Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 1397

mvp-comment-973-1 οὔτε … τε ¹

mvp-comment-973-2 ὁδοῖς ²

mvp-comment-973-3 Wecklein reads ξυνήδομαί σου (for σοι ): rightly, I think. With σοι, ταῖς παρελθούσαις ὁδοῖς is usu. taken as causal,

: but such a dat., in addition to the dat. of the person , is most awkward. We should expect either the dat. with , or else a gen., as Dem. or. 15 § 15

Ῥοδίοις γε...συγχαίρω τῶν γεγενημένων

. And ξυνήδομαι was constantly used with a dat. of the thing in which one takes joy, or of which one approves: Isocr. or. 5 § 8

συνησθεὶς...τοῖς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης

: or. 8 § 87

συνησθησόμενοι ταῖς ἡμετέραις συμφοραῖς

(exult in): Eur. Med. 136

οὐδὲ συνήδομαι ...ἄλγεσι δώματος

: Hipp. 1286

τί...τοῖσδε συνήδει;

(these deeds ): Rhes. 958

οὐ μὴν θανόντι γ’ οὐδαμῶς συνήδομαι

(his death): Arist. Rhet. 2.4 . 3 (rejoicing in one's prosperity).

mvp-comment-974-1 οἴμοι ³

mvp-comment-974-2 τῆς ἐμῆς ⁴ κελεύθου ⁵

mvp-comment-975-1 οἷον … ὁδοῦ τέλος ⁶

mvp-comment-975-2 τάλας ⁷

mvp-comment-976-1 οἷον ⁸ φωνῆσαι ⁹

mvp-comment-976-2 ἀλλ’ ὄντ’ ¹⁰

mvp-comment-977-1 τοῦδ’ ¹¹

mvp-comment-977-2 ἀλλ’ ¹²

mvp-comment-978-1 τὰ σκληρὰ ¹³

mvp-comment-978-2 ταῦτ’ ¹⁴

mvp-comment-979-1 μή τοί με … μή μ’ ¹⁵

mvp-comment-980-1 θέσθε ἐν τάφοισι ¹⁶

mvp-comment-980-2 θέσθε ἐν κτερίσμασι ¹⁷

mvp-comment-980-3 κτερίσματα ¹⁸

mvp-comment-980-4 The poet's allusion to his own Antigone is lightly and happily made. Polyneices here naturally prays for regular funeral rites. That prayer was doomed to disappointment. And yet the

for which he asks are represented by the which, in the Antigone , his sister pours, after the symbolic rite of scattering dust on the unburied corpse ( Ant. 431 ).

mvp-comment-981-1 κομίζετον ¹⁹

mvp-comment-981-2 οἷς ²⁰

mvp-comment-981-3 οἴσει ²¹

mvp-comment-981-4 τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπουργίας ²²

mvp-comment-982-1 — 1446 The dialogue between sister and brother illustrates her affection for him, and thus strengthens the link (1405 ff.) between this play and the Antigone. It has, however, a further dramatic purpose. The version of the paternal curse adopted by Sophocles tended to suggest this question to the spectator:—Why should Polyneices persevere in the war, when his defeat and death had been definitely foretold to him? For he plainly believes the prediction (cp. 1407, 1435), though he affects to think that there is a chance of escape (1444). The answer is furnished by the traits of his character which this dialogue brings out. They give the

for a course which might otherwise have seemed improbable.

mvp-comment-983-1 τὸ ποῖον ²³

mvp-comment-984-1 ὡς τάχιστά γε ²⁴

mvp-comment-985-1 πόλιν ²⁵

mvp-comment-986-1 The MS.

is defensible if we take πῶς ἄγοιμι as dubitative, "How could I possibly lead?" See Appendix on 170. But there is at least a strong probability that the poet used ἄν here, instead of employing the much rarer construction. So far as our MSS. are concerned, the dropping out of ἄν after ἄγοιμι is not much less likely than the change of ἄν into αὖ . Either would have been easy. I prefer to , because ἄν is thus more forcibly placed, and serves also to bring out αὖθις . We have in Ph. 952 , but usually ( 364 : Ph. 127 , 342 , 1232 : Tr. 342 : Ai. 305 : fr. 444. 3 ).

mvp-comment-986-2 To Porson's

the drawback is the elision. We find for the plur. ( O. T. 284 , 840 etc.); but tragedy, which preferred to (though admitting the latter under metrical necessity, O. T. 734 ), would hardly have elided the in that word. Ant. 462

αὔτ’

(for ) is solitary in Soph.: L has .

mvp-comment-986-3 ταὐτὸν ²⁶

mvp-comment-987-1 αὖθις ²⁷

mvp-comment-987-2 πάτραν ²⁸

mvp-comment-988-1 πρεσβεύοντ’ ²⁹

mvp-comment-988-2 οὕτω ³⁰

mvp-comment-989-1 The MS. ἐκφέρει is usu. taken as intrans.,

The only relevant support for this is Tr. 824

ὁπότε τελεόμηνος ἐκφέροι | δωδέκατος ἄροτος

, The sense is different in Il. 23.376

ἔκφερον ἵπποι

, (and so Xen. Equest. 3. 4, of a horse running away). Hence Hermann's surely forced rendering here, But ἐκφέρει may be also 2nd pers. pres. midd., Cp. the use of the active in Il. 21.450

μισθοῖο τέλος... Ὧραι | ἐξέφερον

, accomplished the term of our hire: Pind. Nem. 4.60

Χείρων

mvp-comment-989-2 ἐς ὀρθὸν ³¹

mvp-comment-990-1 ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ³²

mvp-comment-991-1 χρῄζει γάρ ³³

mvp-comment-992-1 ἕπεσθαι ³⁴

mvp-comment-993-1 οὐδ’ ³⁵

mvp-comment-993-2 φλαῦῤ ³⁶

1397. mvp-comment-737-1 οὔτε.. ξυνήδομαι For the indirect mode of expression, see Essay on Language § 42. p. 72, and cp. Eur. Med. 136, οὐδὲ συνήδομαι, ὦ γύναι, ἄλγεσι δώματος.

1397. mvp-comment-737-2 ταῖς παρελθούσαις ὁδοῖς By reason of your journies hitherto; with special reference to the journey to Argos: supr. 378. See Essay on Language § 14. p. 21, § 51. p. 96.

1399. mvp-comment-738-1 κελεύθου For my coming hither. For τῆς ἐμῆς only expressed in the second member of the clause, see Essay on Language § 21. p. 33. b.

1399. mvp-comment-738-2 δυσπραξίας refers especially to the failure of his present mission, in which he is worse than ἄπρακτος.

1400. mvp-comment-739-1 Cp. Pind. Isthm. 6. (7). 10, quoted on l. 1076. οἷον ἄρ᾽ ὁδοῦ τέλος | Ἄργους ἀφωρμήθημεν] The accusative τέλος may be accounted for in one of two ways: either (1) as the accusative of motion transferred to time, or (2) as an accusative in apposition with the action of the verb expressing the result of the action. The latter is probably right. We set forth from Argos, with what a consummation of our enterprise!' Essay on Language § 16. p. 22, § 17. p. 25.

1400. mvp-comment-739-2 ὁδοῦ ie. The whole march from Argos to Thebes. Cp. infr. 1439-1440.

1402. mvp-comment-740-1 The words τοιοῦτον, κ.τ.λ. are epexegetic of olov in l. 1400.

1403. mvp-comment-741-1 οὐδ᾽ ἀποστρέψαι πάλιν Cp. infr. 1416. The sentence has passed out of the construction with olov. The object of ἀποστρέψαι is easily supplied. Cp. Hdt. 4. 43, ἀποστρέψας ὀπίσω, ἀπέπλεε.

1404. mvp-comment-742-1 ἀλλ᾽ ὄντ᾿ ἄναυδον, κ.τ.λ. The positive notion is here elicited from the negative (see Essay on Language p. 64); i. e. these words depend on χρή implied in οὐκ ἔξεστι. Cp. esp. O. T. 816-818.

1405. mvp-comment-743-1 ὦ τοῦδ᾽ ὅμαιμοι παῖδες O my own sisters, daughters of this my father. Against explaining τοῦδε as = ἐμοῦ, it is enough to urge that there is no other instance in Sophocles in which this pronoun stands alone for the first person. In the only two places where it is so used substantively (Tr. 305, τῆσδε, 1012, τῷδε) it is immediately followed by a participle in agreement with it. In ὅμαιμοι there is no reference (as in ὦ σπέρμ᾽ ὅμαιμον, 331) to the incestuous birth, an allusion which, though in character with Oedipus, supr. 328, would not be in character with Polynices here. Cp. infr. 1772: Ant. 512-513.

1406. mvp-comment-744-1 κλύετε †τοῦδ᾽ ἀρωμένου τοῦδε occurs three times in these three lines, and ταῦτα seems to be required to complete τὰ σκληρά. It may seem justifiable therefore to read ταῦτ᾽ for τοῦδ' in this line. But it may be observed that a certain amount of iteration of the dominant thought is natural to the broken language of such an entreaty. See esp. ll. 1407-1409. and cp. Phil. 473 ff. The thought of his father has a terrible fascination for Polynices at this moment.

1407. mvp-comment-745-1 *ἐάν The a is long here and in Aristoph. Vesp. 228. It is strange that car should occur so seldom before a vowel.

1408. mvp-comment-746-1 Cp. infr. 1769 ff.

1410. mvp-comment-747-1 But yourselves lay me in the tomb, and afford me funeral rites.' ἐν κτερίσμασιν is placed in construction with θέσθε in a slightly different sense, = περιστείλατε κτερίσμασιν. See Essay on Language pp. 60, 65, 2. The middle voice in θέσθε is subjective, i. e. it emphasises the personal nature of the action: θέσθε, i. e. προθυμήθητε θεῖναι. Essay on Language § 31. P. 53.

1411. mvp-comment-748-1 And the praise you now receive from him for your labours in his behalf shall have added unto it another praise moreover for the service done to me.' For the turn of expression, cp. O.T. 666-667, τάδ᾽ εἰ κακοῖς κακὰ ἡ γῆ) προσάψει τοῖς πάλαι τὰ πρὸς σφῷν. And for the use of φέρω, Αj. 293, γυναιξὶ κόσμον ἡ σιγὴ φέρει.

1412. mvp-comment-749-1 τοῦδ᾽ ἀνδρός is, ist, genitive of origin, You receive from him:' but, 2nd, suggests the object of πονεῖτον, sc. τῷδε or ὑπὲρ τοῦδε. οἷς = τούτοις ἅ: By reason of your labours.'

1413. mvp-comment-750-1 ἔτ᾿ ἄλλον οἴσει Cp. Tr. 618-619, ὅπως ἂν ἡ χάρις κείνου τε σοι | κἀμοῦ ξυνελθοῦσ᾽, ἐξ ἁπλῆς διπλῆ φανῇ.

1413. mvp-comment-750-2 τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπουργίας ‘By reason of, etc. Essay on Language § 10. p. 15.

1414. mvp-comment-751-1 The two trisyllabic feet coming together at the beginning of the line produce a singular effect, corresponding to the trembling eagerness of Antigone.

1415. mvp-comment-752-1 Some MSS. have ὦ φιλτάτη μοι ποῖον, which Hermann admitted. But if Par. A. has preserved the true reading, μοι was not unlikely to be conjectured to supply the syllable which was lost in L. On the other hand, μοι expresses greater tenderness. But in a point of such uncertainty, even a slight MS. preponderance must be allowed to determine the text.

1416. mvp-comment-753-1 γε, qualifying the whole sentence, marks the earnestness of the entreaty. Essay on Language § 26. р. 44. Meineke conj. σε. In this case στρέψαι is infin. active. As the text stands, it is either (1) infin. active (for imperative), or (2) imperative middle, i. e. στρέψον τὸ στράτευμά σου.

1418. mvp-comment-754-1 For how, if I once falter, can I again lead the same army the same way?᾽ αὖθις, another time, πάλιν, back to Thebes. Some would read ἄν for aὖ. This is unnecessary, see Essay on Language § 27. p. 45, (2), and gives av an awkward position, but makes no difference to the sense. Antigone meant Give up the expedition. But this idea can find no entrance to Polynices' mind. He only thinks of the possibility of a temporary yielding, like that of a general who meets with some unfavourable omen. And against this he argues, I cannot go back now, for if I did, my attempt falls through entirely. I could no longer command the army, which must sooner or later be led by me against Thebes.

1420. mvp-comment-755-1 But why need you again suffer your wrath to rise? Antigone vainly tries to reason against the fixed idea in Polynices' mind, and assumes that his passion may cool, and not be kindled again. αὖθις echoes αὖθις in 1418.

1422. mvp-comment-756-1 It is ignominious to be in exile, and that I, the elder-born, should be a laughing-stock to my brother, as I now am. Cp. supra 1339.

1424. mvp-comment-757-1 Seest thou, then, how his prophecies advance unchecked to their certain end? Vides ergo ut hujus vaticinia ad eventum ruunt.' (Herm.) ἐκφέρεις, the conjecture of Tyrwhitt, certainly deserves notice, and is supported by Pind. Nem. 4. 60, 1, ἄλαλκε δὲ Χείρων, καὶ τὸ μόρσιμον Διόθεν πεπρωμένον ἔκφερεν. But the image of the prophecy moving on steadily to the event is more impressive. For the absolute use of ἐκφέρει, cp. Tr. 824, ὁπότε τελεόμηνος ἐκφέροι | δωδέκατος ἄροτος.

1425. mvp-comment-758-1 ἐξ ἀμφοῖν From your mutual hands. Cp. supr. 1387, and note.

1426. mvp-comment-759-1 The existence of a verb χρήζω from χράω, suggested by the scholiast here, is questionable. See Eur. Hel. 516. At all events, the common meaning of χρήζει is suitable here. Antigone speaks of the curse of Oedipus as a prophecy: Polynices avoids her inference by arguing that it would be weak to yield to a mere outburst of wilfulness. He speaks his wish; but it does not become me to give way. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 928, σὺ θὴν ἃ χρήζεις, ταῦτ᾽ ἐπιγλωσσᾷ Διός.

1427-1428. mvp-comment-760-1 τίς .. τἀνδρός On the order of words, see Essay on Language § 41. p. 77.

1429. mvp-comment-761-1 οὐδ᾽ ἀγγελούμεν (1) But we will not tell. δé adversative, arguing against the suggestion of Antigone. Or, (2) οὐδὲ ἀγγελοῦμεν, We will not even report bad news, i. e. and so they will not act upon them. For the thought in ἐπεὶ .. λέγειν, cp. the exhortation of Nicias to his men at Syracuse, Thuc. 7. 61.