Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 1204

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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Who more acquainted with fierce misery,
Assaulted by disasters manifest,
1205
Than thou in this thy day of agony?
Most noble, most renowned!—Yet one same room
Heard thy first cry, and in thy prime of power,
Received thee, harbouring both bride and groom,
And bore it silently till this dread hour.
How could that furrowing of thy father’s field
1210
Year after year continue unrevealed?
Time hath detected thine unwitting deed,

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)) — 1204 focus
τανῦν δ᾽ ἀκούειν τίς ἀθλιώτερος;
†τίς ἐν πόνοις, τίς ἄταις ἀγρίαις
1205
ξύνοικος ἀλλαγᾷ βίου;
ἰὼ κλεινὸν Οἰδίπου κάρα,
ᾧ μέγας λιμὴν
αὑτὸς ἤρκεσεν
παιδὶ καὶ πατρὶ
θαλαμηπόλῳ πεσεῖν,
1210
πῶς ποτε πῶς ποθ᾽ αἱ πατρῷαί σ᾽ ἄλοκες φέρειν, τάλας,
σῖγ᾽ ἐδυνάθησαν ἐς τοσόνδε;
β
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)) — 1204 focus
Sezt aber wo lebt ein jammernswerth'rer Mann?
Zweite Strophe.
Wer ist dem Leid, wildem Fluche mehr vertraut
Auf wechselvoller Lebensbahn?
ruhmvolles Haupt des Dedipus,
1180
Dem der Eine Port
Groß genug erschien,
Um dem Sohne sich
Und dem Vater aufzuthun!
Wie doch vermochten's jene Saatfluren des Vaters, Armer, wie,
1185
Daß sie so lang schweigend dich ertrugen?
Zweite Gegenstrophe.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1196 focus
Than that we know already ; bringst thou more
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1204 focus
The harpy-talon'd monster scream'd no more,
Our bulwark thou against that pest abhorr'd,
Thebes gave her sceptre to thy honour'd hand,
And hail'd thee monarch of a mighty land.
Who now is pierced with keener pain ?
To all thy glories bid farewell :
They fly, and in their stead a train
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-739-1 ἀκούειν 1 ἀθλιώτερος 2 τίς ἀθλιώτερος ἀκούειν, τίς 3 ξύνοικος ἐν ἄταις 4 ξύνοικος 5

mvp-comment-740-1 In 1214 the δικάζει τὸν of the MSS. should be kept (see Metrical Analysis): here the simple transposition of τίς ἐν πόνοις 6 ἐν 7 ἄταις 8 πόνοις 9 ἐν … ξύν‐ 10

mvp-comment-741-1 The dat. ἀλλαγᾷ might be instrumental, but is rather circumstantial, = τοῦ βίου ἠλλαγμένου.

mvp-comment-742-1 λιμὴν 11

mvp-comment-743-1 πεσεῖν 12

mvp-comment-744-1 ἄλοκες 13

mvp-comment-745-1 σῖγ’ 14

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

1204. mvp-comment-683-1 ἀκούειν To hear of thee; epexegetic infinitive. Cp. El. 664, πρέπει γὰρ ὡς τύραννος εἰσορᾶν.

1205. mvp-comment-684-1 †τίς ἐν πόνοις, τίς ἄταις ἀγρίαις There is a want of perfect correspondence between the metre of strophe and antistrophe (しーしー​ーーー =C ?). The right mode of correction, if correction is necessary, is uncertain. The phrase ἄταις ἀγρίαις ξύνοικος (cp. Αj. 611, θείᾳ μανίᾳ ξύναυλος, supr. 337-338, ὁμοῦ ναίουσαν, and note) is at any rate much more expressive than the transposition adopted by some editors, τίς άταις ἀγρίαις, τίς ἐν πόνοις; The words as they stand may be rendered Who more in woe, who more associated with fierce calamities in life's reverse?' The comparative notion contained in ἀθλιώτερος is continued.

1207. mvp-comment-685-1 κλεινόν Recalling l. 8, ὁ πᾶσι κλεινὸς Οἰδίπους καλούμενος.

1208. mvp-comment-686-1 The Scholiast suggests two possible interpretations of which the former is preferable. (1) ᾧ ὑποδοχὴ εἰς τὸ ἄμφω δέξασθαι, σὲ καὶ τὸν πατέρα. (2) ἢ ὅτι μητὴρ ἦν καὶ γυνὴ ἡ Ἰοκάστη, ἣν λέγει λιμένα. (1) In whose case the same wide harbour served for son and father to enter as a bridegroom. The natural construction, ᾧ.. καὶ πατρί, is modified for the sake of emphasizing the antithesis by the addition of παιδί, and the dative is left in a loose construction with the whole sentence, with an ethical' force, i. e. to whose confusion.

1211. mvp-comment-687-1 πατρῷαι.. ἄλοκες ‘The furrows of thy father's field.' Cp. infr. 1256-1257, 1497-1498; Aesch. S. c. Τ. 752, ματρὸς ἁγνὰν σπείρας ἄρουραν ἵν᾽ ἐτράφη: Ant. 569, ἀρώσιμοι γὰρ χἀτέρων εἰσὶν γύαι.