1447-1499: Commos
1
st strophe 1447—1456=1
st antistr. 1462—1471: 2
nd str. 1477—1485=2
nd antistr. 1491— 1499. Each strophe is separated from the next by five trimeters, spoken by Oed. and Ant. At the close of the 2nd antistrophe Theseus enters, and he also has five trimeters. See Metrical Analysis.
The dramatic purpose is to divide the two great scenes of the fourth
ἐπεισόδιον
(1249—1555). Sophocles here shows himself a master of stage-effect in the highest sense. This momentary pause in the action gives a wonderful impressiveness to the sudden signal from heaven (1456).
νέα τάδε … κιγχάνει
. Two views are admissible: I prefer that which is here placed first. (1)
ἦλθέ μοι =
"I have seen come,"
not,
"have come
on me,"
μοιbeing ethic dative (81). The Chorus alludes to the doom pronounced on Polyneices and his brother.
"Here are new ills which I have seen come from the blind stranger,—unless perchance, Fate is finding fulfilment."
Oedipus has often spoken of the fate which pursues his race (964 etc.), and the Chorus correct their first phrase by surmising that haply this fate, not Oedipus, is the real agent of the doom on the brothers. The schol. took
ἦλθέ μοι as a foreboding of the Chorus that they might be
involved in these alien ills: but
μοι seems merely to express sympathy. (2) Others suppose that a low rumbling of thunder was heard immediately after the exit of Polyneices, and that
ἔκτυπεν αἰθήρ in 1456 merely marks the first
loud sound.
νέα τάδε … κακὰ
are then the evils which the Chorus forebode from the
incipient thunder:
ἦλθέ μοι =
"have come
upon me."
εἴ τι μοῖρα μὴ κιγχάνει
is then taken either as before, or thus:—
"if haply
his end is not coming upon him."
To this view we may object:—(
a ) It is much more natural to suppose that the
beginning of the thunder is denoted by
ἔκτυπεν . Each step in the
crescendo of the thunder is marked by words of the Chorus: a second, and louder, peal comes at 1462, a third at 1476. The whole effect of the passage depends on the moralising of the Chorus (1451 ff.) being interrupted by the sudden crash at 1456. (
b ) After the exit of Polyneices, we naturally expect from the Chorus some comment on the father's curse and the son's doom. (
c ) If
νέα κακὰ meant
"new ills"
brought
on the Chorus by Oed., the language would rather imply that they had suffered something else from him before,—which is not the case.
νεόθεν
strengthens
νέα
, and might mean,
"from a new occasion"
(the visit of Polyneices); but it seems more probable that the poet used it merely in the sense of
"newly"
(lit.,
"from a recent moment"
); schol.
νεωστί
. For the form cp.
Il. 7.97
λώβη τάδε γ’ ἔσσεται αἰνόθεν αἰνῶς
,
"with horrors of horrors"
:
ib. 39
οἰόθεν οἶος
,
"singly and alone."
εἴ τι μοῖρα μὴ κιγχάνει
: for
τι =
"perchance,"
cp.
O. T. 124
(n.): the formula
εἴ τι μή
is used in noticing an alternative which occurs to one as an afterthought,
ib. 969.
κιγχάνει
. (The full constr.,
22. 303
"
is overtaking "
(its victims), the acc. being understood, as
Il. 17.671
πᾶσιν γὰρ ἐπίστατο μείλιχος εἶναι
ζωὸς ἐών· νῦν αὖ θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κιχάνει
νῦν αὖτέ με μοῖρα κιχάνει
.) So
11. 451
φθῆ σε τέλος θανάτοιο κιχήμενον
. Wecklein (who reads
κιγχάνῃ
) understands,
"unless fate
prevent them"
(
τὰ κακά
),—as if it were a hope that the curse on the brothers might not be fulfilled. This surely strains the sense of the verb.
ματᾶν
. The MS.
μάτην seems plainly corrupt. The sense is:
"for I cannot say that any decree of deities
is in vain "
:
i.e.
μάτην
must stand for
μάταιον εἶναι
.
Isocr. or. 4 § 5
has
ὥστ’ ἤδη μάτην εἶναι τὸ μεμνῆσθαι περὶ τούτων
(=
μάταιον
): but that does not justify the use of the adv.
alone here. Nor can it go with
φράσαι
. For
ματᾶν cp.
Aesch.
Eum. 142
ἰδώμεθ’ εἴ τι τοῦδε φροιμίου ματᾷ
, "is in vain."
ἀξίωμα
prop.,
"what one thinks right"
; here,
"decree,"
"ordinance"
; in 1459
"request."
Cp.
Dem. or. 18 § 210
τὰ τῶν προγόνων ἀξιώματα
, their political maxims.
φράσαι
: cp.
Aesch.
Ch. 591
.—These words are a comment on the last. Perchance it is Fate that is being fulfilled;
for a heaven-appointed fate
never fails of fulfilment.
πτανά τε καὶ πεδοβάμον’ ἂν ἀνεμοέντων
αἰγίδων φράσαι κότον
ὁρᾷ
. The hiatus is easily avoided by
δ’ (Bergk), but, though somewhat harsh, is excused by the slight pause.
ταῦτ’
=
ἀξιώματα δαιμόνων
. With
στρέφων (for the corrupt
ἐπεί
), the sense is:—
"Watchful, ever watchful of these divine decrees is Time,—
overthrowing some fortunes, and the next day, again, exalting others on high."
Cp.
Eur. fr. 424
μἴ ἡμέρα | τὰ μὲν καθεῖλεν ὑψόθεν, τὰ δ’ ἦρ’ ἄνω.
ὁρᾷ
, as
Ph. 843
τάδε μὲν θεὸς ὄψεται
,
"will look to"
this. Time is the vigilant minister of Fate. The mighty are humbled (as the Labdacidae have been); the lowly, again, are exalted. The last words contain an unconscious hint that the sufferings of Oedipus are well-nigh finished, and that honour is coming to him. At that instant, the thunder is heard.The MS. words
. Wecklein's
ἐπέχων (
ἐπεὶ μὲν ἕτερα … ἄνω
are thus paraphrased by the schol.:
πολλὰ μὲν αὔξων παρ’ ἦμαρ, πολλὰ δὲ εἰς τὸ ἔμπαλιν τρέπων
. This makes it certain that, instead of
ἐπεί , the schol. had some
participle , as the form of the sentence plainly requires. For
στρέφων cp. Eur. fr. 540
φεῦ, τὰ τῶν εὐδαιμονούντων ὡς τάχα στρέφει θεός
. Soph.
Tr. 116
τὸν Καδμογενῆ | στρέφει, τὸ δ’ αὔξει βιότου | πολύπονον
, the troubles of his life now bring reverse, now glory, to Heracles. This was a poetical use of
στρέφω
, which the schol.'s words
εἰς τὸ ἔμπαλιν τρέπων
were meant to explain.
τρέπω
itself was not used alone as=
ἀνατρέπω
, though often in phrases with that sense: cp. the frag. of a satyric drama (Aesch. fr. 304)—of a domesticated pig—
ἣ πολλά γ’ ἐν δόμοισιν εἴργασται κακά,
δονοῦσα καὶ τρέπουσα τύρβ’ ἄνω κάτω
"checking,"
"arresting"
) would agree more closely with the metre of the antistrophe as given by the MSS. (see on
1469
). But
στρέφων requires only the slightest change there, and is metrically preferable on other grounds (see Metrical Analysis): it is also a better contrast to
αὔξων . — The MS.
ἐπεὶ μέν is untranslatable. It has been explained as (1)
"sometimes"
=
ὁτὲ μέν
: (2) by an ellipse of a verb, as
ἔδωκεν
(Hermann). Neither is possible.
ἔκτυπεν
, the epic aor., only here in Attic: elsewhere
ἐκτύπησα
.
πῶς ἄν
: cp. on
1100
.
εἴ τις ἔντοπος
,—other, that is, than the Chorus: some one who could be sent on the errand. Cp. 70, 297.
δεῦρο … πόροι
, cause him to come hither.
.—Cp.
Pind.
Pyth. 3.45
πορεῖν
, to give, is never found as=
πορεύειν
, to make to come (1476): and here the phrase is strictly a compressed one,
"enable me to speak to him, (by bringing him) hither."
But the associations of
πόρος
and
πορεύειν
have doubtless influenced it. Cp.
El. 1267
εἴ σε θεὸς ἐπόρισεν
ἁμέτερα πρὸς μέλαθρα
καί ῥά νιν Μάγνητι φέρων πόρε Κενταύρῳ διδάξαι
(
"gave,"
with the like notion as here of bringing to).
πάντ’
, adv.:
Ai. 911
ὁ πάντα κωφός
:
O. T. 475
n.
τί δ’
, after the voc.: cp. 507.
τἀξίωμ’
: see on
1451
.
πτερωτὸς
:
Verg.
Aen. 5. 319
et ventis et fulminis ocior alis.
ἄξεται
: the fut. midd. here merely=
ἄξει
, for
"cause me to be led"
would be strained. In
Od. 21.322
οὔ τί σε τόνδ’ ἄξεσθαι
ὀϊόμεθ’
(
"wed thee"
), the midd. has its proper special force: cp.
ib. 214. In
Eur.
Hipp. 625
it is doubtful. In
Aesch.
Ag. 1632
etc. it is passive. While the MS. words
ἴδε μάλα μέγας ἐρείπεται correspond with the first verse of the strophe (1447), the second verse here exceeds its strophic counterpart by
uu . Hermann supplied
νέα in the strophe: Heinrich Schmidt omits
ὅδε here. We need not do either. The erasure in L at
μάλα μέγας shows that some disturbance had occurred; and this may have concerned the order of words. If we write
, we get an exact correspondence, without either adding to the strophe or taking from the antistrophe.
μέγας, ἴδε, μάλ’ ὅδ’ ἐρείπεται
κτύπος ἄφατος διόβολος
ἐρείπεται
,
ruit (cp.
Ai. 309
n.); the very sky seems to come down with the crash: so Valerius Flaccus 8. 334
ruina poli
of thunder.
κτύπος … διόβολος
, the noise of a bolt hurled by Zeus: cp. on
710
αὔχημα ...εὔιππον.
ἄκραν
, the tips, not the roots: cp. 1624.
ἔπτηξα
, aor. referring to a moment just past, where we should ordinarily use the pres.:
Ai. 693
ἔφριξ’ ἔρωτι
. Cp.
O. T. 337
n.
θυμόν
, acc. of part affected.
οὐρανία
: schol.
ἀντὶ τοῦ ταχεῖα
. This seems to be merely a marginal note by the
"diorthotes"
of L, not one of the ancient scholia which he copied into the MS.: and I doubt whether it points to a different reading. Rather, probably, it means that the writer took
οὐρανία
as=
"rushing from the sky."
Heinrich Schmidt defends
οὐρανία as
-u- : others deny that such a synizesis is possible. But in
Aesch.
Th. 288
καρδίας
answers metrically to
ἐχθροῖς
(
305
); in his
Suppl. 71
καρδίαν
=the last two syllables of
στυγοῦντες
(
80
); and
ib. 799
καρδίας
=the first two of
γαιάοχε
(
816
). Dindorf cuts the knot in all these places by adopting
κάρζα
, an Aeolic form mentioned in
Etym. M. 407. 21,—surely a most improbable remedy. It is more reasonable to infer that so easy a synizesis as that of
ια was sometimes allowed in the lyrics of Attic drama. Elmsley's
οὐρία (suggested by the schol.'s
ταχεῖα
) is unsuitable here. From Hesych.
ἄργιος· λευκός, ταχύς
, Wecklein suggests
ἀργία , comparing the Homeric
ἀργῆτα κεραυνόν
. If any change were needed, I should prefer
οὐρανῷ .
τί … ἀφήσει τέλος
;
"what end (event) will (the lightning) bring forth?"
For
ἀφιέναι
as=
"to emit,"
"produce from one's self,"
cp. Arist.
Hist. An. 6. 14
ἀφιᾶσι τὸ κύημα,...τῆς θηλείας ἀφιείσης τὸ ᾠόν
. This use, which was common, suggests how the word might be figuratively said of the storm
giving birth to some disastrous issue. We need not, then, seek a correction (as
ἐφήσει
or
ἐφήξει
).
μὰν
,
"verily,"
here nearly=an exclamation, such as
"ah!"
Cp. on
182
. L has
δέδεια τόδ’ , which might easily have grown out of
δέδοικα δ’ (Nauck). The latter is recommended by metre, giving an exact correspondence if in 1454 we read
στρέφων : cp. on
1453
f. With
δέδια τόδ’ it is necessary to suppose a very improbable resolution of
- into
uu ; see Metrical Analysis.
ἀφορμᾷ
,
sc.
ἡ ἀστραπή
,
"rushes forth"
(from the sky),—better here than the
v.l.
ἐφορμᾷ.
ξυμφορᾶς
, not definitely
"misfortune,"
but rather, more generally,
"grave issue."
The thought is merely that something momentous always follows such a storm. Cp.
O. T. 44
τὰς ξυμφορὰς ...τῶν βουλευμάτων
, the issues or effects of counsels.
ὦ μέγας αἰθήρ
is a cry, rather than an address like
ὦ Ζεῦ : yet in
Aesch.
PV 88
, in a direct address, we have
ὦ δῖος αἰθήρ
, followed by the voc.
παμμῆτόρ τε γῆ
.
ἥκει τῷδ’ ἐπ’ ἀνδρί
. We may render the prep.
"upon"
me, but properly it is rather
"against"
me;—the doom, from which there is no
ἀποστροφή
, advances to take him. Cp.
O. T. 509
ἐπ’ αὐτῷ πτερόεσσ’ ἦλθε κόρα
. (Not,
"in my case,"
as
ib. 829.) The conjecture
τῷδε τἀνδρὶ is needless, and impairs the solemnity of the words.
συμβαλὼν ἔχεις
(cp. 817, 1140), hast inferred, a freq. sense of the act. in Attic: Her. in this sense prefers the midd. As
ὦ παῖδες (1472) evidently means the daughters, this v. is rightly given to Antigone; but her question reminds us that she, and she only, had heard Oed. speak of the signs which should announce his end (95).
μοι
, ethic dat.,
"I pray you"
: cp.
O. T. 1512
τοῦτ’ εὔχεσθέ μοι
,
"I would have this to be your prayer."
ἔα
is the cry of one startled by a sight or sound (
Aesch.
PV 298
ἔα· τί χρῆμα λεύσσω
;): only here in Soph.
μάλ’ αὖθις
,
"again, and loudly"
:
El. 1410
ἰδοὺ μάλ’ αὖ θροεῖ τις.
ἀμφίσταται
, because the peals of thunder, now at their loudest, seem to be around them on every side. Cp.
Od. 6.122
ὥστε με κουράων ἀμφήλυθε θῆλυς ἀϋτή
: so
περὶ...ἤλυθ’ ἰωὴ | φόρμιγγος
(17. 261)
,
ἄσημα περιβαίνει βοῆς
(
Ant. 1209
): but the phrase here is more vigorous, suggesting the image of a threatening foe.
διαπρύσιος
, as with
κέλαδος
,
Eur.
Hel. 1308
;
ὀλολυγαί
,
Hom. Hymn. 4.19
: in Homer only as adv.,
ἤϋσεν δὲ διαπρύσιον
(
Il. 8.227
): properly,
"going through"
the ear,
"piercing,"
like
τορός, διατόρος
. For
ὦ δαίμων
cp. on
185
.
ἵλα^ος
(
sc.
ἴσθι
), as usually in Homer, etc., though
ἵλα—ος
also occurs (as
Il. 1.583
,
Hymn. 5. 204,
Hes.
Op. 340
,
Aesch.
Eum. 1040
).
γᾷ ματέρι
, Attica: cp. 707
ματροπόλει τᾷδε
.
Plat.
Rep. 414E
δεῖ ὡς περὶ μητρὸς καὶ τροφοῦ τῆς χώρας ἐν ᾗ εἰσὶ βουλεύεσθαι.
ἀφεγγὲς
, gloomy as the thunder-cloud.
σοῦ τύχοιμι
is a certain correction. With
ἐναισίῳ
(or
‐ου
)...
συντύχοιμι we must still
understand
σοί
(or
σοῦ
); for the version,
"may I meet with a righteous
man ,"
gives a sense which is intolerably weak here.
ἄλαστον ἄνδρ’
, Oedipus. With Homer, this adj. is always the epithet of
πένθος
or
ἄχος
, except in
Il. 22.261
(Achilles),
Ἕκτορ, μή μοι, ἄλαστε, συνημοσύνας ἀγόρευε
,
"
Wretch , prate not to me of covenants,"
—usu. taken as=
"thou whom I cannot forget (or forgive),"
though others render
"madman"
(as if connecting the word with the rt of
ἀλύω
). It is simplest to suppose that the epithet of the
act (537, 1672) is transferred to the
agent ,— the doer of
ἄλαστα
being called
ἄλαστος
in the general sense of
"wretch,"
"accursed one."
ἰδὼν
, since, in the old Greek belief, even casual association with a polluted man was perilous:
Antiph. or. 5 § 82
πολλοὶ ἤδη ἄνθρωποι μὴ καθαροὶ χεῖρας ἢ ἄλλο τι μίασμα ἔχοντες συνεισβάντες εἰς τὸ πλοῖον συναπώλεσαν μετὰ τῆς αὑτῶν ψυχῆς τοὺς ὁσίως διακειμένους τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεούς
. Cp.
Aesch.
Th. 597 ff.
,
Eur.
El. 1354
,
Xen.
Cyr. 8.1.25
,
Hor.
Carm. 3. 2. 26.
ἀκερδῆ χάριν μετάσχ.
, have for my portion an unprofitable recompense (in return for the sympathy shown to Oed.); cp.
Aesch.
PV 544
ἄχαρις χάρις
(
"a thankless favour"
), Soph.
Ai. 665
ἄδωρα δῶρα
.
Pind.
Ol. 1.54
ἀκέρδεια
=disaster (with a similar euphemism). In the verb,
μετά here=
"along with Oedipus,"
"as my share in his curse"
:
χάριν is acc., not gen., because it denotes the share, not the thing shared.
μετέχω
takes (1) gen. of thing shared, (2) acc. of share, (3) dat. of partner: but when (3) is present, (2) is usu. absent, unless equality is affirmed or denied, as
Xen.
Cyr. 7.2.28
εὐφροσυνῶν πασῶν ἐμοὶ τὸ ἴσον μετεῖχε
.
Hiero 2. 7
τούτου
(
τοῦ κακοῦ
)
πλεῖστον μέρος οἱ τύραννοι μετέχουσιν
. In
Aristoph.
Pl. 1144
οὐ γὰρ μετεῖχες τὰς ἴσας πληγὰς ἐμοί
, the dat. depends on
ἴσας
, not on the verb:
"you did not get for your share the same number of blows as I."
(Cp. Dein. or. 1 § 54
τὸ πέμπτον μέρος οὐ μετείληφε τῶν ψήφων
.) The peculiarity here is only in the use of the acc.
alone , without a gen. (as
τῆς ἀρᾶς
).
κιχήσεται
with gen., on the analogy of
τυγχάνειν
. Elsewhere
κιχάνω
always governs acc. We might take
ἐμψύχου … μου
(
sc.
ὄντος
, cp. 83)
καὶ κατορθοῦντος as gen. absol., but this is less probable.
κατορθοῦντος
intrans.,
φρένα
acc. of respect: cp.
ἐξ ὀρθῆς φρενός,
O. T. 528
. The
intrans.
κατορθόω
usu. =
"to succeed"
(
Thuc. 6.12
ἢ κατορθώσαντας,...ἢ πταίσαντας
), but also
"to be right or correct,"
as
Plat.
Legg. 654C
ὃς ἂν τῇ μὲν φωνῇ καὶ τῷ σώματι μὴ πάνυ δυνατὸς ᾖ κατορθοῦν
(in song and dance). The
transitive
κατορθόω
=
"to bring anything to a successful end"
(though, in such cases, the acc. might often be one of respect, and the verb intrans.), or
"to make one successful"
(
El. 416
).
ἐμφῦναι φρενί
. Schol.:
τί τὸ πιστὸν θέλεις ἐμβαλεῖν τῇ φρενὶ ἐκείνου, τῇ τοῦ Θησέως δηλονότι; ἀντὶ τοῦ, τί βούλει πιθανὸν ἀνακοινώσασθαι τῷ Θησεῖ
; This proves that
φρενί is at least as old as the ancient scholia in L, and also that the schol. had either
ἐμφῦναι , or, as Herm. infers from
ἐμβαλεῖν,
ἐμφῦσαι
. Many recent critics have held that
φρενί has come in from 1487. So far as the mere
repetition is an argument, we must be cautious in applying it: cp. 70 f., and n. on 554. The sense must be either:—
"And what is
the pledge which thou wouldst have fixed (1) in
his mind?"
—
i.e.
"What is it that thou wouldst tell him in confidence, under his pledge of secrecy?"
—or else (2)
"in
thy mind?"
—
i.e.
"what promise wouldst thou obtain from him before death?"
Here (2) is recommended by the fact that the
φρήν
is then the same in both vv. Nor is the reply of Oed. (1489) inconsistent with it; since the fulfilment of his promise (580) to Theseus involves a pledge from Theseus to keep the secret (1530). It is, of course, possible that Soph. wrote
ἐμφῆναι ξένῳ , or the like: but the vulgate is at least defensible. For the pause in sense after
εὖ , cp. 52, 288, 610,
El. 1036
,
Aesch.
Eum. 87
.
τελεσφόρον χάριν
, a requital (1484) fraught with fulfilment (of my promise).
σφιν
is most naturally taken here, with the schol., as=
, where
σφιν should refer to
αὐτῷ
, seeing that vv. 1486 f. refer to Theseus alone; though it is tenable as=
αὐτοῖς
,
i.e. Theseus and his people. The evidence for
σφιν as dat. sing. is slender; but in
Hom. Hymn. 19.19
σὺν δέ σφιν
ought to mean
σὺν Πανί
, and in
Hymn. 30. 9
we have
βρίθει μέν σφιν ἄρουρα φερέσβιος, ἠδὲ κατ’ ἀγροὺς
κτήνεσιν εὐθηνεῖ, οἶκος δ’ ἐμπίπλαται ἐσθλῶν
ὁ δ’ ὄλβιος
shortly before, and the subject to
εὐθηνεῖ
seems clearly to be
the man , not
ἄρουρα
. As to
Aesch.
Pers. 759
, it is a case exactly parallel with ours here:
i.e.
σφιν would most naturally refer to Xerxes alone, but
might refer to Xerxes and his advisers (
τοῖς προτρεψαμένοις
schol.). In
Pind.
Pyth. 9.116
, again,
σφιν
might mean Antaeus and his family. Lycophron 1142 seems to have meant
σφι
for
αὐτῷ
, as the schol. thought. On the whole, it appears unsafe to deny that poetry sometimes admitted the use.
τυγχάνων
=
ὅτε ἐτύγχανον
(
ὧν ᾔτησα
), cp. 579 ff. The absol. use is made easier by
ἀνθ’ ὦν ἔπασχον εὖ
.
εἴτ’ ἄκρα … ἱκοῦ
. On this corrupt passage, see Appendix. Reading
ἄκρα | περὶ γύαλ’ for
ἄκραν | ἐπὶ γύαλον , I take the sense to be:
. It would apply to the depressions between the gentle eminences of this
"
or if (
εἴτ’ ), in the furthest recesses of the glade, for the honour of the Poseidonian sea-god, thou art hallowing his altar with sacrifice, (yet) come."
The precinct of Poseidon at Colonus was large enough for an ecclesia to be held within it (
Thuc. 8.67
). It included the
ἄλσος
and
ναός
mentioned by
Paus. I. 30 § 4
. (See Introd.) The word
γύαλον
,
"a hollow,"
was oft. used in the plur. of hollow
ground , valleys, or dells: cp.
Aesch.
Supp. 550
Λύδιά τ’ ἄγ γύαλα
καὶ δῑ ὀρῶν Κιλίκων
στερνούχου χθονός
(691),—as
e.g. between the two neighbouring knolls at Colonus (cp. 1600).
ἄκρα περὶ γύαλα means that the altar of Poseidon is in the part of the large
τέμενος
furthest from the Chorus. When Theseus left the scene (1210), his purpose was to send the suppliant Polyneices from this same altar to Oedipus (cp. 1349). The Chorus surmise that Theseus may have stayed at the altar to complete his interrupted sacrifice (888). In 1491
εἴτ’ should perh. be
εἴγ’ , but is intelligible if we suppose the thought to be,—Come (if thou art near, and at leisure),—
or if thou art sacrificing, nevertheless quit the altar, and come.
βούθυτον
proleptic with
ἁγίζων ; to sacrifice on the altar
is to
"hallow"
it. Cp.
Aristoph.
Av. 1232
μηλοσφαγεῖν τε βουθύτοις ἐπ’ ἐσχάραις
κνισᾶν τ’ ἀγυιάς.
ἑστίαν
=
βωμόν
(888, 1158):
Aesch.
Th. 275
μήλοισιν αἱμάσσοντας ἑστίας θεῶν.
Ποσειδωνίῳ θεῷ
=
Ποσειδῶνι
, not really like
ὁ Βακχεῖος θεός
(
O. T. 1105
),
"the god of
(cp. 678), but somewhat similar to the Homeric
Βάκχοι"
βίη Ἡρακληείη
, etc. Perhaps
Ποσειδωνίαν (with
ἑστίαν
): cp.
Pind.
N. 6. 46
Ποσειδάνιον ἂν τέμενος
.
ἐπαξιοῖ
: lit.
"he
deems thee, thy city, and thy friends
worthy (of a recompense),—
that he should make a due return , after receiving benefits."
The constr. is of the same class as
χρῄζω στόματος
(instead of
στόμα
)
προσπτύξασθαι
(
Eur.
Med. 1399
),
i.e. the inf. is added epexegetically, outside of the construction with the principal verb (cp. 752
ἁρπάσαι
, 1212
ζώειν
). This is, however, a peculiarly bold example, since we should have expected
δικαίας χάριτος
. Against the conject.
σοι καὶ πολίταις καὶ φίλοις
, remark that the strophic v. (1482) has no spondee.
πόλισμα
in Attic prose usu. implies a town of the
smaller kind, as
Thuc. 4.109
(of Thracian tribes)
κατὰ δὲ μικρὰ πολίσματα οἰκοῦσι
. But
Eur.
Med. 771
has
ἄστυ καὶ πόλισμα Παλλάδος
,
"the
town and
stronghold of Pallas"
(Athens),
Bacch. 919
πόλισμ’ ἑπτάστομον
(Thebes): so it is used of the grand Cloud-city (
Aristoph.
Av. 553
,
1565
): and Her. applies it to Ecbatana (1. 98).
παθών
does not require us to
supply anything: it is strictly,
"for treatment received,"
χάριν
sufficing to mark that this treatment was good. Cp.
1203.
Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. 1899.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.