Commentary on lines 1–150
The scene of the πρόλογος, ll. 1-116, is probably on the north side of Colonus, with Athens in the distance. See Introduction, p. 282. The spot so familiar to the audience (οὐ λόγοις τιμώμεν' ἀλλὰ τῇ συνουσίᾳ, infr. 63-64) would probably be recalled by the representation on the stage of some striking objects, especially those which marked the
religio loci. Oedipus enters (right?), led by Antigone, and sits down in the middle of the proscenium, where he remains until Antigone descries the approach of the chorus.
Ἀντιγόνη ... Οἰδίπουν A word or two in the dialogue serves to introduce the persons, as in O. T. 8, ὁ πᾶσι κλεινὸς Οἰδίπους, with which τὸν πλανήτην Οἰδίπουν is intentionally contrasted.
τίνας .. πόλιν Cp. Hom. Od. 6. 119, alib., τεῶν αὖτε βροτῶν εἰς γαῖαν ἱκάνω;
τὸν πλανήτην Oedipus, like Orestes, before coming to Athens, has wandered far since the pollution was first found upon him. Cp. Aesch. Eum. 337.8, οὐ προστρόπαιον οὐδ᾽ ἀφοίβαντον χέρα, | ἀλλ᾿ ἀμβλὺν ἤδη προστετριμμένον τε πρὸς | ἄλλοισιν οἶκοις καὶ πορεύμασιν βροτῶν.
καθ᾿ ἡμέραν τὴν νῦν His place of sojourn changed from day to day.
σπανιστοῖς . . δωρήμασιν
With scanted alms. Cp. Shak. Lear, 3. 2, 67,
their scanted courtesy. The verbal σπανιστός,
made small, is explained by the words which follow, σμικρὸν .. φέροντα. For the situation, cp. Od. 15. 312, πλάγξομαι, αἴ κέν τις κοτύλην καὶ πύρνον ὀρέξῃ.
σμικρὸν.. σμικροῦ It is difficult to suppose that two forms of the same word can have occurred in the same line, although μικροῦ, the reading of L, is supported by the alliteration of μεῖον, which is opposed to it.
φέροντα Cp. Ο. Τ. 590, ἐκ σοῦ πάντ᾽ ἄνευ φόβου φέρω. For καὶ = καίτοι, see Essay on Language § 25. p. 42.
.
For my sufferings, and the long time which I have lived, and also a noble nature, teach me resignation.
χὠ χρόνος ξυνὼν μακρός.
And the length of the time that is with me. Time is partly personified; Essay on Language p. 19. Cp. οἱ συγγενεῖς μῆνες, Ο. Τ. 1082, Shak. Tro. and Cress. 4, 5,
That hast so long walked hand in hand with time. The position of μακρός is emphatic. Essay on Language § 41. p. 76. τρίτον is added by a familiar pleonasm. Ib. pp. 69, 75.
θάκησιν Ricc. 34 has θάκοισιν, anticipating Seidler's conjecture. The reading θάκοισιν admits of a possible explanation.
At some sitting place, if you see any seat-either by a place where all may sit, or by a sacred grove, let me stop and sit down. θάκοισιν, dat. of place, supplemented by πρὸς βεβήλοις (θάκοισιν), and in construction with στῆσον. But the reading in the text is simpler and smoother, and the corruption may have arisen from a very simple itacism. Cp. Phil. 17, 18, ἡλίου διπλῆ | πάρεστιν ἐνθάκησις, where, as here, θάκησις is
opportunity of sitting. And this is exactly the meaning which the context requires. Essay on Language p. 94, δ.
πρὸς βεβήλοις For the neut. adj., cp. 167, ἀβάτων ἀποβάς. The line prepares the way for what is to follow. Oedipus is led by a divine presentiment towards the sacred grove of the Eumenides; cp. infr. 97, οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπως οὐ πιστὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν πτερὸν | ἐξήγαγ᾽ ἐς τόδ' ἄλσος. See also the second ὑπόθεσις to this play, οὗ μὴ ἐστιν ἑτέρῳ βεβήλῳ τόπος, αὐτόθι κάθηται. The suppliant in clinging to the altar, etc., inevitably trespassed on things sacred. Cp. Eur. Suppl. 63, ὁσίως οὐχ, ὑπ' ἀνάγκας δὲ προσπίπτουσα . . θεῶν θυμέλας.
ὡς πυθοίμεθα
And then, haply, we may learn. Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 675, καὶ γεραροῖσι πρεσβυτοδόκοι | γεμόντων θυμέλαι φλεγόντων θ', | ὡς πόλις εὖ νέμοιτο. Where the optative expresses a remote intention. Here the uncertainty of the mood accords with the feeling of the blind and weary Oedipus.
μανθάνειν γὰρ ἥκομεν ἥκειν, like other verbs of motion, is used with a mixed literal and figurative meaning:
We are come where we must learn, i. e. partly
we are here to learn, partly
we are reduced to the point of learning. Cp. O. Τ. 1433, ἄριστος ἐλθών: El. 1201, μόνος γὰρ ἥκω τοῖς ἴσοις ἀλγῶν κακοῖς. Ε. on. L. § 52. p. 97.
The omission of δé in L is indefensible. χἂν has some MS. authority, and may be right, notwithstanding the objection which is made to the double crasis (for καὶ ἃ ἄν). But Elmsley's correction is more probable.
This answers τίνων ἀνδρῶν πόλιν; i. e.
We are not yet come to the city, whose towers are seen from far.
στέγουσιν
Protect. Cp. Aesch. Sept. 216, 797, where, however, the word is used without the acc. of that which is protected. This is a simpler and more natural expression than στέφουσιν, which is therefore an unnecessary conjecture.
ὡς ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων (1)
Το judge of them by the eye, sc. εἰκάζειν or κρίνειν, or more simply without supplying an infinitive, (2)
to the eye.
Are far away for the eye to reach, i. e.
We have but a distant view of them,
χῶρος δ᾽ ὅδ' ἱρός Answering to τίνας χώρους ἀφίγμεθα; in l. 2, and to ἢ πρὸς ἄλσεσιν θεῶν in l. 10.
ὡς ἀπεικάσαι The reading ὡς σάφ' εἰκάσαι,
As one may guess with certainty, though it has some MS. authority, is less in keeping with the moderation of the style. Cp. Tr. 141, πεπυσμένη μέν, ὡς ἀπεικάσαι, πάρει | πάθημα τοὐμόν. ἀπο as in ἀπομαντεύεσθαι, ἀποπειρᾶσθαι : i. e. ἀπεικάσαι is
to hazard a conjecture.
βρύων governs the genitive with the general notion of fulness. Ср. О. Т. 83, πολυστεφὴς . . δάφνης.
πυκνόπτεροι The compound adds picturesqueness to the expression.
Many-winged nightingales, i. e. Many fluttering nightingales. See Essay on Language p. 101. For the synaphea, cp. O. T. 29, Ar. Av. 1716.
Since the way you have travelled is long for an aged man.
τὸν τυφλόν For the article, cp. Ο. Τ. 1323, τὸν τυφλὸν κηδείων.
I have had time enough to learn that well.
When Oedipus is seated, he repeats his inquiry. The repetition is marked by δή.
Now, can you tell me-?
τοῦτό *γ᾽ is obviously right, though only found in one MS, Par. F. τοῦτον has arisen from χῶρον in the preceding line. The verse is given to Antig. by L, but the 2nd hand has put a line against this and the following verse, and a cross in the margin. The initials of the persons after 21 are by a recent hand.
ἐξοικήσιμος.. οἰκητός
If it is habitable.
It is indeed inhabited. The latter word is more definite. Antigone sees clear signs of habitation. The compound with ἐξ gives emphasis and completeness to the idea: cp. Thuc. 2. 17, ὑπὸ τῆς παραχρῆμα ἀνάγκης ἐξῳκήθη: also words like ἐξεστεμμένος, ἐκκοσμεῖν, ἐξανδρόομαι. Ε. on L. p. 101. The reason of the condition, εἴπερ κ.τ.λ., is simply that in an uninhabited place there would be no one to ask. Sch. καλῶς δὲ τὰ τῆς οἰκονομίας, ἵνα μὴ μόνος ὁ Οἰδίπους ἀπολειφθῇ.
Do you mean coming forth from the town and advancing hitherwards? On the inverted order, see Essay on Language § 41, b, p. 78.
Nay: he is actually in our presence: and whatever you think good to say at this moment, say on, for the man is here.
ἀκούων The reply in l. 36 suits with the aposiopesis, and the change to ἀκούω is not a happy one.
οὔνεχ᾽.. ἀδηλοῦμεν
Since so fortunately we have met with you, who come to inform our ignorance. The genitive follows σκοπός, and φράσαι is epexegetic, αἴσος
happy,
fortunate, as a good omen is called αἴσιος ὄρνις. σκοπός, properly
one sent to look, hence
one who brings intelligence. Cp. the figurative use of σκοπός in infr. 1096, τῷ σκοπῷ μὲν οὐκ ἐρεῖς | ὡς ψευδόμαντις.
The MS. reading τῶν is very possibly erroneous, as in El. 422, βλαστεῖν βρύοντα θαλλόν, τῷ κατάσκιον (L), where the metre decides for ᾧ. The early corruption τῶν ἃ δηλοῦμεν, however, is a proof of the antiquity of the reading τῶν, for had the words been ὧν ἀδηλοῦμεν, nobody would have thought of altering them to ὧν ἃ δηλοῦμεν. ἀδηλέω is not found elsewhere; but cp. Hesych. ἀδηλίαν, ἄγνοιαν, and the analogy of ἀλαστεῖν, etc. Essay on Language p. 102.
ΞΕΝΟΣ The Stranger, so called in relation to Oedipus, is an Athenian, but from the neighbourhood of Colonus, as appears from l. 70, ἆρ᾽ ἄν τις αὐτῷ πομπὺς ἐξ ὑμῶν μόλοι.
οὐχ ἁγνὸν πατεῖν i. e. ὃν πατεῖν οὐχ ὅσιόν ἐστιν. Cp. Eur. Heracl. 1011, οὐχ ἁγνός εἰμι τῷ κτανόντι κατθανεῖν.
τοῦ θεῶν νομίζεται
Το which of the Gods is it assigned by custom?
What is their dread name, that I may address my prayers to them? i. e. τίσιν ἂν εὐξαίμην, κλύων αὐτῶν τὸ σεμνὸν ὄνομα ;
ὁ γ᾽ ἐνθάδ' * ἄν The MSS, Suidas, and Eustathius agree in reading ὤν, which has been altered to avoid the omission of ἄν. For this see Essay on Language § 27. p. 45, and cp. Ar. Av. 180, πόλος; τίνα τρόπον; ΠΕ. ὥσπερ εἴποι τὶς τόπος, as well as Aesch. Ag. 339, τοιαῦτά τοι γυναικὸς ἐξ ἐμοῦ κλύοις: Ibid. 1163: Supp. 727. But ὤν has no meaning here and ἄν is better.
ἄλλα δ᾽ ἀλλαχοῦ καλά These words are best taken generally. The different names of the Furies illustrate the truth that
Different customs are honoured in different places. Cp. Pind. Fr. 200, Ἄλλο δ᾽ ἄλλοισιν νόμισμα. The Stranger, while insisting on the sanctity of the spot, is aware that customs vary. His gentleness and moderation contrast with the fanaticism of the chorus. The name Ἐρινύες is avoided.
The MS. reading τόνδ' is shown by the metre to be wrong. Cp. infr. 52 and note. *τὸν ἱκέτην =
their suppliant.
*ὡς The meaning is much the same whether we read ὥστε, with the MSS, or ὡς, which is favoured by the interpretation of the Scholiast, and is on the whole more probable.
For I will not depart; cp. infr. 1528,9. The reading of the MSS, ὥστε, is only explainable, if at all, as a confused or mixed thought; Oedipus expressing in a single clause his prayer that he may not be driven away, and his determination to remain,
That I may remain in this land which I will not leave. Cp. Thuc. 3. 34, ὥστε ἢν μηδὲν ἀρεστὸν λέγῃ, πάλιν αὐτὸν καταστήσειν, where the fut. inf. arises from a slight confusion of a similar kind. ὡs is simpler and better: i e. May they be kind to me, for I mean to stay.
The vagueness of γῆς τῆσδε has been objected to. But the meaning of Oedipus is that he is to rest in the soil of Attica. Cp. 84, 5, ἕδρας.. τῆσδε γῆς.
τί δ᾽ ἔστι τοῦτο
What does this mean? The Stranger is awestruck by the unexpected firmness of Oedipus.
ξυμφορᾶς ξύνθημ᾿ ἐμῆς
The word that sums my destiny. For ξυμφορά, of the position in which one is placed by destiny, cp. Τr. 1145,
φρονῶ δὴ ξυμφορᾶς ἵν᾽ ἔσταμεν.
ξύνθημα (from συντιθέσθαι) is an appointed sign, generally in speech or writing, and especially one giving direction at a critical moment. Oedipus is thinking of the language of the oracles which he remembers. Cp. Trach. 157, δέλτον ἐγγεγραμμένην | ξυνθήματ'. Whether the notion of
comprising much in little belongs to the word accidentally, or is assisted by some association from συντιθέναι (Εl. 673, ἐν βραχεῖ συνθεὶς λέγω), is not easy to determine. Cp. inf. 586, ἀλλ' ἐν βραχεῖ δὴ τήνδε μ' ἐξαιτεῖ χάριν. Oedipus means that in praying the dread goddesses to receive him to rest finally in Attica, he is uttering the word which expresses his condition and destiny. The broken line has here the effect, not of hurried excitement, but of intense solemnity.
Indeed I am no less afraid to raise you up, without the city knowing of it.' By raising him from sanctuary, the Stranger would become responsible for his protection. The conjecture οὐδ᾽ ἐμοί τοι, suggested by the errors of the MSS, introduces a false emphasis, οὐδέ refers to a suppressed clause. The Stranger has told him to depart, and he has expressed his determination to remain. After his last words the Stranger is unwilling to incur the responsibility of removing him. But without the authority of the state,' he says,
I can no more remove you than I can let you remain. μέντοι is therefore preferable.
πρίν γ᾽ ἂν .. δρῶ (1) ‘Until I have first shown the matter, (so as to be advised) what I must do: (the indirect question depends on the notion of
consulting implied in ἐνδείξω): or (2), if δρῶ is taken as indicative,
what I am doing. This (2) is simpler and more natural. Cp. τί δρᾷς ; infr. 829, Phil. 974.
ὧν σε προστρέπω φράσαι
In respect of the things which I entreat you to tell.
τίς ἔσθ The omission of δέ, though supported only by Vat., and Par. B., is favoured by the context, since there is no opposition between this and the previous line. If δέ is genuine, the words must be regarded as a repetition verbatim of the question in 38.
You shall know all that I myself know.' For καί, see Essay on Language § 25. a. 1, p. 42, O. T. 1239 and note. Poseidon is the guardian deity of the whole region: particular spots are sacred to several deities, such as the fire-bringer, the Titan Prometheus. 55, ff. Apollodorus, quoted by the Scholiast, mentions an altar of Prometheus in the temple of Athena in the Academy, and at the entrance of the same temple a pedestal on which was represented in relief an altar of Hephaestus and Prometheus in common, together with the figures of both deities.
ὃν δ᾽ ἐπιστείβεις τόπον .. Ἀθηνῶν
But the place where you rest, or
the place where you have set your foot,
is called the brazen-floored threshold of this land, the stay of Athens. Cp. Od. 17. 196, where οὐδόν is
the ground.
χαλκόπους Lit.
Having a foundation of brass. A compound adjective, in which, as in πυκνόπτεροι supr. 17, ὑψίποδες, Ο. Τ. 866, the force of the termination is partially lost. The meaning is nearly the same as in 1591, χαλκοῖς βάθροισι γῆθεν ἐρριζωμένον. χάλκεος =
indissoluble, as in Pind. Pyth. 10. 27, ὁ χάλκεος οὐρανός. On the question of reconciling this passage with 1590, where Oedipus is described as halting when he reached the καταρράκτης ὀδός, out of sight of the spectators, see the Introduction to this play, p. 282.
ἔρεισμ᾽ Ἀθηνῶν Sophocles supposes the tradition which associated the tomb of Oedipus with the glory of Athens to have been foreshadowed in the local belief: an anticipation similar to that by which the Athenians are called
Theseidae in Theseus' time, 1. 1066. Schndw. supposes ἔρεισμα to mean that this threshold of the land' was part of the rock on which the city was built. But though this fancy may have been included in the early belief, it does not agree with the word τόπον in l. 56. Cp. Pind. Fr. 46, Ἑλλάδος ἔρεισμα, κλειναὶ Ἀθῆναι.
Colonus, god of horsemen, who is present with them here.' Cp. 65, τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ. There is no need of altering τόνδε into τόν: the presence of the guardian deity, who may or may not have been represented by a statue on the stage, is assumed.
οὐ λόγοις τιμώμεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ξυνουσίᾳ πλέον
Honoured, not in story, but more highly, by loving resort. Thus the poet honours scenes which were familiar to his audience, and probably his own home. They were as yet uncelebrated in poetry, and he was going to make them famous. If recent scholars are right in assigning the Phoenissae to the spring of 410 B.C., the allusion in Phoen. 1707 would be subsequent to O. C., according to the reasoning on p. 278, supra.
Have they a ruler, or, are the people allowed to have a voice?' The reading ἄρχει τίς..; cannot be defended. The inversion, although of course allowable, gives a false emphasis.
This place depends for its government upon the king in the city.' On the use of ἐκ, see Essay on Language § 19. p. 27. There are many indications of the poet's wish to carry the spectators into the past. Cp. infr. 303, μακρὰ κέλευθος, not applicable to a time when Colonus was a suburb of Athens.
And who is thus supreme in word and power?' The emphatic use of τίς, as the real predicate, = τίς ὤν, accounts for the inversion. Essay on Language § 41. p. 78. See Introd. p. 277.
Could any one from you (i. e. from near Colonus) go to fetch him?' πομπός, = στελῶν in infr. 298.
That Theseus might come for what purpose of speech or decision?' Cp. 1. 68, λόγῳ τε καὶ σθένει. The reading μολεῖν avoids the awkwardness of repeating μόλοι with a different subject, but whether the line is then taken to mean, (1) To what purpose is he to speak to him? Or is he to arrange for him to come?' or (2) To speak to him, or arrange for him to come, for what purpose?' the Stranger is thus made to ignore the obvious meaning of πομπός in the question of Oedipus. The optative (ὡς μόλοι for ὡς ἂν μόλῃ) is occasioned by the optative preceding.
ὡς ἂν.. κερδάνῃ Oedipus, in expressing his own purpose, returns to the more direct form of expression.
μή Essay on Language p. 48. 2, b.
All that I utter shall be full of light. Cp. Aesch. Choeph. 844, πῶς ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ καὶ βλέποντα δοξάσω; and the passive uses of caecus in Latin. The inversion of active and passive expressions is especially frequent in connection with perception by sight. See Essay on Language pp. 98, 99. The Stranger, on seeing the noble bearing of Oedipus, thinks it will be enough if he reports the matter not to the city, cp. 1. 47, but to the elders of the deme.
Do you know how you must avoid disaster? Cp. the common idiom οἶσθ᾽ ὁ δρᾶσον (Ar. Av. 54, etc.), and see O. T. 543 and note.
ἐπείπερ εἰ
I tell you this because I see you noble. Sc. ταῦτά σοι λέγω.
ὡς ἰδόντι ὡς emphasises the dative as in supr. 20, ὡς γέροντι.
πλὴν τοῦ δαίμονος
But for your fortune. The nobility of Oedipus appears through his rags and blindness. Cp. Shak. Cor. 4. 5. Though thy tackle's torn | Thou show'st a noble vessel. Od. 14. 214, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμπης καλάμην γέ σ᾽ ὀΐομαι εἰσορόωντα | γιγνώσκειν, ib. 20. 194, δύσμορος, ἢ τε ἔοικε δέμας βασιλῆῖ ἄνακτι.
τοῖσδ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ αὐτοῦ
These here on the spot. For the pleonasm, in which the words ἐνθάδ αὐτοῦ are epexegetic of τοῖσδε, see Essay on Language p. 75. And, for the use of τοῖσδε which requires the epexegesis, ibid. § 22. p. 34. Ср. supra,
l. 59
, τόνδε.. Κολωνόν.
οἵδε γὰρ κρινοῦσί *τοι The variety of reading, in which both γε and σοι are somewhat harsh, many have σ arisen out of τοι.
ἢ..ἤ An Epic form, which ap. pears also in Aesch. Prom. 780, Choeph. 890, putting an alternative more pointedly than cἰ.. ἤ.
ἡμίν
Is the Stranger gone, and are we alone? Dative of remote reference. Essay on Language § 13. p. 19.
O revered forms of dread.' Cp. Aesch. Cho. 1048 ff. For the reduplication of adjectives without a connecting particle, see Essay on Language § 23. P. 37.
5. εὔτε . . ἐγώ
Since it is on a seat of yours that I have rested first in this land. ἐπί is probably to be joined with ἕδρας, (cp. supr. 19, κώλα κάμψον τοῦδ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἀξέστου πέτρου), and ἔκαμψα is used absolutely for ἔκαμψα μέλη. Supr. 19. Essay on Language p. 98. Eur. Hec. 1079, πὰ βῶ; πᾶ στῶ; πᾶ κάμψω; For the position of ἐπί before the subordinate genitive, 127, ἄλσος ἐς τᾶνδε.. κορᾶν : Essay on Language § 41. p. 77. For the sense, cp. Od. 13. 228, ἐπεί σε πρῶτα κιχάνω.
γῆς Partitive genitive with πρώτων. Cp. supra,
l. 45
, ἔδρας γῆς τῆσδ'.
Φοίβῳ τε κάμοὶ.. ὅς The order of actual sequence is inverted, and the first of the two words, being the more emphatic, is the antecedent to ὅs. Essay on Language § 41. p. 78.
ἀγνώμονες
Ungracious. Cp. Tr. 1266-1267, μεγάλην δὲ θεῶν ἀγνωμοσύνην εἰδότες.
τὰ πόλλ᾽ ἐκεῖν᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐξέχρη κακά Referring to O. T. 789, foll. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 1703 ff.
ταύτην has the emphasis, and is the real predicate. Told me of a resting-place which could be no other than this.' 89. When I came to a land at the end of my wanderings, where I should find a seat belonging to the dread goddesses and auspicious shelter afforded by them, there I should end my ill fated life.' ἐλθόντι] In construction with μοι, as if the sentence were παῦλαν γίνεσθαί μοι.
τερμίαν is predicative,
a land which should be the end of my wandering.
ὅπου .. λάβοιμι] Oratio obliqua from οὗ ἂν λάβῃς.
θεῶν with ἕδραν is possessive, with ξενόστασιν subjective, genitive. Essay on Language pp. 12, 62.
The metaphor in κάμψειν βίον is taken from a race. Cp. Eur. El. 755, πρὶν ἂν τέλος | γραμμῆς ἴκηται καὶ πέρας κάμψῃ βίου : Hipp. 87, τέλος δὲ κάμψαιμ᾽ ὥσπερ ἠρξάμην βίου: Hel. 1666, ὅταν δὲ κάμψῃς καὶ τελευτήσῃς βίον. The turning-point is regarded in the figure as the end of the race. The construction as in κάμπτειν δρόμον. The infinitive follows ἔλεξε, and is coordinate with παῦλαν.
κέρδη μὲν οἰκήσαντα Sc. ἐνταῦθα.
Having fixed my habitation there,- a benefit to those who had received me, but a calamity to those who sent me forth, who banished me. κέρδη and ἄτην are accusatives in apposition to the action of the verb, expressing the result of the action. If it is objected that the tense is momentary, and the result is only to be realised afterwards, this applies equally to Eur. Οr. 1103, Ἑλένην κτάνωμεν, Μενελέω λύπην πικράν : although some such consideration has probably occasioned the v. r. οἰκήσοντα. Cp. 626, κοὔποτ' Οἱ- δίπουν ἐρεῖς | ἀχρεῖον οἰκητῆρα δέξασθαι τόπων | τῶν ἐνθάδ'. οἰκίσαντα has been conjectured, but οἰκίζω is not used in the sense required.
παρηγγύα (1)
He promised withal. παρά = besides.' Or (2), like παρεγγυᾶν σύνθημα, He told me as a sign.' Cp. supr. 46.
ἔγνωκα.. άλσος
And I am sure that some true intimation from you has led me to my destination in this grove. Cp. Pind. Ol. 6. 663, Il. 24. 53,4. an
πιστὸν.. πτερόν
Some true intimation from you. The meaning of
omen or
sign is generalized so as to apply to a presentiment or inward intimation. Schol. πτερόν: οἰωνός. τὴν πτέρωσιν τῆς διανοίας. For a similar mental influence, cp. El. 459, οἶμαι μὲν οὖν, οἷμαί τι κἀκείνῳ μέλον | πέμψαι τάδ' αὐτῇ δυσπρόσοπτ᾽ ὀνείρατα: also Phil. 1039, εἰ μὴ τι κέντρον θεῖον ἦγ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἐμοῦ.
The correction ὑμῖν is taken from the note of the Scholiast.
σεμνὸν .. βάθρον Cp. 57, 8: Aesch. Eum. 107, χοάς τ' ἀοίνους, νηφάλια μειλίγματα. The Schol. on this line mentions, on the authority of Polemo and Philochorus, various other deities to whom libations of pure water were offered in Attica.
βίου.. πέρασιν Not
a passing out of life, but a
passing away of life. The person is not thought of distinct from the life. So the Schol. Cp. infr. 1551 and note, and see Essay on Language § 42 B, p. 80. The genitive βίου, however, is to be taken more closely with καταστροφήν than with πέρασιν.
βίου.. καταστροφήν
Ending of life, a metaphor from turning down the end of a thread in weaving. Cp. Hdt. 4. 205, τὴν ζύην κατέπλεξε.
εἰ μή τι.. βροτῶν
Unless haply (εἰ μή τι) my afflictions seem too light, who am always suffering the greatest calamities which can afflict mortals. Schol. εἰ μὴ δοκῶ ὑμῖν ἐλαττόνως ἔχειν τὰ κακὰ καὶ δεῖσθαι προσθήκης κακῶν. Cp. Morris' Story of Sigurd, p. 374,
And if all be little enough and the Gods begrudge me rest. μειόνως ἔχειν is naturally opposed to ἀρκούντως ἔχειν, and is to be taken in close connection with what follows: i. e. μειόνως ἔχειν..
λατρεύων – μειόνως ἔχειν λατρευμάτων. Herm. takes μειόνως ἔχειν as equivalent το μείονος λόγου εἶναι. But this is hardly legitimate, and gives a poor meaning.
γλυκεῖαι
Welcome daughters. This epithet is not here merely propitiatory (like Εὐμενίδες, etc.), but expresses the real feeling of Oedipus. He has no fear of the 'Ερινύες, who have done their worst,' and are now to give him the rest for which he longs; cp. Aj. 394, where, in a different mood, Ajax more passionately invokes Erebus as to him most bright.
μεγίστης Παλλάδος καλούμεναι
Called the possession of mightiest Pallas.
ἀνδρὸς Οἰδίπου
Pity this miserable shadow of the man that Oedipus once was. For this emphatic sense of ἀνήρ, cp. 393, τηνικαῦτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἰμ' ἀνήρ : Αj. 77, πρόσθεν οὐκ ἀνὴρ ὅδ᾽ ἦν. The degree of emphasis in these passages varies. It is less in Aj. 77, than in O. C. 393. And in the present passage it is still more slight, suggesting rather than expressing the contrast of conditions.
The reading of Aldus, which various editors have approved without adopting it, is found in Ven. 467, from which he no doubt derived it. See Introd. p. 284.
χρόνῳ παλαιοί
Very old men. The pleonasm is intensive, as in γονῇ γενναῖε, Ο. Τ. 1469.
σῆς ἕδρας ἐπίσκοποι Το see why you are sitting here.' 113. σιγήσομαί τε καὶ σύ μ᾽ ἐξ ὁδοῦ πόδα κρύψον] I will say nothing. But take and hide me out of the way.' με is governed, πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, by the phrase πόδα κρύψον, which is substituted for ὑπέξαγε or the like. Cp. Essay on Language § 16. p. 23.
τῶνδε.. ἐκμάθω
Until I learn of these men.' Gen. of perception and also of respect.' Essay on Language pp. 16, 13. For ἐκμανθάνειν,
to learn perfectly, cp. Ο. Τ. 575, ἐκμάνθαν᾽. 115-116. For in being fully informed lies the secret of cautious proceeding.' Oedipus has the timidity of age. For the spondee in ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθεῖν, cp. Εl. 376, εἰ γὰρ τῶνδε μοι. The four words are very closely bound together. 117 ff. Exit Oedipus and Antigone leading him. The scene is changed (?) to the entrance of the sacred grove. The chorus enter from the spectators' right. See Introduction, p. 282.
It is doubtful whether ἦν here is literally past, or, as infra 150, 1696, equivalent to an emphatic ἔστι = ' Who can it be?' according to the use noticed in the Essay on Language § 32, 6. p. 55. Schol. ὁ χορὸς ἐκ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἀνδρῶν πεπυσμένος, ὅτι προσκαθέζεταί τις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ, πρῶτα ὑποχαλεπαίνοντες φασί, τίς ἄρα ἐστὶν ἢ ποῦ διατρίβει;
ποῦ ναίει] The same idiom recurs in Τr. 99, πόθι.. ναίει, of a temporary abode. For 11. 117-254, cp. Phil. 135-219, Eur. Or. 140-207, Ion 184-236, Heracl. 73-83, where there is a similar interchange of lyrical measures between the chief actor on the stage and the chorus on their first entrance. The commatic parodos' of the Electra, 11. 121-250, is more regular in structure, and is rather to be compared with Aj. 201-262, Aesch. Prom. 114-192, Eur. Med. 131-212, etc. As in other places where the part assigned to the chorus is much broken, it has been attempted to distribute it amongst the fifteen choreutae, who are supposed to speak one at a time. But although some such arrangement is probable in itself and confirmed by the comparison of other passages, such as Aj. 866-960. El. 823-870, Trach. 871-895, it is impossible to determine the details of it with any approach to certainty. For instance whether ll. 117-137, 149-169, were chanted by ἡμιχόρια, (the asyndeta giving the effect of doubt amidst eager search), or divided amongst several persons, or in what order the individual members of the chorus took part, are questions which may be asked but not answered. Ll. 176-177, 203-206, 229-236, may be assigned with some probability to the Coryphaeus. See Hermann's notes. It is also uncertain how far an antistrophic arrangement of the metres is to be maintained. Thus 11. 117-137 clearly correspond to 11. 149-169. But the anapaestic movement, 11. 138-148, is not exactly answered by 11. 170-177: cp. Eur. Ion 227-229: and, while 11. 178-181, 184-187, severally correspond (though in the MSS. not perfectly) to 194-198, 203-206, there is again a want of correspondence between ll. 182-183, and 199-202. Although these are not anapaestic measures, it may be observed that they accompany movements of Oedipus, which, if they were to be represented at all naturally, were necessarily interrupted and irregular, and while it is of course possible that some lines have been lost after 183, it is also conceivable that there may have been an interval of silence, or that a pause in the dialogue may have been filled up with instrumental music. Cp. infr. 1692 ff. and note, Phil. 1170 1217. However this may have been, the correction ἡσυχαίᾳ, which brings l. 197 into accordance with 182, is probably right. The long passage 207-254, which may be regarded as a double epode, is even less regular, the rhythm changing several times with the situation. But the similarity of 207 ff. to 237 ff., which led Hermann to arrange this passage also antistrophically, suggests the idea of a strain which after being interrupted is again renewed. And the dactylic measures of the chorus (229 ff.) are resumed, though with a difference, in the supplication of Antigone (241 ff.). The prevailing metre is logaoedic, with free anapaestic systems coming between. But ll. 212-215, where a fresh cause of agitation arises, are Ionic a minore; and the passage which follows presents a curious alternation of single paroemiacs with The concluding lines, 229 ff., contain a series of rapid dactylic measures modified with an occasional glyconic or iambic rhythm. The following lines have been objected to for metrical reasons as they are found in the MS. text, 117, 121, 2, 3, 134 or 166, 152, 156, 175, 178, 182, 3, (or 197-202), 205, 212, 220, 226, 247, 252. The difficulties will be dealt with as they occur. But it may be remarked at the outset that the divergences from an antistrophic structure which have been noticed above cannot justify what is in itself unmetrical. At the same time the variation between CIK and cc, c c − (134-166) or between Icchci and Aclcclc- (182-197), the shortening of the diphthong in ναίει (cp. γεραιός), or admission of an irrational thesis (117), and the resolution of the long syllable of an anapaest or dactyl as in 220, although they may be rejected on special grounds in particular places, are not to be absolutely condemned. Lastly, in dealing with metrical irregularities in the lyrical part of plays which like the O. C. and Phil. belong to the latest period of Greek tragedy, we are haunted by the doubt whether the changes in music which began about this time were not already accompanied with metrical innovations. In the presence of manifest corruptions, like that in l. 152, we cannot firmly maintain that it was so; yet the fact remains that the metrical anomalies in the text of these two plays greatly exceed the average of corruptions in Sophocles. The metrical scheme of 11. 117-254 is the following :- λεύσσετ' Β Vat. a'. 117-137 =149-169. 15 10 5 つ 1つ ートートCI トートー உ ここ luctu ID D β'. Free anapaests. 178 ff.=194 ff. トト ἐπ. α'. 207-236. 5 5 トー ヒトしてトー [トー IICCICIC [- L つ 3 T ID ト 10 T CCC かいし اد C ἐπ. β΄. 1 I 237-253. 101007- トリトー 15 10 5 1001100 10110) T つつ luc וכוכ しかし トレトー luc トしてレトー CCLLCI つつ つ כו CCCCCC いと じんく 20 CCC つつ CCC 00 }
Look out! Who was it then? Where is he? Whither is he sped away, the most reckless of men? Inquire for him; keenly look; look for him in every direction. The old man is some wanderer, and a stranger to the place: else never had he gone within the pathless grove of these invincible maidens, whom we tremble to name, and pass with downcast eyes, with voices hushed, without words, breathing the language of pious thought. But now we hear that one is come, having no reverence, of whom I, looking over all the grove, cannot yet tell where he is to be found.
ἀκορέστατος i. e. not to be satisfied without invading our most sacred place.
Hermann's conjectures are adopted to secure the correspondence of these lines with infr. 153-155, 11. 4-6 of the antistrophe : ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰν ἕν γ᾽ ἐμοὶ | προσθήσεις τάσδ' ἀράς· | περᾷς γάρ.
προσέβα .. οὐκ Essay on Language § 41. p. 78.
The genitive with ἄλσος forms a single phrase; hence és is not misplaced. Cp. Εl. 14, τοσόνδ᾽ ἐς ἥβης : Il. 1.350, θῖν ἐφ᾽ ἁλὸς πολιῆς : supr. 85. The preposition marks that he not only approached but entered.
ἀμαιμακετᾶν Schol. ἀκαταμαχήτων ἢ ἀπροσπελάστων. The former seems to be the true Homeric meaning, which however is modified in the Sophoclean use by an association from μαίομαι. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 3. 33, κασιγνήταν μένει | θύοισαν ἀμαιμακέτῳ.
Cp. infr. 489; Eur. Or. 409-410, ὀνομάσαι δ᾽ οὐ βούλομαι. ΟΡ. σεμναὶ γάρ· εὐπαιδευτὰ δ᾽ ἀποτρέπει λέγειν.
οὐδὲν ἄζοντα The unusual active voice strengthens the expression. Cp. Essay on Language pp. 51, 98. Oedipus alone of mortals has no fear of the Erinyes. Blaydes conj. οὐκ ἀλέγονθ', retaining εἴ τιν' ἔχεις in l. 166. And the synaphea is certainly more regular if the anapaests have already begun.
Here am I, the man you seek, for I see by sound, as the saying goes;' i. e.
I hear you, though I cannot see. Cp. Ant. 829, ὡς φάτις ἀνδρῶν. Oedipus and Antigone re-enter from behind, and after several movements, with irregular anapaestic accompaniment, he is again seated in the middle of the proscenium, on a raised platform. The absence of the conventional palace-front enables Oedipus to be seen when at the back of the stage.
The chorus are at first too horror-stricken at the very sight of the offender, either to discern his blindness, or to gather the meaning of his words. This appears from their language in 149-150, which is most naturally interpreted as an exclamation on first discovering that he is blind. The present words, as Oedipus perceives, simply express horror at seeing and hearing the impious one (ἄνομον). In l. 143 they pass from horror to curiosity. Only when he directly calls their attention to it, do they realize the fact that he is without sight. Schol. οὔπω ἀκριβῶς ἑωρακότες αὐτὸν τοῦτό φασιν.
Regard me not as lawless.
See not a lawless man in me. For the apparent ellipse of ὡs, see Essay on Language §23. p. 38, and § 39. p. 73.
Not altogether one of highest fortune, that ye should congratulate him thereon. The genitive is in the first instance attributive,
One of high fortune, but is to be resumed with εὐδαιμονίσαι, which governs the genitive, as in Plat. Crit. 43 Β, πολλάκις σε εὐδαιμόνισα τοῦ τρόπου. εὐδαιμονίσαι is 140 145 146. δηλῶ δ'] 148. ὥρμουν LA. ὥρμων C³ and epexegetic infinitive. See Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. Another interpretation deserves notice. Not one to congratulate ( = olov εὐδαιμονίσαι) on his first destiny;' i.e. The destiny which has been his from birth: ἣν οἱ ἐπεκλώσαντο θεοί, ὅτε μιν τέκε μητήρ. But to this may be objected, (1) that the infinitive can hardly stand except as epexegetic; (2) the emphatic position of πρώτης; (3) the gentle irony of the former meaning, which is better adapted to the situation. The same objections apply to the conjecture πρωτῆς, i. q. πεπρωμένης (Vauvillers, Schndw., Nauck.), which is a word only found in grammarians, and gives a poor sense.
ἔφοροι χώρας
Guardians of this land. Oedipus infers their office from the words of the Ξένος,
l. 78
, and of his daughter,
l. 112
, σῆς ἕδρας ἐπίσκοποι. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 25, στρατιᾶς πολλῆς ἔφοροι.
δηλῶ δ'
And the manner of my coming proves this. Cp. δείκνυμι δ', 1145: Ant. 471, δηλοῖ τὸ γέννημ᾽ ὠμὸν ἐξ ὠμοῦ πατρός: Αj. 355, δηλοῖ δὲ τοὔργον, ὡς ἀφροντίστως ἔχει.
ὧδε Thus. Ant. 990, αὕτη κέλευθος.
κἀπὶ σμικροῖς μέγας ὥρμουν
Nor, being a prince, as I am, should I have taken up my rest here to crave a small boon. Schol. καὶ ἐπὶ εὐτελέσιν αἰτήμασιν οὐκ ἂν σφόδρα ἱκέτευον, εἰ μὴ ἤμην δυστυχής. Cp. supr. 5. It may be objected to this rendering that it is dramatically inappropriate to make Oedipus assume as manifest (δηλῶ δ',
l. 146
) what the chorus could not know. But it may be rejoined that he is meditating on his own condition and speaking oracularly, as in supr. 45. The other interpretation (also given in the Scholia),
or being tall, have leaned on one so slight, is less natural, and (unless σμικpās is read) attributes a doubtful use both to the dative and to the plural.
And wast thou then blind? O wretched life, and protracted, too, if I am not mistaken. Howbeit, if I can prevent, thou shalt not bring this curse. For, I tell thee, thou art transgressing. But oh! lest you break the sacred peace of yonder grassy dell, where the watered hollow gathers softly-flowing streams, of this take heed, all hapless stranger; avoid, remove. The distance hinders. Dost hear, O weary wanderer? If you have any matter for conference with me, come off forbidden ground, and speak, where all may. But, till then, avaunt thee!'
ἀλαῶν ὀμμάτων ἆρα καὶ ἦσθα φυτάλμιος
Alas, and art thou then blind! The interrogative has the force of an exclamation. For the emphatic order of the words, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 78, γ. ἀλαῶν ὀμμάτων φυτάλμιος is a poetical phrase (cp. τὸ φατιζόμενον,
l. 139
) for ἀλαὰ ὄμματα φύσας, i. e. ἔχων. Cp. Aj. 1077, κἂν σῶμα γεννήσῃ μέγα. The past tense has a pathetic or reflective force, Essay on Language § 32. p. 55. The chorus are not enquiring the cause of Oedipus' blindness, but are expressing their horror, slightly modified by pity, at the fact, which they have just discovered.
Oedipus at Colonus. Lewis Campbell. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.