Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 118

Richard Jebb (Translator)

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Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1889.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Oedipus at Colonus (English) (Sophocles the plays and fragments, Part 2: The Oedipus at Colonus. Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, Sir, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1889. (Modernized by Perseus.))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 117 focus
ὅρα. τίς ἄρʼ ἦν; ποῦ ναίει;
ποῦ κυρεῖ ἐκτόπιος συθεὶς ὁ πάντων
ὁ πάντων ἀκορέστατος ;
120
προσπεύθου, λεῦσσέ νιν,
προσδέρκου πανταχῆ.*
πλανάτας,
πλανάτας τις ὁ πρέσβυς, οὐδʼ
*ἔγχωρος· προσέβα γὰρ οὐκ
125
ἄν ποτʼ ἀστιβὲς ἄλσος ἐς
τᾶνδʼ ἀμαιμακετᾶν κορᾶν,
ἃς τρέμομεν λέγειν,
καὶ παραμειβόμεσθʼ ἀδέρκτως,
130
ἀφώνως, ἀλόγως τὸ τᾶς
εὐφήμου στόμα φροντίδος
ἱέντες· τὰ δὲ νῦν τινʼ ἥκειν
λόγος οὐδὲν ἅζονθʼ,
ὃν ἐγὼ λεύσσων περὶ πᾶν οὔπω
135
δύναμαι τέμενος
γνῶναι ποῦ μοί ποτε ναίει.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 117 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 117 focus
Keep watch! Who is it? Look!
Where is he? Vanished! Gone! Oh where?
Most uncontrolled of men!
120
Look well, inquire him out,
Search keenly in every nook!
—Some wanderer is the aged wight,
A wanderer surely, not a native here.
Else never had he gone within
125
The untrodden grove
Of these—unmarried, unapproachable in might,
—Whose name we dare not breathe,
130
But pass their shrine
Without a look, without a word,
Uttering the unheard voice of reverential thought.
But now, one comes, they tell, devoid of awe,
Whom, peering all around this grove
135
I find not, where he abideth.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 117 focus
schaut! Er entfloh! 1
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 117 focus
Where is he? Look, examine, search around
For this abandoned exile, of mankind
The most profane ; doubtless some wretched stranger.
Who else had dared on this forbidden soil
To tread, where dwell the dreadful deities
We tremble e'en to name, and as we pass
Dare not behold, but silently revere,
Or soft with words of fairest omen greet?
Of these regardless, here we come to find
An impious wretch. I look around the grove,
But still he lurks unseen.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 117 focus
Who may this be? Where is he? Look around :
Where now abides he? He hath left his seat,
Of mortals the most restless. See you him?
120
Look on each side; call to him; this old man
Hath rov'd with wandering steps, with wandering steps
Hath roved; a stranger surely; else he ne'er
Had enter'd, where no foot may tread, the grove
125
Of these infuriate virgins, whom we dread
To name, and awe-struct pass without a look,
Without addressing them, without a word,
130
Save what of happy omen from our mouths
Caution permits. Now we are told that one
Revering nothing hath approach'd this place.
Through all the grove I cast my searching eye,
135
But cannot see where now he makes abode.

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-102-1 ἐκτόπιος 1

mvp-comment-103-1 ἀκορέστατος 2

mvp-comment-104-1 This verse is corrupt in the MSS., but two things seem clear: (1) there is no reason to suspect προσδέρκου : (2) the singular λεῦσσε must be restored, and placed after προσδέρκου . The antistrophic verse (153) is

ἀλλ’ οὐ μὰν ἔν γ’ ἐμοί
. A long syllable is then wanted to complete the verse προσδέρκου, λεῦσσε . Hermann's νιν has been generally adopted. But λεῦσσε νιν could only mean " see him": not, " look for him": λεύσσειν τινά could not stand for ζητεῖν τινα . The MS. αὐτὸν was prob. a gloss which came in after προσδέρκου and λεῦσσε had been transposed; and the plur. λεύσσετε may have arisen from λεῦσσε δή . In 135 ὅν is governed by γνῶναι , not by λεύσσων : and in Aesch. Eum. 255
ὅρα, ὅρα μάλ’ αὖ, λεῦσσέ τε πάντα
( v.l.
παντᾶ
), the sense is, "scan all the ground." Cp. Ai. 890 ("'tis cruel," the Chorus say, baffled in their quest)
αμενηνὸν ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν ὅπου
.

mvp-comment-105-1 προσπεύθου 3

mvp-comment-106-1 πλανάτας 4

mvp-comment-107-1 προσέβα γὰρ οὐκ ἄν 5

mvp-comment-108-1 ἄλσος ἐς 6

mvp-comment-109-1 ἀμαιμακετᾶν 7

mvp-comment-110-1 καὶ παραμειβόμεσθ’ κ.τ.λ. 8

mvp-comment-110-2 τὸ τᾶς ἐφάμου στόμα φροντίδος ἱέντες 9

mvp-comment-111-1 ἀφώνως 10

mvp-comment-112-1 After ἱέντες we may place either (1) a point,—making τὰ δὲ νῦν begin a new sentence: or (2) merely a comma,— taking

ἃς
(129) as still the object to ἅζονθ’ : (1) is best.

mvp-comment-113-1 οὐδὲν 11

mvp-comment-114-1 ὃν 12

mvp-comment-115-1 μοι 13

mvp-comment-115-2 ναίει 14

mvp-comment-116-1 ἐκεῖνος 15

mvp-comment-116-2 φωνῇ γὰρ ὁρῳ 16

mvp-comment-117-1 ὁρᾶν, κλύειν 17

mvp-comment-118-1 προσίδητ’ ἄνομον 18

mvp-comment-119-1 The hiatus allows Ζεῦ to be short.

mvp-comment-119-2 ἀλεξῆτορ 19

mvp-comment-120-1 οὐ πάνυ μοίρας πρώτης 20

mvp-comment-120-2 πρώτης 21

mvp-comment-120-3 οὐ πάνυ 22

mvp-comment-121-1 ἔφοροι 23

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

120. mvp-comment-80-1 ἀκορέστατος i. e. not to be satisfied without invading our most sacred place.

121-123. mvp-comment-81-1 Hermann's conjectures are adopted to secure the correspondence of these lines with infr. 153-155, 11. 4-6 of the antistrophe : ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰν ἕν γ᾽ ἐμοὶ | προσθήσεις τάσδ' ἀράς· | περᾷς γάρ.

125. mvp-comment-82-1 προσέβα .. οὐκ Essay on Language § 41. p. 78.

126. mvp-comment-83-1 The genitive with ἄλσος forms a single phrase; hence és is not misplaced. Cp. Εl. 14, τοσόνδ᾽ ἐς ἥβης : Il. 1.350, θῖν ἐφ᾽ ἁλὸς πολιῆς : supr. 85. The preposition marks that he not only approached but entered.

127. mvp-comment-84-1 ἀμαιμακετᾶν Schol. ἀκαταμαχήτων ἢ ἀπροσπελάστων. The former seems to be the true Homeric meaning, which however is modified in the Sophoclean use by an association from μαίομαι. Cp. Pind. Pyth. 3. 33, κασιγνήταν μένει | θύοισαν ἀμαιμακέτῳ.

131. mvp-comment-85-1 Cp. infr. 489; Eur. Or. 409-410, ὀνομάσαι δ᾽ οὐ βούλομαι. ΟΡ. σεμναὶ γάρ· εὐπαιδευτὰ δ᾽ ἀποτρέπει λέγειν.

134. mvp-comment-86-1 οὐδὲν ἄζοντα The unusual active voice strengthens the expression. Cp. Essay on Language pp. 51, 98. Oedipus alone of mortals has no fear of the Erinyes. Blaydes conj. οὐκ ἀλέγονθ', retaining εἴ τιν' ἔχεις in l. 166. And the synaphea is certainly more regular if the anapaests have already begun.

138. mvp-comment-87-1 Here am I, the man you seek, for I see by sound, as the saying goes;' i. e. I hear you, though I cannot see. Cp. Ant. 829, ὡς φάτις ἀνδρῶν. Oedipus and Antigone re-enter from behind, and after several movements, with irregular anapaestic accompaniment, he is again seated in the middle of the proscenium, on a raised platform. The absence of the conventional palace-front enables Oedipus to be seen when at the back of the stage.

140-141. mvp-comment-88-1 The chorus are at first too horror-stricken at the very sight of the offender, either to discern his blindness, or to gather the meaning of his words. This appears from their language in 149-150, which is most naturally interpreted as an exclamation on first discovering that he is blind. The present words, as Oedipus perceives, simply express horror at seeing and hearing the impious one (ἄνομον). In l. 143 they pass from horror to curiosity. Only when he directly calls their attention to it, do they realize the fact that he is without sight. Schol. οὔπω ἀκριβῶς ἑωρακότες αὐτὸν τοῦτό φασιν.

142. mvp-comment-89-1 Regard me not as lawless. See not a lawless man in me. For the apparent ellipse of ὡs, see Essay on Language §23. p. 38, and § 39. p. 73.

144. mvp-comment-90-1 Not altogether one of highest fortune, that ye should congratulate him thereon. The genitive is in the first instance attributive, One of high fortune, but is to be resumed with εὐδαιμονίσαι, which governs the genitive, as in Plat. Crit. 43 Β, πολλάκις σε εὐδαιμόνισα τοῦ τρόπου. εὐδαιμονίσαι is 140 145 146. δηλῶ δ'] 148. ὥρμουν LA. ὥρμων C³ and epexegetic infinitive. See Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. Another interpretation deserves notice. Not one to congratulate ( = olov εὐδαιμονίσαι) on his first destiny;' i.e. The destiny which has been his from birth: ἣν οἱ ἐπεκλώσαντο θεοί, ὅτε μιν τέκε μητήρ. But to this may be objected, (1) that the infinitive can hardly stand except as epexegetic; (2) the emphatic position of πρώτης; (3) the gentle irony of the former meaning, which is better adapted to the situation. The same objections apply to the conjecture πρωτῆς, i. q. πεπρωμένης (Vauvillers, Schndw., Nauck.), which is a word only found in grammarians, and gives a poor sense.

145. mvp-comment-91-1 ἔφοροι χώρας Guardians of this land. Oedipus infers their office from the words of the Ξένος, l. 78 , and of his daughter, l. 112 , σῆς ἕδρας ἐπίσκοποι. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 25, στρατιᾶς πολλῆς ἔφοροι.