Sophocles, Antigone, Robert Potter (Translator), 4

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Antigone

Wilt thou with thine assist

My hand, and bear this wretched corse away?

Wou'dst thou inter him, though the state forbids ?

Mine and thy brother, e'en though thou refuse
95

Thy social aid, I never will betray.
95

Wilt thou, too daring, Creon's mandate scorn?

He has no right to hold me from my friends.

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)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν ¹ γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν, οὔτ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ

Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ᾽ — ἄτης ἄτερ —

Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν, οὐκ ἄτης ἄτερ,

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ᾽ ἄτης †ἄτερ

Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ,

Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 4.mvp-line-4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ’ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ’ ἄτης ἄτερ

Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ᾽ † ἄτης ἄτερ †

Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινόν, οὔτ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ,

Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ

Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 4.mvp-line-4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ

Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτʼ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτʼ ἄτης ἄτερ

Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 4 focus

οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἀλγεινὸν οὔτ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ

Translations (10)

German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 4 focus

ISMENE

Was ist es? Sicher wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.
20

Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 4 focus

Ismena

¿Qué hay? Pues manifiestas inquietud por decir algo.

Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 4 focus

Ismene

Quid est? Aestuare enim videris , aliquid volvens animo.

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 4 focus

ISM

Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news.
20

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1 focus

Ismene, traute Schwester, vielgeliebtes Haupt,¹
1

Weißt du von einem Leide, das vom Vater her

Zeus nicht an uns vollendet, die wir leben noch?

Denn keinen Jammer gibt es, nichts Entsezliches,

Nichts Arges, nichts Schmachvolles, das ich nicht bereits
5

In deiner Noth gesehen und in meiner Noth.

Und welche Botschaft, heißt es, ließ jezt eben erst

Der Herrscher wieder allem Volk verkündigen?

Weißt du's, vernahmst du's, oder blieb dir unbekannt,

Daß unsern Lieben Böses naht von Feindesmacht?
10

Ismene.

Zu mir gelangte keine Kund', Antigone,

Von unsern Lieben, frohe nicht noch traurige,

Seitdem das Paar der Brüder uns entrissen ward,

Die Eines Tages fielen durch zwiefachen Mord.

Und seit in dieser jüngsten Nacht sich Argos' Heer
15

Zur Flucht gewendet, wurde mir nichts weiter kund,

Nicht, ob mir mehr des Glückes, ob des Leides ward.

Antigone.

Wohl wußt' ich das, und führte deßhalb dich heraus

Zum Thor des Hofes, dir allein es kundzuthun.

Ismene.

Was hast du? Sichtbar wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.
20

Antigone.

Hat Kreon nicht dem Einen Bruder nur gegönnt

Des Grabes Ehre, jenem sie schmachvoll versagt?

Den Eteokles hat er, wie man sagt, gerecht

Gerechter Ordnung huldigend, in der Erde Schooß

Geborgen, daß ihm Ehre sei im Todtenreich;²
25

Doch Polyneikes' jammervoll entseelten Leib

Verbot er, heißt es, allem Volk durch lauten Ruf

Im Grab zu bergen und um ihn zu klagen; nein,

Daliegen soll er unbeweint, grablos, ein Mahl

Den Vögeln, die zum süßen Raube niederschau'n.
30

Und solches, sagt man, ließ der edle Kreon dir

Und mir, ich sage mir sogar, verkündigen;

Er komme selbst, es deutlich Allen kundzuthun,

Die nicht davon vernommen, und er achte nicht

Für Nichts die Sache; sondern wer deß Eines thut,
35

Den trifft an offner Stätte Tod durch Steinigung.

So ward's von ihm beschlossen, und du zeigst sofort,

Ob edel, ob unedel du von Edlen stammst.

Ismene.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 4 focus

Antigone

Know then, from Creon, our indulgent lord,

Our hapless brothers met a different fate :

To honour one, and one to infamy

He hath consigned. With funeral rites he graced

The body of our dear Eteocles,

Whilst Polynices' wretched carcase lies

Unburied, unlamented, left exposed

A feast for hungry vultures on the plain.

No pitying friend will dare to violate
30

The tyrant's harsh command, for public death

Awaits th' offender. Creon comes himself

To tell us of it — such is our condition.

, This is the crisis, this the hour, Ismene,
35

, That must declare thee worthy of thy birth,

I Or show thee mean, base, and degenerate.

Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 4 focus

ISMENA

¿Qué ocurre, Antigona? Tus palabras revelan una gran agitación.

German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 4 focus

ISMENE

Was ist’s, du scheinst ein rothes Wort zu färben ?

English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 4 focus

Ismene

20 What is it? ’Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.

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-63-1 ἐχθαρεῖ ¹

mvp-comment-63-2 ἐξ ἐμοῦ ²

mvp-comment-64-1 ἐχθρὰ...τῷ θανόντι προσκείσει δίκῃ ³ προσκείσει ⁴ ἐχθρά ⁵

mvp-comment-64-2 Lehrs proposed

Δίκῃ

, i.e. ‘you will fall under the chastisement of justice.’ Donaldson, following Emper, reads

ἐχθρᾷ... δίκῃ

, as iure inimicorum apud mortuum eris: i.e. on the part of the dead you will be deemed to have only the rights of a foe. This is impossible. The ordinary reading is sound.

mvp-comment-65-1 ἔα ⁶

mvp-comment-65-2 τὴν ἐξ ἐμοῦ δυσββουλίαν ⁷

mvp-comment-65-3 τὸ δεινὸν τοῦτο ⁸

mvp-comment-65-4 πείσομαι γὰρ οὐ ¹⁰

mvp-comment-65-5 μὴ οὐ ¹¹

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

94. mvp-comment-59-1 ἐχθρὰ .. δίκῃ And our dead brother will justly hold you as an enemy: ἐχθράν σε προσθήσεται: ср. Eur. Τr. 185, τῷ πρόσκειμαι δούλα; Who has me for his slave.

95. mvp-comment-60-1 τὴν ἐξ ἐμοῦ That proceeds from me; i. e. For which I alone am responsible. See Essay on Language § 19. p. 28.¹

96. mvp-comment-61-1 πείσομαι γὰρ οὐ The reading οὐ, for which some critics would substitute οὖν, is confirmed (1) by the tendency to a vehement accumulation of negatives in the speeches of Antigone in this scene: (2) by the similar emphatic inversions noticed in the Essay on Language § 41. p. 78.

Sophocles Antigone 4

Robert Potter (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

ISMENE

Was ist es? Sicher wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.
20

Ismena

¿Qué hay? Pues manifiestas inquietud por decir algo.

Ismene

Quid est? Aestuare enim videris , aliquid volvens animo.

ISM

Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news.
20

Antigone.

Wohl wußt' ich das, und führte deßhalb dich heraus

Zum Thor des Hofes, dir allein es kundzuthun.

Ismene.

Was hast du? Sichtbar wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.
20

Ismene.

ISMENA

¿Qué ocurre, Antigona? Tus palabras revelan una gran agitación.

ISMENE

Was ist’s, du scheinst ein rothes Wort zu färben ?

Ismene

20 What is it? ’Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.

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

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

ISMENE Was ist es? Sicher wogt in dir ein schweres Wort. 20

Ismena ¿Qué hay? Pues manifiestas inquietud por decir algo.

Ismene Quid est? Aestuare enim videris , aliquid volvens animo.

ISM Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news. 20

Antigone. Wohl wußt' ich das, und führte deßhalb dich heraus Zum Thor des Hofes, dir allein es kundzuthun.

Ismene. Was hast du? Sichtbar wogt in dir ein schweres Wort. 20

Ismene.

ISMENA ¿Qué ocurre, Antigona? Tus palabras revelan una gran agitación.

ISMENE Was ist’s, du scheinst ein rothes Wort zu färben ?

Ismene 20 What is it? ’Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.

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

ISMENE

Was ist es? Sicher wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.
20

Ismena

¿Qué hay? Pues manifiestas inquietud por decir algo.

Ismene

Quid est? Aestuare enim videris , aliquid volvens animo.

ISM

Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news.
20

Antigone.

Wohl wußt' ich das, und führte deßhalb dich heraus

Zum Thor des Hofes, dir allein es kundzuthun.

Ismene.

Was hast du? Sichtbar wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.
20

ISMENA

¿Qué ocurre, Antigona? Tus palabras revelan una gran agitación.

ISMENE

Was ist’s, du scheinst ein rothes Wort zu färben ?

Ismene

20 What is it? ’Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.

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.