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668-719: First stasimon

The first strophe and antistrophe (668—680=681 —693) praise Colonus: the second (694 —706=707—719) praise Attica. But the local theme is skilfully knitted to the national theme. The narcissus and crocus of Colonus introduce the Attic olive (second strophe). The equestrian fame of Colonus suggests the Attic breed of horses, and this, in turn, suggests Poseidon's other gift to Athens,—the empire of the sea (second antistrophe). For the metres see Metrical Analysis.

Cicero ( Cato 7) is the earliest extant authority for the story of Sophocles reciting this ode before his judges.

The first word εὐίππου strikes a note which connects Colonus ἵππιος with the fame of Attica. Take

γᾶς

with

κράτιστα

. You have come to earth's best abodes ( Colonus ), belonging to this

εὔιππος χώρα

( Attica ). The gen. εὐίπ. τ. χώρας is most simply taken as possessive, denoting the country to which the

ἔπαυλα

belong, though it might also be partitive. It precedes

ἔπαυλα

as the territorial gen. regularly precedes the local name, Her. 3.136

ἀπίκοντο τῆς Ἰταλίης ἐς Τάραντα

γᾶς is partitive gen. with the superl., as Lys. or. 21 § 6

ἡ ναῦς ἄριστα... ἔπλει παντὸς τοῦ στρατοπέδου

. When

γῆ

stands alone it usu.=

"the earth,"

as O. T. 480

τὰ μεσόμφαλα γᾶς...μαντεῖα

. Some understand, less well,

"the best abodes in Attica (

γᾶς"

), belonging to (or consisting in) Colonus (

χώρας

ἔπαυλα , prop. a fold for cattle, as in O. T. 1138 , where

σταθμά

is its synonym. So

ἔπαυλοι

in Od. 23.358 , and

ἔπαυλις

in Her. 1.111 . Then, just like

σταθμά

in poetry, "homesteads," "dwellings": Aesch. Pers. 869

πάροικοι | Θρῃκίων ἐπαύλων

. The form

ἔπαυλις

was similarly used in late prose.

τὸν : the antistrophic syll. (

νάρκ‐

683), is long, but it is needless to write

τόνδ’

, since the anacrusis is common.

ἀργῆτα ,

"white,"

contrasting with

χλωραῖς

(673). See Tozer, Geography of Greece p. 242:

"The site of Colonus is distinguished by two bare knolls of lightcoloured earth, the

ἀργῆτα Κολωνόν"

of the poet,—not chalky, as the expositors of that passage often describe it to be.

Schol.

τὸν λευκόγεων

. From √ARG, denoting

"brightness,"

come ( a ) the group of words for

"bright"

or white,

ἀργός, ἀργής, ἀργινόεις, ἀργεννός, ἄργυφος

: ( b )

ἄργυρος

: ( c )

ἄργιλος

, argilla , white clay. Thus the notion of a light-coloured soil was specially associated with this root. And this was certainly one reason why places were called

"white,"

—whether the soil was merely light-coloured, as at Colonus, or chalky. Pindar puts Cyrene

ἐν ἀργινόεντι μαστῷ

( P. 4. 8), and it is known to have stood on a chalk cliff (F. B. Goddard in Amer. Journ. Philol. v. 31 ap. Gildersleeve ad loc. ). Soil is suggested by

ἀργείλοφον πὰρ Ζεφυρίων κολώναν

(the town

Λοκροὶ Ἐπιζεφύριοι

on the S.E. coast of Italy, Pind. fr. 200); and soil or light-coloured rocks by

Ἀργινοῦσαι

, the three islets off the coast of Aeolis (Strabo 617). Cp.

"Albion."

But a town on a hill might also owe the epithet to its buildings. We cannot now decide between soil and buildings in the cases of

τὸν ἀργινόεντα Λύκαστον

and

Κάμειρον

( Il. 2.647 , 656) in central Crete (?), nor always in the case of the name

"Alba."

μινύρεται θαμίζουσα inverts the usual constr.; cp. Od. 8.450

ὁ δ’ ἄρ’ ἀσπασίως ἴδε θυμῷ

θερμὰ λοέτῤ, ἐπεὶ οὔτι κομιζόμενός γε θάμιζεν

, "since he was not often so cared for"; Plat. Rep. 328C

ὦ Σώκρατες, οὐδὲ θαμίζεις ἡμῖν καταβαίνων εἰς τὸν Πειραιᾶ

. Here, however,

θαμίζουσα

may be taken separately,

"frequenting"

(the place): Il. 18.386

πάρος γε μὲν οὔτι θαμίζεις

"hitherto thou comest not oft."

The midd. in fr. 460

τῷδε

( v.l.

τῇδε

)

θαμίζεται

, (the fish) haunts those waters.

χλω. ὑπὸ βάσσαις ,

"under"

(screened by) green glades,—in the sacred grove (cp. 17) and in the neighbouring Academy. Cp. Ai. 198

ἐν εὐανέμοις βάσσαις

(Ida's glens). If the word could be referred, like

βυσσός

, to the rt. of

βαθύς

, it would be peculiarly appropriate here to the haunts of the bird that

"sings darkling."

The reading ἀνέχουσα is usually justified by Ai. 212

( σε ) στέρξας ἀνέχει

, "having conceived a love for thee, he upholds thee"; and Eur. Hec. 123

βάκχης ἀνέχων λέκτρ’ Ἀγαμέμνων

, "upholding," i.e. "refusing to forsake," "remaining constant to." But how could the bird be said to "uphold" the ivy in that sense? In Thuc. 2.18 and 7. 48

ἀνεῖχεν

is intrans., "he held back" cautiously. Of the two MS. readings, οἰνωπὰν ἔχουσα and οἰνῶπ’ ἀνέχουσα , the latter seems to have come from the former, not vice versa.

οἰνωπός

is a good Attic form (used four times by Eur.), and

οἰνωπὸν ἔχουσα

is nearer to the MSS. than Dindorf's

οἰνῶπα νέμουσα

. The latter word would mean,

"having for her domain."

The ivy and the vine (17) being sacred to Dionysus ( θεοῦ ), the foliage of the place generally is called his.

θεοῦ

is certainly not the hero Colonus (65) . We might desire θεᾶν (the Eumenides), but the

φυλλάς

meant is not only that of the sacred grove; it includes the Academy.

μυριόκαρπον refers to the berries of the laurel (

παγκάρπου δάφνης

O. T. 83 ), the fruit of the olive and of the vine. Cp. on .

ἀνήνεμον … χειμώνων , cp. 786, 1519: El. 36

ἄσκευον ἀσπίδων

: ib. 1002

ἄλυπος ἄτης

: Tr. 691

ἀλαμπὲς ἡλίου

: Od. 6.250

ἐδητύος...ἄπαστος

: Eur. Phoen. 324

ἄπεπλος φαρέων

. In these poet. phrases, the gen. might be viewed either as (1) simply a gen. of want, as after

καθαρός

, etc.: (2) an attrib. gen. depending on the implied noun (here,

ἄνεμοι

βακχιώτας (only here)=

βακχευτής, βάκχος

, reveller. Cp. O. T. 1105

ὁ Βακχεῖος θεός

ἐμβατεύει , haunts the ground, Aesch. Pers. 449

Πὰν ἐμβατεύει ποντίας ἀκτῆς ἔπι.

ἀμφιπολῶν , properly,

"moving around,"

so,

"attending on,"

"roaming in company with."

The bold use seems to have been suggested by the noun

ἀμφίπολος

as=

"follower"

(Pind., etc.),

ἀμφιπολεῖν

being here to that noun as

ὀπαδεῖν

ὀπαδός.

tiqh/nais , the nymphs of the mythical Nysa, who nurtured the infant god, and were afterwards the companions of his wanderings: Il. 6.132

¹Διωνύσοιο τιθήνας | σεῦε κατ’ ἠγάθεον Νυσήϊον

θάλλει δ’ . After the mention of Dionysus, the narcissus now serves to introduce a mention of Demeter and Persephone (Cora). Under the name of

Ἴακχος

, represented as the son of Cora (or sometimes of Demeter), Dionysus was associated in the Eleusinian mysteries with the

"two goddesses"

(

τὼ θεώ

): thus Ant. 1119 he reigns

παγκοίνοις Ἐλευσινίας | Δηοῦς ἐν κόλποις

. A relief found at Eleusis in 1859, and referable to the period between Pheidias and Praxiteles, shows Persephone with her right hand on the head of the young Iacchos (a boy of some fifteen years), who is facing Demeter. It is reproduced in Baumeister's Denkmäler des klass. Alterth. , s.v.

"Eleusinia,"

p. 471. There was a shrine of Demeter near Colonus, 1600.

νάρκισσος . As the epithet shows, some thickly-flowering variety is meant: cp. Vergil's

"comantem Narcissum,"

Geo. 4. 122 . Wieseler ( Narkissos , pp. 114 ff., Gött. 1856) thinks that a lily is meant here. Bentham ( British Flora , 4th ed., p. 473) says that the narcissus poeticus of the Mediterranean region

"has usually a solitary flower of a pure white, except the crown, which is yellow, often edged with orange or crimson."

This does not suit

καλλίβοτρυς

. There is a like doubt about the classical

ὑάκινθος

, variously taken as iris, gladiolus, or larkspur—at any rate, not our hyacinth. But, whatever the true identification here may be, the symbolism of νάρκισσος in Greek mythology is clear. It is the flower of imminent death , being associated, through its narcotic fragrance, with

νάρκη

,—the pale beauty of the flower helping the thought. It is the last flower for which Persephone is stretching forth her hand when Pluto seizes her,—Earth having put forth a wondrous narcissus, with a hundred flowers, on purpose to tempt her: Hom. Hymn. 5.15

ἡ δ’ ἄρα θαμβήσασ’ ὠρέξατο χερσὶν ἅμ’ ἄμφω

καλὸν ἄθυρμα λαβεῖν· χάνε δὲ χθὼν εὐρυάγυια

. Paus. 9.31.9 (quoting an ancient hymn by the legendary poet Pamphos) says that Cora was seized

οὐκ ἴοις ἀπατηθεῖσαν ἀλλὰ ναρκίσσοις

. So Euphorion ( 220 B.C. ) fr. 52

Εὐμενίδες ναρκίσσου ἐπιστεφέες πλοκαμῖδας

. Artemidorus ( 160 A.D. ), interpreting dreams of crowning the head , says,

στέφανοι ναρκίσσων πεποιημένοι πᾶσι κακοί

( Oneirocr. I. 77 ). Narcissus is the fair youth cold to love, whose face seen by himself in the water was the prelude of death (cp. Artemid. 2. 7 ).

μεγάλαιν θεαῖν : Paus. 8.31.1 (at Megalopolis)

θεῶν ἱερὸν τῶν μεγάλων· αἱ δέ εἰσιν αἱ μεγάλαι θεαὶ Δημήτηρ καὶ Κόρη

. In Attic usu.

τὼ θεώ

, and so Andoc. or. 1 § 32 (of these goddesses)

πρὸς τοῖν θεοῖν

is now read ( v.l.

ταῖν θεαῖν

). Indeed

θεά

is rare in Attic prose except in such phrases as

θεοὺς καὶ θεάς

. But here, in a lyric passage, and with an epithet added, the poet may have preferred the less familiar

θεαῖν

. The schol. was wrong in desiring

τᾶν μεγαλᾶν θεᾶν

(meaning the Eumenides).

ἀρχαῖον στεφάνωμ’ . The narcissus does not figure specially as an attribute of the goddesses—as the corn-ears and poppy of Demeter, the pomegranate of Cora, and the myrtle of Iacchos. But, as the flower which Cora was plucking when seized, it was associated with their cult from the first (

ἀρχαῖον

), and was one of the flowers which would be most fitly woven into those floral wreaths which, on the wall-paintings, sometimes replace Demeter's more usual crown of corn-ears (see Baumeister, Denkm. p. 417). Hesych. says that in Crete the narcissus was called

δαμάτριον

. In Rhodes Cora was crowned with asphodel (Bekker Anecd. I. 457. 9). At Hermione a flower like the

ὑάκινθος

, locally called

κοσμοσάνδαλον

, was worn by the worshippers of Demeter Chthonia ( Paus. 2.35.5 ). Schneidewin's explanation,

" original crown,"

— before they changed it for others,—is against the myth itself, which makes the narcissus a new joy to Cora's eyes ( Hom. Hymn. 5.15 ).

χρυσαυγὴς κρόκος . Tozer, Geogr. of Greece p. 162:

"when Sophocles... speaks of the

crocus with its golden sheen,"

we would fain regard this as the same with the splendid flower that displays its golden blossoms close to the snow on Parnassus and the mountains of Arcadia. But, in reality, there can be little doubt that it was the cultivated crocus, from which the saffron was obtained, and which was introduced into Greece from the East, where it was prized as a dye for robes and slippers,— the

κροκόβαπτον ποδὸς εὔμαριν

of the Persae [660]—the sign of royalty and majesty.

Cp. Hom. Hymn. 4.177

²ἀμφὶ δὲ χαῖται

ὤμοις ἀΐσσοντο κροκηΐῳ ἄνθει ὁμοῖαι

. Along with roses, violets, "hyacinth," "narcissus," and "agallis" (iris?), the "crocus" is gathered by Cora ( ib. 6 ff.). Schol.

κἀν τῇ Νιοβῃ ὁ Σοφοκλῆς τὸν κρόκον ἄντικρυς τῇ Δήμητρι ἀνατίθεται

. At the Thesmophoria (the festival of Demeter

θεσμοφόρος

), when wreaths of flowers were not worn (schol.), the women appeared in

κροκωτοί

, saffroncoloured robes ( Ar. Thesm. 138 ). The crocus was planted on graves ( Juv. Sat. 7. 208 ).

κρῆναι , the

"founts."

"The most distant sources of the river are on the w. side of Mt. Pentelicus and the s. side of Mt. Parnes, and in the intermediate ridge which unites them"

(Leake): in particular, a broad stream descends from the steepest part of Parnes. The Cephisus has a course of about 20 miles to the bay of Phalerum.

μινύθουσιν . Soph. has seized a distinctive point. Even at this day, when the plain has much less shade than of old, the Cephisus

"never fails,"

while in the long droughts of summer the bed of the Ilissus is absolutely dry. Cp. Modern Greece by H. M. Baird (1856) p. 294:

"The little river Cephisus...scatters fertility and verdure around. Great was the contrast between its banks and the rest of the plain, which in the month of October is dry, parched, and dusty. The whole valley, in its width of six miles, had been stripped of nearly every vestige of vegetation; for not a drop of water had fallen during the previous four or five months."

—

μινύθω

is both trans. and intrans. in Homer; intrans. in the Ionic of Hippocr. (who has it of flesh

"wasting"

). Aesch. has it twice in lyrics (intrans.); Soph. only here.

Κηφισοῦ . Chr. Wordsworth ( Athens and Attica p. 137) observes that the Athenian poets never praise the Ilissus (perhaps because it was too much associated with the prose of daily life), though Plato, in the Phaedrus , makes some amends; they keep their praises for the Cephisus (so Eur. Med. 835 ). On the other hand the Ilissus, not the Cephisus, is the representative river of Attica for more distant singers, from Apollonius Rhodius ( I. 215 ) to Milton ( Par. Reg. 4. 249 ).

νομάδες , wandering. The word alludes to irrigation by ducts or canals (a system still in use), but does so far more poetically than would be the case if (with E. Curtius) we made it active, with ῥεέθρων for object. gen.,

"distributing the streams."

There is no example of an adj. of this form (as

σποράς, στροφάς, φορβάς

) having an active sense. Cp. O. T. 1350 n.

ἐπ’ ἤματι , a very rare use in Attic, meaning here that on (or for ) each day the river gives what that day requires. Cp. Il. 10.48

³ἄνδρ’ ἕνα τοσσάδε μέρμερ’ ἐπ’ ἤματι μητίσασθαι ⁴

: more oft.

ἐπ’ ἤματι τῷδε

, "on this day," Il. 13.234 , 19. 110 . Herodotus has the gen.

ἐπ’ ἡμέρης ἑκάστης

in a similar sense (5. 117) ; this phrase, too, is un-Attic.

ὠκυτόκος , giving an early reward to the cultivator's labour. Cp.

ὠκυτόκοιο Σελάνας

(because thought

ἐπὶ ταῖς λοχείαις καὶ ὠδῖσι βοηθεῖν

), poet. ap. Plut. Mor. 282 C.

ὠκυτόκιον

, a medicine used in childbed, Ar. Th. 504 .

πεδίων ἐπινίσσεται , a partitive gen. (helped by

ἐπι‐

), cp.

ἔρχονται πεδίοιο

, Il. 2.801 .

ὄμβρῳ , water: see on O. T. 1427 . ( Not ,

"with the help of rain."

)

στ. χθονός , possessive gen. with

πεδίων.

στερνούχου , having

στέρνα

: an expressive word for the expanse of the Attic

πεδίον

, varied by gentle undulations, or by rocky knolls like Colonus itself. Suidas quotes a poet. phrase

στέρνα γῆς

: cp. the common use of

μαστοί

for round hills or knolls. Hes. Theog. 117

Γαἶ εὐρύστερνος

: Pind. Nem. 7.33

εὐρυκόλπου

...χθονός

. Both

στέρνα

and

νῶτα

were applied, says the schol., to

τῆς γῆς τὰ πεδιώδη καὶ εὐρέα

. The epithet helps, with

ὠκυτόκος

, to suggest the image of a mighty living frame, quickened by the veins of irrigation.

Μουσᾶν . Paus. 1.30.2 (in the Academy, cp. on )

ἔστι δε καὶ Μουσῶν τε βωμὸς καὶ ἕτερος Ἑρμοῦ καὶ ἔνδον Ἀθηνᾶς

νιν refers to

χθονός

in 691: this region generally.

οὐδ’ ἁ . The οὐδ’ αὖ of L is somewhat prosaic, and implies a contrast between the deities which is unfitting here.

Ἀφροδίτη is not among the divinities of the Academy or Colonus in Paus. 1. 30 , though there was an altar of

Ἔρως

in front of the entrance to the Academy. But she was often associated with Demeter and Cora (cp. Paus. 3.19.4 , and Baumeister Denkmäler p. 419); and she was also specially connected by an Attic legend with the Cephisus ( Eur. Med. 835 ).

χρυσάνιος , when she drives her chariot drawn by sparrows (Sappho fr. 1. 10), doves, or swans. The word occurs only once in Il. (6. 205), as epith. of Artemis, and once in Od. (8. 285), as epith. of Ares. Paus. 9.23.4 (speaking of a lost hymn by Pindar to Persephone)

ἄλλαι τε ἐς τὸν ᾍδην εἰσὶν ἐπικλήσεις καὶ ὁ χρυσήνιος, δῆλα ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς Κόρης τῇ ἁρπαγῇ

. So, here, the epith. suggests a visit of the goddess from above.

694-719

Thus far the theme has been Colonus and the adjacent region. Now the praises take a larger range. Athena's gift of the olive, Poseidon's gift of the horse, are here celebrated as common to Attica (

τᾷδε χώρᾳ

, 700, cp. 668): though the latter had a special interest for Colonus Hippius, and the former for the Academy, where an olive was shown, said to have sprung up next after the primal olive in the

Πανδροσεῖον

of the Erechtheum ( Paus. 1.30.2 ).

γᾶς Ἀσίας , sc.

ὄν

, possessive gen., with

ἐπακούω

, hear of as belonging to. The poet does not mean, of course, that he has never heard of the olive as growing in the Peloponnesus or in Asia Minor. It is enough to recall the

στρεπτῆς καλουμένης ἐλαίας φυτόν

of Epidaurus (said to have been twisted by Heracles, Paus. 2.28.2 ), and the speculation of Thales in the olive-oil presses of Miletus and Chios (

ἐλαιουργεῖα

, Arist. Pol. 1.11 ). He means that nowhere else has he heard of an olive-tree springing from the earth at a divine command, or flourishing so greatly and so securely under divine protection.

Δωρίδι , as Schneidewin remarked, is an anachronism (cp. 1301), since legend placed Oedipus before the Trojan war, and the Dorian conquest of the Peloponnesus after it; but Attic tragedy was not fastidious on such points. In Eur. Hec. 450 the Peloponnesus is

Δωρὶς αἶα

. Cp. on .

νάσῳ : cp. Eust. ad Dion. Perieg. 403

ἡ τοῦ Πέλοπος νῆσος ἔστι μὲν κυρίως Χερρόνησος, ὅμως δὲ νῆσος μὲν λέγεται, ὡς παρὰ βραχὺ τοιαύτη οὖσα

. In the 10th century we find the Peloponnesus called simply

ἡ νῆσος

by Constantinus Porphyrogenitus,

περὶ τῶν Θεμάτων

(

"the provinces"

) p. 52

ἔστι δὲ πᾶσα ἡ νῆσος ὑπὸ ἑνὶ στρατηγῷ τεταγμένη

Πέλοπος has been regarded by some as a gloss: see on f. But, apart from the fact that 709 f. are shorter by uu , it need move no suspicion; for, if not necessary here, it is at least fitting, and is often joined with

νῆσος

. Tyrtaeus fr. 2

εὐρεῖαν Πέλοπος νᾶσον ἀφικόμεθα

. Cypria fr. 8

διεδέρκετο νῆσον ἅπασαν | Τανταλίδεω Πέλοπος

. Ion Omphale fr. 24

ἄμεινον ἢ τὸν Πέλοπος ἐν νήσῳ τρόπον

. — Cp. Aesch. Eum. 702

⁵οἷον οὔτις ἀνθρώπων ἔχει

οὔτ’ ἐν Σκύθαισιν οὔτε Πέλοπος ἐν τόποις

φύτευμ’ .

φίτευμ’

, which Blaydes prefers, occurs only once in trag. ( Aesch. Ag. 1281 , of Orestes); it seems more appropriate to a

"scion"

(child) than to a plant.

ἀχείρωτον was read here by Pollux (2. 154), and is thus carried back to about 160 A.D. ; it is also in A and a majority of our other MSS.; while L's

ἀχείρητον

is clearly a corruption. The question is whether ἀχείρωτον means (1)

" unvanquished ,"

the only sense in which it occurs elsewhere, as Thuc. 6.10

οἱ Χαλκιδῆς...ἀχείρωτοί εἰσι

: or (2)

ἀχειρούργητον

, as Pollux takes it,

" not cultivated by human hands. "

χείρωμα

usu. meant

"a conquest,"

"a violent deed"

; yet Aesch. could say

τυμβοχόα χειρώματα

(work of the hand in mound-making) Theb. 1022 . A bold artist in language might similarly, perhaps, have ventured on

ἀχείρωτος

as =

"not hand-wrought."

My reason for preferring

" unvanquished "

is the context. While βλαστόν (697) refers to the miraculous creation of the olive by Athena, αὐτοποιόν refers (I think) to its miraculous self-renewal after the Persians had burnt it. Her. 8.55

δευτέρῃ τε ἡμέρῃ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐμπρήσιος Ἀθηναίων οἱ θύειν ὑπὸ βασιλέος κελευόμενοι ὡς ἀνέβησαν ἐς τὸ ἱρόν, ὥρων βλαστὸν ἐκ τοῦ στελέχεος ὅσον τε πηχυαῖον ἀναδεδραμηκότα

. This connection of ideas is further indicated by the next phrase, ἐγχέων etc. For αὐτοποιός as

"self-produced"

( i.e. producing itself from itself) cp.

αὐτοτόκος, αὐτοφάγος, αὐτοφόνος

. Chandler ( Accent. § 457 2nd ed.) remarks that all compounds of

‐ποιος

are oxytone (quoting Arcadius 88. 2):

αὐτόποιος

(as our MSS. give it) in this passage

"is the one solitary exception, and therefore probably a false accent."

φόβημα . Androtion (circ. 280 B.C.), in his

Ἀτθίς

, stated that the sacred olives (

μορίαι

) in Attica had been spared by the Peloponnesian invaders under Archidamus, who sacrificed to Athena. The Atthis of Philochorus, a contemporary of Androtion, made the same statement (schol. ad loc. ).

τᾷδε … χώρᾳ , locative dat.: in Attica.

μέγιστα : cp. 219

μακρά

, 319

φαιδρά

, O. T. 883

ὑπέροπτα

n. The light soil of Attica (

τὸ λεπτόγεων

), and the climate, esp. favoured the olive: cp. Theophr. Causs. Plantt. 2. 4. 4

ἡ σπιλὰς

(stony ground)

καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἡ λευκόγειος

(670 n.)

ἐλαιοφόρος

. For Greece, the olive-zone begins s. of the plains of Thessaly, as for Italy it begins s. of the plains of Lombardy. The olive is found in Phthiotis and Magnesia: in Epeirus, only on the sea-coast.

παιδοτρόφου , nourishing the young lives in the land. The epithet is especially fitting here, after the recent allusion to Demeter and Cora, because at the Thesmophoria the prayer to those goddesses associated Earth with them as

ἡ κουροτρόφος

: see Ar. Thesm. 295 . Cp. Juv. Sat. 3. 84

quod nostra infantia caelum Hausit Aventini, baca nutrita Sabina

(the olive). Hesych. ( s.v.

στέφανον ἐκφέρειν

) says that it was the Attic custom

στέφανον ἐλαίας τιθέναι πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν

, when a male child was born; as wool, when a female (cp. foribus suspende coronas: Iam pater es ). But there is no such allusion here. Nor could

παιδοτρ

. mean

"propagated from the parent olive"

on the acropolis, as Schneidewin thought.

τὸ μέν τις

κ.τ.λ.

Two points first claim notice. (1) οὔτε and νεαρός are both in the MSS., but both cannot be right. Cp. v. 715. If with Porson the first

οὔτε

is changed to οὐ , the second

οὔτε

must certainly be changed to οὐδέ . A single

οὔτε

cannot follow

οὐ

, though a repeated

οὔτε

can ( Tr. 1058 ). Elmsley's

οὔτε νέος

is hardly probable. (2) γήρᾳ σημαίνων seems to me impossible. It surely could not mean either ( a )

"commanding in old age"

—the elderly Archidamus in contrast with the young Xerxes— or ( b )

"commanding the elderly men."

The difficulty is not in the sense of

σημαίνων itself, for which cp. Il. 1.288

πάντων μὲν κρατέειν ἐθέλει, πάντεσσι δ’ ἀνάσσειν,

πᾶσι δὲ σημαίνειν

,—he would be master, king, captain (

σημάντωρ

): it is in the combination with γήρᾳ .

Now comes this question:—Was the antithesis here between youth and age , or between some other notions? Hartung writes

οὔτ’ ἦρος οὔτε γήρᾳ

, understanding,

"neither in spring nor in winter ,"

σημαίνων

"by his word of command"

: but such a fig. sense of

γήρᾳ

is inconceivable. Nauck's

οὔτ’ ἦρος οὔτ’ ἐν ὥρᾳ | χειμώνων

is too far from the MSS., and the plur. is strange. I incline to believe that the poet indeed meant

"neither young nor old,"

but without any personal reference, and merely in this general sense:—

"from generation to generation of men these sacred trees are safe."

The words

ὁ γὰρ αἰὲν ὁρῶν

suit this. The conjecture συνναίων has palaeographic probability (for a cursive text): for the phrase cp. Eur. fr. 370

μετὰ δ’ ἡσυχίας πολιῷ γήραϊ συνοικοίην

κύκλος , the eye of Zeus (so

κύκλοι

, Ph. 1354 ), not the

"orb"

of the sun.

Μορίου Διός . Attic Orators , vol. I. p. 289:

"Throughout Attica, besides the olives which were private property (

ἴδιαι ἐλαῖαι"

, Lys. or. 7 § 10 ) there were others which, whether on public or on private lands, were considered as the property of the state. They were called moriae (

μορίαι

)—the legend being that they had been propagated (

μεμορημέναι

) from the original olive which Athena herself had caused to spring up on the Acropolis. This theory was convenient for their conservation as State property, since, by giving them a sacred character, it placed them directly under the care of the Areiopagus, which caused them to be visited once a month by Inspectors (

ἐπιμεληταί

, Lys. or. 7 § 29 ), and once a year by special Commissioners (

γνώμονες

, ib. § 25). To uproot a moria was an offence punishable by banishment and confiscation of goods ( ib. § 41).

Μορίου , from the objects protected; so

Ζεὺς ἱκέσιος, κτήσιος

, etc.

γλαυκῶπις , with grayish-blue eyes: the Homeric epithet has been suggested by

γλαυκᾶς

in 701. The altar of

Ζεὺς Μόριος

, otherwise called

Καταιβάτης

, was in the Academy, where there was also a shrine of Athena close to the

μορίαι

(Apollodorus ap. schol.); hence there was a special reason for the conjunction of the deities here.

This antistrophe is devoted to Poseidon, as the strophe to Athena.

ματρόπολει ,

"mother-city"

(Athens), since the men of Colonus, like all other dwellers in Attica, may deem themselves her children. So Pind. Nem. 5.8

Αἰακίδας ...ματρόπολίν τε

, their native state (Aegina): Ant. 1122

Βακχᾶν ματρόπολιν Θήβαν

(with allusion to Semelè). Not ,

"capital city,"

which would be prosaic: this sense occurs as early, however, as Xen., Anab. 5. 2. 3

ἒν δὲ ἦν χωρίον μητρόπολις αὐτῶν

If vv. 696 f. are sound as they stand, the problem here is to supply uu , and Porson's χθονὸς seems best.

μεγάλου...μέγιστον, αὔχημα...αὔχημα

(713) must not be judged with modern fastidiousness: see on .

εὔιππον, εὔπωλον harmonizes with a strain of feeling which pervades the ode,—that the bounty of the gods to Attica is continued from day to day and from age to age. The supply of good

ἵπποι

is perpetually replenished by good

πῶλοι

"est in equis patrum Virtus."

εὔιππον further suggests

ἱππεῖς

, since (as =

"well-horsed"

) it is often said of heroes ( Pind. Ol. 3.39

εὐ. Τυνδαριδᾶν

). The Boeotian Orchomenus is

καλλίπωλος

, Pind. Ol. 14.2 . For αὔχημα εὔιππον , a glory consisting in good horses, cp. 1062, Pind. Ol. 3.37

ῥιμφαρμάτου | διφρηλασίας

: P. 8. 37

νίκαν...θρασύγυιον

: Isth. 1. 12

καλλίνικον...κῦδος

εὐθάλασσον . The well of salt water shown in the Erechtheum (

ὕδωρ θαλάσσιον ἐν φρέατι

Paus. I. 26. 5 ) was called

θάλασσα

. It was said to have been created by a blow from Poseidon's trident; the three holes which were shown are still visible (see Penrose's drawing and description in Smith's Dict. Geog. 1. 279 b). Her. 8.55

Ἐρεχθέος...νηός, ἐν τῷ ἐλαίη τε καὶ θάλασσα ἔνι

. Apollod. 3. 14. 1 (Poseidon)

ἀνέφηνε θάλασσαν ἣν νῦν Ἐρεχηΐδα καλοῦσι.

εὔιππον, εὐθάλασσον are brought close together as expressing the two great attributes of Poseidon, Hom. Hymn. 22.4

διχθά τοι, Ἐννοσίγαιε, θεοὶ τιμὴν ἐδάσαντο,

ἵππων τε δμητῆρ’ ἔμεναι σωτῆρά τε νηῶν

: Aristoph. Eq. 551

ἵππῑ ἄναξ Πόσειδον, ᾧ

χαλκοκρότων ἵππων κτύπος

… ἁνδάνει,

καὶ κυανέμβολοι θοαὶ

μισθοφόροι τριήρεις

σὺ γάρ , after the voc.: cp.

σὺ δέ

(507).

εἷσας (

ἵζω

)

νιν εἰς τόδ’ αὔχημα

, didst establish her in this glory, as in a royal throne: cp. Her. 3.61

τοῦτον... εἷσε ἄγων ἐς τὸν βασιλήιον θρόνον

. The phrase is Homeric, Od. 1.130

αὐτὴν δ’ ἐς θρόνον εἷσεν ἄγων

ἵπποισιν with

τὸν ἀκεστῆρα

: cp. Ai. 1166

βροτοῖς τὸν ἀείμνηστον | τάφον.

ἀκεστῆρα =

σωφρονιστήν

, healing their

μανιάδες νόσοι

, and bringing them to a calm temper ( Il. 13.115

ἀλλ’ ἀκεώμεθα θᾶσσον· ἀκεσταί τοι φρένες ἐσθλῶν

): cp. Athen. 627 E (music is introduced at banquets)

ὅπως ἕκαστος τῶν εἰς μέθην καὶ πλήρωσιν ὡρμημένων ἰατρὸν λαμβάνῃ τῆς ὕβρεως καὶ τῆς ἀκοσμίας τὴν μουσικήν

. Pind. Ol. 13.68

φίλτρον τόδ’ ἵππειον

, 85

φάρμακον πραΰ

, said of the bit (

χαλινός

) given by Athena to Bellerophon for Pegasus.

πρώταισι ταῖσδε … ἀγυιαῖς , first in these roads (about Colonus); locative dat.:

κτίσας ,

"having instituted,"

brought into use among men, as one could say

κτίζειν νὁμιμα

on the analogy of

κτίζειν ἑορτήν

etc. Greek mythology places Poseidon in two distinct relations to the horse. ( a ) As creator. Servius ad Verg. Geo. 1. 12

ideo dicitur ecum invenisse quia velox est eius numen et mobile sicut mare.

(So waves on a rough sea are

"white horses,"

Ital. cavalloni. ) The Thessalians connected this myth with the cult of Poseidon

Πετραῖος

, who had caused the first horse (

Σκύφιος

) to spring from a rock in Thessaly,—the name being taken from

σκύφος

, a rocky cup, where perh. marks in the rock were shown. From Tzetzes on Lycophron 767 it seems that this legend was in later times localised at Colonus also. Arcadia and Boeotia, too, had their legends, in which the first horse was called

Ἀρίων

(the wondrous steed of Adrastus in Il. 23.346 ). ( b ) As tamer. This was the prominent trait of the Corinthian and Attic legends. At Corinth Poseidon was worshipped as

δαμαῖος

, and Athena as

χαλινῖτις

(cp. Pind. Ol. 13.65 ff.). In Thessaly the horse- yoking Poseidon was called

ἴμψιος

: Hesych.

ἴμψας· ζεύξας Θετταλοί, ἴμψιος Ποσειδῶν ὁ ζύγιος

. In Aesch. PV 462 ff. Prometheus is the first who taught men to drive animals,—

ὑφ’ ἅρμα τ’ ἤγαγον φιληνίους | ἵππους

Poseidon has taught men to row as well as to ride. He fits the oars to their hands. But, instead of

τὰν δὲ πλάταν χερσὶ παράψας

, the form is varied to a passive constr. If παραπτομένα is sound, this seems the best account of it,—

παρά

"at the side,"

suggesting the notion,

"as an aid."

(If from

παραπέτομαι

, it could be only aor., which the sense excludes.) Conjecture might proceed on either of two views:—( a ) that in the strophic v. 704 the correction αἰὲν is true, so that

παραπτομένα

is metrically sound: ( b ) that in 704 the MS. εἰσαιὲν is true, so that here we require u--uu- . On the latter view I would suggest that προσαρμοζομένα is suitable, and on this

παραπτομένα

may have been a gloss; cp. Eur. I. T. 1405 (

χέρας

)

κώπῃ προσαρμόσαντες

εὐήρετμος , adj. compounded with a noun cognate in sense to the subst. ( πλάτα ): cp.

βίος μακραίων

( O. T. 518 n.),

λογος κακόθρους

( Ai. 138 ),

εὔπαις γόνος

( Eur. I. T. 1234 ),

εὐπήχεις χεῖρες

( Hipp. 200 ).

ἔκπαγλα , neut. plur. as adv., cp. 319.

ἁλία with θρῴσκει : cp. on

ἐκτόπιος

τῶν ἑκατομπόδων Νηρῄδων , the Nereids with their hundred feet, the fifty Nereids whose dance and song lead the ship on her way. (But in Pind. fr. 122

κορᾶν ἀγέλαν ἑκατόγγυιον

prob. denotes 100, not 50, persons, as though

γυῖον

were

σῶμα

.) The choice of the number (though here meant merely to suggest a numerous sisterhood) is not accidental: fifty was the number regularly assigned to the Nereids by the earlier Greek poets, as Hesiod Th. 264 , Pindar Isthm. 5. 6 , Aesch. Fr. 168 , Eur. Ion 1081 . Later it becomes a hundred; so Plat. Critias 116E (describing Poseidon's temple in the island of Atlantis)

Νηρῇδας δὲ ἐπὶ δελφίνων ἑκατὸν κύκλῳ· τοσαύτας γὰρ ἐνόμιζον αὐτὰς οἱ τότε εἶναι

; and so Ovid Fasti 6. 499 .

Νηρεύς

(

√νυ, νέω, νᾶμα

, etc.) and his daughters represent the sea's kindly moods: the Nereids who dance and sing around and before the ship are the waves. In ἑκατομπόδων the second part of the compound suggests

"dancing,"

cp. on

πυκνόπτεροι

(17).

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.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (English) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 668 focus

εὐίππου, ξένε, τᾶσδε χώρας

ἵκου τὰ κράτιστα γᾶς ἔπαυλα,

τὸν ἀργῆτα Κολωνόν, ἔνθʼ
670

ἁ λίγεια μινύρεται

θαμίζουσα μάλιστʼ ἀηδὼν

χλωραῖς ὑπὸ βάσσαις,

τὸν οἰνῶπʼ ἀνέχουσα κισσὸν

καὶ τὰν ἄβατον θεοῦ
675

φυλλάδα μυριόκαρπον ἀνήλιον

ἀνήνεμόν τε πάντων

χειμώνων· ἵνʼ ὁ βακχιώτας

ἀεὶ Διόνυσος ἐμβατεύει

θείαις ἀμφιπολῶν τιθήναις.
680
α

θάλλει δʼ οὐρανίας ὑπʼ ἄχνας

ὁ καλλίβοτρυς κατʼ ἦμαρ ἀεὶ

νάρκισσος, μεγάλαιν θεαῖν

ἀρχαῖον στεφάνωμʼ, ὅ τε

χρυσαυγὴς κρόκος· οὐδʼ ἄϋπνοι
685

κρῆναι μινύθουσιν

Κηφισοῦ νομάδες ῥεέθρων,

ἀλλʼ αἰὲν ἐπʼ ἤματι

ὠκυτόκος πεδίων ἐπινίσσεται

ἀκηράτῳ σὺν ὄμβρῳ
690

στερνούχου χθονός· οὐδὲ Μουσᾶν

χοροί νιν ἀπεστύγησαν, οὐδʼ *ἄρʼ

ἁ χρυσάνιος Ἀφροδίτα.

β

ἔστιν δʼ οἷον ἐγὼ γᾶς Ἀσίας οὐκ ἐπακούω,

οὐδʼ ἐν τᾷ μεγάλᾳ Δωρίδι νάσῳ Πέλοπος πώποτε βλαστὸν
695

φύτευμʼ ἀχείρωτον αὐτόποιον,

ἐγχέων φόβημα δαΐων,

ὃ τᾷδε θάλλει μέγιστα χώρᾳ,
700

γλαυκᾶς παιδοτρόφου φύλλον ἐλαίας·

τὸ μέν τις οὔ, * νεαρὸς οὔτε γήρᾳ

σημαίνων, ἁλιώσει χερὶ πέρσας· ὁ γὰρ εἰσαιὲν ὁρῶν κύκλος

λεύσσει νιν Μορίου Διὸς
705

χἀ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθάνα.

β

ἄλλον δʼ αἶνον ἔχω ματροπόλει τᾷδε κράτιστον,

δῶρον τοῦ μεγάλου δαίμονος, εἰπεῖν .., αὔχημα μέγιστον,

εὔιππον, εὔπωλον, εὐθάλασσον.

ὦ παῖ Κρόνου, σὺ γάρ νιν εἰς

τόδʼ εἷσας αὔχημʼ, ἄναξ Ποσειδάν,

ἵπποισιν τὸν ἀκεστῆρα χαλινὸν

πρώταισι ταῖσδε κτίσας ἀγυιαῖς.
715
[105 b.

ἁ δʼ εὐήρετμος ἔκπαγλʼ ἁλία χερσὶ † παραπτομένα πλάτα

θρώσκει, τῶν ἑκατομπόδων

Νηρήδων ἀκόλουθος.

Ἀντιγόνη

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 668-719 focus

Χορός

εὐίππου, ξένε, τᾶσδε χώρας

ἵκου τὰ κράτιστα γᾶς ἔπαυλα,

τὸν ἀργῆτα Κολωνόν, ἔνθʼ
670

ἁ λίγεια μινύρεται

θαμίζουσα μάλιστʼ ἀηδὼν

χλωραῖς ὑπὸ βάσσαις,

τὸν οἰνωπὸν ἔχουσα κισσὸν

καὶ τὰν ἄβατον θεοῦ
675

φυλλάδα μυριόκαρπον ἀνήλιον

ἀνήνεμόν τε πάντων

χειμώνων· ἵνʼ ὁ βακχιώτας

ἀεὶ Διόνυσος ἐμβατεύει

θεαῖς ἀμφιπολῶν τιθήναις.
680

681

Χορός

θάλλει δʼ οὐρανίας ὑπʼ ἄχνας

ὁ καλλίβοτρυς κατʼ ἦμαρ ἀεὶ

νάρκισσος, μεγάλαιν θεαῖν

ἀρχαῖον στεφάνωμʼ, ὅ τε

χρυσαυγὴς κρόκος· οὐδʼ ἄϋπνοι
685

κρῆναι μινύθουσιν

Κηφισοῦ νομάδες ῥεέθρων,

ἀλλʼ αἰὲν ἐπʼ ἤματι

ὠκυτόκος πεδίων ἐπινίσσεται

ἀκηράτῳ σὺν ὄμβρῳ
690

στερνούχου χθονός· οὐδὲ Μουσᾶν

χοροί νιν ἀπεστύγησαν οὐδʼ ἁ

693

Χορός

χρυσάνιος Ἀφροδίτα.

ἔστιν δʼ οἷον ἐγὼ γᾶς Ἀσίας οὐκ ἐπακούω
695

οὐδʼ ἐν τᾷ μεγάλᾳ Δωρίδι νάσῳ Πέλοπος πώποτε βλαστὸν

φύτευμʼ ἀχείρωτον αὐτόποιον,

ἐγχέων φόβημα δαΐων,

ὃ τᾷδε θάλλει μέγιστα χώρᾳ,
700

γλαυκᾶς παιδοτρόφου φύλλον ἐλαίας·

τὸ μέν τις οὐ νεαρὸς οὐδὲ γήρᾳ

συνναίων ἁλιώσει χερὶ πέρσας· ὁ γὰρ αἰὲν ὁρῶν κύκλος

λεύσσει νιν μορίου Διὸς
705

χἀ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθάνα.

707

Χορός

ἄλλον δʼ αἶνον ἔχω ματροπόλει τᾷδε κράτιστον

δῶρον τοῦ μεγάλου δαίμονος, εἰπεῖν, χθονὸς αὔχημα μέγιστον,
710

εὔιππον, εὔπωλον, εὐθάλασσον.

ὦ παῖ Κρόνου, σὺ γάρ νιν εἰς

τόδʼ εἷσας αὔχημʼ, ἄναξ Ποσειδάν,

ἵπποισιν τὸν ἀκεστῆρα χαλινὸν
715

πρώταισι ταῖσδε κτίσας ἀγυιαῖς.

ἁ δʼ εὐήρετμος ἔκπαγλʼ ἁλία χερσὶ παραπτομένα πλάτα

θρῴσκει, τῶν ἑκατομπόδων

Νηρῄδων ἀκόλουθος.

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 668 focus

Friend! in our land of conquering steeds thou art come

To this Heaven-fostered haunt, Earth’s fairest home,

Gleaming Colonos, where the nightingale
670

In cool green covert warbleth ever clear,

True to the clustering ivy and the dear

Divine, impenetrable shade,

From wildered boughs and myriad fruitage made,

Sunless at noon, stormless in every gale.
675

Wood-roving Bacchus there, with mazy round,

And his nymph nurses range the unoffended ground.

And nourished day by day with heavenly dew

Bright flowers their never-failing bloom renew,

From eldest time Dêo and Cora’s crown
680

Full-flowered narcissus, and the golden beam

Of crocus, while Cephisus’ gentle stream

In runnels fed by sleepless springs

Over the land’s broad bosom daily brings

His pregnant waters, never dwindling down.
685

The quiring Muses love to seek the spot

And Aphroditè’s golden car forsakes it not.

Here too a plant, nobler than e’er was known

On Asian soil, grander than yet hath grown

In Pelops’ mighty Dorian isle, unsown,

Free, self-create, the conquering foeman’s fear,

The kind oil-olive, silvery-green,

Chief nourisher of childish life, is seen

To burgeon best in this our mother-land.
695

No warrior, young, nor aged in command,

Shall ravage this, or scathe it with the spear;

For guardian Zeus’ unslumbering eye
700

Beholds it everlastingly,

And Athens’ grey-eyed Queen, dwelling for ever near.

Yet one more praise mightier than all I tell

O’er this my home, that Ocean loves her well,
705

And coursers love her, children of the wave

To grace these roadways Prince Poseidon first

Framed for the horse, that else had burst

From man’s control, the spirit taming bit

And the trim bark, rowed by strong arms, doth flit

O’er briny seas with glancing motion brave

Lord of the deep! by that thy glorious gift

Thou hast established our fair town
715

For ever in supreme renown—

The Sea nymphs’ plashing throng glide not more smoothly swift.

ANT

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 668 focus

Zur roßprangenden Flur, o Freund,

Kamst du, hier zu des Landes bester Wohnstadt,

Des glanzvollen Kolonos Hain,

Wo hinflatternd die Nachtigall

In helltönenden Lauten klagt
670

Aus den grünenden Schluchten,

Wo weinfarbiger Epheu rankt,

Tief im heiligen Laube des

Gottes, dem schattigen, früchtebeladenen,¹

Dem stillen, das kein Sturmwind
675

Aufregt, wo der begeisterte

Freudengott Dionysos stets hereinzieht,

Im Chor göttlicher Ammen schwärmend.²

Erste Gegenstrophe.

Hier in schönem Geringel blüht

Ewig unter des Himmels Thau Narkissos,
680

Der altheilige Kranz der zwei

Großen Göttinnen, golden glänzt³

Krokos: nimmer versiegen die⁴

Schlummerlosen Gewässer,

Die vom Strome Kephissos her
685

Irren; ewig von Tag zu Tag

Wallt er mit lauterem Regenergusse durch

Der breiten Erde Fluren,

Das Land schnell zu befruchten, das

Auch die Chöre der Musen nie verschmähten,⁵
690

Noch Kythere mit goldnen Zügeln.⁶

Zweite Strophe.

Hier auch blüht ein Gewächs, wie im Gefild' Asia keines,⁷

Kein's auf dorischer Flur, dort in dem weit

Prangenden Eilande des Pelops,

Erwuchs; von selbst ohne Pflege keimt es;⁸
695

Der Feindesspeere Schrecken ist's,

Das mächtig aufblüht in dieser Landschaft:

Mein sproßnährender, blauschimmernder Delbaum,⁹

Den kein bejahrter, kein junger Heerfürst

Se mit feindlicher Hand tilgend verheert;
700

Denn mit dem ewigen wachen Blick

Sieht Zeus' Morios' Aug' auf ihn

Und blauäugig Athene.

Zweite Gegenstrophe.

Noch ein anderes Lob meiner Geburtserde, das schönste,

Des stolzherrschenden Meergottes Geschenk,
705

Nenn' ich, des Land's edelste Gabe:

Den Ruhm der Meerfahrt, der Ross' und Füllen.¹⁰

Kronos' Sohn, du hobst es ja

Zu diesem Preis, hehrer Fürst Poseidon,

Der dem Nosse den wuthstillenden Zügel
710

Am ersten umwarf auf diesen Wegen.

Sieh, hineilend mit Macht nieder zum Meer

Hüpft in den Händen geschwungen dein

Ruder, das Nereïden rings¹¹

Hundertfüßig umtanzen.
715
(den nahenden Kreon erblickend)

Antigone.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 668 focus

Fear not ; we'll protect thee.

Though I am old, the strength of Attica

Is not decayed.

Creon {li^ith Attendants), CEdipus, Antigone,

Creon
Scene II.

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 668 focus

Well, stranger, to these rural seats

Thou comest, this region's blest retreats,

Where white Colonus lifts his head,
670

And glories in the bounding steed.

Where sadly sweet the frequent nightingale

Impassion'd pours her evening song,

And charms with varied notes each verdant vale,
675

The ivy's dark-green boughs among;

Or shelter'd 'midst the cluster'd vine,

Which high above, to form a bow'r

Safe from the sun or stormy show'r,
680

Loves its thick branches to entwine;

Where frolie Bacchus always roves,

And visits with his fostering Nymphs the groves.

Bath'd in the dew of heav'n each morn

Fresh is the fair Narcissus born,

Of these great pow'rs the crown of old:

The Crocus glitters robed in gold.

Here restless fountains ever murmuring glide,

And as their crisped streamlets stray

To feed, Cephisus, thy unfailing tide,

Fresh verdure marks their winding way;

And as their pure streams roll along.

O'er the rich bosom of the ground,

Quick spring the plants, the flow'rs around.

Here oft to raise the tuneful song
700

The virgin band of Muses deigns;

And car-borne Venus guides her golden reigns.

What nor rich Asia's wide domain,

Nor all that sea-encircled land

From Doric Pelops named, contain,

Here, unrequired the cult'ring hand,

The hallow'd plant spontaneous grows,

Striking cold terror through our foes.

Here blooms, this favour'd region round,

The fertile Olive's hoary head;
715

The young, the old behold it spread,

Nor dare with impious hand to wound:

Antigone
ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 668-715 focus

Chorus

Stranger, in this land of fine horses you have come to earth’s fairest home, the shining Colonus .

Here the nightingale, a constant guest, trills her clear note under the trees of green glades, dwelling amid the wine-dark ivy
670

and the god’s inviolate foliage, rich in berries and fruit, unvisited by sun, unvexed by the wind of any storm. Here the reveller Dionysus ever walks the ground,
675

companion of the nymphs that nursed him.
680

681

Chorus

And, fed on heavenly dew, the narcissus blooms day by day with its fair clusters; it is the ancient crown of the Great Goddesses.

And the crocus blooms with a golden gleam. Nor do the ever-flowing springs diminish, from which the waters of Cephisus wander, and each day with pure
685

current it moves over the plains of the land’s swelling bosom, bringing fertility. Nor have the dancing Muses shunned this place, nor Aphrodite of the golden rein.
690

694

Chorus

And there is a thing such as I have not heard of on Asian ground,

nor as ever yet born in the great Dorian isle of Pelops: a plant unconquered, self-renewing, causing terror to destroying enemies.
695

It greatly flourishes in this land—the gray-leafed olive, nurturer of children. Youth cannot harm it by the ravages of his hand, nor can any who lives with old age. For the sleepless eye
700

of Zeus Morios watches over it, and gray-eyed Athena.
705

707

Chorus

And I have more praise for this city our mother,

the gift of a great divinity, a glory most great: the might of horses, the might of colts, and the might of the sea.
For you, son of Cronus, lord Poseidon, have set her on the throne of this pride,
710

by establishing first in our roads the bit that cures the rage of horses. And the shapely oar, well-fitted for the sea, in flying past the land leaps to follow the hundred-footed Nereids.
715

Notes on the current edition

Oedipus at Colonus

1. (lycurgus, king of thrace)

2. (of fair maidens)

3. (never did i hear)

4. (as one day's work)

5. (the areiopagus is a safeguard)

Sir Richard C. Jebb Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus 6

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

668-719: First stasimon

694-719

Current edition Experimental

Ἀντιγόνη

ANT

Antigone.

Fear not ; we'll protect thee.

Though I am old, the strength of Attica

Is not decayed.

Creon {li^ith Attendants), CEdipus, Antigone,

Creon
Scene II.

Antigone
ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

668-719: First stasimon

694-719

Current edition Experimental

Ἀντιγόνη

ANT

Antigone.

Fear not ; we'll protect thee. Though I am old, the strength of Attica

Is not decayed.

Creon {li^ith Attendants), CEdipus, Antigone,

Creon Scene II.

From Doric Pelops named, contain, Here, unrequired the cult'ring hand, The hallow'd plant spontaneous grows, Striking cold terror through our foes. Here blooms, this favour'd region round, The fertile Olive's hoary head; 715 The young, the old behold it spread, Nor dare with impious hand to wound:

Antigone ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2.

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Fear not ; we'll protect thee.

Though I am old, the strength of Attica

Creon
Scene II.

Antigone
ANTIS. 1. STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2.