Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 1696

Robert Potter (Translator)

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But on our eyes (unhappy me!) now hangs
1715
The sickly gloom of night: for by what means,
Wandering o'er what strange land, what billowy sea,
Shall we the poor supports of life procure?
I know not. Oh that ruthless death would take

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)) — 1696 focus
πόθος καὶ κακῶν ἄρʼ ἦν τις.
καὶ γὰρ ὃ μηδαμὰ δὴ τὸ φίλον φίλον,
ὁπότε γε καὶ τὸν ἐν χεροῖν κατεῖχον.
ὦ πάτερ, ὦ φίλος,
1700
ὦ τὸν ἀεὶ κατὰ γᾶς σκότον εἱμένος·
οὐδὲ γέρων ἀφίλητος ἐμοί ποτε
καὶ τᾷδε μὴ κυρήσῃς.
α΄ (2)
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1670-1750 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1696 focus
If to be thus is well, then may one long
For evil to return. Things nowise dear
Were dear to me, whiles I had him to embrace.
O father! loved one! that art wearing now
1700
The eternal robe of darkness underground,
Old as thou wert, think not this maid and I
Will cease from loving thee!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1696 focus
So war denn Wonne selbst im Leide;
Freundlich erschien mir ja selbst Unfreundliches,
Solang ich ihn nur hielt in meinen Armen.
Vater, in's ewige
Dunkel der Erde gehüllt, o Geliebtester!
1680
Ewig ja bleiben wir, ich und die Schwester, dir
Mit unsrer Liebe nahe!
Ihm wurde
English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1696 focus
He is ; his death was straii-ge
And wonderful, for not in war he fell,
Nor did the sea o'erwhelm him, but the earth
Hath hid him from us ; deadly night hath closed
Our eyes in sadness ; whether o'er the seas
1700
We roam, or exiles in a foreign land
Lead our sad days, we must be still unhappy.
Alas ! I only wish I might have died
With my poor father ; wherefore should I ask
For longer life ?
Forlorn and helpless, of our father thus
Bereft ?
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1670-1750 focus

Commentary

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

mvp-comment-1153-1 Cp. 1735

αὖθις ὧδ’ ἔρημος ἄπορος
. Almost all critics are now agreed that the words ἔρημος ἄπορος were borrowed thence, to supply a gap here. But opinions differ as to whether we should here retain αὖθις , or ὧδ’ , or both. I retain both. See Metrical Analysis, and Appendix on 1690.

mvp-comment-1154-1 ἔλυσε τὸ τέλος … βίου 1

mvp-comment-1155-1 λήγετε 2

mvp-comment-1155-2 κακῶν δυσάλωτος 3

mvp-comment-1156-1 πάλιν … συθῶμεν 4

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

1716-1719. mvp-comment-917-1 See v. rr. These three lines, which are defaced by the evident interpolation from 1735 infra (first struck out by Lachmann, cp. supr. 769 v. rr.), have been given by the editors to Ismene. The MSS. often mix the persons in this play.

1719. mvp-comment-918-1 For the metre of this and of 1736 in the epode of a commos, cp. Ant. 880, θέμις ὁρᾶν ταλαίνᾳ.

1720. mvp-comment-919-1 ἔλυσεν τὸ τέλος βίου is a condensed expression for κατέλυσε καὶ ἐτελεύτησε τὸν βίον. Cp. τὸν τελευταῖον βίον | κρύψων, supra 1551.