Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 229

Robert Potter (Translator)

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Oedipus
607
O friendly son of Ægeus, to the gods
Alone is giv'n exemption from old age
And death; all else th' all-powerful hand of time
Crumbles to dust. The vigour of the earth,
The vigour of the body wastes away;
610
Faith withers to the root, and Perfidy
Puts forth fresh branches. So in men, in states
Leagued now in friendship, the same spirit long
Never remains; but what is grateful now,
Instant to some, to some in distant time,
615
Becomes detested, then delights again.
So now though all is amity and peace.
'Twixt thee and Thebes, yet ever-changing time
Will, in its progress, ever-changing nights
And days beget, in which your plighted hands,
Arm'd for a trivial cause, shall burst your leagues;
620
That my cold corse, at rest beneath the earth,
Shall drink their warm blood, if Jove reigns supreme
And Phœbus, son of Jove, declares the truth.
But to unfold what silence ought to veil
Delights me not; permit me to proceed
625
In what I first began; keep but thy faith,
Thou didst receive an useless habitant
(Unless the gods beguile me) to this land.

Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Robert Potter (Translator). London. 1820.

Current edition Experimental

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Robert Potter, 1788))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 228 focus
οὐδενὶ μοιριδία τίσις ἔρχεται
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 254-509 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 229 focus
OED
Thou shalt know by and by,—not yet awhile.
580
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 207 focus
Heimatlos,
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 229 focus
Antigone
I cannot.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 254-507 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-454-1 γῆρας … κατθανεῖν 1

mvp-comment-455-1 συγχεῖ 2

mvp-comment-455-2 παγκρατὴς 3

mvp-comment-456-1 φθίνει μὲν … φθίνει δὲ 4

mvp-comment-456-2 γῆς 5

mvp-comment-457-1 βλαστάνει 6

mvp-comment-458-1 πνεῦμα 7

mvp-comment-459-1 βέβηκεν 10

mvp-comment-459-2 πόλει 11

mvp-comment-460-1 τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἤδη 12

mvp-comment-460-2 ἤδη 13

mvp-comment-460-3 καὖθις φίλα 14

mvp-comment-461-1 Θήβαις 15

mvp-comment-462-1 καλῶς 16

mvp-comment-462-2 τὰ 17

mvp-comment-462-3 τὸ πρὸς σέ 18

mvp-comment-462-4 ὁ μυρίος 19

mvp-comment-463-1 τεκνοῦται 20

mvp-comment-463-2 ἰών 21

mvp-comment-464-1 ἐν αἷς 22

mvp-comment-464-2 δεξιώματα 23

mvp-comment-465-1 δόρει διασκεδῶσιν 24

mvp-comment-465-2 δόρει 25

mvp-comment-466-1 ἵν’ 26

mvp-comment-466-2 εὕδων 27

mvp-comment-467-1 ψυχρὸς … θερμὸν 28

mvp-comment-468-1 σαφής 29

mvp-comment-469-1 τἀκίνητα 30

mvp-comment-470-1 ἔα με 31

mvp-comment-470-2 τὸ σὸν … πιστὸν φυλάσσων 32

mvp-comment-471-1 εἴπερ μὴ ψεύσουσι 33

mvp-comment-471-2 εἴπερ 34

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

609. mvp-comment-337-1 συγχεῖ Obliterates, and so destroys. Cp. Hdt. 4. 127, συγχέειν τοὺς πατρωΐους τάφους: 7. 115, τὴν ὁδὸν .. οὐ συγχέουσι : Eur. Ι. Α. 37, καὶ ταὐτὰ πάλιν γράμματα συγχεῖς: Plat. Theaet. 194 E, ἀσαφῆ δὲ (ἴσχουσι) καὶ οἱ τὰ ὑγρὰ (ἔχοντες μνημεῖα) ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ συγχεῖσθαι ταχὺ γίγνεται ἀμυδρά. Essay on Language p. 105.

609. mvp-comment-337-2 παγκρατής i. e. πάντα κρατῶν. Allmastering. Cp. ὁ παγκρατὴς ὕπνος, Αj. 675.

610. mvp-comment-338-1 φθίνει.. φθίνει Ε. on L. § 44. p.83. 612,13. καὶ πνεῦμα ταὐτὸν .. πόλει] 'And the same spirit does not last between friend and friend, nor between city and city. By a metaphor derived from the most ancient, and not altogether lost in modern times, the feeling of love or hatred is regarded as a breathing or exhalation. Cp. Aesch. Agam. 1206, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν παλαιστὴς κάρτ᾿ ἐμοὶ πνέων χάριν: Aesch. Cho. 34, κότον πνέων: ib. 952, ὀλέθριον πνέουσ᾽ ἐν ἐχθροῖς κότον: Aesch. Suppl. 30, δέξαιθ'.. αἰδοίῳ πνεύματι χώρας: Plut. Dion. p. 197, τὸ τῶν δημαγωγῶν πνεῦμα. Hence a change of feeling is further compared to a change of wind, as in Aesch. Ag. 219, φρενὸς πνέων δυσσεβῆ τροπαίαν. For the thought, cp. Aj. 679 ff. ὅ τ᾽ ἐχθρὸς ἡμῖν ἐς τοσόνδ' ἐχθαρτέος κ.τ.λ.

613. mvp-comment-339-1 βέβηκεν Almost = ἔστιν, -see Essay on Language p. 97,-but (in relation to πνεῦμα) retaining the notion of fixity or continued movement. For the perfect of βαίνω, expressing a settled state or condition, cp. esp. infra 1684, νῷν δ᾽ ὀλεθρία νὺξ ἐπ᾿ ὄμμασιν βέβακε.

615. mvp-comment-340-1 καὖθις φίλα It often happens in Greek that both sides of a complex statement are put forward when only one is relevant. Cp. Aj. 679 ff. quoted above, Trach. 134-135, τῷ δ᾽ ἐπέρχεται | χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι. But the poet may have chosen to indicate the possibility of future reconcilement between Athens and Thebes.

616. mvp-comment-341-1 εἰ Emphatic, =κεί. Cp. Ant. 551, εἰ γέλωτ᾽ ἐν σοὶ γελῶ. Essay on Language § 28. p. 47.

616-617. mvp-comment-342-1 εὐημερεί καλῶς *τό Elmsley mentions that some MSS. give τέ acgive cented, which may be a remaining trace of the original reading τό or τά, εὐημερεῖ καλῶς τε, i. e. quasi eὖ καλῶς τε ἡμερεῖ, is indefensible, and the objection to the tautology καλῶς εὐημερεῖ is unfounded. See Essay on Language § 40. p. 75. And though on the part of Thebes towards you all be now serene as heart can wish. εὐημερεῖ continues the metaphor in πνεῦμα. τὸ πρὸς σε is epexegetic of the impersonal subject of εὐημερεῖ. All looks fair and well in relation to you:' or (bringing out the image a little more), There is no cloud in the heavens between Thebes and you. For the construction, cp. supra, πρὸς πόλιν πόλει, and Hdt. 3. 49. εἰ μέν νυν Περιάνδρου τελευτήσαντος τοῖσι Κορινθίοισι φίλα ἦν πρὸς Κερκυραίους.

617-618. mvp-comment-343-1 μυρίας .. ἰών There are countless nights and days which time begets in his onward course. For the form of sentence. cp. El. 1364-1366, τοὺς γὰρ ἐν μέσῳ λόγους, πολλαὶ κυκλοῦνται νύκτες ἡμέραι τ᾽ ἴσαι, αἱ ταῦτά σοι δείξουσιν, Ηλέκτρα, σαφή-a passage which also illustrates the present tense, as used of something future but certain.

619-620. mvp-comment-344-1 ἐν αἷς .. δεξιώματα In which they will sunder with the sword on slight pretext your now well-plighted fellowship. The letter corresponding to a in L is rather an unfinished ∞ ( x ) than an a.

620. mvp-comment-345-1 ἐκ σμικροῦ λόγου Out of a small occasion. Cp. Εl. 415-416, πολλά τοι σμικροὶ λόγοι | ἔσφηλαν ἤδη καὶ κατώρθωσαν βροτούς.

621. mvp-comment-346-1 ἵν' On the very spot where. 623. Cp. Aj. 783, εἰ Κάλχας σοφός.

624. mvp-comment-347-1 τἀκίνητα For κινεῖν of breaking silence, cp. Ant. 1060, τἀκίνητα διὰ φρενῶν: Ο. Τ. 354, οὕτως ἀναιδῶς ἐξεκίνησας τόδε | τὸ ῥῆμα; 625-626. τὸ σὸν μόνον | πιστὸν φυλάσσων] Either, (1) ‘Only keeping care- fully thine own good faith, or (with πιστόν as supplementary predicate), (2) Only keeping thine own part faithful. The position of πιστόν favours (2).