Commentary on lines 151–300
Outstretched in fear we listen awfully for thy propitious voice, oh sweet-tongued utterance of Heaven. Paean, be our speed! What thing new or old in season due dost thou disclose? Tell us, thou voice, child of bright Hope divine. Athena, Goddess, daughter of the Highest, first hear our cry; thou, Artemis, on thine encircled throne, and archer Phoebus, come in threefold might to save! if ever heretofore ye banished sorrow from our state, now too appear! For, oh! I am overwhelmed; all my host is in disarray; and there is no thought to save; Earth's buds are nipped, and human births prevented by the pains of death: soul after soul takes flight with fearful speed, and poor uncared-for corpses choke with pestilence our unpeopled clime. Wives, mothers, sadly suppliant, at various altars groan; the voice of lamentation mingles with the thrilling hymn. Athena, send us help. and cause yon flaming author of destruction, who with dire noise advances, quickly to reverse his speed and fly our land, whether to Ocean or the restless Pontic sea. Day ruins what night spares. O Father, blast the plague-god with thy lightning. Let thine arrows, O Apollo, be showered to protect us, and Artemis' bright torches from the Lycian hills; and thou, O ruddy crowned Bacchus of the joyous rout, with trooping Maenads, patron of Thebes, draw near. and flash thy brand against the god whom gods disown.' The opening of this parodos is of the nature of a paean (1. 186), or hymn to Apollo as the god of victory or salvation. The stately dactylic measures, corresponding in strophe and antistrophe even to the division of the words (cp. 153, 162, 158, 166), are only once interrupted, as the chorus march towards the altar, by the more meditative iambic rhythm (11. 152, 160), and by the anacrusis in ll. 154, 163. The increasing excitement of the chorus is shown in the second strophe and antistrophe, by iambic and trochaic rhythms with resolution of the arsis, by the union of dactyls and trochees in logaoedic lines, and by the more frequent anacruses. The bright Paean notes give way to tones of sadness, echoing the στονόεσσα γήρυς (11. 186-187). The scheme of στρ. and ἀντ. β'. is the following (ll. 167-178=11. 179-189) :- LÚC CCC CICI lúc Ca CICICCICCICCIK ICC ICC ICC ICC 기 100 100 100 CUCCICCIC CICCICCIC LUCCICCICC ICICII In the concluding strophe and antistrophe (γ'.) there is only one dactylic line, just as there was one iambic in the first. The other rhythms are iambic and trochaic, with occasional syncope of the thesis (or change to the cretic rhythm). The movement, though still full of excitement, becomes more energetic and determined towards the close. The scansion is as follows:- C CCICICICIC- 기 つ つ 기 00 ト KCICICI トー 1くらいCICICII The rhythm of the whole ode, which is unusually wild and full of transitions, shows a progress from flowing dactylic numbers to iambics and trochaics, which are interrupted here and there by syncope of the thesis, or in other words, by an antispastic effect, corresponding to the distraction of the thought.
Διὸς ἁδυεπές The voice is personified and addressed in propitiatory language. Cp. 1. 157. τίς is predicate.
In what shape comest thou? i.e. what is thine utterance now?
ἐκτέταμαι, φοβερὰν φρένα δείματι πάλλων
I lie outstretched, my timorous heart quaking with dread. For τείνω, of mental tension, cp. Pind. Pyth. 11, 54, Isthm. 1, 49, γαστρὶ δὲ πᾶς τις ἀμύνων λιμὸν αἰανῆ τέταται. For φρένα .. πάλλων, cp. Il. 22.461, παλλομένη κραδίην. And for the form of expression here, in which φρένα is accusative in regimen, cp. infr. 914, where αἴρει θυμόν is equivalent to a passive verb. Essay on Language § 30, d. p. 52.
ἰήιε Δάλιε Παιάν ἰήϊος, from the cry in, has here a false etymological association with ἰάομαι. Ε. on L. p. 100.
σοί Addressed to the Delian Apollo; who has just been apostrophized as Paean, the healer. This suits the context better than if ἰήτε Δάλιε Παιάν were treated as merely interjectional, and σοί were referred to φάτι supr., though there are several instances of similar parentheses. The transition from φάτι το παιάν, and again to φάμα, is in keeping with the excited tone of the chorus. See below, note on 215.
ἁζόμενος
In holy fear, not merely = φοβούμενος. Cp. Il. 14. 261, ἅζετο γὰρ μὴ Νυκτὶ θοῇ ἀποθύμια ἔρδοι.
νέον, ἢ .. πάλιν
What either till now unheard of, or again appearing in the fulness of time. νέον is either (1) adjectival, or (2) adverbial as in Od. 1. 175, ἠὲ νέον μεθέπεις. The former (1) is preferable. For the coordination of adjective and adverb, cp. Ant. 808-810, νέατον δὲ φέγγος λεύσσουσαν ἀελίου κοὔποτ᾽ αὖθις: Τr. 835, ἀέλιον ἕτερον ἢ τανῦν. And, for περιτελλομέναις ώραις, Od. 2. 107. ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε τέτρατον ἦλθεν ἔτος καὶ ἐπήλυθον ὧραι: Ar. Av. 697, ἐξ οὐ περιτελλομέναις ώραις ἔβλαστεν ἔρως ὁ ποθεινός. For the dative, cp. Phil. 721, πλήθει πολλῶν μηνῶν. Essay on Language § 11. p. 18.
χρέος is used vaguely here; and has associations from χρᾶν and from χρῆναι. besides the general meaning of business = negotium, so that πάλιν ἐξανύσεις χρέος =
What revealed and destined thing you will appoint for me.
χρ. τ. Ἐλπίδος A propitiatory address, as in l. 151. A favourable response gives outward reality to that which Hope has conceived. The remark in Thuc. 5. 103, that hope prompts belief in prophecy, is too sceptical to find application here. (χρυσέας, as in Pindar, Pyth. 3. 73, Ol. 1. 90, Nem. 5. 7.) Φάμα] The personification is increased, and the voice is now addressed as a goddess.
πρῶτά σε κεκλόμενος Α
pendent construction, resumed from ἁζόμενος supr. 155. See Essay on Language § 15. p. 21. The flow of the sentence is broken by the sudden interjection and apostrophe, ἰὼ .. προφάνητέ μοι, which is interposed instead of στέργω προφανῆναι, or the like. Cp. Tr. 96, foll., ἅλιον αἰτῶ | τοῦτο καρύξαι .. ὦ λαμπρᾷ στεροπᾷ φλεγέθων . . εἴπ᾽, ὦ κρατιστεύων κατ᾿ ὄμμα. Cp. Plat. Legg. 6. 769 С, θνητὸς ὢν .. σμικρόν τινα χρόνον αὐτῷ πόνος παραμενεῖ παμπολύς. The converse change from the 2nd to the 3rd person is more frequent, e. g. Aj. 862-863. κρῆναί τε ποταμοί θ᾽ οἶδε καὶ τὰ Τρωικὰ πεδία προσαυδῶ. Athena, with her two temples (1. 20), Artemis, conspicuous in the Agora, and Ismenian' Apollo, are the presiding deities of Thebes (11. 19-22). As γῆ often = πόλις, so γαιάοχος here = πολισσοῦχος.
κυκλόεντ᾿ ἀγορᾶς θρόνον
Who sitteth in the circle of the Agora, that is filled with her praise.
κυκλόεντ' i.e. either (1)
whose seat is the round Agora, or (2)
whose seat is in the round Agora. In either case κυκλόεντα belongs rather to ἀγορᾶs than to θρόνον. Essay on Language p. 80. κυκλόεσσαν ἀγορὰν θακεῖ would have been an imperfect expression, and is supplemented by θρόνον, which is cogn. accus. The words suggest a sitting statue raised so as to command the Agora, over which the goddess presides. εὐκλέα, because she is celebrated there with dance and song. εὐκλέα is acc. sing. for εὐκλεᾶ. Cp. the Epic ἀκλέα, δυσκλέα, εὐκλέ᾿ ἀγοράν, Pind. Fr. 53. 5. ναὸν εὐκλέα, Pyth. 8, 62. Εύκλεια, or the goddess of good fame, was another name for Artemis, who was worshipped under this designation in every Boeotian town. Pausanias mentions a temple of Artemis Eucleia, which existed in his time at Thebes. For the double epithet κυκλόεντ' .. εὐκλέα, see Essay on Language § 23. P. 37.
εἴ ποτε, κ.τ.λ Cp. the Homeric formula, II. 1. 39, εἴ ποτέ τοι, κ.τ.λ.
ἄτας ὕπερ] Το avert calamity. For ὑπέρ in this sense, cp. 1. 187, ὧν ὕπερ (but see note): Aesch. S. c. T. 107, δουλοσύνας ὕπερ. The sense would be made clearer by expressing ἐλθόντες or προφανέντες, which is dropped.
ὀρνυμένας πόλει
Rushing at the state. Cp. Aesch. S. c. T. 87, ὄρνυται ἐπὶ πόλιν. For this direct use of the dative, see Essay on Language § 12. p. 18.
ἠνύσατ᾿ ἐκτοπίαν
Ye banished utterly.
φλόγα πήματος Cp. 1. 27. πυρφόρος θεύς: Αj. 196, ἄταν οὐρανίαν φλέγων.
γάρ Either (1) connects the sentence with the preceding, ὦ πόποι being merely interposed (cp. 1. 1198, ὦ Ζεῦ, κατὰ μὲν φίσας, κ.τ.λ.); or (2) is explanatory of the interjection. The former is more likely, because less abrupt.
νοσεῖ .. στόλος
My people is a disordered host. The state of the city is compared to that of a
war-worn and beggared host, and the figure is continued into the next clause. There is not found amongst us a thought wherewith to defend ourselves as with a sword.' Cp. Od. 22. 25, οὐδέ πῃ ἀσπὶς ἔην οὐδ᾽ ἄλκιμον ἔγχος ἑλέσθαι.
ἀλέξεται is future. Cp. 1. 539, ἢ οὐκ ἀλεξοίμην μαθών.
κλυτᾶς χθονός
Of our glorious land. Cp. 1. 25. κλυτᾶς is an Homeric epithet, but is here used by Sophocles with special reference to Thebes, the fatherland: i. e. κλυτᾶς χθονός is not
glorious Earth, but the expression, although vague, is immediately applied to the Theban territory, which to the chorus is
all the world.
οὔτε τόκοισιν
Nor in the hour of birth. Dative of the occasion. Essay on Language § 11. p. 17. Cp. 1. 26, and note.
ἰηίων καμάτων ἀνέχουσι γυναῖκες
Lift their heads again from the pangs and cries of their travail. For the use of ἀνέχω in this sense, cp. Hom. Od. 5. 320, οὐδ' ἐδυνάσθη | αἶψα μάλ᾿ ἀνσχεθέειν μεγάλου ὑπὸ κύματος ὑρμῆς.
ἄλλον .. ἄλλῳ
One close upon another. The omission of the preposition is assisted by προς in προσίλοις. Cp. Phil. 144-145, τόπον ἐσχατιαῖς προσιδεῖν : Τr. 842, μεγάλαν προσορῶσα δό- μοις βλαβάν. Ιn Εl. 235. μὴ τίκτειν σ' ἄταν ἄταις, the dative after the active verb has a similar notion of addition. Cp. Αj. 866, πόνος πόνῳ πόνον φέρει. In Eur. Phoen. 1496, φύνῳ φόνος Οἰδιπόδα δόμον ἄλεσε, the same idiom is carried to a further stage. The conception of death as the departure of the person, and not of the shade merely, is to be contrasted with the Homeric mode of thought, which however still lingers in the form of expression. Cp. ἅπερ εὔπτερον ὄρνιν with ψυχὴ δ᾽ ἐκ ῥεθέων πταμένη Ἀϊδόσδε βεβήκει (Il. 22. 362). See also Eur. Suppl. 1142, ποτανοὶ δ᾽ ἤνυσαν τὸν Ἅιδαν.
κρεῖσσον.. πυρός
With more than lightning speed. The words imply that the fury of the disease was not to be stayed.
ἀκτάν Cp. Ant. 812-813, Ἀχέροντος ἀκτάν: Il. 23. 73, οὐδέ μέ πω μίσγεσθαι ὑπὲρ ποταμοῖο ἐῶσιν.
ἑσπέρου θεοῦ] The language still reflects the Homeric imagery, in which the west is the approach to Hades, πρὸς ζόφον εἰς ἔρεβος τετραμμένον (Od. 12. 81). There is a natural association between the setting of life and the setting of the sun in the west. Cp Aesch. Ag. 1074, βίου δύντος αὐγαῖς: Plato, Legg. 6.770, ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἐν δυσμαῖς τοῦ βίου.
θεοῦ θεου. ZZZ
ὧν .. ἀνάριθμος
In countless numbers of whom my city is perishing. For the use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 2.3, 8, 2. p. 38; and for the gen. cp. Αj. 603. *μηνῶν ἀνήριθμος: Εl. 232, ἀνάριθμος ὧδε θρήνων. There is no ellipse of οὖσα; the adjective is a supplementary predicate, or in other words ἀνάριθμος closely follows ὄλλυται. The antecedent to ὧν, sc. τῶν θνησκόντων, must be supplied from the sense of the preceding words, as in Thuc. 6. 12, μὴ οἷον νεωτέρῳ μεταχειρίσαι· οὓς ἐγὼ νῦν ἐνθάδε ὁρῶν.
νηλέα
Uncared for. Cp. Ant. 1197. A rare passive use of this adjective. Essay on Language p. 98.
γένεθλα Sc. τῆς πόλεως. (1)
Her children uncared-for lie spreading death upon the plain, with none to make lament. Cp. Thuc. 2. 51, ἕτερος ἀφ᾿ ἑτέρου θεραπείας ἀναπιμπλάμενοι ὥσπερ τὰ πρόβατα ἔθνησκον. .. ἀπώλλυντο ἔρημοι, καὶ οἰκίαι πολλαὶ ἐκενώθησαν ἀπορίᾳ τοῦ θεραπεύσοντος. (2) The idea of the danger of contagion is certainly not common in Greek, and perhaps θαναταφόρα, or θανατάφορα, may have lost something of its compound signification. The word may simply mean
with death upon them,
in death. The unmetrical v. r. θανατηφόρῳ shows that some difficulty was felt about the meaning.
ἐπί For the adverbial use of the prep. see Essay on Language § 18. p. 26; and cp. the Homeric ἐπὶ δὲ στενάχοντο γυναῖκες, Il. 24.746.
ἀκτὰν παρὰ βώμιον Hence the mistake of the Scholiast on O. C. 1048, ἀκταῖς τὸν βωμὸν λέγει. The singularity of the expression, which however may be paralleled from Aesch. Cho. 723, ἀκτὴ χώματος, is in keeping with the excited tone of the chorus, cp. παιὰν .. λάμπει just below; and the tendency to repeat the same word within a few lines, in a different connection (176, ἀκτὰν πρὸς ἑσπέρου θεοῦ), is so strong in Sophocles as to make such a repetition probable even if not exactly appropriate (see Essay on Language § 44. p. 76; and in this very chorus, ἄμβροτε φάμα .. ἄμβροτ' Αθάνα 157-159, ἀνάριθμα 167, ἀνάριθμος 178, χρυσέας 157, χρυσέα 187, ἰήιε 154, ἰηίων 174, παιάν 154, 186, εὐῶπα 189, οἰνῶπα 211, ἀγλαῶπι 214, ἐξανύσεις 156, ἠνύσατ᾽ ἐκτοπίαν 166, πυρφόρων 200, πυρφόρους 206). The women at the altars are like shipwrecked mariners clinging to a rock. The conj em. ἀχὰν παραβώμιον, though not unreasonable or improbable, is not necessary. The MSS. have generally παραβώμιον in one word, but in three MSS. at least there is an accent on παρά.
ἄλλοθεν ἄλλαι] i. e. Their voices sounding some from one place and some from another:' i. e. they are supplicating various deities. Cp. II. 2. 400, ἄλλος δ᾽ ἄλλῳ ἔρεξε θεῶν.
πόνων ἱκτῆρες Gen. of cause. Τr. 287-288, θύματα .. τῆς ἁλώσεως.
ἐπιστενάχουσιν Sc. ἐπὶ τῇ ἱκετείᾳ.
λάμπει The intentional boldness of this is somewhat softened by the analogous use of λαμπρός as an attribute of sound. The word suggests the ringing of the bright paean in the clear air. The predicate of γῆρυs is to be borrowed from λάμπει.
ὅμαυλος This properly signifies 'neighbouring, dwelling with, but is probably here fancifully referred to αὐλός, so as to mean
accompanying, as the flute accompanies song. The difficulty of this word has perhaps suggested the various reading ὅμανδος, which is found in Par. E.
ὧν ὕπερ Either (1)
in whose behalf, or (2) for the relief of all which woe.' The latter is preferable, because including a reference to the immediate context, and because if persons were meant, the simple dative would be the more natural expression. Cp. Thuc. 5. 69, ὑπὲρ ἀρχῆς ἅμα καὶ δουλείας.
θύγατερ Διός Ἀθήνα.
εὐῶπα Cp. Ant. 100-101, ἀκτὶς ἀελίου τὸ κάλλιστον ἑπταπύλῳ φανὲν Θήβᾳ τῶν προτέρων φάος: Aesch. Cho. 484, εὔμορφον κράτος.
Ἄρεα Ἀρσα. Any hostile and deadly influence is personified as "Apns. Cp. Aj. 706, where the madness of Ajax is so named. The plague, already personified as θεός (27). here receives a more distinct personality.
μαλερόν The Homeric epithet of fire, extended by Aeschylus to other destructive things (πύθῳ μαλερῷ, Pers. 62), is here given to the pestilence which is represented under the image of fire.
ἄχαλκος ἀσπίδων
Without brazen shield. Ἄρης ἄχαλκος ἀσπίδων,
The god of war without the weapons of war. Cp. οἴστρου ἄρδις .. ἄπυρος in Aesch. Prom. 880. For similar oxymora, see Essay on Language § 37. p. 70.
φλέγει με The πυρφόρος θεός is imagined as kindling the flame of calamity.
περιβόατος
With loud cries. The paeans and groans arising from the plague are compared to the shouts and cries which attend the onset of the god of battles. Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 682, λοιγὸς .. βοὰν ἕνδημον ἐξοπλίζων.
ἀντιάζων
Confronting, in the hostile sense. Cp. Hdt. 2. 141, ἀντιάζων τὸν Αραβίων στρατόν.
παλίσσυτον δράμημα νωτίσαι
πάτρας
Το turn his course backward from my land. The infinitive is governed by the general notion of causing implied in πέμψον, and the accusative παλίσσυτον δράμημα is cognate, at first probably intended to follow some verb of motion (such as δραμεῖν), for which
νωτίσαι is substituted in order to add force to παλίσσυτον. Ε. on L. § 40, 5. p. 75. Cp. Eur. Andr. 1141, οἱ δ᾽ ὅπως πελειάδες | ἱέρακ᾿ ἰδοῦσαι πρὸς φυγὴν ἐνώτισαν. πάτρας is ablative gen.
And let the fiery War-god, who now, without brazen arms, amidst loud cries advances to destroy me, turn away from my fatherland and speed back again.
ἔπουρον
Carried by the breeze. The word occurs actively, Tr. 954, ἔπουρος ἑστιῶτις αὔρα, ἥτις μ' ἀποικίσειεν ἐκ τόπων. But the passive use is found in Clem. Alex. (130, ἔπουρος πνεύματι ἀληθείας), who probably had some earlier authority for this use of the word. Cp.
ἐπουρίζω. The special meaning of oὗρος, a
favouring wind, is not here used ironically, as in Tr. 815-816, οὗρος ὀφθαλμῶν ἐμῶν | αὐτῇ γένοιτ' ἄπωθεν ἑρπούσῃ καλός, but is lost in the compound. See Essay on Language p. 90, and cp. Tr. 467, 8, ταῦτα μὲν .. ῥείτω κατ' οὗρον. This reading (which is slightly confirmed by the gloss ταχύν in L³) is preferable to ἄπουρον, (1) because yielding a more natural rhythm, (2) because ἄπουρον, though an early reading, acknowledged by the Scholiast, is probably an emendation. It occurs nowhere else, and may have arisen from the apparent necessity of connecting the adj. with πάτρας, which was supposed to begin the new line (p. 145, note), and seemed to want a construction.
θάλαμον Ἀμφιτρίτας Cp. infr. 1411; 2, θαλάσσιον | ἐκρίψατ᾽. The Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean is meant. The Atlantic and Euxine were known as the two farthest seas. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 3, ὅσοι τε πόντου, τερμόνων τ' Ἀτλαντικῶν ναίουσιν εἴσω.
ἀπόξενος is stronger than ἄξενος:
Repelling strangers. Cp. ἀπότιμος, ἀπόμισθος. For the expression, cp. Phil. 217, ναὸς ἄξενον ὅρμον; and for this epithet of the Pontus, Pind P. 4. 203, σὺν νότου δ᾽ αὔραις ἐπ᾿ ἀξείνου στόμα πεμπόμενοι ἤλυθον . φοίνισσα δὲ Θρηϊκίων ἀγέλα ταύρων ὑπᾶρχεν.
ὅρμον It has been proposed to read ὅρμων. But the change is unnecessary, and rather weakens the verbal contrast.
ὅρμος is a place of anchorage. Cp. Eur. Hec. 450, τῷ πρὸς οἶκον ἀφίξομαι, ἢ Δωρίδος ὅρμον αἴαs; The article is more idiomatic if ὅρμον is retained. The difficulty has been occasioned hy the apposition of an abstract to a concrete word. Essay on Language p. 56 a.
τέλει γὰρ εἴ τι νὺξ ἀφῇ
For if night at her close leave anything unharmed, this day assails (ἐπέρχεται). For ei with subj., see Essay on Language § 27. p. 44. And for the personification of the words of time, cp. Tr. 29-34, νὺξ γὰρ εἰσάγει καὶ νὺξ ἀπωθεῖ .. τοιοῦτος αἰών ..
ἀεὶ τὸν ἄνδρ᾽ ἔπεμπε. It has been proposed to read τελεῖ γάρ' εἴ τι, κ.τ.λ.
For the destruction is complete: etc. (Cp. Εl. 1417, τελοῦσ᾽ ἀραί : Tr. 825-826, ἀναδοχὰν τελεῖν πόνων τῷ Διὸς αὐτόπαιδι.) But the asyndeton and the break in the rhythm of the short iambic line are against this. One Scholiast makes τέλει adverbial, and connects it with ἐπέρχεται in the sense of
finally or
completely, and some would render,
If night leaves aught of the work undone, day goes thoroughly at this. Others propose τελεῖν,
If night omit to finish any work. An improvement on this last suggestion would be to read τεμεῖν (aor., cp. Plat. Prot. 338 A).
For if night leave aught unravaged. Cp. Eur. Hec. 1204, ἢ σῆς ἔμελλον γῆς τεμεῖν βλαστήματα; But the Scholiast of L is perhaps right in rendering, εἰ γάρ τι νὺξ ἀφῇ .. ἐπὶ τῷ ἑαυτῆς τέλει ἀβλαβές, μὴ φθάσασα αὐτὸ ἀπολέ σαι. For this use of the dative, cp. El. 194, οἰκτρὰ μὲν νόστοις αὐδά : Pind. Pyth. 1.35, τελευτᾷ φερτέρου νόστου τυχεῖν.
τόν As in Hom. Il. 18. 89, etc.
໖ (-) Herm. proposed râv for the missing syllable, and this receives some confirmation from the variant in F.
Λύκει᾿ ἄναξ His altar is before their eyes. Cp. 1. 919. Either (1) τε is correlative to re in l. 205, and a new beginning is made with the strophe: or (2) τε is a conjunction ('And') as in supr. 190, and is postponed, like δέ, after the vocative. The former (1) is more probable. For the twofold invocation, cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 145-150. ἀγκυλᾶν is poetical plural.
βέλεα βελεα, θέλοιμ᾽ ἂν .. ἐν-
δατεῖσθαι
I would see showered. ἐνδατεῖσθαι to be taken passively in the sense of distributing or dispensing. So the Scholiast, whose interpretation is confirmed by the prep. ἀπό, which is more naturally explained as dependent on the verb. For the rare passive, see Essay on Language p. 53.
ἀδάματα notwithstanding the order, is an epithet, but an emphatic epithet. Cp. infr. 671-672, τὸ γὰρ σόν, οὐ τὸ τοῦδ᾽, ἐποικτείρω στόμα | ἐλεινόν. Essay on Language § 23. p. 37.
ἀρωγὰ προσταθέντα ‘Set forth to protect and succour me.' The 1st aorist passive of προΐστημι is rare, but so also is παρεστάθην, which occurs in the senarii,
l. 911
; cp. also Tr. 340, σταθεῖσ᾽ ἄκουσον. This is more probable than either προσ-ταθέντα (προστείνω οςcurs nowhere and would be meaningless here) or προσταχθέντα, which has been conjectured, but is hardly metrical (see ll. 192-193). The arrows of Apollo are spoken of in language properly applicable to persons, as if they were an amy bringing relief. There is also an allusion to Apollo's attribute as προστατήριος, Εl. 637. Cp. Aesch. Theb. 145, Λύκει᾿ ἄναξ, Λύκειος γενοῦ στρατῷ δαΐῳ: ib. 8, Ζεὺς ἀλεξητήριος ἐπώνυμος γένοιτο.
Λύκι᾿ ὄρεα (ὄρεα) Echoing Λύκει᾿ ἄναξ, which therefore seems in this passage to be associated with the Lycian worship of Apollo; though differently interpreted in Εl. 6, 7, τοῦ λυκοκτόνου θεοῦ | ἀγορὰ Λύκειος.
Μαινάδων 209. τὸν χρυσομίτραν ὁμόστολον] Cp. Lucian. Dial. Deorum, 18. 1, μίτρᾳ ἀναδεδεμένος τὴν κόμην, τὰ πολλὰ δὲ μαινομέναις ταῖς γυναιξὶ συνών. And for the Maenads, cp. Ant. 1122.
τᾶσδ᾽ ἐπώνυμον γᾶς
Who bears the name of this land; i. e. who is called Θηβαῖος (ὁ Θήβας ἐλελίχθων Βάκχιος, Bacchus, Thebe's earth-shaking god,' Ant. 154: Καδμείας νύμφας άγαλμα, ib. 1115), rather than (2)
Who gives a surname to Βακχεία Θήβῃ.
εὔιον From εὐοῖ,
Author of joy, as ἰήϊος (from in) is
helper in sorrow. The feeling which prompts the cry becomes the attribute of the god to whom it is addressed.
The reading μονόστολον, (easily accounted for where the letters µ and ✓ are so frequent as in 11. 209 ff.) has obtained a strong hold of the MSS, but is generally accompanied by glosses which belong to the other reading, e.g. συνόμιλον, συγχορευτάν.
A word = πυρφόρῳ is omitted.
ἀπότιμον
Dishonoured,
put far from honour. The idea is that expressed in the words addressed by Zeus to Ares, Il. 5. 888 ff., τὸν δ' ἄρ᾽ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς, | μή τί μοι, ἀλλοπρόσαλλε, παρεζόμενος μινύριζε. | ἔχθιστος δέ μοί ἐσσι θεῶν οἱ Ολυμπον ἔχουσιν· | αἰεὶ γάρ τοι ἔρις τε φίλη, πόλεμοί τε μάχαι τε: with which cp. Il. 18.107, ὡς ἔρις ἔκ τε θεῶν ἔκ τ' ἀνθρώπων ἀπόλοιτο. Cp. also the expression about the house of Hades, τά τε στυγέουσι θεοί περ (Il. 20.65), and the hard names given to the Erinnyes by Apollo in Aesch. Eum., esp. 73, μισήματ' ἀνδρῶν καὶ θεῶν Ὀλυμπίων: ib. 191, ἀπόπτυστοι θεοῖς.
θεόν θεον: treated in the meter as a single syllable.
In the many transitions of this chorus the same deities are addressed more than once. In the spirit of polytheism the same gods are called by different names or surnames according to the attributes which are invoked.
Oed. has reentered before the last words of the chorus, to whose leader he gives an authoritative answer, as being now possessed through Creon of the mind of Apollo. In reading this speech it is necessary to bear in mind the importance which the Greeks attached to a curse and to words spoken in unconsciousness of their real import.
ἁγὼ .. ἐξερῶ ἅ, sc. ἔπη from 216.
ἃ δ' αἰτεῖς The antecedent to the relative is in no definite construction. The sentence is broken off and resumed in ἀλκὴν λάβοις ἄν (cp. El. 1364, τοὺς γὰρ ἐν μέσῳ λόγους, κ.τ.λ.), and the antec. of a may be regarded as the remote accusative of the sentence, governed by the notion of obtaining' implied in ἀλκὴν λάβοις ἄν, κ.τ.λ.
τῇ νόσῳ θ᾽ ὑπηρετεῖν
And to obey the requirements of the disease. Cp. El. 1305-1306, οὐ γὰρ ἂν καλῶς ὑπηρετοίην τῷ παρόντι δαίμονι.
ξένος μὲν . . πραχθέντος]
Who am a stranger with respect to this affair; ay, and to the rumour concerning it. ξένος, i. e. ignorant, as one who at the time of the murder, and of the talk which followed it, was not a citizen of Thebes. Cp. Plat Apol. 17 D, ξένως ἔχω τῆς ἐνθάδε λέξεως. The formal emphasis with which Oedipus dwells on his relation to the inquiry, (ξένος μὲν .. ξένος δέ) throws a strong light on his unconsciousness of the real situation. Cp. infr. 259-260, ἔχων μὲν .. ἔχων δέ, κ.τ.λ.
οὐ γὰρ ἂν .. σύμβολον These words assign a further reason why Oedipus has remained a stranger to the affair.
For I had no clue to guide me and so could not have followed an inquiry far. He offers this excuse for having hitherto neglected what he now feels to be an imperative duty. Cp. supr. 108-109, 128. 9. 133-134, infr. 566-567. It has been objected to this interpretation that οὐ γὰρ ἄν necessarily means,
Else had I not, (sc. εἰ μὴ ξένος ἦν). Cp. infr. 11. 318, 1456-1457. But no such rule is absolute in tragic Greek, and no tenable interpretation has been based on this way of taking the words. The
suppressed clause is εἰ ἴχνευον, and the general meaning is
I could not be otherwise than a stranger. Although the more usual mode of connexion would be πῶς γὰρ-; the negative form, οὐ γάρ, κ.τ.λ., is here more dignified. For μακράν, cp. Tr. 317, οὐδ᾽ ἀνιστόρουν μακράν.
αὐτός
By myself,
unaided. Cp. Ο. C. 1154-1155, δίδασκέ με | ὡς μὴ εἰδότ᾽ αὐτόν. κ.τ.λ. This is more pointed than αὐτό, the reading of L and most MSS.
μὴ οὐκ ἔχων τι σύμβολον
Having no clue. These words are epexegetic of αὐτός. For μὴ οὐ with the participle, μη see Essay on Language p. 49, and cp. Hdt. 6.106, μὴ οὐ πλήρεος ἔοντος τοῦ κύκλου, i. e. If the disk were not full, which it was not.' So here, Unless I had something to guide me, and I had nothing.' The word σύμβολον (for which see Ar. Pol. 4. 7, Pind. Ol. 12. 7), would cause a thrill of horror to the spectators, when they reflected that Oedipus had Laius' blood upon his hand, and the stamp of his likeness upon his person.
νῦν δ᾽ i.e. since the oracle has come.
ὕστερος γὰρ ἀστὸς εἰς ἀστοὺς τελῶ Oedipus, as a popular ruler, bases his proclamation on his right of citizenship, rather than on any higher pretension.
But now I proclaim to you no longer as a stranger but as a citizen, though subsequently enrolled. Sc. ὕστερος τῶν ἄλλων ἀστῶν and ὕστερος τοῦ πραχθέντος. ἀστός is said with allusion to ξένος. Teiresias includes both in ξένος.. μέτοικος, infr. 452. αὐτός. (I too') occurs for ἀστός in some MSS. But see Essay on Language § 44 f. p. 83.
τελῶ Cp. Hdt. 2. 51, Ἀθηναίοισι ..
ἤδη τηνικαῦτα ἐς Ἕλληνας τελέουσι.
προφωνῶ resumes ἐξερῶ (1. 219) after the digression.
The apodosis of this sentence is dropped in Oedipus' haste to give the assurance contained in πείσεται, κ.τ.λ., and is imperfectly resumed in ἄπεισιν. The subject is changed from
anyone who has knowledge of the deed, to the murderer, to whom αὐτός refers. Some obscurity also arises from the appeal to fear (cp. infr. 234, 294) being combined with the attempt to soothe it (cp. Τr. 457, κεὶ μὲν δέδοικας, οὐ καλῶς ταρβεῖς). μέν in 227 points to the opposite supposition:-'he may be one incapable of fear.' (1) And let the man himself, if he be touched with fear, inform against himself, by taking the guilt away with him. For he shall suffer no further penalty, but shall be unmolested in his departure from the land.' i. e. Instead of waiting for others to convict him, let him convict himself by going into voluntary exile, and taking the offence from the land. The words καθ' αὑτοῦ are to be construed κατὰ σύνεσιν with l. 226, sc. ποιείτω τάδε, self-banishment being in this case equivalent to self-impeachment :- Let Or (2) ὑπεξελών may be understood proleptically, and σημαινέτω supplied from κελεύω σημαίνειν, supra. him inform against himself, and clear the guilt away.
Οι (3) ὑπεξελών is to be taken in the unusual sense of
drawing forth from concealment.
Let him obey me by divulging the crime against himself. The last interpretation (3) is the simplest (cp. Pind. N. 4. 8); but the first (1) is on the whole the most probable. The gentleness of Oedipus towards the supposed self-convicted criminal is contrasted with the fierceness of his self-reproach in 11. 1369 foll., 1449 foll., infra.
ἀσφαλής
Unharmed. ἀβλα βής, which occurs in the text of A, and most MSS, and has been written as a v. r. by a hand of the 15th century on the mg. of L, although a good word (see esp. Thuc. 5. 18, § 3), is more likely to be a gloss than ἀσφαλής, which is therefore preferred. ἀβλαβής would have required no explanation, whereas ἀσφαλής here and in O. C. 1288 =ἄνευ τοῦ σφαλῆναι,
without receiving hurt. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 3. 86.
The duty of the citizens generally is clear. The only cases requiring special mention are those of the murderer (αὐτός), should conscience incline him to obey, and of information against a foreigner by one of his fellows. Cp. l. 233. ἢ φίλου. This is the case contemplated in these lines. Α μέτοικος might hesitate to do what was required of the citizens, unless specially assured that he would equally receive the reward. And some one resident in Thebes might be a fellow countryman of the
stranger-robbers (1. 715), who had killed Laius in the triple way. The obscurity of expression arises from the effort to adapt the language to the case of Oedipus. The οἰκέτης was in the position of knowing another from another land. Contrast ll. 231-232, with ll. 1159, 1160, and cp. 1004. For the form of expression, ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλης χθονός, cp. Eur. Ion 1057, ἄλλος ἄλλων ἀπ᾿ οἴκων .. πλὴν τῶν εὐγενετᾶν Ἐρεχθειδᾶν. 231. The transitive use of σιωπάω is later than Sophocles.
χή χάρις προσκείσεται
And he shall have store of gratitude besides, i. e. he will be regarded as a benefactor of the city. Cp. Thuc. 1. 129, κεῖταί σοι εὐεργεσία ἐν τῷ ἡμετέρῳ οἴκῳ ἐσαεὶ ἀνάγραπτος : Phil. 557-558, ἡ χάρις ...
προσφιλὴς μενεῖ: Plat. Rep. 1. 345 A, οὔτοι κακῶς σοι κείσεται ὅ τι ἂν ἡμᾶς τοσούσδε ὄντας εὐεργετήσῃς.
ἀπώσει τούπος (1)
Shall repel this charge either from a friend for whom he fears, or from himself. τούπος, SC. τὸ ἐπίκλημα τοῦ φύνου. Or (2),
Shall reject my word in fear either for a friend or for himself. ἀπώσει opp. to δέχεσθαι,
l. 217
. (1) is best. The words φίλου and αὐτοῦ are each in a double construction with δείσας and ἀπώσει.
This might be construed to mean,
My own lips shall declare my future; and δράσω marks that all which follows is delivered by Oedipus as his act and deed. Cp. infr. 819-820.
τὸν ἄνδρα.. τοῦτον It appears doubtful at first sight whether this refers to the murderer or to the concealer of the crime. That the first is the correct explanation is proved by the following reasons. (1) That no sufficient meaning can otherwise be given to τοῦδε in line 242. (2) That in 11. 817 foll., ᾧ μὴ ξένων ἔξεστι μηδ᾽ ἀστῶν τινὰ | δόμοις δέχεσθαι, μηδὲ προσφωνεῖν τινά, | ὠθεῖν δ᾽ ἀπ᾿ οἴκων, Oedipus applies 11. 235 foll. to himself, if guilty of the murder. (3) This gives more point to ὅστις ἐστί. ἄνδρα is governed by εἰσδέχεσθαι. γῆς τῆσδε is partitive genitive governed by τινά.
Anyone in all this land.
χέρνιβος For this gen. sing. (which besides coming from the first hand of L, better suits with κοινόν than χέρνιβας does), see L. and S. s. v.
ὠθεῖν Sc. κελεύω understood from ἀπανδῶ. Essay on Language p. 64. 1 а.
The formality of the language marks the solemnity of the curse. Some editors, following Ribbeck, have placed these lines after l. 272, on the ground that the plural τοῖσδε in the words ἅπερ τοῖσδ᾽ ἀρτίως ἠρασάμην, has no proper antecedent, for Oedipus is speaking of one murderer not of many; and they would suppose the error to have been caused by the recurrence of ὑμῖν δὲ in l. 273. But the plural, referring to some
person or persons unknown, is sufficiently justified by εἴτε πλειόνων μέτα, and for the vague reference of the pronoun ὅde, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34. Oedipus is careless about the number; cp. supr. 107, 124 and note. The curse also falls indirectly on those who disobey the commands in 11. 224-232, and 236-241. A slight inaccuracy of language is no sufficient reason for such a transposition. The conjecture requires a further conjecture: ie. the words must (1) have been omitted, then (2) have been written in the margin, and then (3) must have been wrongly inserted before ὑμῖν δέ,
l. 252
, instead of before ὑμῖν δέ,
l. 273
. It may be observed, in defence of the existing text, that the curse on the malefactor naturally precedes the curse on those who disobey the edict. The emphasis is on κατεύχομαι. τὸν δεδρακότα is added instead of a pronoun, referring to τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, because of τῷ δαίμονι and τῷ θανόντι coming between. The words ἅπερ .. ἠρασάμην include 11. 236 ff.
κακὸν κακῶς .. βίον
Wear out his wretched life in wretchedness and misfortune.
ἐπεύχομαι .. παθεῖν
And I pray, moreover, that I may suffer. Cp. Plat. Critias, p. 120 B.
εἰ .. γένοιτο
If at any moment he were to be-. The unconsciousness of Oedipus is again strongly indicated.
Ruined with sterility and the frown of Heaven. Essay on Language p. 40. a.
ἀκάθαρτον Sc. τὸ πρᾶγμα, repeated in a slightly different sense. τὸ πρᾶγμα is (1) the duty of expiating, (2) the pollution itself.
Every line calls attention to the real position of Oedipus, of which he is profoundly unconscious. (1) ὁμόσπορον, cp. 1. 460; (2) κοινῶν παίδων, cp. Ο. C. 535, κοιναί γε πατρὸς ἀδελφεαί; (3) εἰ κείνῳ γένος μὴ ᾿δυστύχησεν (Oedipus says this in ignorance of Laius having had a child; but he unwittingly expresses the fact of his own misfortune); (4) 1. 263. which points to the curse pursuing Laius and his offspring; (5) the words ὡσπερεὶ τοὺμοῦ πατρός. The effect of all this on the spectators may be imagined. Yet every word is suitable to the apparent situation and to the generous character of Oedipus.
The death of the monarch was not like a common death.
ἐπεὶ κυρῶ *γ' ἐγώ The MSS. read 7', which may be explained on the supposition that the subordinate anti- thesis with μέν and δέ in 259-260, has superseded the primary structure of the sentence. But perhapsy' should be read, giving a slight emphasis to κυρῶ,
Since it so happens that I, Oedipus modestly referring his position to fortune.
ὁμόσπορον = ὑπ᾿ ἀμφοῖν σπειρομένην. Essay on Language p. 98.
κοινῶν τε παίδων κοίν᾿ ἄν For the repetition of κοινός, see Essay on Language § 44. P. 75, f.
And had he but prospered in his issue, there had been the common bond between us of a common family. These words are the continuation of ὁμόσπορον. The emphatic repetition suggests the horror of the real situation. For the gen., cp. О. С. 923, φωτῶν ἀθλίων ἱκτήρια.
But now Fortune has smitten him:' i. e. he has died without having children.
ἀνθ᾽ ὧν Resuming the deferred apodosis of 258 foll. ἐπεί, κ.τ.λ. after the digression (κοινῶν .. τύχη); i. e.
And being his successor and having these common interests with him, etc.
τάδ᾽ .. ὑπερμαχοῦμαι For the accusative, cp. O. C. 344-345, τἀμὰ δυστήνου κακὰ | ὑπερπονεῖτον
τῷ Λαβδακείῳ παιδί The dative either (1) depends on the notion of help or vindication continued from ὑπερμαχοῦμαι, to which the mind reverts as the chief word, or (2) is dependent on τὸν αὐτόχειρα τοῦ φόνου. For (2), cp. Ar. Poet. 1452 α. τὸν αἴτιον τοῦ θανάτου τῷ Μίτυϊ. 267-268. Cp. Hdt. 5. 59, ταῦτα ἡλικίην ἂν εἴη κατὰ Λάϊον τὸν Λαβδάκου τοῦ Πολυδώρου τοῦ Κάδμου. The genealogy belongs to the formal style of the proclamation.
τοῖς μὴ δρῶσιν, governed by εὔχομαι, is resumed in αὐτοῖς after ἀνιέναι, and is the subject (i. e. αὐτούς) of φθερείσθαι.
θεούς The dative (θεοῖς), which would be the natural case after εὔχομαι, is attracted to the subject of ἀνιέναι.
I pray the gods not to let any harvest spring for them from the ground, nor fruit of the womb from their women. For ἀνιέναι in the latter sense, cp. infr. 1405, ἀνεῖτε ταὐτὸν σπέρμα. The MS. reading γῆν involves too harsh a change of subject in what follows (μήτ᾽ οὖν γυναικῶν παῖδας), and would require θεοῖς, as in Vat. a. For the tenor of these words, cp. the curse of Cambyses in Hdt. 3. 65, καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ποιεῦσι ὑμῖν γῆ τε καρπὸν ἐκφέροι, κ.τ.λ. 274-275.
May justice, taking your part, and all the gods dwell with you evermore to bless you. σύμμαχος occurs frequently in Aeschylus as an attribute of Δίκη. See esp. Cho. 497, δίκην ἴαλλε σύμμαχον φίλοις. The tone of the preceding speech as a royal proclamation may be contrasted with that of Creon in Ant. 163-210. In both there is a mixture of self-confidence with the strain of patriotism. But in Creon these motives appear as the bare assertion of a right, in Oedipus as a spirit of generous readiness to serve the state. In both there is an unconsciousness of the situation. But whereas Creon's unconsciousness involves moral blindness and ignorance of self, that of Oedipus is rendered more pathetic by the purity of his intentions.
ὥσπερ μ' ἀραῖον ἔλαβες Ας feeling the power of your curse.' Cp. Aesch. Cho. 108, λέγοις ἂν ὥσπερ ᾐδέσω, κ.τ.λ. For ἔλαβες, cp. Hdt. 3. 74. πίστι τε λαβόντες καὶ ὁρκίοισι; and for the construction with the adjective, O. C. 284, ὥσπερ ἔλαβες τὸν ἱκέτην ἐχέγγυον. See also Ant. 305, ὅρκιος δέ σοι λέγω. For the redundant antecedent in ὧδε,
τὸ δὲ ζήτημα is the subject of what follows, in which εἰπεῖν is epexegetic.
τόδε is to be taken separately, as acc. after εἰπεῖν, referring to ὅστις εἴργασταί ποτε.
But for the inquiry, it behoved Phoebus, who imposed it, to tell this, who can have wrought the deed. Cp. supr. 150, infr. 306. 282-283.
I would mention what seems to me the next best thing after that.
Next or third best, leave it not unsaid. Logical exactness is not required in such idiomatic expressions. Cp. Eur. Hel. 1417, αὖθις κελεύω, καὶ τρίτον γ', εἴ σοι φίλον.
Be it second or third best, out with what you have to say. 284, foll. I know one above other men. who being a king, sees with the eyes of king Phoebus, of whose lips one inquiring into this may learn the very truth.'
ἄνακτ' Od. 11. 144 (Τειρεσίη), εἰπέ, ἄναξ, πῶς, κ.τ.λ.
παρ' οὗ .. σκοπῶν παρ' οὗ is in two constructions: (1) with ἐκμάθοι,
from whom one might learn this clearly; (2) with σκοπών,
if we viewed it in the light of his words.
ἐν ἀργοῖς .. ἐπραξάμην A verbal contrast like ἐν σκότῳ.. ὀψοίατο (infr. 1273).
But neither have I done this as one of my omissions, i. e.
I have not left this undone. Essay on Language p. 69. For the subjective use of the middle voice in ἐπραξάμην, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 53, d, and for ἀργοῖς, cp. O. C.1605; Eur. Phoen. 766, ἓν δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡμῖν ἀργόν, εἴ τι θέσφατον | οἰωνόμαντις Τειρεσίας ἔχει φράσαι. but the possibility of finding and questioning this man does not yet occur to Oedipus. The general effect of 11. 116 119, was to reduce the available evidence to the lowest point. It is only afterwards, when he begins to suspect the truth, that Oedipus catches at straws.
Κρέοντος εἰπόντος Cp. 1. 555.
I have long been wondering he should not be here. μὴ παρὼν = εἰ μὴ πάρεστι. Teiresias is slow to come, as when he comes he is slow to speak. For the use of the passive in θαυμάζεται, see Essay on L, § 31. p. 53.
He has long been wondered at by me; i. e.
I have long been wondering about him.
Certainly what other rumours there were, told nothing, and are forgotten.
ἄλλα, i. e. other than we may hope to hear from Phoebus or his prophet.
κωφά, lit.
dumb, i.e.
giving no clear intelligence. The chorus allude for a moment to the report which Creon spoke of ll. 122-123; but this slight clue is again broken off by the entrance of Teiresias, to be resumed afterwards.
He was said to have been murdered by some unknown travellers (coming towards Thebes). Creon spoke (1. 118) of one eye-witness having escaped, and bringing a confused account,
ἤκουσα κἀγώ Supr. 122.
τὸν δ᾽ ἰδόντ᾽ οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ
But no eyewitness is forthcoming. The article is general, not referring to the individual mentioned in l. 119, whom Oedipus has for the present forgotten. This suits the place better than the conjecture τὸν δὲ δρῶντα, which is weak and tautological. For ἰδόντα ὁρᾷ, cp. 1133-1134, εὐ γὰρ οἶδ᾽ ὅτι | κάτοιδεν.
ἀλλ᾽ .. μέρος
But if he is at all capable of fear. The plural expresses the general notion. Others read δείματός γ' (see v. rr.), in which ye must be taken with the whole sentence. ἔχει, sc. ὁ φονεύς. The transition to the murderer as being the foremost person in the thoughts of all present (supr. 227) is again easily made, without requiring the correction δρῶντ' in 293.
When a man is not afraid to do the deed, words do not daunt him.' 297. Authorities are nearly balanced between οὐξελέγχων and οὐξελέγξων. The former has a slight preponderance in being the first hand of L, and appearing (with the variant of.) in most of the earlier MSS. This, however, is not sufficient to decide between letters so often confounded as ξ and χ. Common usage is in favour of the future (Ant. 261, οὐδ᾽ ὁ κωλύσων παρῆν). The present tense, if genuine, is expressive of certainty. There is one who convicts him; i. e. He is already convicted, for Teiresias is here. Cp. 356, πέφευγα. For the use of the present participle without special reference to present time, see Essay on Language § 32. p. 55.
This use of νωμῶν, without τῇ φρενί or the like addition, is perhaps assisted by a supposed connection with νοέω. See Essay on Language p. 100, and cp. Plat. Crat. 411 D, ἡ γνώμη παντάπασι δηλοῖ γονῆς σκέψιν καὶ νώμησιν, τὸ γὰρ νωμᾶν καὶ τὸ σκοπεῖν ταὐτόν: Hdt. 4. 128, νωμῶντες σῖτα ἀναιρεομένους. Cp. Od. 13. 255, αἰὲν ἐνὶ στήθεσσι νόον πολυκερδέα νωμῶν: Aesch. S. c. T. 24, ἐν ὠσὶ νωμῶν καὶ φρεσὶν πυρὸς δίχα χρηστηρίους ὄρνιθας ἀψευδεῖ τέχνη. Ο thou that wieldest in thy thought all knowledge and all mysteries, both of things in
Heaven, and things on earth.
Oedipus Tyrannus. Lewis Campbell. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.