Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 642

ed. Francis Storr

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Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. ed. Francis Storr. London. 1912.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Experimental

Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ (Greek) (Sophocles, Volume 1. Storr, Francis, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company, 1912.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 642 focus
ὦ Ζεῦ, διδοίης τοῖσι τοιούτοισιν εὖ.
Translations (5)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 642 focus
Ye Heavens, reward such excellence!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 642 focus
Zeus, solchen Männern lohne du mit Wohlergeh'n!
640
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 642 focus
Once more confirm, and never shalt thou say
The wretched OEdipus to Theseus came
An useless and unprofitable guest,
If the immortal gods have not deceived me.
For what ? I'll not deny thee-
645
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 642 focus
Wilt thou with me to Athens ?
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 642 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-481-1 διδοίης … εὖ 1

mvp-comment-482-1 δόμους στείχειν 2

mvp-comment-483-1 εἰ … ἦν 3

mvp-comment-484-1 ἐν ᾧ τί πράξεις 4

mvp-comment-485-1 κρατήσω 5

mvp-comment-486-1 μέγ’ ἂν λέγοις δώρημα 6

mvp-comment-486-2 τῆς συνουσίας 7

mvp-comment-486-3 τῆς ς. 8

mvp-comment-487-1 εἰ σοί γ’ | ἅπερ φὴς ἐμμενεῖ 9

mvp-comment-488-1 τὸ τοῦδέ γ’ ἀνδρ 10

mvp-comment-489-1 ὡς κακὸν 11

mvp-comment-490-1 ἢ λόγῳ 12

mvp-comment-491-1 τοῦ μάλιστ’ ὄκνος σ’ ἔχει 14

mvp-comment-492-1 ὅρα με λείπων 15

mvp-comment-493-1 ὀκνοῦντ’ ἀνάγκη 16

mvp-comment-494-1 οὐκ οἶσθ’ 17

mvp-comment-494-2 μή 18

mvp-comment-495-1 — 660 Many emendations of 658 f. have been proposed, and Wecklein would reject the three verses altogether. To me they seem not only authentic but textually sound. They picture a tumult of passions in the soul, presently quelled by reason. The angry threats and the sobering reason are alike personified. The genuineness of the nominative πολλαὶ δ’ ἀπειλαὶ is confirmed by the imagery of the second clause, ἀλλ’ ὁ νοῦς ὅταν . For this animated personification of speech or passion, cp. Aesch. Cho. 845

ἢ πρὸς γυναικῶν δειματούμενοι λόγοι
πεδάρσιοι θρώσκουσι, θνῄσκοντες μάτην
: Eur. Hipp. 1416
οὐδὲ γῆς ὑπὸ ζόφῳ
θεᾶς ἄτιμοι Κύπριδος ἐκ προθυμίας
ὀργαὶ κατασκήψουσιν ἐς τὸ σὸν δέμας
. The cognate verb κατηπείλησαν (gnomic aorist), instead of the simple
ἔλεξαν
, gives an emphasis like that which the cogn. accus. would give in
πολλοὶ ἀπειλὰς κατηπείλησαν.

mvp-comment-495-2 θυμῷ 19

mvp-comment-496-1 αὑτοῦ 20

mvp-comment-496-2 φροῦδα 21

mvp-comment-497-1 κείνοις 22

mvp-comment-497-2 καὶ εἰ ἐπερρώσθη 23

mvp-comment-497-3 λέγειν 24

mvp-comment-497-4 We cannot read

κεῖνος
, since the pl. is needed. The best solution would be
κείνοις δέ, κεἴ τις
, from which
ἴσως κεἰ
might have come through a transposition. But the sarcastic

mvp-comment-497-5 ἴσως 25

mvp-comment-497-6 κεἰ 26

mvp-comment-498-1 τὸ δεῦρο 27

mvp-comment-499-1 θαρσεῖν μὲν οὖν 28

mvp-comment-499-2 κἄνευ τῆς ἐμῆς γνώμης 29

mvp-comment-499-3 ἐπαινῶ 30

mvp-comment-499-4 Φοῖβος 31

mvp-comment-500-1 ὅμως 32

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

648. mvp-comment-356-1 If you abide by your words and make them good to me. τελοῦντι, with σοί, proleptic. Cp. O. Τ. 863, εἴ μοι ξυνείη φέροντι | μοῖρα τὰν εὔσεπτον ἁγνείαν λόγων, κ.τ.λ. Some take 76- λοῦντι as agreeing with μοι (cp. 630). But Oedipus has only to remain where he is. The fulfilment of his promise does not take place till after his death. There is no meaning in a condition which is so far in the future.

650. mvp-comment-357-1 Cp. the line attributed to Aeschylus, Fr. 385, οὐκ ἀνδρὸς ὅρκοι πίστις, ἀλλ᾿ ὅρκων ἀνήρ.

651. mvp-comment-358-1 You would gain nought more by that than by my simple word.' 652. Herm. reads άνδρες. But cp. 656, where if the sense was not unfinished the article would be equally required.

654. mvp-comment-359-1 ὅρα με λείπων Beware, in leaving me. ἃ.. δρᾶν] Nauck conj. ἃ χρή μ᾿ ὁρᾶν. But such a transition from the idiomatic imperative ὅρα to this rare use of the inf. ὁρᾶν, 'to provide for (Phil. 504, τὰ δείν᾽ ὁρᾶν), is very unlikely. For the use of a general word like δρᾶν in such a connexion, cp. Αj. 1373, σοὶ δὲ δρᾶν ἔξεσθ᾽ ἃ χρῆς. 658, foll. And many threats and many vain words have ere now been uttered in anger:' (Lit. 'Many threats have uttered many vain words:') but when the mind has power of herself again, nothing remains of all that was so threatened. For ἀπειλαὶ κατηπείλησαν, cp. infr. 794, τὸ σὸν.. στόμα πολλὴν ἔχον στόμωσιν : 779, ὅτ᾽ οὐδὲν ἡ χάρις χάριν φέροι : Plato, Theaet. 153 D, ἕως ἂν ἡ περιφορὰ ἢ κινουμένη, in all of which instances a process is personified and grammatically regarded as the agent. Also infr. 794, for a similar echo of sound. See Essay on Language § 44. p. 83. The conjecture πολλοὶ δὲ πολλοῖς πολλά gives a misplaced emphasis. Qy. πολλοὶ δ᾽ ἀπειλαῖς, κ.τ.λ.?

660. mvp-comment-360-1 αὑτοῦ In its own possession. For the genitive as predicate, see Essay on Language § 9. p. 12. A similar emphatic use of αὑτοῦ occurs in Tr. 144, τοιοῖσδε. - χώροισιν αὑτοῦ. 661 ff. And with regard to the Thebans, though they have had the audacity to boast great things about carrying you away, they will find, I am well assured, that the way hither would be over a long and dangerous sea.' δείν] δεῖν' L.

660. mvp-comment-360-2 αὑτοῦ αὐτοῦ LA.

660. mvp-comment-360-3 κείνοις is in a twofold construction with ἐπερρώσθη and φανήσεται. ἐπερρώσθη is impersonal, (sc. τὸ λῆμα, ἡ ῥωμή), so that κείνοις ἐπερρώσθη λέγειν is equal το ἐπερρώσθησαν ὥστε λέγειν.

662. mvp-comment-361-1 τῆς σῆς ἀγωγῆς is a genitive of respect.

664. mvp-comment-362-1 ἄνευ, having the force of a preposition, adheres closely to the word which follows it, and the spondee in the 5th foot is thus justified. See on 115 supr. ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθεῖν.

666-667. mvp-comment-363-1 I am sure that, even in my absence (ὅμως.. ἐμοῦ μὴ παρόντος), my name will guard thee from ill.' There is a pause in the action of the play. Oedipus has now received from Theseus himself the final assurance of rest and protection. The scruples of the chorus have been pacified by the words of the king as well as by Ismene's performance of the sacred rites, and the anxiety of Oedipus has been calmed. Creon is on his way from Thebes, but his approach, though apprehended by Oedipus, is not yet present to the mind of the chorus. It is in this moment of tranquil security that the chorus give their welcome to the stranger, and sing the praises of Colonus and Athens.