Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 342

mvp-comment-802-1 θανὼν ¹

mvp-comment-803-1 ἐρείσατε … πλευρὸν ἀμφιδέξιον ²

mvp-comment-804-1 ἐμφύντε ³

mvp-comment-804-2 With

(note that L has κἀναπαύσετον ) the words are usu. taken to mean, "and give me relief from this hapless wandering, desolate before," — i.e. since Antigone was carried off (844) .

mvp-comment-804-3 πλάνου ⁴

mvp-comment-805-1 ταῖς τηλικαῖσδε ⁵

mvp-comment-806-1 ὅδ’ … τοῦδε ⁶

mvp-comment-807-1 Hermann's change of the MS. τοὐμὸν into τοῦτ’ ἐμοί τ’ has been accepted by many edd. But the sense is most unsatisfactory. If τοὔργον means the deed of rescue, as is most natural, the meaning will be:

: i.e. But is this tolerable,—to say nothing of the somewhat ungracious suggestion that the account of their deliverer's exploit would otherwise be fatiguing? The alternative version would be worse still: I cannot but think, then, that this popular correction, though palaeographically easy, is untenable.

mvp-comment-807-2 I have little doubt that Wex is right, or nearly so, in his οὗ κἄστι τοὔργον . The

should be his to whom belongs the . This supposes an accidental loss of οὗ , after which κἄστι grew into καὶ σοί τε . The words then mean, "my part will thus be brief" (as you desire it to be, 1115 ) — consisting simply in referring Oed. to Theseus.

mvp-comment-808-1 Take πρὸς τὸ λιπαρὲς with μηκύνῳ λόγον :

:

mvp-comment-808-2 πρὸς τὸ λ. ⁷

mvp-comment-809-1 τέκνα ⁸

mvp-comment-809-2 ἄελπτα ⁹

mvp-comment-810-1 τὴν ἐς τάσδε ¹⁰

mvp-comment-811-1 μηδενὸς ¹¹

mvp-comment-812-1 ὡς ¹²

mvp-comment-813-1 αὐτῷ τε ¹³

mvp-comment-813-2 τό γ’ εὐσεβές ¹⁴

mvp-comment-813-3 μόνοις ¹⁵

mvp-comment-814-1 τοὐπιεικὲς ¹⁶

mvp-comment-815-1 εἰδὼς δ’ ἀμύνω ¹⁷

mvp-comment-815-2 τάδε ¹⁹

mvp-comment-816-1 ψαύσω ²⁰

mvp-comment-816-2 εἰ θέμις ²¹

mvp-comment-817-1 πῶς σ’ ²²

mvp-comment-817-2 τίς οὐκ ²³

mvp-comment-817-3 κηλὶς κακῶν ²⁴

mvp-comment-817-4 ξύνοικος ²⁵

mvp-comment-817-5 οὐκ ἔγωγέ σε ²⁶

mvp-comment-817-6 οὐδ’ οὖν ²⁷

mvp-comment-817-7 Oedipus is indeed

(287), as the suppliant of the Eumenides, and ( ib. ), as obeying the word of Apollo; but at this moment he feels that, in the eye of religious law, he is still formally what Creon has just called him— and (944). Contrast the more passionate strain of his words in O. T. 1413 , when he urges the Thebans to cast him forth— . To touch him—he there says—can defile no one, because his unique doom places him apart.

mvp-comment-818-1 βροτῶν ²⁸

mvp-comment-819-1 αὐτόθεν ²⁹

mvp-comment-820-1 ἐς τόδ’ ἡμέρας ³⁰

1110-1111. mvp-comment-595-1 οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἂν.. εἴην Nor should I be all unhappy were I now to die. θανών, i. e. εἰ θάνοιμι.

1112. mvp-comment-596-1 ἐρείσατε, sc. μοι, suggested by τῷ φύσαντι following. The ἀμφιδέξιον is supplementary predicate, almost = ἀμφωτέροθι : (ὥστε μοι ἀμφιδέξιον γίγνεσθαι, Herm.). latter part of the compound is partly lost, but serves to suggest the notion of firmness in supporting.

1113. mvp-comment-597-1 The variety of reading is most easily accounted for by supposing an earlier reading ἐμφύντε (which Mudge conjectured). The singular ἐμφῦσα is inadmissible, and if ἐμφῦτε is read, the asyndeton, which is too abrupt for this place, has also the effect of separating the dative, τῷ φύσαντι, from ἐρείσατ', which seems to require a dative. Press your sides close to mine, supporting me on either hand, engrafted on your father. This seems better than Support both my sides, although ἐρείδω admits of TE either construction. For the παρονομασία, or verbal play, see Essay on Language § 44. P. 75- κἀναπαύσετον] And ye shall give me rest in my hapless wandering, which was lonely till ye appeared: i.e. And ye will relieve the loneliness of my unhappy wandering life. Cp. supra 500-502, μόνον δέ με | μὴ λείπετ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν σθένοι τοὐμὸν δέμας | ἔρημον ἕρπειν οὐδ᾽ ὑφηγητοῦ γ᾽ ἄνεν. The reading of Β Vat., κἀναπαύσατον, has been adopted by many editors.

1114. mvp-comment-598-1 τοῦδε δυστήνου πλάνου The effect of the pronoun is pathetic, and the repetition of the article in the other reading, τοῦ τε, has no sufficient reason. Oedipus is thinking generally of his condition, which, when his daughters were carried off, seemed as forlorn as it had been before Antigone came from Thebes to be his guide.

1115. mvp-comment-599-1 ὡς βράχιστα ‘As briefly as ye may. It may be doubted whether βράχιστα agrees with τὰ πρ. as supplementary predicate ('make the matter brief in telling it'), or is to be taken as a cognate or adverbial accusative after εἴπατε. The latter is more probable.

1118. mvp-comment-600-1 Cp. Phil. 1304, ἀλλ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἐμοὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν οὔτε σοὶ καλόν. She means that while she will be spared the recital, the tale as told by Theseus will not be tedious to her father. Cp. infr. ll. 1143-1144.

1119-1120. mvp-comment-601-1 O sir, think it not strange that I prolong my speech unduly to my children, who have appeared beyond my hopes. Some join πρὸς τὸ λιπαρές with θαύμαζε (cp. Tr. 1211, εἰ φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο: Thuc. 2. 22, πρὸς τὸ παρὸν χαλεπαίνοντας). But the expression, τὸ λιπαρές = τὸ ἐμὸν λιπαρὲς τοῦ λόγου, even with the epexegesis following, seems too abrupt for Sophocles. Badham's conjecture, πρὸς τόδ', εἰ πάρος | τέκν᾽ ἐκφανέντ᾽ ἄελπτα (cp. the reading of Par. A. and infra 1141), besides changing poetry to prose, leaves πάρος without a correlative.

1119-1120. mvp-comment-601-2 πρός expresses result, as in πρὸς ἡδονήν. Cp. esp. Thuc. 2. 53, ταχείας τὰς ἐπαυρέσεις καὶ πρὸς τὸ τερπνὸν ἠξίουν ποιεῖσθαι : Eur. Οr. 606, γυναῖκες ἐμποδὼν ταῖς ξυμφοραῖς | ἔφυσαν ἀνδρῶν πρὸς τὸ δυστυχέστερον.

1119-1120. mvp-comment-601-3 λιπαρές 'Persistent; here used with an association of blame.

1120. mvp-comment-602-1 For the construction of τέκνα (with μηκύνω λόγον), see Essay on Language § 16. p. 22, and cp. esp. O. T. 31, 32, σε ἑζόμεσθ' ἐφέστιοι. ..

1121. mvp-comment-603-1 γάρ explains μὴ θαύμαζε, Wonder not (as if I were ungrateful). I have a clear sense of my obligation to you.

1121. mvp-comment-603-2 την is Musgrave's conjecture for σήν, which Elmsley and others have defended. But σήν has probably been invented to supply the omission of ἢ παρὰ σοῦ after ἄλλου μηδενός, for which see Essay on Language § 39. p. 73, 6. Cp. infra 1250, ἀνδρῶν γε μοῦνος, and note. σήν, which must have a strong emphasis, would be awkwardly placed, and, as Hermann remarks, l. 1123 , would be superfluous. For τήνδε τὴν τέρψιν, cp. Ο. Τ. 1477, τὴν παροῦσαν τέρψιν ἤ σ' εἶχεν πάλαι.

1124. mvp-comment-604-1 ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω According to my wish. Cp. Hom. H. Cer. 137, δοῖεν κουριδίους ἄνδρας καὶ τέκνα τεκέσθαι, | ὡς ἐθέλουσι τοκῆες: Eur. Hel. 1405, θεοὶ σοὶ . . δοῖεν οἷ᾽ ἐγὼ θέλω.

1125. mvp-comment-605-1 αὐτῷ τε καὶ γῇ τῇδε Theseus' interests are throughout identified with those of Athens. Cp. supr. 308-309, εὐτυχὴς .. τῇ . . αὑτοῦ πόλει. . τίς γὰρ ἐσθλὸς οὐχ αὑτῷ φίλος; 1130 ff. The action which no doubt accompanied these lines would make them clearer to the spectator than they are to the reader. Oedipus reaches forth his hand towards Theseus, then draws it back, and on becoming aware that Theseus is bending towards him, repels him gently with a movement of his hand.

1131. mvp-comment-606-1 ψαύσω Sc. σου.

1131. mvp-comment-606-2 εἰ θέμις This expression occurs frequently in tragedy, ἢ θέμις rarely or never. Cp. esp. Phil. 661, εἴ μοι θέμις, θέλοιμ᾽ ἄν. It has been objected that καίτοι makes too strong an opposition, after such an expression of doubt. But the hesitation expressed in εἰ θέμις is only the courtesy of a stranger addressing a sovereign, whereas the following clause expresses the revulsion of feeling caused by the recollection of his misfortunes.

1132. mvp-comment-607-1 πῶς *σ᾽ ἂν .. ξύνοικος (1) Unhappy that I am, how should I desire thee to give thy hand to one, in whom what brand of evil is not found? Or, possibly. (2) reading πῶς δ᾽ ἄν, κ.τ.λ. as in the MSS, And how should I think of touching one who is a man, I, the ill-starred wretch, who bear in me the stain of every ill? Hermann's correction, τίς for τις, is borne out by ξύνοικος, which would be too emphatic if the meaning were a man, who has no stain upon him, as well as by the order of words in which the inversion τις οὐκ would have no point. Essay on Language § 41. p 78 yb: cp. supr. 702. Herm. also changed δ' τo σ', and in this he has been generally followed. But the words as they stand in the MSS. are not altogether impossible. The previous context, and the natural pause after ἀνδρός, may justify the reference of to the subject of θελήσαιμι. In this case ἀνδρός, although implying Theseus, is quite general: cp. О. Т. 1375-1379, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ τέκνων δῆτ᾿ ὄψις ἦν ἐφίμέρος · οὐ δῆτα οὐδ᾽ ἄστυ γ' οὐδὲ πύργος, οὐδὲ δαιμόνων ἀγάλμαθ᾽ ἱρά. δ', making a fresh beginning after τί φωνῶ, seems not unnatural, but is as likely to have been wrongly inserted as to be a corruption of σ'. Cp. supr. 52.

1134. mvp-comment-608-1 οὐκ ἔγωγέ σε Sc. θελήσω θιγεῖν μου, or some more general verb, expressing the whole action, e. g. ταῦτα ποιήσω.

1135. mvp-comment-609-1 No, nor shalt thou. ἐάσω] Sc. σὲ ψαῦσαι ἐμοῦ. For this ellipse, cp. El. 632, ἐῶ, κελεύω, θύε: supr. 407, ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἐᾷ τοῦμφυλον αἷμά σ᾽, ὦ πάτερ. Essay on Language § 59. p. 73, 6. The word μόνοις in the following line implies the antithesis ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ σοί. The words in О. Т. 1414-1415, imply the same feeling, although in a different connexion : τἀμὰ γὰρ κακὰ | οὐδεὶς οἷός τε πλὴν ἐμοῦ φέρειν βροτῶν: cp ib. 1430-1431, τοῖς ἐν γένει γὰρ τἀγγενῆ μάλισθ' ὁρᾶν | μόνοις τ᾿ ἀκούειν εὐσεβῶς ἔχει κακά. In infr. 1632, where Oedipus bids Theseus to give the maidens the pledge of his right hand, he does not himself take the hand of Theseus. Cp. Hom. Od. 19. 346-348, where Ulysses refuses the services of the handmaids of Penelope, εἰ μή τις γρῆνς ἔστι παλαιή, κεδνὰ ἰδυῖα, | ἥτις δὴ τέτληκε τόσα φρεσὶν ὅσσα τ᾽ ἐγώ περ | τῇ δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν φθονέοιμι ποδῶν ἅψασθαι ἐμεῖο. The feeling of Fr. 814. ὃς μὴ πέπονθε τἀμά, μὴ βουλευέτω is slightly different, resembling that of Leonato in Shak., Much Ado, 5. 1, Nor let no comforter delight mine ear | But such an one whose wrongs do suit with mine.

1137. mvp-comment-610-1 σὺ δ᾽ αὐτόθεν μοι χαῖρε · But do thou receive my salutation from where thou standest,' without coming nearer.

1138. mvp-comment-611-1 ἐς τόδ᾽ ἡμέρας Hitherto : ἡμέρα used abstractedly for time, as in Aj. 131, 622. 1139 ff. This refers to 11. 1119 ff.