φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Antigone. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1912.
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Current edition Experimental
Ἀντιγόνη (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 1. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1912.)
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
Editions (11)
Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 775 focus
αἰτουμένη που τεύξεται τὸ μὴ θανεῖν,
775
Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 775 focus
ὁρᾶτέ μ᾽, ὦ γᾶς πατρίας πολῖται,
775
Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 775 focus
νεάνιδος ἐννυχεύεις,
775
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 775 focus
φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 775 focus
φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 775.mvp-line-768 focus
φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 775 focus
φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 775 focus
ἢ γνώσεται γοῦν ἀλλὰ τηνικαῦθ', ὅτι
775
Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 775 focus
φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 775.mvp-line-768 focus
φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 775 focus
φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,
775
Translations (2)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 781 focus
Eros, Allsieger im Kampf!
775
Du, der bestürmt, wen er bezwungen,
Der Nachts auf schlummernder Jungfrau'n
Zartblühenden Wangen webet:
Hin über's Meer schweisst du, besuchst
Hirtliche Wohnstätten;
780
Und kein ewiger Gott kann dir entrinnen,
Kein sterblicher Mensch, des Tages Sohn;
Und ergriffen rast er.
Erste Gegenstrophe.
Eros, Allsieger im Kampf!
775
Du, der bestürmt, wen er bezwungen,
Der Nachts auf schlummernder Jungfrau'n
Zartblühenden Wangen webet:
Hin über's Meer schweisst du, besuchst
Hirtliche Wohnstätten;
780
Und kein ewiger Gott kann dir entrinnen,
Kein sterblicher Mensch, des Tages Sohn;
Und ergriffen rast er.
English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 781-805 focus
Chorus
Love, the unconquered in battle, Love, you who descend upon riches, and watch the night through on a girl’s soft cheek,
you roam over the sea and among the homes of men in the wilds. Neither can any immortal escape you,
785
nor any man whose life lasts for a day. He who has known you is driven to madness.
790
Love, the unconquered in battle, Love, you who descend upon riches, and watch the night through on a girl’s soft cheek,
you roam over the sea and among the homes of men in the wilds. Neither can any immortal escape you,
785
nor any man whose life lasts for a day. He who has known you is driven to madness.
790
Chorus
You seize the minds of just men and drag them to injustice, to their ruin. You it is who have incited this conflict of men whose flesh and blood are one.
But victory belongs to radiant Desire swelling from the eyes of the sweet-bedded bride. Desire sits enthroned in power beside the mighty laws.
795
For in all this divine Aphrodite plays her irresistible game.
800
You seize the minds of just men and drag them to injustice, to their ruin. You it is who have incited this conflict of men whose flesh and blood are one.
But victory belongs to radiant Desire swelling from the eyes of the sweet-bedded bride. Desire sits enthroned in power beside the mighty laws.
795
For in all this divine Aphrodite plays her irresistible game.
800
Enter Antigone under guard from the palace.
Chorus
But now, witnessing this, I too am carried beyond the bounds of loyalty. The power fails me to keep back my streaming tears any longer, when I see Antigone making her way to the chamber where all are laid to rest,
now her bridal chamber.
805
But now, witnessing this, I too am carried beyond the bounds of loyalty. The power fails me to keep back my streaming tears any longer, when I see Antigone making her way to the chamber where all are laid to rest,
now her bridal chamber.
805
Commentary
Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))
mvp-comment-464-1 ὡς ἄγος μόνον 1 ὡς 2 ὅσον 3
mvp-comment-464-2 ἄγος 4
mvp-comment-464-3
Creon's edict had announced that the transgressor would be publicly stoned to death (36). It is to this that the anxious question of the Chorus alludes (772). Creon had already said that Antigone's doom was to be
κάκιστος (489). But now, at least, he feels that he cannot inflict such a death on the maiden, his kinswoman. She shall die, not by stoning, but by starvation. The choice is not prompted by cruelty, but simply by the desire to avoid physical violence.
mvp-comment-464-4
The danger of a
μίασμα—to be avoided by a dole of food—has no relation to the special circumstances,—Antigone's royal birth, and the nature of her offence. In the ancient belief, that danger existed whenever a person was put to death by starvation. Two notions were probably blended; (
a) that, if a little food was given, the death was nature's work, not man's; (
b) that the
νέρτεροι claimed an indemnity for the usual
ἐναγίσματα. So the Greeks put Philoctetes ashore on desolate Lemnos, —
ῥάκη προθέντες βαιὰ καί τι καὶ βορᾶς | ἐπωφέλημα σμικρόν (
Ph. 274
). So, too, when a Vestal was to be buried alive, the small vault in the Campus Sceleratus was furnished with a couch, a burning lamp, and a small table, on which the dole was placed,—bread, olives, milk, and a jug of water (
Plut.
Num. 10
).
Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus
775. mvp-comment-452-1 i. e. τοσοῦτον μόνον, ὅσον ἄγος εἶναι. Essay on Language § 39. p. 74. For ἄγος = expiation, see Hesych., ἄγος· ἅγνισμα θυσίας, Σοφοκλῆς Φαίδρα.