Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, ed. Francis Storr, 1223-1312

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Ἐξάγγελος

ὦ γῆς μέγιστα τῆσδʼ ἀεὶ τιμώμενοι,

οἷʼ, ἔργʼ ἀκούσεσθʼ, οἷα δʼ εἰσόψεσθʼ, ὅσον δʼ

ἀρεῖσθε πένθος, εἴπερ ἐγγενῶς ἔτι
1225

τῶν Λαβδακείων ἐντρέπεσθε δωμάτων.

οἶμαι γὰρ οὔτʼ ἂν Ἴστρον οὔτε Φᾶσιν ἂν

νίψαι καθαρμῷ τήνδε τὴν στέγην, ὅσα

κεύθει, τὰ δʼ αὐτίκʼ εἰς τὸ φῶς φανεῖ κακὰ

ἑκόντα κοὐκ ἄκοντα. τῶν δὲ πημονῶν
1230

μάλιστα λυποῦσʼ αἳ φανῶσʼ αὐθαίρετοι.

Χορός

λείπει μὲν οὐδʼ ἃ πρόσθεν εἴδομεν τὸ μὴ οὐ

βαρύστονʼ εἶναι· πρὸς δʼ ἐκείνοισιν τί φῄς;

Ἐξάγγελος

ὁ μὲν τάχιστος τῶν λόγων εἰπεῖν τε καὶ

μαθεῖν, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ἰοκάστης κάρα.
1235

Χορός

ὦ δυστάλαινα, πρὸς τίνος ποτʼ αἰτίας;

1237

Ἐξάγγελος

αὐτὴ πρὸς αὑτῆς. τῶν δὲ πραχθέντων τὰ μὲν

ἄλγιστʼ ἄπεστιν· ἡ γὰρ ὄψις οὐ πάρα.

ὅμως δʼ, ὅσον γε κἀν ἐμοὶ μνήμης ἔνι,

πεύσει τὰ κείνης ἀθλίας παθήματα.
1240

ὅπως γὰρ ὀργῇ χρωμένη παρῆλθʼ ἔσω

θυρῶνος, ἵετʼ εὐθὺ πρὸς τὰ νυμφικὰ

λέχη, κόμην σπῶσʼ ἀμφιδεξίοις ἀκμαῖς.

πύλας δʼ, ὅπως εἰσῆλθʼ, ἐπιρράξασʼ ἔσω

καλεῖ τὸν ἤδη Λάϊον πάλαι νεκρόν,
1245

μνήμην παλαιῶν σπερμάτων ἔχουσʼ, ὑφʼ ὧν

θάνοι μὲν αὐτός, τὴν δὲ τίκτουσαν λίποι

τοῖς οἷσιν αὐτοῦ δύστεκνον παιδουργίαν.

γοᾶτο δʼ εὐνάς, ἔνθα δύστηνος διπλοῦς

ἐξ ἀνδρὸς ἄνδρα καὶ τέκνʼ ἐκ τέκνων τέκοι.
1250

χὤπως μὲν ἐκ τῶνδʼ οὐκέτʼ οἶδʼ ἀπόλλυται·

βοῶν γὰρ εἰσέπαισεν Οἰδίπους, ὑφʼ οὗ

οὐκ ἦν τὸ κείνης ἐκθεάσασθαι κακόν,

ἀλλʼ εἰς ἐκεῖνον περιπολοῦντʼ ἐλεύσσομεν.

φοιτᾷ γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἔγχος ἐξαιτῶν πορεῖν,
1255

γυναῖκά τʼ οὐ γυναῖκα, μητρῴαν δʼ ὅπου

κίχοι διπλῆν ἄρουραν οὗ τε καὶ τέκνων.

λυσσῶντι δʼ αὐτῷ δαιμόνων δείκνυσί τις·

οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀνδρῶν, οἳ παρῆμεν ἐγγύθεν.

δεινὸν δʼ ἀύσας ὡς ὑφηγητοῦ τινος
1260

πύλαις διπλαῖς ἐνήλατʼ, ἐκ δὲ πυθμένων

ἔκλινε κοῖλα κλῇθρα κἀμπίπτει στέγῃ.

οὗ δὴ κρεμαστὴν τὴν γυναῖκʼ ἐσείδομεν,

πλεκταῖσιν αἰώραισιν ἐμπεπλεγμένην.

ὁ δʼ ὡς ὁρᾷ νιν, δεινὰ βρυχηθεὶς τάλας
1265

χαλᾷ κρεμαστὴν ἀρτάνην. ἐπεὶ δὲ γῇ

ἔκειτο τλήμων, δεινὰ δʼ ἦν τἀνθένδʼ ὁρᾶν.

ἀποσπάσας γὰρ εἱμάτων χρυσηλάτους

περόνας ἀπʼ αὐτῆς, αἷσιν ἐξεστέλλετο,

ἄρας ἔπαισεν ἄρθρα τῶν αὑτοῦ κύκλων,
1270

αὐδῶν τοιαῦθʼ, ὁθούνεκʼ οὐκ ὄψοιντό νιν

οὔθʼ οἷʼ ἔπασχεν οὔθʼ ὁποῖʼ ἔδρα κακά,

ἀλλʼ ἐν σκότῳ τὸ λοιπὸν οὓς μὲν οὐκ ἔδει

ὀψοίαθʼ, οὓς δʼ ἔχρῃζεν οὐ γνωσοίατο.

τοιαῦτʼ ἐφυμνῶν πολλάκις τε κοὐχ ἅπαξ
1275

ἤρασσʼ ἐπαίρων βλέφαρα. φοίνιαι δʼ ὁμοῦ

γλῆναι γένειʼ ἔτελλον, οὐδʼ ἀνίεσαν

φόνου μυδώσας σταγόνας, ἀλλʼ ὁμοῦ μέλας

ὄμβρος χαλάζης αἱματοῦς ἐτέγγετο.

τάδʼ ἐκ δυοῖν ἔρρωγεν, οὐ μόνου κάτα,

ἀλλʼ ἀνδρὶ καὶ γυναικὶ συμμιγῆ κακά.
1280

ὁ πρὶν παλαιὸς δʼ ὄλβος ἦν πάροιθε μὲν

ὄλβος δικαίως· νῦν δὲ τῇδε θἠμέρᾳ

στεναγμός, ἄτη, θάνατος, αἰσχύνη, κακῶν

ὅσʼ ἐστὶ πάντων ὀνόματʼ, οὐδέν ἐστʼ ἀπόν.

1285

Χορός

νῦν δʼ ἔσθʼ ὁ τλήμων ἐν τίνι σχολῇ κακοῦ;
1285

Ἐξάγγελος

βοᾷ διοίγειν κλῇθρα καὶ δηλοῦν τινα

τοῖς πᾶσι Καδμείοισι τὸν πατροκτόνον,

τὸν μητέρʼ—αὐδῶν ἀνόσιʼ οὐδὲ ῥητά μοι,

ὡς ἐκ χθονὸς ῥίψων ἑαυτὸν οὐδʼ ἔτι
1290

μενῶν δόμοις ἀραῖος, ὡς ἠράσατο.

ῥώμης γε μέντοι καὶ προηγητοῦ τινος

δεῖται· τὸ γὰρ νόσημα μεῖζον ἢ φέρειν.

δείξει δὲ καὶ σοί· κλῇθρα γὰρ πυλῶν τάδε

διοίγεται· θέαμα δʼ εἰσόψει τάχα
1295

τοιοῦτον οἷον καὶ στυγοῦντʼ ἐποικτίσαι.

1297

Χορός

ὦ δεινὸν ἰδεῖν πάθος ἀνθρώποις,

ὦ δεινότατον πάντων ὅσʼ ἐγὼ

προσέκυρσʼ ἤδη. τίς σʼ, ὦ τλῆμον,

προσέβη μανία; τίς ὁ πηδήσας
1300

μείζονα δαίμων τῶν μακίστων

πρὸς σῇ δυσδαίμονι μοίρᾳ;

φεῦ φεῦ, δύστανʼ·

ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐσιδεῖν δύναμαί σε, θέλων

πόλλʼ ἀνερέσθαι, πολλὰ πυθέσθαι,
1305

πολλὰ δʼ ἀθρῆσαι·

τοίαν φρίκην παρέχεις μοι.

Οἰδίπους

αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, δύστανος ἐγώ,

ποῖ γᾶς φέρομαι τλάμων; πᾷ μοι

φθογγὰ διαπωτᾶται φοράδην;
1310

ἰὼ δαῖμον, ἵνʼ ἐξήλλου.

Χορός

ἐς δεινὸν οὐδʼ ἀκουστὸν οὐδʼ ἐπόψιμον.

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.

Χορός

λείπει μὲν οὐδ᾽ ἃ πρόσθεν ᾔδεμεν τὸ μὴ οὐ

βαρύστον᾽ εἶναι· πρὸς δ᾽ ἐκείνοισιν τί φῄς;

Ἐξάγγελος

ὁ μὲν τάχιστος τῶν λόγων εἰπεῖν τε καὶ

μαθεῖν, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ἰοκάστης κάρα.
1235

Χορός

ὦ δυστάλαινα, πρὸς τίνος ποτ' αἰτίας;

Ἐξάγγελος

αὐτὴ πρὸς αὑτῆς. τῶν δὲ πραχθέντων τὰ μὲν

ἄλγιστ᾽ ἄπεστιν· ἡ γὰρ ὄψις οὐ πάρα.

ὅμως δ᾽, ὅσον γε κἀν ἐμοὶ μνήμης ἔνι,

πεύσει τὰ κείνης ἀθλίας παθήματα.
1240

ὅπως γὰρ ὀργῇ χρωμένη παρῆλθ᾽ ἔσω

θυρῶνος, ἵετ᾽ εὐθὺ πρὸς τὰ νυμφικὰ

λέχη, κόμην σπῶσ᾽ ἀμφιδεξίοις ἀκμαῖς·

πύλας δ᾽ ὅπως εἰσῆλθ᾽ ἐπιρράξασ᾽ ἔσω,

κάλει τὸν ἤδη Λάϊον πάλαι νεκρόν,
1245

μνήμην παλαιῶν σπερμάτων ἔχουσ᾽, ὑφ᾽ ὧν

θάνοι μὲν αὐτός, τὴν δὲ τίκτουσαν λίποι

τοῖς οἷσιν αὐτοῦ δύστεκνον παιδουργίαν.

γοᾶτο δ᾽ εὐνάς, ἔνθα δύστηνος διπλοῦς

ἐξ ἀνδρὸς ἄνδρα καὶ τέκν' ἐκ τέκνων τέκοι.
1250

χὤπως μὲν ἐκ τῶνδ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ οἶδ᾽ ἀπόλλυται·

βοῶν γὰρ εἰσέπαισεν Οἰδίπους, ὑφ᾽ οὗ

οὐκ ἦν τὸ κείνης ἐκθεάσασθαι κακόν,

ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ἐκεῖνον περιπολοῦντ᾽ ἐλεύσσομεν.

φοιτᾷ γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἔγχος ἐξαιτῶν πορεῖν,
1255

γυναῖκά τ᾽ οὐ γυναῖκα, μητρῴαν δ᾽ ὅπου

κίχοι διπλῆν ἄρουραν οὗ τε καὶ τέκνων.

λυσσῶντι δ᾽ αὐτῷ δαιμόνων δείκνυσί τις·

οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀνδρῶν, οἳ παρῆμεν ἐγγύθεν.

δεινὸν δ᾽ ἀΰσας ὡς ὑφηγητοῦ τινὸς
1260

πύλαις διπλαῖς ἐνήλατ᾽, ἐκ δὲ πυθμένων

ἔκλινε κοῖλα κλῇθρα κἀμπίπτει στέγῃ.

οὗ δὴ κρεμαστὴν τὴν γυναῖκʼ ἐσείδομεν,

πλεκταῖσιν αἰώραισιν ἐμπεπλεγμένην.

ὁ δ᾽ ὡς ὁρᾷ νιν, δεινὰ βρυχηθεὶς τάλας,
1265

χαλᾷ κρεμαστὴν ἀρτάνην. ἐπεὶ δὲ γῇ

ἔκειτο τλήμων, δεινὰ δ᾽ ἦν τἀνθένδ᾽ ὁρᾶν.

ἀποσπάσας γὰρ εἱμάτων χρυσηλάτους

περόνας ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς, αἷσιν ἐξεστέλλετο,

ἄρας ἔπαισεν ἄρθρα τῶν αὑτοῦ κύκλων,
1270

αὐδῶν τοιαῦθ᾽, ὁθούνεκ᾽ οὐκ ὄψοιντό νιν

οὔθ᾽ οἷʼ ἔπασχεν οὔθ᾽ ὁποῖʼ ἔδρα κακά,

ἀλλ᾽ ἐν σκότῳ τὸ λοιπὸν οὓς μὲν οὐκ ἔδει

ὀψοίαθ᾽, οὓς δ᾽ ἔχρῃζεν οὐ γνωσοίατο.

τοιαῦτ᾽ ἐφυμνῶν πολλάκις τε κοὐχ ἅπαξ
1275

ἤρασσ᾽ ἐπαίρων βλέφαρα. φοίνιαι δ᾽ ὁμοῦ

γλῆναι γένειʼ ἔτεγγον, οὐδ᾽ ἀνίεσαν

φόνου μυδώσας σταγόνας, ἀλλ᾽ ὁμοῦ μέλας

ὄμβρος χαλάζης αἱματοῦς ἐτέγγετο.

τάδ᾽ ἐκ δυοῖν ἔρρωγεν, οὐ μόνου κακά,

ἀλλ᾽ ἀνδρὶ καὶ γυναικὶ συμμιγῆ κακά.
1280

ὁ πρὶν παλαιὸς δ᾽ ὄλβος ἦν πάροιθε μὲν

ὄλβος δικαίως, νῦν δὲ τῇδε θἠμέρᾳ

στεναγμός, ἄτη, θάνατος, αἰσχύνη, κακῶν

ὅσ᾽ ἐστὶ πάντων ὀνόματ', οὐδέν ἐστ᾽ ἀπόν.

Χορός

νῦν δ᾽ ἔσθ᾽ ὁ τλήμων ἔν τινι σχολῇ κακοῦ;
1285

Ἐξάγγελος

βοᾷ διοίγειν κλῇθρα καὶ δηλοῦν τινὰ

τοῖς πᾶσι Καδμείοισι τὸν πατροκτόνον,

τὸν μητρός, αὐδῶν ἀνόσι οὐδὲ ῥητά μοι,

ὡς ἐκ χθονὸς ῥίψων ἑαυτόν, οὐδ᾽ ἔτι
1290

μενῶν δόμοις ἀραῖος, ὡς ἠράσατο.

ῥώμης γε μέντοι καὶ προηγητοῦ τινὸς

δεῖται· τὸ γὰρ νόσημα μεῖζον ἢ φέρειν.

δείξει δὲ καὶ σοί· κλῇθρα γὰρ πυλῶν τάδε

διοίγεται· θέαμα δ᾽ εἰσόψει τάχα
1295

τοιοῦτον οἷον καὶ στυγοῦντ᾽ ἐποικτίσαι.

Χορός

ὦ δεινὸν ἰδεῖν πάθος ἀνθρώποις,

ὦ δεινότατον πάντων ὅσ᾽ ἐγὼ

προσέκυρσ᾽ ἤδη. τίς σ᾽, ὦ τλῆμον,

προσέβη μανία; τίς ὁ πηδήσας
1300

μείζονα δαίμων τῶν μακίστων

πρὸς σῇ δυσδαίμονι μοίρᾳ;

φεῦ, δύστανος·

ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἐσιδεῖν δύναμαί σ᾽, ἐθέλων

πόλλ᾽ ἀνερέσθαι, πολλὰ πυθέσθαι,
1305

πολλὰ δ᾽ ἀθρῆσαι·

τοίαν φρίκην παρέχεις μοι.

Οἰδίπους

αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, δύστανος ἐγώ,

ποῖ γᾶς φέρομαι τλάμων; πᾶ μοι

φθογγὰ διαπέταται φοράδην;
1310

ἰὼ δαῖμον, ἵν᾽ ἐξήλλου.

Χορός

ἐς δεινόν· οὐκ ἀκουστόν, οὐδ᾽ ἐπόψιμον.

Οἰδίπους
α

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.

CH

What hast thou new to add? the weight of grief

From that we know burdens the heart enough.

MESS

Soon spoken and soon heard is the chief sum.

Jocasta’s royal head is sunk in death.
1235

CH

The hapless queen! What was the fatal cause?

MESS

Her own determination. You are spared

The worst affliction, not being there to see.

Yet to the height of my poor memory’s power

The wretched lady’s passion you shall hear.

When she had passed in her hot mood within
1240

The vestibule, straight to the bridal room

She rushes, tearing with both hands her hair.

Then having entered, shutting fast the door,

She called aloud on Laius, long dead,

With anguished memory of that birth of old
1245

Whereby the father fell, leaving his queen

To breed a dreadful brood for his own son.

And loudly o’er the bed she wailed, where she,

In twofold wedlock, hapless, had brought forth

Husband from husband, children from a child.
1250

We could not know the moment of her death,

Which followed soon, for Oedipus with cries

Broke in, and would not let us see her end,

But held our eyes as he careered the hall,

Demanding arms, and where to find his wife,—

No, not his wife, but fatal mother-croft,
1255

Cropped doubly with himself and his own seed.

And in his rage some god directed him

To find her:—’twas no man of us at hand.

Then with a fearful shout, as following

His leader, he assailed the folding-doors;
1260

And battering inward from the mortised bolts

The bending boards, he burst into the room:

Where high suspended we beheld the queen,

In twisted cordage resolutely swung.

He all at once on seeing her, wretched king!
1265

Undid the pendent noose, and on the ground

Lay the ill-starred queen. Oh, then ’twas terrible

To see what followed—for he tore away

The tiring-pins wherewith she was arrayed,

And, lifting, smote his eyeballs to the root,

Saying, Nevermore should they behold the evil
1270

His life inherited from that past time,

But all in dark henceforth should look upon

Features far better not beheld, and fail

To recognize the souls he had longed to know.

Thus crying aloud, not once but oftentimes
1275

He drave the points into his eyes; and soon

The bleeding pupils moistened all his beard,

Nor stinted the dark flood, but all at once

The ruddy hail poured down in plenteous shower.

Thus from two springs, from man and wife together,

Rose the joint evil that is now o’erflowing.
1280

And the old happiness in that past day

Was truly happy, but the present hour

Hath pain, crime, ruin:—whatsoe’er of ill

Mankind have named, not one is absent here.

CH

And finds the sufferer now some pause of woe?
1285

MESS

He bids make wide the portal and display

To all the men of Thebes the man who slew

His father, who unto his mother did

What I dare not repeat, and fain would fling

His body from the land, nor calmly bide
1290

The shock of his own curse on his own hall.

Meanwhile he needs some comfort and some guide,

For such a load of misery who can bear?

Thyself shalt judge: for, lo, the palace-gates

Unfold, and presently thine eyes will see
1295

A hateful sight, yet one thou needs must pity.

LEADER OF CH
Enter OEDIPUS , blind and unattended.

O horror of the world!

Too great for mortal eye!

More terrible than all I have known of ill!

What fury of wild thought
1300

Came o’er thee? Who in heaven

Hath leapt against thy hapless life

With boundings out of measure fierce and huge?

Ah! wretched one, I cannot look on thee:

No, though I long to search, to ask, to learn.
1305

Thine aspect is too horrible.—I cannot!

OED

Me miserable! Whither am I borne?

Into what region are these wavering sounds

Wafted on aimless wings? O ruthless Fate!
1310

To what a height thy fury hath soared!

CH

Too far

For human sense to follow, or human thought

To endure the horror.

OED

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

Der Chor.

Nichts fehlt dem ersten Leide, das wir schon gewußt,

Zu tiefer Trauer: was zu diesem bringst du noch?

Der Diener.

Am schnellsten ausgesprochen und gehört zugleich,

Das schwere Wort: Iokaste's göttlich Haupt erblich.

Der Chor.

Die Jammerwerthe! Was verschuldet' ihren Tod?
1210

Der Diener.

Sie starb von eignen Händen. Doch das Schmerzlichste

Der That entging euch; denn der Anblick mangelt euch.

So viel indeß mir haftet im Gedächtnisse,

Vernehmt vom lezten Leidenskampf der Armen dort.

Denn als in wildem Schmerze sie hineingelangt
1215

Zur Halle, stürmt sie sonder Rast in's Brautgemach,

Und rauft mit beiden Händen sich die Locken aus.

Dann warf sie drinnen hinter sich die Thüre zu,

Und rief dem längst entschlaf'nen Laïos, eingedenk

Der alten Ehe, deren Sprößling ihn erschlug,
1220

Indeß er sie, die Mutter als Erzeugerin

Unsel'ger Kinder hinterließ dem eignen Sohn.

Sie flucht dem Lager, wo sie (zwiefach herbe Schmach!)

Den Mann vom Manne, Kinder sich vom Kind gebar.

Doch wie sie dann geendet, weiß ich weiter nicht.
1225

Denn schreiend kam jezt Dedipus hereingestürzt,

Was uns den Ausgang ihres Leids zu schau'n verwehrt:

Auf ihn allein, der wild umherlief, blickten wir.

Denn stürmend bat er um ein Schwert und fragte, wo

Die Gattin, ach! nicht Gattin, wo die Mutter sei,
1230

Aus deren Schooße sein Geschlecht und er entsproß.

Und wie er tobte, zeigt' ein Gott den Weg ihm an:

Kein Mann ja, der ihm nahe stand, vermochte dies.

Mit grausem Heulen sprang er los auf's Doppelthor,

Geführt von unsichtbarer Hand; vom Grunde bog
1235

Er aus der hohlen Schlösser Band und stürzt hinein

Zum Brautgemache, wo wir hängen sah'n die Frau,

Geknüpft an's hochgewundne Seil. Doch als er so

Sie sah, der Arme, brüllt er gräßlich auf und läßt

Die Schlinge nieder. Wie die Jammervolle nun
1240

Dalag am Boden, gräßlich war's, was hier geschah.

Denn goldgetriebne Spangen, die vordem zum Schmuck²

Ihr dienten, riß er aus der Frau Gewanden los,

Erhob sie, traf der Augen beide Kreise sich,

Und rief das Wort: sie sollten, weil sie nicht geseh'n,
1245

Was er geduldet Grauses; noch was er gethan,

Hinfort in Nacht schau'n, die zu schau'n ihm Sünde war,

Und die er kennen möchte, nicht erkennen mehr!

Und also fluchend hob er oft, nicht Einmal nur,

Die Wimpern hoch und traf sich, und die blutigen
1250

Augäpfel nezten roth die Wang' und sandten nicht

Des Blutes Naß in Tropfen, nein, zugleich ergoß

Ein Regen sich in blutig schwarzem Strom herab.

So brach das Unheil über Zwei vereint herein;

Verstrickt in Eines Leides Fall ward Mann und Weib.
1255

Wohl war in frühern Tagen noch das alte Glück

Ein Glück in Wahrheit; aber nun, an diesem Tag,

Blüht Jammer, Elend, Schande, Tod; von allem Leid,

Soviel es irgend Namen hat, fehlt keines hier.

Der Chor.

Und welche Nuh' im Leide fand der Arme nun?
1260

Der Diener.

Er ruft, das Thor zu öffnen, allem Kadmosvolk

Ihn darzustellen als den Vatermörder, als

Der Mutter Grauses rust er, unaussprechlich mir,

Will aus dem Land sich bannen, will nicht weilen mehr

Im Haus, mit Fluch belastet durch den eignen Fluch.
1265

Doch eine Stüze mangelt ihm, des Führers Hand;

Denn allzuschwer zu tragen ist ein solches Weh.

Er wird es dir auch zeigen. Sieh, schon öffnen sich

Der Pforte Riegel, und ein Schauspiel wirst du gleich

Erblicken, das selbst einen Feind erbarmen muß.
1270
Oedipus (wird herausgeführt). Der Chor.

Der Chor.

Ogräßliches Leid für Menschen zu schau'n!

Ogräßlichstes, das von allen bis jezt

Mein Auge geseh'n! Welch Rasen ergriff,

Unglücklicher, dich? Welch zürnender Gott

Stürmt' heftiger noch, denn der wildeste Sturm,
1275

Auf dein unseliges Schicksal?

Weh, Unglückssohn! Ich kann dich ja nicht

Anschau'n, und möchte dich fragen so viel,

Mich erkundigen viel und erwägen so viel!

So weckst du mir Schauder und Grauen.
1280

Weh, weh, weh, weh!

Oedipus.

Ich Unglückssohn! Auf Erden wohin,

Ach, werd' ich entrückt? Wo fliegt mein Wort

In die Weite hinaus?

Wohin, ach, stürmtest du, Schicksal?
1285

Der Chor.

In Gräuel, nicht zu hören und nicht anzuseh'n.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1237 focus

Sages of Thebes, most honoured and

revered,

If e'er the house of Labdacus was dear

And precious to you, what will be your grief

CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 227

When I shall tell the most disastrous tale

You ever heard, and to your eyes present

A spectacle more dreadful than they yet

Did e'er behold : not the wide Danube's waves

Nor Phasis' streams can wash away the stains

Of this polluted palace ; the dire crimes

Long time concealed at length are brought to light ;

But those which spring from voluntary guilt

Are still more dreadful.

Chorus

To be brief, the queeUj

Divine Jocasta's dead.

Chorus

Jocasta dead ! Say, by what hand ?

Messenger

Her own i

And what 's more dreadful, no one saw the deed.

What I myself beheld you all shall hear.

Inflamed with rage, soon as she reached the palace,

Instant retiring to the nuptial bed.

She shut the door, then raved and tore her hair,

Called out on Lai us dead, and bade him think

On that unhappy son who murdered him

And stained his bed ; then turning her sad eyes

Upon the guilty couch, she cursed the place

Where she had borne a husband from her husband,

And children from her child ; what followed then

I know not, by the cries of CEdipus

Prevented, for on him our eyes were fixed

Attentive ; forth he came, beseeching us

To lend him some sharp weapon, and inform him

Where he might find his mother and his wife,

His children's wretched mother and his own.

Some ill-designing power did then direct him

Forcing the bolt, he rushed into the bed,

And found Jocasta, where we all beheld her,
1310

Entangled in the fatal noose, which soon
1310

As he perceived, loosing the pendant rope,
1310

Deeply he groaned, and casting on the ground
1310

His wretched body, showed a piteous sight
1310

To tlie beholders; on a sudden, thence
1310

Starting, he phicked from oft* the robe she wore
1310

A golden buckle that adorned her side.
1310

And buried in his eyes the sliai-pened point,
1310

Crying, he ne'er again would look on her,
1310

Never would see his crimes or miseries more,

Or those whom guiltless he could ne'er behold,

Or those to whom he now must sue for aid.

His hfted eyelids then, repeating still

These dreadful plaints, he tore ; whilst down his cheek

Fell showers of blood ! Such fate the wretched pair

Sustained, partakers in calamity.

Fallen from a state of happiness (for none

Were happier once than they) to groans and death,

Reproach and shame, and every human woe.

Chorus
(For we were silent) to the queen's apartment ;

And where is now the poor unhappy man ?

Messenger

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;

Chorus

By thee in dark despair to close my eyes.

Messenger
MESSENGER, CHORUS.

Ye ever-honour'd rulers of this land,

What deeds are you to hear, what to behold,

What grief to suffer, if you yet revere,

As Thebans ought, the house of Labdacus !

Not all the cleansing streams that Ister rolls

Or Phasis, the pollutions of this house
1235

Can wash away: as yet they lie conceal'd;
1235

But soon the dreadful deeds will burst to light,
1235

Deeds not of force, but choice: with keenest pangs
1235

Ills self-inflicted rend the tortured heart.
1235

Chorus

No weight was wanting to the ills we knew

Before: what bring'st thou now to grieve us more?

Messenger

What soonest may be spoken, soonest heard,

Take briefly, the revered Jocasta's dead.

Chorus

Unhappy queen! And what the fatal cause?
1285

Messenger

That from herself arose: but of these deeds

The greatest grief is wanting, for no eye

Beheld them; yet, as far as memory prompts,

Her heart-corroding sufferings thou shalt know.

Soon as the portal she had pass'd, with woes

Distracted to her nuptial bed she rush'd

Rending her hair, and entering barr'd the doors :

On Laius long since dead she calls, and makes

Sad mention of the seed announced of old,

By which he died, and left her to produce

Unhallow'd offspring, at which nature starts.

Her nuptial bed with anguish she bewail'd,

Where from her husband husbands she brought forth,

And sons from sons. How, after this, she died

I know not, for with loud laments, and pace

Impetuous in rush'd Edipus: her ills
1290

Our thoughts no more engaged, for all our eyes
1290

Were fix'd on him; he, hurrying on, demands
1290

A sword; his wife he seeks, and not his wife,
1290

His mother, and the mother of his sons.
1290

Him raving thus some evil demon shows,

What not a man there present would declare,

Where he might find her; with a dreadful cry,

As by some impulse, 'gainst the folding doors

He rush'd, and all the solid bolts beat down,

Then burst into the chamber; there he saw

His wife, but breathless now, around her neck

The wreathed cord: at this unhappy sight

Deeply he groan'd, and loosed the strangling noose.

When on the floor the wretched corse was laid,

The golden clasps, with which she was adorn'd,

He from her vestments snatch'd, then, dreadful deed!

Raised high his hand, and plunged their piercing points

Deep in his orbs of sight, exclaiming thus,

That her no more they should behold, his woes,

His horrid deeds no more; but henceforth dark

Nor see whom it beseem'd him not to see,

Nor those, with whom he should have converse, know.

Thus oft exclaiming he his eyelids raised,

And rent the orbs of sight; the bleeding balls
1295

Imbath'd his cheeks, nor ceased the gushing drops,
1295

But rain'd a show'r of black and streaming gore.
1295

This the unhappy fate of both, the woes
1295

Of wife and husband blended dreadfully.
1295

Their former happiness, with ample right

Of old call'd happiness, is now, this day,

Misfortune, lamentation, death, disgrace,

And all the names that misery ever knew.

Chorus

And hath he yet no respite from his ills ?

Messenger

He cries aloud, open the doors, and show

This murderer of his father, show to Thebes

This murderer of his mother; uttering words

Unholy, not by me to be expressed;

That he no longer will inhabit here,

But cast himself an exile from this land,

By his own curse devoted: yet a guide
1310

He wants, and strength; for more than he can bear
1310

Are his afflictions. But to thee he soon
1310

Will show himself; the bolts, that close these doors,

Are opening; now shalt thou behold a sight,

At which with pity e'en a foe would melt.

Chorus
CŒDIPUS, CHORUS.

O misery, horrible to human sight,

Most horrible of all that e'er these eyes

Beheld! What madness, O unhappy man,

What demon seized thee, to thy wretched fate

Adding this extreme agony of woe?

Alas thy sufferings! But I cannot bear

To look on thee, (though much I wish to ask,

Of much to be inform'd, and much to see)

Such shuddering horror strikes me at thy sight.

Oedipus

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1223-1312 focus

A second messenger enters from the house.

Second Messenger

You who are most honored in this land, what deeds you will hear, what deeds you will behold, what burden of sorrow will be yours,

if, true to your race, you still care for the house of Labdacus. For I think that neither the Ister nor the Phasis could wash this house clean, so many are the ills that it shrouds, or will soon bring to light, ills wrought not unwittingly, but on purpose.
1225

And those griefs smart the most which are seen to be of our own choice.
1230

Chorus

Indeed the troubles which we knew before are far from being easy to bear. Besides them, what do you have to announce?

Second Messenger

This is the shortest tale to tell and hear:

our royal lady Iocasta is dead.
1235

Chorus

Alas, wretched lady! From what cause?

1237

Second Messenger

By her own hand. You will not suffer the worst part of the painful event, since you do not behold the events. Nevertheless, so far as my memory serves,

you will learn that unhappy woman’s fate.
When, frantic, she passed within the vestibule, she rushed straight towards her marriage couch, clutching her hair with the fingers of both hands. Once within the chamber,
1240

she dashed the doors together behind her, then called on the name of Laius, long since a corpse, thinking of that son, born long ago, by whose hand the father was slain, leaving the mother to breed accursed offspring with his own child. And she bewailed the marriage in which, wretched woman, she had given birth to a twofold brood,
1245

husband by husband, children by her child. And how she perished is more than I know. For with a shriek Oedipus burst in, and did not allow us to watch her woe until the end: on him, as he rushed around, our eyes were set.
1250

To and fro he went, asking us to give him a sword, asking where he could find the wife who was no wife, but a mother whose womb had borne both him and his children. And in his frenzy a power greater than mortal man was his guide, for it was none of us mortals who were near.
1255

With a dread cry, as though someone beckoned him on, he sprang at the double doors, forced the bending bolts from the sockets, and rushed into the room. There we beheld the woman hanging by the neck in a twisted noose of swinging cords.
1260

And when he saw her, with a dread deep cry he released the halter by which she hung. And when the hapless woman was stretched out on the ground, then the sequel was horrible to see: for he tore from her raiment the golden brooches with which she had decorated herself,
1265

and lifting them struck his own eye-balls, uttering words like these: No longer will you behold such horrors as I was suffering and performing! Long enough have you looked on those whom you ought never to have seen, having failed in the knowledge of those whom I yearned to know—henceforth you shall be dark!
1270

With such a dire refrain, he struck his eyes with raised hand not once but often. At each blow the bloody eye-balls bedewed his beard, and sent forth not sluggish drops of gore, but all at once a dark shower of blood came down like hail.
1275

From the deeds of the two of them such ills have broken forth, not on one alone, but with mingled woe for man and wife. The old happiness of their ancestral fortune was once happiness indeed. But now today lamentation, ruin, death, shame,
1280
1285

and every earthly ill that anyone could name are all theirs.
1285

1286

Chorus

And does the sufferer have any respite from pain now?

Second Messenger

He cries for some one to unbar the gates and show to all the Cadmeans his father’s slayer, his mother’s—the words must not pass my lips—

in order to banish himself from the land and not to put the house under his own curse by waiting here. And yet he lacks strength, and one to guide his steps, for the anguish is more than he can bear. He will soon show this to you: look, the bars of the gates are withdrawn,
1290

and soon you will behold a sight which even he who abhors it must pity.
1295

1297

Chorus

O dread fate for men to see, O most dreadful of all that I have set my eyes on! Unhappy one, what madness has come upon you?

Who is the unearthly foe who, with a leap of more than mortal range has made your ill-starred life his prey? Alas, alas, you hapless man! I cannot even look on you, though there is much I desire to ask, much I desire to learn,
1300

much that draws my wistful gaze: with such a shuddering do you fill me!
1305

Oedipus

Woe is me! Alas, alas, wretched that I am! Where, where am I carried in my misery?

How is my voice swept abroad on the wings of the air? Oh, my fate, how far you have sprung!
1310

Chorus

To a dread place, dire in men’s ears, dire in their sight.

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

mvp-comment-761-1 οὐ πάρα ²⁵

mvp-comment-762-1 κἀν ἐμοὶ ²⁶ ἐν—ἔνι ²⁷

mvp-comment-763-1 We are to suppose that, when she rushed from the scene in her passionate despair (1072), Iocasta passed through the central door of the palace (βασίλειος θύρἀ into the θυρών, a short passage or hall, opening on the court (αὐλή) surrounded by a colonnade (περίστυλον). Across this court she hurried to the θάλαμος or bedroom of the master and mistress of the house, and shut herself into it. Presently Oedipus burst into the court with that cry of which we heard the first accents (1182) as he fled from the scene ( βοων εἰσέπαισεν ²⁸ ἐνήλατο ²⁹

mvp-comment-764-1 εὐθὺ ³⁰

mvp-comment-765-1 ἀμφιδεξίοις ³¹ ἀκμαῖς ³²

mvp-comment-766-1 ἐπιρράξασ’ ³³

mvp-comment-767-1 τὸν ἤδη Λ. πάλαι νεκρόν ³⁴

mvp-comment-768-1 παιδουργίαν ³⁵ λίποι | τοῖς οἷσιν αὐτοῦ ³⁶

mvp-comment-769-1 γοᾶτο ³⁷

mvp-comment-769-2 διπλοῦς ³⁸

mvp-comment-770-1 The order (instead of ἀπόλλυται, οὐκέτ’ οἶδα ³⁹

mvp-comment-771-1 φοιτᾷ, ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-772-1 πορεῖν ⁴¹ ἐξαιτῶν ⁴² τε ὅπου κίχοι ⁴³

mvp-comment-773-1 ἄρουραν ⁴⁴

mvp-comment-774-1 οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀνδρῶν ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-775-1 ὡς ὑφηγ ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-776-1 πύλαις διπλαῖς ⁴⁷

mvp-comment-776-2 πυθμένων ⁴⁸ κοῖλα ⁴⁹

mvp-comment-777-1 αἰώραισιν ⁵⁰ αἰωρα ⁵¹

mvp-comment-777-2 ἐμπεπληγμένεν ⁵²

mvp-comment-778-1 γῇ, ⁵³

mvp-comment-779-1 δεινὰ δ’ ⁵⁴

mvp-comment-780-1 περόνας ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-781-1 ἄρθρα ⁵⁶ κύκλων ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-782-1 οὐκ ὄψοιντο ⁵⁸ ἔπασχεν … ἔδρα ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-783-1 ἐν σκότῳ … ὀψοίαθ’, i.e. οὐκ ὄψονται: see on 997. The other verbs being plural (with κύκλοι for subject), the subject to ἔχρῃζεν cannot be ἄρθρα κύκλων, but only Oed. He had craved to learn his true parentage (782 ff.). ὀψοίατο, γνωσοίατο ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-784-1 ἐφυμνῶν ⁶¹

mvp-comment-785-1 Cp. Soph. Ant. 52

ὄψεις ἀράξας αὐτὸς αὐτουργῷ χερί

. ὁμοῦ ⁶² ἔτεγγον ⁶³

mvp-comment-786-1 The best choice lies between Heath's ὄμβρος χαλάζης αἱματοῦς ⁶⁴ ὄμβρος χάλαζά θ’ αἱματοῦσσ’ ⁶⁵ χαλάζης ⁶⁶ αἵματος ⁶⁷ μέλας ὄμβρος αἱματοῦς χαλάζης ⁶⁸

mvp-comment-787-1 Soph. cannot have written these two verses as they stand; and the fault is doubtless in 1280. Porson's οὐχ ἑνὸς μόνου ⁶⁹ οὐ μόνου κάτα ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-788-1 ὁ πρὶν ⁷¹ παλαιὸς ⁷²

mvp-comment-789-1 δικαίως ⁷³

mvp-comment-790-1 Instead of κακὰ πάντα, ὅσα ὀνομάζεται, πάρεστιν, we have ὅσ’ ἐστὶ πάντων ὀνόματα ⁷⁴ οὐδέν ἐστ’ ἀπόν ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-791-1 ἔν τινι ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-792-1 μητέρ’ ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-793-1 δόμοις ἀραῖος ⁷⁸ ὡς ἠράσατο ⁷⁹ μενῶν δόμοις ⁸⁰

mvp-comment-794-1 ἢ φέρειν ⁸¹

mvp-comment-795-1 The subject to δείξει ⁸²

mvp-comment-796-1 οἷον ἐποικτίσαι ⁸³ καὶ στυγοῦντα ⁸⁴

mvp-comment-797-1 A κομμός (see p. 9). The Chorus begin with anapaests (1297 -1306). The first words uttered by Oedipus are in the same measure (1307 -1311). Then, after a single iambic trimeter spoken by the Chorus (1312), (1) 1st strophe 1313-1320 = (2) 1st antistrophe 1321-1328; (3) 2nd strophe 1329 -1348 = (4) 2nd antistrophe 1349-1368. Oedipus here speaks in dochmiac measures blended with iambic; the Chorus, in iambic trimeters or dimeters only. The effect of his passionate despair is thus heightened by metrical contrast with a more level and subdued strain of sorrow. Compare Soph. Aj. 348-429 , where the κομμός has in this sense a like character. Some regard the κομμός as beginning only at 1313; less correctly, I think. Its essence is the antiphonal lament rather than the antistrophic framework.

mvp-comment-798-1 ὅσα … προσέκυρσα ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-799-1 ὁ πηδήσας … μοίρᾳ; ⁸⁶ μείζονα τῶν μακίστων ⁸⁷ μακίστων ⁸⁸

mvp-comment-800-1 πρὸς ⁸⁹

mvp-comment-801-1 The Attic δύστην’ ⁹⁰

mvp-comment-802-1 The fate of Oedipus is a dark and dreadful mystery into which they are fain to peer ( ἀνερέσθαι, πυθέσθαι ⁹¹ ἀθρῆσαι ⁹²

mvp-comment-803-1 διαπέταται ⁹³ διαπωτᾶται ⁹⁴ πέτεται ⁹⁵ πέταται ⁹⁶

mvp-comment-803-2 φοράδην ⁹⁷ φοράδην ⁹⁸

mvp-comment-804-1 ἐξήλου ⁹⁹ ἐξήλου ¹⁰⁰ ἐξήλω ¹⁰¹ ἐξάλω ¹⁰² ἐξήλλου ¹⁰³ ἵν’ ἐξήλου ¹⁰⁴

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.

1239. mvp-comment-701-1 καν ἐμοί i. e. As far as my poor memory serves. καί adds emphasis to ἐν ἐμοί. Cp. supr. 1112 and note: O. C. 53, ὅσ᾽ οἶδα κἀγὼ πάντ᾽ ἐπιστήσει κλύων.

1242. mvp-comment-702-1 ἵετ᾽.. λέχη So of Deianira in Trach. 912 foll. ἐξαίφνης σφ᾽ ὁρῶ τὸν Ἡράκλειον θάλαμον εἰσορμωμένην, κ.τ.λ.

1242. mvp-comment-702-2 εὐθύ The o in L. is correctly erased by the διορθωτής, in accordance with the usual distinction between the adverbs of time and place.

1243. mvp-comment-703-1 ὀμφιδεξίοις ἀκμαῖς With the fingers of both hands at once. For ἀμφιδεξίοις, see Essay on Language p. 101, and ср. О. С. 112, πλευρὸν ἀμφιδέξιον. The word here marks the equal energy with which both hands were used.

1244. mvp-comment-704-1 πύλας. ἔσω And after she had entered within the gates, and had shut them violently. This prepares the way for 1261. (1) The house must be supposed of a simple construction, consisting of a court, or αὐλή, with the θάλαμος at the further end secured by folding doors. ἐπιρράσσω like ἐπαράττω in Plat. Prot. 314 D, τὴν θίραν πάνυ προθύμως . . ἐπήραξεν. πύλας, primarily governed by εἰσῆλθε, is to be resumed with ἐπιρρ., which is proleptic, and ἔσω is added to complete the sense of εἰσῆλθε. Otherwise (2) πύλας ἐπιρράξασα, ὅπως εἰσῆλθ᾽ ἔσω, having violently closed the gate when she had entered within. For such an alternation between the words of different clauses, see Essay on Language § 41. p. 77. Or (3) joining πύλας ἐπιρράξασα ἔσω, having slammed the door inwards after entering. (1) is best.

1245. mvp-comment-705-1 The imperfect κάλει without augment (cf. infr. 1249) is retained from the MSS, and agrees with ἵστο and γοᾶτο better than καλεί. Cp. Τr. 904, βρυχάτο. For καλεῖ, which may be thought more vivid. cp. O. С. 1630.

1246. mvp-comment-706-1 σπερμάτων i. e. παιδοποιϊῶν. For this use of the verbal noun, see Essay on Language § 54. p..99, and cp Plat Legg. 8. 841 D, Polit. 272 E. And for the meaning, Aesch. S. c. T. 750-751.

1247. mvp-comment-707-1 (1) And left the mother of his children for his own son to breed from her an unhappy race. This interpretation gives most force to the expression, although supposing an extreme use of abstract for concrete; for which cp. Αj. 1297, ἐφῆκεν ἐλλοῖς ἰχθύσιν διαφθοράν. Or (2), making a pause at τοῖς οἶσιν αὐτοῦ, δύστεκνον παιδουργίαν may be taken in apposition to the sentence, And left the mother to his own son, an unhappy way of begetting children. Or (3), making τήν demonstrative and παιδουργίαν cognate accus., left her to bring forth for his own son a wretched progeny.

1249. mvp-comment-708-1 The construction is changed, and τέκοι substituted for another verb, i. e. διπλοῦς ἄνδρας σχοίη, ἄνδρα ἐξ ἀνδρὸς τεκοῦσα καὶ τέκνα ἐκ τέκνου.

1249. mvp-comment-708-2 γοᾶτο The augment is dropt Epicè, as in O. C. 1624, with a consonant preceding.

1251. mvp-comment-709-1 And after this she perishes, in what way, indeed, I cannot further tell, for Oedipus broke in with cries, and prevented us from seeing out her fatal act.' ἐκθεάσασθαι is to see out the tragedy. Cp. Tr. 929-931.

1256. mvp-comment-710-1 ὅπου κίχοι, to be joined with ἐξαιτῶν. It is oratio obliqua of ποῦ κίχω.

1257. mvp-comment-711-1 Her who was the parent earth that had borne himself and his children.'

1260. mvp-comment-712-1 ὡς ὑφηγητοῦ τινός ‘As if he had some one leading him. Viz. τοῦ δαίμονος. ὑφηγητοῦ, sc. ὄντος: see Essay on Language § 9. §. a. p. 14.

1261. mvp-comment-713-1 ἐκ δὲ πυθμένων ἔκλινε κοίλα κλήθρα And he uprooted and forced down the yielding doors. κλῆθρα are probably the doors with their fastenings.

1261. mvp-comment-713-2 ἐκ πυθμένων implies that the door was torn from its hinges or the bolts from their staples. κοῖλα, hollowing in. is a proleptic epithet suggesting the ease with which the obstruction gave way to Oedipus in his paroxysm. κοίλος is a favourite word with Sophocles, who extends the application of this as of some other epithets beyond the common use. Essay on Language p. 103. Cp. Tr. 901, κοίλα δέμνια: Il. 20.446, ἠέρα τύψε βαθείαν. For ἐκ πυθμένων, cp Aesch. Prom. 1047, χθόνα δ᾽ ἐκ πυθμένων | αὐταῖς ῥίζαις πνεῦμα κραδαίνοι. And for the use of κλίνω, cp. Hdt. 9. 9, μεγάλαι κλισιάδες ἀναπεπτέαται. The alliteration of κ, λ, is suggestive of the successful effort. on

1264. mvp-comment-714-1 ἐμπεπλεγμένην The Laur. MS. reads πλεκταῖσ᾽ ἐώραις ἐμπεπληγμένην ὁ δὲ | ὅπωσδ', in which the form ἐώραις and the meaning of ἐμπεπληγμένην are doubtful, and the second dé in ὅπως δ' is manifestly wrong. Better with MM² πλεκταῖσιν αἰώραισιν ἐμπεπλεγμένην, and either ὁ δε omitted, or the words ὁ δὲ ὅπως δ᾽ ὁρᾷ νιν corrected into ὁ δ᾽ ὡς ὁρᾷ νιν. The tautology of πλεκταῖσιν αἰώραισιν ἐμπεπλεγμένην is not unlike Sophocles (Essay L. § 44. p. 83) and ἐμπεπληγμένην, which is the reading of LE Ven. 617 pr. Vat. 1363, Vat. be. K., although more expressive of the violence of the act, where she had been dashed into the noose, seems hardly appropriate as a description not of Jocasta hanging herself, but of the dead body already hanging. But for ἐμπλήσσω in this connection, cp. Od. 22. 468 foll.

1264. mvp-comment-714-2 ὡς δ᾽ ὅταν ἢ κίχλαι τανυσίπτεροι ἠὲ πέλειαι | ἕρκει ἐνιπλήξωσι: and see Hesych.

1264. mvp-comment-714-3 ἐμπλῆξαι· ἐμπεσεῖν : and for the tense, Il. 16.660, ἐπεὶ βασιλῆα ἴδον βεβλαμμένον ἦτορ. ὁ δέ, with a pause following as well as preceding, cp. supr. 1252, makes a less suitable rhythm than the end-stopt line. The gloss in Trin. shows the doubtfulness of ἐώρα: ἑώρα διὰ τοῦ ἐ ψιλοῦ, ὅθεν καὶ μετέωρος.

1265. mvp-comment-715-1 ὁ δ᾽ *ὡς ὁρᾷ νιν Cp. El. 736: Ant. 1226, ὁ δ᾽ ὡς ὁρᾷ σφε.

1266. mvp-comment-716-1 ἐπεὶ δὲ γῇ The reading ἐπί, ἐκειτ᾿ ἡ Pal. 6 ἐμπεπληγμένην Ε.

1266. mvp-comment-716-2 ὅπωσ AV3 Trin.

1267. mvp-comment-717-1 ἔκειτο ἔκειθ' ὁ LAEF. for which cp. supr. 258 (ἐπικυρῶ for ἐπεὶ κυρῶ), has arisen from not recognizing the dative of place.

1267. mvp-comment-717-2 δεινὰ δ᾽ ἦν The δέ in apodosi adds emphasis. Then what followed was terrible to see.' Triclinius read γ'.

1268. mvp-comment-718-1 foll. For when he had plucked away from her person the clasps of gold with which her robes were fastened, he lifted them and smote his eye-balls to the root, saying aloud, "That they should not see the evils of which he was the victim, and the cause, but in darkness henceforth should look upon those whom he ought never to have seen, and fail to know those whom he had desired to know."' Herm.'s conjecture, ὄψαιντο, because they had not seen him, derives considerable plausibility (notwithstanding the doubtfulness of the form) from ἔπασχεν and ἔδρα. But these imperfects, as well as ἔδει and ἔχρηζεν, are to be explained by the implied reference to the past, when his eyes had seen his father in the triple way and his mother in Thebes, whom it would have been better for him never to have seen, and had failed to recognize them, whom he had so longed to know, when the recognition might have saved all. With sharp pathos he now says that in the future his eyes shall not do as in the past. They shall indeed look on those it were best not to have seen (his children, the citizens, his father and mother in Hades, 1371 foll.), but without having sight, and not know those whom he once desired to know (with a double reference to his desire to see his parents and the natural wish to see the faces of his children). For a similar oxymoron in threatening language, cp. Ant. 310 foll., ἵν᾽ εἰδότες τὸ κέρδος ἔνθεν οἰστέον | τὸ λοιπὸν ἁρπάζητε. And for the feeling in oὓς ἔχρηζε, cp. Εl. 1235, εἴδεθ᾽ οὓς ἐχρήζετε. The imperfects indicative in 1273-1274 are in the same construction as those in 1271, and they are not affected by the proposed emendation.

1270. mvp-comment-719-1 ἄρας – 1276. ἐπαίρων (1) Lifting the clasps in his hand (ἐπι = 'repeatedly'). Cp. II. 3. 362, πλῆξεν ἀνασχόμενος κόρυθος φάλον. According to others, (2) Lifting his eyes.'

1270. mvp-comment-719-2 ἄρθρα.. κύκλων The sockets of his eye-balls. For the periphrasis, cp. supr. 1032. And for κύκλων, Ant. 974, ὀμμάτων κύκλοις, Phil. 1354.

1275. mvp-comment-720-1 Uttering such a strain withal' (ἐπι = in accompaniment to the act, cp. Hdt. 1. 1,32, ἐπαείδει θεογονίην), he often and not once only lifted his hand again and smote his eyes. And the pupils all at once rained blood upon his beard, not letting fall moist drops of gore, but all at once was poured the shower of dark red hail. ὁμοῦ means, not in successive drops, but many coming together (ἀστακτί). Cp. Aesch. Pers. 401, (ὁ πᾶς στόλος ἐπεξεχώρει,) ὄψοιντο Α. 1270 1275 1280 1271. ὄψοιντο] 1274. ὀψοίαθ',.. ν

1275. mvp-comment-720-2 ἐφυμνῶν ἐφ᾽ ὑμῶν L. 0

1277. mvp-comment-721-1 ἀνίεσαν ἀνίεσσαν L.

1277. mvp-comment-721-2 ὄμμτ Μ. γρ. ὄμματα Γ mg. cp.

1277. mvp-comment-721-3 καὶ παρὴν ὁμοῦ (all at once) κλύειν | πολλὴν βοήν.

1279. mvp-comment-722-1 ὄμβρος χαλάζης αἱματοῦς The reading of M and that of I mg. suggesting ὀμμάτων, though plausible at first sight, is probably a corruption; cp. infr. 1400. αἱματοῦς is the least possible change from αἵματος. Cp. Hom. Il. 11.53, ἐέρσας αἵματι μυδαλέας. Pind. Isthm. 7.(6.) 27, ὅστις .. χάλαζαν αἵματος πρὸ φίλας πάτρας ἀμύνεται: Ib. 5. 49, Δτός ὄμβρῳ... χαλαζάεντι φόνῳ. 1280-1281. Cp. Tr. 941, ἐκ δυοῖν ἔσοιθ᾽ ἅμα.. ὠρφανισμένος βίου. The repetition of κακά having led to the omission of 1281 in a single MS. (Barocc.) this line was rejected by Elmsley, followed by Dindorf with the rejection of both lines. Porson and Hermann, with more probability, argue that the end of 1280 is corrupt. Pors. conj. οὐχ ἑνὸς μόνου. With respect to the omission of the lines it may be remarked that we must suppose not only an interpolation, but if the suspected verses are cut out, there will also be a lacuna. For 1279 does not connect with 1282. The fact is that such repetitions are not uncommon. Cp. Ο. C. 70, 71, μόλοι, 782-783, κακὰ, κακών, 1487-1488, φρένα, φρενί. For the datives in 1281, cp. Ant, 865, ἐμῷ πατρὶ δυσμόρῳ.

1282. mvp-comment-723-1 ἦν πάροιθε μέν Was once happiness in the true sense; but now all happiness is obliterated.' Cp. O. C. 1549, πρόσθε πού ποτ᾽ ἦσθ᾽ ἐμόν.

1283. mvp-comment-724-1 δικαίως In the true sense. Cp. Αj. 547, εἴπερ δικαίως ἔστ᾽ ἐμός.

1284. mvp-comment-725-1 κακῶν ὅσ᾽.. ὀνόματα A slight inversion for κακὰ ὅσων ἐστὶν ὀνόματα, arising from the frequent confusion be tween name and thing. See Essay on Language § 42. p. 80 β. The genitive κακῶν assists the transition to the negative expression, οὐδέν ἐστ᾽ ἀπόν.

1286. mvp-comment-726-1 The MSS. with hardly an exception have ἐν τίνι, which the Schol. explains οἷον ἐν ποίᾳ διατριβῇ; i. e. In what passage of woe? But σχολή in classical Greek will not bear this meaning. And In what pause of woe?implies an assumption which is out of place. The MSS. continually err in accenting τις, and the text, which Elmsley approved, has the advantage of laying a pathetic emphasis on σχολῇ. now has the unhappy man any respite from woe?' Cp. Τr. 1083, οὐδ᾽ ἀγύμναστόν μ᾿ ἐἂν ἔοικεν ἡ τάλαινα διαβόρος νόσος: Phil. 877-878, ἐπειδὴ τοῦδε 'And γε κλεῖθρα γὰρ Μ.

1286. mvp-comment-726-2 τοῦ κακοῦ δοκεῖ | λήθη τις εἶναι κἀνάπαυλα δή, τέκνον.

1289. mvp-comment-727-1 τὸν μητρὸς.. μοι 'His mother's.. and there he utters what I may not repeat.' For the abrupt introduction of the participle. cp. Phil. 64. ἀλλ' αὔτ᾽ Ὀδυσσεῖ παρέδοσαν· λέγων, κ.τ.λ. Oedipus is still passionately bent on carrying out the consequences of his acts. Cp. supr. 1271.

1290-1291. mvp-comment-728-1 And will no longer remain in the palace under such a curse as he invoked. Cp. infr. 1378 foll. 1449-1451.

1292. mvp-comment-729-1 He needs some one to lend him strength and guidance, for his calamity is greater than can be borne.

1293. mvp-comment-730-1 μεῖζον ἢ φέρειν For the infinitive, cp. Eur. Suppl. 844, κρείσσον᾽ ἡ λέξαι λόγῳ | τολμήματα.

1294. mvp-comment-731-1 δείξει (1) As you will see: sc. τὸ νόσημα δείξει μέγα ὄv: cp. the common phrase, αὐτὸ δείξει, sc. τὸ πρᾶγ μα: or (2) As he will make you see' For the latter, cp. Ο. C. 1145, δείκνυμι δ᾽: Thuc. 3. 84, ἐδήλωσεν.. οὖσα, κ.τ.λ. The former (1) is best.

1294. mvp-comment-731-2 τάδε For, look, the gates are opening.

1296. mvp-comment-732-1 (1) Such as even while hating the sight, one cannot choose but pity, (cp. infr. 1306, τοίαν φρίκην παρέχεις μοι): or (2) Such as even one who hates him might pity. Cp. Aj. 924. ὡς καὶ παρ᾿ ἐχθροῖς ἄξιος θρήνων τυχεῖν. But this is less in keeping here.

1297-1311. mvp-comment-733-1 The form of the paroemiac 1311 shows that these anapaests are of the freer kind, which are admitted in laments, and are thought to have been sung to Lydian music (Aesch. Persae, 938). Compare lines 983 ff. of the Trachiniae, where Heracles awakes in agony, on being brought in. In both places the rhythm suits a faltering, interrupted movement. This tends to justify the scansion of 1303, φευ δυστᾶvõs, where a pause may be supposed; and the resolution of the arsis in διαπέταται in 1310, which is suited to express the agitation of the moment. (Cp. Aesch. Pers. 930, αἰνῶς, αἰνῶς ἐπὶ γόνυ κέκλιται.) Also the two successive catalectic verses 1310-1311; cp. El. 86-89. The commos which follows is arranged in two strophes and antistrophes, presenting a highly wrought example of that alternation of dochmiacs and senarii, which is often employed in the μέλη ἀπὸ σκήνης. The dochmiacs express agitation, to which the senarius adds a cadence of regret. The Chorus speak in senarii, except in 1336=1356, which is iambic dimeter. The long syllables of the dochmiacs are frequently resolved. See esp. 11. 1314, 1322, 1340, 1345, 1365. In 1332, 1352, a spondee is added at the end of the senarius, giving the effect of a prolonged wailing note. Cp. 1316, 1324. D つ β΄. 1329-1348 =1349-1368. トトトートー 1CICICC しかし 10 ・トー 스 기 D つ¹

1298. mvp-comment-734-1 ὅσ᾽ ἐγὼ προσέκυρσα For the accusative, see Essay on Language § 16. p. 23.

1301. mvp-comment-735-1 What deity hath leapt beyond all limit insulting thy wretched lot? Cp. 1311, ἰὼ δαῖμον, ἵν᾽ ἐξήλλου, and for the same metaphor in Aeschylus, Pers. 515-516, ὦ δυσπόνητε | δαῖμον, ὡς ἄγαν βαρὺς | ποδοῖν ἐνήλλου παντὶ Περσικῷ γένει. μήκιστος often in tragedy = μέγιστος.

1302. mvp-comment-736-1 πρὸς σῇ Cp. Αj. 97, ἢ καὶ πρὸς Ατρείδαισιν ἤχμασας χέρα;

1303. mvp-comment-737-1 φεῦ, δύστανος The short syllable of δύστανός, has been thought to indicate some fault in the text, and the words may have crept in from 1: 1307: Lut see the note on the metre on p. 241.

1308. mvp-comment-738-1 The words φεῦ φεῦ in the MS. reading interfere with the metre, and are probably a gloss on alaῖ.

1309-1310. mvp-comment-739-1 Which way is my voice dispersed abroad?' The words express the first bewilderment of one suddenly blind, hearing his own voice but seeing no one.

1310. mvp-comment-740-1 1310 is a paroemiac with a resolution of the second arsis. Fr. Bellermann conj.

1310. mvp-comment-740-2 διαπεπόταται. But if the line were acatalectic it must have caesura of some kind.

1311. mvp-comment-741-1 Ἡ μεταφορὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων πένταθλον καὶ ἁλλομένων, Schol.

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Χορός λείπει μὲν οὐδʼ ἃ πρόσθεν εἴδομεν τὸ μὴ οὐ βαρύστονʼ εἶναι· πρὸς δʼ ἐκείνοισιν τί φῄς;

Ἐξάγγελος ὁ μὲν τάχιστος τῶν λόγων εἰπεῖν τε καὶ μαθεῖν, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ἰοκάστης κάρα. 1235

Χορός ὦ δυστάλαινα, πρὸς τίνος ποτʼ αἰτίας;

Χορός νῦν δʼ ἔσθʼ ὁ τλήμων ἐν τίνι σχολῇ κακοῦ; 1285

Οἰδίπους αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, δύστανος ἐγώ, ποῖ γᾶς φέρομαι τλάμων; πᾷ μοι φθογγὰ διαπωτᾶται φοράδην; 1310 ἰὼ δαῖμον, ἵνʼ ἐξήλλου.

Χορός ἐς δεινὸν οὐδʼ ἀκουστὸν οὐδʼ ἐπόψιμον.

Current edition Experimental

Χορός λείπει μὲν οὐδ᾽ ἃ πρόσθεν ᾔδεμεν τὸ μὴ οὐ βαρύστον᾽ εἶναι· πρὸς δ᾽ ἐκείνοισιν τί φῄς;

Ἐξάγγελος ὁ μὲν τάχιστος τῶν λόγων εἰπεῖν τε καὶ μαθεῖν, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ἰοκάστης κάρα. 1235

Χορός ὦ δυστάλαινα, πρὸς τίνος ποτ' αἰτίας;

Ἐξάγγελος

Χορός

νῦν δ᾽ ἔσθ᾽ ὁ τλήμων ἔν τινι σχολῇ κακοῦ; 1285

Χορός

Οἰδίπους αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, δύστανος ἐγώ, ποῖ γᾶς φέρομαι τλάμων; πᾶ μοι φθογγὰ διαπέταται φοράδην; 1310 ἰὼ δαῖμον, ἵν᾽ ἐξήλλου.

Χορός ἐς δεινόν· οὐκ ἀκουστόν, οὐδ᾽ ἐπόψιμον.

Οἰδίπους α

CH What hast thou new to add? the weight of grief From that we know burdens the heart enough.

MESS Soon spoken and soon heard is the chief sum. Jocasta’s royal head is sunk in death. 1235

CH The hapless queen! What was the fatal cause?

MESS

CH

And finds the sufferer now some pause of woe? 1285

LEADER OF CH Enter OEDIPUS , blind and unattended.

OED Me miserable! Whither am I borne? Into what region are these wavering sounds Wafted on aimless wings? O ruthless Fate! 1310 To what a height thy fury hath soared!

CH Too far For human sense to follow, or human thought To endure the horror.

OED

Der Chor. Nichts fehlt dem ersten Leide, das wir schon gewußt, Zu tiefer Trauer: was zu diesem bringst du noch?

Der Diener. Am schnellsten ausgesprochen und gehört zugleich, Das schwere Wort: Iokaste's göttlich Haupt erblich.

Der Chor. Die Jammerwerthe! Was verschuldet' ihren Tod? 1210

Der Diener.

Soviel es irgend Namen hat, fehlt keines hier.

Der Chor. Und welche Nuh' im Leide fand der Arme nun? 1260

Der Chor.

Oedipus. Ich Unglückssohn! Auf Erden wohin, Ach, werd' ich entrückt? Wo fliegt mein Wort In die Weite hinaus? Wohin, ach, stürmtest du, Schicksal? 1285

Der Chor. In Gräuel, nicht zu hören und nicht anzuseh'n.

Chorus

To be brief, the queeUj Divine Jocasta's dead.

Chorus

Jocasta dead ! Say, by what hand ?

Chorus (For we were silent) to the queen's apartment ; And where is now the poor unhappy man ?

Messenger

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;

Chorus By thee in dark despair to close my eyes.

Chorus No weight was wanting to the ills we knew Before: what bring'st thou now to grieve us more?

Messenger

What soonest may be spoken, soonest heard, Take briefly, the revered Jocasta's dead.

Chorus

Unhappy queen! And what the fatal cause? 1285

Chorus

And hath he yet no respite from his ills ?

Oedipus

Chorus Indeed the troubles which we knew before are far from being easy to bear. Besides them, what do you have to announce?

Second Messenger This is the shortest tale to tell and hear: our royal lady Iocasta is dead. 1235

Chorus Alas, wretched lady! From what cause?

Chorus And does the sufferer have any respite from pain now?

Oedipus Woe is me! Alas, alas, wretched that I am! Where, where am I carried in my misery? How is my voice swept abroad on the wings of the air? Oh, my fate, how far you have sprung! 1310

Chorus To a dread place, dire in men’s ears, dire in their sight.

Commentary

Stable identifiers

Χορός

λείπει μὲν οὐδʼ ἃ πρόσθεν εἴδομεν τὸ μὴ οὐ

βαρύστονʼ εἶναι· πρὸς δʼ ἐκείνοισιν τί φῄς;

Ἐξάγγελος

ὁ μὲν τάχιστος τῶν λόγων εἰπεῖν τε καὶ

μαθεῖν, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ἰοκάστης κάρα.
1235

Χορός

ὦ δυστάλαινα, πρὸς τίνος ποτʼ αἰτίας;

Χορός

νῦν δʼ ἔσθʼ ὁ τλήμων ἐν τίνι σχολῇ κακοῦ;
1285

Οἰδίπους

αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, δύστανος ἐγώ,

ποῖ γᾶς φέρομαι τλάμων; πᾷ μοι

φθογγὰ διαπωτᾶται φοράδην;
1310

ἰὼ δαῖμον, ἵνʼ ἐξήλλου.

Χορός

ἐς δεινὸν οὐδʼ ἀκουστὸν οὐδʼ ἐπόψιμον.

Χορός

λείπει μὲν οὐδ᾽ ἃ πρόσθεν ᾔδεμεν τὸ μὴ οὐ

βαρύστον᾽ εἶναι· πρὸς δ᾽ ἐκείνοισιν τί φῄς;

Ἐξάγγελος

ὁ μὲν τάχιστος τῶν λόγων εἰπεῖν τε καὶ

μαθεῖν, τέθνηκε θεῖον Ἰοκάστης κάρα.
1235

Χορός

ὦ δυστάλαινα, πρὸς τίνος ποτ' αἰτίας;

νῦν δ᾽ ἔσθ᾽ ὁ τλήμων ἔν τινι σχολῇ κακοῦ;
1285

Οἰδίπους

αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, δύστανος ἐγώ,

ποῖ γᾶς φέρομαι τλάμων; πᾶ μοι

φθογγὰ διαπέταται φοράδην;
1310

ἰὼ δαῖμον, ἵν᾽ ἐξήλλου.

Χορός

ἐς δεινόν· οὐκ ἀκουστόν, οὐδ᾽ ἐπόψιμον.

Οἰδίπους
α

CH

What hast thou new to add? the weight of grief

From that we know burdens the heart enough.

MESS

Soon spoken and soon heard is the chief sum.

Jocasta’s royal head is sunk in death.
1235

CH

The hapless queen! What was the fatal cause?

And finds the sufferer now some pause of woe?
1285

LEADER OF CH
Enter OEDIPUS , blind and unattended.

OED

Me miserable! Whither am I borne?

Into what region are these wavering sounds

Wafted on aimless wings? O ruthless Fate!
1310

To what a height thy fury hath soared!

CH

Too far

For human sense to follow, or human thought

To endure the horror.

Der Chor.

Nichts fehlt dem ersten Leide, das wir schon gewußt,

Zu tiefer Trauer: was zu diesem bringst du noch?

Der Diener.

Am schnellsten ausgesprochen und gehört zugleich,

Das schwere Wort: Iokaste's göttlich Haupt erblich.

Der Chor.

Die Jammerwerthe! Was verschuldet' ihren Tod?
1210

Der Chor.

Und welche Nuh' im Leide fand der Arme nun?
1260

Oedipus.

Ich Unglückssohn! Auf Erden wohin,

Ach, werd' ich entrückt? Wo fliegt mein Wort

In die Weite hinaus?

Wohin, ach, stürmtest du, Schicksal?
1285

Der Chor.

In Gräuel, nicht zu hören und nicht anzuseh'n.

To be brief, the queeUj

Divine Jocasta's dead.

Chorus
(For we were silent) to the queen's apartment ;

And where is now the poor unhappy man ?

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;

Chorus

By thee in dark despair to close my eyes.

Chorus

No weight was wanting to the ills we knew

Before: what bring'st thou now to grieve us more?

What soonest may be spoken, soonest heard,

Take briefly, the revered Jocasta's dead.

Unhappy queen! And what the fatal cause?
1285

Chorus

Indeed the troubles which we knew before are far from being easy to bear. Besides them, what do you have to announce?

Second Messenger

This is the shortest tale to tell and hear:

our royal lady Iocasta is dead.
1235

Chorus

Alas, wretched lady! From what cause?

Chorus

And does the sufferer have any respite from pain now?

Oedipus

Woe is me! Alas, alas, wretched that I am! Where, where am I carried in my misery?

How is my voice swept abroad on the wings of the air? Oh, my fate, how far you have sprung!
1310

Chorus

To a dread place, dire in men’s ears, dire in their sight.