Sophocles Antigone 164

Robert Potter (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Card

← Previous Next →

Messenger
EURYDICE, MESSENGER, CHORUS. GANE

My honour'd Mistress, I will tell thee all

(For I was present) nor conceal the truth.

Why should I flatter, when a little time

1219

Would show my falsehood? Truth is always plain.

I to the summit of the field thy lord

Antigone. Sophocles. Robert Potter (Translator). London. 1820.

Current edition Experimental

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Robert Potter, 1788))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (12)

Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 164 focus

ἔστειλ᾽ ἱκέσθαι· τοῦτο μὲν, τὰ Λαΐου

Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 164 focus

κἀπεὶ διώλετ᾽, ἀμφὶ τοὺς κείνων ἔτι

Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 164 focus

σέβοντας εἰδὼς εὖ θρόνων ἀεὶ κράτη,

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 164.mvp-line-164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ’ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 164.mvp-line-164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 164 focus

ὑμᾶς δʼ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 164 focus

ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ἐγὼ πομποῖσιν ἐκ πάντων δίχα

Translations (10)

German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 164 focus

HÄMON.

Wenn du das Weib bist; sorg' ich doch für dich allein!

Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 164 focus

CREONTE

Puesto que eres esclavó esclavo de una mujer, not me fatigues con tu charla.

Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 164 focus

Creon

Hanc mon erit umquam, ut vivam amplius ducas.

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 164 focus

CR

She will not live to be your wife on earth.
750

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 162 focus

Ihr Männer, fest hob Götterhuld uns wiederum

Aus vieler Stürme wildem Drang die Stadt empor:

Doch euch beschied ich jezt allein aus Allen her

Durch meine Boten; denn ich weiß, daß allezeit
165

Ihr heilig ehrtet Thron und Macht des Laïos,

Und wieder, als uns Dedipus die Stadt erhob,

Und als er hingeschieden, auch den Söhnen noch

In wandellosem Sinne treu ergeben bliebt.

Nun diese Beiden durch ein zwiefach Todesloos
170

An Einem Tag gefallen, sich erschlagend und

Erschlagen durch der eignen Hände Gräuelthat:

So wurden mein die Throne, mein ward alle Macht

Der Todten nach dem Rechte stammverwandten Bluts.

Wohl ist's unmöglich, auszuspäh'n an jedem Mann
175

Verstand, Gemüth und Sinnesart, bevor er sich

Mit Aemtern und Gesezen wohlvertraut bewies.

Denn mir erscheint, wer einen ganzen Staat beherrscht,

Und nicht am besten Rathe sich zu halten weiß,

Ja, feig und furchtsam seinen Mund verschlossen hält,
180

Verworfen scheint er heute mir und schien es längst.

Und wer des eignen Landes Wohl nicht höher stellt,

Als seine Freunde, diesen acht' ich völlig Nichts.

Denn ich vernehm' es Zeus, der stets allsehende!

Ich schwiege niemals, säh' ich auf die Bürger je
185

Heran das Unglück schreiten an des Glückes Statt,

Noch werd' ich jemals einen Feind des Landes mir

Zum Freunde wählen, weil ich wohl erkenne, daß

Nur dieses uns behütet, daß uns Freunde treu

Zur Seite stehen, schiffen wir an seinem Bord.
190

Durch solche Sazung heb' ich diese Stadt empor;

Und dem entsprechend ließ ich jezt von Dedipus'

Zwei Söhnen allem Volke-laut verkündigen:

Eteokles, welcher kämpfend fiel für diese Stadt,

Und jeden Preis des Heldenmuthes sich errang,
195

Er soll ein Grab und alle Grabesweih'n empfah'n,

So wie's den Besten folgt hinab zur Todtenwelt;¹

Doch seinem Bruder - Polyneikes mein' ich, der

Das Land der Ahnen und die Götter dieser Flur,

Heimkehrend aus dem Banne, durch des Feuers Glut
200

Austilgen wollte, wollte sich in Bürgerblut

Satt schwelgen, euch zu Knechten frech entwürdigen,

Ihm dürfe, so ward eurer Stadt es kundgethan,

Niemand ein Grabmal schmücken, noch ihm Klage weih'n;

Nein, unbestattet lieg' er, zur Verstümmelung,
205

Zum Fraß für Hund' und Vögel, graunvoll anzuseh'n.

So lautet denn mein Wille: niemals werden wir

Dem Schlechten Ehre geben vor dem Redlichen;

Doch wer da wohlwill dieser Stadt, der wird im Tod

Und Leben gleicherweise stets von mir geehrt.
210

Der Chor.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 164 focus

Creon

That thou shalt see; thy insolent instruction

Shall cost thee dear.

Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 164 focus

HEMÓN

En verdad, si tú eres una mujer; pues ante todo yo no me intereso más que por tí.

German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 164 focus

HAEMON

Das ist für einen leeren Sinn sie freilich,

English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 164 focus

Creon

Thou canst never marry her, on this side the grave.

English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 162-330 focus

Enter Creon, with two attendants.

Creon

My fellow citizens! First, the gods, after tossing the fate of our city on wild waves, have once more righted it. Second, I have ordered you through my messengers to come here

apart from all the rest, because I knew, first of all, how constant was your reverence for the power of the throne of Laius; how, again, you were reverent, when Oedipus was guiding our city; and lastly, how, when he was dead, you still maintained loyal thoughts towards his children.
165

Since, then, these latter have fallen in one day by a twofold doom—each striking, each struck, both with the stain of a brother’s murder—I now possess all the power and the throne according to my kinship with the dead.
170

Now, it is impossible to know fully any man’s character, will, or judgment, until he has been proved by the test of rule and law-giving. For if anyone who directs the entire city does not cling to the best and wisest plans,
175

but because of some fear keeps his lips locked, then, in my judgment, he is and has long been the most cowardly traitor. And if any man thinks a friend more important than his fatherland, that man, I say, is of no account. Zeus, god who sees all things always, be my witness—
180

I would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, marching upon the citizens. Nor would I ever make a man who is hostile to my country a friend to myself, because I know this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only when
185

we sail her on a straight course can we make true friends. Such are the rules by which I strengthen this city. Akin to these is the edict which I have now published to the citizenry concerning the sons of Oedipus: Eteocles, who fell fighting
190

in behalf of our city and who excelled all in battle, they shall entomb and heap up every sacred offering that descends to the noblest of the dead below. But as for his brother, Polyneices, I mean, who on his return from exile wanted to burn to the ground
195

the city of his fathers and his race’s gods, and wanted to feed on kindred blood and lead the remnant into slavery—it has been proclaimed to the city that no one shall give him funeral honors or lamentation,
200

but all must leave him unburied and a sight of shame, with his body there for birds and dogs to eat. This is my will, and never will I allow the traitor to stand in honor before the just. But whoever has good will to Thebes ,
205

he shall be honored by me in death as in life.
210

211

Chorus

That is your will, Creon, towards this city’s enemy and its friend. And the power is yours, I believe, to make use of every law whatsoever, both concerning the dead and all us who live.

Creon

See, then, that you be guardians of my commands.
215

Chorus

Lay the weight of this task on some younger man.

Creon

That is not what I meant—the guards for the corpse are already in place.

Chorus

Then what is this other command that you would give?

Creon

That you not give way to the breakers of my commands.

Chorus

There is no one so foolish as to crave death.
220

Creon

I assure you, that is the wage for disobedience. Yet by just the hope of it, money has many times corrupted men.

Enter Guard.

Guard

My king, I will not say that I arrive breathless because of speed, or from the action of a swift foot.

For often I brought myself to a stop because of my thoughts, and wheeled round in my path to return. My mind was telling me many things: Fool, why do you go to where your arrival will mean your punishment? Idiot, are you dallying again? If Creon learns it from another, must you not suffer for it?
225

So debating, I made my way unhurriedly, slow, and thus a short road was made long. At last, however, the view prevailed that I should come here—to you. Even if my report brings no good, still will I tell you,
230

since I come with a good grip on one hope, that I can suffer nothing except what is my fate.
235

237

Creon

And what is it that so disheartens you?

Guard

I want to tell you first about myself—I did not do the deed, nor did I see the doer,

so it would be wrong that I should come to any harm.
240

Creon

Like a bowman you aim well at your target from a distance, and all around you hedge yourself off well from the deed. It is clear that you have some unheard-of thing to tell.

Guard

That I do, for terrible news imposes great hesitation.

Creon

Then tell it, will you, and so unburdened go away?

Guard

Well, here it is. The corpse—some one has just given it burial and disappeared after sprinkling thirsty dust on the flesh and performing the other rites that piety demands.
245

Creon

What are you saying? What man dared do this?

Guard

I do not know. For there was no scar of a pickax to be seen there,

no earth thrown up by a mattock. The ground was hard and dry, unbroken, not rolled over by wheels. The doer was someone who left no trace. When the first day-watchman showed it to us, a discomforting amazement fell on us all.
250

The dead man was veiled from us—not shut within a tomb, but a light cover of dust was on him, as if put there by the hand of one who shunned a curse. And no sign was visible that any beast of prey or any dog had approached or torn him. Then evil words flew thick and loud among us,
255

guard accusing guard. It would even have come to blows in the end, nor was there anyone there to prevent it: every man was the culprit, and no one was plainly guilty, while all disclaimed knowledge of the act. We were ready to take red-hot iron in our hands,
260

to walk through fire and to swear oaths by the gods that we had neither done the deed, nor shared knowledge of the planning or the doing. At last, when our investigating got us nowhere, someone spoke up and made us all bend our faces
265

in fear towards the earth. For we did not know how we could argue with him, nor yet prosper, if we did what he said. His argument was that the deed must be reported to you and not hidden. This view prevailed, and so it was that
270

the lot doomed miserable me to win this prize. So here I stand, as unwelcome to you as I am unwilling, I well know. For no man delights in the bearer of bad news.
275

278

Chorus

My king, my thoughts have long been deliberating whether this deed is somehow the work of gods?

Creon

Quiet, before your words truly fill me with rage, so that you not be found at the same time foolish as well as old. You say what is intolerable when you claim that the gods have concern for that corpse. Was it in high esteem for his benefactions
280

that they sought to hide him, when he had come to burn their columned shrines, their sacred treasures and their land, and scatter its laws to the winds? Or do you see the gods honoring the wicked? It cannot be. No! From the very first
285

certain men of the city were chafing at this edict and muttering against me, tossing their heads in secret, and they did not keep their necks duly under the yoke in submission to me. By those men, I am certain, they were led astray and bribed to do this deed.
290

Nothing so evil as money ever grew to be current among men. This destroys cities, this drives men from their homes, this trains and warps honest minds to set themselves to works of shame,
295

this teaches people to practise villainies, and to know every act of unholiness. But all the men who did this job for hire have made sure that, sooner or later, they shall suffer the punishment. Now, as Zeus still has my reverence, know this well—
300

I tell you on my oath. If you do not find the very hand that made this burial, and reveal him before my eyes, mere death shall not suffice for you, not before, hung up alive, you have made this outrage plain,
305

so that hereafter you may thieve with better knowledge of where your money should be received from, and learn that it is best not to be fond of money-making from any and every source. For you will find that ill-gotten gains bring more men to ruin than to safety.
310

315

Guard

Will you allow me to speak? Or shall I just turn and go?
315

Creon

Do you not know even now how much your voice sickens me?

Guard

Is the pain in your ears, or in your soul?

Creon

And why would you define the seat of my pain?

Guard

He who did it hurts your heart, but I, your ears.

Creon

God! How plain it is that you are a born babbler.
320

Guard

Perhaps, but never the author of this action.

Creon

Yes, and what is more, you sold your life for silver.

Guard

Ah! It is truly sad when the judge judges wrong .

Creon

Expound on judgment as you will. But, if you fail to

show me the perpetrators of these crimes, you will avow that money basely earned wreaks sorrows. Exit Creon.
325

Guard

Well, may the man be found! That would be best. But, whether he be caught or not—for fortune must decide that—I assure you that you will not see me come here again.

Saved just now beyond hope and belief, I owe the gods great thanks. Exit the Guard.
330

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-719-1 καὶ παρὼν ἐρῶ, κοὐδὲν παρήσω ¹ παρὠν ²

mvp-comment-720-1 ὧν ³

mvp-comment-720-2 ὧν ⁴ ψεῦσται ⁵ φανούμεθ’ ⁶

mvp-comment-720-3 ὀρθόν ⁷

mvp-comment-721-1 ποδαγός ⁸ ἑσπόμην ⁹

mvp-comment-722-1 πεδίον … ἄκρον ¹⁰

mvp-comment-722-2 νηλεές ¹¹

mvp-comment-723-1 κυνοσπάρακτον ¹²

mvp-comment-724-1 τὸν μέν ¹³

mvp-comment-724-2 ἐνοδίαν θεόν ¹⁴

mvp-comment-724-3 θεόν ¹⁵

mvp-comment-724-4 εὐμενεῖς ¹⁶

mvp-comment-724-5 κατασχεθεῖν ¹⁷

mvp-comment-725-1 λούσαντες ἁγν. λουτρόν ¹⁸

mvp-comment-725-2 ἐν ¹⁹ θαλλοῖς ²⁰

mvp-comment-725-3 )λέλειπτο ²¹

mvp-comment-725-4 συγκατῄθομεν ²² εἰσεβαίνομεν ²³

mvp-comment-726-1 τύμβον ²⁴

mvp-comment-726-2 ὀρθόκρανον ²⁵

mvp-comment-726-3 οἰκείας ²⁶

mvp-comment-727-1 αὖθις ²⁷

mvp-comment-727-2 For

αὖθις

as=‘afterwards,’ cp. Ai. 1283 , Tr. 270 .

mvp-comment-727-3 λιθόστρωτον ²⁸

mvp-comment-727-4 κόρης νυμφεῖον‐Ἅιδου ²⁹

mvp-comment-728-1 κωκυμάτων ³⁰

mvp-comment-729-1 ἀκτέριστον ἀμφὶ παστάδα ³¹

mvp-comment-730-1 ἀθλίας … ἄσημα βοῆς ³²

mvp-comment-730-2 περιβαίνει ³³

mvp-comment-731-1 μᾶλλον ἆσσον ³⁴

mvp-comment-731-2 ἔπος ³⁵ δυσθρήνητον ³⁶

mvp-comment-731-3 ὦ τάλας ³⁷

mvp-comment-732-1 τῶν παρελθουσῶν ³⁸

mvp-comment-732-2 σαίνει ³⁹

mvp-comment-733-1 ὠκεῖς ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-734-1 ἁρμὸν χώματος λιθοσπ. ⁴¹

mvp-comment-734-2 ἁρμόν ⁴² δύντες ⁴³

mvp-comment-735-1 στόμιον ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-735-2 The kind of tomb which the poet here imagines is perhaps best represented, in Greece, by the rock-tombs of Nauplia, and of Spata in Attica. These consist of chambers worked horizontally into the rock, and approached by a passage or

δρόμος

, answering to that which Creon's men have to traverse before they reach the

στόμιον

of the tomb. The general type seems to have been determined by that of the more elaborate domed tombs, such as the so-called ‘Treasury of Atreus’ at Mycenae, which, like these ruder copies, were entered by a

δρόμος

. Indeed, the Nauplia tombs indicate a rough attempt to reproduce the dome (

θόλος

). [See Helbig, Das Homer. Epos aus den Denkm. erläutert, p. 53, with the sources quoted there in nn. 5, 6.]

mvp-comment-735-3 The phrase

λοίσθιον τύμβευμα

(1220) might suggest a recess within the principal chamber, like that in the ‘Treasury of Atreus’; but it is simpler to take it as merely ‘the furthest part of the tomb.’ We may observe that the words

κατῶρυξ

(774) and

κατασκαφής

(891) are sufficiently explained if we suppose that the

δρόμος

leading to the chamber sloped downwards from the entrance.

mvp-comment-736-1 θεοῖσι ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-736-2 κλέπτομαι ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-737-1 The simple correction, κελευσμάτων ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-737-2 With κελεύσμασιν ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-737-3 (2) The alternative is to amend ἐξ ἀθύμου ⁴⁹ ὀξυθύμου ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-737-4 Dindorf writes κελεύμασιν ⁵¹

mvp-comment-738-1 αὐχένος ⁵²

mvp-comment-739-1 μιτώδει ⁵³

mvp-comment-740-1 Haemon has thrown his arms around her waist ( ἀμφὶ μέσσῃ περιπετῆ ⁵⁴ προσκείμενον ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-740-2 μέσσῃ ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-740-3 περιπετῆ ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-741-1 εὐνῆς … τῆς κάτω ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-741-2 πατρὸς ἔργα ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-741-3 λέχος ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-742-1 σφε ⁶¹

mvp-comment-742-2 στυγνόν ⁶²

mvp-comment-743-1 οἷον ἔργον ⁶³ τίνα νοῦν ἔσχες ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-743-2 ἐν τῷ συμφορᾶς ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-743-3 διεφθάρης ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-744-1 ἱκέσιος ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-744-2 ὄσσοισι ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-744-3 παπτήνας ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-745-1 πτύσας προσώπῳ ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-746-1 διπλοῦς κνώδοντας ξίφους ⁷¹ διπλοῦς κνώδοντας ⁷²

mvp-comment-746-2 ἐκ δ’ ὁρμ. ⁷³

mvp-comment-746-3 φυγαῖσιν ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-746-4 Haemon, in his madness, meant to kill his father. He had harboured no such purpose before ( see on 752

); and his frantic impulse is instantly followed by violent remorse. Arist. ( Arist. Poet. 14 ) observes that it is not conducive to a properly tragic effect (

οὐ τραγικόν, ἀπαθές

) if a person contemplates a dreadful act, and then desists from it, in the light of sober thought or fuller knowledge:

διόπερ οὐδεὶς ποιεῖ ὁμοίως εἰ μὴ ὀλιγάκις

(such incidents in Tragedy are rare),

οἷον ἐν Ἀντιγόνῃ Κρέοντα ὁ Αἵμων

. It need not be assumed that Arist. meant to censure Sophocles; it is more natural to suppose that he cited the exception as one justified by the circumstances. But it should further be noticed that Aristotle was not accurate in taking this incident as the exception which illustrated his rule. For Haemon did not abandon his dreadful purpose; he was simply foiled by his father's flight. And then, in swift remorse, he actually did

τῶν ἀνηκέστων τι

.

mvp-comment-747-1 ὥσπερ εἶχ’ ⁷⁵ ἐπενταθείς ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-747-2 πλευραῖς ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-747-3 μέσσον ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-747-4 ἔγχος ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-747-5 ἐς δ’ ὑγρὸν ἀγκῶν’ ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-748-1 φυσιῶν ⁸¹

mvp-comment-748-2 ῥοὴν ⁸²

mvp-comment-749-1 τέλη ⁸³

mvp-comment-749-2 ἔν γ’ Ἅιδου ⁸⁴ ἔν γ ⁸⁵ γε ⁸⁶ ἔν γε ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-750-1 δείξας … τὴν ἀβουλίαν ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-751-1 πρόσκειται ⁸⁹

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

1192. mvp-comment-674-1 παρών 'As an eye-witness of the fact. See Essay on Language § 32. P. 55.

1194. mvp-comment-675-1 ὧν Sc. τούτοις τοῖς ἔπεσι, περὶ ὧν. Essay on Language § 9. p. 13.

1195. mvp-comment-676-1 ὀρθὸν .. ἀεί Truth is always safe: i. e. never hurts him who tells it.

1197. mvp-comment-677-1 νηλεές Uncared for. О. Т. 180, νηλέα .. κεῖται ἀνοίκτως.

1199. mvp-comment-678-1 ἐνοδίαν θεόν Probably Hecate. Cp. Fr. 490. πῦρ ἱερόν, | τῆς εἰνοδίας Ἑκάτης ἔγχος.

1200. mvp-comment-679-1 εὐμενεῖς Supplementary predicate, agreeing with θεών and Πλούτωνα : i.e. ὥστε εὐμενεῖς εἶναι.

1201. mvp-comment-680-1 ἐν νεοσπάσιν θαλλοῖς This probably had a ceremonial importance. Cp. O. C. 466, foll., especially l. 474, θαλλοῖσιν, ἢ κρόκαισιν, ἢ ποίῳ τρόπῳ;

1202. mvp-comment-681-1 ὃ δὴ λέλειπτο resumes τὸν μέν with greater definiteness, and repeats what is implied in κυνοσπάρακτον. συγκατήθομεν implies that scattered fragments were collected.

1203. mvp-comment-682-1 For the feeling of οἰκείας, cp. Ο. C. 406, ἢ καὶ κατασκιῶσι Θηβαίᾳ κόνει; 1206-1207. And ere we came near one heard the voice of shrill lamentings in the neighbourhood of the unhallowed cell.'

1207. mvp-comment-683-1 ἀκτέριστον.. παστάδα The unhallowed vault. Lit. The narrow cell, not consecrated by funeral rites.'

1209. mvp-comment-684-1 τῷ δ᾽. ἆσσον And as he came nearer, an undistinguishable crying filled his ears. See Essay on Language § 10. p. 17, and for περιβαίνει, cp. Hom. Od. 6. 122, ἀμφήλυθε θήλυς ἀϋτή.

1210. mvp-comment-685-1 In the phrase άσσον ἕρπειν, To draw near, ἆσσον, which was a rare word in Attic, lost something of the comparative meaning. Hence the double comparative.

1211. mvp-comment-686-1 δυσθρήνητον Lamentable. For the apparently active use of the verbal, see Essay on Language p. 98.

1212. mvp-comment-687-1 ἆρ᾽ εἰμὶ μάντις; 'Are my heart's forebodings true?' i.e. Must I believe what my heart is telling me?

1213. mvp-comment-688-1 τῶν παρελθουσῶν ὁδῶν Cp. О. С. 1397.

1214. mvp-comment-689-1 σαίνει It has been supposed that this word reverts to its original meaning as a derivative of σείω, being used actively in the sense of To thrill.' But it is more in accordance with analogy to suppose that it has passed through the following changes of meaning: (1) to move frequently: (2) to wag the tail; σαίνειν οὔρῃ: (3) to make signs of recognition, to greet: (4) to touch with a feeling of recognition. See Essay on Language p. 99 (ὄμμα).

1216. mvp-comment-690-1 In preparing the vault, an opening had been left, through which the victim was thrust into the chamber. This opening was then roughly closed with stones. (1) Through these Haemon had passionately torn his way. And the cleft so made by him is the ἁρμὸς χώματος λιθοσπαδής. Entering within the closure from which the stones have been torn, even to the very mouth of the vault. Or (2), supposing a prolepsis, Pulling out the stones and entering.

1219. mvp-comment-691-1 ἐξ ἀθύμου δεσπότου κελεύσμασιν On hearing our despairing lord and at his bidding. Cp. supr. l. 957. Haemon, on rushing in, had found Antigone already dead by her own act.

1222. mvp-comment-692-1 καθημμένην Fastened, sc. to the roof. Those who read καθειμένην must have understood it to mean let down, i.e. suspended. The muslin noose of fine tissue is the maiden's veil, the βύσσινον πέπλωμα of Aesch. S. c. T. 1039.

1225. mvp-comment-693-1 Lamenting the ruin of his bridal, that was only to be found in death (τῆς κάτω).' λέχος] Bride.

1228. mvp-comment-694-1 τίνα νοῦν ἔσχες What design possessed you?

1229. mvp-comment-695-1 ἐν τῷ.. διεφθάρης At what point of calamity did you go mad? Cp. Hom. Il. 15. 128, μαινόμενε, φρένας ἠλέ, διέφθορας: Eur. Hell. 1192, λύπῃ σὰς διέφθαρσαι φρένας;

1231. mvp-comment-696-1 τόν is governed by πτύσας ('Abhorring,' i.e. expressing abhorrence of, cp. 1. 653) as well as by παπτήνας, ='Glaring wildly upon.' 1232. It is not clear whether Aristotle means to find fault with this when he says that Knowingly to intend evil, and not perform it, is at once abominable and without tragic interest;' διόπερ οὐδεὶς ποιεῖ ὁμοίως, εἰ μὴ ὀλιγάκις, οἷον ἐν Ἀντιγόνῃ τὸν Κρέοντα ὁ Αἵμων, Poet. 1453 b. But he clearly had not anticipated the refinement of the Scholiast and some modern critics, who think that Haemon only meditated suicide, and that his action is misunderstood by the messenger who reports the circumstance. Cp. supr. 751.

1231. mvp-comment-696-2 ξίφους Seyffert thinks that the Laurentian reading points to βέλους with ξίφους as a gloss. But although the generic word is used in Aj. 658, τόδ' ἔγχος τοὐμόν, ἔχθιστον βελῶν, it would be out of place here.

1233. mvp-comment-697-1 ξίφους διπλοῦς κνώδοντας Probably, the double-hilted sword.

1235. mvp-comment-698-1 ἐπενταθείς 'Stretching himself over it, i. e. Falling upon his sword.

1236-1237. mvp-comment-699-1 He clung to the maiden, enfolding her in his slackening arm. The construction of ἐς .. ἀγκῶνα is as if λαμβάνει, or some such verb, were to follow. 6

1236. mvp-comment-700-1 ἤρεισε.. μέσσον Drove the blade right into his side. See on O. C. 1595. Essay on Language § 51. p. 85.

1238. mvp-comment-701-1 πνοήν, which the Scholiast read, is at once a harder reading than ῥοήν, and harmonizes better with the context. And panting hard, he cast on her pale cheek sharp breath of gory dew.' Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1388: Essay on Language § 10. p. 17.

1241. mvp-comment-702-1 εἰν ῞Αιδου δόμοις The particle γε, which Heath introduced, reading ἔν γ', is defended by Seyffert: Apud inferos saltem, inquit poeta, nactus est Haemon nuptias rite confectas, quarum vivus expers fuit: in complexu tenet mortuam mortuus (v. 1235, sq.). But iv, the reading of L², is supported by the other Epic forms which occur in the play. See Introd., and cp. the Homeric καὶ εἰν Ἀίδαο δόμοισι.