Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 205

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Oedipus
What thou sayst no doubt
Is brief, and proper too.
Ceeon. 'Twill hardly seem so
820
To those who think like thee.
820
Direct my steps, as if thou hadst the power
To place me where thou wilt.
Oreon. Kemember all
To witness this, for he shall answer it
When he is mine.
Against the will of these my friends ?
Ore. Their aid
Is vain, already I have done what much
Will hurt thee.

Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.

Current edition Experimental

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 205 focus
τίς ὁ πολύπονος ἄγει; τίνʼ * ἂν
205
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 254-509 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 205 focus
CH
How? Are they both thy race, and—
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 207 focus
Heimatlos,
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 205 focus
Oedipus
I come this wretched body to bestow
580
On thee; a gift not to the sight indeed
580
Alluring, but th' advantages it brings
580
Are of more value than a beauteous form.
580
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 254-507 focus

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-613-1 ποίῳ σὺν ἔργῳ 1

mvp-comment-613-2 σὺν 2

mvp-comment-613-3 ἀπειλήσας ἔχεις 3

mvp-comment-614-1 τὴν μὲν 4

mvp-comment-615-1 τάδε 5

mvp-comment-616-1 The τήνδε γ’ of the MSS. could be retained only if μου were changed to καὶ and given to Creon.

mvp-comment-616-2 οὐ μακρ. χρόνου 6

mvp-comment-617-1 τὸν ἀσεβῆ 7

mvp-comment-618-1 θᾶσσον 8

mvp-comment-618-2 εἴργασαι 9

mvp-comment-619-1 ὑμῖν 10

mvp-comment-619-2 ἂν εἴη 11

mvp-comment-620-1 ποῖ φύγω 12

mvp-comment-620-2 θεῶν … ἢ βροτῶν; 13

mvp-comment-621-1 οὐχ ἅψομαι 14

mvp-comment-621-2 τῆς ἐμῆς 15

mvp-comment-622-1 τοὺς ἐμοὺς 16

mvp-comment-623-1 — 886 The phrase

τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἄγω
indicates the moment at which Creon lays his hand on Antigone. It is followed by 11 verses, 833—843, in which the dochmiacs of the Chorus, blended with iambic trimeters, mark excitement. Antistrophic to these are the 11 verses, 876—886, which in like manner follow the moment at which Creon lays his hand on Oedipus. As a lyric interposition in dialogue, the passage has a kommatic character, though it does not constitute a
κομμός
proper in the same sense as 510—548, 1447—1499, or 1670— 1750.

mvp-comment-624-1 ἀφήσεις 17

mvp-comment-625-1 εἰς βάσανον εἶ χερῶν 18

mvp-comment-625-2 εἶ 19

mvp-comment-626-1 εἴργου 20

mvp-comment-626-2 μωμένου 21

mvp-comment-627-1 πόλει 22

mvp-comment-628-1 οὐκ ἠγόρευον 23

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

820. mvp-comment-449-1 οἰμώζειν τάδε (1) ‘Το exclaim at this;' τάδε, the capture of the maidens; or (2), τάδε, cogn. acc., thus to exclaim. Probably the first.

821. mvp-comment-450-1 τήνδε τ᾽ And this one ere long. The correction of γ᾽ to τ᾽ or δ᾽ seems to be necessary.

821. mvp-comment-450-2 οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου Sc. ἕξω.

823. mvp-comment-451-1 τὸν ἀσεβή Cp. 922, συλῶντα τὰ τῶν θεῶν βίᾳ | ἄγοντα φωτῶν ἀθλίων ἱκτήρια. He appeals to the known piety of the chorus.

825. mvp-comment-452-1 οὔθ᾽ ἃ πρόσθεν εἴργασαι In seizing Ismene.

826. mvp-comment-453-1 ὑμῖν, κ.τ.λ. Said to Creon's attendants; supr. 723.

826. mvp-comment-453-2 ἂν εἴη For a similar use of av with the optative, cp. Τr. 728, σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον, Εl. 1372.

827. mvp-comment-454-1 εἰ.. πορεύσεται For the v. r. cp. πημαίνεις below, in v. rr. on l. 837.

830. mvp-comment-455-1 Creon, as next of kin, is guardian of the children of the outlawed Oedipus. Cp. O. T. 1448, καὶ γὰρ ὀρθῶς τῶν γε σῶν τελεῖς ὕπερ: Aesch. Suppl. 387-389, εἴ τοι κρατοῦσι παῖδες Αἰγύπτου σέθεν | νόμῳ πόλεως, φάσκοντες ἐγγύτατα γένους | εἶναι, τίς ἂν τοῖσδ᾽ ἀντιωθῆναι θέλοι;

832. mvp-comment-456-1 τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἄγω For the plural and masc., see Essay on Language § 20. pp. 30, 31. 835-836. The excitement, indicated by the broken lines, culminates in the dochmiac rhythm, to which the diiambus, ἰὼ πόλις, is introductory. 876-885, following the second attempt of Creon, are antistrophic to 833-843, agreeing very closely (except εἴργου – – in 836 = δοκῶ u - 879) even to the division of the words. This lyrical repetition, with the balanced rhythm of the intervening dialogue (containing one short outburst of Creon, 841-855, and one of Oedipus, 864-870), may be compared with O. T. 649-659, 678-688.

832. mvp-comment-456-2 εἴργου • Keep off!' 837. The Scholiast, who, according to the reading of L, rightly explains πόλει by ταῖς Θήβαις, evidently assigned this speech to Creon.

838. mvp-comment-457-1 Creon, while defying the chorus, refrains at present from taking part in the actual violence, which he leaves to his attendants. It is to one of these that the words of the chorus are addressed.

838. mvp-comment-457-2 οὐκ ἠγόρευον ταῦτ᾽ ἐγώ! Oedipus rather alludes to his prophecy in 605 ff., that war would come between Athens and Thebes, than to his warning in 653, which is already fulfilled. Creon's present threat (πόλει μαχεῖ γάρ) comes near to Oedipus' prediction.