Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 1516

Johann Jakob Christian Donner (Translator)

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous
Ende! Wohin reißt der Schmerz dich? Auf, und geh' in's Haus hinein!

Oedipus Tyrannus. Sophocles. Johann Jakob Christian Donner (Translator). . .

Current edition Experimental

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) (German) (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1516 focus
πειστέον, κεἰ μηδὲν ἡδύ.
Translations (3)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1516 focus
I must yield, though sore against me.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1516 focus
May Heaven reward thee for this goodness to
me,
And give thee much more bliss than I have known !
Now, my dear children, come towards me, come
Towards your father and your — brother ; see
These sightless eyes, pierced by my own mad hands ;
Behold that wretched father who begat you
Unknowingly on her who gave me birth ;
I cannot see you now — I can but weep
Your fate, to think what hours of wretchedness
You have to know hereafter. Whither now
Must my poor children lly? From every feast
Joyless with grief and shame, shall you return ;
And when the time shall come when riper years
Should give you to the nuptial bed, who then,
Careless of fame, will let his child partake
The infamy of my abhorred race.
Sprung from a wretch accursed, who killed his father,
And from the womb that bare him did beget
You my unhappy daughters ? Such reproach
Must still be yours, to virgin solitude
Devoted ever, and a barren bed.
Son of Menaeceus, thou alone art left
Their father now, for, oh ! Jocasta 's dead,
And T am — nothing. Do not then forsake
Thy kindred ; nor, deserted and forlorn.
Suffer them still in penury and woe
1520
To wander helpless, in their tender age :
1520
Kemember they have no support but thee.
1520
O generous prince ! have pity on them ; give me
1520
Thy friendly hand in promise of thy aid.
1520
To you, my daughters, had your early years
1520
Permitted, I had given my last advice :
Too young for counsel, all I ask of you
Is but to pray the gods that my sad life
May not be long ; but
'Ours, my children, crowned
vv iin many oays, ana happier far than mine.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1516 focus
Oh, be thou bless'd; and for this courtesy
A kinder guardian may'st thou find the god
Than I have found him!... O my children, where,
Where are you? Come to me, come to these hands,
A brother's hands, which thus your father's eyes,
Once lamps of light, have quench'd. Your father I
(Alas, my children! erring, nor by sight
Nor thought inform'd) by her that gave me birth
Yet I weep o'er you, for these eyes no more

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-902-1 γνοὺς … πάλαι 1

mvp-comment-903-1 Soph. may have been thinking of Aesch. Lib. 1063

ἀλλ’ εὐτυχοίης, καί σ’ ἐποπτεύων πρόφρων | θεὸς φυλάττοι καιρίοσι συμφοραῖς.
τῆσδε τῆς ὁδοῦ 2

mvp-comment-904-1 ἢ μὲ 3 φρουρήσας 4 καί σε 5 εὐτυχοίης 6

mvp-comment-905-1 ὡς τὰς … χέρας 7 ὡς 8 εἰς 9 ἐς 10

mvp-comment-906-1 Construe: αἳ προὐξένησαν ὑμὶν 11 τὰ πρόσθε λαμπρὰ τοῦ φυτ. πατρὸς ὄμματα ὧδε ὁρᾶν 12 ὦδ’ ὁρᾶν 13 προυσέλησαν 14

mvp-comment-907-1 οὔθ’ ὁρῶν οὔθ’ ἱστορῶν 15

mvp-comment-908-1 ἠρόθην 16

mvp-comment-909-1 ὁμιλίας … ἑορτάς 17 ὁμιλίας 18 ἑορτάς 19

mvp-comment-910-1 κεκλαυμέναι 20

mvp-comment-911-1 ἀντὶ τῆς θεωρίας 21

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

1478. mvp-comment-822-1 τῆσδε τῆς ὁδοῦ In requital for thus bringing them. Genitive of the reason. See Essay on Language § 10. p. 15. For ὁδός, see Essay on Language p. 96; and cp. El 1314. μια σε τῆδ᾽ ὁδῷ θανόντα τε | καὶ ζῶντ᾽ ἐσεῖδον: Ο. C. 1506, τῆσδε τῆς ὁδοῦ,

1481. mvp-comment-823-1 Come to these hands of mine, that own one mother with you. Cp. Ο. C. 535, κοιναί γε πατρὸς ἀδελφεαί.

1482-1483. mvp-comment-824-1 .'Which have provided for you this sad spectacle of your father's once bright eyes.'

1482-1483. mvp-comment-824-2 On προξενέω, see Essay on Language p. 98, init.; and on the construction of ὧδ' ὁρᾶν (1. 1482), ibid. § 33. p. 57. The use of προὐξένησαν is occasioned by ὁρᾶν, which, though epexegetic, is first in the order of words, and suggests προξενεῖν θεωρίαν. ὧδε, sc ἔχοντα. See Essay on Language § 39. 1. p. 72.

1484. mvp-comment-825-1 οὔθ᾽ ὁρῶν οὔθ᾽ ἱστορῶν Blind and uninquiring, i. e. unconscious. Cp. supr. 413, κού βλέπεις ἵν᾽ εἶ κακοῦ: 530, ἃ γὰρ δρῶσ᾽ οἱ κρατοῦντες οὐχ ὁρῶ.

1485. mvp-comment-826-1 ἐφάνθην Became, with the additional meaning was discovered to be. 1486. i.e. My eyes, that see you not, shed tears for you.

1487. mvp-comment-827-1 νοούμενος Thinking sadly of.' The rare middle voice expresses deep personal feeling. Essay on Language § 31. p. 53.

1488. mvp-comment-828-1 βιῶναι . . πρὸς ἀνθρώπων For πρός, cp. Αj. 511, σοῦ διοίσεται μόνος | ὑπ᾿ ὀρφανιστῶν μὴ φίλων.

1490-1491. mvp-comment-829-1 Bathed in tears instead of enjoying the solemnity. θεωρίας combines the notion of assisting at contests or exhibitions of various kinds, with that of performing a religious function.

1490. mvp-comment-830-1 For the perfect tense of κεκλαυμέναι, cp. Il. 16.7, τίπτε δεδάκρυσαι, Πατρόκλεις : Aesch. Cho. 731, τρόφον δ' Ὀρέστου τήνδ᾽ ὁρῶ κεκλαυμένην.