Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 1541

1541. mvp-comment-821-1 μηδ' *ἐπιστρεφώμεθα And not turn backward. Reisig's conjecture, μηδ' ἔτ᾽ ἐντρεπώμεθα, and let us no longer delay, rests on the explanation of the Scholiast (comparing έντροπαλιζόμενος), which is not satisfactory. The ordinary meaning οἱ ἐντρέπεσθαι, To regard with respect or awe, is also inadmissible. For Oedipus is demanding attention to the sacred goal, which he himself is thinking of with reverence, though not with fear. If ἐντρέπεσθαι can mean to turn aside from a greater object out of regard for lesser ones (the thunder, etc.), the reading may be defended, (1) in this sense, or again, (2) with a reciprocal meaning, Let us not be paying regard to one another, but follow the leading of the god. Cp. Polybius, 31. 12. 6 (quoted by L. and S.), ἐνετράποντο ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. If not, it will be better to read μηδ' ἐπιστρεφώμεθα, and let us not look back, for which, cp. Hdt. 3. 156, ἐπιστρεφόμενος, ὡς δὴ ἀληθέως αὐτόμολος. This is adopted in the text. For another conj. μηδ' ἔτ' ἐκτρεπώμεθα, cp. Ar. Plut. 837, οἱ δ᾽ ἐξετρέποντο κοὐκ ἐδόκουν ὁρᾶν μ᾽ ἔτι.