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.
102.
mvp-comment-71-1
βίου.. πέρασιν Not
a passing out of life, but a
passing away of life. The person is not thought of distinct from the life. So the Schol. Cp. infr. 1551 and note, and see Essay on Language § 42 B, p. 80. The genitive βίου, however, is to be taken more closely with καταστροφήν than with πέρασιν.
102.
mvp-comment-71-2
βίου.. καταστροφήν
Ending of life, a metaphor from turning down the end of a thread in weaving. Cp. Hdt. 4. 205, τὴν ζύην κατέπλεξε.
104-105.
mvp-comment-72-1
εἰ μή τι.. βροτῶν
Unless haply (εἰ μή τι) my afflictions seem too light, who am always suffering the greatest calamities which can afflict mortals. Schol. εἰ μὴ δοκῶ ὑμῖν ἐλαττόνως ἔχειν τὰ κακὰ καὶ δεῖσθαι προσθήκης κακῶν. Cp. Morris' Story of Sigurd, p. 374,
And if all be little enough and the Gods begrudge me rest. μειόνως ἔχειν is naturally opposed to ἀρκούντως ἔχειν, and is to be taken in close connection with what follows: i. e. μειόνως ἔχειν..
104-105.
mvp-comment-72-2
λατρεύων – μειόνως ἔχειν λατρευμάτων. Herm. takes μειόνως ἔχειν as equivalent το μείονος λόγου εἶναι. But this is hardly legitimate, and gives a poor meaning.
106.
mvp-comment-73-1
γλυκεῖαι
Welcome daughters. This epithet is not here merely propitiatory (like Εὐμενίδες, etc.), but expresses the real feeling of Oedipus. He has no fear of the 'Ερινύες, who have done their worst,' and are now to give him the rest for which he longs; cp. Aj. 394, where, in a different mood, Ajax more passionately invokes Erebus as to him most bright.
107.
mvp-comment-74-1
μεγίστης Παλλάδος καλούμεναι
Called the possession of mightiest Pallas.
109.
mvp-comment-75-1
ἀνδρὸς Οἰδίπου
Pity this miserable shadow of the man that Oedipus once was. For this emphatic sense of ἀνήρ, cp. 393, τηνικαῦτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἰμ' ἀνήρ : Αj. 77, πρόσθεν οὐκ ἀνὴρ ὅδ᾽ ἦν. The degree of emphasis in these passages varies. It is less in Aj. 77, than in O. C. 393. And in the present passage it is still more slight, suggesting rather than expressing the contrast of conditions.
110.
mvp-comment-76-1
The reading of Aldus, which various editors have approved without adopting it, is found in Ven. 467, from which he no doubt derived it. See Introd. p. 284.
112.
mvp-comment-77-1
χρόνῳ παλαιοί
Very old men. The pleonasm is intensive, as in γονῇ γενναῖε, Ο. Τ. 1469.
112.
mvp-comment-77-2
σῆς ἕδρας ἐπίσκοποι Το see why you are sitting here.' 113. σιγήσομαί τε καὶ σύ μ᾽ ἐξ ὁδοῦ πόδα κρύψον] I will say nothing. But take and hide me out of the way.' με is governed, πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, by the phrase πόδα κρύψον, which is substituted for ὑπέξαγε or the like. Cp. Essay on Language § 16. p. 23.
114.
mvp-comment-78-1
τῶνδε.. ἐκμάθω
Until I learn of these men.' Gen. of perception and also of respect.' Essay on Language pp. 16, 13. For ἐκμανθάνειν,
to learn perfectly, cp. Ο. Τ. 575, ἐκμάνθαν᾽. 115-116. For in being fully informed lies the secret of cautious proceeding.' Oedipus has the timidity of age. For the spondee in ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθεῖν, cp. Εl. 376, εἰ γὰρ τῶνδε μοι. The four words are very closely bound together. 117 ff. Exit Oedipus and Antigone leading him. The scene is changed (?) to the entrance of the sacred grove. The chorus enter from the spectators' right. See Introduction, p. 282.
117.
mvp-comment-79-1
It is doubtful whether ἦν here is literally past, or, as infra 150, 1696, equivalent to an emphatic ἔστι = ' Who can it be?' according to the use noticed in the Essay on Language § 32, 6. p. 55. Schol. ὁ χορὸς ἐκ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἀνδρῶν πεπυσμένος, ὅτι προσκαθέζεταί τις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ, πρῶτα ὑποχαλεπαίνοντες φασί, τίς ἄρα ἐστὶν ἢ ποῦ διατρίβει;
117.
mvp-comment-79-2
ποῦ ναίει] The same idiom recurs in Τr. 99, πόθι.. ναίει, of a temporary abode. For 11. 117-254, cp. Phil. 135-219, Eur. Or. 140-207, Ion 184-236, Heracl. 73-83, where there is a similar interchange of lyrical measures between the chief actor on the stage and the chorus on their first entrance. The commatic parodos' of the Electra, 11. 121-250, is more regular in structure, and is rather to be compared with Aj. 201-262, Aesch. Prom. 114-192, Eur. Med. 131-212, etc. As in other places where the part assigned to the chorus is much broken, it has been attempted to distribute it amongst the fifteen choreutae, who are supposed to speak one at a time. But although some such arrangement is probable in itself and confirmed by the comparison of other passages, such as Aj. 866-960. El. 823-870, Trach. 871-895, it is impossible to determine the details of it with any approach to certainty. For instance whether ll. 117-137, 149-169, were chanted by ἡμιχόρια, (the asyndeta giving the effect of doubt amidst eager search), or divided amongst several persons, or in what order the individual members of the chorus took part, are questions which may be asked but not answered. Ll. 176-177, 203-206, 229-236, may be assigned with some probability to the Coryphaeus. See Hermann's notes. It is also uncertain how far an antistrophic arrangement of the metres is to be maintained. Thus 11. 117-137 clearly correspond to 11. 149-169. But the anapaestic movement, 11. 138-148, is not exactly answered by 11. 170-177: cp. Eur. Ion 227-229: and, while 11. 178-181, 184-187, severally correspond (though in the MSS. not perfectly) to 194-198, 203-206, there is again a want of correspondence between ll. 182-183, and 199-202. Although these are not anapaestic measures, it may be observed that they accompany movements of Oedipus, which, if they were to be represented at all naturally, were necessarily interrupted and irregular, and while it is of course possible that some lines have been lost after 183, it is also conceivable that there may have been an interval of silence, or that a pause in the dialogue may have been filled up with instrumental music. Cp. infr. 1692 ff. and note, Phil. 1170 1217. However this may have been, the correction ἡσυχαίᾳ, which brings l. 197 into accordance with 182, is probably right. The long passage 207-254, which may be regarded as a double epode, is even less regular, the rhythm changing several times with the situation. But the similarity of 207 ff. to 237 ff., which led Hermann to arrange this passage also antistrophically, suggests the idea of a strain which after being interrupted is again renewed. And the dactylic measures of the chorus (229 ff.) are resumed, though with a difference, in the supplication of Antigone (241 ff.). The prevailing metre is logaoedic, with free anapaestic systems coming between. But ll. 212-215, where a fresh cause of agitation arises, are Ionic a minore; and the passage which follows presents a curious alternation of single paroemiacs with The concluding lines, 229 ff., contain a series of rapid dactylic measures modified with an occasional glyconic or iambic rhythm. The following lines have been objected to for metrical reasons as they are found in the MS. text, 117, 121, 2, 3, 134 or 166, 152, 156, 175, 178, 182, 3, (or 197-202), 205, 212, 220, 226, 247, 252. The difficulties will be dealt with as they occur. But it may be remarked at the outset that the divergences from an antistrophic structure which have been noticed above cannot justify what is in itself unmetrical. At the same time the variation between CIK and cc, c c − (134-166) or between Icchci and Aclcclc- (182-197), the shortening of the diphthong in ναίει (cp. γεραιός), or admission of an irrational thesis (117), and the resolution of the long syllable of an anapaest or dactyl as in 220, although they may be rejected on special grounds in particular places, are not to be absolutely condemned. Lastly, in dealing with metrical irregularities in the lyrical part of plays which like the O. C. and Phil. belong to the latest period of Greek tragedy, we are haunted by the doubt whether the changes in music which began about this time were not already accompanied with metrical innovations. In the presence of manifest corruptions, like that in l. 152, we cannot firmly maintain that it was so; yet the fact remains that the metrical anomalies in the text of these two plays greatly exceed the average of corruptions in Sophocles. The metrical scheme of 11. 117-254 is the following :- λεύσσετ' Β Vat. a'. 117-137 =149-169. 15 10 5 つ 1つ ートートCI トートー உ ここ luctu ID D β'. Free anapaests. 178 ff.=194 ff. トト ἐπ. α'. 207-236. 5 5 トー ヒトしてトー [トー IICCICIC [- L つ 3 T ID ト 10 T CCC かいし اد C ἐπ. β΄. 1 I 237-253. 101007- トリトー 15 10 5 1001100 10110) T つつ luc וכוכ しかし トレトー luc トしてレトー CCLLCI つつ つ כו CCCCCC いと じんく 20 CCC つつ CCC 00 }
Look out! Who was it then? Where is he? Whither is he sped away, the most reckless of men? Inquire for him; keenly look; look for him in every direction. The old man is some wanderer, and a stranger to the place: else never had he gone within the pathless grove of these invincible maidens, whom we tremble to name, and pass with downcast eyes, with voices hushed, without words, breathing the language of pious thought. But now we hear that one is come, having no reverence, of whom I, looking over all the grove, cannot yet tell where he is to be found.
120.
mvp-comment-80-1
ἀκορέστατος i. e. not to be satisfied without invading our most sacred place.
121-123.
mvp-comment-81-1
Hermann's conjectures are adopted to secure the correspondence of these lines with infr. 153-155, 11. 4-6 of the antistrophe : ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰν ἕν γ᾽ ἐμοὶ | προσθήσεις τάσδ' ἀράς· | περᾷς γάρ.
125.
mvp-comment-82-1
προσέβα .. οὐκ Essay on Language § 41. p. 78.
126.
mvp-comment-83-1
The genitive with ἄλσος forms a single phrase; hence és is not misplaced. Cp. Εl. 14, τοσόνδ᾽ ἐς ἥβης : Il. 1.350, θῖν ἐφ᾽ ἁλὸς πολιῆς : supr. 85. The preposition marks that he not only approached but entered.
127.
mvp-comment-84-1
ἀμαιμακετᾶν Schol. ἀκαταμαχήτων ἢ ἀπροσπελάστων. The former seems to be the true Homeric meaning, which however is modified in the Sophoclean use by an association from μαίομαι. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 3. 33, κασιγνήταν μένει | θύοισαν ἀμαιμακέτῳ.
131.
mvp-comment-85-1
Cp. infr. 489; Eur. Or. 409-410, ὀνομάσαι δ᾽ οὐ βούλομαι. ΟΡ. σεμναὶ γάρ· εὐπαιδευτὰ δ᾽ ἀποτρέπει λέγειν.
134.
mvp-comment-86-1
οὐδὲν ἄζοντα The unusual active voice strengthens the expression. Cp. Essay on Language pp. 51, 98. Oedipus alone of mortals has no fear of the Erinyes. Blaydes conj. οὐκ ἀλέγονθ', retaining εἴ τιν' ἔχεις in l. 166. And the synaphea is certainly more regular if the anapaests have already begun.
138.
mvp-comment-87-1
Here am I, the man you seek, for I see by sound, as the saying goes;' i. e.
I hear you, though I cannot see. Cp. Ant. 829, ὡς φάτις ἀνδρῶν. Oedipus and Antigone re-enter from behind, and after several movements, with irregular anapaestic accompaniment, he is again seated in the middle of the proscenium, on a raised platform. The absence of the conventional palace-front enables Oedipus to be seen when at the back of the stage.
140-141.
mvp-comment-88-1
The chorus are at first too horror-stricken at the very sight of the offender, either to discern his blindness, or to gather the meaning of his words. This appears from their language in 149-150, which is most naturally interpreted as an exclamation on first discovering that he is blind. The present words, as Oedipus perceives, simply express horror at seeing and hearing the impious one (ἄνομον). In l. 143 they pass from horror to curiosity. Only when he directly calls their attention to it, do they realize the fact that he is without sight. Schol. οὔπω ἀκριβῶς ἑωρακότες αὐτὸν τοῦτό φασιν.
142.
mvp-comment-89-1
Regard me not as lawless.
See not a lawless man in me. For the apparent ellipse of ὡs, see Essay on Language §23. p. 38, and § 39. p. 73.
144.
mvp-comment-90-1
Not altogether one of highest fortune, that ye should congratulate him thereon. The genitive is in the first instance attributive,
One of high fortune, but is to be resumed with εὐδαιμονίσαι, which governs the genitive, as in Plat. Crit. 43 Β, πολλάκις σε εὐδαιμόνισα τοῦ τρόπου. εὐδαιμονίσαι is 140 145 146. δηλῶ δ'] 148. ὥρμουν LA. ὥρμων C³ and epexegetic infinitive. See Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. Another interpretation deserves notice. Not one to congratulate ( = olov εὐδαιμονίσαι) on his first destiny;' i.e. The destiny which has been his from birth: ἣν οἱ ἐπεκλώσαντο θεοί, ὅτε μιν τέκε μητήρ. But to this may be objected, (1) that the infinitive can hardly stand except as epexegetic; (2) the emphatic position of πρώτης; (3) the gentle irony of the former meaning, which is better adapted to the situation. The same objections apply to the conjecture πρωτῆς, i. q. πεπρωμένης (Vauvillers, Schndw., Nauck.), which is a word only found in grammarians, and gives a poor sense.
145.
mvp-comment-91-1
ἔφοροι χώρας
Guardians of this land. Oedipus infers their office from the words of the Ξένος,
l. 78
, and of his daughter,
l. 112
, σῆς ἕδρας ἐπίσκοποι. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 25, στρατιᾶς πολλῆς ἔφοροι.
146.
mvp-comment-92-1
δηλῶ δ'
And the manner of my coming proves this. Cp. δείκνυμι δ', 1145: Ant. 471, δηλοῖ τὸ γέννημ᾽ ὠμὸν ἐξ ὠμοῦ πατρός: Αj. 355, δηλοῖ δὲ τοὔργον, ὡς ἀφροντίστως ἔχει.
146.
mvp-comment-92-2
ὧδε Thus. Ant. 990, αὕτη κέλευθος.
148.
mvp-comment-93-1
κἀπὶ σμικροῖς μέγας ὥρμουν
Nor, being a prince, as I am, should I have taken up my rest here to crave a small boon. Schol. καὶ ἐπὶ εὐτελέσιν αἰτήμασιν οὐκ ἂν σφόδρα ἱκέτευον, εἰ μὴ ἤμην δυστυχής. Cp. supr. 5. It may be objected to this rendering that it is dramatically inappropriate to make Oedipus assume as manifest (δηλῶ δ',
l. 146
) what the chorus could not know. But it may be rejoined that he is meditating on his own condition and speaking oracularly, as in supr. 45. The other interpretation (also given in the Scholia),
or being tall, have leaned on one so slight, is less natural, and (unless σμικpās is read) attributes a doubtful use both to the dative and to the plural.
149-169.
mvp-comment-94-1
And wast thou then blind? O wretched life, and protracted, too, if I am not mistaken. Howbeit, if I can prevent, thou shalt not bring this curse. For, I tell thee, thou art transgressing. But oh! lest you break the sacred peace of yonder grassy dell, where the watered hollow gathers softly-flowing streams, of this take heed, all hapless stranger; avoid, remove. The distance hinders. Dost hear, O weary wanderer? If you have any matter for conference with me, come off forbidden ground, and speak, where all may. But, till then, avaunt thee!'
149-150.
mvp-comment-95-1
ἀλαῶν ὀμμάτων ἆρα καὶ ἦσθα φυτάλμιος
Alas, and art thou then blind! The interrogative has the force of an exclamation. For the emphatic order of the words, see Essay on Language § 31. p. 78, γ. ἀλαῶν ὀμμάτων φυτάλμιος is a poetical phrase (cp. τὸ φατιζόμενον,
l. 139
) for ἀλαὰ ὄμματα φύσας, i. e. ἔχων. Cp. Aj. 1077, κἂν σῶμα γεννήσῃ μέγα. The past tense has a pathetic or reflective force, Essay on Language § 32. p. 55. The chorus are not enquiring the cause of Oedipus' blindness, but are expressing their horror, slightly modified by pity, at the fact, which they have just discovered.
151-152.
mvp-comment-96-1
μακραίων *τις, ἐπεικάσαι For the asyndeton, cp. 161 foll. Others read μακραίων τ᾽ ἔτ᾽, ἐπεικάσαι, in which ἔτι is prosaic, or μακραίων θ᾽, ὅσ᾽ ἐπεικάσαι, for which Linw. cp. Ar. Pax 857, οι μακραίων γ᾽, ὅσ᾽ ἔπ᾽ εἰκάσαι (!).
153.
mvp-comment-97-1
ἔν γ᾿ ἐμοί
As far as lies in me; i. e. If I can prevent.
153-154.
mvp-comment-98-1
οὐ .. ἀράς (1)
Be thou blind or old, thou shalt not thus bring down the curse: viz. by violating the precinct.
153-154.
mvp-comment-98-2
προσθήσεις, Sc. τῷ ἡμετέρῳ δήμῳ. For this use of προστίθημι, cp. Ο. Τ. 820, ἢ ἐγὼ ἐπ᾿ ἐμαυτῷ τάσδ᾽ ἀρὰς ὁ προστιθείς. The chorus, after yielding for a moment to compassion, return to their main object, the vindication of the sacred ground. Otherwise, the mood of the chorus being supposed to change from horror to pity, (2)
Thou shalt not thus bring a curse upon thyself; or (3)
Thou shalt not add this curse to thy calamity.
154.
mvp-comment-99-1
περᾷς (I)
You are transgressing. Not (2) 'You shall come forth: although such a use of the present for a certain future is permissible.
155.
mvp-comment-100-1
ἀλλά, while opposing the command to the offence, also contrasts the danger of still further trespass with the trespass already committed. The construction ἐν νάπει πίπτειν is Epic: cp. Αj. 633, ἐν στέρνοισι πεσοῦνται, κ.τ.λ., ib. 375. For τῷδε, used in pointing to an object not close at hand, cp. El. 4, 7, 10.
155.
mvp-comment-100-2
ἵνα, κ.τ.λ. depends (1) on the general precept of avoidance (sc. εὐλαβοῦ), which is more definitely expressed, as the sentence proceeds, in τῶν .. φύλαξαι, κ.τ.λ. Or (2) an ellipse of λέγω may be supposed.
155.
mvp-comment-100-3
ἀφθέγκτῳ Of unbroken silence,' supr. 131.
156.
mvp-comment-101-1
The reading προπέσῃς, although conjectural, seems to be required by the metre, and πρό and πρός are often confused. Either compound gives a good sense-προσπέσῃς implying violence, and προπέσῃς, heedlessness.
157-160.
mvp-comment-102-1
κάθυδρος οὗ κρατήρ μειλιχίων ποτῶν ῥεύματι συντρέχει] (1)
Where the stream of sweet waters flows together in the pure basin : ῥεύματι, dat. of manner. The basin is said to
run together in a stream by a metonymy or inversion. κάθυδρος implies that it received no wine. Supr. 100, ἀοίνοις. (2) The Scholiast understood μειλιχίων ποτῶν to refer to the honey that was mingled with the libation to the Eumenides (infr. 481); i.e.
The libation of pure water mingles with the flowing hydromel. ῥεύματι dat. after συν in comp., and the bowl, as infr. 479, for the contents of the bowl. Meineke reads χεύματι. (3) Taking the words as in (1), the epithet μειλιχίων may, however, contain an allusion to this sweetening of the waters, and also an association from μειλίσσομαι,
to propitiate. Schol. οἷς μειλίσσουσι τὰς θεάς. Ιn (1) the κρατήρ is the basin in which water was gathered for libations: in (2) it is the vessel from which the libations were poured.
161.
mvp-comment-103-1
τῶν Neuter, referring to the whole of the previous description. The genitive is governed by the notion of avoidance in φύλαξαι (= ὑπεκτρέπεσθαι), assisted by μετάσταθι, ἀπόβαθι. For πάμμορε, Schndw. suggested the Homeric κάμμορε.
166.
mvp-comment-104-1
λόγον εἴ τιν' οἴσεις This reading is adopted on the ground of metre, and as suiting well with the context.
If you will bring any word to be considered by us assembled. For λέσχη, which in the mouth of the chorus here has an ancient and formal air, cp. Ant. 161, τήνδε γερόντων.. λέσχην. For ἔχεις in the MS. reading, cp. Pind. Ol. 8. 4.
168.
mvp-comment-105-1
ἵνα πᾶσι νόμος Sc. ἐστὶ φωνεῖν.
Where custom permits all to speak. Cp. the common ellipse of the inf. after ἢ θέμις, εἰ θέμις.
170.
mvp-comment-106-1
'Daughter, what is one to think?' i. e. What counsel are we to take? The optative may be defended (Essay on Language §36. p. 62, cp. esp. Antipho, p. 112, πρὸς τίνας οὖν ἔλθοι τις βοηθούς;) but the subjunctive is better. For what follows, cp. Aesch. Suppl. sub init. μέμνησο δ' εἶκειν· χρεῖος εἶ ξένη φυγάς. Bias, fragm. viii. (in Bergk's Poetae Melici), Ἀστοῖσιν ἄρεσκε πᾶσιν, ἐν πόλει αἴ κε μένῃς.
