Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 1019

ed. Lewis Campbell

καὶ πῶς ὁ φύσας ἐξ ἴσου τῷ μηδενί;

Oedipus Tyrannus. Sophocles. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

Current edition Experimental

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1086-1107 focus
Translations (2)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1026 focus
In tiefer Waldschlucht am Kithäron fand ich dich.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1086-1105 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-632-1 τῷ μηδενί, 1

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

1019. mvp-comment-588-1 And how can a father be held equal to one who is no father?'

1019. mvp-comment-588-2 τῷ μηδενί μηδενί is probably masculine='ei, qui nullus est,' and may be best explained as = τῷ μηδὲν (i. e. μηδαμῶς) φύσαντι. To one who is nothing of the kind. The pronoun helps to make the negative more absolute. Cp. Theaet. 169 Α, ἐμὲ μὲν τῷ σῷ ἑταίρῳ . . ἐπαμύνειν, σὲ δὲ μηδενί : i. e. That I am bound to help and you not at all.' The negative is similarly strengthened in El. 276, ἐρινὸν οὔτιν᾽ ἐκφοβουμένη. Ib. 1215, ἄτιμος οὐδενὸς σύ. Aesch. Ag. 185, μάντιν οὔτινα ψέγων. Hdt. 3. 135, ἀπ᾿ οὐδενὸς δολεροῦ νόου. See Essay on Language § 22. p. 36. καὶ πῶς expresses incredulity; cp. Aesch. Suppl. 509, καὶ πῶς βέβηλον ἄλσος ἂν ῥύοιτό με ;