192.
mvp-comment-116-1
αὐτοῦ
There; i.e. That is where I bid you stay. The ellipse is probably a colloquial idiom. Cp. ἔτι; l. 180, supra.
192-193.
mvp-comment-117-1
μηκέτι .. κλίνῃς
Stir not again from this rocky platform. For the periphrasis in πόδα κλίνῃς, cp. 113, καὶ σύ μ᾽ ἐξ ὁδοῦ πόδα κρύψον, Ο. Τ. 468, πόδα νωμᾷν. The expression ἀντίπετρον βῆμα,
A rock-like platform. would suggest to those who had seen the sacred place at Colonus some peculiarity in the basement of the low seats at the entrance of the grove, or possibly means that while Oedipus remains on this narrow restingplace his foot is placed immovably on the rock. The conjecture αὐτοπέτρου is plausible but unnecessary. The Scholiast says, ἀντιπέτρου, ὅτι ἀντὶ πέτρας χαλκοῦν ἦν, referring to the χάλκους ὀδός. Cp. supr. l. 57, and note. ἀντίπετρος, like ἀντίθεος, ἀντίδουλος, ἀντήλιος, ἀντίπαις, ἀντίπυργος, ἀντίσποδος.
192-193.
mvp-comment-117-2
Ιη πόδα κλίνῃς there is a reminiscence of the Epic use of κλίνω. II. 10. 349, 50, ὡς ἄρα φωνήσαντε παρέξ ὁδοῦ ἐν νεκύεσσιν | κλινθήτην.
195.
mvp-comment-118-1
The form ἑσθῶ is questionable in Attic, according to Thom. Mag. p. 483, and Phryn. p. 269. But the word ἐκαθέσθην, which was afterwards in common use, may be supposed to have had a source in the earlier language. And the alternative reading στῶ is less in accordance with what precedes and follows. For this question, as implied in οὕτως; has been already answered, and the rejoinder, λέχριός γ'. ὀκλάσας. is more natural, when supposed to give assent to a request to be allowed to sit.
Shall I be seated?
Yes, bending low adown upon the surface of the stone. λέχριος, not 'sideways, but simply opposed to ὀρθός, and probably connected by Sophocles with λέχος, i. e. halfrecumbent, bending; cp. Eur. Med. 1168, where it is used of a person ready to fall backwards. λέχριος conveys the general notion of a position other than upright.
196.
mvp-comment-119-1
ὀκλάσας (der. from κλάω) gives the more particular notion of bending the limbs together, as one does who is on a low seat. Cp. Il. 13. 281, ἀλλὰ μετοκλάζει καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἀμφοτέρους πόδας ίζει :-of the coward in an ambush, who keeps shifting from one constrained position to another. The MSS. give 0 λάου, for which form, instead of dãos, the Schol. quotes the authority of Herodian.
197.
mvp-comment-120-1
ἐν *ἡσυχαίᾳ If the metre is to correspond to l. 182, we must read thus for ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ. The words are commonly taken to mean, (1)
Adjust thy step to my quiet tread,-Leaning forward thine aged body on my loving hand. i. e. Antigone presses her foot against her father's to steady him while he sits down, and, lest he should fall forward, supports him with her hand. But βάσει (which the Schol. interprets τῇ καθέδρᾳ) may be understood to mean the stone support for the foot attached to the seat. (2)
Fit thy foot into its quiet resting-place. Cp. βήματος in 193.
197.
mvp-comment-120-2
ἡσυχαίᾳ has then associations from 176-177, as well as from the general silence and peacefulness surrounding the grove. The repetition of the same word in a different sense would be less felt than if we said in English, Step on that step.' P
198.
mvp-comment-121-1
ἅρμοσαι The MS. reading ἁρμόσαι is inconsistent with the following clause. There is now a pause. The chorus are relieved from their horror, but only to be more horror-stricken.
198.
mvp-comment-121-2
στεί
202.
mvp-comment-122-1
δύσφρονος
Cruel. ἄτη personified. Ant. 185, τὴν ἄτην χουσαν. ..
203.
mvp-comment-123-1
ὅτε νῦν χαλᾷς (1) ‘Now that X 2 there is an end of this trouble about you,' or (2) Now that there is an end of your troubles' For (1) cp. supr. 169. For the absolute use of xaλᾷs, see Essay on Language p. 88. Cp. Eur. Ion 637, εἴκειν ὁδοῦ χαλῶντα τοῖς κακίοσιν : Ar.
203.
mvp-comment-123-2
Αν. 383, οἵδε τῆς ὀργῆς χαλἂν εἴξασιν.
204.
mvp-comment-124-1
τίς ἔφυς βροτῶν τίς ἔφυς, like οἴσεις, supr. 166, is reading supplied by an early hand on the margin of L. For is sup supplementary predicate, cp. Ο. Τ. 151, τίς ἔẞas; And for ἔφus = εἶ φύσει, cp. Ο. Τ. 1015, παίς γ᾽ εἰ τῶνδε γεννητῶν ἔφυν. The reading of B, etc. is against metre. The same hand gives τίς ὁ πολύπονος ἄγει; which, (1) like τίς ἔφυς, is unlikely to have been invented, and is more forcible than τίς ὢν πολύπονος ἄγει; which is read in all MSS, and acknowledged by the Scholiast, but does not correspond to 186, τέτροφεν ἄφιλον ἀποστύγειν. (2) One interpretation of the Scholiast, τίς ὢν ἄγῃ ἀπὸ σῆς πόλεως; points to an ancient variation of reading, such as τίς ὢν ἄπολις ἄγει; which Blaydes suggests.
204.
mvp-comment-124-2
ἀπόπτολις may have crept in from below. For τίς ὤν, cp. Aesch. Prom. 611, τίς ὤν, τίς ἄρα μ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἐτήτυμα προσθροεῖς;
