1211-1248: Third stasimon
Third stasimon. (1) Strophe 1211—1224 = antistr. 1225— 1238. (2) Epode 1239—1248. See Metrical Analysis.—The old men of Colonus comment on the folly of desiring that life should be prolonged into years at which man's strength is
"but labour and sorrow."
The helpless and afflicted stranger before them suggests the theme, which serves to attune our sympathy, as the solemn moment of his final release draws nearer.
ὅστις τοῦ πλέονος μ. χρῄζει
, whoever desires the ampler portion,
ζώειν
(epexeg. inf.) that he should live (through it),
παρεὶς
, having neglected,
i.e. not being content,
τοῦ μετρίου
(
χρῄζειν
), to desire a moderate portion:
i.e. ,
"whoever desires the larger part (of the extreme period allotted to human life), and is not satisfied with moderate length of days."
χρῄζ
. with gen., as
Ai. 473
τοῦ μακροῦ χρῄζειν βίου
, which also illustrates the art. with
πλέονος
: cp.
O. T. 518
οὔτοι βίου μοι τοῦ μακραίωνος πόθος
. For
χρῄζ. τοῦ πλ. μ., ζώειν , instead of
χρῄζ. ζώειν τὸ πλέον μέρος , cp. 1755:
Plat.
Crito 52B
οὐδ’ ἐπιθυμία σε ἄλλης πόλεως οὐδ’ ἄλλων νόμων ἔλαβεν εἰδέναι
.
παρείς
, if sound, must be construed in one of two ways: (1) as above, which is best: or (2) in Hermann's way,
παρεὶς τοῦ μετρίου
(
χρῄζων
)
ζώειν
,
"negligens vivere modicam partem expetens,"
scorning to live with desire of a modest span only. Others make it govern
μετρίου
,
"neglecting the moderate portion,"
and for the gen. Campbell quotes
Plat.
Phaedr. 235 E
παρέντα τοῦ ... ἐγκωμιάζειν
. Liddell and Scott give the same citation along with this passage, which they render,
"letting go one's hold of moderation,"
i.e. giving it up. But the active
παριέναι
never governs a gen. (in the nautical
παριέναι τοῦ ποδός
,
"to slack away the sheet,"
the gen. is partitive): and a reference to
Plat.
Phaedr. 235 E
will show that
τοῦ
has nothing to do with the inf., but is masc. The passage runs:—
τίνα οἴει λέγοντα ὡς χρὴ μὴ ἐρῶντι μᾶλλον ἢ ἐρῶντι χαρίζεσθαι, παρέντα τοῦ μὲν τὸ φρόνιμον ἐγκωμιάζειν, τοῦ δὲ τὸ ἄφρον ψέγειν, ἀναγκαῖα γοῦν ὄντα, εἴτ’ ἄλλ’ ἄττα ἕξειν λέγειν
;
i.e. ,
"if he omitted to praise the sense
of the one (
τοῦ μέν"
, the non-lover), and to blame the folly of
the other (
τοῦ δέ
, the lover).Hartung explains his
τὰν μετρίου παρεὶς |
ζωάν
as
"neglecting the life of moderate span"
(
sc.
μέρους
). Though the phrase
τὸ μέτριον παρείς
(
"in neglect of due limit"
) occurs in
Plat.
Legg. 691C
(quoted by Wunder), it seems very doubtful whether
παρεὶς is sound here. The conjecture
πέρα (Schneidewin) is possible, but derives no real support from the fact that
παρὰ τὸ καίριον καὶ τὸ μέτριον
occurs in the schol.'s loose paraphrase. Verrall ingeniously proposes
παρὲκ , which, however, does not occur in Tragedy. Possibly
τοῦ μετρίου
προθεὶς
,
"in preference to the moderate portion."
σκαιοσύναν
, perversity, folly: cp.
Ant. 1028
αὐθαδία τοι σκαιότητ’ ὀφλισκάνει.
φυλάσσων
, cleaving to:
Eur.
Ion 735
ἄξῑ ἀξίων γεννητόρων | ἤθη φυλάσσεις
. Cp. 626, 1180.
ἐν ἐμοὶ
,
me iudice ,
ἐν denoting the tribunal, as
O. T. 677
(n.)
ἐν...τοῖσδ’ ἴσος
, "just in their sight":
Plat.
Legg. 916B
διαδικαζέσθω δὲ ἔν τισι τῶν ἰατρῶν
.
αἱ μακραὶ | ἁμέραι
, the long days (of any given long life),
πολλὰ μὲν δὴ κατέθεντο
are wont (gnomic aor.) to lay up full many things,
λύπας
somewhat near to grief:
i.e. advancing years are apt to accumulate around men a store of cares, regrets, sorrows,—in brief, a store of things which are nearer to pain than to joy; while in the mean time the joys of earlier days have vanished.
λύπας ἐγγυτέρω
is a sort of euphemism: cp.
Ant. 933
οἴμοι, θανάτου τοῦτ’ ἐγγυτάτω | τοὔπος ἀφῖκται
,
"this word hath come very nigh unto death"
—
i.e. threatens imminent death.The middle
) —
Not , "oft (
κατατίθεσθαι
is continually used in Attic of
"
storing up ,"
— either literally, as
καρπούς, θησαυρούς, σῖτον
,—or figuratively, as
χάριν, κλέος, φιλίαν, ἔχθραν
. Therefore I would not render
κατέθεντο simply,
"
set down ,"
as if the meaning were that many things, once
"near to joy,"
are moved by the years, and set down nearer to grief; though this view is tenable. (Cp.
Aristoph.
Ran. 165
Δ. τὰ στρώματ’ αὖθις λάμβανε.
Ξ. πρὶν καὶ καταθέσθαι;
πολλὰ
) lay up griefs (
λύπας
acc. pl.) nearer (us)."
οὐκ ἂν ἴδοις ὅπου
(
sc.
ἐστί
, as
Ai. 890
ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν ὅπου
): cp.
Aesch.
Eum. 301
τὸ χαίρειν μὴ μαθόνθ’ ὅπου φρενῶν
,
"knowing not where to find joy in thy soul."
τοῦ δέοντος
(Reiske) is indicated by the schol. in L,
τοῦ μετρίου, τοῦ ἱκανοῦ
, and is, I think, true. The phrase,
ὅταν πέσῃ τις ἐς πλέον τοῦ δέοντος , means,
"
when one has lapsed into excess of due limit "
in respect of prolonged life,
i.e. when one has outlived those years which alone are enjoy able, and at which the line of the
μέτριον μέρος
(1212) is drawn.
πέσῃ
(cp.
πίπτειν εἰς κακά
, etc.) suggests a joyless decline of life, with decay of the faculties.The vulgate
τοῦ θέλοντος would be gen. of
τὸ θέλον
(see on
267
):
"when a man has lapsed into excess of wish,"
i.e. of wish
for prolonged life; not, of
self-indulgence; for the whole gist of the passage is that joy is left behind by simply living on: the satiety of jaded appetite (which can befall the young) is not in point here. Assuredly
τοῦ θέλοντος in this context is not Greek. Blaydes, reading
τοῦ σθένοντος , explains,
"when a man has outlived his strength"
: but could
πέσῃ ἐς πλέον τοῦ σθ
. mean, "live to a point of time beyond
τὸ σθ. "?
ὁ δ’ ἐπίκουρος ἰσοτέλεστος
,
"and the succourer (
i.e. , the deliverer from life's troubles) comes at the last to all alike,"
— when the doom of Hades has appeared, —
"namely, Death at the end."
The man who is to attain
long life has the same
end before him as the man of shorter span,— viz. death; the only difference is that the long-lived man has to go through years of suffering which the other escapes, until death comes to him as a welcome
ἐπίκουρος
. Cp.
Ai. 475
τί γὰρ παρ’ ἦμαρ ἡμέρα τέρπειν ἔχει,
προσθεῖσα κἀναθεῖσα τοῦ γε κατθανεῖν;
"what joy is there in the sequence of the days,—now threatening, now delaying—
death? "
ἰσοτέλεστος
might be defended as act.,
"
making an end for all alike,"
(see examples on 1031,) but is better taken as pass., lit.,
"
accomplished for all alike,"
i.e.forming the
τέλος
for them. The phrase
τέλος θανάτοιο
was in the poet's mind, and has blended itself with the image of a personal deliverer. (Cp. on
O. T. 866
, 1300.)—Whitelaw takes
ἰσοτέλεστος (as pass.) with
μοῖρα , a doom paid alike by all;
i.e. all are
ἰσοτελεῖς
in paying the tribute of their lives to Pluto. This may be right; but the accumulation of epithets on
μοῖρα
becomes somewhat heavy, while
ἐπίκουρος
is left in a long suspense.
ἀνυμέναιος
: to death belongs the
. So Aesch. (
Suppl. 681) calls war
θρῆνος
, not the joyous song of the marriage procession, or the music of the lyre, with dancing: cp.
Eur.
I. T. 144
θρήνοις ἔγκειμαι,
τᾶς οὐκ εὐμούσου μολπᾶς
ἀλύροις ἐλέγοις
ἄχορον ἀκίθαριν δακρυογόνον Ἄρη
: cp.
Eur.
Tro. 121
ἄτας κελαδεῖν ἀχορεύτους
:
Aesch.
Eum. 331
ὕμνος ἐξ Ἐρινύων
...
ἀφόρμικτος
.
ἀναπέφηνε
, hath
suddenly appeared:
Il. 11.173
:
1
ἅς τε λέων ἐφόβησε μολὼν ἐν νυκτὸς ἀμολγῷ
πάσας· τῇ δέ τ’ ἰῇ ἀναφαίνεται αἰπὺς ὄλεθρος
"he turns all to flight, and to one of them sheer death appeareth
instantly. "
Cp.
ἀνακύπτω
.
μὴ φῦναι τὸν ἅπ. νικᾷ λόγον
, lit.,
"Not to be born
exceeds every possible estimate ,"
—of the gain, as compared with the loss, of being born.
ὁ ἅπας λόγος
is strictly,
the whole range of possible appreciation: for the art. with
ἅπας
cp.
Thuc. 6.16
περὶ τῶν ἁπάντων ἀγωνίζεσθαι
, for
the sum of their fortunes:
ib. 6
τὴν
ἅπασαν δύναμιν τῆς Σικελίας
,
the total power. Rate the gain of being born as high as you please; the gain of
not being born is higher. Two other ways are possible:—(1)
"Not to be born
excels the whole account ,"
—
i.e. excels all the other things (joys, sorrows, of life) that come into account. The drawback to this is the somewhat strained sense of
λόγον . (2)
"
Stands first on the whole reckoning ,"
(
τὸν ἅ. λόγον
being cogn. acc., or acc. of respect)—
i.e. when a balance is struck between the good and the evil of being born. This seems too cold and cautious for the context.The form hints that Soph. was thinking of the verses of Theognis (425 ff.) which the schol. quotes, without naming that poet, as familiar (
.
Diog. Laert. 10. 1. 126
quotes Epicurus as censuring these lines, and remarking that a man who really thought so ought to quit life,—
. Alexis (Midd. Com.,
350 B.C. )
.
τὸ λεγόμενον
):—
πάντων μὲν μὴ φῦναι ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἄριστον,
μηδ’ ἐσιδεῖν αὐγὰς ὀξέος ἠελίου,
φύντα δ’ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας Ἀΐδαο περῆσαι
καὶ κεῖσθαι πολλὴν γῆν ἐπιεσσάμενον
ἐν ἑτοίμῳ γὰρ αὐτῷ τοῦτ’ ἔστιν
.
Cic.
Tusc. 1. 48. 115
Non nasci homini longe optimum esse, proximum autem quam primum mori
: where he translates the lines of Eur. (fr. 452)
ἐχρῆν γὰρ ἡμᾶς σύλλογον ποιουμένους
τὸν φύντα θρηνεῖν εἰς ὅσ’ ἔρχεται κακά·
τὸν δ’ αὖ θανόντα καὶ πόνων πεπαυμένον
χαίροντας εὐφημοῦντας ἐκπέμπειν δόμων
Μανδραγοριζομένη
1. 14
οὐκοῦν τὸ πολλοῖς τῶν σοφῶν εἰρημένον,
τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι μὲν κράτιστόν ἐστ’ ἀεί,
ἐπὰν γένηται δ’, ὡς τάχιστ’ ἔχειν τέλος
ἐπεὶ φανῇ
, when he has been born, cp. 974: for subj., 395.
The MS.
βῆναι
κεῖθεν ὅθεν περ ἥκει
is usu. defended as an instance of
"attraction"
; but it is harsher than any example that can be produced. Thus in
Plat.
Crito 45B
πολλαχοῦ μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἄλλοσε ὅποι ἂν ἀφίκῃ ἀγαπήσουσί σε
, where
ἄλλοσε
stands for
ἄλλοθι
by attraction to
ὅποι
, it is not preceded by a verb answering to
βῆναι here. Who could say,
ἀπελθὼν ἄλλοσε
(for
ἄλλοθεν
)
ὅποι ἂν ἀφίκῃ
, if he meant,
"having departed
from another place, whithersoever you may have come"
? So, here,
βῆναι κεῖθεν ὅθεν περ ἥκει surely could not mean,
"to go
to that place whence he has come."
βῆναιand
ἥκει being thus sharply opposed, each verb requires its proper adverb. I should prefer to read
κεῖσ’ ὁπόθεν , as Blaydes proposed. Cp. Tennyson,
"The Coming of Arthur,"
(of man's destiny,)
"From the great deep to the great deep he goes."
πολὺ δεύτερον
: easily the second-best thing:
Thuc. 2.97
ἡ βασιλεία
(
ἡ τῶν Ὀδρυσῶν
)...
τῶν...ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπῃ μεγίστη ἐγένετο χρημάτων προσόδῳ,...ἰσχύϊ δὲ μά‐
χης καὶ στρατοῦ πλήθει πολὺ δευτέρα μετὰ τὴν τῶν Σκυθῶν
(where
"easily second"
suits the context better than
"decidedly inferior"
).
πολὺ
with compar., as
Il. 6.158
πολὺ φέρτερος
,
Thuc. 1.35
πολὺ...ἐν πλείονι αἰτίᾳ
, etc. (but
πολλῷ...πρῶτον
Ant. 1347
).
ὡς εὖτ’ ἂν … καμάτων ἔνι
; The first point to decide in this vexed passage is:—Does Sophocles here speak of
τὸ νέον as a brief space of
joy before the troubles of life begin? Or is
τὸ νέον itself the period of fierce passions and troubles? The former, I think. Cp.
Ai. 552 ff.
.
Tr. 144
, etc.
2
καίτοι σε καὶ νῦν τοῦτό γε ζηλοῦν ἔχω,
ὁθούνεκ’ οὐδὲν τῶνδ’ ἐπαισθάνει κακῶν.
ἐν τῷ φρονεῖν γὰρ μηδὲν ἥδιστος βίος,
ἕως τὸ χαίρειν καὶ τὸ λυπεῖσθαι μάθῃς.
… τέως δὲ κούφοις πνεύμασιν βόσκου, νέαν
ψυχὴν ἀτάλλων
τὸ γὰρ νεάζον ἐν τοιοῖσδε βόσκεται
χώροισιν αὑτοῦ, καί νιν οὐ θάλπος θεοῦ,
οὐδ’ ὄμβρος, οὐδὲ πνευμάτων οὐδὲν κλονεῖ,
ἀλλ’ ἡδοναῖς ἄμοχθον ἐξαίρει βίον
παρῇ
, then, must be taken from
παρίημι
, not from
πάρειμι
, unless we are prepared to write
φέρει
, and boldly to alter
τις πλάγχθη , etc. For
παρῇ ("remit,""give up"), cp.
Eur.
Tro. 645
παρεῖσα πόθον
:
Plat.
Rep. 460E
ἐπειδὰν τὴν ὀξυτάτην δρόμου ἀκμὴν παρῇ
.
τίς πλαγὰ
(Herwerden) is the best correction yet proposed for the MS.
τις πλάγχθη . Cp.
Aesch.
Pers. 251
ὡς ἐν μιᾷ πληγῇ κατέφθαρται πολὺς | ὄλβος
:
Eum. 933
πληγαὶ βιότου
. For other interpretations and conjectures see Appendix.
φθόνος
(see cr. n.), the root of so much evil, is more naturally placed before
στάσεις , while
φόνοι is more fitting as a climax than at the beginning of the list.
κατάμεμπτον
,
"disparaged,"
because often spoken of as dreary (cp.
ὀλοῷ ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ, γήραϊ λυγρῷ
, etc.).
Shaksp.
As You Like It 2. 3. 41
"When service should in my old limbs lie lame, And unregarded age, in corners thrown."
ἐπιλέλογχε
,
"next (
Cp.
Pind.
O. 1. 53
ἐπι‐"
) falls to his lot.ἀκέρδεια λέλογχεν θαμινὰ κακαγόρος
(Dor. acc. pl.),
"sore loss hath oft come on evil-speakers,"
a
gnomic perf., as here. Here, too, we might understand
τὸν ἄνθρωπον
: but the verb seems rather to be intrans., as oft.
λαγχάνω
:
Eur.
Hel. 213
αἰὼν δυσαίων τις ἔλαχεν, ἔλαχεν
:
Od. 9.159
ἐς δὲ ἑκάστην | ἐννέα λάγχανον αἶγες
,
"fell to the portion of each ship"
:
Plat.
Legg. 745D
καθιερῶσαι τὸ λαχὸν μέρος ἑκάστῳ τῷ θεῷ
. The ellipse of the object here is made easier by the notion which the verb conveys,
"'tis the turn of old age next."
—Not:
"he obtains old age next."
ἀκρατές
,
"weak"
: Eustath. 790. 92
ἀκρατὲς ἐκεῖνός φησιν, οὐ τὸ ἀκόλαστον, ἀλλα τὸ ποιοῦν πάρεσιν, ὡς μὴ ἔχοντα τὸν γέροντα κρατεῖν ἑαυτοῦ
. So Hesych.
s.v. , quoting Eur. in the lost
Aeolus. Cp.
Ph. 486
καίπερ ὢν ἀκράτωρ ὁ τλήμων, χωλός
. Perhaps an Ionic use of
ἀκρατής
, for Hippocr. has it in this sense (
Aph. 1247
): in Attic
prose it always means
"without control"
over passion or desire (
impotens ). For
ἄφιλον placed after
γῆρας
, cp.
Ph. 392
n.
κακὰ κακῶν
,
"ills of ills,"
=
"worst of ills"
:
O. T. 465
ἄρρητ’ ἀρρήτων
(n.).
ξυνοικεῖ
: cp.
1134.
βόρειος ἀκτὰ
, a shore exposed to the north wind, and so lashed by the waves (
κυματοπλὴξ ) which that wind raises
χειμερία , in the stormy season. Cp.
Ant. 592
στόνῳ βρέμουσιν ἀντιπλῆγες ἀκταί
(in a like comparison). So
Tr. 112
πολλὰ γὰρ ὥστ’ ἀκάμαντος ἢ νότου ἢ βορέα τις | κύματ’ … ἴδοι
(of the troubles of Heracles).
κατ’ ἄκρας
, "utterly," in the sense of "violently": perh. with a reminiscence of
Od. 5.313
3
ὡς ἄρα μιν εἰπόντ’ ἔλασεν μέγα κῦμα κατ’ ἄκρης
, "the great wave smote down on him" (Odysseus on his raft): in
Ant. 201
πρῆσαι κατ’ ἄκρας
(of destroying a city).
κυματοα—γεῖς
, breaking like billows.
Compare this poet. indication of the four points of the compass with the prose phraseology in
Xen.
Anab. 3.5.15,
πρὸς ἕω, πρὸς ἑσπέραν, πρὸς μεσημβρίαν, πρὸς ἄρκτον.
ἀνὰ μέσσαν ἀκτῖν’
=
"in the region of the noon-tide ray,"
i.e. these waves of trouble are supposed to be driven by a south wind (cp.
Tr. 112
, n. on 1240).
*(πιπᾶν
.
Arist.
Meteor. 1.13
(Berl. ed. 350
b 6)
ὑπ’ αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν ἄρκτον ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐσχάτης Σκυθίας αἱ καλούμεναι *(πῖπαι, περὶ ὧν τοῦ μεγέθους λίαν εἰσὶν οἱ λεγόμενοι λόγοι μυθώδεις
. It is fortunate that this passage is extant, showing, as I think it does beyond all reasonable doubt, that Soph. here named the Rhipaean mountains,
"beyond utmost Scythia,"
as representing the
North. Aristotle's words prove that the name
*(πῖπαι
for these mountains was thoroughly familiar. Cp. Alcman of Sparta (660 B.C.) fr. 51 (Bergk),
*(πίπας, ὄρος ἔνθεον
(
ἀνθέον
Lobeck)
ὕλᾳ, | Νυκτὸς μελαίνας στέρνον
. Hellanicus (circ. 450 B.C.) fr. 96 (Müller)
τοὺς δὲ Ὑπερβορέους ὑπὲρτὰ Ῥίπαια ὄρη οἰκεῖν ἱστορεῖ
. Damastes of Sigeum (his younger contemporary) fr. 1
ἄνω δ’ Ἀριμασπῶν τὰ *(πίπαια ὄρη, ἐξ ὦν τὸν βορέαν πνεῖν, χιόνα δ’ αὐτὰ μήποτε ἐλλείπειν· ὑπὲρ δὲ τὰ ὄρη ταῦτα Ὑπερβορέους καθήκειν εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν θάλασσαν
. For the age of Sophocles, these mountains belonged wholly to the region of myth, and so were all the more suitable for his purpose here. The Roman poets, too, used the
"Rhipaei montes"
to denote the uttermost North (
Verg.
Geo. 1. 240
, etc.). The name
Ῥῖπαι
was only
ῥιπαί
,—the
"blasts"
of Boreas coming thence.
ἐννυχιᾶν
, wrapped in gloom and storm: cp. 1558.
Others, not taking
ῥιπᾶν as a name, render: (1)
"From the nocturnal blasts,"
— but this would not sufficiently indicate the
north. (2)
"From the vibrating starrays of night,"
like
El. 105
παμφεγγεῖς ἄστρων | ῥιπάς
. But there would be no point in saying that troubles come on Oedipus from the
West , the
East , the
South , and—
the stars. There is, indeed, a secondary contrast between the
brightness of the South and the
gloom of the North; but the primary contrast is between the
regions.Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. 1899.
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