Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 1223

ed. Francis Storr

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Oedipus Tyrannus. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1912.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Οἰδίπους Τύραννος (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 1. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1912.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1223 focus
ὦ γῆς μέγιστα τῆσδ᾽ ἀεὶ τιμώμενοι,
οἷ᾽ ἔργ᾽ ἀκούσεσθ', οἷα δ᾽ εἰσόψεσθ᾽, ὅσον δ᾽
ἀρεῖσθε πένθος, εἴπερ ἐγγενῶς ἔτι
1225
τῶν Λαβδακείων ἐντρέπεσθε δωμάτων.
οἶμαι γὰρ οὔτ᾽ ἂν Ἴστρον οὔτε Φᾶσιν ἂν
νίψαι καθαρμῷ τήνδε τὴν στέγην, ὅσα
κεύθει, τὰ δ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ εἰς τὸ φῶς φανεῖ κακὰ
ἑκόντα κοὐκ ἄκοντα, τῶν δὲ πημονῶν
1230
μάλιστα λυποῦσ᾽ αἳ φανῶσ᾽ αὐθαίρετοι.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1223 focus
O ye who in this land have ever held
Chief honour, what an object of dire woe
Awaits your eyes, your ears! What piercing grief
Your hearts must suffer, if as kinsmen should
1225
Ye still regard the house of Laius!
Not Phasis, nor the Danube’s rolling flood,
Can ever wash away the stain and purge
This mansion of the horror that it hides.
—And more it soon shall give to light, not now
Unconsciously enacted. Of all ill,
1230
Self-chosen sorrows are the worst to bear.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1223 focus
Ihr, die vor Andern allezeit dies Land verehrt,
Was werdet ihr vernehmen, was mit Augen seh'n,
Welch lautes Leid erheben, wenn ihr anders noch
Dem Haus der Labdakiden edle Liebe wahrt! 1
1200
Denn nicht der Istros, glaub' ich, noch der Phasis wäscht
Jemals die Gräuel sühnend ab, die dieses Haus
Verbirgt: ein andres selbsterwähltes Leiden wird
Es bald zum Lichte fördern, und am schmerzlichsten
Sind jene Qualen, die man frei sich selbst erschuf.
1205
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1212 focus
Misfortunes to us 1
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1223 focus
But thee th' all-seeing eye of time hath found,
And these unhallow'd rites abhorrent shows.
O son of Laius, ne'er again,
Ne'er could my sorrowing heart thy sight sustain :
Yet I lament in mournful strains thy woes,
By thee 'twas mine to life, to light, to rise;
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1223 focus

Commentary

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

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’ 1

mvp-comment-753-2 ἀρεῖσθε 2

mvp-comment-753-3 ἐγγενῶς 3

mvp-comment-754-1 Ἴστρον 4

mvp-comment-754-2 Φᾶσιν 5

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

mvp-comment-755-2 νίψαι 6

mvp-comment-755-3 ὅσα 7

mvp-comment-756-1 The construction is ὅσα κακὰ 8 κεύθει, τὰ δὲ αὐτίκα ἐς τὸ φῶς φανεῖ 9 κεύθει 10 φανεῖ 11 ἑκόντα 12 ἄκοντἀ. ἑκόντα … ἄκοντα 13

mvp-comment-757-1 μάλιστα 14 λυποῦσι 15

mvp-comment-757-2 αἳ 16

mvp-comment-758-1 λείπει 17

mvp-comment-758-2 μὴ οὐ 18 οὐδὲ 19 λείπει 20 τὸ 21 λείπει 22

mvp-comment-759-1 θεῖον 23

mvp-comment-760-1 For πρὸς 24

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

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.