1204.
mvp-comment-683-1
ἀκούειν
To hear of thee; epexegetic infinitive. Cp. El. 664, πρέπει γὰρ ὡς τύραννος εἰσορᾶν.
1205.
mvp-comment-684-1
†τίς ἐν πόνοις, τίς ἄταις ἀγρίαις There is a want of perfect correspondence between the metre of strophe and antistrophe (しーしーーーー =C ?). The right mode of correction, if correction is necessary, is uncertain. The phrase ἄταις ἀγρίαις ξύνοικος (cp. Αj. 611, θείᾳ μανίᾳ ξύναυλος, supr. 337-338, ὁμοῦ ναίουσαν, and note) is at any rate much more expressive than the transposition adopted by some editors, τίς άταις ἀγρίαις, τίς ἐν πόνοις; The words as they stand may be rendered Who more in woe, who more associated with fierce calamities in life's reverse?' The comparative notion contained in ἀθλιώτερος is continued.
1207.
mvp-comment-685-1
κλεινόν Recalling l. 8, ὁ πᾶσι κλεινὸς Οἰδίπους καλούμενος.
1208.
mvp-comment-686-1
The Scholiast suggests two possible interpretations of which the former is preferable. (1) ᾧ ὑποδοχὴ εἰς τὸ ἄμφω δέξασθαι, σὲ καὶ τὸν πατέρα. (2) ἢ ὅτι μητὴρ ἦν καὶ γυνὴ ἡ Ἰοκάστη, ἣν λέγει λιμένα. (1)
In whose case the same wide harbour served for son and father to enter as a bridegroom. The natural construction, ᾧ.. καὶ πατρί, is modified for the sake of emphasizing the antithesis by the addition of παιδί, and the dative is left in a loose construction with the whole sentence, with an ethical' force, i. e.
to whose confusion.
1211.
mvp-comment-687-1
πατρῷαι.. ἄλοκες ‘The furrows of thy father's field.' Cp. infr. 1256-1257, 1497-1498; Aesch. S. c. Τ. 752, ματρὸς ἁγνὰν σπείρας ἄρουραν ἵν᾽ ἐτράφη: Ant. 569, ἀρώσιμοι γὰρ χἀτέρων εἰσὶν γύαι.
1213.
mvp-comment-688-1
ἐφεῦρέ σ᾽ ἄκονθ'
Has surprised thee with a discovery thou didst not intend. The result of the inquiry is contrasted with its outset, supr. 132.
1214.
mvp-comment-689-1
δικάζει Sc. σε.
Convicts thee. For the asyndeton, which may be explained by the intensity of the language, see Essay on Language p. 59. τόν is expressive.
1214.
mvp-comment-689-2
τὸν ἄγαμον, κ.τ.λ. (1)
Of all the while being son as well as husband in that unholy marriage. γάμον is cognate accusative (Essay on Language § 17. p. 24) after some word, such as ὀπυίοντα, for which the phrase τεκνοῦντα καὶ τεκνούμενον is substituted. As infr. 1403 ff., the concrete is intended under the abstract noun. When the marriage is spoken of, Jocasta is thought of. The expression is unusual, and yet γεννῶντα τὸν αὐτὸν γάμον ὃν ἐγεννήθης might be said even in prose. Cp. supr. 1210. Otherwise γάμον may be taken as accusative in regimen, and the participles either (2) as agreeing with σε and added in further explanation of γάμον:
Condemns the unholy marriage, condemns thee who art at once sire and son: or (3), the participles agreeing with γάμον,
Condemns the marriage in which father and son are one. For the use of the passive verb in this case, see Essay on Language § 31, 3, c. P. 54.
