Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Lewis Campbell (Translator). London, New York and Toronto. 1906.
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906))
Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.
mvp-comment-64-1 ὡς πρὸς τί 1
mvp-comment-64-2
The reading and explanation of the verse hinge on the question whether
ὡς (1) belongs to
πρὸς τί , = "with what view?" or (2) is final, = "in order that." Now (1) is strongly supported by two other places of Soph., in each of which this formula stands, as here, at the beginning of a question:
O. T. 1174
ΟΙ.
ὡς πρὸς τί χρείας;
Tr.1182
ΥΑ.
ὡς πρὸς τί πίστιν τήνδ’ ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις;The simple
πρὸς τί ; (also freq. in Soph.) = merely "with reference to what?" while
ὡς πρὸς τί = "with reference to what, in your conception or intention (
ὡς )?": hence the latter is appropriate when the questioner cannot imagine the agent's motive.
mvp-comment-64-3 καταρτύσων μολεῖν 2
mvp-comment-64-4
With L's
μόλοι (
ὡς being then final), we must render: "That Theseus might come with what view (
πρὸς τί ), —to say or to arrange (what)?" The opt. can stand (in spite of
κερδάνῃ
72
), since
ἆρ’ ἂν μόλοι;
(70)
puts the case hypothetically: see on
11
. But: (
a ) the double
μόλοι , at the end of two successive verses, is intolerable. Dindorf, therefore, conjecturally reads
παρῇ , which Wecklein and others adopt. (
b ) The antithesis between
λέξων and
καταρτύσων is hardly clear. Wecklein explains,
πρὸς ποῖον λόγον ἢ ἔργον; Certainly
τί λέξων ἢ δράσων could mean, "for what conceivable purpose?" (cp.
O.T. 71
ὅ τι δρῶν ἢ τί φωνῶν): but
καταρτύσων would be a very strange substitute for
δράσων .
1-116. mvp-comment-1-1 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.
71. mvp-comment-50-1 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.