Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 668

mvp-comment-502-1 The first word εὐίππου strikes a note which connects Colonus ἵππιος with the fame of Attica. Take

with . You have come to earth's best abodes ( Colonus ), belonging to this ( Attica ). The gen. εὐίπ. τ. χώρας is most simply taken as possessive, denoting the country to which the belong, though it might also be partitive. It precedes as the territorial gen. regularly precedes the local name, Her. 3.136

ἀπίκοντο τῆς Ἰταλίης ἐς Τάραντα

.

mvp-comment-503-1 γᾶς ¹

mvp-comment-503-2 ἔπαυλα ²

mvp-comment-504-1 τὸν ³

mvp-comment-504-2 ἀργῆτα ⁴

mvp-comment-505-1 μινύρεται θαμίζουσα ⁵

mvp-comment-506-1 χλω. ὑπὸ βάσσαις ⁶

mvp-comment-507-1 The reading ἀνέχουσα is usually justified by Ai. 212

, "having conceived a love for thee, he upholds thee"; and Eur. Hec. 123

βάκχης ἀνέχων λέκτρ’ Ἀγαμέμνων

, "upholding," i.e. "refusing to forsake," "remaining constant to." But how could the bird be said to "uphold" the ivy in that sense? In Thuc. 2.18 and 7. 48 is intrans., "he held back" cautiously. Of the two MS. readings, οἰνωπὰν ἔχουσα and οἰνῶπ’ ἀνέχουσα , the latter seems to have come from the former, not vice versa. is a good Attic form (used four times by Eur.), and is nearer to the MSS. than Dindorf's . The latter word would mean,

mvp-comment-508-1 The ivy and the vine (17) being sacred to Dionysus ( θεοῦ ), the foliage of the place generally is called his.

is certainly not the hero Colonus (65) . We might desire θεᾶν (the Eumenides), but the meant is not only that of the sacred grove; it includes the Academy.

mvp-comment-508-2 μυριόκαρπον ⁷

mvp-comment-509-1 ἀνήνεμον … χειμώνων ⁸

mvp-comment-510-1 βακχιώτας ⁹

mvp-comment-511-1 ἐμβατεύει ¹⁰

mvp-comment-511-2 ἀμφιπολῶν ¹¹

mvp-comment-511-3 tiqh/nais ¹²

mvp-comment-512-1 θάλλει δ’ ¹⁴

mvp-comment-513-1 νάρκισσος ¹⁵

mvp-comment-513-2 μεγάλαιν θεαῖν ¹⁶

mvp-comment-514-1 ἀρχαῖον στεφάνωμ’ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-515-1 χρυσαυγὴς κρόκος ¹⁸

mvp-comment-516-1 κρῆναι ²⁰

mvp-comment-516-2 μινύθουσιν ²¹

mvp-comment-517-1 Κηφισοῦ ²²

mvp-comment-517-2 νομάδες ²³

mvp-comment-518-1 ἐπ’ ἤματι ²⁴

mvp-comment-519-1 ὠκυτόκος ²⁷

mvp-comment-519-2 πεδίων ἐπινίσσεται ²⁸

mvp-comment-520-1 ὄμβρῳ ²⁹

mvp-comment-521-1 στ. χθονός ³⁰

mvp-comment-521-2 στερνούχου ³¹

mvp-comment-521-3 Μουσᾶν ³²

668. mvp-comment-364-1 Couldst thou find a fairer dwelling-place than this bright land? Here the nightingale keeps haunt, and sings in deep impenetrable coverts of green dells, where no sun, nor wind, but only the joyous presence of Dionysus comes. Here daily blooms the saffron and Demeter's flower, nor do the waters of Cephisus fail, nor Aphrodite shun the spot.

668. mvp-comment-364-2 And there is a better plant than grows in Asian or Dorian soil, that flourishes of itself in this our land, the nurse of childhood, the terror of our foes, the grey-leaved olive, which Zeus and Athena ever protect from harm. Nor has Poseidon left us without his gifts. Our mother-state is famed for horsemanship and famed by sea. Here first the son of Cronos tamed the steed, here swiftly glides the oarèd bark, keeping pace with the multitude of sea-nymphs.

668. mvp-comment-364-3 The metres of this ode are composed with especial care.

668. mvp-comment-364-4 The ruling logaoedic rhythm of the 1st strophe is represented by the following line which, out of 13 lines, holds the Ist, 5th, 7th (and central), 11th, and 13th places. 2 and 12, the second and secondlast lines, also correspond

668. mvp-comment-364-5 u _ u u _ u _ u _ u

668. mvp-comment-364-6 In 3, 4, 8, the logaoedic is shortened to the ordinary glyconic metre

668. mvp-comment-364-7 u _ u u _ u _ _

668. mvp-comment-364-8 and in 6, to the Pherecratean

668. mvp-comment-364-9 _ _ u u _ _

668. mvp-comment-364-10 In 9, the rhythm changes to a purely dactylic movement

668. mvp-comment-364-11 _ u u _ u u _ u u _ u u

668. mvp-comment-364-12 which is followed, in 10, by an Iambic dimeter catalectic

668. mvp-comment-364-13 u _ u _ u _ _

668. mvp-comment-364-14 which smooths the way for the recurrence to the prevailing rhythm. Cp. supr. 229-236, infr. 1675-1676.

668. mvp-comment-364-15 The chief movement in the 2nd strophe is choriambic (II. 1, 2, 6, 8, ) varied with iambic and trochaic, which in 3, 5, 7, are combined in the antispastic or syncopated movement

668. mvp-comment-364-16 u _ u _ | _ u _ u _ x

668. mvp-comment-364-17 while 4 is trochaic dim. hyper-catalectic

668. mvp-comment-364-18 _ u _ u _ u _ u _

668. mvp-comment-364-19 The composition ends with a glyconic and Pherecratean, 9 and 10, recalling the rhythm of the former strophe. The rhythm of the 1st strophe is expressive of repose and gladness, that of the 2nd, of triumph (cp. Ant. 139, 153), ending in repose.

668-669. mvp-comment-365-1 Thou art come, stranger, to the homes of this land famed for steeds, the best homes on earth.

668-669. mvp-comment-365-2 εὐίππου Cp. supra 59, τόνδ' ἱππότην Κολωνόν, and note. The epithet is intended to apply first and specially to Colonus, and then generally to Athens. εὐίππου τᾶσδε χώρας is attributive to τὰ κράτιστα γᾶς ἔπαυλα. Cp. supra 45, ἕδρας γῆς τῆσδ᾽.

668-669. mvp-comment-365-3 γᾶς is partitive genitive with κράτιστα. Cf. infra 739, εἰς πλεῖστον πόλεως.

668-669. mvp-comment-365-4 ἔπαυλα Here generally dwellings, homes, with some association from the care of horses, which was an occupation of the Coloniatae. Cf. Aesch. Pers. 870, Θρηκίων ἐπαύλων.

670. mvp-comment-366-1 τὸν ἀργῆτα Κολωνόν An accusative added epexegetically in the same construction with ἔπαυλα. ἀργῆτα (cp.

670. mvp-comment-366-2 ἀργήεις, ἀργινόεις), gleaming, either from the colour of the rock, or rather from the marble structures, such as the altar of Poseidon, which made it conspicuous in the sunlight from a distance.

670-671. mvp-comment-367-1 ἔνθ᾽ ἁ The addition of the breathing which restores the metre, also, by introducing the article, rather improves the sense. Cp. El. 147, ἀλλ᾿ ἐμέ γ᾿ ὁ στονόεσσ᾽ ἄραρεν φρένας: infra 693, ἁ χρυσάνιος Ἀφροδίτα: 716, ὁ δ᾽ εὐήρετμος. The synaphea is not a strong objection where the metre is continuous, as here, and is at any rate more probable than that a glyconic verse should begin with a dactyl, and θεαῖν, at the end of l. 683, be taken for a monosyllable.

672. mvp-comment-368-1 θαμίζουσα Il. 18.386, πάρος γε μὲν οὔτι θαμίζεις.

673. mvp-comment-369-1 χλωραῖς ὑπὸ βάσσαις In coverts of green glades.ὑπό, with dative= down in. Cp. Ant. 336-337, περιβρυχίοισιν περῶν ὑπ᾿ οἴδμασιν : Ovid, Fast. 4. 427,

674. τὸν οἰνῶπ᾽ ἀνέχουσα κισσόν] Remaining constant to the empurpled (wine-coloured) ivy. For this meaning of ἀνέχω, cp. Aj. 211, λέχος δουριάλωτον | στέρξας ἀνέχει: Eur. Hec. 123, ἀνέχων λέκτρ᾽ Ἀγαμέμνων: Pind. Nem. 7.89, εἰ δ᾽ αὐτὸ καὶ θεὸς ἀνέχοι; and especially Aristides, l. 19 , καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅσοι θεοφιλεῖς, οὐκ Ἄτη πατεῖ τὰς κεφαλάς, Ἀθηνᾶ δὲ ἀνέχει καὶ ἐμβατεύει. The conjecture νέμουσα (Dind.) is certainly not less questionable than the text. νέμειν γῆν may be said, but hardly νέμειν κισσόν, φυλλάδα. (Cp., however, Ar. Av. 239, ἐπὶ κισσοῦ κλάδεσι νομὸν ἔχει). οἰνῶπα refers to the rich colour of the ivy, as if flushed with wine.

675. mvp-comment-370-1 ἄβατον θεοῦ φυλλάδα μυριόκαρΔιόνυσος] ἀμφιπόλων πον The inviolable leafy grove, with countless berries, sacred to the God:' referring chiefly to the laurel and olive bushes, for the epithet ἀνήλιον can hardly apply to the vine: cp. supra 17, δάφνης, ἐλαίας, ἀμπέλου. For μυριόκαρπον, cp. O. T. 83. And for θεοῦ φυλλάδα, cp. Trach. 754, βωμοὺς ὁρίζει τεμενίαν τε φυλλάδα.

675. mvp-comment-370-2 θεοῦ Probably Dionysus, to whom such thickets are sacred, as δενδρίτης θεός. Pind. Fr. 130, δενδρέων δὲ νομὸν Διόνυσος πολυγαθὴς αὐξάνοι. The mention of him is suggested by the ivy, and he is presently spoken of by name as haunting the spot. Cp. the similar introduction of Poseidon in 709, foll., and of Nessus in Tr. 556-558.

676. mvp-comment-371-1 ἀνήλιον. - χειμώνων Cp. Od. 5. 478 sqq., τοὺς (θάμνους sc.) μὲν ἄρ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἀνέμων διάη μένος ὑγρὸν ἀέντων, | οὔτε ποτ' ἠέλιος φαέθων ἀκτῖσιν ἔβαλλεν, | οὔτ᾽ ὄμβρος περάασκε διαμπερές, ib. 19, 440, ff. For the genitive, see Essay on Language § 10. p. 16.

680. mvp-comment-372-1 θείαις.. τιθήναις The Nymphs of Nysa, who, according to a legend, were the nurses of the infant Bacchus, Il. 6.132, Διωνύσοιο τιθῆναι. Το the conjecture θεαῖς, which has been suggested for the metre, may be objected, (1) that the fem of θεόs is not elsewhere found as a monosyllable (unless in 683); (2) that the Nymphs are not properly spoken of as θεαί.

680. mvp-comment-372-2 ἀμφιπολῶν Careering round. A picturesque inversion, representing the confusion of the Bacchanalian rout, in which it is uncertain who leads and who follows. But qy. ἀμφίπολος, used passively, as in Pind. Ol. 1. 96, τύμβον ἀμφίπολον ἔχων ? 681-693. The antistrophe passes from the wooded hollow to the open height, on which the crocus and narcissus blow: and then to the meadow that is watered by the stream.

681. mvp-comment-373-1 οὐρανίας ὑπ᾿ ἄχνας ‘By the dew of heaven from above.

682. mvp-comment-374-1 καλλίβοτρυς With fair clusters,' i. e. with several heads upon a stem.

683. mvp-comment-375-1 μεγάλαιν θεαΐν The great Goddesses, Demeter and Persephone. See the Hymn to Demeter, 11. 6-18, where Persephone, after gathering crocus and other flowers, is tempted by a narcissus with a hundred heads, which Earth purposely causes to grow, so as to fix the attention of the maiden until Pluto comes. Ancient commentators observed that the chaplet worn in honour of Demeter and Persephone was not one of flowers, but of myrtle, or of ears of grain, and they proposed either to read μεγαλᾶν θεᾶν, referring to the Eumenides, whom Euphorion had described ας ναρκίσσῳ ἐπιστεψέες πλοκαμίδας, or to emphasize ἀρχαῖον, with reference to the former time before Persephone was carried away. But see note on 685.

685. mvp-comment-376-1 χρυσαυγής Cp. Tennyson, Oenone,

The Schol. observes that Sophocles in the Niobe makes the 685

687. mvp-comment-377-1 Κηφισού κηφισσοῦ Β Vat.

687. mvp-comment-377-2 ἐπινίσσεται ἐπινίσεται L. ἐπινείσεται AR. crocus an emblem of Demeter. οὐδ᾽ ἄϋπνοι κρῆναι μινύθουσιν Κηφισοῦ νομάδες ῥεέθρων] Either (1) Nor fail the ever-wakeful springs that feed Cephisus stream,' referring to the abundant fountain-heads on the slopes of Parnes: or (2) Nor do the ever-wakeful rills decrease, dispensers of Cephisus' flood,' referring to the system of irrigation (διανομή) that goes on to this day. Although this allusion to an artificial process may seem unpoetical to the modern reader, the latter interpretation agrees better with πεδίων ἐπινίσσεται, besides giving a more definite meaning to νομάδες, and one immediately connected with Colonus. For a similar allusion in lyric poetry, cp. Pind. Ol. 5. 12, καὶ σεμνοὺς ὀχετούς, Ιππαρις οἶσιν ἄρδει στράτον. For the meaning of νομάδες, cp. Plat. Legg. 11. 931 C, δίκαιοι νομεῖς .. ἀγαθῶν, where νομεύς is similarly used.

688. mvp-comment-378-1 ἀλλ᾽ αἰὲν .. χθονός But ever, each new day, with quickening power, he (Cephisus) pours his clear waters over the bosom of the plain. ἐπ᾽ ἤματι] Not=ἦμαρ ἐπ᾽ ἤματι ('day after day'), but on each day, like кат' ἦμαρ. Cp. Heracl. Fr., ἥλιος νέος ἐφ᾿ ἡμερῇ. The hiatus between this and the following line indicates a pause before the change of rhythm.

689. mvp-comment-379-1 ὠκυτόκος Schol. ὠκύτοκα ποιῶν τὰ πεδία καὶ ἔγκαρπα. Ellendt rightly observes that this explanation may stand although πεδίων is to be joined (in the first instance) with ἐπινίσσεται.

690. mvp-comment-380-1 For the general use of ὄμβρος for the element of water, cp. O. T. 1428, μήτ᾿ ὄμβρος ἱρός. Ε. on L. p. 98.

691. mvp-comment-381-1 στερνούχου Cp. Hes. Th. 117, γαῖ᾽ εὐρύστερνος. Schol. ἴσον τῷ γονίμου. Meineke conj. σπερμούχου.

691. mvp-comment-381-2 οὐδὲ Μουσᾶν, κ.τ.λ. Cp. the praise of Athens in Eur. Med. 830 ff. There was a temple of the Muses, near that of Athena, in the Academy. Paus. 1.30, 2.