Sophocles Antigone 39

Robert Potter (Translator)

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Messenger
CREON, MESSENGER, ANTIGONE, CHORUS.

What hath befall'n? Hath justice reach'd th' offence?

Never should man, O king, on oath protest

Against a deed; some unseen cause may rise,

And show his former resolution built

On false foundations. By thy threats appall'd
405

I rashly said I never would return;
405

Yet with a joy beyond, above all hope,
405

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)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαίφρων, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαίφρων, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ' ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 39.mvp-line-39 focus

τί δ’, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ’ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 39.mvp-line-39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 39 focus

τί δʼ, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδʼ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 39 focus

τί δ᾽, ὦ ταλαῖφρον, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐν τούτοις, ἐγὼ

Translations (10)

German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 39 focus

CHOR

Niemand ist also thöricht, daſs er sterben will.

Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 39 focus

El Centinela

¡Rey!, no diré que llego sin aliento por venir de prisa y a todo correr, porque con frecuencia me he parado a pensar, dando vueltas por el camino, si me volvería atrás. Mi corazón me decía muchas veces aconsejándome : «¡Infeliz!, ¿por qué vas adonde la pagarás así que llegues? ¡Desgraciado!, ¿persistes aún? Y si Creonte se enterase de esto por otro hombre, ¿cómo tú no lo habías de sentir?» Revolviendo tales pensamientos venia venía lenta y pausadamente; de modo que un camino breve me ha resultado largo. Al fin me decidi decidí a llegar a tu presencia; y aunque nada te pueda aclarar, hablaré, sin embargo; pues vengo fortalecido con la esperanza de que no me podrá pasar nada fuera de lo que me tenga reservado el destino.

Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 39 focus

Custos

Haud equidem, o rex, dixero, anhelantem me esse, quod citato gressu celeriterque venerim: moras enim solicitudinum multas inveni, in via subinde me ipsum circumagens, ut referrem pedem. Anima enim saepius me alloquebatur: Miser, cur tendis eo, ubi poenas dabis, simul ac veneris? at enim resistes, miser? haec etiamsi ex quopiam alio resciverit Creon, quinam, sodes, malum effugies? Talia volutans animo, tardo iter confeci, quamvis alioqui celer, sicque longa fit brevis via. Tandem tamen consultissimum visum est huc venire: dicam autem, tametsi nihili sit, quod proferam: hac enim spe fretus venio, nihil me aliud passurum esse, nisi quod fatale sit.

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 39 focus

WATCHMAN

().

My lord, I am out of breath, but not with speed.

I will not say my foot was fleet. My thoughts

Cried halt unto me ever as I came
225

And wheeled me to return. My mind discoursed

Most volubly within my breast, and said—

Fond wretch! why go where thou wilt find thy bane?

Unhappy wight! say, wilt thou bide aloof?

Then if the king shall hear this from another,

How shalt thou ’scape for ’t? Winding thus about
230

I hasted, but I could not speed, and so

Made a long journey of a little way.

At last ‘yes’ carried it, that I should come

To thee; and tell thee I must needs; and shall,

Though it be nothing that I have to tell.

For I came hither, holding fast by this—
235

Nought that is not my fate can happen to me.

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)) — 39 focus

Messenger

First for myself ; I merit not thy wrath ;

It was not I, nor have I seen the man

Who did the guilty deed.
240

Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 39 focus

CREONTE

Que seáis severamente inflexibles con los que osaren desobedecer mis mandatos.

German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 39 focus

DER BOTE

Mein König, difsmal plaudr’ ich nicht, wie mich

Die othemlose Schnelle bring’, und wie

Sich leicht gehoben mir der Fuls. Denn öfters

Hielt mich die Sorg’ und wendet auf dem Wege

Mich um zur Rükkehr. Denn die Seele sang
235

Mir träumend viel. Wo gehst du hin, du Armer!

Wohin gelangt, giebst du die Rechenschaft ?

Bleibst du zurük, Unglüklicher ? so aber

Wird Kreon es von einem andern hören.

Wie kümmerst du defswegen denn dich nicht?
240

Derlei bedenkend, gieng ich müfsig langsam,

Und so wird auch ein kurzer Weg zum weiten.

Zulezt hat freilich diess gesiegt, ich soll

Hieher, und wenn mein Sorgen auch für nichts ist,

So sprech’ ich doch. Denn in der Hoffnung komm’ ich,
245

Es folge nur, dem, wasich that, was noth ist.

English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 39 focus

Guard

liege, I will not say that I come breathless from speed, or that I have plied a nimble foot ; for often did my thoughts make me pause, and wheel round in my path, to return. My mind was holding large discourse with me; ‘Fool, why goest thou to thy certain doom ?’ ‘Wretch, tarrying again? And if Creon hears this from 230 another, must not thou smart for it?’ So debating, I went on my way with lagging steps, and thus. a short road was made long. At last, however, it carried the day that I should come hither—to thee; and, though my tale be nought, yet will I tell it; for_I_come with C a good grip on one hope,—that I can suffer nothing but ate what is my fate.

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

1

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

39

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

69

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-220-1 τὸν νεκρόν ¹

mvp-comment-221-1 ἆρ’ ἔνδηλα ²

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

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.