 22. 55). Or (2) δυσχείρωμα may be taken to mean the act rather than the object of victory (cp. O. Τ. 560, θανασίμῳ χειρώματι), and the sense may be, Such din of war encompassed him, issuing in a hard-won victory for the serpent matching his foe. In this case it will make little difference to read the genitive. Or, (3) if the genitive is read (Wecklein), the words may be taken in yet another way: Such din of war harassed him from behind, the hard-to-be-subdued might of the serpent, who was a match for his foe. The genitive is given as an alternative reading by the 1st hand of L, and is supported by V (Ven. 468). But the dative is alone recognised by the Scholiast.
124. mvp-comment-76-2 The δράκων is certainly the emblem of Thebes, and the eagle and snake are in conflict, as in Il. 12. 201, foll., where also the serpent struggles and escapes : ὁ δ᾽ οὔπω λήθετο χάρμης, | κόψε γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔχοντα κατὰ στήθος παρὰ δειρὴν | ἰδνωθεὶς ὀπίσω· ὁ δ᾽ ἀπὸ ἕθεν ἧκε χαμάζε, κ.τ.λ. Hor. Carm. 4. 4, 11, Nunc in reluctantes dracones | Egit amor dapis atque pugnae.
129. mvp-comment-77-1 πολλῷ ῥεύματι προσνισσομένους Coming on in full proud stream. Like a great river filling its banks.
130. mvp-comment-78-1 χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπερόπτης] Despiser of the clank of gold. Cp. Aesch. Agam. 776, τὰ χρυσόπαστα δ᾽ ἐσθλὰ σὺν πίνῳ χερῶν | παλιντρόποις ὄμμασιν | λιπούσ', ὅσια προσέβα: S. c. T. 481-485. The Scholiast, who wrote καὶ τὴν τοῦ χρυσοῦ φαντασίαν ὑπερβεβηκότας τῇ ἰδίᾳ ὑπεροψίᾳ, seems to have read ὑπερόπτας, which appears in the margin of some copies. The ὑπεροψία of his interpretation may have given rise to ὑπεροπτίας, as in conjunction with this it has suggested ὑπεροπλίαις, (Vauvillers, who compares II. 1. 205). Musgr. and Böckh are contented with ὑπεροπτείας, abstr. noun of ὑπερόπτης, gen. with ῥεύματι, In floods of supercilious pride.
131. mvp-comment-79-1 παλτῷ ῥιπτεῖ πυρί (1) Hurls down with brandished thunderbolt. Or possibly (2) ῥιπτεῖ is a more emphatic substitute for βάλλει = Smites from afar. The word παλτῷ suggests the zig-zag flicker of the lightning.
131. mvp-comment-79-2 βαλβίδων .. ἀλαλάζαι As, having reached the topmost goal, he was eager to raise the cry of victory. βαλβίδες are the end of the race-course, metaphorically applied here to the top of the wall to which Capaneus had climbed, and so receiving the epithet ἄκρων.
131. mvp-comment-79-3 βαλβίδων may be also taken as abl. gen, with ῥιπτεῖ, and only resumed with ἄκρων. But this is questionable.
133. mvp-comment-80-1 The subject of ὁρμῶντα (Capaneus) is anticipated from the following lines, viz. ὅς, κ.τ.λ.
134. mvp-comment-81-1 ἀντιτύπᾳ This conj. of Porson has been generally received. He fell upon the earth, that smote him again; i.e. He fell with a shock. The Scholia explain ἀντίτυπα, which is against metre.
134. mvp-comment-81-2 τανταλωθείς Swung. As if the scale that had been the lightest had suddenly become the heaviest. Cp. Hom. Il. 22. 212, ῥέπε δ᾽ Ἕκτορος αἴσιμον ἦμαρ, | ᾤχετο δ᾽ εἰς Ἀἰδαο.
135. mvp-comment-82-1 πυρφόρος With the fire in his hand, with which he had threatened the town. O. C. 1318: Aesch. S. c. T. 422, ff.
135. mvp-comment-82-2 ὁρμᾷ Observe the tautology after ὁρμῶντ', supra.
136-137. mvp-comment-83-1 Had breathed against us in frenzy with blasts of malignant winds. Cp. infra 929-930: O. C. 612 and note: Aesch. S. c. T. 115, πνοαῖς Ἄρεος.
138. mvp-comment-84-1 εἶχε δ᾽ ἄλλᾳ τὰ μέν· κτ.λ.] This was in one direction: whilst on other men terrible fortune was dispensed by mighty Ares rushing on them like a steed harnessed upon our right hand. For the use of ἔχω with the locative adv., see L. and S. s. v. ἔχω, Β. 11. Ι. The reading in the text is suggested by that of V (Ven. 468), a MS. of the 13th century, which, together with many obvious corruptions, has preserved some good readings. See on O. T. 1526. This MS. reading is curiously near the conj. of Musgrave, εἶχε δ᾽ ἄλλᾳ τὰ δείν᾽. The epithet, as read in the text, may be suggested by a forefeeling of what is coming. Even the end of Capaneus is less awful than that of Eteocles and Polynices (144 ff.). Hermann's reading, εἶχε δ᾽ ἄλλᾳ μὲν ἄλ | λᾳ· τὰ δ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλοις, makes good enough sense; Plat. Rep. 2. 369 Β, οὕτω δὴ ἄρα παραλαμβάνων ἄλλος ἄλλον ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου, τὸν δ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου χρείᾳ : but the synaphea between the cretics and the choriambi is questionable. And the same objection applies to Wecklein's εἶχε δ' ἄλλᾳ τὰ τοῦδ᾽· | ἄλλα δ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλοις.
140. mvp-comment-85-1 δεξιόσειρος The War-god taking part with Thebes and bounding hither and thither over the plain is compared to the σειραῖος ἵππος, whose free action was so important at critical moments in the chariot-race. Cp. El. 721-722, δεξιὸν δ᾽ ἀνεὶς | σειραῖον ἵππον εἶργε τὸν προσκείμενον: Aesch. Agam. 841-842, μόνος δ' Οδυσσεύς, ὅσπερ οὐχ ἑκὼν ἔπλει | ζευχθείς ἕτοιμος ἦν ἐμοὶ σειραφόρος. The reading δεξιόχειρος is probably erroneous. It is acknowledged as a variant by the Scholiast.
141. mvp-comment-86-1 Capaneus, who is one of the seven adversaries, is already disposed of. But the general description in 141-143, is only preparatory to the chief statement, 144-147, from which, however, the chorus pass quickly, as they approach it with aversion. What is of the best omen must be kept to the front. For ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους, cp. Hdt. 9. 49, ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους ἄριθμον μαχεσόμεθα.
142-143. mvp-comment-87-1 'Left the tribute of their brazen panoplies to Zeus, who turns the battle.'
144-147. mvp-comment-88-1 Neither could despoil the other, since both were slain. And the citizens could not dedicate to Zeus arms polluted with kindred blood.
145. mvp-comment-89-1 αὑτοῖν i. e. ἀλλήλοιν: ἑαυτούς, ἀλλήλους. Hesych.
146. mvp-comment-90-1 δικρατεῖς λόγχας στήσαντε Having pointed their two spears, of which either was victorious. The spears are not hurled, as commonly in the Iliad, but held firmly as the combatants rush at each other. Cp. Hom. Il. 4. 307 (quoted by Donaldson), ὃς δέ κ᾿ ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ ὧν ὀχέων ἕτερ᾽ ἅρμαθ' ἵκηται | ἔγχει ὀρεξάσθω, ἐπεὶ ἢ πολὺ φέρτερον οὕτως.
147. mvp-comment-91-1 'Both have their portion in mutual death: i.e. Each strove for sole inheritance, but they share equally-in a death;' which each has given and each has received. See on l. 57. The spirit of the words is the same as those of Aesch. S. c. T. 726 ff.: O. C. 790.
149. mvp-comment-92-1 ἀντιχαρεῖσα Exchanging looks of joy. Cp. χαίρειν γέλωτι, Χen. Cyr. 8.1.33.
149. mvp-comment-92-2 Θήβη, as in Pindar, is the personification of Θήβαι, for which it is used consistently throughout this play. Cp. Od. 7. 80, εὐρυάγυιαν Ἀθήνην.
150. mvp-comment-93-1 ἐκ μὲν δὴ πολέμων .. λησμοσύvav Turning from the present wars, appoint ye forgetfulness of them. For the pleonastic use of ἐκ, see Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. The reading θέσθαι, which has good MS. authority and preserves the metrical correspondence with l. 137, is retained by some editors as an infinitive for imperative. Cp. infr. 1142, μολεῖν. For the expression, cp. Eur. Phoen. 1584,5, ὡς ὥρα τάφου | μνήμην τίθεσθαι.
153. mvp-comment-94-1 παννυχίοις Cp. Ο. Τ. 1090: Aesch. Ag. 23, 24. καὶ χορῶν κατάστασιν | πολλῶν ἐν Ἄργει τῆσδε συμφορᾶς χάριν.
153. mvp-comment-94-2 ὁ Θήβας δ'. . ἄρχοι And let Bacchus, Thebe's God. who shakes the earth (with revelry), lead on the dance. Schol. ὁ Θήβας Βακχεῖος, ὁ Θηβαγενὴς Διόνυσος, ὁ τῆς Θήβης πολίτης, ὁ ἐλελίχθων, ἄρχοι τῆς χορείας. See Essay on Language § 9. p. 11.
156. mvp-comment-95-1 The metre requires either the addition of one (or three) anapaests or the omission of νεοχμός. Dindorf's supposition that νεοχμός νεαραῖσι has grown in some way out of νεοχμοῖσι is in itself probable enough, but the omission of some word like *ἄρχων after βασιλεύς is equally so. The spectator is thus reminded that Creon is young in power.
157-158. mvp-comment-96-1 νεαραῖσι .. συντυχίαις In consequence of the recent god-sent fortune. These words are to be joined with the whole sentence, though chiefly with ἐρέσσων. Creon's accession, his coming, and the counsel which he brings, all follow closely on the events of the war. The question is, what is that counsel?
159. mvp-comment-97-1 τίνα δή This is preferable to τινὰ δή, which Aldus printed from Ven. 467 (V3).
159. mvp-comment-97-2 On ἐρέσσων = Moving, Advancing. see Essay on Language p. 87, and cp. Aj. 251, τοίας ἐρέσσουσιν ἀπειλάς.
160-161. mvp-comment-98-1 ὅτι. προὔθετο That he hath appointed. ὅτι gives the reason of the question.
160. mvp-comment-99-1 σύγκλητον Specially convened. The word is used, after the analogy of the σύγκλητος ἐκκλησία at Athens, for an assembly specially summoned by the στρατηγός. λέσχη is less formal than βουλή. Cp. Ο. C. 166.
161. mvp-comment-100-1 προὔθετο The middle voice implies that Creon had summoned the elders of his own motion. So καλέσσατο of Achilles in Il. 1. 54.
162. mvp-comment-101-1 κοινῷ κηρύγματι πέμψας Having cited us by a message sent to us all.
162. mvp-comment-101-2 κοινῷ = Inclusive. πέμψας] i. e. στείλας πομποῖσιν, as Creon expresses himself in ll. 164-165. 162-210. Creon's first error is not mere self-will, but an excessive zeal for the honour of the state, to which all private feelings must give way (183-184, 187-190). His spirit of self-assertion is however already felt, esp. in ll. 173, 191, 207-10. And the unconsciousness of one young in power is shown in the self-inculpating words in ll. 175-177. He characteristically dwells on the virtue of loyalty (165-169, 209-210) and the crime of rebellion (199-202): and his passionate nature is betrayed by the exaggerated expression in l. 208. Cp. O. T. 216 ff. and note. The frequent occurrence of the Ist personal pronoun is a significant feature of both these speeches.
162. mvp-comment-101-3 τὰ μὲν δὴ πόλεος As for the state. This form of expression suits the introduction of a subject before the form of sentence is determined. πόλιν, rather than τὰ πόλεος, is the object of σείσαντες and ὤρθωσαν.
162. mvp-comment-101-4 ἀσφαλῶς Unharmed, = ἄνεν τοῦ σφαλῆναι,
163. mvp-comment-102-1 ὥρθωσαν Have righted the vessel of the state.
165-166. mvp-comment-103-1 τὰ Λαΐου. κράτη Knowing that you ever duly reverenced the enthroned authority of Laius. Λαΐου is governed by θρόνων κράτη taken as one word, θρόνων being added to supplement κράτη. σέβοντας and μένοντας, infr. 166, 169, are imperfects = ὅτι ἐσέβετε .. ἐμένετε,
167. mvp-comment-104-1 ὤρθου Kept on a safe course: i. e. Governed prosperously. The word recalls the happiness of the first period of Oedipus' rule. Cp. Plat. Men. P. 99 C, ᾗ οἱ πολιτικοὶ ἄνδρες χρώμενοι τὰς πόλεις ὀρθοῦσιν : Phaedr. 244 B. 168-169. ἀμφὶ .. φρονήμασιν]. Ye still remained loyal to their issue with unshaken minds. ἀμφί, Surrounding, as ready to defend. The apodosis is made to suit the latter protasis, ἐπεὶ διώλετο, and that of the former protasis, ἡνίκ' . . πόλιν (viz. ἐκείνῳ ὁμοίως πειθομένους οι the like), is thus absorbed.
167. mvp-comment-104-2 κείνων . . παῖδας i. e. Sons of Oedipus and grandsons of Laius.
172. mvp-comment-105-1 αὐτόχειρι Fratricidal. See Essay on Language p. 91.
174. mvp-comment-106-1 γένους κατ᾿ ἀγχιστεῖα By privilege of being nearest in kindred (ὡς ἀγχιστεύων) to the dead. Cp. πρωτεία, etc.
175. mvp-comment-107-1 παντὸς ἀνδρός Of any man, and therefore of me.
176. mvp-comment-108-1 ψυχήν. . φρόνημα.. γνώμην As observed in the Essay on Language pp. 91-3, the opposition between these words is chiefly formal. So far as there is any difference between them, ψυχήν is mind, or nature, φρόνημα, spirit, or way of thinking, (cp. infr. 207), and γνώμην, judgment or meaning.
176-177. mvp-comment-109-1 πρὶν ἂν ἀρχαῖς.. φανῇ “Until he be seen in his true colours through being tried in office and administration.' According to the saying of Bias, ἀρχὴ τὸν ἄνδρα δείξει (Arist. Eth. Nic. 5. 1. 16). There is an allusion to the detection of spurious coin through wear. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 390-392, κακοῦ δὲ χαλκοῦ τρόπον | τρίβῳτε καὶ προσβολαῖς | μελαμπαγὴς πέλει | δικαιωθείς (where Herm. says, 'Vereor autem ne non de lapide Lydio loquatur poeta, sed aes adulterinum dicat, quod usu tritum amisso falso splendore cognoscitur'): Hdt. 7. 10, ὥσπερ τὸν χρυσὸν τὸν ἀκήρατον, αὐτὸν μὲν ἐπ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ οὐ διαγινώσκομεν, ἐπεὰν δὲ
178. mvp-comment-110-1 ἐμοὶ γάρ The connection is not strictly logical. γάρ explains not the difficulty of discerning the difference between rulers, but the essential point on which the difference turns. In setting forth this, Creon also declares the spirit of his own policy. He is feeling his way with the elders, of whose submission he is not perfectly sure, and beats about the bush before coming to the point with them. Hence he repeats the same thought in different words.
178-183. mvp-comment-111-1 The sentiment of these lines is closely parallel to Plat. Legg. 9. 856 B, ὃς ἂν ἄγων εἰς ἀρχὴν ἄνθρωπον δουλῶται μὲν τοὺς νόμους, ἑταιρείας δὲ τὴν πόλιν ὑπήκοον ποιῇ, καὶ βιαίως δὲ πᾶν τοῦτο πράττων καὶ στάσιν ἐγείρων παρανομῇ· τοῦτον δὴ διανοεῖσθαι δεῖ πάντων πολεμιώτατον ὅλῃ τῇ πόλει, τὸν δὲ κοινωνοῦντα μὲν τῶν τοιούτων μηδενί, τῶν μεγίστων δὲ μετέχοντα ἀρχῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει, λεληθότα τε ταῦτα αὐτὸν ἢ μὴ λεληθότα, δειλίᾳ δ᾽ ὑπὲρ πατρίδος αὑτοῦ μὴ τιμωρούμενον, δεῖ δεύτερον ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν τοιοῦτον πολίτην κακῇ.
180.
mvp-comment-112-1
ἐγκλείσας Locked up. Cp. Shakespeare, Richard II, 1. 3,
Within my mouth you have engaoled my tongue, | Doubly portcullised with my teeth and lips. Infr. 505, εἰ μὴ γλῶσσαν ἐγκλείσαι φόβος.
182. mvp-comment-113-1 μείζον᾽.. ἀντί Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. Cp. Od. 7. 216, στυγερῇ ἐπὶ γαστέρι κύντερον.
183. mvp-comment-114-1 οὐδαμοῦ λέγω Plat. Gorg. 456 C, οὐδαμοῦ ἂν φανῆναι, supr. 32. 184 ff. Having shown what makes the good and bad ruler, Creon declares his own intentions, first generally, and then (192 ff.) with reference to Eteocles and Polynices. γάρ implies that his opinion will be proved by his acts. In both statements (178-183, 184-190) the stress is laid on the duty of renouncing friendship with the public enemy (182-183, 187-188), which is the ground of the present edict, Polynices being presumably Creon's private friend: supr. 174.
186. mvp-comment-115-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς Menacing my people. Cp. supr. l. 10: Aesch. Prom. 1089-1090, τοιάδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἐμοὶ ῥιπὴ Διόθεν, | τεύχουσα φόβον, στείχει φανερῶς. For the dative, Essay on Language § 12. p. 18.
187. mvp-comment-116-1 δυσμενή χθονός Who is my country's foe. The genitive avoids the awkwardness of two datives, χθονί and ἐμαυτῷ, coming close together.
189-190.
mvp-comment-117-1
She it is who preserves us, and we make friends only while she carries us in the course of public safety; i. e. The friendship that is made against the interest of the state is hollow and insecure. Cp. Thuc. 2. 60: (Pericles loq.) ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι πόλιν πλείω ξύμπασαν ὀρθουμένην ὠφελεῖν τοὺς ἰδιώτας, ἢ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον τῶν πολιτῶν εὐπραγοῦσαν, ἀθρόαν δὲ σφαλλομένην, κ.τ.λ.: Zaleuc. ap. Stob. (Mullach, p. 543), πόλις γὰρ εὖ ἀγομένη μεγίστη ὄρθωσίς ἐστι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πάντα ἔνι, καὶ τούτου σωζομένου πάντα σώζεται καὶ τούτου φθειρομένου πάντα διαφθείρεται: Shakespeare. King John, 3. 1, Pand.
All form is formless, order orderless, | Save what is opposite to England's love. On the change of pronouns (ἥδε.. ταύτης), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 32. The article in τοὺς φίλους points the reference to ll. 182-183.
191. mvp-comment-118-1 τοιοίσδε νόμοισι By such principles as these. Cp. infr. 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;
192. mvp-comment-119-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε i. e. In full accord with them. Cp. Plat. Rep. 4. 421 C, ἆρ᾽ οὖν .. καὶ τὸ τούτου ἀδελφὸν δύξω σοι μετρίως λέγειν; Lys. 2. 64, ἀδελφὰ τὰ βουλεύματα τοῖς ἔργοις : Ο. C. 1262, ἀδελφὰ . . τούτοισιν.
193. mvp-comment-120-1 τῶν ἀπ᾿ Οιδίπου For the pleo- 190 195 200 nastic use of the preposition, see above 150, 182, and notes.
195. mvp-comment-121-1 πάντ᾿ ἀριστεύσας δορί After proving himself in all ways the bravest in the war. For the aor., cp. Hdt. 9. 74, alib.
196. mvp-comment-122-1 τὰ πάντ᾽ ἐφαγνίσαι ‘Το add all sacred offerings.'
199. mvp-comment-123-1 θεοὺς τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς The gods of his race; i. e. Those honoured by the Cadmeans. The gods of the race also include the ancestors of the race. Infr. 938, θεοὶ προγενεῖς.
201. mvp-comment-124-1 πρῆσαι κατάκρας The city (γῆν = πόλιν) is thought of as the main object of the verb.
201. mvp-comment-124-2 ἠθέλησε δ' The correspondence of clauses (with μέν and δέ) is not perfect, the antithesis being due to afterthought.
201. mvp-comment-124-3 αἵματος .. πάσασθαι ‘Το repast him with blood of his own kin.' The expression suits the Epic colouring of the whole speech.
202. mvp-comment-125-1 τοὺς δέ The rest; i. e. Those not slain, as implied in the opposition το αἵματος κοινοῦ πάσασθαι. 203.
202. mvp-comment-125-2 ἐκκεκήρυκται Musgrave's correction has been generally adopted, lopted, and is probably right. The impersonal verb gives absoluteness to the expression. Wolff construes the inf. with λέγω in 198 (deleting the comma after τοῦδε), and Wecklein reads λέγω for τάφῳ. The slight corruption is probably due to a reminiscence of supr. 27.
205. mvp-comment-126-1 δέμας is accusative of limitation, and ἄθαπτον and ἐδεστόν are masculine. To leave him unburied, to have his flesh consumed by birds and dogs.
206. mvp-comment-127-1 αἰκισθέντ᾿ ἰδεῖν A spectacle of indignity. Lit. Outraged to behold. The infinitive is added after the participle, which is masculine.
207. mvp-comment-128-1 Cp. 176, ψυχήν τε καὶ φρόνημα καὶ γνώμην.
209-210. mvp-comment-129-1 θανών | καὶ ζῶν In death as well as in life. The first word is the more emphatic. Essay on Language p. 78.
211-212. mvp-comment-130-1 For the construction of the accusatives τὸν .. δύσνουν. . τὸν εὐμενῆ, after σοὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἀρέσκει as = οὕτω τάσσεις, or the like, cр. О. С. 1120, τέκν᾽ εἰ φανέντ᾽ ἄελπτα μηκύνω λόγον, and see Essay on Language § 16. p. 22. No emendation is necessary.
213. mvp-comment-131-1 παντί πού γ᾽ ἔνεστί σοι γε has been thought a useless insertion, and Dindorf reads πάντι που πάρεστί σοι. But δέ γε is not unsuitable to the connection, introducing the second premiss of an implied argument. The words of the chorus express the barest acquiescence in the will of the ruler. Cp. infr. 509, σοὶ δ᾽ ὑπίλλουσι στόμα. They hide their disapproval, and that is all. Cp. Richard III, 4. 2, 21, Buck. Your grace may do your pleasure.
215. mvp-comment-132-1 ὡς ἂν.. εἰρημένων Sc. οὕτω πράσσετε. The subjunctive with ὡς ἄν follows the implied imperative. Act, then, so as to see my words obeyed. Cp. Ο. Τ. 325, ὡς οὖν μηδ᾽ ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω : Plat. Phaedo 59 Ε, παραγγέλλουσιν, ὅπως ἂν τῇδε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τελευτήσῃ. The ellipse is idiomatic. It is not to be supposed either that Creon hesitates, or that the elders interrupt him.
218. mvp-comment-133-1 τί.. ἔτι 'What means then this charge further given by you to another?' τοῦτο, cogn. acc. = σκοποὶ εἶναι τῶν εἰρημένων : τί, suppl. predic. = With what meaning?' To what effect? ἄλλῳ = to another than the appointed guards. ἄλλο gives a poorer sense, What then is this other thing which you enjoin besides?
220. mvp-comment-134-1 ὃς .. ἐρᾷ As to be in love with death. For the irregular correlative (οὕτω .. ὅς), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 36. There is a confusion of οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐρᾷ and οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτω μῶρος ὥστε ἐρᾶν.
222. mvp-comment-135-1 The emphatic position of ἄνδρας at the beginning of the line shows that the word is intended to mark Creon's unconsciousness of the real source of danger. So infr. 1. 248. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1110: O. T. 928, al. So ὑπ᾿ ἐλπίδων shows how incapable he is of divining the motive of Antigone.
223-330. mvp-comment-136-1 The half-comic or rustic character of the watchman in this play is an extension of the common character of the messenger, whose natural rudeness of speech and thought brings into greater prominence the horror or pathos of the events he describes. The grotesqueness disappears when he speaks of the action of Antigone in 407-440. The employment of this artifice by Sophocles arises from the same motive to which Shakespeare gave a far wider range in such creations as the gravediggers in Hamlet, and the rural fellow in Antony and Cleopatra. The Messenger in the Trachiniae, the Corinthian in the Oedipus Tyrannus, Menelaus in the Ajax, the pretended Shipmaster in the Philoctetes, afford the same sort of contrast to the more tragic personages: and the superstition of the Coloniatae may be compared with the cowardice of the Phrygian slave in the Orestes of Euripides.
223-330.
mvp-comment-136-2
The vulgarity of the common-place Athenian of the fifth century в.с. takes the form of misplaced subtlety of wit. Cp.
Shak. Hamlet, 5. 1
,
We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. The age is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe.
223-224. mvp-comment-137-1 I am out of breath, but not with speed. It is not that I ran nimbly hither. Aristotle, Rhet. 3. 14. § 10, quotes 223 thus, Ἄναξ, ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ ὅπως σπουδῆς ὕπο.., adding, as if from the reply of Creon, τί φροιμιάζῃ; But it is as unsafe to follow his authority in this line, as it would be to substitute τί φροιμιάζῃ for εὖ γε στοχάζει in l. 241. It is evident that he is quoting from memory: and, although it is curious that the Scholiast uses the same word in his explanation, οὐ τοῦτο λέγω, ὅτι μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀσθμαίνων πρὸς σὲ πορεύομαι, yet this does not amount to a proof that this is the right reading. σπουδῆς may be the word which would be more naturally used in prose, but it is less pointed than τάχους in this connection. κοῦφον ἐξάρας πόδα is added in explanation of τάχους ὕπο. ἐξάρας, having set forth from the point of departure, like αἴρειν στόλον.
225. mvp-comment-138-1 For I had many stoppages by reason of thoughts, i. e. My thoughts cried halt to me (ἐπέστησάν με) again and again. Cp. Αj. 869, κοὐδεὶς ἐφίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν τόπος. The genitive φροντίδων is part causal, My thoughts checked me,' and part final, I stopped to think.
226. mvp-comment-139-1 ὁδοῖς As I came. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20. Ср. О. С. 553, ὁδοῖς ἐν ταῖσδ᾽ ἀκούων. Hearing of you on your coming hither.
227. mvp-comment-140-1 This mockery of dialectic is curiously significant of the earlier stage of rhetoric.
229. mvp-comment-141-1 κεἰ has the authority of the oldest MS. The reading of Par. A, καὶ .. ἀνδρός, has a certain liveliness, but is perhaps too abrupt.
231. mvp-comment-142-1 τοιαῦθ᾽ ἑλίσσων Turning round and round such thoughts as these. Cp. Plat. Phil. 19 (of the boyish dialectician), πάντα κινεῖ λόγον ἄσμενος, τότε μὲν ἐπὶ θάτερα κυκλῶν καὶ συμφορῶν εἰς ἕν, τότε δὲ πάλιν ἀνειλίττων καὶ διαμερίζων.
231. mvp-comment-142-2 σπουδῇ βραδύς The reading of L, σχολῇ βραδύς, Slowly because I stopped, is not pointed enough, and it seems probable that an oxymoron is intended in this as in the following line. The correction adopted by the Scholiast, σχολῇ ταχύς, secures this in rather an awkward way. That of Seyffert, which is here adopted (for the collocation of words, cp. the proverb σπεῦδε βραδέως), appears far more probable.
234. mvp-comment-143-1 This line was well explained by Dindorf in 1860: Dicturus erat σοὶ φράσοντα, sed propter verba interposita, κεί τὸ μηδὲν ἐξερῶ, mutata orationis forma infert φράσω δ ὅμως cum δε particula, ut Oed. T. 302, πόλιν μέν, εἰ καὶ μὴ βλέπεις, φρονεῖς δ' ὅμως | οἷᾳ νόσῳ σύνεστιν.' Essay on Language § 35. p. 59.
234. mvp-comment-143-2 τὸ μηδέν ῾Α vain report,' because the doer of the deed was still unknown.
235. mvp-comment-144-1 τῆς has the emphatic force of an antecedent: This hope, that ... δεδραγμένος] This reading is implied in the second scholium on the passage, ἀντειλημμένος τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐλήλυθα, and appears in the text of E and V³. (whence Aldus had it), and as a marginal reading of Aug. b. and of V¹. Clinging fast by the hope, is a natural and forcible expression, well suited to the style of the Φύλαξ : whereas ἐλπίδος πεφραγμένος or πεφαργμένοs, whether in the sense of Shut out from hope,' or Fortified by the hope, is not really admissible.
236. mvp-comment-145-1 That I cannot suffer anything but what is fated for me. Cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 263, πείσομαι τὸ μόρσιμον.
238. mvp-comment-146-1 τὸ γάρ For the light ending, cp infr. 327, 409, Ο. Τ. 553-554. τὸ δὲ | πάθημ᾽ ὁποῖον φῇς παθεῖν δίδασκέ με, ib. 995-996, 1056-1057.
239. mvp-comment-147-1 ὅστις ἦν ὁ δρῶν i. e. τὸν δρῶντα, ὅστις ἦν, The unknown doer of the deed.
241-242. mvp-comment-148-1 (1) You aim carefully, and fence the business off from yourself all round. Some editors read τί φροιμιάζει; from Ar. Rhet. 3. 14, § 10, quoted above. But though the Scholiast of the Rhetoric says τὸ δὲ τί φροιμιάζῃ τοῦ Κρέοντός ἐστι λέγοντος, it is much more probable that the words are a separate quotation from Eur. I. T. 1162. See Cope's edition of Ar. Rhet. vol. 3. p. 175. Others explain the text (2), You lay the ground carefully and hedge your approaches closely round, as if in preparing a stance to watch for game. According to Pollux, 5, 36, στοχασμός, στοχάς, and στόχος, were terms used in describing the setting of a hunting-net: καλεῖται δ᾽ αὐτῶν (τῶν ἀρκύων) ἡ στάσις, στοιχισμός, στοίχος, στόχος, στοχὰς καὶ στοχασμός· στοχὰς δὲ καλεῖται καὶ χειροποιητά τινα οἰκοδομήματα ἐκ λίθων, ἢ ὕλης ὑπὲρ τὴν γῆν ἀναστήματα, κατὰ χρείαν τῆς τῶν δικτύων ἐξ ἴσου στάσεως, εἴ τι κοῖλον εἴη περὶ τὸ ἀρκύστατον.
243. mvp-comment-149-1 τὰ δεινὰ .. πολύν The reply, as often elsewhere, refers to the first part of the previous speech. Cp. O. Т. 361. The frigid tautology belongs to the character of the Φύλαξ.
244. mvp-comment-150-1 εἰτ᾿ ἀπαλλαχθεὶς ἄπει And be off with you. The Scholiast acutely remarks that these impatient words are intended to hold out the hope of impunity, which is withdrawn again in the angry threats of ll. 305, foll.
246. mvp-comment-151-1 Some one has buried the corpse and has disappeared, after not only sprinkling dry dust upon the flesh, but adding all due rites. This last refers to the libation. Cp. supr. 196-197: infr. 430-431. The surprise was increased by observing the completeness of the act. There is a stress on the participles. Essay on Language p. 75 β, 94, 4.
248. mvp-comment-152-1 τίς ἀνδρῶν Cp. supra 222, and note.
249. mvp-comment-153-1 οὔτε .. ἐκβολή No dint of pick-axe, nor earth turned up with hoe.'
250. mvp-comment-154-1 στύφλος .. καὶ χέρσος Hard and bare. χέρσος γῆ is untilled land, and so here, Undisturbed by implements of husbandry. Cp. infr. 773, 1197.
251. mvp-comment-155-1 ἀρρώξ .. τροχοῖσιν Unbroken, and with no mark of wheels. ἐπημαξευμένη τροχοῖσιν] Lit. Carted over with wheels.' Essay on Language p. 88, note.
252. mvp-comment-156-1 ἀλλ'.. ἦν But whoever did it was one who left no trace.
253. mvp-comment-157-1 ὁ πρῶτος .. ἡμεροσκόπος Our first look-out-man for the day. ἡμεροσκόπος in Xen. Hell. 1. 1. 2, is a watchman who stands at his post at daybreak. Cp. ἡμεροφύλαξ, ib. 7. 2. 6, 7. Antigone's act preceded the setting of this watch.
254. mvp-comment-158-1 θαῦμα δυσχερές Α sight of wonder and dismay.
255.
mvp-comment-159-1
τυμβήρης.. κόνις
Not covered with a mound, but sprinkled with dust as by one avoiding pollution. Hor. Od. 1. 28,
Debita jura vicesque superbae | Te maneant ipsum: precibus ibus non linquar inultis | Teque piacula nulla resolvent. | Quamquam festinas, non est mora longa, licebit | Injecto ter pulvere curras. For the gen., cp. Tr. 768.
255. mvp-comment-159-2 τυμβήρης For this use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.
258. mvp-comment-160-1 οὐ σπάσαντος Cp. Aesch. Prom. 451, οὔτε.. δόμους.. οὐ ξυλουργίαν.
259. mvp-comment-161-1 ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν Sc. τοῖς φύλαξιν. Words of abuse were loudly bandied to and fro. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 200, στάσις δ᾽ ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν ὠροθύνετο, sc.
259. mvp-comment-161-2 τοῖς δαίμοσιν.
260. mvp-comment-162-1 φύλαξ ἐλέγχων φύλακα On the nominative out of construction in the clause in apposition, see Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. § 15. p. 21.
260. mvp-comment-162-2 κἂν ἐγίγνετο And it was threatening to come to blows at last. The combination of the imperfect with av here is peculiar, having a force intermediate between ἐγίγνετο and ἐγένετο ἄv; i. e. it was coming to this, that we should have come to blows.
262-263. mvp-comment-163-1 The subtlety of the Φύλαξ deserts him in attempting to express his meaning. The perpetrator was every one and no one of us all every one in vague suspicion, and no one evidently: he escaped being known.' τις gives the indefiniteness required by the sense, = πως.
263.
mvp-comment-164-1
ἀλλ᾽ ἔφευγε *μὴ εἰδέναι (1) But he (the perpetrator) always escaped, so that we could not know him. Böckh and Donaldson read as in the text, interpreting (2) Every man' (πᾶς implied in οὐδείς, the affirmative elicited from the negative)
defended himself by pleading ignorance of the matter. For φεύγειν, * to urge a defensive plea,' cp. Aesch. Suppl. 390, and for the plea, μὴ εἰδέναι, Plat. Legg. 11. 936 E. But the plea of ignorance, although suitable in l. 266, is too special for this place, wherethe non-appearance of the criminal alone is in question. The meaning given above (1) is the same as that required by Hermann (see below), but is more simply expressed by the epexegesis, and the imperfect tense expresses the frustration of continued search. This interpretation involves a rare use of φεύγω, which is, however, analogous to a meaning of ἐκφεύγω that is not uncommon. Cp. Ο. Τ. 111, ἐκφεύγει δὲ τἀμελούμενον : Plat. Phil. 17, τὰ δὲ μέσα αὐτοὺς ἐκφεύγει. Other emendations are ἔφυγε τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι (Porson), explained by Erfurdt to mean
amoliens a se accusationem scire sese negaverat ; ἔφυγε τῷ μὴ εἰδέναι (Herm. 1839),
effugit, eo quod nesciebamus; ἔφευγε πᾶς τὸ μή,
every man pled Not guilty. (Dind.). 264-265. There are few traces of anything corresponding to the trial by ordeal in ancient times. Brunck quotes Virg. Aen. 11. 787,
Et medium freti pietate per ignem | Cultores multa premimus vestigia prima. It seems to have existed in different places as a popular belief, but nowhere to have received positive legal sanction. For a trace of trial by combat' (in Scythia), see Hdt. 4. 180. Cp. also Ar. Lys. 133.
269.
mvp-comment-165-1
His verbis et sequentibus significatur terror quem Creontis auctoritas custodibus incutit. (Dind.).
269. mvp-comment-165-2 λέγει, κ.τ.λ. The sense is interrupted by the relative clause, but resumed in the words ἦν δ᾽ ὁ μῦθος in l. 272. For τις εἷς, cp. Thuc. 6. 61, καί τινα μίαν νύκτα, κ.τ.λ. The emphatic use of little words shows the common mind; cp. infr. 404, ὃν σὺ τὸν νέκυν, κ.τ.λ. Wolff and Weckl. join els with what follows: but the antithesis of eἷς πάντας is too pointless here. Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 496 D, εἰς πᾶσιν ἀγρίοις ἀντέχειν.
274-275. mvp-comment-166-1 κἀμὲ.. λαβεῖν And the lot devotes me, wretched man, to be the recipient of this piece of luck. καθαιρεῖ is used much as in ἡ καθαιροῦσα ψῆφος, not by an extension of the technical sense, but with the same general mean- ing of Fastening upon, Bringing down, Overtaking and subduing.
279. mvp-comment-167-1 *1 This is Nauck's emendation for ἡ. It involves a very slight change, and is extremely probable. Reflection suggests the fear that' (not 'the question whether') this may be some visitation from the gods. The conscience of the elders, which was stifled at first, begins to awaken in the presence of the mysterious fact. For the pause after the 2nd iambus, here and supr. 269, cp. Aj. 340, 342, 719, 791, 803, 988, 1050, 1077, 1140, 1332.
280. mvp-comment-168-1 Cease, ere you have quite filled me with wrath. καί, which is combined with πρίν, according to the common idiom (πρὶν καὶ..), is slightly displaced so as to emphasize the phrase ἐμὲ μεστῶσαι. The language is made clearer by the emendation καί με, but the emphatic ἐμέ is more suitable in the mouth of Creon. Cp. Phil. 1042.
281. mvp-comment-169-1 ἄνους τε καὶ γέρων Cp. О. С. 930-931, καί σ᾽ ὁ πληθύων χρόνος | γέρονθ' ὁμοῦ τίθησι καὶ τοῦ νοῦ κενόν. See Essay on Language § 41. p. 78. 285-286. Who came to burn their pillared shrines and offerings, and to break in pieces their land and laws. It seems more likely that the ἀναθήματα are joined in one expression with ναούς than with γῆν and νόμους, which are in a different category.
289-290. mvp-comment-170-1 ἀλλὰ ταῦτα.. ἐμοί But this explains the murmurs I have long been hearing from men in the city against me;' i. e. Those murmurs have become explicit in this act. Οη ταῦτα, see Essay on Language § 17. p. 25; and for the dative ἐμοί, at me, ib. § 12. p. 18. μόλις φέροντες, which some have connected with ταῦτα (ταῦτα μόλις φέροντες, 'Bearing my edict ill'), seems to be used absolutely, sc. τὸ ἐμὸν ζυγόν, with an allusion to the metaphor in what follows. Cp. Thuc. 5. 80, θυμῷ ἔφερον, sc. τὸν πόλεμον ἢ τὰ πράγματα.
291. mvp-comment-171-1 'Covertly shaking the head,' like an animal preparing to throw off the yoke.
292. mvp-comment-172-1 δικαίως Rightly; i. e. As I had a right to expect that they should.
292. mvp-comment-172-2 ὡς στέργειν ἐμέ So as to accept my sway. To this it has been objected that στέργω implies affectionate allegiance. But this notion, although inherent in the etymology of the word, is dropped in use. Cp. Phil. 538, ἐγὼ δ' ἀνάγκῃ προὔμαθον στέργειν κακά : Aesch. Prom. 11, τὴν Δίος τυραννίδα | στέργειν. What hope was there that Prometheus would be made loyal by loyal torments? The other interpretation, So that I should be content (cp. Phil. 458, τούτους ἐγὼ τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ στέρξω ποτέ), would give but feeble expression to the self-will of Creon. The substitution for these words of εὐλόφως φέρειν from the citation of Eustathius, with the further change of νῶτον for λόφον, is rightly rejected by Dind., who points out that Eustathius, probably quoting from memory, has confused this passage with one of Lycophron.
293. mvp-comment-173-1 ἐκ τῶνδε By these malcontents. Supr. 290.
293. mvp-comment-173-2 τούτους (1) These guards. Infr. ll. 304 ff., supr. 260 ff.: or (2) simply τοὺς εἰργασμένους. The whole of this picture of discontent is the creation of Creon's anger from the hesitation of the chorus when told to see to the execution of the decree. Supr. 215 ff.
294. mvp-comment-174-1 There is a stress on μισθοῖσιν, preparing for what follows.
296. mvp-comment-175-1 νόμισμα, usually = Current coin, is here used in the more general sense which includes this. No such pestilent usance as money is, ever sprang up amongst mankind.
298. mvp-comment-176-1 The object of ἐκδιδάσκει, SC.
298. mvp-comment-176-2 χρηστοὺς αἰσχρά, is absorbed in the expansion of the sentence.
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.
303. mvp-comment-180-1 He implies, This cannot be their first act of disloyalty.' The unity of time is not to be pressed in the Antigone: see below, 11. 1064 ff. Else this suspicion of inveterate disaffection, against one who has reigned only for a few hours, would be too extravagant. The elders were selected for their loyalty. supr. 165 ff.
308-311. mvp-comment-181-1 οὐχ ὑμὶν ῞Αιδης.. ἁρπάζητε] Death shall not alone suffice for you, but first you shall be hung up alive to show the heinousness of this offence, that for the future, in your wrongful gettings, you may know better where to look for gain. See Essay on Language § 37. p. 64. There is a confusion of two constructions: (1) οὐχ ὑμὶν ῞Αιδης ἀρκέσει, τo which μοῦνος is added for emphasis, i. e. οὐ θανεῖσθε μόνον: and (2) οὐ θανεῖσθε πρίν, κ.τ.λ. Cp. 1064 ff., and see Aj. 106 ff., θανεῖν γὰρ αὐτὸν οὐτί πω θέλω, κ.τ.λ. The Φύλαξ is to take this message to his fellows.
313-314. mvp-comment-182-1 The sentence is redundant, either the article or ἢ σεσωσμένους being unnecessary. Weckl. reads σεσωμένους. For the article, cp. Eur. Phoen. 606, τοῦ μέρους ἔχων τὸ πλεῖον,
315. mvp-comment-183-1 εἰπεῖν τι δέ (v. rr.) is unmeaning. τι as in θέλεις τι μεῖζον, infr. 497.
316. mvp-comment-184-1 καὶ νῦν with λέγεις.
317. mvp-comment-185-1 δάκνει; (1) Act. impersonal. Is the smart in your ears or in your mind? Cp Hdt. 7. 16. Or (2) 2nd pers. pass. Are you stung? (2) agrees better with τὴν ἐμὴν λ. in the following line.
318. mvp-comment-186-1 τί δαί; though not found elsewhere in Sophocles or Aeschylus, may be admitted on the authority uthority of of the MS, where it is so obviously in keeping. Cp. ὦ τἂν in Ο. Τ. 1145, Phil. 1387.
318. mvp-comment-186-2 ῥυθμίζεις .. ὅπου; Do you scan the whereabouts of my annoyance?
320. mvp-comment-187-1 λάλημα The reading is doubtful between ἄλημα, A clever rogue, and λάλημα, Α prating fellow. ἄλημα is better known, and was read by the Scholiast, but λάλημα is sufficiently supported by Eur. Andromache 937, τούσδε Σειρήνων λόγους, | σοφῶν, πανούργων, ποικίλων λαλημάτων. And this word τίνεσθαι. fits more closely to the context of the present passage. 'Fie, tis too clear you are a born chatterbox. Then it is clear that I never did this deed. 323. What a pity that one who is opinionated should have a false opinion. For the subjunctive δοκῇ, cp. О. Т. 316, 317.
324. mvp-comment-188-1 κόμψευε . . δόξαν 'Ay do, refine now on the word "opinion."" This does not seem to be one of the cases where viv with the imperative mood should be changed to vuv, as there is a sufficient reason for the emphatic particle.
325. mvp-comment-189-1 ἐξερεῖτε You shall tell the world. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 2. 22, Ιξίονα φαντὶ ταῦτα βροτοῖς λέγειν ἐν πτερόεντι τροχῷ .. τὸν εὐεργέταν ἀγαναῖς ἀμοιβαῖς 332 ff. The chorus, in their first stasimon, express, in a veiled manner, their emotions at what has occurred. Not being able to say what they really think, that Creon's rash edict has already recoiled on his own family, they descant on the wonderful range of human enterprize, adding that where boldness and resource are combined with justice, they confer glory, but only bring ruin where they are subservient to wrong. The elders do not decide who in the present instance is the transgressor. The ode consists of two strophes and antistrophes, in which glyconic rhythms are mixed with lyrical dactyls, iambi, and trochees, in different proportions, the scheme being as follows:- ICC CC CI CICIC α'. } Iamb. Dact. Troch. Glycon. The two long syllables at the beginning of l. 8 of a form the transition from the dactyls to the trochees. There is a sensible change to a lighter and less simple movement at the beginning of β'. The resolved trochees in B' 5 mark a climax of feeling.
332-383. mvp-comment-190-1 Most wonderful of wondrous things is man, Who traverses the surging brine, And wearies mighty earth with yearly furrow. His craft ensnares the finny produce of the seas And taketh captive beast and bird. He compasseth a way to master the monster of the wilds, And brings under his yoke the horse with flowing mane And the never-wearied mountain bull. Selftaught in speech and thought and civil ways, And in providing shelter from the cold and rain, There is no end to his devices. Nothing but death ever finds him unprepared. Even diseases, not to be avoided, are escaped by him. Inventive beyond hope, he moveth now to evil, and again to good. When weaving with his wit the law of justice and piety He is exalted in the city, but outcast when he harbours wickedness for deeds of crime. May I never live with such an one, and may he never share my counsels. 332. Aesch. Cho. 585, πολλὰ μὲν γὰ τρέφει δεινὰ δειμάτων ἄχη,.. ἀλλ᾽ ὑπέρτολμον ἀνδρὸς φρόνημα τίς λέγοι; Troch. Iamb. Troch.
332-383. mvp-comment-190-2 δεινά = ' wonderful,' or mighty, is in transition from the earlier sense of fearful to the later sense of clever. Cp.
332-383. mvp-comment-190-3 ὀλοόφρων.
334. mvp-comment-191-1 τοῦτο This creature, man. The neuter continues the abstract notion from οὐδὲν .. δεινότερον, and is thus more impressive than the masculine would have been.
334. mvp-comment-191-2 πέραν Το the other side of.' Quite over. For the alliteration, which assists the emphasis, cp. El. 210.
335. mvp-comment-192-1 χειμερίῳ νότῳ Impelled by the stormy south-wind. Dative of cause. Essay on Language § 14. p. 21. 335-336. Traversing half-buried in the seething surge. For ὑπό with the dative in this sense, cp. О. С. 673, χλωραῖς ὑπὸ βάσσαις. Essay on Language § 19. p. 27.
336. mvp-comment-193-1 περιβρύχιος is probably active = Surging round, and contains an allusion to βρύχω, for which, cp. Aesch. Prom. 1082, βρυχία δ᾽ ἠχὼ παραμυκᾶται βροντής.
338. mvp-comment-194-1 ὑπερτάταν Supreme, as eldest and mother ofall. Solon, Fr. 36. 3, μεγίστη δαιμόνων Ὀλυμπίων | Γῆ. Cр. О. Т. 660, where the primacy for the occasion is similarly given to the sun. Schneidewin remarks that the assonance ἄφθιτον, ἀκαμάταν ἀποτρύεται, .. ἀρότρων helps to express the persistent industry of man. This ode is full of assonance and alliteration, and of correspondences such as ἀνεμόεν, μαχανόεν-παντόπορος, ἄπορος -ὑψίπολις, ἄπολις.
339. mvp-comment-195-1 ἀποτρύεται Wears out for his use (mid.) the still-unwearied Earth. The present implies that the process is never-ending. Even in the common operations of husbandry the old religion finds a ground for awe. The dactyls suit the thought of the continuous round of human labour, as those of the antistrophe express the movement of the steed. The two long syllables, ἱππει-, οὐρει-, at once check the flow of rhythm (as with a renewed feeling of wonder), and by their weight give impetus to the concluding trochees. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1039-1040, 1063.4.
340. mvp-comment-196-1 ἰλλομένων ἀρότρων As the ploughs keep turning year after year. The force of ἴλλω is limited motion. Thus the shuttle might be said ἴλλεσθαι, because when it reaches either end of the loom it is driven back again. Precisely in the same way the ploughs are said ἴλλεσθαι, “To keep moving to and fro within certain bounds.' ἔτος εἰς ἔτος] i. e. δι' ἔτους εἰς ἔτος, "Through one year into the next,' the first ἔτος being the accusative of duration.
340. mvp-comment-196-2 ἱππείῳ γένει πολεύων Breaking the glebe by the strength of mules. πολεύειν = πολεῖν in Hes. Op. 460, ἔαρι πολεῖν· θέρεος δὲ νεωμένη οὔ σ᾽ ἀπατή- The masc. is more probable than the neuter, both because τοῦτο is re- σει. mote, and because ἀνήρ follows in the antistrophe.
340.
mvp-comment-196-3
ἱππείῳ γένει i. e.
Prole equarum. Schol. ταῖς ἡμιόνοις.
αἱ γάρ τε βοῶν προφερέστεραί εἰσιν ἐλκέμεναι νείοιο βαθείης πηκτὸν ἄροτρον. Hom. Il. 10.352. Donaldson also compares Simon. Fr. 13 (Bergk.), χαίρετ' ἀελλοπόδων θύγατρες ἵππων.
343. mvp-comment-197-1 *κουφονόων Light-thoughted. This is Brunck's certain emendation, anticipated by the corrector of R. (Cp. v. rr. on l. 617.) Donaldson well says that as wings express the light-mindedness of light-mindedness is here made an epithet of the winged birds. But the word may further suggest the unsuspicious nature ('Despising the earth where cares abound') which makes them an easy prey. Cp. Plat. Tim. 91 D, τὸ δὲ τῶν ὀρνέων φῦλον . . ἐκ τῶν ἀκάκων ἀνδρῶν, κούφων δέ, κ.τ.λ.
345. mvp-comment-198-1 πόντου τ᾽ εἰναλίαν φύσιν The brood of ocean teeming in the seas. For φύσιν, see Essay on Language § 51. p. 96.
346. mvp-comment-199-1 σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις With meshy toils,' is to be joined with ἀμφιβαλὼν ἄγει. Nets (δίκτυα) were used in hunting and fowling, as well as in fishing. For ἄγειν in the sense of making captive, cp. Il. 9. 594, τέκνα δέ τ᾽ ἄλλοι ἄγουσι βαθυζώνους τε γυναῖκας.
346. mvp-comment-199-2 ἄγει suits well with the image of a captive enemy, which is kept up in the words φύλον and ἔθνη.
348. mvp-comment-200-1 περιφραδής By his excellent wit. The 1st strophe exhibits the boldness, the Ist antistrophe the cunning, of primitive man. The 2nd strophe and antistrophe describe the higher functions of civilized life. 349 ff. He not only subdues the animals, but makes them his servants.' In correcting this line, the dactylic metre is to be retained, which is hardly done in the conjj. ἀμφιλόφῳ ζυγῷ or ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγοῖ. The words ἀμφίλοφον ζυγόν are sound both in meaning and rhythm. Brunck's conj. ὑπάξεται, supplying the preposition required by the Scholia, would be unexceptionable, if such a potential use of the future in an affirmative sentence could be defended. Blaydes' ὑπήγαγεν would be convincing if closer to the MSS. In favour of ἐπάξεται it may be urged that the repetition of the same word is in the manner of the ode, and that the figurative expression, he shall bring to his aid,' agrees with ἄγει, supr. 343. But besides the questionable future, the construction of the 2nd accus., sc. ἐπ᾿ ἀμφ. ζυγόν, is in this case dubious. ὑφέλκεται. . ζυγόν, compels to serve him in the yoke, may be suggested, although the verb ὑφέλκειν is not used elsewhere precisely in the sense required. Else qy. ἐφέλκεται?
352. mvp-comment-201-1 ἀκμῆτα is preferable to ἀδμῆτα, as the rarer word and as introducing a new and apposite idea. 353 ff. There is a natural progress in the thought. First, navigation and agriculture were mentioned as the arts of subduing the crude forces of nature; then the capture and domestication of animals. Now we come to the humanities and arts of life (the domestication of man himself), and lastly, in ἀντ. β', to moral or political good and evil.
354. mvp-comment-202-1 ἀνεμόεν φρόνημα Windswift thought; i. e. Thought which is viewless, free and nimble as the wind. Sophocles knew that the soul had been identified with the air. Cp. Plat. Phaedo, 96 Β, πότερον τὸ αἷμά ἐστιν ᾧ φρονοῦμεν, ἢ ὁ ἀήρ. ἢ τὸ πῦρ, κ.τ.λ. Schneidewin well compares Hom. Il. 15. 80, foll., ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἀΐξῃ νόος ἀνέρος, ὅς τ᾽ ἐπὶ πολλὴν | γαῖαν ἐληλουθὼς φρεσὶ πευκαλίμῃσι νοήσῃ | · ἔνθ εἴην ἢ ἔνθα, μενοινήπολλὰ | ὡς κραιπνῶς μεμανία διέπτατο πότνια Ἥρη. Wieseler's conj.
354. mvp-comment-202-2 κατ᾿ ἀν. φρ., adopted by Wolff, is surely unnecessary. Why should not man teach himself to think as well as to count? (See Plat. Rep. 7, p. 522.)
355-356. mvp-comment-203-1 ἀστυνόμους | ὀργάς is well explained by Seyffert, Urbium incolendarum studia. The disposition to inhabit cities. This seems more probable than The tempers of civic life. ἀστυνόμος ὀργή is the social impulse which draws men together to become inhabitants of the same town. comparison of Ar. Pol. 6. 8. 4, (ἑτέρα δ᾽ ἐπιμέλεια ταύτης ἐχομένη καὶ σύνεγγυς ἡ τῶν περὶ τὸ ἄστυ δημοσίων καὶ ἰδίων, ὅπως εὐκοσμία ῃ, καὶ τῶν πιπτόντων οἰκοδομημάτων καὶ ὁδῶν σωτηρία καὶ διόρθωσις, καὶ τῶν ὁρίων τῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅπως ἀνεγκλήτως ἔχωσι, καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ἄλλα τῆς ἐπιμελείας ὁμοιότροπα, καλοῦσι δ' ἀστυνομίαν οἱ πλεῖστοι τὴν τοιαύτην ἀρχήν), suggests the conjecture ἀστυνόμους ἀρχάς (already made by Valckenaer), Administrative rule. V reads ὁρμάς, ср. О. Т. 337. Qy. ἀρετάς? Ср. 366. 355, foll. And to avoid the cleareyed influence of comfortless frosts, and the pelting of the pitiless rain.' διαίθρεια, sc. βέλη.
356. mvp-comment-204-1 ἐδιδάξατο He taught himself. For the directly reflexive middle, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 52. The origin of the arts was a favourite problem of the Sophists. Cp. Plato, Prot. 320 D, foll. It is here assumed that they were selftaught without Prometheus or other superhuman aid.
357. mvp-comment-205-1 Musgr. would read either διαίθρεια, or αἴθρεια with φρουρῶν for παρειρῶν in l. 367. G. Wolff reads αἴθρεια and πληρῶν. But the repetition of in ll. 3, 4, and 6 suits the composition of the strophe better than the introduction of the bacchius and cretic in l. 3. διαίθρεια, serene, while keeping up the alliteration, suits the context better than ὑπαίθρεια or ἐναίθρεια, in the open air. Join *διαίθρεια βέλη as well as δύσομβρα βέλη.
360. mvp-comment-206-1 παντοπόρος· ἄπορος This punctuation is justified by the corresponding line of the antistrophe, which cannot be pointed otherwise. παντοπόρος, sc. ὤν, is added, like περιφραδής ἀνήρ, supr. 347, to express the admiration excited by the preceding statements.
360-361. mvp-comment-207-1 οὐδὲν . . τὸ μέλλον] Cp. l. 728, μηδὲν τὸ μὴ δίκαιον. Essay on Language § 22. p. 36.
362. mvp-comment-208-1 οὐκ ἐπάξεται He shall not win. For a similar metaphorical use of ἐπάγεσθαι, where, however, the reading has also been questioned, cp. Thuc. 3.10, τὴν τῶν ξυμμάχων δούλωσιν ἐπαγομένους.
364. mvp-comment-209-1 νόσων δ᾽ ἀμηχάνων φυγὰς | ξυμπέφρασται He hath gathered to him by his thought a remedy for many an unavoidable disease. ξυμ- marks that the healing art is a collective monument of human skill. πέφρασται recalls the notion of περιφραδής, supr. 347. For the oxymoron, cp. supr. 340, ἀκαμάταν ἀποτρύεται.
365-366. mvp-comment-210-1 His power of artful contrivance is a miracle of unimaginable skill, wherewith he followeth one while an evil purpose, at other times a good one.' τέχνας is added as genitive of respect to complete the notion of τὸ μηχανόεν. ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα, beyond what could have been hoped for, or expected before the event. τι marks the indefiniteness of σοφόν as the predicate. It is in agreement with σοφόν, but has the effect of a particle or adverb (πως).
366. mvp-comment-211-1 κακόν, . . ἐπ᾿ ἐσθλόν Cp. О. Т. 761, ἀγρούς σφε πέμψαι κἀπὶ ποιμνίων νομάς.
367. mvp-comment-212-1 νόμους παρείρων χθονός When he knits therewith, sc. τῷ μηχανόεντι τῆς τέχνης καὶ σοφῷ, the laws of his land and the oath-observing righteousness of heaven. It is objected to παρείρων that it elsewhere means Inserting incidentally, or by the way, and that such a meaning is unsuitable here. But, as Seyffert has already shown, the word (which is a rare one) may quite well mean Weaving in,' like gold-leaf, for instance, into a chaplet of flowers. Cp. Plat. Legg. 605 D, καὶ τὸν τοῦ Κύρου δασμὸν ὃν ὑπέσχετο Πέρσαις εἰς τὸν νόμον ἐνέδει. Conjectural emendations are γεραίρων, περαίνων, γὰρ αἴρων, τ᾿ ἀείρων, πληρῶν (see v. rr., and note on 357).
370. mvp-comment-213-1 ὑψίπολις For this compound, cp. ἡδύπολις, ὀρθόπολις, μεγιστόπολις, δικαιόπολις. The construction is elliptical, sc. ὑψίπολις ὧν or ἐστί.
370. mvp-comment-213-2 ἄπολις . . χάριν] He is outcast from the state, who harbours evil for the indulgence of crime. Cp. supr. l. 30, πρὸς χάριν βορâs: Plat. Phaedr. 241, χάριν πλησμονῆς. This is better than joining τόλμας χάριν with ἄπολις = He is an outcast for his boldness.
375. mvp-comment-214-1 ἴσον φρονῶν i. e. Of the same party in the state. For the expression, cp. Il. 15.50, ἶσον ἐμοὶ φρονέουσα.
376-378. mvp-comment-215-1 ἐς δαιμόνιον τέρας .. Ἀντιγόνην] I stand in doubt at this strange marvel, how to gainsay what I know, and say that this is not the maid Antigone. The resumption is suitable to the chorus' perturbed state of feeling. Seyffert's ἐς δαιμόνιον τέρας ἀμφινοῶν τότε, referring to the previous scene (1. 278), is without the directness and simplicity of these short anapaestic passages, in which the chorus announce the entrance of a new person on the stage. Cp. 526 ff., 626 ff.
378. mvp-comment-216-1 οὐκ εἶναι, not μὴ εἶναι, because the entrance of Antigone is a patent fact.
382. mvp-comment-217-1 *ἀπάγουσι Sc. εἰς κρίσιν.
385. mvp-comment-218-1 εἵλομεν The v. r. εἴδομεν is supported by infr. 404, 406, 423, and εἴλομεν, the reading of L, etc., may have been occasioned by καθελόντες in the nearer context. But see v. rr. on 655.
386. mvp-comment-219-1 ἐς δέον Cp. Ο. Τ. 1416, εἰς δέον πάρεστι. εἰς μέσον, which Seyffert has restored from L, although having the authority of the chief MS, is more like a MS. conjecture than eἰς δέον. The same may be said of ἐξέβην, as compared with προὔβην. Seyffert reads ξύμμετρ᾽ ἐξέβην τύχῃ.
388. mvp-comment-220-1 οὐδέν ἐστ᾿ ἀπώμοτον This γνώμη first occurs in the fragment of Archilochus about the eclipse (76 Bergk), χρημάτων ἄελπτον οὐδέν ἐστιν οὐδ᾽ ἀπώμοτον. Cp. Pind. Ol. 13. 83, παρ' ὅρκον καὶ παρ' ἐλπίδα κούφαν.
389. mvp-comment-221-1 ψεύδει .. γνώμην 'For second thoughts bely one's resolutions.' ου 390. ἄv belongs grammatically to the verb ἐξηύχουν, but in meaning rather modifies the infinitive.
391. mvp-comment-222-1 ταῖς .. τότε When my soul was shaken with the tempest of your former threatenings.᾿ ἀπειλαῖς is dative of the occasion or accompaniment, assisted by attraction. Essay on Language § 11. p. 18, с. Ср. 1. 691.
392. mvp-comment-223-1 ἐκτὸς καὶ παρ᾿ ἐλπίδας i. e.
392. mvp-comment-223-2 ἐκτὸς ἐλπίδος (supr. 1. 330) καὶ παρ᾿ ἐλπίδας.
393. mvp-comment-224-1 ἔοικεν.. μήκος οὐδέν Sc. οὐδὲν ἔοικε μήκος, i. e. εἰς τὸ μέγεθος, as the Scholiast says.
395. mvp-comment-225-1 καθευρέθη is not to be rejected because of the rarity of the compound. See Essay on Language p. 90. But the conjecture of Nauck, καθῃρέθη, is favoured by καθελόντες in l. 383.
398. mvp-comment-226-1 ὡς θέλεις In arresting Antigone the watchman has done not his own will but Creon's. Infr. 438. 399,
400. mvp-comment-227-1 ἐγὼ δ'. κακῶν But I have a full right to be "away and clear" from this bad business.
401. mvp-comment-228-1 This maiden! where, and how, did you arrest her?' The emphatic order of words expresses the profound astonishment of Creon. Essay on Language § 41. p. 77.
403. mvp-comment-229-1 λέγεις ὀρθῶς Do you say it with a clear mind? i. e. Have you your wits when you say this? CСр. О. Т. 528, ἐξ ὀμμάτων δ᾽ ὀρθῶν τε καὶ ὀρθῆς φρενός | κατηγορεῖτο τοὐπίκλημα τοῦτό μου;
404. mvp-comment-230-1 ὃν σὺ τόν The collocation of antecedent and relative is peculiar, and perhaps characteristic of the rustic emphasis of the Φύλαξ. See notes on supr. 238, 269, and cp. infr. 409.
406. mvp-comment-231-1 And how was she discovered, caught, and taken ?"
407. mvp-comment-232-1 τοιοῦτον (1) As you say: she was seen (1. 423), surprised (1.432), and caught (1.433). Or (2) As follows,' = τοιόνδε.
409-410. mvp-comment-233-1 τὸν | νέκυν Α remarkable instance of synapheia. Cp. 1. 238. Essay on Language § 21. p. 33. Supr. 238.
410. mvp-comment-234-1 μυδῶν Dank: referring rather to the state of the corpse (cp. 412) than to the remains of the libation, which would be soon dried by the sun.
410. mvp-comment-234-2 εὐ Carefully. For the order, see Essay on Language p. 78, and cp. О. Т. 308, μαθόντες εὖ.
411. mvp-comment-235-1 We sat just below the top of the rising ground, in the lee of the wind, so escaping the incidence of the odour from the dead. Supposing the corpse to be exposed on a slope of the high ground, surrounded by hillocks, they would select a point of observation on the lee-side of one of these hillocks, and to the windward of the corpse, which they would have full in view.
411. mvp-comment-235-2 ἐκ = On this side of and looking from. Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. Infr. 1110, εἰς ἐπόψιον τόπον : 1197, πεδίον ἐπ᾿ ἄκρον. πικρᾶς] ι in erasure of v? by recent hand Vat.
412. mvp-comment-236-1 This line is not necessarily connected with the preceding: i.e. They may be supposed to select a spot, (1) out of the wind, (2) out of the way of the smell. But the explanation above given (411 note) is more probable. In either case the point is that in attending to their watch they were mightily careful of their own comfort.
412. mvp-comment-236-2 βάλῃ Changed by Stephanusto βάλοι, because of the past time and the optative following. But the subj. is more vivid.
413-414. mvp-comment-237-1 Rousing each his fellow with noisy altercation, reviling him who should take this labour easily. εἴ τις, κ.τ.λ. depends on the verbal notion implied in κακοῖσιν = κακῶς λέγοντες.
413-414. mvp-comment-237-2 ἀφειδεῖν, ‘Το be unsparing, and so To be negligent, To treat lightly, To act without circumspection. For an approach to this meaning, cp. Thuc. 4.26 § 7. Bonitz conj. ἀκηδήσοι.
415-417. mvp-comment-238-1 This lasted till the sun had reached his station in mid-sky with unclouded splendour, and the heat was glowing.' Cp. the Homeric ὄφρα μὲν ἠέλιος μέσον οὐρανὸν ἀμφιβεβήκει.
417. mvp-comment-239-1 When suddenly from the earth the Storm-god raised a squall, that saddened all the sky, and filled the plain, tearing the tresses of the orchard groves, and the wide heaven was choked withal.' The chief discomfort of such a visitation would be the cloud of dust, forcing men to close their eyes, and wrapping even near objects from sight. The watchman is explaining why they lost sight of the corpse. The poet also provides a motive for the act by which Antigone is betrayed. She fears that the corpse, lying in an exposed situation, may have been disturbed by the violence of the wind.
418. mvp-comment-240-1 οὐράνιον ἄχος may mean either (1) A trouble from the sky, or (2) A trouble reaching to the sky. The latter is best, as the word χθονός indicates that the whirlwind seemed to rise out of the ground.
420. mvp-comment-241-1 ἐν δ' See Essay on Language p. 26. § 18, a.
421. mvp-comment-242-1 μύσαντες .. νόσον Closing lips and eyes, we endured the Divine visitation.
422. mvp-comment-243-1 ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ After lasting a long while: giving time for Antigone to come out of her concealment, with the libation ready. 423, foll. κἀνακωκύει] ‘And raises a shrill wailing cry, like the voice of the despairing bird. For the descriptive genitive, see Essay on Language § 9. p. 12.
422. mvp-comment-243-2 πικρᾶς Embittered, 'Full of bitterness: the quality of the object is transferred to the subject: i.e. πικρᾶς, ἅτε πασχούσης πικρά. Also the bitterness of anger is joined to that of grief. Cp. the Latin dolor. For the genitive, cp. Trach. 768, ὥστε τέκτονοs. And for the omission of ὡs, which is supplied in the following clause, cp. supr. 114, λευκῆς χιόνος πτέρυγι στεγανός. G. Wolff reads ὅ. δ. φθόγγον ὥς, ὅταν κ. But this yields a less probable rhythm.
424-425. mvp-comment-244-1 As when it sees robbed of its young ones the desolated couch of its nest. For the pleonasm, see Essay on Language § 40. p. 75.
426. mvp-comment-245-1 οὕτω δέ The apodosis is resumed, as so often happens after a comparison. Essay on Language p. 75. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 252.
427. mvp-comment-246-1 γόοισιν Essay on Language p. 75.
427. mvp-comment-246-2 ἐκ δ᾽.. ἠρᾶτο Essay on Language § 18. p. 27.
430. mvp-comment-247-1 ἄρδην.. στέφει Slightly condensed from ἄρδην ἔχουσα στέφει. στέφει, She decorates, Honours. Metaphorical, as in Od. 8. 170, ἀλλὰ θεὸς μορφὴν ἔπεσι στέφει. Cp. καταστέφειν in Eur. Phoen. 1632, and Sophron ap. Athen. 479 B. She leaves out no jot of the ceremony: ὡς οὐδὲν ὑφιεμένη τῷ κρηύγματι.
431. mvp-comment-248-1 Od. 11. 26, ἀμφ᾿ αὐτῷ δὲ χοὰς χέομεν πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι, | πρῶτα μελικρήτῳ, μετέπειτα δὲ ἡδέϊ οἴνῳ, | τὸ τρίτον αὐθ᾽ ὕδατι.
432. mvp-comment-249-1 σὺν δέ νιν | θηρώμεθ' For this tmesis, see Essay on Language § 18. p. 26. συν as in συλλαμβάνω.
435. mvp-comment-250-1 Cp. Hdt. 3. 66, ἔξαρνος ἦν μὴ μὲν ἀποκτεῖναι Σμέρδιν: 3. 99, ἄπαρνός ἐστι μὴ μὲν νοσέειν.
436. mvp-comment-251-1 ἀλλ᾽.. ἅμα ἀλλά is to be explained as pointing the antithesis after the negative. Her attitude was not that of denial, but one to me at least pleasant and painful as well. The adverb modifies a word which is to be supplied from καθίστατο. ἡδέως ἐμοί, i. e. ὥστε ἐμὲ ἥδεσθαι, Essay on Language § 24. p. 40. There is a certain point in this which is lost in the emendation of Dindorf, ἅμ᾽ ἡδέως, in which, however, the repetition of ἅμα may be defended from Plat. Gorg. 497 Α, ἅμα διψῶν τε ἕκαστος ἡμῶν πέπαυται καὶ ἅμα ἡδόμενος διὰ τοῦ πίνειν. Schneidewin quotes also Gorg. 496 C, ὧν ἅμα τε ἀπαλλάττεται ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἅμα ἔχει, which is not really parallel.
439-440. mvp-comment-252-1 ἀλλὰ .. σωτηρίας (1) But all these things are to me by nature less important to obtain than my own safety. λαβεῖν epexegetic, like ἔχειν in Ο. Τ. 592, τυραννὶς ἡδίων ἔχειν. Cp. inf. 638, μείζων φέρεσθαι: Εl. 1015-1016, προνοίας οὐδὲν ἀνθρώποις ἔφυ | κέρδος λαβεῖν ἄμειvov. Or, possibly, (2) It is in my nature to take less account of all this than of my own safety. For the meaning thus given to ἐμοὶ πέφυκ cp. Εl. 860, πᾶσι θνατοῖς ἔφυ μύρος. And for λαβεῖν = To weigh or estimate, cp. Thuc. 2. 42, § 5, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων τιμωρίαν ποθεινοτέραν αὐτῶν λαβόντες.
441. mvp-comment-253-1 For σὲ δή, sc. λέγω, cp. Aesch. Prom. 944, σὲ τὸν σοφιστήν, κ.τ.λ.: Soph. El. 1445, σε τοι, σὲ κρίνω, κ.τ.λ.: Eur. Hel. 546. And for ἐς πέδον κάρα νεύειν, cp. supr. 269.
441. mvp-comment-253-2 Creon misinterprets the action of Antigone. She fixes her eyes upon the ground, not from fear or shame, but because she is out of sympathy with all present, and her thoughts are in the other world. The hidden fire flashes out in ll. 450, foll., which are certainly not spoken with averted eyes. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1121.
442. mvp-comment-254-1 καταρνεῖ The unusual compound, introduced, perhaps, partly for the sake of metre, has also a special sense of blame. Cp. καταμελέω, καταξιόω, καταπειλέω, καταπροδίδωμι, καταργυρόω, κατασπείρω, κατασχολάζω.
445. mvp-comment-255-1 Free and exempt from grievous imputation.
446. mvp-comment-256-1 μήκος Adverbial, cp. O. С. 92, κέρδη μὲν οἰκήσαντα τοῖς δεδεγμένοις.
446. mvp-comment-256-2 'Tell us, no long tale, but briefly, knew you of the edict that forbade this deed? I knew; 'twas plain enough. How could I fail to know? And were you, then, so hardy as to transgress our law? That edict came not to me from the mouth of Zeus, nor from the Right, whose throne is with the Gods below. They also have appointed unto men a law. Methought your edict could not so prevail, as that a mortal should overleap the silent irrefragable ordinances of heaven. Their life is not of to-day or yesterday. They are eternal. None knoweth of a time when they began. I feared not so the mind of any man, as to incur before the Gods the penalty of that law. I knew, forsooth, without your edict, that I was to die. And if I am to die before the time, I count it gain. For he must surely gain by death who lives, as I do, midst abounding woes. And so for me to meet this doom is a grief I reck not of. If I had borne to leave unburied the corpse, fallen in carnage, of my mother's son, that had been a grief to me, but this is no grief. And if I seem to you to be now doing foolishly, it comes to this;-I am condemned of folly by a fool.'
447. mvp-comment-257-1 τὰ κηρυχθέντα The proclamation made. Cobet's conjecture ᾔδησθα κηρυχθέντα (Νov. Lect. 1858. p. 215), while restoring the recognised Attic form, is unobjectionable in point of syntax. But the use of the article in pointing to his own decree is characteristic of Creon, and if ἠείδης is retained in the Iliad, 22. 280, why not ᾔδης in Tragedy?
449. mvp-comment-258-1 καὶ δῆτα And then. Cp. Plat. Theaet. 142 C, καὶ δῆτα προπέμψας αὐτόν, ἀπιὼν πάλιν, κ.τ.λ.
449. mvp-comment-258-2 τούσδε . . νόμους These laws, i. e. The laws whose majesty is vested in me. For this use of the demonstrative, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34.
450. mvp-comment-259-1 I obeyed no decree of yesterday, but the eternal law. That cannot be annulled by any enactment of a mere man. It may be that I shall die for what I have done. But it needed not your proclamation to tell me that I must die. And to die before the term appointed me is to lose so much of sorrow.
451. mvp-comment-260-1 For the mythological fancy, cp. О. С. 1381-1382, εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἡ παλαίφατος | Δίκη ξύνεδρος Ζηνὸς ἀρχαίοις νόμοις.
452. mvp-comment-261-1 This line is rightly explained by the Scholiast and Donaldson, Ἡ δίκη, φησί, καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς ὥρισαν ὥστε θάπτεσθαι τοὺς νεκρούς.. θέλει δὲ εἰπεῖν ὅτι ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως δίκαιον ἤγημαι θάπτειν τὸν ἀδελφόν. (Schol.) She replies, that she did not consider his proclamations as emanating from Zeus, the supreme God, or from that justice which regulated the rights of the dead, who, she says, have established these laws, namely, the laws of sepulture, which do not need any enactment, but have their ὅροι set up in the human heart. (Donaldson.) The iteration of τούσδε, in contrasting the law which she obeyed with the edict of Creon, is dramatically appropriate, and there is no difficulty in the vague use of the demonstrative. See Essay on Language § 22. p. 34. Cp. Od. 10. 326, τάδε φάρμακα.
454. mvp-comment-262-1 ἄγραπτα κἀσφαλῆ Unwritten and sure. Ср. О. Т. 865 ff., and note. ἀσφαλῆ is not only Never failing to apply, but also Never failing to vindicate their authority. Cp. II. 456 ff.
455. mvp-comment-263-1 θνητὸν ὄντα Sc. σέ, understood from τὰ σὰ κηρύγματα. That a mortal man should run beyond the silent irrefragable ordinances of the Gods. Cp. Eur. Ion 973, καὶ πῶς τὰ κρείσσω θνητός οὖσ᾽ ὑπερδράμω; Ο.Τ. 476-482
456. mvp-comment-264-1 νῦν .. κἀχθές To-day or yes- terday. The particle γε, ay, serves to connect the sentences, and τε is unnecessary, as appears from the similar expression, χθὲς καὶ πρώην, in Plat. Legg. 3. 677 D.
456. mvp-comment-264-2 ἀεί ποτε means Everlastingly, without any clear distinction of past or future. πότε gives the effect of indefiniteness or infinity.
457. mvp-comment-265-1 ζῇ Are in force. Cр. О. Т. 481, ἀεὶ ζῶντα περιποτᾶται.
457. mvp-comment-265-2 ἐξ ὅτου 'φάνη Since when they came into being. Cp. Tr. 1, λόγος ..
457. mvp-comment-265-3 ἀρχαῖος φανείς.
458-459. mvp-comment-266-1 τούτων.. τὴν δίκην The penalty to be exacted in vindication of these. The Gods might be said δίκην ἐπιτιθέναι τῶν παραβαθέντων νόμων, although the word in the genitive after δίκη more frequently signifies the offence for which punishment is awarded. Cp. infr. 1074, τούτων σε λωβητῆρες ὑστεροφθόροι, κ.τ.λ.
458-459. mvp-comment-266-2 ἀνδρός Of a mere man. Cp. O. C. 567, ἔξοιδ᾽ ἀνὴρ ὤν. 461 ff. Shak. Julius Caesar, 3. 1, 'Bru. That we shall die, we know; 'tis but the time | And drawing days out, that men stand upon. | Cass. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life | Cuts off so many years of fearing death. | Bru. Grant that, and then is death a benefit: | So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridged His time of fearing death.'
458-459. mvp-comment-266-3 τοῦ χρόνου, sc. ἐν ᾧ μ᾿ ἐχρῆν θανεῖν.
462. mvp-comment-267-1 κέρδος αὔτ᾽ ἐγὼ λέγω αὔτ᾽, i. e. αὐτό, although not necessary to the construction, as appears from Plat. Apol. 40 Ε., κέρδος ἔγωγε λέγω, is better here than αὖτe, which weakens κέρδος.
463. mvp-comment-268-1 ὡς ἐγώ Supr. ll. 4-6.
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.