Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 37

mvp-comment-64-1 ὡς πρὸς τί ¹

mvp-comment-64-2 The reading and explanation of the verse hinge on the question whether ὡς (1) belongs to πρὸς τί , = "with what view?" or (2) is final, = "in order that." Now (1) is strongly supported by two other places of Soph., in each of which this formula stands, as here, at the beginning of a question: O. T. 1174

Tr.1182

ΥΑ. ὡς πρὸς τί πίστιν τήνδ’ ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις;

The simple πρὸς τί ; (also freq. in Soph.) = merely "with reference to what?" while ὡς πρὸς τί = "with reference to what, in your conception or intention ( ὡς )?": hence the latter is appropriate when the questioner cannot imagine the agent's motive.

mvp-comment-64-3 καταρτύσων μολεῖν ²

mvp-comment-64-4 With L's μόλοι ( ὡς being then final), we must render: "That Theseus might come with what view ( πρὸς τί ), —to say or to arrange (what)?" The opt. can stand (in spite of

72 ), since

ἆρ’ ἂν μόλοι;

(70) puts the case hypothetically: see on 11

. But: ( a ) the double μόλοι , at the end of two successive verses, is intolerable. Dindorf, therefore, conjecturally reads παρῇ , which Wecklein and others adopt. ( b ) The antithesis between λέξων and καταρτύσων is hardly clear. Wecklein explains, πρὸς ποῖον λόγον ἢ ἔργον; Certainly τί λέξων ἢ δράσων could mean, "for what conceivable purpose?" (cp. O.T. 71

ὅ τι δρῶν ἢ τί φωνῶν

): but καταρτύσων would be a very strange substitute for δράσων .

mvp-comment-65-1 μὴ ³

mvp-comment-66-1 ὁρῶντα ⁴

mvp-comment-67-1 οἶσθ’ … ὡς … μὴ σφαλῇς; ⁵

mvp-comment-68-1 ὡς ἰδόντι ⁶

mvp-comment-68-2 δαίμονος ⁷

mvp-comment-69-1 μὴ κατ’ ἄστυ ⁸

mvp-comment-69-2 ἐνθάδ’ αὐτοῦ ⁹

mvp-comment-70-1 εἰ χρή ¹⁰

mvp-comment-71-1 ἡμὶν ¹¹

mvp-comment-72-1 ἐν ἡσύχῳ ¹²

mvp-comment-73-1 μόνης πέλας ¹³

1-116. mvp-comment-1-1 The scene of the πρόλογος, ll. 1-116, is probably on the north side of Colonus, with Athens in the distance. See Introduction, p. 282. The spot so familiar to the audience (οὐ λόγοις τιμώμεν' ἀλλὰ τῇ συνουσίᾳ, infr. 63-64) would probably be recalled by the representation on the stage of some striking objects, especially those which marked the religio loci. Oedipus enters (right?), led by Antigone, and sits down in the middle of the proscenium, where he remains until Antigone descries the approach of the chorus.

71. mvp-comment-50-1 That Theseus might come for what purpose of speech or decision?' Cp. 1. 68, λόγῳ τε καὶ σθένει. The reading μολεῖν avoids the awkwardness of repeating μόλοι with a different subject, but whether the line is then taken to mean, (1) To what purpose is he to speak to him? Or is he to arrange for him to come?' or (2) To speak to him, or arrange for him to come, for what purpose?' the Stranger is thus made to ignore the obvious meaning of πομπός in the question of Oedipus. The optative (ὡς μόλοι for ὡς ἂν μόλῃ) is occasioned by the optative preceding.

72. mvp-comment-51-1 ὡς ἂν.. κερδάνῃ Oedipus, in expressing his own purpose, returns to the more direct form of expression.

73. mvp-comment-52-1 μή Essay on Language p. 48. 2, b.

74. mvp-comment-53-1 All that I utter shall be full of light. Cp. Aesch. Choeph. 844, πῶς ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ καὶ βλέποντα δοξάσω; and the passive uses of caecus in Latin. The inversion of active and passive expressions is especially frequent in connection with perception by sight. See Essay on Language pp. 98, 99. The Stranger, on seeing the noble bearing of Oedipus, thinks it will be enough if he reports the matter not to the city, cp. 1. 47, but to the elders of the deme.

75. mvp-comment-54-1 Do you know how you must avoid disaster? Cp. the common idiom οἶσθ᾽ ὁ δρᾶσον (Ar. Av. 54, etc.), and see O. T. 543 and note.

75. mvp-comment-54-2 ἐπείπερ εἰ I tell you this because I see you noble. Sc. ταῦτά σοι λέγω.

76. mvp-comment-55-1 ὡς ἰδόντι ὡς emphasises the dative as in supr. 20, ὡς γέροντι.

76. mvp-comment-55-2 πλὴν τοῦ δαίμονος But for your fortune. The nobility of Oedipus appears through his rags and blindness. Cp. Shak. Cor. 4. 5. Though thy tackle's torn | Thou show'st a noble vessel. Od. 14. 214, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμπης καλάμην γέ σ᾽ ὀΐομαι εἰσορόωντα | γιγνώσκειν, ib. 20. 194, δύσμορος, ἢ τε ἔοικε δέμας βασιλῆῖ ἄνακτι.

78. mvp-comment-56-1 τοῖσδ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ αὐτοῦ These here on the spot. For the pleonasm, in which the words ἐνθάδ αὐτοῦ are epexegetic of τοῖσδε, see Essay on Language p. 75. And, for the use of τοῖσδε which requires the epexegesis, ibid. § 22. p. 34. Ср. supra, l. 59 , τόνδε.. Κολωνόν.

79. mvp-comment-57-1 οἵδε γὰρ κρινοῦσί *τοι The variety of reading, in which both γε and σοι are somewhat harsh, many have σ arisen out of τοι.

80. mvp-comment-58-1 ἢ..ἤ An Epic form, which ap. pears also in Aesch. Prom. 780, Choeph. 890, putting an alternative more pointedly than cἰ.. ἤ.

81. mvp-comment-59-1 ἡμίν Is the Stranger gone, and are we alone? Dative of remote reference. Essay on Language § 13. p. 19.