Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 157

mvp-comment-437-1 αὐτὸς ξυνειδώς ¹

mvp-comment-437-2 μὲν οὖν ²

mvp-comment-438-1 τό γ’ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ³ πᾶν ἐλευθεροῖ ⁴

mvp-comment-439-1 ἀφεὶς σεαυτόν ⁵

mvp-comment-440-1 μάθ’ ⁶

mvp-comment-440-2 σοι ⁷ ἐστὶν ἔχον ⁸ τέχνης ⁹ ἐστὶν ἔχον ¹⁰

mvp-comment-441-1 οὐκ ἐρῶ ¹¹

mvp-comment-442-1 ἥξοι ¹² αὐτὸν ¹³ ἥξοι ¹⁴

mvp-comment-443-1 ὅσεις γένοιτ’ ¹⁵

mvp-comment-444-1 ξένοι ¹⁶

mvp-comment-445-1 See on 733.

mvp-comment-446-1 διέσχον ¹⁷

mvp-comment-446-2 βλάστας ¹⁸ διέσχον ¹⁹

mvp-comment-447-1 καί ²⁰

mvp-comment-447-2 ἄρθρα ποδοῖν ²¹ ἐνζεύξας ²²

mvp-comment-448-1 εἰς ἄβατον ὄρος ²³

mvp-comment-449-1 κἀνταῦθ’ ²⁴

mvp-comment-450-1 It is more likely that, as our MSS. suggest, παθεῖν ²⁵ θανεῖν ²⁶

mvp-comment-451-1 τοιαῦτα … διώρισαν ²⁷ φῆμαι ²⁸

mvp-comment-452-1 ὧν χρείαν ἐρευνᾷ ²⁹

704. mvp-comment-408-1 αὐτὸς ξυνειδώς Was he himself in the secret? Cp. supr. 330.

705. mvp-comment-409-1 'Neither' (μὲν οὖν) : (he has fastened the charge on me) by bringing in a rascally prophet. 706. (1) As to what affects himself he keeps his utterance wholly free; i. e. He will not commit himself in a word.

705. mvp-comment-409-2 ἐλευθεροῖ, according to this interpretation, not acquits,' excuses, but = keeps out of reach of blame, ἔξω βαρείας αἰτίας ἐλεύθερον, Ant. 445; Aesch. Eum. 175, οὔποτ᾽ ἐλευθεροῦται. πᾶν is adverbial as in Aj. 275, λύπῃ πᾶς ἐλήλαται. Or (2) τό γ᾽ εἰς ἑαυτόν may be the direct accusative and πᾶν στόμα adverbial. He uses all his power of speech to free his own actions from blame. Cp. El. 596-597, ἢ πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν, ὡς τὴν μητέρα | κακοστομοῦμεν. The former explanation is more in accordance with usage.

707. mvp-comment-410-1 ὧν λέγεις πέρι = περὶ τούτων ὧν λέγεις, Relieving your mind on the subject of which you speak. The simple genitive would have been enough: cp. Hdt. 4. 157, οὐ γὰρ δή σφεας ἀπίει ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἀποικίης, But περί is added pleonastically.

708. mvp-comment-411-1 The reading of M., ἐμοῦ τ' ἄκουσον, deserves notice. For σοι, see Essay on Language p. 19.

708. mvp-comment-411-2 ἐστὶ .. ἔχον 'Nothing in the life of mortals has anything to do with prophetic art. For this rare use of the active voice of ἔχω, cp. esp. Hdt. 3. 128, γραψάμενος πολλά, καὶ περὶ πολλῶν ἔχοντα πρηγμάτων: Aesch. Eum. 445. 6, οὐδ᾽ ἔχει μύσος πρὸς χειρὶ τὴμῇ (?). The middle voice has this meaning, e.g. in Il. 9.102, σέο δ᾽ ἔξεται ὅττι κεν ἄρχῃ. For the active in place of middle, see Essay on Language pp. 51, 98. This interpretation alone suits the context; the other possible explanation, No mortal creature has any share in the prophetic art (which has led to the conjecture λαχόν), might agree with the temper of the chorus (499, foll.), but not with that of Jocasta, who is rejecting all prophecies alike, though she makes the slight admission in 711-712, οὐκ ἐρῶ Φοίβου γ᾿ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ. Cp., however, Hdt. 2. 83. Μαντικὴ δὲ αὐτοῖσι ὧδε διακέεται· ἀνθρώπων μὲν οὐδενὶ προσκέεται ἡ τέχνη, τῶν δὲ θεῶν μετεξετέροισι.

713. mvp-comment-412-1 ἥξοι Cp. О. С. 1472-1473, ἥκει τῷδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἀνδρὶ θέσφατος βίου τελευτή: Αj. 186, ἥκοι γὰρ ἂν θεία νόσος: ib. 278, 9, μὴ ἐκ θεοῦ πληγή τις ἥκῃ. The accusative is justified by the general meaning of the sentence and by the infinitive, of which it is partly the subject. The conjecture ἕξοι is suggested by Phil. 331, ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔσχε μοῖρ᾽ Ἀχιλλέα θανεῖν, but is less pointed here.

715. mvp-comment-413-1 ξένοι i. e. Not only not his offspring, but of a different race, as coming not from Thebes but from the opposite direction (734). Cp. supr. 122 foll.

716. mvp-comment-414-1 ἐν τριπλαῖς ἁμαξιτοῖς These words, which give Oedipus the first suspicion of the truth (see 750), are intended by Jocasta to show the fortuitous nature of the occurrence.

717-718. mvp-comment-415-1 But as to the child that was born, three days had not intervened, when he tied its feet together and cast it by the hands of others upon a trackless mountain.' It is uncertain whether διέσχον is intransitive or active. In the latter case the word may be taken (1) in the sense of 'divided the day of the child's birth' from his death, i. e. τὸν παῖδα γιγνόμενον καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντα, (Hdt. 9. 51, διέχων ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων τὰ ῥέεθρα). Three days did not divide the birth of the child from-what followed. Cp. the Latin, Nec longum tempus et...: or, (2) not three days continued the growth of the child. Cp.

717-718. mvp-comment-415-2 διεγένετο in Thuc. 5. 16. Otherwise (3) taking βλάστας as a pendent accusative. But as for the growth of the child, three days had not fully passed. (2) is best.

718. mvp-comment-416-1 καί Temporal = when.

719. mvp-comment-417-1 εἰς ἄβατον ὄρος An undivided tribrach occurs again in 826, πατέρα κατακτανεῖν : 1496, τὸν πατέρα πατήρ: Aj. 459, καὶ πεδία τάδε. Hence the metrical rhythm is defensible, while the natural rhythm of the words is rather injured by transposing to ἄβατον εἰς ὄρος.

720. mvp-comment-418-1 ἤνυσεν ·Made good his prophecy.'

722. mvp-comment-419-1 τὸ δεινόν Accus. in apposition with θανεῖν, governed by ἤνυσεν. There is no reason for preferring παθεῖν. The words of the prophecy are repeated. Cp. О. С. 970, πρὸς παίδων θανεῖν.

723. mvp-comment-420-1 τοιαῦτα So futile have been the determinations of prophecy.

724. mvp-comment-421-1 ὧν.. χρείαν ἐρευνᾷ Of whatsoever things God searcheth out the use,' i.e. ὧν χρείαν ἔχων (χρήζων), ἐρευνᾷ αὐτά. For what God needs to search out, he will easily bring to light without our help. (Cp. Shak. Macb. 1. 3, If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir.) Jocasta in renouncing prophecy unconsciously expresses the exact truth. Apollo is already working out his purpose, and vindicating the power of his prophet. Cp. 1. 747.