1670-1750: Commos
1
st str. 1670 —1696=1
st antistr. 1697—1723. 2
nd str. 1724—1736=2
nd antistr. 1737—1750. See Metrical Analysis.
αἰαῖ, φεῦ
. To delete
φεῦ here seems a less probable remedy than to supply
τοι in 1697, where the neighbourhood of
καὶ may have caused its loss.
ἔστιν ἔστι νῷν δή
. The passage is simple if it is only remembered that
οὐ τὸ μέν, ἄλλο δὲ μή is an adverbial phrase, equivalent to
παντελῶς
.
"It is indeed for us twain
in no incomplete sense to bewail the accurst blood of our father which was born in us, hapless that we are."
While he lived, they suffered with him. Now, his fate has snatched him from them in strange and terrible sort, leaving them destitute.
οὐ τὸ μέν, ἄλλο δὲ μή
(
:
Plat.
Rep. 475B
, etc. The idiom strikingly illustrates three tendencies of Greek; (1) love of antithesis, (2) love of parataxis, (3) the tendency to treat whole clauses as virtually adverbs (cp.
μή
, instead of
οὐ
, because it goes with the inf.
στενάζειν
),
"not in
one respect merely, with the exception of some other"
; not merely
partially. This phrase is frequent where the notion of
completeness or
universality is to be brought out with greater emphasis than would be given by the mere use of
πᾶς
or like words.
Aesch.
Pers. 802
συμβαίνει γὰρ οὐ τὰ μὲν τὰ δ’ οὔ
,
i.e.
"for our disasters are complete."
Her. 1.139
οὐ τὰ μέν, τὰ δ’ οὔ, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὁμοίως
: so
id. 2. 37
:
Phocylides fr. 1
Λέριοι κακοί, οὐχ ὁ μέν, ὃς δ’ οὔ, | πάντες
:
Eur.
Phoen. 1641
οὐ γὰρ τὸ μέν σοι βαρὺ κακῶν, τὸ δ’ οὐ βαρύ,
ἀλλ’ εἰς ἅπαντα δυστυχὴς ἔφυς, πάτερ
οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅπως οὐ, οἶδ’ ὅτι
, etc.).
ἔμφυτον
,
"planted in us at our birth"
: whereby they are sharers in the hereditary
ἀρά
on the Labdacid race.
ἄλαστον
: cp. on
1482
.
αἷμα
, as kinsfolk are of the same
"blood"
: cp.
Eur.
Phoen. 246
κοινὸν αἷμα, κοινὰ τέκεα
:
O. T. 1406
αἷμ’ ἐμφύλιον
, an incestuous kinship.
ᾧτινι
, dat. of interest, for whom: cp.
508
τοῖς τεκοῦσι γὰρ | οὐδ’ εἰ πονεῖ τις
. As making the sense of
πόνον clearer, the dat. is preferable to the nom. dual,
ὥτινε (Badham).
τὸν πολὺν
: for the art. cp. on
87
.
ἐν πυμάτῳ
,
"at the last,"
i.e.
"at his death,"
as opp. to
ἄλλοτε μέν ,
i.e.
"during his life."
ἀλόγιστα
, things which baffle
λογισμός
, things which transcend human reason. As
ἰδόντε shows, the reference is to the mysterious manner of their father's death, while
παθούσα marks their loss by that death.
παροίσομεν
can only be explained with Hermann, as=
"we shall bring forward,"
"allege."
"And
we shall have to tell of things baffling reason, as seen and suffered by us at the end."
This will seem less strained, I think, if we observe that Antigone need not be supposed to know of the
Messenger's narrative. She may believe that she is bringing the Chorus the first intelligence of the event; and, if so,
ἀλόγιστα παροίσομεν would be no unsuitable preface. This view agrees with the next words of the Chorus, who ask
τί δ’ ἔστιν ; as if uncertain what she means; and
βέβηκεν ; as if they did not
know that Oedipus was gone. They do not wish to check the flow of her sorrow, to which utterance will be a relief. Cp.
Eur.
I. A. 981
αἰσχύνομαι δὲ παραφέρουσ’ οἰκτροὺς λόγους
,
"advancing a plea to pity"
(unless
"bringing
in "
be preferable).
Her. 9.26
καὶ καινὰ καὶ παλαιὰ παραφέροντες ἔργα
,
"citing"
(as claims).—We cannot render
παροίσομεν
"we shall suffer beside"
(over and above our former sufferings), since the reference is to the fact of their bereavement, not to its prospective consequences.—Though the phrase is certainly strange, yet the defence indicated above may at least avail in arrest of judgment. If
παροίσομεν were to be altered, I should be disposed to suggest
ἐπεράσαμεν (
"we have gone through,"
cp.
περᾶν κίνδυνον
etc.). The more obvious
ἄπορ’ οἴσομεν
and
ἀπορήσομεν
are barred by the context.
ἰδόντε καὶ παθούσα
. The difficulty is to explain how, if
παθόντε originally stood here, it was changed in the MSS. to
παθούσα , when
ἰδόντε (which metre requires) was more likely to cause an opposite change. I therefore leave
παθούσα in the text. And it is important to notice that a similar combination of forms (both attested by metre) occurs in an Attic inscription of about the second cent. B.C., edited by Kaibel,
Epigr. 1110:
.— Cp.
Eur.
Andr. 1214
λευκοῖσιν φάρεσσι καλυψαμένα χρόα καλὸν
ἀθανάτων μετὰ φῦλον ἴτον προλιπόντ’ ἀνθρώπους
Αἰδὼς Εὐνομίη τε
ὦ κακὰ παθὼν ἰδών τε
.—See Appendix. The Chorus ask,
"And what is it?"
She replies,
ἔστιν μὲν εἰκάσαι ,
"we may
conjecture "
(
τὸ δὲ σαφὲς οὐδεὶς οἶδε
). Cp. Eur. fr. 18
δοξάσαι ἔστι, κόραι· τὸ δ’ ἐτήτυμον οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν
. So
1656
μόρῳ δ’ ὁποίῳ κεῖνος ὤλετ’ οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς | θνητῶν φράσειε
. Better thus than,
"
you can guess."
—The MS.
οὐκ ἔστιν μὲν =
"we cannot conjecture."
(Not,
"I can
liken my grief to no other,"
as Bellermann: schol.
οὐδὲ εἰκόνα ἔχω λαβεῖν τοῦ πάθους
.)
οὐκ
requires us to omit
μέν or else to alter v. 1704, where see n.
ὡς μάλιστ’ ἂν ἐν πόθῳ λάβοις
, as thou mightest most desire (that he should pass away).
λαμβάνειν τι ἐν πόθῳ
, to take a thing into one's desires, to conceive a wish for it; cp.
Ant. 897
ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφω
:
ἐν ὀργῇ ἔχειν τινά
(
Thuc. 2.21
). For
λαμβάνειν
of mental conception, cp. 729.—The MS.
εἰ (for
ἐν ) seems a mere mistake. The construction
ὡς μάλιστα ἂν πόθῳ λάβοις, εἰ
(
λάβοις
) is intolerable here.
τί γάρ, ὅτῳ
:
"How else, when he,"
etc. For the causal use of the relat. see on
263
.
μήτ’ Ἄρης μήτε πόντος
. His death was
sudden , yet not
violent. Death in battle and death by drowning are taken as types of the death which is both sudden and violent. Schol.:
. Hence the conjecture
νοῦσος , a form which the Attic poets nowhere use. Wecklein's
πυρετὸς is too specific (as if one said,
ᾧτινι μήτε πόλεμος μήτε νόσος ἐπῆλθεν
. This certainly looks as if he read something else than
πόντος . Cp.
Ant. 819
οὔτε φθινάσιν πληγεῖσα νόσοις
οὔτε ξιφέων ἐπίχειρα λαχοῦσ’
"neither the War-God, nor typhoid"
). I think that I can suggest the true solution. The schol.'s
νόσος
was a paraphrase of
πόνος , a corruption of
πόντος which actually appears in the Vatican MS. here.
ἄσκοποι … πλάκες
, the
"viewless fields"
of the nether world (cp. on
1564
).
φερόμενον
, pass., is clearly right, "borne away," helping
ἔμαρψαν to express sudden and swift disappearance.
Plat.
Phaedo 98B
ἀπὸ δὴ θαυμαστῆς ἐλπίδος... ᾠχόμην φερόμενος
,
"from what a summit of hope was I hurled
headlong "
:
Rep. 496 D
ἐν χειμῶνι κονιορτοῦ καὶ ζάλης ὑπὸ πνεύματος φερομένου
. The midd.
φερόμεναι , as
"carrying off to themselves,"
would be somewhat strange, and also much less forcible.
ὀλεθρία νὺξ
: cp.
O. T. 1222
κατεκοίμησα τοὐμὸν ὄμμα
, I have closed my eyes (as in death),—said, as here, in despairing grief.
ἀπίαν γᾶν
, some distant land, the Homeric
)α^πίη γαίη
(
Il. 1.270
etc.). If the regular quantity,
)α^πίαν , is to be kept here, we must read
τόσον
, with Arndt, for
τοσόνδ’
, in 1712. But
τοσόνδ’
is there confirmed by metre (see Metrical Analysis). In this word
α— is not found elsewhere. But, by a converse license,
Ἀπία
(see on
1303
) had sometimes
α^
in later epos; and if, in poetical usage, the quantity of
Ἀπία
could thus be affected by association with
ἀπίη
, it is conceivable that the influence should have been reciprocal.
ἀλώμεναι
with acc. of space traversed, as
Ai. 30
πηδῶντα πεδία.
δύσοιστον
, not
‐ου
, since
βίου — τροφάν
form one notion; cp.
Ant. 793
νεῖκος— ἀνδρῶν ξύναιμον
.
κατὰ … ἕλοι
=
καθέλοι
: so 1709
ἀνὰ...στένει
(cp.
O. T. 199
n.).
φόνιος
here=
"deadly,"
in a general sense, as
O. T. 24
(n.)
φοινίου σάλου
(of the plague). In this and some following passages the correspondence of strophe and antistrophe has been disturbed by interpolations, and also omissions, in the MSS. A
κομμός
of this kind was peculiarly liable to corruption by the actors, and that has doubtless been one of the causes at work. (Cp. on
1737
.) At some points it is now impossible to restore the text with certainty; but the whole extent of the mischief is small. In dealing with such points we can only use caution, and clearly recognise the doubtful nature of the ground.—On this passage, see note in Appendix. The words
πατρὶ ξυνθανεῖν γεραιῷ
are not suspicious in themselves (though Nauck demurs to calling a dead man
.
γεραίος
); but they are in metrical excess of 1715 f. Now, if
ξυνθανεῖν γεραιῷ is omitted,
πατρί must go also, or else be altered. For
ἕλοι πατρί could not mean "take
for " (
i.e. to join)
"my father."
I prefer to leave
πατρὶ ξυνθανεῖν γεραιῷ , and to suppose a lacuna after 1715. The sense is:
"may deadly Hades lay me low (
Cp.
Ai. 516
καθέλοι"
), so that I may share the death of mine aged sire.καὶ μητέρ’ ἄλλη μοῖρα τὸν φύσαντά τε
καθεῖλεν Ἅιδου θανασίμους οἰκήτορας
γ’ ὁ μέλλων
is struck out by some. But it suits the sense, and it also fits the antistrophic metre, if in 1718 we add
τὰς (with Hermann) before
πατρός , —an addition probable in itself.
The MSS. give
τὸ φέρον ἐκ θεοῦ καλῶς φέρειν χρή . There has certainly been an interpolation, equivalent to
uu- . (1) Some reject the words
φέρειν χρή . Then
τὸ φέρον ἐκ θεοῦ καλῶς must be taken with
φλέγεσθον :
"As to the fortune sent by heaven for your good,
be not too passionate in grief"
(pass.): or, if with Herm. the verb is made midd.,
"do not
inflame the trouble sent for your good"
(cp. the act. in
Ai. 196
ἄταν οὐρανίαν φλέγων
). So, if the MS.
μηδ’ ἄγαν is kept,
μηδ’ =
"do
not on your part "
(Herm.,
"
etiam non debet vos tam vehementer urere"
). But
μηδὲν ἄγαν or
μηδ’ ἔτ’ ἄγαν (see cr. n.) gives in this case a clearer sense. (2) Wecklein, with whom I agree, rejects
καλῶς and
χρή , keeping
φέρειν . Then
τὸ φέρον ἐκ θεοῦ φέρειν =
"
bear the fate from heaven,"
the inf. standing for imperat., a use fitting in such a precept (
O. T. 1529
). The origin of the interpolated words is thus clear:
χρή explained the use of the inf., while
καλῶς was meant to fix the sense of
φέρειν , lest
τὸ φέρον should obscure it.
τὸ φέρον ἐκ θεοῦ
,=the fortune from the god.
τὸ φέρον
in this sense admits of two explanations. (1)
:
"
That which brings "
good or evil. This view seems confirmed by the analogy of
fors ,
fortuna (
ferre ):
Ter.
Ph. 1. 2. 88
quod fors feret, feremus
:
Cic.
Att. 7. 14
ut fors tulerit
, etc. (2)
"
That which carries "
or
"
leads "
us forward, in a course which we cannot control (cp.
ἡ ὁδὸς φέρει ἐκεῖσε
, and like phrases). This view might seem to be supported by the epigram of Palladas (c.
400 A.D. ) in
Anthol. P. 10. 73
ᾗ τὸ φέρον σε φέρει, φέρε καὶ φέρου· εἰ δ’ ἀγανακτεῖς,
καὶ σαυτὸν λυπεῖς, καὶ τὸ φέρον σε φέρει
"as Fortune bears thee on, bear, and be borne; but if thou chafest, thou vexest thine own soul, and (none the less) she bears thee on."
There, however,
σε φέρει
is said for the sake of a play on the word, and hardly warrants an inference as to the way in which
τὸ φέρον was usually understood.—The conjecture
τὸ παρὸν (cp. 1540) would be plausible only if there were reasons for thinking that
τὸ φέρον in this sense was a phrase of postclassical date. The MS.
μηδ’ ἄγαν οὕτω answers to
λήγετε τοῦδ’ in
1722
. The question is, Are we (1) to compress the former, or (2) to expand the latter? Dindorf and others prefer (1), and so eject
οὕτω , reading
μηδ’ ἔτ’ (or
μηδὲν )
ἄγαν ,=
λήγετε τοῦδ’
. This view agrees with the metre, and is adopted by Heinrich Schmidt (see Metr. Analysis). If, on the other hand,
οὕτω is kept here, then Hermann's
λήγετ’ <ἤδη> τοῦδ’ is the simplest supplement in 1722. For Wecklein's conjecture
λήγετ’ <αἰνοῦ> τοῦδ’ (
Ars Soph. emendandi p. 81), it may be said that
νοῦ
might have dropped out before
τοῦ
: cp.
Ai. 706
αἰνὸν ἄχος
.
οὔτοι κατάμεμπτ’ ἔβητον
,
"ye have fared not blameably"
: ye cannot justly complain of the destiny which has removed your father, in old age, by a painless death (cp. 1678).
κατάμεμπτα
, neut. pl. as adv.: cp. on
319
.
βαίνειν
does not occur elsewhere in a strictly similar use, for we cannot compare the
perf.
εὖ βεβηκώς
(
El. 979)
as=
"
placed well,"
"prosperous."
But there is at least some analogy in such figurative uses of it as
Eur.
Her. 625
ἁ δ’ ἀρετὰ βαίνει διὰ μόχθων
, the path of virtue lies through troubles;
H. F. 630
ὧδ’ ἔβητ’ ἐπὶ ξυροῦ;
"had ye come into such peril?"
Ph.20
σὸς οἶκος βήσεται δῑ αἵματος
,
"will pass through deeds of blood"
:—where a certain course of
fortune is expressed. Indeed, the metaphor is so easy and natural as hardly to demand special warrant in the case of
βαίνω
:
e.g.
O. T. 883
εἰ δέ τις ὑπέροπτα χερσὶν ἢ λόγῳ πορεύεται
(
"walks haughtily"
). I hold, then, that no suspicion of the text can fairly be founded on
ἔβητον . But the scholium in L is:—
οὔτοι κατάμεμπτος ἔβη
:
οὐκ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔσται
[Elmsley
ἐστὲ
]
ὥστε καταμέμφεσθαι· ἤτοι ὡς ἂν ἐπικουφίζοντος αὐταῖς τὴν συμφορὰν τοῦ βασιλέως
(Theseus).
ἢ οἷον, οὐκ ἐν χείρονι νῦν ὑμῖν ἔσται τὰ πράγματα
. Does the lemma point to another reading? I do not think so. Papageorgius points out (
Krit. und palaeogr. Beiträge z. d. alt. Sophoklesscholien , p. 59) that
ἔβη
was probably a mere slip, by the scholiast who copied the old scholia into L, for
ἔβητ
(
ἔβητον
), while
κατάμεμπτος
was a like error for
καταμέμπτως
. On the strength of this schol., however, (1) Nauck conjectured
οὔτοι κατάμεμπτος αἶσα : (2) Hartung,
οὔτοι κατάμεμπτ’ ἔβη γάρ : (3) M. Schmidt,
οὔτοι κατάμεμπτ’ ἀπέσβη , which Wecklein adopts, citing Bekk.
Anecd. 422
ἀπέσβη· ἐσβέσθη ἢ ἐπαύσατο, τέθνηκεν
. But the word would ill suit the swift passing of Oed.: it rather suggests a gradual extinction of life: cp.
Eur.
Med. 1218
1
χρόνῳ δ’ ἀπέσβη καὶ μεθῆχ’ ὁ δύσμορος | ψυχήν
.
< τοι>
: see on
1670
.
ἄρ’ ἦν
. The impf. of
new perception:
"there was such a thing, then"
(all the time), though I did not know it before:
Ph. 978
ὅδ’ ἦν ἄρα | ὁ ξυλλαβών με
: Eur. fr. 807
μέγιστον ἆρ’ ἦν ἡ φύσις
:
Plat.
Gorg. 508C
ἃ Πῶλον αἰσχύνῃ ᾤου συγχωρεῖν, ἀληθῆ ἄρα ἦν
,
"were true all the time."
(Distinguish the impf. of
previous admission: ib. 478 C
οὐ...τοῦτ’ ἦν εὐδαιμονία
,
"happiness, we agreed, was not this."
) The MS.
τὸ φίλον φίλον can only mean:
"that which is in no way
But the article is unendurable here, making her say, in effect, that her former duty was not
the ideal of what is pleasant. It came in to patch the metre, when
ἦν had dropped out. For
τὸ φίλον"
(was)
φίλον
.μηδαμά
instead of
οὐδαμά
cp. 73: for the neut. pl. form, 1104.
τὸν
=
αὐτόν
: cp. 742.
ὦ φίλος
: for the nom. cp. on
185
.
Join
τὸν ἀεὶ κατὰ γᾶς σκότον
, the eternal darkness beneath the earth: there is no warrant for
τὸν ἀεί
with ellipse of
χρόνον
as=
"for ever"
(cp. 1584).
εἱμένος
:
Pind.
N. 11. 15
:
Xen.
Cyr. 6.4.6
θνατὰ μεμνάσθω περιστέλλων μέλη,
καὶ τελευτὰν ἁπάντων γᾶν ἐπιεσσόμενος
ἐπομνύω...βούλεσθαι ἂν...γῆν ἐπιέσσασθαι μᾶλλον ἢ ζῆν
.
οὐδέ γ’ ἔνερθ’
is Wecklein's correction of the corrupt
οὐδὲ γέρων . In Linwood's
οὐδὲ γὰρ ὣς (which Hartung and Blaydes adopt),
γάρ will refer to her addressing him as
ὦ φίλος
(1700). We might also conjecture
οὐδ’ ἐκεῖ ὢν ,
"not even in that other world"
(
Ai. 1372
κἀκεῖ κἀνθάδ’ ὤν
): for the hiatus cp. 1720
ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ὀλβίως.
οὐδὲ γέρων
yields no intelligible sense. (1)
"Even though thou
wast old at the time of thy death."
(2)
"Even though thou
art old in Hades,"
—the dead being supposed to remain such as they were at the time of death. (3)
"Even when they memory is old"
—
i.e. after the lapse of years. This last is untenable: while neither (1) nor (2),—which Campbell blends by rendering
"Even old as thou wast (or art),"
—seems appropriate. She could hardly say that they would still love him
though he had been so long with them, and had died at a ripe age. The first
ἔπραξεν is itself an argument for the second. A simple repetition is more fitting than
ἐξέπραξεν . Cp. on
1677
. Cp.
Ai. 966
.
ἐμοὶ πικρὸς τέθνηκεν ἢ κείνοις γλυκύς,
αὑτῷ δὲ τερπνός· ὦν γὰρ ἠράσθη τυχεῖν
ἐκτήσαθ’ αὑτῷ, θάνατον ὅνπερ ἤθελεν
εὐσκίαστον
: cp. on
406
.
Pind.
P. 11. 21
Ἀχέροντος ἀκτὰν παρ’ εὔσκιον.
πένθος … ἄκλαυτον
: lit.
.
"he did not leave behind him a mourning unhonoured by tears,"
—
i.e. he is duly mourned by weeping friends, as the spirits of the dead desired. Solon fr. 21
μηδέ μοι ἄκλαυτος θάνατος μόλοι, ἀλλὰ φίλοισιν
ποιήσαιμι θανὼν ἄλγεα καὶ στοναχάς
In
τόδ’ ἐμὸν ὄμμα δακρῦον ἀναστένει
, it is truer to regard
ἐμὸν ὄμμα as a periphrasis for
ἐγώ
than
ἀναστένει as a mere synonym for
"mourns."
Cp.
Ai. 139
πεφόβημαι | πτηνῆς ὡς ὄμμα πελείας
,
ib. 977
ὦ φίλτατ’ Αἴας, ὦ ξύναιμον ὄμμ’ ἐμοί
.
τὸ σὸν ἄχος
, grief for thee: cp. 419 n.
ἀφανίσαι
, do away with, overcome (not,
"conceal"
).
τόσον
, Arndt's correction of
τοσόνδ’ , would give us the normal
)α^πίαν in
1685
(n.)
.
ὤμοι
is Wecklein's correction of
ἰὼ μή . That
μή was an error for
μοι had already been surmised by some old corrector (see cr. n.). Hermann defended
μή by taking it with
ἔχρῃζες as=
"would that thou hadst not wished"
—an unheardof construction (cp. on
540
). He took
ἔρημος ὧδέ … μοι
as=
"lonely, just as thou wast, for me,"
—
i.e. in his wanderings before he had found Attic friends; since, if he had died while still alone with her, she could have given him burial herself.—With
ὤμοι render:—
"Ah me, it was thy
wish to die in a strange land (and so far thy death is well): but thus (by this manner of death) thou hast died
forlorn in regard to me "
(
μοι ethic dat.). She means,
"I have had no opportunity of rendering thee the due rites, and now I do not know the place of thy grave, so as to make the
Hence her passionate desire to find his grave (1724 ff.), which Theseus with difficulty allays by reminding her of his solemn promise (1760). The preparatory offices rendered at 1602 f. could not be viewed as taking the place of a daughter's tribute to the dead. Like 1410, this trait serves to recall the special manifestation of her piety in the earlier play.—Not merely:—
ἐναγίσματα"
at it. "It was your wish; but it was sad for me to see you die
forlorn ,"
—
i.e. in exile. Though
ἐπὶ ξένης
, he was
not in this sense
ἔρημος ,—he who, in his own words, had
"Athens and all her people"
for his friends (772).—Cp. 1705
ἆς ἔχρῃζε...ἔθανε
. The repetition of one phrase in no way justifies Dindorf's rash hypothesis of interpolation here (see cr. n.). Here, the wish is connected with a painful thought; there, with a soothing one. Mention of the wish itself might most naturally recur in a lament. 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.
ἔλυσε τὸ τέλος … βίου
, lit.,
"closed the end of life,"
a pleonasm which blends
ἔλυσε βίον
and
ἀφίκετο τὸ τέλος βίου
: so Eur.
El. 956
τέλος κάμψῃ βίου
instead of the simple
κάμψῃς βίον
(
Helen. 1666). The phrase
λύειν βίον
occurs
Eur.
I. T. 692
,
καταλύειν βίοτον
Suppl. 1004.
λήγετε
: cp. on
1694
.
κακῶν δυσάλωτος
, hard for calamity to capture. Every mortal is an easy prey to misfortune. The gen. as 1519:
Ai. 910
ἄφρακτος φίλων
,
Ant. 847
φίλων ἄκλαυτος
,
ib. 1034
μαντικῆς | ἄπρακτος
. In prose a prep. would usu. be added, as
Xen.
Ages. 8. 8. 8
τείχη ἀνάλωτα...ὑπὸ πολεμίων
. — Cp.
Shaksp.
Hen. VI. Pt. iii. 1. 4. 115
"their woes,
whom fortune captivates. "
πάλιν … συθῶμεν
, hasten back (601) to the neighbourhood of the
καταρράκτης ὀδός
(1590).—
ὡς τί ῥέξομεν ; ὡς
with the fut. indic., depending on
συθῶμεν
, is the object-clause after a verb implying effort:
Xen.
Cyr. 3.2.13
ὡς δὲ καλῶς ἕξει τὰ ὑμέτερα, ἐμοὶ μελήσει
. With the fut. indic., however,
ὅπως
is much commoner than
ὡς
. The MS. text of this verse does not answer metrically to 1739. Bergk and Gleditsch alter both verses (see cr. n.). Hermann, whose remedy is simplest, leaves this v. intact, and in 1739 reads
ΧΟ. καὶ πάρος ἀπέφυγε ΑΝ. τί ; See
n. there.
τὰν χθόνιον ἑστίαν
, the home, resting-place, in the ground (1763
θήκεν ἱεράν
). Oedipus had himself spoken in her hearing of the
ἱερὸς τύμβος
(1545) where he was to rest.
θέμις … τάδ’
: cp. 883:
O. T. 1329
.
μῶν οὐχ ὁρᾷς
; dost thou not see for thyself that it cannot be?—since Oedipus solemnly forbade it (1529, 1640).
μῶν οὐ
is a strong
nonne? (
Aesch.
Suppl. 417
,
Eur.
Med. 733
,
Plat.
Polit. 291D
, etc.).
ἐπέπληξας
,
sc.
μοι
:
"what is this reproof of thine to me?"
καὶ τόδ’
still depends on
οὐχ ὁρᾷς;
μάλ’ αὖθις
: cp. 1477.
ἔπιτνε
, impf., must be either (1)
"was appointed to perish,"
or (2)
"was perishing"
when we last saw him. (2) seems best.
δίχα τε παντός
,
"apart from all"
:
i.e. without any eye-witness (save Theseus).—Better thus than,
"in a manner different from all other men."
—Ismene opposes her sister's desire as (1) unlawful, and (2) impossible.
ἄγε με
.
"Lead me (to the spot where we last saw our father), and then slay me
also ."
In
ἐπενάριξον the prep.=
"in addition"
(
i.e. to my father).
Not ,
"slay me
at his grave "
(
Eur.
Hec. 505
κἄμ’ ἐπισφάξαι τάφῳ
). She could not intend this after Ismene's words
ἄταφος ἔπιτνε
, to which she had been attentive. Cp. Ismene's wish, 1689. The MS.
ποῖ δῆτ’...ἕξω
has been defended in two ways, neither of which is satisfactory: (1) by an ellipse of
μολοῦσα
: (2) as=
"until
when ?"
As in 383 (n.) we should read
ὅπου
for
ὅποι
, and in 335 (n.)
ποῦ
for
ποῖ
, so here I feel sure that
ποῦ is right. It suits the sense better than the
v.l.
πῇ , besides being closer to the MSS. The
v.l.
ἄξω , (which would justify
ποῖ ,) is plainly a mere corruption of
ἕξω
.
αὖθις
, lit.,
"now again,"
i.e. after this new turn in our unhappy fortunes. 1737 - 1750
In these verses the utterances usually assigned to Antigone all turn on her anxiety as to a refuge, and her desire to return to Thebes. Such feelings, at this moment, are more in harmony with the character of Ismene (cp. 1735). Antigone is at present absorbed in the yearning to visit her father's tomb, or at least the spot where she last saw him alive (1724). When Theseus appears, it is this wish which she instantly presses on him. Only when it has been put aside does she think of a return to Thebes (1769).
Ought we, then, to read
ΙΣ.
for
ΑΝ.
throughout vv. 1737—1750? This has been suggested by Bergk. I may observe that the Laur. MS. leaves the question open. At 1730 it has
ΑΝ.
before
τί τόδ’ ἐπέπληξας
. After that, there is no indication of any person, but only short lines (-), until at 1741
ΑΝ.
again stands before
φρονῶ
. The next words,
τί δῆθ’
etc., have
ΧΟ.
before them: but after that no person is indicated till 1751, where
ΧΟ.
(instead of
ΘΗ.
) is erroneously placed before
παύετε
.I am disposed to think that Sophocles wrote the words for Ismene, but that the fourth-actor difficulty had led to a fluctuation of stage-practice, which helps to account for the ambiguity of the MS. tradition. See the note on the Dramatis Personae. If the part of Ismene,
after v. 509, was ever taken by a
κωφὸν πρόσωπον
, there may then have been a wish to keep her part in this scene as small as possible. Similarly at 1689 ff. there is a doubt as to which sister ought to have the words
οὐ κάτοιδα...βιωτός
.
φύγω
: cp. on
170
.
The MS.
ἀπεφεύγετον is most simply corrected to
ἀπεφύγετον . But then we must either (1) add
τί δή , and expand v.
1726
, as Bergk and Gleditsch do (cr. n.
ad l. ): or (2), leaving v. 1726 intact, suppose that vv. 1739, 1740 are spoken by the Chorus without any interpellation by Antigone. This, however, is improbable, and also injurious to the point of v. 1740. Further, with
ἀπεφύγετον
, v. 1740 has a construction which makes the order of the words harsh, viz.: —
"Ye escaped,"
τὸ μὴ τὰ σφῷν πίτνειν κακῶς
,
"so that your affairs should not fall out ill"
(
Xen.
Anab. 1.3.2
Κλέαρχος μικρὸν ἀπέφυγε μὴ καταπετρωθῆναι
). I therefore incline to Hermann's
ἀπέφυγε ΑΝ. τί ;
"Long ago
there was an escape "
—
ΑΝ.
"For what?"
[lit.
"
what escaped?"
]—
ΞΗ.
"
For your fortunes , from falling out ill."
The merits of this reading are:—(1) it leaves v. 1725, which seems quite sound, unaltered: (2) by making
τὰ σφῷν nom. to
ἀπέφυγε , it smooths v. 1740. It may be added that, with
ἀπεφύγετον , v. 1740 is somewhat pointless, since the mere allusion in
τὰ σφῷν to Creon's attempt is too vague to answer Antigone's
τί ; ("
what did we escape?"). Most
"escapes"
are escapes from
"one's affairs falling out ill."
φρονῶ
, I am conscious of that, —
"I know it well,"
—in quick and grateful response to their allusion. Theseus and the men of Attica had indeed rescued her and her sister in their extremity. Not,
"I am thinking...,"
for (
a ) the question
τί δῆθ’ refers back to her
ποῖ φύγω ; and (
b ) some acknowledgement was due to their reminder.—The MS.
ὑπερνοεῖς , as Hermann saw, is corrupt. The compound, which occurs only here, could not mean (1)
"why art thou too anxious?"
(Wunder): nor (2)
"what
further hast thou in thy thoughts?"
—Hermann's
ὑπεννοεῖς is a compound used by Aelian
Var. Hist. 4. 8 as=
"to have a secret thought or purpose."
But the word seems scarcely appropriate in regard to thoughts which, far from hiding, she is in the act of uttering. Graser's
ὅπερ νοεῖς is so far closer to the MSS. that
υ for
ο would be an easier mistake than
ρ for
ν.
ὅπως μολούμεθ’
:
"how we are to return to Thebes, I know not"
:—for Oedipus had predicted that both her brothers would soon fall in the war (1373), and Creon, the next heir to the throne, was no friend. This continues the thought
ποῖ φύγω; (1737). The interposed words of the Chorus did not touch her difficulty.
μηδέ γε μάτευε
:
"No, (thou canst not return to Thebes,) nor seek to do so,"
—but stay in Attica under the protection of Theseus.
μόγος ἔχει
,
sc.
ἡμᾶς.
ἐπεῖχε
,
"bore hardly on you,"
sc.
ὑμῖν
or
ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς
: for
μόγος ἐπεῖχεν ὑμᾶς
would mean,
"restrained you."
The MS.
ἐπεί doubtless arose from a contraction of
ἐπεῖχε . The sense of
ἐπῄει ,
"was coming on you,"
would be less apt; and the preceding
ἔχει also confirms
ἐπεῖχε .
τοτὲ μὲν … ὕπερθεν
. Whitelaw:
"Oh then past cure, but worst is now grown worse."
The neut. plur. is most simply taken as adverb (319), referring to
μόγος ἐπεῖχε
: though we might also construe,
ἄπορα
(
ἦν τὰ ἡμέτερα
).
τοτὲ μὲν … τοτὲ δέ
, "at one time" (
i.e. while Oed. lived)... "at another time" (
i.e. now that he is dead).
ὕπερθεν
, hyperbolic, since
ἄπορα already=
"hopeless"
: cp. fr. 188
ὦ πᾶν σὺ τολμήσασα καὶ πέρα, γύναι
.
πέλαγος
, without
κακῶν
or the like, is excused by the familiarity of this metaphor in Greek: cp. on
663
.
φεῦ, φεῦ
. Dindorf substitutes
αἰαῖ , because he supposes the latter to have generated the
ναὶ ναί
which, with the words
ξύμφημι καὐτός
, he ejects (see cr. n.). But so common a form as
αἰαῖ was not very likely to be thus corrupted. It is simpler to suppose that the ejected phrase was a mere interpolation, perhaps due to actors.
ἐλπίδων γὰρ ἐς τίν’
: lit.,
"(we may well ask whither we are to go,)
for towards what remaining (
ἔτι ) hope of (all possible) hopes is fate now urging us?"
What hope now remains for us, in the course on which we are driven? For
ἔτι , which here is virtually equiv. to an adj.
λοιπήν
, cp. 865
τῆσδε τῆς ἀρᾶς ἔτι.
ἐλπίδων
in its good sense, rather than neutral or sinister (
"bodings"
): cp.
El. 958
ποῖ γὰρ μενεῖς ῥᾴθυμος, ἐς τίν’ ἐλπίδων
βλέψασ’ ἔτ’ ὀρθήν
Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. 1899.
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