ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Κρέων
Antigone. Sophocles. Godesberg. 1949.
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Current edition Experimental
Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
Editions (11)
Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾷν πάρεστιν.
οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾷν πάρεστιν.
οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Κρέων
b
b
Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 1293 focus
Χορός
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾷν πάρεστιν·
οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
1265
ὁρᾷν πάρεστιν·
οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
1265
Κρέων
2
2
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι,
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι,
Κρέων
Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Κρέων
Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Κρέων
Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
2
Κρέων
Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν. οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν. οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Κρέων
2
2
Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν·
οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν·
οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Κρέων
2
Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924)) — 1293 focus
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Κρέων
Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 1293 focus
Χορός
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Translations (11)
German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 1293 focus
CHOR.
Du kannst es sehen; nicht im Innern ist sie mehr.
(die Leiche der Eurydike wird sichtbar.)Du kannst es sehen; nicht im Innern ist sie mehr.
Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 1293 focus
Puedes verla, pues no está en el interior de palacio.
CREONTE
Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 1293 focus
Intueri licet:
non enim in penetrali amplius retinetur.
Creon
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1293 focus
No longer hidden in the house. Behold!
No longer hidden in the house. Behold!
CR
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1293 focus
Du kannst es sehen; nicht im Hause birgt sich's mehr.
(Im Hintergrunde der Scene wird die Leiche der Königin sichtbar.)
Du kannst es sehen; nicht im Hause birgt sich's mehr.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1293 focus
A wretch, already dead
With grief, thy horrid tale once more hath slain.
A wretch, already dead
With grief, thy horrid tale once more hath slain.
Creon
Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 1293 focus
Puedes verla... y no allá en lo reservado de tu palacio
1
.
CREONTE
Antistrofa 2.2
Comtemplando el cadáver de Eurydice, y todavía con el de Hemón en sus brazos).—¡Desgraciado de mi!
Antistrofa 2.2
Comtemplando el cadáver de Eurydice, y todavía con el de Hemón en sus brazos).—¡Desgraciado de mi!
German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 1293 focus
BOTE
Du kannst es selın. Noch ist sie im Gemach nicht.
Du kannst es selın. Noch ist sie im Gemach nicht.
English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 1293 focus
Thou canst behold: ’tis no longer hidden within.
The doors of the palace are opened, and the corpse of EURYDICE is disclosed.
2
Creon
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1294 focus
In youth's fresh prime: yet thou wast blameless; all
In youth's fresh prime: yet thou wast blameless; all
English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 1261-1345 focus
Creon
Ah, the blunders of an unthinking mind, blunders of rigidity, yielding death! Oh, you witnesses of the killers and the killed, both of one family!
What misery arises from my reasonings! Haemon, you have died after a young life, youngest and last of my sons! O God! You have departed not by your foolishness, but by my own!
1265
Ah, the blunders of an unthinking mind, blunders of rigidity, yielding death! Oh, you witnesses of the killers and the killed, both of one family!
What misery arises from my reasonings! Haemon, you have died after a young life, youngest and last of my sons! O God! You have departed not by your foolishness, but by my own!
1265
Chorus
Ah, how late you seem to see the right!
1270
Ah, how late you seem to see the right!
1270
Creon
God, I have mastered the bitter lesson! But then, then, I think, some god struck me on my head with a crushing weight, and drove me into savage paths,
—ah!—and overthrew my joy to be trampled on! Ah, the labors men must toil through!
1275
1278
Enter the Messenger from the house.
God, I have mastered the bitter lesson! But then, then, I think, some god struck me on my head with a crushing weight, and drove me into savage paths,
—ah!—and overthrew my joy to be trampled on! Ah, the labors men must toil through!
1275
Messenger
My master, you have come, I think, like one whose hands are not empty, but who has a ready store: first, you carry that burden visible in your arms;
second, you will soon look upon further sufferings inside your house.
1280
My master, you have come, I think, like one whose hands are not empty, but who has a ready store: first, you carry that burden visible in your arms;
second, you will soon look upon further sufferings inside your house.
1280
Creon
What worse suffering is still to follow upon these sufferings?
What worse suffering is still to follow upon these sufferings?
Messenger
Your wife is dead, true mother of that corpse, poor lady, by wounds newly cut.
Your wife is dead, true mother of that corpse, poor lady, by wounds newly cut.
Creon
O harbor of Hades, hard to purify!
Why, why do you ruin me? Herald of evil, of grief, what word do you say? Ah, you have done in a dead man anew! What are you saying, boy? What is this you report to me
1285
God no!—what new slaughter, my wife’s doom, is heaped upon this ruin?
1290
1293
The doors of the palace are opened, and the corpse of Eurydice is disclosed.
O harbor of Hades, hard to purify!
Why, why do you ruin me? Herald of evil, of grief, what word do you say? Ah, you have done in a dead man anew! What are you saying, boy? What is this you report to me
1285
God no!—what new slaughter, my wife’s doom, is heaped upon this ruin?
1290
Chorus
The sight is at hand. It is no longer hidden inside.
The sight is at hand. It is no longer hidden inside.
Creon
Ah, misery!
There I see a new, a second evil! What destiny, ah, what, can still await me? I have just now taken my son in my arms, and now I see another corpse before me!
1295
Oh, tormented mother! Oh, my son!
1300
Ah, misery!
There I see a new, a second evil! What destiny, ah, what, can still await me? I have just now taken my son in my arms, and now I see another corpse before me!
1295
Oh, tormented mother! Oh, my son!
1300
Messenger
By the altar, with a sharp-whetted sword, she struck until her eyes went slack and dark. Before that she bewailed the noble fate of Megareus who died earlier, and then the fate of this boy, and also, with her last breath,
she called down evil fortune upon you, the slayer of her sons.
1305
By the altar, with a sharp-whetted sword, she struck until her eyes went slack and dark. Before that she bewailed the noble fate of Megareus who died earlier, and then the fate of this boy, and also, with her last breath,
she called down evil fortune upon you, the slayer of her sons.
1305
Creon
Ah, no! I tremble with fear. Why does no one strike me full on my chest with a two-edged sword?
I am miserable—ah—and bathed in miserable anguish!
1310
Ah, no! I tremble with fear. Why does no one strike me full on my chest with a two-edged sword?
I am miserable—ah—and bathed in miserable anguish!
1310
Messenger
Yes, because you were accused of responsibility for both this son’s death, and the other’s, by her whose corpse you see.
Yes, because you were accused of responsibility for both this son’s death, and the other’s, by her whose corpse you see.
Creon
What was the manner of the violent deed by which she departed?
What was the manner of the violent deed by which she departed?
Messenger
Her own hand struck her to the heart upon learning her son’s sharply-lamented fate.
1315
Her own hand struck her to the heart upon learning her son’s sharply-lamented fate.
1315
Creon
Ah this guilt can never be fastened onto any other mortal so as to remove my own! It was I, yes, I, who killed you, I the wretch.
I admit the truth. Lead me away, my servants, lead me from here with all haste, who am no more than a dead man!
1320
Ah this guilt can never be fastened onto any other mortal so as to remove my own! It was I, yes, I, who killed you, I the wretch.
I admit the truth. Lead me away, my servants, lead me from here with all haste, who am no more than a dead man!
1320
Chorus
The course you recommend is to your gain, if there can be gain amidst evil. What is briefest is best, when trouble lies at your feet.
1325
The course you recommend is to your gain, if there can be gain amidst evil. What is briefest is best, when trouble lies at your feet.
1325
Creon
Let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my final day,
the fate supreme! Oh, let it come, so that I may never see tomorrow’s light!
1330
1334
Let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my final day,
the fate supreme! Oh, let it come, so that I may never see tomorrow’s light!
1330
Chorus
These things are in the future. We must see to present affairs.
Fulfillment of these things rests in the hands where it should rest.
1335
These things are in the future. We must see to present affairs.
Fulfillment of these things rests in the hands where it should rest.
1335
Creon
All that I crave was summed in that prayer.
All that I crave was summed in that prayer.
Chorus
Then pray no more; for mortals have no release from destined misfortune.
Then pray no more; for mortals have no release from destined misfortune.
Creon
Lead me away, I beg you, a rash, useless man.
I have murdered you, son, unwittingly, and you, too, my wife—the misery! I do not know which way I should look, or where I should seek support. All is
1340
amiss that is in my hands, and, again, a crushing fate has leapt upon my head.
1345
Lead me away, I beg you, a rash, useless man.
I have murdered you, son, unwittingly, and you, too, my wife—the misery! I do not know which way I should look, or where I should seek support. All is
1340
amiss that is in my hands, and, again, a crushing fate has leapt upon my head.
1345
Commentary
Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))
mvp-comment-77-1 τοῖος 1
mvp-comment-77-2 ἐτάθη 2
mvp-comment-77-3 πάταγος 3
mvp-comment-77-4 ἀντιπάλῳ δυσχείρωμα δράκοντος 4 ἀντιπάλῳ ... δράκοντι 5 ἀντιπάλου … δράκοντος 6 ἀντιπάλῳ … δράκοντος 7
mvp-comment-77-5 The interpretation of the passage turns primarily on two points.
mvp-comment-77-6 (1) The δράκων 8
mvp-comment-77-7 (2) The δυς 9 δυσχείρωμα 10
mvp-comment-77-8 Those who read ἀντιπάλῳ … δράκοντι 11 ὲτάθη 12
mvp-comment-77-9 Those who read ἀντιπάλου … δράκοντος 13
mvp-comment-78-1 μεγάλης 14
mvp-comment-78-2 ῥεύματι 15 ῥεύματι πολλῷ 16
mvp-comment-79-1 χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπεροπλίαις 17
mvp-comment-79-2
μέγας. In post-Homeric poetry
ὑπέροπλος is a freq. epith. of overweening strength (
ἠνορέη, βίη, ἥβη, etc.).—Other readings are:—(1)
χρυσοῦ καναχῇ θ’ ὑπερόπτας, ‘and haughty in the clang of gold.’ This involves an improbable change; the subst.
ὑπερόπτης, too, is unsuitable here, and cannot be defended by
Theocr. 22. 58
πρὸς πάντα παλίγκοτος ἠδ’ ὑπερόπτης. Wecklein, reading
ὑπερόπτας, keeps
καναχῆς in the sense,
hoffärtig
auf: but a genit. after
ὑπερόπτης could not denote that
in which one takes pride. (2)
χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπερόπτης, or
‐όπτα, i.e., ‘Zeus, a despiser of the clang of gold.’ (3)
χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπέροπτα, adv. neut. plur. (as
O. T. 883
), ‘advancing haughtily in a great stream of clanging gold.’ But the adv. comes weakly at the end, and
χρυσοῦ κ. is harshly joined with
π. ῥεύματι.—Aesch. , too, gives prominence to
gold in picturing the Argive chiefs: Capaneus has golden letters on his shield (
Aesch.
Th. 434
), Polyneices has the image of a warrior in golden armour, with a golden legend (644,
Aesch. Th. 660
).
mvp-comment-79-3 καναχῆς 18
mvp-comment-80-1 παλτῷ πυρί 19
mvp-comment-80-2 βαλβίδων ἐπ’ ἄκρων 20
mvp-comment-80-3 ὁρμῶντα 21
mvp-comment-80-4 νίκην 22 ἀλαλάξαι 23
mvp-comment-81-1 ἀντιτύπᾳ 24
mvp-comment-81-2
As regards the sense,
ἀντίτυπος was regularly used of hard surfaces, which, as it were,
repel that which strikes them (for the accent
ἀντίτυπος, not
ἀντιτύπος, though the sense is act., see on
O. T. 460
).
Probl. 5. 40
οἱ...ἐν ἀντιτύποις περίπατοι. Lucian
Amor. 13
τὴν ἀντίτυπον οὕτω καὶ καρτερὰν τοῦ λίθου φύσιν. So, fig.,
Plat.
Crat. 420D
τὸ...ἀναγκαῖον καὶ ἀντίτυπον, what is necessary, and what
resists us.
mvp-comment-81-3 τανταλωθείς 25
mvp-comment-82-1 πυρφόρος 26
mvp-comment-82-2 βακχεύων 27
mvp-comment-82-3 ῥιπαῖς...ἀνέμων 28
mvp-comment-83-1 εἶχε δ’ ἄλλᾳ τὰ μέν 29 εἶχε δ’ ἄλλαι τὰ μὲν ἄλλαι τὰ δ’ ἐπ’ ἄλλοις 30 τὰ μέν 31 ἄλλα δέ 32 τὰ μέν 33 ἄλλᾳ 34
mvp-comment-83-2 ἐπενώμα 35 στυφελίζων 36
mvp-comment-83-3 δεξιόσειρος 37
mvp-comment-83-4 The old v.l. δεξιόχειρος 38
mvp-comment-84-1 ἑπτὰ λοχαγοί 39
mvp-comment-84-2 ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους 40
mvp-comment-84-3 Ζηνὶ τροπαίῳ 41
mvp-comment-84-4 πάγχαλκα τέλη 42
mvp-comment-84-5
It was the ordinary practice to set up a
τρόπαιον (old
αττ.τροπαῖον) after a victory, on the spot where it had been won, or, in the case of a sea-fight, on the nearest land (
Thuc. 2.92
). Such a trophy ordinarily consisted of shields, helmets, and weapons, conspicuously displayed on wooden supports, and dedicated, with an inscription, to a deity. Cp.
Eur.
Phoen. 1473
(of the Thebans after the victory)
οἱ μὲν Διὸς τροπαῖον ἵστασαν βρέτας (i.e. a wooden image of
Ζεὺς Τροπαῖος), |
οἱ δ’ ἀσπίδας συλῶντες Ἀργείων νεκρῶν | σκυλεύματ’ εἴσω τειχέων ἐπέμπομεν. Part of the armour would be affixed to the walls of Theban temples (cp.
Aesch.
Ag. 577
,
Th. 276
).
mvp-comment-85-1 πλὴν τ. στυγεροῖν 43 πατρός 44
mvp-comment-85-2 καθ’ αὑτοῖν 45
mvp-comment-85-3 δικρατεῖς λόγχας 46
mvp-comment-85-4 στήσαντε 47
mvp-comment-86-1 ἀλλὰ γάρ 48 γάρ 49 γάρ 50
mvp-comment-86-2 μεγαλώνυμος 51
mvp-comment-86-3 πολυαρμάτῳ 52
mvp-comment-86-4 ἀντιχαρεῖσα 53
mvp-comment-87-1 ἐκ...πολέμων τῶν νῦν 54 ἐκ 55 νῦν 56
mvp-comment-87-2 θέσθαι 57 θέσθε 58 παννυχίοις 59
mvp-comment-87-3 ὁ Θήβας 60 ἐλελίχθων 61
mvp-comment-87-4 Βάκχιος 62
mvp-comment-87-5 ἄρχοι 63
mvp-comment-88-1 ἀλλὰ … γάρ 64 Κρέων 65
mvp-comment-88-2 Μενοικέως 66
mvp-comment-88-3 νεοχμὸς νεαραῖσι 67
mvp-comment-88-4 their equivalents. See Appendix I prefer the first of these views. An anapaest or spondee, meaning ‘ruler,’ has probably dropped out before νεοχμός 68 κρείων 69 ἄρχων 70 ταγός 71
mvp-comment-88-5 θεῶν … συντυχίαις 72 ἐπί 73
mvp-comment-89-1 μῆτιν ἐρέσσων 74
mvp-comment-89-2 σύγκλητον 75
mvp-comment-89-3 προὔθετο 76 λέσχην 77
mvp-comment-89-4
not the meeting, but the discussion which is to take place there: thus the poet's phrase, true to Attic usage, corresponds with
γνώμας προθεῖναι rather than with
ἐκκλησίαν προθεῖναι. Herod. uses
λέσχη of a public discussion (9. 71): cp.
O. C. 167
. The midd.
προὔθετο
78
mvp-comment-89-5 κοινῷ κ. πέμψας 79
mvp-comment-91-1 There is a general dramatic analogy between this speech and that of Oedipus in O. T. 216 —275. In each case a Theban king addresses Theban elders, announcing a stern decree, adopted in reliance on his own wisdom, and promulgated with haughty consciousness of power; the elders receive the decree with a submissive deference under which we can perceive traces of misgiving; and as the drama proceeds, the elders become spectators of calamities occasioned by the decree, while its author turns to them for comfort.
mvp-comment-91-2 τὰ μὲν δὴ πόλεος . . ὑμᾶς δ’ 80
mvp-comment-91-3 πόλεος 81 πολλῷ σάλῳ σείσαντες 82
mvp-comment-91-4
The image of the State as a ship dates in Greek literature from Alcaeus (whom Horace copied,
Carm. 1. 14
), fr. 18. The ship of Alcaeus is labouring in the trough of a wild sea,—water is coming in,—the sail is torn,—the anchor will not hold:
νᾶϊ φορήμεθα σὺν μελαίνᾳ | χείμωνι μοχθεῦντες μεγάλῳ μάλα, κ.τ.λ. It is only through Heracleides
Alleg. Homer. 5 that we know the meaning of Alcaeus to have been figurative and political. Aesch. often uses the image (
Aesch.
Th. 2
,
Aesch. Th. 62
,
Aesch. Th. 208
etc.). Creon returns to it at 189. It is peculiarly well suited to his point,—the unity of the public interest.
mvp-comment-91-5 ὤρθωσαν 83
mvp-comment-92-1 ἐκ πάντων 84 δίχα 85
mvp-comment-92-2 ἔστειλ’ ἱκέσθαι 86 τοῦτο μέν 87
mvp-comment-92-3 σέβοντας 88
mvp-comment-92-4 θρόνων . . κράτη 89
mvp-comment-93-1 ἡνίκ’ Οἰδίπους 90 κείνων 91 κείνων παῖδας 92 ἡνίκ’ . . ὤρθου πόλιν 93 ἐπεὶ διώλετο 94 τοῦτο μέν . . τοῦτ’ αὖθις 95
mvp-comment-93-2 καί 96 καί 97
mvp-comment-93-3 ἐμπέδοις φρονήμασιν 98 ἐμπέδους 99 ἐμπέδοις 100
mvp-comment-94-1 ὅτε 101
mvp-comment-94-2 πρὸς διπλῆς μ. 102 διπλῆς . . μίαν 103
mvp-comment-94-3 παίσαντες . . πληγέντες 104
mvp-comment-94-4 αὐτόχειρι … μιάσματι 105
mvp-comment-95-1 ἐγὼ . . δή 106
mvp-comment-95-2 κράτη 107
mvp-comment-95-3 γένους κατ’ ἀγχιστεῖα τῶν ὀλ. 108
mvp-comment-96-1 ἀμήχανον δέ 109 δέ 110 δέ 111
mvp-comment-96-2 Demosthenes, in his speech on the Embassy (343 B.C.), quotes this passage (vv. 175—190) as illustrating maxims
mvp-comment-96-3 which Aeschines had violated, though, accustomed as he had been to play tritagonists' parts, he ought to have known them by heart (or. 19 § 247).
mvp-comment-97-1 ψυχήν 112 φρόνημα 113 γνώμην 114
mvp-comment-98-1 ἀρχαῖς 115 νόμοισιν 116
mvp-comment-98-2 ἐντριβής 117
mvp-comment-98-3 φανῇ 118
mvp-comment-99-1 ἐμοὶ γάρ 119 γάρ 120 πᾶσαν … πόλιν 121
mvp-comment-99-2 μὴ … ἅπτεται 122 ὅστις μὴ ἅπτεται 123
mvp-comment-99-3 ἐκ φ. του 124
mvp-comment-99-4 ἐγκλῄσας ἔχει 125
mvp-comment-99-5 νῦν τε καὶ πάλαι 126
mvp-comment-100-1 μείζον’ 127 ἀντὶ τῆς...πάτρας 128 ἤ 129 μεῖζον 130
mvp-comment-100-2 οὐδαμοῦ λέγω 131
mvp-comment-101-1 ἐγὼ γάρ 132 γάρ 133 τοῦτο γιγνώσκων 134 ἴστω 135
mvp-comment-102-1 οὔτ’ ἂν σιωπήσαιμι 136
mvp-comment-103-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς 137 ὁμοῦ 138
mvp-comment-103-2 ἀντὶ τῆς σωτηρίας 139 τῆς 140
mvp-comment-104-1 ἄνδρα δυσμενῆ χθονός 141
mvp-comment-104-2 ἐμαυτῷ 142 φίλον 143 θείμην 144
mvp-comment-105-1 ἡ σῴζουσα 145
mvp-comment-105-2 ταύτης 146 ὀρθῆς 147
mvp-comment-105-3 τοὺς φίλους ποιούμεθα 148
mvp-comment-105-4
εὐτυχούσῃ πολλῷ μᾶλλον διασῴζεται. ‘Pericles Thucydidis 11. 60 Sophoclem videtur respexisse, vel eum Sophocles,’ is Dobree's remark (
Adv. 2. 37
); but there is no adequate ground for such a view. The verbal coincidence of
ὀρθῆς with
ὀρθουμένην may well have been accidental. What is really common to poet and historian is the general sentiment of Periclean Athens. For another example of this, cp.
O. C. 116
n.
mvp-comment-106-1 νόμοισι 149
mvp-comment-106-2 αὔξω 150
mvp-comment-107-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε 151
mvp-comment-107-2 τῶν ἀπ’ Οἰδίπου 152
mvp-comment-108-1 δορί 153 δόρει 154
mvp-comment-109-1 τὰ πάντ’ ἐφαγνίσαι 155 ἐπί 156 ἐφαγνίσαι 157 ἀφαγνίσαι 158 ἀπό 159
mvp-comment-110-1 τοῖς ἀρίστοις 160
mvp-comment-110-2 ἔρχεται κάτω 161
mvp-comment-111-1 L has Πολυνείκην 162
mvp-comment-111-2 λέγω 163
mvp-comment-112-1 γτ=ν πατρῴαν . . καὶ θεοὺς . . πρῆσαι 164
mvp-comment-112-2 θ. τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς 165
mvp-comment-112-3 κατελθών 166
mvp-comment-112-4 γ)θέλησε μέν … ἠθέλ. δέ 167 ἠθέλησε μὲν 168
mvp-comment-112-5 πρῆσαι 169
mvp-comment-112-6 κατ’ ἄκρας 170
mvp-comment-112-7 αἵματος κ. πάσασθαι 171
mvp-comment-112-8 τοὺς δὲ … ἄγειν 172
mvp-comment-113-1 The traditional ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι τάφῳ 173 ἐκκεκήρυκται τάφῳ 174 ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι λέγω 175 τάφῳ 176 κτερίζειν 177 τάφῳ 178 κτερίζειν 179 μήτε 180 κωκῦσαι 181 τάφῳ 182 λέγω 183 τάφῳ 184 ἐκκεκ 185
mvp-comment-114-1 ἐᾶν δ 186 ἄθαπτον, αἰκισθέντ’ ἰδεῖν 187 δέμας καὶ πρὸς οἰωνῶν καὶ πρὸς κυνῶν ἐδεστόν 188 αἰκισθέντ 189 αἰκισθέντ 190 ἐδεστόν 191 αἰκισθέν τ’, δέμας 192
mvp-comment-114-2 δέμας 193
mvp-comment-114-3 ἰδεῖν 194
mvp-comment-115-1 φρόνημα 195
mvp-comment-115-2 ἔκ γ’ ἐμοῦ 196
mvp-comment-116-1 The MSS. have τιμὴν προέξουσ’ ..τῶν ἐνδ. 197 τιμήν 198 τιμῆ 199 προσέξους 200
mvp-comment-117-1 τιμήσεται 201
mvp-comment-118-1 I print Dindorf's κἀς 202 καὶ 203 σοὶ ταῦτ’ ἀρέσκει 204 Κρέον 205 ταὔτ 206 ταῦτ’ 207
mvp-comment-119-1 In παντί πού γ’ 208 σοί γ’ … που 209 ἔνεστι 210 χὡπόσοι ζῶμεν 211 πέρι 212
mvp-comment-120-1 ὡς ἂν … ἦτε 213 πῶς ἂν … εἶτε 214
mvp-comment-120-2 σκοποί 215
mvp-comment-120-3 νυν 216 νῦν 217
mvp-comment-120-4 τῶν εἰρ 218
mvp-comment-121-1 πρόθες τοῦτο 219 βαστάζειν 220
mvp-comment-121-2 τοῦ νεκροῦ γ’ 221
mvp-comment-122-1 τί δῆτ’ ἂν … ἐπεντέλλοις 222
mvp-comment-122-2 The reading ἄλλῳ 223 τοῦτο 224
mvp-comment-122-3 ἐπιχωρεῖν 225
mvp-comment-122-4 ἀπιστοῦσιν 226
mvp-comment-122-5 τάδε, 227
mvp-comment-123-1 ὃς 228 ἐρᾷ 229
mvp-comment-123-2 καὶ μὴν 230 γε 231 μισθός 232
mvp-comment-123-3
requital of disobedience is that.’ For
καὶ μήν so used, cp.
O. T. 836
, 1004 f.,
El. 556
.
mvp-comment-123-4 τὸ κέρδος 233
mvp-comment-123-5 διώλεσεν 234
mvp-comment-124-1 ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ 235
mvp-comment-124-2 ὅπως 236
mvp-comment-124-3 τάχους ὕπο 237 τάχους 238
mvp-comment-125-1 ἐξάρας 239
mvp-comment-125-2 φροντίδων 240 ἐπιστάσεις 241
mvp-comment-125-3 ὁδοῖς 242
mvp-comment-125-4 κυκλῶν 243
mvp-comment-126-1 ψυχὴ γὰρ ηὔδα 244 πολλὰ 245 μυθουμένη 246
mvp-comment-127-1 τάλας … τλήμων 247
mvp-comment-127-2 μένεις 248 μενεῖς 249 αὖ 250
mvp-comment-127-3 πῶς … οὐκ 251
mvp-comment-127-4 ἀλγυνεῖ 252
mvp-comment-128-1 ἑλίσσων 253
mvp-comment-128-2 ἤνυτον 254
mvp-comment-128-3 σχολῇ βραδύς 255
mvp-comment-129-1 τέλος γε μέντοι 256
mvp-comment-129-2 ἐνίκησεν 257
mvp-comment-129-3
ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν πόλιν. That
μολεῖν should not be regarded as the subject to
ἐνίκησε, is shown by such an example as
Her. 8.9
ἐνίκα τὴν ἡμέρην ἐκείνην αὐτοῦ μείναντάς τε καὶ αὐλισθέντας μετέπειτα νύκτα μέσην παρέντας πορεύεσθαι, where the length of the interval excludes such a view. The personal constr. occurs below, 274; cp.
Thuc. 2.12
ἦν...Περικλέους γνώμη...νενικηκυῖα.
mvp-comment-130-1 σοί 258 μολεῖν 259 σοί 260 φράσων 261 φράσω δ 262 κεἰ 263 κεἴ σοι 264 σοί. 265
mvp-comment-130-2 τὸ μηδέν 266
mvp-comment-131-1 τῆς ἐλπίδος 267
mvp-comment-131-2 δεδραγμένος 268 πεφραγμένος 269 πεπραγμένος 270
mvp-comment-131-3 τὸ μὴ παθεῖν ἄν 271
mvp-comment-131-4
πάθοιμι ἄν, depending on
ἐλπίδος...δεδρ. as=
ἐλπίζων: for the art. with infin.,
cp. 78
n.
mvp-comment-131-5 τὸ μόρσιμον 272
mvp-comment-132-1 ἀνθ’ οὗ 273
mvp-comment-132-2 τὸ γὰρ | πρᾶγμ’ 274 γάρ 275
mvp-comment-133-1 εὖ γε στοχάζει 276 στοχάζει 277 ἀποφράγνυσαι 278 στοχάζομαι 279
mvp-comment-133-2 κἀποφράγνυσαι 280
mvp-comment-133-3 τὸ πρᾶγμα 281
mvp-comment-134-1 δηλοῖς δ’ ὥς τι ς. 282
mvp-comment-135-1 τὰ δεινά 283 γάρ 284
mvp-comment-135-2 ποτ 285
mvp-comment-135-3 ἀπαλλαχθείς 286
mvp-comment-136-1 καὶ δή 287
mvp-comment-136-2 θάψας 288 κἀπί 289
mvp-comment-136-3 διψίαν 290
mvp-comment-136-4 κἀφαγιστεύσας 291 ἃ χρή 292
mvp-comment-137-1 ἀνδρῶν 293
mvp-comment-137-2 οὔτε του γενῇδος … οὐ δικέλλης 294 οὔτε … οὐ 295 γενῄς 296 γενῄς 297 δίκελλα 298
mvp-comment-137-3 δικ. ἐκβολή 299 ἐκβ. 300 στύφλος 301 χέρσος 302 ἀρρώξ 303
mvp-comment-137-4 ἐπημαξευμένη 304 ἐπ‐ 305 ἐφ‐ 306
mvp-comment-137-5 ἀλλ’ ὁ ἐργάτης ἄσημός τις ἦν 307
mvp-comment-138-1 It is still the early morning of the day on which the drama opens. The Argives having fled in the night, Creon had published his edict shortly before dawn. Antigone had done her deed in the short interval between the publication of the edict and the beginning of the watch over the corpse. ὁ πρῶτος ἡμεροσκόπος 308 ἡμεροσκ. 309
mvp-comment-138-2 δείκνυσι … παρῆν 310
mvp-comment-138-3 δυσχερές 311
mvp-comment-139-1 ὁ μὲν 312
mvp-comment-139-2 τυμβήρης μὲν οὔ 313 τυμβ. 314 λεπτὴ δ’ … ἐπῆν 315
mvp-comment-139-3 ἄγος φεύγοντος ὥς 316 ἄγος 317
mvp-comment-140-1 θηρός 318
mvp-comment-140-2 του 319 θηρός 320
mvp-comment-140-3 οὐ σπάσαντος 321 οὐ 322 σπάσαντος 323 σπάσαντος οὐδ’ ἐλθόντος 324
mvp-comment-141-1 λόγοι δ’ … φύλακα 325 λόγοι κακοὶ ἐρρόθουν 326 ἐρρόθουν 327
mvp-comment-141-2
γλώσσης ῥόθος, of an unintelligible jargon.
mvp-comment-141-3 ἐλέγχων 328
mvp-comment-141-4 κἂν ἐγίγνετο 329
mvp-comment-141-5 τελευτῶς 330
mvp-comment-141-6 ὁ κωλύσων 331
mvp-comment-142-1 ἦν … οὑξειργ. 332
mvp-comment-142-2 ἐναργής 333
mvp-comment-142-3 ἀλλ’ 334
mvp-comment-142-4 ἕφευγε μὴ εἰδέναι 335
mvp-comment-142-5 μὴ 336 εἰδέναι 337
mvp-comment-143-1 μύδρους 338
mvp-comment-143-2
a
red-hot mass of metal, and that the custom was symbolical of an older use of the
μύδρος in ordeals by fire. This would explain how the Alexandrian poets of the 3rd cent. B.C. (Lycophron, Callimachus) came to use the word
μύδρος, in defiance of its etymology, as simply ‘a lump’ (or even ‘a stone’). They supposed that the
μύδροι had been cold masses.
mvp-comment-144-1 πῦρ διέρπειν 339
mvp-comment-144-2 θεοὺς ὁρκ. 341
mvp-comment-144-3 τὸ μήτε δρ 342
mvp-comment-144-4 μήτ’ είργασμένῳ 343 μηδ 344
mvp-comment-145-1 πλέον 345
mvp-comment-145-2 λέγει 346
mvp-comment-145-3 τις εἷς 347
mvp-comment-146-1 προὔτρεψεν 348
mvp-comment-146-2 οὐ γὰρ εἴχομεν 349
mvp-comment-146-3 As ἀντιφωνεῖν 350 δρῶντες 351 ὅπως δρῶντες 352 εἴχομεν 353
mvp-comment-147-1 σοί 354
mvp-comment-147-2 ταῦτ’ ἐνίκα 355
mvp-comment-147-3 πάλος 356 καθαιρεῖ 357
mvp-comment-147-4 τἀγαθόν 358 —ἄκων οὐχ ἑκοῦσιν 359
mvp-comment-148-1 ἐμοί 360 βουλεύει 361 μή 362
mvp-comment-148-2 τι 363
mvp-comment-148-3 θεήλατον, 364
mvp-comment-148-4 ἡ ξύννοια 365
mvp-comment-148-5 πάλαι 366
mvp-comment-149-1 πρὶν ὀργῆς καί με μεστῶσαι 367 καί 368 πρίν 369 μεστῶσαι 370 καί 371 με 372
mvp-comment-149-2 κἀμέ 373
mvp-comment-149-3 μεστῶσαι 374
mvp-comment-150-1 πότερον 375 ἔκρυπτον 376
mvp-comment-150-2 ἀμφικίονας ναούς 377
mvp-comment-150-3 κἀναθήματα 378
mvp-comment-150-4
Her. 1.50
;
Thuc. 6.46
; Isae. or. 7 § 41.) The wealth of Delphi in
ἀναθήματα is already proverbial in
Il. 9.404
; at Thebes the
Ἰσμήνιον (
O. T. 21
) also seems to have been rich in them. After
ἀνάθημα the gen. denotes either
ὁ ἀναθείς (as more oft.), or, as here, the divine owner.
mvp-comment-150-5 γῆν ἐκείνων 379 πυρώσων 380
mvp-comment-150-6 νόμους διασκεδῶν 381
mvp-comment-150-7 διασκεδῶν 382
mvp-comment-151-1 τοὺς κακοὺς τιμῶντας … θεούς; 383
mvp-comment-152-1 ταῦτα 384 μόλις φέροντες 385 καὶ πάλαι 386
mvp-comment-152-2 πόλεως ἄνδρες 387
mvp-comment-152-3 ἐρρόθουν 388
mvp-comment-152-4 ἐμοί 389
mvp-comment-152-5 κάρα σείοντες 390
mvp-comment-152-6 ὑπὸ ζυγῷ 391
mvp-comment-152-7 λόφον 392
mvp-comment-152-8 δικαίως 393
mvp-comment-152-9
equal poise’ (
New Crat. 371).—
ὡς = ὥστε (
O. T. 84
):
στέργειν
394
mvp-comment-153-1 τῶνδε 395 ἐκ 396
mvp-comment-153-2 τούτους, 397
mvp-comment-153-3 εἰργάσθαι 398 ἐξεπίσταμαι 399 παρηγμένους 400
mvp-comment-154-1 νόμισμ’ 401
mvp-comment-154-2 ἔβλαστε 402
mvp-comment-154-3 πορθεῖ 403
mvp-comment-154-4 τόδ’ 404 ἄνδρας 405
mvp-comment-155-1 τόδ’ ἐκδ. καὶ παραλλάσσει 406 ἵστασθαι 407 καὶ παραλλάσσει 408
mvp-comment-155-2 ἵστασθαι πρός τι 409
mvp-comment-156-1 πανουργίας … ἔχειν 410
mvp-comment-156-2 εἰδέναι 411 παντὸς ἔργου δυσσέβ. 412 παντὸς ἔργ 413 πανουργίας 414
mvp-comment-157-1 ἤνυσαν 415
mvp-comment-157-2 χρόνῳ ποτέ 416 δοῦναι δίκην 417
mvp-comment-157-3 ἐξέπραξαν ὡς 418
mvp-comment-158-1 Ζεύς 419
mvp-comment-158-2 ὅρκιος 420
mvp-comment-158-3 τὸν αὐτόχειρα 421 τάφου = ταφῆς 422
mvp-comment-159-1 μοῦνος 423 πρὶν ἂν . . δηλώσητε 424 κρεμαστοί 425 ζῶντες κρεμαστοί 426
mvp-comment-159-2 δηλώσηθ’ 427
mvp-comment-159-3 ὕβριν 428
mvp-comment-160-1 ἵν’ … ἁρπάζητε 429
mvp-comment-160-2 τὸ κέρδος 430 ἔνθεν οἰστέον 431
mvp-comment-160-3 μάθηθ’ 432
mvp-comment-160-4 ἐξ ἅπαντος 433 τὸ κερδαίνειν 434
mvp-comment-160-5
πιεῖν. In
O. C. 807
ἑξ ἅπαντος εὖ λέγει =speaks well on any theme (starting from anything).
mvp-comment-161-1 τι 435
mvp-comment-161-2 δέ 436 δώσεις 437
mvp-comment-161-3 οὕτως 438
mvp-comment-161-4 ἴω 439
mvp-comment-161-5 καὶ νῦν ὡς 440 ἀνιαρῶς 441 ι— 442
mvp-comment-162-1 ἐν 443 ὠσίν 444
mvp-comment-162-2 ἐπί 445
mvp-comment-163-1 τί δὲ 446 τί δαὶ 447
mvp-comment-163-2 ῥυθμίζεις 448 ὅπου 449 ὅπου 450
mvp-comment-164-1 τὰς φρένας...τὰ δ’ ὦτ’ 451 σε 452
mvp-comment-164-2 οἴμ’ ὡς 453
mvp-comment-164-3 λάλημα 454 ἄλημα 455 ἄλημα 456
mvp-comment-164-4 δῆλον, 457
mvp-comment-165-1
‘At any rate (
οὖν—babbler or not) I certainly have not done this deed.’
εἰμί
458
οὔκουν … γε
459
mvp-comment-166-1 ‘Yes, (you have done it,) and that, too, at the cost of betraying,’ etc. The particle γε 460 καὶ ταῦτα 461 προδούς 462
mvp-comment-167-1 ἦ δεινόν 463 καὶ 464 γε 465
mvp-comment-168-1 κόμψευε . . τὴν δόξαν 466
mvp-comment-168-2 τὴν δόξαν 467
mvp-comment-168-3
κληδόν’ (the
κληδών of which you speak), not merely, ‘the word
δόξα.’ If the
v. l.
τὸ δόξαν (see cr. n.) was intended to mean the latter, it should have been
τὸ δόξα.
mvp-comment-168-4 νυν 468 νῦν 469 ταῦτα … τοὺς δρῶντας = τοὺς ταῦτα δρῶντας 470
mvp-comment-169-1 δειλά 471
mvp-comment-169-2 δεινά 472 ν 473
mvp-comment-170-1 ἀλλ’ 474 εὑρεθείη 475 καὶ 476
mvp-comment-171-1 καὶ 477 γάρ 478
mvp-comment-171-2 γνώμης 479
mvp-comment-173-1 πολλὰ … κοὐδέν 480
mvp-comment-173-2 καί 481
mvp-comment-173-3 τὰ δεινά 482
mvp-comment-174-1 τοῦτο 483 πέραν 484 πέρα 485
mvp-comment-175-1 χειμερίῳ νότῳ 486
mvp-comment-176-1 περιβρ … ὑπ’ οἴδμασιν 487
mvp-comment-177-1 ὑπερτάταν 488
mvp-comment-178-1 ἀκαμάταν 489
mvp-comment-178-2 ἀποτρύεται 490
mvp-comment-179-1 ἰλλομένων ἀρότρων, 491 ἀρότων 492
mvp-comment-179-2 ἔτος εἰς ἔτος 493 εἰς 494
mvp-comment-180-1 ἱππείῳ γένει 495
mvp-comment-180-2 πολεύων 496 τοῦτο 497
mvp-comment-181-1
Man's conquests over the animal world are here taken in two groups. First, those of which the primary aim is to kill or to capture. Here the means is netting (
ἀμφιβαλὼν σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις), in its threefold sporting use, as applied to fowling (
ὀρνίθων), hunting (
θηρῶν), and fishing (
πόντου φύσιν). Secondly, those conquests which aim at reducing wild animals to man's service. These are effected by
μηχαναί (349),— arts of taming and training. And their result is aptly expressed by the word
mvp-comment-181-2
κρατεῖ: here, man is not merely the slayer or captor; he becomes the master of docile toilers. The horse and the bull are types.
mvp-comment-181-3 Thus, in this ode, the scale of achievement ever ascends: man (1) conquers inanimate nature: (2) makes animals his captives: (3) trains them to be his servants: (4) develops his own social and intellectual life.
mvp-comment-181-4 κουφονόων 498
mvp-comment-181-5 ἀμφιβαλὼν 499
mvp-comment-182-1 πόντου … εἰναλίαν φύσιν 500
mvp-comment-183-1 περιφραδής 501
mvp-comment-184-1 μηχαναῖς 502 ἀγραύλου 503 ὀρεσσιβάτα 504
mvp-comment-185-1 λασιαύχενά θ’ 505
mvp-comment-186-1 ὀχμάζεται 506 ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγῶν 507
mvp-comment-186-2
Rhod. 1. 743
κυρίως ἐστὶν ὀχμάσαι τὸ ἵππον ὑπὸ χαλινὸν ἀγαγεῖν ἢ ὑπὸ ζυγόν. The midd. voice does not occur elsewhere; but this cannot be regarded as an objection, when we remember how many rare middle forms occur in the dramatists. Thus
προσορωμένα in
O. C. 244
is a solitary example of that verb in the midd., and if the license could be taken with so common a word, much more might it be allowed with a comparatively rare one. Blaydes writes
ὀχμάζει ὑπ’ ἀμφίλοφον ζυγόν: but the Ms.
ἕξεται indicates that the verb, whatever it was, was of the midd. form.
ὀχμάζεται was published by G. Schöne in 1833, and by Franz in 1846: they appear to have made the conjecture independently. Donaldson (1848) printed
ὁχμάζεται ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγῶν, and seems to ascribe
ζυγῶν to Franz and Schöne; though Franz, at least, proposed
ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγῷ. ζυγῶν has been revived (seemingly without knowledge of a predecessor) by H. Schütz (1886). Sophocles would write
ΑΜΦΙΛΟΦΟΝΖΥΓΟΝ, and thus
ζυγῶν changes no letter. Aesch. used the fut.
ζυγώσω (fr. 110), and Soph. has the verbal
ζυγωτῶν (
El. 702
). To
ἀμφιλόφῳ ζυγῷ it may be objected that, being clear, it was not likely to become -
ον ‐όν: but, when
ἀμφίλοφον had once been written,
ζυγῶν (or
ζυγῷ) would easily become
ζυγόν. As to the schol. on
ἀμφίλοφον,—ἀντὶ τοῦ, περιβαλὼν αὐτῷ ζυγὸν περὶ τὸν λόφον, ὑπάγει,—it cannot fairly be urged for
ζυγῶν (or for any partic.), since it may be merely a paraphrase of
ἀμφίλοφον.—Schütz's
ἐφέζεται
508
mvp-comment-187-1 φθέγμα 509
mvp-comment-187-2
beginnings of speech...Speech is the development, through imitation, of a capacity of man—the capacity of making a noise.’ This is quite compatible with
ἐδιδάξατο.
mvp-comment-187-3 ἀνεμόεν φρόνημα 510
mvp-comment-188-1 ἀστυνόμους ὀργάς 511
mvp-comment-189-1 ἐδιδάξατο 512
mvp-comment-190-1 πάγων 513
mvp-comment-190-2 ἐναίθρεια 514
mvp-comment-190-3 βέλη 516
mvp-comment-191-1 παντοπόρος 517
mvp-comment-191-2
οὐδὲν … τὸ μέλλον = οὐδὲν ὃ μέλλει (
ἔσεσθαι), nothing that is to be (cp. the absolute
τὸ μέλλον, τὰ μέλλοντα). So
Plat.
Lach. 197
A
ἔγωγε ἀνδρεῖα καλῶ οὔτε θηρία οὔτε ἄλλο οὐδὲν τὸ τὰ δεινὰ ὑπὸ ἀγνοίας μὴ φοβούμενον = οὐδὲν ὃ μὴ φοβεῖται. This negative form is as correct as (though actually rarer than) the positive
πᾶν τὸ καλῶς ἔχον (
Plat.
Rep. 381A
) for
πᾶν ὃ καλῶς ἔχει. Donaldson took
τὸ μέλλον adverbially: ‘in regard to the future, he comes to nothing without resources.’
Cp. 728
,
μηδὲν τὸ μὴ δίκαιον, where
μηδέν is subst., not adv.
mvp-comment-192-1 μόνον 518 μόνου 519 φεῦξιν — ἐπάξεται 520
mvp-comment-193-1 ἀμηχάνων 521
mvp-comment-193-2 φυγάς 522
mvp-comment-193-3 ξυμπέφρασται 523
mvp-comment-194-1
The ode closes with a more direct reference to the incident which suggested its theme. The daring ingenuity shown by the unknown breaker of Creon's edict is an instance of the subtlety which leads to ruin. The implied contrast with Creon—
ὑψίπολις by his care for the laws—is effective in view of the destined
περιπέτεια.
mvp-comment-194-2 σοφόν τι … ἔχων 524
mvp-comment-194-3 τὸ μηχανόεν τ 525
mvp-comment-195-1 τοτὲ μὲν … ἄλλοτ’ 526
mvp-comment-195-2 ἐπ’ 527
mvp-comment-196-1 γεραίρων 528
mvp-comment-196-2
5. 67
ἐτίμων τὸν Ἄδρηστον καὶ δὴ πρὸς τὰ πάθεα αὐτοῦ τραγικοῖσι χοροῖσι ἐγέραιρον.
Ar.
Th. 960
γένος Ὀλυμπίων θεῶν | μέλπε καὶ γέραιρε φωνῇ.
mvp-comment-197-1 θεῶν τ’ ἔνορκον δίκαν 529
mvp-comment-198-1 ὑψίπολις 530
mvp-comment-198-2 ἄπολις 531
mvp-comment-198-3 τὸ μὴ καλόν 532 τόλμας χάριν 533
mvp-comment-199-1 παρέστιος 534
mvp-comment-199-2 ἴσον φρονῶν 535
mvp-comment-200-1 ἔρδει 536 ἔρδοι 537
mvp-comment-202-1 The choral ode has closed with an allusion to the unknown man ( ὅς 538 ἀμφινοῶ 539 ἐς 540
mvp-comment-202-2 δαιμόνιον τέρας 541
mvp-comment-203-1 πῶς εἰδὼς 542
mvp-comment-203-2 ἀντιλογήσω 543
mvp-comment-204-1 ὦ δύστηνος 544
mvp-comment-204-2 δ. πατρός 545
mvp-comment-204-3 Οἰδιπόδα— 546
mvp-comment-205-1 τί ποτ’ 547
mvp-comment-205-2 οὐ δή που 548
mvp-comment-205-3 ἀπιστοῦσαν 549
mvp-comment-205-4 ἄγουσι 550
mvp-comment-205-5 colloquialism, it would be nearly as bad as, ‘Have they taken you up?’
mvp-comment-205-6 καὶ 551 ἀπιστοῦσαν 552 καθελόντες 553
mvp-comment-206-1
Second
ἐπεισόδιον. Antigone, brought before Creon, avows and justifies her deed. Creon declares that she shall die. Ismene, when led in (531), associates herself with the act, but is not permitted by her sister to claim any part in it. Creon orders that both sisters shall be kept prisoners.
mvp-comment-206-2 ἐκείνη 554
mvp-comment-206-3 τοὔργον ἡ ’ξειργ 555
mvp-comment-207-1 ἐς δέον 556
mvp-comment-208-1 ξύμμετρος 557
mvp-comment-209-1 ἀπώμοτον 558
mvp-comment-210-1 ψεύδει 559
mvp-comment-210-2 ἡ ’πίνοια 560
mvp-comment-211-1 ἐξηύχουν ἄν 561 σχολῇ ἥξειν ποτὲ δεῦρο 562
mvp-comment-211-2 σχολῇ 563
mvp-comment-212-1 ταῖς σαῖς ἀπειλαῖς 564
mvp-comment-212-2 ἐχειμάσθην 565
mvp-comment-213-1 ἡ...ἐκτὸς 566 ἐκτός 567
mvp-comment-214-1 οὐδὲν ἔοικε μῆκος 568 α+λλῃ ἡδονῇ 569 οὐδέν 570 μῆκος 571 ἔοικε 572
mvp-comment-215-1 δῑ ὅρκων … ἀπώμοτος 573
mvp-comment-216-1 καθῃρέθη 574
mvp-comment-216-2 τάφον κοσμοῦσα 575
mvp-comment-216-3 ἐπάλλετο 576 ἕρμαιον 577
mvp-comment-217-1 κρῖνε 578
mvp-comment-217-2 δίκαιός εἰμι 579
mvp-comment-217-3 ἀπηλλάχθαι 580
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 581
mvp-comment-219-1 ἦ καὶ 582
mvp-comment-219-2 ὀρθῶς 583
mvp-comment-219-3 mean to say? (Not, merely, ‘truly,’ i.e. in accordance with the fact: cp. 99 n.)
mvp-comment-220-1 τὸν νεκρόν 584
mvp-comment-221-1 ἆρ’ ἔνδηλα 585
mvp-comment-222-1 ὁρᾶται...ᾑρέθη 586
mvp-comment-222-2 ἐπίληπτος 587
mvp-comment-223-1 ἥκομεν 589
mvp-comment-224-1 τὰ δείν’ ἐκεῖν’ 590
mvp-comment-224-2 τὸν | νέκυν 591
mvp-comment-225-1 καθήμεθ’ 592
mvp-comment-225-2 ἄκρων ἐκ πάγων 593
mvp-comment-225-3
ἐξ Οὐλύμποιο ἀπὸ ῥίου. Here,
ἀπὸ ῥίου goes with
εἰσεῖδε: but
ἐξ Οὐλύμποιο, however much
εἰσεῖδε may have influenced it, at least cannot be disjoined from
στᾶσ’. (2)
Eur.
Phoen. 1009
ἀλλ’ εἶμι καὶ στὰς ἐξ ἐπάλξεων ἄκρων | σφάξας ἐμαυτὸν σηκὸν εἰς μελαμβαθῆ | δράκοντος, ἔνθ’ ὁ μάντις ἐξηγήσατο, | ἐλευθερώσω γαῖαν. It is impossible to sever
στάς from
ἐξ ἐπ., even if we partly explain
ἐξ by
σφάξας. (3)
ib. 1224
Ἐτεοκλέης δ’ ὑπῆρξ’ ἀπ’ ὀρθίου σταθεὶς | πύργου κελεύσας σῖγα κηρῦξαι στρατῷ. The position of
σταθείς forbids us to sever it from
ἀπ’ ὀρθ. π., even though
ὑπῆρξε or
κελεύσας is used to explain
ἀπό. (4)
Eur.
Tro. 522
ἀνὰ δ’ ἐβόασεν λεὼς | Τρῳάδος ἀπὸ πέτρας σταθείς. A similar case. In all these passages, a picture is presented, and we have to glance from a remoter to a nearer object. The mental eye is required to measure the space between Hera on the peak of Olympus, and Poseidon on the plain of Troy; between Megareus on the walls of Thebes, and the cavern into which his corpse is to fall. And, in each case,
ἐκ or
ἀπό denotes the
quarter in which the remoter object is to be looked for. This, which might be called the ‘surveying’ use, is distinct from that in which the prep. has a pregnant force, as being directly suggestive of motion (
οἱ ἐκ Σικελίας ἥξουσι); but it springs from the same mental tendency,—viz., to take a rapid glance over the dividing interval. Cp.
ἵστασθαι πρός τινος (‘on his side’). So here: in the foreground of the picture is the corpse, which they have just laid bare. Now look to the hillocks behind it; in that quarter you will see the guards at their post.—I have not cited
Od. 21.419
τόν ῥ’ ἐπὶ πήχει ἑλὼν ἕλκεν νευρὴν γλυφίδας τε | αὐτόθεν ἐκ δίφροιο καθήμενος, because there
ἐκ δίφροιο goes with
ἕλκεν, not with
καθήμενος (he drew the bow, just from the chair, where he sat).
mvp-comment-225-4 ὑπήνεμοι 594
mvp-comment-226-1 βάλῃ 595
mvp-comment-227-1 ἐγερτί 596
mvp-comment-227-2 κινῶν 597
mvp-comment-227-3 ἐπιρρόθοις κακοῖσιν 598
mvp-comment-227-4
the adj. expressing the loud, continuous noise of tongues. The
ἐπι- does not mean ‘bandied to and fro’: see
Tr. 263
πολλὰ μὲν λόγοις | ἐπερρόθησε. In fr. 521
ἐπίρροθα δώματα=‘open to reproach.’ Elsewhere (as with Aesch.)
ἐπίρροθος= ‘helper’ (
ἐπιρροθέω, to come with shouts to the rescue). Cp.
ἐρρόθουν 259 n., Aesch. 290.
mvp-comment-228-1 ἀκηδήσοι 599 ἀφειδήσοι 600
mvp-comment-229-1 The incident of the storm was a dramatic necessity, to account for Antigone reaching the corpse unobserved. A powerful picture is compressed into seven lines. (Cp. O. C. 1315 ff. for a like instance of self-restraint in description.)
mvp-comment-230-1 κατέστη 601
mvp-comment-230-2 χθονὸς 602
mvp-comment-231-1 τυφώς 603 σκηπτός 604
mvp-comment-231-2 οὐράνιον ἄχος 605
mvp-comment-232-1 πίμπλησι 606 αἰκίζων 607
mvp-comment-232-2 ἐν δ’ ἐμεστ 608
mvp-comment-233-1 μύσαντες 609
mvp-comment-233-2 νόσον 610
mvp-comment-233-3 ἐν χρ. μακρ 611
mvp-comment-234-1 πικρᾶς 612
mvp-comment-235-1 εὐνῆς...λέχος 613
mvp-comment-236-1 οὕτω δέ 614
mvp-comment-236-2 ψιλόν 615
mvp-comment-237-1 γόοισιν ἐξῴμωξεν 616
mvp-comment-237-2 ἐκ δ’ … ἠρᾶτο 617
mvp-comment-237-3 διψίαν 618
mvp-comment-238-1 φέρει κόνιν 619
mvp-comment-239-1 The πρόχους 620
mvp-comment-239-2 εὐκρότητος 621
mvp-comment-239-3 ἄρδην 622
mvp-comment-240-1 χοαῖσι 623
mvp-comment-240-2 τρισπόνδ. 624 στέφει 625
mvp-comment-241-1 ἱέμεσθα 626
mvp-comment-241-2 σὺν δὲ … θηρώμεθ’ 627
mvp-comment-242-1 ἠλέγχομεν 628
mvp-comment-242-2 ἄπαρνος … οὐδενός 629
mvp-comment-242-3 καθίστατο 630
mvp-comment-243-1 ἅμ’ 631
mvp-comment-244-1 φίλους 632
mvp-comment-245-1 πάντα ταῦθ’ 633 λαβεῖν 634
mvp-comment-246-1 σὲ δή, 635
mvp-comment-247-1 φὴς δεδρακέναι, ἢ καταρνεῖ μὴ δεδρ 636 καταρνεῖ 637
mvp-comment-248-1 καὶ......κοὐκ 638
mvp-comment-248-2 τὸ μή 639
mvp-comment-249-1 σὺ μέν 640 κομίζοις ἂν ς 641
mvp-comment-249-2 ἔξω 642 β. αἰτίας 643 ἐλεύθερον 644
mvp-comment-250-1 μῆκος 645
mvp-comment-251-1 ᾔδησθα 646 ᾔδης τὰ 647 σθα 648
mvp-comment-251-2 κηρυχθέντα 649
mvp-comment-252-1 ᾔδη 650
mvp-comment-252-2 τί δ’ οὐκ ἔμελλον 651
mvp-comment-252-3 ἐμφανῆ 652 ἐκφανῆ 653
mvp-comment-253-1 καὶ δῆτ’ 654
mvp-comment-254-1 Ζεύς 655
mvp-comment-255-1 τῶν κάτω θεῶν 656 ξύνοικος 657 τοιούσδ’ … ὥρισεν 658 οἳ τούσδ’ … ὥρισαν 659 τάδε 660
mvp-comment-256-1 ἄγραπτα … νόμιμα 661
mvp-comment-256-2
quotes vv. 456 f.) Cp.
O.T. 865 ff.
νόμοι... | ὑψίποδες, οὐρανίαν | δἰ αἰθέρα τεκνωθέντες, with notes there.
Thuc. 2.37
(
νόμοι)
ὅσοι ἄγραφοι ὄντες αἰσχύνην ὁμολογουμένην φέρουσι. When ‘the unwritten laws’ are thus called
νόμοι, the latter word is used figuratively.
νόμιμα
662
mvp-comment-256-3 ἀσφαλῆ 663
mvp-comment-256-4 θνητὸν ὄντ’ 664
mvp-comment-256-5 ὑπερδραμεῖν 665
mvp-comment-257-1 νῦν γε κἀχθές 666
mvp-comment-257-2 ζῇ 667
mvp-comment-257-3 ’φάνη 668
mvp-comment-258-1 τούτων 669 τὴν δίκην 670 τούτων 671
mvp-comment-258-2
shows that, like
ταῦτα just before, it refers to the
νόμιμα: we cannot, therefore, render, ‘the penalty of such an act’ (
sc.
τοῦ ὑπερδραμεῖν).
mvp-comment-258-3 ἐν θεοῖσι 672
mvp-comment-259-1 δώσειν 673
mvp-comment-259-2 θανουμένη γάρ 674
mvp-comment-259-3 τί δ’ οὔ 675
mvp-comment-260-1 κεἰ μὴ σὺ προὐκήρυξας 676
mvp-comment-260-2 τοῦ χρόνου 677
mvp-comment-260-3 αὔτ’ 678
mvp-comment-261-1 φέρει 679
mvp-comment-262-1
Kvičala and Wecklein reject these four verses, despairing of the difficulties found in vv. 466, 467, which have been variously amended; see Appendix. The alleged difficulties are, (1)
παρ’ οὐδὲν ἄλγος: (2) the mention of the mother only: (3) the position of
θανόντ’, which might suggest the sense, ‘slain by my mother’: (4)
ηἰσχόμην (as L has it). Before dealing with these points, I would call attention to a trait which the impugners of these verses have overlooked, and which speaks strongly for the genuineness of the passage as a whole, corrupt though it be in certain words. That trait is the clause
τοῖσδε δ’ οὐκ ἀλγύνομαι
680
mvp-comment-263-1 ἄλγος 681 παρ’ οὐδέν 682
mvp-comment-263-2
adv.: ‘is a pain in no appreciable degree,’ is a pain not worth a thought: as he might have said,
οὐδαμοῦ ἄλγος ἐστί. The normal use of
παρ’ οὐδέν, ‘of no account,’ is either (
a) with the verb
εἶναι, as
O. T. 982
ταῦθ’ ὅτῳ | παρ’ οὐδέν ἐστι, or (
b) with a verb meaning ‘to esteem,’ as above, v. 34,
τὸ πρᾶγμ’ ἄγειν | οὐχ ὡς παρ’ οὐδέν. The only peculiarity here is that, instead of a word in the general sense, ‘
is esteemed’ (
ἄγεται), we have a virtual equivalent, tinged with the special thought of the moment, viz., ‘
is a pain.’ Exactly so in
El. 1327
we have
πότερα παρ’ οὐδὲν τοῦ βίου κήδεσθ’ ἔτι, instead of
πότερα παρ’ οὐδὲν τὸν βίον ἄγετε. Thus the suspicions as to the genuineness of
παρ’ οὐδὲν ἄλγος are illusory.
mvp-comment-263-3 ἀλλ’ ἄν 683
mvp-comment-264-1 ἄθαπτον ἠνσχόμην νέκυν 684 ηἰσχόμην 685 ἠνσχόμην 686
mvp-comment-264-2 In my first edition I placed in the text the emendation of Semitelos (1887) ᾔσχυναν κύνες 687
mvp-comment-264-3
Other emendations will be found in the Appendix. Most of them assume that we must have
ἠνεσχόμην (or
ἀνεσχόμην), and therefore alter the words
θανόντ’ ἄθαπτον and
νέκυν in various ways, —usu. omitting
νέκυν. The verses produced by these processes are wretched, while, from a palaeographical point of view, they are pure conjectures, which do not attempt to account for the tradition in L.—Two points remain. (1)
τὸν ἐξ ἐμῆς | μητρός
688
mvp-comment-264-4
or
μιᾶς (Meineke). (2)
τὸν ἐξ ἐμ. | μητρος θανόντ’
689
mvp-comment-265-1 σχεδόν τι 690
mvp-comment-265-2 μώρῳ μωρίαν 691
mvp-comment-265-3 ὀφλισκάνω 692
mvp-comment-266-1 These two verses give a moment of stillness before the storm breaks forth. So at O. T. 404 four verses of the chorus divide the angry speech of Oedipus from the retort of Teiresias.
mvp-comment-266-2 τὸ γέννημα τῆς παιδός 693 δηλοῖ 694 ὠμόν 695 ἐξ ὠμοῦ πατρός 696 γέννημα 697
mvp-comment-267-1 εἴκειν … κακοῖς 698
mvp-comment-268-1 ἀλλ’ ἴσθι τοι 699
mvp-comment-268-2 πίπτειν 700
mvp-comment-269-1 ὀπτὸν … περισκελῆ 701
mvp-comment-269-2 περισκελής 702
mvp-comment-269-3 ἐκ πυρός 703
mvp-comment-270-1 θραυσθέντα καὶ ῥαγέντα 704
mvp-comment-271-1 χαλινῷ δ’ 705 σμικρῷ 706
mvp-comment-271-2 καταρτυθέντας 707
mvp-comment-272-1 Suspicion has fallen on ἐκπέλει 708
mvp-comment-272-2 ὅστις 709
mvp-comment-272-3 τῶν πέλας 710
mvp-comment-273-1 αὕτη δ’ 711 ὑβρίζειν μὲν … ὕβρις δ’ 712 ἐξηπίστατο 713 τότ’ 714
mvp-comment-273-2 τούτοις 715
mvp-comment-273-3 δεδρακυῖαν γελᾶν 716
mvp-comment-274-1 νῦν 717
mvp-comment-274-2 εἰ ταῦτα … κράτη 718 κράτη 719 κείσεται 720 πείσεται 721 ἀνατί 722 ταῦτα 723
mvp-comment-275-1 ἀδελφῆς 724
mvp-comment-275-2 εἴθ’ ὁμαιμονεστέρα 725
mvp-comment-275-3
Hyperbole is congenial to Creon's excitement;
cp. 1040
. But the addition,
τοῦ παντὸς Ζ. ἑρκείου, ill suits this, while, on the other hand, it agrees well with the nom.
ὁμαιμονεστέρα. On the whole, then, I incline to prefer the nom.; but the point is a nice one, and the gen. is quite tenable.
mvp-comment-275-4 κυρεῖ 726
mvp-comment-276-1 τοῦ παντὸς Ζηνὸς ἑρκείου 727
mvp-comment-277-1 ἀλύξετον 728 μόρου 729
mvp-comment-278-1 καὶ γὰρ οὖν 730
mvp-comment-278-2 ἐπαιτιῶμαι κείνην 731 βουλεῦσαι ἴσον τοῦδε τάφου 732 ἴσον 733
mvp-comment-278-3 βουλεῦσαι 734
mvp-comment-279-1 καί νιν καλεῖτ’ 735
mvp-comment-280-1 λυσσῶσαν … οὐδ’ ἐπ 736
mvp-comment-280-2 ἐπήβολον 737
mvp-comment-281-1 ὁ θυμὸς τῶν … τεχνωμένων 738 φιλεῖ κλοπεὺς ᾑρῆσθαι 739 πρόσθεν 740 κλοπεύς 741 ᾑρῆσθαι κλοπεύς 742
mvp-comment-281-2 τεχνωμένων 743
mvp-comment-282-1 γε μέντοι 744
mvp-comment-282-2 Ismene's guilty terror is contrasted with Antigone's impudent hardihood,—as Creon deems it. μισῶ … ὅταν 745
mvp-comment-282-3 ἔπειτα 746
mvp-comment-282-4 καλλύνειν 747
mvp-comment-283-1 θέλεις τι μεῖζον 748
mvp-comment-283-2 ἑλών 749
mvp-comment-283-3 ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδέν 750
mvp-comment-283-4 ἅπαντ’ ἔχω 751
mvp-comment-284-1 ἀρεστὸν οὐδέν 752
mvp-comment-284-2 μηδ’ ἀρεσθείη 753 ἀρεσθείην 754 ἀρέστ’ εἴη 755
mvp-comment-285-1 τἀμά 756
mvp-comment-285-2 ἔφυ 757
mvp-comment-286-1 καίτοι 758 κλέος … εὐκλεέστερον 759
mvp-comment-287-1 ἐν τάφῳ τιθεῖσα 760 τούτοις πᾶσι λέγοιτο ἄν 761 τοῦτο ἁνδάνειν 762 ἐγκλῄοι 763
mvp-comment-288-1 ἀλλ’ ἡ τυραννίς 764
mvp-comment-289-1 μούνη 765
mvp-comment-289-2 τοῦτο … ὁρᾷς 766
mvp-comment-289-3 ὑπίλλουσιν 767
mvp-comment-290-1 σὺ δ’ οὐκ ἐπαιδεῖ 769
mvp-comment-291-1 ὅμαιμος 770
mvp-comment-291-2 ἐκ μιᾶς τε 771 τε 772
mvp-comment-292-1 πῶς δῆτ’ 773
mvp-comment-292-2 ἐκείνῳ 774
mvp-comment-292-3 χάριν 775 τιμᾷς 776 ὁ κατθανὼν νέκυς 777
mvp-comment-293-1 εἴ τοι 778 σφε 779
mvp-comment-293-2 ἐξ ἴσου 780
mvp-comment-294-1 οὐ γάρ τι δοῦλος 781
mvp-comment-294-2 cannot complain, for Polyneices was not his slave—his natural inferior—but his brother, and had the same claim on me that he had. Creon insists on the difference between the loyal man and the disloyal. Antigone dwells on the fact that both men had the same claim on her natural piety, and (519) on her sense of religious duty.
mvp-comment-295-1 πορθῶν δέ 782
mvp-comment-295-2 ὁ δ’ 783 ὕπερ 784
mvp-comment-296-1 τούτους 785 ἴσους 786 ἴσους 787 ὅμως 788 ἴσους 789 τούτους 790 ἴσους 791
mvp-comment-297-1 The MS. λαχεῖν ἴσος 792 ἴσους 793
mvp-comment-298-1 κάτωθεν 794 κάτω ’στὶν 795
mvp-comment-298-2 εὐαγῆ 796
mvp-comment-299-1 οὔτοι συνέχθειν 797
mvp-comment-300-1 νυ^ν 798
mvp-comment-301-1 καὶ μὴν 799
mvp-comment-301-2 εἰβομένη 800 κάτω 801
mvp-comment-301-3
with
εἴβειν, for Homer never says
κατὰ δάκρυα λείβειν. Nothing is more natural than that
εἰβομένη should have become
λειβομένη in the MSS., the latter word being much the commoner.
mvp-comment-301-4 κάτω 802
mvp-comment-302-1 νεφέλη δ’ ὀφρύων ὕπερ 803
mvp-comment-302-2 αἱματόεν 804
mvp-comment-302-3 ῥέθος 805
mvp-comment-302-4 αἰσχύνει 806
mvp-comment-303-1 σὺ δ’ 807 ὑφειμένη 808
mvp-comment-303-2 ἔχιδνα 809
mvp-comment-303-3
ἡ ἔχιδνα ἐν τῇ συνουσίᾳ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποκόπτει. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὰ τέκνα, ὥσπερ τὸν θάνατον τοῦ πατρὸς μετερχόμενα, τὴν γαστέρα τῆς μητρὸς διαρρήγνυσιν. (Cp.
Shaksp.
Per. 1. 1. 64
I am no viper, yet I feed On mother's flesh.)
mvp-comment-304-1 λήθουσά μ’ ἐξέπινες 810
mvp-comment-305-1 ἄτα κἀπαναστάσεις 811
mvp-comment-305-2 ἐπαναστάσεις 812 θρόνων 813
mvp-comment-306-1 τὸ μὴ 814
mvp-comment-307-1 ὁμορροθεῖ 815
mvp-comment-308-1 τῆς αἰτίας 816 ξυμμετίσχω 817 φέρω 818
mvp-comment-309-1 ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐάσει σ’ 819
mvp-comment-309-2 ’κοινωσάμην 820
mvp-comment-310-1 ξύμπλουν 821
mvp-comment-311-1
Cp.
Ph. 1293
ὡς θεοὶ ξυνίστορες.
mvp-comment-311-2 λόγοις 822
mvp-comment-312-1 μή μ’ ἀτιμάσῃς 823 τὸ μὴ οὐ 824 ἁγνίσαι τὸν θ 825
mvp-comment-313-1 μή μοι 826 κοινά 827
mvp-comment-313-2 μηδ’ ἃ μὴ ’θιγες 828 ἅ 829 ἅ 830
mvp-comment-314-1 ποιοῦ σεαυτῆς 831
mvp-comment-314-2 ἀρκέσω 833
mvp-comment-315-1 σοῦ λελειμμένῃ 834
mvp-comment-315-2 φίλος 835
mvp-comment-316-1 κηδεμών 836
mvp-comment-317-1 ἀλγοῦσα μὲν δῆτ’ 837 δῆτα 838
mvp-comment-317-2 ἐν σοί 839
mvp-comment-317-3 Heath's εἰ γελῶ γ’ 840
mvp-comment-318-1 ἀλλὰ νῦν 841
mvp-comment-319-1 κἀμπλάκω 842
mvp-comment-319-2
fate? i.e. to be dissociated from it: delib. aor. subj., which can be used, not only in asking what one is
to do, but also in expressions of despair as to what one must suffer (
Tr. 973
τί πάθω;). For
ἀμπλακεῖν
cp. 910
, 1234.
mvp-comment-320-1 εἵλου 843
mvp-comment-320-2 ζῆν 844
mvp-comment-321-1 ἐπ’ ἀρρήτοις … τοῖς ἐμ. λ. 845
mvp-comment-322-1 σὺ μὲν τοῖς 846
mvp-comment-323-1 καὶ μήν 847
mvp-comment-324-1 θάρσει 848
mvp-comment-324-2 ἡ ἐμὴ ψυχή 849
mvp-comment-324-3 πάλαι 850
mvp-comment-324-4 ὥστε τοῖς θ. ὠφελεῖν 851
mvp-comment-325-1 L gives τὼ παῖδε φημὶ 852
mvp-comment-325-2 τὼ παῖδε … τὴν μὲν … τὴν δέ 853
mvp-comment-325-3 ἀρτίως 854
mvp-comment-326-1
The apology is for her sister as well as for herself: even such prudence (
cp. 68
νοῦν) as may have been inborn forsakes the unfortunate under the stress of their misfortunes.
mvp-comment-326-2 βλάστῃ 855
mvp-comment-326-3 τοῖς κ. πράσσουσιν 856
mvp-comment-326-4 ἐξίσταται 857
mvp-comment-327-1 σοὶ γοῦν 858
mvp-comment-327-2 κακοῖς 859
mvp-comment-328-1 τῆσδ’ ἄτερ 860 μόνῃ 861
mvp-comment-328-2 βιώσιμον 862 τί 863
mvp-comment-329-1 ἀλλὰ … μέντοι 864
mvp-comment-329-2 ἥδε μὴ λέγε 865
mvp-comment-330-1 νυμφεῖα 866
mvp-comment-331-1 ἀρώσιμοι 867
mvp-comment-332-1 οὐχ ὥς γ’ 868 ἡρμοσμένα ἦν 869
mvp-comment-333-1 υἱέσι 870 υἱάσιν 871
mvp-comment-333-2
υἷα, υἷε, υἷες, υἷας: cp. Monro
Hom. Gr. § 107.—The dat. of interest goes with
κακὰς γυναῖκας
872
στυγῶ
873
mvp-comment-334-1
It is not of much moment that L, like the later MSS., gives this verse to Ismene. Errors as to the persons occur not seldom in L (see, e.g., cr. n. to
O. C. 837
, and cp.
ib. 1737
); and here a mistake would have been peculiarly easy, as the dialogue from v. 561 onwards has been between Creon and Ismene. To me it seems certain that the verse is Antigone's, and that one of the finest touches in the play is effaced by giving it to Ismene. The taunt,
κακὰς γυναῖκας υἱέσι, moves Antigone to break the silence which she has kept since v. 560: in all this scene she has not spoken to Creon, nor does she now address him: she is thinking of Haemon,—of the dishonour to
him implied in the charge of having made such a choice, —
ὡς αἰεὶ τὸν ὁμοῖον ἄγει θεὸς ὡς τὸν ὁμοῖον. How little does his father know the heart which was in sympathy with her own. This solitary reference to her love heightens in a wonderful degree our sense of her unselfish devotion to a sacred duty. If Ismene speaks this verse, then
τὸ σὸν λέχος in 573 must be, ‘the marriage of which you talk’ (like
El. 1110
οὐκ οἶδα τὴν σὴν κλῄδον'), which certainly is not its natural sense.
mvp-comment-334-2 Αἷμον 874
mvp-comment-335-1 ἄγαν γε λυπεῖς 875
mvp-comment-336-1 The MSS. give this verse to Ismene; but Boeckh is clearly right in giving it to the Chorus. Ismene asked this question in 568, and Creon answered: she rejoined to this answer (570), and Creon replied still more bitterly. She could not now ask her former question over again. But there is no unfitness in the question being repeated by a new intercessor, since to ask it thus is a form of mild remonstrance.
mvp-comment-337-1 ἐμοί 876 ἔφυ 877
mvp-comment-338-1
This verse clearly belongs to the Chorus, to whom L assigns it. The first words of the next verse show this. Hermann objected that in similar situations the Chorus usually has two verses. It is true that this is usually the case. But
O. T. 1312
is enough to show that there was no rigid rule; why, indeed, should there be? And, here, surely,
πλέον ἥμισυ παντός.
mvp-comment-338-2 δεδογμένα 878
mvp-comment-339-1 καὶ σοί γε κἀμοί 879
mvp-comment-339-2 μὴ τριβάς 880
mvp-comment-339-3 νιν 881
mvp-comment-340-1 ἐκ δὲ τοῦδε 882 γυναικας 883 ἀνειμένας 884
mvp-comment-341-1 χοἱ θρασεῖς 885 πέλας 886 εἰσορῶσι 887
mvp-comment-343-1 κακῶν ἄγευστος 888
mvp-comment-344-1 σεισθῇ θεόθεν 889
mvp-comment-344-2 ἄτας οὐδὲν ἐλλείπει 890 ἐλλείπει 891
mvp-comment-344-3 γενεᾶς ἐπὶ πλῆθος 892 γενεᾶς 893
mvp-comment-345-1 ὅμοιον 894
mvp-comment-345-2 ποντίαις 895 πνοαῖς 896 ὅταν οἶδμα 897 ποντίαις δυσπν. Θρ. πνοαῖς 898 ἐπιδράμῃ ἔρεβος ὕφαλον 899 Θρῄσσαισιν 900
mvp-comment-346-1 κελαινὰν θῖνα 901
mvp-comment-346-2 δυσάνεμοι 902 δυσάνεμον 903
mvp-comment-346-3 στόνῳ βρ.· 904
mvp-comment-346-4 ἀντιπλῆγες 905 ἀκταί 906
mvp-comment-347-1 ἀρχαῖα 907
mvp-comment-347-2 ὁρῶμαι 908 οἴκων 909 φθι^τῶν 910
mvp-comment-348-1 ἀπαλλάσσει 911
mvp-comment-348-2 γενεὰν γένος 912 ἔχει 913
mvp-comment-348-3 λύσιν 914
mvp-comment-349-1 νῦν γὰρ ἐσχάτας 915 ὃ τέτατο 916 ἐτέτατο 917 κατ’ αὖ 918 ὑπέρ 919 ὅπερ 920 ὃ τέτατο 921 νιν 922 φάος 923 ἐσχάτη ῥίζα 924 φάος 925 νιν 926 φάος 927 θάλος 928 τέτατο 929 ῥίζας 930
mvp-comment-350-1 κατ’ αὖ … ἀμᾷ, 931 κοπίς 932 κόνις 933 κόνις 934
mvp-comment-350-2 (1) If κόνις 935 καταμᾷ 936
mvp-comment-350-3 (2) If we read κοπίς 937
mvp-comment-350-4
It has further been urged against
κοπίς that the word is too homely. This may be so; but we lack proof.
κοπίς seems to have been a large curved knife, known to the Greeks chiefly as (
a) a butcher's or cook's implement, (
b) an oriental military weapon. It does not follow, however, that the effect here would be like that of ‘chopper,’ or of ‘scimitar,’ in English. The dignity of a word may be protected by its simplicity; and
κοπίς is merely ‘that which cuts.’ Pindar was not afraid of homeliness when he described a chorus-master as a
κρατήρ, or an inspiring thought as an
ἀκόνα (cp.
O. C. 1052
n.). Nicander could say, of the scorpion,
τοίη οἱ κέντροιο κοπίς (
Ther. 780
). If
κοπίς be right, the change to
κόνις may have been caused, not by a misreading of letters, but by mere inadvertence,—the copyist having the word
κόνις in his thoughts at the moment: it has already occurred frequently (
247
,
256
,
409
,
429
).—See Appendix.
mvp-comment-351-1 λόγου … ἄνοια 938 φρενῶν ἐρινύς 939
mvp-comment-352-1 τεάν 940
mvp-comment-352-2 δύνα^σιν 941
mvp-comment-352-3 κατάσχοι 942
mvp-comment-353-1 The MS. παντογήρως 943 παντοθήρας 944 παντόθηρος 945 πάντ’ ἀγρεύων 946
mvp-comment-354-1 The MS. οὔτ’ ἀκάματοι θεῶν 947
mvp-comment-354-2
οὐδὲν ἕρπει. Far the best emendation is
οὔτε θεῶν ἄκματοι
948
θεῶν
949
θεῶν μῆνες
950
θεῶν
951
οὔτε
952
mvp-comment-354-3 ἄκματοι 953
mvp-comment-355-1 I doubt whether the dat. χρόνῳ 954
mvp-comment-355-2 μαρμαρόεσσαν 955
mvp-comment-356-1 τό τ’ ἔπειτα 956 τὸ μέλλον 957
mvp-comment-356-2 καὶ τὸ πρίν 961 ἐπαρκέσει 962
mvp-comment-357-1 πάμπολύ γ’ 963
mvp-comment-357-2 ἕρπει 964 ἕρπειν 965 ἕρπει 966
mvp-comment-357-3 πάμπολις 967
mvp-comment-358-1 ἁ γὰρ δή 968 γάρ 969 πολύπλαγκτος 970
mvp-comment-358-2
oft tossed up and down, ploughing a sea of vain deceits.’—
πολύπλαγκτος might also be act., ‘causing men to err greatly’; but this is less fitting here.
mvp-comment-359-1 πολλοῖς μὲν ὄνασις 971
mvp-comment-360-1 ἀπάτα … ἐρώτων 972
mvp-comment-360-2 κουφονόων 973
mvp-comment-361-1
The
ἀπάτη, or final frustration of his desires,
ἕρπει
974
οὐδὲν εἰδότι
975
mvp-comment-362-1 πρὶν … προσαύσῃ 976
mvp-comment-362-2 προσαύσῃ 977
mvp-comment-362-3 πόδα 978 προσαύσῃ 979
mvp-comment-363-1 σοφίᾳ 980
mvp-comment-363-2 ἔκ του 981
mvp-comment-363-3 πεφάνται 982
mvp-comment-364-1 τὸ κακὸν δοκεῖν ποτ’ 983 ποτέ 984
mvp-comment-364-2
1676
Among them he a spirit of phrenzy sent,
Who hurt their minds. Cp.
βλαψίφρων, φρενοβλαβής.
Il. 19.137
ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ἀασάμην, καί μευ φρένας ἐξέλετο Ζεύς. Theognis 403
σπεύδει ἀνήρ, κέρδος διζήμενος, ὅν τινα δαίμων | πρόφρων εἰς μεγάλην ἀμπλακίην παράγει, | καί οἱ ἔθηκη δοκεῖν, ἃ μὲν ᾖ κακά, ταῦτ’ ἀγάθ’ εἶναι, | εὐμαρέως, ἃ δ’ ἂν ᾖ χρήσιμα, ταῦτα κακά. Lycurgus
in Leocr. § 92
οἱ γὰρ θεοὶ οὐδὲν πρότερον ποιοῦσιν ἢ τῶν πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν διάνοιαν παράγουσι· καί μοι δοκοῦσι τῶν ἀρχαίων τινὲς ποιητῶν ὥσπερ χρησμοὺς γράψαντες τοῖς ἐπιγιγνομένοις ταῦτα τὰ ἰαμβεῖα καταλιπεῖν· ὅταν γὰρ ὀργὴ δαιμόνων βλάπτῃ τινά, | τοῦτ’ αὐτὸ πρῶτον, ἐξαφαιρεῖται φρενῶν | τὸν νοῦν τὸν ἐσθλόν, εἰς δὲ τὴν χείρω τρέπει | γνώμην, ἵν’ εἰδῇ μηδἐν ὧν ἁμαρτάνει. The schol. on our verse quotes an unknown poet's lines,
ὅταν δ’ ὁ δαίμων ἀνδρὶ πορσύνῃ κακά, | τὸν νοῦν ἔβλαψε πρῶτον, ᾧ βουλευεται. (‘Quem Iuppiter vult perdere, dementat prius.’ See n. in Appendix.)— The epic
ἔμμεν
985
mvp-comment-365-1 ὀλίγιστον 986 ὀλιγοστόν 987 πράσσει … ἐκτὸς ἄτας 988 ἄτας 989
mvp-comment-366-1 μήν 990
mvp-comment-366-2 νέατον 991
mvp-comment-366-3
to a person,
νέατος could not be said of a sole survivor unless he was
also the latest-born.
γέννημ’:
cp. 471
n.
mvp-comment-366-4 ἀχνύμενος 992 μόρον 993
mvp-comment-367-1
In the MS. reading (see cr. n.)
νύμφης is a gloss on
τάλιδος
994
τῆς μελλογάμου
995
τῆς μελλογάμου
996
τάλιδος
997
mvp-comment-368-1 ἀπάτας 998 λεχέων 999
mvp-comment-370-1 μάντεων ὑπέρτερον 1000
mvp-comment-371-1 τελείαν 1001
mvp-comment-371-2 ψῆφο<*> 1002
mvp-comment-371-3 ἆρα μή 1003
mvp-comment-371-4 τῆς μελλονύμφου 1004
mvp-comment-371-5 λυσσαίνων 1005 σοὶ μέν 1006 θυμαίνων 1007
mvp-comment-372-1 σοὶ μέν 1008
mvp-comment-372-2 πανταχῇ δρῶντες 1009
mvp-comment-373-1 σός 1010
mvp-comment-373-2 γνώμας ἔχων χρηστάς 1011 ἀπορθοῖς 1012 μοι 1013
mvp-comment-374-1 ἀξιώσεται 1015 ἀξ. μείζων φέρεσθαι 1016 ἀξίως ἔσται 1017
mvp-comment-374-2 σοῦ καλῶς ἡγουμ. 1018 μείζων 1019
mvp-comment-375-1 γάρ 1020
mvp-comment-375-2 διὰ στέρνων ἔχειν 1021 διά 1022 ἔχειν 1023 οὕτω 1024 ἔχειν 1025
mvp-comment-376-1 (One ought to think thus),—that is, ὄπισθεν ἑστάναι πατρ. γνώμης 1026 πάντα 1027 ἑστάναι 1028
mvp-comment-377-1 ὡς 1029
mvp-comment-377-2 ἀνταμύνωνται 1030 κακοῖς 1031
mvp-comment-378-1 ἄλλο 1032 φῦσαι 1033 πλήν 1034 ἄλλο 1035 εἴποις 1036
mvp-comment-378-2 πόνους 1037
mvp-comment-378-3 γέλων 1038
mvp-comment-379-1 τὰς φρένας γ’ 1039 γε 1040 φρένας σύ γ’ ἡδονῇ 1041
mvp-comment-379-2 φρένας … ἐκβάλῃς 1042
mvp-comment-379-3 ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς 1043
mvp-comment-380-1 ψυχρόν 1044
mvp-comment-380-2 παραγκάλισμα 1045
mvp-comment-381-1 δόμοις 1046
mvp-comment-381-2 ἕλκος 1047
mvp-comment-381-3 φίλος 1048
mvp-comment-382-1 πτύσας 1049
mvp-comment-382-2 ὠσεί τε δυσμενῆ 1050 τε 1051
mvp-comment-383-1 νυμφεύειν 1052
mvp-comment-384-1 ἀπιστήσασαν 1053 ψευδῆ 1054
mvp-comment-385-1 κτενῶ 1055
mvp-comment-385-2 πρὸς ταῦτ 1056
mvp-comment-385-3 ἐφυμνείτω 1057
mvp-comment-385-4 Δία ξύναιμον 1058
mvp-comment-386-1 τά γ’ ἐγγ. φύσει 1059
mvp-comment-386-2 ἄκοσμα 1060
mvp-comment-386-3 θρέψω 1061
mvp-comment-386-4 κάρτα τοὺς ἔξω γ. 1062
mvp-comment-387-1
Seidler transposes vv. 663—667, placing them after 671. The object is to bring vv. 668—671 into immediate connection with 662. In this there is one slight grammatical gain; since, as the vv. stand in the MSS.,
τοῦτον ...τὸν ἄνδρα (668) means, ‘the man who acts thus’ (viz., as described in vv. 666 f.). But the order given in the MSS. is right. The transposition obliterates one of the finest touches in the speech. Creon demands that the obedience of the citizens to the ruler shall be absolute (666 f.). And then he supplements this demand with a remark on the dignity of such obedience. The man who so obeys gives the best proof that he could also rule (668 ff.). Seidler destroys the point of vv. 668 ff. by placing them after 662.
mvp-comment-387-2 The connection of thought in the whole passage—which is slightly obscured by compression—may be most clearly shown by taking the verses in small consecutive groups. (1) 659 f. If I tolerate disloyalty
mvp-comment-387-3
in my own relatives, I shall encourage it in other citizens. (2) 661 f.
For (
γάρ) only a man who is firm (
χρηστός) where his own relatives are concerned will be found to uphold justice in the State (i.e. will have the authority necessary for doing so). (3) 663 f. Now, I recognise disloyalty in any one who breaks the law and defies the government, as Antigone has done. (4) 666 f. Instead of so doing, the citizen is bound to obey the government in everything. (5) 668—671. There is nothing slavish in that; on the contrary, it shows that the citizen is not only a good subject, but would, if required, be a good ruler;—as he would also be a good soldier.—Then comes the general censure on unruliness (672—676). And then the conclusion:—I must vindicate my authority, and punish Antigone (677 —680).
mvp-comment-388-1 ὑπερβάς 1063
mvp-comment-388-2 τοὐπιτάσσειν 1064
mvp-comment-388-3 νοεῖ 1065
mvp-comment-389-1 στήσειε 1066
mvp-comment-389-2 καὶ τἀναντία 1067
mvp-comment-390-1 τοῦτον … τὸν ἄνδρα 1068
mvp-comment-390-2 καλῶς...εὖ 1069
mvp-comment-390-3 ἄν 1070 ἄρχειν 1071 θέλειν 1072
mvp-comment-391-1 δορὸς … χειμῶνι 1073
mvp-comment-391-2 προστεταγμένον 1074
mvp-comment-391-3 παραστάτην 1075
mvp-comment-392-1 πόλεις ὄλλυσιν, ἥδ’ 1076 πόλεις τ’ … ἥδ’ 1077
mvp-comment-393-1 συμμάχου 1078 συμμάχηι 1079 σὺν μάχῃ 1080
mvp-comment-393-2 τροπὰς καταρρήγνυσι 1081
mvp-comment-393-3 τῶν δ’ ὀρθουμένων 1082 τὰ πολλὰ σώματα 1083
mvp-comment-393-4 ἡ πειθαρχία 1084
mvp-comment-394-1 ἀμυντέ’ 1085
mvp-comment-394-2 τοῖς κοσμουμένοις 1086 τοῖς κ. 1088
mvp-comment-395-1 κοὔτοι … ἡσσητέα 1089
mvp-comment-396-1 δεῖ 1090 ἐκπεσεῖν 1091
mvp-comment-396-2
thrust out: oft. of dethronement (
ἐκπ. τυραννίδος, ἀρχῆς, κράτους, Aesch. ), or of exile (
χθονός,
O. C. 766
).
mvp-comment-396-3 κοὐκ ἂν...καλοίμεθ’ ἄν 1092
mvp-comment-397-1 μέν 1093
mvp-comment-397-2 τῷ χρόνῳ 1094
mvp-comment-397-3 κεκλέμμεθα 1095
mvp-comment-398-1 δοκεῖς λέγειν φρονούντως περὶ 1096
mvp-comment-399-1 θεοί 1097
mvp-comment-399-2 κτημάτων 1098
mvp-comment-400-1 ἐγὼ δ’ ὅπως 1099
mvp-comment-400-2 μὴ 1100 ὅπως 1101 μή 1102 ὀρθῶς 1103
mvp-comment-400-3 μήτ’ ἐπισταίμην 1104
mvp-comment-401-1 καλῶς ἔχον 1105 γένοιτο ἂν καὶ ἑτέρῳ 1106
mvp-comment-402-1 σοῦ δ’ οὖν 1107 σοῦ 1108 σοί 1109 σὺ δ’ οὐ πέφυκας 1110 τις 1111 μῆνίν τιν’ ἢ κότον τιν 1112
mvp-comment-403-1 τὸ γὰρ σόν 1113 ὄμμα 1114
mvp-comment-403-2 δημότῃ 1115
mvp-comment-404-1 λόγοις τοιούτοις 1116 λόγοις τοιούτοις 1117
mvp-comment-404-2 οἷς 1118 τέρψει 1119 κλύων 1120 μή 1121 τέρψῃ 1122
mvp-comment-405-1 ὑπὸ σκότον 1123 ἀκούειν 1124 ὀδύρεται 1125
mvp-comment-406-1 κάκιστ’ … εὐκλεεστάτων 1126
mvp-comment-406-2 ἀπ’ ἔργων 1127
mvp-comment-407-1 ἥτις 1128 μήθ’ … μήθ’ 1129 εἴασε 1130 ὀλέσθαι 1131
mvp-comment-407-2 αὐτάδελφον 1132
mvp-comment-407-3 ἐνφοναῖς 1133
mvp-comment-408-1 χρυσῆς 1134
mvp-comment-408-2 λαχεῖν 1135 ἀξία 1136
mvp-comment-409-1 ἐπέρχεται 1137
mvp-comment-410-1 θάλλοντος 1138
mvp-comment-410-2 μεῖζον εὐκλείας 1139
mvp-comment-410-3 πρὸς παίδων 1140 εὐκλεία 1141
mvp-comment-411-1 νυν 1142
mvp-comment-411-2 φόρει 1143
mvp-comment-411-3 ἦθος 1144 ὡς φὴς σύ 1145
mvp-comment-411-4 κοὐδέν 1146
mvp-comment-411-5 τοῦτο 1147
mvp-comment-412-1 μόνος 1148 φρονεῖν 1149 ψυχήν 1150
mvp-comment-412-2
αὐτὸς μοῦνος ποικίλα δήνε’ (devices)
ἔχειν, | κεῖνός γ’ ἄφρων ἐστί, νόου βεβλαμμένος ἐσθλοῦ, | ἴσως γὰρ πάντες ποικίλ’ ἐπιστάμεθα.
Isocr. or. 3 § 43
joins Theognis, Hesiod and Phocylides as
ἀρίστους...συμβούλους τῷ βίῳ τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. They were read in schools.
mvp-comment-413-1 οὗτοι 1151
mvp-comment-413-2 διαπτυχθέντες 1152
mvp-comment-413-3 κενοί 1153
mvp-comment-414-1 ἄνδρα 1154 μανθάνειν 1155 τό 1156
mvp-comment-414-2 κεἰ … ᾖ 1157
mvp-comment-414-3 τείνειν 1158
mvp-comment-414-4 παρὰ ῥείθρ. 1159
mvp-comment-414-5 χειμάρροις 1160
mvp-comment-415-1 ὑπείκει 1161
mvp-comment-415-2 αὐτόπρεμνα 1162
mvp-comment-416-1 αὔτως 1163
mvp-comment-416-2 ναός 1164
mvp-comment-416-3 ἐγκρατῆ 1165
mvp-comment-416-4 πόδα 1166
mvp-comment-417-1 μηδέν 1167
mvp-comment-417-2 κάτω στρέψας 1168 τὸ πλοῖον 1169 τὸ λοιπόν 1170
mvp-comment-417-3 σέλμασιν 1171 ὑπτίοις 1172
mvp-comment-418-1 εἶκε θυμοῦ 1173
mvp-comment-418-2 καὶ μετάστασιν δίδου 1174
mvp-comment-418-3 δίδου 1175 εἶκε 1176 καί 1177 καί 1178
mvp-comment-419-1 εἴ τις γνώμη πρόσεστι καὶ ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ ν. 1179 καί 1180
mvp-comment-419-2 πρεσβεύειν 1181
mvp-comment-420-1 φῦναι 1182
mvp-comment-420-2 πάντ’ 1183
mvp-comment-421-1 εἰ δ’ οὖν 1184 φιλεῖ γάρ 1185
mvp-comment-421-2 τοῦτο … ταύτῃ 1186 ταύτῃ 1187
mvp-comment-421-3 ῥέπειν 1188
mvp-comment-422-1 καὶ τὸ τῶν εὖ λεγόντων μανθάνειν καλόν 1189
mvp-comment-423-1 σέ τ’ 1190 διπλᾶι 1191 διπλᾶ 1192 διπλῇ 1193 διπλᾶ 1194
mvp-comment-423-2 On the other hand, διπλῇ 1195
mvp-comment-424-1 καὶ 1196 διδαξ. 1197
mvp-comment-424-2 δή 1198
mvp-comment-424-3 τὴν φύσιν 1199
mvp-comment-425-1 μηδέν 1200 τὸ μὴ δίκ. 1201
mvp-comment-425-2 τὸν χρόνον 1202 τἄργα 1203
mvp-comment-426-1 ἔργον 1204
mvp-comment-426-2 τοὺς ἀκοσμοῦντας 1205
mvp-comment-426-3 σέβειν 1206
mvp-comment-427-1 οὐδ’ 1207
mvp-comment-428-1 τοιᾷδε … νοσῳ 1208
mvp-comment-428-2 ἐπείληπται 1209
mvp-comment-429-1 Θήβης 1210 ὁμόπτολις 1211
mvp-comment-430-1 ἡμῖν 1212 ἐμέ 1213
mvp-comment-431-1 ὡς ἄγαν νέος 1214
mvp-comment-432-1 Dobree's με 1215 γε 1216 χρή 1217 ἄλλῳ ἢ ’μοί 1218 ἐμοί 1219 χρή γε 1220
mvp-comment-433-1 πόλις γὰρ οὐκ ἔσθ’ 1221
mvp-comment-433-2
τυραννίς is
ἔσχατον πόλεως νόσημα,
Rep. 544
C.
de Rep. 3. 31
ubi tyrannus est, ibi...dicendum est nullam esse rempublicam.
mvp-comment-434-1 νομίζεται 1222
mvp-comment-435-1 καλῶς ἐρήμης γ’ 1223
mvp-comment-436-1
Though at least one late MS. (Paris E) has
συμμαχεῖν, it is needless to assume here the same mixed constr. as
Tr. 1238
ἁνὴρ δ’ ὅδ’, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ νεμεῖν ἐμοὶ | φθίνοντι μοῖραν.
mvp-comment-437-1 οὖν 1224 προκήδομαι 1225
mvp-comment-438-1 ὦ παγκάκιστε 1226
mvp-comment-438-2 διὰ δίκης ἰὼν πατρί 1227
mvp-comment-439-1 ἀρχάς 1228
mvp-comment-440-1 οὐ γὰρ σέβεις 1229
mvp-comment-440-2 τιμάς 1230
mvp-comment-441-1 ὦ μιαρόν 1231 γυναικὸς ὕστερον 1232
mvp-comment-442-1
‘I may be inferior to a woman, but at least you will never find me yielding to base temptations.’ It would have been
αἰσχρόν if he had allowed fear or self-interest to deter him from pleading this cause. (
Cp. 509
.) Cp.
Tr. 489
ἔρωτος...ἥσσων: fr. 844
ἥσσων...ὀργῆς.
mvp-comment-442-2 οὔ τἄν 1233
mvp-comment-442-3 γε 1234
mvp-comment-443-1 γοῦν 1235
mvp-comment-444-1 καὶ σοῦ γε 1236
mvp-comment-445-1
Objections have been made to the traditional order of these verses, chiefly in two respects. (1) 755
εἰ μὴ πατὴρ ἦσθ’ is—it is argued—the strongest thing said by Haemon, and ought therefore to come immediately before Creon's final outburst,
ἄληθες; (758). How could it be followed by merely so mild a phrase as
μὴ κώτιλλέ με?—We may reply:— Haemon says that,
if Creon were not his father, he
would have thought him mad. It is to this that
μὴ κώτιλλέ με refers, meaning, ‘Do not seek to deceive me by an affectation of filial deference.’ (2) 757
βούλει λέγειν τι is too mild a remark—it is said—to form the climax of provocation to Creon's anger. We may reply:—It is in substance, if not in form, such a climax, —for a father who holds that
unquestioning obedience (640) is a son's first duty. It asserts Haemon's right to maintain his own views against his father's,—
διὰ δίκης ἰέναι, as Creon put it (742). The traditional order seems, therefore, to be right.
mvp-comment-445-2
Three modes of transposition have been proposed. (1) Enger puts 756 and 757 after 749. Then
κώτιλλε (756) refers to Haemon's plea that he has his father's cause, and that of religion, at heart. We lose nothing by such a transposition; but neither do we gain.
mvp-comment-445-3 (2) Donner (in his transl., ed. 1863) simply transposed verses 755 and 757, leaving the rest as they stand. For this it may fairly be said that 757 comes very fitly after 754. On the other hand it seems to me that 756 does not aptly follow 757.
mvp-comment-445-4
(3) Pallis arranges thus:—749, 756, 755, 754, 757, 750—753. Thus
κενὰς γνώμας (753) becomes the last sting.— The fact is that, in a stormy altercation, we do not look for a closely logical texture and a delicately graduated
crescendo. The MS. order is (to my mind) the best; but other arrangements are possible, and would be nearly as good.
mvp-comment-445-5
Creon, instead of replying to v. 749, abruptly repeats his resolve.
οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς ταύτην ἔτι ζῶσαν γαμεῖς (fut.)
ποτέ, it cannot be that you shall ever wed her while she yet lives; i.e. she is to die at once, and can become your bride, if ever, only
ἐν Ἅιδου (654).
Cp. 1240
.—
ὡς
1237
ποτέ
1238
ταύτην
1239
mvp-comment-446-1 ἥδ’ 1240 ὀλεῖ τινά 1241
mvp-comment-447-1 ἦ ἐπεξέρχει και ἐπαπειλῶν ὧδε θρασύς; 1242 καί 1243
mvp-comment-448-1 κλαίων 1244
mvp-comment-448-2 φρενώσεις 1245
mvp-comment-449-1 οὐκ εὖ φρονεῖν 1246
mvp-comment-450-1 δούλευμα 1247
mvp-comment-450-2 μὴ κωτιλλέ με 1248
mvp-comment-450-3
Cp. Theognis 363
εὖ κώτιλλε τὸν ἐχθρόν (cajole)'
ὅταν δ’ ὑποχείριος ἔλθῃ, | τῖσαί νιν, πρόφασιν μηδεμίαν θέμενος: id. 851
Ζεὺς ἄνδρ’ ἐξολέσειεν Ὀλύμπιος, ὃς τὸν ἑταῖρον | μαλθακὰ κωτίλλων ἐξαπατᾶν ἐθέλει.
mvp-comment-451-1 λέγειν … κλύειν; 1249 λέγειν τι 1250
mvp-comment-452-1 ἄληθες; 1251
mvp-comment-452-2 οὐ τόνδ’ Ὄλ. 1252
mvp-comment-452-3 ἴσθ’ ὅτι 1253
mvp-comment-453-1 χαίρων 1254
mvp-comment-453-2 ἐπὶ ψόγοισι δεννάσεις 1255 ἐπί 1256 ἔτι 1257
mvp-comment-454-1 ἄγετε 1258 ἄγ’ ἄγε 1259 ἄγαγε 1260
mvp-comment-454-2 τὸ μῖσος 1261
mvp-comment-454-3 κατ’ ὄμματ’ 1262
mvp-comment-454-4 παρόντι … πλησία 1263
mvp-comment-455-1 ἔμοιγε 1264 οὔτε 1265 τε 1266
mvp-comment-455-2 οὐδαμά 1267
mvp-comment-455-3 ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς 1268
mvp-comment-456-1 ὡς 1269
mvp-comment-456-2 τοῖς θέλουσι 1270
mvp-comment-457-1 ἐξ ὀργῆς ταχύς 1271
mvp-comment-457-2 βαρύς 1272
mvp-comment-458-1 μεῖζον ἢ κατ’ ἄνδρα 1273
mvp-comment-458-2 ἰών 1274
mvp-comment-458-3
αἱρήσοιμ’ ἰών:
Ai. 304
ὅσην κατ’ αὐτῶν ὕβριν ἐκτίσαιτ’ ἰών. So here it scornfully suggests some daring enterprise.
mvp-comment-459-1 For δ’ οὖν 1275
mvp-comment-459-2 τὼ … τώδε 1276
mvp-comment-459-3 καί 1277 κατακτ. νοεῖς 1278 κατακτ 1279
mvp-comment-460-1 θιγοῦσαν 1280
mvp-comment-460-2 γὰρ οὖν 1281
mvp-comment-461-1 καί 1282 βουλεύει 1283
mvp-comment-461-2 σφε 1284
mvp-comment-462-1 ἔνθα 1285
mvp-comment-463-1 πετρώδει … ἐν κατώρυχι 1286
mvp-comment-464-1 ὡς ἄγος μόνον 1287 ὡς 1288 ὅσον 1289
mvp-comment-464-2 ἄγος 1290
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
).
mvp-comment-465-1 πᾶσ’ 1291
mvp-comment-466-1 ὃν μόνον σέβει 1292
mvp-comment-466-2
ἐγγενεῖς (199). By honouring him, and Hades (519), she has dishonoured those other gods.
mvp-comment-467-1 τὸ μὴ θανεῖν 1293 τεύξεται 1294
mvp-comment-468-1 ἀλλὰ τηνικαῦτα 1295 τἀν 1296
mvp-comment-470-1 ἀνίκατε μάχαν 1297
mvp-comment-471-1 ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις, 1298
mvp-comment-472-1 ἐν μαλακαῖς παρειαῖς 1299
mvp-comment-472-2 ἐννυχεύεις 1300
mvp-comment-473-1 ὑπερπόντιος 1301
mvp-comment-473-2 ἔν τ’ ἀγρ. αὐλαῖς 1302
mvp-comment-474-1 οὔτ’ ἀθανάτων 1303
mvp-comment-474-2 σὲ … φύξιμός ἐστι 1304
mvp-comment-475-1 σέ γ’ 1305
mvp-comment-475-2 ὁ δ’ ἔχων 1306
mvp-comment-476-1 ἀδίκους 1307 παρασπᾷς 1308
mvp-comment-477-1 ξύναιμον 1309
mvp-comment-477-2 ἔχεις 1310
mvp-comment-477-3 ταράξας 1311
mvp-comment-478-1 ἐναργής 1312
mvp-comment-478-2 βλεφάρωνἵμερος 1313 εὐλέκτρου νύμφας 1314
mvp-comment-478-3 εὐλέκτρου 1315
mvp-comment-479-1 πάρεδρος ἐν ἀρχαῖς 1316 πάρεδρος 1317 ἐν ἀρχαῖς 1318
mvp-comment-479-2
The words answer metrically to
φύξιμος οὐδείς (788). The first two syllables of
πάρεδρος therefore represent a resolved long syllable. Pindar affords some instances of such resolution (see Appendix), and there is a probable example below (970
ἀγχίπολις Ἄρης, where see n.). But it is rare, and certainly unpleasing. As
mvp-comment-479-3
a whole, too, the phrase
πάρεδρος ἐν ἀρχαῖς is suspicious. A yet stronger objection is the strangeness of describing the power which is
in conflict with the
θεσμοί as their assessor, or peer, in sway; an expression which would seem appropriate only if that power was working in harmony with them; as when Eur. (
Eur.
Med. 843
) speaks of
σοφίᾳ παρέδρους...ἔρωτας, | παντοίας ἀρετᾶς ξυνεργούς,—‘the loves that sit with wisdom, co-workers of all excellence,’—those aspirations of the soul which assist intellectual effort.
mvp-comment-479-4 The best line of emendation yet suggested is that of Semitelos, who writes ὥστε πέρα δρᾶν 1319
mvp-comment-480-1 ἐμπαίζει 1320 νικᾷ 1321
mvp-comment-481-1 καὐτὸς θεσμῶν ἔξω 1322
mvp-comment-481-2 φέρομαι 1323
mvp-comment-481-3 ἴσχειν δ’ 1324
mvp-comment-482-1 πηγάς 1325
mvp-comment-483-1 παγκοίτην 1326
mvp-comment-483-2
of Antigone are brought into finer relief by the different tone of the choral anapaests.
Cp. 822
, and see Appendix on 110.—Cp.
O. C. 1578
(Death)
τὸν αἰένυπνον. The word
θάλαμον
1327
mvp-comment-483-3 ἀνύτουσαν 1328
mvp-comment-485-1 νεάταν … νέατον δέ 1329
mvp-comment-485-2 νέατον 1330
mvp-comment-485-3 κοὔποτ’ αὖθις 1331
mvp-comment-486-1 παγκοίτας 1332 πάγκοινος 1333
mvp-comment-487-1 ἄγει … ἀκτάν 1334
mvp-comment-488-1 οὔθ’ ὑμεναίων … οὔτ’ ἐπινύμφειος … ὕμνος 1335
mvp-comment-488-2 οὔτε … ἔγκληρον, … οὔτε … ὕμνησεν 1337
mvp-comment-488-3 ἐπινύμφειος 1338 ἐπινυμφίδιος 1339 ἐπὶ νυμφείοις 1340 ἐπινυμφίδιος 1341
mvp-comment-489-1 Ἀχέροντι νυμφεύσω 1342
mvp-comment-490-1 ξιφέων 1343 ἐπίχειρα 1344
mvp-comment-491-1 αὐτόνομος 1345
mvp-comment-491-2 δή 1346 μόνη 1347 Ἀΐδην 1348 Ἅιδην 1349
mvp-comment-492-1 ἤκουσα δή 1350
mvp-comment-492-2 λυγροτάταν 1351
mvp-comment-492-3 ξέναν 1352
mvp-comment-493-1 Ταντάλου 1353
mvp-comment-493-2 Σιπύλῳ 1354
mvp-comment-494-1 ἀτενής 1355
mvp-comment-494-2 πετραία βλάστα δάμασεν 1356 αι^ 1357
mvp-comment-495-1 καί νιν ὄμρροι 1358 τέγγει δ’ 1359 ὄμβρῳ 1360 τακομέναν 1361 τέγγει … δειράδας 1362 ὄμβροι 1363 ὄμβρῳ 1364
mvp-comment-495-2 χιών 1365
mvp-comment-495-3 οὐδαμά 1366
mvp-comment-496-1 τέγγει δ’ ὑπ’ ὀφρύσι … δειράδας 1367
mvp-comment-496-2
The Niobe of Sipylus has usually been identified with a colossal rock-image on the N. side of the range. It is rudely carved in relief, within a rectangular niche on the face of a limestone cliff, and represents a woman seated on a throne. (See Stark,
Niobe, pl. 1, Leips. 1863: cp. Baumeister,
Denkm. p. 1029). Prof. W. M. Ramsay, however, holds that this image is the ‘very ancient’
ἄγαλμα of Cybele mentioned by
Paus. 3.22.4
. In two respects it differs from the ancient accounts of the Niobe (quoted below): (
a) it does not ‘weep,’—for the rainwater drops from the front of the niche, clear of the figure; and (
b) the likeness to a human form grows, instead of vanishing, as one approaches. (
Journ. Hellen. Studies III. 61 ff., 1882.) This has been confirmed by another traveller, Herr Schweisthal (as reported in the
Berl. Phil. Wochenschr., May 28, 1887, p. 704). He finds the true Niobe at no great distance from the Cybele, but nearer Magnesia, and in the vicinity of a stream (the Jarikkaia) which Humann, in his ‘Excursion into Sipylus’ (1881), had already identified with the Achelous of
Il. 24.616
. It is a natural phenomenon,—the semblance—as seen from a distance—of a draped woman, seated high on the rocks; she looks towards the right, and lifts her right arm, as if in lament.
mvp-comment-496-3
The best ancient description is by a poet whose native place was in that neighbourhood,—Quintus Smyrnaeus (1. 293— 306):—‘Her streaming tears still fall from the heights of the rugged cliff; and in sympathy with her the sounding waters of the Hermus make lament, and the lofty peaks of Sipylus, over which the mist that shepherds dread floats evermore. A great marvel is she to passers by, because she is like a sorrowful woman, who mourns some cruel grief, and weeps without stint. Such verily seems the figure, when thou gazest at it from afar; but when thou drawest near, lo, 'tis but a sheer rock, a cliff of Sipylus’ (
φαίνεται αἰπήεσσα πέτρη, Σιπύλοιό τ’ ἀπορρώξ).
mvp-comment-496-4
Nonnus was thinking of the effect
from the road, when he wrote (2. 160),
ἕσσομαι ὡς Νιόβη καὶ ἐγὼ λίθος, ὄφρα καὶ αὐτὴν | λαϊνέην στενάχουσαν ἐποικτείρωσιν ὁδῖται. Pausanias, too, says that, at a certain distance from the cliff,
δεδακρυμένην δόξεις ὁρᾶν καὶ κατηφῆ γυναῖκα, but that the illusion vanishes on a nearer approach (1. 21 § 3).
mvp-comment-497-1 ὁμοιοτάταν 1368
mvp-comment-498-1 ἀλλὰ … θανοῦσαν 1369 καίτοι 1370 ζῶσαν 1371 θανοῦσαν 1372 οἴμοι γελῶμαι 1373
mvp-comment-498-2 θεός 1374
mvp-comment-498-3 θεογεννής 1375 θειογενής 1376
mvp-comment-499-1 καίτοι 1377 φθιμένῃ 1378
mvp-comment-499-2 κἀκοῦσαι 1379 μέγ’ ἀκοῦσαι 1380
mvp-comment-500-1 τοῖς ἰσοθέοις σύγκληρα 1381 ἔγκληρα 1382
mvp-comment-500-2
Hipp. 1011
: or (2) pass., included in one's
κλῆρος, as
H. F. 468
ἔγκληρα πεδία ...κεκτημένος (‘by inheritance’). Here,
ἔγκληρα was perh. partly due to a reminiscence of
ἔγκληρον in 814.—The change of
τοῖς ἰσοθέοις
1383
τοῖσι θεοῖσιν
1384
ι—
1385
α—
1386
τοῖς ἰσοθέοις ἔγκληρα
1387
mvp-comment-501-1 ζῶσαν … θανοῦσαν 1388
mvp-comment-502-1 γελῶμαι 1389
mvp-comment-503-1 πολυκτήμονες 1390
mvp-comment-504-1 κρῆναι 1391
mvp-comment-504-2 εὐαρμάτου 1392
mvp-comment-504-3 ἄλσος 1393
mvp-comment-504-4 ἔμπας 1394
mvp-comment-505-1 ὔμμ’ 1395
mvp-comment-505-2 ἐπικτῶμαι 1396 ἐπί 1397
mvp-comment-506-1 οἵα 1398
mvp-comment-506-2 φίλων ἄκλαυτος 1399
mvp-comment-507-1 ἕργμα τυμβόχωστον 1400 ἕρμα 1401
mvp-comment-508-1 ποταινίου 1402
mvp-comment-509-1 Though every treatment of this verse must remain subject to doubt, far the most probable (to my mind) is Seyffert's modification of Boeckh's βροτοῖς οὔτ’ ἐν νεκροῖς κυροῦσα 1403 οὔτε 1404 κυροῦσα 1405 νεκροῖς 1406
mvp-comment-510-1 μέτοικος 1407
mvp-comment-511-1 προβᾶσ’ … πολύ 1408 προσέπεσες 1409
mvp-comment-511-2 πολύ 1410 ἐσχάτου 1411 προσέπεσες 1412
mvp-comment-512-1 πατρῷόν τινα … ἆθλον 1413 τινά 1414
mvp-comment-512-2 ἐκτίνεις 1415
mvp-comment-513-1 μερίμνας 1416 οἶκτον 1417 πατρός 1418 πότμου 1419 οἶκτον 1420
mvp-comment-513-2
to taking
οἶκτον as acc. in apposition with
ἔψαυσας...μερίμνας is that this would imply
τό (
σε)
ψαῦσαι ἀλγ. ἐμοὶ μερίμνης οἶκτός ἐστιν: as
Eur.
Or. 1105
Ἑλένην κτάνωμεν, Μενέλεῳ λύπην πικράν, implies,
τὸ Ἑλένην κτανεῖν Μενέλεῳ λύπη πικρὰ ἔσται:
Aesch.
Ag. 224
ἔτλα δ’ οὖν | θυτὴρ γενέσθαι θυγατρός, γυναικοποίνων πολέμων ἀρωγάν, implies,
τὸ θυτῆρα γενέσθαι ἀρωγὴ ἦν. Now, if we had, for instance,
ἀνεμνήσθην μερίμνης, it is conceivable that
οἶκτον, as acc. in appos., should mean
οἴκτου ἀφορμήν or
ἔγερσιν. But when, as here, the subject of
ἔψαυσας is distinct from the person who makes the lament, it seems impossible that
οἶκτον should have this pregnant sense.
mvp-comment-513-3 ἀλγ. μερίμνας 1421 οἶτον 1422
mvp-comment-513-4 τριπόλιστον 1423
mvp-comment-513-5 κλεινοῖς Λαβδακίδαισιν 1424 πότμου 1425
mvp-comment-513-6 ἁμετέρου 1426
mvp-comment-514-1 ματρῷαι λέκτρων ἆται 1427 πατρῷαι 1428
mvp-comment-514-2
λέκτρον οὐκ ὀκνεῖν με δεῖ; and (
b) with
πατρῷαι the explanation by
ἐμῷ πατρί, etc., would have been less needed.
mvp-comment-515-1 κοιμήματα . . αὐτογέννητα . . ματρός 1429
mvp-comment-515-2 ἐμῷ πατρί 1430
mvp-comment-515-3 δυσμόρου 1431
mvp-comment-516-1 οἵων 1432 ποτέ 1433 οἵων 1434 ποτέ 1435 οὕς 1436 οἵων 1437 ματρός.—ἀραῖος 1438
mvp-comment-516-2 μέτοικος 1439
mvp-comment-517-1 κασίγνητε 1440
mvp-comment-518-1 θανὼν ἔτ’ οὖσαν 1441
mvp-comment-518-2 κατήναρες 1442
mvp-comment-519-1 σέβειν 1443
mvp-comment-519-2
sense,
εὐσέβεια’: i.e. though it is not complete
εὐσέβεια—which the Chorus regard as including loyalty to the State's laws— yet, so far as it goes, it deserves praise of the same kind.
Cp. 924
τὴν δυσσέβειαν εὐσεβοῦσ’ ἐκτησάμην: by practising
εὐσέβεια towards the dead, she had come to be thought, on the whole,
δυσσεβής—as a law-breaker. The Chorus is here the apologist of Creon, and this concession is meant to emphasise the next sentence. Hence the purposed vagueness of
σέβειν
1444
mvp-comment-520-1 κράτος δὲ 1445 ὅτῳ 1446
mvp-comment-520-2 οὐδαμᾷ 1447 μέλει 1448
mvp-comment-521-1 αὐτόγνωτος 1449 αὐτὴ γιγνώσκουσα 1450
mvp-comment-521-2 ὀργά 1451
mvp-comment-522-1 ἑτοίμαν 1452
mvp-comment-523-1 τόδε λ. ἱρὸν ὄμμα 1453
mvp-comment-524-1 ἀδάκρυτον 1454
mvp-comment-524-2
(and so it remains) unwept. Soph. has several instances of the predicative adj. thus added to a subst. which has the art. and possessive pron.; as
O. T. 671
τὸ γὰρ σόν, οὐ τὸ τοῦδ’, ἐποικτίρω στόμα | ἐλεινόν (n.):
El. 1143
τῆς ἐμῆς πάλαι τροφῆς | ἀνωφελήτου.
Cp. 791
.
mvp-comment-525-1 ἆρ’ ἴστε 1455 λέγειν 1456 ἀοιδὰς καὶ γόους 1457 ἴστε 1458
mvp-comment-525-2 οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς 1459
mvp-comment-526-1 οὐκ ἄξεθ’ 1460 τάχιστα.—κατηρεφεῖ 1461
mvp-comment-527-1 περιπτύξαντες 1462
mvp-comment-528-1 χρῇ 1463 ζῶσα 1464 χρῇ 1465
mvp-comment-528-2
σιγῆν; but the MSS. are supported by the testimony of Suidas and Hesychius to
χρῇς as=
χρῄζεις. In the other four places where these forms are usu. read, they are not indispensable,
χρή being possible; but in two, at least, they are much better than
χρή, viz.
El. 606
κήρυσσέ μ’ εἰς ἅπαντας, εἴτε χρῇς κακήν, | εἴτε στόμαργον, κ.τ.λ.: and
Ai. 1373
σοὶ δὲ δρᾶν ἔξεσθ’ ἃ χρῇς. In the other two,
χρή might well stand: Eur. fr. 910
πρὸς ταῦθ’ ὅ τι χρῇ καὶ παλαμάσθω | καὶ πᾶν ἐπ’ ἐμοὶ τεκταινέσθω: Cratinus
Νόμοι fr. 2
νῦν γὰρ δή σοι πάρα μὲν θεσμοὶ | τῶν ἡμετέρων, πάρα δ’ ἄλλ’ ὅ τι χρῇς. Except in
Ach. 778
, the MSS. everywhere give
χρή: and the variants in the next v. (see cr. n.) show that
χρῇ was strange to the copyists, though known to the Scholiast.
mvp-comment-529-1 ζῶσα τυμβεύειν 1466 νυμφεύειν 1467
mvp-comment-529-2 στέγῃ 1468
mvp-comment-530-1 ἁγνοί 1469
mvp-comment-530-2 τοὐπὶ τήνδε 1470
mvp-comment-531-1 μετοικίας 1471
mvp-comment-531-2 δ’ οὖν 1472
mvp-comment-531-3 στερήσεται 1473
mvp-comment-532-1 ὦ τύμβος 1474
mvp-comment-532-2 νυμφεῖον 1475
mvp-comment-532-3 κατασκαφής 1476
mvp-comment-533-1 ἀριθμὸν … πλεϊστον 1477
mvp-comment-533-2 ἐν νεκροῖς 1478 δέδεκται 1479
mvp-comment-533-3
πύλαι to Hades (
O. C. 1569
f.). So Oedipus is led by
Ἑρμῆς ὁ πομπὸς ἥ τε νερτέρα θεός (
ib. 1548
). As
ἡ ἀφανὴς θεός she is associated with Hades (
ib. 1556
).
mvp-comment-533-4 Φερσέφασσα 1480 Φ 1481
mvp-comment-534-1 κάκιστα 1482 δή 1483
mvp-comment-534-2 μοῖραν … βίου 1484 ἐξήκειν 1485
mvp-comment-535-1 ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφω 1486 φίλη μὲν … προσφιλὴς δέ 1487
mvp-comment-536-1 κασίγνητον κάρα 1488 νῦν δέ 1489
mvp-comment-537-1 ὑμᾶς 1490
mvp-comment-537-2 ἔλουσα κἀκόσμησα 1491
mvp-comment-537-3 χοάς 1492
mvp-comment-537-4 περιστέλλουσα 1493
mvp-comment-537-5 δέμας 1494
mvp-comment-538-1
Few problems of Greek Tragedy have been more discussed than the question whether these vv., or some of them, are spurious. Arist. (
Arist.
Rhet. 3. 16
§ 9) quotes
vv. 911, 912
, and certainly had the whole passage in his text of The Soph. interpolation, then, if such it be, must have been made soon after the poet's death; and has been imputed to his son Iophon (
ὁ ψυχρός), or some other sorry poet; or to the actors. I confess that, after long thought, I cannot bring myself to believe that Soph. wrote 905—912: with which 904 and 913—920 are in organic unity, and must now stand or fall. Some remarks will be found in the Appendix.
mvp-comment-538-2 The main points (to my mind) are briefly these. (1) The general validity of the divine law, as asserted in 450— 460, cannot be intelligibly reconciled with the limitation in vv. 905—907. (2) A still further limitation is involved in 911 f. She has buried her brother, not simply as such, but because, while he lived, he was an irreplaceable relative. Could she have hoped for the birth of another brother, she would not, then, have felt the duty to be so binding. (3) The composition of vv. 909—912 is unworthy of Sophocles.
mvp-comment-538-3 ’τίμησα 1495 εὖ 1496 τοῖς φρονοῦσιν 1497
mvp-comment-539-1 ἐτήκετο 1498
mvp-comment-540-1 βίᾳ πολιτῶν 1499
mvp-comment-541-1 πρὸς χάριν 1500
mvp-comment-542-1
Cp.
Her. 3.119
, which clearly supplied, not merely the thought, but the form, of these verses:—
ἀνὴρ μέν μοι ἂν ἄλλος γένοιτο, εἰ δαίμων ἐθέλοι, καὶ τέκνα ἄλλα, εἰ ταῦτα ἀποβάλοιμι· πατρὸς δὲ καὶ μητρὸς οὐκέτι μοι ζωόντων, ἀδελφεὸς ἂν ἄλλος οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ γένοιτο
(3.119.6)
.
Arist.
Rhet. 3.16
§ 9 (if you introduce a trait of character which will seem improbable, the reason ofit should be added):
ἂν δ’ ἄπιστον ᾖ, τότε τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιλέγειν, ὥσπερ Σοφοκλῆς ποιεῖ παράδειγμα τὸ ἐκ τῆς Ἀντιγόνης, ὅτι μᾶλλον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἐκήδετο ἢ ἀνδρὸς ἢ τέκνων· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἂν γενέσθαι ἀπολόμενα [this=vv. 909, 910]:
μητρὸς δ’ ἐν ᾅδου κ.τ.λ. (he then quotes 911 f., with
βεβηκότων,—a mere slip of memory:
see on 223
).
mvp-comment-542-2 Three points in these vv. are strange. (1) The gen. abs. κατθανόντος 1501 πόσις 1502 ἀπ’ ἄλλου φωτός 1503
mvp-comment-543-1 ἐκπροτιμήσασ’ 1504
mvp-comment-544-1 διὰ χερῶν … λαβών 1505
mvp-comment-545-1 ἀνυμέναιον 1506
mvp-comment-546-1 ἀλλ’ 1507
mvp-comment-546-2 πρὸς φίλων 1508 ἔρημος 1509
mvp-comment-547-1 δαιμόνων δίκην 1510
mvp-comment-548-1 If the gods allow her to suffer for obeying them, is it not vain for her to invoke them?
mvp-comment-548-2 βλέπειν 1511
mvp-comment-548-3 τίνα … ξυμμάχων 1512
mvp-comment-548-4 ἐπεί γε δή 1513
mvp-comment-548-5 τὴν δυσσέβειαν 1514
mvp-comment-549-1 The gods are allowing her to perish. But it does not follow that they approve of her doom: for they are sometimes slow in punishing wrong ( O. C. 1536 ). Hence the dilemma, introduced
mvp-comment-549-2 by ἀλλ’ οὖν 1515
mvp-comment-549-3 ἐν θεοῖς 1516
mvp-comment-549-4 ξυγγνοῖμεν 1517
mvp-comment-549-5 ἡμαρτηκότες 1518 παθόντες 1519
mvp-comment-550-1 οἵδε 1520
mvp-comment-550-2 μὴ πλείω 1521 μείω 1522
mvp-comment-551-1 ἀνέμων‐ῥιπαὶ ψυχῆς 1523
mvp-comment-552-1 τούτων 1524
mvp-comment-552-2 κλαύμαθ’ 1525
mvp-comment-552-3 ὕπερ 1526
mvp-comment-553-1 This threat (to the guards) ‘has come very near to death,’ i.e., ‘portends imminent death for me.’ The phrase is not fig., ‘is bitter as death to hear’ (being a prelude to death).
mvp-comment-554-1 Said by Creon, clearly—not by the Chorus. ‘I can give thee no encouragement ( οὐδέν 1527
mvp-comment-554-2 the doom is not to be ratified on this wise’ (i.e., by death). μὴ οὐ 1528
mvp-comment-554-3 κατακυροῦσθαι 1529
mvp-comment-554-4 ταύτῃ 1530 τάδε 1531
mvp-comment-555-1 θεοὶ προγενεῖς 1532
mvp-comment-556-1 δή 1533
mvp-comment-556-2 κοὐκέτι μέλλω 1534
mvp-comment-557-1 οἱ κοιρανίδαι 1535
mvp-comment-558-1 βασιλειδᾶν 1536 βασιλίδα 1537
mvp-comment-558-2 μούνην 1538
mvp-comment-559-1 εὐσεβίαν 1539 ια 1540 εια 1541
mvp-comment-559-2
εὐγενίας. The motive was metrical convenience. Such forms are not Ionic, as Triclinius called them (cr. n.): thus Herod. used
ἀληθείη, not
ἀληθίη: though there are other cases in which Ionic substitutes
ε for
ει (as
βαθέα, ἐπιτήδεος, etc.).—
σεβίσασα
1542
mvp-comment-561-1
Acrisius, the father of Danaë, was king of Argos. The oracle at Delphi told him that he was to be slain by his daughter's son. He therefore immured the maiden in a chamber built for that purpose within the precincts of his house at Argos. Here Zeus visited her in the golden rain; she bore Perseus; and Acrisius sent mother and child adrift on the Aegean in a chest; but Zeus heard her prayer, and brought them safely to the island of Seriphus. Both Soph. and Eur. wrote a
Δανάη: Soph. wrote also an
Ἀκρίσιος.
mvp-comment-561-2 καὶ Δανάας δέμας ἔτλα ἀλλάξαι οὐράνιον φῶς 1543 ἔτλα καί 1544
mvp-comment-561-3 δέμας 1545
mvp-comment-561-4 χαλκοδέτοις αὐλαῖς 1546
mvp-comment-562-1 τυμβήρει 1547
mvp-comment-562-2 κατεζεύχθη 1548
mvp-comment-563-1 τίμιος 1549
mvp-comment-564-1 ταμιεύεσκε 1550
mvp-comment-564-2 χρυσορύτους 1551
mvp-comment-565-1 ἁ μοιριδία τις 1552 τις 1553
mvp-comment-566-1 οὔτ’ … ὄλβος 1554
mvp-comment-566-2
θνατοῖσι δ’ οὐκ αὐθαίρετοι | οὔτ’ ὄλβος οὔτ’ ἄκαμπτος Ἄρης οὔτε παμφθέρσης στάσις, | ἀλλ’ ἐπιχρίμπτει νέφος ἄλλοτ’ ἐπ’ ἄλλαν | γαῖαν ἁ πάνδωρος αἶσα.
mvp-comment-566-3 πύργος 1555
mvp-comment-566-4 οὔτ’ … οὔτ’ 1556 οὐ … οὐχ 1557
mvp-comment-567-1 ζεύχθη 1558
mvp-comment-567-2 ὀξύχολος 1559
mvp-comment-567-3
The
Ἠδωνοί, or
Ἠδῶνες (
Thuc. 2.99
), occupied in historical times the part of Thrace E. of the Strymon and W. of the Nestus. In earlier times they had dwelt further west, but had been driven eastward by the Macedonian conquest of Mygdonia.
mvp-comment-567-4
Dionysus, when he came from Asia with his new rites, was opposed by Lycurgus in Thrace, as by Pentheus at Thebes. The
Λυκούργεια of Aeschylus is known from the schol. on
Ar.
Th. 135.
This trilogy consisted of
Ἠδωνοί, Βασσαρίδες, Νεανίσκοι, with
Λυκοῦργος as satyric drama. In
Il. 6.130
ff. Dionysus, pursued by Lycurgus, dives beneath the sea; Thetis receives him; and Zeus blinds Lycurgus.
mvp-comment-568-1 κερτομίοις ὀργαῖς 1560 ὀργαῖς 1561 κερτομίοις 1562
mvp-comment-569-1 ἐκ Διονύσου 1563
mvp-comment-569-2 πετρώδει … δεσμῷ 1564
mvp-comment-569-3 κατάφαρκτος 1565
mvp-comment-570-1 οὕτω 1566
mvp-comment-570-2 ἀνθηρόν 1567
mvp-comment-570-3 ἀποστάζει 1568
mvp-comment-571-1 ἐπέγνω τὸν θεόν, μανίαις ψαύων 1569
mvp-comment-571-2 μανίαις 1570
mvp-comment-571-3 ψαύων 1571
mvp-comment-571-4 ἐν 1572
mvp-comment-571-5 γλώσσαις 1573
mvp-comment-572-1 παύεσκε 1574
mvp-comment-572-2 ἐνθέους γυναῖκας 1575
mvp-comment-572-3 εὔιον … πῦρ 1576
mvp-comment-573-1 Μούσας 1577
mvp-comment-573-2
save the nymph by changing her into a vine; and behind him stand his followers. At the extreme left are three Muses—Urania, with globe; Clio, with roll; Euterpè, prob. with flutes. (Zoega seems clearly right in thus explaining the three women: others have made them Moirae.)—The close relation of Dionysus with the Muses is marked by one of his Attic titles,
Μελπόμενος (
Paus. 1.2.5
), as conversely Apollo had the title
Διονυσόδοτος (id. 1. 31.4). Muses were sometimes said to have nursed him. (Cp. Welcker,
Götterl. 2. 611.)
mvp-comment-573-3 The monuments relating to the myth of Lycurgus have been critically treated by Michaelis ( Annal. Inst. 1872, pp. 248— 270). The Italian vase-paintings follow a version different from that of Soph. , viz. that the frenzy of Lycurgus was wreaked on his own son and wife. A large Neapolitan vase gives two pictures: in one, we see his murderous rage; in the other, Dionysus sits on his throne in calm majesty, stroking his panther.
mvp-comment-574-1
Cleopatra is the third example. Her father was the wind-god, Boreas: her mother, the Athenian Oreithyia, whom he carried off to his wild home in Thrace. Cleopatra married Phineus, king of the Thracian Salmydessus, on the W. coast of the Euxine, not far from the entrance to the Bosporus. She bore him two sons. He afterwards put her away, and imprisoned her. Her imprisonment is not directly mentioned here: but cp.
Diod. 4. 44
, who says of Heracles, when serving with the Argonauts,
τὴν Κλεοπάτραν ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς προαγαγεῖν. Phineus then married Eidothea, sister of Cadmus. Eidothea put out the eyes of Cleopatra's two sons, and caused them also to be imprisoned.
mvp-comment-574-2 It is the fate of Cleopatra herself which Soph. means to compare with Antigone's: this is plain from 986. The fate of the sons is made so prominent only because nothing else could give us so strong a sense of the savage hatred which pursued the mother.
mvp-comment-574-3 Soph. supposes the outline of the story to be familiar. Cleopatra has already been divorced and imprisoned. The poet chooses the moment at which Cleopatra's sons are being blinded by Eidothea, with the sharp shuttle in her blood-stained hands. Ares, the god of cruel bloodshed, beholds with joy a deed so worthy of his Thracian realm.
mvp-comment-574-4
The name of Cleopatra (like that of Capaneus, 133) is not mentioned. Two strophes are given to this theme, partly, perh., as having an Attic interest (982). Soph. wrote two plays called
Φινεύς. We know only that Cleopatra's sons were there called
Ὄαρθος (?
Παρθένιος H. Weil) and
Κράμβος: and that the subsequent blindness of Phineus was represented as a punishment of his cruelty (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2. 178). Eidothea was mentioned by Soph. in his
Τυμπανισταί (schol. on 980),—a play which perh. concerned the Dionysiac worship, since the
τύμπανον (kettle-drum) was used in his
ὄργια as well as in those of Cybelè. Another version called her Idaea, daughter of Dardanus.
mvp-comment-574-5 παρὰ δὲ Κυανεᾶν πελάγει δ. ἁλός 1578 πετρῶν 1579
mvp-comment-574-6
of
πελαγέων into
σπιλάδων is also erroneous.
mvp-comment-574-7 L's accent, πελάγεων 1580 πελάγει 1581 παρά 1582 πελάγει 1583 Κυανεᾶν 1584
mvp-comment-575-1 ἀκταὶ Βοσπόριαι 1585 Θρῃκῶν 1586 ἄξενος 1587 κλῄζεται 1588 ἠδ’ 1589
mvp-comment-576-1 ἀγχίπολις Ἄρης 1590 ἀγχίπτολις 1591 Ἄρης 1592 ἀρχαιογόνων 1593
mvp-comment-577-1 Φινεΐδαις 1594
mvp-comment-577-2 ἀρατόν 1595
mvp-comment-577-3 ἕλκος τυφλωθέν 1596
mvp-comment-577-4 ἐξ 1597
mvp-comment-578-1 ἀλαὸν … κύκλοις 1598
mvp-comment-578-2 ἀλαστόροισιν 1599
mvp-comment-579-1 ἀραχθέντων 1600
mvp-comment-579-2 ὑπό 1601
mvp-comment-580-1 κερκίδων 1602
mvp-comment-580-2
at the loom, will I send the shuttle flying across the warp’).—Cp.
Eur.
Hec. 1170
, where the women blind Polymestor with their brooches (
πόρπαι = περόναι); and
O. T. 1269
n.
mvp-comment-581-1 κατά 1603
mvp-comment-581-2 μέλεοι μελέαν 1604
mvp-comment-582-1 ματρὸς ἔχοντες ἀν. γονάν 1605 γονάν 1606 ματρός 1607 ἀνύμφ. 1608 ματρός 1609 πάθαν 1610 ματρὸς … γονάν 1611
mvp-comment-583-1 σπέρμα 1612
mvp-comment-583-2 ἀρχαιογ. 1613
mvp-comment-583-3 ἄντασ’ Ἐρ. 1614
mvp-comment-584-1 τηλεπόροις 1615
mvp-comment-585-1 ἅμιππος 1616
mvp-comment-585-2 ὀρθόποδος 1617
mvp-comment-586-1 κἀπ’ ἐκείνᾳ … ἔσχον 1618 μακραίωνες 1619
mvp-comment-588-1 ἄνακτες 1620
mvp-comment-589-1 αὕτη κ. 1621 πέλει 1622
mvp-comment-590-1 τί δ’ ἔστιν 1623
mvp-comment-591-1 οὔκουν … γε 1624
mvp-comment-591-2 δῑ ὀρθῆς 1625
mvp-comment-591-3 ἐναυκλήρεις 1626
mvp-comment-592-1 πεπονθὼς ὀνήσιμα, ἔχω μαρτυρεῖν 1627
mvp-comment-593-1 φρόνει βεβώς 1628
mvp-comment-593-2 τύχης 1629
mvp-comment-594-1 ὡς 1630
mvp-comment-595-1 θᾶκον 1631
mvp-comment-595-2 λιμήν 1632
mvp-comment-596-1 κακῷ 1633
mvp-comment-596-2 οἴστρῳ 1634
mvp-comment-596-3 κλάζοντας 1635
mvp-comment-596-4 βεβαρβαρωμένῳ 1636
mvp-comment-597-1 ἐν χηλαῖσιν 1637 φοναῖς 1638
mvp-comment-598-1
The feuds and friendships of birds (
ἔχθραι τε καὶ στέργηθρα
Aesch.
PV 492
) were among the signs noted by augurs. In this case there was a vague omen of bloodshed (
φοναῖς), but no clear sign. The seer now sought further light by another mode of divination.
mvp-comment-598-2 ἐμπύρων 1639
mvp-comment-598-3 ἐγευόμην 1640
mvp-comment-599-1 παμφλέκτοισι 1641 θυμάτων 1642
mvp-comment-600-1 Ἥφαιστος 1643
mvp-comment-600-2
a bad sign, if the fire was smothered in smoke, or played feebly around the flesh without consuming it. See
Eur.
Phoen. 1255
μάντεις δὲ μῆλ’ ἔσφαζον, ἐμπύρους τ’ ἀκμὰς | ῥήξεις τ’ ἐνώμων, ὑγρότητ’ ἐναντίαν, | ἄκραν τε λαμπάδ’, ἣ δυοῖν ὅρους ἔχει, | vίκης τε σῆμα καὶ τὸ τῶν ἡσσωμένων: the seers ‘were watching for
points of flame, or for
breaks in it,—such flickering as portends evil’; i.e., they were watching to see whether it would blaze up or die down. The
ἄκρα λαμπάς is prob. the highest point of the fire, which, if towards the right side, meant victory; if towards the left, defeat. So Statius,
Theb. 10. 599
, where Teiresias offers
ἔμπυρα, and his daughter reports the signs to him (as the
παῖς does here):
Sanguineos flammarum apices (=
ἐμπύρους ἀκμάς)
geminumque per aras | Ignem, et clara tamen mediae fastigia lucis (=
ἄκραν λαμπάδα) |
Orta docet: tunc in speciem serpentis inanem | Ancipiti gyro volvi (‘as if creeping on its way without an aim, the fire played timidly around the offering’). In
Seneca
Oed. 307
Teiresias asks,
Quid flamma? Larga iamne comprendit dapes? | Utrumne clarus ignis et nitidus stetit, | Rectusque purum verticem caelo tulit, | An latera circum serpit incertus viae, | Et fluctuante turbidus fumo labat?
mvp-comment-601-1
The fat wrapped about the thigh-bones ought to have caught fire, when the flesh on the bones would have been burned, and the bones themselves calcined. But here there was no flame; the kindled fuel lay in smouldering embers (
σποδός). The heat caused a fatty moisture to exude from the covering of the thigh-bones. Trickling forth on the embers, this moisture emitted smoke, and sputtered as it threw particles of the fat upwards. The gall-bladder, too, which lay on the top of the thighbones, instead of catching fire, was gradually inflated by the heat, till it burst, scattering the gall into the air. And now the melting of the fat which covered the thigh-bones had gone so far that it was no longer a covering, but merely a liquid that was streaming off them, while they themselves were left naked and intact. So utterly had the gods refused the offering.
mvp-comment-601-2 μυδῶσα 1644
mvp-comment-601-3 κηκὶς μηρίων 1645
mvp-comment-601-4 ἐτήκετο 1646 ἐπὶ σποδῷ 1647
mvp-comment-601-5 ἀνέπτυε 1648
mvp-comment-602-1 χολαί 1649
mvp-comment-602-2 καταρρυεῖς 1650
mvp-comment-603-1 μηροί … μηρίων 1651
mvp-comment-603-2 καλυπτῆς 1652
mvp-comment-603-3 πιμελῆς 1653 ἐξέκειντο 1654
mvp-comment-604-1 τοιαῦτα 1655
mvp-comment-604-2 ὀργίων μαντεύματα 1656 φθίνοντα 1657
mvp-comment-604-3 ἀσήμων 1658
mvp-comment-605-1 ἡγεμών 1659
mvp-comment-606-1 ἐκ 1660
mvp-comment-606-2 φρενός 1661
mvp-comment-606-3 νοσεῖ 1662
mvp-comment-607-1 βωμοί 1663
mvp-comment-607-2 ἐσχάραι 1664
mvp-comment-607-3 παντελεῖς 1665
mvp-comment-608-1 πλήρεις 1666 ὑπ’ οἰων. κ. κυνῶν 1667 βορᾶς τοῦ...Οἰδ. γόνου 1668 γόνου 1669 δυσμόρου 1670 πεπτῶτος 1671 τοῦ … γόνου 1672 βορᾶς 1673 τοῦ … γόνου 1674
mvp-comment-609-1 κᾆτ’ 1675
mvp-comment-609-2 θυστάδας 1676
mvp-comment-610-1 ὅρνι^ς 1677
mvp-comment-610-2 εὐσήμους 1678
mvp-comment-610-3 βεβρῶτες 1679
mvp-comment-610-4 ἀνδροφθόρου 1680
mvp-comment-611-1 ἐπεί 1681
mvp-comment-611-2 ἄνολβος 1682
mvp-comment-612-1 ἀκεῖται 1683
mvp-comment-612-2 ἀκίνητος 1684
mvp-comment-613-1 αὐθαδία 1685 ὀφλισκάνει 1686
mvp-comment-614-1 εἶκε τῷ θανόντι 1687
mvp-comment-614-2 κέντει 1688
mvp-comment-615-1 ἐπικτανεῖν 1689
mvp-comment-616-1 εὖ φρονήσας 1690
mvp-comment-616-2 μανθάνειν δ 1691
mvp-comment-616-3 εἰ … λέγοι 1692 ἥδιστον 1693
mvp-comment-617-1 ὥστε 1694 σκοποῦ 1695
mvp-comment-618-1 κοὐδὲ μαντικῆς 1696 ἄπρακτος 1697 μαντικῆς 1698 α 1699 μαντικῇ 1700 ἄπρατος 1701
mvp-comment-618-2 τῶν δ’ ὑπαὶ γένους 1702 τῶν 1703
mvp-comment-618-3 refer to ὑμῖν 1704 μαντικῆς 1705 μαντικοῖς 1706
mvp-comment-618-4 ὑπαί 1707
mvp-comment-618-5 γένους 1708
mvp-comment-619-1 ἐξημπόλημαι 1709 ἐμπεφόρτισμαι 1710 ἐκπεφόρτισμαι 1711
mvp-comment-620-1 τἀπὸ Σάρδεων ἤλεκτρον 1712
mvp-comment-620-2 τἀπὸ 1713
mvp-comment-620-3 Ἰνδικὸν χρυσόν 1714
mvp-comment-621-1 οἱ Ζηνὸς αἰετοί 1715
mvp-comment-622-1 οὐδ’ ὥς 1716
mvp-comment-623-1 θεοὺς μιαίνειν 1717
mvp-comment-623-2
This view seems to do some injustice to the poet's dramatic psychology. I read the words quite differently. The most orthodox Greek piety held that ‘no mortal could pollute the gods.’ See, for example,
H. F. 1232. Heracles, having recovered sanity after slaying his children, has covered his face, to hide it from the holy light of the sun. Theseus —who is a type of normal
εὐσέβεια— makes him uncover, saying,—
τί δ’; οὐ μιαίνεις θνητὸς ὢν τὰ τῶν θεῶν. The sungod cannot be polluted by a mortal. The idea of religious
μίασμα was that a mortal had contracted some impurity which disqualified him for communion with the gods. The tainting of an altar cut off such communion by bringing uncleanness to the very place where men sought to be cleansed. Creon excitedly imagines a seemingly worse profanation, and then excuses his apparent impiety by a general maxim which all would admit:—‘no man can pollute the gods.’
mvp-comment-623-3 ‘The sky-throne of Zeus is still more sacred than his altar on earth: if defilement cannot reach him there, much less here.’ The sophism is of the kind with which an honest but stubborn and wrongheaded man might seek to quiet his conscience. Creon reveres Zeus (304): he feels for the majesty of the gods, and refuses to believe that they can honour the wicked (284 ff.). But his religious sense is temporarily confused by his anger.
mvp-comment-624-1 πολλά 1718
mvp-comment-625-1 καλῶς 1719
mvp-comment-626-1 ἆρ’ οἶδεν 1720
mvp-comment-627-1 τί χρῆμα 1721
mvp-comment-627-2 πάγκοινον 1722
mvp-comment-628-1 κτημάτων 1723
mvp-comment-628-2 ὅσῳπερ 1724 μὴ φρονεῖν 1725
mvp-comment-629-1 νόσου 1726 πλήρης 1727
mvp-comment-630-1
In
ἀντειπεῖν κακῶς, ἀντί qualifies the whole phrase: i.e., it means, ‘to revile in return,’
ἀντιλοιδορεῖν, as
ἀντιδρᾶν κακῶς (
O. C. 1191
)=
ἀνταδικεῖν.
mvp-comment-631-1 καὶ μήν 1728 λέγεις 1729
mvp-comment-632-1 γένος 1730
mvp-comment-633-1 τὸ δ’ ἐκ τυράννων 1731 ἐκ 1732
mvp-comment-633-2 αἰσχροκέρδειαν 1733
mvp-comment-634-1 ἆρ’ οἶσθα 1734 ἃ ἂν λέγῃς 1735 ταγούς 1736
mvp-comment-635-1 ἐξ ἐμοῦ 1737
mvp-comment-635-2 ἔχεις σώσας 1738
mvp-comment-636-1 τἀκίνητα διὰ φρενῶν 1739
mvp-comment-637-1 κίνει 1740
mvp-comment-637-2 μόνον δέ 1741
mvp-comment-637-3 ἐπὶ κέρδεσιν 1742
mvp-comment-638-1 οὕτω γὰρ ἤδη 1743 τὸ σὸν μέρος 1744 καί 1745
mvp-comment-639-1 ἴσθι ὡς μὴ ἐμπ. 1746 ὡς 1747
mvp-comment-639-2 φρένα 1748
mvp-comment-640-1 ἀλλ’ εὺ= γέ τοι 1749
mvp-comment-640-2 μη … τελῶν 1750 ἥλιον τελεῖν 1751 κάτισθι 1752 τελῶν 1753
mvp-comment-640-3 τρόχους 1754 τροχους 1755
mvp-comment-640-4 ἁμιλλητῆρας 1756
mvp-comment-641-1 ἐν οἷσι 1757
mvp-comment-641-2 τῶν σῶν … ἐκ σπλάγχνων ἕνα 1758
mvp-comment-642-1 νέκυν νεκρῶν 1759 ἀντιδοὺς ἔσει 1760
mvp-comment-643-1 ἀνθ’ ὧν 1761
mvp-comment-643-2 ἔχεις βαλὼν κάτω τῶν ἄνω 1762
mvp-comment-644-1 Bothe, omitting τε 1763 ψυχήν 1764 τῶν ἄνω 1765 τῶν ἄνω 1766 τῶν ἄνω … ψυχήν 1767 ψυχήν τ’ … κατῴκισας 1768 ἀνθ’ ὧν 1769 τῶν ἄνω 1770
mvp-comment-644-2 ἀτίμως 1771
mvp-comment-645-1 ἔχεις δέ 1772 τῶν κάτωθεν θεῶν 1773 νέκυν 1774
mvp-comment-645-2 ἄμοιρον 1775
mvp-comment-645-3
κ. θεῶν with
ἄμοιρον: ‘without a portion in the gods below,’ i.e., not admitted to communion with them. But the phrase is a strange one; and the leading thought here is that the
νέρτεροι are robbed of one who belongs to them.
mvp-comment-645-4 ἀκτέριστον 1776
mvp-comment-645-5 ἀνόσιον 1777
mvp-comment-646-1 ὧν 1778
mvp-comment-646-2 βιάζονται 1779
mvp-comment-647-1 τούτων 1780
mvp-comment-647-2 λωβητῆρες 1781
mvp-comment-647-3 ὑστεροφθόροι 1782
mvp-comment-648-1 λοχῶσιν 1783
mvp-comment-648-2 Ἅιδου καὶ θεῶν 1784
mvp-comment-648-3 ληφθῆναι 1785
mvp-comment-649-1 κατηργ. 1786 οὐ μακρ. χρόν. τριβή 1787 φανεῖ 1788
mvp-comment-650-1 The πόλεις 1789 συνταράσσονται 1790
mvp-comment-650-2
It has been objected that the play contains no hint of burial having been denied to any one except Polyneices. This is not exactly the case: the phrase
τῶν ἐχθρῶν κακά in v. 10 is such a hint. But it was unnecessary for the poet to state a fact which all his hearers would assume. Every one knew how Creon had refused burial to the Argives, and how Theseus had recovered their corpses by force of arms. In the
Supplices of Eur. the Chorus consists of widows and mothers of the unburied warriors. No Athenian exploit was more famous (
Her. 9.27
;
Isocr.
Paneg. § 52
,
Encom. Helen. § 31,
Panath. § 168;
Plat.
Menex. 244
;
[Lys. ] or. 2 §§ 4 ff.
:
[Dem. ] or. 60 §§ 7 ff.
). The war of the Epigoni, which was included in the epic
Thebais (
Paus. 9. 9
§ 5), was dramatised both by Aesch. and by Soph. (
Ἐπίγονοι).
mvp-comment-650-3 Just as, in the O. C. (1410 n.), Soph. glances at the theme of his Antigone, so here he might naturally glance—however indirectly—at a later chapter of the Theban story,—whether his Epigoni already existed, or was still in the future. Dramatically, the reference is the more fitting, since the legend represented Teiresias as still living, and still zealous for Theban welfare, when the Epigoni came.—For other views of the passage, see Appendix.
mvp-comment-651-1 ὅσων 1791 ὅσων 1792
mvp-comment-651-2 L's καθήγνισαν 1793 καθήγισαν 1794 καθήγνισαν 1795 καθήγισαν 1796
mvp-comment-651-3
of
καθήγισαν here. The Schol. read the latter (
μετὰ ἄγους ἐκόμισαν). But the fact that L has
καθήγνισαν must be set against these doubtful testimonies.—For the irony, cp.
El. 1487
πρόθες | ταφεῦσιν, ὧν τόνδ’ εἰκός ἐστι τυγχάνειν (as Gorgias called vultures
ἔμψυχοι τάφοι,
λονγιν. π. ὕψους 3 § 2):
Aesch.
Th. 1020
ὑπ’ οἰωνῶν ... | ταφέντ’ ἀτίμως: Ennius
Ann. 142
volturu' crudeli condebat membra sepulcro:
Lucr. 5. 993
viva videns vivo sepeliri viscera busto.
mvp-comment-652-1 ἑστιοῦχον … πόλιν 1797
mvp-comment-653-1 σου 1798 ἀφῆκα 1799
mvp-comment-653-2 θυμῷ 1800 καρδίας τοξεύματα 1801
mvp-comment-654-1 ὦ παῖ 1802
mvp-comment-655-1 τρέφειν 1803
mvp-comment-655-2 ἡσυχωτέραν 1804 ω 1805 αι 1806 αι 1807 ω 1808 ω 1809 αι 1810 αι 1811
mvp-comment-656-1 τὸν νοῦν … τῶν φρενῶν ἀμείνω 1812
mvp-comment-656-2 φέρει 1813 τῶν φρενῶν 1814 ἀμείνω 1815 ἢ 1816 ὧν 1817
mvp-comment-657-1 ἐξ ὅτου 1818
mvp-comment-657-2 λευκὴν … ἐκ μελαίνης 1819
mvp-comment-657-3 ἀμφιβάλλομαι 1820
mvp-comment-658-1 μὴ 1821
mvp-comment-658-2 λακεῖν 1822
mvp-comment-659-1 ἔγνωκα 1823
mvp-comment-660-1 For τε … δέ 1824 δέ 1825 τ 1826 τε … τε 1827 τε … δέ 1828 δέ 1829
mvp-comment-661-1 ἄτῃ πατάξαι 1830 θυμὸν 1831 ἀντιστάντα 1832
mvp-comment-661-2 ἐν δεινῷ πάρα 1833 πάρα 1834 ἓν δεινοῦ πέρα 1835
mvp-comment-662-1 The question between L's λαβεῖν 1836 Κρέον 1837
mvp-comment-663-1 κατώρυχος 1838
mvp-comment-664-1 I read the impers. δοκεῖ 1839 δοκεῖς 1840 δοκεῖς 1841
mvp-comment-664-2 παρεικαθεῖν 1842
mvp-comment-665-1 συντέμνουσι … τοὺς κ. 1843
mvp-comment-665-2 ποδώκεις 1844
mvp-comment-665-3 βλάβαι 1845
mvp-comment-665-4 κακόφρονας 1846
mvp-comment-666-1 μόλις μέν 1847
mvp-comment-666-2 ἐξίσταμαι καρδίας 1848
mvp-comment-666-3 τὸ δρᾶν 1849
mvp-comment-666-4 δυσμαχητέον 1850
mvp-comment-667-1 ἐπ’ ἄλλ’. τρέπε 1851
mvp-comment-668-1 ὡς ἔχω 1852
mvp-comment-668-2 στείχοιμ’ ἄν 1853
mvp-comment-668-3 ἴτ’ ἴτ’ 1854 εἶ’ 1855
mvp-comment-669-1 οἵ τ’ ὄντες οἵ τ’ ἀπόντες 1856
mvp-comment-669-2 ἀξίνας 1857
mvp-comment-670-1 ἐπόψιον 1858
mvp-comment-671-1 ἐγὼ δ’ 1859 ἐπιστράφη 1860 τῇδ’ 1861
mvp-comment-672-1 αὐτός τ’ ἔδησα 1862
mvp-comment-673-1 δέδοικα μὴ … ᾖ 1863 τοὺς καθεστ. νόμους 1864
mvp-comment-673-2 σῴζοντα … τὸν βίον τελεῖν 1865
mvp-comment-675-1 πολυώνυμε 1866
mvp-comment-675-2 Καδμείας 1868
mvp-comment-675-3 ἄγαλμα 1869
mvp-comment-675-4 νύμφας 1870 βαρυβρεμέτα 1871
mvp-comment-676-1 The traditional reading, Ἰταλίαν 1872
mvp-comment-676-2
The only worthy rival of
Ἰταλίαν is the conjecture
Ἰκαρίαν
1873
Ἰταλίαν
1874
mvp-comment-677-1 παγκοίνοις 1875
mvp-comment-677-2
πάγκοινον ἐς χώραν (Olympia).
mvp-comment-677-3 κόλποις 1876
mvp-comment-677-4 Ἐλευσι^νίας 1877 ι^ 1878
mvp-comment-678-1 Βακχεῦ 1879 ὦ 1880 ὁ 1881 ματρόπολιν 1882
mvp-comment-678-2 ματρόπολιν 1883
mvp-comment-679-1 L has ὑγρὸν … ῥέεθρον 1884 ὑγρῶν … ῥεέθρων 1885 ῥεῖθρον 1886 ὑγρόν 1887 παρά 1888 ῥεῖθρον 1889 ὑγρόν 1890
mvp-comment-679-2 Ἰσμηνοῦ 1891
mvp-comment-680-1 ἐπὶ σπορᾷ δρ. 1892
mvp-comment-681-1 The general sense is: ‘and on the heights of Parnassus thou holdest thy revels by night amid the Corycian Nymphs, who brandish torches.’
mvp-comment-681-2 διλόφου πέτρας 1893
mvp-comment-681-3 By ὑπὲρ διλόφου πέτρας 1894
mvp-comment-681-4 λιγνύς 1895 στέροψ 1896
mvp-comment-681-5 ὄπωπε 1897
mvp-comment-681-6 Κωρύκιαι … Νύμφαι 1898
mvp-comment-681-7 The simple transposition, στείχουσι νύμφαι 1899
mvp-comment-682-1 Κασταλίας τε νᾶμα 1900
mvp-comment-683-1 καί σε Νυσαίων 1901
mvp-comment-684-1 κισσήρεις ὄχθαι 1902
mvp-comment-684-2
for the fact was noticed in antiquity (schol. on Aratus
Phaenom. 33). Thus
Pind.
P. 1. 64
ὄχθαις ὕπο Ταϋγέτου:
Eur.
Suppl. 655
Ἰσμήνιον πρὸς ὄχθον.—The
κισσός was to Dionysus what the
δάφνη was to Apollo. The crowning with ivy (
κίσσωσις) was a regular incident of his festivals: he was called
κισσεύς, κισσοκόμης, κισσοχαίτης. Cp. Alciphron
Epist. 2. 3 § 10
μὰ τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ τοὺς Βακχικοὺς αὐτοῦ κισσούς.
F. 3. 767
hedera est gratissima Baccho.
mvp-comment-685-1 πολυστάφυλος 1903
mvp-comment-685-2 πέμπει 1904
mvp-comment-686-1 The words ἀμβρότων ἐπέων 1905
mvp-comment-686-2 εὐαζόντων 1906
mvp-comment-687-1 τὰν ἐκ πασᾶν 1907 τάν 1908 ἐκ 1909 ὑπερτάταν 1910
mvp-comment-688-1 κεραυνίᾳ 1911
mvp-comment-689-1 ἔχεται ἐπὶ βιαίας νόσου 1912 ὑπό 1913 ἔχεται 1914 βιαι^ας 1915 ἀμὰ 1916 πόλις 1917
mvp-comment-689-2 πάνδαμος 1918
mvp-comment-690-1 μολεῖν 1919
mvp-comment-690-2 καθαρσίῳ 1920
mvp-comment-690-3 κλιτύν 1921
mvp-comment-690-4 πορθμόν 1922
mvp-comment-690-5 στονόεντα 1923
mvp-comment-691-1 πνειόντων 1924 πνειόντων 1925
mvp-comment-691-2 Other conjectures are: (1) ἰὼ πύρπνων ἄστρων χοραγὲ καὶ νυχίων 1926 πῦρ πνεόντων χοραγὲ καὶ νυχίων 1927 χοραγὲ ἄστρων 1928
mvp-comment-691-3
originally preceded
χοραγέ. Neglect of elision is frequent in L: thus, to take one play only, the
O. C.
supplies these examples: 266
τἀμά· ἐπεὶ: 694
ἔστιν δὲ οἶον: 883
τάδε. ὕβρις: 915
κύρια ὦδε: 1026
θηρῶντα ἡ τύχη: 1210
ἴσθι, ἐάνπερ. The deletion of
καί
1929
νυχίων
1930
mvp-comment-691-4 χοράγ’ ἄστρων 1931
mvp-comment-691-5 νυχίων φθεγμάτων 1932
mvp-comment-692-1 παῖ Διὸς 1933
mvp-comment-693-1 ὦναξ 1934
mvp-comment-694-1 Θυίαισιν 1935
mvp-comment-694-2 χορεύουσι 1936
mvp-comment-695-1 ταμίαν 1937
mvp-comment-695-2 Ἴακχον 1938
mvp-comment-697-1 δόμων 1939 Κάδμου 1940 πάροικοι 1941 δόμων 1942
mvp-comment-698-1 οὐκ ἔστι 1943 στάντα 1944 στάντα 1945
mvp-comment-698-2 βίον 1946 ὁποίᾳ 1947
mvp-comment-699-1 μάντις … τῶν καθεστώτων 1948 ἐφεστώτων 1949
mvp-comment-700-1 ὡς ἐμοί 1950
mvp-comment-701-1 σώσας … ἐχθρῶν 1951 δέ 1952 τε 1953 λαβών τε 1954 ηὔθυνε 1955 παντελῆ 1956
mvp-comment-701-2 ηὔθυνε 1957
mvp-comment-701-3 εὐγενεῖ 1958
mvp-comment-702-1 ἀφεῖται πάντα 1959
mvp-comment-703-1 προδῶσιν 1960 προδῶσιν 1961 ἀνδρὸς 1962 προδῶσιν 1963 ἄνδρες 1964 ἀνδρός 1965 τὰς γὰρ ἡδονάς 1966
mvp-comment-703-2 οὐ τίθημι 1967
mvp-comment-704-1
For
ζῆν,
ζών has been proposed: but the Epic and Ionic
ζώς does not occur in
mvp-comment-704-2 τοῦτον 1968
mvp-comment-704-3 ἔμψ. νεκρόν 1969
mvp-comment-705-1 πλούτει … ζῆ 1970
mvp-comment-705-2 εἰ βούλει 1971 ζῆ 1972 σχῆμα 1973
mvp-comment-706-1 τὸ χαίρειν 1974
mvp-comment-706-2 καπνοῦ σκιᾶς 1975
mvp-comment-707-1 πριαίμην ἀνδρί 1976
mvp-comment-707-2 πρὸς τὴν ἡδ. 1977
mvp-comment-708-1 βασιλέων 1978 αἴτιοι θανεῖν 1979
mvp-comment-709-1 φονεύει 1980 ὁ κείμενος 1981
mvp-comment-710-1 αὐτόχειρ 1982
mvp-comment-711-1 φόνου 1983
mvp-comment-711-2 ὀρθὸν ἤνυσας 1984
mvp-comment-712-1 ὡς 1985 πάρεστι βουλ. τὰ ἄλλα 1986 βουλεύειν 1987 τὰ ἄλλα 1988
mvp-comment-712-2 ὧδ’ ἐχόντων 1989
mvp-comment-713-1 καὶ μήν 1990
mvp-comment-713-2 Εὐρυδίκην 1991
mvp-comment-714-1 κλύουσα παιδός 1992
mvp-comment-715-1 ὦ πάντες ἀστοί 1993
mvp-comment-716-1 Παλλάδος προσήγορος εὐγμάτων 1994
mvp-comment-717-1 τυγχάνω τε … καὶ … βάλλει 1995
mvp-comment-717-2 the sound ( cp. 1172 f. n.). For the temporal parataxis with τε … καί 1996
mvp-comment-717-3 κλῇθρα χαλῶσα πύλης ἀνασπαστοῦ 1997
mvp-comment-717-4 κλῇθρα 1998
mvp-comment-717-5 ἀνασπαστοῦ 1999
mvp-comment-717-6 φθόγγος 2000
mvp-comment-717-7 οἰκείου 2001
mvp-comment-718-1 δῑ ὤτων 2002
mvp-comment-718-2 πρὸς δμωαῖσι 2003
mvp-comment-718-3 ἀποπλήσσομαι 2004
mvp-comment-719-1 καὶ παρὼν ἐρῶ, κοὐδὲν παρήσω 2005 παρὠν 2006
mvp-comment-720-1 ὧν 2007
mvp-comment-720-2 ὧν 2008 ψεῦσται 2009 φανούμεθ’ 2010
mvp-comment-720-3 ὀρθόν 2011
mvp-comment-721-1 ποδαγός 2012 ἑσπόμην 2013
mvp-comment-722-1 πεδίον … ἄκρον 2014
mvp-comment-722-2 νηλεές 2015
mvp-comment-723-1 κυνοσπάρακτον 2016
mvp-comment-724-1 τὸν μέν 2017
mvp-comment-724-2 ἐνοδίαν θεόν 2018
mvp-comment-724-3 θεόν 2019
mvp-comment-724-4 εὐμενεῖς 2020
mvp-comment-724-5 κατασχεθεῖν 2021
mvp-comment-725-1 λούσαντες ἁγν. λουτρόν 2022
mvp-comment-725-2 ἐν 2023 θαλλοῖς 2024
mvp-comment-725-3 )λέλειπτο 2025
mvp-comment-725-4 συγκατῄθομεν 2026 εἰσεβαίνομεν 2027
mvp-comment-726-1 τύμβον 2028
mvp-comment-726-2 ὀρθόκρανον 2029
mvp-comment-726-3 οἰκείας 2030
mvp-comment-727-1 αὖθις 2031
mvp-comment-727-2
For
αὖθις as=‘afterwards,’ cp.
Ai. 1283
,
Tr. 270
.
mvp-comment-727-3 λιθόστρωτον 2032
mvp-comment-727-4 κόρης νυμφεῖον‐Ἅιδου 2033
mvp-comment-728-1 κωκυμάτων 2034
mvp-comment-729-1 ἀκτέριστον ἀμφὶ παστάδα 2035
mvp-comment-730-1 ἀθλίας … ἄσημα βοῆς 2036
mvp-comment-730-2 περιβαίνει 2037
mvp-comment-731-1 μᾶλλον ἆσσον 2038
mvp-comment-731-2 ἔπος 2039 δυσθρήνητον 2040
mvp-comment-731-3 ὦ τάλας 2041
mvp-comment-732-1 τῶν παρελθουσῶν 2042
mvp-comment-732-2 σαίνει 2043
mvp-comment-733-1 ὠκεῖς 2044
mvp-comment-734-1 ἁρμὸν χώματος λιθοσπ. 2045
mvp-comment-734-2 ἁρμόν 2046 δύντες 2047
mvp-comment-735-1 στόμιον 2048
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 2049
mvp-comment-736-2 κλέπτομαι 2050
mvp-comment-737-1 The simple correction, κελευσμάτων 2051
mvp-comment-737-2 With κελεύσμασιν 2052
mvp-comment-737-3 (2) The alternative is to amend ἐξ ἀθύμου 2053 ὀξυθύμου 2054
mvp-comment-737-4 Dindorf writes κελεύμασιν 2055
mvp-comment-738-1 αὐχένος 2056
mvp-comment-739-1 μιτώδει 2057
mvp-comment-740-1 Haemon has thrown his arms around her waist ( ἀμφὶ μέσσῃ περιπετῆ 2058 προσκείμενον 2059
mvp-comment-740-2 μέσσῃ 2060
mvp-comment-740-3 περιπετῆ 2061
mvp-comment-741-1 εὐνῆς … τῆς κάτω 2062
mvp-comment-741-2 πατρὸς ἔργα 2063
mvp-comment-741-3 λέχος 2064
mvp-comment-742-1 σφε 2065
mvp-comment-742-2 στυγνόν 2066
mvp-comment-743-1 οἷον ἔργον 2067 τίνα νοῦν ἔσχες 2068
mvp-comment-743-2 ἐν τῷ συμφορᾶς 2069
mvp-comment-743-3 διεφθάρης 2070
mvp-comment-744-1 ἱκέσιος 2071
mvp-comment-744-2 ὄσσοισι 2072
mvp-comment-744-3 παπτήνας 2073
mvp-comment-745-1 πτύσας προσώπῳ 2074
mvp-comment-746-1 διπλοῦς κνώδοντας ξίφους 2075 διπλοῦς κνώδοντας 2076
mvp-comment-746-2 ἐκ δ’ ὁρμ. 2077
mvp-comment-746-3 φυγαῖσιν 2078
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’ 2079 ἐπενταθείς 2080
mvp-comment-747-2 πλευραῖς 2081
mvp-comment-747-3 μέσσον 2082
mvp-comment-747-4 ἔγχος 2083
mvp-comment-747-5 ἐς δ’ ὑγρὸν ἀγκῶν’ 2084
mvp-comment-748-1 φυσιῶν 2085
mvp-comment-748-2 ῥοὴν 2086
mvp-comment-749-1 τέλη 2087
mvp-comment-749-2 ἔν γ’ Ἅιδου 2088 ἔν γ 2089 γε 2090 ἔν γε 2091
mvp-comment-750-1 δείξας … τὴν ἀβουλίαν 2092
mvp-comment-751-1 πρόσκειται 2093
mvp-comment-752-1 τί τοῦτ’ ἂν εἰκάς. 2094
mvp-comment-752-2 ἐσθλὸν ἢ κακόν 2095
mvp-comment-753-1 τεθάμβηκ’ 2096
mvp-comment-753-2 βόσκομαι 2097
mvp-comment-754-1 γόους … ἀξιώσειν 2098
mvp-comment-754-2 ὑπὸ στέγης 2099
mvp-comment-755-1 προθήσειν 2100 στένειν 2101
mvp-comment-755-2
them’ by making a lament, after which her handmaids, sitting around her, will wail in chorus.
Il. 24.746
(Andromache has bewailed Hector,)
ὡς ἔφατο κλαίουσ’· ἐπὶ δὲ στενάχοντο γυναῖκες. | τῇσιν δ’ αὖθ’ Ἑκάβη ἀδινοῦ ἐξῆρχε γόοιο.
mvp-comment-756-1 γνώμης … οὐκ ἄπειρος 2102
mvp-comment-757-1 δ’ οὖν 2103 προσεῖναι 2104
mvp-comment-758-1 εἰσόμεσθα, μή τι … καλύπτει 2105
mvp-comment-758-2 καὶ 2106 κατάσχετον … καλύπτει 2107
mvp-comment-758-3 κατάσχετον 2108
mvp-comment-759-1 δόμους παραστείχοντες 2109
mvp-comment-760-1 καὶ μήν 2110
mvp-comment-760-2 ἐφήκει 2111
mvp-comment-761-1 μνῆμ 2112 ἐπίσημον 2113
mvp-comment-761-2 διὰ χειρός 2114
mvp-comment-762-1 εἰ θέμις εἰπεῖν 2115 ἄτην 2116 ἀλλοτρίαν 2117
mvp-comment-762-2 ἁμαρτών 2118
mvp-comment-763-1
This
κομμός is composed of four strophes and four antistrophes, which correspond as follows. (1) 1st strophe 1261—1269=1st antistr. 1284—1292. (2) 2nd str. 1271—1277 =2nd ant. 1294—1300. (3) 3rd str. 1306—1311=3rd ant. 1328—1333. (4) 4th str. 1317—1325=4th ant. 1339— 1347.
mvp-comment-763-2 The lyric strophes and antistrophes are divided from each other by iambic trimeters, spoken by the Chorus or by the Messenger.—See Metrical Analysis.
mvp-comment-763-3 φρενῶν δυσφρόνων 2119
mvp-comment-763-4 στερεά 2120
mvp-comment-764-1 ὦ … βλέποντες 2121
mvp-comment-764-2 κτανόντας 2122 θανόντας 2123
mvp-comment-764-3 ἐμφυλίους 2124
mvp-comment-765-1 ἐμῶν ἄνολβα βουλευμάτων 2125 ἄνολβα 2126
mvp-comment-766-1 νέος νέῳ ξυν μόρῳ 2127 νέῳ 2128
mvp-comment-767-1 ἀπελύθης 2129
mvp-comment-768-1 ἐμαῖς οὐδὲ σαῖσι 2130
mvp-comment-769-1 ἔχω μαθὼν 2131 με 2132 μέγα βάρος ἔχων 2133 ἐν δ’ ἐμῷ κάρᾳ 2134 ἔπαισε 2135 με 2136 κάρᾳ 2137
mvp-comment-769-2 ἐν δ’ ἔσεισεν 2138
mvp-comment-769-3 ἀγρίαις ὁδοῖς 2139
mvp-comment-770-1 λακπάτητον 2140 κ 2141 ξπ 2142 κ 2143
mvp-comment-770-2 ἀντρέπων 2144
mvp-comment-771-1 φεῦ φεῦ, ὦ 2145
mvp-comment-771-2 πόνοι .. δύσπονοι 2146
mvp-comment-772-1 ὡς ἔχων τε καὶ κεκτημένος 2147 ἔχων 2148 κεκτημένος 2149
mvp-comment-773-1 πρὸ χειρῶν 2150
mvp-comment-773-2 τάδε 2151
mvp-comment-773-3 τὰ δ’ ἐν δόμοις 2152 τὰ μὲν … φέρων 2153 ἔοικας ἥκειν 2154 καὶ τάχ’ ὄψεσθαι 2155
mvp-comment-773-4 Since τὰ δ’ ἐν δόμοις 2156 ἥκειν καὶ 2157
mvp-comment-773-5
(
καὶ στᾶθι καὶ)
εἴσιδε. Others, indeed, take
καὶ τάχα
2158
mvp-comment-774-1 τί δ’ ἔστιν 2159 ἦ 2160
mvp-comment-774-2 (2) Transposing αὖ 2161 ἤ 2162 ἦ 2163
mvp-comment-774-3
(3) Canter gave,
τί δ’ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον
ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι; The change of
ἐκ to
ἢ would have been peculiarly easy before initial
κ (KAKIONEKAKON for KAKIONEKKAKON). For
ἐκ
2164
mvp-comment-774-4 reading. The comparat. κάκιον 2165
mvp-comment-775-1 παμμήτωρ 2166
mvp-comment-775-2 νεοτόμ 2167 ἄρτι 2168
mvp-comment-776-1 δυσκάθαρτος Ἅιδου λιμήν 2169 λιμήν 2170
mvp-comment-777-1 κακάγγελτα 2171
mvp-comment-777-2 προπέμψας 2172
mvp-comment-778-1 ἐπεξειργάσω 2173
mvp-comment-779-1 ὦ παῖ 2174
mvp-comment-779-2
αὖ (instead of
ὦ παῖ τίνα), has not much palaeographical probability. It gives, indeed, a closer correspondence with 1266. But the form of dochmiac which the MS. reading gives here is equally correct. (See Analysis. Met.) Seidler was certainly right in omitting
λόγον (see cr. n.): and that remedy suffices.
mvp-comment-779-3 Construe: τίνα νέον σφάγιον γυναικεῖον μόρον λέγεις ἀμφικεῖσθαί μοι ἐπ’ ὀλέθρῳ 2175
mvp-comment-779-4
But another version is possible, if
μοι is taken with
ἀμφικεῖσθαι: ‘besetting me,’
ἐπ’ ὀλέθρῳ, for (my) ruin.
Cp. 1285
τί μ’ ὀλέκεις; For
ἐπί, cp.
Thuc. 4.86
οὐκ ἐπὶ κακῷ, ἐπ’ ἐλευθερώσει δέ. The difficulty is that
ἀμφικεῖσθαι cannot well be said of
one sorrow (Eurydicè's death), and that, therefore, we have to evolve from the epithet
νέον the notion of a
circle of woes of which this
μόρος is one. Thus the image would be much more obscurely expressed than that in
Ai. 351
,
ἴδεσθέ μ’ οἷον ἄρτι κῦμα φοινίας ὑπὸ ζάλης | ἀμφίδρομον κυκλεῖται, (‘behold what a surge hath but now burst around me and hemmed me in, under stress of a deadly storm,’) where Ajax is sitting in the midst of the carnage which he has wrought. It is altogether improbable that
ἀμφικεῖσθαι alludes to Eurydicè's corpse having been brought (by the
ἐκκύκλημα) into such a position that Creon stood between it and Haemon's. See 1298, where Creon speaks of her as being
ἔναντα.
Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus
124. mvp-comment-76-1 τοῖος .. δράκοντι (1) Such din of war was spread about his rear by the reluctant snake, no easy matter to subdue. So the Scholiast, who wrote τὸ δὲ ἀντιπάλῳ δράκοντι ἀντὶ τοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀντιπάλου δράκοντος, ὡς Ἀχιλῆϊ δαμασθείς (Il. 22. 55). Or (2) δυσχείρωμα may be taken to mean the act rather than the object of victory (cp. O. Τ. 560, θανασίμῳ χειρώματι), and the sense may be, Such din of war encompassed him, issuing in a hard-won victory for the serpent matching his foe. In this case it will make little difference to read the genitive. Or, (3) if the genitive is read (Wecklein), the words may be taken in yet another way: Such din of war harassed him from behind, the hard-to-be-subdued might of the serpent, who was a match for his foe. The genitive is given as an alternative reading by the 1st hand of L, and is supported by V (Ven. 468). But the dative is alone recognised by the Scholiast.
124. mvp-comment-76-2 The δράκων is certainly the emblem of Thebes, and the eagle and snake are in conflict, as in Il. 12. 201, foll., where also the serpent struggles and escapes : ὁ δ᾽ οὔπω λήθετο χάρμης, | κόψε γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔχοντα κατὰ στήθος παρὰ δειρὴν | ἰδνωθεὶς ὀπίσω· ὁ δ᾽ ἀπὸ ἕθεν ἧκε χαμάζε, κ.τ.λ. Hor. Carm. 4. 4, 11, Nunc in reluctantes dracones | Egit amor dapis atque pugnae.
129. mvp-comment-77-1 πολλῷ ῥεύματι προσνισσομένους Coming on in full proud stream. Like a great river filling its banks.
130. mvp-comment-78-1 χρυσοῦ καναχῆς ὑπερόπτης] Despiser of the clank of gold. Cp. Aesch. Agam. 776, τὰ χρυσόπαστα δ᾽ ἐσθλὰ σὺν πίνῳ χερῶν | παλιντρόποις ὄμμασιν | λιπούσ', ὅσια προσέβα: S. c. T. 481-485. The Scholiast, who wrote καὶ τὴν τοῦ χρυσοῦ φαντασίαν ὑπερβεβηκότας τῇ ἰδίᾳ ὑπεροψίᾳ, seems to have read ὑπερόπτας, which appears in the margin of some copies. The ὑπεροψία of his interpretation may have given rise to ὑπεροπτίας, as in conjunction with this it has suggested ὑπεροπλίαις, (Vauvillers, who compares II. 1. 205). Musgr. and Böckh are contented with ὑπεροπτείας, abstr. noun of ὑπερόπτης, gen. with ῥεύματι, In floods of supercilious pride.
131. mvp-comment-79-1 παλτῷ ῥιπτεῖ πυρί (1) Hurls down with brandished thunderbolt. Or possibly (2) ῥιπτεῖ is a more emphatic substitute for βάλλει = Smites from afar. The word παλτῷ suggests the zig-zag flicker of the lightning.
131. mvp-comment-79-2 βαλβίδων .. ἀλαλάζαι As, having reached the topmost goal, he was eager to raise the cry of victory. βαλβίδες are the end of the race-course, metaphorically applied here to the top of the wall to which Capaneus had climbed, and so receiving the epithet ἄκρων.
131. mvp-comment-79-3 βαλβίδων may be also taken as abl. gen, with ῥιπτεῖ, and only resumed with ἄκρων. But this is questionable.
133. mvp-comment-80-1 The subject of ὁρμῶντα (Capaneus) is anticipated from the following lines, viz. ὅς, κ.τ.λ.
134. mvp-comment-81-1 ἀντιτύπᾳ This conj. of Porson has been generally received. He fell upon the earth, that smote him again; i.e. He fell with a shock. The Scholia explain ἀντίτυπα, which is against metre.
134. mvp-comment-81-2 τανταλωθείς Swung. As if the scale that had been the lightest had suddenly become the heaviest. Cp. Hom. Il. 22. 212, ῥέπε δ᾽ Ἕκτορος αἴσιμον ἦμαρ, | ᾤχετο δ᾽ εἰς Ἀἰδαο.
135. mvp-comment-82-1 πυρφόρος With the fire in his hand, with which he had threatened the town. O. C. 1318: Aesch. S. c. T. 422, ff.
135. mvp-comment-82-2 ὁρμᾷ Observe the tautology after ὁρμῶντ', supra.
136-137. mvp-comment-83-1 Had breathed against us in frenzy with blasts of malignant winds. Cp. infra 929-930: O. C. 612 and note: Aesch. S. c. T. 115, πνοαῖς Ἄρεος.
138. mvp-comment-84-1 εἶχε δ᾽ ἄλλᾳ τὰ μέν· κτ.λ.] This was in one direction: whilst on other men terrible fortune was dispensed by mighty Ares rushing on them like a steed harnessed upon our right hand. For the use of ἔχω with the locative adv., see L. and S. s. v. ἔχω, Β. 11. Ι. The reading in the text is suggested by that of V (Ven. 468), a MS. of the 13th century, which, together with many obvious corruptions, has preserved some good readings. See on O. T. 1526. This MS. reading is curiously near the conj. of Musgrave, εἶχε δ᾽ ἄλλᾳ τὰ δείν᾽. The epithet, as read in the text, may be suggested by a forefeeling of what is coming. Even the end of Capaneus is less awful than that of Eteocles and Polynices (144 ff.). Hermann's reading, εἶχε δ᾽ ἄλλᾳ μὲν ἄλ | λᾳ· τὰ δ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλοις, makes good enough sense; Plat. Rep. 2. 369 Β, οὕτω δὴ ἄρα παραλαμβάνων ἄλλος ἄλλον ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου, τὸν δ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου χρείᾳ : but the synaphea between the cretics and the choriambi is questionable. And the same objection applies to Wecklein's εἶχε δ' ἄλλᾳ τὰ τοῦδ᾽· | ἄλλα δ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλοις.
140. mvp-comment-85-1 δεξιόσειρος The War-god taking part with Thebes and bounding hither and thither over the plain is compared to the σειραῖος ἵππος, whose free action was so important at critical moments in the chariot-race. Cp. El. 721-722, δεξιὸν δ᾽ ἀνεὶς | σειραῖον ἵππον εἶργε τὸν προσκείμενον: Aesch. Agam. 841-842, μόνος δ' Οδυσσεύς, ὅσπερ οὐχ ἑκὼν ἔπλει | ζευχθείς ἕτοιμος ἦν ἐμοὶ σειραφόρος. The reading δεξιόχειρος is probably erroneous. It is acknowledged as a variant by the Scholiast.
141. mvp-comment-86-1 Capaneus, who is one of the seven adversaries, is already disposed of. But the general description in 141-143, is only preparatory to the chief statement, 144-147, from which, however, the chorus pass quickly, as they approach it with aversion. What is of the best omen must be kept to the front. For ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους, cp. Hdt. 9. 49, ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους ἄριθμον μαχεσόμεθα.
142-143. mvp-comment-87-1 'Left the tribute of their brazen panoplies to Zeus, who turns the battle.'
144-147. mvp-comment-88-1 Neither could despoil the other, since both were slain. And the citizens could not dedicate to Zeus arms polluted with kindred blood.
145. mvp-comment-89-1 αὑτοῖν i. e. ἀλλήλοιν: ἑαυτούς, ἀλλήλους. Hesych.
146. mvp-comment-90-1 δικρατεῖς λόγχας στήσαντε Having pointed their two spears, of which either was victorious. The spears are not hurled, as commonly in the Iliad, but held firmly as the combatants rush at each other. Cp. Hom. Il. 4. 307 (quoted by Donaldson), ὃς δέ κ᾿ ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ ὧν ὀχέων ἕτερ᾽ ἅρμαθ' ἵκηται | ἔγχει ὀρεξάσθω, ἐπεὶ ἢ πολὺ φέρτερον οὕτως.
147. mvp-comment-91-1 'Both have their portion in mutual death: i.e. Each strove for sole inheritance, but they share equally-in a death;' which each has given and each has received. See on l. 57. The spirit of the words is the same as those of Aesch. S. c. T. 726 ff.: O. C. 790.
149. mvp-comment-92-1 ἀντιχαρεῖσα Exchanging looks of joy. Cp. χαίρειν γέλωτι, Χen. Cyr. 8.1.33.
149. mvp-comment-92-2 Θήβη, as in Pindar, is the personification of Θήβαι, for which it is used consistently throughout this play. Cp. Od. 7. 80, εὐρυάγυιαν Ἀθήνην.
150. mvp-comment-93-1 ἐκ μὲν δὴ πολέμων .. λησμοσύvav Turning from the present wars, appoint ye forgetfulness of them. For the pleonastic use of ἐκ, see Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. The reading θέσθαι, which has good MS. authority and preserves the metrical correspondence with l. 137, is retained by some editors as an infinitive for imperative. Cp. infr. 1142, μολεῖν. For the expression, cp. Eur. Phoen. 1584,5, ὡς ὥρα τάφου | μνήμην τίθεσθαι.
153. mvp-comment-94-1 παννυχίοις Cp. Ο. Τ. 1090: Aesch. Ag. 23, 24. καὶ χορῶν κατάστασιν | πολλῶν ἐν Ἄργει τῆσδε συμφορᾶς χάριν.
153. mvp-comment-94-2 ὁ Θήβας δ'. . ἄρχοι And let Bacchus, Thebe's God. who shakes the earth (with revelry), lead on the dance. Schol. ὁ Θήβας Βακχεῖος, ὁ Θηβαγενὴς Διόνυσος, ὁ τῆς Θήβης πολίτης, ὁ ἐλελίχθων, ἄρχοι τῆς χορείας. See Essay on Language § 9. p. 11.
156. mvp-comment-95-1 The metre requires either the addition of one (or three) anapaests or the omission of νεοχμός. Dindorf's supposition that νεοχμός νεαραῖσι has grown in some way out of νεοχμοῖσι is in itself probable enough, but the omission of some word like *ἄρχων after βασιλεύς is equally so. The spectator is thus reminded that Creon is young in power.
157-158. mvp-comment-96-1 νεαραῖσι .. συντυχίαις In consequence of the recent god-sent fortune. These words are to be joined with the whole sentence, though chiefly with ἐρέσσων. Creon's accession, his coming, and the counsel which he brings, all follow closely on the events of the war. The question is, what is that counsel?
159. mvp-comment-97-1 τίνα δή This is preferable to τινὰ δή, which Aldus printed from Ven. 467 (V3).
159. mvp-comment-97-2 On ἐρέσσων = Moving, Advancing. see Essay on Language p. 87, and cp. Aj. 251, τοίας ἐρέσσουσιν ἀπειλάς.
160-161. mvp-comment-98-1 ὅτι. προὔθετο That he hath appointed. ὅτι gives the reason of the question.
160. mvp-comment-99-1 σύγκλητον Specially convened. The word is used, after the analogy of the σύγκλητος ἐκκλησία at Athens, for an assembly specially summoned by the στρατηγός. λέσχη is less formal than βουλή. Cp. Ο. C. 166.
161. mvp-comment-100-1 προὔθετο The middle voice implies that Creon had summoned the elders of his own motion. So καλέσσατο of Achilles in Il. 1. 54.
162. mvp-comment-101-1 κοινῷ κηρύγματι πέμψας Having cited us by a message sent to us all.
162. mvp-comment-101-2 κοινῷ = Inclusive. πέμψας] i. e. στείλας πομποῖσιν, as Creon expresses himself in ll. 164-165. 162-210. Creon's first error is not mere self-will, but an excessive zeal for the honour of the state, to which all private feelings must give way (183-184, 187-190). His spirit of self-assertion is however already felt, esp. in ll. 173, 191, 207-10. And the unconsciousness of one young in power is shown in the self-inculpating words in ll. 175-177. He characteristically dwells on the virtue of loyalty (165-169, 209-210) and the crime of rebellion (199-202): and his passionate nature is betrayed by the exaggerated expression in l. 208. Cp. O. T. 216 ff. and note. The frequent occurrence of the Ist personal pronoun is a significant feature of both these speeches.
162. mvp-comment-101-3 τὰ μὲν δὴ πόλεος As for the state. This form of expression suits the introduction of a subject before the form of sentence is determined. πόλιν, rather than τὰ πόλεος, is the object of σείσαντες and ὤρθωσαν.
162. mvp-comment-101-4 ἀσφαλῶς Unharmed, = ἄνεν τοῦ σφαλῆναι,
163. mvp-comment-102-1 ὥρθωσαν Have righted the vessel of the state.
165-166. mvp-comment-103-1 τὰ Λαΐου. κράτη Knowing that you ever duly reverenced the enthroned authority of Laius. Λαΐου is governed by θρόνων κράτη taken as one word, θρόνων being added to supplement κράτη. σέβοντας and μένοντας, infr. 166, 169, are imperfects = ὅτι ἐσέβετε .. ἐμένετε,
167. mvp-comment-104-1 ὤρθου Kept on a safe course: i. e. Governed prosperously. The word recalls the happiness of the first period of Oedipus' rule. Cp. Plat. Men. P. 99 C, ᾗ οἱ πολιτικοὶ ἄνδρες χρώμενοι τὰς πόλεις ὀρθοῦσιν : Phaedr. 244 B. 168-169. ἀμφὶ .. φρονήμασιν]. Ye still remained loyal to their issue with unshaken minds. ἀμφί, Surrounding, as ready to defend. The apodosis is made to suit the latter protasis, ἐπεὶ διώλετο, and that of the former protasis, ἡνίκ' . . πόλιν (viz. ἐκείνῳ ὁμοίως πειθομένους οι the like), is thus absorbed.
167. mvp-comment-104-2 κείνων . . παῖδας i. e. Sons of Oedipus and grandsons of Laius.
172. mvp-comment-105-1 αὐτόχειρι Fratricidal. See Essay on Language p. 91.
174. mvp-comment-106-1 γένους κατ᾿ ἀγχιστεῖα By privilege of being nearest in kindred (ὡς ἀγχιστεύων) to the dead. Cp. πρωτεία, etc.
175. mvp-comment-107-1 παντὸς ἀνδρός Of any man, and therefore of me.
176. mvp-comment-108-1 ψυχήν. . φρόνημα.. γνώμην As observed in the Essay on Language pp. 91-3, the opposition between these words is chiefly formal. So far as there is any difference between them, ψυχήν is mind, or nature, φρόνημα, spirit, or way of thinking, (cp. infr. 207), and γνώμην, judgment or meaning.
176-177. mvp-comment-109-1 πρὶν ἂν ἀρχαῖς.. φανῇ “Until he be seen in his true colours through being tried in office and administration.' According to the saying of Bias, ἀρχὴ τὸν ἄνδρα δείξει (Arist. Eth. Nic. 5. 1. 16). There is an allusion to the detection of spurious coin through wear. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 390-392, κακοῦ δὲ χαλκοῦ τρόπον | τρίβῳτε καὶ προσβολαῖς | μελαμπαγὴς πέλει | δικαιωθείς (where Herm. says, 'Vereor autem ne non de lapide Lydio loquatur poeta, sed aes adulterinum dicat, quod usu tritum amisso falso splendore cognoscitur'): Hdt. 7. 10, ὥσπερ τὸν χρυσὸν τὸν ἀκήρατον, αὐτὸν μὲν ἐπ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ οὐ διαγινώσκομεν, ἐπεὰν δὲ
178. mvp-comment-110-1 ἐμοὶ γάρ The connection is not strictly logical. γάρ explains not the difficulty of discerning the difference between rulers, but the essential point on which the difference turns. In setting forth this, Creon also declares the spirit of his own policy. He is feeling his way with the elders, of whose submission he is not perfectly sure, and beats about the bush before coming to the point with them. Hence he repeats the same thought in different words.
178-183. mvp-comment-111-1 The sentiment of these lines is closely parallel to Plat. Legg. 9. 856 B, ὃς ἂν ἄγων εἰς ἀρχὴν ἄνθρωπον δουλῶται μὲν τοὺς νόμους, ἑταιρείας δὲ τὴν πόλιν ὑπήκοον ποιῇ, καὶ βιαίως δὲ πᾶν τοῦτο πράττων καὶ στάσιν ἐγείρων παρανομῇ· τοῦτον δὴ διανοεῖσθαι δεῖ πάντων πολεμιώτατον ὅλῃ τῇ πόλει, τὸν δὲ κοινωνοῦντα μὲν τῶν τοιούτων μηδενί, τῶν μεγίστων δὲ μετέχοντα ἀρχῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει, λεληθότα τε ταῦτα αὐτὸν ἢ μὴ λεληθότα, δειλίᾳ δ᾽ ὑπὲρ πατρίδος αὑτοῦ μὴ τιμωρούμενον, δεῖ δεύτερον ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν τοιοῦτον πολίτην κακῇ.
180.
mvp-comment-112-1
ἐγκλείσας Locked up. Cp. Shakespeare, Richard II, 1. 3,
Within my mouth you have engaoled my tongue, | Doubly portcullised with my teeth and lips. Infr. 505, εἰ μὴ γλῶσσαν ἐγκλείσαι φόβος.
182. mvp-comment-113-1 μείζον᾽.. ἀντί Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. Cp. Od. 7. 216, στυγερῇ ἐπὶ γαστέρι κύντερον.
183. mvp-comment-114-1 οὐδαμοῦ λέγω Plat. Gorg. 456 C, οὐδαμοῦ ἂν φανῆναι, supr. 32. 184 ff. Having shown what makes the good and bad ruler, Creon declares his own intentions, first generally, and then (192 ff.) with reference to Eteocles and Polynices. γάρ implies that his opinion will be proved by his acts. In both statements (178-183, 184-190) the stress is laid on the duty of renouncing friendship with the public enemy (182-183, 187-188), which is the ground of the present edict, Polynices being presumably Creon's private friend: supr. 174.
186. mvp-comment-115-1 στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς Menacing my people. Cp. supr. l. 10: Aesch. Prom. 1089-1090, τοιάδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἐμοὶ ῥιπὴ Διόθεν, | τεύχουσα φόβον, στείχει φανερῶς. For the dative, Essay on Language § 12. p. 18.
187. mvp-comment-116-1 δυσμενή χθονός Who is my country's foe. The genitive avoids the awkwardness of two datives, χθονί and ἐμαυτῷ, coming close together.
189-190.
mvp-comment-117-1
She it is who preserves us, and we make friends only while she carries us in the course of public safety; i. e. The friendship that is made against the interest of the state is hollow and insecure. Cp. Thuc. 2. 60: (Pericles loq.) ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι πόλιν πλείω ξύμπασαν ὀρθουμένην ὠφελεῖν τοὺς ἰδιώτας, ἢ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον τῶν πολιτῶν εὐπραγοῦσαν, ἀθρόαν δὲ σφαλλομένην, κ.τ.λ.: Zaleuc. ap. Stob. (Mullach, p. 543), πόλις γὰρ εὖ ἀγομένη μεγίστη ὄρθωσίς ἐστι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πάντα ἔνι, καὶ τούτου σωζομένου πάντα σώζεται καὶ τούτου φθειρομένου πάντα διαφθείρεται: Shakespeare. King John, 3. 1, Pand.
All form is formless, order orderless, | Save what is opposite to England's love. On the change of pronouns (ἥδε.. ταύτης), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 32. The article in τοὺς φίλους points the reference to ll. 182-183.
191. mvp-comment-118-1 τοιοίσδε νόμοισι By such principles as these. Cp. infr. 908, τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;
192. mvp-comment-119-1 ἀδελφὰ τῶνδε i. e. In full accord with them. Cp. Plat. Rep. 4. 421 C, ἆρ᾽ οὖν .. καὶ τὸ τούτου ἀδελφὸν δύξω σοι μετρίως λέγειν; Lys. 2. 64, ἀδελφὰ τὰ βουλεύματα τοῖς ἔργοις : Ο. C. 1262, ἀδελφὰ . . τούτοισιν.
193. mvp-comment-120-1 τῶν ἀπ᾿ Οιδίπου For the pleo- 190 195 200 nastic use of the preposition, see above 150, 182, and notes.
195. mvp-comment-121-1 πάντ᾿ ἀριστεύσας δορί After proving himself in all ways the bravest in the war. For the aor., cp. Hdt. 9. 74, alib.
196. mvp-comment-122-1 τὰ πάντ᾽ ἐφαγνίσαι ‘Το add all sacred offerings.'
199. mvp-comment-123-1 θεοὺς τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς The gods of his race; i. e. Those honoured by the Cadmeans. The gods of the race also include the ancestors of the race. Infr. 938, θεοὶ προγενεῖς.
201. mvp-comment-124-1 πρῆσαι κατάκρας The city (γῆν = πόλιν) is thought of as the main object of the verb.
201. mvp-comment-124-2 ἠθέλησε δ' The correspondence of clauses (with μέν and δέ) is not perfect, the antithesis being due to afterthought.
201. mvp-comment-124-3 αἵματος .. πάσασθαι ‘Το repast him with blood of his own kin.' The expression suits the Epic colouring of the whole speech.
202. mvp-comment-125-1 τοὺς δέ The rest; i. e. Those not slain, as implied in the opposition το αἵματος κοινοῦ πάσασθαι. 203.
202. mvp-comment-125-2 ἐκκεκήρυκται Musgrave's correction has been generally adopted, lopted, and is probably right. The impersonal verb gives absoluteness to the expression. Wolff construes the inf. with λέγω in 198 (deleting the comma after τοῦδε), and Wecklein reads λέγω for τάφῳ. The slight corruption is probably due to a reminiscence of supr. 27.
205. mvp-comment-126-1 δέμας is accusative of limitation, and ἄθαπτον and ἐδεστόν are masculine. To leave him unburied, to have his flesh consumed by birds and dogs.
206. mvp-comment-127-1 αἰκισθέντ᾿ ἰδεῖν A spectacle of indignity. Lit. Outraged to behold. The infinitive is added after the participle, which is masculine.
207. mvp-comment-128-1 Cp. 176, ψυχήν τε καὶ φρόνημα καὶ γνώμην.
209-210. mvp-comment-129-1 θανών | καὶ ζῶν In death as well as in life. The first word is the more emphatic. Essay on Language p. 78.
211-212. mvp-comment-130-1 For the construction of the accusatives τὸν .. δύσνουν. . τὸν εὐμενῆ, after σοὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἀρέσκει as = οὕτω τάσσεις, or the like, cр. О. С. 1120, τέκν᾽ εἰ φανέντ᾽ ἄελπτα μηκύνω λόγον, and see Essay on Language § 16. p. 22. No emendation is necessary.
213. mvp-comment-131-1 παντί πού γ᾽ ἔνεστί σοι γε has been thought a useless insertion, and Dindorf reads πάντι που πάρεστί σοι. But δέ γε is not unsuitable to the connection, introducing the second premiss of an implied argument. The words of the chorus express the barest acquiescence in the will of the ruler. Cp. infr. 509, σοὶ δ᾽ ὑπίλλουσι στόμα. They hide their disapproval, and that is all. Cp. Richard III, 4. 2, 21, Buck. Your grace may do your pleasure.
215. mvp-comment-132-1 ὡς ἂν.. εἰρημένων Sc. οὕτω πράσσετε. The subjunctive with ὡς ἄν follows the implied imperative. Act, then, so as to see my words obeyed. Cp. Ο. Τ. 325, ὡς οὖν μηδ᾽ ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω : Plat. Phaedo 59 Ε, παραγγέλλουσιν, ὅπως ἂν τῇδε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τελευτήσῃ. The ellipse is idiomatic. It is not to be supposed either that Creon hesitates, or that the elders interrupt him.
218. mvp-comment-133-1 τί.. ἔτι 'What means then this charge further given by you to another?' τοῦτο, cogn. acc. = σκοποὶ εἶναι τῶν εἰρημένων : τί, suppl. predic. = With what meaning?' To what effect? ἄλλῳ = to another than the appointed guards. ἄλλο gives a poorer sense, What then is this other thing which you enjoin besides?
220. mvp-comment-134-1 ὃς .. ἐρᾷ As to be in love with death. For the irregular correlative (οὕτω .. ὅς), see Essay on Language § 22. p. 36. There is a confusion of οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐρᾷ and οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτω μῶρος ὥστε ἐρᾶν.
222. mvp-comment-135-1 The emphatic position of ἄνδρας at the beginning of the line shows that the word is intended to mark Creon's unconsciousness of the real source of danger. So infr. 1. 248. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1110: O. T. 928, al. So ὑπ᾿ ἐλπίδων shows how incapable he is of divining the motive of Antigone.
223-330. mvp-comment-136-1 The half-comic or rustic character of the watchman in this play is an extension of the common character of the messenger, whose natural rudeness of speech and thought brings into greater prominence the horror or pathos of the events he describes. The grotesqueness disappears when he speaks of the action of Antigone in 407-440. The employment of this artifice by Sophocles arises from the same motive to which Shakespeare gave a far wider range in such creations as the gravediggers in Hamlet, and the rural fellow in Antony and Cleopatra. The Messenger in the Trachiniae, the Corinthian in the Oedipus Tyrannus, Menelaus in the Ajax, the pretended Shipmaster in the Philoctetes, afford the same sort of contrast to the more tragic personages: and the superstition of the Coloniatae may be compared with the cowardice of the Phrygian slave in the Orestes of Euripides.
223-330.
mvp-comment-136-2
The vulgarity of the common-place Athenian of the fifth century в.с. takes the form of misplaced subtlety of wit. Cp.
Shak. Hamlet, 5. 1
,
We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. The age is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe.
223-224. mvp-comment-137-1 I am out of breath, but not with speed. It is not that I ran nimbly hither. Aristotle, Rhet. 3. 14. § 10, quotes 223 thus, Ἄναξ, ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ ὅπως σπουδῆς ὕπο.., adding, as if from the reply of Creon, τί φροιμιάζῃ; But it is as unsafe to follow his authority in this line, as it would be to substitute τί φροιμιάζῃ for εὖ γε στοχάζει in l. 241. It is evident that he is quoting from memory: and, although it is curious that the Scholiast uses the same word in his explanation, οὐ τοῦτο λέγω, ὅτι μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀσθμαίνων πρὸς σὲ πορεύομαι, yet this does not amount to a proof that this is the right reading. σπουδῆς may be the word which would be more naturally used in prose, but it is less pointed than τάχους in this connection. κοῦφον ἐξάρας πόδα is added in explanation of τάχους ὕπο. ἐξάρας, having set forth from the point of departure, like αἴρειν στόλον.
225. mvp-comment-138-1 For I had many stoppages by reason of thoughts, i. e. My thoughts cried halt to me (ἐπέστησάν με) again and again. Cp. Αj. 869, κοὐδεὶς ἐφίσταταί με συμμαθεῖν τόπος. The genitive φροντίδων is part causal, My thoughts checked me,' and part final, I stopped to think.
226. mvp-comment-139-1 ὁδοῖς As I came. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20. Ср. О. С. 553, ὁδοῖς ἐν ταῖσδ᾽ ἀκούων. Hearing of you on your coming hither.
227. mvp-comment-140-1 This mockery of dialectic is curiously significant of the earlier stage of rhetoric.
229. mvp-comment-141-1 κεἰ has the authority of the oldest MS. The reading of Par. A, καὶ .. ἀνδρός, has a certain liveliness, but is perhaps too abrupt.
231. mvp-comment-142-1 τοιαῦθ᾽ ἑλίσσων Turning round and round such thoughts as these. Cp. Plat. Phil. 19 (of the boyish dialectician), πάντα κινεῖ λόγον ἄσμενος, τότε μὲν ἐπὶ θάτερα κυκλῶν καὶ συμφορῶν εἰς ἕν, τότε δὲ πάλιν ἀνειλίττων καὶ διαμερίζων.
231. mvp-comment-142-2 σπουδῇ βραδύς The reading of L, σχολῇ βραδύς, Slowly because I stopped, is not pointed enough, and it seems probable that an oxymoron is intended in this as in the following line. The correction adopted by the Scholiast, σχολῇ ταχύς, secures this in rather an awkward way. That of Seyffert, which is here adopted (for the collocation of words, cp. the proverb σπεῦδε βραδέως), appears far more probable.
234. mvp-comment-143-1 This line was well explained by Dindorf in 1860: Dicturus erat σοὶ φράσοντα, sed propter verba interposita, κεί τὸ μηδὲν ἐξερῶ, mutata orationis forma infert φράσω δ ὅμως cum δε particula, ut Oed. T. 302, πόλιν μέν, εἰ καὶ μὴ βλέπεις, φρονεῖς δ' ὅμως | οἷᾳ νόσῳ σύνεστιν.' Essay on Language § 35. p. 59.
234. mvp-comment-143-2 τὸ μηδέν ῾Α vain report,' because the doer of the deed was still unknown.
235. mvp-comment-144-1 τῆς has the emphatic force of an antecedent: This hope, that ... δεδραγμένος] This reading is implied in the second scholium on the passage, ἀντειλημμένος τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐλήλυθα, and appears in the text of E and V³. (whence Aldus had it), and as a marginal reading of Aug. b. and of V¹. Clinging fast by the hope, is a natural and forcible expression, well suited to the style of the Φύλαξ : whereas ἐλπίδος πεφραγμένος or πεφαργμένοs, whether in the sense of Shut out from hope,' or Fortified by the hope, is not really admissible.
236. mvp-comment-145-1 That I cannot suffer anything but what is fated for me. Cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 263, πείσομαι τὸ μόρσιμον.
238. mvp-comment-146-1 τὸ γάρ For the light ending, cp infr. 327, 409, Ο. Τ. 553-554. τὸ δὲ | πάθημ᾽ ὁποῖον φῇς παθεῖν δίδασκέ με, ib. 995-996, 1056-1057.
239. mvp-comment-147-1 ὅστις ἦν ὁ δρῶν i. e. τὸν δρῶντα, ὅστις ἦν, The unknown doer of the deed.
241-242. mvp-comment-148-1 (1) You aim carefully, and fence the business off from yourself all round. Some editors read τί φροιμιάζει; from Ar. Rhet. 3. 14, § 10, quoted above. But though the Scholiast of the Rhetoric says τὸ δὲ τί φροιμιάζῃ τοῦ Κρέοντός ἐστι λέγοντος, it is much more probable that the words are a separate quotation from Eur. I. T. 1162. See Cope's edition of Ar. Rhet. vol. 3. p. 175. Others explain the text (2), You lay the ground carefully and hedge your approaches closely round, as if in preparing a stance to watch for game. According to Pollux, 5, 36, στοχασμός, στοχάς, and στόχος, were terms used in describing the setting of a hunting-net: καλεῖται δ᾽ αὐτῶν (τῶν ἀρκύων) ἡ στάσις, στοιχισμός, στοίχος, στόχος, στοχὰς καὶ στοχασμός· στοχὰς δὲ καλεῖται καὶ χειροποιητά τινα οἰκοδομήματα ἐκ λίθων, ἢ ὕλης ὑπὲρ τὴν γῆν ἀναστήματα, κατὰ χρείαν τῆς τῶν δικτύων ἐξ ἴσου στάσεως, εἴ τι κοῖλον εἴη περὶ τὸ ἀρκύστατον.
243. mvp-comment-149-1 τὰ δεινὰ .. πολύν The reply, as often elsewhere, refers to the first part of the previous speech. Cp. O. Т. 361. The frigid tautology belongs to the character of the Φύλαξ.
244. mvp-comment-150-1 εἰτ᾿ ἀπαλλαχθεὶς ἄπει And be off with you. The Scholiast acutely remarks that these impatient words are intended to hold out the hope of impunity, which is withdrawn again in the angry threats of ll. 305, foll.
246. mvp-comment-151-1 Some one has buried the corpse and has disappeared, after not only sprinkling dry dust upon the flesh, but adding all due rites. This last refers to the libation. Cp. supr. 196-197: infr. 430-431. The surprise was increased by observing the completeness of the act. There is a stress on the participles. Essay on Language p. 75 β, 94, 4.
248. mvp-comment-152-1 τίς ἀνδρῶν Cp. supra 222, and note.
249. mvp-comment-153-1 οὔτε .. ἐκβολή No dint of pick-axe, nor earth turned up with hoe.'
250. mvp-comment-154-1 στύφλος .. καὶ χέρσος Hard and bare. χέρσος γῆ is untilled land, and so here, Undisturbed by implements of husbandry. Cp. infr. 773, 1197.
251. mvp-comment-155-1 ἀρρώξ .. τροχοῖσιν Unbroken, and with no mark of wheels. ἐπημαξευμένη τροχοῖσιν] Lit. Carted over with wheels.' Essay on Language p. 88, note.
252. mvp-comment-156-1 ἀλλ'.. ἦν But whoever did it was one who left no trace.
253. mvp-comment-157-1 ὁ πρῶτος .. ἡμεροσκόπος Our first look-out-man for the day. ἡμεροσκόπος in Xen. Hell. 1. 1. 2, is a watchman who stands at his post at daybreak. Cp. ἡμεροφύλαξ, ib. 7. 2. 6, 7. Antigone's act preceded the setting of this watch.
254. mvp-comment-158-1 θαῦμα δυσχερές Α sight of wonder and dismay.
255.
mvp-comment-159-1
τυμβήρης.. κόνις
Not covered with a mound, but sprinkled with dust as by one avoiding pollution. Hor. Od. 1. 28,
Debita jura vicesque superbae | Te maneant ipsum: precibus ibus non linquar inultis | Teque piacula nulla resolvent. | Quamquam festinas, non est mora longa, licebit | Injecto ter pulvere curras. For the gen., cp. Tr. 768.
255. mvp-comment-159-2 τυμβήρης For this use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.
258. mvp-comment-160-1 οὐ σπάσαντος Cp. Aesch. Prom. 451, οὔτε.. δόμους.. οὐ ξυλουργίαν.
259. mvp-comment-161-1 ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν Sc. τοῖς φύλαξιν. Words of abuse were loudly bandied to and fro. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 200, στάσις δ᾽ ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν ὠροθύνετο, sc.
259. mvp-comment-161-2 τοῖς δαίμοσιν.
260. mvp-comment-162-1 φύλαξ ἐλέγχων φύλακα On the nominative out of construction in the clause in apposition, see Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. § 15. p. 21.
260. mvp-comment-162-2 κἂν ἐγίγνετο And it was threatening to come to blows at last. The combination of the imperfect with av here is peculiar, having a force intermediate between ἐγίγνετο and ἐγένετο ἄv; i. e. it was coming to this, that we should have come to blows.
262-263. mvp-comment-163-1 The subtlety of the Φύλαξ deserts him in attempting to express his meaning. The perpetrator was every one and no one of us all every one in vague suspicion, and no one evidently: he escaped being known.' τις gives the indefiniteness required by the sense, = πως.
263.
mvp-comment-164-1
ἀλλ᾽ ἔφευγε *μὴ εἰδέναι (1) But he (the perpetrator) always escaped, so that we could not know him. Böckh and Donaldson read as in the text, interpreting (2) Every man' (πᾶς implied in οὐδείς, the affirmative elicited from the negative)
defended himself by pleading ignorance of the matter. For φεύγειν, * to urge a defensive plea,' cp. Aesch. Suppl. 390, and for the plea, μὴ εἰδέναι, Plat. Legg. 11. 936 E. But the plea of ignorance, although suitable in l. 266, is too special for this place, wherethe non-appearance of the criminal alone is in question. The meaning given above (1) is the same as that required by Hermann (see below), but is more simply expressed by the epexegesis, and the imperfect tense expresses the frustration of continued search. This interpretation involves a rare use of φεύγω, which is, however, analogous to a meaning of ἐκφεύγω that is not uncommon. Cp. Ο. Τ. 111, ἐκφεύγει δὲ τἀμελούμενον : Plat. Phil. 17, τὰ δὲ μέσα αὐτοὺς ἐκφεύγει. Other emendations are ἔφυγε τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι (Porson), explained by Erfurdt to mean
amoliens a se accusationem scire sese negaverat ; ἔφυγε τῷ μὴ εἰδέναι (Herm. 1839),
effugit, eo quod nesciebamus; ἔφευγε πᾶς τὸ μή,
every man pled Not guilty. (Dind.). 264-265. There are few traces of anything corresponding to the trial by ordeal in ancient times. Brunck quotes Virg. Aen. 11. 787,
Et medium freti pietate per ignem | Cultores multa premimus vestigia prima. It seems to have existed in different places as a popular belief, but nowhere to have received positive legal sanction. For a trace of trial by combat' (in Scythia), see Hdt. 4. 180. Cp. also Ar. Lys. 133.
269.
mvp-comment-165-1
His verbis et sequentibus significatur terror quem Creontis auctoritas custodibus incutit. (Dind.).
269. mvp-comment-165-2 λέγει, κ.τ.λ. The sense is interrupted by the relative clause, but resumed in the words ἦν δ᾽ ὁ μῦθος in l. 272. For τις εἷς, cp. Thuc. 6. 61, καί τινα μίαν νύκτα, κ.τ.λ. The emphatic use of little words shows the common mind; cp. infr. 404, ὃν σὺ τὸν νέκυν, κ.τ.λ. Wolff and Weckl. join els with what follows: but the antithesis of eἷς πάντας is too pointless here. Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 496 D, εἰς πᾶσιν ἀγρίοις ἀντέχειν.
274-275. mvp-comment-166-1 κἀμὲ.. λαβεῖν And the lot devotes me, wretched man, to be the recipient of this piece of luck. καθαιρεῖ is used much as in ἡ καθαιροῦσα ψῆφος, not by an extension of the technical sense, but with the same general mean- ing of Fastening upon, Bringing down, Overtaking and subduing.
279. mvp-comment-167-1 *1 This is Nauck's emendation for ἡ. It involves a very slight change, and is extremely probable. Reflection suggests the fear that' (not 'the question whether') this may be some visitation from the gods. The conscience of the elders, which was stifled at first, begins to awaken in the presence of the mysterious fact. For the pause after the 2nd iambus, here and supr. 269, cp. Aj. 340, 342, 719, 791, 803, 988, 1050, 1077, 1140, 1332.
280. mvp-comment-168-1 Cease, ere you have quite filled me with wrath. καί, which is combined with πρίν, according to the common idiom (πρὶν καὶ..), is slightly displaced so as to emphasize the phrase ἐμὲ μεστῶσαι. The language is made clearer by the emendation καί με, but the emphatic ἐμέ is more suitable in the mouth of Creon. Cp. Phil. 1042.
281. mvp-comment-169-1 ἄνους τε καὶ γέρων Cp. О. С. 930-931, καί σ᾽ ὁ πληθύων χρόνος | γέρονθ' ὁμοῦ τίθησι καὶ τοῦ νοῦ κενόν. See Essay on Language § 41. p. 78. 285-286. Who came to burn their pillared shrines and offerings, and to break in pieces their land and laws. It seems more likely that the ἀναθήματα are joined in one expression with ναούς than with γῆν and νόμους, which are in a different category.
289-290. mvp-comment-170-1 ἀλλὰ ταῦτα.. ἐμοί But this explains the murmurs I have long been hearing from men in the city against me;' i. e. Those murmurs have become explicit in this act. Οη ταῦτα, see Essay on Language § 17. p. 25; and for the dative ἐμοί, at me, ib. § 12. p. 18. μόλις φέροντες, which some have connected with ταῦτα (ταῦτα μόλις φέροντες, 'Bearing my edict ill'), seems to be used absolutely, sc. τὸ ἐμὸν ζυγόν, with an allusion to the metaphor in what follows. Cp. Thuc. 5. 80, θυμῷ ἔφερον, sc. τὸν πόλεμον ἢ τὰ πράγματα.
291. mvp-comment-171-1 'Covertly shaking the head,' like an animal preparing to throw off the yoke.
292. mvp-comment-172-1 δικαίως Rightly; i. e. As I had a right to expect that they should.
292. mvp-comment-172-2 ὡς στέργειν ἐμέ So as to accept my sway. To this it has been objected that στέργω implies affectionate allegiance. But this notion, although inherent in the etymology of the word, is dropped in use. Cp. Phil. 538, ἐγὼ δ' ἀνάγκῃ προὔμαθον στέργειν κακά : Aesch. Prom. 11, τὴν Δίος τυραννίδα | στέργειν. What hope was there that Prometheus would be made loyal by loyal torments? The other interpretation, So that I should be content (cp. Phil. 458, τούτους ἐγὼ τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ στέρξω ποτέ), would give but feeble expression to the self-will of Creon. The substitution for these words of εὐλόφως φέρειν from the citation of Eustathius, with the further change of νῶτον for λόφον, is rightly rejected by Dind., who points out that Eustathius, probably quoting from memory, has confused this passage with one of Lycophron.
293. mvp-comment-173-1 ἐκ τῶνδε By these malcontents. Supr. 290.
293. mvp-comment-173-2 τούτους (1) These guards. Infr. ll. 304 ff., supr. 260 ff.: or (2) simply τοὺς εἰργασμένους. The whole of this picture of discontent is the creation of Creon's anger from the hesitation of the chorus when told to see to the execution of the decree. Supr. 215 ff.
294. mvp-comment-174-1 There is a stress on μισθοῖσιν, preparing for what follows.
296. mvp-comment-175-1 νόμισμα, usually = Current coin, is here used in the more general sense which includes this. No such pestilent usance as money is, ever sprang up amongst mankind.
298. mvp-comment-176-1 The object of ἐκδιδάσκει, SC.
298. mvp-comment-176-2 χρηστοὺς αἰσχρά, is absorbed in the expansion of the sentence.
299. mvp-comment-177-1 πρὸς .. ἵστασθαι Το address themselves to shameful enterprizes.' Cp. Thuc. 6. 34. § 7, τῶν δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ αἱ γνῶμαι ἵστανται.
300. mvp-comment-178-1 πανουργίας The plural of the abstract noun gives the concrete notion.
300. mvp-comment-178-2 πανουργίας ἔχειν, like θήραν ἔχειν, Αj. 564: ὕβριν ἔχειν, Od. 1. 368, etc.
301. mvp-comment-179-1 παντὸς ἔργου δυσσέβειαν The impiety of every deed; i. e. Every kind of impiety in action. Cp. O.T. 864-865, εὔσεπτον ἁγνείαν λόγων | ἔργων τε πάντων.
303. mvp-comment-180-1 He implies, This cannot be their first act of disloyalty.' The unity of time is not to be pressed in the Antigone: see below, 11. 1064 ff. Else this suspicion of inveterate disaffection, against one who has reigned only for a few hours, would be too extravagant. The elders were selected for their loyalty. supr. 165 ff.
308-311. mvp-comment-181-1 οὐχ ὑμὶν ῞Αιδης.. ἁρπάζητε] Death shall not alone suffice for you, but first you shall be hung up alive to show the heinousness of this offence, that for the future, in your wrongful gettings, you may know better where to look for gain. See Essay on Language § 37. p. 64. There is a confusion of two constructions: (1) οὐχ ὑμὶν ῞Αιδης ἀρκέσει, τo which μοῦνος is added for emphasis, i. e. οὐ θανεῖσθε μόνον: and (2) οὐ θανεῖσθε πρίν, κ.τ.λ. Cp. 1064 ff., and see Aj. 106 ff., θανεῖν γὰρ αὐτὸν οὐτί πω θέλω, κ.τ.λ. The Φύλαξ is to take this message to his fellows.
313-314. mvp-comment-182-1 The sentence is redundant, either the article or ἢ σεσωσμένους being unnecessary. Weckl. reads σεσωμένους. For the article, cp. Eur. Phoen. 606, τοῦ μέρους ἔχων τὸ πλεῖον,
315. mvp-comment-183-1 εἰπεῖν τι δέ (v. rr.) is unmeaning. τι as in θέλεις τι μεῖζον, infr. 497.
316. mvp-comment-184-1 καὶ νῦν with λέγεις.
317. mvp-comment-185-1 δάκνει; (1) Act. impersonal. Is the smart in your ears or in your mind? Cp Hdt. 7. 16. Or (2) 2nd pers. pass. Are you stung? (2) agrees better with τὴν ἐμὴν λ. in the following line.
318. mvp-comment-186-1 τί δαί; though not found elsewhere in Sophocles or Aeschylus, may be admitted on the authority uthority of of the MS, where it is so obviously in keeping. Cp. ὦ τἂν in Ο. Τ. 1145, Phil. 1387.
318. mvp-comment-186-2 ῥυθμίζεις .. ὅπου; Do you scan the whereabouts of my annoyance?
320. mvp-comment-187-1 λάλημα The reading is doubtful between ἄλημα, A clever rogue, and λάλημα, Α prating fellow. ἄλημα is better known, and was read by the Scholiast, but λάλημα is sufficiently supported by Eur. Andromache 937, τούσδε Σειρήνων λόγους, | σοφῶν, πανούργων, ποικίλων λαλημάτων. And this word τίνεσθαι. fits more closely to the context of the present passage. 'Fie, tis too clear you are a born chatterbox. Then it is clear that I never did this deed. 323. What a pity that one who is opinionated should have a false opinion. For the subjunctive δοκῇ, cp. О. Т. 316, 317.
324. mvp-comment-188-1 κόμψευε . . δόξαν 'Ay do, refine now on the word "opinion."" This does not seem to be one of the cases where viv with the imperative mood should be changed to vuv, as there is a sufficient reason for the emphatic particle.
325. mvp-comment-189-1 ἐξερεῖτε You shall tell the world. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 2. 22, Ιξίονα φαντὶ ταῦτα βροτοῖς λέγειν ἐν πτερόεντι τροχῷ .. τὸν εὐεργέταν ἀγαναῖς ἀμοιβαῖς 332 ff. The chorus, in their first stasimon, express, in a veiled manner, their emotions at what has occurred. Not being able to say what they really think, that Creon's rash edict has already recoiled on his own family, they descant on the wonderful range of human enterprize, adding that where boldness and resource are combined with justice, they confer glory, but only bring ruin where they are subservient to wrong. The elders do not decide who in the present instance is the transgressor. The ode consists of two strophes and antistrophes, in which glyconic rhythms are mixed with lyrical dactyls, iambi, and trochees, in different proportions, the scheme being as follows:- ICC CC CI CICIC α'. } Iamb. Dact. Troch. Glycon. The two long syllables at the beginning of l. 8 of a form the transition from the dactyls to the trochees. There is a sensible change to a lighter and less simple movement at the beginning of β'. The resolved trochees in B' 5 mark a climax of feeling.
332-383. mvp-comment-190-1 Most wonderful of wondrous things is man, Who traverses the surging brine, And wearies mighty earth with yearly furrow. His craft ensnares the finny produce of the seas And taketh captive beast and bird. He compasseth a way to master the monster of the wilds, And brings under his yoke the horse with flowing mane And the never-wearied mountain bull. Selftaught in speech and thought and civil ways, And in providing shelter from the cold and rain, There is no end to his devices. Nothing but death ever finds him unprepared. Even diseases, not to be avoided, are escaped by him. Inventive beyond hope, he moveth now to evil, and again to good. When weaving with his wit the law of justice and piety He is exalted in the city, but outcast when he harbours wickedness for deeds of crime. May I never live with such an one, and may he never share my counsels. 332. Aesch. Cho. 585, πολλὰ μὲν γὰ τρέφει δεινὰ δειμάτων ἄχη,.. ἀλλ᾽ ὑπέρτολμον ἀνδρὸς φρόνημα τίς λέγοι; Troch. Iamb. Troch.
332-383. mvp-comment-190-2 δεινά = ' wonderful,' or mighty, is in transition from the earlier sense of fearful to the later sense of clever. Cp.
332-383. mvp-comment-190-3 ὀλοόφρων.
334. mvp-comment-191-1 τοῦτο This creature, man. The neuter continues the abstract notion from οὐδὲν .. δεινότερον, and is thus more impressive than the masculine would have been.
334. mvp-comment-191-2 πέραν Το the other side of.' Quite over. For the alliteration, which assists the emphasis, cp. El. 210.
335. mvp-comment-192-1 χειμερίῳ νότῳ Impelled by the stormy south-wind. Dative of cause. Essay on Language § 14. p. 21. 335-336. Traversing half-buried in the seething surge. For ὑπό with the dative in this sense, cp. О. С. 673, χλωραῖς ὑπὸ βάσσαις. Essay on Language § 19. p. 27.
336. mvp-comment-193-1 περιβρύχιος is probably active = Surging round, and contains an allusion to βρύχω, for which, cp. Aesch. Prom. 1082, βρυχία δ᾽ ἠχὼ παραμυκᾶται βροντής.
338. mvp-comment-194-1 ὑπερτάταν Supreme, as eldest and mother ofall. Solon, Fr. 36. 3, μεγίστη δαιμόνων Ὀλυμπίων | Γῆ. Cр. О. Т. 660, where the primacy for the occasion is similarly given to the sun. Schneidewin remarks that the assonance ἄφθιτον, ἀκαμάταν ἀποτρύεται, .. ἀρότρων helps to express the persistent industry of man. This ode is full of assonance and alliteration, and of correspondences such as ἀνεμόεν, μαχανόεν-παντόπορος, ἄπορος -ὑψίπολις, ἄπολις.
339. mvp-comment-195-1 ἀποτρύεται Wears out for his use (mid.) the still-unwearied Earth. The present implies that the process is never-ending. Even in the common operations of husbandry the old religion finds a ground for awe. The dactyls suit the thought of the continuous round of human labour, as those of the antistrophe express the movement of the steed. The two long syllables, ἱππει-, οὐρει-, at once check the flow of rhythm (as with a renewed feeling of wonder), and by their weight give impetus to the concluding trochees. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1039-1040, 1063.4.
340. mvp-comment-196-1 ἰλλομένων ἀρότρων As the ploughs keep turning year after year. The force of ἴλλω is limited motion. Thus the shuttle might be said ἴλλεσθαι, because when it reaches either end of the loom it is driven back again. Precisely in the same way the ploughs are said ἴλλεσθαι, “To keep moving to and fro within certain bounds.' ἔτος εἰς ἔτος] i. e. δι' ἔτους εἰς ἔτος, "Through one year into the next,' the first ἔτος being the accusative of duration.
340. mvp-comment-196-2 ἱππείῳ γένει πολεύων Breaking the glebe by the strength of mules. πολεύειν = πολεῖν in Hes. Op. 460, ἔαρι πολεῖν· θέρεος δὲ νεωμένη οὔ σ᾽ ἀπατή- The masc. is more probable than the neuter, both because τοῦτο is re- σει. mote, and because ἀνήρ follows in the antistrophe.
340.
mvp-comment-196-3
ἱππείῳ γένει i. e.
Prole equarum. Schol. ταῖς ἡμιόνοις.
αἱ γάρ τε βοῶν προφερέστεραί εἰσιν ἐλκέμεναι νείοιο βαθείης πηκτὸν ἄροτρον. Hom. Il. 10.352. Donaldson also compares Simon. Fr. 13 (Bergk.), χαίρετ' ἀελλοπόδων θύγατρες ἵππων.
343. mvp-comment-197-1 *κουφονόων Light-thoughted. This is Brunck's certain emendation, anticipated by the corrector of R. (Cp. v. rr. on l. 617.) Donaldson well says that as wings express the light-mindedness of light-mindedness is here made an epithet of the winged birds. But the word may further suggest the unsuspicious nature ('Despising the earth where cares abound') which makes them an easy prey. Cp. Plat. Tim. 91 D, τὸ δὲ τῶν ὀρνέων φῦλον . . ἐκ τῶν ἀκάκων ἀνδρῶν, κούφων δέ, κ.τ.λ.
345. mvp-comment-198-1 πόντου τ᾽ εἰναλίαν φύσιν The brood of ocean teeming in the seas. For φύσιν, see Essay on Language § 51. p. 96.
346. mvp-comment-199-1 σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις With meshy toils,' is to be joined with ἀμφιβαλὼν ἄγει. Nets (δίκτυα) were used in hunting and fowling, as well as in fishing. For ἄγειν in the sense of making captive, cp. Il. 9. 594, τέκνα δέ τ᾽ ἄλλοι ἄγουσι βαθυζώνους τε γυναῖκας.
346. mvp-comment-199-2 ἄγει suits well with the image of a captive enemy, which is kept up in the words φύλον and ἔθνη.
348. mvp-comment-200-1 περιφραδής By his excellent wit. The 1st strophe exhibits the boldness, the Ist antistrophe the cunning, of primitive man. The 2nd strophe and antistrophe describe the higher functions of civilized life. 349 ff. He not only subdues the animals, but makes them his servants.' In correcting this line, the dactylic metre is to be retained, which is hardly done in the conjj. ἀμφιλόφῳ ζυγῷ or ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγοῖ. The words ἀμφίλοφον ζυγόν are sound both in meaning and rhythm. Brunck's conj. ὑπάξεται, supplying the preposition required by the Scholia, would be unexceptionable, if such a potential use of the future in an affirmative sentence could be defended. Blaydes' ὑπήγαγεν would be convincing if closer to the MSS. In favour of ἐπάξεται it may be urged that the repetition of the same word is in the manner of the ode, and that the figurative expression, he shall bring to his aid,' agrees with ἄγει, supr. 343. But besides the questionable future, the construction of the 2nd accus., sc. ἐπ᾿ ἀμφ. ζυγόν, is in this case dubious. ὑφέλκεται. . ζυγόν, compels to serve him in the yoke, may be suggested, although the verb ὑφέλκειν is not used elsewhere precisely in the sense required. Else qy. ἐφέλκεται?
352. mvp-comment-201-1 ἀκμῆτα is preferable to ἀδμῆτα, as the rarer word and as introducing a new and apposite idea. 353 ff. There is a natural progress in the thought. First, navigation and agriculture were mentioned as the arts of subduing the crude forces of nature; then the capture and domestication of animals. Now we come to the humanities and arts of life (the domestication of man himself), and lastly, in ἀντ. β', to moral or political good and evil.
354. mvp-comment-202-1 ἀνεμόεν φρόνημα Windswift thought; i. e. Thought which is viewless, free and nimble as the wind. Sophocles knew that the soul had been identified with the air. Cp. Plat. Phaedo, 96 Β, πότερον τὸ αἷμά ἐστιν ᾧ φρονοῦμεν, ἢ ὁ ἀήρ. ἢ τὸ πῦρ, κ.τ.λ. Schneidewin well compares Hom. Il. 15. 80, foll., ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἀΐξῃ νόος ἀνέρος, ὅς τ᾽ ἐπὶ πολλὴν | γαῖαν ἐληλουθὼς φρεσὶ πευκαλίμῃσι νοήσῃ | · ἔνθ εἴην ἢ ἔνθα, μενοινήπολλὰ | ὡς κραιπνῶς μεμανία διέπτατο πότνια Ἥρη. Wieseler's conj.
354. mvp-comment-202-2 κατ᾿ ἀν. φρ., adopted by Wolff, is surely unnecessary. Why should not man teach himself to think as well as to count? (See Plat. Rep. 7, p. 522.)
355-356. mvp-comment-203-1 ἀστυνόμους | ὀργάς is well explained by Seyffert, Urbium incolendarum studia. The disposition to inhabit cities. This seems more probable than The tempers of civic life. ἀστυνόμος ὀργή is the social impulse which draws men together to become inhabitants of the same town. comparison of Ar. Pol. 6. 8. 4, (ἑτέρα δ᾽ ἐπιμέλεια ταύτης ἐχομένη καὶ σύνεγγυς ἡ τῶν περὶ τὸ ἄστυ δημοσίων καὶ ἰδίων, ὅπως εὐκοσμία ῃ, καὶ τῶν πιπτόντων οἰκοδομημάτων καὶ ὁδῶν σωτηρία καὶ διόρθωσις, καὶ τῶν ὁρίων τῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅπως ἀνεγκλήτως ἔχωσι, καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ἄλλα τῆς ἐπιμελείας ὁμοιότροπα, καλοῦσι δ' ἀστυνομίαν οἱ πλεῖστοι τὴν τοιαύτην ἀρχήν), suggests the conjecture ἀστυνόμους ἀρχάς (already made by Valckenaer), Administrative rule. V reads ὁρμάς, ср. О. Т. 337. Qy. ἀρετάς? Ср. 366. 355, foll. And to avoid the cleareyed influence of comfortless frosts, and the pelting of the pitiless rain.' διαίθρεια, sc. βέλη.
356. mvp-comment-204-1 ἐδιδάξατο He taught himself. For the directly reflexive middle, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 52. The origin of the arts was a favourite problem of the Sophists. Cp. Plato, Prot. 320 D, foll. It is here assumed that they were selftaught without Prometheus or other superhuman aid.
357. mvp-comment-205-1 Musgr. would read either διαίθρεια, or αἴθρεια with φρουρῶν for παρειρῶν in l. 367. G. Wolff reads αἴθρεια and πληρῶν. But the repetition of in ll. 3, 4, and 6 suits the composition of the strophe better than the introduction of the bacchius and cretic in l. 3. διαίθρεια, serene, while keeping up the alliteration, suits the context better than ὑπαίθρεια or ἐναίθρεια, in the open air. Join *διαίθρεια βέλη as well as δύσομβρα βέλη.
360. mvp-comment-206-1 παντοπόρος· ἄπορος This punctuation is justified by the corresponding line of the antistrophe, which cannot be pointed otherwise. παντοπόρος, sc. ὤν, is added, like περιφραδής ἀνήρ, supr. 347, to express the admiration excited by the preceding statements.
360-361. mvp-comment-207-1 οὐδὲν . . τὸ μέλλον] Cp. l. 728, μηδὲν τὸ μὴ δίκαιον. Essay on Language § 22. p. 36.
362. mvp-comment-208-1 οὐκ ἐπάξεται He shall not win. For a similar metaphorical use of ἐπάγεσθαι, where, however, the reading has also been questioned, cp. Thuc. 3.10, τὴν τῶν ξυμμάχων δούλωσιν ἐπαγομένους.
364. mvp-comment-209-1 νόσων δ᾽ ἀμηχάνων φυγὰς | ξυμπέφρασται He hath gathered to him by his thought a remedy for many an unavoidable disease. ξυμ- marks that the healing art is a collective monument of human skill. πέφρασται recalls the notion of περιφραδής, supr. 347. For the oxymoron, cp. supr. 340, ἀκαμάταν ἀποτρύεται.
365-366. mvp-comment-210-1 His power of artful contrivance is a miracle of unimaginable skill, wherewith he followeth one while an evil purpose, at other times a good one.' τέχνας is added as genitive of respect to complete the notion of τὸ μηχανόεν. ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα, beyond what could have been hoped for, or expected before the event. τι marks the indefiniteness of σοφόν as the predicate. It is in agreement with σοφόν, but has the effect of a particle or adverb (πως).
366. mvp-comment-211-1 κακόν, . . ἐπ᾿ ἐσθλόν Cp. О. Т. 761, ἀγρούς σφε πέμψαι κἀπὶ ποιμνίων νομάς.
367. mvp-comment-212-1 νόμους παρείρων χθονός When he knits therewith, sc. τῷ μηχανόεντι τῆς τέχνης καὶ σοφῷ, the laws of his land and the oath-observing righteousness of heaven. It is objected to παρείρων that it elsewhere means Inserting incidentally, or by the way, and that such a meaning is unsuitable here. But, as Seyffert has already shown, the word (which is a rare one) may quite well mean Weaving in,' like gold-leaf, for instance, into a chaplet of flowers. Cp. Plat. Legg. 605 D, καὶ τὸν τοῦ Κύρου δασμὸν ὃν ὑπέσχετο Πέρσαις εἰς τὸν νόμον ἐνέδει. Conjectural emendations are γεραίρων, περαίνων, γὰρ αἴρων, τ᾿ ἀείρων, πληρῶν (see v. rr., and note on 357).
370. mvp-comment-213-1 ὑψίπολις For this compound, cp. ἡδύπολις, ὀρθόπολις, μεγιστόπολις, δικαιόπολις. The construction is elliptical, sc. ὑψίπολις ὧν or ἐστί.
370. mvp-comment-213-2 ἄπολις . . χάριν] He is outcast from the state, who harbours evil for the indulgence of crime. Cp. supr. l. 30, πρὸς χάριν βορâs: Plat. Phaedr. 241, χάριν πλησμονῆς. This is better than joining τόλμας χάριν with ἄπολις = He is an outcast for his boldness.
375. mvp-comment-214-1 ἴσον φρονῶν i. e. Of the same party in the state. For the expression, cp. Il. 15.50, ἶσον ἐμοὶ φρονέουσα.
376-378. mvp-comment-215-1 ἐς δαιμόνιον τέρας .. Ἀντιγόνην] I stand in doubt at this strange marvel, how to gainsay what I know, and say that this is not the maid Antigone. The resumption is suitable to the chorus' perturbed state of feeling. Seyffert's ἐς δαιμόνιον τέρας ἀμφινοῶν τότε, referring to the previous scene (1. 278), is without the directness and simplicity of these short anapaestic passages, in which the chorus announce the entrance of a new person on the stage. Cp. 526 ff., 626 ff.
378. mvp-comment-216-1 οὐκ εἶναι, not μὴ εἶναι, because the entrance of Antigone is a patent fact.
382. mvp-comment-217-1 *ἀπάγουσι Sc. εἰς κρίσιν.
385. mvp-comment-218-1 εἵλομεν The v. r. εἴδομεν is supported by infr. 404, 406, 423, and εἴλομεν, the reading of L, etc., may have been occasioned by καθελόντες in the nearer context. But see v. rr. on 655.
386. mvp-comment-219-1 ἐς δέον Cp. Ο. Τ. 1416, εἰς δέον πάρεστι. εἰς μέσον, which Seyffert has restored from L, although having the authority of the chief MS, is more like a MS. conjecture than eἰς δέον. The same may be said of ἐξέβην, as compared with προὔβην. Seyffert reads ξύμμετρ᾽ ἐξέβην τύχῃ.
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;
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.
406. mvp-comment-231-1 And how was she discovered, caught, and taken ?"
407. mvp-comment-232-1 τοιοῦτον (1) As you say: she was seen (1. 423), surprised (1.432), and caught (1.433). Or (2) As follows,' = τοιόνδε.
409-410. mvp-comment-233-1 τὸν | νέκυν Α remarkable instance of synapheia. Cp. 1. 238. Essay on Language § 21. p. 33. Supr. 238.
410. mvp-comment-234-1 μυδῶν Dank: referring rather to the state of the corpse (cp. 412) than to the remains of the libation, which would be soon dried by the sun.
410. mvp-comment-234-2 εὐ Carefully. For the order, see Essay on Language p. 78, and cp. О. Т. 308, μαθόντες εὖ.
411. mvp-comment-235-1 We sat just below the top of the rising ground, in the lee of the wind, so escaping the incidence of the odour from the dead. Supposing the corpse to be exposed on a slope of the high ground, surrounded by hillocks, they would select a point of observation on the lee-side of one of these hillocks, and to the windward of the corpse, which they would have full in view.
411. mvp-comment-235-2 ἐκ = On this side of and looking from. Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. Infr. 1110, εἰς ἐπόψιον τόπον : 1197, πεδίον ἐπ᾿ ἄκρον. πικρᾶς] ι in erasure of v? by recent hand Vat.
412. mvp-comment-236-1 This line is not necessarily connected with the preceding: i.e. They may be supposed to select a spot, (1) out of the wind, (2) out of the way of the smell. But the explanation above given (411 note) is more probable. In either case the point is that in attending to their watch they were mightily careful of their own comfort.
412. mvp-comment-236-2 βάλῃ Changed by Stephanusto βάλοι, because of the past time and the optative following. But the subj. is more vivid.
413-414. mvp-comment-237-1 Rousing each his fellow with noisy altercation, reviling him who should take this labour easily. εἴ τις, κ.τ.λ. depends on the verbal notion implied in κακοῖσιν = κακῶς λέγοντες.
413-414. mvp-comment-237-2 ἀφειδεῖν, ‘Το be unsparing, and so To be negligent, To treat lightly, To act without circumspection. For an approach to this meaning, cp. Thuc. 4.26 § 7. Bonitz conj. ἀκηδήσοι.
415-417. mvp-comment-238-1 This lasted till the sun had reached his station in mid-sky with unclouded splendour, and the heat was glowing.' Cp. the Homeric ὄφρα μὲν ἠέλιος μέσον οὐρανὸν ἀμφιβεβήκει.
417. mvp-comment-239-1 When suddenly from the earth the Storm-god raised a squall, that saddened all the sky, and filled the plain, tearing the tresses of the orchard groves, and the wide heaven was choked withal.' The chief discomfort of such a visitation would be the cloud of dust, forcing men to close their eyes, and wrapping even near objects from sight. The watchman is explaining why they lost sight of the corpse. The poet also provides a motive for the act by which Antigone is betrayed. She fears that the corpse, lying in an exposed situation, may have been disturbed by the violence of the wind.
418. mvp-comment-240-1 οὐράνιον ἄχος may mean either (1) A trouble from the sky, or (2) A trouble reaching to the sky. The latter is best, as the word χθονός indicates that the whirlwind seemed to rise out of the ground.
420. mvp-comment-241-1 ἐν δ' See Essay on Language p. 26. § 18, a.
421. mvp-comment-242-1 μύσαντες .. νόσον Closing lips and eyes, we endured the Divine visitation.
422. mvp-comment-243-1 ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ After lasting a long while: giving time for Antigone to come out of her concealment, with the libation ready. 423, foll. κἀνακωκύει] ‘And raises a shrill wailing cry, like the voice of the despairing bird. For the descriptive genitive, see Essay on Language § 9. p. 12.
422. mvp-comment-243-2 πικρᾶς Embittered, 'Full of bitterness: the quality of the object is transferred to the subject: i.e. πικρᾶς, ἅτε πασχούσης πικρά. Also the bitterness of anger is joined to that of grief. Cp. the Latin dolor. For the genitive, cp. Trach. 768, ὥστε τέκτονοs. And for the omission of ὡs, which is supplied in the following clause, cp. supr. 114, λευκῆς χιόνος πτέρυγι στεγανός. G. Wolff reads ὅ. δ. φθόγγον ὥς, ὅταν κ. But this yields a less probable rhythm.
424-425. mvp-comment-244-1 As when it sees robbed of its young ones the desolated couch of its nest. For the pleonasm, see Essay on Language § 40. p. 75.
426. mvp-comment-245-1 οὕτω δέ The apodosis is resumed, as so often happens after a comparison. Essay on Language p. 75. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 252.
427. mvp-comment-246-1 γόοισιν Essay on Language p. 75.
427. mvp-comment-246-2 ἐκ δ᾽.. ἠρᾶτο Essay on Language § 18. p. 27.
430. mvp-comment-247-1 ἄρδην.. στέφει Slightly condensed from ἄρδην ἔχουσα στέφει. στέφει, She decorates, Honours. Metaphorical, as in Od. 8. 170, ἀλλὰ θεὸς μορφὴν ἔπεσι στέφει. Cp. καταστέφειν in Eur. Phoen. 1632, and Sophron ap. Athen. 479 B. She leaves out no jot of the ceremony: ὡς οὐδὲν ὑφιεμένη τῷ κρηύγματι.
431. mvp-comment-248-1 Od. 11. 26, ἀμφ᾿ αὐτῷ δὲ χοὰς χέομεν πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι, | πρῶτα μελικρήτῳ, μετέπειτα δὲ ἡδέϊ οἴνῳ, | τὸ τρίτον αὐθ᾽ ὕδατι.
432. mvp-comment-249-1 σὺν δέ νιν | θηρώμεθ' For this tmesis, see Essay on Language § 18. p. 26. συν as in συλλαμβάνω.
435. mvp-comment-250-1 Cp. Hdt. 3. 66, ἔξαρνος ἦν μὴ μὲν ἀποκτεῖναι Σμέρδιν: 3. 99, ἄπαρνός ἐστι μὴ μὲν νοσέειν.
436. mvp-comment-251-1 ἀλλ᾽.. ἅμα ἀλλά is to be explained as pointing the antithesis after the negative. Her attitude was not that of denial, but one to me at least pleasant and painful as well. The adverb modifies a word which is to be supplied from καθίστατο. ἡδέως ἐμοί, i. e. ὥστε ἐμὲ ἥδεσθαι, Essay on Language § 24. p. 40. There is a certain point in this which is lost in the emendation of Dindorf, ἅμ᾽ ἡδέως, in which, however, the repetition of ἅμα may be defended from Plat. Gorg. 497 Α, ἅμα διψῶν τε ἕκαστος ἡμῶν πέπαυται καὶ ἅμα ἡδόμενος διὰ τοῦ πίνειν. Schneidewin quotes also Gorg. 496 C, ὧν ἅμα τε ἀπαλλάττεται ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἅμα ἔχει, which is not really parallel.
439-440. mvp-comment-252-1 ἀλλὰ .. σωτηρίας (1) But all these things are to me by nature less important to obtain than my own safety. λαβεῖν epexegetic, like ἔχειν in Ο. Τ. 592, τυραννὶς ἡδίων ἔχειν. Cp. inf. 638, μείζων φέρεσθαι: Εl. 1015-1016, προνοίας οὐδὲν ἀνθρώποις ἔφυ | κέρδος λαβεῖν ἄμειvov. Or, possibly, (2) It is in my nature to take less account of all this than of my own safety. For the meaning thus given to ἐμοὶ πέφυκ cp. Εl. 860, πᾶσι θνατοῖς ἔφυ μύρος. And for λαβεῖν = To weigh or estimate, cp. Thuc. 2. 42, § 5, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων τιμωρίαν ποθεινοτέραν αὐτῶν λαβόντες.
441. mvp-comment-253-1 For σὲ δή, sc. λέγω, cp. Aesch. Prom. 944, σὲ τὸν σοφιστήν, κ.τ.λ.: Soph. El. 1445, σε τοι, σὲ κρίνω, κ.τ.λ.: Eur. Hel. 546. And for ἐς πέδον κάρα νεύειν, cp. supr. 269.
441. mvp-comment-253-2 Creon misinterprets the action of Antigone. She fixes her eyes upon the ground, not from fear or shame, but because she is out of sympathy with all present, and her thoughts are in the other world. The hidden fire flashes out in ll. 450, foll., which are certainly not spoken with averted eyes. Cp. Ο. Τ. 1121.
442. mvp-comment-254-1 καταρνεῖ The unusual compound, introduced, perhaps, partly for the sake of metre, has also a special sense of blame. Cp. καταμελέω, καταξιόω, καταπειλέω, καταπροδίδωμι, καταργυρόω, κατασπείρω, κατασχολάζω.
445. mvp-comment-255-1 Free and exempt from grievous imputation.
446. mvp-comment-256-1 μήκος Adverbial, cp. O. С. 92, κέρδη μὲν οἰκήσαντα τοῖς δεδεγμένοις.
446. mvp-comment-256-2 'Tell us, no long tale, but briefly, knew you of the edict that forbade this deed? I knew; 'twas plain enough. How could I fail to know? And were you, then, so hardy as to transgress our law? That edict came not to me from the mouth of Zeus, nor from the Right, whose throne is with the Gods below. They also have appointed unto men a law. Methought your edict could not so prevail, as that a mortal should overleap the silent irrefragable ordinances of heaven. Their life is not of to-day or yesterday. They are eternal. None knoweth of a time when they began. I feared not so the mind of any man, as to incur before the Gods the penalty of that law. I knew, forsooth, without your edict, that I was to die. And if I am to die before the time, I count it gain. For he must surely gain by death who lives, as I do, midst abounding woes. And so for me to meet this doom is a grief I reck not of. If I had borne to leave unburied the corpse, fallen in carnage, of my mother's son, that had been a grief to me, but this is no grief. And if I seem to you to be now doing foolishly, it comes to this;-I am condemned of folly by a fool.'
447. mvp-comment-257-1 τὰ κηρυχθέντα The proclamation made. Cobet's conjecture ᾔδησθα κηρυχθέντα (Νov. Lect. 1858. p. 215), while restoring the recognised Attic form, is unobjectionable in point of syntax. But the use of the article in pointing to his own decree is characteristic of Creon, and if ἠείδης is retained in the Iliad, 22. 280, why not ᾔδης in Tragedy?
449. mvp-comment-258-1 καὶ δῆτα And then. Cp. Plat. Theaet. 142 C, καὶ δῆτα προπέμψας αὐτόν, ἀπιὼν πάλιν, κ.τ.λ.
449. mvp-comment-258-2 τούσδε . . νόμους These laws, i. e. The laws whose majesty is vested in me. For this use of the demonstrative, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34.
450. mvp-comment-259-1 I obeyed no decree of yesterday, but the eternal law. That cannot be annulled by any enactment of a mere man. It may be that I shall die for what I have done. But it needed not your proclamation to tell me that I must die. And to die before the term appointed me is to lose so much of sorrow.
451. mvp-comment-260-1 For the mythological fancy, cp. О. С. 1381-1382, εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἡ παλαίφατος | Δίκη ξύνεδρος Ζηνὸς ἀρχαίοις νόμοις.
452. mvp-comment-261-1 This line is rightly explained by the Scholiast and Donaldson, Ἡ δίκη, φησί, καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς ὥρισαν ὥστε θάπτεσθαι τοὺς νεκρούς.. θέλει δὲ εἰπεῖν ὅτι ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως δίκαιον ἤγημαι θάπτειν τὸν ἀδελφόν. (Schol.) She replies, that she did not consider his proclamations as emanating from Zeus, the supreme God, or from that justice which regulated the rights of the dead, who, she says, have established these laws, namely, the laws of sepulture, which do not need any enactment, but have their ὅροι set up in the human heart. (Donaldson.) The iteration of τούσδε, in contrasting the law which she obeyed with the edict of Creon, is dramatically appropriate, and there is no difficulty in the vague use of the demonstrative. See Essay on Language § 22. p. 34. Cp. Od. 10. 326, τάδε φάρμακα.
454. mvp-comment-262-1 ἄγραπτα κἀσφαλῆ Unwritten and sure. Ср. О. Т. 865 ff., and note. ἀσφαλῆ is not only Never failing to apply, but also Never failing to vindicate their authority. Cp. II. 456 ff.
455. mvp-comment-263-1 θνητὸν ὄντα Sc. σέ, understood from τὰ σὰ κηρύγματα. That a mortal man should run beyond the silent irrefragable ordinances of the Gods. Cp. Eur. Ion 973, καὶ πῶς τὰ κρείσσω θνητός οὖσ᾽ ὑπερδράμω; Ο.Τ. 476-482
456. mvp-comment-264-1 νῦν .. κἀχθές To-day or yes- terday. The particle γε, ay, serves to connect the sentences, and τε is unnecessary, as appears from the similar expression, χθὲς καὶ πρώην, in Plat. Legg. 3. 677 D.
456. mvp-comment-264-2 ἀεί ποτε means Everlastingly, without any clear distinction of past or future. πότε gives the effect of indefiniteness or infinity.
457. mvp-comment-265-1 ζῇ Are in force. Cр. О. Т. 481, ἀεὶ ζῶντα περιποτᾶται.
457. mvp-comment-265-2 ἐξ ὅτου 'φάνη Since when they came into being. Cp. Tr. 1, λόγος ..
457. mvp-comment-265-3 ἀρχαῖος φανείς.
458-459. mvp-comment-266-1 τούτων.. τὴν δίκην The penalty to be exacted in vindication of these. The Gods might be said δίκην ἐπιτιθέναι τῶν παραβαθέντων νόμων, although the word in the genitive after δίκη more frequently signifies the offence for which punishment is awarded. Cp. infr. 1074, τούτων σε λωβητῆρες ὑστεροφθόροι, κ.τ.λ.
458-459. mvp-comment-266-2 ἀνδρός Of a mere man. Cp. O. C. 567, ἔξοιδ᾽ ἀνὴρ ὤν. 461 ff. Shak. Julius Caesar, 3. 1, 'Bru. That we shall die, we know; 'tis but the time | And drawing days out, that men stand upon. | Cass. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life | Cuts off so many years of fearing death. | Bru. Grant that, and then is death a benefit: | So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridged His time of fearing death.'
458-459. mvp-comment-266-3 τοῦ χρόνου, sc. ἐν ᾧ μ᾿ ἐχρῆν θανεῖν.
462. mvp-comment-267-1 κέρδος αὔτ᾽ ἐγὼ λέγω αὔτ᾽, i. e. αὐτό, although not necessary to the construction, as appears from Plat. Apol. 40 Ε., κέρδος ἔγωγε λέγω, is better here than αὖτe, which weakens κέρδος.
463. mvp-comment-268-1 ὡς ἐγώ Supr. ll. 4-6.
466. mvp-comment-269-1 παρ᾿ οὐδὲν ἄλγος Is a grief of no account. Cp. supr. 35.
466. mvp-comment-269-2 ἐμῆς Meineke conj. ἐκ μιᾶs, Seyffert ὁμῆς, unnecessarily. The emphatic use of ἐμós is frequent in Sophocles.
467. mvp-comment-270-1 ἄθαπτον *ἠνσχόμην ἠνσχόμην (1) may be defended by the analogy of the syncopated ἀνσχήσεσθαι, ἄνσχεο, in Epic Greek. Otherwise (2) νέκυν may be cancelled as a gloss, and ἄθαπτον *ὄντ᾿ ἠνεσχόμην read, according to the conj. of Prof. E. L. Lushington. Or (3) ἐσχόμην may be read in the sense of ἠνεσχόμην. Ε. on L. § 55, 4. p. 101. But this is doubtful.
470. mvp-comment-271-1 μώρῳ i.e. One whose judgment is self-condemned, because opposed to the eternal laws. The word is not prompted by mere petulance, but is uttered with profound conviction.
471. mvp-comment-272-1 'The maiden's lineage declares itself in the fierce vein that comes to her from her fierce sire.' Phil. 1045-1046.
472. mvp-comment-273-1 ἐπίσταται Sc. ἡ παῖς.
473. mvp-comment-274-1 σκληρά Unbending, and so Stubborn, Obstinate.
473. mvp-comment-274-2 The self-will of Creon appears with increasing distinctness. (1) He asserts his confidence in the use of power to suppress insubordination. (2) He speaks of his ward, whom he does not care to name, as in the place of a slave (479): (3) he implies that to cede an inch of authority is to give the sovereignty to another (485). (4) He throws the tie of kindred to the winds. The first words of his speech are ominous of his own doom. See Introduction.
475. mvp-comment-275-1 ὀπτὸν .. περισκελή Baked to exceeding hardness. Cp. Aj. 649, καὶ περισκελεῖς φρένες.
476. mvp-comment-276-1 θραυσθέντα καὶ ῥαγέντα Broken and shattered. The strongest word is put first in the Greek. Essay on Language § 41. p.77.
477. mvp-comment-277-1 σμικρῷ has a strong emphasis. Ibid.
478. mvp-comment-278-1 ἐκπέλει Hesych. ἐκπέλει, ἔξεστι. Hdt. uses ἐκγίνεσθαι in a similar sense. See Essay on Language § 55. p. 101.
479. mvp-comment-279-1 δοῦλος Creon shows his coarsely tyrannical spirit by boasting of his absolute power over his orphan relative.
481. mvp-comment-280-1 Cp. Hdt. 3. 83, νόμους οὐκ ὑπερβαίνουσα τοὺς Περσέων.
484. mvp-comment-281-1 Cp. Eur. I. Α. 952 ff., ἢ Σίπυλος ἔσται πόλις, ὅρισμα βαρβάρων, κ.τ.λ.
485. mvp-comment-282-1 If this authority is to be allowed to rest with her unchallenged. By an exaggeration of feeling like that in l. 208, he thinks that to pardon disobedience is to yield authority to the offender. For κείσεται, cp. El. 361, σοὶ δὲ πλουσία | τράπεζα κείσθω: ἀνάκειμαι in Hdt. 1.97, γνοὺς ὁ Δηϊόκης ἐς ἑωυτὸν πᾶν ἀνακείμενον.
485. mvp-comment-282-2 κράτη, as in l. 173, ἐγὼ κράτη δὴ πάντα καὶ θρόνους ἔχω.
486. mvp-comment-283-1 ὁμαιμονεστέρα is the more rational and stronger reading: although in weighing a hyperbolical expression of this kind, that is perhaps hardly a sufficient argument, and may be urged on the other side as accounting for the alteration of the MS.
487. mvp-comment-284-1 τοῦ παντὸς.. Ζηνὸς ἐρκείου i.e. Our whole family, the presiding numen being put for the thing held sacred.
489. mvp-comment-285-1 μόρου For the genitive with ἀλύξετον, cp. Phil. 1044, τῆς νόσου πεφευγέναι.
489. mvp-comment-285-2 ἴσον is probably to be construed both with ἐπαιτιῶμαι and βουλεύσαι (‘I accuse equally of plotting equally'), and τοῦδε τάφου is partly gen. after ἐπαιτιῶμαι, partly after ἴσον.
491. mvp-comment-286-1 ἀρτίως Viz. after l. 331, when Ismene knew that the deed was done, and, alone of those in the palace, knew also by whom.
493-494. mvp-comment-287-1 And it commonly happens that the spirit of those who are plotting some utter wickedness in secret is convicted of its occulted guilt before the act.
493. mvp-comment-288-1 ᾑρῆσθαι κλοπεύς Το be arrested in some stealthy enterprise. The perfect tense marks that the detection is completed before the purpose is carried into effect. Cp. πεπραγμένα .. ἡμαρτημένα, in O. T. 621.
495. mvp-comment-289-1 Yet I hate it equally when one who is caught in actual mischief tries to make a virtue of the offence.
495. mvp-comment-289-2 ἐν κακοῖσι = In trouble, i. e. In crime, and not merely, like Ismene, in the consciousness of crime. Cp. Fr. 843, αἰδὼς γὰρ ἐν κακοῖσιν οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖ.
496. mvp-comment-290-1 καλλύνειν Creon affects to regard Antigone's appeal to the higher law as a piece of hypocrisy. Cp. Fr. 845
496. mvp-comment-290-2 κλέπτων δ᾽ ὅταν τις ἐμφανῶς ἐφευρεθῇ, | σιγᾶν ἀνάγκη, κἂν καλὸν φέρῃ στόμα.
497. mvp-comment-291-1 Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1211.
500. mvp-comment-292-1 μηδ' ἀρεσθείη Sc. μηδὲν τῶν σῶν λόγων.
501. mvp-comment-293-1 ἔφυ Are by nature, and so cannot fail to be.
505. mvp-comment-294-1 λέγοιτ' ἄν For the passive, see Essay on Language § 31. P. 54 *ἐγκλείσαι] Cp. supr. 1. 180. Dindorf's correction (with εί for ῄ) is retained in preference to ἐγκλείοι. The future optative is clearly wrong.
506-507. mvp-comment-295-1 These two lines have been considered spurious. But their scornful tone may be compared with supr. 469-470.
509. mvp-comment-296-1 ὑπίλλουσι ἴλλειν (cp. supr. 340) is To move within bounds, or To limit motion. So here, 'They move their lips under your restraint; i. e. They curb their speech under your will.
510. mvp-comment-297-1 τῶνδε .. φρονεῖς; If you hold a course divergent from theirs. Cp. supr. 375, μήτ᾽ ἴσον φρονῶν.
512. mvp-comment-298-1 καταντίον In opposition to him.
514. mvp-comment-299-1 Why then do you honour a service which involves impiety to him? Honour, i. e. By zealously performing it.
515. mvp-comment-300-1 ὁ κατθανών νέκυς Eteocles.
516. mvp-comment-301-1 i. e. If you honour the impious one equally with him.
517. mvp-comment-302-1 For the omission of the participle, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.
519. mvp-comment-303-1 τοὺς νόμους τούτους Cp. supr. 452.
519. mvp-comment-303-2 ἴσους, the reading of the corrector of L, rather injures the line by dividing the emphasis, which rests entirely on ὅμως. Essay on Language § 41. p. 76 (4).
520. mvp-comment-304-1 ἴσος Of equal right. ἴσos has the construction of ἄξιος or δίκαιος. Essay on Language § 36. p. 64.
521. mvp-comment-305-1 Who can tell if this be not esteemed pious in the under-world? τάδε, this, which you count impious, the burial of Polynices. Schol., τίς οἶδεν εἰ καθ' Ἅιδου ἀλλήλοις διαλλάσσοντες ἡγοῦνται εὐσεβῆ τάδε. τίς οἶδεν εἰ, like Haud scio an in Latin, suggests an affirmative as possible, as in the lines τίς οἶδεν εἰ τὸ ζῆν μὲν ἐστι κατθανεῖν | τὸ κατθανεῖν δὲ ζῆν; κάτωθεν, see v. rr., is possibly right.
522-523. mvp-comment-306-1 Creon means that Eteocles must still hate Polynices after death. To which Antigone rejoins, in the line which expresses what is deepest in her, If it be so, his hatred is no rule for me. Creon sees that further argument is useless, and breaks off impatiently with an abrupt sentence of death.
524-525. mvp-comment-307-1 Go, then, to your grave, and there, if you must love them, love the dead below! κείνους, sc. τοὺς κάτω, with particular reference to Polynices.
526-530. mvp-comment-308-1 Here comes Ismene forth, shedding sisterly tears; from clouds above her brow, that moisten her fair cheek, doing disgrace unto her flushed countenance. Cp. Sh Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, 1. 1, Lys. Why is your cheek so pale? | How chance the roses there do fade so fast? | Herm. Belike, for want of rain, which I could well | Beteem them from the tempest of mine eyes. Ant. and Cleo. 3. 2. 52. Il. 17. 591, ἄχεος νεφέλη: Eur. Hipp. 173, ὀφρύων νέφος: Aesch. Prom. 144-145, ὀμίχλα .. πλήρης δακρύων.
527. mvp-comment-309-1 δάκρυ᾽ εἰβομένη is the Triclinian reading for δάκρυα λειβόμενα. δάκρυ λειβομένη has been conjectured. But the construction, with φιλάδελφα adverbial, is less simple and therefore less pathetic. δάκρυα εἰβομένη is read in M³.
529. mvp-comment-310-1 ῥέθος Eur. Η. F. 1204, πάρες ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων | πέπλον . . ῥέθος ἀελίῳ δεῖξον.
531. mvp-comment-311-1 ὡς ἔχιδν᾽ ὑφειμένη Having slid in secretly like a snake; i.e. Like a serpent lurking. For the feeling associated with ὑφίημι, cp. Ο. Τ. 387, ὑφεὶς μάγον τοιόνδε μηχανορράφον.
532. mvp-comment-312-1 ἐξέπινες Cp. Tr. 1055-1056, ῥοφεῖ ξυνοικοῦν· ἐκ δὲ χλωρὸν αἷμά μου | πέπωκεν ἤδη.
533. mvp-comment-313-1 ἄτα κἀπαναστάσεις Abstract for concrete. See Essay on Language p. 94.
533. mvp-comment-313-2 θρόνων, obj. gen. Ib. § 9. p. 12.
536. mvp-comment-314-1 εἴπερ ἥδ᾽ ὁμορροθεῖ The Scholiast has noticed the apparent absurdity of Ismene's adding this condition to her avowal; and Schneidewin alters the line το δέδρακα τοὔργον, εἴπερ ἥδ᾽· ὁμορροθῶ. But the inconsistency is touchingly significant of the irresolute character of Ismene, and of the ascendancy of Antigone's stern nature over hers.
537. mvp-comment-315-1 τῆς αἰτίας is directly governed by ξυμμετίσχω, the notion of participation being silently continued in καὶ φέρω. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 331, πάντων μετασχὼν καὶ τετολμηκὼς ἐμοί.
539. mvp-comment-316-1 οὔτ᾽ ἐγὼ 'κοινωσάμην Supr. 69.
541. mvp-comment-317-1 ξύμπλουν Essay on Language p. 94.
542. mvp-comment-318-1 Antigone's offering to the dead was made in solitude, and without the presence of the sun.
545. mvp-comment-319-1 ἁγνίσαι τιμῆσαι Schol. Ismene means, Though I shrank from the deed, let me share the glory of it by accepting the consequences.
546. mvp-comment-320-1 ἅ = ταῦτα ὧν. Essay on Language § 35. P. 59. μή, ibid. § 29. p. 48.
548. mvp-comment-321-1 τίς βίος i. e. πῶς ὁ βίος; See Essay on Language § 22. p. 36.
549. mvp-comment-322-1 'Ask Creon. He has your care and duty;' i.e. Creon is more to you than your brother is.
551. mvp-comment-323-1 εἰ γέλωτ᾽ ἔν σοι γελῶ Schneidewin's explanation of this line, It is painful to me to be mocking you, my sister, is out of harmony with the tone of Antigone, although it is true that in this line her bitterness is somewhat softened. Either δή, κεἰ must be read, or εἰ explained as = κεἰ. I have grief enough, I assure you, though I laugh a bitter laugh at thee. Cp. 728, εἰ δ' ἐγὼ νέος = Though I am young: Eur. Or. 484, εἰ δὲ δυστυχεῖ, τιμητέος. See Essay on Language § 28. p. 47.
552. mvp-comment-324-1 ἀλλὰ νῦν Essay on Language § 26. p. 43. Par. E suggests ἐπωφελοῖμ᾽.
554. mvp-comment-325-1 κἀμπλάκω i. e. ἢ σώσω ἐμαυτὴν καὶ ἀμπλάκω.
556. mvp-comment-326-1 ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ . . λόγοις But not without my saying what I said, was this choice made. Ismene would clear herself from the imputation of merely shrinking from the attempt through cowardice, or without laying before her sister the grounds of her own conduct, as she had done supr. 49 ff. She also wishes to remind Antigone of ll. 78, 99, which acquit her of indifference towards the dead. But Antigone only recalls the argument against opposing those in power. Wolff compares Eur. Ion 228, ἐπὶ δ' ἀσφάκτοις μήλοις μὴ πάριτε.
557. mvp-comment-327-1 Your counsel seemed wise to these' (Creon, etc., τοῖς ἐνθάδε), but mine to those (Polynices and the powers below, τοῖς ἐκεῖ). The form of the sentence is accommodated to the latter part of it. If the first part were fully expressed it would be ἐδόκεις ἄν. G. Wolff and Wecklein prefer the reading σὺ μὲν σοί. But the opposition of τοῖς μὲν, τοῖς δέ, is more pointed.
558. mvp-comment-328-1 (1) Ismene reiterates, still feebly, what she had asserted in 536-537. Or (2) 'We are both in equal error,'-you against the state, and I against the dead. The first (1) is best. In either case, Antigone rejoins, You need not trouble yourself to make confessions. You are safe.
559-560. mvp-comment-329-1 ἡ δ᾽ ἐμὴ.. ὠφελεῖν My soul has long been with the dead, to do them service. In these words Antigone may be supposed to say, either (1) From the moment when my resolution was taken, my life has been with the dead, devoted in sacrifice to their aid; cp. supr. 72 and note: or (2) I have long been dead to all the joys of life, and am therefore a fit sacrifice to the service of the dead. So Wecklein. Cp. Shak. Merch. of V. 4. 1, I am a tainted wether of the flock, etc. But the former meaning (1) is alone consistent with the betrothal of Antigone to Haemon.
562. mvp-comment-330-1 τὴν δ᾽.. ἔφυ We learn from this line, and from supr. 499-501, that there had never been much sympathy between Antigone and Creon.
563-564. mvp-comment-331-1 The unfortunate never retain even the reason that was born with them, but lose it in distraction. Ismene intends her excuse to cover Antigone.
564. mvp-comment-332-1 Creon echoes κακῶς πράσσουσιν. You lost your wits when you chose to share the guilt of the wicked. Cp. 536 ff., 558.
566. mvp-comment-333-1 Why, what life that deserves the name could be mine in loneliness apart from her?
567. mvp-comment-334-1 Say not "this maiden." She is no longer here. The word ἥδε remains in the nominative. This often happens when a word is quoted with the article; which, however, is elsewhere omitted in similar cases, as for instance when the word so quoted is the predicate of a sentence. Cp. Plato, Theaet. 164 Β, τὸ δέ γε οὐχ ὁρᾷ οὐκ ἐπίσταταί ἐστιν, εἴπερ καὶ τὸ ὁρᾷ ἐπίσταται, where ἐπίσταται is equally out of construction with ἥδε in this line.
568. mvp-comment-335-1 νυμφεῖα Essay on Language p. 94.
569. mvp-comment-336-1 Ср. О. Т. 1211, 1497-1498, foll.
570. mvp-comment-337-1 Not as their hearts were plighted. Literally, Not in such a way as harmony had been prepared between him and her. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 9.13, ξυνὸν ἁρμόζοισα θεῷ τε γάμον κούρᾳ θ' Ὑψέος εὐρυβία.
571. mvp-comment-338-1 The plural generalizes the expression.
571. mvp-comment-338-2 υἱέσι Dative of the person interested.
572. mvp-comment-339-1 *AN. The MSS. have ΙΣ. But Böckh has given strong reasons for following Aldus in assigning the line to Antigone. The last speech of Creon might well move her to break silence, which she does naturally by resenting the words not for herself, but for Haemon. There is also greater bitterness in this line than in any speech of Ismene. Then, granting that τὸ σὸν λέχος, addressed to Ismene, might mean The marriage you prate of, the words express a much deeper feeling as addressed to Antigone. Outwardly a mere expression of impatience, they convey the only touch of natural feeling which Creon betrays. 574 and 576 are then most naturally given to the chorus. The act of Creon in sacrificing his son's happiness is more solemnly marked when his words are addressed to the coryphaeus. While adhering to this view I am bound to add that some of the best critics prefer the other arrangement of the persons.
577. mvp-comment-340-1 καὶ σοί γε κάμοί Sc. δεδογ μένα: i. e. σὺ μὲν οὕτω δοκεῖς, ἐμοὶ δὲ δέδοκται. We are agreed so far.
577. mvp-comment-340-2 τριβάς Sc. ποιείσθε. Essay on Language §39. p. 74.
578. mvp-comment-341-1 'Henceforth these must be really women, and not left at large;' i. e. They must be treated as women. Cp. l. 484. This reading, although defaced in L, may well be defended against such would-be improvements as εὖ δὲ τάσδε χρὴ | γυναῖκας εἶλαι (Dind.), and εὖ δετὰς δὲ χρὴ | γυναῖκας εἶναι (Seyffert), which are to be condemned, amongst other reasons, for destroying the singleness of the emphasis. Creon, as usual, covers his self-will under the appearance of principle. Cp. Plat. Legg. 1.637, ταχὺ γάρ σου λάβοιτ᾽ ἄν τις τῶν παρ' ἡμῶν ἀμυνόμενος, δεικνὺς τὴν τῶν γυναικῶν παρ' ὑμῖν ἄνεσιν : Ar. Pol. 2. 6. The words indicate that Antigone's going beyond the gate, supr. 18, 19, was an exceptional freedom, consequent on the war. Thus Sophocles is contented with a hint, where Euripides thinks an explanation necessary: Phoen. 89-91.
582. mvp-comment-342-1 The fate of Antigone is sealed, and the chorus moralize over the power of fate and of Zeus, as shown in the continued calamities of the race of Labdacus, and the infatuation ('quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat ') of Antigone. The spectator is left free to apply the same reflections to the case of Creon.
582. mvp-comment-342-2 'Calamity is like a storm that stirs the lowest depths and sounds afar. The race once touched is never free. Each generation as it rises is struck down.
582. mvp-comment-342-3 'The house of Labdacus has sorrow upon sorrow. Amidst the ruined grove one root was springing, only to be swept under by the cruel dues of Hades in a frenzy of infatuation.
582. mvp-comment-342-4 Who can restrain the power of Zeus? Unchecked by sleep or age he ever dwells in the light of Olympus. This was and shall be now and evermore, a truth that spareth not the lives of men, whom hope deceives, giving comfort indeed, but also inspiring passionate folly, till disappointment comes, before the man hath seen that he is treading on fire. Wise was he who said that evil seemeth good to one whom God is drawing to perdition. Few are the days of his exemption from that dark lot.
582. mvp-comment-342-5 The 1st strophe opens solemnly with three dactylo-epitritic or Doric lines, which are followed by iambic and trochaic rhythms. The 2nd strophe is logaoedic, with syncope of thesis in ll. 3, 5, 7, 11 a'. β'. ILCCICcl alcl- LullLCClcclcla 10101010 51-1 CLL下CICLI トCICICI CCICCICLI 1101007ID トトー CCCII 100II
582. mvp-comment-342-6 οἶσι .. αἰών Whose life is free from taste of misery. Blessed, because of the rarity of their lot, and because of the unsparing persistence of calamity when it comes to any. For κακῶν ἄγευστος, cp. Ο. Τ. 969, ἄψαυστος ἔγχους.
583. mvp-comment-343-1 θεόθεν The adverb of place supports the metaphor of a storm coming from a certain quarter. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1089, ῥιπὴ Διόθεν.
583-584. mvp-comment-344-1 ἄτας | οὐδὲν ἐλλείπει Cp. l. 2, ff.
585. mvp-comment-345-1 ἔρπον The real subject of this is πᾶσα ἄτη (or τὸ πᾶν ἄτης) implied in the preceding words, the positive being educed from the negative. Calamity stints not, but goes on till it fulfils the number of the race.
586-589. mvp-comment-346-1 ὅμοιον.. πνοαῖς Like as when the billow courses over the darkening deep before fell Thracian blasts from the Euxine sea. Some interpreters make ἔρεβος subj, and οἶδμα obj. of ἐπιδράμῃ, when the darkening wave courses over the main. But οἶδμα elsewhere in Sophocles is not the expanse (aequor) but the swelling of the sea, and ἔρεβος ὕφαλον can hardly be anything else than the nether darkness of the deep. For the accumulation of adjectives, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 37. Seyffert reads ὡς προποντίδος. 589 ff. It rolls from depths below the black tempestuous drift. 591. And the cliffs, returning the shock, groaningly resound.'
586-589. mvp-comment-346-2 δυσάνεμον A sign of tempest, 'Associated with bad winds, because only seen when the wind has been blowing hard on shore. Ventorum vehementiorum comitem.' Musgr. 593, foll. From of old I see with pain' (ὁρῶμαι, ethical middle, Essay on Language § 31. p. 52) 'the calamities of the house of Labdacus accumulating on the calamities of those that are gone; nor does one generation free another, but some god casts them down; nor is there hope of redemption.'
586-589. mvp-comment-346-3 ἀρχαῖα has the stress as suppl. predicate. Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.
595. mvp-comment-347-1 The reading of this line has been much questioned, but the meaning is clear, although it is uncertain what word (whether φθιτῶν or some other) has been supplanted by the unmetrical φθιμένων: which may be due to a reminiscence of Aesch. Cho. 403. 4, παρὰ τῶν πρότερον φθιμένων ἄτην | ἑτέραν ἐπάγουσαν ἐπ᾿ ἄτῃ.
596. mvp-comment-348-1 γενεὰν γένος There is no distinction of meaning (such as One generation, .. 'The whole race'). Cp. O. C. 27, 28, ἐξοικήσιμος .. οἰκητός.
596. mvp-comment-348-2 ἐρείπει Sc. γενεὰν ἑκάστην. Cp. infra 601, κατ᾽ αὖ νιν, κ.τ.λ.
597. mvp-comment-349-1 οὐδ᾽ ἔχει Nor does the case admit of. Cp. Ο. C. 545, ἔχει δέ μοι ..
597. mvp-comment-349-2 πρὸς δίκας τι.
600. mvp-comment-350-1 ῥίζας Ἀντὶ τοῦ, ὅπερ ἔβλαστεν ἄνω τῆς ῥίζης, Schol. The root, for the plant.
600. mvp-comment-350-2 *ἐτέτατο The Scholiast notes the asyndeton (λείπει ἄρθρον τὸ ὅ): which is expressive and allows viv to be referred to ῥίζας, to which it naturally belongs. And in the reading ῥίζας δ τέτατο, the order of words is questionable. For ἐτέτατο φάος, cp. Phil. 831, αἴγλαν, ἃ τέταται τανῦν. The light is the grace and nobleness of Antigone, and her bright hopes. The conj. θάλος, for which, cp. Pind. Οl. 2. 45, Ἀδραστιδᾶν θάλος, is uncalled for.
601. mvp-comment-351-1 κατ' was rightly restored by Triclinius for κατ' (ⅰ.e. καὶ εἶτα), which had been introduced to avoid the asvndeton. (Schol. ἐάν στίξωμεν κᾷτ᾽ αὖ νιν, οὐδὲν λείπει τῷ λόγῳ.)
602-603. mvp-comment-352-1 ἀμᾷ θερίζει καὶ ἐκκόπτει. ἢ καλύπτει, Schol. The latter is right.
602-603. mvp-comment-352-2 Ας καταμᾶσθαι κόνιν is ‘Το cover oneself with dust,' so, by a poetical inversion, the dust may be said καταμᾶν, To cover, or Sweep out of sight. Essay on Language § 42. р. 80, β.
603. mvp-comment-353-1 λόγου τ᾽ ἄνοια καὶ φρενῶν Ἐριvús The reasoning of Antigone in 450 ff. seems wild to the chorus, and her conduct shows her to them as possessed with a fatal frenzy. It may be thought strange that κόνις should be retained against a reading which has been so generally ap- proved as κόπις, first suggested by Jortin. But see Essay on Language pp. 92, 93. The grotesque image of Death, or Hades, armed with a bloody chopper or cleaver, however agreeable to the manner of Euripides, or some other poets, has no parallel in the language of Sophocles. And the transition from this concrete imagery to the spirits of fury and madness is, to say the least, awkwardly abrupt. The words λόγου τ᾽ ἄνοια καὶ φρενῶν Ἐρινύς are most natural if they are added to expand an obscure allusion to the deed which had brought Antigone into danger. And the words φοινία θεῶν τῶν νερτέρων .. κόνις, The deadly dust sacred to the gods below, convey such an allusion not more obscurely than do the words in Tr. 836 ff., δεινοτάτῳ μὲν ὕδρας προστετακὼς φάσματι, κ.τ.λ., express the condition of Heracles in the poisoned robe. Triclinius was therefore not absurd in saying εἰκότως δὲ τὸ κόνις τέθειται. διότι γὰρ ἐκάλυψεν Ἀντιγόνη ἀδελφὸν Πολυνείκην κόνει, διὰ τοῦτο τεθνήξεσθαι ἔμελλε.
604. mvp-comment-354-1 This is suggested by the position of Antigone, whose offence brings swift retribution; but is felt by the spectator to be more applicable to that of Creon.
604-605. mvp-comment-355-1 τίς .. κατάσχοι Essay on Language §36. p. 62. Ср. O. T. 937, and esp. Pind. Οl. 11. 20, 1, ἐμφυὲς οὔτ᾽ αἴθων ἀλώπηξ | οὐδ᾽ ἐρίβρομοι λέοντες διαλλάξαιντο ἦθος.
606. mvp-comment-356-1 Not slumber that brings age to all things.' Cp. Hom. Il. 14. 242, where Sleep says, ἄλλον μέν κεν ἔγωγε θεῶν αἰειγενετάων | ῥεῖα κατευνήσαιμι, καὶ ἂν ποταμοῖο ῥέεθρα | Ὠκεανοῦ, ὅσπερ γένεσις πάντεσσι τέτυκται | Ζηνὸς δ' οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγε Κρονίονος ἆσσον ἱκοίμην, οὐδὲ κατευνήσαιμ᾽, ὅτε μὴ αὐτός γε κελεύοι. For αἱρεῖ, cp. Il. 24.5, οὐδέ μιν ὕπνος ἥρει πανδαμάτωρ: Od. 9. 372, κὰδ δέ μιν ὕπνος ἥρει πανδαμάτωρ. The conjecture of Bamberger, παντοθήρας, is plausible. But for the closeness of the association between Age and Sleep, cp. O. T. 870-871, οὐδὲ λάθα κατακοιμάσει .. οὐδὲ γηράσκει.
607-608. mvp-comment-357-1 The reading adopted involves the simplest change which avoids a breach of metrical rules. Others suppose, the loss of a syllable after θεῶν, reading ἄκοποι for ἀκάματοι, with ἕρπει in the fourth line of the antistrophe. For θεῶν added as a sort of epithet = Divine, cp. supra 454, 369: Ο. Τ. 647 : Αj. 711, θεῶν.. πάνθυτα θέσμια : Phil. 198: also Tr. 1191, Ζηνός. The indefiniteness of this use obviates the objection of Schneidewin, that the months of the Gods are opposed to Zeus, who is generally the orderer of time, as in Hom. Il. 2. 134, Διὸς μεγάλου ἐνιαυτοί. There is possibly, however, in θεῶν some allusion to the heavenly bodies, who, as Plato says, are the ὄργανα χρόνου.
608. mvp-comment-358-1 ἀγήρῳ δὲ χρόνῳ δυνάστας With power whose duration is untouched by age. For the personification of χρόνος, see Essay on Language pp. 81, 82. The reading ἀγήρως seems to be of some antiquity, and is embodied in one of the Scholia.
610. mvp-comment-359-1 αἴγλαν Cp. Hom. Il. 1. 532, ἀπ᾿ αἰγλήεντος Ὀλύμπου. The conception of Olympus is here more Homeric than elsewhere in Sophocles. See on O. T. 867, О. С. 1655.
611-612. mvp-comment-360-1 τό τ᾽ ἔπειτα καὶ τὸ μέλλον καὶ τὸ πρίν] Cp. Thuc. 2. 64, § 8.
613. mvp-comment-361-1 The reading οὐδὲν *ἕρπων is to some extent confirmed by the Scholium ση πάμπολις, ὁ κατὰ πᾶσαν πόλιν ἕρπων νόμος, and is the most probable of the emendations of this passage. It has been supposed that οὐδὲν ἔρπει, and also ἐκτὸς ἄτας, have crept in from below; but this stasimon is peculiarly full of verbal echoes. See Essay on Language § 44. p. 76. This principle' (the sovereignty of Zeus) will last the coming time, and the time to come, as well as the time past, never swerving, as it moves onwards, from calamity to the life of mortals in all their cities. Lit. Coming to the life of mortals (a law of every city) in no respect out of the way of calamity. οὐδέν, adverbial.
613. mvp-comment-361-2 βιότῳ, dat. of reference (Essay on Language § 12. p. 18). πάμπολις, universal, i.e. law not of any one state, but embracing all. For ἕρπων ἐκτὸς ἅτας θνατῶν βιότῳ, cp. infra l. 1318: ἐμᾶς.. ἐξ αἰτίας (= ἐκτὸς αἰτίας ἐμοί): Ο. C. 1575, ἐν καθαρῷ βῆναι .. τῷ ξένῳ: Essay on Language § 42. p. 79.
615. mvp-comment-362-1 πολύπλαγκτος There is no clear instance of an active use of πολύπλαγκτος, for in Hom. Il. 13. 308, έξ ἀνέμοιο πολυπλάγκτοιο ἰωῆς, The fartravelled wind, is a probable enough meaning. Cp. Shakespeare's Empty, vast, and wandering air. So here Widely roving' is better than Muchdeceiving.' Cp. infr. 785-786.
617. mvp-comment-363-1 ἀπάτα . . ἐρώτων ἐρώτων is not genitive of object, but of cause: not Disappointment of desire, but De ception through desire. To many, hope is but the deceitfulness of winged desire.
618. mvp-comment-364-1 εἰδότι δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἕρπει And it comes to him all at unaware, i. e. The event or calamity comes. For the vague subject, cp. supra 597, οὐδ᾽ ἔχει λύσιν, and note. This is better than Nothing befals him while he is aware. 619. Till his foot be scorched in the hot blaze.' For the insertion of τις in the second clause, cp. Aj. 964, τἀγαθὸν χεροῖν | ἔχοντες οὐκ ἴσασι πρίν τις ἐκ βάλῃ : Τr. 2, 3, ὡς οὐκ ἂν αἰῶν᾽ ἐκμάθοις βροτῶν, πρὶν ἂν θάνῃ τις. Seidler's conj. προσαύρῃ is less good than the reading of L.
620. mvp-comment-365-1 σοφίᾳ Dative of manner. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20, 2.
625. mvp-comment-366-1 πράσσει, SC. ὁ τοιοῦτος, supr. l. 619, τις, l. 623 , τῷδ'. Cp. Aesch. ap. Plat. Rep. 2, p. 380 Α, θεὸς μὲν αἰτίαν φύει βροτοῖς | ὅταν κακῶσαι δῶμα παμπήδην θέλει.
625. mvp-comment-366-2 ὀλιγοστόν ὀλίγιστον has been read, and is possibly the Ist hand of L; see v. rr. But ὀλιγοστός χρόνος may mean a time that is one of few, i. e. one that comes rarely or seldom. πολλοστός in Legg. 10. 896 B, is not small, but many times removed, and has the force of a superlative, as it has also in Phileb. 44 E, where it means minutest.
626-627. mvp-comment-367-1 See Essay on Language § 40. p. 75.
628. mvp-comment-368-1 νύμφης had probably been written over μελλογάμου or τάλιδος as a gloss. The words τῆς μελλογάμου νύμφης are omitted in VM¹. This whole expression may have been a gloss on τάλιδος, or on τῆς μελλονύμφου φου infr. 633.
629. mvp-comment-369-1 μόρον Ε. on L. § 16. p. 23.
630. mvp-comment-370-1 ἀπάτας (1) Gen. of cause; or (2) with ὑπερ. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 260.
631. mvp-comment-371-1 μαντέων ὑπέρτερον Better than a seer could tell us. Creon thus vents his impatience at the anticipation of the chorus, and also indicates his scorn of prophecy. Cp. infr. 1034 ff.
632. mvp-comment-372-1 τελείαν ψήφον The fixed, irreversible, decree. Creon means by his first words to exclude hope.
632. mvp-comment-372-2 ἆρα μή Can it be that.., expressing doubt mingled with surprise.
633. mvp-comment-373-1 τῆς μελλονύμφου Objective genitive. Essay on Language § 9. p. 12.
633. mvp-comment-373-2 λυσσαίνων · Madly raging; as if opposition to a father could only be accounted for by madness. The word is ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, and is for this reason preferable to the weaker θυμαίνων.
634. mvp-comment-374-1 σοὶ μέν i.e. Whatever we may be to others.
635-765. mvp-comment-375-1 Haemon professes obedience to his father, but with the implied condition that his father commands what is right. Not heeding this, Creon welcomes his general profession, and enlarges on the blessings that follow from obedience in public and private. He urges Haemon to renounce Antigone. Haemon replies by repeating the praise of her which he has heard in the city (Ar. Rhet. 3. 17, ἕτερον χρὴ λέγοντα ποιεῖν.. ὡς Σοφοκλῆς τὸν Αἴμονα ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἀντιγόνης πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ὡς λεγόντων ἑτέρων), and begs his father not to be deaf to all opinions but his own. Creon is impatient at this, and, after an altercation, in which both speakers become exasperated, Creon orders Antigone to be brought for immediate execution, and Haemon breaks away in sullen anger. This episode interposes a necessary pause between the condemnation of Antigone and its results, i. e, between the two chief crises of the action, and assists the main impression by bringing the light of natural affection and common opinion to bear on the situation.
635-636. mvp-comment-376-1 σύ μοι γνώμας ἔχων | χρηστὰς ἀπορθοῖς Sc. ἐμέ. You, having good advice for me, direct me. μοι is in construction with the nearer word.
637. mvp-comment-377-1 No marriage can, if I think rightly, be a more valued prize to me. ἀξίως ἔσται has been changed to ἀξιώσεται. But ἀξιοῦσθαι μείζων φέρεσθαι, To be deemed of more importance to obtain, is an awkward and unauthorized expression and, for the position and emphatic use of the adverb, which is the only difficulty, see Essay on Language § 24. pp. 37, 38, and cp. the adverbial use of ἄξιος in El. 1260 ff., τίς .. ἀξίαν μεταβάλοιτ᾽ ἂν .. σιγὰν λόγων ;
638. mvp-comment-378-1 For μείζων, = τιμιώτερος, cp. Ο. Τ. 776, ἀστῶν μέγιστος τῶν ἐκεῖ.
638. mvp-comment-378-2 φέρεσθαι is in the middle voice.
638. mvp-comment-378-3 σοῦ καλῶς ἡγουμένου Than you and your good guidance. The condition is assumed to be inseparable from the subject, as in Plat. Rep. 1. 335 A, τὸν μὲν φίλον ἀγαθὸν ὄντα εὖ ποιεῖν, τὸν δὲ ἐχθρὸν κακὸν ὄντα βλάπτειν.
639. mvp-comment-379-1 οὕτω .. διὰ στέρνων ἔχειν Το be thoroughly imbued with this.
640. mvp-comment-380-1 'In all things to follow your father's judgment.' The image is that of taking up a position behind a leader: i. e. Not to break rank, but to follow in good order. Cp. Plat. Protag. 315 B, (the disciples of Protagoras) εὖ πως καὶ ἐν κόσμῳ . . ἀεὶ εἰς τὸ ὄπισθεν καθίσταντο κάλλιστα.
643. mvp-comment-381-1 τὸν ἐχθρόν 'Their father's enemy.'
646. mvp-comment-382-1 τί .. ἄλλο is governed by the general verbal notion, without distinctly anticipating φῦσαι.
648. mvp-comment-383-1 τὰς φρένας γ᾽ ὑφ᾽ ἡδονῆς The reading of Vat. is retained, not as clearly right, but as more probable than later corrections. γε may be supposed to give a strong emphasis to φρένας. Do not lose your wits, whatever you do. And this is rather confirmed by the way in which Haemon echoes the word in l. 683.
650-651. mvp-comment-384-1 ψυχρὸν παραγκάλισμα . . ἐν δόμοις 'Small comfort comes of such a union, of having a bad wife to share one's couch at home.'
653. mvp-comment-385-1 πτύσας Rejecting with abhorrence. Here and in l. 1232, πτύειν seems to imply a gesture of dislike or loathing, directed towards a person or thing. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1192, ἐν μέρει δ' ἀπέπτυσαν | εὐνὰς ἀδελφοῦ.
653. mvp-comment-385-2 ὡσεί τε Αn Epic or Ionic form. See Introd. p. 456.
654. mvp-comment-386-1 The construction is rather μέθες τήνδε τινὶ νυμφεύειν, Leave her for some one to wed, than μέθες τήνδε νυμφεύειν τινί, Leave her to wed some one.
657. mvp-comment-387-1 ψευδή .. πόλει I certainly will not break my word to the state.
658. mvp-comment-388-1 ἀλλὰ κτενῶ The abruptness of the pause helps the incisiveness of Creon's language.
659-660. mvp-comment-389-1 εἰ γὰρ .. γένους For if I fail to bring up orderly those born akin to me, most surely I shall fail with those remote. Creon turns Antigone's nearness of kindred to him into a reason for severity. If he cannot control his kinswoman, how much less can he control the state! Authority begins at home.
659. mvp-comment-390-1 For ἐγγενή φύσει, see Essay on Language § 40. p. 69, and p. 82, B.
661. mvp-comment-391-1 τοῖς .. οἰκείοισιν Neuter. Creon characteristically relies on commonplace maxims.
663. mvp-comment-392-1 The transgressor who either violates the laws. The alternative is thought of after the sentence is begun. νόμους is in two constructions, (1) with ὑπερβάς, (2) with βιάζεται.
664. mvp-comment-393-1 τοὐπιτάσσειν Cp. supr. 485, and note.
664. mvp-comment-393-2 τοῖς κρατύνουσιν νοεῖ The reading of L here is rather more uncommon than the alternative reading, which may notwithstanding be right.
666. mvp-comment-394-1 For the optative, in a perfectly general supposition, see Essay on Language §36. p. 61.
666. mvp-comment-394-2 κλύειν Το obey.
667. mvp-comment-395-1 τἀναντία τὰ μεγαλὰ καὶ ἄδικα.
668-671. mvp-comment-396-1 And of this man (the man who obeys the ruler) I would have no fear but that he would rule nobly, and be a good and willing subject, and if posted near me in the storm of battle, would stand firmly as a staunch and trusty comrade. For the vague reference of the pronoun, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34. And for δορός .. χειμῶνι, ib.
673. mvp-comment-397-1 αὕτη .. τίθησιν The anacoluthon (for which see Essay on Language p. 65) has been avoided in two ways, (1) by omission of τε, (2) by reading ἠδ' for ἥδ'. This Homericism is defended by comparing ὥσει τε in l. 653. There is slight MS. authority for both these changes (see v. rr.). But strong reasons are required for the introduction of a particle not used elsewhere by Sophocles, and after the regularly balanced τε.. ἠδέ, the asyndeton in the next line would be too abrupt. If any change were necessary, the omission of τ' would be preferable, but the lines are more expressive as they are.
674. mvp-comment-398-1 σὺν μάχῃ δορός Bothe conjectured συμμάχου δορός, The rout of the leagued war. But the reading of the MS. has a more vivid meaning. This, aiding the conflict of the spear, breaks down (the vanquished) into shapeless rout: i. e. Disorder helps with battle to make utter rout. For μάχῃ δορός, see Essay on Language p. 75, and for the accusative τροπάς, ib. § 17. p. 25, etc.
675. mvp-comment-399-1 τῶν δ᾽ ὀρθουμένων Of those who are not routed, but are successful. Opposed to οἱ ἡσσώμενοι implied in τροπάς. Cp. El. 742, ὠρθοῦθ' ὁ τλήμων ὀρθὸς ἐξ ὀρθῶν δίφρων.
677. mvp-comment-400-1 οὕτως.. κοσμουμένοις 'Thus one ought to support one's own decrees.' Thus, viz. as I am doing. For this use of the passive participle, see Essay on Language § 17. p. 25, с. Some would explain the words as masculine, One must defend the cause of the orderly subject. Cp. Thuc. 8. 24, ἐκοσμοῦντο ἐχυρώτερον. But such an immediate application of the γνώμη is less in character than the arbitrary assertion of authority. Cp. Hdt. 1. 100, τὰ δὲ δὴ ἄλλα ἐκεκοσμέατό οἱ.
681. mvp-comment-401-1 The form κεκλίμεθα (supposed from κλίνω) was supported by the authority of Thomas Magister.
683. mvp-comment-402-1 θεοὶ.. ὑπέρτατον Wisdom, whose value is above all possessions in the world, is the Gods gift.' Haemon begins by echoing his father's thought, supr. 648, that sound sense is to be prized most highly, but gently hints that Heaven only knows on which side the true wisdom lies. The reading χρημάτων requires ὑπέρτερον, as in L2.
686. mvp-comment-403-1 μήτ᾽ ἐπισταίμην λέγειν i. e. And may I never bring myself to say it. Cp. Trach. 543. 4, θυμοῦσθαι μὲν οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι | νοσοῦντι κείνῳ πολλά.
687. mvp-comment-404-1 χἀτέρῳ Schol. δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως καλῶς μεταβουλεύσασθαι. Hence Erfurdt and others conjectured χἀτέρως, χατέρα, χἄτερον. Hermann, retaining χἀτέρῳ, interprets, Another also may have wisdom as well as you: i.e. καλῶς ἔχον, sc. τὸ τῶν φρενῶν. But the context rather suggests καλῶς ἔχον, sc. τὸ λέγειν σὲ μὴ ὀρθῶς λέγειν. 'That you are wrong in what you now say I have no power, and may I never have the skill, to affirm. But it may be that from another's mouth such an assertion were not ungracious.' καί in this case belongs to the whole sentence. See Essay on Language § 25. p. 43. 4.
688. mvp-comment-405-1 σοῦ δ᾽ οὖν πέφυκα is decidedly better than σὺ δ᾽ οὐ πέφυκας, which seems to have been suggested by τὸ γὰρ σὸν ὄμμα δεινόν, κ.τ.λ., in what follows. The true connection is, It is not for me to say that you are wrong, though another might do so. However, as your son, it naturally belongs to me to consider in your interest what men do, or say, or find fault with. For the common citizen does not speak his mind in your presence, but I may freely hear. Haemon winds about his father with all this circumstance before pleading for Antigone under shelter of the common opinion, which he professes to quote in the interest of Creon. The tact shown in this is noticed by Aristotle (Rhet. 3. 17) and by the Scholiast. The reading of A, V pr., V³, σοὶ δ' οὖν πέφυκα, deserves consideration.
690-691. mvp-comment-406-1 τὸ γὰρ .. κλύων For your eye overawes the subject in conversation which will displease you to hear. λόγοις τοιούτοις is dative of the occasion or reason, assisted by the attraction of οἷς. Essay on Language § 14. p. 20.
690-691. mvp-comment-406-2 τὸ γὰρ σόν The order puts an emphasis on σόν, as in O. Τ. 671, τὸ γὰρ σόν, οὐ τὸ τοῦδ᾽ ἐποικτείρω στόμα.
692. mvp-comment-407-1 ἐμοὶ δ᾽.. τάδε But I may hear all this under shadow (out of the light of your eye). The words ὑπὸ σκότου might equally have been connected with the following line. I hear in secret what is spoken in secret.
694. mvp-comment-408-1 ἀναξιωτάτη Sc. τοιαῦτα παθεῖν.
695. mvp-comment-409-1 ἀπ᾿ ἔργων See Essay on Language § 19. p. 28.
697. mvp-comment-410-1 πεπτῶτ᾽ ἄθαπτον i. e. πεπτώτα καὶ ἄθαπτον ὄντα.
697. mvp-comment-410-2 μήθ'.. μήθ' μή, not oὔ, because ἥτις, κ.τ.λ. = εἰ αὕτη, κ.τ.λ.
700. mvp-comment-411-1 ἐρεμνή Dark, i.e. Fraught with hidden danger. (Cp. ὑπὸ σκότου, supra). The word is used with something of the association of awe and dread attaching to night and darkness. Cp. Hom. Il. 1. 47. ὁ δ᾽ ἤτε νυκτὶ ἐοικώς.
701. mvp-comment-412-1 σοῦ πράσσοντος εὐτυχῶς Cp. supra 638, σοῦ καλῶς ἡγουμένου.
703. mvp-comment-413-1 πατρὸς θάλλοντος εὐκλείας The good renown of a prosperous sire. Haemon thus gently hints his fear of the effect of the sentence on Creon's reputation in the city.
704. mvp-comment-414-1 ἄγαλμα A cause of glorying or delight. Cp. infra 1115, Καδμείας νύμφας ἄγαλμα.
704. mvp-comment-414-2 ἢ τί πρὸς παίδων πατρί ; Or what greater ornament (than their own good fame) can children confer upon their father?
705-706. mvp-comment-415-1 Do not, I beseech you, wear one unchanging temper in your breast, and hold that nothing else is right but as you say. τοῦτο is added because of the imperfect correlation of the clauses. See Essay on Language p. 75.
707-709. mvp-comment-416-1 For ὅστις .. οὗτοι, ib. § 20. p. 31.
707-709. mvp-comment-416-2 For the formal distinction of φρονεῖν, γλῶσσαν, ψυχήν, cp. supra 176, ψυχήν τε καὶ φρόνημα καὶ γνώμην, and see Essay on Language pp. 92, 3.
710. mvp-comment-417-1 ἄνδρα Ε. on L. § 22. p. 37.
710. mvp-comment-417-2 κεἴ τις ᾖ Ε. on L. § 27. p. 44.
710. mvp-comment-417-3 τὸ μανθάνειν Essay on Language § 21. p. 34-38.
711. mvp-comment-418-1 καὶ τὸ μὴ τείνειν ἄγαν And not to hold too hard. This absolute use of τείνειν is generalized from the examples given below.
713-714. mvp-comment-419-1 Note the antithesis of κλῶνας .. αὐτόπρεμνα. The one save even their branches, the others are destroyed root and branch. For the image, cp. Webster's Appius and Virginia, p. 203. (iii. 3), The bending willow, yielding to each wind, | Shall keep his footing firm, when the proud oak, | Braving the storm, presuming on his root, | Shall have his body rent from head to foot.
715. mvp-comment-420-1 ναὸς .. ἐγκρατῆ πόδα The sheet which has power over the vessel. This is a more poetical and rhythmical expression than the other reading, ναὸς εἴ τις ἐγκρατής, πόδα | τείνας, ὑπείκει μηδέν.
716-717. mvp-comment-421-1 ὑπτίοις.. ναυτίλλεται Upsetting, makes the rest of his voyage with benches overturned. Join κάτω στρέψας. τὸ λοιπόν as in ll. 310, foll., where there is a similar contradictory expression. The omission of the accusative after στρέψας is natural in speaking of so familiar an occurrence as the over-setting of a boat. Essay on Language pp. 73, 98. τὸ πλοῖον, which Hermann reads for τὸ λοιπόν, is hardly a correct synonym for ναῦν or σκάφος.
718. mvp-comment-422-1 ἀλλ᾽.. δίδου Nay, yield. Be not wholly irremovable in anger. Lit. Afford also a removal from anger. This seems to be the best arrangement of this difficult line; i. e. εἰ θυμὸν ἔχεις, ἀλλὰ πεισθῆτι καὶ μεθίστασθαι τοῦ θυμοῦ. The asyndeton is expressive (Essay on Language § 34. P. 58). The reading of LA, ἀλλ᾽ εἶκε θυμῷ, is perhaps due to a false reminiscence of Il. 9.598, εἴξας ᾧ θυμῷ. Seyffert reads θυμῷ .. διδούς.
719-720. mvp-comment-423-1 γνώμη .. πρόσεστι For if any judgment proceed from me (ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ) though younger in years. Cp. Τr. 52, 3, εἰ δίκαιον τοὺς ἐλευθέρους φρενοῦν | γνώμαισι δούλοις; ib. 61, κἀξ ἀγεννήτων ἄρα | μύθοι καλῶς πίπτουσιν.
720-722. mvp-comment-424-1 The real stress is on the last line. The paratactic form of sentence is retained, the sense being, However excellent a thing perfect knowledge is, yet, since it is rare, it is well to take good advice.
720-722. mvp-comment-424-2 πρεσβεύειν] The active of this verb is rare in the metaphorical sense.
720-722. mvp-comment-424-3 πάντ᾽ ἐπιστήμης Of knowledge in all things. Essay on Language § 17. p. 24, b.
720-722. mvp-comment-424-4 εἰ δ᾽ οὖν Sc. μή, which is to be assumed from the next clause, where μή has a strong emphasis. For the sentiment, Hermann compares Hesiod, Op. 293, ἐσθλὸς δ᾽ αὖ κἀκεῖνος, ὃς εὖ εἰπόντι πίθηται.
725. mvp-comment-425-1 διπλᾶ is better than διπλῇ, because dwelling merely on the two speeches, and not on their divergence from each other.
726-727. mvp-comment-426-1 And at our age shall we forsooth be schooled by one so juvenile? For the inverted order, see Essay on Language § 26. p. 44: § 41. p. 77.
727. mvp-comment-427-1 For φύσιν, see Essay on Language p. 96.
728. mvp-comment-428-1 μηδὲν τὸ μὴ δίκαιον The combination of the indefinite μηδέν with the definite article is curious, and suggests the idea that μηδέν is adverbial.. But the Scholiast is probably right in explaining the words as equivalent to μηδὲν διδάσκου ὁ μὴ δίκαιόν ἐστί σοι μανθάνειν. Cp. supra 360, οὐδὲν .. τὸ μέλλον. Essay on Language § 22. p. 36. And for emphatic el, ib. § 28. p. 47, supr. 551.
729. mvp-comment-429-1 You ought not to regard differences of time, but rather to face the actual requirements of the case.' τἄργα are not the merits of Haemon, but the truth of his plea.
730. mvp-comment-430-1 What? Is it a "requirement" to fall down and worship rebels? Creon, as usual, represents mercy as submission. ἔργον ἐστί seems to have the same meaning as in σὸν ἔργον, and the like phrases; i.e. ἔργον almost = Duty.
731. mvp-comment-431-1 Nay, I would not bid thee reverence the wicked.
732. mvp-comment-432-1 'Why, is not she possessed by this disease?" viz. τῇ κακίᾳ.
733. mvp-comment-433-1 Not so declare her fellow-citizens in this town of Thebes.
736. mvp-comment-434-1 Is it right, I say, for another than me to rule this land? The reading of L and most MSS, ἄλλῳ.. μοί, (cp. Eur. Ion 1317) is supported by Thom. M. s. v. χρή, and is certainly the durior lectio. But he may have reasoned from a faulty text. See note on l. 681. γε is expressive. For M4 see list of MSS. in the Preface to this edition.
737.
mvp-comment-435-1
Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 370, σύ τοι πόλις, σὺ τὸ δήμιον; Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1. 2,
When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome, | That her wide walls encompassed but one man? | Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough, | When there is in it but one only man. The genitive ἀνδρὸς .. ἑνός is ambiguous between possessive genitive and genitive of content.
A city belonging to one man, and
A city composed of one man.
738. mvp-comment-436-1 Is not the city counted a possession of the ruler? Essay on Language § 9. p. 12, b.
739. mvp-comment-437-1 A splendid monarch would you make to rule a desert land.
742. mvp-comment-438-1 This line is sometimes printed with a note of interrogation, as if the words διὰ δίκης ἰὼν πατρί were epexegetic of σοῦ.. προκήδομαι. ('Villain, when you are wrangling with your father?') But the connection of the lines in this στιχομυθία is not very close, and the more obvious meaning (Villain, to wrangle with your father!') is more probable.
743-745. mvp-comment-439-1 οὐ γὰρ δίκαια .. οὐ γὰρ σέβεις] Here, as in 730, ἔργον γάρ ἐστι, there is the same tendency to play on the word (κομψεύειν) that was observed in the speeches of the Φύλαξ.
745. mvp-comment-440-1 οὐ.. σέβεις It is not reverence when you trample on the honours of the Gods. Essay on Language § 53. p. 98, с.
751. mvp-comment-441-1 τινά i. e. σέ. Essay on Language § 22. p. 34, 4. Interpreters have avoided taking these words in their obvious meaning as implying a threat, which Haemon all but carries into execution afterwards in ll. 1233-1234. It is true, however, that this intention is less distinctly present to his mind than the conviction that vengeance will come to Creon from the gods and from popular feeling.
752. mvp-comment-442-1 κἀπαπειλών For the participle, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 63, €, b.
753. mvp-comment-443-1 τίς Almost = πῶς. Cp. О. С. 775, τίς αὕτη τέρψις;
756. mvp-comment-444-1 'Woman's minion that you are, mince not your words with me.' The subdued tone of Haemon (εἰ μὴ πατὴρ ἦσθ', εἶπον ἄν) only adds fuel to the wrath of Creon.
756. mvp-comment-444-2 For the contempt expressed in δούλευμα and μῖσος (760), see Essay on Language pp. 84, 85.
758. mvp-comment-445-1 άληθες See on O. T. 350.
759. mvp-comment-446-1 ἐπὶ ψόγοισι δεννάσεις Reproach and revile me. For the prepositional phrase, cp. El. 108, ἐπὶ κωκυτῷ, and see Essay on Language § 18. p. 27.
765. mvp-comment-447-1 So that you may exhibit your madness to those of your friends who can brook it. θέλουσι, sc. σοὶ μαινομένῳ ξυνεῖναι. There is a strong emphasis on this participle.
767. mvp-comment-448-1 And at his age the spirit, when chafed, is dangerous. Cp. O. C. 751, τηλικοῦτος, οὐ γάμων | ἔμπειρος ..: and for voûs, see Essay on Language p. 93.
768. mvp-comment-449-1 Cp. O. T. 1075, where Oedipus, with similar unconsciousness, says of Jocasta, who has just rushed out, ὁποῖα χρήζει ῥηγνύτω.
770. mvp-comment-450-1 The order of words shows that the chief emphasis is on ἄμφω : Essay on Language § 41. p. 77. Hence καί is to be taken with the whole sentence: ib. § 25. P. 43, 4. Do you really intend to put them both to death?
773. mvp-comment-451-1 ἔρημος.. στίβος Where track of human footstep there is none. The privative ἔρημος is used for the negative by a redundancy like those adduced in Essay on Language § 40. p. 75; and ἔρημος = ἄστειπτος (Phil. 2), so that the expression = Where no track of mortals has been trodden.
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.
776. mvp-comment-453-1 i. e. Lest the whole city might suffer pollution.
780. mvp-comment-454-1 περισσός Bootless. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 383, μόχθον περισσόν. It is characteristic of the time (cp. Thucydides) that the political energy of Creon is combined with scepticism.
781-800. mvp-comment-455-1 Haemon's disobedience to his father, against his own interest, is due to the might of love.
781-800. mvp-comment-455-2 'Never-vanquished love, that layest riches waste, keeping nightly watch in the fair, soft, youthful cheek: love that roamest over seas and findest out the wildest nook! No god, nor any mortal man, escapes thy maddening power. By love the upright mind is drawn to wrong unto its hurt. By love this present strife is kindled between kinsmen. And clearly triumphant is the influence of desire that cometh from the looks of the fair bride - desire that divides empire with the majestic law: so resistlessly doth goddess Aphrodite mock mankind.
781-800. mvp-comment-455-3 This little ode consists of a strophe and antistrophe, of which the scansion is as follows:- CCLトしてし CICCICII CCCICII IICIICCIト(CLトー 5-0-0-ICCICI-
781-800. mvp-comment-455-4 A glyconic quatrain is followed by two choriambic lines, and the strophe ends with a return to the glyconic rhythm. L. 7 admits of being otherwise divided, viz.: CCLCー.
781. mvp-comment-456-1 ἀνίκατε μάχαν Cp. the similar personification of θυμός by Heraclitus, χαλεπὸν θυμῷ μάχεσθαι, ψυχῆς γὰρ ὠνέεται.
782. mvp-comment-457-1 ὃς ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις (i. e.
782. mvp-comment-457-2 ἐμπίπτεις κτήμασι.) These words have been variously interpreted and emended. They probably mean, Who fallest upon wealth, i. e. art the destroyer of possessions, ruining worldly fortunes in various ways, as the love of Helen wasted Troy, etc. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 538, foll., Ἔρωτα δὲ τὸν τύραννον ἀνδρῶν |.. πέρθοντα καὶ διὰ πάσας | ἰόντα συμφορὰς | θνατοῖς, ὅταν ἔλθῃ. So, in this instance, Haemon is losing all for love. Others interpret, Desire who makest wealth thy object (Schol. rec.), Love, who by attacking enslavest, or Who makest victims of the wealthy.
783-784. mvp-comment-458-1 ὃς .. ἐννυχεύεις Cp. Milton, L'Allegro, 29, 30, 'Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, | And love to live in dimple sleek.' Love is still figured as an enemy, who keeps nightly watch where he is ready to spring forth armed on the unwary. Pind. Nem. 8. 2, ὥρα .. παρθενηΐοις .. ἐφίζοισι γλεφάροις.
785. mvp-comment-459-1 The poet is thinking of legendary examples, such as Paris, Leander, Anchises, etc.
786. mvp-comment-460-1 σε .. φύξιμος i.e. δύναταί σε φεύγειν. Cp. Hom. h. Ven. 34. 5, τῶν δ' ἄλλων οὐ πέρ τι πεφυγμένον ἔστ᾽ Ἀφροδίτην, | οὔτε θεῶν μακάρων, οὔτε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων. But see on 796 ff.
790. mvp-comment-461-1 ἁμερίων ἐπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων The insertion of the preposition, although omitted with θεῶν, is no objection to this reading. See Essay on Language § 19. p. 27: and for ἐπί, with the genitive, meaning In the case of, So far as extends to, cp. Plato, Rep. 3. 406 C, 8.. ἐπὶ .. τῶν δημιουργῶν αἰσθανόμεθα, alib. The force of the preposition and case here is nearer to the original locative sense, = Extending over, 'Quantum hominum genus propagatum extenditur. (Ellendt.)
790. mvp-comment-461-2 ὁ ἔχων Sc. τὸ νόσημα. Wecklein compares ἔχει, he is wounded, with reference to the arrow of love. But this is fanciful.
791-792. mvp-comment-462-1 ἀδίκους.. παρασπᾷς i. e. εἰς ἀδικίαν παρασπᾷς. Drawest awry to wrong. For this proleptic use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 23. P. 39; § 38. p. 71.
792. mvp-comment-463-1 ἐπὶ λώβᾳ ‘Το their hurt or disgrace.'
794. mvp-comment-464-1 ξύναιμον is an emphatic epithet added by an afterthought (Essay on Language § 23. p. 38) and by hypallage made to agree with the principal word, although more properly belonging to ἀνδρῶν. (Ibid. § 42. p. 80).
795. mvp-comment-465-1 νικᾷ δ᾽ ἐναργής i. e. ἐναργής ἐστι νικῶσα.
795. mvp-comment-465-2 βλεφάρων ἵμερος The modern poet speaks of love as engendered in the eyes, with gazing fed: the ancients rather spoke of an influence passing from the eye of the beloved (τὸ ἐρωτικὸν ὄμμα, Plat. Phaedr. 253 E) to the soul of the lover. Desire was viewed as an emanation from the object. Hence Plato's account of ἵμερος, Phaedr. 251 Β, C, δεξάμενος γὰρ τοῦ κάλλους τὴν ἀπορροὴν διὰ τῶν ὀμμάτων, ἐθερμάνθη ἢ ἡ τοῦ πτεροῦ φύσις ἄρδεται .. ὅταν μὲν οὖν βλέπουσα πρὸς τὸ κάλλος, ἐκεῖθεν μέρη ἐπιόντα καὶ ῥέοντα, ἃ δὴ διὰ τοῦτο ἵμερος καλεῖται, δεχομένη ἄρδηταί τε καὶ θερμαίνηται, λωφᾷ τε τῆς ὀδύνης καὶ γέγηθεν. This ancient conception, which had a root in language as well as in philosophy, is reflected even in Milton, L'Allegro, 1. 121, With store of ladies, whose bright eyes | Rain influence, though in this case probably with a further allusion to astrology.
796-799. mvp-comment-466-1 τῶν .. θεσμῶν In the counsels of princes holding an equal place with the majesty of law. This seems the best way of taking these words, which have been variously interpreted; e.g. Equal to the laws in power. 'Assessor in the authority of the laws, etc. There is an allusion to Haemon, who, though a prince, has been led to disobey his father, and to disregard the edict of the king. Cp. Hdt. 4. 165, ἐν βουλῇ παρίζουσα. The resolution of the arsis in πάρεδρος is extremely unusual; see Christ's Metrik, § 178; and Arndt suggested ξύνθρονος ἀρχαῖς, 'Assessor with the rule of majesticlaw. But qy. πάρεδρος *ἀρχαῖς, with "πέφευγεν οὐδείς in 786 ff.? (IILUCCICII).
800. mvp-comment-467-1 Wecklein finds here an oxymoron, turning on the opposition of μάχη and παιδιά. She is resistless, though sport is her only weapon. But this is doubtful.
804. mvp-comment-468-1 παγκοίταν.. θάλαμον The chamber where all must lie. The implied contrast between the fate of Antigone and her intended bridal recurs repeatedly throughout the latter part of the play. Supr. 575, Ἅιδης ὁ παύσων τούσδε τοὺς γάμους γάμ ἔφυ: infr. 891, νυμφεῖον : 1205, νυμφεῖον" Αιδου κοίλον.
806-802. mvp-comment-469-1 Antigone bewails her untimely death, and the chorus attempt to console her by pointing to the singularity of her end. She quotes the example of Niobe, who was encrusted with rock. But Niobe, rejoin the chorus, was a Divine Being. Then the maiden bursts into a cry against such vain comfort, and appeals to the forms of nature around Thebes to bear witness to the strangeness of her fate. The tone of the chorus changes to admonition. Thou hast offended against the majesty of law. Some curse, inherited from thy sire, must have led thee on. At last they have touched her, but it is only to aggravate her sorrow. Dire indeed had been the curse upon her parents; and now she is going to be with them, having never tasted any joy. Her brother's seeming success in marriage had been death to him and to her. The chorus reiterate that piety towards her brother should have yielded to authority. Selfwill has been thy ruin. Antigone: 'Friendless, unmourned, uncomforted, I leave the holy light of day. I die unmarried, and no one weeps for me.'
806-802. mvp-comment-469-2 The metres in this commos, ll. 806-833, chiefly logaoedic. and for the most part glyconic, are as follows:- α΄. 806-816, 823-833. 805 luclu IIC1CCI II1CCIC ―トしかしCICLL Anapaests of cho. 817-822, 834-837- β'. Second strophe and antistrophe. 51IC (トートートートー ICCICII にかくCIトトに CICLC- トトロー CCLCICIC 15010し! 이기 5- ἐπ. } Iambic. ひトしレトCCICI- 51110CIRKIICCI CICCー トリート ―トしーしトー
806-802. mvp-comment-469-3 The effect produced by the epitrite rhythm in a' 9. β΄ 8, ἐπ. 5, and of the spondees in ß' 6, is especially noticeable.
808. mvp-comment-470-1 νέατον is an adjective. See on Ο. Τ. 155.
810. mvp-comment-471-1 κοὔποτ᾽ αὖθις Sc. ὄψομαι φέγγος ἀελίου.
810. mvp-comment-471-2 παγκοίτας is here active='That seals up all in rest.' Essay on Language pp. 98, 101. The metre suggests πάγκοιτος, cp. infr. 828, the corresponding line of the antistrophe.
812-813. mvp-comment-472-1 Ἀχέροντος ἀκτάν Hom. Od. 10. 509, ἔνθ᾽ ἀκτή τε λάχεια: ib. 513, ἔνθα μὲν εἰς Ἀχέροντα πυριφλεγέθων τε ῥέουσι, κ.τ.λ.
815. mvp-comment-473-1 *ἐπινύμφειος, which Dindorf has restored for ἐπινυμφίδιος, is more probable than ἐπὶ νυμφείοις, although this appears to be supported by the note of the Scholiast, λείπει θύραις ἢ κοίταις.
816. mvp-comment-474-1 Ἀχέροντι As other maidens have been wedded to rivers upon the earth.
820. mvp-comment-475-1 ξιφέων ἐπίχειρα The wages of the sword; i.e. Death given by the sword.
821. mvp-comment-476-1 αὐτόνομος The Scholiast explains this, ἰδίοις αὐτῆς νόμοις χρησαμένη. This is not free from ambiguity; but the true meaning is rather By an ordinance peculiar to your case (ἰδίᾳ τινὶ σεαυτῆς νόμῳ), than In your independence of law, or As being a law to yourself. The chorus nowhere speak with admiration of the independent attitude of Antigone, although they secretly sympathize with her pious motive. The word is used with consciousness of the derivation. The νόμος which is peculiar to Antigone is the privilege of a living death.
823. mvp-comment-477-1 λυγροτάταν In sorriest plight. Supplementary predicate.
824-825. mvp-comment-478-1 τὰν Φρυγίαν ξέναν Ταντάλου] Our friend far off in Phrygia, Tantalus' daughter.' Sipylus was placed by some in Phrygia, by others in Lydia. (Strabo, 12. p. 571.) Donaldson well remarks that févar is applied to Niobe, because she married Amphion, king of Thebes.
828. mvp-comment-479-1 ὄμβρῳ τακομέναν The conjectural emendation ὄμβροι has been very generally received. But the Highlands of Phrygia are not subject to perpetual showers. It is more natural to think of a snow-capped peak ever running down with moisture from the melting snow. On the general sense thus given to ὄμβρος, see Essay on Language § 52. p. 98. And as she flows down with moisture, the snow leaves her not, but still she wets the ridges of her neck beneath her tearful brow. The position of T' need cause no difficulty. Essay on Language pp. 65,6. It has been observed that the words ὀφρύς and δειράς are equally applicable to a mountain and to a human being. The subj. of τέγγει is not χιών but ὁ Νιόβα.
834. mvp-comment-480-1 It is doubtful whether θειογενής οι θεογεννής (= θεογέννητος) should be read for the unmetrical θεογενής.
836. mvp-comment-481-1 Of the two readings, φθιμένα and φθιμένῳ, both of which are given by L, and were known to the Scholiast, the feminine is more likely to be due to a corrector.
837. mvp-comment-482-1 The words ζῶσαν καὶ ἔπειτα θανοῦσαν have little point, and being omitted by Aldus (as in A), have never been restored except by Seyffert, who reads μέγα κἀκοῦσαι in l. 836. Those who omit 837, invert the preceding lines for the sake of the paroemiac, and read καίτοι φθιμένῳ τοῖς ἰσοθέοις | ἔγκληρα λαχεῖν μέγ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι. For ἀκοῦσαι, to have said of one, cp. Phil. 1074, ἀκούσομαι μὲν ὡς ἔφυν οἴκτου πλέως.
840. mvp-comment-483-1 *οὐλομέναν The conjecture of Martin. οἰχομέναν (Wunder) also deserves to be considered.
842. mvp-comment-484-1 She first turns from the elders to the city at large; and then, remembering how little sympathy she has had from man, she appeals, like Philoctetes (936 ff.), in a fresh outburst, to the familiar presences' of nature.
843. mvp-comment-485-1 πολυκτήμονες Thebes was proverbially a wealthy city.
844. mvp-comment-486-1 ἰώ Here she breaks into a louder cry.
845. mvp-comment-487-1 ἄλσος The open ground about the city. Cp. Εl. 5, τῆς οἰστροπλῆγος ἄλσος Ἰνάχου κόρης.
847. mvp-comment-488-1 οἷα, like ὀμοιοτάταν in 832, and λυγροτάταν in 823, is supplementary predicate, and equivalent to an adverb.
851. mvp-comment-489-1 Hermann (ed. 1839) was contented to read οὔτε βροτοῖσιν οὔτ᾽ ἐν νεκροῖσιν, but remarked that the long anacrusis of the second part of the line, οὔτ᾽ ἐν νεκροῖσιν = γάμων κυρήσας is very rare. Qu βροτοῖς, οὔτε τις ἐν νεκροίσιν? But the original line is probably lost.
852. mvp-comment-490-1 Advancing to the utmost verge of daring thou didst fall violently, my daughter, against the lofty throne of Right. ἐκτίνεισ Α.
854. mvp-comment-491-1 βάθρον is here the pedestal on which the image of justice is imagined to rest. Cp. Plat. Phaedr. 254 B, ἰδόντος δὲ τοῦ ἡνιόχου ἡ μνήμη πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κάλλους φύσιν ἠνέχθη. καὶ πάλιν εἶδεν αὐτὴν μετὰ σωφροσύνης ἐν ἁγνῷ βάθρῳ βεβῶσαν, Ο. Τ. 865, νόμοι. . ὑψίποδες.
855. mvp-comment-492-1 πολύ is allowed to pass by Hermann without comment, but has been more recently called in question, partly on the metrical ground that the line should end with a long syllable.
855. mvp-comment-492-2 πολύς is certainly no improvement. On the attempt to give special force to such a general word, see Essay on Language § 51. p. 97.
856. mvp-comment-493-1 But thou art paying some debt of expiation inherited from thy sire.' άθλος is here a task or burden imposed by some higher power, like the labours of Heracles, and is perhaps associated by Sophocles with the derivative ἄθλιος. The combined metaphorical use of ἆθλος and ἐκτίνειν is not too great a stretch of language for Sophocles. Essay on Language p. 105.
857. mvp-comment-494-1 Thou hast touched my saddest thought, the thrice-told tale of my father's sorrow.' Boeckh has cleared up the difficulties of this passage (1) by showing that οἶκτον harmonizes better with the context than οἶτον or οἶκον, and also gives a construction to πότμου: (2) by tracing the derivation of τριπόλιστον from πολίζω = πολέω, which occurs in the compound avναπολίζω : (3) by rightly explaining the dative Λαβδακίδαισιν. See Essay on Language § 13. p. 19. He also points out that μερίμνας is genitive, because the singular is more forcible, and μέριμναν would have suited the metre equally well. The only remaining doubt is the construction of οἶκτον.
857. mvp-comment-494-2 ψαύειν may govern the accusative, as appears from 961. But the change from the genitive to the accusative is still to be accounted for. (1) The word ἔψαυσας was chosen with special reference to μερίμνας. ἔλεξας, or some other general word, would have been sufficient if this had not intervened. Hence the general meaning of the verb (= ἔλεξας) is alone continued. (2) The case is partly governed by the verbal notion in μερίμνας = 8 μεριμνῶ. (3) The tendency of a Greek sentence is to pass from a more special to a more general construction. Essay on Language pp. 64, 5, οἶκτον is to be resumed with πότμου, which is co-ordinate with πατρός. Thou hast harped on what my mind broods over with saddest care, the thrice renewed pity for my father, and for the general fortune of our race, the lot that fell upon the famed Labdacidae. Seyffert thinks that in τριπόλιστον Antigone is thinking of her own ever-deepening grief. But the Scholiast and Boeckh are probably right in explaining the word (like κλεινοῖς) with reference to the widely felt compassion for Oedipus. Cp. O. C. 517, τό τοι πολὺ καὶ μηδαμὰ λῆγον: ib. 597, πᾶς τοῦτό γ' Ἑλλήνων θροεῖ. For τριπόλιστον, cp. Phil. 1238, δὶς ταὐτὰ βούλει καὶ τρὶς ἀναπολεῖν μ' ἔπη.
861. mvp-comment-495-1 κλεινοῖς is said with bitterness, as in O. T. 1207, κλεινὸν Οἰδίπου κάρα. The dative is used in explanation of ἁμετέρου, Ist as clearer than the genitive with so many genitives preceding; 2nd with an ethical' force; the lot that fell on us. 863. O my mother, to whom marriage was calamity, O my hapless father, who in wedlock with a mother, held guilty intercourse with her from whom he came.' ματρῷαι λέκτρων ἆται] ‘My mother's calamity in marriage.' λέκτρων is descriptive or distinctive genitive (Essay on Language § 9. p. 12), and the possessive ματρῷαι is joined to λέκτρων ἆται taken as one word. In observing Antigone's tenderness for her mother we are reminded that the plot of the Oedipus Tyrannus was not yet conceived.
865. mvp-comment-496-1 ματρός is objective genitive, after κοιμήματα = ξυνουσίαι, and also descriptive, like γάμοι τέκνων, Ο. C. 945. For the condensed expression κοιμήματά τ᾿ αὐτογέννητ᾽ = τὸ κοιμηθῆναι σὺν ταύτῃ ἐξ ἧς αὐτὸς ἐγεννήθη, see Essay on Language § 43. p. 81, and for the force of αὐτός in composition, ibid. p. 101. The dative ἐμῷ πατρί (Ε. on L. § 13. p. 19, see on l. 861) is occasioned by the adjective; i. e. αὐτογέννητ᾽ ἦν αὐτῷ τὰ κοιμήματα. The nature of constructions in such condensed expressions can only be explained by expanding each phrase into a sentence. The meaning of the passive verbal termination in αὐτογέννητα is extremely indefinite. The other way of taking the words ('Connubium dicit Jocastae cum Oedipo quem ipsa pepererat,' Dind.), although giving a more obvious construction to the dative, has the fatal blemish of making a twofold apostrophe to Jocasta, whereas οἵων implies a reference to both parents, which is much more forcible.
865. mvp-comment-496-2 The Laur. reading δυσμόρῳ is preferable, because of the peculiar significance of κοιμήματα ματρός.
866. mvp-comment-497-1 οἴων is to be immediately referred to κοιμήματα, Such wedlock as gave me birth.
868. mvp-comment-498-1 μέτοικος may possibly have the association of an alien,' because she could not expect to meet with proper burial. But for the generalised meaning of μέτοικος, cp. supr. 852: О. С. 934: infr. 890, μετοικίας.
872-875. mvp-comment-499-1 There is some piety in pious action; but, as towards him who wieldeth it, authority must in no wise be transgressed. A self-determined impulse hath undone thee.' Cp. Phil. 138, τέχνα γὰρ τέχνας ἑτέρας προὔχει | καὶ γνώμα παρ' ὅτῳ τὸ θεῖον | Διὸς σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσεται, where there is a similar ellipse of the antecedent. The meaning is, He who has authority must not suffer authority to be thwarted. This may be made clearer by supplying ἐκείνῳ, as dative of the person interested, for the antecedent to ὅτῳ. He must not have it (i.e. suffer it to be) transgressed.
877. mvp-comment-500-1 Unhappy, I am led the way that is here prepared for me.' Creon has already entered before these words are said. Cp. infr. 933-934. Mm
883. mvp-comment-501-1 ἀοιδὰς .. πρὸ τοῦ θανεῖν Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1444-1445, ἡ δέ τοι κύκνου δί· κην | τὸν ὕστατον μέλψασα θανάσιμον γόον | κεῖται φιλήτωρ τοῦδε.
884. mvp-comment-502-1 εἰ χρείη If it were allowed. Ср. О. Т. 1110, εἰ χρή τι κἀμὲ μὴ συναλλάξαντά πω, | πρέσβυ, σταθμᾶσθαι: Ο. C. 1711, πῶς με χρὴ τὸ σὸν τάλαιναν ἀφανίσαι τοσόνδ' ἄχος. This modified use of χρή = One is to, not One must,' is only possible in hypothetical or interrogative sentences.
887. mvp-comment-503-1 ἄφετε This is on the whole more probable than ἄπιτε. The change from the future with οὐκ to the imperative has probably occasioned the corruption of the text.
887. mvp-comment-503-2 χρή This the Scholiast explained by χρήσει, i. e. he read χρῇ. And this is necessary, if τυμβεύειν is read in 888. But τυμβεύσει, the reading of Triclinius, is supported by τυμβεύει in AV³. Whether she must die there, or shall live a buried life in that dark cell. For εἰ .. χρή, cp. Εl. 399, πεσούμεθ', εἰ χρή, πατρὶ τιμωρούμενοι. And for τυμβεύσει, see Essay on Language p. 64 b. The intransitive use of τυμβεύειν occurs nowhere else.
889. mvp-comment-504-1 Creon claims to be pure from the blood of Antigone, because he has altered the doom of stoning (1. 36) to that of immurement, and because of the modicum of food that is to be shut in with her, ὡς ἄγος (1. 775).
890. mvp-comment-505-1 'At all events she shall no longer share the right of dwelling with us in the light of day.'
891-892. mvp-comment-506-1 'O cavernous abode of long imprisonment, at once my bridal-chamber and my tomb.'
896. mvp-comment-507-1 πρὶν .. βίου 'Before my allotted portion of life is spent.' Cp. Il. 4. 170, μοῖραν ἀναπλήσῃς βιότοιο. For ἐξήκειν, cp. Τr. 147, ἀλλ᾽ ἡδοναῖς ἄμοχθον ἐξαίρει βίον | ἐς τοῦθ', ἕως ἄν, κ.τ.λ.
897. mvp-comment-508-1 κάρτ᾽ ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφω I do cherish it amongst my hopes.
899. mvp-comment-509-1 κασίγνητον κάρα This must be addressed to Polynices, who is most in the thoughts of the spectators, and is again invoked in the same words in 1.915: not to Eteocles, of whose burial Antigone only knew by hearsay, supr. 23 ff. The difficulty of reconciling this with the following lines has been adduced as one of several reasons for rejecting the passage from l. 900 to l. 928 in whole or in part. The lines 905-912 are apt to appear to modern readers, as they did to Goethe, a blemish in a place which might have been expected to be most carefully finished. The saying, which Herodotus, 3. 119, attributes almost in the same terms to the wife of Intaphernes, would seem from this to have had a wide currency in Ionia-for it is a precarious supposition that either author derived it from the other-and fell in with the natural tendency of Greek life to exalt the bond of brotherhood above all other ties of affection and kindred. The general feeling of the speech is well traced by Seyffert. Antigone, when brought face to face with death, in utter isolation from human sympathy, comes down from the lofty tone she had assumed in her first answer to Creon, and recognizes the simple fact that it was the strength of her affection which impelled her to defy the law. Her love for Poly- nices was wonderful, passing the love that could be felt for a husband or a child. She dilates on this and justifies it by a primitive sophism, which the passage of Herodotus cited above shows to be more in the spirit of the time of Sophocles or of the age preceding him than of any later period. If the Antigone is the earliest of the seven plays (see Introduction), we need not be surprised by an archaism of thought which is much less remarkable than several which occur in Aeschylus. In an early English ballad, called the Douglas Tragedy, a woman interceding for the life of her father, whom her lover would slay, gives the following reason :-'True lovers I can get many a one, | But a father I'll never get more.'
900-901. mvp-comment-510-1 In these lines she is thinking of her father and mother. The libation only had been given to Polynices, who is specially mentioned in the following line. Ll. 900, I could not have been written after O. C. 1756 ff.
903. mvp-comment-511-1 περιστέλλουσα Decking for burial,' and SO also protecting from insult. 904. And certainly those who consider rightly will say I did honour thee. For the dative, see Essay on Language § 13. p. 19. Others take e with ἐτίμησα, but for the stress, it was a real honour,'-cp. the emphatic use of ἄνηρ, Ο. C. 393, and of ὕβρις, ib. 882.
905. mvp-comment-512-1 Feeling the incongruity of saying, If I had lost a child, she says, If I had had children, leaving the further supposition to be implied. Mm2
906. mvp-comment-513-1 κατθανὼν ἐτήκετο Had been wasting in death. Cp. 1. 410, μυδῶν τε σῶμα γυμνώσαντες εὖ.
907. mvp-comment-514-1 βίᾳ πολιτών Cp. supr. 74, 5. Creon is the representative of the State, and the elders in supr. 872 ff. have confirmed his sentence. Antigone is throughout perfectly conscious of the nature of her action, and at this moment she sees more clearly than ever the audacity of it. But even after the impulse has subsided she goes resolutely, though sadly, to her fate.
908. mvp-comment-515-1 νόμου Principle. Cp. supr. ll. 191, 613.
909. mvp-comment-516-1 κατθανόντος Sc. τοῦ πόσεως.
910. mvp-comment-517-1 τοῦδε τοῦ παιδός.
912. mvp-comment-518-1 οὐκ ἔστ᾿ .. ποτέ Although not strictly logical, this is much more touching and expressive than οὐκ ἔσθ' ὅπως ἀδελφὸς ἂν βλάστοι ποτέ, which it has been proposed to substitute here.
916. mvp-comment-519-1 διὰ χερῶν .. λαβών διά lit. = Between. Cp. διαλαμβάνω in Hdt., e.g. 1. 114, ἐκέλευε αὐτὸν τοὺς ἄλλους παῖδας διαλαβεῖν: Plat. Rep. В. 10. p. 615 Ε, τοὺς μὲν διαλαβόντες ἦγον.
918. mvp-comment-520-1 παιδείου τροφῆς The rearing of children. This is censured by Dindorf as unmaidenly: but cp. El. 963-966, καὶ τῶνδε μέντοι μηκέτ᾽ ἐλπίσῃς ὅπως | τεύξει ποτ· οὐ γὰρ ὧδ᾽ ἄβουλός ἐστ᾿ ἀνὴρ | Αἴγισθος, ὥστε σόν ποτ᾿ ἡ κἀμὸν γένος | βλαστεῖν ἐᾶσαι, πημονὴν αὐτῷ σαφή : Eur. Ion 485 ff., ἐμοὶ μὲν πλούτου τε πάρος | βασιλικῶν τ' εἶεν θαλάμων | τροφαὶ κήδειοι κεδνῶν τέκνων, κ.τ.λ. For the active sense of τροφή in the passage last quoted and in the text, see Essay on Language $ 53. p. 98, and cp. El. 1143 ff., οἴμοι τάλαινα τῆς ἐμῆς πάλαι τροφῆς | ἀνωφελήτου, τὴν ἐγὼ θάμ᾽ ἀμφί σοι | πόνῳ γλυκεῖ πάρεσχον.
919. mvp-comment-521-1 ἔρημος πρὸς φίλων For the redundant preposition, see Essay on Language §19. p. 28.
920. mvp-comment-522-1 θανάτων, which occurs only in L and M³, is very unlikely to have been changed to θανόντων in the Byzantine period. The latter is therefore probably the authentic reading, and not merely due to conjecture.
921-922. mvp-comment-523-1 ποίαν..; τί χρή ..; The suddenness of these transitions is very expressive of the agitation of Antigone's mind. Her fate leads her even to doubt the providence of the gods, but not to admit that she has done wrong. She will make the admission when death has taught it her, but not before. If her judges are wrong they will suffer too.
922-923. mvp-comment-524-1 ἐς θεοὺς .. βλέπειν Cp. El. 925, μηδὲν ἐς κεῖνόν γ᾽ ὅρα.
923. mvp-comment-525-1 ξυμμάχων ; The partitive genitive expresses with greater emphasis what might have been expressed by the accusative.
923. mvp-comment-525-2 ἐπεί γε δή The momentary doubt about the vindication of right in the world heightens the tragic effect. Cp. Phil. 428, τί δῆτα δεῖ σκοπεῖν; ib. 451, 2, ποῦ χρὴ τίθεσθαι ταῦτα, ποῦ δ᾽ αἰνεῖν, ὅταν | τὰ θεῖ᾽ ἐπαινῶν, τοὺς θεοὺς εὕρω κακούς; Trach. 1266: Aj. 950 ff.
924. mvp-comment-526-1 τὴν δυσσέβειαν The vice of impiety is confused with the blame of impiety, just as ἀρετή sometimes means a reputation for virtue. Cp. Phil. 1443, ἡ γὰρ εὐσέβεια συνθνήσκει βροτοῖς. Εςsay on L. p. 95.
925. mvp-comment-527-1 If, after all, this course of theirs is approved in heaven, when I have suffered I suppose I shall acknowledge my fault. The emphatic position of παθόντες implies, After I have suffered, but not before.' K εγ
927. mvp-comment-528-1 μὴ πλείω κακὰ | πάθοιεν This has actually been interpreted as a prayer of Antigone for her enemies. Others explain it as a warning to them Let them see to it that they do not suffer more. The real meaning is, that she cannot imprecate heavier sufferings on them than they are inflicting on her. Let them suffer, I will not say more, but the same evils which they unrighteously inflict on me. For a curse, similarly half-checked in utterance, with μή. cp. Phil. 961, ὅλοιο μή πω, πρὶν μάθοιμ᾽ εἰ καὶ πάλιν | γνώμην μετοίσεις. To translate this Mayest thou not perish yet, would be a similar mistake to that which has caused the difficulty about the present passage. It is true, however, that Antigone's tone is rather that of one who judges, than of one who condescends to ban her enemies.
927. mvp-comment-528-2 οἴδε Sc. οἱ πολίται. See above, 1.907 and note.
929-930. mvp-comment-529-1 For the addition of αὑταί, see Essay on Language § 40. p. 75, 2, and for ψυχῆς, which is added to soften the metaphor (since the chorus are less bold in an anapaestic than in a purely lyric passage, supr. 137), see ib. 5.
930. mvp-comment-530-1 τήνδε γ' γε gives a natural emphasis to τήνδε, and there is no ground for the conjecture τήνδ' ἐπέχουσιν.
931. mvp-comment-531-1 τούτων, which is genitive of the cause, is not likely to have been interpolated. It is more probable that the second τοι arose from διττογραφία.
933-934. mvp-comment-532-1 θανάτου ἀφίκται This word is nearest death of all that have come. Cp. Thuc. 3. 59, χαλεπώτατον τοῖς ὧδε ἔχουσι λόγου τελευτᾶν, διότι καὶ τοῦ βίου ὁ κίνδυνος ἐγγὺς μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ. The adverb of place is supplementary predicate; see Essay on Language § 24. p. 40. 935-936. μὴ οὐ follows the rule laid down in Essay on Language § 29. p. 49, 3 a. Böckh and Dindorf, taking a hint from the Scholia, give these lines to the chorus, on the ground that Creon has already withdrawn all hope. But the word κατακυροῦσθαι is characteristic of Creon, who may be thought not unlikely, even superfluously. to have made this final assertion of his will.
938. mvp-comment-533-1 θεοὶ προγενεῖς My divine ancestry, including Cadmus and Harmonia, and their parents. Cp. supr. 199, θεοὺς τοὺς ἐγγενεῖς, and note: Hdt. 2.143, Ἑκαταίῳ . . ἀναδήσαντι τὴν πατριὴν εἰς ἑκκαιδέκατον θεών.
940. mvp-comment-534-1 O royal line of Thebè!' This has usually been explained as an address to the chorus. But Antigone expects no more sympathy from them (least of all if ll. 935-936 are rightly given to the chorus). It is rather an apostrophe to the members of the princely family living and dead, including the θεοὶ προγενεῖς. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 800-802, οἱ τ' ἔσω δωμάτων πλουτογαθῆ μυχὸν νομίζετε | κλῦτε, σύμφρονες θεοί.
941. mvp-comment-535-1 *βασιλειδᾶν is Seyffert's ingenious emendation, based on Hesychius' βασιλείδης· ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως. Ismene is throughout only thought of as a foil for Antigone, and there is no more impropriety in Antigone speaking of herself as the last of her race than in the chorus (supr. 599 ff.) singing of the extinction of the light that was spreading over the last remaining shoot of the Labdacidae.
942. mvp-comment-536-1 πρὸς οἴων ἀνδρῶν As a princess, she speaks with scorn of Creon, who is not of royal birth. The words may also contain an allusion to the ἦθος of his (or the chorus'?) last speech.
944-987. mvp-comment-537-1 The chorus, in the manner of Pindar, moralise on the fate of Antigone through examples drawn from the circle of mythology and legend; and thus suggest the same cold comfort as in their mention of Niobe. The effect of this ode is to repress the excitement and solemnize the thoughts of the spectator. 'Danaë, though of royal lineage, and entrusted with the golden shower, was bound by all-constraining destiny in her brazen cell. 'Bound, too, in a prison of rock, was Lycurgus, who provoked the God. He knew his madness when it was too late. And on the Thracian promontory Phineus sons, blinded by their father's wife (Idothea), bewailed their rejected mother Cleopatra's hapless lot, who, descended from an ancient line, and endowed with swiftness by her divine sire, was notwithstanding overtaken by the long-lived fates.' Danae and Cleopatra were, like Antigone, of royal birth, and, like Antigone, were bound in a living tomb. So also was the son of Dryas, himself a king: and this, in his case, was the penalty of an impetuous and defiant spirit. Sophocles seems to have followed one version of the obscure and variable legend of Phineus, according to which Cleopatra did not die, but was rejected by Phineus for Idothea, and imprisoned in a cave, from which she was afterwards released by Heracles. The sons were blinded by their step-mother. The first strophe and antistrophe are choriambic with an iambic close; the second, logaoedic. The choriambi here were probably chanted slowly, so as to have a weighty, solemn effect. The scheme is as follows: a'. First strophe and antistrophe. IILUCI LUCILー LUCILIITUCICートに IICClluclトー IIICCILUCIトに ICICICI KLCICICI CトートUICIK β'. Second strophe and antistrophe. UCCTCCICCI IICCICCII!یں ILU TUCI くいくいトCICIK Cトートしーーー ―トビトCICIK CÚCCICICICC
944. mvp-comment-538-1 φῶς | ἀλλάξαι 'Το exchange the light' (for gloom), i. e. To lose the light. Cp. Phil. 1262, ἀμείψας ..
944. mvp-comment-538-2 στέγας.
945. mvp-comment-539-1 δέμας Form. This word reminds us of the beauty of Danaë, which increased the pathos of her fate.
945. mvp-comment-539-2 ἐν χαλκοδέτοις αὐλαῖς In a brassbound room. The compound of δέω merely suggests the general notion of confinement (Essay on Language § 55. 3, p. 101), and has nothing to do with the riveting of brazen plates to the walls.
949. mvp-comment-540-1 γενεᾷ τίμιος Because descended from Danaus the grandson of Poseidon.
951. mvp-comment-541-1 ὁ μοιριδία τις δύνασις The mysterious power of fate. For the combination of the article and indefinite pronoun, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 36.
952. mvp-comment-542-1 *ὄλβος is Erfurdt's ingenious and probable correction of ὄμβρος. He compares Bacchylides ap. Stob. Ecl. Phys. 1. 166, θνατοῖσι δ᾽ οὐκ αὐθαίρετοι | οὔτ᾽ ὄλβος οὔτ᾽ ἀκάματος Ἄρης οὔτε πάμφθερσις στάσις.
953.
mvp-comment-543-1
Cp. Hor. Od. 2. 16, 21,
Scandit aeratas vitiosa naves | Cura. ἁλίκτυποι is passive:
Sea-beaten.
954. mvp-comment-544-1 κελαιναί The Epic νῆες μέλαιναι: i. e. Looking dark against the sea and sky.
955-957. mvp-comment-545-1 The punishment of Lycurgus was the subject of an Aeschylean trilogy. It was variously related. Sophocles chooses the version of the story that suits his purpose. For the earliest description of the crime, see Il. 6. 130-140.
955. mvp-comment-546-1 ζεύχθη resumes κατεζεύχθη, supr. 947.
955. mvp-comment-546-2 ὀξύχολος The very probable conjecture of Scaliger for ὀξυχόλως.
955. mvp-comment-546-3 παῖς ὁ Δρύαντος So Pind. O1. 8. 31, παῖς ὁ Λατούς.
956. mvp-comment-547-1 κερτομίοις όργαῖς Dative of the cause.
957. mvp-comment-548-1 ἐκ Διονύσου By the will of Dionysus. Cp. infr. 1219.
958-961. mvp-comment-549-1 So dire is the excess of rage that flows from madness. He learned at length that it was in madness that he provoked the God with biting speech.' The emphatic reivos applies the γνώμη to the case of Lycurgus. There is a stress on μανίαις.
959. mvp-comment-550-1 τᾶς μανίας Genitive of derivation, partly governed by ἀπό in comp.
959. mvp-comment-550-2 ἀποστάζει For the metaphorical use, cp. Aesch. Ag. 178, στάζει ἐν θ᾽ ὕπνῳ πρὸ καρδίας | μνησιπήμων πόνος. Others render, trickles away, i.e. comes to nought. But οὕτω is more naturally joined with the adjectives, whose position shows that they are emphatic, than with the verb.
960. mvp-comment-551-1 ἀνθηρόν 'Blooming, and so reaching its height: cp. Tr. 1089, ἤνθηκεν, ἐξώρμηκεν. A fury so over-powering, i.e. Leading inevitably to such calamitous issues.
960. mvp-comment-551-2 ἐπέγνω He recognised afterwards, i.e. when punished.
960. mvp-comment-551-3 μανίαις Dative of manner, expressing the predicate, quasi ἐν μανίαις. Essay on Language $ 14. pp. 20, 21. The v. r. μανίας (acc. plur.) is not so good.
961. mvp-comment-552-1 ψαύων In the rather unusual sense of Tempting, Provoking' (= έρε θίζων, cp. καθάπτεσθαι), and hence used, πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, with the accusative. For the language of this passage, cp. Plat. Polit. 310 D, ἐξανθεῖν παντάπασι μανίαις: ib. 273 D, τελευτώντος δ᾽ ἐξανθεῖ τοῦ χρόνου : Legg. 6. 783 Α, διαπυρωτάτους . . μανίαις : ib. 9. 881 Β, μὴ μανίαις ἐχόμενος. And for the construction of κεῖνος.. θεόν, cp. Pind. Pyth. 8. 12, τὰν οὐδὲ Πορφυρίων μάθεν παρ' αἶσαν ἐξερεθίζων. For ἐν, of the instrument, see Essay on Language § 19. p. 27.
964. mvp-comment-553-1 The Bacchic fire,' i.e. The lighted torches of the Bacchanalian rout. Cp. O. T. 214: Eurip. Bacch. 146.
965.
mvp-comment-554-1
Μούσας
Inter Bacchi comites a Diodoro 4. 4, recensentur Musae. (Musgrave.) They are associated by Plato in the Laws, B. 2, p. 672 C. The Muses are here lovers of the flute, i.e. of the Phrygian orgiastic music.
966-968. mvp-comment-555-1 And hard by Cyanean rocks that divide the seas, are the cliffs of the Bosphorus and the Thracian promontory of Salmydessus, where,' etc. The genitive gives indefiniteness to the notion of place, and παρά implies neighbouring extent.
966. mvp-comment-556-1 πελαγέων, see v. rr., although metrically allowable (πελᾶγεων), is condemned by the vagueness of the meaning and the tautology in πελαγέων .. ἁλός. The ingenious conjecture of Wieseler is therefore adopted. It is confirmed by the gloss πετρῶν. The 1st syllable of Ἄρης is long in arsi supr. 139.
969. mvp-comment-557-1 The lost cretic has been differently supplied: ἄξevos Boeckh, ήτων Meineke. A verb is more wanted, e. g.
969. mvp-comment-557-2 ἵσταται, κλήζεται.
970. mvp-comment-558-1 ἀγχίπτολις Ἄρης This can only mean The War-god whose temple is near the city (of Salmydessus). Cp. Aesch. S. c. T. 501. The details of the legend as accepted by Sophocles are unknown to us, and hence we can hardly judge of the appropriateness of the epithet. The Thracian worship of Ares is well known.
971. mvp-comment-559-1 δισσοῖσι Φινεΐδαις Dative of direct reference depending on τυφλωθέν. Essay on Language § 12. p. 18.
972. mvp-comment-560-1 ἀρατόν Accursed; i.e. Bringing a curse on Phineus and Idothea.
972. mvp-comment-560-2 ἕλκος τυφλωθέν. The blinding wound inflicted.' The 'cognate verb᾽ τυφλωθέν is substituted for ποιηθέν or the like. Essay on Language § 17. p. 25, c.
973. mvp-comment-561-1 ἐξ ἀγρίας δάμαρτος For the preposition, see Essay on Language $ 19. p. 28, 2.
973. mvp-comment-561-2 δάμαρτος Idothea, who had been made the wife of Phineus through the repudiation of Cleopatra. 974- ἀλαὸν ἀλαστόροισιν ὀμμάτων κύκλοις] Sightless (i. e. producing blindness) on the vengeful orbits of their eyes. For the causative use of ἀλαόν, see Essay on Language §. 53. p. 98.
973. mvp-comment-561-3 ἀλαστόροισιν Bringing vengeance,' i. e. Pleading successfully though silently for retribution. The dative is partly dative of place and partly of direct reference. Causing blindness in or to the eyes.
975. mvp-comment-562-1 *ἀραχθέντων Lachmann's conjecture for ἀραχθὲν ἐγχέων. When they were smitten. Another is ἄτερθ' ἐγχέων.
976. mvp-comment-563-1 κερκίδων ἀκμαῖσιν A woman's weapon. The shuttle was sharpened at the point, so as to be inserted between the threads, in order to regulate the density of the web. This process was called κερκίζειν, and the art is named by Plato κερκιστική. Plat. Polit. 282 B, C: Sophist. 226 B: Crat. 388 A.
980. mvp-comment-564-1 κλαῖον ματρός, | ἔχοντες ἀνύμφευτον γονάν This punctuation is preferred to κλαῖον, ματρὸς ἔχοντες ἀνύμφευτον γονάν, simply because the fate of Cleopatra, and not that of the Phineidae, is the chief point of the illustration.
980. mvp-comment-564-2 ἔχοντες ἀνύμφευτον γονάν Having a birth not honoured by wedlock: because their mother's marriage was repudiated, and their legitimacy was therefore not acknowledged. Note the repetition of γονά γονάν in a different sense after yovás in 950.
981. mvp-comment-565-1 And she in lineage reached even unto the ancient race of the Erechtheidae.' Because her mother Orithyia, whom Boreas rapt from the Ilissus (Plat. Phaedr. 229 B), was a daughter of Erechtheus. Qy. ἀρχαιογενήτων?
983. mvp-comment-566-1 τηλεπόροις δ᾽ ἐν ἄντροις The exact meaning of the compound epithet is doubtful. Either (1) Far-piercing,' i. e. Extending far into the mountainside: or (2) Distant, the second part of the epithet being redundant, or merely repeating the notion of a hollow passage implied in ἄντροις, i.e. δι' ὧν τηλόσε πορευόμεθα.
985. mvp-comment-567-1 Βορεὰς ἅμιππος Cp. Ο. Τ. 466, and note. And for ἅμα, Hom. Il. 19.415. Keeping pace with the steed over the steep path of the hill. On the compounds of πούς, see Essay on Language $55. p. 101. ὀρθόπους is literally Raising the foot upright. The second part of the compound is subordinated, but in this connection must have reference to the foot of the climber, and not to the foot of the hill. The words ὀρθόποδος ὑπὲρ πάγου are in construction with the verbal notion in ἅμιππος, sc.
985. mvp-comment-567-2 ἅμα ταῖς ἵπποις τρέχειν δυναμένη.
986-987. mvp-comment-568-1 ἀλλὰ κἀπ᾿ ἐκείνᾳ .. ἔσχον But even on her the long-lived fates laid hold. Cp. Hom. Il. 21. 110, ἀλλ᾿ ἔπι τοι καὶ ἐμοὶ θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κραταιή. ἐπέχειν is To extend to, and the tmesis gives the preposition a fresh construction with the dative. The Fates are ever-living, and therefore can afford to bide their time.
987. mvp-comment-569-1 ὦ παῖ Antigone is apostrophized after her departure, like Oedipus in Ο. C. 1567, πάλιν σε δαίμων δίκαιος αὔξοι. 988, foll. The coming of Teiresias is the beginning of the περιπέτεια, The change in the spirit of Creon's dream. The external marks of the prophet are noticed more prominently than in the Oedipus Tyrannus. Cp. especially 998-990, with O. T. 371, τυφλὸς τὰ τ᾽ ὦτα, κ.τ.λ., and 444, καὶ σύ, παῖ, κόμιζέ με: 992-995, with Ο. Τ. 436, γονεῦσι δ', οἵ σ᾽ ἔφυσαν, ἔμφρονες. The figure of the blind prophet is more ideal in the Oedipus Tyrannus, and the peculiarity of his position is brought out, in a higher mode of art, with one or two light touches. On the other hand, his sudden and unlooked-for coming suits exactly with the purpose of this drama and the person of Creon.
990. mvp-comment-570-1 αὕτη Essay on Language § 22, p. 35.
992. mvp-comment-571-1 The authority of the seer is here simply asserted and acknowledged. Cp. 1053. In the Oedipus Tyrannus he appears with still higher claims, as a prince, whose honours are guarded by his lord Apollo.
993-994. mvp-comment-572-1 οὔκουν .. ἀπεστάτουν .. ναυκληρεῖς] I have not aforetime departed. ..'You have guided, and still guide.' Cp. Tr. 600, 601. The conjecture ένανκλήρεις is no improvement. The present means, You have hitherto guided safely, and this is not inconsistent with what follows. Cp. Aesch. Agam. 1, αἰτῶ, I have been asking.
994. mvp-comment-573-1 δι᾽ ὀρθῆς Sc. κελεύθου. On a safe and successful course.
995. mvp-comment-574-1 I have experienced benefits, and can bear witness of them. Essay on Language §36. p. 66. There is perhaps an allusion here to the sacrifice of Megareus, which was prompted by the prophecy of Teiresias. But cp. 1058 and note.
996. mvp-comment-575-1 φρόνει, κ.τ.λ. (1) Beware once more, as thou standest now upon an edge of peril. The participle is not to be construed with the verb, but is in apposition to the subject. For φρονεῖν absolute, cp. O. T. 617, φρονεῖν γὰρ οἱ ταχεῖς οὐκ ἀσφαλεῖς : ib. 649, πιθοῦ θελήσας φρονήσας τ', ἄναξ, λίσσομαι. Otherwise (2) Know that now again thou standest,' etc. Cp. Trach. 289, φρόνει νιν ὡς ἥξοντα: Phil. 810, σαφῶς φρόνει. The expression ἐπὶ ξυροῦ is proverbial: cp. Il. 10. 173: Eur. H. F. 630.
997. mvp-comment-576-1 ὡς .. στόμα How I shudder at thy speech. ὡs as in l. 82, ὡς ὑπερδέδοικά σου. στόμα has the association of privileged, prophetic utterance, as in Ο. Τ. 426, τοὐμὸν στόμα.
999. mvp-comment-577-1 The οἰωνοσκοπεῖον of Teiresias was shown at Thebes in the time of Pausanias: Paus. 9. 16.
999. mvp-comment-577-2 παλαιόν i. e. consecrated by use from early times.
1000. mvp-comment-578-1 ἵν'.. λιμήν Where I had harbourage for every ominous bird. Essay on Language § 58. p. 105.
1002. mvp-comment-579-1 κλάζοντας Accusative πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, as if ὄρνιθας ἄγνωτα φθεγγομένους had preceded.
1002. mvp-comment-579-2 βεβαρβαρωμένῳ Rendered unintelligible,' Confused. 1003. iv, of the instrument. Cp. supra. 1. 961. φοναῖς, In bloody fray. Dative of manner. Cp. supra, l. 960 .
1004. mvp-comment-580-1 πτερῶν.. ἦν For the whirring of their wings gave no uncertain sound: although their voices did. 1005 ἐγευόμην] By analogy for ἐπειρώμην, I made trial of the divination by burnt sacrifice,' similar to that used in the temple of Ismenus: O. Τ. 21.
1006. mvp-comment-581-1 βωμοῖσι παμφλέκτοισιν At the blazing altar. παν in composition is simply intensive, as in El. 1139: and the epithet is generally descriptive. See Essay on Language § 55. p. 101.
1006. mvp-comment-581-2 ἐκ δὲ θυμάτων 'But from the sacrifice the Fire-god refused to gleam; and on the ash a dank humour dripped from the thigh-bones, and fumed and sputtered, and the gall was sprinkled abroad in air, and the thighs wasted and lay bared of their enclosing fat.
1007. mvp-comment-582-1 For σποδός, cp Ο. Τ. 21: Hdt. 4.35, τῶν μηρίων καταγιζομένων ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ τὴν σποδόν.
1009. mvp-comment-583-1 μετάρσιοι is supplementary predicate. The preposition in ἐξέκειντο is emphatic. Cp. Od. 23. 179, ἔνθα οἱ ἐκθεῖσαι πυκινὸν λέχος: Thuc. 4. 129. § 3. ἔτυχον ἐξεστρατοπεδευμένοι ἔξω τῆς πόλεως.
1010. mvp-comment-584-1 καταρρυεῖς is explained to mean Flowing down with moisture,' but means rather Fallen away. Cp. Paus. 10. 2, 6 (L. and S s. ν. καταρρέω 1. 4), νεκροῦ κατερρυηκότος τὰς σάρκας.
1011. mvp-comment-585-1 The apparently active use of καλυπτῆς comes from καλύπτειν, in the sense of placing as a covering, i. e.
1011. mvp-comment-585-2 καλύπτειν πιμελὴν μηροῖς. For the meaning, cp. Aesch. Pr. 496, foll., κνισῇ τε κώλα συγκαλυπτά· καὶ μακρὰν | ὀσφὺν πυρώσας, δυστέκμαρτον ἐς τέχνην | ὥδωσα θνητούς· καὶ φλογωπὰ σήματα | ἐξωμμάτωσα, πρόσθεν ὄντ᾽ ἐπάργεμα.
1013. mvp-comment-586-1 Such failing tokens given by baffling auspices. Lit. Of victims giving no sign. Cp. Ps. 74. 9. We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet. φθίνοντα μαντεύματα are not Prophecies of decay,' but Rites of divination fading away, i. e. losing their virtue. Cp. Ο. Τ. 902, φθίνοντα.. Λαΐου | θέσφατα.
1015. mvp-comment-587-1 τῆς σῆς ἐκ φρενός From thy will. Cp. infr. 1063, ὡς μὴ ᾿μπολήσων ἴσθι τὴν ἐμὴν φρένα.
1016. mvp-comment-588-1 ἐσχάραι τε παντελεῖς And all the number of our sacred hearths. παντελεῖς is little more than πᾶσαι, but expresses that the word ἐσχάραι added to βωμοί comprises every consecrated spot in the whole city. Cp. El. 982, ἔν θ᾽ ἑορταῖς ἔν τε πανδήμῳ πόλει.
1017. mvp-comment-589-1 πλήρεις Infected. Cp. 1052.
1017. mvp-comment-589-2 πλήρης = ἀνάπλεως. Cp. infr. 1052: Phil. 1087-1088, ὦ πληρέστατον αὔλιον | λύπας τᾶς ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ. For the general notion, cp. Webster, Appius and Virg. p. 165, ed. Dyce, Come, you birds of death | And fill your greedy cups with human flesh; | Then to the city fly, disgorge it there | Before the senate, and from thence arise | A plague to choke all Rome. Join ὑπὸ .. βορᾶς, not as some edd. πλήρεις.. βορᾶς. By the act of dogs and birds in feeding, etc. So Ellendt. Cp. infr. 1083.
1021. mvp-comment-590-1 εὐσήμους Giving clear augury, opposed to ἄσημος supra 1013.
1021. mvp-comment-590-2 ἀπορροιβδεῖ Utters noisily. The word is not strictly applicable to the screaming of birds. But there is the same indefiniteness about words expressing sound as about the names of colours. This word, expressing a confused noise, is probably suggested by l. 1004.
1022. mvp-comment-591-1 After feeding on the fatness of human carnage.' On the change from singular to plural, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 65.
1025. mvp-comment-592-1 ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἁμάρτῃ For ἄν omitted, see Essay on. L. § 27. p. 44.
1026. mvp-comment-593-1 ἄνολβος here and in Aj. 1156 (τοιαῦτ᾽ ἄνολβον ἄνδρ᾽ ἐνουθέτει παρών) is a word of blame- Infatuated.'
1029. mvp-comment-594-1 εἶκε τῷ θανόντι Relent towards the dead.
1030. mvp-comment-595-1 ἐπικτανεῖν Το slay a second time.' For the meaning of ἐπί, cp.
1030. mvp-comment-595-2 ἐπεμβάλλω, ἐπιγαμέω, ἐπιπέμπω. For the idea, cp. II. 24. 54: Plat. Rep. 5. 469 D, E. 6 1031. (1) After careful consideration I speak to you with good heed. εὐ, Carefully,' as in O. T. 308, supr. 410, alib. Or (2) εὖ σοι φρ., Meaning well to thee.
1032. mvp-comment-596-1 εἰ κέρδος λέγοι For the optative, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 61, γ, α (1). φέρει or φέροι seems also to be an early reading.
1034. mvp-comment-597-1 ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε The genitive as after ἐφίεσθαι and the like words.
1034-1035. mvp-comment-598-1 κοὐδὲ.. εἰμί And you practise on me with divination too. By a not infrequent inexactness in the use of the Greek passive voice, from πράττειν κατά τινοs, To intrigue against a person, would come πράττεσθαι, 'Το be intrigued against,' and hence ἄπρακτος, Unattempted, Unpractised on, μαντικῆς is gen. of respect after the privative adjective. τὸν πρὸσ σάρδεον Ε. τὸν πρὸ
1035. mvp-comment-599-1 τῶν *ὑπαὶ γένους By whose fraternity, sc. τῶν μαντέων. This is Brunck's emendation, which gives better sense than any other that has been proposed. Creon's heated imagination suggests to him that the whole tribe of prophets and diviners (cp. 1055) have greedily marked him for their prey.
1036. mvp-comment-600-1 I am bartered away long since and turned to gain. Literally, Sold and shipped off. Although ἐμπεφόρτισμαι has the authority of the 1st hand of L, ἐκπεφόρτισμαι is more forcible.
1037. mvp-comment-601-1 *τἀπό Professor Geddes, in his Problem of the Homeric Poems,' p. 168, note 15, prefers ἤλεκτρος as the form of nominative, on analogy of other metals, such as χρυσός, etc., which are masculine. But the general opinion is in favour of ἥλεκτρον neuter, and although τὸν πρὸς Σαρδεῶν is not unmetrical, τᾶπό Σαρδέῶν is preferable here in point of rhythm. Granting that ἤλεκτρος is masculine in late Greek, it is unlikely that Herodotus, 3, 115, would write τὸ ἤλεκτρον, and Sophocles here τὸν .. ἤλεκτρον.
1040. mvp-comment-602-1 βοράν He echoes the word of Teiresias supr. 1017.
1042-1043. mvp-comment-603-1 οὐ μὴ .. παρήσω The future indicative after οὐ μή, as in O. C. 177, οὗ τοι μήποτέ σ᾽ ἐκ τῶνδ᾽ ἑδράνων, ὦ γέρον, ἄκοντά τις ἄξει : Εl. 1052, οὗ σοι μὴ μεθέψομαί ποτε. Cp. Phil. 612, οὐ μή ποτε | πέρσοιεν. In all these places there may be a slight confusion of two constructions. See Essay on Language § 36. p. 62, and for the slight redundancy of expression, which marks Creon's eagerness, ib. § 40. p. 75.
1044. mvp-comment-604-1 'There is no power in man to touch the gods with pollution.' Creon's scepticism (cp. Aesch. Ag. 369-372: Plat. Legg. B. 10) anticipates the Epicurean notion of the Divine Nature, which Nec bene promeritis capitur, neque tangitur ira. Cp. with this and with O. T. 964, foll., Hector's defiance of augury in Il. 12. 237, foll.
1048. mvp-comment-605-1 The sentence, interrupted by Creon's question, is continued in 1050.
1050. mvp-comment-606-1 Wherefore? What means this universal doubt?' πάγκοινον refers to ἀνθρώπων τις.
1052. mvp-comment-607-1 πλήρης Infected. Cp. supr. 1017.
1054. mvp-comment-608-1 λέγεις Sc. κακῶς τὸν μάντιν. Essay on Language § 39. p. 73, 6.
1056. mvp-comment-609-1 τὸ δ᾽ ἐκ τυράννων The mean- ing of the preposition is not to be pressed. It is merely an extension of the familiar metaphor of γένος, Kind for Class. Cobet conj. τὸ δέ γε τυράννων. But not to advert to the broken tribrach in the first place, so unlike the earlier manner of Sophocles, the expression is less forcible. It is like the difference between saying the class of tyrants and the breed of tyrants in English. Cp. Eur. Hec. 254-255, ἀχάριστον ὑμῶν σπέρμ᾽, ὅσοι δημηγόρους | ζηλοῦτε τιμάς. On the γένεσις of the tyrant, see Ο. Τ. 873, ὕβρις φυτεύει τύραννον.
1057. mvp-comment-610-1 The accusative ταγούς is in a double construction with λέγεις and λέγων. The construction of the participle is also twofold: i. e. οἶσθα ταγοὺς ὄντας οὓς λέγεις ἃ ἂν λέγῃς.
1058. mvp-comment-611-1 For you possess this city through saving it by my counsel. ἐξ ἐμοῦ depends partly on ἔχεις and partly on σώσας. The line has been supposed to refer to the self-immolation of the son of Creon by the advice of Teiresias. Eur. Phoen. 918, foll. Cp. supr. 933-935, infr. 1303. But it is not clear that Sophocles has any distinct incident in view. These things are ἔξω τοῦ μυθεύματος, Ar. Poet. 1460 a.
1060. mvp-comment-612-1 τἀκίνητα .. φράσαι Τo utter what ought not to be mooted even in thought.' 1062. (1) These words are generally interpreted as interrogative. Do I really seem in what I have already said to do so in regard to you? i. e. You at least are not likely to reward me for my prophecy. And this is on the whole the most pointed way of taking the words. Wecklein understands them to mean, (2) 'Methinks, so far as you are concerned, I do speak so; i. e. My speech will not bring you gain. In the former case (1) τὸ σὸν μέρος ίς τ. σ. μ. τῆς δοκήσεως: in the latter (2) it is τ. σ. μ. τῶν ἀποβησομένων ἐκ τοῦ λόγου.
1063. mvp-comment-613-1 'I tell thee thou shalt not make traffic of my purposes;' i. e. They shall not be changed so as to bring gain to you, whether it be from me or from others that you look for gain.
1064. mvp-comment-614-1 μή See Essay on Language § 29. p. 49, с.
1065. mvp-comment-615-1 τρόχους ἁμιλλητῆρας ἡλίου Not many swift courses of the sun; i. e. The days will be short, and few. On the condensation of time in this play, see Introduction. Cp. Milton, Sonnet 7. My hasting days fly on with full career: Shakespeare, Sonnet 60, Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, | So do our minutes hasten to their end; | Each changing place with that which goes before, In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
1065. mvp-comment-615-2 τροχούς would mean, 'Not many turns of the sun's chariot wheel.'
1066. mvp-comment-616-1 ἐν οἷσι The regular construction after the negative would be πρὶν ἀντιδοῦναι: but the sentence takes an affirmative turn, and is continued as if the beginning were ὀλίγαι ἡμέραι ἔσονται .. ἐν ais. Essay on Language § 36. p. 64. Ср. О. С. 617 ff. μυρίας μυρίος | χρόνος τεκνοῦται νύκτας ἡμέρας τ᾿ ἰὼν | ἐν αἷς, κ.τ.λ. δ
1067. mvp-comment-617-1 νεκρῶν ἀμοιβόν For a kindred fancy, cp. Aesch. Agam. 437, ὁ χρυσαμοιβὸς δ' Ἄρης σωμάτων | καὶ ταλαντοῦχος ἐν μάχῃ δορός, κ.τ.λ.
1068. mvp-comment-618-1 ἀνθ᾽ ὧν The antecedent is to be gathered from νεκρῶν in l. 1067.
1068. mvp-comment-618-2 τῶν ἄνω Sc. τινά: i. e. Antigone.
1069. mvp-comment-619-1 ἀτίμως i. e. εἰς ἀτιμίαν. See Essay on Language § 24. p. 40.
1070. mvp-comment-620-1 i.e. ἔχεις δὲ αὐ ἐνθάδε, ἄμοιρον τῶν κάτωθεν θεῶν. On the order of words, see Essay on Language pp. 66, 67.
1071.
mvp-comment-621-1
ἀκτέριστον, ἀνόσιον
Without funeral rites, and unsanctified. Cp. Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1. 5,
Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled.
1073. mvp-comment-622-1 βιάζονται (1) Sc. οἱ ἄνω θεοί, to whom it was an offence to have a dead body intruded into their realm: or, (2) the gods generally, including θεῶν in 1070, as well as θεοῖσιν in 1072. In support of the former interpretation (1), Mr. Evelyn Abbott has adduced Lys. 2. 7, Ἀδράστου δὲ καὶ Πολυνείκους ἐπὶ Θήβας στρατευσάντων καὶ ἡττηθέντων μάχῃ, οὐκ ἐώντων Καδμείων θάπτειν τοὺς νέκρους, Ἀθηναῖοι ἡγησάμενοι ἐκείνους μέν, εἴ τι ἠδίκουν, ἀποθανόντας δίκην ἔχειν τὴν μεγίστην, τοὺς δὲ κάτω τὰ VOL. I. Nn αὑτῶν οὐ κομίζεσθαι, ἱερῶν δὲ μιαινομένων τοὺς ἄνω θεοὺς ἀσεβεῖσθαι, κ.τ.λ.
1078. mvp-comment-623-1 φανεῖ Sc. ταῦτα, i. e. the truth of 11. 1074-1076. The cry of men and women in thy halls shall declare it ere long. For φαίνω in this sense, cp. O. C. 721, φαίνειν ἔπη. For the ellipse, οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου τριβή, sc. ἐγγενήσεται πρὶν ἂν φήνῃ αὐτό, cp. supr. 1. 577. This is more probable than the other explanation, which is certainly possible, A little while will bring forth lamentations, etc. Some MSS. have τριβή, i.e. τριβῇ.
1079. mvp-comment-624-1 For ἀνδρῶν γυναικῶν, cp. Aristoph. Ran. 157, θιάσους εὐδαίμονας | ἀνδρῶν γυναικῶν.
1080.
mvp-comment-625-1
And all cities are (even now) being stirred up in leagued enmity (to Thebes), whose mangled citizens have found burial in being devoured by dogs, or by wild beasts, or by some winged bird, that bears an unholy savour into a city and its sacred hearths. This is probably intended by Sophocles as a prophecy of the war with the Epigoni, of which the seeds are said to be laid by the abomination of some bird carrying an inauspicious odour home. It is assumed, although not mentioned elsewhere in the play, that the bodies of the allies of Polynices had shared his fate, as there had been no truce for burying the dead. This is part of the legend as appears from the Supplices of Euripides. For the expression, cp. Aesch. S. c. T. 1020, οὕτω πετηνῶν τόνδ' ὑπ᾽ οἰωνῶν δοκεῖ | ταφέντ᾽ ἀτίμως τοὐπι· τίμιον λαβεῖν : Soph. El. 1487, καὶ κτανὼν πρόθες | ταφεῦσιν ὧν τόνδ' εἰκός ἐστι τυγχάνειν: Gorg. ap. Long. 3. 2, γῦπες ἔμψυχοι τάφοι: Shaksp. Macbeth, 3. 4,
Our monuments | Shall be the maws of kites. The conceit is common with the Elizabethan dramatists. Seyffert's conjecture, ὅσαν τὰ πράγματ' ἢ κύνες καθήγνισαν,
Whose business has been marred with pollution by dogs, etc., is rather pointless, and gives a very doubtful meaning to καθαγνίζειν =
To affect with pollution. It is uncertain whether καθήγνισαν or καθήγισαν is the right word. The latter is somewhat more probable as the Ionic form. Cp. ἁγίζω.
1083. mvp-comment-626-1 ἑστιοῦχον ἐς πόλιν i. e. Not into the wastes, where such pollution can do no harm, but to a city, where it tends to injure the sacred fire on the public and private hearths, which are the pledge of safety to the citizens. Boeckh objects to the above interpretation of 11. 1080 ff., and supposes them to contain a general maxim pointed at the case of Thebes. Any state is sure to rise in enmity in which a mangled corse has been devoured, etc.
1084. mvp-comment-627-1 Such arrows like a bowman have I launched at you in wrath, for you provoke me, arrows that pierce the heart and fasten there, whose smart you will not escape.' He echoes ll. 1033, foll. καρδίας is objective genitive after the verbal notion in τοξεύματα.
1090. mvp-comment-628-1 τὸν νοῦν.. τῶν φρενῶν The spirit of his thoughts. Cp. γνώμη φρενῶν, Ο. Τ. 524: infr. 1228, τίνα | νοῦν ἔσχες;
1091. mvp-comment-629-1 βέβηκε δεινὰ θεσπίσας The stress is on the participle, as in 246 supra, θάψας βέβηκε.
1092-1093. mvp-comment-630-1 ἐξ ὅτου.. τρίχα Since I have been crowned with these locks, once dark, which now are white with age. The expression is condensed by prolepsis, so that the phrase λευκὴν ἐκ μελαίνης, which, if the thought had been regularly developed, would have been added in apposition, has the place of an attribute.
1094. mvp-comment-631-1 μὴ .. λακεῖν μή is preferred to οὐ because of the abstract generality of the statement, which is also the reason of an implied precept not to disobey the seer. Cp supr. 1064 and note.
1096. mvp-comment-632-1 'But by resistance to bring the stroke of calamity upon one's soul is an alternative which presents a terrible aspect.' ἄτῃ = πρὸς ἄτην. Ε. on L. § II. p. 18. The words ἐν δεινῷ πάρα have been questioned by Nauck, but nothing better has been substituted; and the phrase is supported by the analogy of ἐν καλῷ El. 384, ἐν ὁμοίῳ, Thuc. 2. 53.
1098. mvp-comment-633-1 Κρέον, the reading of most of the later MSS, is not improbable, λαβεῖν οι λακεῖν of L. having come in accidentally from 1094. λαβεῖν, which Seyffert had conjectured, gives a kind of sense, and so does τάχα of E. But neither is satisfactory. The true reading is possibly lost.
1100. mvp-comment-634-1 The chorus think of first saving the living and then burying the dead: but Creon's superstition once awakened drives him to the opposite course. Infr. 1197 ff.
1103-1104. mvp-comment-635-1 συντέμνουσι .. βλάβαι For the swiftly coming harms of the gods suddenly overtake (or 'make short work with') the evil-minded. συντέμνειν, in the generally neuter or absolute sense of To come quickly on, here acquires a new construction with the accusative. Essay on Language § 16. p. 23. Cp. Hdt. 5. 41, τοῦ χρόνου συντάμνοντος, i.e. Adpropinquante, instante tempore.
1105. mvp-comment-636-1 I find it hard indeed, but yet I wrench my soul from her place to do this thing. Cp. Plat. Rep. 10. 607 E, βίᾳ μέν, ὅμως δ᾽ ἀπέχονται.
1106. mvp-comment-637-1 τὸ δρᾶν For the article with epexegetic inf., cp. O. T. 1418, τὸ πράσ· σειν καὶ τὸ βουλεύειν.
1107. mvp-comment-638-1 ἐπ᾿ ἄλλ. τρ. i. e. ἐπίτρεπτε ἄλλ.
1108. mvp-comment-639-1 ἴτ' τ' This reading, which ap- pears only in the text of Triclinius, is more probable than any other, the broken tribrach being excused by the agitation of Creon.
1109. mvp-comment-640-1 οἵ τ᾿ ὄντες οἵ τ᾿ ἀπόντες ὄντες = παρόντες, as in El. 305, τὰς οὔσας τέ μου | καὶ τὰς ἀπούσας ἐλπίδας διέφθορεν.
1110. mvp-comment-641-1 εἰς ἐπόψιον τόπον To the place in view. Polynices was exposed on the highest part of the plain, and this may have been represented in outline as part of the scenery.
1111. mvp-comment-642-1 For the personification of δόξα, cp. Ο. Τ. 911, δόξα μοι παρεστάθη, and see Essay on Language pp. 91, 92, 105.
1112. mvp-comment-643-1 αὐτός τ᾽ ἔδησα καί For the sake of emphasis, what would naturally be expressed by the participle is made into a coordinate sentence with the finite verb. Cp. Ο. Τ. 413, σὺ καὶ δέδορκας κού βλέπεις ἵν' εἶ.. Ε. on L. p. 68.
1115. mvp-comment-644-1 In the excitement of a desperate hope caused by the late repentance of Creon, the chorus break forth into a joyous invocation to Dionysus, accompanied with dancing or gesticulation, as appears in comparing the similar canticle in Aj. 693, where the chorus are under the excitement of a similar delusive expectation. Cp. Tr. 205-224. The Dionysiac worship, of which the tragic poet is a votary, is associated with the mystic hopes which Creon denied, supr. 780.
1115. mvp-comment-644-2 Glory of Semele, child of Zeus, Thou that tendest Campania And rulest in Eleusis' mystic vale, Dwelling, where thy votaries dwell, In Thebes by Ismenus' waters, Presiding o'er the dragon's brood: Seen o'er the forked height By the pitchy flame, Where move the Bacchic nymphs of Corycus, Where is the Castalian fount: And ushered on thy way to visit Thebe's roads By the ivy-clad banks of Nysean mountains, And the bloomy shore with many a cluster, While the shout of the immortal strain resounds. Thebè thou honourest far above all cities, Thou and thy mother whom the lightning glorified. And now that our whole multitude Is overtaken by misfortune dire, Appear with healing tread, Over the Parnassian steep Or groaning narrow sea. Thou that leadest up the dance of the fire-breathing stars, Visitant of nightly voices, Son born of Zeus, Rise with thy attendant Maenads, Who, all night long. Celebrate thee with dances, Iacchus, the dispenser of their joys.
1115. mvp-comment-644-3 This ode has been variously arranged. The arrangement in the text is that of Böckh, with a few slight changes. a'. First strophe and antistrophe. ICICIC lululuclalalclcl luclcla 5----- 다 !トーートしcita ICICーートト β'. Second strophe and antistrophe. トCICICに The prevailing rhythm is logaoedic, with frequent syncope (or antispastic movement), long syllables in thesi, and occasional resolution both of arsis and thesis. Each strophe begins with an anacrusis.
1115. mvp-comment-644-4 πολυώνυμε Schol. ὦ Διόνυσε· οἱ μὲν γὰρ Βάκχον, οἱ δὲ Ιακχον, οἱ δὲ Λύαιον, οἱ δὲ Εὔιον, οἱ δὲ Διθύραμβον αὐτὸν καλοῦσιν. Bacchus is claimed as a Theban God, and at the same time, the wide extent of his dominion is celebrated.
1115. mvp-comment-644-5 ἄγαλμα Delight, or Glory. The word expresses the pride taken by a mother in her child. Plat. Tim. 37 D, τῶν ἀϊδίων θεῶν γεγονὸς ἄγαλμα: Eur. Suppl. 370, ματέρος ἄγαλμα.
1118. mvp-comment-645-1 κλυτὰν .. Ἰταλίαν The mention of Italy is singular, but hardly more so than that of Naxos in connection with Dionysus. The aim of the song being to celebrate the universality of his empire, it is not wonderful that allusion should be made to Italy, quam gravidae fruges et Bacchi Massicus humor Implevere, Virg. Georg. 2. 143. And if Italy was mentioned by Sophocles in the Triptolemus in connection with Demeter, why not here in connection with Bacchus? Fr. 540 N. Ut.. Sophocles poeta in fabula Triptolemo frumentum Italicum ante cuncta laudaverit, ad verbum translata sententia Et fortunatam Italiam frumento canere candido. Plin. H. N. 18. 12. Some edd. substitute Ἰκαρίαν, an eastward deme of Attica, and a seat of Dionysiac worship.
1120. mvp-comment-646-1 In the all-receiving bosom of Eleusinian Demeter;' i. e. In the vale of Eleusis, where the mystae from all parts of Greece were received. Cp. Pind. Ol. 14. 23, κόλποις Πίσας: Hdt. 4.99, κόλπου . . ἀγομένου τῆς γῆς ταύτης, and esp. Aristoph. Ran. 373, χώρει νυν πᾶς ἀνδρείως | ἐς τοὺς εὐανθεῖς κόλπους | λειμώνων, κ.τ.λ.
1123-1124. mvp-comment-647-1 παρ' ὑγρὸν Ἰσμηνοῦ ῥεῖθρον] Some have preferred, chiefly for metrical reasons, the Triclinian reading παρ᾽ ὑγρῶν .. ῥεέθρων, for which compare supr. 1. 966.
1125. mvp-comment-648-1 ἐπί Cp. Τr. 356, τἀπὶ Λυδοῖς.
1126-1127. mvp-comment-649-1 στέροψ.. λιγνύς The blinding torch-flame hath beheld. There is an opposition of sound rather than of sense in στέροψ ὄπωπε. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 226, ὦ λάμπουσα πέτρα πυρὸς | δικόρυφον σέλας ὑπὲρ ἄκρων | Βακχείων Διονύσου, where the succeeding lines also deserve to be compared with the description of Mount Parnassus in this passage. The fabled fire on Mount Parnassus was commonly explained of the torches of the Maenads, and seems to have been so understood by Sophocles.
1128. mvp-comment-650-1 Κωρύκιαι So named from the Corycian cave on Mount Parnassus. Aesch. Eum. 22, σέβω δὲ νύμφας, ἔνθα Κωρυκὶς πέτρα, | κοίλη, φίλορνις, δαιμόνων ἀναστροφαί.
1130. mvp-comment-651-1 Κασταλίας.. νᾶμα (1) Sc.
1130. mvp-comment-651-2 ὄπωπέ σε, or (2) ἔνθα Κασταλίας νᾶμα, sc. ἐστί. Probably the latter (2).
1131-1136. mvp-comment-652-1 Νυσαίων. ἀγυιάς Bacchus is imagined as leaving the throng of revellers, who follow in his train along the Nysaean slopes in Euboea, and as crossing the sounding frith' (1. 1145) to visit the streets of Thebes.
1133. mvp-comment-653-1 χλωρά Lustrous with fresh green. The word suggests the richness of young vegetation, especially of the vine. See Essay on Language p. 103. Stephanus in Νύσαι .. δεκάτη ἐν Εὐβοίᾳ, ἔνθα διὰ μιᾶς ἡμέρας τὴν ἄμπελόν φασιν ἀνθεῖν, καὶ τὸν βότρυν πεπαίνεσθαι.
1134. mvp-comment-654-1 By adding *τῶν in this line, and reading ῥεῖθρον in 1124, we obtain ーーム, a diiambus followed by an epitritus, and a trochee or spondee.
1140. mvp-comment-655-1 νύν, νῦν, as in Pindar.
1141. mvp-comment-656-1 έχεται Cp. Plat. Legg. 10. 887 Ε, ἐν συμφοραῖς παντοίαις ἐχομένων.
1141. mvp-comment-656-2 ἐπὶ νόσου] See Essay on Language § 19. p. 27.
1143.
mvp-comment-657-1
μολεῖν
Der Inf. giebt etwas kindlich frommes. Wecklein.
1146-1147. mvp-comment-658-1 πῦρ πνεόντων *ἄστρων χοραγέ*] Cp. Ar. Ran. 341-342, Ιακχ᾽, ὦ Ιακχε, νυκτέρου τελετῆς φωσφόρος ἀστήρ. Bacchus is lord and leader of the sights and sounds of night. The stars in their courses hold revel with his torchbearers: the voices of the night are wakened by their shouting. This is more probable than an allusion to the mystical notion that Bacchus was an impersonation of the sun. I have ventured to retain καί, transposing the two preceding words and scanning πνεόντων as a spondee by synizesis.
1146-1147. mvp-comment-658-2 πυρπνεόντων may be taken as a compound. Cp. Hom. Il. 7. 310, άελπτεοντες.
1149. mvp-comment-659-1 παῖ Διὸς γένεθλον i.e. as Hermann says, παῖ Διὸς γεγώς. Ever youthful offspring of Zeus.
1150. mvp-comment-660-1 Ναξίαις i.e. From Ariadne's island.
1152. mvp-comment-661-1 τὸν ταμίαν The word ταμίας, as appears from its use in Pindar, had in Doric Greek the special meaning of Lord (cp. the Anglo-Saxon Hlafford): and may have been a favourite attribute of Bacchus in this sense.
1156. mvp-comment-662-1 στάντα (1) The participle is to be taken closely with the adjective = τινὰ στάσιν ἔχοντα, as in the gloss of V. There is no present position of a human life, in which I would praise it, or find fault with it. Cp. Phil. 174, ἐπὶ παντί τῳ χρείας ἱσταμένῳ, where the participle is similarly added in epexegesis. Or, χώρας] χέων Ε.
1156. mvp-comment-662-2 ἐμοί, ποτέ] 1164. θάλλων] possibly, (2) No settled condition, or (3), like στάντες τ' ἐς ὀρθών, Ο. Τ. 50, No life that is in prosperity. (1) is confirmed by 1160.
1160. mvp-comment-663-1 And no one can prophesy to mortals respecting their present state:' i.e. Whether it will continue or change.
1162. mvp-comment-664-1 σώσας.. εὔθυνε There is a change from the participial construction to the indicative as well as from μὲν.. δέ τo τε: ie. σώσας agrees with the subject of ἦν, and the finite verb εὔθυνε is substituted for εὐθύνων. This is more in accordance with the growing nature of the language of Sophocles, than to suppose, with Seyffert, that σώσας begins a new sentence in apposition to, and epexegetic of, the previous clause. 1165 ff. See v. rr. Seyffert conjectures καὶ γὰρ ἡδοναὶ ὅταν προδῶσιν ἀνδρός. Cp. supr. 578, and note. On the change from plural to singular, see Essay on Language §20. p. 31. And on the inversion (ἡδονὰς προδῶσιν ἄνδρες = ἡδοναὶ προδῶσιν ἄνδρας), ibid. § 42. p. 80, β. In favour of the reading of the MSS. it must be admitted that the plural ἄνδρες, in this pronominal sense, is unusual. The meaning of the MS. reading is, 'A man's pleasures, when they have deserted him, I hold of no account.' But this does not agree with the concluding lines of the speech. Line 1167 had been dropped, and then l. 1166 was altered so as to make sense.
1168. mvp-comment-665-1 πλουτεῖ.. καὶ ζῇ This is the first hand of L, and the words are so quoted by Athenaeus according to some MSS. I have always felt that the transition to the second person imperative (which has been suggested by εἰ βούλει) was somewhat harsh. The present indicative is sometimes used in putting a hypothetical case: (Plat. Theaet. 192 Ε, Σωκράτης ἐπιγιγνώσκει Θεόδωρον καὶ Θεαίτητον, ὁρᾷ δὲ μηδέτερον. So the aor. indicative in Hdt. 7. 10, καὶ δὴ καὶ συνήνεικε ἤτοι κατὰ γῆν ἢ καὶ κατὰ θάλασσαν ἑσσωθῆναι, κ.τ.λ.) And the conversational use of εἰ βούλει (which assists the expression) is too familiar to need illustration. See L. and S. s. v. βούλομαι, 11. 2.
1171. mvp-comment-666-1 πρὸς τὴν ἡδονήν resumes and supplements τὸ χαίρειν. Essay on Language § 40. p. 75.
1173. mvp-comment-667-1 αἴτιοι θανεῖν Sc. τοὺς τεθνηκότας. 'Are guilty guilty of their death.
1175. mvp-comment-668-1 αὐτόχειρ On the indefiniteness of the compounds of αὐτός, see Essay on Language p. 101. This word, as here used, is extended from meaning By his own hand, to mean By unnatural violence. See above, l. 172 , and cp. the Latin parricida.
1177. mvp-comment-669-1 φόνου For the death of Antigone. This is better than φόνῳ, which, however, might mean In a murderous way, i.e. ξὺν φόνῳ. Cp. 1. 1233.
1178. mvp-comment-670-1 ἤνυσας Didst fulfil; i.e. How true it was, and how thou hast fulfilled it! Early language supposes a causal connection between the prophecy and the event. See on O. T. 156, 720. And for ὀρθόν, ibid. 853
1182. mvp-comment-671-1 κλύουσα παιδός Essay on Language § 9. p. 13. 1184-1185. Ср. О. T. 911 ff., El. 634 ff.
1186. mvp-comment-672-1 κλῇθρ᾽ ἀνασπαστοῦ πύλης Said by prolepsis and hypallage for τὴν πύλην, τῶν κλήθρων ἀνασπωμένων, with the same confusion between the door and the fastening which occurs elsewhere. I was opening the door, having drawn the bolt.
1191. mvp-comment-673-1 Here, and infr. 1203, 1312, as well as probably supr. 993, the death of Creon's son Megareus, elsewhere called Menoeceus, is alluded to.
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.
1244-1245. mvp-comment-703-1 Cp. the silent exit of Jocasta, O. T. 1075, and of Deianira, Tr. 813.
1247. mvp-comment-704-1 ἐς πόλιν γόους | οὐκ ἀξιώσειν She will not deign to make public lamentation. The ellipse of ποιεῖν or some other general word (cp. 1. 577), or the imperfect construction of γύους with ἀξιώσειν, is made more easy by the introduction of στένειν in what follows.
1249. mvp-comment-705-1 πένθος is governed at once by προθήσειν and στένειν, and προθήσειν is used as in l. 216,='To appoint as a duty,' with some allusion to the other meaning of To lay out for mourning before burial.
1250. mvp-comment-706-1 γνώμης In respect of judgment. ἁμαρτάνειν is euphemistic.
1251. mvp-comment-707-1 ἐμοὶ δ᾽ οὖν Qy. ἔμοιγ' οὖν ? See the accentuation of the MS. reading.
1258. mvp-comment-708-1 μνῆμ᾽ ἐπίσημον A monument with evident tokens. The blood-stained corpse of Haemon was, as it were, a monument, on which was inscribed the record of the calamitous error of Creon. The metres of the concluding κομμός are as follows. The dochmiac rhythm prevails. a'. First strophe and antistrophe. 1261-1277=1184-1300. ںトトトㄈIトトー Five Iambic trimeters. 5-トリート! トトしに Cトトートトー 10010 レム DI 15 トトーchclcl ―トトートトー つ つ 1500 「トトートトー トトートトー 「トトートca Cトトートトに tu a'. I, may be scanned either as diiambus, cretic, and dochmiac, or as an iambus and 2 dochmiacs; 3, two cretics; 15, dochmiac and iambic tri pody. The first strophe and antistrophe are followed by five iambic trimeters. β'. Second strophe and antistrophe. 1306-1325-1328-1346. トー トトートトー (トトートトー 5 トトートトー トート The intervention of the Exangelus at 1278, and the ἐκκύκλημα at 1293, are special features, which must have made this commos extraordinarily impressive. The coryphaeus chants 1257 ff., 1347 ff. The four other members of the front row interpose their remarks at intervals.
1262. mvp-comment-709-1 στερεά may be explained, either with Dindorf, (1) Propter duram et inexorabilem Creontis mentem, = Stubborn, by hypallage for στερεῶν φρενῶν ἁμαρτήματα, or more simply (2) as Pindar speaks of στερεαὶ ὀδυναί, = * Hard to endure.' The first (1) is best.
1265. mvp-comment-710-1 A confusion of ὤμοι ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων, ὡς ἄνολβα, and ὤμοι ἐγὼ ἄνολβος τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων. Ε. on L. pp. 17, 67.
1266. mvp-comment-711-1 νέῳ ξὺν μόρῳ By a strange doom.
1268. mvp-comment-712-1 ἀπελύθης Thou wast cut off. The word has some something of the notion of Shuffling off this mortal coil. Cp. 559.
1273. mvp-comment-713-1 θεὸς .. ἔπαισεν A God held and smote me with mighty force. ἔχων is almost pleonastic, and μέγα βάρος adverbial. But there is some difficulty in the construction of ἐν ἐμῷ κάρᾳ with ἔπαισεν. Qy. μέγα βάρος πεσών? As the words stand, the whole expression μέγα .. ἔπαισεν must be taken as = ἐνήλατο.
1274. mvp-comment-714-1 ἐν δ᾽ ἔσεισεν This use of language (implying 'furious driving') recurs in Plut. Phoc. 23, ἐνσείειν τὴν πόλιν εἰς πόλεμον. A similar expression occurs in El. 737. See also Eur. Or. 255.
1275. mvp-comment-715-1 λακπάτητον is proleptic. Overturning and trampling upon.' 1277. ὡς is to be construed with ἔοικας ἥκειν, which is postponed to the participle, as in Phil. 971, πρὸς κακῶν δ᾽ ἀνδρῶν μαθὼν ἔοικας ἥκειν αἰσχρά: and the meaning is, O master, how truly thou wouldst seem, having at τέθνηκε Α. once in hand and also in possession, to have come hither bearing one load of evil in thine arms, while there is another burden which thou wilt quickly behold within the palace. The address, ὦ δέσποτα, suggests the words ἔχων τε καὶ κεκτημένος (Creon is lord 'of dire mischance'), in which there is the distinction afterwards adopted in philosophy between ἕξις and κτῆσις.
1280. mvp-comment-716-1 By an attraction from ἔοικας, ἥκειν ὀψόμενος, or ἥκων ὄψεσθαι, is changed to ἥκειν καὶ ὄψεσθαι. Cp. Ο. Τ. 413.
1281. mvp-comment-717-1 And what worse evil is there? or what more of evil?' Some would read τί δ᾽ ἔστιν; ἢ κάκιον αὖ κακῶν ἔτι;
1282. mvp-comment-718-1 παμμήτωρ The royal mother. For this use of παν in composition, see Essay on Language § 55. p. 101; and cp. O. Τ. 930, παντελὴς δάμαρ.
1284. mvp-comment-719-1 δυσκάθαρτος Ἅιδου λιμήν] O harbour of Hades, hard to cleanse; i. e. Choked with the dead. Cp. Hell has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure.'
1289-1292. mvp-comment-720-1 What new thing dost thou tell me? that the slaughter of a wife is heaped upon the previous ruin?' ὦ παῖ is probably a corruption of alaî, suggested by the general thought that Creon is lamenting for his son.
1293. mvp-comment-721-1 The dead body of Eurydice is disclosed by an ἐκκύκλημα. This line is what ancient commentators called παρεπιγραφή, i. e. an implicit stagedirection.