Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 380cont2

mvp-comment-283-1 ὀργῇ ¹

mvp-comment-283-2 καὶ τὰ σ’ ²

mvp-comment-284-1 τόδε ³ λύσομεν ⁴

mvp-comment-285-1 εἰ καὶ ⁵ εἰ καὶ ⁶

mvp-comment-285-2 ἐξισωτέον ⁷

mvp-comment-286-1 Λοξίᾳ ⁸

mvp-comment-286-2 ὥστ’ οὐ κρέοντος ⁹

mvp-comment-286-3 γεγράψομαι ¹⁰ Κρέοντος ¹¹

mvp-comment-287-1 λέγω δ’ ¹²

mvp-comment-287-2 τυφλόν μ’ ὠνείδισας ¹³

mvp-comment-288-1 σὺ καὶ δέδορκας ¹⁴

mvp-comment-289-1 ἔνθα ναίεις ¹⁵

mvp-comment-290-1 ἆρ’ οἶσθα ¹⁶ καὶ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-291-1 ἀμφιπλὴξ ¹⁸ μητρός, πατρός ¹⁹

mvp-comment-292-1 δεινόπους ²⁰

mvp-comment-293-1 Βλέποντα ²¹ βλέπειν σκότον ²²

mvp-comment-294-1 βοῆς δὲ ²³ λιμήν ²⁴

mvp-comment-295-1 ποῖος Κιθαιρὼν ²⁵

mvp-comment-295-2 τὸν ὑμέναιον ὃν εἰσέπλευσας ²⁶ δόμοις ²⁷

mvp-comment-295-3 εὐπλοίας τυχών ²⁸

mvp-comment-296-1 ἄλλων δὲ ²⁹ ἄλλων πλῆθος κακῶν ³⁰

mvp-comment-297-1 ἅ σ’ ἐξισώσει ³¹ ἅ σ’ ³²

mvp-comment-298-1 τοὐμὸν στόμα ³³

mvp-comment-298-2 προπηλάκιζε ³⁴

mvp-comment-298-3 ἐκτριβήσεται ³⁵

mvp-comment-299-1 οὐκ εἰς ὄλεθρον; ³⁶

mvp-comment-299-2 πάλιν ἄψορρος ³⁷ οἴκων τῶνδ’ ³⁸ ἀποστραφείς ³⁹

mvp-comment-301-1 σχολῇ σ’ ἄν ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-301-2 οἴκους ⁴¹

mvp-comment-301-3 ἐστειλάμην ⁴²

mvp-comment-302-1 τοιοίδ’ ⁴³ μῶροι … ἔμφρονες ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-302-2 ὡς μὲν σοὶ δοκεῖ. σοὶ ⁴⁵ σοὶ ⁴⁶ γονεῦσι ⁴⁷ δοκεῖ ⁴⁸ σοὶ ⁴⁹ δοκεῖ ⁵⁰ ὡς μὲν σοὶ ⁵¹ ὡς δοκεῖ ⁵²

mvp-comment-302-3 γονεῦσι ⁵³

mvp-comment-303-1 ἐκφύει ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-304-1 οὔκουν κ.τ.λ. ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-304-2 τοιαῦτ’ ὀνείδιζέ (μοι ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-304-3 τοιαῦτα … οἷς ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-305-1 αὕτη γε μέντοι ⁵⁸ γε ⁵⁹ μέντοι ⁶⁰ γε ⁶¹

mvp-comment-305-2 τύχη ⁶²

mvp-comment-305-3 ἐξέσωσ’ ⁶³

mvp-comment-306-1 κομιζέτω δῆθ’ ⁶⁴

mvp-comment-306-2 ἐμποδὼν ⁶⁵ παρὼν ⁶⁶ σύ γε ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-307-1 ἀλγύνοις ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-308-1 πρόσωπον ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-308-2 οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅπου ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-309-1 λέγω δέ σοι ⁷¹

mvp-comment-309-2 τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον … οὗτός ἐστιν ⁷²

mvp-comment-310-1 ἀνακηρύσσων φόνον ⁷³

mvp-comment-311-1 τὸν Λαΐειον ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-311-2 ξένος μέτοικος ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-311-3 εἶτα δὲ ⁷⁶ ἐνθάδε. —ἐγγενὴς ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-312-1 τῇ ξυμφορᾷ ⁷⁸

mvp-comment-312-2 ἐκ δεδορκότος ⁷⁹

mvp-comment-313-1 ξένην ἔπι ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-313-2 γαῖαν ⁸¹ προδεικνὺς ⁸² ξένην ⁸³ γαῖαν ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-314-1 ξυνὼν ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-314-2 ἀδελφὸς αὑτὸς ⁸⁶ ἀδελφὸς ⁸⁷ αὐτὸς ⁸⁸ ἀδελφὸς καὶ πατὴρ ⁸⁹ αὑτός ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-315-1 ὁμόσπορος ⁹¹

mvp-comment-316-1 λάβῃς ἐψ. ⁹²

mvp-comment-317-1 φάσκειν ⁹³

mvp-comment-317-2 μαντικῇ ⁹⁴

mvp-comment-318-1 θεσπιέπεια ⁹⁵

mvp-comment-318-2 δελφὶς πέτρα ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-318-3 εἶπε τελέσαντα ⁹⁷

mvp-comment-319-1 ἄρρητ’ ἀρρήτων ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-320-1 ἀελλάδων ⁹⁹

mvp-comment-321-1 ἵππων ¹⁰⁰

mvp-comment-322-1 στεροπαῖς ¹⁰¹

mvp-comment-322-2 γενέτας ¹⁰²

mvp-comment-323-1 Κῆρες ¹⁰³

mvp-comment-323-2 ἀναπλάκητοι ¹⁰⁴

404. mvp-comment-245-1 εἰκάζουσι indicates the modest reserve with which the chorus express their view of what is passing between those above them. Cp. infr. 530.

406. mvp-comment-246-1 ὅπως is at first put in construction with δεῖ (cp. Αj. 556), but this being feeble is strengthened by the resumption in the words τόδε σκοπεῖν. For λύειν, = ' to meet effectually,' cp. Plat. Rep. 8. 556 Α, ᾗ αὖ κατὰ ἕτερον νόμον τὰ τοιαῦτα λύεται. Here it is partly to meet an obligation, partly to remove a difficulty.'

408-409. mvp-comment-247-1 ἐξισωτέον .. ἀντιλέξαι One point of equality must be maintained,the right of making full reply. ἴσα is added pleonastically. See Essay on Language § 40. 5. p. 76. τὸ .. ἀντιλέξαι is (1) accusative in regimen, or (2) epexegetic infinitive after ἐξισωτέον. For this impersonal passive, see Essay on Language § 31. 3. c. p. 54, and cp. infr. 628, ἀρκτέον.

409-411. mvp-comment-248-1 τοῦδε .. γεγράψομαι I too am lord of my speech, for my life is bound to Loxias and not to you. And being his servant, I shall not be enrolled under the protection of Creon. In respect of speech the prophet has authority, as the king has in matters of state. Cp. Ant. 993-994. The metic had need of a προστάτης, not the free citizen, still less one who is the retainer of a god.

412. mvp-comment-249-1 λέγω δ' And I reply. Continuing the sense from ἀντιλέξαι.

412. mvp-comment-249-2 τυφλόν, sc. ὡς ὄντα. See Essay on Language § 39, I. c. p. 72.

413. mvp-comment-250-1 A more pointed way of saying, σὺ καὶ δεδορκὼς οὐ βλέπεις ἵν᾽ εἰ κακοῦ. Cp. 419. See Essay on Language § 36, В. 8. p. 68.

414. mvp-comment-251-1 ἔνθα ναίεις i. e. In your own country and in your father's house.

415. mvp-comment-252-1 ἆρ᾽ οἶσθ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ὧν εἰ This question first re-awakens in Oedipus the old desire to know his birth. Cp. 437, 451.

415. mvp-comment-252-2 καί Moreover.

417. mvp-comment-253-1 ἀμφιπλήξ On both sides lashing thee. The twofold curse reminds the poet of the favourite image of the διπλῆ μάστιξ.

417. mvp-comment-253-2 τοῦ σοῦ Ε. on L. p. 33. 6. b, infr. 459.

418. mvp-comment-254-1 As the sentence proceeds. the image of the curse becomes more distinct and personal. Cp. El. 491, χαλκόπους Ἐρινύς.

419. mvp-comment-255-1 Thy now clear sight thenceforth seeing darkness only. Essay on Language p. 70.

420-421. mvp-comment-256-1 ποῖος οὐκ ἔσται λιμήν i. e. τίς τόπος οὐκ ἔσται λιμήν; ποῖος Κιθαιρών, i.e. πῶς οὐχὶ Κιθαιρών, κ.τ.λ. The second ποῖος is used by a sort of attraction or echo from the previous clause, and may be explained by the adverbial use of the pronoun noticed in Essay on Language pp. 59, 83. This is better than to suppose Κιθαιρών to be put by synecdoche for any mountain. Cp. Phil. 451, ποῦ χρὴ τίθεσθαι ταῦτα .. ποῦ δ' αἰνεῖν; where similarly the meaning of ποῦ varies in the two members of the sentence.

422. mvp-comment-257-1 The favorite image of a haven, already present to the mind in another connection (420), is applied to the marriage of Oedipus with the queen. Cp. infr. 1208 foll. The marriage and the marriage-song are identified. as elsewhere. When thou hast learnt the nature of that marriage, into which in yonder halls thou wast carried with full sail, to find no shelter there. δόμοις is added to indicate the meaning of the image that follows. Cp. Tr. 538. (Others take öv as cogn. accus., not = λιμένα but πλοῦν, and δόμοις as = εἰς δόμους. For this cp. Eur. H. F. 242.) 425. 'Which will show you in your true relation to yourself and to your children: i. e. Which will show you what you are, and that you are the brother of your children.

426. mvp-comment-258-1 τοὐμὸν στόμα 'The word in my mouth; i. e. Me and my prophecies. Cp. Ο. C. 794, τὸ σὸν δ᾽ ἀφῖκται δεῦρ᾽ ὑπόβλητον στόμα.

428. mvp-comment-259-1 κάκιον. . ἐκτριβήσεται Shall be more cruelly rooted out. Cp. amongst other places, Hdt. 6. 86, ἐκτέτριπταί τε πρόρριζος ἐκ Σπάρτης: ib. 6. 37. The position of κάκιον is very emphatic.

430. mvp-comment-260-1 The two pauses in the same line mark intense excitement.

431. mvp-comment-261-1 οἴκων The genitive is to be taken with both phrases, ἄψορρος ἄπει and ἀποστραφείς. Will you not return and begone from the house? Observe the angry repetition both of sound and meaning.

434. mvp-comment-262-1 ἐστειλάμην Would have had thee conducted to my house; referring to the διπλοί πομποί. The verb is causa- tive as in Ant. 164-165, πομποῖσιν ..

434. mvp-comment-262-2 ἔστειλα. The middle voice here expresses more of personal feeling and is in harmony with οἴκους τοὺς ἐμούς.

436. mvp-comment-263-1 οἱ σ᾽ ἔφυσαν The repetition of the same verb (ἔφυμεν, l. 435 ) is another instance of accidental tautology. Cp. infr. 519. The double phrase (γον. οἵ σ' ἔφν.) is intended to draw the attention of Oedipus to the mystery of his birth. The construction of the dative has to be supplied from ἔφυμεν, ὡς .. δοκεῖ, SC. ἐδοκοῦμεν φῦναι.

437. mvp-comment-264-1 μεῖνον. (430, note.) Teiresias had turned to go. δé connects the question immediately with the speech of Teiresias. ἐκφύει, historical present.

438. mvp-comment-265-1 This day shall give thee birth and bring thee to nought.' 441. Reproach me with these things if you will, but you will find me great in them. For the sarcastic imperative, cp. Εl. 794, ὕβριζε, κ.τ.λ.: Aj. 971, ὑβριζέτω : Aesch. Prom. 82, ἐνταῦθα νῦν ὕβριζε.

442. mvp-comment-266-1 That glory of yours has been your ruin.' τύχη refers to μέγαν. The glory of which you speak. The word is much more appropriate than τέχνη (Bentley), which implies praise, and is rather applicable to the μαντική of Teiesias than to the γνώμη of Oedipus. Gravius est τύχη ut plura complectens. Erfurdt. Cp. supr. 423, εὐπλοίας τυχών. Teiresias assigns to Fortune what Oedipus (supr. 398) attributed to Wit. Cp. Thuc. 1. 144, γνώμῃ πλείονι ἢ τύχῃ καὶ τόλμῃ μείζονι ἢ δυνάμει.

443. mvp-comment-267-1 Oedipus, although curious about his parentage, cares not to ask further about the threat of ruin, but falls back on his devotion to the state.

445. mvp-comment-268-1 ὡς .. ὀχλεῖς Being present and in our way, you trouble us. σύ is brought in to mark the antithesis. Essay on Language § 41. e. p. 79. The reading of most MSS, σύ γ', may be defended if γε belongs to the whole sentence, assenting to l. 444. 447 ff. I will tell my message ere I go, not fearing thy frown, for thou hast no power to destroy me.' The speech of Teiresias is now as clear as his former words were dark; although his meaning is still an enigma to Oedipus.

447. mvp-comment-269-1 εἰπὼν ἄπειμ᾽ ὧν οὖνεκ᾽ ἦλθον The position of εἰπών here (having the first arsis of the line) is very emphatic. Cp. supr. 428, and see Essay on Language § 41. P. 77.

448. mvp-comment-270-1 πρόσωπον Cp. Hor. Od. 3. 3. 4. Nec vultus instantis tyranni Mente quatit solida.

448. mvp-comment-270-2 οὐ γὰρ . . ὀλεῖς Thou hast no power to ruin me. Cp. supr. 355. Essay on Language § 24. p. 41. Teiresias' habitual respect for Oedipus struggles with his prophetic knowledge, even now that he has help of anger.' ὅπου and ποῦ are used as nearly equivalent to ὅπως, πῶς. Cp. Αj. 1100, ποῦ σὺ στρατηγεῖς τοῦδε; 1103, οὐδ᾽ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπου σοί, κ.τ.λ.

449. mvp-comment-271-1 τοῦτον Essay on Language § 22. p. 35; and § 35. p. 59.

450. mvp-comment-272-1 ἀπειλῶν Supr. 233 foll.

452. mvp-comment-273-1 λόγῳ In appearance. Cp. El. 63, 1217.

452. mvp-comment-273-2 ἐγγενὴς . . Θηβαῖος A native Theban, i.e. not only of Theban extraction, but at once born in the country and belonging to the race. Cp. Hdt. 2. 47, where Αἰγύπτιοι ἐγγενέες means the opposite of τὸ ἀνέκαθεν Αἰγύπτιοι.

453. mvp-comment-274-1 οὐδ᾽ ἡσθήσεται, κ.τ.λ. Nor will he be gladdened by his fortune. The use of the third person adds to the impressiveness of the prophecy.

456. mvp-comment-275-1 Groping his way. σκήπτρῳ προδεικνύς, lit. 'Pointing before him with a staff. For the order of words, see Essay on Language § 41. p. 77.

457. mvp-comment-276-1 αὐτός The MS. reading agrees better with αὑτοῦ in the previous line than αὑτός, which some editors have substituted. He shall prove to be to his own children, with whom he lives, himself their brother as well as father. (αὐτὸς τοῖς αὑτοῦ παισὶν ἀδελφός.) For the slight pleonasm in ξυνών, cp. Aj. 267, κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι λυπεῖσθαι ξυνών. The horror of the relationship is increased by his having lived with them in ignorance of it for so long.

459. mvp-comment-277-1 And of his mother and wife—her husband as well as son. The collocation of γυναικὸς υἱὸς is intentionally suggestive.

459. mvp-comment-277-2 τοῦ πατρός The article points to Laius, his father, of whom so much has been lately said. And of his murdered sire at once the incestuous rival and the murderer.

460. mvp-comment-278-1 ὁμόσπορος τὴν αὐτὴν σπείρων γυναῖκα, Schol. Cp. Eur. Or. 476, where Menelaus says to Tyndareus, χαῖρε, Ζηνὸς ὁμόλεκτρον κάρα. The same word is used passively in 260. The seven καί's have a cumulative force. καί with the imperative = And now. 461. For με omitted see Essay on Language §39. P. 73-

462. mvp-comment-279-1 φρονεῖν To have intelligence, as in 316. Cp. 11. 390-396.

463-511. mvp-comment-280-1 Where is the accursed one, whom Apollo has marked as the perpetrator of the terrible deed? Now should he fly far away, with a step swifter than that of steeds, the daughters of the wind. For the son of Zeus, clothed in armour, leaps upon him with flashing fire, and the inevitable Fates are following him. He is roaming in forests and amongst desert caves, but he shall find no refuge. The forlorn man cannot put away from him the oracles that come from the centre of the earth.

463-511. mvp-comment-280-2 I tremble to think of the answer which the seer has given; and I hover in uncertainty, seeing neither what is, nor what will be. I neither know nor have known any strife between the house of Labdacus and the son of Polybus, and without proof, I will not give up Oedipus on an uncertain surmise. There is no knowing whether the voice of the prophet is the voice of God. But one man may be wiser than another. And of mortals who so wise as Oedipus? We have proof of this and of his good- Ist strophe and antistr. logaoedic or glyconic, ness to our state. Therefore I will think no harm of him.

463-511. mvp-comment-280-3 The first strophe and antistrophe refer to the proclamation of Oedipus reporting the answer of the oracle; the second to the words of Teiresias, which contained the only answer yet given to the question which the oracle left obscure. The differing metres of the first and second strophe and antistrophe contrast the eager resolution of the chorus to find the murderer, with the wavering excitement which the words of Teiresias have awakened, distracting them between their loyalty to Oedipus and their reverence for the seer. The first strophe commences with a strain half grave, half light, which is stirred into a quicker motion in the glyconics (lines 466-468), where the flight of the fugitive is described and grows faster and also weightier in the description of the tramp of his pursuers (lines 469 ff.). In the second strophe the alternation of the mind of the Chorus is indicated in the uneven Ionic rhythm. followed by rapid anapaestic clcclcc dimeters marking the climax of feeling. 2nd str. and antistr. Ionic a minore with anacrusis and pauses. 100- D 100–110)|10) 10)||10)|[110)]110) 463. The διορθωτής of the Laurentian MS. has written εἶπε over another word (ειδε?) and Flor. Γ. gives εἶδε, above 100which a later hand has written εἶπε as a v. r. Both readings are noticed by the Scholiast. The construction with the participle is at first sight rather in favour of εἶδε (or οἶδε). But cp. El. 318, О. С. 1580, ξυντομωτάτως μὲν ἂν τύχοιμι λέξας Οἰδίπουν ὀλωλότα, and infr. 1214, δικάζει .. τεκνοῦντα, εἶπε is much better suited to the context. The voice which the Pythia interpreted came from the rock.

465. mvp-comment-281-1 For ἄρρητ' ἀρρήτων, see Essay on Language § 40, 4. p. 75.

466. mvp-comment-282-1 ἀελλάδων Said to be = ἀελλαίων. But may not some of the force of the patronymic be retained, = 'Swift daughters of the storm'? See the fable in II. 20. 223.

467. mvp-comment-283-1 σθεναρώτερον is better taken as an adjective agreeing with πόδα than as an adverb. Cp. Il. 10.358, λαιψηρὰ δὲ γούνατ' ἐνώμα. Ε. on L. § 9. p. 13.

470. mvp-comment-284-1 πυρὶ καὶ στεροπαῖς Το follow ἔνοπλος ἐπενθρώσκει. The son of Zeus leaps armed upon him, with fiery bolts. The avenging power of Phoebus is referred to his father Zeus (the πυρφόρος ἀστεροπητής, Phil. 1198), whose lightning he hurls, and by whose prophetic power he is inspired. Cp. supr. 151.

472. mvp-comment-285-1 Κήρες The meaning of this word varies between (1) lot or des- tiny, (2) misfortune, (3) death. The Κῆρες have not the independent authority of the Mοίραι, but are rather the subordinate ministers who execute the Divine will.