Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 464

mvp-comment-1040-1 σοι ¹ τῇδε πόλει ²

mvp-comment-1040-2 γήρως ἄλυπα ³

mvp-comment-1041-1 χῶρον … ἐξηγήσομαι ⁴

mvp-comment-1041-2 ἄθικτος ⁵

mvp-comment-1042-1 τοῦτον ⁶

mvp-comment-1042-2 μήθ’ οὗ κέκευθε ⁷

mvp-comment-1043-1 ὥς σοι … τιθῇ ⁸

mvp-comment-1043-2 δορός τ’ ἐπακτοῦ ⁹

mvp-comment-1043-3 Others join ἀλκὴν … γειτόνων ¹⁰

mvp-comment-1044-1 ἃ δ’ ἐξάγιστα ¹¹

mvp-comment-1044-2 μηδὲ κινεῖται λόγῳ ¹²

mvp-comment-1044-3 μαθήσει ¹³

mvp-comment-1045-1 σῷζε ¹⁴

mvp-comment-1045-2 ἀφικνῇ ¹⁵

mvp-comment-1045-3 τῷ προφερτάτῳ μόνῳ ¹⁶

mvp-comment-1046-1 ἀδῇον ¹⁷

mvp-comment-1046-2 σπαρτῶν ἀπ’ ἀνδρῶν ¹⁸

mvp-comment-1046-3 αἱ δὲ μυρίαι πόλεις ¹⁹

mvp-comment-1046-4 Those who suspect αἱ μυρίαι should observe that Greek writers often use this phrase when they wish to express the notion of many probabilities against one. Cp. Her. 8.119

, : i.e. not one man in 10,000 would dispute it. Xen. Anab. 2.1.19

ἐγώ, εἰ μὲν τῶν μυρίων ἐλπίδων μία τις ὑμῖν ἐστι σωθῆναι πολεμοῦντας βασιλεῖ, συμβουλεύω μὴ παραδιδόναι τὰ ὅπλα

: etc. So, of Eur. fr. 588 . And so here αἱ μυρίαι is something more than a mere synonym for . It suggests this notion:— (In citing Aeschin. or. 2 § 157 Blaydes has not noticed that means the Pan-Arcadian , not : cp. Grote c. 78, x. 317.)

mvp-comment-1046-5 κἂν εὖ τις οἰκῇ ²⁰

mvp-comment-1046-6 Others explain:—(1)

: i.e. if you divulge the secret to the Athenians , it may be abused to the hurt of the State. A modification of this view is that refers to overweening confidence inspired at Athens by the new . Theseus must still be watchful. (2) —still referring to the Athenians. But for this sense we should at least need Wecklein's οἱ δὲ μυρίοι πόλεως .—Blaydes thought of : better would be ( Ai. 1112 , 1150): but neither this, nor anything with , is either needful or probable.

mvp-comment-1047-1 γὰρ ²¹

mvp-comment-1047-2 εὖ μὲν ὀψὲ δ’ ²²

mvp-comment-1048-1 τὰ θεἶ ἀφείς ²³

mvp-comment-1048-2 μαίνεσθαι ²⁴

mvp-comment-1049-1 ὃ μὴ σὺ...βούλου παθεῖν ²⁵

mvp-comment-1050-1 χῶρον ²⁶

mvp-comment-1050-2 τοὐκ θεοῦ παρόν ²⁷

mvp-comment-1050-3 μηδ’ ἔτ’ ἐντρεπώμεθα ²⁸

mvp-comment-1051-1 — 1555 A more splendid dramatic effect than Sophocles has created here could hardly be conceived. Hitherto, throughout the play, Oedipus has been strongly characterised by that timidity in movement, and that sense of physical dependence, which are normal accompaniments of blindness. (Cp. 21, 173 ff., 495 ff., 1206, etc.) Now, suddenly inspired by the Unseen Power which calls him, he becomes the guide of his guides. Now it is they who shrink. Eager and unfaltering, the blind man beckons them on. And so he finally passes from the eyes of the spectators.

mvp-comment-1051-2 ὧδ’ ²⁹

mvp-comment-1051-3 καινός ³⁰

mvp-comment-1052-1 τῇδ’, ὧδε, τῇδε ³¹

mvp-comment-1053-1 ὁ πομπὸς ³²

mvp-comment-1053-2 ἥ τε ν. θεός ³³

mvp-comment-1054-1 φῶς ἀφεγγές ³⁴

mvp-comment-1054-2 πρόσθε ³⁵

mvp-comment-1055-1 τὸν τελευταῖον βίον ³⁶

mvp-comment-1056-1 αὐτός τε ³⁷

mvp-comment-1056-2 πρόσπολοι ³⁸

mvp-comment-1057-1 κἀπ’ εὐπραξίᾳ ³⁹

mvp-comment-1057-2 ἐπί ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-1057-3 μέμνησθε ⁴¹

mvp-comment-1057-4 εὐτυχεῖς ἀεί ⁴²

1519. mvp-comment-808-1 κείσεται Shall remain in store.

1524-1525. mvp-comment-809-1 That this may afford thee a continual defence that is preferable to a host of armed men and the alliance of neighbouring powers.' 1525. Of the two explanations of γειτόνων given by the Scholiast, εἰ μὲν βαρυτόνως, (1) γειτόνων, τῶν Θηβαίων· εἰ δὲ περισπωμένως, (2) ἀντὶ τοῦ γειτνιῶν, ὁ τάφος, the latter is preferable, and agrees with the point of view maintained throughout the play, in which Colonus is regarded, not as a part of Athens, but as a neighbouring dependency. γειτόνων ας obj. gen. is too far from ἀλκήν. But (3) with δορός it gives a proper sense, suggesting the natural feeling of the insecurity of an alliance with neighbours. And although the hero Oedipus might be said γειτνιᾶν τοῖς 'Αθηναίοις, the word is not used with equal propriety of his grave.

1526. mvp-comment-810-1 ἐξάγιστα Sacred; i.e. set apart from men.

1526. mvp-comment-810-2 μηδὲ .. λόγῳ And may not be profaned by speech. μή is partly generic or hypothetical, and partly prohibitive. Essay on Language p. 48. Ι. Ε. μ. κ. λ. = And is of a nature not to be spoken of. Cp. infra 1641, μηδ' ἃ μὴ θέμις | λεύσσειν δικαιοῦν. For κινεῖν, cp. supra 624, τἀκίνητ᾽ ἔπη: Ο. Τ. 354.

1526. mvp-comment-810-3 ἀφικνῇ ARV3.

1527. mvp-comment-811-1 μόνος is probably to be construed with μαθήσει as well as with μόλῃς.

1528. mvp-comment-812-1 ὡς.. ἄν Since I would not declare them. See Essay on Language § 27. p. 43.

1530. mvp-comment-813-1 σώζε Keep safe; i. e. At once remember and avoid divulging. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 522-525, ἄλλου λόγου μέμνησθε· τόνδε δ᾽ οὐδαμῶς | καιρὸς γεγωνεῖν, ἀλλὰ συγκαλυπτέος | ὅσον μάλιστα· τόνδε γὰρ σώζων ἐγὼ | δεσμοὺς ἀεικεῖς καὶ δύας ἐκφυγγάνω. The

1531. mvp-comment-814-1 ἀφικνῇ Elmsley observes that the imperf. makes better sense than the aor., besides being essential to the metre. When you are on the point of coming. When you are coming to the end of life. The words probably refer to some custom unknown to us. ceremonies at the grave of Oedipus may have been performed by the Archon Basileus, to whom, as Plato says, certain solemn traditional rites were entrusted: Polit. 290 E, τῷ γὰρ λαχόντι βασιλεῖ φασὶ τῖδε τὰ σεμνύτατα καὶ μάλιστα πάτρια τῶν ἀρχαίαν θυσιῶν ἀποδεδόσθαι. Cp Lys. adv. Andoc. p. 103. Plutarch, Mor. p. 578 B, says that the tomb of Dirce was only known to the chief magistrate for the time being at Thebes.

1532. mvp-comment-815-1 ὁ δ᾽ ἀεί The distributive ἀεί generalizes the subject of the verb so as to make the expression applicable to the whole line of succession. For a similar transition, cp. Thuc. 2. 36, ἄρξομαι· ἀπὸ τῶν προγόνων .. τὴν γὰρ χώραν ἀεὶ οἱ αὐτοὶ οἰκοῦντες ἐλευθέραν δι᾽ ἀρετὴν παρέδοσαν.

1534. mvp-comment-816-1 ἀπ᾿ ἀνδρῶν instead of ὑπ᾿ ἀνδρῶν, because of the privative notion in ἀδῇον, as if it were τηρήσεις ἀπό. This city of thine shall be free from the ravages of the children of the dragon's teeth.' Cp. Pind. Fr. H. 1, ἡ Κάδμον ἢ Σπαρτῶν ἱερὸν γένος ἀνδρῶν : Isthm. 6 (7). 10.

1534. mvp-comment-816-2 αἱ δὲ μυρίαι πόλεις i. e. But any one of the numberless states that are.' There is here a trace of that conception of the number and variety of civil communities which played such an important part in Greek political speculation. Cp. Plat. Polit. 302 A: Eur. Hec. 306, ἐν τῷδε γὰρ κάμνουσιν αἱ πολλαὶ πόλεις.

1535. mvp-comment-817-1 τις is a vague subject, with allusion to Theseus and Athens. Cp. Thuc. 2.2, εἰ μή τις προκαταλήψεται: ἱ. ε. εἰ μὴ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι καταλήψονται. The allusion to Athens accounts for εὐ οἰκῇ, which is properly applicable to a city. an A καθύβρισαν] καθυβρίζω is generally found in construction with accusative or genitive. Hence it has probably here an implied object which is most easily supplied from τις. city, no matter where, may lightly insult even one who dwells circumspectly.' Oedipus again touches lightly on the apparent improbability of Thebes becoming 1535 1540 1540. hostile (supr. 606, foll.), while Athens was governed prudently. ῥᾳδίως = ἐκ σμικροῦ λόγου: i.e. Be as politic as you will, you cannot avoid wars with your neighbours. Scholiast, κἂν δικαίως τις πολιτεύηται, πολλαὶ πόλεις ἀδίκως ἐπέρχονται. In the more recent explanations (e.g. Hermann's 'pleraeque civitates, etiam si quis eas bene regat, proclives sunt ad temeritatem') καθύβρισαν is made equivalent to ἐξύβρισαν. For ὕβριs of a city, cp. Thuc. 3. 39, εἴωθε δὲ τῶν πόλεων αἷς ἂν μάλιστα καὶ δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου ἀπροσδόκητος εὐπραξία ἔλθῃ, ἐς ὕβριν τρέπειν.

1536-1537. mvp-comment-818-1 θεοὶ γὰρ .. τραπῇ For the Gods mark well, although they visit late, when men abandon reverence and become infatuated. This also has reference to Thebes. The impious quarrel of the brothers will bring a late retribution when Thebes shall invade Attica to her own defeat. For τὰ θεῖα, cp. Ο. Τ. 910, ἔρρει δὲ τὰ θεῖα.

1538-1539. mvp-comment-819-1 Oedipus, after thus alluding to the impiety of his sons, delicately hints to Theseus, in a single line, that such a warning is an additional reason for keeping his sacred promise inviolate. He then in the following line apologises for having said even so much as this.

1540. mvp-comment-820-1 χώρον Essay on Language p. 22.

1540. mvp-comment-820-2 τοὐκ θεοῦ παρόν ‘What God now sends; i. e. The disturbance of the elements and the inward intimation or δαιμόνιον σημεῖον, as Socrates would have said, under the influence of which Oedipus is speaking. See note on l. 97.

1541. mvp-comment-821-1 μηδ' *ἐπιστρεφώμεθα And not turn backward. Reisig's conjecture, μηδ' ἔτ᾽ ἐντρεπώμεθα, and let us no longer delay, rests on the explanation of the Scholiast (comparing έντροπαλιζόμενος), which is not satisfactory. The ordinary meaning οἱ ἐντρέπεσθαι, To regard with respect or awe, is also inadmissible. For Oedipus is demanding attention to the sacred goal, which he himself is thinking of with reverence, though not with fear. If ἐντρέπεσθαι can mean to turn aside from a greater object out of regard for lesser ones (the thunder, etc.), the reading may be defended, (1) in this sense, or again, (2) with a reciprocal meaning, Let us not be paying regard to one another, but follow the leading of the god. Cp. Polybius, 31. 12. 6 (quoted by L. and S.), ἐνετράποντο ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. If not, it will be better to read μηδ' ἐπιστρεφώμεθα, and let us not look back, for which, cp. Hdt. 3. 156, ἐπιστρεφόμενος, ὡς δὴ ἀληθέως αὐτόμολος. This is adopted in the text. For another conj. μηδ' ἔτ' ἐκτρεπώμεθα, cp. Ar. Plut. 837, οἱ δ᾽ ἐξετρέποντο κοὐκ ἐδόκουν ὁρᾶν μ᾽ ἔτι.

1542-1543. mvp-comment-822-1 For a new thing is coming to pass, and I am now your guide, who have been mine.'

1544. mvp-comment-823-1 καὶ μὴ ψαύετ' Nay, touch me not. καί adversative. The daughters cling to their father. Cp. supr. 1437.

1548. mvp-comment-824-1 ἥ τε νερτέρα θεός Persephone, whose name is omitted here and infra 1.1556. See Introd. pp. 281-282.

1549. mvp-comment-825-1 ὦ φῶς ἀφεγγές Ο light unseen, once I saw thee, and now for the last time my body feels thee.' The Greek love of sunlight is touchingly manifested in this valediction of the blind Oedipus to the light of day. In his first passionate despair he had prayed never more to see the light, on which, in his softened mood, he now casts one lingering look behind. O. T. 1183, ὦ φῶς, τελευταῖόν σε προσβλέψαιμι vûv. The edd. before Brunck read ποῦ, which is interpreted as expressing a feeling of exultation, that he who was blind now had the true sight. Formerly where wast thou?' (i.e. I had thee not): but now at the last I feel thee. πρόσθε πού ποτ᾽ ἦσθ᾽ ἐμόν] Erewhile methinks thou wast indeed mine.' In saying this he throws a momentary glance on the splendour of his former fortunes. Cp. О. Т. 1282-1283.

1551. mvp-comment-826-1 τὸν τελευταῖον βίον To end my life, and hide it in the dwelling of the unseen.' Musgrave's conjecture, ἤδη γὰρ ἕρπω τὴν τελευταίαν, βίον | κρύψων παρ' Ἅιδην, is ingenious, but unnecessary. For, as Elmsley says, Recte se habet haud dubie vulgata, licet loquendi genus novum videatur. Death is frequently spoken of in Sophocles rather as the entrance to a new state of existence than as an abrupt termination of the present one. Cp. Eur. Ion 1067, εἰς ἄλλας βιότου μορφὰς κάτεισι: Bacch. 1337, μακάρων δ᾽ ἐς αἷαν σὸν καθιδρύσει βίον. The words express rather the passing of Oedipus, than his death. Cp. βίου καταστροφή, 103.. ῥοπή, 1508. The last scene of his life (supra 583, τὰ λοίσθι᾽. . τοῦ βίου) may be described as hidden with the God of death. The verbal contradiction is analogous to that in another expression which has given trouble to interpreters, Phil. 1443, 4, ἡ γὰρ εὐσέβεια συνθνήσκει βροτοῖς | κἂν ζῶσι κἂν θάνωσιν οὐκ ἀπόλλυται: i.e. Follows them into the grave.

1553. mvp-comment-827-1 πρόσπολοί τε σοί And thy followers..:' the same who are called Θησείδαι, supra 1066 (cp. 1103), and some of whom are surrounding Theseus at this moment. The Ἄγγελος in the next scene is one of them.

1554. mvp-comment-828-1 κἀπ᾿ εὐπραξίᾳ i. e. And take occasion from your good fortune to remember me. Elmsley's conjecture, μεμνῇσθε (optative), though not necessary, has the merit of harmonizing with γένοισθε and εὐτυχεῖς. Cp. Od. 13.44-6, ὑμεῖς δ᾽ αὖθι μένοντες .. μή τι κακὸν μεταδήμιον εἴη. The apparent anti climax, Beloved of heaven, Fortunate, may be defended by comparing Hdt. 1. 32, where Solon prefers εὐτυχία to all else. 1556, foll. In a single strophe and antistrophe, the chorus address a solemn invocation to the powers of the lower world, Hades, Persephone, the Erinyes, the dog Cerberus, and Death, that Oedipus may have quiet consummation,' and pass without molestation to the Stygian home.

1554. mvp-comment-828-2 ἐπὶ βαρυαχεῖ ἐπιβαμήποτ᾽ ἐπίπονα μήτ᾽ ἐπὶ βαρυάχει Α. Reminiscences of the dochmiac movements of the last commation are mingled with iambic, trochaic, and glyconic measures. On this combination, see Christ, Metrik, § 477- The antistrophe is distinguished by the frequency of spondaic endings. This apparent irregularity may be removed by conjectural emendation, but it may possibly have been due to a purposed, retardation of the rhythm. For ср. supr. 412. For dochmiacs mixed with cretics and iambics in a similar place, cp. El. 1385 ff. and, for a recurrence of the paeonic rhythm, infr. 1682, 1709. ト いいいい |---|トー CICLトートー