Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 521

mvp-comment-395-1 κἀγὼ ¹

mvp-comment-396-1 I read

was, indeed, the ordinary form of the aor. in the older Attic, as inscriptions show, in which occurs first about 360 B.C. (Meisterhans, p. 88); but is proved by metre in El. 13 and Eur. Ion 38 . is suitable, when he is reluctantly proceeding to unfold his story in answer to their pressing demand.

mvp-comment-396-2 ἤνεγκ’ ²

mvp-comment-396-3 κακότατ’ ³

mvp-comment-396-4 In the MS. reading,

is wrong, since metre requires u- (cp. 510). With Bothe's ἑκὼν the sense would be:— The objections to this are insuperable. (1)

mvp-comment-396-5 θεὸς ἴστω ⁴

mvp-comment-396-6 It would be a subtlety foreign to Sophocles to make Oedipus say that he had acted

when he did not act (271), (273), (976). Il. 4.43

καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ σοὶ δῶκα ἑκὼν ἀέκοντί γε θυμῷ

is irrelevant:— Zeus there says to Hera (since neither god nor man could compel Zeus),

mvp-comment-397-1 αὐθαίρετον ⁵

mvp-comment-398-1 κακᾷ εὐνᾷ ⁶

mvp-comment-399-1 ἦ ματρόθεν … ἐπλήσω ⁷

mvp-comment-399-2 ματρόθεν ⁸

mvp-comment-400-1 ἀκούειν ⁹

mvp-comment-401-1 The constr. is

etc.

mvp-comment-401-2 ἐξ ἐμοῦ ¹⁰

mvp-comment-401-3 αὗται … παῖδε ¹¹

521. mvp-comment-288-1 ἤνεγκον κακότατα I was the victim of wretchedness. For the use of φέρω, cp. Ο. Τ. 1320, διπλά σε πενθεῖν καὶ διπλᾶ φέρειν κακά.

521. mvp-comment-288-2 ἤνεγκον *ἑκὼν μέν] If this reading is adopted, it must be acknowledged that we have here a trace of the philosophical ἀπορία (already suggested by the Epic oxymoron ἑκὼν ἀέκοντί γε θυμῷ) which is treated at length in Plato (Legg. 860, 867 A) and Aristotle (Eth. N. 3. 1), viz. whether a man acts voluntarily when he is ignorant of the circumstances. See Introd. p. 270. Oedipus must be supposed to mean that in killing Laius and in marrying Jocasta he had acted with a right good will (ср. О. Т. 422-423, τὸν ὑμέναιον ὃν δόμοις | ἄνορμον εἰσέπλευσας, εὐπλοίας τυχών), but that as he acted in ignorance, the actions were not his deliberate choice.

521. mvp-comment-288-3 ἄκων is certainly wrong and is due to some reminiscence of l. 694. Cp. Eur. Ι. Τ. 512, τρόπον γε δή τινα οὐχ ἑκὼν ἑκών. The expression is more forcible if, by a slight change. for θεὸς ἴστω, θεὸς ἴστωρ is read, as in the text.

523. mvp-comment-289-1 τούτων δ᾽ αὐθαίρετον οὐδέν For the transposition of the dactyl. in the glyconic line, see Christ's Metrik, § 119. P. 94. To avoid it here, ἐθελητόν, ἀκάθαρτον (G. Wolff), have been conjectured.

524. mvp-comment-290-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἐς τί But with regard to what? Sc. ἤνεγκες κακότατα. The curiosity of the chorus becomes impatient and peremptory.

525. mvp-comment-291-1 κακᾷ μ᾿ εὐνᾷ By an evil nuptial the city all unknowing bound me in a fatal wedlock. μέν has probably ἐν arisen from a gloss ἐν (κακᾷ μ' εὐνᾷ). Others read κακᾷ μ᾿ ἐν εὐνᾷ and alter l. 513. The correction ἴδριν is unnecessary. Oedipus has already proclaimed his own unconsciousness, and there is a certain point in adding that the citizens were equally unconscious of the nature of their gift. Cp. infr. 983, οὐκ εἰδότ᾽ οὐκ εἰδυῖα.

526. mvp-comment-292-1 γάμων ἐνέδησεν ἄτᾳ is Homeric. Il.2. 111, Ζεύς με μέγα Κρονίδης ἄτῃ ἐνέδησε βαρείῃ.

527. mvp-comment-293-1 Didst thou, as I hear it told. consummate a dishonoured nuptial with thine own mother?' ματρόθεν, i. e. πρὸς ματρός, in that relationship! !' The force of the middle voice in ἐπλήσω is ethical (Essay on Language § 31. p. 52): Didst thou to thy confusion, etc. For πίμπλημι here, cp. Aesch. Pers. 132, λέκτρα δ᾽ ἀνδρῶν πόθῳ πίμπλαται δακρύμασιν.