Sophocles Antigone 988

mvp-comment-588-1 ἄνακτες ¹

mvp-comment-589-1 αὕτη κ. ² πέλει ³

mvp-comment-590-1 τί δ’ ἔστιν ⁴

mvp-comment-591-1 οὔκουν … γε ⁵

mvp-comment-591-2 δῑ ὀρθῆς ⁶

mvp-comment-591-3 ἐναυκλήρεις ⁷

mvp-comment-592-1 πεπονθὼς ὀνήσιμα, ἔχω μαρτυρεῖν ⁸

mvp-comment-593-1 φρόνει βεβώς ⁹

mvp-comment-593-2 τύχης ¹⁰

mvp-comment-594-1 ὡς ¹¹

mvp-comment-595-1 θᾶκον ¹²

mvp-comment-595-2 λιμήν ¹³

mvp-comment-596-1 κακῷ ¹⁴

mvp-comment-596-2 οἴστρῳ ¹⁵

mvp-comment-596-3 κλάζοντας ¹⁶

mvp-comment-596-4 βεβαρβαρωμένῳ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-597-1 ἐν χηλαῖσιν ¹⁸ φοναῖς ¹⁹

mvp-comment-598-1 The feuds and friendships of birds (

Aesch. PV 492 ) were among the signs noted by augurs. In this case there was a vague omen of bloodshed ( ), but no clear sign. The seer now sought further light by another mode of divination.

mvp-comment-598-2 ἐμπύρων ²⁰

mvp-comment-598-3 ἐγευόμην ²¹

mvp-comment-599-1 παμφλέκτοισι ²² θυμάτων ²³

mvp-comment-600-1 Ἥφαιστος ²⁴

mvp-comment-600-2 a bad sign, if the fire was smothered in smoke, or played feebly around the flesh without consuming it. See Eur. Phoen. 1255

: the seers ‘were watching for points of flame, or for breaks in it,—such flickering as portends evil’; i.e., they were watching to see whether it would blaze up or die down. The is prob. the highest point of the fire, which, if towards the right side, meant victory; if towards the left, defeat. So Statius, Theb. 10. 599 , where Teiresias offers , and his daughter reports the signs to him (as the does here): (= ) (= ) | (‘as if creeping on its way without an aim, the fire played timidly around the offering’). In Seneca Oed. 307 Teiresias asks,

mvp-comment-601-1 The fat wrapped about the thigh-bones ought to have caught fire, when the flesh on the bones would have been burned, and the bones themselves calcined. But here there was no flame; the kindled fuel lay in smouldering embers (

). The heat caused a fatty moisture to exude from the covering of the thigh-bones. Trickling forth on the embers, this moisture emitted smoke, and sputtered as it threw particles of the fat upwards. The gall-bladder, too, which lay on the top of the thighbones, instead of catching fire, was gradually inflated by the heat, till it burst, scattering the gall into the air. And now the melting of the fat which covered the thigh-bones had gone so far that it was no longer a covering, but merely a liquid that was streaming off them, while they themselves were left naked and intact. So utterly had the gods refused the offering.

mvp-comment-601-2 μυδῶσα ²⁵

mvp-comment-601-3 κηκὶς μηρίων ²⁶

mvp-comment-601-4 ἐτήκετο ²⁷ ἐπὶ σποδῷ ²⁸

mvp-comment-601-5 ἀνέπτυε ²⁹

mvp-comment-602-1 χολαί ³⁰

mvp-comment-602-2 καταρρυεῖς ³¹

mvp-comment-603-1 μηροί … μηρίων ³²

mvp-comment-603-2 καλυπτῆς ³³

mvp-comment-603-3 πιμελῆς ³⁴ ἐξέκειντο ³⁵

mvp-comment-604-1 τοιαῦτα ³⁶

mvp-comment-604-2 ὀργίων μαντεύματα ³⁷ φθίνοντα ³⁸

mvp-comment-604-3 ἀσήμων ³⁹

mvp-comment-605-1 ἡγεμών ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-606-1 ἐκ ⁴¹

mvp-comment-606-2 φρενός ⁴²

mvp-comment-606-3 νοσεῖ ⁴³

mvp-comment-607-1 βωμοί ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-607-2 ἐσχάραι ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-607-3 παντελεῖς ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-608-1 πλήρεις ⁴⁷ ὑπ’ οἰων. κ. κυνῶν ⁴⁸ βορᾶς τοῦ...Οἰδ. γόνου ⁴⁹ γόνου ⁵⁰ δυσμόρου ⁵¹ πεπτῶτος ⁵² τοῦ … γόνου ⁵³ βορᾶς ⁵⁴ τοῦ … γόνου ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-609-1 κᾆτ’ ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-609-2 θυστάδας ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-610-1 ὅρνι^ς ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-610-2 εὐσήμους ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-610-3 βεβρῶτες ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-610-4 ἀνδροφθόρου ⁶¹

mvp-comment-611-1 ἐπεί ⁶²

mvp-comment-611-2 ἄνολβος ⁶³

mvp-comment-612-1 ἀκεῖται ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-612-2 ἀκίνητος ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-613-1 αὐθαδία ⁶⁶ ὀφλισκάνει ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-614-1 εἶκε τῷ θανόντι ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-614-2 κέντει ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-615-1 ἐπικτανεῖν ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-616-1 εὖ φρονήσας ⁷¹

mvp-comment-616-2 μανθάνειν δ ⁷²

mvp-comment-616-3 εἰ … λέγοι ⁷³ ἥδιστον ⁷⁴

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

992. mvp-comment-571-1 The authority of the seer is here simply asserted and acknowledged. Cp. 1053. In the Oedipus Tyrannus he appears with still higher claims, as a prince, whose honours are guarded by his lord Apollo.

993-994. mvp-comment-572-1 οὔκουν .. ἀπεστάτουν .. ναυκληρεῖς] I have not aforetime departed. ..'You have guided, and still guide.' Cp. Tr. 600, 601. The conjecture ένανκλήρεις is no improvement. The present means, You have hitherto guided safely, and this is not inconsistent with what follows. Cp. Aesch. Agam. 1, αἰτῶ, I have been asking.

994. mvp-comment-573-1 δι᾽ ὀρθῆς Sc. κελεύθου. On a safe and successful course.

995. mvp-comment-574-1 I have experienced benefits, and can bear witness of them. Essay on Language §36. p. 66. There is perhaps an allusion here to the sacrifice of Megareus, which was prompted by the prophecy of Teiresias. But cp. 1058 and note.

996. mvp-comment-575-1 φρόνει, κ.τ.λ. (1) Beware once more, as thou standest now upon an edge of peril. The participle is not to be construed with the verb, but is in apposition to the subject. For φρονεῖν absolute, cp. O. T. 617, φρονεῖν γὰρ οἱ ταχεῖς οὐκ ἀσφαλεῖς : ib. 649, πιθοῦ θελήσας φρονήσας τ', ἄναξ, λίσσομαι. Otherwise (2) Know that now again thou standest,' etc. Cp. Trach. 289, φρόνει νιν ὡς ἥξοντα: Phil. 810, σαφῶς φρόνει. The expression ἐπὶ ξυροῦ is proverbial: cp. Il. 10. 173: Eur. H. F. 630.

997. mvp-comment-576-1 ὡς .. στόμα How I shudder at thy speech. ὡs as in l. 82, ὡς ὑπερδέδοικά σου. στόμα has the association of privileged, prophetic utterance, as in Ο. Τ. 426, τοὐμὸν στόμα.

999. mvp-comment-577-1 The οἰωνοσκοπεῖον of Teiresias was shown at Thebes in the time of Pausanias: Paus. 9. 16.

999. mvp-comment-577-2 παλαιόν i. e. consecrated by use from early times.

1000. mvp-comment-578-1 ἵν'.. λιμήν Where I had harbourage for every ominous bird. Essay on Language § 58. p. 105.

1002. mvp-comment-579-1 κλάζοντας Accusative πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, as if ὄρνιθας ἄγνωτα φθεγγομένους had preceded.

1002. mvp-comment-579-2 βεβαρβαρωμένῳ Rendered unintelligible,' Confused. 1003. iv, of the instrument. Cp. supra. 1. 961. φοναῖς, In bloody fray. Dative of manner. Cp. supra, l. 960 .

1004. mvp-comment-580-1 πτερῶν.. ἦν For the whirring of their wings gave no uncertain sound: although their voices did. 1005 ἐγευόμην] By analogy for ἐπειρώμην, I made trial of the divination by burnt sacrifice,' similar to that used in the temple of Ismenus: O. Τ. 21.

1006. mvp-comment-581-1 βωμοῖσι παμφλέκτοισιν At the blazing altar. παν in composition is simply intensive, as in El. 1139: and the epithet is generally descriptive. See Essay on Language § 55. p. 101.

1006. mvp-comment-581-2 ἐκ δὲ θυμάτων 'But from the sacrifice the Fire-god refused to gleam; and on the ash a dank humour dripped from the thigh-bones, and fumed and sputtered, and the gall was sprinkled abroad in air, and the thighs wasted and lay bared of their enclosing fat.

1007. mvp-comment-582-1 For σποδός, cp Ο. Τ. 21: Hdt. 4.35, τῶν μηρίων καταγιζομένων ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ τὴν σποδόν.

1009. mvp-comment-583-1 μετάρσιοι is supplementary predicate. The preposition in ἐξέκειντο is emphatic. Cp. Od. 23. 179, ἔνθα οἱ ἐκθεῖσαι πυκινὸν λέχος: Thuc. 4. 129. § 3. ἔτυχον ἐξεστρατοπεδευμένοι ἔξω τῆς πόλεως.

1010. mvp-comment-584-1 καταρρυεῖς is explained to mean Flowing down with moisture,' but means rather Fallen away. Cp. Paus. 10. 2, 6 (L. and S s. ν. καταρρέω 1. 4), νεκροῦ κατερρυηκότος τὰς σάρκας.

1011. mvp-comment-585-1 The apparently active use of καλυπτῆς comes from καλύπτειν, in the sense of placing as a covering, i. e.

1011. mvp-comment-585-2 καλύπτειν πιμελὴν μηροῖς. For the meaning, cp. Aesch. Pr. 496, foll., κνισῇ τε κώλα συγκαλυπτά· καὶ μακρὰν | ὀσφὺν πυρώσας, δυστέκμαρτον ἐς τέχνην | ὥδωσα θνητούς· καὶ φλογωπὰ σήματα | ἐξωμμάτωσα, πρόσθεν ὄντ᾽ ἐπάργεμα.

1013. mvp-comment-586-1 Such failing tokens given by baffling auspices. Lit. Of victims giving no sign. Cp. Ps. 74. 9. We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet. φθίνοντα μαντεύματα are not Prophecies of decay,' but Rites of divination fading away, i. e. losing their virtue. Cp. Ο. Τ. 902, φθίνοντα.. Λαΐου | θέσφατα.

1015. mvp-comment-587-1 τῆς σῆς ἐκ φρενός From thy will. Cp. infr. 1063, ὡς μὴ ᾿μπολήσων ἴσθι τὴν ἐμὴν φρένα.

1016. mvp-comment-588-1 ἐσχάραι τε παντελεῖς And all the number of our sacred hearths. παντελεῖς is little more than πᾶσαι, but expresses that the word ἐσχάραι added to βωμοί comprises every consecrated spot in the whole city. Cp. El. 982, ἔν θ᾽ ἑορταῖς ἔν τε πανδήμῳ πόλει.

1017. mvp-comment-589-1 πλήρεις Infected. Cp. 1052.

1017. mvp-comment-589-2 πλήρης = ἀνάπλεως. Cp. infr. 1052: Phil. 1087-1088, ὦ πληρέστατον αὔλιον | λύπας τᾶς ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ. For the general notion, cp. Webster, Appius and Virg. p. 165, ed. Dyce, Come, you birds of death | And fill your greedy cups with human flesh; | Then to the city fly, disgorge it there | Before the senate, and from thence arise | A plague to choke all Rome. Join ὑπὸ .. βορᾶς, not as some edd. πλήρεις.. βορᾶς. By the act of dogs and birds in feeding, etc. So Ellendt. Cp. infr. 1083.

1021. mvp-comment-590-1 εὐσήμους Giving clear augury, opposed to ἄσημος supra 1013.

1021. mvp-comment-590-2 ἀπορροιβδεῖ Utters noisily. The word is not strictly applicable to the screaming of birds. But there is the same indefiniteness about words expressing sound as about the names of colours. This word, expressing a confused noise, is probably suggested by l. 1004.

1022. mvp-comment-591-1 After feeding on the fatness of human carnage.' On the change from singular to plural, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 65.

1025. mvp-comment-592-1 ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἁμάρτῃ For ἄν omitted, see Essay on. L. § 27. p. 44.

1026. mvp-comment-593-1 ἄνολβος here and in Aj. 1156 (τοιαῦτ᾽ ἄνολβον ἄνδρ᾽ ἐνουθέτει παρών) is a word of blame- Infatuated.'

1029. mvp-comment-594-1 εἶκε τῷ θανόντι Relent towards the dead.

1030. mvp-comment-595-1 ἐπικτανεῖν Το slay a second time.' For the meaning of ἐπί, cp.

1030. mvp-comment-595-2 ἐπεμβάλλω, ἐπιγαμέω, ἐπιπέμπω. For the idea, cp. II. 24. 54: Plat. Rep. 5. 469 D, E. 6 1031. (1) After careful consideration I speak to you with good heed. εὐ, Carefully,' as in O. T. 308, supr. 410, alib. Or (2) εὖ σοι φρ., Meaning well to thee.

1032. mvp-comment-596-1 εἰ κέρδος λέγοι For the optative, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 61, γ, α (1). φέρει or φέροι seems also to be an early reading.