1009.
mvp-comment-542-1
Wert seizing me. and hast carried away my children. For the imperfect, cp. supr. 950. ἐχειροῦ is read in Par. F.
1012.
mvp-comment-543-1
θ' is added from a corrector of Par. F.
1014-1015.
mvp-comment-544-1
δέ is in each case slightly adversative. The stranger, my lord, is honest: his calamities, indeed, are horrible, but they deserve our help.' The mind of the chorus is divided between horror and pity. Cp. O Τ. 1296, τοιοῦτον οἷον καὶ στυγοῦντ᾽ ἐποικτίσαι. The subdued tone of this speech, compared with 1044-1095, affords a good instance of the different functions of the chorus in the dialogue and in the lyric passages.
1016.
mvp-comment-545-1
οἱ ἐξηρπασμένοι Schol. oἱ θεράποντες Κρέοντος. This interpretation, (1) implies that ἐξηρπ. is perfect middle. See Veitch, Irr. Verbs, s. v. ἁρπάζω. The force of the middle voice would be,
Having effected their purpose of capture. (2)
The captured ones, i. e. they and their attendants,
are speeding away. The masculine form is used because the captors are included in the expression. See Essay on Language § 20. p. 30, and cp. supr. 902, ὡς μὴ παρέλθωσ᾽ αἱ κόραι: infr. 1057-1060, and notes. An early corrector of L, without erasing the termination οι, has changed it to ην, making the accusative to be governed by σπεύδουσιν as a causative verb. This is the reading also of Vat. and Par. B.
1018.
mvp-comment-546-1
τί δῆτ᾿ ἀμαυρῷ φωτὶ προστάσσεις ποιεῖν;] (1)
What then are your commands for one who is powerless to resist them? This meaning of ἀμαυρός is sufficiently supported by Eur. Andr. 204, αὐτή τ᾿ ἀμαυρὰ κοὺ τύραννος ἦν Φρυγῶν. For φώς used by the speaker of himself, cp. infr. 1109, ὦ σκῆπτρα φωτός. Creon continues his pretence of helplessness: supr. 956-958. The excessive meekness of this expression may be thought hardly consistent with ll. 958-959, 1037, and the words may be construed as an expression of contempt for Oedipus, (2) What then is your bidding on behalf of this wretched nobody?' But the first interpretation (1) is probably right.
1019.
mvp-comment-547-1
τῆς ἐκεῖ i. e. ἐκεῖσε. “To lead the way yonder.' Hdt. 7. 147, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐκεῖ πλέομεν ἔνθαπερ καὶ οὗτοι.
1019.
mvp-comment-547-2
πομπὸν δ᾽ * ἐμὲ | χωρεῖν
That I, however, accompany you. The infinitive depends on the notion
My will is, implied in the preceding words. ἐμέ in this connection is more expressive than με, and the authority of the MSS. respecting such a difference is slight.
1021.
mvp-comment-548-1
τὰς παῖδας ἡμῶν The genitive ἡμῶν has something of a privative force.
You have the maidens whom you have taken from us. Cp. supr. 821, τὴν παῖδ᾽ ἔχεις μου; Ο. Τ. 1522, μηδαμῶς ταύτας γ᾽ ἕλῃ μου. Theseus throughout represents himself as aggrieved by Creon's act. οἶμον is an ingenious but unnecessary conjecture. The word would be superfluous after ὁδοῦ, supr. 1019. 1022-1024. (1) But if men are fleeing with them in their power, we may spare our pains, for there are others urging that pursuit (supr. 897 ff.), whom to have escaped out of this land they shall never glory before the gods.' The reading of most MSS, ἐπεύχονται or ἐπεύχωνται, is not defensible. For the variation of x and §, cp. Ο. Τ. ξ έ 297, οὐξελέγχων. Par. B. has ἐπεύχωνται. For the mode of expression, cp. Plat. Soph. 235 C, οὔτε οὗτος οὔτε ἄλλο γένος οὐδὲν μή ποτε ἐκφυγὸν ἐπεύξηται τὴν μέθοδον : Legg. 10. 905 Α, οὔτε σὺ μήποτε οὔτε ἄλλος ἀτυχὴς γενόμενος ἐπεύξηται περιγενέσθαι θεῶν. Otherwise, (2)
As having escaped from whom they shall never glory over the gods of this land. But although Theseus speaks hyperbolically of the success of Creon in capturing the maidens as a conquest over himself, he cannot speak of the Thebans as glorying over the defeat of Poseidon, Athena, the Eumenides, Dionysus (!), etc. who are not gods of Colonus and Athens only, but universally reverenced ἐπεύξωνται Βο. 1028, τόδ' in Hellas. And the order of the words, especially the position of φυγόντες, is adverse to this interpretation.
1024.
mvp-comment-549-1
χώρας.. τήσδε (gen of motion) is added, because when they entered Boeotia they would be safe.
1024.
mvp-comment-549-2
ἐπεύξωνται contains at once the notion of glorying and of thanksgiving. Cp. the exulting language of Ajax in his imagined victory to Athene, Aj. 92-96, ὡς εὐ παρέστης· καί σε παγχρύσοις ἐγὼ στέψω λαφύροις τῆσδε τῆς ἄγρας χάριν.. κόμπος πάρεστι κοὐκ ἀπαρνοῦμαι τὸ μή. 6
1025.
mvp-comment-550-1
ἀλλά In repeating a command or request, as often in Plato. Come, lead the way.'
1026-1077.
mvp-comment-551-1
In catching, you are caught; and fortune has taken you as you were pursuing after your prey.' The substitution of δίκη for τύχη is unnecessary and wrong. Fortune is continually regarded as the instrument of the Divine will. Cp. Phil. 1317, τὰς μὲν ἐκ θεῶν | τύχας δοθείσας: Shak. Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 4. 'Take thy fortune; Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.'
1026.
mvp-comment-552-1
δόλῳ | τῷ μὴ δικαίῳ The dative is governed by the verbal notion'in κτήματα. Essay on Language p. 94.
1028-1031.
mvp-comment-553-1
κοὐκ ἄλλον. τάδε
And you shall have no one to help you in this; for I well know that you were not unaided or unprepared, when you reached the height of insolence which is implied in this daring deed; but there were others to whom you trusted when you acted thus.
1028-1031.
mvp-comment-553-2
εἰς τόδε ‘For this task, viz. that of leading to where the maidens are. Cp. supr. 507, χωροῖμ᾽ ἂν ἐς τόδ᾽;
1029.
mvp-comment-554-1
ὕβριν. τόλμης For the gen., see Essay on Language § 10. p. 17. Cp. Creon's assertion, supra 957-958, ἐρημία με κεὶ δίκαι᾿ ὅμως λέγω | σμικρὸν τίθησι. Theseus will not allow Creon to take any one with him, either of his own attendants, who may be lurking near, or of the Athenians, whom he may have corrupted. ψιλόν refers rather to the former suspicion, ἄσκευον (i.e. ἄνευ παρασκευῆς) to the latter. Cp. Thuc. 2. 12, ξυμπέμπουσί τε τῷ Μελησίππῳ ἀγωγοὺς ὅπως μηδενὶ ξυγγένηται.
1031.
mvp-comment-555-1
πιστός
Relying in confidence on some one. For πιστός active, cp. Aesch. Prom. 917, τοῖς μεταρσίοις κτύποις πιστός: Thuc. 3. 40, ἐλπίδα λόγῳ πιστήν: Plat. Legg. 824, νυκτερεύτην δὲ ἄρκυσι καὶ πλεκταῖς πιστόν.
1032-1033.
mvp-comment-556-1
Which things I must look into, and not allow this state to be overpowered by a single man.' Cp. supra 842, 879, 933, and the similar feeling in Ant. 663-664, ὅστις.. τοὐπιτάσσειν τοῖς κρατύνουσιν νοεῖ: 678, κούτοι γυναικὸς οὐδαμῶς ἡσσητέα. These lines may be taken to hint at a suspicion of treachery within the city, to which ἄσκευον may also point. Cр. О. Т. 124-125, πῶς οὖν ὁ ληστής, εἴ τι μὴ ξὺν ἀργύρῳ | ἐπράσσετ᾿ ἐνθένδ᾽, ἐς τόδ' ἂν τόλμης ἔβη; and note; also Ant. 689-694, and esp. Lys. c. Eratosth. p. 128, τοσοῦτον δ᾽ ὑμῶν καταπεπεφρόνηκεν ἢ ἑτέροις πεπίστευκεν, ὧν ἀμφοτέρων ἄξιον ἐπιμεληθῆναι, ἐνθυμουμένοις ὅτι οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἐκεῖνα δύναιντο ποιεῖν μὴ ἑτέρων συμπραττόντων οὔτ᾽ ἂν νῦν ἐπεχείρησαν ἐλθεῖν κ.τ.λ.
1034-1035.
mvp-comment-557-1
ἢ μάτην.. χώτε ταῦτ᾽ ἐμηχανῶ]
Or are the considerations that I am urging as unmeaning to you now as they were when you devised this plot? The sentence is concluded as if the preceding words had been ἢ τὰ ἐμοὶ λελεγμένα δοκεῖ μάτην λελέχθαι ὁμοίως νῦν.
1036.
mvp-comment-558-1
Join μεμπτόν. ἐμοί, Essay on Language § 41. p. 77.
1036.
mvp-comment-558-2
νυν
1037.
mvp-comment-559-1
χἡμεῖς
I, in my turn.
1038.
mvp-comment-560-1
χωρῶν ἀπείλει νυν
Well, threaten as you please, but go on. qualifies the whole sentence, of which the participle is the emphatic word, and is used, as often elsewhere, with the imperative, e.g. supra 21, κάθιζε νύν με. For the emphatic participle, cp. Phil. 590, Ε. σὲ θήσομαι τῶνδ᾽ αἴτιον. Ν. ποιοῦ λέγων,
I will make you responsible for this.
Do as you please in making me responsible, if you will only speak.
1039.
mvp-comment-561-1
πιστωθείς
Under my assurance. As the middle πιστοῦμαι means to give mutual pledges, πιστωθείς is here used passively =
having received pledge, i. e. being assured. a
1044.
mvp-comment-562-1
While Oedipus remains alone upon the rock, an object of profound pity, the chorus burst into an exulting strain, anticipating the victory of Theseus and the restoration of Antigone and Ismene. The fray will soon begin. Would I were there to see! Where will the foemen turn to bay? At the pass of Mount Aegaleon, or by the Eleusinian shore? There will Theseus rouse the combat, and the maidens shall be present at the achievement of their deliverance. Or descend they now from Phyle, westward of the rock, the chariots with the pursuing cavalry? The enemy shall be overpowered. Mighty are the men of Theseus: valiant are the horsemen of our deme. They all are wor- α. shippers of Athene Hippia and of Poseidon. Are they engaged? or is the action still to be? My prophetic spirit pleads for the restitution of the muchenduring, much-wronged, maiden. O had my vision wings, that, lifted on some airy cloud, I might look upon the victory which I foretell! 'Zeus, grant our people the attainment of the fair prize and Pallas, his dread child, and ye, Apollo and Artemis, who love the chase, come jointly to our country's aid.' The metre of this chorus, at first glyconic, passes more and more into slow trochaic and iambic movements, with frequent long syllables. The whole is marked by great solemnity, with an occasional note of triumph. ―下CCICI IFCCICI ICCICI CICIトCCIILCI ーーーー トレーートレー トリートー 10= 10- ?? トトートー ICCI- LLACI 1, 2, 3, Glyconic with monosyllabic base, 5, 12, Pherecratean, 14, Adoniad, 6, 11, logaoedic, 4, 7, iambic dimeter with long syllables in the alternate feet, 8, 9, 13, trochaic, with long syllables in the alternate feet. The interweaving of the logaoedic with the iambic and trochaic rhythms is marked by the interposition of the iambics in 4 between the glyconic and Pherecratean, and the trochees in 13 between the Pherecratean and Adoniad. The
epitritic movement, - - - - - - -, prevails throughout. Line ro of the strophe, if the text is right, may be compared with Phil. 1082, 1103, 1123, 1146, 1147, where the same form ㄥㄧㄥにトして! is combined with glyconic and Pherecratean measures. In Phil. 1147 it answers to a glyconic - - トー in 1124. But this does not remove the difficulty of finding a probable emendation of 1069, which may secure a tolerable correspondence between strophe and antistrophe. See note on 1069. β΄. D レレトート(I LLCI ートレビー alcllcC1I !!トC!!!いー Lullトーー LU ICICII LUIIトCIK CLLCICIU
1044.
mvp-comment-562-2
The slow (epitritic) movement with frequent long syllables is continued in the second strophe and antistrophe, and only in lines 5 and 8 is quickened by the introduction of the dactyl. The opening syllables of 1 and 2 may have been exceptionally prolonged. Line 3 is probably to be scanned as an iambic dimeter with syncope of 3rd and 4th thesis. Syncope of thesis occurs also in 11. 5 and 10. Cp. O. T. 190, 193, 200, Christ's Metrik. § 393.
1044.
mvp-comment-562-3
Might I be where soon the foemen shall wheel round and begin the fray with clanging arms.' The imagination of the chorus is excited by what Theseus has said, supr. 1022, 1029 ff.
1044.
mvp-comment-562-4
δαΐων ἀνδρῶν ἐπιστροφαί i. e. δάϊοι ἄνδρες ἐπιστρεφθέντες: cp. Eur. Alc. 606, ἀνδρῶν Φεραίων εὐμενὴς παρουσία.
1046.
mvp-comment-563-1
Ἄρη | μίξουσιν Like μάχην συνάπτειν, with the additional notion of a confused hurtling contest. Il. 20. 374, τῶν δ᾽ ἄμυδις μίχθη μένος, ὧρτο δ' ἀτή. 1048-1049. ἢ πρὸς Πυθίαις.. ἀκταῖς] Either by the cliffs of Pythium or those torch-lit cliffs... i. e. the shores of the Thriasian plain. ἀκταί seems to be a general expression for the seaward cliffs, including those not actually touching the sea. But the word is chosen to suit the mention of Eleusis. The question is whether the engagement will be in the pass of Daphne, or at some further point on the Eleusinian way. Cp the skirmish at ῾Ρειτοί in Thuc. 2.19. The Pythian cliffs' are so named from the Pythium, a shrine of Apollo in the deme of Oenoe, probably at the place now called Daphne. According to some authorities the Pythium was on the Megarian frontier. But the place so designated could not be on the way to Thebes. Philochorus, quoted by the Scholiast, says, ἐν Οἰνόῃ.. ἐν τῷ Πυθίῳ. For the adjective λαμπάς, cp. infra 1060, πέτρας νιφάδος. The Schol. quotes a line of Aeschylus describing the Eleusinian procession, Fr. 376, λαμπραίσιν ἀστραπαῖσι λαμπάδων σθένει.
1050-1052.
mvp-comment-564-1
οὗ πότνιαι.. προσπόλων Εύμολπιδᾶν] (1) Where dread mysteries are dispensed to mortals by reverend goddesses, whose golden (i. e. sacred, cp. O. T. 158, 187) key holds fast the tongue of their attendants of Eumolpus' race.' καί introduces a further description of the goddesses who preside at the mysteries. The initiation of the Eumolpidae is mentioned, as being more solemn than that of the Mystae, inasmuch as they have received their consecration immediately from Demeter and Persephone:-'quae silentio sacro continent suorum ora ministrorum.' Reisig. Hermann objects that the duty of silence was imposed on all initiated persons He refers ὧν τo θνατοῖσιν, and would render (2),
On whose tongue hath passed the sacred key of the ministering Eumolpidae. And the Scholiast gives the same explanation: ὧν· τῶν τετελεσμένων. καί in this case may be supposed to emphasise the necessity of initiation as a condition of seeing the mysteries, or to distinguish the act of the priests from that of the deities. In favour of the first rendering (1), it may be urged that it makes καί more intelligible, gives more force to προσπόλων, and suits better with the position of the words χρυσέα κλής.
1050-1052.
mvp-comment-564-2
τιθηνοῦνται τέλη θνατοῖσιν, · Minister sacred rites to men,' as a nurse ministers to an infant. τέλη is a sort of cognate accusative, i e. ποιοῦνται οἷα ἂν τιθῆναι.
1054-1057.
mvp-comment-565-1
ἔνθ᾽ Bo Where (i. e. somewhere on the sacred way) methinks that Theseus and the two virgin sisters will soon mingle in the fray of battle which is to deliver them:'or, taking αὐτάρκει in a more general sense,
in the valorous combat, the rescue that achieves its purpose.'
1054.
mvp-comment-566-1
† ἐγρεμάχαν Hom. Hymn to Demeter, 424, Παλλάς τ᾽ ἐγρεμάχη καὶ Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα. The various reading ὀρειβατάν or ὀρειοβατάν may have arisen from a confusion of the letters e, ο-μ, β-χ, τ. This would not be a greater perversion than τήνδε θεσπίζει γραφήν for τήνδ᾽ ἔθεσθ' ἐπιστροφήν, Ο. Τ. 134, or ἐμοῖς ἐπὶ πόνοις for ἐμὸς ἐπίπολος, ib. 1322. The line does not exactly correspond to that in the antistrophe; see note on infr. 1067-1070. νας.
1055.
mvp-comment-567-1
Θησέα. So φονέα, Eur. Hec. 882.
1055.
mvp-comment-567-2
διστόλους i. e. δύο δισσῶς ἐσταλμέ- The word recalls the two bands of Thebans who had carried off Ismene and Antigone and would now resist their rescue. But the second part of the compound is subordinate. Elmsley says,
διστόλους ἀδελφάς dixit pro δισσῶν ἀδελφῶν στόλον.
The maidens and their captors are spoken of in a single phrase, as in supr. 902, 1016.
1056.
mvp-comment-568-1
1056. ἀδμῆτας,
virgin, perhaps with the further association of
unconquered; i. e. exempt from captivity, cp. infr 1147. The latter part of the sentence is adapted to the nearer subject (Essay on Language § 36. p. 65, 2). The first intention was to speak of Theseus and the captors of the maidens as joining battle; then the thought occurs,
the maidens also will be in the midst of the fray. Hence ξυμμίξειν with μάχην, or an equivalent word in the accusative, is changed to ἐμμίξειν with the dative, and the word for battle is expanded into the phrase αὐτάρκης βοά, i. e. either ἑαυταῖς ἀρκοῦσα,
defending them, or αὐτὴ ἀρκοῦσα,
sufficient without more ado. See Essay on Language § 43. p. 81, § 56. p. 102, § 3. p. 7. The latter meaning is probably right. The word is of good omen, like ἐσθλῶν, εὔαγρον, infra. ἐμμίξειν (intrans. cp.
1056.
mvp-comment-568-2
προσμίσγω, συμμίσγω, συμβάλλω) is rightly construed with the dative, and Boa is used in the sense of a sudden rally or skirmish, almost = βοήθεια. Cp. supra 887, τίς ποθ' ἡ βοή; where βoή is the summons to such a sudden fight: Aesch. Ag. 1349: Suppl. 730, εἰ βραδύνοιμεν βοῇ: Od. 22. 77, βοὴ δ᾽ ὤκιστα γένοιτο,
1058.
mvp-comment-569-1
τούσδ᾽ ἀνὰ χώρους This resumption of ἔνθα, which in 1054 summed up 11. 1047-1053, prepares the way for the fresh alternative, ἤ που, κ.τ.λ.
1059.
mvp-comment-570-1
Or perhaps the scene of the contest is more distant. Or haply, leaving the pastures of Oea' (a deme of the Oenean tribe) they draw near the region that lies westward of the snowy rock.' τόν] Sc. χῶρον,
1060.
mvp-comment-571-1
πελῶσ' γρ. πελάζουσι C2. mg. ῥίμφαρμαρτοσ C². ῥίμφαρμάτας.. ἁμίλλας Β. AR. Θησειδᾶν] θησιδᾶν L.
1060.
mvp-comment-571-2
ρια .. ἄμβασισ. 1070. τὸν L. τὰν CA.
1060.
mvp-comment-571-3
νιφάδος i. e. Where the snow lies longest. Schol. λέγων τὴν οὕτω λεγομένην λείαν πέτραν. The place meant is probably the precipitous western end of Parnes, overhanging the pass of Phyle, and clearly visible from Athens.
1060.
mvp-comment-571-4
πελῶσι
They will be drawing near. For πελάζω with the accusative in this sense, cp. Phil. 1163, πέλασσον.. πελάταν: Eur. Andr. 1167, Δελφίδος ἐκ γῆς δῶμα πελάζει.
1062-1064.
mvp-comment-572-1
πώλοισιν ἁμίλλαις
With their horses, or in the nimbly-racing chariots in which they flee. πώλοισιν refers to the pursuers, ῥιμφαρμάτοις φεύγοντες ἁμίλλαις to the pursued, who are supposed to have provided chariots for the capture of the maidens.
1065-1066.
mvp-comment-573-1
ἁλώσεται.. ἀκμά ‘He' (the enemy, just referred to in φεύγοντες)
will be overpowered. Terrible is the valour of our neighbours: terrible also is the youthful might of Theseus men.' For the singular number of ἁλώσεται, cp. Ant. 106, τὸν.. φῶτα βάντα πανσαγίᾳ : and for its absolute use, cp. Aj. 648-649, ἀλλ᾽ ἁλίσκεται | χὼ δεινὸς ὅρκος, κ.τ.λ.
1065-1066.
mvp-comment-573-2
προσχώρων, cp. supra 493.
1066.
mvp-comment-574-1
Θησειδᾶν The patronymic is used by an anachronism for the youth of Athens, with an allusion to the leadership of Theseus. Cp. Hdt. 1. 125, βασιλέες οἱ Περσείδαι. Of those who were assembled at the sacrifice of Theseus, some would be attendants of Theseus, but others would be gathered from the vicinity of the altar.
1067-1070.
mvp-comment-575-1
πᾶς γὰρ .. ἄμβασις Although the emendation of these lines is uncertain, their general meaning is clearly a reminiscence of the command of Theseus to the horsemen in 899, 900, σπεύδειν ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος, just as the description of the two passes is suggested by his words in 900-901, ἔνθα δίστομοι . . ὁδοί. Herm. (1841) conj. πᾶσα δ᾽ ὁρμᾶται χαλῶσ᾽ | ἀμπυκτήρια πωλικά : reading ὀρειβάταν in the strophe, and rejecting φάλαρα as a gloss. Bothe reads, κατά | ἀμπυκτήρια. Cp. Aj. 42,5, Tr. 510 (?). The rhythm lucul is not impossible (for the resolved trochee, cp. Phoen. 227, 237); but the change of rhythm from l. 10 of the strophe (1054) cannot be justified by such examples as Phil. 1124-1147. When all the difficulties are looked at together, it seems most probable that there is some corruption here or in l. 1054, if not in both. Qy. ἔνθ' οἴομαι ἐγρεκύδοιμον - (κατὰ) λάμπρ᾿ ἀμπυκτήρια πώλων, (-)? The words as they stand may be construed, The riders all are rushing on, in the direction of,' (κατά, cp. κατ' οὗρον, κατὰ πόδα)
the bridles of the horses; i.e. Every horseman gives his steed its head.
1067-1070.
mvp-comment-575-2
κατά may or may not be genuine, but Hermann's conjecture χαλῶσ᾽ ἀμπυκτήρια is somewhat prosaic.
1070.
mvp-comment-576-1
ἄμβασις, abstract collective for ἀναβάται, ἱ. ε. ἱππόται. Cp. the common prose expression ἡ ἵππος. Essay on Language § 50. p. 94. For Ἀθήνη ἱππία and her temple in the Academy, see Paus. 1. 30.
1073.
mvp-comment-577-1
Ῥέας One syllable, as in Il. 15.187, οὓς τέκετο 'Ρέα (where Poseidon speaks).
1074.
mvp-comment-578-1
* ἔρδουσ᾽, ἢ μέλλουσιν; ὡς] Herm. corrected the antistrophe to ὦ Ζεῦ θεῶν πανταρχέτα. But the slow movement レレトート _ is characteristic. See note on the metre.
1074-1076.
mvp-comment-579-1
ὡς προμνᾶταί τί μοι | γνώμα] How my thoughts are pleading!' προμνᾶσθαι is generally to plead for another: and the chorus (infr. 1096) say this in the interest of Oedipus. But προperhaps conveys the association of
beforehand, anticipating the event. The thought of the chorus is like a messenger, who goes before to urge the claim of a sovereign. τὶ is cognate accusative. Cp. supr. 965, Tr. 67, μύθοις εἴ τι πιστεύειν χρεών.
1076.
mvp-comment-580-1
τάχ᾿ ἀνδώσειν
That they will quickly restore. Although Pind. Fr. Thr. 4, Φερσεφόνα .. ἐς τὸν ὕπερθεν ἅλιον . . ἀνδιδοῖ ψυχὰν πάλιν, is not a conclusive instance of this use of ἀναδίδωμι, the existence of such a meaning is not improbable (cp. ἀνακομίζειν, ἀνακτᾶσθαι, ἀναλαμβάνειν, and esp. ἀναπέμπειν in Pind. Ι. 6 (7), 10, Ἄδραστον ἐξ ἀλαλᾶς ἄμπεμψας ὀρφανὸν μυρίων ἑτάρων ἐς Ἄργος ἵππιον), and exactly suits this place. The subject, as in ἁλώσεται, supra 1065, is easily supplied. If ἐνδώσειν is read, the words must be construed in the same way:
That they will soon surrender, etc. τάχ᾽ ἂν δώσειν is indefensible, and ἐνδώσειν τᾶν . . τλασᾶν . . εὑρουσᾶν . . πάθη. That Creon will yield from the maidens,' or
That the sufferings of the enduring ones much wronged by their kindred will abate, is forced, and gives a poor sense.
1077.
mvp-comment-581-1
τὰν .. τλᾶσαν i. e. Antigone, whom the chorus had actually seen carried off. She is the heroine of this play as well as of the Antigone.
1077.
mvp-comment-581-2
δεινὰ τλᾶσαν, supra 345-351. Eur. I. A. 932, σὲ δ', ὦ σχέτλια παθοῦσα πρὸς τῶν φιλτάτων: ib. 942, ἡ δεινὰ τλᾶσα κοὐκ ἀνεκτὰ παρθένος. Linw. reads τὼ δεινὰ τλάσα, δεινὰ δ' εὑρούσα, suggested by Dindorf in 1842.
1077.
mvp-comment-581-3
δεινὰ δ᾽.. πάθη Because Creon, who was her kinsman, had carried her off by the order of Eteocles.
1079.
mvp-comment-582-1
τελεῖ Future.
1079.
mvp-comment-582-2
τι Α thing;' ie. The thing we desire. Essay on Language § 22. p. 36.
1080.
mvp-comment-583-1
(1) 'Í am a prophet on the side of the good contest.' i. e. My prophetic power takes part with the good cause. Cp. Ο. Τ. 879, τὸ καλῶς ἔχον πάλαισμα. Or (2)
I prophesy a good issue of the contest. Cp. Εl. 1499, μάντις εἰμὶ τῶνδ᾽ ἄκρος. And for ἐσθλῶν, ib. 646, εἰ μὲν πέφηνεν ἐσθλά,
1082-1084.
mvp-comment-584-1
(1)
Would that as a stormswift dove of strong pinion I might from a lofty cloud light on this conflict, voyaging thither with mine eye. αἰθερίας νεφέλας is ablative genitive.
From the cloud as from a watch. tower, οἷον ἀπὸ σκοπιᾶς.
1082-1084.
mvp-comment-584-2
κύρσαιμι Lit. Might find;' i. e. Might descry. Or, (2) Might reach a lofty cloud and become spectator of this conflict,' etc.
1084.
mvp-comment-585-1
θεωρήσασα τοὐμὸν ὄμμα Lit.
Having gone as a spectator with mine eye. θεωρεῖν as in θεωρεῖν εἰς Ὀλύμπια and the like expressions. See esp. Plat. Legg. 12. 951. The construction of τοὐμὸν ὄμμα is difficult, but not more so than Tr. 914, κἀγὼ λαθραῖον ὄμμ᾽ ἐπεσκιασμένη φρούρουν, or Phil. 151, φρουρεῖν ὄμμ᾽ ἐπὶ σῷ μάλιστα καιρῷ. Such expressions as οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐθεώρουν (i.e. sent θεωροὶ) ἐς τὰ Ἴσθμια are not sufficient to establish a transitive use of θεωρεῖν. In Plat. Legg. 12. 951 C, ἂν κακῶς αὐτὴν θεωρῶσιν, αὐτὴν (sc. τὴν θεωρίαν) is cognate accusative. The peculiar attraction, or metaphor, by which θεωρήσασα agrees in gender with πελειάς, is in keeping with the lyrical wildness of the whole ode. ὄμμα is probably an accusative of limitation, restricting the imaginary voyage of discovery to the sense of sight; i. e. If I were there but in vision. Cp. Tennyson's In Memoriam, 12,
As a dove when up she springs... Like her I go, I cannot stay; | I leave this mortal ark behind, | A weight of nerves without a mind, | And leave the cliffs, and haste away, And reach the glow of southern skies, And see the sails at distance rise. | and back return | To where the body sits, and learn, | That I have been an hour away.
1087.
mvp-comment-586-1
δαμούχοις Protectors of the people;' i. e. Theseus. Plural for singular. Cp. supra 884, ἰὼ γᾶς πρόμοι, and note: infra 1348, τῆσδε δημοῦχος χθονὸς .. Θησεύς.
1089.
mvp-comment-587-1
σθένει . . λόχον Το make triumphant their ambush by successfully taking the fair prey.' ἐπινίκειος for ἐπινίκιος for the sake of the metre. The dative is to be taken closely, as instrumental, with τελειώσαι.
1089.
mvp-comment-587-2
ἐπινικείῳ σθένει is a periphrasis for νίκῃ. τὸν εὔαγρον is slightly proleptic (Essay on Language § 38. p 70), and contains an allusion to Antigone as the fair occasion of the expedition. λόχος is properly an ambush, but is here generalised to mean a foray, or skirmishing expedition.
1092.
mvp-comment-588-1
πυκνοστίκτων
Many spotted. Cp. Phil. 183, στικτῶν ἢ λασίων μετὰ θηρῶν: Eur. Alc. 584, ποικιλόθριξ νεβρός.
1092.
mvp-comment-588-2
ὀπαδόν Following in the chase; ' i. e. ὀπάζουσ ὀπάζουσαν αὐτούς. Cp. Il. 8.341, ὡς Ἕκτωρ ἄπαζε καρηκομοῶντας Ἀχαίους.
1094-1095.
mvp-comment-589-1
For the change to the third person, cp. O. Τ. 159-163, Ἀθάνα ..
1094-1095.
mvp-comment-589-2
Αρτεμιν καὶ Φοῖβον ἑκαβόλον ἰώ, τρισσοὶ ἀλεξίμοροι προφάνητέ μοι: and for στέργω,
I long, Ο. Τ. 11, δείσαντες, ἢ στέρξαντες, Plat. Legg. 10. 907, τὰ δ' ἐναντία πως ἤθη στέρξαι. The intense lyrical condensation of this chorus assists the illusion by which the pursuit, and capture, and return, are crowded into a few minutes. Cp. Shakespeare, Henry V. Prologue to Act. 3,
Thus with imagined wing our swift scene flies, In motion of no less celerity Than that of thought.
1096.
mvp-comment-590-1
The coryphaeus announces in senarii a new incident following the choral ode in Soph. only here: in Aesch. S. c. T. 369 ff., Ag. 258 ff.
1096.
mvp-comment-590-2
τῷ σκοπῷ
Your watchman; referring to the image in 1074-1084. 1097-1098. τὰς κόρας . . προσπολουμέvas]
For here I see the maidens, brought near once more hitherward by an attendant band. προσπολουμέναs is well explained by Herm.
Hoc dicit chorus, 1105. Om. L. add. C². mg. se virgines cernere illaesas observanterque curatas ab iis, qui eas raptoribus ereptas huc adducunt. Cp. infr. 1103, φιλτάτων τ᾽ ὀπαόνων.
1100.
mvp-comment-591-1
τίς ἂν θεῶν i. e. πῶς ἄν τις θεῶν; Cp. Αj. 879, τίς ἂν δῆτά μοι ..
1100.
mvp-comment-591-2
ἀπύοι ; ἰδεῖν] The momentary tense is expressive.
But once to see.
1105.
mvp-comment-592-1
βαστάσαι ‘Το hold in my embrace.' Cp. Aesch. Prom. 1019, πετραία δ᾽ ἀγκάλη σε βαστάσει. This and other expressions, meaning to 'hold in the hand, come to be used more generally for
to touch, handle, embrace. Cp. El. 1226 (Electra to Orestes), ἔχω σε χερσίν ; For the passive form of expression, i. e. τὸ μηδαμὰ ἐλπισθὲν ἤξειν for ὁ μηδαμὰ ἤλπισα ἥξειν, see Essay on La § 31. р. 54.
1106.
mvp-comment-593-1
You ask what you shall obtain, for desire accompanies the gift.' Essay on Language § 42. p. 80. Cp. Eur. H. F. 1408-1409, Ηρ. ποθῶ, πατρός τε στέρνα προσθέσθαι θέλω. Αμ. ἴδου τάδ', ὦ παῖ τἀμὰ γὰρ σπεύδεις φίλα.
1108.
mvp-comment-594-1
τῷ τεκόντι πᾶν φίλον
To the parent nothing is not dear; i. e. Even the children of such a marriage. So Hermann following Reisig. But perhaps this is merely a γνώμη, like 508-509, τοῖς τεκοῦσι γὰρ | οὐδ᾽ εἰ πονῇ τις δεῖ πόνου μνήμην ἔχειν.
1110-1111.
mvp-comment-595-1
οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἂν.. εἴην
Nor should I be all unhappy were I now to die. θανών, i. e. εἰ θάνοιμι.
1112.
mvp-comment-596-1
ἐρείσατε, sc. μοι, suggested by τῷ φύσαντι following. The ἀμφιδέξιον is supplementary predicate, almost = ἀμφωτέροθι : (ὥστε μοι ἀμφιδέξιον γίγνεσθαι, Herm.). latter part of the compound is partly lost, but serves to suggest the notion of firmness in supporting.
1113.
mvp-comment-597-1
The variety of reading is most easily accounted for by supposing an earlier reading ἐμφύντε (which Mudge conjectured). The singular ἐμφῦσα is inadmissible, and if ἐμφῦτε is read, the asyndeton, which is too abrupt for this place, has also the effect of separating the dative, τῷ φύσαντι, from ἐρείσατ', which seems to require a dative.
Press your sides close to mine, supporting me on either hand, engrafted on your father. This seems better than
Support both my sides, although ἐρείδω admits of TE either construction. For the παρονομασία, or verbal play, see Essay on Language § 44. P. 75- κἀναπαύσετον]
And ye shall give me rest in my hapless wandering, which was lonely till ye appeared: i.e. And ye will relieve the loneliness of my unhappy wandering life. Cp. supra 500-502, μόνον δέ με | μὴ λείπετ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν σθένοι τοὐμὸν δέμας | ἔρημον ἕρπειν οὐδ᾽ ὑφηγητοῦ γ᾽ ἄνεν. The reading of Β Vat., κἀναπαύσατον, has been adopted by many editors.
1114.
mvp-comment-598-1
τοῦδε δυστήνου πλάνου The effect of the pronoun is pathetic, and the repetition of the article in the other reading, τοῦ τε, has no sufficient reason. Oedipus is thinking generally of his condition, which, when his daughters were carried off, seemed as forlorn as it had been before Antigone came from Thebes to be his guide.
1115.
mvp-comment-599-1
ὡς βράχιστα ‘As briefly as ye may. It may be doubted whether βράχιστα agrees with τὰ πρ. as supplementary predicate ('make the matter brief in telling it'), or is to be taken as a cognate or adverbial accusative after εἴπατε. The latter is more probable.
1118.
mvp-comment-600-1
Cp. Phil. 1304, ἀλλ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἐμοὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν οὔτε σοὶ καλόν. She means that while she will be spared the recital, the tale as told by Theseus will not be tedious to her father. Cp. infr. ll. 1143-1144.
1119-1120.
mvp-comment-601-1
O sir, think it not strange that I prolong my speech unduly to my children, who have appeared beyond my hopes. Some join πρὸς τὸ λιπαρές with θαύμαζε (cp. Tr. 1211, εἰ φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο: Thuc. 2. 22, πρὸς τὸ παρὸν χαλεπαίνοντας). But the expression, τὸ λιπαρές = τὸ ἐμὸν λιπαρὲς τοῦ λόγου, even with the epexegesis following, seems too abrupt for Sophocles. Badham's conjecture, πρὸς τόδ', εἰ πάρος | τέκν᾽ ἐκφανέντ᾽ ἄελπτα (cp. the reading of Par. A. and infra 1141), besides changing poetry to prose, leaves πάρος without a correlative.
1119-1120.
mvp-comment-601-2
πρός expresses result, as in πρὸς ἡδονήν. Cp. esp. Thuc. 2. 53, ταχείας τὰς ἐπαυρέσεις καὶ πρὸς τὸ τερπνὸν ἠξίουν ποιεῖσθαι : Eur. Οr. 606, γυναῖκες ἐμποδὼν ταῖς ξυμφοραῖς | ἔφυσαν ἀνδρῶν πρὸς τὸ δυστυχέστερον.
1119-1120.
mvp-comment-601-3
λιπαρές 'Persistent; here used with an association of blame.
1120.
mvp-comment-602-1
For the construction of τέκνα (with μηκύνω λόγον), see Essay on Language § 16. p. 22, and cp. esp. O. T. 31, 32, σε ἑζόμεσθ' ἐφέστιοι. ..
1121.
mvp-comment-603-1
γάρ explains μὴ θαύμαζε,
Wonder not (as if I were ungrateful). I have a clear sense of my obligation to you.
1121.
mvp-comment-603-2
την is Musgrave's conjecture for σήν, which Elmsley and others have defended. But σήν has probably been invented to supply the omission of ἢ παρὰ σοῦ after ἄλλου μηδενός, for which see Essay on Language § 39. p. 73, 6. Cp. infra 1250, ἀνδρῶν γε μοῦνος, and note. σήν, which must have a strong emphasis, would be awkwardly placed, and, as Hermann remarks,
l. 1123
, would be superfluous. For τήνδε τὴν τέρψιν, cp. Ο. Τ. 1477, τὴν παροῦσαν τέρψιν ἤ σ' εἶχεν πάλαι.
1124.
mvp-comment-604-1
ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω
According to my wish. Cp. Hom. H. Cer. 137, δοῖεν κουριδίους ἄνδρας καὶ τέκνα τεκέσθαι, | ὡς ἐθέλουσι τοκῆες: Eur. Hel. 1405, θεοὶ σοὶ . . δοῖεν οἷ᾽ ἐγὼ θέλω.
1125.
mvp-comment-605-1
αὐτῷ τε καὶ γῇ τῇδε Theseus' interests are throughout identified with those of Athens. Cp. supr. 308-309, εὐτυχὴς .. τῇ . . αὑτοῦ πόλει. . τίς γὰρ ἐσθλὸς οὐχ αὑτῷ φίλος; 1130 ff. The action which no doubt accompanied these lines would make them clearer to the spectator than they are to the reader. Oedipus reaches forth his hand towards Theseus, then draws it back, and on becoming aware that Theseus is bending towards him, repels him gently with a movement of his hand.
1131.
mvp-comment-606-1
ψαύσω Sc. σου.
1131.
mvp-comment-606-2
εἰ θέμις This expression occurs frequently in tragedy, ἢ θέμις rarely or never. Cp. esp. Phil. 661, εἴ μοι θέμις, θέλοιμ᾽ ἄν. It has been objected that καίτοι makes too strong an opposition, after such an expression of doubt. But the hesitation expressed in εἰ θέμις is only the courtesy of a stranger addressing a sovereign, whereas the following clause expresses the revulsion of feeling caused by the recollection of his misfortunes.
1132.
mvp-comment-607-1
πῶς *σ᾽ ἂν .. ξύνοικος (1)
Unhappy that I am, how should I desire thee to give thy hand to one, in whom what brand of evil is not found? Or, possibly. (2) reading πῶς δ᾽ ἄν, κ.τ.λ. as in the MSS,
And how should I think of touching one who is a man, I, the ill-starred wretch, who bear in me the stain of every ill? Hermann's correction, τίς for τις, is borne out by ξύνοικος, which would be too emphatic if the meaning were
a man, who has no stain upon him, as well as by the order of words in which the inversion τις οὐκ would have no point. Essay on Language § 41. p 78 yb: cp. supr. 702. Herm. also changed δ' τo σ', and in this he has been generally followed. But the words as they stand in the MSS. are not altogether impossible. The previous context, and the natural pause after ἀνδρός, may justify the reference of to the subject of θελήσαιμι. In this case ἀνδρός, although implying Theseus, is quite general: cp. О. Т. 1375-1379, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ τέκνων δῆτ᾿ ὄψις ἦν ἐφίμέρος · οὐ δῆτα οὐδ᾽ ἄστυ γ' οὐδὲ πύργος, οὐδὲ δαιμόνων ἀγάλμαθ᾽ ἱρά. δ', making a fresh beginning after τί φωνῶ, seems not unnatural, but is as likely to have been wrongly inserted as to be a corruption of σ'. Cp. supr. 52.
1134.
mvp-comment-608-1
οὐκ ἔγωγέ σε Sc. θελήσω θιγεῖν μου, or some more general verb, expressing the whole action, e. g. ταῦτα ποιήσω.
1135.
mvp-comment-609-1
No, nor shalt thou. ἐάσω] Sc. σὲ ψαῦσαι ἐμοῦ. For this ellipse, cp. El. 632, ἐῶ, κελεύω, θύε: supr. 407, ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἐᾷ τοῦμφυλον αἷμά σ᾽, ὦ πάτερ. Essay on Language § 59. p. 73, 6. The word μόνοις in the following line implies the antithesis ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ σοί. The words in О. Т. 1414-1415, imply the same feeling, although in a different connexion : τἀμὰ γὰρ κακὰ | οὐδεὶς οἷός τε πλὴν ἐμοῦ φέρειν βροτῶν: cp ib. 1430-1431, τοῖς ἐν γένει γὰρ τἀγγενῆ μάλισθ' ὁρᾶν | μόνοις τ᾿ ἀκούειν εὐσεβῶς ἔχει κακά. In infr. 1632, where Oedipus bids Theseus to give the maidens the pledge of his right hand, he does not himself take the hand of Theseus. Cp. Hom. Od. 19. 346-348, where Ulysses refuses the services of the handmaids of Penelope, εἰ μή τις γρῆνς ἔστι παλαιή, κεδνὰ ἰδυῖα, | ἥτις δὴ τέτληκε τόσα φρεσὶν ὅσσα τ᾽ ἐγώ περ | τῇ δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν φθονέοιμι ποδῶν ἅψασθαι ἐμεῖο. The feeling of Fr. 814. ὃς μὴ πέπονθε τἀμά, μὴ βουλευέτω is slightly different, resembling that of Leonato in Shak., Much Ado, 5. 1,
Nor let no comforter delight mine ear | But such an one whose wrongs do suit with mine.
1137.
mvp-comment-610-1
σὺ δ᾽ αὐτόθεν μοι χαῖρε · But do thou receive my salutation from where thou standest,' without coming nearer.
1138.
mvp-comment-611-1
ἐς τόδ᾽ ἡμέρας
Hitherto : ἡμέρα used abstractedly for time, as in Aj. 131, 622. 1139 ff. This refers to 11. 1119 ff.
1139.
mvp-comment-612-1
μήκος . . ἔθου Essay on Language § 40. p. 75. The slight formality of this expression and of θαυμάσας ἔχω belongs to the dignified courtesy of Theseus manner.
It has not moved my wonder, that in the delight of having your children here you have been led to prolong your talk with them. For this use of τίθεσθαι, cp. Ο. Τ. 134, ἐπαξίως γὰρ Φοῖβος, ἀξίως δὲ σὺ | πρὸ τοῦ θανόντος τήνδ᾽ ἔθεσθ᾽ ἐπιστροφήν : Ant. 151, θέσθε λησμοσύναν.
1141.
mvp-comment-613-1
Nor that in choosing to converse with them you thought not first of me.' The genitive to be supplied with τοὐμοῦ is not ἔπους, but something more general, e. g. μέρους. Elms. reads οὔτ᾽, perhaps rightly. τῶνδε is objective genitive, or rather expresses a reciprocal relation.
1142.
mvp-comment-614-1
γάρ, as in 1121, refers to the general meaning of the preceding sentence.
There is no need of an apology, for that gives me no offence.
1145.
mvp-comment-615-1
ὧν The genitive is gen. of respect after ἐψευσάμην, and also partitive after οὐδέν.
1145.
mvp-comment-615-2
ὤμοσ' Supr. 1039-1040.
1147.
mvp-comment-616-1
ἀκραιφνεῖς τῶν κατηπειλημένων Untouched by the harm that VOL. I. CC was threatened them.' 1140 1145 1148. This is not the place for an episode like the description of the Isthmian races in El. 680, foll., or the history of Oedipus in O. T. 777. foll. The end is near, and the interview with Polynices is yet to come. The necessary omission is accounted for by the tender age of Antigone (1116-1118), and the magnanimity of Theseus, who prefers doing to speaking of his deeds. Cp. El. 1364 ff., τοὺς γὰρ ἐν μέσῳ λόγους, κ.τ.λ., Shak. Coriolanus, 1. 9,
Pray now, no more: my mother, | Who has a charter to extol her blood, | When she does praise me, grieves me..... I have some wounds upon me, and they smart | To hear themselves remembered. an
1149.
mvp-comment-617-1
ἅ γ' εἴσει.. ξυνών
Since you will learn this without my telling you in conversation with your children here.Illud quaeri potest, verba τί δεῖ μάτην κομπεῖν utrum cum sequentibus construenda sint, quo facto quasi quaedam aposiopesis erit post ᾑρέθη, sint precedentibus jungenda, quo illa ἅ γ' εἴσει, explicationis causa adjecta esse censendum: an denique cum utrisque sint nexa: quod ego quidem nescio an praeferendum sit, quia saepe ita media inter duas protases est apodosis: de qua figura saepius alibi monitum.' Hermann. ye shows that the words are added in explanation. For αὐτός, cp. infra 1155, ὡς μὴ εἰδότ', αὐτόν, κ.τ.λ.
1150-1151.
mvp-comment-618-1
But impart to us your counsel on a matter that has just now fallen in my way as I was coming hither. The construction of the antecedent λόγος is left undetermined, and this imperfect or pendent construction is smoothed over by the attraction, for which see Essay on Language § 35. P. 59, and cp. Eur. Or. 591 ff. Ἀπόλλων ὃς στόμα νέμει σαφέστατον, τούτῳ ..
1150-1151.
mvp-comment-618-2
πιθόμενος τὴν τεκοῦσαν ἔκτανον.
1151.
mvp-comment-619-1
συμβαλοῦ γνώμην In Hdt. 8.61, πόλιν γὰρ τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα παρεχόμενον, οὕτω ἐκέλευε γνώμας συμβάλλεσθαι, and Plat. Polit. 298 C, γνώμην συμβαλέσθαι, the phrase means
to take part in conference. So Theseus may be supposed courteously to ask Oedipus for his opinion, although he might use authority. See below, 11. 1178, 1348. Otherwise (2), συμβαλοῦ γνώμην, sc. τῷ λόγῳ, may mean,' Bring your thought to bear on this matter, i. e. consider it. Cp. the Epic σὺ δ᾽ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ βάλλει σῇσιν. This is more consistent with the position of Oedipus, of which, however, Theseus is not yet thoroughly informed.
1152.
mvp-comment-620-1
It is a small thing to tell of, and yet singular.' 1153. The Scholiast, who interprets ἄνθρωπον δέ φησιν ὄντα οὐδὲν πρᾶγμα κακίζειν δεῖ, must have read as in the text. πρᾶγος is too general a word to stand alone, as it must if we read οὐδέν᾿ ἀνθρώπων. For ἄνθρωπον, cp. Ο. Τ. 977, τί δ᾽ ἂν φοβοῖτ᾽ ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ τὰ τῆς τύχης | κρατεῖ, πρόνοια δ᾽ ἐστὶν οὐδενὸς σαφής; Man, who is the creature of circumstance, may not neglect anything that occurs.
1156-1157.
mvp-comment-621-1
σοὶ μὲν ἔμπολιν οὐκ ὄντα, συγγενή δέ This must have been gathered from the terms of his supplication, or from his answer to those who questioned him.
1157.
mvp-comment-622-1
προσπεσόντα πως
Who had somehow suddenly come thither. Polynices had come when the altar was deserted for the pursuit, and while there was an ἡσυχίη τῶν ἀνθρώπων (Hdt. 1.45) about the sacrifices. Hence the indefinite adverb, marking that his coming was unobserved. Cp. Tr. 695, τὸ γὰρ κάταγμα τυγχάνω ῥίψασά πως. He was found there by the people returning thither, who brought word to Theseus when on his way to Colonus with the maidens (στείχοντι δεῦρο, 1151).
1158.
mvp-comment-623-1
The use of παρά with the relative assists the locative use of the dative in the antecedent; ie. παρὰ τῷ βωμῷ, παρ' α...
1159.
mvp-comment-624-1
ἔκυρον The form κύρω (cp. supr. 1082) is adopted by the Tragedians from Epic poetry.
1159.
mvp-comment-624-2
ἡνίχ᾽ ὡρμώμην ἐγώ 'When I set forth, i. e. When I left the altar on the occasion which led to the pursuit. (Supr. 888, 897, 1019.) Elmsley, Hermann, and Schneidw. refer ἡνίχ᾽ ὡρμώμην τo προσπεσόντα, and transl. 'dum aberam ego. But ἡνίκα is not equi- valent to ἐν ᾧ. And such a departure from the obvious meaning is not justified by a trifling inconsistency, which is after all a verbal one, for although Theseus did not go direct from the altar to the pursuit, yet the swift action of 886-1041 is part of a continuous movement which began when he was called away from the sacrifice. There is therefore no reason for detaching the clause from the nearer antecedent.
1159.
mvp-comment-624-3
ἐγώ belongs in meaning to ἔκυρον as well as to ὡρμώμην.
1160.
mvp-comment-625-1
τί προσχρήζοντα τῷ θακήματι;]
What does he want by sitting there? i. e. What is the meaning of his supplication? The dative is used πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον, as if προσχρήζοντα had been αἰτοῦντα.
1162.
mvp-comment-626-1
οὐκ ὄγκου πλέων
No great matter, i. e. Not likely to give trouble. Cp. infra 1341, βραχεῖ εὺν ὄγκῳ καὶ χρόνῳ.
1163.
mvp-comment-627-1
οὐ γὰρ .. λόγου ‘For the manner of his supplication imports no trifling matter.'
1164-1165.
mvp-comment-628-1
(1) His sole request. they say, is to be allowed to have conference with thee, and to be allowed to return, without receiving harm through his coming hither.' ὁδοῦ is a genitive of respect after the privative adverb. Cp. infra 1399, foll. Vauvillers' conjecture, μόνον, founded on Musgrave's μόνον τ', is justified both by the awkward pleonasm in ἐλθεῖν μολόντα,
to come and be admitted, and by the synaphea, which cannot be defended by such examples as O. Τ. 332-333, τί ταῦτ᾽ ἄλλως ἐλέγχεις; where the
running on is assisted by the pause immediately preceding. This is true even of Ar. Av. 1716-1717, θυμιαμάτων δ᾽ | αὖραι, κ.τ.λ., where the licence is caricatured. Schndw. joins μολύντ᾽ αἰτεῖν, “ He is come and asks, but the participle is then still more inopportune.
1166.
mvp-comment-629-1
τίς δῆτ᾽ ἂν εἴη
Who can it be? Until he hears of Argos, Oedipus is left to mere conjecture.
1167.
mvp-comment-630-1
ὑμίν τοῖς Λαβδακίδαις.
1167.
mvp-comment-630-2
ἐγγενής i. e. ἐν γένει ὤν. Cp. О. Т. 941.
1171.
mvp-comment-631-1
ἀκούων τῶνδ'
When I hear this, i.e. Your last speech, in which you mention Argos. For τῶνδε, where τούτων would be more exact, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 34, and cp. Phil. 628, οὔκουν τάδ', ὦ παῖ, δεινά; The reference to Ismene's information in 378, foll., which Reisig and Hermann supposed, would be too obscure.
1171.
mvp-comment-631-2
ὁ προστάτης
The suppliant. The word occurs in this sense only here and in 1278. But cp. El. 1378, λιπαρεῖ προὔστην χερί. CC2
1172.
mvp-comment-632-1
For the optative, see Essay on Language § 36. p. 62, and cp. Thuc. 3. 84.
1172.
mvp-comment-632-2
ἐστίν is equivalent to ἂν εἴη supra. Cp. Eur. Med. 599, μηδ' ὄλβος, ὅστις τὴν ἐμὴν κνίζοι φρένα.
1173-1174.
mvp-comment-633-1
My son, O king, hated by me to whom of all the world I should most detest to listen. For the inexact use of the genitive ἀνδρῶν after the superlative, see Essay on Language § 9. p. 14. and cp. supra 105, μόχθοις λατρείων τοῖς ὑπερτάτοις βροτῶν. 1177,8. The sound of that voice has come to be abhorrent to his father's ear, and, I beseech thee, do not compel me to yield in this.' φθέγμα, see Essay on Language $ 50. p. 94, and cp. El. 1225, ὦ φθέγμ᾽, ἀφίκου; And for the meaning of ἥκει, see Essay on Language p. 97.
1179-1180.
mvp-comment-634-1
But what if his suppliant posture necessarily compels you? Consider :-whether you do not owe a reverence to the God. εἰ is to be taken in the sense of
whether, or
what if. σκόπει is a double construction, with εἰ, κ.τ.λ., and μή, κ.τ.λ., the second clause being added in ex. planation of the first. The emphatic ἐξαναγκάζει refers to ἀνάγκῃ προσβάλῃς in 1178. Several editors have preferred μή μοι. But although it is suitable for Antigone in 1183 to speak of Theseus' religious scruples, it is more consistent with the tone of Theseus himself to give this friendly warning to Oedipus.
1179-1180.
mvp-comment-634-2
ἐξαναγκάζει i. e.
Is thoroughly sufficient to compel you, without any constraint from me.
1181.
mvp-comment-635-1
νέα Essay on Language §. 23. p. 38. For the meaning, cp. Aesch. Suppl. 361, σὺ δὲ παρ᾽ ὀψιγόνου μάθε γεραιόφρων.
1182.
mvp-comment-636-1
τὸν ἄνδρα.. τόνδε If these words referred to Polynices, as Hermann thought, Antigone would show less tact in addressing her father than in supplicating the Elders (supra 237). Theseus has indicated a strong wish, as Oedipus Oe perceives (1178, 1350), that Polynices should be allowed to come, and also has expressed a fear that to repulse him would be to dishonour the God. Antigone appeals to her father's respect and gratitude towards Theseus, and to his affection for his daughters, as the motives most likely to influence him.
1186.
mvp-comment-637-1
The antecedent to a is a second accusative after παρασπάσει, SC.
1186.
mvp-comment-637-2
ταῦτα τῶν λεγομένων.
Fear not. He will not wrest thy judgment to such words of his as are against thy purposes.
1186.
mvp-comment-637-3
συμφέροντα] Not =
profitable, but in the more literal sense of
agreeable to,
conspiring with. Essay on Language p. 96.
1187.
mvp-comment-638-1
τά τοι καλῶς, κ.τ.λ. καλῶς is the MS. reading, and κακῶς, the emendation of Hermann, is not specially in point. His explanation is unsatisfactory.
Antigona, ut confirmet, quod dixit, oratione audienda nihil damni accipi, rationem reddit hanc, quod male facta dicendo dissimulari nequeant, sed ipsa oratio proditrix esse mali consilii soleat.
The words have no direct application to Polynices, but are a rhetorical generality, like some others in this play. Cp. Thuc. 2. 40, οὐ τοὺς λόγους τοῖς ἔργοις βλάβην ἡγούμενοι, ἀλλὰ μὴ προδιδαχθῆναι μᾶλλον λόγῳ πρότερον ἢ ἐπὶ ἃ δεῖ ἔργῳ ἐλθεῖν. For ἔργον, signifying a project not yet put in action, cp. Τr. 1157, σὺ δ᾽ οὖν ἄκουε τούργον : Αj. 466, οὐκ ἔστι τοὔργον τλητόν.
1190.
mvp-comment-639-1
This seems to be the better of two ways of emending this line. Essay on Language § 41. p. 77. Others read κακίστων δυσσεβέστατ', ὦ πάτερ.
1191.
mvp-comment-640-1
θέμις is indeclinable here. See L. and S. s. v.
1192.
mvp-comment-641-1
ἀλλ᾿ αὐτόν- The conjecture of the Ist London edition, ἀλλ᾽ ἔασον, has been accepted with various modifications s by by subsequent sub critics. The text is eloquently defended by Mr. Palmer, who observes: 'I think it not quite impossible to understand the brief expression, backed up as it is by the argument which follows, as the language of earnest entreaty, and that the verb is to be supplied by the mind. Antigone had fully presented her request at the commencement of her speech, so that what she then said may be considered as referred to in this short broken sentence, ἀλλ᾿ αὐτόν.
Nay, but receive him graciously ... there are others who have had bad sons and fierce anger, and as they have been charmed into gentleness by the soothing persuasion of their friends, so be you. If ἀλλ' αὐτόν were uttered in a tone of earnest entreaty, and the speaker abruptly added what follows, I can conceive that it would be very intelligible, and if so, the touching effect of the entreaty would be heightened by the very fact that the sentence was unfinished. Antigone leaves her father to imagine all she meant to say, and supplies what is wanting in words by the earnestness of her manner and beseeching tone of voice.' There is force in these remarks, though the quotation of parallel examples would be more to the purpose. The MSS. are practically unanimous; but the aposiopesis is all but unique. Cp. however Aesch. Cho. 749 ff., where Schütz and other editors suppose a lacuna. And in this play there are several places where the original construction of a sentence is not carried out. Cp. esp. supr. 421 ff., 531 ff., infr. 1299 ff., 1370 ff., 1669. Comparisons between classical Greek and the New Testament are usually too remote to be of any use; but the language of affection has similarities in every age, and the ellipse in Philemon 12 is curiously parallel-σὺ δὲ αὐτόν (sc. προσλαβοῦ, which is added from the deferred apodosis in the Textus Receptus). The motive in both cases is the same, viz. a delicate tact, which shrinks from uttering the word of command or entreaty, and hastens to urge fresh topics of persuasion. The deferred apodosis is implied in line 1201, ἀλλ' ἡμῖν εἶκε. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 649 ff., where Dindorf supposes a lacuna, σε in Paris A (followed by R) is a gloss of some grammarian who understood the passage as it is explained in Canter's note:
Insigne est hoc ἀναπόδοτον, ac singulare. Vult enim hoc dicere, ἀλλ αὐτὸν εἴκειν, καὶ νουθετούμενον ἐξεπάδεσθαι, etc.' For an equally difficult anacoluthon, see Thuc. 5. 22. Qy.
1192.
mvp-comment-641-2
ἀλλ᾽ εἶξον (ΑΛΛΑΥΤΟΝ) ? 1193-
1194.
mvp-comment-642-1
ἀλλὰ φύσιν
But, on their receiving counsel, their nature is pacified by the counsels of friends, who charm away their passion.
1195.
mvp-comment-643-1
μὴ τὰ νῦν (Sc. πήματα ἃ πάσχεις), i. e. Turn from the indignity which now enrages you to those former calamities which you suffered. not by your own fault, but by the fault of your father and mother. The correction μοι for μή is unnecessary, and gives a weak meaning to τανῦν. The note of the Scholiast, τὰ περὶ τὴν πήρωσιν λέγοι ἄν· οὐ γὰρ τὰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πραχθέντα ὀνειδίζει αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ἃ ἀπὸ τῆς ἄγαν ὀργῆς ἀπέβη. τούτου γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀποτρέπειν βούλεται, is right in spirit, for Antigone is not reproaching her father. But, in gently approaching the subject, she alludes only in the most general way to the miseries which came from the rash impetuosity of Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus, and, to avoid reproaching him, refers them all to their source in the actions of his parents. Cp. supr. 268, 595 ff. And for the meaning of θυμός, Ant. 493-494. φιλεῖ δ᾽ ὁ θυμὸς πρόσθεν ᾑρῆσθαι κλοπεὺς | τῶν μηδὲν ὀρθῶς ἐν σκότῳ τεχνωμένων.
1199-1200.
mvp-comment-644-1
For you have reasons enough to move you, when you think of your own sightless eyes, to which light returns not.' οὐχὶ βαιά] Hesych. Σοφοκλῆς δὲ Οἰδίποδι ἐν Κολωνῷ· οὐ βαιά, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἄφθονα καὶ πολλά. 1201-1202. λιπαρεῖν γὰρ οὐ καλὸν | δίκαια προσχρήζουσιν] (1) ‘It is not well that those whose request is just should make long supplication; i.e. They should be at once gratified. This involves a change of subject (Essay on Language p. 65), and requires that the acc.
1199-1200.
mvp-comment-644-2
προσχρήζοντας should have been attracted into the dat. in construction with καλών (ib. § 35 pp. 59, 60). Both difficulties may be avoided by taking λιπαρεῖν in the general sense of ' obstinate continuance,' as in Hdt. 1. 94, etc., and προσχρήζουσιν as = πρὸς προσχρήζοντας, or as if λιπαρεῖν were λιπαρή φαίνεσθαι: (2)
It is not well to be obdurate to a just request. Cp. supr. 1119, τὸ λιπαρές. For this meaning, cp. Fr. 76, τοῖς γὰρ δικαίοις ἀντέχειν οὐ ῥάδιον. And for the dative, cp. O. T. 1373, οἷν ἐμοὶ δυοῖν, κ.τ.λ., and see Essay on Language § 12. p. 18. β 1. But the constant use of λιπαρεῖν in Attic, in the sense of ' to press with requests,' renders this interpretation improbable, and the former (1) is to be preferred. The use of οὐκ (rather than μή) in 1203 is accounted for by the attraction of the previous οὐ, and by reference to the actual circumstances. Essay on Language § 29. p. 49.
1204.
mvp-comment-645-1
βαρεῖαν ἡδονὴν νικᾶτέ με
You win me by your words to grant your request against my will. ἡδονή may either refer (1) to the pleasure which Oedipus gives to his daughters, cp. Αj. 114, ἐπειδὴ τέρψις ἥδε σοὶ τὸ δρᾶν: or (2) to the pleasure which he feels in hearing them; either being accompanied with pain to himself. For the accusative in (2) see Essay on Language § 17. p. 24, and cp. Tr. 960-961, χωρεῖν πρὸ δόμων λέγουσιν, ἄσπετόν τι θαῦμα. The oxymoron is more pointed in (2).
1206.
mvp-comment-646-1
εἴπερ is emphatic, expressing some impatience at his forced consent.
If he must come.
1207.
mvp-comment-647-1
Let me never be delivered into the power of any man; i.e.
By no means let me come into his power. For the periphrasis with ψυχή, cp. esp. Ant. 1069, Phil. 54, 5. And for μηδείς, see Essay on Language § 22. p. 36.
1210.
mvp-comment-648-1
σῶς ἴσθ᾽ Sc. ὤν, Essay on Language § 39. p. 72, 1, c.
Know thyself safe. The reading of L. may be due to a gloss to this effect, viz. σῶς/ὤν.
