897.
mvp-comment-483-1
The readiness of Theseus in comprehending the situation, and his promptitude, are traits which assist the action while they excite the admiration of the spectators. Cp. supra 569, 631.
898.
mvp-comment-484-1
τούσδε βωμούς
This neighbouring altar.
899.
mvp-comment-485-1
ἄνιππον ἱππότην τε Cp. Ant. 1104, οἱ τ' ὄντες οἱ τ᾽ ἀπόντες. If, as suggested by the writer of the 1st ὑπόθεσις (see Introd. p. 259), Colonus was a place where horses stood for hire, the presence of horsemen at the sacrifice is easily accounted for.
900.
mvp-comment-486-1
σπεύδειν ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος The testimony of the grammarians (Phryn. ap. Bekker. p. 24, ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος τρέχειν ἵππον : οἷον ἀπὸ χαλίνου ἢ ἄνευ χαλίνου : Pollux l. 214, καὶ ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος ἀνεῖναι τὸν ἵππον), and the passages in Diodorus Sic. (19. 26), and Dion. Hal. (11. 40), leave no doubt that ῥυτήρ in this expression is not a trace but a rein, and that the use of ἀπό is emphatic. τρέχειν ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος, of a horse, would then mean,
to gallop away from (i. e. without check from, without the effect of) the rein,' and in σπεύδειν ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος the notion is transferred from the horse to the rider =
to ride at full gallop. The phrase is immediately connected with ἱππότην, but the notion of
full speed is extended to the whole sentence. It is singular that the ancient Scholiasts should have lost the key to this expression as they seem to have done. If ῥυτήρ were a trace' as elsewhere (Il. 16.475 etc.), the meaning would be ⚫ without putting to,' i. e. riding, not driving.
900-901.
mvp-comment-487-1
ἔνθα .. ὁδοί ‘Το just where the two hollow ways of travellers meet.' μάλιστα belongs in meaning to the antecedent clause, like the superlative in ἐπεὶ τάχιστα. δίστομοι suggests the appearance of the roads in a hill-country, each opening out of a narrow gorge of its own. Cp. Hom. h. Dem. 177, κοίλην κατ' ἀμαξιτόν.
900-901.
mvp-comment-487-2
συμβάλλουσιν As rivers are said συμβάλλειν ῥοάς, or as persons are said συμβλῆσθαι ἀλλήλοιν, Hom. Il. 14. 27, etc. For the absolute use (on which see Essay on Language § 53. p. 98, c), cp. Eur. Or. 335, δάκρυα δάκρυσι συμβάλλει: Plat. Pol. 273 Α. ὁ δὲ μεταστρεφόμενος καὶ ξυμβάλλων. The
two roads appear from 1047 to be those from Daphne and Phyle.
902.
mvp-comment-488-1
The reason for so much haste is to prevent uncertainty as to the route taken by the enemy.
902-903.
mvp-comment-489-1
γέλως δ᾽ ἐγὼ .. βίᾳ ·And I be vanquished and become a laughingstock to this foreigner; i. e. to Creon. The dative, though governed chiefly by γέλως . γένωμαι, also depends slightly ση χειρωθεὶς βίᾳ: cp. Plut. Dion. p. 199. Theseus angrily speaks of the success of Creon's exploit as a conquest over himself (supra 842, note). Cp. Ant. 485, εἰ ταῦτ᾽ ἀνατεὶ τῇδε κείσεται κράτη: ib. 525, ἐμοῦ δὲ ζῶντος οὐκ ἄρξει γυνή. 905 ff. Cp. Eur Suppl. 581 ff. (the whole speech reads like an echo of this), οὔτοι μ' ἐπαίρεις ὥστε θυμῶσαι φρένας | τοῖς σοῖσι κόμποις· ἀλλ᾽ ἀποστέλλου χθονός, | λόγους ματαίους οὔσπερ ἠνέγκω λαβών.
907.
mvp-comment-490-1
* οὔσπερ .. ἔχων The MS. reading ὥσπερ κ.τ.λ has been explained,
As he himself came hither under the protection of the laws, so he shall be corrected by the laws, (and not by violence). This makes a strong antithesis to 11. 904-906. But αὐτός is without point, and the reference to the laws without further qualification is un-Greek. Cp. Eur. Heracl. 1010, τοῖσιν Ἑλλήνων νόμοις. Either the correction οὔσπερ must be adopted, as in the text, or there is a slight inexactness of correspondence between the clauses. ('Etenim non τούτοισιν referendum est ad ὥσπερ, sed intelligendum οὕτω,' Herm. 1841.
Rectius Reisigius, τούτοισι κοὐκ ἄλλοισι idem esse quod τοῖς αὐτοῖσι, quod minus infrequens est cum ὥσπερ compositum. Ellendt.). In any case the meaning is: (instead of being roughly handled)
he shall be reduced to order according to those very rules of conduct which he brought with him in coming hither. i. e. As he has taken by compulsion so by compulsion he shall be checked in return.' Cp. infr. 916, supr. 832. For the meaning ning of vouos, see Essay on Language p. 88. And for the combination of the article and relative pronoun, cp. Ant. 404, ὃν σὺ τὸν νέκρον | ἀπεῖπας : Aesch. S. c. Τ. 553, τῷδ', ὃν λέγεις τὸν Ἀρκάδα.
907.
mvp-comment-490-2
τούς has the force of a possessive pronoun: those principles of his.'
908.
mvp-comment-491-1
κοὐκ ἄλλοισιν
And these alone. ἄλλοισιν follows the construction of τούτοισι, without νόμοις or any other substantive being consciously supplied.
910.
mvp-comment-492-1
Until you bring those maidens hither and set them before my face.' ἐναργεῖς] · Without possibility of mis- take.' Tr. 223, τάδε σοι βλέπειν πάρεστ᾽ ἐναργῆ : Ε1. 878, ἐναργῶς, ὥσπερ εἰσορᾶς ἐμέ.
911.
mvp-comment-493-1
ἐπεὶ δέδρακας οὔτ᾽ ἐμοῦ καταξίως Since what thou hast done is unworthy alike of me and thine own lineage, and thy land.' The conjecture οὔτε σοῦ takes away the point from αὐτός in l. 912. Cp. infra 914, 915, 926.
912.
mvp-comment-494-1
οὔθ᾽ ὧν πέφυκας αὐτός The royal house of Thebes. Cp. O. T. 1235, θεῖον Ἰοκάστης κάρα.
912.
mvp-comment-494-2
Γκουσαν 913 δίκαι᾿ ἀσκοῦσαν] Cp. Hdt. 1.96, 1.90, (of Deioces), δικαιοσύνην ἐπιθέμενος ἤσκεε,
914.
mvp-comment-495-1
κραίνουσαν Used here in the Homeric sense of accomplishing, perfecting, and so =
determining.
914.
mvp-comment-495-2
15. ἀφεὶς .. κύρια
Casting off the authorities of this land. Cp. infra 1537, τὰ θεῖ ἀφείς.
916.
mvp-comment-496-1
ἄγεις παρίστασαι βίᾳ
Carry off and forcibly make subject to you what you will. Cp. Hdt. 3. 45, εἴπερ αὐτοὶ ἱκανοὶ ἦσαν Πολυκράτεα παραστήσασθαι. ἄγειν as in λείαν ἄγειν-originally of cattle.
917.
mvp-comment-497-1
κένανδρον
Spiritless. Aesch. Pers. 118, 121, uses κένανδρος and γυναικοπληθής of the city whose fighting men are slain. Cp. infra 939, ἄνανδρον, in the reply of Creon.
920.
mvp-comment-498-1
It is not her wont to rear unrighteous men.
922.
mvp-comment-499-1
3. βίᾳ | ἄγοντα Added in explanation of the preceding clause.
923.
mvp-comment-500-1
φωτῶν ἀθλίων ἱκτήρια
Poor suppliant mortals. The periphrasis (for which see Essay on Language § 10. p. 17) adds pathetic emphasis to both parts of the expression.
924.
mvp-comment-501-1
οὔκουν
And I would not. οὖν marks the accordance of what Theseus lays down as the rule of his own conduct with the claim he makes on Thebes. Cp. γοῦν.
927.
mvp-comment-502-1
οὔθ᾽ εἰλκον .. ἦγον
Would neither have dragged away nor carried off. εἶλκον expresses a greater degree of violence.
929.
mvp-comment-503-1
ἀξίαν οὐκ οὖσαν, sc. αἰσχύνεσθαι. For τὴν αὐτὸς αὐτοῦ, cp. infr. 1356.
930-931.
mvp-comment-504-1
καί σ'.. κενόν
And length of years gives folly to be the companion of thine age. Lit.
In making thee old makes thee at the same time void of wisdom. Cp. Ant. 281, μὴ 'φευρεθῇς ἄνους τε καὶ γέρων ἅμα.
933.
mvp-comment-505-1
τὰς παῖδας .. τινά
That the maidens be brought hither. The impersonal form of expression is here more dignified than if σε were repeated.
934.
mvp-comment-506-1
μέτοικος The Schol. observes that this word is used in the general sense of ἔνοικος, and not in its ordinary special meaning. See Essay on Language § 52. P. 97. § 54. p. 99.
936.
mvp-comment-507-1
These words come from my mind as truly as from my tongue.'
937-938.
mvp-comment-508-1
ὡς .. δίκαιος
Since judging by the city from which you spring, you are shown to be just, and are then found to be doing evil. The chorus point the moral of Theseus' speech. Cp. supr. 919, καίτοι σε Θηβαί γ᾽ οὐκ ἐπαίδευσαν κακόν, 912 ff.
939.
mvp-comment-509-1
ἄνανδρον
Without manhood, referring to κένανδρον, supr. 927. Some have tried to preserve the reading of L (λέγω) by joining ἄβουλον (940) with ἔργον (941), but the epithet does not agree with the tenor of Theseus' speech. Cp. Eur. Suppl. 314-323.
940.
mvp-comment-510-1
οὔτ᾽ ἄβουλον
Nor without counsel; referring to 913-914, δίκαι' ἀσκοῦσαν εἰσελθὼν πόλιν, κἄνευ νόμου κραίνουσαν οὐδέν.
941.
mvp-comment-511-1
γιγνώσκων δ' ὅτι
But judging that.
942-943.
mvp-comment-512-1
οὐδεὶς.. βίᾳ
They would never be seized with an officious desire of maintaining my relations against my will. αὐτούς, sc. τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, implied in τήνδε τὴν πόλιν supr. For the accusative αὐτούς, see Essay on Language § 16. p. 23, and cp. Ο. Τ. 713, ὡς αὐτὸν ἥξοι μοῖρα πρὸς παιδὸς θανεῖν.
944.
mvp-comment-513-1
ἤδη δ'
And I was sure. Cp. the use of ἐπίσταμαι in Herodotus.
945.
mvp-comment-514-1
κἄναγνον κἄνανδρον in L. is clearly a misreading from l. 939. Ср. Ο. Τ. 894, ἔρξεται.
945.
mvp-comment-514-2
6. Nor one who was discovered to be living in incest with his own parent.' Lit.
With whom were found unholy marriages of children with parents. τέκνων is not genitive of the object, but attributive genitive (Essay on Language § 9. p. 12), sufficiently defining the ἀνόσιοι γάμοι, although τέκνων πρὸς γονέας might be a more complete expression.
947.
mvp-comment-515-1
Such a seat of good counsel did I know them to possess, the hill of Ares in this land. εὔβουλον opposed to ἄβουλον supra 940. For the argumentative use of τοιοῦτον, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 35.
950.
mvp-comment-516-1
To it I trusted when I seized this prey.' Creon, as the next of kin, claims the right of dealing summarily with the homicide.
954.
mvp-comment-517-1
The Schol. here quotes the proverb, ὁ θυμὸς ἔσχατον γηράσκει, as being referred to by Alcaeus. Cp. Thuc. 2.44.6, τὸ γὰρ φιλότιμον ἀγήρων μόνον.
For anger yields not to age, until death comes. No pain indeed can touch the dead.' Aesch. Fr. 250, ἄλγος δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἅπτεται νεκροῦ. After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison, Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, Can touch him further.' Shak. Macb. 3. 2.
957.
mvp-comment-518-1
ἐρημία Cp. 875. This, as Theseus presently suspects (1029-1031), is a false pretence.
957.
mvp-comment-518-2
κεί δίκαι᾿ ὅμως λέγω i. e. ὅμως κεὶ δίκαια λέγω.
958.
mvp-comment-519-1
σμικρόν Cp. βραχύς, supra 880.
958.
mvp-comment-519-2
πρὸς δὲ τὰς πράξεις
But still I will endeavour to resist violence, if it is offered, old as I am. πράξεις here is not a mere repetition of the notion of the verb πράξεις supra 956, but is spoken with some emphasis, in allusion to Theseus' threats of compulsion, supr. 908, 935.
960-961.
mvp-comment-520-1
Oedipus means that Creon's language reflects disgrace upon himself as the brother of Jocasta, and as having made an outcast of his kinsman. Cp. supr. 770, 800, 1, πότερα νομίζεις .. ἐν τῷ νῦν λόγῳ; 753-754, ἆρ᾽ ἄθλιον τοὔνειδος.. ὠνείδισ᾽ εἰς σὲ κἀμέ; infr. 978 ff. And for λῆμα, Pind. Pyth. 3. 25, λῆμα Κορωνίδος.
962.
mvp-comment-521-1
ὅστις φόνους μοι
Who hast allowed to pass thy lips against me the mention of that murder and that disastrous marriage which I unfortunate endured unwittingly. The general word συμφοράς (here, as in O. T. 99, equivalent to ἄγος) sums up the preceding notions, and adds to them. Cp. O. Τ. 1407-1408, χὠπόσα | αἴσχιστ᾽ ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ἔργα γίγνεται.
965.
mvp-comment-522-1
Who would seem to have had some old cause of wrath against our race.' Cp. Plat. Phaedr. 244 D. πόνων τῶν μεγίστων, ἃ δὴ παλαιῶν ἐκ μηνιμάτων ποθὲν ἔν τισι τῶν γενῶν ἦν.
966.
mvp-comment-523-1
The comparative innocence of VOL. I. Oedipus in his voluntary actions is a chief point in the tragic interest of the Oedipus Tyrannus, and is still more strongly asserted in this play.
966.
mvp-comment-523-2
ἐμοί Sc. προσόν.
967.
mvp-comment-524-1
ἀνθ᾿ ὅτου
In retribution for which; involuntary crimes being regarded as a punishment for some previous crime.
970.
mvp-comment-525-1
χρησμοῖσιν .. παίδων Poetical (generalizing) plural. Cp. O. Τ. 711-713.
970.
mvp-comment-525-2
ὥστε 'That he should die by his son's hand;' i. e. an oracle, whose fulfilment lay in his being slain by his son. Cp. 1350, δικαιῶν ὥστ᾽ ἐμοῦ κλύειν λόyous, and see note on O. T. 713. 972-973. Who was not yet begotten or conceived, but at that time had not come into being.'
974-976.
mvp-comment-526-1
And if, coming into the world as I came, marked by misfortune, I fought with and slew my father, all ignorant of what I was doing and to whom, how then can you in fairness blame me for what I did, seeing it was Bb unwitting?' ὡς ἐγὼ ᾿φάνην refers to the conditions of the oracle given to Laius. Cp. O. Τ. 1376, ὅπως ἔβλαστε.
977.
mvp-comment-527-1
* δάν, ( = δὴ ἄν, cp. El. 314), is a correction of y' av, in which the reduplication of the particles makes γε doubtful. For a similar error in the MSS. cp. supr. 51, ἄτιμός γ᾽ ἔκ γ᾽ ἐμοῦ.
977.
mvp-comment-527-2
ἶκον = ἀκούσιον. Essay on Language p. 94, cp. supra 239, ἔργων ἀκόντων.
980-981.
mvp-comment-528-1
Being such as I will presently tell of: for no, I will not keep silence, when you have gone to such a height of impiety. οὖν represents Oedipus' speaking as the natural consequence of Creon's.
980-981.
mvp-comment-528-2
εἰς τόδε.. ἀνόσιον στόμα (1) Το this height of impiety in speaking.' Cp. supra 132, τὸ τᾶς εὐφήμου στόμα φροντίδος ἱέντες. This is better than (2) taking ἀνόσιον στόμα separately, as an accusative of limitation.
To such a height in thine impious speech.
982.
mvp-comment-529-1
ἔτικτε.. οὐκ εἰδυῖα
She was, she was my mother, though we knew it not; i. e. ἦν μητὴρ οὐκ εἰδότος οὐκ εἰδυῖα.
986.
mvp-comment-530-1
Brunck's διστομεῖν was suggested not by
levity, as Elmsley thought, but by the correction of Par. A.
987.
mvp-comment-531-1
ἄκων is used in two senses: (1) unwittingly, δι' ἄγνοιαν, (2) against my will, βίᾳ.
988.
mvp-comment-532-1
ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γάρ
But (your charge is groundless), for, etc. So in Tr. 552, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γάρ, ὥσπερ εἶπον, ὀργαίνειν καλὸν | γυναῖκα νοῦν ἔχουσαν: Εl. 595.
988.
mvp-comment-532-2
ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ οὐδὲ νουθετεῖν ἔξεστί σε. Essay on Language § 25. p. 43.
988.
mvp-comment-532-3
ἀκούσομαι
I shall be reputed.
993.
mvp-comment-533-1
κτείνοι
Were to attempt to kill.
994.
mvp-comment-534-1
ὁ καίνων
He who was trying to kill you. Cp. Hdt. 3. 99, οἱ μάλιστά οἱ ὁμιλέοντες κτείνουσι.. ὁ δὲ ἄπαρνός ἐστι, κ.τ.λ. Eur. Phoen. 1600, (ΟΙΔ.) ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐγενόμην, εὐθὺς ὁ σπείρας πατὴρ | κτείνει με, κ.τ.λ. Essay on Language § 32. p. 55.
995-996.
mvp-comment-535-1
Methinks, as you love life, you would punish the aggressor, and not scrutinize too closely the justice of the case.
997.
mvp-comment-536-1
εἰσέβην
I came into. Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 470, ἄτης δ' ἄβυσσον πέλαγος οὐ μάλ' εὔπορον | τόδ' ἐσβέβηκα.
998.
mvp-comment-537-1
And I do not think that my father's spirit, were he alive, would gainsay my words.' The antecedent to ois is the argument from 989-996.
1000.
mvp-comment-538-1
εἰ γὰρ οὐ δίκαιος
You, however, for you only profess to be just, and think any word decorous, whether fit to be spoken or not, you pour these reproaches upon me in the presence of these men. Cp. supra 992, σὲ τὸν δίκαιον, and Creon's reasons 941-952.
1000.
mvp-comment-538-2
τοῦθ' τοῦδ᾽ LBVat.
1003-1004.
mvp-comment-539-1
And it suits your purpose well to flatter the name of Theseus, and Athens and her noble institutions. 1003. τὸ Θησέως ὄνομα θωπεῦσαι] Viz. in the courteous address, ὦ τέκνον Αἰγέως, supra 940.
1003-1004.
mvp-comment-539-2
καλόν So in Phil. 1155, νῦν καλὸν..
1003-1004.
mvp-comment-539-3
κορέσαι στόμα.
1004.
mvp-comment-540-1
καὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας, κ.τ.λ. Supra 733-734, 758-759, 943-953. κατώκηνται καλῶς] Cp. Plat. Legg. 683 Α, τὴν εἰς Λακεδαίμονα κατοίκισιν..
1004.
mvp-comment-540-2
ἣν ὑμεῖς ὀρθῶς ἔφατε κατοικεῖσθαι καὶ Κρήτην ὡς ἀδελφοῖς νόμοις. 1005. And then amidst all your praises (join ὧδε πολλά), you forget this praise.' 1007. The correction of Par. F (2886), ῶν θεοὺς, suggests *θεῶν.. τιμάς.
1004.
mvp-comment-540-3
τοῦθ'
This land is foremost in that virtue. For the genitive in the reading of L, cp. El. 1095-1097, ἃ δὲ μέγιστ᾽ ἔβλαστε νόμιμα | τῶνδε φερομέναν ἄριστα. But the reading of A is in this case clearer and more harmonious. Bb2
1008.
mvp-comment-541-1
τὸν ἱκέτην γέροντ᾽ ἐμέ Cp. O. T. 1153, Phil. 930.
1009.
mvp-comment-542-1
Wert seizing me. and hast carried away my children. For the imperfect, cp. supr. 950. ἐχειροῦ is read in Par. F.
1012.
mvp-comment-543-1
θ' is added from a corrector of Par. F.
1014-1015.
mvp-comment-544-1
δέ is in each case slightly adversative. The stranger, my lord, is honest: his calamities, indeed, are horrible, but they deserve our help.' The mind of the chorus is divided between horror and pity. Cp. O Τ. 1296, τοιοῦτον οἷον καὶ στυγοῦντ᾽ ἐποικτίσαι. The subdued tone of this speech, compared with 1044-1095, affords a good instance of the different functions of the chorus in the dialogue and in the lyric passages.
