Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 1463

Richard Jebb (Translator)

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Scene
← Previous Next →

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)) — 1462 focus
ἴδε μάλα, μέγας ἐρείπεται
κτύπος ἄφατος ὅδε διόβολος· ἐς δʼ ἄκραν
δεῖμʼ ὑπῆλθε κρατὸς φόβαν.
1465
ἔπτηξα θυμόν· *οὐρανοῦ γὰρ ἀστραπὴ φλέγει πάλιν.
τί μὰν ἀφήσει τέλος; δέδια τόδʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἅλιον
ἀφορμᾷ ποτʼ οὐκ ἄνευ ξυμφορᾶς,
1470
ὦ μέγας αἰθήρ, ὦ Ζεῦ.
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1462 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1462 focus
Again, yonder crash through the fire-startled air
Wing’d from Zeus, rushes down, till my thin locks of hair,
Stiff with fear, upward stare.
My soul shrinks and cowers, for yon gleam from on high
1465
Darts again! Ne’er in vain hath it leapt from the sky,
But flies forth amain to what task Zeus hath given.
I fear the unknown fatal edict of Heaven!
1470
Lightning glares all around!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1462 focus
Von Zeus' Händen geworfen, horch!
1450
Erscholl's wieder, grauenhaft tosend! Hoch
Sträubt der Schreck das Haar uns empor.
Der Muth erbebt mir; wieder flammt aus Himmelshöh'n herab der Bliz.
Auf welches Ziel deutet er? Ich erzitt're: nicht umsonst
Daher stürmt er, nicht von Unfällen frei.
1455
Heilige Luft! Zeus, hilf uns!
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1462 focus
Again,
Another dreadful clap ! It strikes my soul
With horror, and my hairs do stand on end
1465
With fear. Behold, again the lightnings flash !
I dread the consequence, for not in vain
These signs appear of some calamity
1470
Portentous ever, O ethereal Jove !
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1462 focus
Awfully dreadful is this deep'ning roar
Roll'd by the hand of Jove: my hoary hairs
Are rais'd through horror upright on my head, CH
And my soul sinks within me. There again
1465
The rapid lightening flames along the sky
1465
What terrible event doth this portend?
The dread of it appals me: not in vain,
Not unpredictive of some dreadful fate
These thunders roll. - Almighty Jove! again
1470
Wide through th' ethereal vault of heav'n they roll,

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-1012-1 ἔπτηξα 1

mvp-comment-1012-2 θυμόν 2

mvp-comment-1012-3 οὐρανία 3

mvp-comment-1013-1 τί … ἀφήσει τέλος 4

mvp-comment-1013-2 μὰν 5

mvp-comment-1014-1 L has δέδεια τόδ’ , which might easily have grown out of δέδοικα δ’ (Nauck). The latter is recommended by metre, giving an exact correspondence if in 1454 we read στρέφων : cp. on 1453

f. With δέδια τόδ’ it is necessary to suppose a very improbable resolution of - into uu ; see Metrical Analysis.

mvp-comment-1015-1 ἀφορμᾷ 6

mvp-comment-1015-2 ξυμφορᾶς 7

mvp-comment-1016-1 ὦ μέγας αἰθήρ 8

mvp-comment-1017-1 ἥκει τῷδ’ ἐπ’ ἀνδρί 9

mvp-comment-1018-1 συμβαλὼν ἔχεις 10

mvp-comment-1019-1 μοι 11

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

1464. mvp-comment-778-1 ἐς.. φόβαν (1) And fear hath crept even to the very hair of my head. ἄκραν, adverbial. Or (2) to the very tips of my hair; with a suggestion of the hair standing on end.

1466. mvp-comment-779-1 ἔπτηξα θυμόν 'I am cowed at heart. On the aorist used when the speaker reflects on his own state, see Essay on Language § 32. p. 55, and cp. esp. Αj. 693. ἔφριξ᾽ ἔρωτι. The MS. reading οὐρανία, which is metrically indefensible, can be best accounted for as a mistaken gloss on οὐρανοῦ, which, however, is not really a descriptive genitive (like ἄστρων .. εὐφρόνη in El. 19), but = from heaven, from the region of the sky. Meineke conj. οὐρανόν, i. e. Lights up the heaven.

1467. mvp-comment-780-1 μάν gives to the question a wondering expression.

1469. mvp-comment-781-1 τί.. τέλος 'What event will it bring forth?" Cp. φωνήν, ἀράς, χροιὰς ἀφιέναι.

1469. mvp-comment-781-2 δέδια τόδ' The reading of l. 1454 being uncertain, it is better not to alter this the corresponding line, for the sake of the metre only, seeing that IC is not an impossible rhythm. Hence it is better to retain τόδ', which has a good meaning (τὸ τῆς βροντῆς χρήμα) and also gives a reason for the neuter gender of ἅλιον.

1469-1470. mvp-comment-782-1 οὐ γὰρ.. ξυμφορᾶς For it never goes forth resultless, never without grave issues. For the repetition of οὐκ, see Essay on Language § 29. p. 48. Heath conj. οὐδ᾽.

1471. mvp-comment-783-1 ὦ μέγας αἰθήρ Tremendous power of the sky. Cp. Aj. 173, ὦ μεγάλα φάτις, in a similar expression of awe and dread.

1472. mvp-comment-784-1 θέσφατος Heaven-ordained;' i. e. Both decreed by the Gods and foretold by them. Cp. supr. 87-95, infr. 1511-1512. For ἐπί, see Essay on Language § 19. p. 27, and cp. ἐφήκω in Thuc. 8. 67, ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἡμέρα ἐφῆκε.

1473. mvp-comment-785-1 κοὐκέτ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἀποστροφή And there is no avoiding it, now it is come.

1473. mvp-comment-785-2 ἀποστροφή here and Eur. Fr. 447 is not a place of refuge, but has the primary verbal sense.

1474. mvp-comment-786-1 There are two strong reasons for giving this and l. 1488 to Antigone: (1) The speeches of Oedipus are addressed to her and Ismene (1457, ὦ τέκνα, 1472, ὦ παῖδες, 1486, τέκνα, 1490, σφιν, 3rd person): (2) The antistrophic nature of the passage leads us to expect an entire correspondence with l. 1459. It may be added that the chorus are at present too much occupied with their own sensations to attend to Oedipus.