Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 386

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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OED
I have all I love; nor would the stroke of death
1110
Be wholly bitter, with you standing by.
Press close to either side of me, my children;
Grow to your sire, and ye shall give me rest
From mine else lonely, hapless, wandering life.
And tell your tale as briefly as ye may,
1115
Since at your age short speaking is enough.

Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Lewis Campbell (Translator). London, New York and Toronto. 1906.

Current edition Experimental

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 386 focus
ὤραν τινʼ ἕξειν, ὥστε σωθῆναί ποτε ;
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 510-548 focus
Translations (4)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 385 focus
Du hattest Hoffnung also, daß die Götter mein
380
Gedenken werden, daß mir Rettung einst erscheint?
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 386 focus
Antigone
1737cont2
Oh ! lead me there,
Then kill me if thou wilt ; for where, alas !
1751cont2
Can I betake me ?
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 386 focus
Polynices
Such were his words; but me they must not move.
Unhappy me! But who will madly dare
1430
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-802-1 θανὼν 1

mvp-comment-803-1 ἐρείσατε … πλευρὸν ἀμφιδέξιον 2

mvp-comment-804-1 ἐμφύντε 3

mvp-comment-804-2 With

κἀναπαύσατον
(note that L has κἀναπαύσετον ) the words are usu. taken to mean, "and give me relief from this hapless wandering, desolate before," — i.e. since Antigone was carried off (844) .

mvp-comment-804-3 πλάνου 4

mvp-comment-805-1 ταῖς τηλικαῖσδε 5

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

1110-1111. mvp-comment-595-1 οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἂν.. εἴην Nor should I be all unhappy were I now to die. θανών, i. e. εἰ θάνοιμι.

1112. mvp-comment-596-1 ἐρείσατε, sc. μοι, suggested by τῷ φύσαντι following. The ἀμφιδέξιον is supplementary predicate, almost = ἀμφωτέροθι : (ὥστε μοι ἀμφιδέξιον γίγνεσθαι, Herm.). latter part of the compound is partly lost, but serves to suggest the notion of firmness in supporting.

1113. mvp-comment-597-1 The variety of reading is most easily accounted for by supposing an earlier reading ἐμφύντε (which Mudge conjectured). The singular ἐμφῦσα is inadmissible, and if ἐμφῦτε is read, the asyndeton, which is too abrupt for this place, has also the effect of separating the dative, τῷ φύσαντι, from ἐρείσατ', which seems to require a dative. Press your sides close to mine, supporting me on either hand, engrafted on your father. This seems better than Support both my sides, although ἐρείδω admits of TE either construction. For the παρονομασία, or verbal play, see Essay on Language § 44. P. 75- κἀναπαύσετον] And ye shall give me rest in my hapless wandering, which was lonely till ye appeared: i.e. And ye will relieve the loneliness of my unhappy wandering life. Cp. supra 500-502, μόνον δέ με | μὴ λείπετ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν σθένοι τοὐμὸν δέμας | ἔρημον ἕρπειν οὐδ᾽ ὑφηγητοῦ γ᾽ ἄνεν. The reading of Β Vat., κἀναπαύσατον, has been adopted by many editors.

1114. mvp-comment-598-1 τοῦδε δυστήνου πλάνου The effect of the pronoun is pathetic, and the repetition of the article in the other reading, τοῦ τε, has no sufficient reason. Oedipus is thinking generally of his condition, which, when his daughters were carried off, seemed as forlorn as it had been before Antigone came from Thebes to be his guide.

1115. mvp-comment-599-1 ὡς βράχιστα ‘As briefly as ye may. It may be doubted whether βράχιστα agrees with τὰ πρ. as supplementary predicate ('make the matter brief in telling it'), or is to be taken as a cognate or adverbial accusative after εἴπατε. The latter is more probable.