1-3.
mvp-comment-1-1
Before the dialogue begins, the suppliants are seen to enter on the spectator's right, with wool-wreathed olivewands in their left hands (Aesch. Suppl. 193). Marshalled by the Priests, they eagerly approach the altars, on the steps of which they lay their wands (Ib. 242). Before this movement is completed, Oedipus enters to them by the central door. There was probably at least one altar on either side of this, that of Apollo Lycaeus (1.919) being one, and the approach of Creon, who comes from the country, would be seen by those on the spectator's left (11. 78, 9), before becoming visible to Oedipus or to the Priest of Zeus, who remains on the right.
1.
mvp-comment-2-1
Ω τέκνα .. τροφή Oedipus addresses the Thebans as the strangerprince, who will soon be discovered to belong to the race which he governs. Cp. the answer in l. 14, which recalls his foreign origin, and see infr. 452-453, εἶτα δ᾽ ἐγγενής | φανήσεται Θηβαῖος.
1.
mvp-comment-2-2
τροφή,
objects of my care, expressing the tenderness not of Cadmus but of Oedipus for his children; a rare use of abstract for concrete. See Essay on Language, p. 94. Κάδμου is gen. of origin.
O latest offspring of old Cadmus, children who are my care.
2.
mvp-comment-3-1
μοι is
precatory, adding a tone of pleading affectionateness to the question. Cp. Εl. 144, τί μοι τῶν δυσφόρων ἐφίει; τίνας . . ἕδρας τάσδε.. θοάζετε =
Why do ye thus sit (or kneel) here with so much haste? The king in entering has observed (or before entering has heard from others, 11. 6, 7) the earnestness with which the suppliants have taken their places by the altars, and he regards this as one of the signs of trouble in the city. The meaning here given to θοάζω is that which it has everywhere in Euripides, who uses it frequently. Another θοάζω = θάσσω is mentioned by grammarians, and has been generally assumed to be the verb found in this and two other places of classical Greek, viz. Aesch. Suppl. 595, Emped. 1. 18. But it is at least questionable whether the meaning
to hasten is not admissible in both of these. And in the present case it is unobjectionable. For however slow and staid the movements on the proscenium actually were, they are often described in the dialogue as rapid and hurried. (El. 872, O. C. 887.) Cp. esp. Aesch. Suppl. 209, μή νυν σχόλαζε, addressed by Danaus to the suppliant maidens, who are taking their places at the altar. It must be admitted, however, that the authority of Plutarch (de Aud. Poet. 2. 22 E) counts for something in favour of the other meaning, and that it suits the context equally well.
3.
mvp-comment-4-1
Instead of saying simply
equipped with suppliant boughs, the more descriptive ἐξεστεμμένοι =
enfilleted (infr. 1. 19) is used, occasioning a pleonasm like that in Pind. Nem. 10. 43, ἀργυρωθέντες σὺν οἰνηραῖς φιάλαις. ἐξεστεμμένοι, i. e. στέμμασιν ἐξεσταλμένοι,
Well provided with woollen wreaths.
4.
mvp-comment-5-1
πόλις δ΄ The form of interrogation is dropped. The pleonastic ἄλλων, ('who are not myself,') in apposition to ἀγγέ λων, makes the antithesis more explicit. Cp. Eur. Or. 532, τί μαρτύρων | ἄλλων ἀκούειν δεῖ μ᾽, ἅ γ᾽ εἰσορᾶν πάρα; Hdt. 7. 50, εἰ μὴ χρεώμενοι γνώμῃσι τοιαύτῃσι ἄλλους συμβούλους εἶχον τοιούτους.
4-5.
mvp-comment-6-1
The expression is slightly inaccurate. Oedipus begins with the antithesis of what is seen and heard, and the further antithesis (between the signs of hope and grief) is suggested to him. Hence the second ὁμοῦ has a double use.
The city is at the same time full of offerings of incense, and of groanings which mingle with the sounds of the paean.
6.
mvp-comment-7-1
ἅ
The things of which I ask, especially the subject of Il. 4.5.
7.
mvp-comment-8-1
For the emphatic αὐτός, cp. Hdt. 4. 76 (of King Saulios), ὁ δέ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπικόμενος, ὡς εἶδε, κ.τ.λ.
8.
mvp-comment-9-1
'The world-renowned Oedipus by name.' This line introduces Oedipus to the spectators in the simple manner of ancient tragedy, and strengthens the impression of his perfect security.
9-10.
mvp-comment-10-1
.
Since you stand forth as the person naturally fitted to speak before or
on behalf of these. πρέπειν here appears in transition from
being conspicuous to
being suitable. πρό is partly foremost amo among,' partly
in behalf of. Cp. II. 13. 693, 699, πρὸ Φθίων θωρηχθέντες.
10.
mvp-comment-11-1
τίνι τρόπῳ καθέστατε means not merely,
How are you? but,
In what wise are ye present here? Oedipus addresses the priest and his companions, who are evidently there to crave an audience. The exact word for this is καθεστάναι. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 4. 135, καί β᾽ ἦλθον Πελίου μέγαρον, ἐσσύμενοι δ᾽ εἴσω κατέσταν: Hdt. 1. 152, καταστάς, ἔλεγε πολλά. Also κατάστασις in Hdt. 3.46. (Trin. gl. ἐπεστήκατε.) The 1st pers. in προσήμεθα 1. 15, ἑζόμεσθα 1. 32, ἱστώμεσθα 1. 147, does not necessarily imply that the priest spoke in the attitude of supplication. But on comparing Aesch. Suppl. 208, Eur. Heracl. 238, this does seem possible, and might add to the apparent greatness of Oedipus. For καθέστατε in this case, cр. О. С. 23, κατέσταμεν, where Oedipus is sitting.
11.
mvp-comment-12-1
δείσαντες ἢ στέρξαντες στέ ξαντες, which appears in some later MSS, but not in all, and as a very late correction of L, was perhaps invented to suit the gloss, ὑπομείναντές τι κακόν, a late meaning of στέγειν being
to endure. Cp. gloss in Par. Essay on l. 341, στέγω ὑπομένω, ἔστεξα is not an Attic form. στέρξαντες is right in the sense of desiring or having the affections fixed on something. Cp. O. C. 1094, στέργω ἀρωγὰς | μολεῖν: Plat. Legg. 10. 907 C, ἑαυτοὺς μὲν μισῆσαι, τὰ δ᾽ ἐναντία πως ἤθη στέρξαι, and see ἱμείροντες in l.59.
In what manner do you stand here? in consequence of what fear? or of what desire? i.e.
What desire or fear has brought you? The force of the interrogative is continued in the participles. στέρξαντες is quoted by the Scholiast, who interprets, οἷον, ἤδη πεπονθότες. But Oedipus asks, not, 'Is the evil present or past?'-that some blow had fallen was clear-but, What is the feeling with which you come?' Others connect ὡς, κ.τ.λ., immediately with στέρξαντες in the sense of
being resigned.
Having made up your minds to suffer, in the belief that, etc. But although this interpretation gives the more ordinary meaning to στέρξαντες, it has the capital fault of making Oedipus express his main assurance to the people in a parenthesis, or in a suppressed clause. ὡς refers to φράζε,
Tell me, and believe, etc. 12,
13.
mvp-comment-13-1
δυσάλγητος .. εἴην Sc. εἰ μὴ θέλοιμι, which is further explained by μὴ οὐ, κ.τ.λ.
13.
mvp-comment-13-2
μὴ οὐ For the redundant οὐ here, see Essay on Language § 29, 3. c. p. 50. The participial epexegesis implies a negative condition (i. e. εἰ μὴ κατοικτείραιμι) of the negative statement δυσάλγητος ἂν εἴην, and has pointed reference to the case actually present.
14.
mvp-comment-14-1
The priest, speaking for the people, recounts the calamities of the state and adjures Oedipus to be once more their saviour. Of his power and wisdom they have no doubt; they only ask that he shall be willing to save them. He is the lord of circumstance, the proved friend of Heaven; once he has rescued them from destruction let him not suffer them again to fall. This is so expressed as to show how unconscious all the persons are, (1) of the designs of the gods respecting Oedipus, (2) of the impiety which he will display when tempted (31), (3) of the coming destruction not of the city but of Oedipus himself.
15.
mvp-comment-15-1
ὁρᾷς μὲν ἡμᾶς Opposed to τὸ δ' ἄλλο φύλον, κ.τ.λ.,
l. 19
.
15.
mvp-comment-15-2
ἡλίκοι
Of what ages,-young children, chosen youths, and aged priests; the ages most befitting supplication. The priest calls attention to this point in order to conciliate the sympathy of the king. At thy altars,' i. e. the altars (of Apollo and perhaps other deities), before the king's palace. Cp. 919.
Thou seest how we, who are of such different ages, are seated at thine altars; some not yet able to go far (lit.
fly, the familiar Greek image of νεοσοί),
some weak with age, who are priests, as I am of Zeus; and these chosen youths. πτέσθαι = πέτεσθαι.
16.
mvp-comment-16-1
Some take βωμοῖσι as a poetical plural, others suppose more than one altar. The latter is more probable. See opening note.
17.
mvp-comment-17-1
σὺν γήρᾳ βαρεῖς
Weighed down with the burden of years. Ср. О. С. 7, ὁ χρόνος ξυνὼν μακρός. See Essay on Language § 48. a. p. 91.
18.
mvp-comment-18-1
οἵδε τ᾽ ᾐθέων λεκτοί The priest points out the youths who are near him. This is the most probable reading. The Epic οἱ δέ τε is without parallel in Sophocles, and probably in tragedy. (In Aesch. Cho. 490, δ᾽ ἔπ', or δ' ἔτ', may be read.) οἱ δ' ἐπ', an early conjecture of Wunder's (cp. Suidas, λεκτός, ἐπίλεκτος, οἱ δὲ τ᾽ ἠθέων λεκτοί. Σοφοκλῆς), and since extracted by Dübner from the Laurentian MS, has not really the authority of this MS. for the letter is lost, and was more probably the form 66, i. e. ετε without elision), and is of doubtful meaning, though it may slightly be confirmed by Ant. 790, οὔθ' ἁμερίων ἐπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων. The erasure has most probably been occasioned by the form 66 for ετε (in οἱ δέ τε), which the corrector altered for the sake of dividing the words. The word λεκτοί at the beginning of the line (cp. Homer), although to be taken strictly with ᾐθέων only, helps to point the more general antithesis between ἡμᾶς and τὸ ἄλλο φύλον. For the meaning of ἠθεος,
unmarried youth, cp. the Homeric παρθένος ἠἰθεός Te, and Eur. Phoen. 945, οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ᾔθεος. Also Plato, Legg. 8. 840 D, μέχρι μὲν παιδογονίας ἠἴθεοι καὶ ἀκήρατοι γάμων τε ἁγνοὶ ζῶσιν.
19.
mvp-comment-19-1
τὸ δ᾽ ἄλλο φύλον, κ.τ.λ.
And there is another gathering which, etc. The article is appositional, as in the Homeric τὸ δὲ μέγα κεῖται ἄεθλον (11. 22.163). And ἄλλος has an adverbial force. Cp. El. 601, ὁ δ᾽ ἄλλος ἔξω ..
19.
mvp-comment-19-2
Ορέστης.
And besides ourselves there is a gathering in the Agora. See Essay on Language § 21. p. 33.
20.
mvp-comment-20-1
ἀγοραῖσι Two different marketplaces are mentioned by Xenophon (Hell. 5. 2, 29) and Pausanias. But the plural is more probably simply poetical, as in Od. 8. 16, καρπαλίμως δ' ἔμπληντο βροτῶν ἀγοραί τε καὶ ἕδραι | ἀγρομένων. The shrine of Artemis Eucleia (1. 161) and probably others also, were in the Agora.
20.
mvp-comment-20-2
διπλοῖς Schol. τὸ μὲν Ὀγκαίας, τὸ δὲ οισ in erasure M².
20.
mvp-comment-20-3
Ἰσμηνίας· οἱ δὲ τὸ μὲν Ἀλαλκομενίας, τὸ δὲ Καδμείας.
21.
mvp-comment-21-1
ἐπ᾿ Ἰσμηνοῦ The river Ismenus, a son of Apollo, was supposed to have an interest in the temple of Apollo on his bank, where divination was practised through burnt-sacrifice (Hdt. 8. 134). The prescient embers' are the ashes of such burnt-sacrifices.
By the ashes of divination that are sacred to Ismenus; i.e. Where men use divination through burnt-sacrifice at Ismenus' shrine.'
22.
mvp-comment-22-1
ὥσπερ.. εἰσορᾷς See 11.4.5.
For our state. as you perceive, begins to be overwhelmed by the storm, and can no longer raise her head out of the depths of the cruel seas. Cp. Plato, Legg. 923, ἐν νόσοις ἢ γήρᾳ σαλεύοντας: Ant. 169, πολλῷ σάλῳ σείσαντες.
24.
mvp-comment-23-1
ἔτ᾿ οὐχ See Essay on Language § 41, γ. b. p. 78.
26.
mvp-comment-24-1
βουνόμοις i. e. ἀ. νεμομένων βοῶν. Wasting in the herds of oxen at their pastures: ταῖς ἀγέλαις ἐν αἷς αἱ βόες νέμονται. The expression is not quite exact, but the latter part of the compound is subordinate. See Essay on Language p. 101; ib. § 40. p. 75. βούνομος is differently used by Aesch. Fr. 245.
26.
mvp-comment-24-2
τόκοισί τε ἀγόνοις A sort of oxymoron. Cp. 163-164, οὔτε τύκοισιν | ἰηίων καμάτων ἀνέχουσι γυναῖκες.
In the labours of women who have no strength to bring forth. ἐv is (1) adverbial, and (2) is to be resumed with σκήψας, suggesting ἐνσκήψας. ‘And there, too, has lighted that fire from heaven, a hateful plague which harasses the city. For the use of θεός, cp. El. 179, χρόνος γὰρ εὐμαρὴς θεός: Simonides Amorgin. Fr. 7. 102, λιμὸς δυσμενὴς θεός. The personification is carried further by the chorus,
l. 191
, Ἄρεά τε τὸν μαλερόν, κ. τ. λ. here the symbol not of fever but of destruction. Cp. 191,470. The article d marks the vividness with which the thing mentioned is present to the mind of the speaker.
29.
mvp-comment-25-1
δῶμα Καδμεῖον The city is the home of Cadmus, as the citizens are his family (1. 1).
30.
mvp-comment-26-1
στεναγμοῖς καὶ γόοις πλουτίζεται
Is enriched by lamentations and groans; probably with an allusion to Πλούτων, which is hardly translatable in English. Cp. Plat. Crat. 403 Α, τὸ δὲ Πλούτωνος, τοῦτο μὲν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πλούτου δόσιν. The groans of the dying and the lamentations over the dead augment the honours of the god of death. Cp. Ant. 519, ὁ γ' Ἅιδης τοὺς νόμους τούτους ποθεῖ.
31.
mvp-comment-27-1
θεοῖσι .. οὐκ ἰσούμενον The suppliants are sitting at the family altars of the king (which have the same kind of sacredness that belongs to the hearth), revering him not as a god but for his human and inspired wisdom. The pious moderation of the chorus is contrasted with the impiety afterwards displayed by the king and queen; and their description of Oedipus as the child of success and Providence points bitterly to the sequel, see esp. 1. 35, ἄστυ Καδμεῖον μολών : (ἵνα καὶ ἡ ἀπὸ ξένης αὐτοῦ ἄφιξις δηλαθῇ, Schol.) ἰσούμενόν σ'] σε is governed, πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, by the verbal notion in ἑζόμεσθ' ἐφέστιοι = προσίγμεθα. To you we pray not as if you were the equal of the gods.' The expression becomes more personal as the sentence proceeds, so that κρίνοντες takes the place of ὄντα οι φαινόμενον. To sit at the altar of the palace was, like sitting at the hearth, a form of supplicating the king. Cp. Eur. Heracl. sub init. vero
33.
mvp-comment-28-1
ἔν τε συμφοραῖς
In the common accidents of life, and in the visitations of Heaven, or
when we have to do with the gods. συναλλαγή here as elsewhere has the meaning of intercourse or connection with.
Quanta ironia subest iis verbis! Nam quis, alio sensu, homo unquam extitit ipso Oedipo calamitosior? quis Deos magis iratos expertus?
Pellucioni. Cp. infr. 1205-1311. See Introd. and the Appendix on the so called Irony of Sophocles.
35.
mvp-comment-29-1
ὅς τ' The reading is taken from the citation of the Scholiast, who writes ὥστε. The construction is similar to l. 694, ὅς τ᾽ ἐμὰν γᾶν φίλαν .. κατ᾿ ὀρθὸν οὔρισας, τανῦν τ᾽ εὔπομπος, εἰ δύναιο ; and though ye would not be out of place, τε aptly prepares the way for νῦν τε in l. 40, which is postponed by the amplification of the thought in 11. 37-39. Ср. Hdt. 8. 101, σὺ ἂν ἐμοί, καὶ γὰρ .. περὶ τῆς ναυμαχίης εὖ συνεβούλευσας .. νῦν τε συμβούλευσον. ὅς τ' has the advantage of being the harder reading.
35.
mvp-comment-29-2
ἐξέλυσας This verb governs δασμόν with ἡμῖν or ἡμᾶς understood. Cp. Tr. 655, ἐξέλυσ᾽ ἐπίπονον ἁμέραν (sc. οἱ or νιν).
35.
mvp-comment-29-3
ἄστυ is the place rather than the society, and is to be connected only with μολών. The MSS. here and in l. 29, vary between Καδμεῖον and Καδμείων.
36.
mvp-comment-30-1
σκληρᾶς ἀοιδοῦ δασμόν
The tribute levied by the inexorable songstress; i.e. the lives of those citizens who attempted to solve her riddle and failed. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1027.
37.
mvp-comment-31-1
ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν.. πλέον
Having no advantage of information from us.
38.
mvp-comment-32-1
προσθήκῃ θεοῦ i.e. θεοῦ προσθεμένου σοι. By a god taking part with thee.' 'By a Divine aid. Cр. О. С. 1332, οἷς ἂν σὺ προσθῇ, τοῖσδ᾽ ἔφασκ᾿ εἶναι κράτος.
40.
mvp-comment-33-1
Join πᾶσιν with κράτιστον. Cp. l.8.
43.
mvp-comment-34-1
που του appears only in Land three other MSS, and may be an error arising from του in the previous line. Cp. infr. 117. Aj. 33. The repetition of του is not quite elegant, and που has a good meaning.
Or whether you know, as you may, of help coming from man. Cp. Od. 10. 486, ὅτε που σύ γε νόσφι γένηαι. ἀπ᾿ ἀνδρός, sc. ἀλκὴν γιγνομένην. There is a covert reference to Apollo in the first instance, and to Teiresias in the second.
44.
mvp-comment-35-1
ὡς τοῖσιν .. βουλευμάτων
For I see that where men have experience the issues of their counsels live and prosper. Oedipus had been tried in difficulty, and his advice, resting on experience, was the more likely to succeed. The simplicity of such a maxim is no objection to this rendering. Cp. Hdt. 1.60, οἰκότα μέν νυν βουλευομένοισι ἀνθρώποισι ὡς τὸ ἐπίπαν ἐθέλει γίνεσθαι, μὴ δὲ οἰκότα βουλευομένοισι, οὐκ ἐθέλει οὐδὲ ὁ θεὸς προσχωρέειν πρὸς τὰς ἀνθρωπηΐας γνώμας. The words are logically connected with the general meaning of the three preceding lines, and the point is, We come to you as to an experienced man.' καί expresses 'not only are the counsels good but their issues are also good.'
44.
mvp-comment-35-2
τὰς ξυμφορὰς .. τῶν βουλευμάτων
The results of their plans.
45.
mvp-comment-36-1
ζώσας The metaphorical use of ζῆν is comparatively rare. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 819, ἄτης θύελλαι ζῶσι: infr. 483, ζῶντα περιποτᾶται : Ant. 457. Eur. Fr. 35, ἀεὶ τὸ μὲν ζῇ, τὸ δὲ μεθίσταται κακόν. The explanation of τὰς ξυμφορὰς τῶν βουλευμάτων as = the conference of counsels,' (Aesch. Pers. 528, πιστοίσι πιστὰ ξυμφέρειν βουλεύματα), is ingenious. but increases the difficulty of ζώσας, which can never mean are habitual,' and it is not consistent with the laudatory tone of the address to advise Oedipus, who is the first of men, to take counsel with others. Cp. Thuc. 1. 140, τὰς ξυμφορὰς τῶν πραγμάτων.
47.
mvp-comment-37-1
εὐλαβήθηθ᾽ The tone of warning in the latter part of the speech is the first presage of the misfortunes that are to follow.
48.
mvp-comment-38-1
τῆς πάρος προθυμίας
For your former zeal. προμηθίας is a various reading. The two words are often confused in MSS, and προμηθίας has been thought to agree better with 11.47 and 51. But προθυμίας, implying no doubt of Oedipus' power to save the people if he will, is really preferable.
49.
mvp-comment-39-1
μεμνώμεθα The subjunctive is more in harmony with the imperatives before and after than the optative. μεμνώμεθα, or rather μεμνήμεθα, which some editors have pre preferred (in the spirit of Protagoras' objection to μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, viz. that commands should not be given to a superior.) Ср. О. С. 174: ὦ ξένοι, μὴ δῆτ᾽ ἀδικηθῶ. The quasi-imperative expresses a stronger confidence than the optative, which implies some degree of uncertainty. σόντες has the chief emphasis. See Essay on Language p. 78. The participles are in construction with μεμνώμεθα.
Let not this be our memory of your reign, that we stood upright only to fall again. For the metaphorical expression, cp. Pind. Pyth. 3. 53, 96, Isthm 6. 12. πε
51.
mvp-comment-40-1
ἀσφαλείᾳ (1) Dative of the manner. The noun is used with a consciousness of the verb σφάλλεσθαι, referring to πεσόντες.
Let your restoration of this city be without failure or falling. Cp. Thuc. 3. 22, ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκα τῆς πρὸς τὸν πηλόν. Also Thuc. 2.44, ἐκ τε τοῦ μὴ ἐρημοῦσθαι καὶ ἀσφαλείᾳ. Or (2) the word is used proleptically, i.e. ἀσφαλείᾳ = εἰς ἀσφάλειαν.
Restore us to security. Cp. Ant. 163, ἀσφαλῶς ὤρθωσαν. The words ὄρνιθι . . αἰσίῳ support the former explanation.
54.
mvp-comment-41-1
ἄρξεις .. κρατεῖς
If you will rule this land as you are now her lord. Cp. Thuc. 5. 105, οὗ ἂν κρατῇ, ἄρχειν.
57.
mvp-comment-42-1
μὴ ξυνοικούντων is epexegetic of ἔρημος ἀνδρῶν, and, as often in such cases, the negative implied in ἔρημος is made explicit. Without men to dwell therein.' Cp. Hdt. 2. 91, φεύγουσι Χρασθαι χρᾶσθαι .. μηδέ, κ.τλ. Ib. 4. 76. See Essay on Language § 40, 1. p. 74. Some edd. put a comma after ἔρημος, which lessens the force of ἀνδρῶν. Cp. Thuc. 7. 77, ἄνδρες γὰρ πόλις, καὶ οὐ τείχη οὐδὲ νῆες ἀνδρῶν κεναί.
58.
mvp-comment-43-1
Oedipus is full of anxiety, not for himself, but for his people, whose sorrows he bears. In his care for them he has sent Creon to consult the oracle, and now looks impatiently for his return. In a sense of which he is ignorant, his woe is indeed greater than the people's woe, and the plan which he has chosen as the only cure will bring the curse on him.
58.
mvp-comment-43-2
ὦ παῖδες οἰκτροί
O my poor children. The unusual position of the adjective gives a pathetic emphasis. See Essay on Language § 23. P. 37.
60.
mvp-comment-44-1
νοσοῦντες is the real subject of the sentence, but the construction is changed for the sake of the emphatic phrase οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις, See Essay on Language § 15. p. 21. In ὡς ἐγώ and ἐξ ἴσου there is a confusion of οὕτως ὡς ἐγώ and ἐξ ἴσου ἐμοί: i.e. ἐξ ἴσου is substituted for οὕτως.
And although you are sick at heart, the sickness of none of you is equal to mine.
65.
mvp-comment-45-1
ὕπνῳ γ' εὔδοντα
When taking rest in sleep. The redundancy (as in Ο. C. 306, βραδὺς εὕδει), is no objection to the reading. The repetition is emphatic.
I am not asleep, and you do not rouse me from slumber. For this pleonasm as well as for the present participle, cp. Τr. 175, ὥσθ᾽ ἡδέως εὕδουσαν ἐκπηδᾶν ἐμὲ | φύβῳ, φίλαι, ταρβοῦσαν: also (for the participle) ib. 1163, ζῶντά μ᾽ ἔκτεινεν. Ε. on L. § 4. 5. p. 75.
67.
mvp-comment-46-1
'And have traversed many paths in the wanderings of thought.' Cp. Hdt. 3. 156, πάσας τὰς διεξόδους τῶν βουλευμάτων. The gloss of the Schol., ἀντὶ τοῦ πλάναις θηλυκῶς, confirms the reading πλάνοις.
68.
mvp-comment-47-1
That which on careful consideration I found the only cure, I put in execution. Cp. Ar. Nub. 76.
71.
mvp-comment-48-1
πύθοιθ Probably suggested by the sound of Πυθικά, but not an intentional play upon the word. Essay on Language § 44. p. 83.
72.
mvp-comment-49-1
ῥυσαίμην Cp. Ant. 271-272, οὔθ' ὅπως δρῶντες καλῶς πράξαιμεν. The short syllable (in thesi) before the initial p is an Epic usage, but rare in tragedy. Cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 91, τίς ἄρα ῥύσεται;
73.
mvp-comment-50-1
Lit. The day now measured by the course of time makes me anxious to know how he fares; i. e. When I think what day this is,'
When I count the days. χρόνῳ, not the time of his absence but time generally. The comparative unfamiliarity of the abstract notion of time may account for the vagueness of the expression, which is supplemented in the two following lines. Each day is compared with an absolute standard of time. See Essay on L p. 91. For the intransitive sense of τί πράσσει, cp. Aj. 1418-1419, οὐδεὶς μάντις τῶν μελλόντων ὅ τι πράξει, and for the construction, ib. 794, ὥστε μ' ὠδίνειν, τί φής.
74-75.
mvp-comment-51-1
The expression is redundant, so that ἄπεστι is joined at once with τοῦ εἰκότος πέρα and with πλείω τοῦ καθήκοντος χρόνου. The clause πλείω, κ.τ.λ., is added as an explanation of τοῦ γὰρ εἰκότος πέρα, and more fully expresses Oedipus' surprise at the continued absence of Creon.
He is absent longer than he ought to be, beyond due measure.
77.
mvp-comment-52-1
For κακὸς ἂν εἴην μὴ δρῶν, cp. Eur. Heracl. 282-283, μάτην.. ἥβην.. ἂν κεκτῴμεθα.. μή σε τιμωρούμενοι. Ε. on L p. 50.
78.
mvp-comment-53-1
εἰς καλόν depends at once on εἶπας, and on προσστείχοντα, which has the chief emphasis.
Welcome are your words, and no less welcome is the announcement I have just received that Creon is coming. Cp. Plat. Symp. 174 Ε. εἰς καλὸν ἥκεις: Hdt. 9. 87, εὖ λέγειν καὶ ἐς καιρόν. Some of the suppliants have signified by gestures the approach of Creon. See opening note.
80.
mvp-comment-54-1
εἰ γάρ εἰ expresses a strong and anxious wish, and γάρ connects this with what precedes (cp. Eur. Ion 410); here with the additional ye echoing εἰς καλὸν προσστείχοντα. Would indeed that he may come bright with saving fortune as his looks are bright.' ἐν τύχῃ λαμπρός, like ἐν ὅρκῳ μέγαν, infr. 653, ἐν =
invested with,
encompassed by.
81.
mvp-comment-55-1
ὄμματι Either (I)
in his eye. Cp. Pind. Nem. 7. 66, ὄμματι δέρκομαι λαμπρόν. Or (2)
in appearance, 'to the view. Essay on Language p. 99. For (1), cp. Schiller, Br. Messin. 1, 6, 11. 3, 4.
82.
mvp-comment-56-1
To all appearance he brings pleasant news.' ἡδύς, ἅτε φέρων ἡδέα. Cp. El. 929, ήἡδὺς οὐδὲ μητρὶ δυσχερής. For the inf. εἰκάσαι, see Essay on Language § 33, B. 2. p. 57.
83.
mvp-comment-57-1
παγκάρπου The Delphic laurel, according to Pliny and modern travellers, abounds with large red berries. This is a part of the bright apparel of Creon as a θεωρός returning with a joyful answer from the god. For the genitive ('richly crowned with'), cp. the Epic ἐπεστέψαντο ποτοῖο. Ε. on L. p. 15.
84.
mvp-comment-58-1
ξύμμετρος .. ὡς κλύειν
He is near and within hearing. . = ξυμμέτρως ἀπέχων. Ε. on L. § 39, 1. p. 72.
85.
mvp-comment-59-1
ἐμὸν κήδευμα
Joined to me by marriage. The abstract for concrete has here the effect of respectful formality. Essay on Language p. 94.
86.
mvp-comment-60-1
What answer do you bring with you from the god?" 'What is Apollo's word which you come bringing?' τοῦ θεοῦ is (1) descriptive genitive with τίνα φήμην, (2) ablative gen. with ἥκεις φίρων.
87.
mvp-comment-61-1
καὶ τὰ δύσφορ᾽.. εὐτυχεῖν These words prepare the hearers' minds for the unwelcome intimation in l. 97. The construction of πάντα is difficult. Either (1) by an extension of the subject, πάντα is substituted in the resumption for τὰ δύσφορα.
For I declare that even what is troublous, if it but find right issue,all in short will then be well. Or (2) πάντα is part of the predicate and has the force of an adverb. Even what is hard, if it but find right issue, will turn out altogether prosperously.' Cp. Aj. 275, κεῖνός τε λύπῃ πᾶς ἐλήλαται κακῇ. That which is troublous or burdensome is the pollution of the murder, and its right issue is the detection and banishment of the murderer. There is no reason to suppose any corruption of the text. δύσθρο' (Heimsoeth conj.) would suggest rather the rumour than the reality of evils. λέγω shows that this is Creon's construction of the answer and not the answer itself. 89, 90, οὔτε, κ.τ.λ.]
For thus far I am not elated, nor do I anticipate evil until I hear more. πρό implies that fear would be premature.
91.
mvp-comment-62-1
The formal words of Creon (cp. Tr. 342 foll.) have the effect of making Oedipus seal his own destiny by the publicity which is given to the oracle.
92.
mvp-comment-63-1
ἕτοιμος For the omission of εἰμί, see Essay on Language p. 72. § 39.
93.
mvp-comment-64-1
94.
The grief which I bear is more a grief for them than concerning my single life. πλέον is not adverbial, but supplementary predicate agreeing with πένθος. It would be easy to supply περί with the former genitive, but the change of construction from the genitive of the object to genitive with περί is more in keeping with the style of Sophocles. Cp. Hdt. 4. 142, ὡς δούλων Ἰώνων τὸν λόγον ποιεύμενοι. καί is not intensive (= 'even') but simply points the comparison. Cp Aj. 1104, ἢ καὶ τῷδε σέ: and for ἐς πάντας, Plat. Tim. 28 C, εἰς πάντας ἀδύνατον λέγειν.
95-131.
mvp-comment-65-1
This short dialogue is carefully constructed with a view to the plot. Oedipus had heard of Laius and of his death, but (as he imagines) certainly never saw him and never thought of inquiring into the circumstances of his murder. (An excuse for this improbability is suggested afterwards in ll. 220-221, οὐ γὰρ ἂν μακράν, κ.τ.λ.) One witness of the deed remains, but he being overcome with fear could only give even at the time a confused account of an assault by a band of robbers.
95.
mvp-comment-66-1
οἷα is emphatic. not indefinite, and invites attention to the peculiar nature of the message.
I will tell you what an oracle I heard from the god.
96.
mvp-comment-67-1
ἐμφανῶς i. e. the revelation is unequivocal and unquestionable. 97.8 To drive out a pollution of our country, which, as he said, was fostered here.' ὡς τεθραμμένον. The accusative of the participle with ὡς while giving a reason conveys a further statement. Essay on. L. § 28. p. 47.
98.
mvp-comment-68-1
μηδ᾽ ἀνήκεστον τρέφειν (1)
And not to cherish it till past cure, or (2)
without applying a remedy. (1) is best.
99.
mvp-comment-69-1
ποίῳ καθαρμῷ; τίς ὁ τρόπος τῆς ξυμφορᾶς
How to purify? Of what nature is the defilement? ξυμφορά is a euphemism for ἄyos, as in Hdt. 1. 35, ἀνὴρ συμφορῇ ἐχόμενος καὶ οὐ καθαρὸς χεῖρας ἐών.
100.
mvp-comment-70-1
ἀνδρηλατοῦντας Sc. ἐλαύνειν, answering ποίῳ καθαρμῷ;
101.
mvp-comment-71-1
ὡς .. χειμάζον See on l. 97. The v. r. χειμάζει would make the implied assertion explicit. The answer to τίς ὁ τρόπος, κ.τ.λ., is given here. τόδε,
this, which has been implicitly mentioned, sc. in the words φόνῳ, κ.τ.λ. For similar uses of the pronoun, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34.
102.
mvp-comment-72-1
ποίου γὰρ ἀνδρός γάρ asks for explanation.
And who is the man to whom he shows us that this misfortune happened? τῇδε has been defended, but τήνδε is more idiomatic. τήνδε τύχην, sc. τὸν φόνον.
102.
mvp-comment-72-2
μηνύει Sc. ὁ θεός.
105.
mvp-comment-73-1
οὐ γὰρ εἰσεῖδόν γέ πω
By hearsay, for I certainly never saw him.
105.
mvp-comment-73-2
που, which appears in several MSS, would imply uncertainty, and would therefore weakly express the security of Oedipus. The literal meaning of οὔπω is not to be pressed. From
not yet it has passed into meaning simply
never. Cp. Hdt. 3. 127, ὃς ὠφέλησε μέν κω Πέρσας οὐδέν : 4. 81, ὃς δὲ μὴ εἶδέ κω 160, τούτῳ γὰρ οὐδεὶς Περσέων ἠξίωσέ κω ἑαυτὸν συμβαλέειν. In all these places, though past time is spoken of, there is no opposition between past and future. Or, as happens with ἤδη, ποτέ, ἔτι, and other particles, the notion of time is altogether lost. Cp e.g. Hes Op. et D. 271, τά γ' ου πω ἔολπα τελεῖν. The conjecture γ' ἐγώ takes the emphasis from the verb.
106.
mvp-comment-74-1
τούτου θανόντος This is most easily explained as genitive absolute, but is at the same time to be partly connected with τοὺς αὐτοέντας.
107.
mvp-comment-75-1
τοὺς αὐτοέντας .. τινάς
The murderers, whosoever they are. Cp. Ο. С. 288-289, ὅταν δ᾽ ὁ κύριος παρῇ τις: Hdt. 1. 114. τὸν δὲ κού τινα .. τῷ δέ τινι. This reading is preferable to τινά. If the mark over the σ L. indicates doubt, as seems probable from the parallel reading of A, this would only prove that some early scribe knew of or wished to suggest the other reading, perhaps because it seemed easier.
107.
mvp-comment-75-2
χειρὶ τιμωρεῖν Like τοιαύτῃ χειρὶ τιμωρεῖν,
l. 140
. For the rare active, denoting an absolute intention, see Essay on Language p. 98. The vague use of the plural in Creon's report prepares the way for the more definite statement in l. 122 without committing the oracle to error.
108.
mvp-comment-76-1
οἱ δ᾽ εἰσὶ ποῦ γῆς The inversion gives additional emphasis.
108.
mvp-comment-76-2
τόδε This, which we are set to find. Cp. τόδ' αἷμα, supr. 101.
110.
mvp-comment-77-1
τὸ δὲ ζητούμενον ἁλωτόν Creon, though no longer quoting the oracle, continues the oracular tone. Cp. 87-88.
112.
mvp-comment-78-1
It may seem strange that Oedipus should not have heard the particulars from Jocasta. But this kind of improbability is external to the play, and dramatic interest requires that the fact should here be brought before the mind of the spectator. Cp. Aristot. Poet. 1454-1456, ἄλογον δὲ μηδὲν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν, εἰ δὲ μή, ἔξω τῆς τραγῳδίας, οἷον τὰ ἐν τῷ Οἰδίποδι τῷ Σοφοκλέους. The inevitable unlikelihood is minimized, however. For Oedipus does not deny having heard of the violent death of Laius; and gives a reason afterwards (220-221) why he could not inquire into the circumstances at the time.
114.
mvp-comment-79-1
θεωρός i.e. to Delphi. О. С. 413, ἀνδρῶν θεωρῶν Δελφικῆς ἀφ᾽ ἑστίας. Sophocles gives no hint as to the nature of the mission, whether occasioned by private anxiety or the troubles of the state. Euripides, Phoen. 36, adds this further touch, τὸν ἐκτεθέντα παῖδα μαστεύων μαθεῖν | εἰ μηκέτ' εἴη.
114.
mvp-comment-79-2
ὡς ἔφασκεν] Sc. ὁ Λάϊος.
115.
mvp-comment-80-1
ὡς ἀπεστάλη
After he had once taken his departure.
116.
mvp-comment-81-1
And there was none to tell the tale, no fellow-traveller who saw the deed, whose information might have been a guide to us? The words οὐδ᾽ ἄγγελος point to a repetition of ἵκετο, which is lost sight of in the continuation of the sentence.
117.
mvp-comment-82-1
ἐχρήσατ᾿ ἄν Sc. αὐτῷ οἱ τῇ μαθήσει. Cp. Τr. 60, πάρεστι χρῆσθαι τἀνδρὶ τοῖς τ᾿ ἐμοῖς λόγοις. The conjecture κατεῖδεν ὅ τι τις, κ.τ.λ. gives a less natural meaning. The witness who saw anything, must have seen the deed.
118.
mvp-comment-83-1
φόβῳ is connected partly with φυγών and partly with the following words (cp. O. C. 1625, ὀρθίας | στῆσαι φόβῳ δείσαντας τρίχας).
The fear with which he fled made him unable to speak with certainty of what he saw except on one point.
120.
mvp-comment-84-1
'For one fact might lead to the knowledge of many, if we could get hold of even a slight beginning of hope.' μαθεῖν supplements ἐξεύροι. Cp. Τr. 673. In ἀρχήν there is perhaps an association from the end of a thread. Cp. Hdt. 4. 60, σπάσας τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ στρόφου : Eur. Hipp. 762, πλεκτὰς πεισμάτων ἀρχάς. The mystery is like a tangled skein, which a slight clue, once caught hold of, may be the means of unravelling. Cp. Eur. I. A. 1124, τίν' ἂν λάβοιμι τῶν ἐμῶν ἀρχὴν κακῶν;
122.
mvp-comment-85-1
ἔφασκε Sc. ὁ ἄγγελος. This confused account prevents Oedipus from being reminded of the real circumstances, and even delays his self-conviction when almost brought home, ll. 725-842. The report of the attendant must be supposed to precede the arrival of Oedipus at Thebes. He can therefore have had no reason for his falsehood except the natural temptation to veil his cowardice by exaggerating the force from which he had fled.
124.
mvp-comment-86-1
ὁ λῃστής The singular referring to the plural may only be an idiomatic collective use (cp. ὁ Μῆδοs, etc,); but may also be a stroke of art, by which Oedipus is represented as wholly careless about the number of the persons, which is afterwards his only refuge: 842 ff.
125.
mvp-comment-87-1
ἐπράσσετο
Unless some influence with money was exerted from Thebes. Cp. Thuc. 5. 83, ὑπῆρχε δέ τι .. αὐτόθεν πρασσόμενον, ib. 4.121. The brigand must have had confederates in the city. Cp. O. C. 1028-1031, ἀλλ᾽ ἔσθ᾽ ὅτῳ σὺ πιστὸς ὢν ἔδρας πάδε: Ford's Perkin Warbeck,
l. 1
,
Foreign attempts against a state and kingdom | Are seldom without some great friend at home.
126.
mvp-comment-88-1
δοκοῦντα ταῦτ᾽ ἦν
So men surmised. Such suspicions were always rife in Greek states, and recur elsewhere in tragedy. Cp. Ant. 289-292; О. С. 1028-1030.
126.
mvp-comment-88-2
Λαΐου is gen. abs. ἐν κακοῖς prevents Λαΐου from being taken as the genitive in regimen.
We had the suspicion of treachery, but, when Laius was gone, there was no one to stand up for us in our misfortunes.
128.
mvp-comment-89-1
κακὸν δὲ ποῖον The inverted order gives an indignant emphasis to ποῖον.
And what misfortune could there be, which, when majesty was thus fallen, prevented you from investigating this matter to the end? τοῦτο, sc. τὸ αἴτιον τοῦ τὴν τυραννίδα οὕτω πεσεῖν.
128.
mvp-comment-89-2
ἐμποδών Cp. Eur. Phoen. 706, ἃ δ' ἐμποδὼν μάλιστα, ταῦθ᾽ ἥκω φράσων.
128.
mvp-comment-89-3
τυραννίδος οὕτω πεσούσης The abstract word emphasizes the strangeness of the neglect. Cp. Shak. K. Lear, 2.4,
'Tis worse than murder, To do upon respect such violent outrage.
131.
mvp-comment-90-1
Recte utitur poeta verbo medio quia τὸ πρὸς ποσίν pertinet ad ipsam Sphingam
(Herm.); i.e. The Sphinx drew our attention towards herself.
132.
mvp-comment-91-1
ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς
Beginning the inquiry anew.
132.
mvp-comment-91-2
αὔτ᾽ Probably αὐτό, not αὐτά. This one hidden thing, the secret of the murder.
134.
mvp-comment-92-1
'Have shown this care towards the dead.' For the periphrasis, cp. Ant. 151, θέσθε λησμοσύναν. πρός has greater MS. authority than πρό, and agrees better with the image suggested by ἐπιστροφήν (lit. 'turning towards'). Cp. infr. 1434, πρὸς σοῦ γάρ, οὐδ᾽ ἐμοῦ, φράσω.
134.
mvp-comment-92-2
ἐπιστροφή is sudden attention to a thing hitherto neglected. Cp. Phil. 598-599, τίνος δ' Ἀτρείδαι τοῦδ᾽ ἄγαν οὕτω χρόνῳ τοσῷδ᾽ ἐπεστρέφοντο πράγματος χάριν ;
135.
mvp-comment-93-1
ἐνδίκως
As is meet. The frank heart of Oedipus fully acknowledges the claim.
136.
mvp-comment-94-1
τῷ θεῷ θ᾽ ἅμα For the religious feeling here expressed, cp. O. С. 1182, 3, τῇ θ᾽ αὑτοῦ φρενὶ | χάριν παρασχεῖν, τῷ θεῷ θ᾽ ἃ βούλεται.
137.
mvp-comment-95-1
τῶν ἀπωτέρω φίλων ΑA far-off friend or connection,' as a wife's former husband may not unnaturally be called. Oedipus is still unconsciously drawing the attention of the spectators to his own part in the business. The person to be avenged is his father, and he is himself the author of the pollution, in which he has so deep an interest (αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ μύσος is suggested, though not said), and of the crime which he may one day wreak upon himself. For αὑτοῦ in 1st pers. see Essay on Language p. 37.
140.
mvp-comment-96-1
καμ᾿ ἂν.. τιμωρεῖν θέλοι
Might choose to wreak his violence in like manner on me. The tendency to use the same word though in a different connection (cp. 1. 136, and see Essay on Language § 44, p. 84) may have partly led to the use of τιμωρεῖν here. But the word is not inappropriate the murderer may be supposed to have a grudge against the crown-and by using it Oedipus suggests the end, when he, the murderer, shall inflict vengeance on himself, the king, with the same hand that had slain Laius. The conjecture πημαίνειν is therefore not in point. The words also prepare the way for what follows, by betraying the first rise of the feeling of suspicion in Oedipus which presently fixes itself on Creon. Cp. the sensitiveness of Creon himself on a like occasion in the Antigone, 1. 289, ταῦτα καὶ πάλαι, κ.τ.λ.
141.
mvp-comment-97-1
κείνῳ προσαρκῶν οὖν ἐμαυτὸν ὠφελῶ Schol. καὶ τοῦτο κινητικὸν τοῦ θεάτρου· τὰ γὰρ ἐναντία ἀποβήσεται.
143.
mvp-comment-98-1
ἄραντες They had laid them on the altar. Aesch. Suppl. 242, Eur. Heracl. 125.
145.
mvp-comment-99-1
ἢ γάρ Recalling the Homeric γνωσόμεθ' ἠε τῳ εὖχος ὀρέξομεν ἠε τις ἡμῖν.
I will use all effort, for it is a crisis in the state of Thebes. Cp. Tr. 82-85, ἐν οὖν ῥοπῇ τοιᾷδε κειμένῳ, τέκνον, | οὐκ εἶ ξυνέρξων, ἡνίκ᾿ ἡ σεσώσμεθα, | κείνου βίον σώσαντος, ἢ οἰχόμεσθ' ἅμα. Τo the spectators the word πεπτωκότες, with which Oedipus departs, is ominous of the catastrophe. Oedipus now goes into the palace, and after l. 150 the suppliants file off to the right.
146.
mvp-comment-100-1
σὺν τῷ θεῷ i.e. Apollo.
147.
mvp-comment-101-1
ἔξεισιν ὁ ἱερεὺς πράξας διόπερ ἦλθεν, ἅμα δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ χώραν εἶναι ἑτέρῳ ὑποκριτῇ. Schol. The sin simple is used for the compound verb (ἀνιστώμεθα). Essay on Language $ 55. 4. p. 101. Supr. 143.
148.
mvp-comment-102-1
ὧν .. ἐξαγγέλλεται
What he of his own accord announces. For this
subjective use of the middle voice, see Essay on Language § 31. d. p. 53.
149.
mvp-comment-103-1
ἅμα Sc. τῷ πέμψαι, κ.τ.λ.
May Phoebus who has sent these oracles also give with them salvation and release. The suppliants retire from the stage; and the chorus of elders, honoured representatives (1. 1223) of the Theban people, whom Oedipus has summoned (1144), bound by ties of blood to the house of Cadmus (1. 1226),-enter the ὀρχήστρα from the spectator's right.
151-215.
mvp-comment-104-1
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.
151.
mvp-comment-105-1
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?
153.
mvp-comment-106-1
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.
154.
mvp-comment-107-1
ἰήιε Δάλιε Παιάν ἰήϊος, from the cry in, has here a false etymological association with ἰάομαι. Ε. on L. p. 100.
155.
mvp-comment-108-1
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.
155.
mvp-comment-108-2
ἁζόμενος
In holy fear, not merely = φοβούμενος. Cp. Il. 14. 261, ἅζετο γὰρ μὴ Νυκτὶ θοῇ ἀποθύμια ἔρδοι.
155.
mvp-comment-108-3
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.
156.
mvp-comment-109-1
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.
157.
mvp-comment-110-1
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.
159.
mvp-comment-111-1
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.
161.
mvp-comment-112-1
κυκλόεντ᾿ ἀγορᾶς θρόνον
Who sitteth in the circle of the Agora, that is filled with her praise.
161.
mvp-comment-112-2
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.
165.
mvp-comment-113-1
εἴ ποτε, κ.τ.λ Cp. the Homeric formula, II. 1. 39, εἴ ποτέ τοι, κ.τ.λ.
165.
mvp-comment-113-2
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.
165.
mvp-comment-113-3
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.
166.
mvp-comment-114-1
ἠνύσατ᾿ ἐκτοπίαν
Ye banished utterly.
166.
mvp-comment-114-2
φλόγα πήματος Cp. 1. 27. πυρφόρος θεύς: Αj. 196, ἄταν οὐρανίαν φλέγων.
167.
mvp-comment-115-1
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.
170.
mvp-comment-116-1
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.
171.
mvp-comment-117-1
ἀλέξεται is future. Cp. 1. 539, ἢ οὐκ ἀλεξοίμην μαθών.
173.
mvp-comment-118-1
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.
173.
mvp-comment-118-2
οὔτε τόκοισιν
Nor in the hour of birth. Dative of the occasion. Essay on Language § 11. p. 17. Cp. 1. 26, and note.
174.
mvp-comment-119-1
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.
175.
mvp-comment-120-1
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.
176.
mvp-comment-121-1
κρεῖσσον.. πυρός
With more than lightning speed. The words imply that the fury of the disease was not to be stayed.
177.
mvp-comment-122-1
ἀκτάν Cp. Ant. 812-813, Ἀχέροντος ἀκτάν: Il. 23. 73, οὐδέ μέ πω μίσγεσθαι ὑπὲρ ποταμοῖο ἐῶσιν.
177.
mvp-comment-122-2
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.
177.
mvp-comment-122-3
θεοῦ θεου. ZZZ
178.
mvp-comment-123-1
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.
179.
mvp-comment-124-1
νηλέα
Uncared for. Cp. Ant. 1197. A rare passive use of this adjective. Essay on Language p. 98.
179.
mvp-comment-124-2
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.
181.
mvp-comment-125-1
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.
182.
mvp-comment-126-1
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.
182.
mvp-comment-126-2
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.
185.
mvp-comment-127-1
πόνων ἱκτῆρες Gen. of cause. Τr. 287-288, θύματα .. τῆς ἁλώσεως.
185.
mvp-comment-127-2
ἐπιστενάχουσιν Sc. ἐπὶ τῇ ἱκετείᾳ.
186.
mvp-comment-128-1
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.
186.
mvp-comment-128-2
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.
188.
mvp-comment-129-1
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.
188.
mvp-comment-129-2
θύγατερ Διός Ἀθήνα.
189.
mvp-comment-130-1
εὐῶπα Cp. Ant. 100-101, ἀκτὶς ἀελίου τὸ κάλλιστον ἑπταπύλῳ φανὲν Θήβᾳ τῶν προτέρων φάος: Aesch. Cho. 484, εὔμορφον κράτος.
190.
mvp-comment-131-1
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.
190.
mvp-comment-131-2
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.
190.
mvp-comment-131-3
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.
191.
mvp-comment-132-1
φλέγει με The πυρφόρος θεός is imagined as kindling the flame of calamity.
191.
mvp-comment-132-2
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.
191.
mvp-comment-132-3
ἀντιάζων
Confronting, in the hostile sense. Cp. Hdt. 2. 141, ἀντιάζων τὸν Αραβίων στρατόν.
192.
mvp-comment-133-1
παλίσσυτον δράμημα νωτίσαι
192.
mvp-comment-133-2
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.
194.
mvp-comment-134-1
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.
194.
mvp-comment-134-2
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.
195.
mvp-comment-135-1
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.
196.
mvp-comment-136-1
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.
196.
mvp-comment-136-2
ὅρμον It has been proposed to read ὅρμων. But the change is unnecessary, and rather weakens the verbal contrast.
196.
mvp-comment-136-3
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.
198.
mvp-comment-137-1
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 ..
198.
mvp-comment-137-2
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.
200.
mvp-comment-138-1
τόν As in Hom. Il. 18. 89, etc.
200.
mvp-comment-138-2
໖ (-) Herm. proposed râv for the missing syllable, and this receives some confirmation from the variant in F.
203.
mvp-comment-139-1
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.
205.
mvp-comment-140-1
βέλεα βελεα, θέλοιμ᾽ ἂν .. ἐν-
205.
mvp-comment-140-2
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.
205.
mvp-comment-140-3
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.
206.
mvp-comment-141-1
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.
208.
mvp-comment-142-1
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.
208.
mvp-comment-142-2
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.
210.
mvp-comment-143-1
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.
211.
mvp-comment-144-1
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.
212.
mvp-comment-145-1
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.
214.
mvp-comment-146-1
A word = πυρφόρῳ is omitted.
215.
mvp-comment-147-1
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.
215.
mvp-comment-147-2
θεόν θεον: treated in the meter as a single syllable.
215.
mvp-comment-147-3
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.
219.
mvp-comment-148-1
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.
219.
mvp-comment-148-2
ἁγὼ .. ἐξερῶ ἅ, sc. ἔπη from 216.
216.
mvp-comment-149-1
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.
217.
mvp-comment-150-1
τῇ νόσῳ θ᾽ ὑπηρετεῖν
And to obey the requirements of the disease. Cp. El. 1305-1306, οὐ γὰρ ἂν καλῶς ὑπηρετοίην τῷ παρόντι δαίμονι.
219-220.
mvp-comment-151-1
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.
220-221.
mvp-comment-152-1
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.
220-221.
mvp-comment-152-2
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.
220-221.
mvp-comment-152-3
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.
222.
mvp-comment-153-1
νῦν δ᾽ i.e. since the oracle has come.
222.
mvp-comment-153-2
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.
222.
mvp-comment-153-3
τελῶ Cp. Hdt. 2. 51, Ἀθηναίοισι ..
222.
mvp-comment-153-4
ἤδη τηνικαῦτα ἐς Ἕλληνας τελέουσι.
223.
mvp-comment-154-1
προφωνῶ resumes ἐξερῶ (1. 219) after the digression.
227-229.
mvp-comment-155-1
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.
227-229.
mvp-comment-155-2
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.
229.
mvp-comment-156-1
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.
230-232.
mvp-comment-157-1
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.
232.
mvp-comment-158-1
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 ...
232.
mvp-comment-158-2
προσφιλὴς μενεῖ: Plat. Rep. 1. 345 A, οὔτοι κακῶς σοι κείσεται ὅ τι ἂν ἡμᾶς τοσούσδε ὄντας εὐεργετήσῃς.
234.
mvp-comment-159-1
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.
235.
mvp-comment-160-1
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.
236.
mvp-comment-161-1
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.
240.
mvp-comment-162-1
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.
241.
mvp-comment-163-1
ὠθεῖν Sc. κελεύω understood from ἀπανδῶ. Essay on Language p. 64. 1 а.
246-251.
mvp-comment-164-1
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.
248.
mvp-comment-165-1
κακὸν κακῶς .. βίον
Wear out his wretched life in wretchedness and misfortune.
249-251.
mvp-comment-166-1
ἐπεύχομαι .. παθεῖν
And I pray, moreover, that I may suffer. Cp. Plat. Critias, p. 120 B.
249-251.
mvp-comment-166-2
εἰ .. γένοιτο
If at any moment he were to be-. The unconsciousness of Oedipus is again strongly indicated.
254.
mvp-comment-167-1
Ruined with sterility and the frown of Heaven. Essay on Language p. 40. a.
256.
mvp-comment-168-1
ἀκάθαρτον Sc. τὸ πρᾶγμα, repeated in a slightly different sense. τὸ πρᾶγμα is (1) the duty of expiating, (2) the pollution itself.
257-269.
mvp-comment-169-1
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.
257.
mvp-comment-170-1
The death of the monarch was not like a common death.
258.
mvp-comment-171-1
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.
260.
mvp-comment-172-1
ὁμόσπορον = ὑπ᾿ ἀμφοῖν σπειρομένην. Essay on Language p. 98.
261.
mvp-comment-173-1
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.
263.
mvp-comment-174-1
But now Fortune has smitten him:' i. e. he has died without having children.
264.
mvp-comment-175-1
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.
264.
mvp-comment-175-2
τάδ᾽ .. ὑπερμαχοῦμαι For the accusative, cp. O. C. 344-345, τἀμὰ δυστήνου κακὰ | ὑπερπονεῖτον
267.
mvp-comment-176-1
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.
269.
mvp-comment-177-1
τοῖς μὴ δρῶσιν, governed by εὔχομαι, is resumed in αὐτοῖς after ἀνιέναι, and is the subject (i. e. αὐτούς) of φθερείσθαι.
269.
mvp-comment-177-2
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.
276.
mvp-comment-178-1
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,
278.
mvp-comment-179-1
τὸ δὲ ζήτημα is the subject of what follows, in which εἰπεῖν is epexegetic.
279.
mvp-comment-180-1
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.'
284.
mvp-comment-181-1
ἄνακτ' Od. 11. 144 (Τειρεσίη), εἰπέ, ἄναξ, πῶς, κ.τ.λ.
285-286.
mvp-comment-182-1
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.
287.
mvp-comment-183-1
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.
288.
mvp-comment-184-1
Κρέοντος εἰπόντος Cp. 1. 555.
289.
mvp-comment-185-1
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.
290.
mvp-comment-186-1
Certainly what other rumours there were, told nothing, and are forgotten.
290.
mvp-comment-186-2
ἄλλα, i. e. other than we may hope to hear from Phoebus or his prophet.
290.
mvp-comment-186-3
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.
292-293.
mvp-comment-187-1
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,
293.
mvp-comment-188-1
ἤκουσα κἀγώ Supr. 122.
293.
mvp-comment-188-2
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.
294.
mvp-comment-189-1
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.
296.
mvp-comment-190-1
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.
300.
mvp-comment-191-1
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.
303.
mvp-comment-192-1
νόσῳ Not the plague only, but the distress generally. Cp. supr. 60, νοσεῖτε πάντες, 305. εἰ καὶ μὴ κλύεις τῶν ἀγγέλων] (1)
Even if the messengers have not told you, which I dare say they have; i. e. The report is true, even if it has not reached you yet. Or, (2) If you have not heard from the messengers as well as from me;' i. e. I tell you, in case your guides have not. In the latter case, which is the more probable (cp. supr. 329, note, 325), καί is used ὑπερβάτως. For this, cp. Thuc. 5. 45, καὶ ἦν εἰς τὸν δῆμον ταῦτα λέγωσιν. Nothing is gained by transposing εἰ μὴ καί; still less by reading εἴ τι μή. The repetition of the same words (supr. 302) is no cause for suspicion. Essay on Language § 44.
307.
mvp-comment-193-1
μόνην Emphatic:
this, and no other. Cp. 68, ἴασιν μόνην: Phil. 61, μόνην ἔχοντες τήνδ' ἅλωσιν Ἰλίου: Thuc. 8.81, πιστεῦσαι δ᾽ ἂν μόνως Ἀθηναίοις εἰ, κ.τ.λ.
308.
mvp-comment-194-1
μαθόντες εὐ
Having carefully ascertained. εὖ as in εὖ σκοπῶν (68): the order as in Ant. 166, σέβοντας εὖ. 310, foll. δ' οὖν resumes from 304. δé is slightly adversative between Φοῖβος and σύ, οὖν connects the human prophecy with the divine. Phoebus answers thus and do not thou withhold any intimation, whether derived from birds or from any other way of divination at thy command.' For the coordination of εἴ τιν'.. ὁδόν, with ἀπ᾿ οἰωνῶν, cp. Phil. 468-469, πρὸς νῦν σε πατρὸς .. πρός τ᾽ εἴ τί σοι κατ' οἶκών ἐστι προσφιλές: and for μαντικῆς ὁδόν cp. 67, πολλὰς δ᾽ ὁδοὺς ἐλθόντα φροντίδος πλάνοις : Aesch. Prom. 484, τρόπους δὲ πολλοὺς μαντικῆς ἐστοίχισα: ib. 497, δυστέκμαρτον εἰς τέχνην ὥδωσα θνητούς.
313.
mvp-comment-195-1
ῥῦσαι δέ
And clear away. The double application of ῥῦσαι cannot be expressed in one word in English. The evil from which deliverance is sought is made the object of the verb of deliverance. Cp. Eur. Iph. A. 1383, ταῦτα πάντα κατθανοῦσα ῥύσομαι. Although this involves a slight change of construction, it is better than to take μίασμα ας = τὸ μεμιασμένον,
what lies under pollution. Even if such a rendering be not impossible, the line so explained adds nothing to what is already said.
314-315.
mvp-comment-196-1
ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἔχοι For the mood, cp. 979, ὅπως δύναιτό τις, and see Essay on Language § 36. p. 61. ἄνδρα is subject: cp. Ant. 710, ἀλλ᾽ ἄνδρα, κεἴ τις ἢ σοφός, τὸ μανθάνειν | πόλλ᾽ αἰσχρὸν οὐδέν. 'It is a man's noblest endeavour to use whatever power he may have in doing benefits.' 316 ff. The presence and voice of Oedipus make Teiresias feel the impossibility of speaking his message. Cp. infr. 447.
314-315.
mvp-comment-196-2
φεῦ, φεῦ .. φρονοῦντι
How terrible it is to know, when knowing profits not! φρονεῖν often implies a feeling or intelligence of the situation. Essay on Language p. 93, 6, Τr. 1145, φρονῶ δὴ ξυμφορᾶς ἵν᾽ ἕσταμεν : Αj. 942, σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτ᾽ ἔστ᾽, ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἄγαν φρονεῖν. So in this play, 302, фро- νεῖς δ᾽ ὅμως, 326, μὴ .. φρονῶν γ᾽ ἀποσταφῇς, 328, πάντες γὰρ οὐ φρονεῖτε. Cp. with the present passage, Hdt. I. 46, where Croesus tries the oracles, ὅ τι φρονέοιεν .. εἰ φρονέοντα τὴν ἀληθηΐην εὑρεθείη. For the subjunct. in a relative clause without av, see Essay on Language §27. p. 45. The indicative λύει would make the application of the maxim too pointed. This is the only place where the expression, τέλη λύειν, occurs. λυσιτελεῖν is frequent in prose writers, and Euripides has repeatedly used the simple λύειν in this sense. The present expression appears to be an etymological analysis of λυσιτελέω. The use of λύει in El. 1005, λύει γὰρ ἡμᾶς οὐδέν,
This tends not at all to free us, is not really similar. With the sentiment, cp. Hdt. 9. 16, ἐχθίστη ὀδύνη πολλὰ φρονέοντα μηδενὸς κρατέειν.
317.
mvp-comment-197-1
ταῦτα γάρ γάρ assigns a reason for φεῦ, κ.τ.λ.
Why do I speak thus? Because had I remembered this, which I well knew, I had not come hither.
319.
mvp-comment-198-1
What is the matter? How gloomily thou comest in!' Cp. Ant. 997, τί δ᾽ ἔστιν; ὡς .. φρίσσω.
320-321.
mvp-comment-199-1
Let me go home. If you grant me this, you and I will bear our part in the sequel more easily. Cp. Hdt. 1. 25, τὸν .. πόλεμον διενείκας.
322.
mvp-comment-200-1
οὔτ᾽ ἔννομα
Unlawful, namely, for the prophet of the state to refuse his service to the state.
322.
mvp-comment-200-2
προσφιλή The correction -és may have been suggested by ἔννομον, which is against metre.
324.
mvp-comment-201-1
φώνημα refers not only to the earnest entreaty in the last speech, but also to 305-315.
325.
mvp-comment-202-1
It is needless to suppose an aposiopesis. The implied clause is to be sought from what precedes; viz. ταῦτ' εἶπον, or τήνδ' ἀποστερῶ φάτιν,
My motive is, that I may not be in the same case with you.
I see that thy word is against thy interest, and I would not fall into the same error. Cp. ὅπως μή. ὡς μηδέ here = ὡς μὴ καί, i. e. μηδὲ = μὴ δέ.
326.
mvp-comment-203-1
φρονῶν γ' Referring to φροveῖν, supr. 316, which has raised Oedipus' hopes.
327.
mvp-comment-204-1
ἱκτήριοι The chorus also (having been engaged in supplication in various parts of the city, supr. 19) are in the guise of suppliants.
328.
mvp-comment-205-1
πάντες .. οὐ φρονεῖτ Cp. Ant. 1048, Τειρ. ἆρ' οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων τις, ἆρα φράζεται; 328-329. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐ μή ποτε τἄμ᾽ ὡς ἂν εἴπω μὴ τὰ σ᾽ ἐκφήνω κακά]
But I will never disclose my evils: (I say mine) that I may not say thine. (τὰ ἐμὰ κακά,
the evils that I know, τὰ σὰ κ.,
the evils that you have to suffer.) Unless μή in l. 329 is taken as a mere rhetorical repetition of the former μή, like οὐκ in Ant. 6, (which does not seem probable after οὐ μή, and gives a poor meaning to the preceding words, as if the motive Teiresias had for speaking were merely that he might
say his say, or as if he could speak and yet be silent), the only tenable explanation of the words as they stand is (1) to take ὡς ἂν εἴπω μὴ τὰ σὰ as a separate clause, with the ellipse of λέγω, as in the familiar idioms ὡς ἂν εἰδῆτε (Aesch. Cho. 1021) and ἵνα μὴ εἴπω (Lat.
ne dicam, Eng. 'Not to say-') Plat. Rep. 6. 487. D etc. (For ὡς ἂν μή, cp. Fr. 736,
l. 11
, and, for μή postponed, Phil. 653, ὡς λίπω μή τῳ λαβεῖν. And this is probably right, although a simpler context may be obtained (2) by transposing εἴπω and changing one letter: ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐ μή ποτε | εἴπω τάδ', ὡς ἂν μὴ τὰ σ᾽ ἐκφήνω κακά. (For τάδε = τήνδε τὴν φάτιν, cp. infr. 377.) τἄμ᾽ ἐξενείπω was the conjecture of Brunck.
330.
mvp-comment-206-1
ξυνειδὼς οὐ φράσεις 'Being privy to the deed, will you refuse to tell?"
332.
mvp-comment-207-1
ταῦτ᾽ | ἄλλως (MSS, as in all similar cases, ταῦ | τ᾿ ἄλλως). The running together of the verses here is expressive of of risi rising passion. Cp. Phil. 263. The only other instance of such an elision, except with the particles δ' and 7', is in O. C. 1164, μολόντ' αἰτεῖν, where, however, the reading is questioned. This freedom is peculiar to Sophocles.
334.
mvp-comment-208-1
καὶ γάρ, κ.τ.λ. Oedipus says this to excuse the strong words ὦ κακῶν κάκιστε. For the transitive use of op- γαίνω here, cp. Ο. C. 1282, δυσχεράναντα.
336.
mvp-comment-209-1
άτεγκτος κατελεύτητος
Immovable and impracticable.
337.
mvp-comment-210-1
ὀργήν
My harsh or stubborn temper, referring really to ἄτεγκτος, whilst echoing the sound of ὀργάνειας.
337.
mvp-comment-210-2
τὴν σὴν δ᾽ ὁμοῦ ναίουσαν οὐ κατεῖδες
Thine own that dwells at hand thou seest not. Oedipus is ignorant of his own passion, as he is of other things and persons that are too close to him.-
You blame me, but know not the consequences in which your own intemperate haste will involve you. These words do not, as the Schol. frigidly suggests, contain a direct allusion to Jocasta. Cp. infr. 612 and note.
340.
mvp-comment-211-1
ἅ is accusative in apposition; i.e. ἀτιμάζεις = λέγεις ἀτιμάζων. The repetition of av gives emphasis to τοιαῦτα.
341.
mvp-comment-212-1
ἥξει... αὐτά (My silence makes no difference)
for it will come of itself, i. e. without the intervention of my prophecy. For the vague subject, which here assists the effect of mystery, cp. Hdt. 7. 8. § 11.
342.
mvp-comment-213-1
καί to be taken ὑπερβάτως with λέγειν,
And what will happen, ought you not also to tell?
345.
mvp-comment-214-1
οὐδὲν .. ἅπερ οὐδέν is not adverbial. Supply τούτων.
And I certainly will not refrain in my anger from uttering fully what I perceive. ὡς ὁ. ἔ. = οὕτως ὀργῆς ἔχων, ὡς ἔχω.
Now that I am roused so far. Cp. Phil. 374-376.
347.
mvp-comment-215-1
ξυμφυτεῦσαι.. καίνων ‘Τo have been privy to the plot and to have done the murder, all but the fatal stroke.' Cp. Τr. 1214, ὅσον .. μὴ ποτιψαύων.
350.
mvp-comment-216-1
ἄληθες
Indeed! The anger of Teiresias becomes uncontrollable, as that of Creon does where he uses the same expression in Ant. 758. It is an idiomatic utterance of extreme impatience, and nearly corresponds to the 'Is't possible?' of Cassius in J. C. 4, 3: i. e. it does not ask ironically,
Is such a statement true? but indignantly,
Has such a thing really been said? 353. For the change to the dative, which avoids ambiguity, see Essay on Language p.64.
354.
mvp-comment-217-1
ἐξεκίνησας expresses the surprise of Oedipus at the astounding boldness of the accusation. The same astonishment is expressed in καὶ ποῦ; which is much more suitable to the passion of Oedipus than the ironical καί που.
Have you so shamelessly broken silence with such a word as this? And what escape then can you hope to find? ἐκκινεῖν is to
start or
put in motion. Cp. El. 567. The word which Teiresias has set going will not easily be laid to rest.
356-361.
mvp-comment-218-1
'I have escaped, for I keep in my bosom the might of truth.'-'By whom instructed? You never learnt this from your art.'-'By you; you prompted my unwilling tongue.'-'To utter έ λέγειν cett.
356-361.
mvp-comment-218-2
προὐτρέψω C2A. προύγρ. ἦν ξυνῆκας ΑΕ. ἢ πειρᾷ Γ. (359-360 in mg. Vat. a.) what? Repeat, that I may better understand.'- Was my speech so dark, or are you tempting me in talk?' (or, reading λέγειν, ' to speak further').- I cannot say it was intelligible, speak it again.'
360.
mvp-comment-219-1
λόγῳ is nearer to the first hand of L. than λέγειν, which has, however, considerable authority. For οὐχ ὥστε γ' εἰπεῖν, cp. 1128, (τὸν ἄνδρα .. οἶσθά που μαθών; οὐχ ὥστε γ' εἰπεῖν ἐν τάχει μνήμης ὕπο). The reply refers, as often elsewhere (supr. 100), to the former of the two alternative questions, i. e.
I did not understand in such a sense as to say that I know. The words of Teiresias (350-353) were not obscure, but their meaning was too strange to be received at once, and Oedipus in his anger affects to treat them as a riddling utterance of the seer. The apparent platitude indicates the difficulty that Oedipus has in receiving the new idea. Cp. infr. 439, Τr. 184, τίν' εἶπας, ὦ γεραιέ, τόνδε μοι λόγον; Aesch. Agam. 268, πῶς φής; πέφευγε τούπος ἐξ ἀπιστίας. Oι οὐχ ὥστε, κ.τ.λ., may be otherwise explained,
I am not likely to provoke you to an intelligible utterance. For the form γνωστόν, see on O. C. 1360.
362.
mvp-comment-220-1
τἀνδρὸς οὐ ζητεῖς Sc. τὸν φονέα. Essay on Language § 39. P. 73.
363.
mvp-comment-221-1
You shall suffer for thus repeating the word of evil.' For πημονὰς ἐρεῖς, cp. O. C. 542-544, ἔθου φόνον .. πατρός ; Ο. παπαῖ, δευτέραν ἔπαισας, ἐπὶ νόσῳ νόσον. And, for the plural, infr. 571-572.
365.
mvp-comment-222-1
μάτην
Without result. 367. The participle, ὁμιλοῦντα, has the chief emphasis. Essay on Language p. 77.
368.
mvp-comment-223-1
γεγηθώς Stronger than χαίρων.
Do you think you will always speak thus and glory in it? Cp. Fr. 526, θάρσει· λέγων τἀληθὲς οὐ σφαλεῖ ποτε.
370.
mvp-comment-224-1
πλήν is here used without ἄλλος or a negative preceding. There is (for other men), but not for you, for you are blind, not in eyes only, but in ears and mind.' For the alliteration, of which this is an extreme case, see Essay on Language § 44. p. 82. And for the order of the words, in which what is obvious comes last, ib. § 41. p. 78.
372.
mvp-comment-225-1
Unhappy, truly, art thou in uttering this reproach, which all this people will soon cast on thee. γε means
Whatever may be true of me.
374.
mvp-comment-226-1
μιᾶς.. νυκτός 'Thou livest under one perpetual night. The lives of other men depend on the succession of many nights and days. That of Teiresias is merged in an unbroken night. The surroundings of a life are said to
foster it. Cp. Aj. 859-863, Tr. 116. Oedipus understands 372-373 as conveying an idle threat. Cp. Ant. 752, ἢ κἀπαπειλών, κ.τ.λ.
376.
mvp-comment-227-1
The erroneous reading in the MSS. may have arisen from a mistimed recollection of infr. 448. ،
377.
mvp-comment-228-1
ἐκπρᾶξαι
To execute this. For τάδε, cp. supr. 341 and note. The other meaning of ἐκπρᾶξαι,
to exact payment or
to avenge, is not found elsewhere in Sophocles, and is not wanted here.
378.
mvp-comment-229-1
Thy invention.' Cp. infr. 387. Creon had suggested sending for Teiresias, as was mentioned casually supr. 288, and is also associated in the mind of Oedipus with the oracle of Apollo.
379.
mvp-comment-230-1
Nay, Creon is no bane to theethou art thine own bane. Note the emphatic use of δέ, connecting the reply immediately with the preceding words. Cp. El. 399, 400, πεσούμεθ', εἰ χρή, πατρὶ τιμωρούμενοι. ΧΡ. πατὴρ δὲ τούτων, οἶδα, συγγνώμην ἔχει. For σοὶ= σαυτῷ, see Essay on Language § 41. p. 79. Without seeming to hear the reply, Oedipus is hurried away by his own preconceived thoughts.
380-403.
mvp-comment-231-1
The general meaning of these lines is as follows. Yes, Creon has set him on, for envy, to hurl me from power. Creon, my right hand! O how the success of another awakes ambition and poisons hearts! And what an instrument! Thou crafty seer, whose eyes are only open for gain, am I not a truer prophet than thou ever wast? Did not the Sphinx fall before my simple skill, when thy magic and thy inspiration failed? And you think to stand at Creon's right hand, when you have ousted me? He and you alike will soon repent your hypocrisy. Nothing but your age protects you from immediate punishment.'
380.
mvp-comment-232-1
τέχνη τέχνης ὑπερφέρουσα
Skill surpassing skill. Cp. Phil. 138-140, τέχνα γὰρ τέχνας ἑτέρας προὔχει καὶ γνώμα παρ' ὅτῳ τὸ θεῖον Διὸς σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσεται. Oedipus alludes to his success in solving the riddle, γνώμῃ κυρήσας, 398. τῷ πολυζήλῳ βίῳ is the dative of place transferred to circumstance. (1) In the muchenvied life,' i. e. In a brilliant state of life such as mine.' To this ὁ φθόνος in the lines following seems to correspond. Or perhaps (2) more generally,
In life which is full of contention. (3) Others make the genitive equivalent to a dative ='belonging to,' cp. Pind. N. 3. 10. ὁ φθόνος = sc. ὃν ἔχετε,
How great is the envy that is stored up with you. To be envied, according to Greek notions, was fortunate, but perilous. Cp. Thuc. 2. 64, ὅστις δ᾽ ἐπὶ μεγίστοις τὸ ἐπίφθονον λαμβάνει, ὀρθῶς βουλεύεται : Pind. P. 1. 85, κρείσσων γὰρ οἰκτιρμοῦ φθόνος.
382.
mvp-comment-233-1
φυλάσσεται
Is treasured up. An Homeric expression. (II. 16. 30, χόλος ὃν σὺ φυλάσσεις.) Cp. O. C. 1212, σκαιοσύναν φυλάσσων. For the passive, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 54.
383.
mvp-comment-234-1
γε implies This rule of mine, which surely might have been free from envy, since I never asked for it, but the city gave it me.'
385.
mvp-comment-235-1
ὁ πιστός Ironical. Cp. Tr. 540, Ἡρακλῆς | ὁ πιστός, κ.τ.λ.
385.
mvp-comment-235-2
οὐξ ἀρχῆς φίλος Cp. Aesch. Prom. 304-305, τὸν Διὸς φίλον, τὸν συγκαταστήσαντα τὴν τυραννίδα. ταύτης is ablative genitive after ἐκβαλεῖν, but the poet passes almost unconsciously from the one genitive to the other.
386-388.
mvp-comment-236-1
Desires secretly to undermine and dethrone me, suborning this weaver of intrigues, this wizard, this crafty mendicant, who has an eye for his gains only, but has no eye for his art.' μάγον, as properly applicable to a barbarian soothsayer, and ἀγύρτην, to the lowest class of priests in Greece, are opprobrious words.
387.
mvp-comment-237-1
ὑφείς
Suborning. Cp. ὑποβάλλω.
388-389.
mvp-comment-238-1
Cp. Ant. 1055, τὸ μαντικὸν γὰρ πᾶν φιλάργυρον γένος.
390.
mvp-comment-239-1
ποῦ = ' On what occasion? i. e.
When have you been a true prophet? Cp. supr. 355, infr. 720, ἐνταῦθα.
391.
mvp-comment-240-1
ῥαψῳδός =
Songstress. but also (with allusion to the supposed etymology from ῥάπτειν ᾠδήν)
weaver of intricate songs. Cp. μηχανορράφος. κύων =
Monster. Cp. Aesch. Fragm. 252, Σφίγγα δυσαμερίαν πρύτανιν κύνα.
394.
mvp-comment-241-1
διειπεῖν
To tell distinctly,
to explain. 395. (1)
And this you showed that you had not either from birds, nor yet had known from any of the gods. οὐ..
394.
mvp-comment-241-2
προὐφάνης ἔχων = προὐφάνης οὐκ ἔχων. The ignorance of the prophet on this occasion was a strange phenomenon, to which Oedipus calls attention. Or (2)
You were not found to have. 396. There is an intentional assonance here, but without any distinct playing upon the word. Cp. supr. 70, 1, infr. 603-604. See Essay on Language § 44. p. 83, and for μηδέν, ib. p. 48, 2, b. Cp. supr. 367.
394.
mvp-comment-241-3
ἔπαυσά νιν The personal pronoun viv refers to the Sphinx and not to her riddle. Hence ἔπαυσα is better than the conjectural ἔλυσα.
401.
mvp-comment-242-1
χώ συνθεὶς τάδε Thuc. 8. 68, ὁ .. τὸ πρᾶγμα ξυνθεὶς .. Ἀντιφῶν ἦν. 390 395 400 397. εἰδώς] γνώμῃ CA Pal.
402.
mvp-comment-243-1
ἁγηλατήσειν The future tense rather belongs to κλαίων;
You shall suffer for attempting to drive out pollution. Cp. Ant. 754, κλαίων φρενώσεις.
To your own hurt will you and the plotter of this, methinks, drive out pollution. Cp. Hom. Il. 16. 623, τῷ κε τάχα στυγερῶς πολέμου ἀπερωήσειας.
402.
mvp-comment-243-2
εἰ δέ, κ.τ.λ. Cp. Od. 23. 24, σὲ δὲ τοῦτό γε γῆρας ὀνήσει.
402.
mvp-comment-243-3
ἐδόκεις γέρων εἶναι]
But for the feeling that you are an old man, i. e. If I did not see, or if I did not remember, that you are an old man. δοκεῖν is not intended to throw doubt upon the fact, but simply to express the feeling of Oedipus. Essay on Language § 50. 6. b. p. 95. Ср. Τr. 57, τοῦ καλῶς πράσσειν δοκεῖν: Hdt. 4.114, εἰ βούλεσθε.. δοκέειν εἶναι δικαιότατοι. For the unconscious tautology in δοκῶν, δοκεῖς, ᾿δόκεις, see Essay on Language pp. 83, 84, and cp. infr. 519.
403.
mvp-comment-244-1
παθὼν ἔγνως ἄν Cp. Hes. Op. 218, παθὼν δὲ τε νήπιος ἔγνω.
You should have learnt from suffering what a spirit you are showing. Cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 550, τύχοιεν ὧν φρονοῦσιν. And, for οἷόσπερ in this connection, О. С. 896, οἱάπερ πέπονθ᾽ ἀκήκοας.
404.
mvp-comment-245-1
εἰκάζουσι indicates the modest reserve with which the chorus express their view of what is passing between those above them. Cp. infr. 530.
406.
mvp-comment-246-1
ὅπως is at first put in construction with δεῖ (cp. Αj. 556), but this being feeble is strengthened by the resumption in the words τόδε σκοπεῖν. For λύειν, = ' to meet effectually,' cp. Plat. Rep. 8. 556 Α, ᾗ αὖ κατὰ ἕτερον νόμον τὰ τοιαῦτα λύεται. Here it is partly
to meet an obligation, partly to remove a difficulty.'
408-409.
mvp-comment-247-1
ἐξισωτέον .. ἀντιλέξαι
One point of equality must be maintained,the right of making full reply. ἴσα is added pleonastically. See Essay on Language § 40. 5. p. 76. τὸ .. ἀντιλέξαι is (1) accusative in regimen, or (2) epexegetic infinitive after ἐξισωτέον. For this impersonal passive, see Essay on Language § 31. 3. c. p. 54, and cp. infr. 628, ἀρκτέον.
409-411.
mvp-comment-248-1
τοῦδε .. γεγράψομαι
I too am lord of my speech, for my life is bound to Loxias and not to you. And being his servant, I shall not be enrolled under the protection of Creon. In respect of speech the prophet has authority, as the king has in matters of state. Cp. Ant. 993-994. The metic had need of a προστάτης, not the free citizen, still less one who is the retainer of a god.
412.
mvp-comment-249-1
λέγω δ'
And I reply. Continuing the sense from ἀντιλέξαι.
412.
mvp-comment-249-2
τυφλόν, sc. ὡς ὄντα. See Essay on Language § 39, I. c. p. 72.
413.
mvp-comment-250-1
A more pointed way of saying, σὺ καὶ δεδορκὼς οὐ βλέπεις ἵν᾽ εἰ κακοῦ. Cp. 419. See Essay on Language § 36, В. 8. p. 68.
414.
mvp-comment-251-1
ἔνθα ναίεις i. e. In your own country and in your father's house.
415.
mvp-comment-252-1
ἆρ᾽ οἶσθ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ὧν εἰ This question first re-awakens in Oedipus the old desire to know his birth. Cp. 437, 451.
415.
mvp-comment-252-2
καί
Moreover.
417.
mvp-comment-253-1
ἀμφιπλήξ
On both sides lashing thee. The twofold curse reminds the poet of the favourite image of the διπλῆ μάστιξ.
417.
mvp-comment-253-2
τοῦ σοῦ Ε. on L. p. 33. 6. b, infr. 459.
418.
mvp-comment-254-1
As the sentence proceeds. the image of the curse becomes more distinct and personal. Cp. El. 491, χαλκόπους Ἐρινύς.
419.
mvp-comment-255-1
Thy now clear sight thenceforth seeing darkness only. Essay on Language p. 70.
420-421.
mvp-comment-256-1
ποῖος οὐκ ἔσται λιμήν i. e. τίς τόπος οὐκ ἔσται λιμήν; ποῖος Κιθαιρών, i.e. πῶς οὐχὶ Κιθαιρών, κ.τ.λ. The second ποῖος is used by a sort of attraction or echo from the previous clause, and may be explained by the adverbial use of the pronoun noticed in Essay on Language pp. 59, 83. This is better than to suppose Κιθαιρών to be put by
synecdoche for
any mountain. Cp. Phil. 451, ποῦ χρὴ τίθεσθαι ταῦτα .. ποῦ δ' αἰνεῖν; where similarly the meaning of ποῦ varies in the two members of the sentence.
422.
mvp-comment-257-1
The favorite image of a
haven, already present to the mind in another connection (420), is applied to the marriage of Oedipus with the queen. Cp. infr. 1208 foll. The marriage and the marriage-song are identified. as elsewhere.
When thou hast learnt the nature of that marriage, into which in yonder halls thou wast carried with full sail, to find no shelter there. δόμοις is added to indicate the meaning of the image that follows. Cp. Tr. 538. (Others take öv as cogn. accus., not = λιμένα but πλοῦν, and δόμοις as = εἰς δόμους. For this cp. Eur. H. F. 242.) 425. 'Which will show you in your true relation to yourself and to your children: i. e. Which will show you what you are, and that you are the brother of your children.
426.
mvp-comment-258-1
τοὐμὸν στόμα 'The word in my mouth; i. e. Me and my prophecies. Cp. Ο. C. 794, τὸ σὸν δ᾽ ἀφῖκται δεῦρ᾽ ὑπόβλητον στόμα.
428.
mvp-comment-259-1
κάκιον. . ἐκτριβήσεται
Shall be more cruelly rooted out. Cp. amongst other places, Hdt. 6. 86, ἐκτέτριπταί τε πρόρριζος ἐκ Σπάρτης: ib. 6. 37. The position of κάκιον is very emphatic.
430.
mvp-comment-260-1
The two pauses in the same line mark intense excitement.
431.
mvp-comment-261-1
οἴκων The genitive is to be taken with both phrases, ἄψορρος ἄπει and ἀποστραφείς.
Will you not return and begone from the house? Observe the angry repetition both of sound and meaning.
434.
mvp-comment-262-1
ἐστειλάμην
Would have had thee conducted to my house; referring to the διπλοί πομποί. The verb is causa- tive as in Ant. 164-165, πομποῖσιν ..
434.
mvp-comment-262-2
ἔστειλα. The middle voice here expresses more of personal feeling and is in harmony with οἴκους τοὺς ἐμούς.
436.
mvp-comment-263-1
οἱ σ᾽ ἔφυσαν The repetition of the same verb (ἔφυμεν,
l. 435
) is another instance of accidental tautology. Cp. infr. 519. The double phrase (γον. οἵ σ' ἔφν.) is intended to draw the attention of Oedipus to the mystery of his birth. The construction of the dative has to be supplied from ἔφυμεν, ὡς .. δοκεῖ, SC. ἐδοκοῦμεν φῦναι.
437.
mvp-comment-264-1
μεῖνον. (430, note.) Teiresias had turned to go. δé connects the question immediately with the speech of Teiresias. ἐκφύει, historical present.
438.
mvp-comment-265-1
This day shall give thee birth and bring thee to nought.' 441. Reproach me with these things if you will, but you will find me great in them. For the sarcastic imperative, cp. Εl. 794, ὕβριζε, κ.τ.λ.: Aj. 971, ὑβριζέτω : Aesch. Prom. 82, ἐνταῦθα νῦν ὕβριζε.
442.
mvp-comment-266-1
That glory of yours has been your ruin.' τύχη refers to μέγαν.
The glory of which you speak. The word is much more appropriate than τέχνη (Bentley), which implies praise, and is rather applicable to the μαντική of Teiesias than to the γνώμη of Oedipus.
Gravius est τύχη ut plura complectens. Erfurdt. Cp. supr. 423, εὐπλοίας τυχών. Teiresias assigns to Fortune what Oedipus (supr. 398) attributed to Wit. Cp. Thuc. 1. 144, γνώμῃ πλείονι ἢ τύχῃ καὶ τόλμῃ μείζονι ἢ δυνάμει.
443.
mvp-comment-267-1
Oedipus, although curious about his parentage, cares not to ask further about the threat of ruin, but falls back on his devotion to the state.
445.
mvp-comment-268-1
ὡς .. ὀχλεῖς
Being present and in our way, you trouble us. σύ is brought in to mark the antithesis. Essay on Language § 41. e. p. 79. The reading of most MSS, σύ γ', may be defended if γε belongs to the whole sentence, assenting to l. 444. 447 ff. I will tell my message ere I go, not fearing thy frown, for thou hast no power to destroy me.' The speech of Teiresias is now as clear as his former words were dark; although his meaning is still an enigma to Oedipus.
447.
mvp-comment-269-1
εἰπὼν ἄπειμ᾽ ὧν οὖνεκ᾽ ἦλθον The position of εἰπών here (having the first arsis of the line) is very emphatic. Cp. supr. 428, and see Essay on Language § 41. P. 77.
448.
mvp-comment-270-1
πρόσωπον Cp. Hor. Od. 3. 3. 4.
Nec vultus instantis tyranni Mente quatit solida.
448.
mvp-comment-270-2
οὐ γὰρ . . ὀλεῖς
Thou hast no power to ruin me. Cp. supr. 355. Essay on Language § 24. p. 41. Teiresias' habitual respect for Oedipus struggles with his prophetic knowledge, even now that he has help of anger.' ὅπου and ποῦ are used as nearly equivalent to ὅπως, πῶς. Cp. Αj. 1100, ποῦ σὺ στρατηγεῖς τοῦδε; 1103, οὐδ᾽ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπου σοί, κ.τ.λ.
449.
mvp-comment-271-1
τοῦτον Essay on Language § 22. p. 35; and § 35. p. 59.
450.
mvp-comment-272-1
ἀπειλῶν Supr. 233 foll.
452.
mvp-comment-273-1
λόγῳ
In appearance. Cp. El. 63, 1217.
452.
mvp-comment-273-2
ἐγγενὴς . . Θηβαῖος
A native Theban, i.e. not only of Theban extraction, but at once born in the country and belonging to the race. Cp. Hdt. 2. 47, where Αἰγύπτιοι ἐγγενέες means the opposite of τὸ ἀνέκαθεν Αἰγύπτιοι.
453.
mvp-comment-274-1
οὐδ᾽ ἡσθήσεται, κ.τ.λ.
Nor will he be gladdened by his fortune. The use of the third person adds to the impressiveness of the prophecy.
456.
mvp-comment-275-1
Groping his way. σκήπτρῳ προδεικνύς, lit. 'Pointing before him with a staff. For the order of words, see Essay on Language § 41. p. 77.
457.
mvp-comment-276-1
αὐτός The MS. reading agrees better with αὑτοῦ in the previous line than αὑτός, which some editors have substituted.
He shall prove to be to his own children, with whom he lives, himself their brother as well as father. (αὐτὸς τοῖς αὑτοῦ παισὶν ἀδελφός.) For the slight pleonasm in ξυνών, cp. Aj. 267, κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι λυπεῖσθαι ξυνών. The horror of the relationship is increased by his having lived with them in ignorance of it for so long.
459.
mvp-comment-277-1
And of his mother and wife—her husband as well as son. The collocation of γυναικὸς υἱὸς is intentionally suggestive.
459.
mvp-comment-277-2
τοῦ πατρός The article points to Laius, his father, of whom so much has been lately said.
And of his murdered sire at once the incestuous rival and the murderer.
460.
mvp-comment-278-1
ὁμόσπορος τὴν αὐτὴν σπείρων γυναῖκα, Schol. Cp. Eur. Or. 476, where Menelaus says to Tyndareus, χαῖρε, Ζηνὸς ὁμόλεκτρον κάρα. The same word is used passively in 260. The seven καί's have a cumulative force. καί with the imperative =
And now. 461. For με omitted see Essay on Language §39. P. 73-
462.
mvp-comment-279-1
φρονεῖν
To have intelligence, as in 316. Cp. 11. 390-396.
463-511.
mvp-comment-280-1
Where is the accursed one, whom Apollo has marked as the perpetrator of the terrible deed? Now should he fly far away, with a step swifter than that of steeds, the daughters of the wind. For the son of Zeus, clothed in armour, leaps upon him with flashing fire, and the inevitable Fates are following him. He is roaming in forests and amongst desert caves, but he shall find no refuge. The forlorn man cannot put away from him the oracles that come from the centre of the earth.
463-511.
mvp-comment-280-2
I tremble to think of the answer which the seer has given; and I hover in uncertainty, seeing neither what is, nor what will be. I neither know nor have known any strife between the house of Labdacus and the son of Polybus, and without proof, I will not give up Oedipus on an uncertain surmise. There is no knowing whether the voice of the prophet is the voice of God. But one man may be wiser than another. And of mortals who so wise as Oedipus? We have proof of this and of his good- Ist strophe and antistr. logaoedic or glyconic, ness to our state. Therefore I will think no harm of him.
463-511.
mvp-comment-280-3
The first strophe and antistrophe refer to the proclamation of Oedipus reporting the answer of the oracle; the second to the words of Teiresias, which contained the only answer yet given to the question which the oracle left obscure. The differing metres of the first and second strophe and antistrophe contrast the eager resolution of the chorus to find the murderer, with the wavering excitement which the words of Teiresias have awakened, distracting them between their loyalty to Oedipus and their reverence for the seer. The first strophe commences with a strain half grave, half light, which is stirred into a quicker motion in the glyconics (lines 466-468), where the flight of the fugitive is described and grows faster and also weightier in the description of the tramp of his pursuers (lines 469 ff.). In the second strophe the alternation of the mind of the Chorus is indicated in the uneven Ionic rhythm. followed by rapid anapaestic clcclcc dimeters marking the climax of feeling. 2nd str. and antistr. Ionic a minore with anacrusis and pauses. 100- D 100–110)|10) 10)||10)|[110)]110) 463. The διορθωτής of the Laurentian MS. has written εἶπε over another word (ειδε?) and Flor. Γ. gives εἶδε, above 100which a later hand has written εἶπε as a v. r. Both readings are noticed by the Scholiast. The construction with the participle is at first sight rather in favour of εἶδε (or οἶδε). But cp. El. 318, О. С. 1580, ξυντομωτάτως μὲν ἂν τύχοιμι λέξας Οἰδίπουν ὀλωλότα, and infr. 1214, δικάζει .. τεκνοῦντα, εἶπε is much better suited to the context. The voice which the Pythia interpreted came from the rock.
465.
mvp-comment-281-1
For ἄρρητ' ἀρρήτων, see Essay on Language § 40, 4. p. 75.
466.
mvp-comment-282-1
ἀελλάδων Said to be = ἀελλαίων. But may not some of the force of the patronymic be retained, = 'Swift daughters of the storm'? See the fable in II. 20. 223.
467.
mvp-comment-283-1
σθεναρώτερον is better taken as an adjective agreeing with πόδα than as an adverb. Cp. Il. 10.358, λαιψηρὰ δὲ γούνατ' ἐνώμα. Ε. on L. § 9. p. 13.
470.
mvp-comment-284-1
πυρὶ καὶ στεροπαῖς Το follow ἔνοπλος ἐπενθρώσκει.
The son of Zeus leaps armed upon him, with fiery bolts. The avenging power of Phoebus is referred to his father Zeus (the πυρφόρος ἀστεροπητής, Phil. 1198), whose lightning he hurls, and by whose prophetic power he is inspired. Cp. supr. 151.
472.
mvp-comment-285-1
Κήρες The meaning of this word varies between (1) lot or des- tiny, (2) misfortune, (3) death. The Κῆρες have not the independent authority of the Mοίραι, but are rather the subordinate ministers who execute the Divine will.
473.
mvp-comment-286-1
ἔλαμψε . φάμα
The command flashed forth. Cp. 186, παιὰν δὲ λάμπει : Pind. O1. 1. 23, λάμπει . . κλέος.
475.
mvp-comment-287-1
πάντ᾿ ἰχνεύειν πάντα is neuter plural adverbial:
to track by all means, rather than masculine subject of ἰχνεύειν,
for every one to track.
478.
mvp-comment-288-1
The reading of the inferior MSS., although yielding an unlikely rhythm, is given in the text as most probably representing the true meaning. ἅτε has been read with some probability for ὡς. The reading of L., even if the adj. were here permissible (see Essay on Language § 23, €. p. 39) is impossible on account of the strained use of metaphor. Prof. E. L. Lushington has suggested ἰσόταυρος. Cp. Virgil's description, Georg. 3. 203, of the solitary vanquished bull; 11. 481, 2, suggest that he is also seeking refuge from the breese.
479.
mvp-comment-289-1
χηρεύων
Forlorn, 'Cut off from fellowship; alluding to the curse under which the murderer lay, 236, foll. N2
480.
mvp-comment-290-1
τὰ μεσόμφαλα γᾶς .. μαντεία
The oracles from the central spot of earth. yâs is part. gen. after the adjective of place. Cp. Strabo, 9. p. 419, τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐν μέσῳ πώς ἐστι τῆς συμπάσης .. καὶ ἐκάλεσαν τῆς γῆς ὄμφαλον.
480.
mvp-comment-290-2
ἀπονοσφίζων
Putting away from him, i.e.
avoiding. An inverted expression, like ἀποκρύπτειν γῆν.
481.
mvp-comment-291-1
ἀεί to be taken equally with ζῶντα and περιποτᾶται.
And they will not die, but still live and move around him. The chorus look to the ends of the earth for the man whom they have just seen before the palace; for him, who, instead of avoiding the oracle, embraces and is seeking to obey it.
483.
mvp-comment-292-1
Fearfully does the wise augur trouble me.' For the ellipse of the object με, see Essay on Language § 39. P. 73. μὲν οὖν marks the transition to a course of thought which is not final; to this ἀλλά, κ.τ.λ. 497 ff. is afterwards opposed.
483.
mvp-comment-292-2
δεινά is adverbial acc., and δοκοῦντα, ἀποφάσκοντα acc. masc. agreeing with με understood.
Neither entertaining the suggestion nor denying. For δοκεῖν absolute, cp. El. 61, δοκῶ μέν, alib., Αj. 942, σοὶ μὲν δοκεῖν ταῦτ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἄγαν φρονεῖν : Τr. 590, 1, ὡς τὸ μὲν δοκεῖν ἔνεστι. This interpretation is supported by the words, ὅ, τι λέξω δ᾽ ἀπορῶ, which are added in explanation. Others take δεινά ταράσσει, κ.τ.λ., to mean
suggests dire conflicting thoughts, which neither affirm their object nor deny.
486.
mvp-comment-293-1
πέτομαι δ᾽ ἐλπίσιν
And I hover in uncertain expectation. Cp. Eur. Bacch. 332, νῦν γὰρ πέτει τε καὶ φρονῶν οὐδὲν φρονεῖς: infr. 771-772, és τοσοῦτον ἐλπίδων ἐμοῦ βεβῶτος.
487.
mvp-comment-294-1
Not seeing clearly either the present or the future. Cp. ὁ γὰρ οἷος ὅρα πρόσσω καὶ ὀπίσσω, Il. 18.250; Od. 24.452. The Greeks imagined the future as
coming on behind the present and so hidden by it.
487.
mvp-comment-294-2
ἢ.. ἤ
What quarrel lay between them on either side. The disjunctive form of expression gives emphasis to each of the proper names. The same emphatic strain is continued with οὔτε οὔτε. Cp. Hdt. 7. 54, οὐκ ἔχω ἀτρεκέως διακρίναι, οὔτε εἰ . . οὔτε εἰ, κ.τ.λ.
488.
mvp-comment-295-1
ἔκειτο Lit.
Was laid up, (cp. 232, ἡ χάρις προσκείσεται), but this meaning is almost lost, and the word has little more than the force of the substantive verb.
492.
mvp-comment-296-1
The corresponding line of the antistrophe exceeds this by--, and the slight obscurity of the present passage makes it more probable that one or two words have been lost here, than that γὰρ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ has been interpolated in l. 507. The addition of τινὸς ἀνδρῶν, or some such words, would make the sense clearer, and in any case ὅτου is masculine.
What quarrel lay between them I never learnt from any man at whose word I might go, proof in hand, against the popular fame of Oedipus. For the use of πρός with the active verb, cp. Τr. 935, ἄκουσα πρὸς τοῦ θηρὸς ἔρξειεν τάδε. βασάνῳ εἶμι = ἐλέγξων εἶμι. For the instrumental dative = ξὺν βασάνῳ, see Essay on Language § 14. 1. p. 20.
495.
mvp-comment-297-1
ἐπὶ .. εἶμι is a case of tmesis. For the constr. cp. II. 11. 367, τοὺς ἄλλους ἐπιείσομαι.
496.
mvp-comment-298-1
Going to the aid of the Labdacidae on account of a mysterious death. Cp. Eur. El. 138, αἱμάτων ἐπίκουρος.
498.
mvp-comment-299-1
ὅ τ᾿ Ἀπόλλων Who is again regarded as the προφήτης of Zeύς. See l. 151, and note.
500.
mvp-comment-300-1
πλέον ἢ ἐγὼ φέρεται
Attains more than I. Cp. Hdt. 8. 29, πρόσθε τε γὰρ ἐν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι, .. πλέον αἰεί κοτε ὑμέων ἐφερόμεθα· νῦν τε παρὰ τῷ βαρβάρῳ τοσοῦτον δυνάμεθα ὥστε, κ.τ.λ.: Ε1. 1095-1096, τῶνδε φερομέναν ἄριστα.
501.
mvp-comment-301-1
κρίσις οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής
There is no sure way of determining. Cp. Pind. fr. Paean. 39, τί δ' ἔλπεαι σοφίαν ἐμμέναι, ᾆτ᾽ ὀλίγον τοι ἀνὴρ ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς ἰσχύει; οὐ γὰρ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπως τὰ θεῶν βουλεύματ᾽ ἐρευνάσαι βροτέᾳ φρενί.
502.
mvp-comment-302-1
παραμείψειεν
Might pass, as in a race. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 2. 50, θεός, ὁ καὶ πτερόεντ' αἰετὸν κίχε καὶ θαλασσαῖον παραμείβεται δελφίνα. On the use of the active for the middle voice, see Essay on Language p. 98.
503.
mvp-comment-303-1
πρὶν ἴδοιμ The optative (instead of ἂν ἴδω) is occasioned by ката- φαίην ἄν.
503.
mvp-comment-303-2
ὀρθὸν ἔπος
A clear or certain utterance, i. e. one proved by the fact.
503.
mvp-comment-303-3
ἡδύπολισ MSS. τῷ] τῶ(1) L. Cp. 853, τόν γε Λαΐου φόνον φανεῖ δικαίως ὀρθόν : Ant. 1178, ὦ μάντι, τοῦπος ὡς ἄρ᾽ ὀρθὸν ἥνυσας : Pind. Pyth. 6. 19.
503.
mvp-comment-303-4
μεμφομένων Gen. absolute.
503.
mvp-comment-303-5
καταφαίην Ar. Met. 3. 6. 11, ἀδύνατον ἅμα καταφάναι καὶ ἀποφάναι.
510.
mvp-comment-304-1
βασάνῳ
In actual proof. Dative of circumstance. Cp. 494. The same word repeated in a different connexion. The words φανερά, ὤφθη, βασάνῳ, are intended to contrast the clear evidence in Oedipus' favour with the uncertainty of the suspicion against him.
510.
mvp-comment-304-2
ἁδύπολις = ἡδὺς τῇ πόλει. Cp. ὑψίπολις = ὑψηλὸς ἐν πόλει, Ant. 370.
510.
mvp-comment-304-3
τῷ Epicè, Therefore.'
513.
mvp-comment-305-1
Creon enters (right) from the city. In the first episode the action was strikingly rapid. It contained the two great movements of the proclamation of Oedipus and the prophecy of Teiresias, with only sufficient pause between them (ll. 276-296) to give effect to the latter. Now follows a period of suspense, for which the wavering tones of the last chorus have prepared the way. The scene is of unusual length, ll. 512-862, but is divided by the short lyric measures (commatica) in 11. 649-668, 678-696. Cp. O. C. 833 ff, 876 ff. The entrance of Jocasta (1. 634) prepares new complications.
515.
mvp-comment-306-1
ἀτλητών
Unable to endure it. The verb is formed after the analogy οἱ ἀλαστέω, ἀελπτέω, etc.
515.
mvp-comment-306-2
ἐν ταῖς ξυμφοραῖς ταῖς νῦν
In the present crisis.
516.
mvp-comment-307-1
πρός γ᾿ ἐμοῦ The variety of reading has been caused by the ellipse of τι, for which cp. El. 1322-1323, ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἐξόδῳ κλύω | τῶν ἔνδοθεν χωροῦντος, SC.
516.
mvp-comment-307-2
τινός. The emphatic ἐμοῦ is better here than μου. That in this emergency he has suffered at my hands aught tending to his harm by word or deed.
518.
mvp-comment-308-1
I care not to prolong my life.'
518.
mvp-comment-308-2
τοῦ μακραίωνος. The article as with words of number and quantity, e.g. Ο. C. 1211, τοῦ πλέονος μέρους. Cp. Αj. 473, τοῦ μακροῦ χρήζειν βίου. For the use of the compound, see Essay on Language p. 101.
519.
mvp-comment-309-1
ἁπλοῦν, though opposed to μέγιστον, is not = σμικρόν, but points to the manifold nature of the injury as expressed in 521-522, This word affects me with loss not only in one respect, but does me the most serious injury.' For the unconscious tautology in the repetition of φέρει after φέρον, φέροντι, cp. infr. 524-527, γνώμῃ, γνώμαις, γνώμῃ.
522.
mvp-comment-310-1
The leader of the chorus is allied to the royal house, infr. 1225.
524.
mvp-comment-311-1
βιασθέν is not to be repeated with γνώμῃ, which is dative of cause.
The charge may have been made in the violence of anger, and not advisedly.
525.
mvp-comment-312-1
τοῦ πρός
From whom proceeded this? i. e. On whose authority was it said? The inversion in this passage has suggested the v. r. τοῦπος found in FL³, which is also supposed to correspond better with the answer of the chorus. But the change is unnecessary. The order of words is singular, but is suited to express the excitement of Creon. Cp. the position of ὅτι, and Ar. Εq. 32, ποῖον βρέτας πρός; There is no real difficulty in reconciling the question to the answer. Creon asks, 'From whom came the intimation?" To which the chorus answers,
The thing was said, but I cannot tell you on what ground or authority: γνώμῃ τίνι referring to τοῦ πρός, κ.τ.λ. For γνώμῃ φρενῶν, cp. Ant. 1090, τὸν νοῦν .. τῶν φρενῶν.
528.
mvp-comment-313-1
Were his eyes and his mind clear, when this accusation was uttered against : me by him?' Most MSS. omitting δ' in the first place, waver between ὀρθῶν τε and ὀρθῶν δέ. But δ' before ὀρθῶν is not devoid of authority.
529.
mvp-comment-314-1
Observe the continued use of the passive voice. Essay on Language §. 31. pp. 53-54. Creon still avoids the direct mention of Oedipus as his accuser; and the chorus use the same reserve.
530.
mvp-comment-315-1
ἃ γὰρ .. οὐχ ὁρῶ
I have no eye to see what rulers do. 532 foll. Insolent, what mean you by coming hither, you that have aimed at my life and sought to subvert my sovereignty? Unsupported by friends, how could you expect to succeed or to elude my vigilance? Did you take me for a coward or a fool?'
530.
mvp-comment-315-2
οὗτος, σύ This punctuation is more forcible than οὗτος σύ, and has also better authority. The inversion of πῶς σύ accords with the feeling of the speech. Essay on Language § 41. p. 78. See below,
l. 1121
.
532.
mvp-comment-316-1
τοσόνδ᾽ ἔχεις τόλμης πρόσωπον
Have you such a face of brass? i. e. τοσαύτης τόλμης πρόσωπον. A case of hypallage.
534.
mvp-comment-317-1
The ind. ἵκου is more forcible than the infinitive, as dwelling on the 542.8] fact, and not merely marking its connexion with the preceding statement. The words ἐμφανῶς, ἐναργής, in what follows, are very characteristic of the passionate self-confidence of Oedipus.
537.
mvp-comment-318-1
ἐν ἐμοί, like ἃ δ᾽ ἂν ἔρῃ, infr. 749, is an apparent violation of the rule that the 2nd and 3rd syllables of a trisyllabic foot must be in the same word. But ev is a preposition which adheres to its case.
538.
mvp-comment-319-1
ὡς, κ.τ.λ. depends, κατὰ τὸ σημαινόμενον, οη καταφρονήσας, or the like, implied in ἰδὼν . . ἐν ἐμοί. Either supposing that I would not detect the stealthy approaches of this plot of yours, or that I would not resist it when observed.' The MS. reading -κούκ may be compared with Il. 2. 289, ἢ παῖδες νεαροὶ χῆραί τε γυναῖκες, or ἤ in this case may be explained as = ' or;' but the correction ἢ ἡ οὐκ seems far more probable. The former alternative implies μωρίαν, the latter δειλίαν. For the synizesis, cp. infr. 555, ἢ οὐκ ἔπειθες.
538.
mvp-comment-319-2
γνωρίσοιμι follows the MSS. against the Atticists.
541.
mvp-comment-320-1
πλήθους καὶ φίλων Cp. supr. 470, πυρὶ καὶ στεροπαῖς.
543.
mvp-comment-321-1
οἶσθ᾿ ὡς ποίησον
Do you know what I bid you do?" An idiomatic confusion of οἶσθ ὡς ποιήσεις with ποίησον. See Essay on Language $ 36. p. 66.
545.
mvp-comment-322-1
You are a clever talker; but I am slow to learn of you (alluding to μαθών in the preceding line), for I have found you dangerous and hostile to me. Cp. Plat. Rep. 2. 358 Α, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγώ τις, ὡς ἔοικε, δυσμαθής.
547.
mvp-comment-323-1
τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό
This very point, viz. whether I am hostile to you.
549.
mvp-comment-324-1
Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1012, αὐθαδία γὰρ τῷ φρονοῦντι μὴ καλῶς | αὐτὴ καθ᾿ αὑτὴν οὐδενὸς μεῖον σθένει.
552.
mvp-comment-325-1
ὑφέξειν τὴν δίκην ‘Το be made to answer for it.' Oedipus has an uneasy feeling that Creon may think himself above the law. This Creon deprecates.
553-554.
mvp-comment-326-1
ὸ . . πάθημα is both governed by δίδασκε and to be resumed with παθεῖν.
Tell me your injury, what injury you say you have received. Cp. infr. 604.
555.
mvp-comment-327-1
ἔπειθες Referring to Κρέοντος εἰπόντος in 288, a slight touch, which has prepared the way for the present scene.
556.
mvp-comment-328-1
τὸν σεμνόμαντιν ἄνδρα
The solemn prophet. σεμνός has frequently the ironical sense of
pretentious. Cp. 953, τὰ σέμν᾿ ἵν᾿ ἥκει τοῦ θεοῦ μαντεύματα: Αj. 1107, τὰ σέμν᾽ ἔπη: Aesch. Prom. 953, σεμνόστομός γε καὶ φρονήματος πλέως. ..
557.
mvp-comment-329-1
αὑτὸς τῷ βουλεύματι
And I still hold to the advice I gave. Cp. Thuc. 2. 61, καὶ ἐγὼ μὲν ὁ αὐτός εἰμι καὶ οὐκ ἐξίσταμαι : Phil. 521, τότ᾽ οὐκέθ᾽ αὑτὸς τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις φανῆς. τῷ βουλεύματι is (1) dative of identity with αὑτός rather than (2) of manner. Cp. Hdt. 3. 119, εἰ συνέπαινοί εἰσι τῷ πεποιημένῳ. For the other view (2), cp. Thuc. 3.38, ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ὁ αὐτὸς εἰμι τῇ γνώμῃ.
561.
mvp-comment-330-1
It would be a long reckoning of distant times.'
562.
mvp-comment-331-1
ἐν τῇ τέχνη
Practising his art. Cp. Plat. Prot. 317 C, πολλά γε ἔτη ἤδη εἰμὶ ἐν τῇ τέχνη.
565.
mvp-comment-332-1
Either
on no occasion when I was standing near, οὐδαμοῦ simply repeating the negative in οὐκοῦν, οτ, τεsolving οὐδαμοῦ into two words, ('not,' 'anywhere'),
certainly not, when I was standing anywhere near. The former is preferable. See Essay on Language § 41. p 77; and for the transference of the adverb of place to time, ibid. § 24. p. 41, supr. 1. 390.
566.
mvp-comment-333-1
τοῦ θανόντος Gen. of respect.
567.
mvp-comment-334-1
παρέσχομεν The compound verb is used in the reply, partly for the sake of variety, but also with a slight alteration of sense.
But did you have no enquiry about the deed?
Of course we held an enquiry. παρέσχομεν has a more active meaning, and implies more effort (='dare operam') than ἔσχετε. The word is used here as in El. 1144-1145, (τροφῆς) τὴν ἐγὼ θάμ᾿ ἀμφὶ σοὶ πόνῳ γλυκεῖ παρέσχον.
568.
mvp-comment-335-1
ὁ σοφός Cp. 563.
569.
mvp-comment-336-1
ἐφ᾽ οἷς = ἐπὶ τούτοις ἅ. The spectator would not feel, as the reader is apt to do, that the question of Oedipus calls attention to a real inconsistency in the fable. Cp. supr. 103 ff.
570.
mvp-comment-337-1
τοσόνδε γ' The MS. reading τοσὸν δέ γ' (i. e. τὸ σὸν δέ γ') looks like an early correction. On the other hand, the simple τόσον hardly occurs elsewhere in Sophocles (unless in Tr. 53, κἀμὲ χρὴ φράσαι τόσον, where τὸ σόν is preferable). But cp. Hdt. 4. 197, τόσον δὲ ἔτι ἔχω εἰπεῖν. The abruptness caused by omitting δε is rather expressive. τοσόνδε refers to what is coming. There is one thing which you know and can tell clearly.'
570.
mvp-comment-337-2
οἶσθα.. λέγοις.. φρονών He echoes Creon's words, οὐκ οἶδα μὴ φρονῶ σιγᾶν.
571.
mvp-comment-338-1
οἰδά γ᾽
If I do know it. γε points the reference to the preceding line.
572.
mvp-comment-339-1
τὰς ἐμάς The article refers to Teiresias' words, 362, φονέα σε φημί, κ.τ.λ.
He would not have spoken, as he did, of my being Laius murderer.' Cp Eur. (?) Rhes. 438, σὺ κομπεῖς τὰς ἐμὰς ἀμύστιδας. The poet may also have intended the expression to be ambiguous, and to mean in the ear of the spectator,
he would not have told of my murder of Laius. For the plural, ср. О. С. 962, ὅστις φόνους μοι καὶ γάμους καὶ συμφοράς, κ.τ.λ.
575.
mvp-comment-340-1
ταύθ' Adv. accus.
Just as. Cp 579, ἄρχεις . . ταὐτά.
576.
mvp-comment-341-1
The compound verb answers the simple as in 567.
Do your best to learn. Cp. 129, ἐξειδέναι: Hdt. 7. 28, ἐξέμαθον καὶ εὗρον, κ.τ.λ. The present tense has the inchoative meaning.
577.
mvp-comment-342-1
γήμας ἔχεις
You have in marriage.
578.
mvp-comment-343-1
ἄρνησις οὐκ ἔνεστιν
There is no possibility of denying.
579.
mvp-comment-344-1
ἄρχεις δ᾽ ἐκείνῃ ταὐτά
You share your power with her. Creon implies that Jocasta is queen in her own right. Cp. 630, note.
579.
mvp-comment-344-2
γῆς ἴσον νέμων
Holding with her an equal portion in the land. The dative is resumed in thought. Cp. Thuc. 6. 16, 4, ἢ τὰ ἴσα νέμων τὰ ὁμοῖα ἀνταξιούτω.
582.
mvp-comment-345-1
True, and that is just what marks you as a bad friend. Oedipus assents to Creon's statement of his own position, and retorts that his nearness to the throne only aggravates the case against him.
583.
mvp-comment-346-1
The argument of Creon resembles that with which Histiaeus soothes the suspicion of Darius, Hdt. 5.106, τί δ' ἂν ἐπιδιζήμενος ποιέοιμι ταῦτα; τεῦ δὲ ἐνδεὴς ἐών; τῷ πάρα μὲν πάντα ὅσα περ σοί, πάντων δὲ πρὸς σέο βουλευμάτων ἐπακούειν ἀξιεῦμαι.
583.
mvp-comment-346-2
Not so; if you would but reason with yourself, as I reason with you.' σοί is absorbed in σαντῷ : i. e. σαυτῷ ὡς ἐγὼ σοί. For the expression, cp. Hdt. 1. 209; 2. 162; 3.25; 4. 102; 6.138.
586.
mvp-comment-347-1
ἄτρεστον εὔδοντ Hom. Od. 13. 92, δὴ τότε γ᾿ ἀτρέμας εἶδε.
587-589.
mvp-comment-348-1
For the position of the words οὔτ᾽ αὐτὸς .. οὔτ᾽ ἄλλος, cp. Phil. 88, 9, ἔφυν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐκ τέχνης πράσσειν κακῆς | οὔτ᾽ αὐτός, οὔθ᾽, ὥς φασιν, οὑκφύσας ἐμέ.
588.
mvp-comment-349-1
τύραννα For τύραννος adj. cp. Ant. 1169, τύραννον σχῆμα.
590.
mvp-comment-350-1
φέρω Ι obtain.' Cp. О. С. 5, 6, τοῦ μικροῦ δ᾽ ἔτι μεῖον φέροντα,
592.
mvp-comment-351-1
How then can the possession of sovereignty be pleasanter to me than to have a power and authority that is free from annoyance?'
594.
mvp-comment-352-1
οὔπω
Surely I am not so far gone in self-deceit. πω adds emphasis to the negative. See note on 105, οὐ γὰρ εἰσεῖδόν γέ πω.
595.
mvp-comment-353-1
τὰ σὺν κέρδει καλά
Glory with advantage. Creon's present δυναστεία had the reality of both. Sovereignty might bring him outward brilliancy, but not solid gain.
596.
mvp-comment-354-1
πᾶσι χαίρω (1)
I am happy in the sight of all. Cp. Eur. Med. 509, πολλαῖς μακαρίαν. The recognition of happiness is an element of happiness to the sensitive Greek (as to Croesus in the story of Herodotus); and the happy man is saluted by all (πᾶς ἀσπάζεται), just as the unfortunate is passed by without regard. Cp Thuc. 6. 16, ὥσπερ δυστυχοῦντες οὐδὲ προσαγορευόμεθα. Or (2) I take pleasure in all men' (as having no enemy). Cp. Od. 19. 462-463, τῷ μὲν χαῖρον νοστήσαντι. Other renderings are,
I am happy in my relations with all;
I am happy in all ways (πᾶσι neuter); and,
All bid me rejoice. (Cp. χαῖρέ μοι.) 597. ἐκκαλοῦσί με is
Invite me forth, or,
Take me aside, e. g. from the palace or the council for private conference, as an important person. Cp. 951, τί μ' ἐξεπέμψω δεῦρο τῶνδε δωμάτων; Ant. 18: Eur. Bacch. 170, τίς ἐν πύλαισι; Κάδμον ἐκκάλει δόμων: Αj. 749-750, ἐκ γὰρ ξυνέδρου καὶ τυραννικοῦ κύκλου | Κάλχας μεταστὰς οἷος Ἀτρειδῶν δίχα, κ.τ.λ. Aristoph. Ach. 400-402: Hdt. 8. 79, ἐξεκαλέετο. The conjecture of L. Dindorf, αἰκάλλουσι, suggests a disagreeable association of mean flattery. The word αἰκάλλω occurs only once in tragedy, and then in reproach. Eur. Andr. 630, πρόδοτιν αἰκάλλων κύνα.
598.
mvp-comment-355-1
τὸ γὰρ . . ἔνι
For their success all depends on this; viz. on paying court to me. The text is uncertain, but here, as in a few other passages (cp. supr. 221), Flor. F. may have preserved an older reading. The absence of caesura is not a fatal objection to the reading αὐτοὺς ἅπαντ᾽. Cp. infr. 856. And for the accus. cp. Eur. Or. 761, τύχοις ἂν .. ὅσον θέλεις. But Flor. F. certainly gives a better line, and the correction ἅπαντ' may be conjectural.
599.
mvp-comment-356-1
κεῖν κεῖνο, τὸ ἄρχειν ξὺν φόβοισι, τὴν τυραννίδα.
599.
mvp-comment-356-2
ἀφεὶς τάδε] Cp. Macb. 1. 7, I have won | Golden opinions from all sorts of people | That would be worn now in their newest gloss, | Not cast aside so soon.' Ib. 2. 1, 'M. It shall make honour for you. B. So I lose none | In seeking to augment it, .... | I shall be counselled. But Creon's notion of honour' is more external than Banquo's.
600.
mvp-comment-357-1
No mind that has a right sense of things can turn to evil. For the order of words, see Essay on Language § 41, p. 77. Creon thus sums up his previous argument. None can have wicked schemes whose judgment is not blind.' L
601.
mvp-comment-358-1
τῆσδε τῆς γνώμης Sc. τῆς τῶν ἐρώντων τυραννίδος.
602.
mvp-comment-359-1
τλαίην Sc. τοῦτο, implied in τῆσδε τῆς γνώμης. It is unnecessary to supply an infinitive.
603.
mvp-comment-360-1
ἔλεγχον
For proof. Accusative in apposition to the sentence.
603.
mvp-comment-360-2
τοῦτο μὲν .. τοῦτ᾽ ἄλλο are also in the same construction.
603.
mvp-comment-360-3
Πυθώδ᾽ ἰὼν πεύθου Cp. supr. 70, 71, and note.
605.
mvp-comment-361-1
τοῦτ᾽ ἄλλο
This more, with passionate emphasis instead oἱ τοῦτο δέ. Cp. the Homeric ἄλλο δέ τοι ἐρέω. Α different variation occurs in Ant. 165-168, τοῦτο μὲν .. τοῦτ᾽ αὖθις.
605.
mvp-comment-361-2
τῷ τερασκόπῳ
The diviner. Creon, to soothe Oedipus, joins with him in speaking lightly of the seer.
606.
mvp-comment-362-1
Then take and slay me,-not by thy single voice, for thou shalt have mine as well.' 608. The meaning of χωρίς, which is used absolutely, must be determined from the antithesis of the preceding lines.
Without inquiry.The latter word is implied in ἐάν με τῷ τερασκόπῳ λάβῃς, κ.τ.λ.
606.
mvp-comment-362-2
γνώμῃ The dative is causal, By reason of an unproved suspicion.'
Be not led by a vague notion to accuse me of your own mere will.
609.
mvp-comment-363-1
μάτην
Without cause.
612.
mvp-comment-364-1
τὸν παρ᾽ αὑτῷ βίοτον
The life which is very near to him. Cp. Plat. Rep. 3. 413 C, τοῦ παρ᾽ αὑτοῖς δόγματος. The preposition assists the figure by which the life (compared to a friend) is represented as an object of affection distinct from the man himself. For the ellipse of τις, see Essay on Language § 39, p. 72-73, and cp. supr. 516. 614-615. Cp. Solon. Fr. 9. Δείξει δὲ μανίην μὲν ἐμὴν βαιὸς χρόνος ἀστοῖς : Chaeremon Fr. 21, χρόνος δίκαιον ἄνδρα μηνύει ποτέ: Pind. Ol. 10. 54· 616. His words are good for one who would avoid falling. Cp. Plat. Rep. 331 Β, εἰς τοῦτο ἀνδρὶ νοῦν ἔχοντι πλοῦτον χρησιμώτατον εἶναι.
617.
mvp-comment-365-1
φρονεῖν is to be repeated with both adjectives.
Swift is not sure in thought. For the inf. cp. Pind. Ol. 13.48.
618.
mvp-comment-366-1
When my secret enemy is one who advances swiftly.' ταχύς τις is supplementary predicate after χωρῇ. Cp. Αj. 1266, φεῦ, τοῦ θανόντος ὡς ταχεῖά τις βροτοῖς | χάρις διαρρεῖ καὶ προδοῦσ᾽ ἁλίσκεται: Phil. 519, μὴ νῦν μέν τις εὐχερὴς παρῇς. And for the article with the subject in such a connection, cp. Ant. 951, ὁ μοιριδία τις δύνασις δεινά. 624-625. The text of these lines is probably defective. Two things seem clear; (1) that line 625 is more appropriate to Creon than to Oedipus,
You speak as if you would not relent nor believe me. (MS. Farn. had upe. before this line by p. m.) Cp. infr. 646, πίστευσον, Οἰδίπους, τάδε: 650, τί σοὶ θέλεις δῆτ᾽ εἰκάθω; Αj. 371, ὦ πρὸς θεῶν ὕπεικε καὶ φρόνησον εὖ: and (2) that line 624 is addressed by Oedipus to Creon, and conveys a threat:
When you have given an example of the crime of envy. Cp. Ant. 308, πρὶν ἂν | ζῶντες κρεμαστοὶ τήνδε δηλώσηθ ὕβριν: ib. 325-326, έξερεῖθ᾽ ὅτι | τὰ δειλὰ κέρδη πημονὰς ἐργάζεται: Τr. 1110-1111, ἵν᾽ ἐκδιδαχθῇ πᾶσιν ἀγγέλλειν ὅτι | καὶ ζῶν κακούς γε καὶ θανὼν ἐτισάμην: Ant. 1242-1243, δείξας ἐν ἀνθρώποισι τὴν ἀβουλίαν, | ὅσῳ μέγιστον ἀνδρὶ πρόσκειται κακόν (ⅰ.e. προδείξας οἷόν ἐστι τὸ κακῶς βουλεύειν) : Pind. P. 2. 42. By transposing 624-625, as Haase suggested, a kind of meaning may be brought out.
My desire for you is death, not banishment.
You speak as if you would not relent.
I will relent when you are made an example of the sin of envy (and not before).
(My envy is) that I see you to be unwise. But the transitions are too violent. Again, 623-624, may be read continuously, and the loss of a single line supposed after 625.
I would have you be (not banished but) slain, when you have first been made an example of the crime of envy (in the manner of your death).
You speak as if you would not relent nor believe me. ['And you speak like a rebel.']
Because I see you blind. But the insertion (διὰ μέσου) οἱ οὐ φυγεῖν, and the abruptness of ὅταν προδείξῃς, may be thought to prevent the two lines from coalescing into a harmonious sentence. In this case the most probable inference would be that one or more lines have been lost before 624 and after 625. The old explanations of the Scholiast, When you have shown the nature of the grudge I bear you,' sc. oἷός ἐστιν ὁ ἐμὸς πρὸς σὲ φθόνος (cp. supr. 605 ff.), or of Hermann,
When you have shown the nature of your grudge against me, or of the ancient gloss, When you have first explained:-oh! what a thing envy is!' are untenable, especially because they afford no natural explanation of l. 625. The broken lines (626 foll.) mark the climax of the altercation. Cp. O. C. 832, 885.
628.
mvp-comment-367-1
εἰ δὲ ξυνίης μηδέν
But how if you are wholly in the dark? The strong expression, while suiting the passion of Creon, also suggests a truth of which he is ignorant. For el cp. Aesch. Suppl. 511, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ δρακόντων δυσφρόνων ἐχθίοσιν.
628.
mvp-comment-367-2
ἀρκτέον γ' ὅμως]
Yes, authority must be maintained even then. The verbal here belongs to the impersonal passive verb. For the verbal of the passive, cp. Fr. 27 N.: Dem. c. Dinarch. 176, οὐ καταπληκτέον ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι.
629.
mvp-comment-368-1
οὔτοι.. ἄρχοντος No, I am not bound to obey (οὐκ ἀρκτέον ἐμοὶ) one who rules badly. ἄρχοντος is (1) gen. abs., or (2) = ἐξ ἄρχοντος : cp. Ant. 63, ἀρχόμεσθ' ἐκ κρεισσόνων. But see Essay on Language § 39. pp. 72. 3.
629.
mvp-comment-368-2
ὦ πόλις πόλις Oedipus appeals to the citizens to rebuke the disloyal utterance of Creon: cp. O.C.833: or, perhaps, apostrophizes the state, whose safety is menaced by the indulgence of such a spirit.
630.
mvp-comment-369-1
κἀμοὶ πόλεως μέτεστιν
I too have a claim upon the state. Not only as a citizen (cp. Ant. 737, πόλις γὰρ οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ἥτις ἀνδρός ἐσθ᾽ ἑνός), but as the brother of the queen, whose right was prior to that of Oedipus himself. Cp. 577-581. Oedipus appeals to his loyal citizens against the insubordination of Creon, who replies that he also has a right in the state. As his temper rises, he no longer acknowledges that he owes his influence to Oedipus. The disadvantage under which Oedipus labours, as the stranger prince, is subtly maintained throughout. The chorus interpose in their character of mediator, not to take part with either disputant, but to appease the strife.
631.
mvp-comment-370-1
ὑμῖν Cp. O. C. 81, ἢ βέβηκεν ἡμὶν ὁ ξένος ;
634.
mvp-comment-371-1
5. What mean you, miserable men, by raising this senseless altercation?' For the article, cp. Phil. 327, 8, τίνος γὰρ ὧδε τὸν μέγαν χόλον κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλῶν ἐλήλυθας; The conjecture τί τήνδ' ἄβουλον, though plausible at first sight, has the effect of weakening the natural emphasis on ἄβουλον.
634.
mvp-comment-371-2
στάσιν γλώσσης
War of words.
634.
mvp-comment-371-3
οὐδ᾽ ἐπαισχύνεσθε
And are not ashamed. The force of τί is continued. For this punctuation, which on the whole seems preferable to ἐπήρασθ᾽; οὐδ'-cp. Αj. 1307, ὠθεῖς-, οὐδ᾽ ἐπαισχύνει λέγων; For the other way of dividing the sentence,
And are ye not ashamed, cp. Phil. 929, οἱ' ἠπάτηκας· οὐδ᾽ ἐπαισχύνει μ᾿ ὁρῶν; The former is more suitable to the reproachful tone of Jocasta here.
637.
mvp-comment-372-1
σύ τ' The omission of the noun vocative in addressing Oedipus gives a peremptory tone to Jocasta's speech. For the prep. with the 2nd word, cp. supr. 93, 4.
638.
mvp-comment-373-1
τὸ μηδὲν ἄλγος ‘And do not raise into importance a trouble which is not worth speaking of;'-because all private griefs are as nothing in the calamity of the state. The full expression would be τὸ μηδὲν ὂν ἄλγος. Essay on Language §39. p. 72, c. ib. p. 48.
640.
mvp-comment-374-1
δικαιοῖ,
Thinks fit, or
intends. Cp. Hdt. 3. 36, ταῦτα δέ μιν ποιεῦντα ἐδικαίωσε Κροῖσος .. νουθετῆσαι.
640.
mvp-comment-374-2
δυοῖν ἀποκρίνας κακοῖν
Having made selection between two evils. There are two objections to this line on the ground of metre; the o lengthened before up (cp. Aesch. Prom. 24, ἀποκρύψει φάος), and the scansion of δυοῖν as a monosyllable, the only parallel to which in Greek tragic verse is Ἐρινννων, in Iph. Taur. 970, 1456. (See, however, Hes. Scut. 3, Ἠλεκτρύωνος: cp. ib. 16.) The two metrical exceptions are singular. But it is not likely that the verse is corrupt. No interpolator would have introduced a word so rare in later Greek as ἀποκρίνας in this sense. (Cp. Hdt. 6. 130.) None of the attempted emendations are satisfactory. Critics have noticed what was hardly worth noticing, the discrepancy between l. 641. and 623, and it has been proposed to interpret δεινά as implying that after making selection Oedipus had chosen death as the punishment. But such slight inconsistencies are neither undramatic nor unnatural.
641.
mvp-comment-375-1
These words, though epexegetic of the participle, are in apposition with δρᾶσαι.
643.
mvp-comment-376-1
τοὐμὸν σῶμα
My person. Cp. Ο. C. 355, ἃ τοῦδ᾽ ἐχρήσθη σώματος. The language has some of the formality of an indictment.
644-645.
mvp-comment-377-1
For the alternation of clauses, see Essay on Language § 41, p. 77.
646.
mvp-comment-378-1
πίστευσον τάδε Cp. Eur. Hel. 710, λόγοις δ᾽ ἐμοῖσι πίστευσον τάδε.
647.
mvp-comment-379-1
τόνδ' .. θεῶν The word ἀραῖος implied an appeal to the Gods.
647.
mvp-comment-379-2
θεῶν Not objective gen. =
The oath sworn by the Gods; but rather,
This divine or sacred oath. The oath is regarded as a sacred presence and almost personified. Cp. O. C. 1767, χώ πάντ' ἀΐων Διὸς ὅρκος: Xen. Anab. 3. I, 22. Ant. 607. Thuc. 5. 30, θεῶν. . κώλυμα = θεῖον κώλυμα.
648.
mvp-comment-380-1
foll. Sophocles has here employed the chorus with great skill. Without any pause in the action, which must be continued until the colloquy between Jocasta and Oedipus has taken place, the short musical strains which allay the exasperation of Oedipus and assure him of his people's loyalty, also relieve the mind of the spectator from the tension caused by the preceding dialogue, and prepare him to give undivided attention to the central scene-in which the first doubt is suggested to the mind of Oedipus, while the impious confidence of στρ. α. ト Jocasta is revealed. Lines from 649 to 659 correspond to 678-688, and lines 660-668 correspond to 689-697. In this commation cretic and dochmiac measures are varied with iambic and trochaic rhythms. The 2nd strophe begins with a molossus. The frequent
antispastic or
syncopated movement has the effect of expressing the disturbed feelings of the chorus. The scansion is as follows:- つ しかし alc D ככמו στρ. β. - - C دد 10 つ داد 다 UCICI 11 つ دد IDID 스 C CICICICI トー 스 ווכ 스 ככון ICC CCI 1 D DO
649.
mvp-comment-381-1
πιθοῦ θελήσας, κ.τ.λ.
We pray thee bend thy will to our request, and calm thy mind, O king. The chorus are encouraged by Jocasta's reference to them in l. 648.
649.
mvp-comment-381-2
φρονήσας = returning to a proper of thi things. Cp. Aj. 371, ὕπεικε καὶ φρόνησον εὖ. See above l. 626. sense
654.
mvp-comment-382-1
ἐν ὅρκῳ μέγαν
Great in the power of his oath. Cp. Phil. 185-186, ἕν τ᾽ ὀδύναις ὁμοῦ λιμῷ τ' οἰκτρός.
655.
mvp-comment-383-1
Otherwise φράζε δή τί φής; But cp. Phil. 559, φράσον δ᾽ ἅπερ γ᾽ ἔλεξας.
656.
mvp-comment-384-1
Cp. Stephanus. Thes. v. ἐναγῆ.
656.
mvp-comment-384-2
ἐναγής, like ἀραῖος (276) or ὅρκιος (Ant. 305) = ἐν ὅρκῳ μέγας, i. e. the curse which he has invoked should protect him from rash accusation. Some editors have preferred ἀναγῆ, which is a conjecture supported by the mention of the word in Hesychius as = καθαρός, but the word is pointless and unmeaning here.
657.
mvp-comment-385-1
Antiphon. p. 136, ἐγὼ μὲν γάρ σοι φανερὰν τὴν πρόνοιαν εἰς ἐμὲ ἀποδείκνυμι, σὺ δὲ με ἐν ἀφανεῖ λόγῳ ζητεῖς ἀπολέσαι. This parallel supports the reading λόγῳ, and the hiatus may be obviated by reading λόγῳ σ᾽ ἄτιμον βαλεῖν (Herm.). Others read μηδέποτ' αἰτίᾳ σὺν ἀφανεῖ λόγων. But the hiatus at the end of a dochmiac metre is not impossible. Join βαλεῖν ἄτιμον ἐν αἰτίᾳ. The reading ἐκβαλεῖν may have arisen from an attempt to explain βαλεῖν.
That you should never accuse and dishonour with an obscure suspicion your friend, who has invoked a curse upon his head. Cp. 648, γνώμῃ ἀδήλῳ. 658-659. Because Oedipus believes that Creon has conspired with Teiresias to charge him with the murder of Laius.
660.
mvp-comment-386-1
οὐ τόν Cp. 1088, Ant. 758, Ε1. 1063, 1239, Eur. Ion 870.
660.
mvp-comment-386-2
πρόμον
Foremost of the hosts of heaven. It is not easy to say in what sense the sun is spoken of as first or foremost. He is invoked as the god who brings all things to light (Hymn. Hom. Dem. 62, θεῶν σκοπὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν: Il. 3.277, Ἠέλιός θ᾽, ὃς πάντ᾽ ἐφορᾶς καὶ πάντ᾽ ἐπακούεις), and with reference to the intention of the person speaking, may be regarded as first of Gods; i. e. the author of light and illumination in all things. Cp. O. C. 868-870, ὁ πάντα λεύσσων “Ἥλιος δοίη βίον, κ.τ.λ. Or he is imagined as the vanguard of Heaven, standing before the rest as the champion. Welcker compares Fr. 875, Ἠέ- λιος οἰκτείρειέ με, | ὃν οἱ σοφοὶ λέγουσι γεννητὴν θεῶν | καὶ πατέρα πάντων. But this is a philosophical conceit, which could not properly find place here.
661.
mvp-comment-387-1
ὅ τι πύματον i. e. as the Scholiast explains, ἀπώλειαν ἥτις ἐσχάτη. Cp. supr. 344. For πύματον, cp. O. С. 1235, ἐπιλέλογχε πύματον.
665.
mvp-comment-388-1
φθίνουσα here does not correspond with the line 694 in the antistrophe. Dindorf has therefore proposed to read φθινάς for φθίνουσα. But as a still slighter alteration in the antistrophe, πόνοισι for πόνοις, reconciles the two lines, it has been adopted. For the combination of cretic and trochaic metre, cp. 1. 651. καὶ in 666 is against metre.
667.
mvp-comment-389-1
προσάψει Sc. γᾶ.
If she is to add to her former evils these which come from you. Cp. Eur. Med. 78, εἰ κακὸν προσοίσομεν νέον παλαιῷ. Ε. on L. p. 52.
672.
mvp-comment-390-1
ἐλεινόν
Which does move me. The adjective is so placed, with pathos, in order to increase the antithesis to what follows. Essay on Language § 23. p. 37.
673.
mvp-comment-391-1
You show yourself to be sullen in yielding. ὤν is dropped dropped or absorbed in the participle. στυγνός echoes στυγήσεται and has a neuter meaning = tristis,
morose.
673.
mvp-comment-391-2
βαρὺς δ', ὅταν θυμοῦ περάσῃς
And intolerable when you exceed in wrath. θυμοῦ is genitive of place, like σοφίας in πόρρω σοφίας ἐλαύνειν (Plat. Crat. 410 E). Essay on Language p 16, 3, d. βαρύς expresses the
something dangerous in a passionate man. Cp. 546, Ant. 767, νοῦς δ᾽ ἐστὶ τηλικοῦτος ἀλγήσας βαρύς. The other explanation:
You are dangerous even when you come to an end of your wrath (ὅταν ἐπὶ πέρας ἔλθῃς τῆς ὀργῆς Schol.)-is objectionable on two grounds-(1) because presenting a mere repetition under the form of antithesis; (2) because θυμοῦ περᾶν, in the sense of
to pass out of anger, is too harsh for Sophocles. Also (3) because some Greek word is needed to give the sense of
even. The use of περâν in either case is metaphorical. For περᾶν,
to go far, cp. О. С. 155, περῖς γάρ, περᾷς.
674-675.
mvp-comment-392-1
Nature justly ordains that such dispositions shall be most grievous to themselves, i. e. ἑαυταῖς μάλιστα ἀλγειναί.
676.
mvp-comment-393-1
οὔκουν 'Will you not, then,'i. e. Since I am so disagreeable.
677.
mvp-comment-394-1
ἀγνῶτος
Without discernment. ἐν τοῖσδε]
In their minds. Cp. Ant. 459, ἐν θεοῖσι τὴν δίκην δώσειν: ib. 925, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἐστὶν ἐν θεοῖς καλά.
677.
mvp-comment-394-2
ἴσος Either (1)
just (cp. Phil. 685, ἴσος ἔν γ᾽ ἴσοις ἀνήρ), or (2) ‘'as I was before,' = ἴσος καὶ πρὸ τοῦ, cp. supr. 53, ἴσος γενοῦ. (2) is best.
680.
mvp-comment-395-1
μαθοῦσά γ'.. τύχη Sc. ἐσκομιῶ αὐτόν.
I will do so when I hear what has happened. Cp. Plat. Phaedr. 228 D, δείξας γε πρῶτον, ὦ φιλότης, κ.τ.λ. ..
681.
mvp-comment-396-1
δόκησις λόγων Α vague suspicion arose in talk.' λόγων, a descriptive genitive,
arising out of,
connected with. ἀγνώς] = ἄνευ γνώσεως,
Without knowledge. δάπτει δέ καί implies
There was a vague suspicion, which, although unjust, nevertheless stings. Schol. κἂν τὸ συνειδὸς ἐρρωμένον ἡ. For δάπτει, cp. Od. 16. 92, καταδάπτετ᾿ ἀκούοντος φίλον ἦτορ: Pind. Nem. 8. 23.
682.
mvp-comment-397-1
ἀμφοῖν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῖν Sc. ἦλθε;
682.
mvp-comment-397-2
καὶ τίς ἦν λόγος
And what was in dispute? 684. This line is divided like 655, to which it is antistrophic.
686.
mvp-comment-398-1
αὐτοῦ μένειν
That the dispute should remain where it is, an evasive answer. The v. rr. here are curious.
687-688.
mvp-comment-399-1
Do you see what you have come to, honest man as you are, in trying to assuage and blunt my wrath?" I.e. Do you see in what a dilemma your well meant intercession has placed you? You are pressed to rehearse the charge against me, which you durst not support, but which you would not allow me to repel.
687-688.
mvp-comment-399-2
παριείς
Endeavouring to slacken or divert. Cp. Eur. Cycl. 310, πάρες τὸ μάργον σῆς γνάθου. Cp. also the use of the passive voice in El. 545, παίδων πόθος παρεῖτο. The chorus again earnestly disclaim the imputation of disloyalty. My king, I have said it not once alone, but let me assure thee, that
I were clearly insensate, void of wisdom, to cast off thee, who gavest good speed to my dear land, when distraught with miseries, and now, too, if thou canst, be our good guide.
691.
mvp-comment-400-1
εἰ . . νοσφίζομαι
Το desert thee, lit.
to put thee from me. The present indicative with ei, by representing the supposed case as actual, adds emphasis. Cp. the use of the present for the future. And see Essay on Language § 28. p. 46. Herm. conjectured σ᾽ ἐνοσφιζόμαν.
695.
mvp-comment-401-1
ἀλύουσαν =' At her wit's end,' has been plausibly but unnecessarily changed to σαλεύουσαν.
695.
mvp-comment-401-2
κατ᾿ ὀρθὸν οὔρισας
Didst speed on her right course. The image is rather that of a breeze, or of a favouring deity, than of a good pilot. For τε followed by δé, see Essay on Language p. 65. Others read ὅστ' in 694.
696.
mvp-comment-402-1
εἰ δύναιο The reading is not certain; but, for the ellipse of the imperative of εἰμί or γίγνομαι in supplication, see Essay on Language § 39. p. 72. Ср. Ο. C. 1480, ἵλαος, ὦ δαίμων, ἵλαος : El. 1434, τάδ᾽ ὡς πάλιν.
698.
mvp-comment-403-1
καμ i. e.
Let not me be ignorant of what the elders know.
698.
mvp-comment-403-2
ὅτου .. πράγματος]
For what reason. For the separation of the words, giving emphasis to the interrogative, cp. Phil. 598-599, τίνος δ' Ἀτρείδαι τοῦδ᾽ ἄγαν οὕτω χρόνῳ | τοσῷδ᾽ ἐπεστρέφοντο πράγματος χάριν ;
699.
mvp-comment-404-1
μῆνιν.. στήσας Cp. Phil. 1263, τίς αὖ παρ᾿ ἄντροις θόρυβος ἵσταται βοῆς;
700.
mvp-comment-405-1
ἐς πλέον Lit.
To a greater amount, i.e. more. As he turned from 02 Creon to the chorus l. 671, so now being angry with them he turns gladly to Jocasta. With equal impetuosity he breaks away from her, infr. 1078. ..
701.
mvp-comment-406-1
Κρέοντος Answering ὅτου πράγματος, and therefore in the same case, but with a slightly different force.
It is about Creon. For a similar
pendent genitive, cp. Αj. 771, δίας Ἀθάνας ἡνίκ᾽ ὀτρύνουσά νιν, κ.τ.λ.: ib. 792.
702.
mvp-comment-407-1
Speak, if in making the charge, you will tell plainly the cause of quarrel.' τὸ νεῖκος is governed κατὰ σύνεσιν by ἐγκαλῶν, which implies φράζων. Jocasta expresses her impatience at being kept in uncertainty.
704.
mvp-comment-408-1
αὐτὸς ξυνειδώς
Was he himself in the secret? Cp. supr. 330.
705.
mvp-comment-409-1
'Neither' (μὲν οὖν) : (he has fastened the charge on me)
by bringing in a rascally prophet. 706. (1)
As to what affects himself he keeps his utterance wholly free; i. e. He will not commit himself in a word.
705.
mvp-comment-409-2
ἐλευθεροῖ, according to this interpretation, not acquits,'
excuses, but =
keeps out of reach of blame, ἔξω βαρείας αἰτίας ἐλεύθερον, Ant. 445; Aesch. Eum. 175, οὔποτ᾽ ἐλευθεροῦται. πᾶν is adverbial as in Aj. 275, λύπῃ πᾶς ἐλήλαται. Or (2) τό γ᾽ εἰς ἑαυτόν may be the direct accusative and πᾶν στόμα adverbial.
He uses all his power of speech to free his own actions from blame. Cp. El. 596-597, ἢ πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν, ὡς τὴν μητέρα | κακοστομοῦμεν. The former explanation is more in accordance with usage.
707.
mvp-comment-410-1
ὧν λέγεις πέρι = περὶ τούτων ὧν λέγεις,
Relieving your mind on the subject of which you speak. The simple genitive would have been enough: cp. Hdt. 4. 157, οὐ γὰρ δή σφεας ἀπίει ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἀποικίης, But περί is added pleonastically.
708.
mvp-comment-411-1
The reading of M., ἐμοῦ τ' ἄκουσον, deserves notice. For σοι, see Essay on Language p. 19.
708.
mvp-comment-411-2
ἐστὶ .. ἔχον 'Nothing in the life of mortals has anything to do with prophetic art. For this rare use of the active voice of ἔχω, cp. esp. Hdt. 3. 128, γραψάμενος πολλά, καὶ περὶ πολλῶν ἔχοντα πρηγμάτων: Aesch. Eum. 445. 6, οὐδ᾽ ἔχει μύσος πρὸς χειρὶ τὴμῇ (?). The middle voice has this meaning, e.g. in Il. 9.102, σέο δ᾽ ἔξεται ὅττι κεν ἄρχῃ. For the active in place of middle, see Essay on Language pp. 51, 98. This interpretation alone suits the context; the other possible explanation,
No mortal creature has any share in the prophetic art (which has led to the conjecture λαχόν), might agree with the temper of the chorus (499, foll.), but not with that of Jocasta, who is rejecting all prophecies alike, though she makes the slight admission in 711-712, οὐκ ἐρῶ Φοίβου γ᾿ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ. Cp., however, Hdt. 2. 83. Μαντικὴ δὲ αὐτοῖσι ὧδε διακέεται· ἀνθρώπων μὲν οὐδενὶ προσκέεται ἡ τέχνη, τῶν δὲ θεῶν μετεξετέροισι.
713.
mvp-comment-412-1
ἥξοι Cp. О. С. 1472-1473, ἥκει τῷδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἀνδρὶ θέσφατος βίου τελευτή: Αj. 186, ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος: ib. 278, 9, μὴ ἐκ θεοῦ πληγή τις ἥκῃ. The accusative is justified by the general meaning of the sentence and by the infinitive, of which it is partly the subject. The conjecture ἕξοι is suggested by Phil. 331, ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔσχε μοῖρ᾽ Ἀχιλλέα θανεῖν, but is less pointed here.
715.
mvp-comment-413-1
ξένοι i. e. Not only not his offspring, but of a different race, as coming not from Thebes but from the opposite direction (734). Cp. supr. 122 foll.
716.
mvp-comment-414-1
ἐν τριπλαῖς ἁμαξιτοῖς These words, which give Oedipus the first suspicion of the truth (see 750), are intended by Jocasta to show the fortuitous nature of the occurrence.
717-718.
mvp-comment-415-1
But as to the child that was born, three days had not intervened, when he tied its feet together and cast it by the hands of others upon a trackless mountain.' It is uncertain whether διέσχον is intransitive or active. In the latter case the word may be taken (1) in the sense of 'divided the day of the child's birth' from his death, i. e. τὸν παῖδα γιγνόμενον καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντα, (Hdt. 9. 51, διέχων ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων τὰ ῥέεθρα). Three days did not divide the birth of the child from-what followed. Cp. the Latin,
Nec longum tempus et...: or, (2)
not three days continued the growth of the child. Cp.
717-718.
mvp-comment-415-2
διεγένετο in Thuc. 5. 16. Otherwise (3) taking βλάστας as a pendent accusative.
But as for the growth of the child, three days had not fully passed. (2) is best.
718.
mvp-comment-416-1
καί Temporal =
when.
719.
mvp-comment-417-1
εἰς ἄβατον ὄρος An undivided tribrach occurs again in 826, πατέρα κατακτανεῖν : 1496, τὸν πατέρα πατήρ: Aj. 459, καὶ πεδία τάδε. Hence the metrical rhythm is defensible, while the natural rhythm of the words is rather injured by transposing to ἄβατον εἰς ὄρος.
720.
mvp-comment-418-1
ἤνυσεν ·Made good his prophecy.'
722.
mvp-comment-419-1
τὸ δεινόν Accus. in apposition with θανεῖν, governed by ἤνυσεν. There is no reason for preferring παθεῖν. The words of the prophecy are repeated. Cp. О. С. 970, πρὸς παίδων θανεῖν.
723.
mvp-comment-420-1
τοιαῦτα
So futile have been the determinations of prophecy.
724.
mvp-comment-421-1
ὧν.. χρείαν ἐρευνᾷ Of whatsoever things God searcheth out the use,' i.e. ὧν χρείαν ἔχων (χρήζων), ἐρευνᾷ αὐτά.
For what God needs to search out, he will easily bring to light without our help. (Cp. Shak. Macb. 1. 3,
If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir.) Jocasta in renouncing prophecy unconsciously expresses the exact truth. Apollo is already working out his purpose, and vindicating the power of his prophet. Cp. 1. 747.
726-727.
mvp-comment-422-1
What distraction and perturbation of soul possesses me, my queen, on hearing the words you have just uttered!
728.
mvp-comment-423-1
Of what nature is the anxiety which alters your tone and makes you say this? The genitive is causal. Cp. Aj. 1116, τοῦ δὲ σοῦ ψόφου | οὐκ ἂν στραφείην. The verb is used metaphorically to express Oedipus' sudden change of mood from 705-706 supr. Others explain it to mean a change of gesture merely.
731.
mvp-comment-424-1
Such was the rumour, which has not yet died away.' O. C. 517, τό τοι πολὺ καὶ μηδαμὰ λῆγον.
732.
mvp-comment-425-1
οὗτος refers to the words ἐν τριπλαῖς ἁμαξιτοῖς, supr. 761, which have brought the image of the place vividly before the mind of Oedipus.
734.
mvp-comment-426-1
I. e.
The two roads from Delphi and Daulia meet there.
735.
mvp-comment-427-1
τοῖσδ'
Since these things happened. For the dative, cp. Hdt. 2. 145, Ἡρακλέϊ ὅσα φασὶ εἶναι ἔτεα ἐς Ἄμασιν βασιλέα: ib. 13: Thuc. 1. 13, 4, ἔτη δὲ μάλιστα καὶ ταύτῃ ἑξήκοντα καὶ διακόσιά ἐστι μέχρι τοῦ αὐτοῦ χρόνου: ib. 3. 29.
736.
mvp-comment-428-1
I. e. The announcement was publicly made, just before your elevation to the sovereignty of this land.
738.
mvp-comment-429-1
The absence of caesura gives this line the effect of an agonized, convulsive utterance.
739.
mvp-comment-430-1
Why do you take this to heart?' i.e. Why are you apprehensive that Zeus has some design against you? Cp. Hdt. 7. 37, ἰδύντι .. τοῦτο τῷ Ξέρξῃ ἐπιμελὲς ἐγένετο : Thuc. 5. 16, ἐς ἐνθυμίαν ..προβαλλόμενος.
740-741.
mvp-comment-431-1
τὸν. . ἔχων
But say, what was the appearance of Laius, and what ripe stage of blooming life was his?
740-741.
mvp-comment-431-2
φύσιν
Appearance. Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 496, Ar. Vesp. 1071.
740-741.
mvp-comment-431-3
τίνα ἀκμὴν ἤβης ἔχων For the irregular construction, -ἔχων (sc. ἦν) corresponding to εἶχε,-cp. Hdt. 8. 38, μέζονας ἢ κατὰ ἀνθρώπων φύσιν ἔχοντας. The participle is added, if φύσιν τίν' εἶχε were τίς ἣν φύσιν;
740-741.
mvp-comment-431-4
ἥβη is used not only of early manhood but of youthful vigour in more advanced age. Od. 16. 174. For this idea cp. Aesch. S. c. Τ. 11, 12, καὶ τὸν ἔξηβον χρόνῳ | βλαστημὸν ἀλδαίνοντα σώματος πολύν. Shak. Ant. and Cleo. 4. 8,
Though grey Do something mingle with our younger brown, yet ha we A brain that nourishes our nerves, and can
Get goal for goal of youth. ἀκμὴν ἥβης is a courteous expression, softening the abruptness of the inquiry.
742.
mvp-comment-432-1
The white locks were just beginning to grow.' χνοάζω is usually applied to the first appearance of the beard in youth; here, to the first sprinkling of grey, as a sign of advancing age. Cp. Hom. Od. 6. 226, where the sprinkling of salt on the hair of Ulysses from the sea spray is called χνοῦς, -ἐκ κεφαλῆς δ᾽ ἔσμηχεν ἁλὸς χνόον ἀτρυγέτοιο. And for λευκανθές, which is proleptic = ὥστε λευκανθὲς εἶναι, cp. Hdt. 8. 27, where λευκανθίζειν is used of men who have been whitened with chalk.
744.
mvp-comment-433-1
The natural answer of Jocasta is at the same time an obscure intimation of the likeness of the father to the son.
745.
mvp-comment-434-1
'That I have just been unwittingly making myself the object of a terrible curse; i. e. οὐκ εἰδὼς προβάλλειν. Essay on Language § 42. p. 80.
746.
mvp-comment-435-1
Jocasta is seized with a vague horror on hearing the words of Oedipus and seeing his gesture.
747.
mvp-comment-436-1
I am terribly afraid that the prophet may be the reverse of blind." Cp. 371, τυφλὸς τὰ τ᾽ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τὰ τ᾿ ὄμματ' εἶ.
749.
mvp-comment-437-1
ἂν δ' is preferred on metrical grounds; but cp. 537, 768, 937. The accus. is governed both by μαθοῦσα and ἐρῶ.
749.
mvp-comment-437-2
μαθοῦσα
When I understand what it is you ask.
750.
mvp-comment-438-1
βαιός
With a scanty following. Cp. 179, ἀνάριθμος, and note. Essay on Language § 23. p. 39.
752.
mvp-comment-439-1
ἐν δ᾽ αὐτοῖσιν ἦν κῆρυξ This is one of the circumstances which Oedipus identifies, infr. 1. 802.
753.
mvp-comment-440-1
There was one vehicle, in which Laius rode. The reading μόνον is plausible, but untrue.
754.
mvp-comment-441-1
τάδ᾽ ἤδη διαφανή
It is quite clear now. Oedipus rushes at once to the extreme of fear, as he presently rises to the extreme of confidence again. In his excitement he is moved to and fro by the lightest breath.
755.
mvp-comment-442-1
ὑμῖν Plural, because the rumour is the same of which the Theban elders had spoken, supr. 1. 292.
756.
mvp-comment-443-1
οἰκεύς Probably = οἰκέτης, 'α household slave;' but according to Eustathius 1423-1424, = ὁ οἰκογενὴς οἰκέτης. The distinction would hold in the present case (1123), but is probably only a fancy of grammarians in order to account for the two forms.
761.
mvp-comment-444-1
ἀγρούς Accusative of the place whither. ἐπί is added for variety with the second word, but is not necessary to the construction of ἀγρούς. See Essay on Language § 16. p. 22.
762.
mvp-comment-445-1
τοῦδ᾽ ἄποπτος ἄστεως
So as he might be furthest removed from sight of this city. For the genitive = from,' assisted by ἀπό in comp., see Essay on Language § 7. p. 11. ἄποπτος =
away from sight of:
away from seeing, rather than merely
away from. Essay on Language § 23. p. 38. The urgency of the request (ἐξικέτευσε, see Essay on Language $ 55. 1, p. 101), though seeming to Jocasta to arise simply from affection for Laius, is to be accounted for by the οἰκεύς having recognized Oedipus as the murderer. This also helps to account for his expression of horror in 1146, οὐκ εἰς ὅλεθρον ;
763.
mvp-comment-446-1
ὥς γ᾽ ἀνὴρ δοῦλος
For a servant. The interpretation of the Scholiast (οἷον, τὸ αἴτημα οὐχ ὑπερέβαλεν δοῦλον) is equally consistent with of and ὥς γ'. The latter, however, is nearer to the MSS., and equally if not more suited to express the true meaning. Jocasta implies that his deserts towards her exceeded those of common service; thus unconsciously recalling the peculiar trust she had once reposed in him. Cp. 1. 1173, and see Arist. Poet. 1454. The readings ὃ δ' ἀνήρ, ὅδε γ᾽ ἀνήρ, also point to this: i.e. (1) ὥσγ', (2) ὅσγ', (3) ὅγ᾽, (4) ὅδ᾽, (5) ὅδε γ'. The way in which ἄξιοσ γάρ is written in L. (ἄξιο γάρ), shows how easily the might be lost.
766.
mvp-comment-447-1
πάρεστιν 'You can have your wish: cp. O. C. 726: not
He is already here, which would be inconsistent with the preceding lines and with ἴξεται following. The interpretation
He is as good as here, i.e. he can be brought at once, is forced and unnecessary. The ambiguity is no objection to the reading.
767-768.
mvp-comment-448-1
I fear that there are recent words of mine, too freely spoken, which make me wish to see him.' This refers to the curse. Cp infr. ll. 819-820. Others explain,
I fear I have already said too plainly why I wish to see him, referring to supr. 703. But the form of expression δέδοικ᾿ ἐμαυτόν, κ.τ.λ. agrees better with the former interpretation.
770.
mvp-comment-449-1
κἀγώ '1, too,' as well as yourself. The mixture of vehemence and affection in the character of Jocasta appears here and in ll. 697, 861, 2.
770.
mvp-comment-449-2
τὰ γ᾽ ἐν σοὶ δυσφόρως ἔχοντ'
Thy troubles. τὰ ἐν σοί, like τὰ ἐν πόλει, What is contained within the sphere of thy interests.' 771. And you shall not be denied, when I am in such a depth of suspense.' The idea of motion, which is almost lost in βεβῶτος, is revived in the construction with
s. For the plural of ἐλπίς expressing uncertain presage, cp. 487, πέτομαι δ ἐλπίσιν. And for es τοσοῦτον with the genitive, cp. O. C. 748, ἐς τοσοῦτον αἰκίας πεσεῖν. Cp. infr. 914, ὑψοῦ γὰρ αἴρει θυμὸν Οἰδίπους ἄγαν.
772.
mvp-comment-450-1
τῷ γὰρ ἂν καὶ μείζονι ‘For whom have I more worthy to whom I should speak in such a crisis of my fortunes?" καί as elsewhere in questions: Essay on Language § 25. 1, p. 42. For μείζονι = τιμιωτέρῳ, cp. Ant. 638, μείζων φέρεσθαι. This word has the chief emphasis. See Essay on Language §41. p. 77.
775.
mvp-comment-451-1
ἠγόμην
I was accounted. Cp. Ant. 34, 5, τὸ πρᾶγμ᾽ ἄγειν οὐχ ὡς παρ᾿ οὐδέν. Trag. adesp. Fr. 368, ἐν πρώτοις σ' ἄγω. For the passive, see Essay on Language § 31. P. 54.
777.
mvp-comment-452-1
ἐπέστη
Encountered me.
778.
mvp-comment-453-1
σπουδῆς.. τῆς ἐμῆς
The earnest heed I gave to it.
779.
mvp-comment-454-1
ἐν δείπνοις
At a banquet. This seems to be the force of the plural here. Cp. Tr. 268, Eur. Οr. 1008, τά τ' ἐπώνυμα δείπνα Θυέστου. me
780.
mvp-comment-455-1
καλεῖ
Calls out to me, ' Assails with the rep reproach.' A singular but not unnatural use of καλέω. Ср. ἀποκαλεῖν, and Tr. 267, φωνεῖ δὲ δοῦλος ἀνδρὸς ὡς ἐλευθέρου | ῥαίοιτο: Ο. C. 1385, (τάσδε .. ἀρὰς) ἃς σοι καλοῦμαι.
780.
mvp-comment-455-2
παρ' οἴνῳ
As we were drinking. The phrase has suggested the conj.
780.
mvp-comment-455-3
παροινῶν, which is ingenious but unnecessary. This circumstance helps to account for the slight importance which Oedipus now attaches to the doubt which at first tormented him.
780.
mvp-comment-455-4
πλαστὸς ὡς εἴην πατρί ‘That I was only in pretence my father's son.' For the dative πατρί, see Essay on Language § 13. p. 19, b. rumour spread widely;' πολύ predicative as in O. C. 305, πολύ.. διήκει πάντας. This interpretation, introducing a new circumstance, is better than For it rankled deeply,' which adds little to ἔκνιζε.
781.
mvp-comment-456-1
βαρυνθείς
Deeply offended,
Heavy and displeased. Cp. Aj. 41, χόλῳ βαρυνθεὶς τῶν Ἀχιλλείων ὅπλων.
781.
mvp-comment-456-2
οὖσαν Equivalent to παροῦσαν. Ε. on L. p. 101-104. Cp. El. 1498, τὰ τ᾿ ὄντα καὶ μέλλοντα Πελοπιδῶν κακά: Ant. 1109, οἵ τ᾽ ὄντες οἱ τ᾽ ἀπόντες,
782.
mvp-comment-457-1
κατέσχον
Restrained my anger. The object (θυμόν) may be gathered from βαρυνθείς. Essay on Language § 39. 4. P. 73-
783.
mvp-comment-458-1
ἤλεγχον
Questioned them.
783.
mvp-comment-458-2
οἱ δὲ .. λόγον
They took the reproach with exasperation against him who had thrown out the charge. The dative as after χαλεπαίνω. See Essay on Language p. 64, Β. 6, α. ἄγειν as in ἐντίμως ἄγειν, and the like. Plat. Rep. 7. 528 C, πόλις ὅλη .. ἐντίμως ἄγουσα αὐτά: Ib. 538 Ε, ἃ μάλιστα ἦγεν ἐν τιμῇ: Hdt. 9. 7, περὶ πλείστου δ᾽ ἦγον τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ πορσύνειν.
785.
mvp-comment-459-1
τὰ μὲν κείνοιν ἐτερπόμην
So far as they were concerned, I was satisfied.
785.
mvp-comment-459-2
ἐτερπόμην, sc. αὐτοῖν (dat.). Cp.11. 21. 45, ἐτέρπετο οἶσι φίλοισιν. Od. 13.61; 19. 462..
786.
mvp-comment-460-1
ὑφεῖρπε γὰρ πολύ 'For the
788.
mvp-comment-461-1
ὧν .. ἱκόμην ὧν genitive, partly by attraction to the antecedent, governed by ἄτιμον, (cp. O. C. 49, 50 μή μ' ἀτιμάσῃς | τοιόνδ᾽ ἀλήτην, ὧν σε προστρέπω φράσαι), partly with ἱκόμην = ὧν ἕνεκα.
790.
mvp-comment-462-1
προὐφάνη λέγων
He came forth with; προὐφάνη expresses the suddenness of the revelation. The gloss προέδειξε, in Par. E., probably indicates the existence of προὔφηνεν as a various reading.
791.
mvp-comment-463-1
The synaphea marks the increasing interest of what is said. Cp. supr. 29.
792.
mvp-comment-464-1
ὁρᾶν is in a double construction, epexegetic of ἄτλητον and of δηλώσοιμι; but is more immediately joined with δηλώσοιμι, = 'That I should manifest before the eyes of men.'
794-795.
mvp-comment-465-1
The emphasis rests on ἄστροις. See Essay on Language § 41. p. 77.
Surveying the region of Corinth by the help of the stars, i. e. resolved never to see it more, though, like an exile, casting looks in the direction where it lay. Cp. Phil. 454-455, τηλόθεν τό τ' Ιλιον καὶ τοὺς Ἀτρείδας εἰσορῶν φυλάξομαι. Aesch. Suppl. 393-395, ὕπαστρον δέ τοι | μῆχαρ ὀρίζομαι γάμου δύσφρονος | φυγᾷ.
794-795.
mvp-comment-465-2
ἐκμετρούμενος =
measuring the situation of (relatively to myself). ἐκ meaning
from a distance. Cp. ἐξορᾶν. This is better than the conjectural reading τεκμαρούμενος, in which the future tense is questionable, and τεκμαίρεσθαι χθόνα is not a natural expression, while, if the word were used absolutely, the pause before χθόνα would be extremely harsh. The conjecture was founded on the words of Suidas, ἄστροις τεκμαίρεσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν μακρὰν καὶ ἔρημον ὁδὸν πορευομένων καὶ ἄστροις σημαινομένων τὰς θέσεις τῶν πατρίδων, who however does not use the expression ἄστροις τεκμαίρεσθαι χθόνα. Cp. Shak. Rich. II. 1. 3, 'Save back to England, all the world's my way.'
796-797.
mvp-comment-466-1
Where I might never know the dishonour of seeing fulfilled the evil oracles that were predicted against me;' ⅰ. e. τὰ ἐμοὶ κακῶς χρησθέντα τελούμενα, ὄνειδος ἐμοί.
798-801.
mvp-comment-467-1
τούσδε .. τῆσδε The crossroad is vividly present to his imagination; hence the pronoun ὅδε is used. The place described in general terms, supr. l. 716, was more closely identified in ll. 733-734. The poetical plural is applicable to a spot which was the meeting point of several districts.
799.
mvp-comment-468-1
τὸν τύραννον τοῦτον This king, of whom so much has been said to-day. Oedipus still speaks of Laius as of a perfect stranger.
800.
mvp-comment-469-1
This line is omitted in the chief MS. and only added there in the margin by a hand of the 14th century (C7.), to which several important corrections are also due. The words add a touch of nature. Cp. Virg. Aen. 4. 20,
Anna, fatebor enim... As Oedipus approaches the critical moment in his story, his tone becomes more confidential, and he introduces the part of the narrative that tells against himself with a form of asseveration. Cp. supr. 412, 449. At this point, too, the mention of the exact spot, where the three roads met (τριπλῆς, κ.τ.λ.), is extremely natural, after the general description in 798-799. Oedipus dwells expressly on each of the circumstances which he identifies, and it is not likely that he would omit that which first awakened his suspicion. Lastly, the omission of the line produces an asyndeton, which may be paralleled perhaps from Homer, but hardly from Attic Greek. To say that the verse was invented to fill up a lacuna is an improbable assumption. The hand (C².), which has supplied several lines omitted by the first hand of L., must have overlooked this omission.
801.
mvp-comment-470-1
When I was near this triple way as I proceeded on my journey.'
802.
mvp-comment-471-1
κῆρυξ The herald, who is at once recognized by his staff, goes before the rest, to show the peaceful intentions of the party and their sacred mission (θεωρία).
802.
mvp-comment-471-2
πωλικῆς Drawn by colts, i. e. not a chariot, but some rougher vehicle for travelling in a hill-country.
803.
mvp-comment-472-1
οἷον σὺ φής 'Like your de- scription' (cp. 742-743). Oedipus dwells on this with special emphasis, which is assisted by the pause in the line.
804.
mvp-comment-473-1
ὁ θ᾽ ἡγεμών .. 806. τὸν τροχηλάτην] The driver is first called ἡγεμών, because he is leading the horses along the hilly road. After striking him, Oedipus passes on by the chariot, and only then comes within the reach of Laius' goad. It is not clear from the description whether the herald and the driver are the same or different. As there were five in all, and amongst these were probably the customary δύο ἀμφίπολοι (one of whom was the οἰκεύς), it seems natural to suppose that they were different. And it is improbable that Oedipus would strike, on a slight provocation, the Διὸς ἄγγελον ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.
806.
mvp-comment-474-1
τὸν ἐκτρέποντα The repetition of the article shows Oedipus' desire to make every point in the narrative clear. Cp. τοὺς ἴσχοντας, Hdt. 3. 77.
807.
mvp-comment-475-1
ὡς ὁρᾷ Sc. τοῦτο ποιοῦντα.
When he sees my act. με is partly governed by ὁρᾷ, but chiefly by the general action of the sentence. From the vehicle he watched for me, as I walked by, and came down full upon my head with the forked goad.' 808, ὄχου] = ἐξ ὄχου, governed partly by τηρήσας, but chiefly by καθίκετο. See Essay on Language § 36. p. 66, and cp. Pind. Pyth. 9. 10, 11, θεοδμάτων ὀχέων ἐφαπτομένα χερὶ κούφᾳ. For μέσον, used merely to add emphasis, cp. El. 745, ἄξονος μέσας χνόας.
Full on the box of the wheel. And just below, 812, μέσης ἀπήνης εὐθὺς ἐκκυλίνδεται.
Straightway he was rolled right out of the chariot. Also Od. 5. 316, μέσον δὲ οἱ ἱστὸν ἔαξεν.
810.
mvp-comment-476-1
οὐ μὴν ἴσην γ᾽ ἔτισεν ἴσην, sc. τίσιν.
He paid no equal penalty. I.e. He got more than he had given.
810.
mvp-comment-476-2
συντόμως
All at once.
811.
mvp-comment-477-1
ἐκ τῆσδε χειρός The simplicity of the language adds greatly to the effect. The son shows his mother the very hand with which he slew his father. There is an unconsciousness in the expression which calls forth at once horror and pity. For Oedipus, though beginning to be doubtfully aware that he has slain Laius, has hitherto no idea of his relationship to him.
812.
mvp-comment-478-1
ἐκκυλίνδεται The rare use of the passive ἐκκυλίνδε is suggested by the Homeric ἐκ δίφροιο . . ἐξεκυλίσθη, Il. 6.42.
813.
mvp-comment-479-1
κτείνω δὲ τοὺς ξύμπαντας Ορdipus in his excitement overlooked the οἰκέτης, as the latter in telling his tale spoke not of one but of many assailants. The least particulars will hereafter become of the greatest importance in the progress of the inquiry.
813.
mvp-comment-479-2
τῷ ξένῳ τούτῳ
The stranger of whom I have spoken. Cp. supr. 799, τὸν τύραννον τοῦτον.
814.
mvp-comment-480-1
But if this stranger is in any way connected with Laius by blood.
814.
mvp-comment-480-2
συγγενές is added to supplement προσήκει; so that Aato is partly governed by both. The indirectness of the whole expression marks the reluctance of Oedipus to utter that of which he is becoming convinced.
815.
mvp-comment-481-1
τίς τοῦδε *τἀνδρὸς ἔστιν ἀθλιώτερός] The reading of L. is here untenable. Others read τίς τοῦδε νῦν ἔστ᾽ ἀνδρός; The verse is necessary to the connection, and there is no ground for rejecting it.
