Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, Thomas Francklin (Translator), 243

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Scene VIII. Strophe 1. Antistrophe i. Strophe 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT V. Scene I. 911cont2

Chorus.

Oedipus Tyrannus. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.

Current edition Experimental

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 243 focus

μαντεῖον ἐξέφηνεν ἀρτίως ἐμοί.

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 216-462 focus

Οἰδίπους

αἰτεῖς· ἃ δʼ αἰτεῖς, τἄμʼ ἐὰν θέλῃς ἔπη

κλύων δέχεσθαι τῇ νόσῳ θʼ ὑπηρετεῖν,

ἀλκὴν λάβοις ἂν κἀνακούφισιν κακῶν·

ἁγὼ ξένος μὲν τοῦ λόγου τοῦδʼ ἐξερῶ,

ξένος δὲ τοῦ πραχθέντος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν μακρὰν
220

ἴχνευον αὐτός, μὴ οὐκ ἔχων τι σύμβολον,

νῦν δʼ ὕστερος γὰρ ἀστὸς εἰς ἀστοὺς τελῶ,

ὑμῖν προφωνῶ πᾶσι Καδμείοις τάδε·

ὅστις ποθʼ ὑμῶν Λάϊον τὸν Λαβδάκου

κάτοιδεν ἀνδρὸς ἐκ τίνος διώλετο,
225

τοῦτον κελεύω πάντα σημαίνειν ἐμοί·

κεἰ μὲν φοβεῖται, τοὐπίκλημʼ ὑπεξελεῖν

αὐτὸν καθʼ αὑτοῦ· πείσεται γὰρ ἄλλο μὲν

ἀστεργὲς οὐδέν. γῆς δʼ ἄπεισιν ἀσφαλής.

εἰ δʼ αὖ τις ἄλλον οἶδεν ἐξ ἄλλης χθονὸς
230

τὸν αὐτόχειρα, μὴ σιωπάτω· τὸ γὰρ

κέρδος τελῶ ʼγὼ χἠ χάρις προσκείσεται.

εἰ δʼ αὖ σιωπήσεσθε, καί τις ἢ φίλου

δείσας ἀπώσει τοὔπος ἢ χαὐτοῦ τόδε,

ἃκ τῶνδε δράσω, ταῦτα χρὴ κλύειν ἐμοῦ.
235

τὸν ἄνδρʼ ἀπαυδῶ τοῦτον, ὅστις ἐστί, γῆς

τῆσδʼ, ἧς ἐγὼ κράτη τε καὶ θρόνους νέμω,

μήτʼ εἰσδέχεσθαι μήτε προσφωνεῖν τινα,

μήτʼ ἐν θεῶν εὐχαῖσι μήτε θύμασιν

κοινὸν ποεῖσθαι, μήτε χέρνιβας νέμειν·
240

ὠθεῖν δʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων πάντας, ὡς μιάσματος

τοῦδʼ ἡμὶν ὄντος, ὡς τὸ Πυθικὸν θεοῦ

μαντεῖον ἐξέφηνεν ἀρτίως ἐμοί.

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν τοιόσδε τῷ τε δαίμονι

τῷ τʼ ἀνδρὶ τῷ θανόντι σύμμαχος πέλω·
245

κατεύχομαι δὲ τὸν δεδρακότʼ, εἴτε τις

εἷς ὢν λέληθεν εἴτε πλειόνων μέτα,

κακὸν κακῶς νιν ἄμορον ἐκτρῖψαι βίον·

ἐπεύχομαι δʼ, οἴκοισιν εἰ ξυνέστιος

ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς γένοιτʼ ἐμοῦ συνειδότος,
250

παθεῖν ἅπερ τοῖσδʼ ἀρτίως ἠρασάμην.

ὑμῖν δὲ ταῦτα πάντʼ ἐπισκήπτω τελεῖν,

ὑπέρ τʼ ἐμαυτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τε τῆσδέ τε

γῆς ὧδʼ ἀκάρπως κἀθέως ἐφθαρμένης.

255

Οἰδίπους

οὐδʼ εἰ γὰρ ἦν τὸ πρᾶγμα μὴ θεήλατον,
255

ἀκάθαρτον ὑμᾶς εἰκὸς ἦν οὕτως ἐᾶν,

ἀνδρός γʼ ἀρίστου βασιλέως τʼ ὀλωλότος,

ἀλλʼ ἐξερευνᾶν· νῦν δʼ ἐπεὶ κυρῶ γʼ ἐγὼ

ἔχων μὲν ἀρχὰς ἃς ἐκεῖνος εἶχε πρίν,

ἔχων δὲ λέκτρα καὶ γυναῖχʼ ὁμόσπορον,
260

κοινῶν τε παίδων κοίνʼ ἄν, εἰ κείνῳ γένος

μὴ ʼδυστύχησεν, ἦν ἂν ἐκπεφυκότα·

νῦν δʼ ἐς τὸ κείνου κρᾶτʼ ἐνήλαθʼ ἡ τύχη·

ἀνθʼ ὧν ἐγὼ τάδʼ, ὡσπερεὶ τοὐμοῦ πατρός,

ὑπερμαχοῦμαι κἀπὶ πᾶν ἀφίξομαι,
265

ζητῶν τὸν αὐτόχειρα τοῦ φόνου λαβεῖν,

τῷ Λαβδακείῳ παιδὶ Πολυδώρου τε καὶ

τοῦ πρόσθε Κάδμου τοῦ πάλαι τʼ Ἀγήνορος.

καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς μὴ δρῶσιν εὔχομαι θεοὺς

μήτʼ ἄροτον αὐτοῖς γῆς ἀνιέναι τινὰ
270

μήτʼ οὖν γυναικῶν παῖδας, ἀλλὰ τῷ πότμῳ

τῷ νῦν φθερεῖσθαι κἄτι τοῦδʼ ἐχθίονι·

ὑμῖν δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοισι Καδμείοις, ὅσοις

τάδʼ ἔστʼ ἀρέσκονθʼ, ἥ τε σύμμαχος Δίκη

χοἰ πάντες εὖ ξυνεῖεν εἰσαεὶ θεοί.
275

276

Χορός

ὥσπερ μʼ ἀραῖον ἔλαβες, ὧδʼ, ἄναξ, ἐρῶ.

οὔτʼ ἔκτανον γὰρ οὔτε τὸν κτανόντʼ ἔχω

δεῖξαι. τὸ δὲ ζήτημα τοῦ πέμψαντος ἦν

Φοίβου τόδʼ εἰπεῖν, ὅστις εἴργασταί ποτε.

Οἰδίπους

δίκαιʼ ἔλεξας· ἀλλʼ ἀναγκάσαι θεοὺς
280

ἃν μὴ θέλωσιν οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς δύναιτʼ ἀνήρ.

Χορός

τὰ δεύτερʼ ἐκ τῶνδʼ ἂν λέγοιμʼ ἁμοὶ δοκεῖ.

Οἰδίπους

εἰ καὶ τρίτʼ ἐστί, μὴ παρῇς τὸ μὴ οὐ φράσαι.

Χορός

ἄνακτʼ ἄνακτι ταὔθʼ ὁρῶντʼ ἐπίσταμαι

μάλιστα Φοίβῳ Τειρεσίαν, παρʼ οὗ τις ἂν
285

σκοπῶν τάδʼ, ὦναξ, ἐκμάθοι σαφέστατα.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐν ἀργοῖς οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ ἐπραξάμην.

ἔπεμψα γὰρ Κρέοντος εἰπόντος διπλοῦς

πομπούς· πάλαι δὲ μὴ παρῶν θαυμάζεται.

Χορός

καὶ μὴν τά γʼ ἄλλα κωφὰ καὶ παλαίʼ ἔπη.
290

Οἰδίπους

τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; πάντα γὰρ σκοπῶ λόγον.

Χορός

θανεῖν ἐλέχθη πρός τινων ὁδοιπόρων.

Οἰδίπους

ἤκουσα κἀγώ. τὸν δʼ ἰδόντʼ οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ.

Χορός

ἀλλʼ εἴ τι μὲν δὴ δείματός γʼ ἔχει μέρος,

τὰς σὰς ἀκούων οὐ μενεῖ τοιάσδʼ ἀράς,
295

Οἰδίπους

ᾧ μή ʼστι δρῶντι τάρβος, οὐδʼ ἔπος φοβεῖ.

Χορός

ἀλλʼ οὑξελέγξων αὐτὸν ἔστιν· οἵδε γὰρ

τὸν θεῖον ἤδη μάντιν ὧδʼ ἄγουσιν, ᾧ

τἀληθὲς ἐμπέφυκεν ἀνθρώπων μόνῳ.

300

Οἰδίπους

ὦ πάντα νωμῶν Τειρεσία, διδακτά τε
300

ἄρρητά τʼ, οὐράνιά τε καὶ χθονοστιβῆ,

πόλιν μέν, εἰ καὶ μὴ βλέπεις, φρονεῖς δʼ ὅμως

οἵᾳ νόσῳ σύνεστιν· ἧς σὲ προστάτην

σωτῆρά τʼ, ὦναξ, μοῦνον ἐξευρίσκομεν.

Φοῖβος γάρ, εἴ τι μὴ κλύεις τῶν ἀγγέλων,
305

πέμψασιν ἡμῖν ἀντέπεμψεν, ἔκλυσιν

μόνην ἂν ἐλθεῖν τοῦδε τοῦ νοσήματος,

εἰ τοὺς κτανόντας Λάϊον μαθόντες εὖ

κτείναιμεν ἢ γῆς φυγάδας ἐκπεμψαίμεθα.

σύ νυν φθονήσας μήτʼ ἀπʼ οἰωνῶν φάτιν
310

μήτʼ εἴ τινʼ ἄλλην μαντικῆς ἔχεις ὁδόν,

ῥῦσαι σεαυτὸν καὶ πόλιν, ῥῦσαι δʼ ἐμέ,

ῥῦσαι δὲ πᾶν μίασμα τοῦ τεθνηκότος.

ἐν σοὶ γὰρ ἐσμέν· ἄνδρα δʼ ὠφελεῖν ἀφʼ ὧν

ἔχοι τε καὶ δύναιτο, κάλλιστος πόνων.
315

Τειρεσίας

φεῦ φεῦ, φρονεῖν ὡς δεινὸν ἔνθα μὴ τέλη

λύῃ φρονοῦντι· ταῦτα γὰρ καλῶς ἐγὼ

εἰδὼς διώλεσʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δεῦρʼ ἱκόμην.

Οἰδίπους

τί δʼ ἔστιν; ὡς ἄθυμος εἰσελήλυθας.

Τειρεσίας

ἄφες μʼ ἐς οἴκους· ῥᾷστα γὰρ τὸ σόν τε σὺ
320

κἀγὼ διοίσω τοὐμόν, ἢν ἐμοὶ πίθῃ.

Οἰδίπους

οὔτʼ ἔννομʼ εἶπας οὔτε προσφιλῆ πόλει

τῇδʼ, ἥ σʼ ἔθρεψε, τήνδʼ ἀποστερῶν φάτιν.

Τειρεσίας

ὁρῶ γὰρ οὐδὲ σοὶ τὸ σὸν φώνημʼ ἰὸν

πρὸς καιρόν· ὡς οὖν μηδʼ ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω—
325

Οἰδίπους

μὴ πρὸς θεῶν φρονῶν γʼ ἀποστραφῇς, ἐπεὶ

πάντες σε προσκυνοῦμεν οἵδʼ ἱκτήριοι.

Τειρεσίας

πάντες γὰρ οὐ φρονεῖτʼ· ἐγὼ δʼ οὐ μή ποτε

τἄμʼ, ὡς ἂν εἴπω μὴ τὰ σʼ, ἐκφήνω κακά.

330

Οἰδίπους

τί φής; ξυνειδὼς οὐ φράσεις, ἀλλʼ ἐννοεῖς
330

ἡμᾶς προδοῦναι καὶ καταφθεῖραι πόλιν;

Τειρεσίας

ἐγὼ οὔτʼ ἐμαυτὸν οὔτε σʼ ἀλγυνῶ. τί ταῦτʼ

ἄλλως ἐλέγχεις; οὐ γὰρ ἂν πύθοιό μου.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκ, ὦ κακῶν κάκιστε, καὶ γὰρ ἂν πέτρου

φύσιν σύ γʼ ὀργάνειας, ἐξερεῖς ποτε,
335

ἀλλʼ ὧδʼ ἄτεγκτος κἀτελεύτητος φανεῖ;

Τειρεσίας

ὀργὴν ἐμέμψω τὴν ἐμήν, τὴν σὴν δʼ ὁμοῦ

ναίουσαν οὐ κατεῖδες, ἀλλʼ ἐμὲ ψέγεις.

Οἰδίπους

τίς γὰρ τοιαῦτʼ ἂν οὐκ ἂν ὀργίζοιτʼ ἔπη

κλύων, ἃ νῦν σὺ τήνδʼ ἀτιμάζεις πόλιν;
340

Τειρεσίας

ἥξει γὰρ αὐτά, κἂν ἐγὼ σιγῇ στέγω.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκοῦν ἅ γʼ ἥξει καὶ σὲ χρὴ λέγειν ἐμοί.

Τειρεσίας

οὐκ ἂν πέρα φράσαιμι. πρὸς τάδʼ, εἰ θέλεις,

θυμοῦ διʼ ὀργῆς ἥτις ἀγριωτάτη.

Οἰδίπους

καὶ μὴν παρήσω γʼ οὐδέν, ὡς ὀργῆς ἔχω,
345

ἅπερ ξυνίημʼ· ἴσθι γὰρ δοκῶν ἐμοὶ

καὶ ξυμφυτεῦσαι τοὔργον εἰργάσθαι θʼ, ὅσον

μὴ χερσὶ καίνων· εἰ δʼ ἐτύγχανες βλέπων,

καὶ τοὔργον ἂν σοῦ τοῦτʼ, ἔφην εἶναι μόνου.

Τειρεσίας

ἄληθες; ἐννέπω σὲ τῷ κηρύγματι
350

ᾧπερ προεῖπας ἐμμένειν, κἀφʼ ἡμέρας

τῆς νῦν προσαυδᾶν μήτε τούσδε μήτʼ ἐμέ,

ὡς ὄντι γῆς τῆσδʼ ἀνοσίῳ μιάστορι.

354

Οἰδίπους

οὕτως ἀναιδῶς ἐξεκίνησας τόδε

τὸ ῥῆμα; καὶ ποῦ τοῦτο φεύξεσθαι δοκεῖς;
355

Τειρεσίας

πέφευγα· τἀληθὲς γὰρ ἰσχῦον τρέφω.

Οἰδίπους

πρὸς τοῦ διδαχθείς; οὐ γὰρ ἔκ γε τῆς τέχνης.

Τειρεσίας

πρὸς σοῦ· σὺ γάρ μʼ ἄκοντα προυτρέψω λέγειν.

Οἰδίπους

ποῖον λόγον; λέγʼ αὖθις, ὡς μᾶλλον μάθω.

Τειρεσίας

οὐχὶ ξυνῆκας πρόσθεν; ἢ ʼκπειρᾷ λέγων;
360

Οἰδίπους

οὐχ ὥστε γʼ εἰπεῖν γνωστόν· ἀλλʼ αὖθις φράσον.

Τειρεσίας

φονέα σε φημὶ τἀνδρὸς οὗ ζητεῖς κυρεῖν.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ οὔ τι χαίρων δίς γε πημονὰς ἐρεῖς.

Τειρεσίας

εἴπω τι δῆτα κἄλλʼ, ἵνʼ ὀργίζῃ πλέον;

Οἰδίπους

ὅσον γε χρῄζεις· ὡς μάτην εἰρήσεται.
365

Τειρεσίας

λεληθέναι σε φημὶ σὺν τοῖς φιλτάτοις

αἴσχισθʼ ὁμιλοῦντʼ, οὐδʼ ὁρᾶν ἵνʼ εἶ κακοῦ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ καὶ γεγηθὼς ταῦτʼ ἀεὶ λέξειν δοκεῖς;

Τειρεσίας

εἴπερ τί γʼ ἐστὶ τῆς ἀληθείας σθένος.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ ἔστι, πλὴν σοί· σοὶ δὲ τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐπεὶ
370

τυφλὸς τά τʼ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τʼ ὄμματʼ εἶ.

Τειρεσίας

σὺ δʼ ἄθλιός γε ταῦτʼ ὀνειδίζων, ἃ σοὶ

οὐδεὶς ὃς οὐχὶ τῶνδʼ ὀνειδιεῖ τάχα.

Οἰδίπους

μιᾶς τρέφει πρὸς νυκτός, ὥστε μήτʼ ἐμὲ

μήτʼ ἄλλον, ὅστις φῶς ὁρᾷ, βλάψαι ποτʼ ἄν.
375

Τειρεσίας

οὐ γάρ σε μοῖρα πρός γʼ ἐμοῦ πεσεῖν, ἐπεὶ

ἱκανὸς Ἀπόλλων, ᾧ τάδʼ ἐκπρᾶξαι μέλει.

Οἰδίπους

Κρέοντος ἢ σοῦ ταῦτα τἀξευρήματα;

Τειρεσίας

Κρέων δέ σοι πῆμʼ οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς σὺ σοί.

380

Οἰδίπους

ὦ πλοῦτε καὶ τυραννὶ καὶ τέχνη τέχνης
380

ὑπερφέρουσα τῷ πολυζήλῳ βίῳ,

ὅσος παρʼ ὑμῖν ὁ φθόνος φυλάσσεται,

εἰ τῆσδέ γʼ ἀρχῆς οὕνεχʼ, ἣν ἐμοὶ πόλις

δωρητόν, οὐκ αἰτητόν, εἰσεχείρισεν,

ταύτης Κρέων ὁ πιστός, οὑξ ἀρχῆς φίλος,
385

λάθρᾳ μʼ ὑπελθὼν ἐκβαλεῖν ἱμείρεται,

ὑφεὶς μάγον τοιόνδε μηχανορράφον,

δόλιον ἀγύρτην, ὅστις ἐν τοῖς κέρδεσιν

μόνον δέδορκε, τὴν τέχνην δʼ ἔφυ τυφλός.

ἐπεί, φέρʼ εἰπέ, ποῦ σὺ μάντις εἶ σαφής;
390

πῶς οὐκ, ὅθʼ ἡ ῥαψῳδὸς ἐνθάδʼ ἦν κύων,

ηὔδας τι τοῖσδʼ ἀστοῖσιν ἐκλυτήριον;

καίτοι τό γʼ αἴνιγμʼ οὐχὶ τοὐπιόντος ἦν

ἀνδρὸς διειπεῖν, ἀλλὰ μαντείας ἔδει·

ἣν οὔτʼ ἀπʼ οἰωνῶν σὺ προυφάνης ἔχων
395

οὔτʼ ἐκ θεῶν του γνωτόν· ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ μολών,

ὁ μηδὲν εἰδὼς Οἰδίπους, ἔπαυσά νιν,

γνώμῃ κυρήσας οὐδʼ ἀπʼ, οἰωνῶν μαθών·

ὃν δὴ σὺ πειρᾷς ἐκβαλεῖν, δοκῶν θρόνοις

παραστατήσειν τοῖς Κρεοντείοις πέλας.
400

κλαίων δοκεῖς μοι καὶ σὺ χὠ συνθεὶς τάδε

ἀγηλατήσειν· εἰ δὲ μὴ ʼδόκεις γέρων

εἶναι, παθὼν ἔγνως ἂν οἷά περ φρονεῖς.

Χορός

ἡμῖν μὲν εἰκάζουσι καὶ τὰ τοῦδʼ ἔπη

ὀργῇ λελέχθαι καὶ τά σʼ, Οἰδίπους, δοκεῖ,
405

δεῖ δʼ οὐ τοιούτων, ἀλλʼ ὅπως τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ

μαντεῖʼ ἄριστα λύσομεν, τόδε σκοπεῖν.

408

Τειρεσίας

εἰ καὶ τυραννεῖς, ἐξισωτέον τὸ γοῦν

ἴσʼ ἀντιλέξαι· τοῦδε γὰρ κἀγὼ κρατῶ.

οὐ γάρ τι σοὶ ζῶ δοῦλος, ἀλλὰ Λοξίᾳ·
410

ὥστʼ οὐ Κρέοντος προστάτου γεγράψομαι.

λέγω δʼ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τυφλόν μʼ ὠνείδισας·

σὺ καὶ δέδορκας κοὐ βλέπεις ἵνʼ εἶ κακοῦ,

οὐδʼ ἔνθα ναίεις, οὐδʼ ὅτων οἰκεῖς μέτα.

ἆρʼ οἶσθʼ ἀφʼ ὧν εἶ; καὶ λέληθας ἐχθρὸς ὢν
415

τοῖς σοῖσιν αὐτοῦ νέρθε κἀπὶ γῆς ἄνω,

καί σʼ ἀμφιπλὴξ μητρός τε καὶ τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς

ἐλᾷ ποτʼ ἐκ γῆς τῆσδε δεινόπους ἀρά,

βλέποντα νῦν μὲν ὄρθʼ, ἔπειτα δὲ σκότον.

βοῆς δὲ τῆς σῆς ποῖος οὐκ ἔσται λιμήν,
420

ποῖος Κιθαιρὼν οὐχὶ σύμφωνος τάχα,

ὅταν καταίσθῃ τὸν ὑμέναιον, ὃν δόμοις

ἄνορμον εἰσέπλευσας, εὐπλοίας τυχών;

ἄλλων δὲ πλῆθος οὐκ ἐπαισθάνει κακῶν,

ἅ σʼ ἐξισώσει σοί τε καὶ τοῖς σοῖς τέκνοις.
425

πρὸς ταῦτα καὶ Κρέοντα καὶ τοὐμὸν στόμα

προπηλάκιζε· σοῦ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν βροτῶν

κάκιον ὅστις ἐκτριβήσεταί ποτε.

429

Οἰδίπους

ἦ ταῦτα δῆτʼ ἀνεκτὰ πρὸς τούτου κλύειν;

οὐκ εἰς ὄλεθρον; οὐχὶ θᾶσσον; οὐ πάλιν
430

ἄψορρος οἴκων τῶνδʼ ἀποστραφεὶς ἄπει;

Τειρεσίας

οὐδʼ ἱκόμην ἔγωγʼ ἄν, εἰ σὺ μὴ ʼκάλεις.

Οἰδίπους

οὐ γάρ τί σʼ ᾔδη μῶρα φωνήσοντʼ, ἐπεὶ

σχολῇ σʼ ἂν οἴκους τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐστειλάμην.

Τειρεσίας

ἡμεῖς τοιοίδʼ ἔφυμεν, ὡς μὲν σοὶ δοκεῖ,
435

μῶροι, γονεῦσι δʼ, οἵ σʼ ἔφυσαν, ἔμφρονες.

Οἰδίπους

ποίοισι; μεῖνον, τίς δέ μʼ ἐκφύει βροτῶν;

Τειρεσίας

ἥδʼ ἡμέρα φύσει σε καὶ διαφθερεῖ.

Οἰδίπους

ὡς πάντʼ ἄγαν αἰνικτὰ κἀσαφῆ λέγεις.

Τειρεσίας

οὔκουν σὺ ταῦτʼ ἄριστος εὑρίσκειν ἔφυς;
440

Οἰδίπους

τοιαῦτʼ ὀνείδιζʼ, οἷς ἔμʼ εὑρήσεις μέγαν.

Τειρεσίας

αὕτη γε μέντοι σʼ ἡ τύχη διώλεσεν.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ εἰ πόλιν τήνδʼ ἐξέσωσʼ, οὔ μοι μέλει.

Τειρεσίας

ἄπειμι τοίνυν· καὶ σύ, παῖ, κόμιζέ με.

Οἰδίπους

κομιζέτω δῆθʼ· ὡς παρὼν σύ γʼ ἐμποδὼν
445

ὀχλεῖς, συθείς τʼ ἂν οὐκ ἂν ἀλγύνοις πλέον.

447

Τειρεσίας

εἰπὼν ἄπειμʼ ὧν οὕνεκʼ, ἦλθον, οὐ τὸ σὸν

δείσας πρόσωπον· οὐ γὰρ ἔσθʼ ὅπου μʼ ὀλεῖς.

λέγω δέ σοι· τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, ὃν πάλαι

ζητεῖς ἀπειλῶν κἀνακηρύσσων φόνον
450

τὸν Λαΐειον, οὗτός ἐστιν ἐνθάδε,

ξένος λόγῳ μέτοικος, εἶτα δʼ ἐγγενὴς

φανήσεται Θηβαῖος, οὐδʼ ἡσθήσεται

τῇ ξυμφορᾷ· τυφλὸς γὰρ ἐκ δεδορκότος

καὶ πτωχὸς ἀντὶ πλουσίου ξένην ἔπι
455

σκήπτρῳ προδεικνὺς γαῖαν ἐμπορεύσεται.

φανήσεται δὲ παισὶ τοῖς αὑτοῦ ξυνὼν

ἀδελφὸς αὑτὸς καὶ πατήρ, κἀξ ἧς ἔφυ

γυναικὸς υἱὸς καὶ πόσις, καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς

ὁμόσπορός τε καὶ φονεύς. καὶ ταῦτʼ ἰὼν
460

εἴσω λογίζου· κἂν λάβῃς ἐψευσμένον,

φάσκειν ἔμʼ ἤδη μαντικῇ μηδὲν φρονεῖν.

Translations (4)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 243 focus

COR. SH

May I die for him if I speak not true!

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 255 focus

Denn traun, geböte solches Werk auch nicht der Gott,

Es ungesühnt zu lassen ziemt' euch dennoch nicht,

Daß so des Todes Opfer ward der beste Fürst:

Ihr müßt es ausspäh'n. Aber mun ward mir das Amt

Des Oberherrschers, welches er zuvor besaß,
260

Ward mein die Gattin, die an seiner Seite lag,

Und unsre Kinder würden sich Geschwister sein,

Hätt' ihm ein Unstern nicht mißgönnt der Kinder Glück:

Nun aber brach dies Schicksal auf sein Haupt herein.

Deßwegen will ich diesen Kampf für ihn besteh'n,
265

Wie für den eignen Vater, Alles will ich thun,

Den Frevler auszuspüren, der den Mord verübt

Am Labdakiden, der von Polydoros stamunt,¹

Vom Ahn, dem Kadmos, aus Agenors altem Blut.

Die Götter aber fleh' ich an: wer nicht gehorcht,
270

Dem spende niemals eine Saat der Erde Schooß,

Noch schenk' ihm Kinder sein Gemahl; nein, dies Geschick

Von heut verderb' ihn und ein noch graunvolleres!

Doch euch, ihr Andern, welchen dies, wie mir, gefällt,

Ihr Kadmossöhne, bleibe stets der Dike Schuz,²
275

Und seien alle Götter hold auf immerdar!

Der Chor.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 243 focus

Corinthian

Nor to him

Owest thou thy birth; no, nor to me.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 216-460 focus

Oedipus

You pray. And in answer to your prayer, if you will give a loyal reception to my words and minister to your own disease, you may hope to find help and relief from woes. These words I will speak publicly, as one who was a stranger to the report,

a stranger to the deed. I would not go far on the trail if I were tracing it alone, without a clue. But as it is—since it was only after the event that I was counted a Theban among Thebans—to you, Cadmeans all, I do thus proclaim: Whoever knows
220

by whom Laius son of Labdacus was slain, I order him to declare all to me. And if he is afraid, I order him to remove the danger of indictment from his path by denouncing himself: he will suffer no other punishment, but will only leave this land, unhurt.
225

If anyone knows the assassin to be an alien, from another land, let him not keep silent. I will reward him, and my thanks shall rest with him besides. But if he keeps silent, if anyone, through fear, seeks to screen himself or a friend from my orders,
230

then hear what I shall do: I charge you that no resident of this land, which I rule, give shelter to or address that murderer, whoever he is, or make him a partner in prayer or sacrifice,
235

or give him a share of the lustral rite. Ban him from your houses, all of you, knowing that this is the defilement, as the oracle of the Pythian god has recently shown to me. In this way
240

I am an ally both to the god and to the dead man. And I pray solemnly that the slayer, whoever he is, whether he alone is guilty or he has partners, may, in the horrible way he deserves, wear out his unblest life. And for myself I pray that if he should,
245

with my knowledge, become a resident of my house, I may suffer the same things which I have just called down on others. And I order you to make all these words good, for my sake, for the sake of the god, and for the sake of our land, thus rendered unfruitful and ungodly.
250
255

For even if the matter had not been urged upon us by a god, it still would not have been fit that you should leave the guilt unpunished as it is, when one so noble—and he your king—had perished. You should have searched it out. But now, since I hold the powers which he once held,
255

possessing his bed and the wife who bore his children, and since, had his hope of offspring not been unsuccessful, children born of one mother would have tied us with a common bond—as it was, fate swooped upon his head—I will uphold this cause, as though it were that of my own father,
260

and will leave no stone unturned in my search for the one who shed the blood, for the honor of the son of Labdacus and of Polydorus and the elder Cadmus and Agenor of old.
And for those who do not obey me, I pray that the gods
265

send them neither harvest of the earth nor fruit of the womb, but that they perish with the present fate, or one still worse. But to all you, the loyal Cadmeans who are satisfied by these things, may justice, our ally,
270

and all the gods be gracious always.
275

276

Chorus

As you have put me under oath, on my oath, my king, I will speak. I am not the slayer, nor can I reveal him. As for the investigation, it was for Phoebus, who enjoined it, to tell us who did the deed.

Oedipus

Justly said. But no man on earth can force the gods to do what they do not want.
280

Chorus

I would like to say what seems to me the next best course.

Oedipus

And if there is a third course, do not hesitate to reveal it too.

Chorus

I know that our lord Teiresias is the seer most like our

lord Apollo: from him, my king, an investigator might learn most clearly about these affairs.
285

Oedipus

Not even this have I neglected. On Creon’s suggestion, I sent a man twice to bring him. And I have been wondering for some time why he is not here.

Chorus

Indeed—his skill apart—the rumors are but faint and old.
290

Oedipus

What are the rumors? I am investigating every tale.

Chorus

He was said to have been killed by some wayfarers.

Oedipus

I too have heard that. But no one sees the one who saw it.

Chorus

If he knows what fear is, he will not hesitate to come forward when he

hears your curses, so dire are they.
295

Oedipus

When a man does not shrink from a deed, he is not scared by a word.

Chorus

But there is one to convict him. But here they bring at last the godlike prophet, the only man in whom truth lives.

300 Teiresias enters, led by a boy.

Oedipus

Teiresias, whose soul grasps all things, both that which may be told and that which is unspeakable, the Olympian secrets and the affairs of the earth, you feel, though you cannot see, what a huge plague haunts our state. From which, great prophet, we find you to be our protector and only savior.
300

Now, Phoebus—if indeed you have not already heard the news—sent answer to our question that the only way to rid ourselves of this pest that afflicts us is to discover the slayers of Laius, and then to slay them or banish them from our land.
305

So do not begrudge us the voice of the birds or any other path of prophecy, but save yourself and your state, save me, save all that is defiled by the dead. We are in your hands, and man’s noblest task is to help others
310

to the best of his means and powers.
315

Teiresias

Alas, how terrible it is to have wisdom when it does not benefit those who have it. I knew this well, but let it slip from my mind: otherwise I would not have come here.

Oedipus

What now? How disheartened you have come!

Teiresias

Let me go home. For you will bear your own burden to the end, and I will bear mine, if you consent.
320

Oedipus

Your words are strange and unkind to the state which nurtured you, since you withhold this response.

Teiresias

I see that you, for your part, speak inappropriately.

Therefore do not speak, so I will not suffer the same.
325

Oedipus

For the love of the gods, do not turn away, if you have knowledge: all we suppliants implore you on our knees.

Teiresias

For all of you are without knowledge. But never will I reveal my troubles—not to call them yours.

330

Oedipus

What are you saying? Do you know the secret and refuse to tell it? Will you betray and destroy the state?
330

Teiresias

I will grieve neither myself nor you. Why do you ask these things in vain? You will not learn the answers from me.

Oedipus

Will you not, basest of the base—

you would anger a stone—speak out? can nothing touch you? Will you never make an end?
335

Teiresias

You blame my anger, but do not perceive your own: no, you blame me.

Oedipus

Who would not be angry hearing such words,

with which you now are slighting the city?
340

Teiresias

The future will come of itself, though I shroud it in silence.

Oedipus

Since it must come anyway, it is right that you tell it to me.

Teiresias

I will speak no further: rage, if you wish, with the fiercest wrath your heart knows.

Oedipus

In my anger I will not spare to speak all my thoughts. Know that you seem to me to have helped in plotting the deed, and to have done it, short of performing the actual murder with your own hands: if you had eyesight, I would have said that you had done even this by yourself.
345

Teiresias

In truth? I order you to abide by you own decree, and from this day forth not to speak to these men or to me: you are the accursed defiler of this land.
350

354

Oedipus

So brazen with your blustering taunt?

Where do you think to escape to?
355

Teiresias

I have escaped. There is strength in my truth.

Oedipus

Who taught you this? Not your skill, at any rate.

Teiresias

You yourself. For you spurred me on to speak against my will.

Oedipus

What did you say? Speak again, so I may learn it better.

Teiresias

Did you not understand before, or are you talking to test me?
360

Oedipus

I cannot say I understood fully. Tell me again.

Teiresias

I say that you are the killer of the man whose slayer you seek.

Oedipus

Now you will regret that you have said such dire words twice.

Teiresias

Should I tell you more, that you might get more angry?

Oedipus

Say as much as you want: it will be said in vain.
365

Teiresias

I say that you have been living in unguessed shame with your closest kin, and do not see into what woe you have fallen.

Oedipus

Do you think that you will always be able to speak like this without smarting for it?

Teiresias

Yes, if indeed there is any strength in truth.

Oedipus

But there is, except not for you. You do not have that strength, since you are maimed in your ears, in your wit, and in your eyes.
370

Teiresias

And you are a poor wretch to utter taunts that every man here will soon hurl at you.

Oedipus

Night, endless night has you in her keeping, so that you can never hurt me,

or any man that sees the light of the sun.
375

Teiresias

No, it is not your fate to fall at my hands, since Apollo, to whom this matter is a concern, is sufficient.

Oedipus

Are these Creon’s devices, or your own?

Teiresias

Creon is no trouble for you: you are your own.

380

Oedipus

O wealth, and empire, and skill surpassing skill in life’s keen rivalries, how great is the envy in your keeping, if for the sake of this office which the city has entrusted to me, a gift unsought,
380

Creon the trustworthy, Creon, my old friend, has crept upon me by stealth, yearning to overthrow me, and has suborned such a scheming juggler as this, a tricky quack, who has eyes only for profit, but is blind in his art!
385

Come, tell me, where have you proved yourself a seer? Why, when the watchful dog who wove dark song was here, did you say nothing to free the people? Yet the riddle, at least, was not for the first comer to read: there was need of a seer’s help,
390

and you were discovered not to have this art, either from birds, or known from some god. But rather I, Oedipus the ignorant, stopped her, having attained the answer through my wit alone, untaught by birds. It is I whom you are trying to oust, assuming that
395

you will have great influence in Creon’s court. But I think that you and the one who plotted these things will rue your zeal to purge the land: if you did not seem to be an old man, you would have learned to your cost how haughty you are.
400

Chorus

To our way of thinking, these words, both his and yours, Oedipus,

have been said in anger. We have no need of this, but rather we must seek how we shall best discharge the mandates of the god.
405

408

Teiresias

Though you are king, the right of reply must be considered the same for both: over that I have control.

For I do not live as your slave, but as Loxias’. I will not stand enrolled as Creon’s client. And I tell you, since you have taunted my blindness, that though you have sight, you do not see what a state of misery you are in, or where you dwell, or with whom.
410

Do you know who your parents are? You have been an unwitting enemy to your own kin, both in the Underworld and on the earth above, and the double lash of your mother’s and your father’s curse will one day drive you from this land in dreadful haste, with darkness upon those eyes of yours which now can see.
415

What place will be harbor to your cries, what part of all Cithaeron will not ring with them soon, when you have learned the meaning of the nuptials in which, within that house, you found a fatal haven, after a voyage so fair? And you have not guessed at a throng of other ills
420

which will bring you level with your true self and with your own children. Therefore heap your scorn upon Creon and upon my message: for no man will ever be crushed more miserably than you.
425

429

Oedipus

Are these taunts to be endured from him?

Be gone, to your ruin; be gone this instant! Will you not turn your back and leave this house?
430

Teiresias

I would not have come if you had not called me.

Oedipus

I did not know you would speak foolishly, for otherwise it would have been a long time before I summoned you to my home.

Teiresias

I was born like this—as you think, a fool, but in the opinion of the parents who bore you, quite sane.
435

Oedipus

What parents? Wait. What man is my father?

Teiresias

This day will reveal your birth and bring your ruin.

Oedipus

What riddles, what dark words you always say.

Teiresias

Are you not the best at unravelling mysteries?
440

Oedipus

Reproach me in what you will find me to be great.

Teiresias

Yet it was just that fortune that undid you.

Oedipus

But if it saved this city I care not.

Teiresias

I will take my leave. You, boy, lead me.

Oedipus

Yes, let him take you: while here, you are a hindrance, a source of trouble. When you have gone, you will vex me no more.
445

447

Teiresias

I will go when I have performed the errand for which I came, fearless of your frown: you can never destroy me. I tell you: the man whom you have been seeking this long while,

uttering threats and proclaiming a search into the murder of Laius, is here, ostensibly an alien sojourner, but soon to be found a native of Thebes ; nor will he enjoy his fortune. A blind man, though now he sees,
450

a beggar, though now rich, he will make his way to a foreign land, feeling the ground before him with his staff. And he will be discovered to be at once brother and father of the children with whom he consorts; son and husband of the woman who bore him;
455

heir to his father’s bed, shedder of his father’s blood. So go in and evaluate this, and if you find that I am wrong, say then that I have no wit in prophecy.
460

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-565-1 Iocasta comes forth, bearing a branch (ἱκετηρίἀ, wreathed with festoons of wool (στέφἠ, which, as a suppliant, she is about to lay on the altar of the household god, Apollo Λύκειος, in front of the palace. The state of Oedipus frightens her. His mind has been growing more and more excited. It is not that she herself has much fear for the future. What alarms her is to see “the pilot of the ship” (923) thus unnerved. Though she can believe no longer in human μαντική, she has never ceased to revere the gods (708); and to them she turns for help in her need.

mvp-comment-566-1 ναοὺς δαιμόνων ¹

mvp-comment-567-1 στέφη ²

mvp-comment-567-2 ἐπιθυμιάματα ³

mvp-comment-568-1 τὰ καινὰ ⁴ τοῖς πάλαι ⁵

mvp-comment-569-1 τοῦ λέγοντος ⁶

mvp-comment-570-1 ὅτε ⁷

mvp-comment-571-1 Λύκεῑ Ἄπολλον ⁸

mvp-comment-572-1 κατεύγμασιν ⁹ κατάργμασιν ¹⁰

mvp-comment-573-1 λύσιν … εὐαγῆ ¹¹

mvp-comment-574-1 ὡς κυβερνήτην νεώς ¹²

mvp-comment-575-1 When the messenger arrives, Iocasta's prayer seems to have been immediately answered by a λύσις εὐαγής (921), as regards part at least of the threatened doom, though at the cost of the oracle's credit.

mvp-comment-576-1 μάλιστα ¹³

mvp-comment-577-1 γυνὴ δέ ¹⁴

mvp-comment-578-1 παντελής ¹⁵

mvp-comment-579-1 αὔτως ¹⁶

mvp-comment-580-1 εὐεπείας ¹⁷

mvp-comment-581-1 παρὰ τίνος ¹⁸

mvp-comment-582-1 τὸ δ’ ἔπος ¹⁹

mvp-comment-583-1 ἀσχάλλοις ²⁰

mvp-comment-584-1 ἐγκρατὴς ²¹

mvp-comment-585-1 A defective verse, πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τέθνηκε πόλυβος; ²² γέρων ²³ γέρον ²⁴ ἦ τέθνηκεν Οἰδίπου πατήρ; ²⁵ Πόλυβος ²⁶

mvp-comment-586-1 ὦ θεῶν μαντεύματα ²⁷

mvp-comment-587-1 ἵν’ ἐστέ· ἵνα ²⁸

mvp-comment-587-2 τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα … τρέμων ἔφευγε ²⁹ μὴ κτάνοι ³⁰

mvp-comment-588-1 πρὸς τῆς τύχης ³¹

mvp-comment-589-1 ἐξεπέμψω ³²

mvp-comment-590-1 τί μοι λέγει; ³³

mvp-comment-591-1 ὡς ³⁴

mvp-comment-592-1 σημάντωρ ³⁵ σημήνας γενοῦ ³⁶

mvp-comment-593-1 εὖ ἴσθ’ ³⁷ σαφῶς ³⁸

mvp-comment-593-2 θανάσιμον βεβηκότα ³⁹

mvp-comment-594-1 ξυναλλαγῇ ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-595-1 σμικρὰ ῥοπή ⁴¹ εὐνάζει ⁴²

mvp-comment-596-1 Yes, he died of infirmities (νόσοις ἔφθιτὀ, and of the long years (τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ, causal dat.), in accordance with their term ( συμμετρούμενος ⁴³

mvp-comment-597-1 σκοποῖτο ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-597-2 τὴν Π. ἑστίαν ⁴⁵ ἑστίαν ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-598-1 κλάζοντας ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-598-2 ὧν ὑφηγητῶν ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-599-1 κτενεῖν ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-600-1 κεύθει ⁵⁰

mvp-comment-600-2 δὴ ⁵¹

mvp-comment-601-1 ἄψαυστος ⁵²

mvp-comment-601-2 εἴ τι μὴ ⁵³

mvp-comment-602-1 εἴη ξ ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-603-1 τὰ δ’ οὖν παρόντα ⁵⁵ δ’ οὖν ⁵⁶ ἄξῑ οὐδενός ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-603-2 τὰ παρόντα ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-603-3 συλλαβὼν ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-604-1 ηὔδας ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-605-1 νυν ⁶¹

mvp-comment-606-1 ᾦ, ⁶²

mvp-comment-606-2 τὰ τῆς τύχης ⁶³ τύχη ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-607-1 πρόνοια ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-608-1 εἰκῆ ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-608-2 κράτιστον … ὅπως δύναιτο ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-609-1 φοβοῦ ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-610-1 κἀν ὀνείρασιν ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-611-1 παρ’ οὐδέν ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-612-1 ἐξείρητο ⁷¹

mvp-comment-613-1 ὀφθαλμὸς ⁷²

mvp-comment-614-1 καὶ ⁷³ ἐκφοβεῖσθε ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-615-1 ἐκείνης ⁷⁵ ἐς φόβον φέρον ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-616-1 θεήλατον ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-617-1 The MSS. having οὐ θεμιτὸν ⁷⁸ οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν ⁷⁹ θεμιτὸν ⁸⁰ μάντευμα ⁸¹ ἄλλον ⁸² θεμιτὸν ⁸³

mvp-comment-618-1 τὸ πατρῷον αἷμα ἑλεῖν ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-619-1 The simplest view of ἡ Κόρινθος ἐξ ἐμοῦ ἀπῳκεῖτο is, as Whitelaw says, that it means literally, “Corinth was lived-away-from by me,” —being the passive of ἐγὼ ἀπῴκουν τῆς Κορίνθου. It is thus merely one of those instances in which a passive verb takes as subject that which would stand in gen. or dat. as object to the active verb: cp. the passive καταγελῶμαι, καταφρονοῦμαι, καταψηφίζομαι, ἐπιβουλεύομαι, etc. [I formerly took it to be passive of ἐγὼ ἀπῴκουν τὴν Κόρινθον, “I inhabited C. only at a distance,” —a paradoxical phrase like ἐν σκότῳ ὁρᾶν (1273).] ἀποικεῖν ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-620-1 εὐτυχῶς ⁸⁶

mvp-comment-620-2 τῶν τεκόντων ⁸⁷

mvp-comment-621-1 ἀπόπτολις ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-622-1 πατρός τε ⁸⁹ γε ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-623-1 ἐγὼ οὐχὶ ⁹¹

mvp-comment-624-1 ἐξελυσάμην ⁹²

mvp-comment-625-1 καὶ μὴν ⁹³ καὶ μὴν ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-626-1 τοῦτ’ ἀφικόμην ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-627-1 καλῶς ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-628-1 With Erfurdt I think that ταρβῶν ⁹⁷ ταρβῶ ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-629-1 Cp. Soph. Trach. 408

τοῦτ’ αὔτ’ ἔχρῃζον, τοῦτό σου μαθεῖν.

mvp-comment-630-1 πρὸς δίκης ⁹⁹ πρὸς ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-631-1 ἐν γένει ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-632-1 τῷ μηδενί, ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-633-1 ἀπ’ ἄλλης χειρὸς ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-634-1 ἐμπολήσας … ἢ τυχών ¹⁰⁴ ἐμπολήσας ¹⁰⁵ τυχών ¹⁰⁶ τεκών ¹⁰⁷

mvp-comment-635-1 The fitness of the phrase ναπαίαις πτυχαῖς ¹⁰⁸

mvp-comment-636-1 ἐπὶ θητείᾳ, ¹⁰⁹ πλάνης ¹¹⁰

mvp-comment-637-1 σοῦ δ’ ¹¹¹ σοῦ γ’ ¹¹² σοῦ δ’ ¹¹³ δὲ ¹¹⁴ δέ γε ¹¹⁵ δέ γε ¹¹⁶ γε ¹¹⁷

mvp-comment-638-1 τί δ’ ἄλγος ¹¹⁸ ἐν κακοῖς ¹¹⁹ ἐν καιροῖς ¹²⁰

mvp-comment-639-1 δεινόν γε ¹²¹

mvp-comment-639-2 σπαργάνων ¹²² σπαργάνων ¹²³

mvp-comment-640-1 ὥστε ¹²⁴

mvp-comment-640-2 ὃς εἶ ¹²⁵

mvp-comment-641-1 πρὸς μητρός, ἢ πατρός; ¹²⁶

mvp-comment-642-1 βοτήρ ¹²⁷

mvp-comment-643-1 εἰδεῖτ’ ¹²⁸

mvp-comment-644-1 οὖν ¹²⁹ εἴτε ¹³⁰

mvp-comment-644-2 ἐπ’ ἀγρῶν ¹³¹

mvp-comment-645-1 ὁ καιρὸς ¹³² ηὑρῆσθαι ¹³³

mvp-comment-646-1 Supply ἐννέπειν (αὐτόν), not ἐννέπει. The form οἶμαι ¹³⁴

mvp-comment-647-1 ἂν … ἂν ¹³⁵

mvp-comment-648-1 νοεῖς ¹³⁶

mvp-comment-649-1 τόνδ’ ¹³⁷ τόν θ’ ¹³⁸ λέγει ¹³⁹ ἐφιέμεσθα ¹⁴⁰

mvp-comment-650-1 τί δ’ ὅντιν’ εἶπε; ¹⁴¹

mvp-comment-651-1 Since οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως, οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο ὅπως mean “there is, there could be found, no way in which, ” τοῦθ’ ¹⁴²

mvp-comment-652-1 Since the answer at 1042, Iocasta has known the worst. But she is still fain to spare Oedipus the misery of that knowledge. Meanwhile he thinks that she is afraid lest he should prove to be too humbly born. The tragic power here is masterly.

mvp-comment-653-1 ἅλις ¹⁴³ νοσοῦσ’ ἐγώ ¹⁴⁴

mvp-comment-654-1 For the genitive τρίτης μητρὸς ¹⁴⁵ τρίτης μητρὸς τρίδουλος ¹⁴⁶

mvp-comment-655-1 κακή ¹⁴⁷

mvp-comment-656-1 τὰ λῷστα … ταῦτα ¹⁴⁸

mvp-comment-657-1 ὃς ¹⁴⁹

mvp-comment-658-1 Iocasta rushes from the scene-to appear no more. Cp. the sudden exit of Haemon ( Soph. Ant. 766 ), of Eurydice ( Soph. Ant. 1245 ), and of Deianeira ( Soph. Trach. 813 ). In each of the two latter cases, the exit silently follows a speech by another person, and the Chorus comments on the departing one's silence. Iocasta, like Haemon, has spoken passionate words immediately before going: and here σιωπῆς ¹⁵⁰

mvp-comment-659-1 δέδοικα ¹⁵¹

mvp-comment-660-1 The subject to ἀναρρήξει ¹⁵² κακά ¹⁵³ κακά ¹⁵⁴

mvp-comment-661-1 χρῄζει scornfully personifies the κακά.

mvp-comment-661-2 βουλήσομαι ¹⁵⁵

mvp-comment-662-1 ὡς γυνὴ ¹⁵⁶ ὡς ¹⁵⁷

mvp-comment-663-1 Whatever may have been his human parentage, Oed. is the “son of Fortune ” (said in a very different tone from “ Fortunae filius” in Hor. Sat. 2.6.49 ): Fortune brings forth the months with their varying events; these months, then, are his brothers, who ere now have known him depressed as well as exalted. He has faith in this Mother, and will not shrink from the path on which she seems to beckon him; he will not be false to his sonship. We might recall Schiller's epigram on the Wolfians; whatever may be the human paternity of the Iliad, “ hat es doch Eine Mutter nur, Und die Züge der Mutter, Deine unsterblichen Züge, Natur.”

mvp-comment-663-2 τῆς εὖ διδούσης ¹⁵⁸ τῆς ¹⁵⁹

mvp-comment-664-1 συγγενεῖς ¹⁶⁰

mvp-comment-665-1 διώρισαν ¹⁶¹

mvp-comment-666-1 “Having sprung of such parentage ( ἐκφὺς ¹⁶² ἐξέλθοιμι ¹⁶³ ἄλλος ¹⁶⁴ ποτ’ ¹⁶⁵ ἔτι | ποτέ ¹⁶⁶

mvp-comment-667-1 μάντις ¹⁶⁷

mvp-comment-668-1 κατὰ ¹⁶⁸

mvp-comment-669-1 οὐ ¹⁶⁹

mvp-comment-669-2 ἀπείρων ¹⁷⁰

mvp-comment-670-1 τὰν αὔριον πανσέληνον ¹⁷¹ αὖρι ¹⁷² ἦρι ¹⁷³

mvp-comment-670-2 πανσέληνον ¹⁷⁴

mvp-comment-671-1 πατριώταν ¹⁷⁵ Οἰδίπουν ¹⁷⁶ Οἰδίπου ¹⁷⁷ αὔξειν ¹⁷⁸ Οἰδίπουν ¹⁷⁹ πρὸς ¹⁸⁰ μὴ οὐ ¹⁸¹ αὔξειν ¹⁸² αὔξειν ¹⁸³ φέροντα ¹⁸⁴

mvp-comment-672-1 τροφὸν ¹⁸⁵ ματέρ’ ¹⁸⁶

mvp-comment-673-1 χορεύεσθαι ¹⁸⁷

mvp-comment-674-1 ἐπὶ ἦρα φέροντα ¹⁸⁸ ἦρα ¹⁸⁹

mvp-comment-674-2 τοῖς ἐμοῖς τυρ. ¹⁹⁰

mvp-comment-675-1 ἰήϊε ¹⁹¹

mvp-comment-676-1 σοὶ δὲ ¹⁹²

mvp-comment-676-2 ἀρέστ’ ¹⁹³

mvp-comment-677-1 ἔτικτε ¹⁹⁴

mvp-comment-678-1 τᾶν μακραιώνων ¹⁹⁵

mvp-comment-679-1 In Πανὸς ὀρεσσιβάτα προσπελασθεῖσ’ ¹⁹⁶ λέκτροις πελασθεῖσ’ ¹⁹⁷ πατρὸς πελασθεῖσ’ ¹⁹⁸

mvp-comment-680-1 If in 1090 we keep οὐκ ἔσει τὰν αὔριον ¹⁹⁹ ἢ σέ γ’ εὐνάτειρά τις ²⁰⁰ σέ γε ²⁰¹

mvp-comment-681-1 πλάκες ἀγρόνομοι ²⁰²

mvp-comment-682-1 ὁ Κυλλάνας ἀνάσσων ²⁰³

mvp-comment-683-1 ὁ Βακχεῖος θεὸς ²⁰⁴

mvp-comment-684-1 εὕρημα ²⁰⁵

mvp-comment-685-1 συμπαίζει ²⁰⁶ αἶς ²⁰⁷

mvp-comment-686-1 The οἰκεύς, who alone escaped from the slaughter of Laius and his following, had at his own request been sent away from Thebes to do the work of a herdsman (761). Oedipus had summoned him in order to see whether he would speak of λῃσταί, or of one λῃστής (842). But meanwhile a further question has arisen. Is he identical with that herdsman of Laius (1040) who had given up the infant Oedipus to the Corinthian shepherd? He is now seen approaching. With his coming, the two threads of discovery are brought together.

mvp-comment-687-1 κἀμὲ ²⁰⁸

mvp-comment-687-2 μὴ συναλλάξαντά πω ²⁰⁹

mvp-comment-688-1 ἐν … γήρᾳ ²¹⁰

mvp-comment-689-1 ξυνᾴδει ²¹¹

mvp-comment-690-1 ἄλλως τε ²¹² ὥσπερ ²¹³

mvp-comment-691-1 γάρ ²¹⁴ Λαΐου γὰρ ἦν … νομεὺς ²¹⁵ ἦν ²¹⁶ ὡς ²¹⁷

mvp-comment-691-2 ὡς ²¹⁸

mvp-comment-692-1 τὸν Κορίνθ. ξένον ²¹⁹ σὲ ²²⁰ ἐρωτῶ ²²¹

mvp-comment-693-1 Cp. Soph. Trach. 402

οὗτος, βλέφ’ ὦδε.

mvp-comment-694-1 ἦ ²²² ἦ ²²³ οἴκοι τραφείς ²²⁴

mvp-comment-695-1 μεριμνῶν ²²⁵

mvp-comment-696-1 ξύναυλος ²²⁶ πρὸς ²²⁷

mvp-comment-697-1 ἦν μὲν ²²⁸

mvp-comment-698-1 οἶσθα ²²⁹ μαθών ²³⁰

mvp-comment-699-1 καὶ λέγεις ²³¹

mvp-comment-700-1 The constr. is οἶσθα μαθών … ἢ ξυναλλάξας; ²³² ἦ συνήλλαξας … ; ²³³ συναλλάξας ²³⁴

mvp-comment-701-1 οὐχ ὥστε γ’ εἰπεῖν ²³⁵

mvp-comment-701-2 μνήμης ὕπο ²³⁶ μνήμης ἄπο ²³⁷

mvp-comment-702-1 κοὐδέν γε ²³⁸ ἀγνῶτ’ ²³⁹

mvp-comment-703-1 Soph. has the epic ἦμος ²⁴⁰

mvp-comment-703-2 τὸν Κιθαιρῶνος τόπον ²⁴¹ ἐπλησίαζον ²⁴² ἐπλησίαζον ²⁴³ τόπον ²⁴⁴ νέμων ²⁴⁵ ἐπλησίαζε ²⁴⁶

mvp-comment-704-1 ἐξ ἦρος εἰς ἀρκτοῦρον ²⁴⁷

mvp-comment-704-2 ἀρκτοῦρον ²⁴⁸ α ²⁴⁹ ἑκμήνους ²⁵⁰

mvp-comment-705-1 The fact that L has χειμῶνα ²⁵¹ χειμῶνι ²⁵²

mvp-comment-706-1 πεπραγμένον ²⁵³

mvp-comment-707-1 ἐκ ²⁵⁴

mvp-comment-708-1 τί δ’ ἔστι; ²⁵⁵

mvp-comment-708-2 πρὸς τί ²⁵⁶

mvp-comment-709-1 ὦ τᾶν ²⁵⁷

mvp-comment-710-1 οὐκ εἰς ὄλεθρον; ²⁵⁸

mvp-comment-710-2 οὐ σιωπήσας ἔσει; ²⁵⁹

mvp-comment-711-1 κόλαζε ²⁶⁰

mvp-comment-712-1 ὦ φέριστε ²⁶¹

mvp-comment-713-1 πρὸς χάριν ²⁶²

mvp-comment-713-2 κλαίων ²⁶³

mvp-comment-714-1 Cp. Soph. Aj. 72

τὸν τὰς αἰχμαλωτίδας χέρας | δεσμοῖς ἀπευθύνοντα

(preparatory to flogging): Hom. Od. 22.189

σὺν δὲ πόδας χεῖράς τε δέον θυμαλγέϊ δεσμῷ | εὖ μάλ’ ἀποστρέψαντε

(of Melanthius the goat-herd); then κίον ἀν’ ὑψηλὴν ἔρυσαν πέλασάν τε δοκοῖσιν: and so left him hanging.

mvp-comment-715-1 δύστηνος ²⁶⁴

mvp-comment-716-1 εἰς τόδ’ ²⁶⁵

mvp-comment-717-1 ἐς τριβὰς ἐλᾷ, ²⁶⁶

mvp-comment-718-1 οὐ δῆτ’ ἔγωγε ²⁶⁷

mvp-comment-719-1 The words could mean either: (1) “he was one of the children of Laius ”; or (2) “he was one of the children of the household of Laius, ” τῶν Λαΐου being gen. of οἱ Λαΐου. The ambiguity is brought out by 1168. See on 814.

mvp-comment-720-1 κείνου τις ἐγγενὴς γεγώς ²⁶⁸

mvp-comment-721-1 I am close on the horror, —close on uttering it: (ὥστἐ λέγειν ²⁶⁹ ἀκούειν ²⁷⁰

mvp-comment-722-1 While γέ τοι, γε μέντοι, γε μὲν δή are comparatively frequent, γέ τοι δή ²⁷¹

mvp-comment-723-1 ὡς ²⁷²

mvp-comment-724-1 τοὺς τεκόντας ²⁷³

mvp-comment-725-1 “I gave up the child through pity,” ὡς … δοκῶν ²⁷⁴ ὡς ²⁷⁵

mvp-comment-725-2 ἄλλην χθόνα ἀποίσειν ²⁷⁶

mvp-comment-726-1 κάκ’ ²⁷⁷

mvp-comment-727-1 ἂν ἐξήκοι ²⁷⁸

mvp-comment-728-1 ἀφ’ ὧν οὐ χρῆν ²⁷⁹

mvp-comment-729-1 ὡς ²⁸⁰ ἐναριθμῶ· τὸ μηδὲν ²⁸¹ ζώσας ²⁸² ζώσας ²⁸³ ζώσας ²⁸⁴

mvp-comment-729-2 ἴσα καὶ ²⁸⁵

mvp-comment-729-3 ἐναριθμῶ ²⁸⁶

mvp-comment-730-1 φέρει ²⁸⁷

mvp-comment-731-1 δοκεῖν ²⁸⁸

mvp-comment-732-1 ἀποκλῖναι ²⁸⁹

mvp-comment-733-1 τὸν σόν τον ²⁹⁰ τὸν ²⁹¹ τὸ σόν τοι ²⁹² τὸν σόν ²⁹³

mvp-comment-734-1 οὐδὲν βροτῶν ²⁹⁴ οὐδένα ²⁹⁵ οὐδὲν ²⁹⁶

mvp-comment-735-1 καθ’ ὑπερβολὰν τοξεύσας ²⁹⁷

mvp-comment-735-2 ἐκράτησε ²⁹⁸ ὅστις ²⁹⁹ ἀνέστα ³⁰⁰ ἐξ οὗ ³⁰¹

mvp-comment-735-3 τοῦ πάντ’ εὐδαίμονος ³⁰² πάντα ³⁰³

mvp-comment-736-1 φθίσας ³⁰⁴

mvp-comment-737-1 τὰν γαμψώνυχα ³⁰⁵ παρθένον ³⁰⁶

mvp-comment-738-1 θανάτων πύργος ³⁰⁷

mvp-comment-739-1 ἀκούειν ³⁰⁸ ἀθλιώτερος ³⁰⁹ τίς ἀθλιώτερος ἀκούειν, τίς ³¹⁰ ξύνοικος ἐν ἄταις ³¹¹ ξύνοικος ³¹²

mvp-comment-740-1 In 1214 the δικάζει τὸν of the MSS. should be kept (see Metrical Analysis): here the simple transposition of τίς ἐν πόνοις ³¹³ ἐν ³¹⁴ ἄταις ³¹⁵ πόνοις ³¹⁶ ἐν … ξύν‐ ³¹⁷

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

mvp-comment-742-1 λιμὴν ³¹⁸

mvp-comment-743-1 πεσεῖν ³¹⁹

mvp-comment-744-1 ἄλοκες ³²⁰

mvp-comment-745-1 σῖγ’ ³²¹

mvp-comment-746-1 ἄκονθ’ ³²² χρόνος ³²³

mvp-comment-747-1 δικάζει ³²⁴

mvp-comment-747-2 γάμον πάλαι τεκνοῦντα καὶ τεκνοῦμενον ³²⁵

mvp-comment-748-1 ἰὼ Λαΐειον ὧ τέκνον ³²⁶ ὤ ³²⁷

mvp-comment-749-1 The MSS. give δύρομαι γὰρ ὡς περίαλλα ³²⁸ ὡς περίαλα] | ἰαχέων ἐκ στομάτων ³²⁹ δύρομαι γὰρ ὥσπερ ἰάλεμον χέων | ἐκ στομάτων ³³⁰ ὡς περίαλλ’ ³³¹ περίαλλα ³³² περίαλλα ³³³ ὡς ³³⁴ ἰαχέων ³³⁵ δύρομαι ³³⁶ ἐκ στομάτων ³³⁷ ἐκ στομάτων ³³⁸ ἰαχέων ³³⁹ ἰακχίων ³⁴⁰ ἰάλεμον ³⁴¹ ἰάλεμος ³⁴² ἐκ στομάτων ³⁴³ χέων ³⁴⁴

mvp-comment-750-1 τὸ δ’ ὀρθὸν εἰπεῖν ³⁴⁵ ἐκ σέθεν ³⁴⁶

mvp-comment-750-2 ἀνέπνευσα ³⁴⁷

mvp-comment-751-1 κατεκοίμησα ³⁴⁸

mvp-comment-752-1 A messenger comes forth from the house. An ἐξάγγελος is one who announces τὰ ἔσω γεγονότα τοῖς ἔξω (Hesych.), while the ἄγγελος (924) brings news from a distance: in Thuc. 8.51

(τῷ στρατεύματι ἐξάγγελος γίγνεται ὡς, κ.τ.λ.),

one who betrays secrets.

mvp-comment-753-1 ὅσον δ’ ³⁴⁹

mvp-comment-753-2 ἀρεῖσθε ³⁵⁰

mvp-comment-753-3 ἐγγενῶς ³⁵¹

mvp-comment-754-1 Ἴστρον ³⁵²

mvp-comment-754-2 Φᾶσιν ³⁵³

mvp-comment-755-1 καθαρμῷ, modal dat., “by way of purification, ” so as to purify.

mvp-comment-755-2 νίψαι ³⁵⁴

mvp-comment-755-3 ὅσα ³⁵⁵

mvp-comment-756-1 The construction is ὅσα κακὰ ³⁵⁶ κεύθει, τὰ δὲ αὐτίκα ἐς τὸ φῶς φανεῖ ³⁵⁷ κεύθει ³⁵⁸ φανεῖ ³⁵⁹ ἑκόντα ³⁶⁰ ἄκοντἀ. ἑκόντα … ἄκοντα ³⁶¹

mvp-comment-757-1 μάλιστα ³⁶² λυποῦσι ³⁶³

mvp-comment-757-2 αἳ ³⁶⁴

mvp-comment-758-1 λείπει ³⁶⁵

mvp-comment-758-2 μὴ οὐ ³⁶⁶ οὐδὲ ³⁶⁷ λείπει ³⁶⁸ τὸ ³⁶⁹ λείπει ³⁷⁰

mvp-comment-759-1 θεῖον ³⁷¹

mvp-comment-760-1 For πρὸς ³⁷²

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

912. mvp-comment-535-1 ἱκέσθαι To approach as a suppliant. Infr. 920. Cp. the similar proceeding of Clytemnestra in El. 634, immediately after the announcement of Orestes' death.

914. mvp-comment-536-1 For Oedipus is over-excited and carried away by all sorts of anxieties.' For θυμός in the general sense of emotion, see Essay on Language p. 92, and for αἴρει meaning allows to rise, ibid. §. 30. d, P. 52.

916. mvp-comment-537-1 ἔννους In possession of reason.

916. mvp-comment-537-2 τὰ καινὰ τοῖς πάλαι i. e. He will not judge the oracle and the words of Teiresias by the failure of the former prophecy. Supr. 720 ff.

917. mvp-comment-538-1 εἰ φόβους λέγῃ The correction ἦν (see v. r.) has evidently been added to suit the subjunctive, which of the two alternatives given by the first hand has the advantage of being the harder reading. The subjunctive is also more in accordance with the present time, while ei may be sufficiently defended by the generality of the supposition, which is emphatic. If only he tell of fears.' See Essay on Language § 27. p. 44.

918. mvp-comment-539-1 ὅτ᾽ οὖν Cp. El. 1318-1319, ὅτ' οὖν τοιαύτην ἡμὶν ἐξήκεις ὁδόν, ἄρχ᾿ αὐτός, κ.τ.λ.

919. mvp-comment-540-1 Cp. El. 635 ff., esp. 1. 655, and note on supr. 16. πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν γὰρ ἵδρυτο, Schol.

919. mvp-comment-540-2 ἄγχιστος i. e. Not merely easiest of access, but having a prior claim, as next the hearth.

920. mvp-comment-541-1 κατεύγμασιν Emblems of supplication. The conjecture κατάργμασιν, though ingenious, is unnecessary. For an analogous abstract expression, cp. Αj. 1175, ἱκτήριον θησαυρόν.

921. mvp-comment-542-1 λύσιν τιν'.. εὐαγῆ Some pure release, i. e. Some end of our troubles which will leave us pure from crime. λύσιν εὐαγῆ = λύσιν εἰς εὐαγῆ βίον. For the meaning of λύσιν, cp. Tr. 1170-1171, μόχθων τῶν ἐφεστώτων ἐμοὶ | λύσιν τελεῖσθαι.

923. mvp-comment-543-1 ὡς κυβερνήτην νεώς Sc. έκπεπληγμένον βλέποντες ἂν ὀκνοῖεν. For this brief way of indicating a simile, see Essay on Language § 39. P. 73, § 43. p. 82, and cp. supr. 602 and note.

928. mvp-comment-544-1 γυνὴ δὲ μήτηρ ἥδε By choosing this honourable title the chorus unconsciously remind the spectators of the horror that is presently to be revealed.

929-930. mvp-comment-545-1 The courteous fulness of the expression (which Jocasta acknowledges in l. 932) again reminds the hearer of the contrast between the appearance and the fact.

930. mvp-comment-546-1 παντελής His honoured queen; i. e. Having all the honours of a wife: echoing 928.

936. mvp-comment-547-1 ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου He cannot answer παρὰ τίνος directly, since there is now no King of Corinth. The accusative ἔπος may be taken as pendent, although there are other instances of ἥδομαι transitive, e. g. Phil. 1314, ἥσθην πατέρα τε τὸν ἐμὸν εὐλογοῦντά σε. There is no need of altering τάχα το τάχ᾿ ἄν. The rhythm is better if τάχα be retained and joined with ἐξερῶ. Ср. О. С. 980, οἷους ἐρῶ τάχ. ἄν may be supplied with ἥδοιο as well as with ἀσχάλλοις. Ε. on L. § 39. 6. p. 73. But for the word which I will tell you in a moment, you will be glad, how can you be otherwise than glad? and yet perhaps you will be grieved.

941. mvp-comment-548-1 ἐγκρατής i. e. ἐν κράτει ὤν.

943. mvp-comment-549-1 The reading is by no means certain, although several copies (including Ven. 617c) have γέρον. The reading of L. and most MSS. is certainly wrong, and appears to be a foolish attempt to supply the deficiency of the line.

945. mvp-comment-550-1 ὦ πρόσπολ Jocasta has one or more attendants to assist in making the offering. Cp. El. 634, ΚΛ. ἔπαιρε δὴ σὺ θύμαθ᾽ ἡ παροῦσά μοι, κ.τ.λ.

947. mvp-comment-551-1 τοῦτον Essay on Language § 22. p. 35. The accusative ἄνδρα is governed (1) by ἔφευγε, but is also in secondary constructions (2) with τρέμων, (3) with κτάνοι.

949. mvp-comment-552-1 τοῦδ See Essay on Language § 22. p. 34.

951. mvp-comment-553-1 ἐξεπέμψω Hast thou had me called forth? The middle voice as in μεταπέμπεσθαι, of that which is done through others. In Ant. 19, where Antigone herself brings Ismene forth, the active is used.

954. mvp-comment-554-1 τί μοι λέγει What, pray, has he to tell? rather than, What has he to tell me?'

955. mvp-comment-555-1 ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου Answers not quite exactly to τίς ποτ' ἐστί; cp. supr. 936

957. mvp-comment-556-1 σημήνας γενοῦ Εssay on Language p. 51.

957. mvp-comment-556-2 σημήνας The periphrasis is more courteous than σήμηνον here.

958. mvp-comment-557-1 The messenger would rather tell first the accession of Oedipus to the Corinthian throne. Supr. 939.

959. mvp-comment-558-1 εἰ ἴσθ᾽ Porson corrected this το σάφ'᾽ ἴσθ'. But the hiatus is sufficiently defended by the recurrence of the open vowel after φεῦ, τί, ὦ.

960. mvp-comment-559-1 νόσου ξυναλλαγή By visitation of disease. 961. A little touch lays low the aged frame. σμ. δ = A slight inclination of the balance. Cp. Plat. Rep. 8. 556 E, ὥσπερ σῶμα νοσῶδες μικρᾶς ῥοπῆς ἔξωθεν δεῖται προσλαβέσθαι πρὸς τὸ κάμνειν.

963. mvp-comment-560-1 Yes, and by the length of years which his life had measured.' The dative is first instrumental, and then joined with συμμετρούμενοs in a supplementary construction.

964. mvp-comment-561-1 τί.. σκοποῖτο Cp. Phil. 428, τί δῆτα δεῖ σκοπεῖν; and for the middle v., infr. 1487, νοούμενος.

966. mvp-comment-562-1 κλάζοντας ὄρνις The informants of Teiresias, supr. 350 foll., cp. Ant. 998, foll.

967. mvp-comment-563-1 κτανεῖν On the aor. inf. after μέλλω, see L. and S. s. v. μέλλω. The resolved feet have here the effect of a crescendo.

969. mvp-comment-564-1 ἄψαυστος ἔγχους Without having laid hand to sword.

971. mvp-comment-565-1 τὰ.. παρόντα i. e. Well, and so he is in his grave, and has taken with him those prophecies which were troubling us, worth nothing now. There is no special emphasis on παρόντα; δ᾽ οὖν merely marking the return from the digression εἴ τι μὴ.. εἴη ἐξ ἐμοῦ. The new fear of Oedipus (976) is inconsistent with this speech, but the inconsistency is natural, and in keeping with his irresolution and excitement. See l. 914, and cp. Shakespeare, Macbeth, 3. 4,

Then comes my fit again; I had else been perfect, | Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, | As broad and general as the casing air; | But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in | To saucy doubts and fears.

975. mvp-comment-566-1 ἐς θυμὸν βάλῃς Take to heart, — allow to weigh upon your spirit. Cp. Hdt. 7.51, ἐς θυμὸν ὧν βαλεῦ καὶ τὸ παλαιὸν ἔπος, ὡς εὖ εἴρηται, κ.τ.λ. Supr. 739, τί δ᾽ ἐστί σοι τοῦτ᾽, Οἰδίπους, ἐνθύμιον;

976. mvp-comment-567-1 λέχος cannot be retained without altering the order of the words, which is best as it is.

977. mvp-comment-568-1 Why should man fear, seeing that Fortune rules his life and he has no clear foreknowledge of anything?' ἄνθρωπος] Quite general, as in O. C. 1153, πρᾶγος δ᾽ ἀτίζειν οὐδὲν ἄνθρωπον χρεών. For the sentiment, cp. Thuc. 4.62, τὸ δὲ ἀστάθμητον τοῦ μέλλοντος, κ.τ.λ.

979. mvp-comment-569-1 ''Tis best to live by chance, as best one may.' Cp. Eur. Hipp. 261 ff. For the asyndeton, cp. supr. 945.

979. mvp-comment-569-2 ὅπως δύναιτο is the more generalized form of ὅπως ἂν δύνηται. Cp. 315, ἀφ᾿ ὧν ἔχοι τε καὶ δύναιτο ; and see Essay on Language § 36. p. 61.

981. mvp-comment-570-1 Cp. Hdt. 6. 107: Plat. Rep. 9. 571 C.

987. mvp-comment-571-1 Either, 'And yet your father's death is a great eye to see with, i. e. may well open your eyes, or with a further association, 'And yet your father's death throws a cheering light on these matters.' Cp. Pind. Pyth. 5. 17, ἐπεὶ συγγενὴς ὀφθαλμός, κ.τ.λ., and Τι. 203-204, ἄελπτον ὄμμ᾽ ἐμοὶ | φήμης ἀνασχὸν τῆσδε.

991. mvp-comment-572-1 What is there in her (or in regard to her) which tends to give you alarm?' The genitive is continued from 988 τῆς ζώσης, 990 Μερόπης, and may be viewed either as a genitive of respect, or of origin. Essay on Language pp. 13, 14. 66. Here, as elsewhere in this part of the play, the serene courtesy of the dialogue contrasts with the approaching horror.

997. mvp-comment-573-1 ἡ Κόρινθος ἐξ ἐμοῦ. . ἀπῳκεῖτο (1) Corinth as a dwelling-place has long been set far away from me.' For this inversion (instead of my dwelling-place has been removed from Corinth'), cp. supr. 762 and note. Essay on Language § 42. p. 80; or (2) Corinth has been avoided (livedaway from) by me' = ἀπῴκουν Κορίνθου. For the preference for the passive form in either case, see Essay on Language pp. 53, 54. The effect here is to bring into greater prominence Oedipus' love for Corinth.

997. mvp-comment-573-2 ἐξ ἐμοῦ Either away from me,' or by my act. The v. τ. ἀπώκιστ᾽ (ἀπῴκιστο) is plausible (cp. Plat. Polit. 284 Ε, ὁπόσα εἰς τὸ μέσον ἀπῳκίσθη τῶν ἐσχάτων), but the perfect and not the pluperfect is the tense required.

999. mvp-comment-574-1 The natural simplicity of these words, said in the presence of Jocasta, contrasts terribly to the spectator with the unconsciousness of them. See 1371, foll., ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὄμμασιν ποίοις βλέπων, κ.τ.λ. And cp. Aesch. Cho. 690-691, τὸν τεκόντα δ᾽ εἰκὸς εἰδέναι, said by Orestes before Clytemnestra.

1002-1003. mvp-comment-575-1 τί οὐχὶ . . ἐξελυσάμην ;] Had I not better, etc.? For this common idiom, cp. Aesch. Prom. 747-748, τί. . οὐκ ἐν τάχει | ἔρριψ᾿ ἐμαύτην, κ.τ.λ.

1004. mvp-comment-576-1 ἀξίαν Worth having, i. e. ample. For this absolute use of ἄξιος, cp. Od. 20. 383, ὅθεν κέ τοι ἄξιον ἄλφοι : Plat. Rep. 6. 504 Ε, ἄξιον τὸ διανόημα. 1005 τοῦτ᾽ ἀφικόμην] For this I came. The accusative in apposition, expressing purpose. Cp. O. C. 1291, ἃ δ' ἦλθον ἤδη σοι θέλω λέξαι, πάτερ.

1006. mvp-comment-577-1 That I might reap some benefit from you in your returning home.' σοῦ is (1) genitive of origin, (2) gen. absolute. Essay on Language § 9. P. 14.

1007. mvp-comment-578-1 τοῖς φυτεύσασιν 1012. τῶν φυτευσάντων] He expresses his particular fear in the general form which the prophecy (793) had originally suggested. See 1012, 1013, τοῦτό μ' εἰσαεὶ φοβεί.

1008. mvp-comment-579-1 ὦ παὶ This address comes somewhat strangely from the servant to the king, but is explained by the simplicity of heroic times, and by the circumstance that the aged speaker claims to have been a kind of fosterfather to Oedipus. Cp. El. 1220, where Electra, in addressing the supposed young stranger, uses in her excitement the address suitable for her brother.

1008. mvp-comment-579-2 καλῶς Clearly. O. C. 269-270, καλῶς | ἔξοιδα : Plat. Rep. 6, p. 506 В.

1010. mvp-comment-580-1 φεύγεις Here, as in supr. 948, the notion of exile is combined with the more general notion of avoidance.

1011. mvp-comment-581-1 Aldus and some MSS. have ταρβῶν. The variation of reading is like that in O. C. 1300: L. κλύω, Par. Α. κλύων. In both places the indicative is more forcible.

1011. mvp-comment-581-2 σαφής True, as in 390, ποῦ σὺ μάντις εἶ σαφής;

1012. mvp-comment-582-1 τῶν φυτευσάντων Here, as in supr. 988, τῆς ζώσης, the gen. expresses rather arising from,' than appertaining to. ' A pollution arising to you from your parents.' For the construction, see Essay on Language § 10. p. 14.

1013. mvp-comment-583-1 τοῦτο. φοβεῖ That is just the fear which is ever haunting me.

1014. mvp-comment-584-1 Then shall I tell you that your apprehensions are unreasonable?

1014. mvp-comment-584-2 πρὸς δίκης, like πρὸς τρόπου, etc., justly. So in El. 1211, πρὸς δίκης γὰρ οὐ στένεις.

1015. mvp-comment-585-1 Observe the emphatic position of παῖς and ἔφυν.

1016. mvp-comment-586-1 σοι.. οὐδὲν ἐν γένει Of no kin to thee. Eur. Alc. 904, ἐμοί τις ἦν ἐν γένει, ᾧ, κ.τ.λ.

1018. mvp-comment-587-1 The rusticity of the messenger shows itself in this blunt speech.

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

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

1021. mvp-comment-589-1 ἀντὶ τοῦ .. ὠνομάζετο 'Why ἐπεστάτουν] then did he call me his child? For the use of the middle voice, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 53, 6.

1025. mvp-comment-590-1 ἢ τεκών For this use of the aor. part. active of τίκτω, cp. О. С. 1108, τῷ τεκόντι πᾶν φίλον. The question is inconsistent with the assertion of the ἄγγελος in 1020, and hence the reading has been suspected and τυχών (from 1039) or κιχών, which of the two is more probable, has been substituted. But Oedipus need not be supposed to have weighed the words οὔτ᾽ ἐκεῖνος οὔτ᾽ ἐγώ. Cp. supr. 360 and note. And the same train of thought which leads him to ask this question, reappears in his colloquy with the βοτήρ, 1. 1162, πόθεν λαβών ; οἰκεῖον, ἢ ἐξ ἄλλου τινός; See also ll. 1062-1063. He is ready for any disclosure. When Caesar, who has just consented that Decius shall tell the senators he is not well, says immediately afterwards Shall Caesar send a lie? no one is found to complain of dramatic inconsistency. Shak. Jul. Caes. 1, 3.

1029. mvp-comment-591-1 ἐπὶ θητείᾳ πλάνης ‘And going from place to place to work for hire.' For ἐπί, see Essay on Language $ 19. p. 27. Oedipus dwells on this point as indicating the possible lowness of his origin. Ср. 1062.

1030. mvp-comment-592-1 σοῦ δ This correction, which Elmsley made from conjecture, is found in Flor. Γ. δέ may express the opposition between the insignificant station of the ποιμήν and his importance to Oedipus. The reading of L. and most MSS. σοῦ γ'.. σωτήρ γε was, however, approved by Hermann, who quotes Heindorf on Plat. Euthyd. 277 A. Cp. also O. C. 387, 977, 1278, 1409.

1031. mvp-comment-593-1 Oedipus is touched with pity for his former self. Cp. Shak. Temp. 1.2, 'Miranda. Alack, for pity ! | I, not remembering how I cried out then, | Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint, | That wrings mine eyes to 't.' The question is suggested to Oedipus by the word σωτήρ; i. e. From what pain that I was suffering in my misfortunes did you rescue me? but is introduced by the poet, as the Scholiast properly observes, in order to lead to the mention of the personal mark (compare the scar of Ulysses in the Odyssey) by which the conviction of the truth is brought home to Jocasta. In his eagerness to delve to the root the mystery of his birth, Oedipus is wholly unconscious of the effect which the successive answers have upon the mind of the queen-the horror of whose discovery is the chief interest of this part of the play, and who may be supposed to remain immoveable until her outbreak in l. 1056. The same explanation applies to l. 1037, which adds poignancy to the stroke.

1034. mvp-comment-594-1 ποδοῖν ἀκμάς Thy feet. ἀκμάς, like ἄρθρα supr., simply adds definiteness to πόδας: cp. ἄκρος.

1035. mvp-comment-595-1 ὄνειδος (τοῦτο) ἀνειλόμην Α cruel shame I got from my swaddling bands.' Cp. Pind. Nem. 7. 56, τυχεῖν δ᾽ ἕν᾿ ἀδύνατον εὐδαιμονίαν ἅπασαν ἀνελόμενον. The genitive is to be taken with the verb in the sense of derivation; only differing in being more metaphorical from the construction of El. 1139, 40, παμφλέκτου πυρὸς | ἀνειλόμην, ὡς εἰκός, ἄθλιον βάρος. Cp. supr. 1012. Eustath. 86. 16, 1097. 25 quotes καλόν γ᾽ ὄνειδος, which has been thought to be an error of memory, as these words occur in the Medea of Euripides, with whose style they are more in accordance. Eur. Med. 514.

1037. mvp-comment-596-1 Triclinius rightly says, ἀσύνετον καὶ ἀνακόλουθον πρὸς τὰ ἐπαγόμενα, τὸ νομίζειν ἐρωτᾶν τὸν Οἰδιπόδα, εἰ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἢ τῆς μητρὸς ὠνομάσθη. The words refer not to the preceding line, but to the cruel treatment of the child. Was it my mother's doing, or my father's?' See on 1031.

1042. mvp-comment-597-1 δήπου τις I am pretty sure that they called him one of Laius people.'

1044. mvp-comment-598-1 βοτήρ The word recals to the chorus and the spectators, though not to Oedipus, his saying in 836. 7, τοσοῦτόν ἐστί μοι τῆς ἐλπίδος, τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν βοτῆρα προσμεῖναι μόνον. Cp. also 1049 with 761.

1045. mvp-comment-599-1 ὥστ᾽ ἰδεῖν ἐμέ So that I may see him.

1050. mvp-comment-600-1 The very moment for full discovery is come. Essay on Language § 39. 1. a, p. 72.

1050. mvp-comment-600-2 τάδε Oedipus is now thinking only of the question of his birth, although his expression has a much wider import.

1051. mvp-comment-601-1 οὐδέν᾽ ἄλλον Sc. ἐννέπειν.

1053. mvp-comment-602-1 The chorus point to Jocasta, with what effect on her and the spectator may be imagined. But they have as yet no suspicion of the truth. merely conjecturing that Jocasta must know the history of the servant of Laius, and that he who is now over the flock (761) may have been the shepherd of former time.

1054. mvp-comment-603-1 Lady, do you remember the man whose coming we just now desired? Is he the man he speaks of? Cp. Τr. 417, τὴν αἰχμάλωτον, ἣν ἔπεμψας ἐς δόμους κάτοισθα δήπου; ib. 1191, οἶσθ᾽ οὖν τὸν Οἴτης Ζηνὸς ὕψιστον πάγον; 1219, τὴν Εὐρυτείαν οἶσθα δῆτα παρθένον; The indefinite ὅντινα marks Oedipus' uncertainty about the identity of the βοτήρ. Cp. Hdt. 4. 8, ἐς γῆν ταύτην, ἤντινα νῦν Σκύθαι νέμονται. Badham conjectures νοεῖς ἐκεῖνον ὄνθ᾽ ὃν ἀρτίως | μολεῖν ἐφιέμεσθα; τόνδ' οὗτος λέγει; The reading of LA. τόν θ' οὗτος λέγει, may be rendered, Do you remember the man whom we were just now sending for, and of whom he (the ἄγγελος) speaks? This, however, appears to be hardly the meaning required by the context, for the chorus has only expressed their belief that he is the same man, and has appealed to Jocasta to confirm this. A slight alteration, not altogether without MS. authority, gives τόνδ' οὗτος λέγει; as in the text.

1056. mvp-comment-604-1 τί δ᾽ ὅντιν' ε. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 766, τί δ᾽ ὅντιν᾽; οὐ γὰρ ῥητὸν αὐδᾶσθαι τόδε, and for a similar ellipse, Plat. Legg. 1. 645 D, οὐδέν πω πρὸς ὅ τι. Why ask of whom he spoke? Jocasta, starting from a reverie, utters this abruptly.

1059. mvp-comment-605-1 φανῶ Bring to light. Supr. 132.

1061. mvp-comment-606-1 ἅλις νοσοῦσ᾽ ἐγώ My trouble is enough. It is enough that I am tormented without your knowing. Cp. Ar. Eth. Ν. 9, 11, ὅθεν τὸ ἅλις ἐγὼ δυστυχῶν. For the adverb as predicate, see Essay on Language § 24. p. 40.

1062. mvp-comment-607-1 οὐδ᾽ ἂν *εἰ τρίτης This reading involves a simpler change than οὐδ' ἐὰν τρίτης, which may be right however. For el with the subj., see Essay on Language § 27: p. 44. And although av with future cannot be defended, yet a change of construction may fairly be supposed, like that which accounts for the apparent solecism in Aj. 405-409, εἰ.. πᾶς .. στρατὸς δίπαλτος ἄν με χειρὶ φονεύοι: i. e. The expression is equivalent to σὺ οὐκ ἐκφανεῖ κακή, οὐδ᾽ ἂν (ἐκφανείης κακή), εἰ, κ.τ.λ. ' οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἰ planè eadem ratione dicitur quâ κἂν εἰ, in quo av ad suppressum aliquem optativum pertinet.' Herm.

1062. mvp-comment-607-2 τρίτης.. μητρὸς..τρίδουλος Though my mother, and my mother's mother, and the mother of this last, were slaves.' Cp. Plat. Legg. 6. 777 Α, οὐ τρὶς μόνον ἄλλα πολλάκις ἀπεργάζονται δούλας. Jocasta knows that the real horror is the nobility of his birth.

1066. mvp-comment-608-1 φρονοῦσά γ᾽ εὐ With clear knowledge. Ср. 1038.

1067. mvp-comment-609-1 τὰ λῷστα.. ταῦτα ‘This which you call the best'-that I do not learn my origin.

1069. mvp-comment-610-1 Will some one go and fetch the herdsman hither for me?' ἄξει here is more peremptory than οὐκ ἄξει; just as ἆρα; is stronger than ἆρ' οὐ; see Essay on Language § 29. p. 50.

1070. mvp-comment-611-1 πλουσίῳ .. γένει Her wealthy lineage. The word πλούσιος is used sarcastically. Cp. Εl. 361, σοὶ δὲ πλουσία | τράπεζα κείσθω.

1071. mvp-comment-612-1 ἰοὺ ἰού An exclamation of horror and wonder. Cp. Τr. 1143, ἰοὺ ἰοὺ δύστηνος, οἴχομαι τάλας.

1072. mvp-comment-613-1 ἄλλο δ᾽ οὔποθ᾽ ὕστερον And no word any more for ever.

1075. mvp-comment-614-1 ἀναρρήξει is best taken actively with ἡ γυνή as subject. She will cause evils to break forth. If κακά were the subject, χρήζει in 1076 could hardly have a natural meaning. Cp. II. 20. 55, ἐν δ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἐρίδα ῥήγνυντο. For the situation, cp. Ant. 766, 1253, Tr. 813.

1076. mvp-comment-615-1 Let her raise what storms she will; but I am determined to see my origin, though it be humble.'

1078. mvp-comment-616-1 ὡς γυνή For a woman. Cp. Hdt. 4. 81, ὀλίγους, ὡς Σκύθας εἶναι. Oedipus implies that his own 'pride of birth, (avowed in 1080, foll.) is of a nobler strain.

1079. mvp-comment-617-1 τὴν δυσγένειαν τὴν ἐμήν The baseness of my birth.

1080. mvp-comment-618-1 παῖδα τῆς Τύχης.. τῆς εὐ διδούσης Accounting myself the child of favouring Fortune. Cp. the opposite fancy of Polynices in O. C. 1323-1324, κεί μὴ σὸς ἀλλὰ τοῦ κακοῦ | πότμου φυτευθείς. So in Shak. Winter's Tale, 4. 4, Florizel says From thy succession wipe me, father! I Am heir to my affection.' 1082. οἱ δὲ συγγενεῖς μῆνές με μικρὸν καὶ μέγαν διώρισαν] And the months that have grown up with me, have alone determined my lowness and my exaltation. As elsewhere, Time is spoken of as a real thing or person commensurate with the events.

1084-1085. mvp-comment-619-1 This parentage of mine can never be disproved; and therefore why should I not find out my origin? This is better than I cannot but know my birth.

1084. mvp-comment-620-1 †ἔτι | ποτ' ἄλλος It must be admitted that ποτέ beginning the line after a short syllable which precludes synaphea, is questionable. See Aj. 986, οὐχ ὅσον τάχος | δῆτ᾿ αὐτὸν ἄξεις δεῦρο; It is allowable to conjecture ἐξέλθοιμ᾽ ἐγώ. But the secret of the anomaly is probably the inverted order (for ἄλλος ποτέ), which is for the sake of emphasis and rhythm. Cp. Phil. 1217, ἔτ᾿ οὐδέν εἰμι. 1086, foll. The chorus have forgotten their apprehension expressed in supr. 1074-1075, and yielding to the feeling of the moment, join with Oedipus in his wish to discover his origin. The joyous confidence of this strain gives greater emphasis to the catastrophe. Cp. Ant. 1115-1152, Aj. 693-718, Tr. 205-224- 'Soon shall the wonder be revealed. Our king was nursed on the mountain's breast, divinely born; some nymph his mother, his father, some roving God.' The solemnity of the prevailing ditrochaic (or epitrite) rhythm is relieved 1092. ματέρ'] by lyrical dactyls. The tone is one of religious joyousness, rising at first into excited hope, which changes, in line 7 of the strophe, into pious aspiration. トCCL トー 5 トトトトートー 1086. For κατὰ γνώμαν, cp. Tr. 102, εἴπ᾽, ὦ κρατιστεύων κατ᾿ ὄμμα, and see Essay on Language § 19. p. 28.

1087. mvp-comment-621-1 οὐ τὸν Ὄλυμπον Ant. 758.

1087. mvp-comment-621-2 ἀπείρων Hesychius, ἀπείρονας· ἀπειράτους. Σοφοκλῆς Θυέστῃ.

1090. mvp-comment-622-1 τὰν αὔριον πανσέληνον In the coming moonlit hour. Cp. Ant. 153, θεῶν δὲ ναοὺς χοροῖς παννυχίοις πάντας ἐπέλθωμεν. (1) The comparison of Arist. Η. Α. 10. 38, νύκτας τὰς πανσελήνους, shows that πανσέληνος is not always to be construed strictly of the full moon. A moonlight night is all that need be meant. And αύριον may be transferred from next sunrise to next moon-rise. Or (2) the expression may be understood to mean, 'In to-morrow's moonlight festival.' If this interpretation is adopted, we must suppose the full moon to occur the day following. But no hint of this is given in the context.

1090. mvp-comment-622-2 ἀπείρων .. μὴ οὐ σε γε .. αὔξειν Thou shalt not be without experience of our celebrating thee, as of the same clime with Oedipus, and as having been to him a nurse and mother.'

1090. mvp-comment-622-3 πατριώταν A native of the same region,' countryman.

1092. mvp-comment-623-1 ματέρα As a mountain is called μήτηρ μήλων, θηρῶν, etc., e. g. Il. 8. 47, Ἴδην.. μητέρα θηρῶν, Γάργαρον, τροφόν coming between makes tolerable the transition from masc. to fem. αὔξειν, sc. ἐμὲ or ἡμᾶς, borrowed from the context.

1095. mvp-comment-624-1 καὶ χορεύεσθαι πρὸς ἡμῶν Or of being the theme of our choral song. For the change of voice and subject, see Essay on Language p. 65, d.

1095. mvp-comment-624-2 ἐπίηρα φέροντα Giving pleasure: Epicè. II. 1. 578, πατρὶ φίλῳ ἐπὶ ἦρα φέρειν Διΐ. Od. 19. 343, οὐδέ τί μοι ποδάνιπτρα ποδῶν ἐπιήρανα θυμῷ | γίγνεται.

1097. mvp-comment-625-1 In hoping for a happy solution, the chorus still look up to Phoebus, whom they had at first invoked (154), and on the interpretation of whose still doubtful oracles the issue depends. This is the only shadow of apprehension which remains. O Phoebus, to whom we cry, may this event prove well-pleasing to thee. ἰήϊε] Cp. supr. 154, and note.

1098. mvp-comment-626-1 τέκνον So Theseus is addressed by the chorus in O. C. 1491, ἰὼ παῖ.

1098. mvp-comment-626-2 ἔτικτε Cp. supr. 870.

1098. mvp-comment-626-3 τῶν μακραιώνων The context shows that the nymphs are meant. Cp. Hom. h. Ven. 258, Hes. ap. Plutarch. 415 c. fr. 50 Gaisf., Ap. Rh. 2. 509. 1100 ff. The MS. reading was thus explained by Hermann, Constructio verborum haec est: τίς σ᾽ ἔτικτε τῶν μακραιώνων ἄρα θυγάτηρ, προσπελασθεῖσα Πανὸς ἢ Λοξίου; [ Was it some young daughter of the long-lived Nymphs, having been brought near to the mountain Pan or to Loxias, who bore thee?"] Sed quum in illis, ἢ Λοξίου, adderet poeta augendi causa σε γε, istoque demum loco poneret illud nomen θυγάτηρ, adjecit etiam pronomen e: cliticum τις, sine quo θυγάτηρ tam remotum a genitivo suo obscurum fuisset. Apa etiam alibi longius ab initio remotum invenitur, ut in Ajace v. 925, ἔμελλες, τάλας, ἔμελλες χρόνῳ στερεόφρων ἄρ᾽ ὧδ᾽, κ.τ.λ. (Cp. Phil. 996). But this reasoning is upset by the double objection to the position and quantity of θυγάτηρ, and by the difficulty of obtaining a satisfactory arrangement of the lines with θυγάτηρ. Lachm. conj. πατρὸς πελασθεῖσ', in which the appellation of Pan is unusual and inappropriate. Arndt's very ingenious conjecture is adopted in the text.

1098. mvp-comment-626-4 υν πρέσβει C. πρέσβυν 1103. i.e. He is one of the νόμιοι θεοί, or pastoral gods.

1104. mvp-comment-627-1 Schol. ὁ Ἑρμῆς· νόμιος γάρ. For εἴτε = or, without εἴτε preceding, see on supr. 517, О. С. 1492.

1105. mvp-comment-628-1 ναίων ἐπ᾿ ἄκρων ὀρέων Anacreon ap. Dion. Chrys. i. 94, ὧναξ, ᾧ δαμάλης ἔρως, | καὶ νυμφαὶ κυανώπιδες | πορφυρέη τ' Ἀφροδίτη | συμπαίζουσιν, ἐπιστρέφεαι δ᾽ | ὑψηλῶν κορυφὰς ὀρέων.

1105. mvp-comment-628-2 εὕρημα δέξατ For the expression, see above l. 1026, and cp. Plat. Theaet. 150 D, οὐδέ τί μοι ἔστιν εὕρημα τοιοῦτον γεγονός, τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς ἔκγονον.

1109. mvp-comment-629-1 Ἑλικωνίδων The word was written so at first in Par. A. αἷς πλεῖστα συμπαίζει. Cp. Hom. h. Ven. 263.

1110. mvp-comment-630-1 καμέ For this modest use of καί, cp. infr. 1239, Plat. I Alc. 127 Ε, εἴ τι δεῖ καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ μαντείᾳ πιστεύειν.

1110. mvp-comment-630-2 μὴ συναλλάξαντά πω Having never before met with him. The unconsciousness of Oedipus is especially marked at the beginning of the scene in which he is to learn all (also in 1115-1116).

1111. mvp-comment-631-1 πρέσβυ This agrees better with what follows, l. 1115 , and accounts better for the corruption πρέσβυν, than the reading of L. p. m. πρέσβεις.

1112. mvp-comment-632-1 For his great age accords therewith, in that he is the equal in years of the man present here.

1113. mvp-comment-633-1 τῴδε τάνδρί Sc. τῷ Κορινθίῳ ξένῳ.

1113. mvp-comment-633-2 ξυνάδει is used absolutely (sc. τῷ δν ζητοῦμεν), the dative being governed by σύμμετρος, which is a supplementary predicate. ξύμμετρος is changed to σύμμετρος to preserve the Porsonic pause.

1114. mvp-comment-634-1 ἄλλως τε And also I think I recognize in those who are bringing him the appearance of my own servants.

1114. mvp-comment-634-2 ἄλλως = ' independently of this,' - as a more certain indication. ὥσπερ limits or modifies the assertion, in accordance with the subdued tone of the whole speech.

1117. mvp-comment-635-1 γάρ Cp. Phil. 755-756, δεινόν γε τοὐπίσαγμα τοῦ νοσήματος. ΦΙΛ. δεινὸν γὰρ οὐδὲ ῥητόν.

1117. mvp-comment-635-2 Λαΐου Cp. 1042, τῶν Λαΐου δήπου τις ὠνομάζετο, infr. 1122. This genitive is to be resumed in construction with νομεύς.

1118. mvp-comment-636-1 εἴπερ .. ἀνήρ And if ever there was one, he was a faithful herdsman.

1121. mvp-comment-637-1 οὗτος, σύ Cp. supr. 532, and note, Ant. 441, σὲ δή, σέ, κ.τ.λ.

1121. mvp-comment-637-2 δεῦρό μοι φώνει βλέπων I beg you will look this way and speak. The Theban herdsman avoids the eye of Oedipus. Cp. supr. 758, foll.

1123. mvp-comment-638-1 ἀλλ᾽ οἴκοι τραφείς This helps to account for the confidence reposed in him by Jocasta, supr 756, 763.

1125. mvp-comment-639-1 I was generally a herdsman.'

1126. mvp-comment-640-1 ξύναυλος Sc. τοῖς ποιμνίοις.

1128. mvp-comment-641-1 The indefinite που answers to the indefiniteness of the answer in 1127. Are you then aware of having somewhere thereabouts made the acquaintance of this man? Cp. infr. 1142-1143. Q2

1130. mvp-comment-642-1 ή ξυνήλλαξας τί πω Had you ever anything to do with him? This is better than ἢ ξυναλλάξας, which requires a somewhat forced connection with l. 1128.

1134. mvp-comment-643-1 τὸν Κιθαιρῶνος τόπον As we ranged about Citheron. The accusative (of the sphere of motion) is governed by the general notion of traversing or occupying in what follows. Cp. Aj. 877,8, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ τὴν ἀφ᾿ ἡλίου βολῶν | κέλευθον ἁνὴρ οὐδαμοῦ δηλοῖ φανείς.

1136. mvp-comment-644-1 ἐπλησίαζον The verb in the latter part of the sentence is adapted to the nearer subject. For instances of this attraction, or zeugma, see Essay on Language pp. 65-66.

1137. mvp-comment-645-1 ἑκμήνους Cp. Plat. Legg. 11, 916 B. where ἐκμήνου for ἑκμήνου is in Par. A, Hes. Op. 566, 608. There can be no doubt that this is the true reading, though based on inferior MS. authority. It was adopted by Porson from the Trin. MS. and is confirmed by three others (including Ven. 617 pr.) Three entire seasons of six months extending from spring to the rising of Arcturus. It has been proposed (by E. A. J. Ahrens in Philologus of 1876) to explain the Laurentian reading thus: τρεῖς ὅλους ἐμμήνους χρόνους, three full months, being the time from spring to the rising of Arcturus: and it is urged in favour (a) χειμῶνι EV3 Vat. ac.

1137. mvp-comment-645-2 τούτων CA. of this that spring is late in visiting the Boeotian Highlands. But the awkwardness of the parenthesis, coming between the numeral and the noun, and the unmeaning pleonasm, are fatal objections to this way of taking the words. The division of the year κατὰ θέρος καὶ χειμώνα, into equal periods of six months, is also more probable. And the imperfect ἤλαυνον shows that the shepherd is speaking of what he did not once but habitually.

1138. mvp-comment-646-1 χειμώνα δ᾽ ἤδη But for the winter season, when it came. The accusative of time, continued from χρόνους supr., is here proleptic; i.e. I drove them to remain during winter. Cp. Thuc. 3. 21, τὰς οὖν νύκτας τὰς μὲν ἐπάλξεις ἀπέλειπον: Hdt. 7. 50, § 3, ὥρην τε τοῦ ἔτεος καλλίστην πορευόμεθα. The commencement of the action and its continuance are thought of together. χειμῶνα has the best authority, and is also the more difficult reading. According to a calculation made by Prof. Förster at the request of G. Wolff, the morning rising of Arcturus for Athens in 430 B. C. was on the 13th September of the Julian Calendar.

1140. mvp-comment-647-1 πεπραγμένον That has really happened. τι τούτων is supplemented by πεπραγμένον in the latter part of the sentence.

1145. mvp-comment-648-1 ὦ τᾶν The familiar language of one servant addressing another.

1146. mvp-comment-649-1 The οἰκέτης knew that he had been entrusted with the exposure of the child of Laius, and instead of executing his commission had given the infant to a herdsman from Corinth. - He knew also that Oedipus was the murderer of Laius-Faithful to Jocasta, he had hitherto kept both secrets; and this had occasioned his request to be allowed to remove as far as possible from the city. But until this moment the truth has never flashed upon his mind that the child of Jocasta and Laius is the husband of the one and the murderer of the other. The abruptness of the exclamation indicates the surprise, which now breaks upon his mind.

1149. mvp-comment-650-1 ὦ φέριστε δεσποτών Most puissant lord. This Epic form of address occurs only here in Sophocles, and in Plato also only once, in the mockheroic speech of Socrates, Phaedr. 238 D, εἶεν, ὦ φέριστε, Well, valiant sir!' The herdsman has been in the habit of thinking of Oedipus as the terrible stranger who had slain Laius, and had subsequently become the master of his household as well as ruler of Thebes. A new horror is now forced upon him; and in his fear and confusion, being threatened with immediate violence, he seeks to soothe Oedipus with flattering terms. His reserve is intended to contrast with the familiarity of the other messenger. Cp. supr. 1008, 1121.

1151. mvp-comment-651-1 He knows not what he is saying and is busy to no purpose.' An evasive speech, and partly wrung from the speaker; but one which draws the attention of the spectators to the tremendous consequences of the busybody's intervention. To no purpose; i.e. to anything but a good one.

1152. mvp-comment-652-1 πρὸς χάριν Το please us.'

1152. mvp-comment-652-2 κλαίων δ᾽ ἐρεῖς But when you are punished you will speak, i. e. But you shall be made to speak. Cp. Ar. Nub. 58, δεῦρ᾽ ἔλθ᾽ ἵνα κλάῃς: Ant. 932.

1153. mvp-comment-653-1 τὸν γέροντά μ The old man you see me to be. Essay on Language § 21. p. 33.

1155. mvp-comment-654-1 Unhappy that I am, wherefore? What is it you would learn? τί προσχρήζων, sc. ταῦτα κελεύεις; For similar inexactness, cp. Phil. 1191, τί ῥέξοντες ἀλλοκύτῳ | γνώμᾳ τῶν πάρος, ὧν προὔφαινες; Αj. 1351; and see Essay on Language p. 64.

1156. mvp-comment-655-1 The repetition of the demon- strative, τῷδε.. οὗτος, is expressive of the impatience of Oedipus.

1157. mvp-comment-656-1 τῇδ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ That day. Cp. Tr. 716-718, supr. 1128, and see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34.

1158. mvp-comment-657-1 τούνδικον What is right. Cp. 322, οὔτ᾽ ἔννομ᾽ εἶπες, κ.τ.λ.

1159. mvp-comment-658-1 διόλλυμαι. 1166. ὄλωλας The present and perfect for the future, implying certainty. Cp. supr. 297, οὗξελέγχων, and note.

1160. mvp-comment-659-1 ἐς τριβὰς ἐλᾷ Will be driving at delay. Cp. Eur. Heracl. 904, ἐγγὺς μανιῶν ἐλαύνει, and the like expressions.

1161. mvp-comment-660-1 πάλαι with εἶπον.

1163. mvp-comment-661-1 The postponement of the negative, and the unusual rhythm, for which cp. 1155, assist the effect of reluctance and constraint. μ 1167. Well, then, the child who was born came from the house of Laius.' The expression is purposely ambiguous. As οἱ Λαΐou are Laius people,' so τὰ Λαΐου γεννήματα include their offspring.

1168. mvp-comment-662-1 τις ἐγγενής One of his family. Cp. O. С. 1167.

1169. mvp-comment-663-1 λέγειν is supplementary. I am close on the horror, close on speaking of it.

1170. mvp-comment-664-1 ἀκούων Sc. πρὸς αὐτῷ εἰμὶ τῷ ειν δεινῷ. One MS. has ἀκούων.

1171. mvp-comment-665-1 'Yes, report certainly gave him out to be Laius' child'

1175. mvp-comment-666-1 τλήμων "Unhappy one!' The word expresses strong commiseration, but also implies wonder at the act. Its mother! had she the heart? Cp. Eur. Ion, 960, φεῦ· τλήμων σὺ τόλμης, ὁ δὲ θεὸς μᾶλλον σέθεν, said to Creüsa, who deserted the child she had by Apollo.

1180. mvp-comment-667-1 A few touches now reveal the whole secret. The herdsman is not required to give the information for which he was at first summoned. There is no need to explain the horror further.

1182. mvp-comment-668-1 The despair of Oedipus, which was kept under restraint until he had drawn out every link in the chain of discovery, now bursts forth uncontrolled. For ἰοὺ ἰού, cp. 1071, and note.

1182. mvp-comment-668-2 τὰ πάντ᾽ ἂν ἐξήκοι σαφή So then all is certain. For this use of av with the optative, expressing certain inference in present time, ср. О. С. 1768-1769, ἀλλ᾿ εἰ τάδ ἔχει κατὰ νοῦν κείνῳ, ταῦτ᾽ ἂν ἀπαρκοῖ: El. 797-798, πολλῶν ἂν ἥκοις, ὦ ξέν᾽, ἄξιος τυχεῖν, εἰ τήνδ᾽ ἔπαυσας τῆς πολυγλώσσου βοῆς:-ib. 1372-1373, οὐκ ἂν .. λόγων | .. τόδ' εἴη τοὔργον.

1183. mvp-comment-669-1 ὦ φῶς This exclamation is wholly general, although suggesting the motive of his sudden act; infr. 1271-1274.

1184. mvp-comment-670-1 φύς τ᾿ ἀφ᾽ ὧν οὐ χρῆν This is said partly with reference to the oracle given to Laius, and partly with the same general feeling of horror with which he speaks of himself afterwards, infr. 1383, ας ἐκ θεῶν φανέντ᾽ ἄναγνον καὶ γένους τοῦ Λαΐου. The pauses in this line and in supr. 1179, viz. ---|-cl ||, mark the difficulty with which the horror finds expression.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1196. mvp-comment-678-1 The conjecture of Hermann, οὐδὲν μακαρίζω, which avoids the unusual resolution of the arsis of a glyconic line, is otherwise probable. Cp. Fr. 652, Άρης γὰρ οὐδὲν τῶν κακῶν *λωτίζεται: Hom. Hymn to Aphrodite 34, οὔπερ τι πεφυγμένον ἔστ᾽ Ἀφροδίτην | οὔτε θεῶν μακάρων οὔτε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων.

1197. mvp-comment-679-1 ὅστις Oedipus who.. The indefinite relative gives the ground of the preceding statement.

1197. mvp-comment-679-2 καθ' ὑπερβολὰν τοξεύσας Having shot with surpassing skill, i. e. Having hit the solution of the riddle which all others missed.

1198. mvp-comment-680-1 ἐκράτησε . . ὄλβου Became lord of all prosperity. The reading ἐκράτησε, required by the metre, is confirmed by ἀνέστα, which has the best authority. The transition from the 2nd to the 3rd person, in 1197, and again to the 2nd in 1202, has led to the confusion. Cp. Tr. 94-101. Heimsoeth conj. ἐκύρησε.

1200. mvp-comment-681-1 χρησμῳδόν Because, though the songs of the Sphinx were not literally prophetic, their interpretation involved the fate of Thebes.

1200. mvp-comment-681-2 θανάτων .. ἀνέστα And to my country he arose as a tower of defence from death. For the dative, cp. Aj. 36, 7, φύλαξ ἔβην τῇ σῇ.. κυναγίᾳ, and for the gen. θανάτων, Essay on Language § 9. β. 2. p. 13. For the return to the indicative from the participle, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 64. Elmsley conjectured ἀναστάς.

1202. mvp-comment-682-1 ἐξου Whence, i. e. since and because of this.

1202. mvp-comment-682-2 ἐμός Herm. for the metre ἀμός.

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

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

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

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

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

1213. mvp-comment-688-1 ἐφεῦρέ σ᾽ ἄκονθ' Has surprised thee with a discovery thou didst not intend. The result of the inquiry is contrasted with its outset, supr. 132.

1214. mvp-comment-689-1 δικάζει Sc. σε. Convicts thee. For the asyndeton, which may be explained by the intensity of the language, see Essay on Language p. 59. τόν is expressive.

1214. mvp-comment-689-2 τὸν ἄγαμον, κ.τ.λ. (1) Of all the while being son as well as husband in that unholy marriage. γάμον is cognate accusative (Essay on Language § 17. p. 24) after some word, such as ὀπυίοντα, for which the phrase τεκνοῦντα καὶ τεκνούμενον is substituted. As infr. 1403 ff., the concrete is intended under the abstract noun. When the marriage is spoken of, Jocasta is thought of. The expression is unusual, and yet γεννῶντα τὸν αὐτὸν γάμον ὃν ἐγεννήθης might be said even in prose. Cp. supr. 1210. Otherwise γάμον may be taken as accusative in regimen, and the participles either (2) as agreeing with σε and added in further explanation of γάμον: Condemns the unholy marriage, condemns thee who art at once sire and son: or (3), the participles agreeing with γάμον, Condemns the marriage in which father and son are one. For the use of the passive verb in this case, see Essay on Language § 31, 3, c. P. 54.

1216. mvp-comment-690-1 There is a syllable wanting to correspond to the antistrophe. Herm. supplies ὦ before τέκνον. Bothe conj.

1216. mvp-comment-690-2 Λαϊήϊον. 1217. There is no reasonable doubt as to the soundness of Wunder's emendation, although such repetitions are much less frequent in Sophocles than in Euripides.

1218. mvp-comment-691-1 εἰδόμαν Essay on Language § 31. P. 52.

1219. mvp-comment-692-1 δύρομαι γὰρ ὡς περίαλλ' ἰαχέων] I mourn without measure, straining my voice with cries. For the quantity of ἰαχέων, cp. Eur. Or. 826, Med. 204, alib. With περίαλλος, cp. ὑπέραλλος in Pind. Nem. 3. 33, ὑπέραλλον αἰχμάν.

1219. mvp-comment-692-2 ἐκ στομάτων, like ἐκ θυμοῦ, with my whole power of utterance.

1219. mvp-comment-692-3 τὸ δ᾽ ὀρθὸν εἰπεῖν But to say the truth.

1224-1225. mvp-comment-693-1 ὅσον δ᾽ ἀρεῖσθε πένθος What mourning will be yours! αἴρεσθαι πένθος is to assume the burden of grief.

1225. mvp-comment-694-1 ἐγγενῶς i. e. πρεπόντως τοῖς ἐν γένει, with the feeling of kindred. Cp. Thuc. 2.60, οὐκ ἂν ὁμοίως τι οἰκείως φρά- Coi. The Theban elders are closely allied by descent to the royal house of Cadmus. Cp. supr. 911, χώρας ἄνακτες : Ant. 988, Θήβης άνακτες.

1227. mvp-comment-695-1 Cp. Aesch. Cho. 72, πόροι τε πάντες ἐκ μιᾶς ὁδοῦ βαίνοντες τὸν χερομυσῆ φόνον καθαίροντες ῥέουσιν μάτην: Ant. 1284, δυσκάθαρτος Ἅιδου λιμήν.

1228. mvp-comment-696-1 καθαρμῷ Dative of manner used proleptically = ὥστε καθαρὸν εἶναι. Cp. Shak. Macbeth, 2. 1,

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood | Clean from this hand?-no, this my hand will rather | The multitudinous seas incarnadine, | Making the greenone red.

The Greeks exaggerated the size of distant rivers.

1228. mvp-comment-696-2 ὅσα κεύθει Of all that it hides. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1189, κῶμος ἐν δόμοις μένει | δύσπεμπτος ἔξω, συγγόνων Ἐρινύων.

1229. mvp-comment-697-1 τὰ δ' And fresh evils, not this time involuntary, it will now disclose. The messenger first referred generally to the horrors of the house of Laius; he now speaks of the suicide of Jocasta and the self-inflicted blindness of Oedipus. Cp. Ant. 1279-1280, τὰ μὲν πρὸ χειρῶν τάδε φέρων, τὰ δ' ἐν δόμοις | ἔοικας ἥκειν καὶ τάχ᾿ ὄψεσθαι κακά. For τὰ δέ without τὰ μέν preceding, see Essay on Language § 39. p. 74. And for ἑκόντα = ἑκούσια, ib. § 50. 3. p. 94. Cp. Ο. C. 977, τό γ' ἶκον πρᾶγμα.

1231. mvp-comment-698-1 αἱ φανῶσ' Which are seen to be. For the poetical omission of av, see Essay on Language § 27. p. 45.

1234. mvp-comment-699-1 The word soonest spoken and soonest heard is this.' λόγος is placed by anticipation in apposition with the clause, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ιοκάστης κάρα. See Essay on Language § 33. P. 57.

1235. mvp-comment-700-1 θεῖον, Royal, viz, of the goddescended race of kings. Cp. Hom. Od. 4.691, θείων βασιλήων: also δῖος, διογενής, διοτρεφής, in Epic Greek. 1237 foll. The worst of the calamity is not here, for you do not see it. But still, as far as memory serves me, you shall learn what befel that unhappy lady.' The meaning is, You cannot feel the pain of the event as we did, who saw what passed.' In the description which follows, Jocasta is seen first passing through the hall or peristyle to the inner chamber, which she enters and closes the doors after her. Then in cries which resound through the hall (while she remains unseen of any one), she calls the spirit of Laius to witness the horrors consequent on their nuptial. The household would have followed her, but their attention is arrested by the entrance of Oedipus: who ranges through the hall with loud cries, calling for a weapon, and for the mother-wife. The sound of his approach precipitates the fatal purpose of the queen, who hangs herself in the chamber. Suddenly Oedipus bethinks him that she is there, and with a single effort, he bursts open the bolted doors. He undoes the noose by which she is hanging, and when she is fallen dead, he pulls the buckles from her garments and dashes the points into his eyes.

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Messenger Scene VIII. Strophe 1. Antistrophe i. Strophe 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT V. Scene I. 911cont2 Chorus.

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Οἰδίπους δίκαιʼ ἔλεξας· ἀλλʼ ἀναγκάσαι θεοὺς 280 ἃν μὴ θέλωσιν οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς δύναιτʼ ἀνήρ.

Χορός τὰ δεύτερʼ ἐκ τῶνδʼ ἂν λέγοιμʼ ἁμοὶ δοκεῖ.

Οἰδίπους εἰ καὶ τρίτʼ ἐστί, μὴ παρῇς τὸ μὴ οὐ φράσαι.

Χορός ἄνακτʼ ἄνακτι ταὔθʼ ὁρῶντʼ ἐπίσταμαι μάλιστα Φοίβῳ Τειρεσίαν, παρʼ οὗ τις ἂν 285 σκοπῶν τάδʼ, ὦναξ, ἐκμάθοι σαφέστατα.

Οἰδίπους ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐν ἀργοῖς οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ ἐπραξάμην. ἔπεμψα γὰρ Κρέοντος εἰπόντος διπλοῦς πομπούς· πάλαι δὲ μὴ παρῶν θαυμάζεται.

Χορός καὶ μὴν τά γʼ ἄλλα κωφὰ καὶ παλαίʼ ἔπη. 290

Οἰδίπους τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; πάντα γὰρ σκοπῶ λόγον.

Χορός θανεῖν ἐλέχθη πρός τινων ὁδοιπόρων.

Οἰδίπους ἤκουσα κἀγώ. τὸν δʼ ἰδόντʼ οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ.

Χορός ἀλλʼ εἴ τι μὲν δὴ δείματός γʼ ἔχει μέρος, τὰς σὰς ἀκούων οὐ μενεῖ τοιάσδʼ ἀράς, 295

Οἰδίπους ᾧ μή ʼστι δρῶντι τάρβος, οὐδʼ ἔπος φοβεῖ.

Χορός ἀλλʼ οὑξελέγξων αὐτὸν ἔστιν· οἵδε γὰρ τὸν θεῖον ἤδη μάντιν ὧδʼ ἄγουσιν, ᾧ τἀληθὲς ἐμπέφυκεν ἀνθρώπων μόνῳ.

Τειρεσίας φεῦ φεῦ, φρονεῖν ὡς δεινὸν ἔνθα μὴ τέλη λύῃ φρονοῦντι· ταῦτα γὰρ καλῶς ἐγὼ εἰδὼς διώλεσʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δεῦρʼ ἱκόμην.

Οἰδίπους τί δʼ ἔστιν; ὡς ἄθυμος εἰσελήλυθας.

Τειρεσίας ἄφες μʼ ἐς οἴκους· ῥᾷστα γὰρ τὸ σόν τε σὺ 320 κἀγὼ διοίσω τοὐμόν, ἢν ἐμοὶ πίθῃ.

Οἰδίπους οὔτʼ ἔννομʼ εἶπας οὔτε προσφιλῆ πόλει τῇδʼ, ἥ σʼ ἔθρεψε, τήνδʼ ἀποστερῶν φάτιν.

Τειρεσίας ὁρῶ γὰρ οὐδὲ σοὶ τὸ σὸν φώνημʼ ἰὸν πρὸς καιρόν· ὡς οὖν μηδʼ ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω— 325

Οἰδίπους μὴ πρὸς θεῶν φρονῶν γʼ ἀποστραφῇς, ἐπεὶ πάντες σε προσκυνοῦμεν οἵδʼ ἱκτήριοι.

Τειρεσίας πάντες γὰρ οὐ φρονεῖτʼ· ἐγὼ δʼ οὐ μή ποτε τἄμʼ, ὡς ἂν εἴπω μὴ τὰ σʼ, ἐκφήνω κακά.

Οἰδίπους τί φής; ξυνειδὼς οὐ φράσεις, ἀλλʼ ἐννοεῖς 330 ἡμᾶς προδοῦναι καὶ καταφθεῖραι πόλιν;

Τειρεσίας ἐγὼ οὔτʼ ἐμαυτὸν οὔτε σʼ ἀλγυνῶ. τί ταῦτʼ ἄλλως ἐλέγχεις; οὐ γὰρ ἂν πύθοιό μου.

Οἰδίπους οὐκ, ὦ κακῶν κάκιστε, καὶ γὰρ ἂν πέτρου φύσιν σύ γʼ ὀργάνειας, ἐξερεῖς ποτε, 335 ἀλλʼ ὧδʼ ἄτεγκτος κἀτελεύτητος φανεῖ;

Τειρεσίας ὀργὴν ἐμέμψω τὴν ἐμήν, τὴν σὴν δʼ ὁμοῦ ναίουσαν οὐ κατεῖδες, ἀλλʼ ἐμὲ ψέγεις.

Οἰδίπους τίς γὰρ τοιαῦτʼ ἂν οὐκ ἂν ὀργίζοιτʼ ἔπη κλύων, ἃ νῦν σὺ τήνδʼ ἀτιμάζεις πόλιν; 340

Τειρεσίας ἥξει γὰρ αὐτά, κἂν ἐγὼ σιγῇ στέγω.

Οἰδίπους οὐκοῦν ἅ γʼ ἥξει καὶ σὲ χρὴ λέγειν ἐμοί.

Τειρεσίας οὐκ ἂν πέρα φράσαιμι. πρὸς τάδʼ, εἰ θέλεις, θυμοῦ διʼ ὀργῆς ἥτις ἀγριωτάτη.

Τειρεσίας ἄληθες; ἐννέπω σὲ τῷ κηρύγματι 350 ᾧπερ προεῖπας ἐμμένειν, κἀφʼ ἡμέρας τῆς νῦν προσαυδᾶν μήτε τούσδε μήτʼ ἐμέ, ὡς ὄντι γῆς τῆσδʼ ἀνοσίῳ μιάστορι.

Οἰδίπους οὕτως ἀναιδῶς ἐξεκίνησας τόδε τὸ ῥῆμα; καὶ ποῦ τοῦτο φεύξεσθαι δοκεῖς; 355

Τειρεσίας πέφευγα· τἀληθὲς γὰρ ἰσχῦον τρέφω.

Οἰδίπους πρὸς τοῦ διδαχθείς; οὐ γὰρ ἔκ γε τῆς τέχνης.

Τειρεσίας πρὸς σοῦ· σὺ γάρ μʼ ἄκοντα προυτρέψω λέγειν.

Οἰδίπους ποῖον λόγον; λέγʼ αὖθις, ὡς μᾶλλον μάθω.

Τειρεσίας οὐχὶ ξυνῆκας πρόσθεν; ἢ ʼκπειρᾷ λέγων; 360

Οἰδίπους οὐχ ὥστε γʼ εἰπεῖν γνωστόν· ἀλλʼ αὖθις φράσον.

Τειρεσίας φονέα σε φημὶ τἀνδρὸς οὗ ζητεῖς κυρεῖν.

Οἰδίπους ἀλλʼ οὔ τι χαίρων δίς γε πημονὰς ἐρεῖς.

Τειρεσίας εἴπω τι δῆτα κἄλλʼ, ἵνʼ ὀργίζῃ πλέον;

Οἰδίπους ὅσον γε χρῄζεις· ὡς μάτην εἰρήσεται. 365

Τειρεσίας λεληθέναι σε φημὶ σὺν τοῖς φιλτάτοις αἴσχισθʼ ὁμιλοῦντʼ, οὐδʼ ὁρᾶν ἵνʼ εἶ κακοῦ.

Οἰδίπους ἦ καὶ γεγηθὼς ταῦτʼ ἀεὶ λέξειν δοκεῖς;

Τειρεσίας εἴπερ τί γʼ ἐστὶ τῆς ἀληθείας σθένος.

Οἰδίπους ἀλλʼ ἔστι, πλὴν σοί· σοὶ δὲ τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐπεὶ 370 τυφλὸς τά τʼ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τʼ ὄμματʼ εἶ.

Τειρεσίας σὺ δʼ ἄθλιός γε ταῦτʼ ὀνειδίζων, ἃ σοὶ οὐδεὶς ὃς οὐχὶ τῶνδʼ ὀνειδιεῖ τάχα.

Οἰδίπους μιᾶς τρέφει πρὸς νυκτός, ὥστε μήτʼ ἐμὲ μήτʼ ἄλλον, ὅστις φῶς ὁρᾷ, βλάψαι ποτʼ ἄν. 375

Τειρεσίας οὐ γάρ σε μοῖρα πρός γʼ ἐμοῦ πεσεῖν, ἐπεὶ ἱκανὸς Ἀπόλλων, ᾧ τάδʼ ἐκπρᾶξαι μέλει.

Οἰδίπους Κρέοντος ἢ σοῦ ταῦτα τἀξευρήματα;

Τειρεσίας Κρέων δέ σοι πῆμʼ οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς σὺ σοί.

Οἰδίπους ἦ ταῦτα δῆτʼ ἀνεκτὰ πρὸς τούτου κλύειν; οὐκ εἰς ὄλεθρον; οὐχὶ θᾶσσον; οὐ πάλιν 430 ἄψορρος οἴκων τῶνδʼ ἀποστραφεὶς ἄπει;

Τειρεσίας οὐδʼ ἱκόμην ἔγωγʼ ἄν, εἰ σὺ μὴ ʼκάλεις.

Οἰδίπους οὐ γάρ τί σʼ ᾔδη μῶρα φωνήσοντʼ, ἐπεὶ σχολῇ σʼ ἂν οἴκους τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐστειλάμην.

Τειρεσίας ἡμεῖς τοιοίδʼ ἔφυμεν, ὡς μὲν σοὶ δοκεῖ, 435 μῶροι, γονεῦσι δʼ, οἵ σʼ ἔφυσαν, ἔμφρονες.

Οἰδίπους ποίοισι; μεῖνον, τίς δέ μʼ ἐκφύει βροτῶν;

Τειρεσίας ἥδʼ ἡμέρα φύσει σε καὶ διαφθερεῖ.

Οἰδίπους ὡς πάντʼ ἄγαν αἰνικτὰ κἀσαφῆ λέγεις.

Τειρεσίας οὔκουν σὺ ταῦτʼ ἄριστος εὑρίσκειν ἔφυς; 440

Οἰδίπους τοιαῦτʼ ὀνείδιζʼ, οἷς ἔμʼ εὑρήσεις μέγαν.

Τειρεσίας αὕτη γε μέντοι σʼ ἡ τύχη διώλεσεν.

Οἰδίπους ἀλλʼ εἰ πόλιν τήνδʼ ἐξέσωσʼ, οὔ μοι μέλει.

Τειρεσίας ἄπειμι τοίνυν· καὶ σύ, παῖ, κόμιζέ με.

Οἰδίπους κομιζέτω δῆθʼ· ὡς παρὼν σύ γʼ ἐμποδὼν 445 ὀχλεῖς, συθείς τʼ ἂν οὐκ ἂν ἀλγύνοις πλέον.

COR. SH May I die for him if I speak not true!

Der Chor.

Corinthian Nor to him Owest thou thy birth; no, nor to me.

Chorus As you have put me under oath, on my oath, my king, I will speak. I am not the slayer, nor can I reveal him. As for the investigation, it was for Phoebus, who enjoined it, to tell us who did the deed.

Oedipus Justly said. But no man on earth can force the gods to do what they do not want. 280

Chorus I would like to say what seems to me the next best course.

Oedipus And if there is a third course, do not hesitate to reveal it too.

Chorus I know that our lord Teiresias is the seer most like our lord Apollo: from him, my king, an investigator might learn most clearly about these affairs. 285

Oedipus Not even this have I neglected. On Creon’s suggestion, I sent a man twice to bring him. And I have been wondering for some time why he is not here.

Chorus Indeed—his skill apart—the rumors are but faint and old. 290

Oedipus What are the rumors? I am investigating every tale.

Chorus He was said to have been killed by some wayfarers.

Oedipus I too have heard that. But no one sees the one who saw it.

Chorus If he knows what fear is, he will not hesitate to come forward when he hears your curses, so dire are they. 295

Oedipus When a man does not shrink from a deed, he is not scared by a word.

Messenger
Scene VIII. Strophe 1. Antistrophe i. Strophe 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT V. Scene I. 911cont2

Chorus.

Οἰδίπους

δίκαιʼ ἔλεξας· ἀλλʼ ἀναγκάσαι θεοὺς
280

ἃν μὴ θέλωσιν οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς δύναιτʼ ἀνήρ.

Χορός

τὰ δεύτερʼ ἐκ τῶνδʼ ἂν λέγοιμʼ ἁμοὶ δοκεῖ.

Οἰδίπους

εἰ καὶ τρίτʼ ἐστί, μὴ παρῇς τὸ μὴ οὐ φράσαι.

Χορός

ἄνακτʼ ἄνακτι ταὔθʼ ὁρῶντʼ ἐπίσταμαι

μάλιστα Φοίβῳ Τειρεσίαν, παρʼ οὗ τις ἂν
285

σκοπῶν τάδʼ, ὦναξ, ἐκμάθοι σαφέστατα.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐν ἀργοῖς οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ ἐπραξάμην.

ἔπεμψα γὰρ Κρέοντος εἰπόντος διπλοῦς

πομπούς· πάλαι δὲ μὴ παρῶν θαυμάζεται.

Χορός

καὶ μὴν τά γʼ ἄλλα κωφὰ καὶ παλαίʼ ἔπη.
290

Οἰδίπους

τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; πάντα γὰρ σκοπῶ λόγον.

Χορός

θανεῖν ἐλέχθη πρός τινων ὁδοιπόρων.

Οἰδίπους

ἤκουσα κἀγώ. τὸν δʼ ἰδόντʼ οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ.

Χορός

ἀλλʼ εἴ τι μὲν δὴ δείματός γʼ ἔχει μέρος,

τὰς σὰς ἀκούων οὐ μενεῖ τοιάσδʼ ἀράς,
295

Οἰδίπους

ᾧ μή ʼστι δρῶντι τάρβος, οὐδʼ ἔπος φοβεῖ.

Χορός

ἀλλʼ οὑξελέγξων αὐτὸν ἔστιν· οἵδε γὰρ

τὸν θεῖον ἤδη μάντιν ὧδʼ ἄγουσιν, ᾧ

τἀληθὲς ἐμπέφυκεν ἀνθρώπων μόνῳ.

Τειρεσίας

φεῦ φεῦ, φρονεῖν ὡς δεινὸν ἔνθα μὴ τέλη

λύῃ φρονοῦντι· ταῦτα γὰρ καλῶς ἐγὼ

εἰδὼς διώλεσʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δεῦρʼ ἱκόμην.

Οἰδίπους

τί δʼ ἔστιν; ὡς ἄθυμος εἰσελήλυθας.

Τειρεσίας

ἄφες μʼ ἐς οἴκους· ῥᾷστα γὰρ τὸ σόν τε σὺ
320

κἀγὼ διοίσω τοὐμόν, ἢν ἐμοὶ πίθῃ.

Οἰδίπους

οὔτʼ ἔννομʼ εἶπας οὔτε προσφιλῆ πόλει

τῇδʼ, ἥ σʼ ἔθρεψε, τήνδʼ ἀποστερῶν φάτιν.

Τειρεσίας

ὁρῶ γὰρ οὐδὲ σοὶ τὸ σὸν φώνημʼ ἰὸν

πρὸς καιρόν· ὡς οὖν μηδʼ ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω—
325

Οἰδίπους

μὴ πρὸς θεῶν φρονῶν γʼ ἀποστραφῇς, ἐπεὶ

πάντες σε προσκυνοῦμεν οἵδʼ ἱκτήριοι.

Τειρεσίας

πάντες γὰρ οὐ φρονεῖτʼ· ἐγὼ δʼ οὐ μή ποτε

τἄμʼ, ὡς ἂν εἴπω μὴ τὰ σʼ, ἐκφήνω κακά.

Οἰδίπους

τί φής; ξυνειδὼς οὐ φράσεις, ἀλλʼ ἐννοεῖς
330

ἡμᾶς προδοῦναι καὶ καταφθεῖραι πόλιν;

Τειρεσίας

ἐγὼ οὔτʼ ἐμαυτὸν οὔτε σʼ ἀλγυνῶ. τί ταῦτʼ

ἄλλως ἐλέγχεις; οὐ γὰρ ἂν πύθοιό μου.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκ, ὦ κακῶν κάκιστε, καὶ γὰρ ἂν πέτρου

φύσιν σύ γʼ ὀργάνειας, ἐξερεῖς ποτε,
335

ἀλλʼ ὧδʼ ἄτεγκτος κἀτελεύτητος φανεῖ;

Τειρεσίας

ὀργὴν ἐμέμψω τὴν ἐμήν, τὴν σὴν δʼ ὁμοῦ

ναίουσαν οὐ κατεῖδες, ἀλλʼ ἐμὲ ψέγεις.

Οἰδίπους

τίς γὰρ τοιαῦτʼ ἂν οὐκ ἂν ὀργίζοιτʼ ἔπη

κλύων, ἃ νῦν σὺ τήνδʼ ἀτιμάζεις πόλιν;
340

Τειρεσίας

ἥξει γὰρ αὐτά, κἂν ἐγὼ σιγῇ στέγω.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκοῦν ἅ γʼ ἥξει καὶ σὲ χρὴ λέγειν ἐμοί.

Τειρεσίας

οὐκ ἂν πέρα φράσαιμι. πρὸς τάδʼ, εἰ θέλεις,

θυμοῦ διʼ ὀργῆς ἥτις ἀγριωτάτη.

Οἰδίπους

οὕτως ἀναιδῶς ἐξεκίνησας τόδε

τὸ ῥῆμα; καὶ ποῦ τοῦτο φεύξεσθαι δοκεῖς;
355

Τειρεσίας

πέφευγα· τἀληθὲς γὰρ ἰσχῦον τρέφω.

Οἰδίπους

πρὸς τοῦ διδαχθείς; οὐ γὰρ ἔκ γε τῆς τέχνης.

Τειρεσίας

πρὸς σοῦ· σὺ γάρ μʼ ἄκοντα προυτρέψω λέγειν.

Οἰδίπους

ποῖον λόγον; λέγʼ αὖθις, ὡς μᾶλλον μάθω.

Τειρεσίας

οὐχὶ ξυνῆκας πρόσθεν; ἢ ʼκπειρᾷ λέγων;
360

Οἰδίπους

οὐχ ὥστε γʼ εἰπεῖν γνωστόν· ἀλλʼ αὖθις φράσον.

Τειρεσίας

φονέα σε φημὶ τἀνδρὸς οὗ ζητεῖς κυρεῖν.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ οὔ τι χαίρων δίς γε πημονὰς ἐρεῖς.

Τειρεσίας

εἴπω τι δῆτα κἄλλʼ, ἵνʼ ὀργίζῃ πλέον;

Οἰδίπους

ὅσον γε χρῄζεις· ὡς μάτην εἰρήσεται.
365

Τειρεσίας

λεληθέναι σε φημὶ σὺν τοῖς φιλτάτοις

αἴσχισθʼ ὁμιλοῦντʼ, οὐδʼ ὁρᾶν ἵνʼ εἶ κακοῦ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ καὶ γεγηθὼς ταῦτʼ ἀεὶ λέξειν δοκεῖς;

Τειρεσίας

εἴπερ τί γʼ ἐστὶ τῆς ἀληθείας σθένος.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ ἔστι, πλὴν σοί· σοὶ δὲ τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐπεὶ
370

τυφλὸς τά τʼ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τʼ ὄμματʼ εἶ.

Τειρεσίας

σὺ δʼ ἄθλιός γε ταῦτʼ ὀνειδίζων, ἃ σοὶ

οὐδεὶς ὃς οὐχὶ τῶνδʼ ὀνειδιεῖ τάχα.

Οἰδίπους

μιᾶς τρέφει πρὸς νυκτός, ὥστε μήτʼ ἐμὲ

μήτʼ ἄλλον, ὅστις φῶς ὁρᾷ, βλάψαι ποτʼ ἄν.
375

Τειρεσίας

οὐ γάρ σε μοῖρα πρός γʼ ἐμοῦ πεσεῖν, ἐπεὶ

ἱκανὸς Ἀπόλλων, ᾧ τάδʼ ἐκπρᾶξαι μέλει.

Οἰδίπους

Κρέοντος ἢ σοῦ ταῦτα τἀξευρήματα;

Τειρεσίας

Κρέων δέ σοι πῆμʼ οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς σὺ σοί.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ ταῦτα δῆτʼ ἀνεκτὰ πρὸς τούτου κλύειν;

οὐκ εἰς ὄλεθρον; οὐχὶ θᾶσσον; οὐ πάλιν
430

ἄψορρος οἴκων τῶνδʼ ἀποστραφεὶς ἄπει;

Τειρεσίας

οὐδʼ ἱκόμην ἔγωγʼ ἄν, εἰ σὺ μὴ ʼκάλεις.

Οἰδίπους

οὐ γάρ τί σʼ ᾔδη μῶρα φωνήσοντʼ, ἐπεὶ

σχολῇ σʼ ἂν οἴκους τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐστειλάμην.

Τειρεσίας

ἡμεῖς τοιοίδʼ ἔφυμεν, ὡς μὲν σοὶ δοκεῖ,
435

μῶροι, γονεῦσι δʼ, οἵ σʼ ἔφυσαν, ἔμφρονες.

Οἰδίπους

ποίοισι; μεῖνον, τίς δέ μʼ ἐκφύει βροτῶν;

Τειρεσίας

ἥδʼ ἡμέρα φύσει σε καὶ διαφθερεῖ.

Οἰδίπους

ὡς πάντʼ ἄγαν αἰνικτὰ κἀσαφῆ λέγεις.

Τειρεσίας

οὔκουν σὺ ταῦτʼ ἄριστος εὑρίσκειν ἔφυς;
440

Οἰδίπους

τοιαῦτʼ ὀνείδιζʼ, οἷς ἔμʼ εὑρήσεις μέγαν.

Τειρεσίας

αὕτη γε μέντοι σʼ ἡ τύχη διώλεσεν.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ εἰ πόλιν τήνδʼ ἐξέσωσʼ, οὔ μοι μέλει.

Τειρεσίας

ἄπειμι τοίνυν· καὶ σύ, παῖ, κόμιζέ με.

Οἰδίπους

κομιζέτω δῆθʼ· ὡς παρὼν σύ γʼ ἐμποδὼν
445

ὀχλεῖς, συθείς τʼ ἂν οὐκ ἂν ἀλγύνοις πλέον.

COR. SH

May I die for him if I speak not true!

Corinthian

Nor to him

Owest thou thy birth; no, nor to me.

Chorus

As you have put me under oath, on my oath, my king, I will speak. I am not the slayer, nor can I reveal him. As for the investigation, it was for Phoebus, who enjoined it, to tell us who did the deed.

Oedipus

Justly said. But no man on earth can force the gods to do what they do not want.
280

Chorus

I would like to say what seems to me the next best course.

Oedipus

And if there is a third course, do not hesitate to reveal it too.

Chorus

I know that our lord Teiresias is the seer most like our

lord Apollo: from him, my king, an investigator might learn most clearly about these affairs.
285

Oedipus

Not even this have I neglected. On Creon’s suggestion, I sent a man twice to bring him. And I have been wondering for some time why he is not here.

Chorus

Indeed—his skill apart—the rumors are but faint and old.
290

Oedipus

What are the rumors? I am investigating every tale.

Chorus

He was said to have been killed by some wayfarers.

Oedipus

I too have heard that. But no one sees the one who saw it.

Chorus

If he knows what fear is, he will not hesitate to come forward when he

hears your curses, so dire are they.
295

Oedipus

When a man does not shrink from a deed, he is not scared by a word.

Chorus

But there is one to convict him. But here they bring at last the godlike prophet, the only man in whom truth lives.

Teiresias

Alas, how terrible it is to have wisdom when it does not benefit those who have it. I knew this well, but let it slip from my mind: otherwise I would not have come here.

Oedipus

What now? How disheartened you have come!

Teiresias

Let me go home. For you will bear your own burden to the end, and I will bear mine, if you consent.
320

Oedipus

Your words are strange and unkind to the state which nurtured you, since you withhold this response.