Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 446

Lewis Campbell (Translator)

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CHORUS
CHORUS . 1462
Again, yonder crash through the fire-startled air
Wing’d from Zeus, rushes down, till my thin locks of hair,
Stiff with fear, upward stare.
My soul shrinks and cowers, for yon gleam from on high
1465
Darts again! Ne’er in vain hath it leapt from the sky,
But flies forth amain to what task Zeus hath given.
I fear the unknown fatal edict of Heaven!
1470
Lightning glares all around!

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)) — 446 focus
δίδωσιν αὐταῖν, καὶ τροφὰς ἔχω βίου
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 510-548 focus
Translations (3)
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 (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 446 focus
Antigone
And was before; one while the swelling tide
O'erflows all bounds; one while it ebbs again.
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-1011-1 While the MS. words ἴδε μάλα μέγας ἐρείπεται correspond with the first verse of the strophe (1447), the second verse here exceeds its strophic counterpart by uu . Hermann supplied νέα in the strophe: Heinrich Schmidt omits ὅδε here. We need not do either. The erasure in L at μάλα μέγας shows that some disturbance had occurred; and this may have concerned the order of words. If we write

μέγας, ἴδε, μάλ’ ὅδ’ ἐρείπεται
κτύπος ἄφατος διόβολος
, we get an exact correspondence, without either adding to the strophe or taking from the antistrophe.

mvp-comment-1011-2 ἐρείπεται 1

mvp-comment-1011-3 κτύπος … διόβολος 2

mvp-comment-1011-4 ἄκραν 3

mvp-comment-1012-1 ἔπτηξα 4

mvp-comment-1012-2 θυμόν 5

mvp-comment-1012-3 οὐρανία 6

mvp-comment-1013-1 τί … ἀφήσει τέλος 7

mvp-comment-1013-2 μὰν 8

mvp-comment-1014-1 L has δέδεια τόδ’ , which might easily have grown out of δέδοικα δ’ (Nauck). The latter is recommended by metre, giving an exact correspondence if in 1454 we read στρέφων : cp. on 1453

f. With δέδια τόδ’ it is necessary to suppose a very improbable resolution of - into uu ; see Metrical Analysis.

mvp-comment-1015-1 ἀφορμᾷ 9

mvp-comment-1015-2 ξυμφορᾶς 10

mvp-comment-1016-1 ὦ μέγας αἰθήρ 11

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

1462. mvp-comment-777-1 ἴδε μάλα Lo! now again. μάλα emphasizing the repetition, as in μάλ᾽ αὖθις, cp. Aesch. Cho. 870, ἔα, ἔα μάλα: S. c. Τ. 915, δόμων μάλ᾽ ἀχὰν ἐς οὖς προπέμπει δαΐκτωρ γόος: Pers. 1045, οἱ μάλα καὶ τόδ᾽ ἀλγῶ: Hdt. 1. 181, καὶ ἕτερος μάλα ἐπὶ τούτου.

1462. mvp-comment-777-2 μέγας . . διόβολος There comes mightily crashing down the unutterable roar of the Zeus-hurled bolt. As in πτερωτὸς βροντή supra, the thunder has the attributes of the lightning.

1462. mvp-comment-777-3 ἄφατος, of an overwhelming sensation, as in O. T. 1314, νέφος.. ἐπιπλόμενον ἄφατον.

1464. mvp-comment-778-1 ἐς.. φόβαν (1) And fear hath crept even to the very hair of my head. ἄκραν, adverbial. Or (2) to the very tips of my hair; with a suggestion of the hair standing on end.

1466. mvp-comment-779-1 ἔπτηξα θυμόν 'I am cowed at heart. On the aorist used when the speaker reflects on his own state, see Essay on Language § 32. p. 55, and cp. esp. Αj. 693. ἔφριξ᾽ ἔρωτι. The MS. reading οὐρανία, which is metrically indefensible, can be best accounted for as a mistaken gloss on οὐρανοῦ, which, however, is not really a descriptive genitive (like ἄστρων .. εὐφρόνη in El. 19), but = from heaven, from the region of the sky. Meineke conj. οὐρανόν, i. e. Lights up the heaven.

1467. mvp-comment-780-1 μάν gives to the question a wondering expression.

1469. mvp-comment-781-1 τί.. τέλος 'What event will it bring forth?" Cp. φωνήν, ἀράς, χροιὰς ἀφιέναι.

1469. mvp-comment-781-2 δέδια τόδ' The reading of l. 1454 being uncertain, it is better not to alter this the corresponding line, for the sake of the metre only, seeing that IC is not an impossible rhythm. Hence it is better to retain τόδ', which has a good meaning (τὸ τῆς βροντῆς χρήμα) and also gives a reason for the neuter gender of ἅλιον.

1469-1470. mvp-comment-782-1 οὐ γὰρ.. ξυμφορᾶς For it never goes forth resultless, never without grave issues. For the repetition of οὐκ, see Essay on Language § 29. p. 48. Heath conj. οὐδ᾽.

1471. mvp-comment-783-1 ὦ μέγας αἰθήρ Tremendous power of the sky. Cp. Aj. 173, ὦ μεγάλα φάτις, in a similar expression of awe and dread.