Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 272

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Creon
1446cont2
Thy hapless fate should teach us to believe,
And reverence the gods.
I l)Og thee, I conjure thee, let a tomb
Be raised, and all due honours paid to her
Who lies within : she was thy sister, Creon ;
It is a duty which thou ow'st : for me,
I cannot hope this city now will deign
To keep me here. O Creon ! let me go,
And seek the solitary mountain's top,
My own Cith?eron, by my parents doomed
Long since to be the grave of CEdipus ;
Where would I die, as they decreed I should.
Alas ! I cannot, must not perish yet,
Till I have suffered evils worse than death,
For I was only saved to be unhappy ;
But I must meet my fate, whate'er it be.
My sons are men, and wheresoever fortune
May place them, cannot want the means of life ;
They shall not burthen thee ; but, O my friend !
What will become of my unhappy daughters,
With tenderest love, beneath a father's hand,
Cherished so long ? Oh ! take them to thy care,
Thou best of men ! Oh ! might I but embrace them,
But shed a tear o'er their disastrous fate,
Might I be suffered but to touch them here,
I should rejoice, and think I saw them still.
But hark ! methinks e'en now I hear the voice
Of my dear daughters ; hath the gracious Creon,
In pity to my woes, already brought
My children to me 1 — is it so ?

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)) — 272 focus
τῷ νῦν φθερεῖσθαι κἄτι τοῦδ᾽ ἐχθίονι·
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 216-462 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 272 focus
COR. SH
I came with kind intent—and, dear my lord,
I fain would rid thee from this haunting dread.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 276 focus
Wie mich dein Fluch gebunden, also red' ich, Herr.
Nicht ich erschlug ihn, weiß dir auch den Mörder nicht
Zu nennen. Er, der solche Forschung uns gebot,
Apollon mußte sagen, wer die That verübt.
280
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 272 focus
Oedipus
Be cheer'd: for were I thrice a slave, and thrice
My mothers slaves, thence no disgrace were thine.
Yet let my prayers prevail; this search forbear.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 216-460 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-882-1 καὶ σοί γ’ 1 προστρέψομαι 2 προτρέψομαι 3

mvp-comment-883-1 τῆς … κατ’ οἴκους 4

mvp-comment-884-1 τελεῖς 5

mvp-comment-885-1 ἀξιωθήτω 6

mvp-comment-886-1 ἔα 7

mvp-comment-886-2 ὄρεσιν 8

mvp-comment-887-1 The words ἐξ ἐκείνων 9 ζῶντε 10 ζῶντι 11 ζῶντι 12 τάφον 13

mvp-comment-887-2 κύριον 14

mvp-comment-888-1 ἀπωλλύτην 15

mvp-comment-889-1 οἶδα μὴ ἂν πέρσαι 16 μὴ 17 μὴ 18 οὐ 19

mvp-comment-890-1 with μή 20 σωθείς 21

mvp-comment-891-1 προσθῇ μέριμναν, 22

mvp-comment-891-2 ἄνδρες 23

mvp-comment-892-1 τοῖν δ’ ἀθλίαιν 24 οἷν 25

mvp-comment-893-1 οἷν 26 ἡ ἐμὴ βορᾶς τράπεζα 27 οὔποτε χωρὶς ἐστάθη 28 ἄνευ τοῦδ’ ἀνδρός 29 ἄνευ 30 ἄλλη 31 ἡμή 32 βορᾶς 33

mvp-comment-893-2 ἐστάθη 34

mvp-comment-893-3 ἄνευ τοῦδ’ ἀνδρός 35 χωρίς 36 ἄνευ 37

mvp-comment-894-1 μέλεσθαι 38 μάλιστα μέν 39

mvp-comment-895-1 ἴθ’ ὦναξ 40

mvp-comment-896-1 γονῇ γενναῖε, 41 γενναῖε 42

mvp-comment-897-1 δοκοῖμ’ 43 ἔχειν σφας 44

mvp-comment-898-1 τί φημί; 45

mvp-comment-899-1 τοῖν … φίλοιν | δακρυρροούντοιν 46

mvp-comment-900-1 τὰ φίλτατ’ ἐκγ. ἐμοῖν 47

mvp-comment-901-1 λέγω τι; 48

mvp-comment-902-1 γνοὺς … πάλαι 49

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

1446. mvp-comment-804-1 i. e. Not only do I believe, but I will urge your duties upon you.

1446. mvp-comment-804-2 προτρέψομαι suits the context better than προστρέψομαι. The earlier part of the speech has more the tone of command than of supplication, as of one who instructs his sorrows to be proud, or who, in the extreme of misfortune, is like a prophet new inspired. He claims the right which the curse has given him to go into solitude, and he resigns his right in Jocasta (τῶν γε σῶν), whom he will not even name (τῆς κατ' οἴκους).

1449. mvp-comment-805-1 'But never let this, my father's city, be allowed to have me as a living inhabitant.' For the passive, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 54.

1450. mvp-comment-806-1 ζῶντος i. e. You may slay me if you will (cp. ἀπολλύναι, 1441), but if I am to live you must send me into banishment.

1451. mvp-comment-807-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἔα με So Ant. 95.

1451. mvp-comment-807-2 ἔνθα κλήζεται Where is this Citheron, which rumour celebrates as mine.' Cp. Tr. 659, ἔνθα κλήζεται θυτήρ = Where rumour reports him sacrificing. Pind. Nem. 9. 41, ἔνθ᾽ Ἀρέας πόρον ἄνθρωποι καλέοισι. The use is similar to that of καλεῖσθαι, λέγεσθαι, with names of places, but there is here a special reference to the rumour prevalent at the moment. Cp. supr. 1086 ff.

1453. mvp-comment-808-1 ζῶντε . . τάφον ζῶντε is the reading of the MSS. Let me await my death in that place, which they in their life-time appointed for my destined tomb.' ζώντε is added to intimate that the intentions which they had in life will be fulfilled after their death; κύριον shows that their appointment was justified by the event and ratified by fate. The correction ζῶντι, which Brunck introduced from the conjecture of Toup, brings in the notion of a living grave where it is not required. Ant. 888, ζῶσα τυμβεύειν, is not parallel. ζῶντι would rather weaken the transition in what follows by anticipating ll. 1455-1456.

1454. mvp-comment-809-1 οἱ μ᾿ ἀπωλλύτην For the conative imperfect tense, ср. О. С. 274, ὑφ᾽ ὧν δ᾽ ἔπασχον, εἰδότων ἀπωλλύμην.

1455. mvp-comment-810-1 i. e. Let me die in the wilderness; and yet what will be my end? What will destroy me, when I was saved in such a death? I was predestined to live for evils.' The feeling here expressed is that referred to in O. C. 438-439, καμάνθανον τὸν θυμὸν ἐκδραμόντα μοι | μείζω κολαστὴν τῶν πρὶν ἡμαρτημένων.

1458. mvp-comment-811-1 ὅποιπερ (and not ὅπῃπερ) is right, because Oedipus is thinking of the end, which is still unknown to him.

1460. mvp-comment-812-1 προσθῇ Elms. conjectured προθῇ, comparing El. 1334, νῦν δ᾽ εὐλάβειαν τῶνδε προὐθέμην ἐγώ. But the meaning of προσθῇ suits the context well. Do not give thyself anxiety on their account.

1462. mvp-comment-813-1 ταῖν δ᾽.. ἐμαΐν The construction of these words, which is suggested by παίδων . . μέριμναν, is broken off by the parenthesis, and resumed in the relative clause αἷν μοι μέλεσθαι.

1463-1465. mvp-comment-814-1 Apart from whom my table was never spread, so that they should be without me.' ἄνευ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός is an inverted epexegesis, as though the expression had run, Whose table was never spread apart from mine, or without me.' The point of view is changed, and Oedipus no longer speaks of himself as separated from his children, but of his children as separated from himself. The v. r. in Trin. may have been occasioned by the strangeness of this inversion. See Essay on Language § 42. p. 80.

1467. mvp-comment-815-1 To touch them, and to lament over our woes.'

1468. mvp-comment-816-1 ἴθ᾽ ὦναξ For the interruption of the metre in similar passages, marking a pause of uncertainty, ср. О. С. 315-318, 12713 Phil. 750; Tr. 865, 1081.

1469. mvp-comment-817-1 ὦ γονῇ γενναίε O right noble one!' The tautology is merely emphatic, as in Aristoph. Vesp. 466, ὦ πόνῳ πονηρέ: Plat. Soph. 231 Β, ἡ γένει γενναία σοφιστική. Ε. on L. § 40. p. 75.

1471. mvp-comment-818-1 τί φημί How? This refers not to the previous words, but to the thought that his children are approaching.

1472. mvp-comment-819-1 Can it be that I hear-?' τοῖν μοι φίλοιν] My dear ones. For the use of the masculine or common gender here, see Essay on Language § 20. P. 30.

1474. mvp-comment-820-1 τὰ φίλτατ᾽ ἐκγόνοιν ἐμοῖν My dearest children. See Essay on Language § 10. 6. p. 17.

1475. mvp-comment-821-1 λέγω τι Can I be right? 1477. i.e. Knowing the delight which you have always taken in your children, and thus foreseeing the delight which their coming gives you at this moment.'