Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 534

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)) — 535 focus
* αἵδʼ εἴσʼ ἄρʼ ἀπόγονοί τε καὶ
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 535 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 535 focus
O Heaven!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 535 focus
Sie sprossen mit mir aus Einer Frau Schooße.
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 535 focus
Who 's there ?
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 535 focus
Didst thou, I tremble as I speak it, fill,

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-403-1 σαί τ’ εἴσ’ ἄῤ 1

mvp-comment-403-2 κοιναί 2

mvp-comment-403-3 πατρὸς 3

mvp-comment-404-1 ἰώ — ἰὼ δῆτα 4

mvp-comment-404-2 γε 5

mvp-comment-404-3 ἐπιστροφαί 6

mvp-comment-405-1 ἄλαστ’ ἔχειν 7

mvp-comment-406-1 οὐκ ἔρεξα 8

mvp-comment-406-2 τί γάρ 9

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

534. mvp-comment-296-1 This line has been variously altered, but even if the true reading is lost. the general meaning is probably retained. The mistake about the persons has very naturally arisen from the suddenness with which Oedipus takes up the word. This helps to indicate the excitement of the situation.

535. mvp-comment-297-1 κοιναί γε γε assents to what the chorus were about to say, which Oedipus emphasises by the words κοιναί γε πατρός. On κοιναί, see Essay on Language p. 95. Own sisters of their own sire.

536. mvp-comment-298-1 ἰὼ δῆτα Cp. Εl. 842, ΗΛ.

536. mvp-comment-298-2 φεῦ. ΧΟ. φεῦ δῆτ᾽· ὀλοὰ γάρ: Eur. Troad. 1230, ΕΚ. οἴμοι. ΧΟ. οἴμοι δῆτα σῶν ἀλάστων κακῶν.

536. mvp-comment-298-3 μυρίων γ᾽ ἐπιστροφαὶ κακῶν Everrenewed onset of unnumbered woes. The image is that of an enemy who harasses an army by returning repeatedly to the attack with fresh forces. Cp. infr. 1045, δαΐων ἀνδρῶν .. ἐπιστροφαί, Αr. Eq 244, ἐπαναστρέφου. For the nominative after the interjection, cp. Tr. 1046-1047, ὦ .. μοχθήσας ἐγώ.

537. mvp-comment-299-1 I have suffered woes that will not be forgotten.' ἄλαστα is first governed by ἔπαθον, then ἔχειν is added pleonastically, and ἄλαστα is resumed. Sc. ἔπαθον ἄλαστα, ὥστε ἄλαστα ἔχειν τὰ παθήματα.

539-541. mvp-comment-300-1 I received a gift, which would that I, the much-enduring one, had never so benefited the state as to receive from her the privilege of choosing.' i. e. Would that I had not benefited the state so as to be honoured with the choice gift of Jocasta. In this rendering. which takes the words in a natural order, it is assumed that μή, with the past tenses of the indicative in a relative clause, may express the wish to reverse a fact in past time. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 363-366, μηδ' ὑπὸ κ.τ.λ. .. τέθαψαι. The analogy of the uses of the historical tenses with εἰ, ἄν, ἵνα, ὡς, ὅπως, to express an impossible supposition, inference, motive, or result, is all that can be urged in favour of this, except the comparison of a passage which has generally been thought corrupt, infr. 1713, ἰώ, μὴ γᾶς ἐπὶ ξένας θανεῖν ἔχρηζες. It may be further suggested, that in both these instances the unusual construction is assisted by an echo (or harmonic) of ὤφελον in ἐπωφέλησα, and of ἐχρῆν in ἔχρηζες. If this hypothesis is rejected, we must fall back on Hermann's interpretation of the words: Accepi, inquit Oedipus, donum, uxorem dicens, quod ego ut nunquam a civitate debuerim accipere, ei profui, i. e. quod ut mihi non unquam daret civitas, merui. quum eam a Sphinge liberavi. ταλακάρδιος is a poetical expansion of τάλας: cp. πυκνόπτερος, μελάμφυλλος, etc.