Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 39

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

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Chorus
Alas ! and wert thou born
Thus sightless? Full of sorrow and of years
Indeed thou seemst ; but do not let on us
Thy curse devolve. Thou hast transgressed the bounds
Prescribed to mortals ; shun this hallowed grove,
AVliere on the grassy surface to the powere
A welcome ottering flows with honc^y mixed
The limpid stream ; unhappy stranger, lienco,
Away, begone ! Thou seest 'tis a long space
Divides us : dost thou hear me, wretched exile ?
This instiint, if thou dost, depart, then speak,
But not before.

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)) — 39 focus
ἄθικτος οὐδʼ οἰκητός. αἱ γὰρ ἔμφοβοι
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1-116 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 39 focus
OED
Dread Forms of holy Fear, since in this land
Your sanctuary first gave my limbs repose,
Be not obdurate to my prayer, nor spurn
85
The voice of Phoebus, who that fateful day,
When he proclaimed my host of ills to come,
Told me of rest after a weary time,
Where else but here? ‘When I should reach my bourne,
And find repose and refuge with the Powers
90
Of reverend name, my troubled life should end
With blessing to the men who sheltered me,
And curses on their race who banished me
and sent me wandering forth.’ Whereof he vouched me
Sure token, or by earthquake, or by fire
95
From heaven, or thundrous voices. And I know
Some aëry message from your shrine hath drawn me
With wingèd whisper to this grove. Not else
Had ye first met me coming, nor had I
Sate on your dread unchiselled seat of stone,
100
With dry cold lips greeting your sober shrine.
Then give Apollo’s word due course, and give
Completion to my life, if in your sight
These toils and sorrows past the human bound
Seem not too little. Kindly, gentle powers,
105
Offspring of primal darkness, hear my prayer!
Hear it, Athenai, of all cities queen,
Great Pallas’ foster-city! Look with ruth
On this poor shadow of great Oedipus,
This fading semblance of his kingly form.
110
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 33 focus
Ich höre, Freund, von dieser, die für mich zugleich
Und sich umherschaut, daß du ganz gelegen kommst,
Bericht von dem zu geben, was uns dunkel blieb
35
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 39 focus
Antigone
Thy name, illustrious Athens, pity me,
Pity the shade of wretched Edipus,
For what was once the man is now no more.
Forbear: some men, in years they seem, advance :
Their purpose haply to observe thy seat.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1-115 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-138-1 ἀστοῖς ἴσα χρὴ μελετᾶν 1

mvp-comment-139-1 Since κἀκούοντας suits both metre and sense, it seems more likely that this was the reading from which, by a scribe's mistake, κοὐκ ἀκούοντας arose, than that

ἀκούοντας
conceals some other participle (such as
κατοκνοῦντας
or
ἀπιθοῦντας
). It is hard to see why Herm. thought the
"negatio contrarii"
to be necessary here,—common though it is (see on O. T. 58
γνωτὰ κοὐκ ἄγνωτα
). After χρὴ μελετᾶν , too, we should expect
μηδέ
, not
καὶ οὐκ
; the latter supposes that
οὐ
and its partic. form one word. κοὐκ ἄκοντας (B and Campbell) would mean,
"and that, too, not unwillingly"
—surely a weak sense. The existence of this as the only v.l. confirms κἀκούοντας .

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

172. mvp-comment-107-1 κοὐκ ἄκοντας Yielding what is meet, and not waiting for compulsion. Par. B, etc. here preserve the better reading. Cp Lys. Epitaph. § 14, μηδὲν ποιεῖν ἄκοντας: Εl. 1463. μηδὲ πρὸς βίαν φύσῃ φρένας : Eur. Hec. 225, Pind. Pyth. 4. 288, καλὰ γινώσκοντ᾽ ἀνάγκῃ. The words of Oedipus in 174, μὴ δῆτ᾽ ἀδικηθῶ, Let me not be roughly used are prompted by the fear which Antigone here suggests, and the chorus, in re-assuring him, use the same expression, οὔ τοι .. ἄκοντά τις ἄξει. Cp. infr. 827. Others suggest various modifications of the Laurentian reading. But κἀκούοντας is a feeble repetition of εἴκοντας, and κού κατοκνοῦντας involves too great a change. ἀκούοντας comes of the dittographia AKOONTAC for AKONTAC.