Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 207

mvp-comment-160-1 Oed. replies to their second question by ἀπόπτολις , which is almost an exclamation; — "I have no πατρίς now": he deprecates their first question ( τίς ἄγει; ) altogether. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1410 (the Argive elders to Clytaemnestra)

. Soph. has ἀπόπτολις in O. T. 1000 (dialogue) and Tr. 647 (lyr.). Cp. 1357.

mvp-comment-161-1 μή, μή μ’ ἀνέρῃ ¹

mvp-comment-162-1 Wunder's correction of the MS. δεινὰ to αἰνὰ is required by the Ionic measure ( uu | - uu ): see Metr. Analysis.

mvp-comment-162-2 φύσις ²

mvp-comment-163-1 γεγώνω ³

mvp-comment-163-2 τίνος εἶ σπέρματος ⁴

mvp-comment-163-3 πατρόθεν ⁵

mvp-comment-164-1 τί πάθω … ; ⁶

mvp-comment-165-1 ἐπ’ ἔσχατα βαίνεις ⁷

mvp-comment-166-1 Hermann's μέλλετον (for the MS. μέλλετ’ ) is fitting, since Oed. and Ant. have just been speaking together; and is clearly better than μέλλετέ γ’ (Triclinius) or μέλλομεν (suggested by Elms.). The sing. τάχυνε rightly follows, since it is from Oed. alone that a reply is sought.

mvp-comment-166-2 μακρὰ ⁸

mvp-comment-167-1 Λαΐου ἴστε τιν’ ⁹

mvp-comment-168-1 The family patronymic was taken from Labdacus (the father of Laïus), though the line was traced directly up to Cadmus, father of Polydorus and grandfather of Labdacus ( O. T. 267 ; Her. 5.59 ).

mvp-comment-169-1 The relat. clause ὅσ’ αὐδῶ is most simply taken as representing an accus., governed by δέος ἴσχετε μηδὲν as= μὴ δειμαίνετε (rather than a genitive depending on δέος ): Tr. 996

: Dem. De Fals. Legat. § 81

ὅ γε δῆμος ὁ τῶν Φωκέων οὕτω κακῶς...διάκειται, ὥστε...τεθνάναι τῷ φόβῳ...τοὺς Φιλίππου ξένους

: Aesch. Theb. 289

μέριμναι ζωπυροῦσι τάρβος ¹⁰

τὸν ἀμφιτειχῆ λεών

: Eur. Ion 572

τοῦτο κἄμ’ ἔχει πόθος

. Cp. below, 583

, 1120

. In such instances the acc. might also, however, be taken as one of "respect."

mvp-comment-170-1 The MSS. give the one word δυσμορος to Oed., as uttered by him between the exclamations of the Chorus. It thus marks his despair at their refusal to hear him. There is dramatic force in the sentence of expulsion (226) being the first articulate utterance of the Chorus after the disclosure which has appalled them.

mvp-comment-171-1 ποῖ καταθήσεις; ¹¹

mvp-comment-172-1 οὐδενὶ μοιριδία τίσις ἔρχεται ¹²

mvp-comment-172-2 ὧν ¹³

mvp-comment-172-3 With Wunder's ἃν some construe:— οὐδενὶ τὸ τίνειν ἃ ἂν προπάθῃ ἔρχεται μοιριδία τίσις , "for no one retaliation becomes (= γίγνεται ) a fate-doomed punishment": but could the τίσις itself thus stand for the cause of the τίσις ? The ὧν of the MSS. is confirmed by other passages where, instead of an acc. governed by the infin., we have a gen. depending on another word, and then the infin. added epexegetically: El. 542

: Plat. Crito 52B

οὐδ’ ἐπιθυμία σε ἄλλης πόλεως οὐδ’ ἄλλων νόμων ἔλαβεν εἰδέναι

: Rep. 443 B

ἀρχόμενοι τῆς πόλεως οἰκίζειν

.

mvp-comment-173-1 ἀπάτα δ’ ¹⁴

mvp-comment-173-2 ἀπάτα ἑτέρα ¹⁵

mvp-comment-173-3 παραβαλλ ¹⁷

mvp-comment-174-1 ἑδράνων ¹⁹

mvp-comment-175-1 χρέος … προσάψῃς ²⁰

mvp-comment-176-1 αἰδόφρονες ²¹

mvp-comment-176-2 ἀλλ’ ²²

mvp-comment-176-3 This whole

of Antigone (237 — 253) , with the tetrastichon of the Chorus (254 — 257) , was rejected by some of the ancient critics, acc. to the schol. on L: But, as the schol. rightly adds, it is natural and graceful that an appeal to pity ( ),— which the daughter makes,—should precede the father's appeal to reason ( ). The schol. further remarks that Didymus ( circ. 30 B.C. ) had not obelized any part of the passage. This is important, as making it most improbable that the rested on the absence of these verses from the older Alexandrian copies. Though the text is doubtful in some points, the internal evidence cannot be said to afford any good ground for suspicion.

mvp-comment-177-1 γεραὸν … ἐμὸν ²³

mvp-comment-178-1 ἀκόντων ²⁴

mvp-comment-178-2 ἀΐοντες αὐδάν ²⁵

mvp-comment-178-3 ἔργων ²⁶

mvp-comment-179-1 ἀλλ’ ²⁷

mvp-comment-180-1 Hermann's τοὐμοῦ μόνου (for the MS. τοῦ μόνου ) is metrically right, but μόνου can hardly be sound. It must mean (1) "for my father alone" (and not for my own sake): not (2) "lonely, as he is": nor (3) "for my own father" (Campbell's view, which I do not comprehend). ΤΟΥΜΟΝΟΥ may have come from ΤΟΥΔΑΘΛΙΟΥ (Mekler), but

in 246 is against this (see, however, on 554 ). Perhaps τοῦδ’ ἀμμόρου .

mvp-comment-181-1 οὐκ ἀλαοῖς ²⁸

mvp-comment-181-2 προσορωμένα ²⁹

mvp-comment-182-1 ὥς τις ³⁰

mvp-comment-183-1 ἐν ὔμμι κείμεθα ³¹

mvp-comment-183-2 κείμεθα ³²

mvp-comment-184-1 νεύσατε ³³

mvp-comment-184-2 τὰν ἀδόκητον χάριν ³⁴

mvp-comment-185-1 πρός ς’ ³⁵

mvp-comment-186-1 ἢ χρέος ἢ θεός ³⁶

mvp-comment-187-1 ἀθρῶν ³⁷

mvp-comment-188-1 ἄγοι ³⁸

211. mvp-comment-125-1 Nor search me out, inquiring farther. Cp. Od. 19. 116, μηδ' ἐμὸν ἐξερέεινε γένος καὶ πατρίδα γαίαν, | μή μοι μᾶλλον θυμὸν ἐνιπλήσῃς ὀδυνάων.

212. mvp-comment-126-1 τί τόδε; δεινὰ φύσις, αὔδα τί is extra metrum: cp. 1. 215. Elmsley conjectures τί δέ; κ.τ.λ.: cp. 1469. Herm. τί τοδ᾽; ΟΙ. αἰνά, κ.τ.λ. The former is the more probable of the two emendations. On φύσις in the sense of birth, see Essay on Language p. 91.

216. mvp-comment-127-1 ὤμοι ἐγώ, τί πάθω Il. 11.404, Od. 5. 465. Essay on Language § 45. p. 85.

217. mvp-comment-128-1 ἐπ᾿ ἔσχατα βαίνεις Your foot is on the verge, i. e. You are driven as it were to the edge of a precipice.

219. mvp-comment-129-1 Hermann's correction of this line is adopted without denying that some other (e. g. μέλλεις, Blaydes) may possibly be right.

220. mvp-comment-130-1 By simply rejecting lov from the Laurentian reading (i. e. λ. ἴ. τ. ἀ. -ὦ ὤ.), we might obtain a dactylic tetrameter, as in 224, 226, with a resolution of the 3rd arsis, for which, cp. Eur. Or. 1485, ἥσσονες ῾Ἑλλάδος ἐγενόμεθ᾽ αἰχμᾶς. But the regular alternation of the paroemiac with-0-0-0-gives a more probable rhythm. And ἀπόγονον may be a gloss on Λαΐου. If the several choreutae are supposed to speak in turn the line may have run: ΟΙ. Λαΐου ἴστε τιν'; ΧΟ. α΄. ὦ· ΧΟ. β'. ἰού, ἰού. And so Herm. read in 1839. For the sense, ср. О. Т. 1383, τὸν ἐκ θεῶν | φανέντ᾿ ἄναγνον καὶ γένους τοῦ Λαΐου : where the fatal birth from Laius makes the climax of horror.

224. mvp-comment-131-1 δύσμορος Alas. Oedipus, having been assured of peace, once more finds himself an outcast.

227. mvp-comment-132-1 ἃ δ᾽ ὑπέσχεο 176-177, But where will you make good your promise? i.e. But what becomes of your promise? Cp. Plat. Symp. 183 E.

229. mvp-comment-133-1 To no man cometh punishment from the fates for a matter in which he has been the first to suffer, that he κ.τ.λ. should be punished for this:' 1. ε. τίσις (τούτων), ὧν (genitive of relation) προπάθῃ, τὸ τίνειν, sc. τούτων τίσιν. Cp. infr. 271, ὅστις παθὼν μὲν ἀντέδρων, For the construction of ὧν, cp. Ant. 1194-1195, τί γάρ σε μαλθάσσοιμ᾽ ἄν, ὧν ἐσύστερον ψεῦσται φανούμεθ᾽; “For why should I soothe thee with a tale, in regard to which we shall presently be found false speakers?' See Essay on Language § 9. p. 13 This is better than (2) to make τίνειν = τίνεσθαι, ('nemo punitur ob injuriam prius acceptam, si eam rependit,' Herm., διὰ τὸ τιμωρεῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν προπάθῃ. . λείπει ἡ διά, Schol.): or (3) to make τὸ τίνειν the object of προπάθῃ; retribution for an act, of which he has already suffered the retribution: or (4) taking the genitive as after προ in comp. to render, that he should suffer for an act previously to which he has been wronged.' The chorus feel the gravity of their position in breaking a promise made in presence of the Erinyes, but plead that it was made under a false impression. Cp. Aesch. Fr. 294, ἀπάτης δικαίας οὐκ ἀποστατεῖ θεός. The form μοιράδιος, see v. rr., is questionable.

230. mvp-comment-134-1 For the collocation of words, cp. Phil. 138, τέχνα γὰρ τέχνας ἑτέρας προὔχει: Eur. Bacch. 905, ἕτερα δ᾽ ἔτερος ἕτερον ὄλβῳ καὶ δυνάμει παρῆλθεν. But deception, matching deception, makes return, not of good, but of evil.

233. mvp-comment-135-1 τῶνδ᾽ ἑδράνων The exact words of the promise (supr. 176) are repeated in retracting the promise.

234. mvp-comment-136-1 ἄφορμος ἐμᾶς χθονός The explanation of the Scholiast, ἄφορμος, ἀφορμηθείς, has been commonly accepted; but the derivation from ὅρμος gives more point, and is supported by the language of Oedipus, supr. 148. (1) Leaving my land;' (2) Driven from the harbour of my land. 235. Lest you bring some further burden on my state. χρέος, lit, debt. obligation, here, by a litotes, the obligation of removing pollution.

237-253. mvp-comment-137-1 O religious-minded strangers, yet, seeing ye could not bear with this my aged sire. because the sound of deeds which he did unwittingly was in your ears, yet, sirs, have pity, we entreat you, on me, the hapless one, who pray you for my own father, pray, looking in thine eyes with no blank gaze (like a daughter who had sprung from your own blood), that the unfortunate may find mercy. We are in your hands, and you are in the place of God to us in our misery. Come then, vouchsafe the unhoped for boon. By what thou lovest, of thy very own, pray thee, child, help-mate, duty, sacred name. For look as closely as you will, you shall not find the mortal who can resist the leading of a God.

237-253. mvp-comment-137-2 The pleading glyconic rhythms of l. 207 ff., which were broken off by the discovery of Oedipus, are here renewed, and as they proceed are mingled with a rapid dactylic strain, which meets the impetuosity of the chorus in l. 229 ff. with corresponding earnestness. This combined movement has given rise to some doubt, and, in order to keep the dactylic verse continuous, some would read in 247, ἐν ὑμῖν ὡς θεῷ, or ἐν ὕμμι γὰρ ὡς θεῷ, and in 252, with Triclinius, οὐ γὰρ ἴδοις ἂν ἀθρῶν βροτόν. But the syncopated thesis and change of rhythm in both places, as in ll. 7, 14, may give the effect of lingering earnestness (τὸ λιπαρές) combined with the eagerness of her supplication. On the other hand the slight alteration of the last two lines, approved by Hermann, appears probable on comparing ll. 235-236. The MS. reading of 253 may be scanned Cp. infr. 1676, 1703. In comparing this passage with El. 236-250 on the one hand, and on the other with Phil. 1170-1217, Eur. Or. 1452-1503, we seem to trace the increasing use of monostrophic μέλη ἀπὸ σκηνῆς. From the Aj., Ant., O. T., Trach. this phenomenon is absent, except in such short epodes as Ant. 876-881, ἄκλαυτος, ἄφιλος .. οὐδεὶς φίλων στενάζει. In the scheme of metres on pp. 301-302, it has been thought better not to divide the strophes into parts. Their structure will be sufficiently evident to the student, although a sharp division between the main portion of each, and the prelude or conclusion, can hardly be maintained.

237. mvp-comment-138-1 αἰδόφρονες This is not merely a propitiatory epithet = as you are merciful, have mercy, but is addressed to the religious spirit which the chorus have shown. As you are full of reverence for the Gods, have respect to the suppliant.' Antigone appeals from the religion of custom to the religion of the heart, and the way is thus prepared for the rebuke of Oedipus in 277-278.

237. mvp-comment-138-2 ἀλλά opposes this last prayer to the expressed determination of the chorus. The second ἀλλά resumes this with a slightly different force, contrasting her own supplication with that of her father, which they had rejected.

238. mvp-comment-139-1 γεραιὸν [ἄλαον πατέρα τόνδ' ἐμόν] Supposing the second a of ἄλαον short, as in 149, 244, this line is an iambic pentapody.

240. mvp-comment-140-1 ἀκόντων = ἀκουσίων, cp. 977, πῶς *δἂν τὸ γ' ἶκον πρᾶγμ᾽ ἂν εἰκότως ψέγοις. Essay on Language $ 50. 3. P. 94. For the metaphorical use of αὐδά, see Essay on Language p. 97.

243. mvp-comment-141-1 The reading of B Vat. etc. gives a glyconic verse similar to 239, if the first ἄντομαι is transferred to the next line- πατρὸς ὑπὲρ τοὐμοῦ ἄντομαι ἄντομαι -. But this is hardly the most natural or rhythmical division. μόνου, if genuine, simply adds emphasis to τοὐμοῦ πατρός. For my own father. μόνοs is one of the favourite words of Sophocles. Essay on Language p. 96.

245. mvp-comment-142-1 ὥς τις, κ.τ.λ. i. e. Looking up to you with the frank reliance of a daughter. ὡς ἂν τῆς κοινῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἔχουσα τὸ συγγενές. Schol.

246. mvp-comment-143-1 τὸν ἄθλιον αἰδοῦς κῦρσαι These words are joined as an epexegesis or resumption with πατρὸς ὑπὲρ τοὐμοῦ ἄντομαι.

248. mvp-comment-144-1 Cp. Od. το. 69, ἀλλ᾽ ἀκέσασθε, φίλοι, δύναμις γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν: 13. 230-231, σοὶ γὰρ ἔγωγε | εύχομαι ὥς τε θεῷ. For the metre, cp. II. 242, 249, 252.

249. mvp-comment-145-1 νεύσατε is a poetical word, usually applied to the Gods.

249. mvp-comment-145-2 τὰν ἀδόκητον χάριν Unlooked for and therefore more prized. Cp. infr. 1104-1105, τὸ μηδαμὰ | ἐλπισθὲν ἥξειν σῶμα βαστάσαι δότε. 57

250. mvp-comment-146-1 πρός σ᾽ ὅ τι σοι φίλον Cp. Phil. 469, πρός τ' εἴ τι σοι κατ' οἶκόν ἐστι προσφιλές.

250. mvp-comment-146-2 ἐκ σέθεν] Coming from thyself. These words apply properly only to τέκνον, but are to be connected by a sort of zeugma in a more general sense with *λέχος, χρέος, θεός, just as τὰ ἔκ Tivos may mean all that is closely connected with him. Elmsley's conjecture οἴκοθεν deserves notice.

251. mvp-comment-147-1 ἢ τέκνον, ἢ *λέχος, ἢ χρέος It has been attempted to defend the MS. reading λόγος, by interpreting it suit, or petition. But λέχος, the conjecture of Reiske, accepted by Brunck and most editors, is probably right.

251. mvp-comment-147-2 χρέος Object of care.Antigone knows that property is dear to old men.

252. mvp-comment-148-1 βροτῶν was altered to βροτόν by Tricl. merely for the sake of the metre, and the comparison of ll. 242, 247 proves the change to have been unnecessary. See note on 237 ff. 254 ff These lines of the chorus, and the preceding speech of Antigone, were suspected by some ancient critics. But they are justly defended by the Scholiast, who observes that the passage was not obelized by Didymus. The lyrical interchange is followed as usual by a dialogue in senarii. Cp. esp. El. 251 ff. The chorus are ignorant of the divine purposes towards Oedipus, and are simply bent on defending the sacred precinct which is entrusted to their care. But they are not inhuman, and after the final appeal of Oedipus, who professes himself the saviour of Athens, they own that the matter is too hard for them, and are willing to refer it to Theseus as the supreme authority. 256, τὰ δ᾽ ἐκ θεῶν τρέμοντες] But fearing what the Gods may do. Cp. Hdt. 8. 15, τὸ ἀπὸ Ξέρξεω δειμαίνοντες. Y 261 ff. What value then has glory on the praise of men, that flows in unmeaning stream?' μάτην, i. e. without corresponding reality.