Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, Richard Jebb (Translator), 1329

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Oedipus

It was Apollo, friends, Apollo who brought these troubles

to pass, these terrible, terrible troubles. But the hand that struck my eyes was none other than my own, wretched that I am!
1330

Why should I see, when sight showed me nothing sweet?
1335

Chorus

These things were just as you say.

Oedipus

What, my friends, can I behold anymore, what can I love, what greeting can touch my ear with joy? Hurry, friends,

lead me from the land, lead me from here, the utterly lost,
1340

the thrice-accursed, the mortal most hateful to the gods!
1345

Chorus

Wretched alike for your fortune and for your understanding of it, would that I had never known you!

Oedipus Tyrannus. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1887.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Oedipus Tyrannus (English) (Sophocles the plays and fragments, Part 1: The Oedipus Tyrannus. Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, Sir, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1887. (Modernized by Perseus.))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1329 focus

Ἀπόλλων τάδ᾽ ἦν, Ἀπόλλων, φίλοι,

ὁ κακὰ κακῶς τελῶν ἐμοὶ τάδ᾽ ἐμὰ παθέα.
1330

ἔπαισε δ᾽ αὐτόχειρ νιν οὔτις, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ τλάμων.

τί γὰρ ἔδει μ᾽ ὁρᾶν,

5

ὅτῳ γ᾽ ὁρῶντι μηδὲν ἦν ἰδεῖν γλυκύ;
1335

Χορός

ἦν ταῦθ᾽ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σὺ φῄς.

Οἰδίπους

τί δῆτ᾽ ἐμοὶ βλεπτόν, ἢ

στερκτόν, ἢ προσήγορον

ἔτ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἀκούειν ἡδονᾷ, φίλοι;

ἀπάγετ᾽ ἐκτόπιον ὅτι τάχιστά με,
1340

ἀπάγετ᾽, ὦ φίλοι, τὸν *ὄλεθρον μέγαν,

τὸν καταρατότατον, ἔτι δὲ καὶ θεοῖς
1345

ἐχθρότατον βροτῶν.

Χορός

δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον,

ὥς σ᾽ ἠθέλησα μήδ᾽ ἀναγνῶναί ποτε.

Οἰδίπους
β

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1329 focus

Οἰδίπους

Ἀπόλλων τάδʼ ἦν, Ἀπόλλων, φίλοι,

ὁ κακὰ κακὰ τελῶν ἐμὰ τάδʼ ἐμὰ πάθεα.
1330

ἔπαισε δʼ αὐτόχειρ νιν οὔτις, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τλάμων.

τί γὰρ ἔδει μʼ ὁρᾶν,

ὅτῳ γʼ ὁρῶντι μηδὲν ἦν ἰδεῖν γλυκύ;
1335

Χορός

ἦν τᾷδʼ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σύ φῄς.

Οἰδίπους

τί δῆτʼ ἐμοὶ βλεπτὸν ἢ

στερκτὸν ἢ προσήγορον

ἔτʼ ἔστʼ ἀκούειν ἡδονᾷ φίλοι;

ἀπάγετʼ ἐκτόπιον ὅ τι τάχιστά με,
1340

ἀπάγετʼ, ὦ φίλοι, τὸν μέγʼ ὀλέθριον

τὸν καταρατότατον, ἔτι δὲ καὶ θεοῖς

ἐχθρότατον βροτῶν.
1345

Χορός

δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον,

ὡς σʼ ἠθέλησα μηδέ γʼ ἂν γνῶναί ποτε.

Translations (4)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1329 focus

Apollo, dear my friends, Apollo brought to pass

In dreadful wise, this my calamitous woe.
1330

But I,—no being else,—I with this hand destroyed them.

For why should I have sight,

To whom nought now gave pleasure through the eye?
1335

CH

There speak’st thou truly.

OED

What could I see, whom hear

With gladness, whom delight in any more?

Lead me away out of the land with speed!

Be rid of the destroyer, the accursed,

Whom most of all the world the Gods abhor.

CH

O miserable in thy calamity

And not less miserable in thy despair,

Would thou wert still in ignorance of thy birth!

OED

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1329 focus

Es war Phöbos, Freunde, ja, Phöbos war's,

Der dies Arge mir, dies Gräßliche verhängt!

Doch traf sie keines Andern Hand, ich Armer selbst traf sie.

Wozu sollt' ich seh'n,

Dem, wenn er sah, nichts Süßes mehr zu schauen war?
1305

Der Chor.

Wohl war es also, wie du sagst.

Oedipus.

Was kann ich schau'n, Freunde, was

Lieben, wessen Rede kann

Zu hören fortan eine Lust mir sein?

Führt mich von hinnen doch, ohne zu säumen, fort,
1310

Führt mich, o Freunde, fort, mich, den verderblichsten,

Mich, den verfluchten Mann, den vor den Sterblichen

Allen der Himmel haßt!

Der Chor.

Du durch Bewußtsein und Geschick Unseliger,

Wie muß ich wünschen, daß ich niemals dich gekannt!
1315

Oedipus.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1329 focus

Aii; thou here, my friend?

I know thy voice ; thou wouldst not leave the wretched ;

Thou art my faithful, kind assistant still.

Chorus

How couldst thou thus deprive thyself of sight?

What madness drove thee to the desperate deed ?

What god inspired?

Oedipus

Apollo was the cause ;

He was, my friends, the cause of all my woes ;

But for these eyes — myself did quench their light —

I want not them ; what use were they to me,

But to discover scenes of endless woe ;

Chorus

'Tis but too true.

Oedipus

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1329 focus

Thou art a friend, yet stedfast, faithful yet;

Thy care, thy kind attention yet remains
1330

E'en to the blind. I know thee, though mine eyes

Are dark, distinctly know thee, and thy voice.

Chorus

Dreadful thy deeds: how hast thou dared thine eyes

To mangle thus? What god enforced this rage?

Oedipus

This was the work of Phœbus: O my friends,

Phœbus accomplish'd all my ills, my woes.

With his own hands no man e'er rent his eyes,

But I unhappy. Why should I have sight,

Since, had I eyes, nought pleasant could I see ?

Chorus

Mournful these truths, and just are thy complaints.

Oedipus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-813-1 Ἀπόλλων ¹ τελῶν ² ἔπαισε ³

mvp-comment-814-1 ὁ κακὰ κακὰ ⁴ κακὰ ⁵ ἐμὰ ⁶ τάδε, κακὰ, ἐμὰ ⁷

mvp-comment-815-1 νιν ⁸ ἀλλ’ ⁹

mvp-comment-816-1 The simple mode of expression would have been: τί ἐμοὶ ἡδέως βλεπτόν, ἢ στερκτόν, ἢ ἀκουστὸν ἔτ’ ἐστίν; what henceforth can be pleasurably seen, or loved, or heard by me? But instead of the third clause, we have ἢ προσήγορον | ἔτ’ ἔστ’ ἀκούειν ἡδονᾷ, “or what greeting is it longer possible for me to hear with pleasure? ” προσήγορον ¹⁰

mvp-comment-817-1 ἐκτόπιον ¹¹

mvp-comment-818-1 τὸν μέγ’ ὀλέθριον ¹² ὀλέθριον ¹³ ὄλεθρον μέγαν ¹⁴

mvp-comment-819-1 He is to be pitied alike for the intrinsic misery of his fate, and for his full apprehension (συνέσεως, schol.) of it. A clouded mind would suffer less.

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

1329. mvp-comment-747-1 Supr. 96-8.

1330. mvp-comment-748-1 *κακῶς. . *ἐμοί The correction has the effect of making a lyric iambic trimeter of this and of infr. 1350, which has not been successfully emended as a dochmiac line. The repetition of the same word (κακὰ κακά, ἐμὰ ἐμά) is feeble in a speech of Oedipus, although admissible in the chorus, supr. 1217. For similar iambic lines, cp. Eur. Bacch. 992, 1012: Phoen. 647, 666.

1331. mvp-comment-749-1 οὔτις, ἀλλ᾽ Cp. Il. 21.275, ἄλλος δ' οὔτις μοι τόσον αἴτιος Οὐρανιώνων, ἀλλὰ φίλη μήτηρ.

1334. mvp-comment-750-1 ὁρᾶν ἰδεῖν • Wherefore should I have sight, who could never again see aught that was pleasant to see?' For ὁρῶντι, cp. infr. 1371. R2

1337-1339. mvp-comment-751-1 What then can I look upon, what can I love, what can I hear any more addressing me with pleasure. O my friends? For the difference of Trin. and Trin. see the account of the MSS.

1337-1339. mvp-comment-751-2 ἡδονᾷ, dat. of manner. Essay on Language p. 20.

1341. mvp-comment-752-1 *ὄλεθρον Sc. ὄντα.

1345. mvp-comment-753-1 ἔτι Not only now accursed, but hated from the beginning.

1348. mvp-comment-754-1 ὥς σ' ἠθέλησα μήδ᾽ ἀναγνῶναί ποτε] (1) Unhappy for thy penetration no less than for thy calamity, how I could wish that I had never discovered who thou art. Cp. Hdt 2.91. where Perseus finds out who are his kindred, ἀναγνῶναι τοὺς συγγενέας. Or (2) as Solger trans. in 1824, Ich wünschte das du hättest nie dich selbst erkannt. How I would that thou hadst never made the discovery. Hesych. ἀναγνούσῃ, ἀναγνωρισάσῃ, ἀνάγνωσις, ἀναγνώρισις. The aorist without av follows the analogy of ὤφελον, ἐχρῆν, and the like. The dé in μηδέ opposes the discovery to what has followed it. Cp. 1229. Or (3) reading ὡς ἠθέλησα μηδέ σ' ἂν γνῶναί ποτε (Dindorf), or ὡς σ' ἠθέλησα μηδαμὰ γνῶναί ποτ᾿ ἄν (Dobr.) How I could wish never to have known thee. 1349. (1) Perish the man, no matter who, that loosed the cruel clog upon my feet, when I was sent astray. The plural of πέδη is more frequent than the singular, and the compound epithet ἐπιποδίας is more natural when in construction with a genitive: νομάδος, i. e.

1348. mvp-comment-754-2 ἐν χωρίῳ ἀγρονόμῳ ἀλωμένου, ἠγοῦν ἐκκειμένου. Cp. Tr. 271, ἵππους νομάδας ἐξιχνοσκοπῶν, Tracking out his mares that had strayed. (2) The Scholiast, who seems to have read ἔλαβ' or ἔλαβέ μ', explains: ἀπόλοιτό, φησιν, ὅστις ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγρίας πέδης τῆς διανεμομένης (gnawing asunder) τοὺς πόδας μου, ἔλαβεν καὶ διέσωσέν με. But such a meaning of νομás is inadmissible. 1354.5. (1) There is probably a change of subject, θανών being pendent nominative, For dying then, less grief had been my friends' and mine.' Others explain, (2) 'I had not been so great a sor- row to my friends and myself.' 615, φίλοις μέγα πένθος εὕρηται. for ἐμοί, supr. 379, αὐτὸς σύ σοί. Cp. Aj. And,

Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 1329

Richard Jebb (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Oedipus

It was Apollo, friends, Apollo who brought these troubles

to pass, these terrible, terrible troubles. But the hand that struck my eyes was none other than my own, wretched that I am!
1330

Why should I see, when sight showed me nothing sweet?
1335

Chorus

These things were just as you say.

Oedipus

What, my friends, can I behold anymore, what can I love, what greeting can touch my ear with joy? Hurry, friends,

lead me from the land, lead me from here, the utterly lost,
1340

the thrice-accursed, the mortal most hateful to the gods!
1345

Chorus

Wretched alike for your fortune and for your understanding of it, would that I had never known you!

Current edition Experimental

Χορός

ἦν ταῦθ᾽ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σὺ φῄς.

Χορός

δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον,

ὥς σ᾽ ἠθέλησα μήδ᾽ ἀναγνῶναί ποτε.

Οἰδίπους
β

Χορός

ἦν τᾷδʼ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σύ φῄς.

Χορός

δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον,

ὡς σʼ ἠθέλησα μηδέ γʼ ἂν γνῶναί ποτε.

Apollo, dear my friends, Apollo brought to pass

In dreadful wise, this my calamitous woe.
1330

But I,—no being else,—I with this hand destroyed them.

For why should I have sight,

To whom nought now gave pleasure through the eye?
1335

CH

There speak’st thou truly.

OED

What could I see, whom hear

With gladness, whom delight in any more?

Lead me away out of the land with speed!

Be rid of the destroyer, the accursed,

Whom most of all the world the Gods abhor.

CH

O miserable in thy calamity

And not less miserable in thy despair,

Would thou wert still in ignorance of thy birth!

OED

Es war Phöbos, Freunde, ja, Phöbos war's,

Der dies Arge mir, dies Gräßliche verhängt!

Doch traf sie keines Andern Hand, ich Armer selbst traf sie.

Wozu sollt' ich seh'n,

Dem, wenn er sah, nichts Süßes mehr zu schauen war?
1305

Der Chor.

Wohl war es also, wie du sagst.

Der Chor.

Du durch Bewußtsein und Geschick Unseliger,

Wie muß ich wünschen, daß ich niemals dich gekannt!
1315

Oedipus.

Aii; thou here, my friend?

I know thy voice ; thou wouldst not leave the wretched ;

Thou art my faithful, kind assistant still.

Chorus

How couldst thou thus deprive thyself of sight?

What madness drove thee to the desperate deed ?

What god inspired?

Oedipus

Apollo was the cause ;

He was, my friends, the cause of all my woes ;

But for these eyes — myself did quench their light —

I want not them ; what use were they to me,

But to discover scenes of endless woe ;

Chorus

'Tis but too true.

Oedipus

Thou art a friend, yet stedfast, faithful yet;

Thy care, thy kind attention yet remains
1330

E'en to the blind. I know thee, though mine eyes

Are dark, distinctly know thee, and thy voice.

Chorus

Dreadful thy deeds: how hast thou dared thine eyes

To mangle thus? What god enforced this rage?

Oedipus

This was the work of Phœbus: O my friends,

Phœbus accomplish'd all my ills, my woes.

With his own hands no man e'er rent his eyes,

But I unhappy. Why should I have sight,

Since, had I eyes, nought pleasant could I see ?

Chorus

Mournful these truths, and just are thy complaints.

Oedipus

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Oedipus It was Apollo, friends, Apollo who brought these troubles to pass, these terrible, terrible troubles. But the hand that struck my eyes was none other than my own, wretched that I am! 1330 Why should I see, when sight showed me nothing sweet? 1335

Chorus These things were just as you say.

Oedipus What, my friends, can I behold anymore, what can I love, what greeting can touch my ear with joy? Hurry, friends, lead me from the land, lead me from here, the utterly lost, 1340 the thrice-accursed, the mortal most hateful to the gods! 1345

Chorus Wretched alike for your fortune and for your understanding of it, would that I had never known you!

Current edition Experimental

Χορός ἦν ταῦθ᾽ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σὺ φῄς.

Χορός δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον, ὥς σ᾽ ἠθέλησα μήδ᾽ ἀναγνῶναί ποτε.

Οἰδίπους β

Χορός ἦν τᾷδʼ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σύ φῄς.

Χορός δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον, ὡς σʼ ἠθέλησα μηδέ γʼ ἂν γνῶναί ποτε.

Apollo, dear my friends, Apollo brought to pass In dreadful wise, this my calamitous woe. 1330 But I,—no being else,—I with this hand destroyed them. For why should I have sight, To whom nought now gave pleasure through the eye? 1335

CH There speak’st thou truly.

OED What could I see, whom hear With gladness, whom delight in any more? Lead me away out of the land with speed! Be rid of the destroyer, the accursed, Whom most of all the world the Gods abhor.

CH O miserable in thy calamity And not less miserable in thy despair, Would thou wert still in ignorance of thy birth!

OED

Es war Phöbos, Freunde, ja, Phöbos war's, Der dies Arge mir, dies Gräßliche verhängt! Doch traf sie keines Andern Hand, ich Armer selbst traf sie. Wozu sollt' ich seh'n, Dem, wenn er sah, nichts Süßes mehr zu schauen war? 1305

Der Chor. Wohl war es also, wie du sagst.

Oedipus. Was kann ich schau'n, Freunde, was Lieben, wessen Rede kann Zu hören fortan eine Lust mir sein? Führt mich von hinnen doch, ohne zu säumen, fort, 1310 Führt mich, o Freunde, fort, mich, den verderblichsten, Mich, den verfluchten Mann, den vor den Sterblichen Allen der Himmel haßt!

Der Chor. Du durch Bewußtsein und Geschick Unseliger, Wie muß ich wünschen, daß ich niemals dich gekannt! 1315

Oedipus.

Aii; thou here, my friend? I know thy voice ; thou wouldst not leave the wretched ; Thou art my faithful, kind assistant still.

Chorus How couldst thou thus deprive thyself of sight? What madness drove thee to the desperate deed ? What god inspired?

Oedipus Apollo was the cause ; He was, my friends, the cause of all my woes ; But for these eyes — myself did quench their light — I want not them ; what use were they to me, But to discover scenes of endless woe ;

Chorus 'Tis but too true.

Oedipus

Thou art a friend, yet stedfast, faithful yet; Thy care, thy kind attention yet remains 1330 E'en to the blind. I know thee, though mine eyes Are dark, distinctly know thee, and thy voice.

Chorus Dreadful thy deeds: how hast thou dared thine eyes To mangle thus? What god enforced this rage?

Oedipus This was the work of Phœbus: O my friends, Phœbus accomplish'd all my ills, my woes. With his own hands no man e'er rent his eyes, But I unhappy. Why should I have sight, Since, had I eyes, nought pleasant could I see ?

Chorus Mournful these truths, and just are thy complaints.

Oedipus

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Oedipus

It was Apollo, friends, Apollo who brought these troubles

to pass, these terrible, terrible troubles. But the hand that struck my eyes was none other than my own, wretched that I am!
1330

Why should I see, when sight showed me nothing sweet?
1335

Chorus

These things were just as you say.

Oedipus

What, my friends, can I behold anymore, what can I love, what greeting can touch my ear with joy? Hurry, friends,

lead me from the land, lead me from here, the utterly lost,
1340

the thrice-accursed, the mortal most hateful to the gods!
1345

Chorus

Wretched alike for your fortune and for your understanding of it, would that I had never known you!

Χορός

ἦν ταῦθ᾽ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σὺ φῄς.

Χορός

δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον,

ὥς σ᾽ ἠθέλησα μήδ᾽ ἀναγνῶναί ποτε.

Οἰδίπους
β

Χορός

ἦν τᾷδʼ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σύ φῄς.

Χορός

δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον,

ὡς σʼ ἠθέλησα μηδέ γʼ ἂν γνῶναί ποτε.

Apollo, dear my friends, Apollo brought to pass

In dreadful wise, this my calamitous woe.
1330

But I,—no being else,—I with this hand destroyed them.

For why should I have sight,

To whom nought now gave pleasure through the eye?
1335

CH

There speak’st thou truly.

OED

What could I see, whom hear

With gladness, whom delight in any more?

Lead me away out of the land with speed!

Be rid of the destroyer, the accursed,

Whom most of all the world the Gods abhor.

CH

O miserable in thy calamity

And not less miserable in thy despair,

Would thou wert still in ignorance of thy birth!

Es war Phöbos, Freunde, ja, Phöbos war's,

Der dies Arge mir, dies Gräßliche verhängt!

Doch traf sie keines Andern Hand, ich Armer selbst traf sie.

Wozu sollt' ich seh'n,

Dem, wenn er sah, nichts Süßes mehr zu schauen war?
1305

Der Chor.

Wohl war es also, wie du sagst.

Der Chor.

Du durch Bewußtsein und Geschick Unseliger,

Wie muß ich wünschen, daß ich niemals dich gekannt!
1315

Aii; thou here, my friend?

I know thy voice ; thou wouldst not leave the wretched ;

Thou art my faithful, kind assistant still.

Chorus

How couldst thou thus deprive thyself of sight?

What madness drove thee to the desperate deed ?

What god inspired?

Oedipus

Apollo was the cause ;

He was, my friends, the cause of all my woes ;

But for these eyes — myself did quench their light —

I want not them ; what use were they to me,

But to discover scenes of endless woe ;

Chorus

'Tis but too true.

Thou art a friend, yet stedfast, faithful yet;

Thy care, thy kind attention yet remains
1330

E'en to the blind. I know thee, though mine eyes

Are dark, distinctly know thee, and thy voice.

Chorus

Dreadful thy deeds: how hast thou dared thine eyes

To mangle thus? What god enforced this rage?

Oedipus

This was the work of Phœbus: O my friends,

Phœbus accomplish'd all my ills, my woes.

With his own hands no man e'er rent his eyes,

But I unhappy. Why should I have sight,

Since, had I eyes, nought pleasant could I see ?

Chorus

Mournful these truths, and just are thy complaints.