Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 385

mvp-comment-1156-1 πάλιν … συθῶμεν ¹

mvp-comment-1157-1 The MS. text of this verse does not answer metrically to 1739. Bergk and Gleditsch alter both verses (see cr. n.). Hermann, whose remedy is simplest, leaves this v. intact, and in 1739 reads ΧΟ. καὶ πάρος ἀπέφυγε ΑΝ. τί ; See n. there.

mvp-comment-1158-1 τὰν χθόνιον ἑστίαν ²

mvp-comment-1159-1 θέμις … τάδ’ ³

mvp-comment-1159-2 μῶν οὐχ ὁρᾷς ⁴

mvp-comment-1159-3 μῶν οὐ ⁵

mvp-comment-1159-4 ἐπέπληξας ⁶

mvp-comment-1160-1 καὶ τόδ’ ⁷

mvp-comment-1160-2 μάλ’ αὖθις ⁸

mvp-comment-1160-3 ἔπιτνε ⁹

mvp-comment-1160-4 δίχα τε παντός ¹⁰

mvp-comment-1161-1 ἄγε με ¹¹

mvp-comment-1162-1 The MS.

has been defended in two ways, neither of which is satisfactory: (1) by an ellipse of : (2) as= As in 383 (n.) we should read for , and in 335 (n.) for , so here I feel sure that ποῦ is right. It suits the sense better than the v.l. πῇ , besides being closer to the MSS. The v.l. ἄξω , (which would justify ποῖ ,) is plainly a mere corruption of .

mvp-comment-1162-2 αὖθις ¹²

mvp-comment-1163-1 In these verses the utterances usually assigned to Antigone all turn on her anxiety as to a refuge, and her desire to return to Thebes. Such feelings, at this moment, are more in harmony with the character of Ismene (cp. 1735). Antigone is at present absorbed in the yearning to visit her father's tomb, or at least the spot where she last saw him alive (1724). When Theseus appears, it is this wish which she instantly presses on him. Only when it has been put aside does she think of a return to Thebes (1769).

mvp-comment-1163-2 Ought we, then, to read

for throughout vv. 1737—1750? This has been suggested by Bergk. I may observe that the Laur. MS. leaves the question open. At 1730 it has before . After that, there is no indication of any person, but only short lines (-), until at 1741 again stands before . The next words, etc., have before them: but after that no person is indicated till 1751, where (instead of ) is erroneously placed before .

mvp-comment-1163-3 I am disposed to think that Sophocles wrote the words for Ismene, but that the fourth-actor difficulty had led to a fluctuation of stage-practice, which helps to account for the ambiguity of the MS. tradition. See the note on the Dramatis Personae. If the part of Ismene, after v. 509, was ever taken by a

, there may then have been a wish to keep her part in this scene as small as possible. Similarly at 1689 ff. there is a doubt as to which sister ought to have the words .

1727. mvp-comment-920-1 τὰν χθόνιον ἑστίαν The dark home.'

1729. mvp-comment-921-1 μῶν οὐχ ὁρᾷς Sc. ἀθέμιτον εἶναι. There are two reasons. It is forbidden to know the place: and no man saw him die, or buried him (1732).

1730. mvp-comment-922-1 τί τόδ' ἐπέπληξας means this rebuke?' What

1733. mvp-comment-923-1 ἄγε με

(Elmsley.) ἐπενάριξον] “Take me thither (who will), and then I care not if you kill me at his tomb.' Cp. Eur. Hec. 504.

1734. mvp-comment-924-1 ποῖ Sc. ἐλθοῦσα. For the condensation, see Essay on Language § 43. p. 81.

1737. mvp-comment-925-1 The interchange in strophe B' was between Antigone and Ismene: in the antistrophe it is between single members of the chorus and Antigone. The number of interlocutions assigned to the chorus, 15 counting from 1667, shows that here as in other κομμοί the choreutae took part successively in the dialogue, but in what order they did so can hardly be determined.