Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 343

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Oedipus
I owe him much, and would repay his good)io^
1500
E'en n.s I promised him.

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)) — 343 focus
κατʼ οἶκον οἰκουροῦσιν ὥστε παρθένοι,
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)) — 343 focus
OED
They see us both, and are aware that I
Repay thee but with words for deeds of wrong.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 337 focus
Ha, dieses Paar von Brüdern, das Aegyptos' Art
So ganz in Sinn und Leben sich zum Muster nahm!
Dort bleibt das Volk der Männer allezeit daheim 1
Am Webestuhle sizen, und die Frau'n ergeh'n
335
Sich draußen, schaffend, was die Noth des Lebens heischt.
So walten jene, welchen hier um mich zu sein
Oblag, o Kinder, Mädchen gleich, im Haus daheim;
Ihr aber müht statt ihrer euch um mein Geschick,
Das jammervolle; diese, seit aus junger Zucht
340
Sie frisch heranwuchs und erstarkt am Körper war,
Irrt' auf der herben Wanderfahrt mit mir herum,
Kastlos den Greis geleitend; oft umhergescheucht
Durch wilde Wälder, ohne Nahrung, unbeschuht,
Ost auch mit Regenschauern und der Sonne Brand
345
Mühselig ringend, achtet sie des Hauses Hut
Und Fülle nichtig, hat der Vater Pflege nur.
(zu Ismene)
Du, Tochter, brachtest früher schon dem Vater stets,
Geheim vor Kadmos' Volke, jeden Götterspruch,
Der über dieses Haupt erscholl; du standest ihm
350
Zur Seite treulich, als man ihn vom Land verstieß.
Und welche Kunde bringst du jezt dem Vater, Kind?
Was trieb vom Heimatherde dich zur Fahrt hinaus?
Nicht leer ja kommst du, (dessen bin ich ganz gewiß,)
Nicht, ohne daß du Schrecken mir verkündigest.
355
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 343 focus
Antigone
Were I to die whilst you thus near me stand,
I should not be quite wretched: but support,
On each side prop me, growing to the trunk
From which you sprung; to an afflicted wretch
Outcast, and late abandon'd, give some rest.
What hath been done now tell me, but in brief,
A short relation will from you suffice.
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-1027-1 For the pause in sense after εὖ , cp. 52, 288, 610, El. 1036 , Aesch. Eum. 87 .

mvp-comment-1027-2 τελεσφόρον χάριν 1

mvp-comment-1027-3 σφιν 2

mvp-comment-1027-4 τυγχάνων 3

mvp-comment-1028-1 εἴτ’ ἄκρα … ἱκοῦ 4

mvp-comment-1028-2 In 1491 εἴτ’ should perh. be εἴγ’ , but is intelligible if we suppose the thought to be,—Come (if thou art near, and at leisure),— or if thou art sacrificing, nevertheless quit the altar, and come.

mvp-comment-1028-3 βούθυτον 5

mvp-comment-1028-4 ἑστίαν 6

mvp-comment-1028-5 Ποσειδωνίῳ θεῷ 7

mvp-comment-1029-1 ἐπαξιοῖ 8

mvp-comment-1029-2 πόλισμα 9

mvp-comment-1029-3 παθών 10

mvp-comment-1029-4 χάριν 11

mvp-comment-1031-1 μή τις 12

mvp-comment-1031-2 ὀμβρία χάλαζα 13

mvp-comment-1031-3 ἐπιρράξασα 14

mvp-comment-1032-1 τοιαῦτα 15

mvp-comment-1033-1 ποθοῦντι προὐφάνης 16

mvp-comment-1033-2 καί σοι θεῶν 17 τύχην … ὁδοῦ 18

mvp-comment-1034-1 ῥοπὴ βίου μοι 19

mvp-comment-1034-2 καὶ θέλω θανεῖν μὴ ψεύσας σε πόλιν τε τήνδε 20

mvp-comment-1034-3 ἅπερ ξυνῄνεσα 21

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

1489-1490. mvp-comment-792-1 In return for their kindness (I desire) to pay them in full the promise which I made at the time of my obtaining my petition.' Cp. Plato, Legg. 11. 730 Α, οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἀτιμώρητος πάθοι ὁ τυχών: Hdt. 1. 213, δεηθεὶς .. ἔτυχε, ib. 5. 23, from which it appears that τυγχάνειν was used in reference to a suppliant, of obtaining a request. Cp. also Pind. Pyth. 3. 103.4. χρὴ πρὸς μακάρων | τυγχάνοντ᾽ εὖ πασχέμεν. τυγχάνων. here is = ὅτε ἐτύγχανον ὧν ἐβουλόμην, or ὧν ἔπασχον εὖ. The older explanation (as old as Eustathius) that τυγχάνων ὑπεσχόμην = ἔτυχον ὑποσχόμενος, besides making an imperfect tense equivalent to an aorist, makes τυγχάνων an unmeaning addition to the line. The correspondence in tense of ἔπασχον εὖ and τυγχάνων is a reason in favour of the explanation given above.

1490. mvp-comment-793-1 δοῦναι Sc θέλω. σφιν has been explained asol. But this is wholly without authority, and the common meaning need create no difficulty, when l. 1488 is given to Antigone. The case of supr. 547 is different, because the participle there is emphatic. For the communication of the secret to Theseus was the bestowal of a boon on the whole people. Cp. infr. 1496.

1490. mvp-comment-793-2 προβᾶθι was approved by Elmsley and Hermann, and secures correspondence with the strophe. θαυμαστῶς ὁ χόρος βοᾷ· ἐπείγει γὰρ τὸ πρᾶγμα. Schol. Observe the recurrence of ἄκραν in 1464, 1491, and of τυγχάνειν in 1491, 1493. Hol my son, come on thy way (from Athens), or if thou now art consecrating to Poseidon, God of Sea, the altar with its hollow surface that crowns the height,' or (2) ('that crowns the hill above the hollow place,') come hither! Chorus sic loquitur, ut qui domi esse Theseum putat: sed deinde ei in mentem venit, a sacris faciendis avocatum fuisse, ut ipse v. 1158 (1159) dixerat, et nunc fortasse in iis peragendis esse occupatum. Herm. Ср. О. Т. 517, 1104. τυγχάνεις is suited to express the uncertainty where Theseus is.

1490. mvp-comment-793-3 ἄκραν indicates the position of the altar of Poseidon on the top of Colonus.

1490. mvp-comment-793-4 ἐπιγύαλον is either (1) a descriptive epithet, referring to the concave surface of the altar, or (2) means above the hollow place, referring to some peculiarity of the ground, which is no longer visible. The agency of the Earthshaker may have been recognised in some rift of the rock of Colonus, near which his altar was placed. The read. ing Ποσειδαωνίῳ may have arisen from being written over the a of the Doric form.

1495. mvp-comment-794-1 ἁγίζων does not necessarily imply that the altar was being used for the first time. It was in a manner consecrated afresh for every sacrifice.

1496-1499. mvp-comment-795-1 σε.. παρασχεῖν For the accusatives πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον after the notion of benefiting, see Essay on Language § 16. p. 23. They are however first governed of ἐπαξιοῖ. The stranger honours thee, and thy city, and thy friends, claiming to render you a just meed for good received. πόλισμα καὶ φίλους, i. e. Athens and the Coloniatae. See Introd. The lacuna (= τοίγαρ or αὐτός) was filled up by Tricilinius with σπεῦσον. Elmsley, reading ᾄσσ', notes the absence of three syllables. Verbum σπεῦσον deest in antiquis libris, additum in Triclinianis. Id cur recentiores critici vel damnaverint, quum non ineptum sit, nec sciamus non esse e codicibus sumptum, vel posthabuerint deterioribus conjecturis, non assequor. Herm.

1500. mvp-comment-796-1 κοινός ὑμῶν τὲ καὶ Οἰδίποδος, Schol. Cp. the reading of L. supr. 843. The phrase in 1499 might be with more probability assigned to Oedipus, or he may be supposed to join in it. But his voice in 1457 and the other senarii VOL. I. Ee might well be heard as far as the top of Colonus.

1501. mvp-comment-797-1 αὐτῶν Theseus does not confuse the chorus and Oedipus in one address. He turns first to the chorus, and in proceeding to speak of Oedipus he uses a modification of the common idiom αὐτός τε καί: cp. supra 559.

1501. mvp-comment-797-2 ἐμφανής is used analytically= ἐν δὲ φαινομένη, Distinguishable amongst the other voices.

1502. mvp-comment-798-1 μή τις Διὸς κεραυνός Is it that a bolt from Zeus is fallen, or that some hail-shower has come dashing down? For one may imagine anything to have happened in such a storm as this. The construction is πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, τίς ἠχεῖται κτύπος; being equivalent to τίς αἰτία ἐστὶ τοῦ ἠχεῖσθαι τοιοῦτον κτύπον; Cp. El. 122, τίν᾿ ἀεὶ .. οἰμωγάν; Essay on Language § 42. p. 81. For the nominative, cp. Od. 5. 476-477, θάμνους | ἐξ ὁμύθεν πεφυῶτας· ὁ μὲν φυλίης, ὁ δ᾽ ἐλαίης. θεός is here used in the vague sense in which the Athenians referred the changes of the weather to a divine agency. Cp. Xen. Cyn. 8. 1, ὅταν νίφῃ ὁ θεός.

1506. mvp-comment-799-1 τῆσδε τῆς ὁδοῦ Lit. In re- gard of thy coming hither;' i. e. Has brought thee hither for a happy end. Cp. Τr. 26, τέλος δ᾽ ἔθηκε Ζεὺς ἀγώνιος καλῶς. The unaugmented form in the middle of the verse is doubtful. Some have read τῆσδ᾽ ἔθηκε, others ἧκε τῆσδε, for which cp. II. 1. 479, τοῖσιν δ᾽ ἴκμενον οὗρον ἴει ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων. For the habit of the MSS. in frequently omitting the augment, cp. supr. 438.

1507. mvp-comment-800-1 τί δ᾽ ἐστίν νέορτον αὐ; And what is the new emergency? Theseus anticipates some fresh incident, like the arrival of Creon or of Polynices.

1508. mvp-comment-801-1 ῥοπὴ βίου μοι i. e. τὸ τὸν βίον μοι ῥέπειν. The dative depends on the verbal notion in ῥοπή. It is my life that is verging to the grave. In O. T. 961, which has been compared with this line, ῥοπή has an active meaning.

1509. mvp-comment-802-1 μὴ ψεύσας θανεῖν i. e. τελέσαι πρὶν θανεῖν. For this inversion, see Essay on Language § 42. p. 80, and cp. Thuc. 1.20, δράσαντές τι καὶ κινδυνεῖσαι.