[863] Second
στάσιμον. The second
ἐπεισόδιον (512-862) has been marked by the overbearing harshness of Oedipus towards Creon; by the rise of a dreadful suspicion that Oedipus is
ἄναγνος —blood-guilty for Laius; and by the avowed contempt of Iocasta, not, indeed, for Apollo himself, but for the
μαντική of his ministers. These traits furnish the two interwoven themes of the second stasimon: (1) the prayer for
purity in word as in deed: (2) the deprecation of that
pride which goes before a fall; —whether it be the insolence of the
τύραννος, or such intellectual arrogance as Iocasta's speech bewrays
(λόγῳ, v. 884). The tone of warning reproof towards Oedipus, while only allusive, is yet in contrast with the firm though anxious sympathy of the former ode, and serves to attune the feeling of the spectators for the approach of the catastrophe.
1st strophe (863-872). May I ever be pure in word and deed, loyal to the unwritten and eternal laws.
1st antistrophe (873-882). A tyrant's selfish insolence hurls him to ruin. But may the gods prosper all emulous effort for the good of the State.
2nd strophe (883-896). Irreverence in word or deed shall not escape: the wrath of the gods shall find it out.
2nd antistrophe (897-910). Surely the oracles concerning Laius will yet be justified: O Zeus, suffer not Apollo's worship to fail.
εἴ μοι ξυνείη μοῖρα φέροντι
is equivalent to
εἴθε διατελοῖμι φέρων, the part. implying that the speaker is
already mindful of
ἁγνεία, and prays that he may continue to be so: whereas
εἴ μοι ξυνείη μοῖρα φέρειν would have been equivalent to
εἴθε μοι γένοιτο φέρειν, an aspiration towards
ἁγνεία as not yet attained. Though
μοῖρα
is not expressly personified (cp.
Pind. P. 3.84
τὶν δὲ μοῖρ’ εὐδαιμονίας ἕπεταἰ,
the conception of it is so far personal that
ξυνείη
( “be with”) is tinged with the associations of
ξυνειδείη ( “be witness to”), and thus softens any boldness in the use of the participle; a use which, in principle, is identical with the use after such verbs as
διατελῶ, τυγχάνω, λανθάνω.
φέροντι
(=
φερομένῳ, see on 590) …
ἁγνείαν
,
winning purity, regarded as a precious
κτῆμα (
Soph. Ant. 150
): cp. 1190
πλέον τᾶς εὐδαιμονίας φέρει:
Soph. El. 968
εὐσέβειαν … οἴσει
(will win
the praise of piety):
Eur. Orest. 158
ὕπνου … φερομένῳ χαράν.
—Others take
φέροντι as = “bearing about with me” (or “within me”). Cp.
Soph. Ant. 1090
τὸν νοῦν τ’ ἀμείνω τῶν φρενῶν ἢ νῦν φέρει
(where it =
τρέφειν in 1089):
Soph. Trach. 108
εὔμναστον δεῖμα φέρουσαν
(where Casaubon
τρέφουσαν, as Blaydes
τρέφοντι here). This may be right: but the use here, at least, would be bold; and I still incline to the former view.
εὔσεπτον
active, “reverent,” only here: so 890
τῶν ἀσέπτων, also act., “irreverent deeds,” as in
Eur. Hel. 542
Πρωτέως ἀσέπτου παιδός,
impious, unholy: see on 515.
ὧν νόμοι πρόκεινται ὑψίπ.
“for which (enjoining which) laws have been set forth, moving on high,” —having their sphere and range in the world of eternal truths:
ὑψίποδες being equiv. to
ὑψηλοὶ καὶ ὑψοῦ πατοῦντες: see on
οἰόζωνον 846, and contrast
χθονοστιβῆ 301. The metaphor in
νόμοι
was less trite for a Greek of the age of Sophocles than for us: cp.
Plat. Laws 793a
τὰ καλούμενα ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἄγραφα νόμιμα—οὔτε νόμους δεῖ προσαγορεύειν αὐτὰ οὔτε ἄρρητα ἐᾶν.
πρόκεινται
(
Thuc. 3.45
ἐν οὖν ταῖς πόλεσι πολλῶν θανάτου ζημία πρόκειται
) strengthens the metaphor:
Xen. Mem. 4.4.21
δίκην γέ τοι διδόασιν οἱ παραβαίνοντες τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν κειμένους νόμους, ἣν οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ δυνατὸν ἀνθρώπῳ διαφυγεῖν, ὥσπερ τοὺς ὑπ’ ἀνθρώπων κειμένους νόμους ἔνιοι διαφεύγουσι τὸ δίκην διδόναι
: where Socrates speaks of the
ἄγραφοι νόμοι which are
ἐν πάσῃ χώρᾳ κατὰ ταὐτὰ νομιζόμενοι, —as to revere the gods and honour parents.
Aristot. Rh. 1.13.2
: ‘I consider law (
νόμον) as particular (
ἴδιον) or universal (
κοινόν), the particular law being that which each community defines in respect to itself, —a law partly written, partly unwritten [as consisting in local custom]; the universal law being that of nature (
τὸν κατὰ φύσιν). For there is a certain natural and universal right and wrong which all men divine (
(μαντεύονται), even if they have no intercourse or covenant with each other; as the Antigone of Sophocles is found saying that, notwithstanding the interdict, it is right to bury Polyneices’ (
Soph. Ant. 454
, where she appeals to the
ἄγραπτα κἀσφαλῆ θεῶν νόμιμα). Cp. Cope's Introd. to
Aristot. Rh.
p. 239.
οὐρανίαν δῑ αἰθέρα τεκνωθέντες
called into a life that permeates the heavenly ether (the highest heaven): the metaphor of
τεκνωθέντες
being qualified by its meaning in this particular application to
νόμοι
, viz. that they are
revealed as operative; which allows the poet to indicate
the sphere throughout which they operate by
δῑ αἰθέρα
, instead of the verbally appropriate
ἐν αἰθέρι: much as if he had said
δῑ αἰθέρα ἐνεργοὶ ἀναφανέντες. So, again, when he calls
Olympus, not
Zeus, their
πατήρ
, the metaphor is halffused with the direct notion of “source.” Cp.
Aristot. Rh. 1.13.2
quoted on 865, which continues (illustrating
τὸ φύσει δίκαιον)· καὶ ὡς Ἐμπεδοκλῆς λέγει περὶ τοῦ μὴ κτείνειν τὸ ἔμψυχον· τοῦτο γὰρ οὐ τισὶ μὲν δίκαιον τισὶ δ’ οὐ δίκαιον, Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πάντων νόμιμον διά τ’ εὐρυμέδοντος | αἰθέρος ἠνεκέως τέταται διά τ’ ἀπλέτου αὖ γῆς (so Scaliger rightly amended
αὐγῆς: Emped. 438): where the special reference of Empedocles is to a principle of life common to gods, men, and irrational animals (
πνεῦμα τὸ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου διῆκον ψυχῆς τρόπον,
Sext. Emp. Adv. Math. 9.127
: cp. Cope ad loc.).
αἰθέρα
Hom. Il. 16.364
ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀπ’ Οὐλύμπου νέφος ἔρχεται οὐρανὸν εἴσω | αἰθέρος ἐκ δίης
: where, Olympus being the mountain, the
οὐρανός is above the
αἰθήρ, since
ἐξ αἰθέρος could not = e)c ai)/qpas,
after clear weather: and so
Hom. Il. 2.458
δῑ αἰθέρος οὐρανὸν ἵκει
:
Hom. Il. 19.351
οὐρανοῦ ἐκκατέπαλτο δῑ αἰθέρος
: cp.
Soph. Ant. 420
. Here
οὐρανίαν αἰθέρα
=the highest heaven.
Ὄλυμπος
not the mountain, as in the
Iliad, but, as in the
Odyssey (
Hom. Od. 6.42
), the bright supernal abode of the gods: and so = the sky itself:
Soph. OC 1654
γῆν τε προσκυνοῦνθ’ ὁμοῦ | καὶ τὸν θεῶν Ὄλυμπον.
ἔτικτεν
“was their parent,” sometimes used instead of
ἔτεκε where the stress is not so much on the fact of the
birth as on the
parentage, 1099,
Soph. OC 982
, fr 501:
Pind. P. 9.15
ὅν ποτε
=
Ναΐς … ἔτικτεν. (It would be prosaic to render, “brought forth successively,”—developed.)
οὐδὲ μή ποτε κατακοιμάσῃ. I formerly gave
οὐδὲ μάν ποτε κατακοιμάσει, —regarding L's
μήν as more significant than its
κατακοιμάσηι. But I now think that the probabilities are stronger for
μήν having come from
μή. In point of fitness, the readings are here equal.
οὐ μή expresses conviction:
Plat. Phaedo 105d
οὐκοῦν ἡ ψυχὴ τὸ ἐναντίον ᾧ αὐτὴ ἐπιφέρει ἀεὶ οὐ μή ποτε δέξηται, ὡς ἐκ τῶν πρόσθεν ὡμολόγηται;
μέγας ἐν τούτοις θεός
the divine virtue inherent in them is strong and unfailing.
θεός without art., as 880:
Soph. OC 1694
τὸ φέρον ἐκ θεοῦ.
For this use of the word, to express an indwelling power, cp. Eur. fr. inc. 1007
ὁ νοῦς γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἐν ἑκάστῳ θεός.
ὕβρις
The tone of Oedipus towards Creon (esp. 618-672) suggests the strain of warning rebuke. Aeschylus, with more elaborate imagery, makes
ὕβρις the daughter of
δυσσεβία and the parent of a
νέα ὕβρις which in turn begets
κόρος and
θράσος (
Aesch. Ag. 764
).
τύραννον
here not “a prince,” —nor even, in the normal Greek sense, an unconstitutionally absolute ruler (bad or good), —but, in our sense, “a tyrant”: cp.
Plat. Stat. 301c
ὅταν μήτε κατὰ νόμους μήτε κατὰ ἔθη πράττῃ τις εἶς ἄρχων, προσποιῆται δὲ ὥσπερ ὁ ἐπιστήμων ὡς ἄρα παρὰ τὰ γεγραμμένα τό γε βέλτιστον ποιητέον, ᾖ δέ τις ἐπιθυμία καὶ ἄγνοια τούτου τοῦ μιμήματος ἡγουμένη, μῶν οὐ τότε τὸν τοιοῦτον ἕκαστον τύραννον κλητέον;
Plat. Rep. 573b
ἆρ’ οὖν … καὶ τὸ πάλαι διὰ τὸ τοιοῦτον τύραννος ὁ Ἔρως λέγεται;
εἰ … ὑπερπλησθῇ:
Plat. Rep. 573c
τυραννικὸς δὲ … ἀνὴρ ἀκριβῶς γίγνεται, ὅταν ἢ φύσει ἢ ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἢ ἀμφοτέροις μεθυστικός τε καὶ ἐρωτικὸς καὶ μελαγχολικὸς γένηται.
For
εἰ with subj., see on 198.
ἃ μή
the generic
μή (
such wealth
as is not meet): cp. 397 n.
The reading of all the MSS.,
ἀκροτάταν εἰσαναβᾶσ’
, is accounted for by Wolff's emendation, which I have now received,
ἀκρότατα γεῖσ’ ἀναβᾶσ’
. The change of
γ
into
ν
was very easy for cursive minuscule; while on the other hand the presence of
ἀνάγκαν in the next verse is not enough to explain the change of an original
ἀκρότατον into the unmetrical
ἀκροτάταν.
γεῖσα
the coping of a wall: cp.
Eur. Phoen. 1180
(of Capaneus)
ἤδη δ’ ὑπερβαίνοντα γεῖσα τειχέων | βάλλει κεραυνῷ Ζεύς νιν (as
Soph. Ant. 131
, of the same,
βαλβίδων | ἐπ’ ἄκρων ἤδη | νίκην ὁρμῶντ’ ἀλαλάξαἰ. So here the
ὕβρις is hurled down, Capaneus-like, at the crowning moment of wicked triumph. In
Eur. Supp. 728
there is a similar image of insolent ambition hurled down, as from the topmost round of a scaling-ladder:
ὑβριστὴν λαόν, ὃς πράσσων καλῶς | εἰς ἄκρα βῆναι κλιμάκων ἐνήλατα | ζητῶν ἀπώλεσ’ ὄλβον.
With the MS.
ἀπότομον ὤρουσεν εἰς ἀνάγκαν
, there is a defect of \v\ \v\ or\h\. Reading
ἀκρότατον in 876, Arndt supplies
αἶπος before
ἀπότομον, as I formerly supplied
ἄκρον in the same place: E. L. Lushington thought of
ὄρος to follow
ἀπότομον: Campbell reads
ἐξώρουσεν. But none of these remedies, nor any other of a like kind, is satisfactory, or very probable. I now agree with Wecklein in preferring Schnelle's
ἀποτμοτάταν
for
ἀπότομον. This is metrically exact (= 867
δῑ αἰθέρα τεκν‐), and removes the necessity for any conjectural supplement. (The superlative of
ἄποτμος occurs
Hom. Od. 2.219
.)
ὤρουσεν
gnomic aor. (cp.
Soph. OC 1215
κατέθεντὀ.
ἀνάγκαν
a constraining doom from the gods:
Eur. Phoen. 1000
εἰς ἀνάγκην δαιμόνων ἀφιγμένοι.
Cp.
Plat. Laws 716a
ὁ δέ τις ἐξαρθεὶς ὑπὸ μεγαλαυχίας ἢ χρήμασιν ἐπαιρόμενος ἢ τιμαῖς ἢ καὶ σώματος εὐμορφίᾳ, ἅμα νεότητι καὶ ἀνοίᾳ φλέγεται τὴν ψυχὴν μεθ’ ὕβρεως … μετὰ δὲ χρόνον οὐ πολὺν ὑποσχὼν τιμωρίαν τῇ δίκῃ ἑαυτόν τε καὶ οἷκον καὶ πόλιν ἄρδην ἀνάστατον ἐποίησε.
χρησίμῳ … χρῆται
: where it does not use the foot to any purpose: i.e. the leap is to headlong destruction; it is not one in which the feet can anywhere find a safe landing-place. For the paronomasia cp.
Pind. P. 2.78
κερδοῖ δὲ τί μάλα τοῦτο κερδαλέον τελέθει;
“but for the creature named of gain,” (the fox) “what so gainful is there here?”
τὸ καλῶς δ’ ἔχον
but I ask that the god never do away with, abolish, that struggle which is advantageous for the city,—i.e. the contest in which citizen vies with citizen who shall most serve the State. The words imply a recognition of the
προθυμία which Oed. had so long shown in the service of Thebes: cp. 48, 93, 247.
πάλαισμα
cp.
Isoc. Letter 7.7
τοῖς καλῶς τὰς πόλεις τὰς αὑτῶν διοικοῦσιν ἁμιλλητέον καὶ πειρατέον διενεγκεῖν αὐτῶν.
Plut. Mor. 820c
ὥσπερ οὐκ ἀργυρίτην οὐδὲ δωρίτην ἀγῶνα πολιτείας ἀγωνιζομένοις
(the emulous service of the State),
ἀλλὰ ἱερὸν ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ στεφανίτην (like the contests in the great games).
προστάταν
defender, champion: not in the semi-technical sense of ‘patron,’ as in 411.
ὑπέροπτα
adverbial neut. of
ὑπέροπτος [;not
ὑπερόπτα, epic nom. for
ὑπερόπτης, like
ἱππότα];: cp.
Soph. OC 1695
οὔτοι κατάμεμπτ’ ἔβητον,
ye have fared not amiss.
Hom. Il. 17.75
ἀκίχητα διώκων | ἵππους
:
Eur. Supp. 770
ἄκραντ’ ὀδύρει
:
Eur. Phoen. 1739
ἄπειμι … ἀπαρθένευτ’ ἀλωμένα
:
Eur. Ion 255
ἀνερεύνητα δυσθυμεῖ
(hast griefs which I may not explore).
χερσὶν
in contrast with
λόγῳ, merely =
ἔργοις, not ‘deeds of violence ’: cp.
Eur. Phoen. 312
πῶς … | καὶ χερσὶ καὶ λόγοισι … | περιχορεύουσα τέρψιν … λάβω,
find joy in deed and word of circling dance, i.e. in linking of the hands and in song: cp. 864.
Δίκας ἀφόβητος
not fearing Justice: cp. 969
ἄψαυστος ἔγχους, not touching a spear. The act. sense is preferable only because class. Greek says
φοβηθεὶς τὴν δίκην, not
φοβηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς δίκης: the
form of the adj. would warrant a pass. sense: cp.
Soph. Trach. 685
ἀκτῖνος … ἄθικτον.
With
ἄφοβος (
Soph. Aj. 366
)
ἀφόβητος cp.
ἀταρβής (
Soph. Trach. 23
)
ἀτάρβητος (
Soph. Aj. 197
).
ἕδη
images of gods, whether sitting or standing; but always with the added notion that they are placed in a temple or holy place as objects of worship. Timaeus p. 93
ἕδος· τὸ ἄγαλμα καὶ ὁ τόπος ἐν ᾧ ἵδρυται: where
τόπος prob. denotes the small shrine in which an image might stand.
Dion. Hal. 1.47
uses
ἕδη to render
penates. Liddell and Scott s.v. cite the following as places in which
ἕδος ‘may be a
temple ’: but in all of them it must mean
image .
Isoc. 15.2
Φειδίαν τὸν τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἕδος ἐργασάμενον,
i.e. the chryselephantine Athena Parthenos; cp.
Plut. Per. 13
ὁ δὲ Φειδίας εἰργάζετο μὲν τῆς θεοῦτὸ χρυσοῦν ἕδος·
Xen. Hell. 1.4.12
Πλυντήρια ἦγεν ἡ πόλις, τοῦ ἕδους κατακεκαλυμμένου τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς
: i.e. the
ἀρχαῖον βρέτας of Athena Polias in the Erechtheum was veiled in sign of mourning (the death of Aglauros being commemorated at the festival of the Plunteria).
Paus. 8.46.2
φαίνεται δὲ οὐκ ἄρξας ὁ Αὔγουστος ἀναθήματα καὶ ἕδη θεῶν ἀπάγεσθαι παρὰ τῶν κρατηθέντων
(i.e. carry off to Italy): where
ἀναθήματα are dedicated objects generally,
ἕδη images worshipped in temples. Is Sophocles glancing here at the mutilators of the Hermae in 415 B.C., and especially at Alcibiades? We can hardly say more than this:—(i) There is no positive probability as to the date of the play which can be set against such a view. (2) The language suits it, -nay, might well suggest it; nor does it matter that the
Ἑρμαῖ, though
ἀναθήματα (
Andoc. 1.34
), were not properly
ἕδη. (3) It cannot be assumed that the dramatic art of Sophocles would exclude such a reference. Direct contemporary allusion is, indeed, uncongenial to it. But a light touch like this—especially in a choral ode—might fitly strike a chord of contemporary feeling in unison with the emotion stirred by the drama itself. I do not see how to affirm or to deny that such a suggestion was meant here. (Cp.
Soph. OC 1537
n.)
δυσπότμου
miserably perverse:
Soph. Ant. 1025
οὐκέτ’ ἔστ’ … | ἄβουλος οὔτ’ ἄνολβος.
τῶν ἀσέπτων
see on 864.
ἔρξεται
keep himself from:
Soph. OC 836
εἴργου,
“stand back”:
Hdt. 7.197
ὡς κατὰ τὸ ἄλσος ἐγένετο, αὐτός τε ἔργετο αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ στρατιῇ πάσῃ παρήγγειλε.
Plat. Laws 838a
ὡς εὖ τε καὶ ἀκριβῶς εἴργονται τῆς τῶν καλῶν ξυνουσίας.
As to the form, Herodotus has
ἔργω or
ἐέργω: in Attic the MSS. give
Aesch. Eum. 566
κατεργαθοῦ
:
Soph. Aj. 593
ξυνέρξετε
:
Thuc. 5.2
περιέρξαντες
(so the best MSS., and Classen):
Plat. Gorg. 461d
καθέρξῃς
(so Stallb. and Herm., with MSS.):
Plat. Rep. 461b
ξυνέρξαντος
:
Plat. Stat. 285b
ἕρξας.
So far as the MSS. warrant a conclusion, Attic seems to have admitted
ἐρ‐ instead of
εἰρ‐
in the forms with
ξ. The smooth breathing is right here, even if we admit a normal distinction between
εἴργω “to shut out” and
εἵργω “to shut in.”
θίξεται
This conjecture of Blaydes seems to me certain. The form occurs
Eur. Hipp. 1086
κλαίων τις αὐτῶν ἆρ’ ἐμοῦ γε θίξεται
:
Eur. Her. 652
εἰ δὲ τῶνδε προσθίξει χερί.
Hesych. has
θίξεσθαι. L has
έξεται with no breathing. Soph. could not conceivably have used such a phrase as
ἔχεσθαι τῶν ἀθίκτων,
to cling to things which should not even be touched. He himself shows the proper use of
ἔχεσθαι in fr. 327
τοῦ γε κερδαίνειν ὅμως | ἀπρὶξ ἔχονται, ”still they cling tooth and nail to gain “: fr. 26
τὰ μὲν | δίκαῑ ἐπαίνει τοῦ δὲ κερδαίνειν ἔχου. Some explain
ἕξεται as ”abstain “:
Hom. Od. 4.422
σχέσθαι τε βίης λῦσαί τε γέροντα
:
Hdt. 6.85
ἔσχοντο τῆς ἀγωγῆς.
To this there are two objections, both insuperable: (1) the disjunctive
ἤ, —with which the sense ought to be, ”unless he gain etc. …
or else abstain “: (2)
ματᾴζων, which could not be added to
ἕξεται as if this were
παύσεται.
—ματᾴζων, acting with rash folly:
Hdt. 2.162
ἀπεματάϊσε,
behaved in an unseemly manner:
Aesch. Ag. 995
σπλάγχνα δ’ οὔτι ματᾴζει,
my heart does not vainly forebode. The reason for writing
ματᾴζων, not
ματάζων, is that the form
ματαΐζω is well attested (Her., Josephus, Hesych., Herodian): while there is no similar evidence for
ματάζω, though the latter form
might have existed, being related to a stem
ματα (μάτἠ as
δικαζ‐ω to
δικα (δίκἠ.
τίς ἔτι ποτ’ … ἀμύνειν;
Amid such things (if such deeds prevail), who shall any longer vaunt that he wards off from his life the shafts of the gods? The pres.
ἀμύνειν
, not fut.
ἀμυ^νεῖν, because the shafts are imagined as already assailing him.
ἐν τοῖσδ’
:1319:
Soph. Ant. 38
εἰ τάδ’ ἐν τούτοις.
θεῶν βέλη
The MSS. have
θυμῶι, θυμοῦ or
θυμῶ: in A over
θυμῶι βέλη is written
τὴν θείαν δίκην. This points to the true sense, though it does not necessarily presuppose the true reading. The phrase
θυμοῦ βέλη
, “arrows of anger,” could mean, ”taunts hurled by an angry man “; but,
alone, could
not mean, “the arrows of the divine wrath.” The readings of the MSS. might have arisen either through the
ν of
θεῶν being written, as it often is, in a form resembling
μ, and
ω having then been transposed (so that
θυμῶ would have arisen before
θυμῶἰ; or from a gloss
θυμοῦ on
ψυχᾶς. For
βέλη
cp.
Plat. Laws 873e
πλὴν ὅσα κεραυνὸς ἤ τι παρὰ θεοῦ τοιοῦτον βέλος ἰόν.
εὔξεται
This conject. of Musgrave (which Blaydes adopts) involves only the change of one letter from
ἔρξεται
: and nothing would have been more likely than a change of
εὔξεται into
ἔρξεται if the scribe's eye or thought had wandered to
ἔρξεται in 890, especially since the latter is not obviously unsuited to the general sense. But
ἔρξεται
here is impossible. For (1) we cannot render: ”will keep off the shafts from himself, so as to ward them from his life “: this would be intolerable. Nor (2), with Elmsley: ”who will
abstain from warding off the shafts of the soul (the stings of conscience,
ψυχᾶς βέλἠ from his mind
(θυμοὖ? “ i.e. who will not become reckless? This most assuredly is not Greek.
εὔξεται
, on the other hand, gives just the right sense: ”If justice and religion are trampled under foot, can any man dare to boast that he will escape the divine wrath? “
χορεύειν
The words
πονεῖν ἢ τοῖς θεοῖς added in a few MSS. (including L) have plainly arisen from a contracted writing of
πανηγυρίζειν τοῖς θεοῖς which occurs in a few others. This gloss correctly represents the general notion of
χορεύειν, as referring to the
χοροί connected with the cult of Dionysus, Apollo and other gods. The
χορός was an element so essential and characteristic that, in a Greek mouth, the question
τί δεῖ με χορεύειν; would import, “why maintain the solemn rites of public worship?” Cp. Polybius 4. 20 (speaking of the youth of Arcadia)
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς Φιλοξένου καὶ Τιμοθέου νόμους μανθάνοντες (learning the music of those masters)
πολλῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ χορεύουσι κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν τοῖς Διονυσιακοῖς αὐληταῖς ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις, οἱ μὲν παῖδες τοὺς παιδικοὺς ἀγῶνας, οἱ δὲ νεανίσκοι τοὺς τῶν ἀνδρῶν λεγομένους.
Eur. Ba. 181
δεῖ … Διόνυσον … ὄσον καθ’ ἡμᾶς δυνατὸν αὔξεσθαι μέγαν· | ποῖ δεῖ χορεύειν, ποῖ καθιστάναι πόδα, | καὶ κρᾶτα σεῖσαι πολιόν; ἐξηγοῦ σύ μοι | γέρων γέροντι, Τειρεσία.
The Theban elders need not, then, be regarded as momentarily forgetting their dramatic part. Cp. 1095
χορεύεσθαι.
ἄθικτον
cp. the story of the Persian attack on Delphi in 480 B.C. being repulsed by the god, who would not suffer his priests to remove the treasures,
φὰς αὐτὸς ἱκανὸς εἶναι τῶν ἑωυτοῦ προκατῆσθαι,
Hdt. 8.36
.
ὀμφαλόν
see on 480.
τὸν Ἀβαῖσι ναόν
The site of Abae, not far N. of the modern village of Exarcho, was on a hill in the northwest of Phocis, between Lake Copais and Elateia, and near the frontier of the Opuntian Locrians.
Hdt. 8.33
ἔνθα ἦν ἱερὸν Ἀπόλλωνος πλούσιον, θησαυροῖσί τε καὶ ἀναθήμασι πολλοῖσι κατεσκευασμένον· ἦν δὲ καὶ τότε καὶ νῦν ἐστὶ χρηστήριον αὐτόθι· καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἱερὸν συλήσαντες ἐνέπρησαν
(the Persians in 480 B.C.). Hadrian built a small temple beside the ancient
ἱερόν,
Paus. 10.35.3
.
τὰν Ὀλυμπίαν
called by Pindar
δέσποιν’ ἀλαθείας (
Pind. O. 8.2
), because divination by burnt offerings
(μαντικὴ δῑ ἐμπύρων’ was there practised on the altar of Zeus by the Iamidae, hereditary
μάντεις (
Hdt. 9.33
):
Pind. O. 6.70
Ζηνὸς ἐπ’ ἀκροτάτῳ βωμῷ … χρηστήριον θέσθαι κέλευσεν
(Apollo):
| ἐξ οὗ πολύκλειτον καθ’ Ἕλλανας γένος Ἰαμιδᾶν.
εἰ μὴ τάδε ἁρμόσει
if these things (the prophecy that Laius should be slain by his son, and its fulfilment) do not
come right (fit each other),
χειρόδεικτα πᾶσιν βροτοῖς
, so as to be signal examples for all men. Cp.
Soph. Ant. 1318
τάδ’ οὐκ ἐπ’ ἄλλον βροτῶν | ἐμᾶς ἁρμόσει ποτ’ ἐξ αἰτίας,
can never be
adjusted to another, —be
rightly charged on him. Prof. Campbell cites
Plat. Soph. 262c
πρὶν ἄν τις τοῖς ὀνόμασι τὰ ῥήματα κεράσῃ. τότε δ’ ἥρμοσέ τε, κ.τ.λ.,
where I should suppose
ἥρμοσε to be transitive:
ἥρμοσέ τις τοῖς ὀνόμασι τὰ ῥήματα: if so, it is not parallel.
χειρόδ
. only here.
ἀκούεις
audis, alluding chiefly to the title
Ζεὺς βασιλεύς,
Xen. Anab. 3.1.12
; under which, after the victory at Leuctra in 371 B.C., he was honoured with a special festival at Lebadeia in Boeotia,
Dio. Sic. 15.53
. The subject to
λάθοι
is not definitely
τάδε
(902), but rather a motion to be inferred from the whole preceding sentence, — “the vindication of thy word.” Elms. cp.
Eur. Med. 332
Ζεῦ, μὴ λάθοι σε τῶνδ’ ὃς αἴτιος κακῶν.
After
φθίνοντα γὰρ Λαΐου
we require a metrical equivalent for
θεῶν βέλη in 893. The
παλαιά in the marg. of L and in the text of other MSS. favours
παλαίφατα
, proposed by Linwood and Arndt, which suits
φθίνοντα
: cp. 561. Schneidewin conj.
Πυθόχρηστα Λαΐου.
Λαΐου
, object. gen.: cp.
Thuc. 1.140
τὸ τῶν Μεγαρέων ψήφισμα
(
about them).
ἐξαιροῦσιν
are putting out of account. This bold use comes, I think, not from the sense of
destroying (
Xen. Hell. 2.2.19
μὴ σπένδεσθαι Ἀθηναίοις ἀλλ’ ἐξαιρεῖν),
but from that of
setting aside, excluding from consideration:
Plat. Soph. 249b
τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ ταὐτὸν τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν ὄντων ἐξαιρήσομεν,
“by this reasoning we shall strike this same thing out of the list of things which exist.” Cp.
Plat. Theaet. 162d
θεοὺς … οὓς ἐγὼ ἔκ τε τοῦ λέγειν καὶ τοῦ γράφειν περὶ αὐτῶν, ὡς εἰσὶν ἢ ὡς οὐκ εἰσίν, ἐξαιρῶ.
The absence of a gen. like
λόγου for
ἐξαιρουσιν
is softened by
φθίνοντα
, which suggests ”fading from men's thoughts. “
τιμαῖς … ἐμφανής
manifest
in honours (modal dat.): i.e. his divinity is not asserted by the rendering of such worship as is due to him.
Aesch. PB 171
(of Zeus)
σκῆπτρον τιμάς τ’ ἀποσυλᾶται.
τὰ θεῖα
“religion,” both faith and observance: cp.
Soph. OC 1537
.
Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge, UK. 1885.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.