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-1077-1
The MS. words
τὸν ἀεὶ (or
αἰεὶ ) certainly conceal a fault, which is perhaps very old. We cannot supply
χρόνον (
"for ever" ). Nor do I see how
τὸν ἀεὶ βίοτον could mean,
"the life of all his days" (
"What life, life-long, was his," Whitelaw). The schol. gives nothing better than a fatuous interpretation of
τὸν ἀεὶ βίοτον as
τὸ μακρὸν γῆρας . The first question is whether the fault is confined to
ἀεί . (1) If so,
τόν being sound,
ἀεί (
a ) may conceal another adv., or an adj.: as
ἄρτι, ἄβιον, αἰνόν, ἀλαόν, ἀτυχῆ . Of these
ἀλαόν is perh. least unsatisfactory. It should not be too hastily assumed that the poet would have shunned a fourfold
‐ον . Or (
b )
ἀεί may have arisen from some ancient mutilation of
ἄνδρα . The very simplicity of
κεῖνον τὸν ἄνδρα has a solemnity which is not unfitting here; and to my mind this solution has greater probability than perhaps many would concede to it at first sight. (2) If
τόν is corrupt, then there are these possibilities. (
a )
τὸν ἀεί may conceal one word, such (
e.g. ) as
πάνοιζυν ,
"all-wretched,"
Aesch.
Cho. 49
. (
b )
τόν may have been inserted to supply a lost syllable: though against this is the fact that our MSS. often tolerate lame trimeters. This view suits (
e.g. )
ἐκεῖνον ἄρτι , or Hermann's
κεῖνόν γ’ ἐσαιεί (to which, however, the
γ’ is fatal). (3) It is vain to speculate on the possibility of corruptions extending beyond
τὸν ἀεί . The words
βίοτον ἐξεπίστασο and
κεῖνον (or
ἐκεῖνον ) are
prima facie sound. Thus (
e.g. ) to suggest
ἐκεῖνον ἐξεπίστασ’ εἰσαεὶ βίον would be unwarrantable. We seek to amend, not to re-write.
1584. mvp-comment-845-1 τὸν ἀεί The most probable interpretation of these words is that which separates them from βίοτον and supplies χρόνον. The expression is equivalent to ἐς τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον. Cp. supra 1400, οἷον ἆρ᾽ ὁδοῦ τέλος, κ.τ.λ., where τέλος has the force of ἐς τέλος. For the omission of χρόνον, see Essay on Language § 39. p. 74, and cp. infra 1701, El. 1075, Tr. 80, which are best explained by supposing a similar ellipse, which, if in accordance with a vernacular conversational idiom, would not occasion ambiguity, notwithstanding the nearness of βίοτον here and σκότον infr. 1701.
1584. mvp-comment-845-2 The other interpretations: His life, such as it ever was (Herm.), His long-continued life, His lingering age (Schol. Eustath.), are inadmissible.