Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 477

ed. Lewis Campbell

χοὰς χέασθαι στάντα πρὸς πρώτην ἕω.

Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

Current edition Experimental

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 510-548 focus
Translations (3)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 477 focus
ANT
Gone! Even as heart could wish, had wishes power.
How else, when neither war, nor the wide sea
Encountered him, but viewless realms enwrapt him,
Wafted away to some mysterious doom?
Whence on our hearts a horror of night is fallen.
Woe ’s me! For whither wandering shall we find
Hard livelihood, by land or over sea?
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 461 focus
Wohl werth des Mitleids, Dedipus, erscheinst du selbst
Und deine Töchter! Aber da du meinem Land
Dich jezt zum Helfer selbst erbeutst mit diesem Wort:
So will ich treulich rathen, was dir frommen kann.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 510-546c focus

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-359-1 χοὰς χέασθαι 1

mvp-comment-359-2 πρὸς πρώτην ἕω 2

mvp-comment-359-3 The schol. here says that persons performing expiatory rites (

ἐκθύσεις
) or purifications (
καθαρμοί
) faced the East (as the region of light and purity), quoting El. 424 f., where Electra
ἡλίῳ | δείκνυσι τοὔναρ
, and Cratinus
ἐν Χείρωνι
(the title of the comedy was
Χείρωνες
, Bothe, Frag. Com. p. 47):
ἄγε δὴ πρὸς ἕω πρῶτον ἁπάντων ἵστω καὶ λάμβανε χερσὶ | σχῖνον μεγάλην
,—the squill being used in purifications.

mvp-comment-359-4 Statues of gods were oft. set to face the East ( Paus. 5.23.1 , etc.): also, victims about to be sacrificed ( Sen. Oed. 338 ). Cp. the precept of Zoroaster

"to face some luminous object while worshipping god"
(Max Müller, Chips 1. 175). Conversely, in pronouncing solemn curses the priests faced the West ,—waving red banners: [Lys.] In Andoc. § 51
στάντες κατηράσαντο πρὸς ἑσπέραν καὶ φοινικίδας ἀνέσεισαν
.

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus

477. mvp-comment-259-1 χοὰς χέασθαι.. Hom. Od. 10. 518, χοὴν χεῖσθαι. Cp. Crat. Com. 2. p. 151, ἄγε δὴ πρὸς ἕω πρῶτον ἁπάντων ἵστω καὶ λάμβανε χερσὶν | σχῖνον μεγάλην: Sen. Oed. 338, Altum taurus attollens caput primos ad ortus positus expavit diem. The place of offering was probably on the eastward side of the hill. See Introd. p. 273.