Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 1186

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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O mortal tribes of men,
How near to nothingness
I count you while your lives remain!
What man that lives hath more of happiness
1190
Than to seem blest, and, seeming, fade in night?
O Oedipus, in this thine hour of gloom,
Musing on thee and thy relentless doom,
I call none happy who beholds the light.
1195

Oedipus Tyrannus. Sophocles. Lewis Campbell (Translator). London, New York and Toronto. 1906.

Current edition Experimental

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1186 focus
ἰὼ γενεαὶ βροτῶν,
ὡς ὑμᾶς ἴσα καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ζώσας ἐναριθμῶ.
τίς γάρ, τίς ἀνὴρ πλέον
τᾶς εὐδαιμονίας φέρει
1190
ἢ τοσοῦτον ὅσον δοκεῖν
καὶ δόξαντ᾽ ἀποκλῖναι;
τὸ σόν τοι παράδειγμ᾽ ἔχων,
[46 a.
τὸν σὸν δαίμονα, τὸν σόν, ὦ τλᾶμον Οἰδιπόδα, βροτῶν *οὐδὲν μακαρίζω·
1195
α
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1186-1221 focus
Translations (4)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1186 focus
Ihr Menschengeschlechter, ach!
1155
Euch, die leben im Lichte, wie
Zähl' ich ähnlich dem Nichts euch!
Denn welcher der Sterblichen
Nimmt ein größeres Glück dahin,
Als so viel ihm der Wahn verleiht,
1160
Bis vom Wahn er hinabsinkt?
Durch dein gräßliches Loos gewarnt,
Dein unseliges Mißgeschick,
Armer Dedipus, preis' ich Nichts
Glückselig auf Erden.
1165
Erste Gegenstrophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1186 focus
Nothing can be worse
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1186 focus
Ye race of mortals, what your state?
Life I an airy nothing deem.
For what, ah! what your happiest fate,
More than light fancy's high-wrought dream?
How soon those baseless dreams decay
And all the glittering visions melt away!
1195
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1186-1220 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-729-1 ὡς 1 ἐναριθμῶ· τὸ μηδὲν 2 ζώσας 3 ζώσας 4 ζώσας 5

mvp-comment-729-2 ἴσα καὶ 6

mvp-comment-729-3 ἐναριθμῶ 7

mvp-comment-730-1 φέρει 8

mvp-comment-731-1 δοκεῖν 9

mvp-comment-732-1 ἀποκλῖναι 10

mvp-comment-733-1 τὸν σόν τον 11 τὸν 12 τὸ σόν τοι 13 τὸν σόν 14

mvp-comment-734-1 οὐδὲν βροτῶν 15 οὐδένα 16 οὐδὲν 17

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

1186-1203. mvp-comment-671-1 Man walketh in a vain shadow, he appears, and is not. What lot could seem more blest than Oedipus'? who slew the monster, saved our state and took the kingdom for his own? € ἰὼ CA. γενεαί] γεναὶ L. ἰὼὡς γενεαὶ C6. But now what woe is like to his; plunged by reverse of fortune in cruel misery? O glorious Oedipus! how art thou sunk into an abyss of infamy, too long concealed. Time that sees all hath found thee. And I, unblest in knowing thee, must weep thy fall. Yet thou wast he that gave me respite and repose.' The rhythms of this ode are less elaborate than those of the three former, and convey a more direct utterance of feeling. α'. β'. } } 5 } ICCICI IICCICI ICCICI IICCICI Iに​ト​CCICI に​ー​ト​CCICI UILCCICI ICCII CCし​ト​C!CICI CCICー​しー ILCICIC lulca LUICI いいーし​に CCLCIC LUCICICLICCICICI LCCLCICIC. 5 10 The first strophe and antistrophe, expressing solemn regret, consist each of three regular glyconic logaoedic systems, the second, giving vent to a more passionate mournfulness, are iambic and trochaic, returning to the smoother logaoedic rhythm in the last three lines. Syncope of thesis' occurs in ll. 1, 4, 9, 10, of β'.

1187. mvp-comment-672-1 ἴσα καὶ τὸ μηδέν Cp. Thuc. 3.14, ἴσα καὶ ἱκέται ἐσμέν.

1188. mvp-comment-673-1 ζώσας While ye are in life,' with allusion to the common reflection attributed to Solon that none are to be called happy till after death. Cp. infr. 1528-1530.

1190. mvp-comment-674-1 φέρει Cp. 590, νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἐκ σοῦ πάντ᾽ ἄνευ φόβου φέρω.

1191. mvp-comment-675-1 δοκεῖν Sc. εὐδαίμων εἶναι.

1192. mvp-comment-676-1 ἀποκλῖναι 'Το decline,' like the westering sun. Hdt. 3. 104-104. 181, ἀποκλινομένης δὲ τῆς ἡμέρης. Cp. Shak. Sonnet 90: 'Nativity, once in the main of light, Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned, | Crooked eclipses gainst his glory fight, | And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. Also the words spoken of Xerxes by the Greeks in Hdt. 7. 203, ὀφείλειν . . ὡς ἐύντα θνητὸν ἀπὸ τῆς δύξης πεσέειν ἄν.

1193. mvp-comment-677-1 τὸ σόν τοι παράδειγμ Having thy example before me. Schol. τὸν σὸν βίον.. παράδειγμα ἔχων, οὐδένα μακαἐκράτησε Μ². ρίζω καὶ εὐδαιμονίζω. It is by no means clear from this, as Schndw. supposed, that the Scholiast read τὸν σόν. For he may have taken τὸ σόν substantively as = τὸν σὸν βίον. The reading in the text is simpler and more natural than τὸν σόν, although it requires παράδειγμα to be repeated in a different construction after τὸν σὸν δαίμονα.