1751-1779: Closing episode
θρῆνον
, not
θρήνων , is clearly right. The 2nd per.
sing. imper.,
παῦε , is the only part of
παύω
which is used intransitively by the classical Attic writers,—being, in fact, an exclamation (like our
"
stop! "
), though sometimes joined with a gen. (
παῦε τοῦ λόγου
,
Aristoph.
Ran. 580
). No weight can be given to the fact that L has
θρήνων here, since it has it also in 1778 (see cr. n.). !-- need upsilon with a breve -->
ξύν’ ἀπόκειται
for the MS.
ξυ^ναπόκειται is (I think) right. The literal sense is:—
ἐν οἷς γὰρ
"for in a case where"
(
neut. pl. ),
χάρις ἡ χθονία "the kindness shown by the
χθόνιοι,
"
ξύν’ ἀπόκειται "is stored up as a common benefit" (
ξυνά
, neut. pl. as adv.),—common, namely, to Oedipus and the Athenians. That is:—
"By the death of Oedipus, the Powers below have given
him the everlasting rest which he desired, and
us the abiding safeguard which he promised"
(
i.e. his grave). To mourn here would be to provoke the deities who have ordered all things well for him and for us.—
ἀπόκειται
, is laid up in store: cp.
[Dem.] or. 23 § 42
τὸ τῆς συγγνώμης ὠφέλιμον...ὅτῳ ποτὲ τῶν πάντων ἀπόκειται ἄδηλον ὄν
, it being uncertain for whom the benefit of compassion
is laid up ,—
i.e. , who may need to draw upon it.
Dem. or. 18 § 198
ὅτῳ τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀτυχήματα ἐνευδοκιμεῖν ἀπέκειτο
,
"a man to whom the disasters of his countrymen were a fund of material for self-glorification."
In the literal sense,
Xen.
Anab. 2.3.15
αὐταὶ δὲ αἱ βάλανοι τῶν φοινίκων, οἵας μὲν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, τοῖς οἰκέταις ἀπέκειντο, αἱ δὲ τοῖς δεσπόταις ἀποκείμεναι ἦσαν
. For
ξυνά (adv.) cp.
Ant. 546
μή μοι θάνῃς σὺ κοινά
,
along with me:
Ai. 577
τὰ δ’ ἄλλα τεύχη κοίν’ ἐμοὶ τεθάψεται
.—The schol. found the passage
ἀσαφές
, but saw part of the general sense:
νέμεσις γάρ ἐστι τοῦτον θρηνεῖν ᾧ τὰ τῆς τελευτῆς κατὰ χάριν ἀπέβη
. See Appendix.
νέμεσις γάρ
,
sc.
πενθεῖν ἐστί
: it is provocative of divine anger to mourn, as if insensible of the divine beneficence.
Il. 14.80
οὐ γάρ τις νέμεσις φυγέειν κακόν
,
"'tis no matter for indignation that one should flee from ill"
:
Od. 1.350
τούτῳ δ’ οὐ νέμεσις...ἀείδειν
:
Arist.
Rhet. 2.9.11
ἐὰν οὖν ἀγαθὸς ὢν μὴ τοῦ ἁρμόττοντος τυγχάνῃ, νεμεσητόν
: where, however, the
νέμεσις
is human, not, as here, divine. Cp.
El. 1467
εἰ δ’ ἔπεστι νέμεσις, οὐ λέγω
(in revoking words which might offend
the gods ).
τίνος … χρείας
,
"
for what request,"
—depending on the idea of
δεόμεθα, χρῄζομεν
, implied in
προσπίτνομεν
:
ἀνύσαι
(
sc.
αὐτήν
), epexegetic inf.,
"so that ye should obtain it"
: cp. 1211 (n.).—For the use of
χρείας , cp.
O. T. 1435
καὶ τοῦ με χρείας ὧδε λιπαρεῖς τυχεῖν;
αὐταὶ
, with our own eyes (instead of merely hearing that it exists).
The MS. words
κεῖσε μολεῖν
, which I omit, were almost certainly a gloss upon
ἀλλ’ οὐ θεμιτόν . If we keep them, then we must add something more, so as to make an anapaestic dimeter (see cr. n.). Campbell defends
ἀλλ’ οὐ θεμιτὸν κεῖσε μολεῖν as a paroemiac; but it is not such. In a paroemiac the penultimate syllable is necessarily long (as if here we had
κεῖσ’ ἐλθεῖν
).
ἀπεῖπεν
, forbade, takes
μή
after it, as is usual (cp.
O. T. 236
ἀπαυδῶ ...μή
);
Aeschin. or. 1 § 138
ταῦτα τοῖς δούλοις ἀπεῖπον μὴ ποιεῖν
.
μήτ’ ἐπιφωνεῖν … θήκην
must be carefully distinguished from
, etc.—The alternative is to take
ἐπιφωνεῖν θήκῃ
. The former must mean strictly (not,
"to utter
over the grave,"
but)
"
to approach the grave
with utterance ,"
—the notion being that of invading the secret silence around it. Invocations and prayers to the dead were often made aloud at a grave:
Eur.
Helen 961
λέξω τάδ’ ἀμφὶ μνῆμα σοῦ πατρὸς πόθῳ·
ὦ γέρον, ὃς οἰκεῖς τόνδε λάϊνον τάφον
ἐπιφωνεῖν
as=
"mention to another"
: but this is unfitting, since Theseus
alone knows the place.If
μηδενὶ were substituted for
μηδένα , this would give a much easier sense; but then Theseus must be the subject to
both infinitives:—
"he forbade me to approach, ...or to tell."
According to Greek ideas, however, Theseus, at least, ought occasionally to visit the grave with
ἐναγίσματα
: and in fact the rendering of such honours is implied by the provision that the place of the grave should always be known to one person (1531). I therefore keep
μηδένα .
θήκην ἱεράν
: cp. 1545.
Thuc. 1.8
τῶν θηκῶν ἀναιρεθεισῶν ὅσαι ἦσαν τῶν τεθνεώτων ἐν τῇ νήσῳ
.
καλῶς
with
πράσσοντα (not with
ἕξειν
),
"in a seemly manner,"
"duly"
(Lat.
rite ): cp. 617:
O. T. 879
τὸ καλῶς δ’ ἔχον | πόλει πάλαισμα
. The fact that
πράσσοντα καλῶς usually meant
"faring well"
is no objection. The ancient Greek instinct for words was remarkably free from bondage to phrases. Cp.
Ant. 989
n.
ἄλυπον
: an echo of the expression used by Oed. (1519). Why change it to
ἀδῇον (1533, Nauck), or
ἄσυλον (Wecklein)?
ταῦτ’ οὖν
:
"
These things , then, (
οὖν , according to the injunctions of Oedipus,) I was heard to promise by the god,"
etc.
ταῦτ’ is short for
"the promise to do these things,"
as if
ὑπισχνουμένων
stood with
ἡμῶν . For
ἔκλυεν with both gen. and acc. cp.
O.T. 235
.
δαίμων
: the Divine Power that called Oedipus away (1626).
πάντ’ ἀΐων
: cp. 42. The
α
of
ἀΐω
short , as in 240 and
Ph. 1410
: whereas it is
long in 181, 304,
Ai. 1263
.
Διὸς Ὅρκος
, as the servant of Zeus.
Hes.
Op. 803
. This personified Horkis is a deity who witnesses an oath, and punishes perjury (
Hes.
Theog. 231
). He is the son of Eris, because strife gives birth to treaties; he is attended at his birth by the Erinyes, because they avenge broken faith. And he is the servant of Zeus, because
Ζεὺς Ὅρκιος is the
supreme guardian of good-faith — represented in the
βουλευτήριον at Olympia by a Zeus with lightnings in both hands, —the most terrible, Pausanias says, that he knew:
ἐν πέμπτῃ γάρ φασιν Ἐρινύας ἀμφιπολεύειν
Ὅρκον γεινόμενον, τὸν Ἔρις τέκε πῆμ’ ἐπιόρκοις
πάντων ὁπόσα ἀγάλματα Διὸς μάλιστα ἐς ἔκπληξιν ἀδίκων ἀνδρῶν
(5. 24. 9)
κατὰ νοῦν
.
Ar.
Eq. 549
κατὰ νοῦν πράξας
: so oft.
κατὰ γνώμην.
τάδ’ … ταῦτ’
: cp. on 787.
τᾶς ὠγυγίους
: a specially fit epithet, since the mythical
Ὠγύγης
was represented (in one legend at least) as son of Boeotus, and first ruler of Thebes (
Paus. 9.5.1
). Another legend connected him with Attica (
Paus. 1.38.7
). The trait common to the two legends is a great inundation which happened in his reign. The adj. is applied by Aesch. to Thebes (
Th. 321
πόλιν ὠγυγίαν
,
Pers. 37
τάς τ’ ὠγυγίους Θήβας
), and also to Athens (
Pers. 974
). The Attic poets used it in the general sense of
"very ancient,"
as
Phil. 142
κράτος ὠγύγιον
, "royalty inherited from of old."
ἰόντα
, a pres., not fut., partic. (
O. T. 773
n.), "coming on them":
El. 374
κακὸν...εἰς αὐτὴν ἰόν
:
Plat.
Legg. 873E
παρὰ θεοῦ...βέλος ἰόν
. So
Ant. 185
τὴν ἄτην ὁρῶν | στείχουσαν ἀστοῖς.
ὁμαίμοις
: see on
330
.
Antigone suggests that she and Ismene may yet be in time to plead with their two brothers, and so to avert the doom of mutual destruction pronounced on them by their father
(1373)
. Thus the close of this drama is linked by the poet with the beginning of his earlier
Antigone , which opens at a moment just after the deaths of the brothers. The sisters are then living at Thebes, where Creon has succeeded to the throne. An additional pathos is lent to Antigone's part there by the suggestion here of a previous intercession. In Aesch.
Theb. it is the Chorus (of Theban maidens) that endeavours to dissuade Eteocles from going to meet his brother
(677 ff.)
: in Eur.
Phoen. it is their mother Iocasta who seeks to reconcile them
(452 ff.)
.
1773-1776
After
οὐ in
1776
the MS.
γάρ must be struck out, as Hermann saw, so that the anapaests spoken by Theseus may end with a paroemiac. When anapaests spoken by the Chorus close a tragedy, these always form a system separate from the anapaests (if any) which precede them. This was plainly necessary, in order to avoid an unduly abrupt ending. But if we point thus:—
πρὸς χάριν· οὐ δεῖ μ’ ἀποκάμνειν , the asyndeton has a crude effect. Hence, placing only a comma after
πρὸς χάριν , we should render:— "Not only will I do these things, but
in all things which I am likely to do for your advantage (etc.) I must not
wax weary. " The sentence begins as if the constr. was to be
δράσω καὶ τάδε καὶ πάντα . But the new verb added at the end requires
πάντα to be acc. with
ἀποκάμνειν . (Cp. on
351
.)
ὁπόσ’ ἂν
seems slightly preferable to
ὅσα γ’ ἂν as a correction of the MS.
.
ὅσ’ ἂν
(or
ὅσα ἂν
), because the qualification which
γ’ would imply is sufficiently provided for by
πρόσφορα etc.: cp.
1634
τελεῖν δ’ ὅσ’ ἂν
μέλλῃς φρονῶν εὖ ξυμφέροντ’ αὐταῖς ἀεί
πράσσειν
,
pres. inf. with
μέλλω , as in eight other places of Sophocles. He has the
fut. inf. with it ten times, including
O. T. 967
, where the MS.
κτανεῖν
, if sound, would be the only instance of the
aor. inf. with
μέλλω
in Soph.; but there the fut.
κτενεῖν
is clearly right. Where
μέλλω
means "to delay," the pres. inf. is naturally preferred: cp.
1627
:
O. T. 678
τί μέλλεις κομίζειν δόμων τόνδ’ ἔσω;
πρόσφορά θ’ ὑμῖν, καὶ πρὸς χάριν τῷ κατὰ γῆς
: at once for your advantage, and to the gratification of the dead.
πρόσφορα
, "suitable" for a given purpose, and so "useful,""profitable": so often in Attic prose, as
Thuc. 1.125
;
2. 46
,
65
;
7. 62
.
πρὸς χάριν
: cp.
O. T. 1152
n.
ἔρρει
is justified by the
sudden and swift removal of Oedipus, as
O. T. 560
. Wecklein regards the words
ὃς νέον ἔρρει as a spurious addition (
Ars Soph. em. p. 81
).
ἄφαντος ἔρρει
, he hath been
swept from men's sight. In
El. 57
τοὐμὸν ὡς ἔρρει δέμας | φλογιστὸν ἤδη
, it is little more than
οἴχεται
. More commonly
ἔρρειν
implies either an evil end, or at least some feeling of contempt on the speaker's part, as
Eur.
Suppl. 1112
οὓς χρῆν, ἐπειδὰν μηδὲν ὠφελῶσι γῆν,
θανόντας ἔρρειν κἀκποδων εἶναι νέοις
ἀποκάμνειν
, "to cease from labouring," can take an acc. of the labour avoided: hence
πάνθ’ in
1773
need not be merely acc. of respect.
Xen.
Hellen. 7.5.19
πόνον...μηδένα ἀποκάμνειν
, "to flinch from no toil." Also with inf.,
Plat.
Crito 45B
μὴ ἀποκάμῃς σαυτὸν σῶσαι
, "do not abandon the effort to save yourself." So
ἐκκάμνω ,
Thuc. 2.51
τὰς ὀλοφύρσεις τῶν ἀπογιγνομένων...ἐξέκαμον
, "were worn out by the lamentations of the dying." For the form of the sentence cp.
Plat.
Rep. 445B
ἐπειδὴ ἐνταῦθα ἐληλύθαμεν, ὅσον οἷόν τε σαφέστατα κατιδεῖν ὅτι ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, οὐ χρὴ ἀποκάμνειν
. For this force of
ἀπό cp.
ἀπαλγέω, ἀπανθέω, ἀποζέω, ἀποκηδεύω, ἀπολοφύρομαι .
ἀλλ’
introduces the final words of comfort which the elders of Colonus address to the Theban maidens; cp.
101
.
ἀποπαύετε
, no less than the following verb, governs
θρῆνον : cp.
on 1751
.
Though the neut. pl.
πλείω
alone is sometimes adverbial, there seems to be no instance of
ἐπὶ πλείω as=
ἐπὶ πλέον : indeed, such a phrase is hardly conceivable.
ἐπὶ must therefore belong to
ἐγείρετε : for the tmesis cp.
on 1689
.
ἔχει … κῦρος
, lit., "have validity," =
κεκύρωται ,
sancta sunt. Cp.
El. 919
πολλῶν...κῦρος...καλῶν
("sanction of"),
Aesch.
Suppl. 391
οὐκ ἔχουσι κῦρος...ἀμφὶ σοῦ
, "authority over thee." — Two meanings are possible: (1) "
These promises of Theseus are certain to hold good": or, more generally, (2) "
These events have assuredly been ordained past recall" (by the gods). Most commentators prefer (1). But (2) seems more fitting at the conclusion. The last soothing words of the Chorus convey a precept of resignation to the divine will. Fr. Ritter rejects the last three verses, as he rejects the choral
clausulae of all the other six plays (
Philol. XVII. 422-436
): cp.
O. T. 1524
cr. n. Here, at least, there is not a shadow of ground for the suspicion. It did not require a Sophocles to write
vv. 1777-1779
, but the burden of proof rests with those who deny that he wrote them.
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.