Sophocles, Antigone, Robert Potter (Translator), 38

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Creon

Hither he returns.

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)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας, εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή ¹,

Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας, εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας, εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾿ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτ᾿ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 38.mvp-line-38 focus

εἴτ’ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτ’ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας, εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 38.mvp-line-38 focus

εἴτ' εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 38 focus

εἴτʼ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτʼ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 38 focus

εἴτ᾽ εὐγενὴς πέφυκας εἴτ᾽ ἐσθλῶν κακή.

Translations (10)

German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 38 focus

KREON

Daſs nicht ihr nachseht denen, die dawider thun.
215

Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 38 focus

Creonte

Ése, en efecto, será el pago; pero la esperanza del lucro pierde muchas veces a los hombres.

Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 38 focus

Creon

Est sane proposita haec merces: sed homines saepe lucri spes perdidit.

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 38 focus

CR

Such, truly, is the meed. But hope of gain

Full oft ere now hath been the ruin of men.

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 39 focus

Was kann ich, wenn dies also steht, Unselige,¹

Hier, lösend oder bindend, uns zum Frommen thun?
40

Antigone.

Sieh, ob du helfen, ob die Mühe theilen wirst

Ismene.

Bei welchem Unterfangen? Wo geräthst du hin?

Antigone.

Ob du den Todten, mir gesellt, aufnehmen willst!

Ismene.

Ihn denn bestatten willst du, dem Verbot zum Troz?

Antigone.

Ja, meinen Bruder und den deinen, wenn auch du
45

Nicht willst; denn niemals soll man mich Verrathes zeih'n!²

Ismene.

Tollkühne, während Kreon's Wort es dir verwehrt?

Antigone.

Fern halten darf mich dieser nie von meiner Pflicht.

Ismene.

Weh mir! Bedenk', o Schwester, wie der Vater uns,

Mit Haß und Hohn belastet, ruhmlos unterging,
50

Nachdem er selbst um Gräuel, die er selbst enthüllt,

Der Augen Sterne sich zerriß mit eigner Hand;

Wie dann die Mutter, Mutter ihm und Weib zugleich,

Schmachvoll mit frevlem Strange sich das Leben nahm;

Zum dritten, wie die Brüder beid' an Einem Tag
55

Im Wechselmord sich ein gemeinsam Todesloos,

Die Armen, schufen, Einer durch des Andern Hand!

Wir sind allein jezt übrig; du bedenke denn,

Wie schmählich wir verdürben, wenn wir wider Necht

Der Herrscher Ausspruch und Gewalt mißachteten.
60

Wohl mußt du doch erwägen, daß wir Frauen sind,

Und nicht geschaffen, Männern kühn im Kampf zu steh'n,

Dann aber, daß wir, weil beherrscht von Stärkeren,

Hier folgen müssen und sogar in Härterem.

Drum will ich jene, die der Erde Schooß verbirgt,³
65

Anfleh'n um Nachsicht, weil Gewalt mich bindet hier,

Und ihm gehorchen, dem die Macht geworden ist;

Denn Unverstand ist's, über seine Kraft zu thun.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 38 focus

Creon
237

Whence are thy fears, and why this hesita-

Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 38 focus

CORO

¿Tienes algo más que recomendarnos?

German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 38 focus

KREON

Diefs ist der Lohn. Doch hat mit Hoffnungen

Oft der Gewinn den Mann zu Grund gerichtet.
230
Dritte Scene KREON. DER CHOR EIN BOTE.

English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 38 focus

Creon

In sooth, that is the meed; yet lucre hath oft ruined men through their hopes. Enter GUARD.

English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 1-98 focus

Antigone

Ismene, my sister, true child of my own mother, do you know any evil out of all the evils bequeathed by Oedipus that Zeus will not fulfil for the two of us in our lifetime? There is nothing—no pain, no ruin,
1

no shame, nor dishonor—that I have not seen in your sufferings and mine. And now what is this new edict that they say the general has just decreed to all the city? Do you know anything? Have you heard? Or does it escape you that
5

evils from our enemies are on the march against our friends?
10

Ismene

To me no word of our friends, Antigone, either bringing joy or bringing pain has come since we two were robbed of our two brothers who died in one day by a double blow.

And since the Argive army has fled during this night, I have learned nothing further, whether better fortune is mine, or further ruin.
15

Antigone

I knew it well, so I was trying to bring you outside the courtyard gates to this end, that you alone might hear.

Ismene

Hear what? It is clear that you are brooding on some dark news.
20

Antigone

Why not? Has not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honored burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he has laid in the earth

for his honor among the dead below. As for the poor corpse of Polyneices, however, they say that an edict has been published to the townsmen that no one shall bury him or mourn him, but instead leave him unwept, unentombed, for the birds a pleasing store
25

as they look to satisfy their hunger. Such, it is said, is the edict that the good Creon has laid down for you and for me—yes, for me—and it is said that he is coming here to proclaim it for the certain knowledge of those who do not already know. They say that he does not conduct this business lightly,
30

but whoever performs any of these rites, for him the fate appointed is death by public stoning among the entire city. This is how things stand for you, and so you will soon show your nature, whether you are noble-minded, or the corrupt daughter of a noble line.
35

Ismene

Poor sister, if things have come to this, what would I

profit by loosening or tightening this knot?
40

Antigone

Consider whether you will share the toil and the task.

Ismene

What are you hazarding? What do you intend?

Antigone

Will you join your hand to mine in order to lift his corpse?

Ismene

You plan to bury him—when it is forbidden to the city?

Antigone

Yes, he is my brother, and yours too, even if you wish it otherwise. I will never be convicted of betraying him.
45

Ismene

Hard girl! Even when Creon has forbidden it?

Antigone

No, he has no right to keep me from my own.

Ismene

Ah, no! Think, sister, how our father

perished in hatred and infamy, when, because of the crimes that he himself detected, he smashed both his eyes with self-blinding hand; then his mother-wife, two names in one, with a twisted noose destroyed her life;
50

lastly, our two brothers in a single day, both unhappy murderers of their own flesh and blood, worked with mutual hands their common doom. And now we, in turn—we two who have been left all alone—consider how much more miserably we will be destroyed, if in defiance of the law
55

we transgress against an autocrat’s decree or his powers. No, we must remember, first, that ours is a woman’s nature, and accordingly not suited to battles against men; and next, that we are ruled by the more powerful, so that we must obey in these things and in things even more stinging.
60

I, therefore, will ask those below for pardon, since I am forced to this, and will obey those who have come to authority. It is foolish to do what is fruitless.
65

Antigone

I would not encourage you—no, nor, even if you were willing later,

would I welcome you as my partner in this action. No, be the sort that pleases you. I will bury him—it would honor me to die while doing that. I shall rest with him, loved one with loved one, a pious criminal. For the time is greater
70

that I must serve the dead than the living, since in that world I will rest forever. But if you so choose, continue to dishonor what the gods in honor have established.
75

Ismene

I do them no dishonor. But to act in violation of the citizens’ will—of that I am by nature incapable.

Antigone

You can make that your pretext! Regardless, I will go now to heap a tomb over the brother I love.
80

Ismene

Oh no, unhappy sister! I fear for you!

Antigone

Do not tremble for me. Straighten out your own destiny.

Ismene

Then at least disclose the deed to no one before you do it.

Conceal it, instead, in secrecy—and so, too, will I.
85

Antigone

Go on! Denounce it! You will be far more hated for your silence, if you fail to proclaim these things to everyone.

Ismene

You have a hot heart for chilling deeds.

Antigone

I know that I please those whom I am most bound to please.

Ismene

Yes, if you will also have the power. But you crave the impossible.
90

Antigone

Why then, when my strength fails, I will have finished.

Ismene

An impossible hunt should not be tried in the first place.

Antigone

If you mean that, you will have my hatred, and you will be subject to punishment as the enemy of the dead.

But leave me and the foolish plan I have authored to suffer this terrible thing, for I will not suffer anything so terrible that my death will lack honor.
95

Ismene

Go, then, if you so decide. And of this be sure: though your path is foolish, to your loved ones your love is straight and true. Exit Antigone on the spectators’ left. Ismene exits into the palace.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-208-1 ξύμμετρος ¹

mvp-comment-209-1 ἀπώμοτον ²

mvp-comment-210-1 ψεύδει ³

mvp-comment-210-2 ἡ ’πίνοια ⁴

mvp-comment-211-1 ἐξηύχουν ἄν ⁵ σχολῇ ἥξειν ποτὲ δεῦρο ⁶

mvp-comment-211-2 σχολῇ ⁷

mvp-comment-212-1 ταῖς σαῖς ἀπειλαῖς ⁸

mvp-comment-212-2 ἐχειμάσθην ⁹

mvp-comment-213-1 ἡ...ἐκτὸς ¹⁰ ἐκτός ¹¹

mvp-comment-214-1 οὐδὲν ἔοικε μῆκος ¹² α+λλῃ ἡδονῇ ¹³ οὐδέν ¹⁴ μῆκος ¹⁵ ἔοικε ¹⁶

mvp-comment-215-1 δῑ ὅρκων … ἀπώμοτος ¹⁷

mvp-comment-216-1 καθῃρέθη ¹⁸

mvp-comment-216-2 τάφον κοσμοῦσα ¹⁹

mvp-comment-216-3 ἐπάλλετο ²⁰ ἕρμαιον ²¹

mvp-comment-217-1 κρῖνε ²²

mvp-comment-217-2 δίκαιός εἰμι ²³

mvp-comment-217-3 ἀπηλλάχθαι ²⁴

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 ²⁵

mvp-comment-219-1 ἦ καὶ ²⁶

mvp-comment-219-2 ὀρθῶς ²⁷

mvp-comment-219-3 mean to say? (Not, merely, ‘truly,’ i.e. in accordance with the fact: cp. 99 n.)

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

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;

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Creon Hither he returns.

Current edition Experimental

KREON Daſs nicht ihr nachseht denen, die dawider thun. 215

Creonte Ése, en efecto, será el pago; pero la esperanza del lucro pierde muchas veces a los hombres.

Creon Est sane proposita haec merces: sed homines saepe lucri spes perdidit.

CR Such, truly, is the meed. But hope of gain Full oft ere now hath been the ruin of men.

Was kann ich, wenn dies also steht, Unselige, 1 Hier, lösend oder bindend, uns zum Frommen thun? 40

Antigone. Sieh, ob du helfen, ob die Mühe theilen wirst

Ismene. Bei welchem Unterfangen? Wo geräthst du hin?

Antigone. Ob du den Todten, mir gesellt, aufnehmen willst!

Ismene. Ihn denn bestatten willst du, dem Verbot zum Troz?

Antigone. Ja, meinen Bruder und den deinen, wenn auch du 45 Nicht willst; denn niemals soll man mich Verrathes zeih'n! 2

Ismene. Tollkühne, während Kreon's Wort es dir verwehrt?

Antigone. Fern halten darf mich dieser nie von meiner Pflicht.

Creon 237 Whence are thy fears, and why this hesita-

CORO ¿Tienes algo más que recomendarnos?

KREON Diefs ist der Lohn. Doch hat mit Hoffnungen Oft der Gewinn den Mann zu Grund gerichtet. 230 Dritte Scene KREON. DER CHOR EIN BOTE.

Creon In sooth, that is the meed; yet lucre hath oft ruined men through their hopes. Enter GUARD.

Antigone I knew it well, so I was trying to bring you outside the courtyard gates to this end, that you alone might hear.

Ismene Hear what? It is clear that you are brooding on some dark news. 20

Ismene Poor sister, if things have come to this, what would I profit by loosening or tightening this knot? 40

Antigone Consider whether you will share the toil and the task.

Ismene What are you hazarding? What do you intend?

Antigone Will you join your hand to mine in order to lift his corpse?

Ismene You plan to bury him—when it is forbidden to the city?

Antigone Yes, he is my brother, and yours too, even if you wish it otherwise. I will never be convicted of betraying him. 45

Ismene Hard girl! Even when Creon has forbidden it?

Antigone No, he has no right to keep me from my own.

Ismene I do them no dishonor. But to act in violation of the citizens’ will—of that I am by nature incapable.

Antigone You can make that your pretext! Regardless, I will go now to heap a tomb over the brother I love. 80

Ismene Oh no, unhappy sister! I fear for you!

Antigone Do not tremble for me. Straighten out your own destiny.

Ismene Then at least disclose the deed to no one before you do it. Conceal it, instead, in secrecy—and so, too, will I. 85

Antigone Go on! Denounce it! You will be far more hated for your silence, if you fail to proclaim these things to everyone.

Ismene You have a hot heart for chilling deeds.

Antigone I know that I please those whom I am most bound to please.

Ismene Yes, if you will also have the power. But you crave the impossible. 90

Antigone Why then, when my strength fails, I will have finished.

Ismene An impossible hunt should not be tried in the first place.

Antigone If you mean that, you will have my hatred, and you will be subject to punishment as the enemy of the dead. But leave me and the foolish plan I have authored to suffer this terrible thing, for I will not suffer anything so terrible that my death will lack honor. 95

Ismene Go, then, if you so decide. And of this be sure: though your path is foolish, to your loved ones your love is straight and true. Exit Antigone on the spectators’ left. Ismene exits into the palace.

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Creon

Hither he returns.

KREON

Daſs nicht ihr nachseht denen, die dawider thun.
215

Creonte

Ése, en efecto, será el pago; pero la esperanza del lucro pierde muchas veces a los hombres.

Creon

Est sane proposita haec merces: sed homines saepe lucri spes perdidit.

CR

Such, truly, is the meed. But hope of gain

Full oft ere now hath been the ruin of men.

Was kann ich, wenn dies also steht, Unselige,¹

Hier, lösend oder bindend, uns zum Frommen thun?
40

Antigone.

Sieh, ob du helfen, ob die Mühe theilen wirst

Ismene.

Bei welchem Unterfangen? Wo geräthst du hin?

Antigone.

Ob du den Todten, mir gesellt, aufnehmen willst!

Ismene.

Ihn denn bestatten willst du, dem Verbot zum Troz?

Antigone.

Ja, meinen Bruder und den deinen, wenn auch du
45

Nicht willst; denn niemals soll man mich Verrathes zeih'n!²

Ismene.

Tollkühne, während Kreon's Wort es dir verwehrt?

Antigone.

Fern halten darf mich dieser nie von meiner Pflicht.

Creon
237

Whence are thy fears, and why this hesita-

CORO

¿Tienes algo más que recomendarnos?

KREON

Diefs ist der Lohn. Doch hat mit Hoffnungen

Oft der Gewinn den Mann zu Grund gerichtet.
230
Dritte Scene KREON. DER CHOR EIN BOTE.

Creon

In sooth, that is the meed; yet lucre hath oft ruined men through their hopes. Enter GUARD.

Antigone

I knew it well, so I was trying to bring you outside the courtyard gates to this end, that you alone might hear.

Ismene

Hear what? It is clear that you are brooding on some dark news.
20

Ismene

Poor sister, if things have come to this, what would I

profit by loosening or tightening this knot?
40

Antigone

Consider whether you will share the toil and the task.

Ismene

What are you hazarding? What do you intend?

Antigone

Will you join your hand to mine in order to lift his corpse?

Ismene

You plan to bury him—when it is forbidden to the city?

Antigone

Yes, he is my brother, and yours too, even if you wish it otherwise. I will never be convicted of betraying him.
45

Ismene

Hard girl! Even when Creon has forbidden it?

Antigone

No, he has no right to keep me from my own.

Ismene

I do them no dishonor. But to act in violation of the citizens’ will—of that I am by nature incapable.

Antigone

You can make that your pretext! Regardless, I will go now to heap a tomb over the brother I love.
80

Ismene

Oh no, unhappy sister! I fear for you!

Antigone

Do not tremble for me. Straighten out your own destiny.

Ismene

Then at least disclose the deed to no one before you do it.

Conceal it, instead, in secrecy—and so, too, will I.
85

Antigone

Go on! Denounce it! You will be far more hated for your silence, if you fail to proclaim these things to everyone.

Ismene

You have a hot heart for chilling deeds.

Antigone

I know that I please those whom I am most bound to please.

Ismene

Yes, if you will also have the power. But you crave the impossible.
90

Antigone

Why then, when my strength fails, I will have finished.

Ismene

An impossible hunt should not be tried in the first place.

Antigone

If you mean that, you will have my hatred, and you will be subject to punishment as the enemy of the dead.

But leave me and the foolish plan I have authored to suffer this terrible thing, for I will not suffer anything so terrible that my death will lack honor.
95

Ismene

Go, then, if you so decide. And of this be sure: though your path is foolish, to your loved ones your love is straight and true. Exit Antigone on the spectators’ left. Ismene exits into the palace.