Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 337

ed. Lewis Campbell

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ὦ πάντʼ ἐκείνω τοῖς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ νόμοις
[101 a.
φύσιν κατεικασθέντε καὶ βίου τροφάς·
ἐκεῖ γὰρ οἱ μὲν ἄρσενες κατὰ στέγας
θακοῦσιν ἱστουργοῦντες, αἱ δὲ σύννομοι
340
τἄξω βίου τροφεῖα πορσύνουσʼ ἀεί.
σφῷν δʼ, ὦ τέκνʼ, οὓς μὲν εἰκὸς ἦν πονεῖν τάδε,
κατʼ οἶκον οἰκουροῦσιν ὥστε παρθένοι,
σφὼ δʼ ἀντʼ ἐκείνων τἀμὰ δυστήνου κακὰ
ὑπερπονεῖτον. ἡ μὲν ἐξ ὅτου νέας
345
τροφῆς ἔληξε καὶ κατίσχυσεν δέμας,
ἀεὶ μεθʼ ἡμῶν δύσμορος πλανωμένη,
γερονταγωγεῖ, πολλὰ μὲν κατʼ ἀγρίαν
ὕλην ἄσιτος νηλίπους τʼ ἀλωμένη,
πολλοῖσι δʼ ὄμβροις ἡλίου τε καύμασι
350
μοχθοῦσα τλήμων δεύτερʼ ἡγεῖται τὰ τῆς
οἴκοι διαίτης, εἰ πατὴρ τροφὴν ἔχοι.
σὺ δʼ, ὦ τέκνον, πρόσθεν μὲν ἐξίκου πατρὶ
μαντεῖʼ ἄγουσα πάντα, Καδμείων λάθρα,
ἃ τοῦδʼ ἐχρήσθη σώματος, φύλαξ δέ μου
355
πιστὴ κατέστης, γῆς ὅτʼ ἐξηλαυνόμην·
νῦν δʼ αὖ τίνʼ ἥκεις μῦθον, Ἰσμήνη, πατρὶ
φέρουσα; τίς σʼ ἐξῆρεν οἴκοθεν στόλος;
ἥκεις γὰρ οὐ κενή γε, τοῦτʼ ἐγὼ σαφῶς
ἔξοιδα, μὴ οὐχὶ δεῖμʼ ἐμοὶ φέρουσά τι.
360

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)) — 254-509 focus
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 337 focus
How in all points their life obeys the law
Of Egypt, where the men keep house and weave
Sitting within doors, while the wives abroad
Provide with ceaseless toil the means of life.
340
So in your case, my daughters, they who should
Have ta’en this burden on them, bide at home
Like maidens, while ye take their place, and lighten
My miseries by your toil. Antigone,
E’er since her childhood ended, and her frame
345
Was firmly knit, with ceaseless ministry
Still tends upon the old man’s wandering,
Oft in the forest ranging up and down
Fasting and barefoot through the burning heat
350
Or pelting rain, nor thinks, unhappy maid,
Of home or comfort, so her father’s need
Be satisfied. And thou, that camest before,
Eluding the Cadmeans, and didst tell me
What words Apollo had pronounced on me.
355
And when they banished me, stood’st firm to shield me,
What news, Ismene, bring’st thou to thy sire
To day? What mission sped thee forth? I know
Thou com’st not idly, but with fears for me.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 337 focus
Ha, dieses Paar von Brüdern, das Aegyptos' Art
So ganz in Sinn und Leben sich zum Muster nahm!
Dort bleibt das Volk der Männer allezeit daheim 1
Am Webestuhle sizen, und die Frau'n ergeh'n
335
Sich draußen, schaffend, was die Noth des Lebens heischt.
So walten jene, welchen hier um mich zu sein
Oblag, o Kinder, Mädchen gleich, im Haus daheim;
Ihr aber müht statt ihrer euch um mein Geschick,
Das jammervolle; diese, seit aus junger Zucht
340
Sie frisch heranwuchs und erstarkt am Körper war,
Irrt' auf der herben Wanderfahrt mit mir herum,
Kastlos den Greis geleitend; oft umhergescheucht
Durch wilde Wälder, ohne Nahrung, unbeschuht,
Ost auch mit Regenschauern und der Sonne Brand
345
Mühselig ringend, achtet sie des Hauses Hut
Und Fülle nichtig, hat der Vater Pflege nur.
(zu Ismene)
Du, Tochter, brachtest früher schon dem Vater stets,
Geheim vor Kadmos' Volke, jeden Götterspruch,
Der über dieses Haupt erscholl; du standest ihm
350
Zur Seite treulich, als man ihn vom Land verstieß.
Und welche Kunde bringst du jezt dem Vater, Kind?
Was trieb vom Heimatherde dich zur Fahrt hinaus?
Nicht leer ja kommst du, (dessen bin ich ganz gewiß,)
Nicht, ohne daß du Schrecken mir verkündigest.
355
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 337 focus
What I have suffered in the search of thee
I pass in silence o'er, since to repeat
Were but, alas ! to double my misfortunes ;
I only came to tell thee the sad fate
Of thy unhappy sons. Awhile they seemed
As if they meant to yield the throne to Creon,
Nor stain their guilty hands with Theban blood,
Mindful of that pollution which remained
On thy devoted race ; but now some god
370
Or their own wicked minds have raised a flame
Of dire contention, which shall gain the power
Supreme, and reign in Thebes. Eteocles
Hath drove his elder Polynices forth,
375
Who, now an exile, seeks (as fame reports)
The Argians, and in solemn contract joined
With these his new allies would raise their fame
Above the stars, and sink our Thebes in ruin.
380
These are not words alone — 'tis now in act,
Alas ! e'en now I fear, nor know I when
The gods will take compassion on thy woes.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 337 focus
How to Ægyptian manners have they form'd....
Their nature and their life? For there the men
• Sit in the house and weave the web; meanwhile
Abroad the active females always toil,
What life requires providing. Thus of you,,
My children, those, who should these toils sustain,
Keep themselves close, like virgins, in the house.
You, in their stead, for my unhappy ills
Expose yourselves to hardships. She, e'er since
She pass'd her tender state of youth, and felt
Her strength grown firm, poor sufferer, on my steps
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 254-507 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-240-1 The δῆλον of the MSS. can mean only "manifest to me" (a very weak sense): for it could not bear the emphatic sense, "in living presence" (as opp. to "in my fancy"). Nor, again, can it well be taken as a parenthetic adv., "'tis clear" (like Ai. 906

αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ· δῆλον·
). The conjecture ἀδελφὸν (cp. Ant. 1
ὦ κοινὸν αὐτάδελφον Ἰσμήνης κάρα
) may be right.

mvp-comment-241-1 Ismene has come from Thebes, where she has hitherto continued to live, in order to bring her father important tidings. The Thebans will shortly make an attempt to fix his home, not within, but near their borders. A war has already broken out between his sons.

mvp-comment-241-2 There is no contrast in this play, as in the early part of the Antigone , between the spirit of the sisters. But the contrast between their circumstances indirectly exalts Antigone. She is wandering barefooted, enduring heat and cold ( 349 f. ), — Creon is struck by the suffering shown in her aspect ( 748 ), — while Ismene has at least the ordinary comforts of life.

mvp-comment-241-3 ὦ δισσὰ πατρὸς καὶ κασιγν 1

mvp-comment-242-1 δεύτερον 2

mvp-comment-242-2 λύπῃ 3

mvp-comment-243-1 ὁρᾶν 4

mvp-comment-244-1 In the MSS. the verse ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ ; etc. stands immediately after the verse πρόσψαυσον, ὦ παῖ , etc. Musgrave has been followed by nearly all subsequent editors, in separating these two verses by the insertion between them of the verse ὦ σπέρμ’ ὅμαιμον etc. This transposition is plainly necessary: else Ismene will say that she touches not only her father and sister, but herself. Campbell defends

θιγγάνω … δυσμόρου … ἐμοῦ τρίτης
as meaning, "I too am linked in this unhappy circle": adding that
"the construction of a reply, in this sort of dialogue, is not to be pressed too closely."
The source of the confusion in the MSS. was obviously that the gen. ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ etc. could depend, in grammar , either on θιγγάνω or on τροφαί , though the sense leaves no choice. Nauck further places v. 327 (
ὦ τέκνον, ἥκεις
) after v. 329 (
πρόσψαυσον
). Wecklein places v. 328 (
τέκνον, πέφηνας
) after v. 329 . Neither of these changes is hurtful; but neither appears necessary.

mvp-comment-245-1 ὦ δυσάθλιαι τροφαί 5

mvp-comment-245-2 ὅμαιμον 6

mvp-comment-246-1 σῇ 7

mvp-comment-247-1 πότερα 8

mvp-comment-247-2 πόθοισι 9

mvp-comment-247-3 λόγων αὐτάγγ 10

mvp-comment-248-1 ξὺν ᾧπερ … μόνῳ 11

mvp-comment-249-1 πονεῖν 12

mvp-comment-249-2 ποῦ 13

mvp-comment-250-1 οὗπέρ εἰσι 14

mvp-comment-250-2 τανῦν 15

mvp-comment-251-1 Αἰγύπτῳ 16

mvp-comment-252-1 φύσιν 17

mvp-comment-252-2 τροφάς 18

mvp-comment-253-1 ἱστουργοῦντες 19

mvp-comment-254-1 τἄξω βίου τροφεῖα 21

mvp-comment-255-1 σφῷν δ’ 22

mvp-comment-256-1 Not noticing Ismene's hint (336) , Oedipus imagines his sons in repose at Thebes. He is soon to learn that one of them, an exile, is levying war against the other (374) .

mvp-comment-256-2 οἰκουροῦσιν 23

mvp-comment-256-3 ὥστε 24

mvp-comment-256-4 παρθένοι 25

mvp-comment-257-1 τἀμὰ δυστήνου 26

mvp-comment-258-1 νέας τροφῆς ἔληξε 28

mvp-comment-258-2 κατίσχυσεν 30

mvp-comment-259-1 γερονταγωγεῖ 31

mvp-comment-260-1 νηλίπους 33

mvp-comment-261-1 ἡγεῖται 34

mvp-comment-261-2 τὰ τῆς 35

mvp-comment-262-1 εἰ … ἔχοι 36

mvp-comment-262-2 τροφὴν 37

mvp-comment-263-1 μαντεῖα πάντα 38

mvp-comment-264-1 τοῦδε σώματος 39

mvp-comment-264-2 φύλαξ δέ μοι 40

mvp-comment-264-3 μοι 41

mvp-comment-265-1 στόλος 42

mvp-comment-266-1 μὴ οὐχὶ … φέρουσα 43

mvp-comment-267-1 From Thebes to Athens is a short day's journey; but Ismene has sought her father far and wide. This could not well have been if, as Campbell supposes (on 355 ), the oracles which she herself had formerly brought to him had directed his course towards Attica.

mvp-comment-268-1 ζητοῦσα τὴν σὴν τροφήν 44

mvp-comment-269-1 ἀμφὶ … παίδοιν 45

mvp-comment-270-1 Eteocles and Polyneices were young boys at the fall of Oedipus (see on 1

), and their uncle Creon (brother of Iocasta) became regent ( O. T. 1418 ). As the two brothers grew up, they agreed, at first, in wishing to resign the throne, of which they were joint heirs, to Creon, lest Thebes should be tainted by their own rule; but afterwards they fell to striving with each other for the sole power.

mvp-comment-270-2 ἔρως 46

mvp-comment-270-3 Κρέοντί τε 47

mvp-comment-270-4 Paley's

Κρέοντι δὴ
is, however, highly probable. It would mean, "to Creon in the next resort." So δὴ is used of succession in Ant. 173 , where Creon says
ἐγὼ κράτη δὴ πάντα καὶ θρόνους ἔχω
, I next (the sons of Oed. being dead); and Aesch. Eum. 3
ἣ δὴ τὸ μητρὸς δευτέρα τόδ’ ἕζετο | μαντεῖον
.

mvp-comment-271-1 ἐᾶσθαι 48

mvp-comment-271-2 πόλιν 49

mvp-comment-272-1 λόγῳ 50

mvp-comment-272-2 τὴν πάλαι … φθοράν 51

mvp-comment-273-1 κἀλιτηρίου 53

mvp-comment-274-1 The dat. after εἰσῆλθε is strictly a dat. of the person interested, but was perh. influenced by the analogy of the dat. in

παρέστη μοι
, "it occurred to me," and the like; cp. Tr. 298
ἐμοὶ γὰρ οἶκτος... εἰσέβη
 : Her. 1.86
) λέγεται ( τῷ Κροίσῳ … ἐσελθεῖν...τὸ τοῦ Σόλωνος
: but 6. 125
τὸν Κροῖσον γέλως ἐσῆλθε
: and so Eur. Med. 931
εἰσῆλθέ μ’ οἶκτος
 .

mvp-comment-274-2 τρὶς ἀθλίοιν 54

mvp-comment-275-1 If νεάζων 55

mvp-comment-276-1 τὸν πρόσθε 56

mvp-comment-277-1 ἀποστερίσκει 57

mvp-comment-278-1 πληθύων 58

mvp-comment-279-1 Ἄργος 59

mvp-comment-280-1 κῆδος 62

mvp-comment-280-2 καινόν 63

mvp-comment-281-1 ὡς 64

mvp-comment-281-2 ὡς … Ἄργος … καθέξον ἢ … βιβῶν 65

mvp-comment-282-1 τιμῇ 66

mvp-comment-282-2 καθέξον 67

mvp-comment-282-3 πρὸς οὐρ. βιβῶν 68

mvp-comment-283-1 ἀριθμός 69

mvp-comment-284-1 If the MS. ὅποι (Vat. ὅπη ) is right, the phrase is harsh beyond example. ποῖ, ὅποι , instead of ποῦ, ὅπου , are often boldly used, when the verb implies either ( a ) motion , as 227

καταθήσεις
, 476
τελευτῆσαι
 , Eur. Bacch. 184
καθιστάναι
, etc.; or ( b ) patience up to a point, as Aristoph. Lys. 526
ποῖ γὰρ καὶ χρῆν ἀναμεῖναι;
But it is hard to see how ὅποι κατοικτιοῦσιν could mean " how far they will prolong (thy woes) before they pity them." To supply προελθόντας or προαγαγόντες is to cut the knot. If the phrase meant anything, it ought rather to mean, " up to what point they will pity them." As in 335
ποῖ
is a MS. error for ποῦ , so here ὅποι for ὅπου (Wecklein prefers ὅπῃ , "in what way"). Note that, in this context, πόνους = the woes of Oed. generally (mental and physical), not merely his toils in wandering: this is against the emend. κατοικιοῦσιν .

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

319-320. mvp-comment-179-1 φαιδρὰ ἀπ᾿ ὀμμάτων | σαίνει με She greets me with bright looks from her eyes. σαίνω is first to wag the tail (said of a dog or other quadruped). then to make signs of recognition or of pleased attention, and lastly is transferred to the impression produced on the person to whom this action is directed. Cp. Ant. 1214, παιδός με σαίνει φθόγγος: Aesch. Cho. 194, σαίνομαι δ' ὑπ᾿ ἐλπίδος.

320-321. mvp-comment-180-1 σημαίνει κάρα And in doing so convinces me that this is certainly no other than Ismene's self.

320-321. mvp-comment-180-2 δῆλον after σημαίνει has been thought pleonastic, but the pleonasm is expressive.

323. mvp-comment-181-1 μαθεῖν To learn the fact, that this is Ismene.

324-325. mvp-comment-182-1 O father and sister, names that I love to use. The name is often interchanged with the thing or person named. Cp. Phil. 234, Φ. ὦ φίλτατον φώνημα. Eur. Suppl. 801-802.

325-326. mvp-comment-183-1 How hardly I have found you, and now again (δεύτερον) how hardly I can see you for sorrow; i. e. And now that I have found you, my sorrow almost prevents me from seeing you. For λύπη, which is dat. of cause, see Essay on Language § 14. p. 21.

327. mvp-comment-184-1 ὁρᾶν Essay on Language § 33. P. 57.

328-331. mvp-comment-185-1 Editors since Musgrave, who followed the Scholiast's hint, μὴ ἄρα πρὸς τὸ δυσαθλία; have transposed these lines, placing 328 between 330 and 331, on the ground that Ismene cannot be supposed to touch herself. Not much is gained by this: for Ismene is rather struck by the contrast of her father's and her sister's mode of life to her own at Thebes than by the misery she shares with them. And the construction of a reply, in this sort of dialogue, is not to be pressed too closely. Cp. amongst other passages, El. 1036, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐπίστω γ' οἱ μ᾿ ἀτιμίας ἄγεις. | ΧΡ. ἀτιμίας μὲν οὔ.

328-331. mvp-comment-185-2 προμηθίας δὲ σοῦ, where προμηθίας has really no construction. Perhaps all that is meant is, I too am linked in this unhappy circle. For δυσάθλιαι, which has been questioned, cp. δυστάλαινα, δυσπόνητος, δυσθρήνητος.

331. mvp-comment-186-1 δυσμόρου δ' And you must include me, unhappy. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 341, τρίτη δ᾽ ἐγὼ δύστηνος ὡς ἀπόλλυμαι. There is no reason for changing δέ το τε.

333. mvp-comment-187-1 λόγοις The meaning of the dative is varied from the cause to the concomitant. By reason of longings? Yes, and also with intelligence, which I myself would bring. The reading λόγων is probably an early conjecture. The repetition of the same construction in a slightly different sense is frequent in the language of this period.

334. mvp-comment-188-1 ξύν, κ.τ.λ. is said by attraction for ξὺν τούτῳ, ὅνπερ εἶχον πιστὸν μόνον.

335. mvp-comment-189-1 πονεῖν i. e. εἰς τὸ πονεῖν. And what is become of the young men your brothers in the matter of this service? Cp infr. 342, οὓς μὲν εἰκὸς ἦν πονεῖν τάδε. A similar construction occurs in Eur. Οr. 1473, ποῦ δῆτ᾽ ἀμύνειν οἱ κατὰ στέγας Φρύγες; cp. Il. 13.312, ἀμύνειν εἰσὶ καὶ ἄλλοι. ποῖ is more expressive than ποῦ (which there is no reason to suppose the Scholiast to have read in the text).

335. mvp-comment-189-2 ποῖ, SC. οἶχονται. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 405, ποῖ ποὶ δὴ νερτέρων τυραννίδες; For the implied negative in epexegesis expressing defect, i. e. πονεῖν = τὸ μὴ πονεῖν, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 63. The other explanation of the Scholiast, ποῦ τοῦ πονεῖν εἰσι, is not so good.

336. mvp-comment-190-1 They are, where they are. For similar expressions, implying something too bad to name, see О. Т. 1376, βλαστοῦσ᾽ ὅπως ἔβλαστε, and note.

336. mvp-comment-190-2 δεινὰ δ᾽ ἐν κείνοις τὰ νῦν Things are terrible with them now.' The Scholiast in saying vῦν δὲ τὰ ἐν ἐκείνοις δεῖνά ἐστιν implies this reading. Others read δεινὰ τὰν κείνοις τανῦν.

338. mvp-comment-191-1 φύσιν .. τροφάς In character and mode of life.

338. mvp-comment-191-2 Hdt. 2. 35, Αἰγύπτιοι.. τὰ πολλὰ πάντα ἔμπαλιν τοῖσι ἀλλοῖσι ἀνθρώποισι ἐστήσαντο ἤθεα καὶ νόμους.

338. mvp-comment-191-3 ἐν τοῖσι αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες ἀγοράζουσι καὶ καπηλεύουσι· οἱ δὴ ἄνδρες, κατ' οἴκους ἐόντες, ὑφαίνουσι.

341. mvp-comment-192-1 τάξω βίου τροφεῖα The outdoor means of supporting life. Cp.

341. mvp-comment-192-2 πυρεῖα, means of obtaining fire. There is a slight redundancy in βίου τροφεία. Cp. 343, κατ' οἶκον οἰκουροῦσιν, and see Essay on Language § 40. p. 75.

342. mvp-comment-193-1 σφῶν δ᾽ And in your case. Dat. of relation: i. e. You find it so. Some editors, taking σφῷν as gen., suppose the dual to be used of the two pairs of children.

344. mvp-comment-194-1 κακά For the accusative. see Essay on Language § 16. p. 23, and cp. O. T. 264, τάδ᾽ ὡσπερεὶ τοὐμοῦ πατρὸς | ὑπερμαχοῦμαι. δυστήνου (sc. ἐμοῦ) agrees κατὰ σύνεσιν with ἐμά, but is also resumed with ὑπερπονεῖτον.

345. mvp-comment-195-1 Antigone had followed her father as soon as she had the strength.

351. mvp-comment-196-1 ἡγεῖται The sentence returns to the indicative from the participial construction. Essay on Language p. 64. 1, b.

351. mvp-comment-196-2 τὰ τῆς οἴκοι διαίτης (1) The comforts of the life at home, or (2) What subsistence she herself may find; cp. Τr. 730, ᾧ μηδέν ἐστ᾽ οἴκοι βαρύ.

355. mvp-comment-197-1 ἃ τοῦδ᾽ ἐχρήσθη σώματος] 'Which were given respecting me. Essay on Language § 9. p. 13. The context shows that the oracle here referred to was one obtained by the Thebans respecting Oedipus after they had sent him forth. The plot of the O. C. does not permit us to suppose that Creon had waited for the response, according to O. T. 1438-1439, before hastening the king's exile. This oracle directed the course of Oedipus towards Athens.

356. mvp-comment-198-1 γῆς ὅτ᾽ ἐξηλαυνόμην The order of events is inverted in the narration. Essay on Language p. 78.

358. mvp-comment-199-1 τίς σ᾽ ἐξῆρεν οἴκοθεν στόλος A figurative inversion of the common expression, αἴρειν στόλον, What errand sped thee from home?

360. mvp-comment-200-1 μὴ οὐχί, κ.τ.λ. Added in explanation of κενή. οὐχί is added because of the previous oὔ. Essay on Language p. 49.

362. mvp-comment-201-1 Seeking how thou wast maintained or where.' ποῦ κατοικοίης defines the notion of τροφήν.

363. mvp-comment-202-1 παρεῖσ᾽ ἐάσω Cp. Ο. Τ. 283, μὴ παρῇς τὸ μὴ οὐ φράσαι.

365. mvp-comment-203-1 ἀμφὶ .. παίδοιν Dative. ‘Encompassing your wretched sons.'

367-369. mvp-comment-204-1 This passage has been generally regarded as corrupt, and ἦν ἔρις has been changed to ἦν ἔρως, ἦν ὅρος, ἤρεσεν. Some edd., including Meineke, who reads κραίνεσθαι, explain, They contended with Creon, urging that the throne should be left vacant. And the authors of the punctuation in AV³ and of the gloss ὁ τε πλεονάζει, must have so taken the words. But, as this gloss indicates, the expression Κρέοντί τε for πρὸς Κρέοντα is not quite natural or harmonious here. And the antithesis of ἔρις κακή in what follows, assisted by the parallelism of construction, ἐᾶσθαι.. λαβέσθαι. isstrongly in favour of the MS. reading. ἔρις may be supported by supposing the brothers to have jointly resisted a party amongst the citizens who desired that one of them should take his father's throne. Cp. Thuc. 6. 35, τοῖς δέ (sc. ἔρις ἦν). Beforetime their contention was that they should relinquish -to Creon their rights in the throne, and that the city should not suffer pollution; professing in their argument to have regard to the ancient ruin of their race, etc. ἐᾶσθαι is middle voice. Cp. λαβέσθαι infr. For λόγῳ, cp. infr. 1296, οὔτε νικήσας λόγῳ. And for τε.. μηδὲ Eur. Iph. Τ. 697, ὄνομά τ᾽ ἐμοῦ γένοιτ' ἂν οὐδ᾽ ἄπαις δόμος | πατρῷος οὑμὸς ἐξαλειφθείη ποτ᾿ ἄv. Essay on Language p. 65.

371. mvp-comment-205-1 *ἀλειτηροῦ Although ἀλιτήριος has the first short, ἀλειτηρός may be defended by comparing ἀλείτης, ἄλοιτος. Eustathius mentions ἀλιτηρός as a word used by Sophocles. If any change is needed, ἀλειτηροῦ, which is partly supported by the reading ἀλητηροῦ, is the most probable. The heaven-sent infatuation, which leads to their destruction, is assisted by their own evil mind.

374. mvp-comment-206-1 χὼ μὲν νεάζων And the younger spirit.' The participle implies youthful qualities (impetuosity, ambition etc.), as well as the fact of being the younger. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 713, μῶν νεάζων οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἃ χρή σ᾽ ὁρᾶν, addressed to Eteocles.

376. mvp-comment-207-1 Pherecydes and Hellanicus differed about this. See Schol. Eur. Phoen. 71.

377. mvp-comment-208-1 ὁ πληθύων Lit. the more numerous, i. e. having the majority of voices. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 860.

378. mvp-comment-209-1 τὸ κοῖλον Ἄργος The hollow vale of Argos. Cp. infr. 1301, Ἄργος ἐς τὸ Δωρικόν.

381. mvp-comment-210-1 ὡς αὐτίκ᾿Ἄργος κ.τ.λ. For the construction, see Essay on Language § 21. p. 44, and cp. O. T. 101, ὡς τόδ' αἷμα χειμάζον πόλιν. It has been suggested to read αὐτός for Ἄργος, (with καθέξων in 381), but the words express the motive held out to the Argive followers of Polynices, to whom he would naturally represent the struggle as one between their city and Thebes. Cp. infr. 1325, ἄγω τὸν Ἄργους ἄφοβον εἰς Θήβας στρατόν.

381. mvp-comment-210-2 τὸ Καδμεῖον πέδον Καδμεῖον here, as in Ο. Τ. 29, δῶμα Καδμεῖον, is the more poetical reading.

381. mvp-comment-210-3 τιμῇ καθέξον Το obtain with honour.' For τιμῇ = ἐντίμως, see Essay on Language § 14. p. 20.

381. mvp-comment-210-4 ἢ πρὸς οὐρανὸν βιβῶν Or to raise it to heaven. According to the frequent vaunt of the Homeric heroes, ἠε τῳ εὖχος ὀρέξομεν, ἠε τις ἡμῖν. ΙΙ. 12. 328, 13. 487. Cp. Aesch. S. c. T. 46. ἢ πόλει κατασκαφὰς θέντες λαπάξειν ἄστυ Καδμείων βίᾳ | ἢ γῆν θανόντες τήνδε φυράσειν φύνῳ. Should the expedition fail, the splendour of the Argive host would be the measure of the glory of the Cadmeans.

382. mvp-comment-211-1 ἀριθμὸς.. λόγων A mere heaping together of words. Cp. Eur. Eu Tro. 476, οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἄλλως, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπερτάτους Φρυγῶν.

383. mvp-comment-212-1 ὅποι At what point? i.e. how long they must first continue. A pregnant expression, like ἡ μάχη ἐτελεύτα ἕως ὀψέ, Thuc. 3. 108. Cp. El. 958, ποῖ γὰρ μενεῖς ῥάθυμος;