Scene: — At Colonus in Attica, a little more than a mile north-west of the acropolis of Athens. The back-scene shows the sacred grove of the Eumenides, luxuriant with "laurel, olive, vine" (v. 17) . Near the middle of the stage is seen a rock (v. 19) , affording a seat which is supposed to be just within the bounds of the grove (v. 37) . The hero Colonus is perhaps represented by a statue on the stage ( 59 τόνδε , cp. 65 ).

The blind OEDIPUS (conceived as coming into Attica from the W. or N.-W.) enters on the spectator's left, led by ANTIGONE. He is old and way-worn; the haggard face bears the traces of the self-inflicted wounds ( δυσπρόσοπτον , v. 286 ): the garb of both the wanderers betokens indigence and hardship ( vv. 747 ff. ; δυσπινεῖς στολάς , v. 1597 ). After replying to his first questions, his daughter leads him to the rocky seat (v. 19) .

Prologue. Oedipus has sat down to rest, when a man of the place warns him that he is on holy ground. It is the grove of the Eumenides. At that word, Oedipus knows that he has found his destined goal; and, when the stranger has gone to summon the men of Colonus, invokes the goddesses.—Steps approach; Oedipus and his daughter hide themselves in the grove.

γέροντος . Sophocles marks the length of interval which he supposes between the and the by v. 395, γέροντα δ’ ὀρθοῦν φλαῦρον ὃς νέος πέσῃ . In the Oedipus cannot be imagined as much above 40,—his two sons being then about 15 and 14, his two daughters about 13 and 12 respectively. It was "long" after his fall when Creon drove him into exile ( 437 , 441 ). It would satisfy the data of both plays to suppose that about 20 years in the life of Oedipus have elapsed between them.

Ἀντιγόνη . An anapaest can hold only the first place in a tragic trimeter, unless it is contained in a proper name, when it can hold any place except the sixth. Soph. has the name Ἀντιγόνη only four times in iambics. Here, in 1415 , and in 11the anapaest holds the fifth place; in 507, the 4th. But Eur. prefers the anapaest of Ἀντιγόνη in the 4th place: see 88, 757 , 1264 , 1323 , 1465 , 1636 (4th place) as against 58 , 1476 , 1588 (5th). The anapaest must be wholly in the proper name: hence Eur. 1570 ἔλεξε δ’, ὦ θηροκτόν’ Ἄρτεμι παῖ Διός was amended by Porson, ἔλεξε δ’, ὦ θηροκτόν’ Ἄρτεμις Διός Eur. IA 1570 .

χώρους , like loca , vaguely, "region" (so 798): but sing. χῶρος below ( 16 , 37 , 54 ), of a definite spot. Oed. already knows that they are near Athens ( 25 ), but it is time that the day's journey was ended ( 20 ); will this rural region—or town—supply their needs if they halt? The exordium has something of a Homeric tone,—due not merely to the form of the question (like that of Odysseus on awakening in Phaeacia, 6.119, and in Ithaca, 13.200 τέων αὖτε βροτῶν εἰς γαῖαν ἱκάνω; ), but also to the epic phrase ἀνδρῶν πόλιν ( 17.737etc.).

πλανήτην : cp. Eur. 878 ξένοι πλανήτην εἴχετ’ ἄθλιον βίον . The word is not in itself opprobrious: in 123 it is merely opp. to ἔγχωρος : cp. Plat. 371D καλοῦμεν...τοὺς...πλανήτας ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις, ἐμπόρους . In 1029 πλάνης , said by Oed. to the Corinthian, takes its colour from the added ἐπὶ θητείᾳ , "a vagrant hireling."

σπανιστοῖς , made scanty, given scantily: so Philostratus ( circ. 235 A.D. ) p. 611 ἄρωμα...σπανιστόν , "rare." This implies σπανίζω τι as="to make a thing scanty" or rare, which occurs in Greek of the 2nd cent. B.C. ( Philo Byzant. 4): cp. Shaksp. 1. 1. 281 "you have obedience scanted." For a different use see Strabo 15. 727 (a land) σπανιστὴ καρποῖς , "poor in...," implying σπανίζω τινά as="to make one needy," whence the perf. pass. ἐσπανίσμεθ’ ἀρωγῶν ( Aesch. 1024): and here again cp. Shaksp. 2. 1. 17 "if my father had not scanted me."

δέξεται : Xen. 5.5.24 ξενίοις... δέχεσθαι : Plat. 919A καταλύσεσιν ἀγαπηταῖς δεχόμενος.

δωρήμασιν , food, and shelter for the night: 14.404 ἐς κλισίην ἄγαγον καὶ ξείνια δῶκα (whereas δῶρα , or ξεινήϊα δῶρα , in Hom. usu.=special presents, as of plate or the like, 24.273).

ἐξαιτοῦντα , "asking earnestly. " This compound has a like force in 1255, 10; and so the midd. below, 586 , 1327 . Cp. ἐξεφίεται , straitly enjoins, 795. In prose, the special sense of ἐξαιτεῖν was "to demand the surrender of" a person, answering to ἐκδιδόναι : Antiph. or. 6 § 27 εἰ...θεράποντας ἐξαιτοῦσι μὴ ἤθελον ἐκδιδόναι.

σμικροῦ is better than μικροῦ , since the rhetorical ἐπαναφορά (cp. 610 , 25) needs the same form in both places. μικρός having prevailed in later Attic (as in Xen. and the orators), our MSS. in the tragic texts often drop the ς . But, metre permitting, tragedy preferred σμικρός . In Soph. fr. 38 εἰ μικρὸς ὢν τὰ φαῦλα νικήσας ἔχω , the word="of short stature," in which sense 5.801too has Τυδεύς τοι μικρὸς μὲν ἔην δέμας , though in 17. 757 σμικρῇσι . Curtius ( p. 622), comparing σμυκτήρ and μυκτήρ , remarks that analogy speaks for the antiquity of the ς in σμικρός , while it is possible that the μ was not original, but arose from some other sound.

φέροντα = φερόμενον : 590 πάντ’ ἄνευ φόβου φέρω : cp. 1411 .

καὶ τόδ’ . As καὶ οὖτος (like et is , isque ), or καὶ ταῦτα , introduces a strengthening circumstance ( Her. 6. 11 εἶναι δούλοισι, καὶ τούτοισι ὡς δρηπέτῃσι ), so here καὶ τόδε marks the last step of a climax. Some edd. point thus, φέροντα· taking ἐξαρκοῦν as= ἐξαρκεῖ , "and that suffices me": but this ( a ) supposes a very harsh ellipse of ἐστί , ( b ) maims the rhythm, ( c ) weakens the force of the series σμικρὸν—μεῖον—ἐξαρκοῦν . ἐμοί after Οἰδίπουν : cp. 1329 : as 535 τῆς ἐμῆς after τοῦδε τἀνδρός (like 1073 f.): 865 μυθήσομαι after Αἴας θροεῖ : Plat. 5 A οὐδέ τῳ ἂν διαφέροι Εὐθύφρων τῶν πολλῶν...εἰ μὴ εἰδείην .

στέργειν , absol., cp. 519 , Dem. § 112 εἰ δέ φησιν οὖτος, δειξάτω, κἀγὼ στέρξω καὶ σιωπήσομαι : usu. with accus., as 538 ἀνάγκῃ προὔμαθον στέργειν κακά . Like στέργειν , αἰνεῖν is sometimes absol. in this sense ( Eur. 388 κἂν μὲν θέλωσιν αἰνέσαι ), but ἀγαπᾶν almost always takes a clause with ὅτι, εἰ or ἐάν ( 21.289 οὐκ ἀγαπᾷς ὃ ἕκηλος ... δαίνυσαι ), or an accus.

αἱ πάθαι : Her. 1 207 τὰ δέ μοι παθήματα ἐόντα ἀχάριτα μαθήματα γέγονε : Aesch. 177 τὸν πάθει μάθος θέντα κυρίως ἔχειν.

ὁ χρόνος , the time (through which I live), attending on me ( ξυνών ) in long course ( μακρός ). Cp. 963(Polybus died of disease) καὶ τῷ μακρῷ γε συμμετρούμενος χρόνῳ , "and of the long years which he had told." For ξυνών cp. 863 εἴ μοι ξυνείη...μοῖρα : 622 παλαιᾷ... ἔντροφος ἁμέρᾳ : Pind. 4.157 ἤδη με γηραιὸν μέρος ἁλικίας ἀμφιπολεῖ .

διδάσκει , verb agreeing with nearest subject: cp. 830, 1133 : [Xen.] ( circ. 420 B.C.) 1 § 2 δικαίως αὐτόθι καὶ οἱ πένητες καὶ ὁ δῆμος πλέον ἔχει : Plat. 190C αἱ τιμαὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἱερὰ τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἠφανίζετο : Cic. 9. 10, 2 "nihil libri, nihil litterae, nihil doctrina prodest."

τρίτον , as completing the lucky number: 1174 κόμας ἐμὰς καὶ τῆσδε καὶ σαυτοῦ τρίτου : 581(where see n.).

θάκησιν is in itself a correct form. θάκησις ( θακέω ) is (1) the act of sitting, (2) the means of sitting, as οἴκησις ( οἰκέω ) is (1) the act of dwelling, (2) the house. It is not found elsewhere, but cp. Soph. 18 ἡλίου διπλῆ πάρεστιν ἐνθάκησις , a twofold means of sitting in the sun. With the MS. reading θάκοισιν construe: — στῆσόν με ἢ πρὸς θάκοις βεβήλοις, εἴ τινα (θᾶκον) βλέπεις , etc. (We could not render εἴ τινα βλέπεις "if thou seest any man ," since the need for a halt did not depend on that condition.) This is a construction much less clear and simple than that with θάκησιν . βεβήλοις may have induced the change of θάκησιν into θάκοισιν .

βεβήλοις , neut. plur. (cp. ἀβάτων ἀποβάς , 167 ), places which may be trodden, profana , opp. to ἱερά, ἄθικτα : cp. fr. 86. 6 δεινὸς γὰρ ἕρπειν πλοῦτος ἔς τε τἄβατα καὶ πρὸς βέβηλα (Vater's correction of καὶ πρὸς τὰ βατά ): Bekker 325. 13 ἀβέβηλα τὰ ἄβατα χωρία καὶ ἱερὰ καὶ μὴ τοῖς τυχοῦσι βάσιμα, μόνοις δὲ τοῖς θεραπεύουσι τοὺς θεούς. βέβηλα δὲ ἐλέγετο τὰ μὴ ὅσια μηδὲ ἱερά· οὕτω Σοφοκλῆς . (This ignores the classical use of ὅσιος as opp. to ἱερός : in Aristoph. 743 ὅσιον χωρίον = βέβηλον .) In Eur. 404 καὶ βέβηλα καὶ κεκρυμμένα λόγια = oracles to which access was easy, as opp. to those hidden in temple-archives.

ἢ πρὸς ἄλσεσιν does not necessarily imply entrance on the ἄλση . But the contrast with πρὸς βεβήλοις is unmeaning unless Oed. thinks of a seat on sacred ground, and not merely near it. So Antigone, who recognises the grove as sacred (16) , seats him within it (19) . This grove at Colonus was ἀστιβές (126) because the cult of the Eumenides so prescribed. Sacred groves were often open to visitors, as was the κυκλοτερὲς ἄλσος of the Nymphs, with an altar "whereon all wayfarers were wont to make offerings," ὅθι πάντες ἐπιρρέζεσκον ὁδῖται ( 17.208) . Hence Pausanias sometimes mentions that a particular ἄλσος was not open to the public. At Megalopolis, in the precinct of Zeus Philios, there was an ἄλσος of which he says, ἐς μὲν δὴ τὸ ἐντὸς ἔσοδος οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνθρώποις (8. 31. 5) . At Pellene, again, there was a walled ἄλσος of Artemis Soteira; ἔσοδός τε πλὴν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἄλλῳ γε οὐδενὶ ἔστιν ἀνθρώπων (7. 27. 3).

ἐξίδρυσον , place me in a seat; cp. ἐκ in ἐξορθόω (to render ὀρθόν ). ἐξίδρυσον , without addition, could hardly mean, seat me apart , i.e.out of the path. In Eur. fr. 877 (the only other example of ἐξιδρύω ) it is the context which fixes this sense, τηλοῦ γὰρ οἴκων βίοτον ἐξιδρυσάμην , "I fixed the seat of my life far apart from men's homes."

πυθώμεθα . πυθοίμεθα is impossible here. After a primary tense, the optative in a final clause with ὡς, ὅπως , etc., occurs only:—(1) in Homeric Greek, where the case is merely imaginary: 17.250 τόν ποτ’ ἐγὼν … ἄξω τῆλ’ Ἰθάκης, ἵνα μοι βίοτον πολὺν ἄλφοι : "him some day I will take far from Ithaca,—so that (if I should do so) he might bring me large gain," —implying, εἰ ἄγοιμι, ἄλφοι ἄν . (2) After words expressing an aspiration or prayer (and not, like στῆσον here, a simple order): Aesch. 297 ἔλθοι, κλύει δὲ καὶ πρόσωθεν ὢν θεός, ὅπως γένοιτο … λυτήριος : "may she come—and a god hears e'en afar— that [so] she might prove my deliverer." Aesch. 670 ff., by which Campb. defends πυθοίμεθα , would come under (2), if the text were certain, but there τώς is a v.l. for ὡς . (3) More rarely, where the primary tense implies a secondary: Dem. § 11 τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον ὁ νόμος...ἵνα μηδὲ πεισθῆναι μηδ’ ἐξαπατηθῆναι γένοιτ’ ἐπὶ τῷ δήμῳ : "the law stands thus [= was made thus], that the people might not even have the power" etc.: i.e. ἔχει implies ἐτέθη .

μανθάνειν … ἥκομεν , we have come to learning, = are in such plight that we must learn: the infin. as after verbs of duty or fitness ( ὀφείλω, προσήκει , etc.). Cp. 1158 εἰς τόδ’ ἥξεις ( sc. εἰς τὸ ὀλέσθαι ).

ξένοι πρὸς ἀστῶν : cp. the address of Oedipus the King to the Theban elders ( 216ff.), esp. vv. 222 f., νῦν δ’, ὕστερος γὰρ ἀστὸς εἰς ἀστοὺς τελῶ, ὑμῖν προφωνῶ κ.τ.λ.

Οἰδίπους , the more frequent voc. (cp. 405crit. n.): but Οἰδίπου below, 557 , 1346 . Athens is a little more than a mile S.E. of Colonus. The picture which Sophocles meant πύργοι to suggest probably included both the Acropolis—a beautiful feature in the view—and the line of city-walls with their towers. So the city-walls of Thebes are πύργοι, 122 .

οἳ at the end of the verse: cp. 298, 873, 819.

στέγουσιν , the reading of all MSS., is probably right. It is true that in class. Greek στέγω usually means either (1) "cover, conceal," as 1118 ἄγγος... σῶμα...στέγον , or (2) "keep out," as Aesch. 216 πύργον στέγειν εὔχεσθε πολέμιον δόρυ . But the first sense — "cover" — might easily pass into "protect," and Xen. 7.1.33has αἱ ἀσπίδες ...στεγάζουσι τὰ σώματα . Wakefield's στέφουσιν ("girdle") is specious; we have στεφάνωμα or στεφάνη πύργων ( 122, Eur. 910), Βαβυλῶνα...τείχεσιν ἐστεφάνωσε (Dionys. Periegetes 1006) , ὅπλοισιν Μεγάλη πόλις ἐστεφάνωται (Paus. 9. 15) . But it does not follow that πύργοι πόλιν στέφουσιν could stand. στέφω never occurs as = "to be set around," but either as (1) "to set around" — ἄνθη περὶ κεφαλὴν στέφεις , or (2) "to crown" — ἄνθεσι κεφαλὴν στέφεις ,—sometimes in the fig. sense of "honouring," as with libations or offerings ( 431etc.).

ὡς ἀπ’ ὀμμάτων , sc. εἰκάσαι , to judge from sight (alone), without exact knowledge: schol. ὡς ἔστιν ἐκ προόψεως τεκμήρασθαι : cp. Thuc. 1. 10 εἰκάζεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς φανερᾶς ὄψεως , to be estimated by the mere external aspect.

χῶρος δ’ ὅδ’ ἱρός . Cp. Plat. 230B, where Socrates recognises the sacred character of the spot by the Ilissus: Νυμφῶν τέ τινων καὶ Ἀχελῴου ἱερὸν ἀπὸ τῶν κορῶν τε καὶ ἀγαλμάτων (the votive dolls and images) ἔοικεν εἶναι . There, too, τὸ σύσκιον was a feature.

ὡς σάφ’ εἰκάσαι , A's reading, is preferable to ὡς ἀπεικάσαι , which would imply a more diffident guess. The poet of Colonus intends that the sacred character of the grove should at once impress the Theban maiden; and σάφα is confirmed by the emphasis of δάφνης, ἐλαίας, ἀμπέλου . It has been objected that σάφα is inconsistent with εἰκάσαι . But it merely expresses the speaker's own belief that her guess is right; as we can say, "a certain conjecture." In L's reading, ὡς ἀφεικάσαι , it seems more likely that a second ς should have been lost than that π should have become φ . For the constr. with ὡς , cp. 1220 ὥς γ’ ἐπεικάζειν ἐμέ. ὡςis omitted below, 152 .

βρύων takes a dat. in its literal sense of "sprouting" ( βρύει ἄνθεϊ 17.56 ), but either a dat. (as Aristoph. 45) or a gen. in its figurative sense of "being full." [Plat.] 371 C ἄφθονοι μὲν ὧραι παγκάρπου γονῆς βρύουσι (evidently pieced together from some poet).

ἀμπέλου . Cyril ( 4. 41), speaking of the later pagan practice, says, εἰς ἄλση ὅταν φυτεύωσι ξύλα, φυτεύουσιν οὐ τὰ καρποφόρα, οὐ συκῆν οὐδ’ ἄμπελον, ἀλλὰ μόνον τέρψεως χάριν ἄκαρπα ξύλα . But in earlier times, at least, τὰ καρποφόρα were not rare in sacred groves; cp. Xen. 5.3.12(referring to the shrine of the Ephesian Artemis at Scillus) περὶ δ’ αὐτὸν τὸν ναὸν ἄλσος ἡμέρων δένδρων ἐφυτεύθη, ὅσα ἐστὶ τρωκτὰ ὡραῖα . Paus. 1.21.7 (in an ἄλσος of Apollo at Athens) δένδρων καὶ ἡμέρων καὶ ὅσα τῶν ἀκάρπων ὀσμῆς παρέχεταί τινα ἢ θέας ἡδονήν .

πυκνόπτεροι , poet. for πυκναί , the second element being equivalent to a separate epithet, πτεροῦσσαι : cp. 717 ἑκατομπόδων Νηρῃδων , 1055 διστόλους , 846 οἰόζωνος ἀνήρ , a lonely way farer (where see n.). Such an epithet as "thickly-feathered" would be unmeaning here. The many nightingales, heard to warble from the thick covert, argue the undisturbed sanctity of the inner grove. Antigone notices an indication which her blind father can recognise.

δ’ is elided at the end of the verse, as 29 (n.), so also τ’ , as ib. 1184etc., and once ταῦτα , ib. 332: cp. below, 1164 .

ὡς γέροντι with μακρὰν : cp. Plat. 226C ταχεῖαν, ὡς ἐμοί, σκέψιν ἐπιτάττεις ( "a rapid process of thought for such as I am" ): 389 D σωφροσύνης δέ, ὡς πλήθει, οὐ τὰ τοιάδε μέγιστα ; "for the mass of men, are not the cardinal points of temperance such as these?" Cp. 76 .

προὐστάλης , hast fared forward: a compound not found elsewhere in Trag., except in Aesch. 415 Δίκη...νιν προστέλλεται , sends him forth as her champion.

Χρόνου … οὕνεκ’ . 857 f.: Her. 3. 122 εἵνεκέν τε χρημάτων ἄρξεις ἁπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος (if it is merely a question of money): Antiphon or. 5 § 8 κἂν ἀνωμότοις ὑμῖν...ἐπιτρέψαιμι..., ἕνεκά γε τοῦ πιστεύειν , "I would leave the verdict to you, though you were unsworn, if it were only a question of confidence."

ὅποι , since καθέσταμεν implies ἥκομεν : cp. 227 , 476 : on the same principle, Ὀλυμπίαζε (not Ὀλυμπίασι ) παρεῖναι , Thuc. 3. 8 .

γοῦν : "well ( οὖν ), I know Athens ( γε ), but not this place."Cp. 233 ἀλλ’ οὖν εὐνοίᾳ γ’ αὐδῶ , "well, it is in kindness that I speak."

ἡμὶν as a trochee is frequent in Soph. (Ellendt counts 26 instances), but does not occur in Eur., nor in Aesch., except in 347, where Porson's ἁμίν for ἁμῖν seems necessary. Modern edd., with Dind., usu. write ἡμίν : others, as Nauck and Ellendt, would always write ἧμιν , for which the old grammarians afford some warrant (cp. Chandler, 2nd ed. § 673): while others, again, would distinguish an emphatic ἡμίν from a non-emphatic ἦμιν (cp. Hadley and Allen, § 264). !-- need brevia for those carets -->

ἀλλ’ ὅστις ὁ τόπος . The tribrach is divided like that in Eur. 511 ἐλθόντ|α^ συ^ν ο^πλ|οις , where σὺν coheres closely with ὅπλοις , as ὁ with τόπος . But even where no such cohesion exists, a tribrach may be broken after the second syllable if it is also broken after the first: e.g. δέσποινα, σὺ τάδ’ ἔπραξας οὐ γνώμης ἄτερ is correct: cp. n. on 537.

ἦ μάθω , deliberative subjunct., of which the aor. is more frequent than the pres.: so 364 εἴπω: see on 651.

ἐξοικήσιμος , capable of being made into a dwelling-place, "habitable," here implying "inhabited." Adjectives with the suffix σιμο properly denote adaptability. They were primarily formed from substantives in ‐σι‐ς , as χρήσι‐μο‐ς , fitted for use, from χρῆσις . The noun ἐξοίκησις is found only in the sense of "emigration," Plat. 704C, 850 B. But as from ἱππάζομαι was formed ἱππά‐σιμος , though no ἵππασις occurs, so ἐξοικήσιμος here is taken directly from ἐξοικεῖν as="to make into a dwellingplace" ( Thuc. 2.17 ἐξῳκήθη ). οἰκήσιμος as="habitable" occurs in later Greek. Just as ἐξοικήσιμος is practically equivalent to οἰκητός here, so Silius speaks of the Capitoline as " superis habitabile saxum ,"alluding to the actual shrines on it ( 1. 541 ). Cp. ἁλώσιμος βάξις (Aesch. 10) , tidings of an actual , not merely possible , capture. This poet. use is the converse of that by which ἄρρητος could mean "unspeakable," or invictus , "unconquerable."

ἀλλ’ ἐστὶ μὴν , " nay, but it is inhabited." Aesch. 233(in a reply) ἀλλὰ μὴν ἵμειῤ , " nay, but he was eager" (to take this very city). Especially in rejecting an alternative: Eur. 1047 ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μὴν ναῦς ἔστιν, "nay, but neither is there a ship."

Impatient for more light, Oed. asks, "Is he coming forth towards us,— so that it is really needless for thee to move?" δεῦρο denotes the goal, προς‐ the direction, and ἐξ‐ the starting-point. δεῦρο goes with both participles, which form a single expression,="coming towards us from the abodes" implied by οἰκητός (28) . Cp. 762 ἀπ’ οἴκων... ἐξορμώμενος . Other explanations are:— (1) "approaching" ( δεῦρο being taken with προσστ . only) "and setting out," as a "prothysteron" for "setting out and approaching." This is impossible. (2) "Moving, and hastening , hither": but this obliterates ἐξ‐ , and strains ὁρμώμενον .

καὶ δὴ , "already": Aristoph. 175 ΠΕΙ. βλέψον κάτω. ΕΠ. καὶ δὴ βλέπω.

μὲν οὖν , "nay rather" ( imo ); Aristoph. 13 ΝΙ. λέγε σύ. ΔΗ. σὺ μὲν οὖν λέγε .

ὦ ξεῖν’ . The Ionic voc. occurs even without metrical necessity, Eur. 798 ξεῖν’, οὐ δικαίως : Soph. rarely uses ξεῖνος except in voc.: 1014 n.

ὑπέρ τ’ ἐμοῦ = ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ τε : as 258(where see n.), κυρῶ τ’ ἐγώ = ἐγώ τε κυρῶ : 1294. Cp. Tennyson's lines : O you that were eyes and light to the King till he past away From the darkness of life. 989(of the blind Teiresias and his guide) δὔ ἐξ ἑνὸς βλέποντε .

οὕνεχ’ … φράσαι : that thou hast come near, αἴσιος σκοπὸς ὧν (= τούτων ἃ ) ἀδηλοῦμεν , an opportune inquirer into our doubts, φράσαι , so as to explain (epexegetic infin., cp. 50 ). σκοπὸς has its ordinary sense of "scout" (cp. n. on 297 ). Oedipus supposes that the man has been sent to make inquiry. τούτων is objective gen. after σκοπός .

ὧν , by attract.: 788 ὧν … ἱκόμην = ( τούτων ) ἃ ἱκόμην.

ἀδηλοῦμεν . Since ἀδηλέω =to be ἄδηλος , (as ἀπειθέω to be ἀπειθής, ἀκοσμέω to be ἄκοσμος ,) the form strictly implies that ἄδηλος could mean, "not seeing clearly": but an act. sense nowhere occurs, for in Eur. 1318 χρόᾳ δ’ ἀδήλῳ τῶν δεδραμένων πέρι means, "faces wherein the deeds cannot be read " (not, "which seem to know nought of them" ). Cp. the verbs formed from the active use of verbal adjectives which were primarily passive, as ἀλαστέω , to be unforgetting, ἀτλητέω , to be impatient ( 515). Conversely, δηλόω , "to make δῆλος ," sometimes verges on the sense, "to be δῆλος " ( 20, 242 ).

As 78 shows, the man who has just entered is supposed to belong to Colonus, which, like the rest of Attica, was subject to the king of Athens (v. 67) . The designation ξένος was probably suggested merely by ὦ ξεῖν’ in 33 .

τὰ πλείον’ , "the" details foreshadowed by the preamble. Isocr. or. 5 § 63 (in a rapid sketch of Conon's career) καὶ τί δεῖ τὰ πλείω λέγειν ; "and why dwell on the details?" So in Soph. 576 μή νύν μ’ ἔρῃ τὰ πλείον’ , 731 σιγᾶν ἂν ἁρμόζοι σε τὸν πλείω λόγον , the art. denotes "the" sequel which the previous discourse promises. In Eur. 609 ὡς οὐ κρινοῦμαι τῶνδέ σοι τὰ πλείονα , the gen. brings this out: "Enough —I will not dispute with thee on the further aspects of this matter."

οὐχ ἁγνὸν πατεῖν . The poets can use ἁγνός either like ἱερός ( e.g. Eur. 253 ἁγνὸν τέμενος ), or, as here, like ὅσιος . For the infin. active, cp. Plat. 62B λόγος οὐ...ῥᾴδιος διϊδεῖν , 90 C λόγου ...δυνατοῦ κατανοῆσαι : Eur. 316 λέγεις ἀκοῦσαι μαλθάκ’ ( auditu mollia ): Soph. 792 ἄτλητον...ὁρᾶν , and n. on 1204.

τοῦ θεῶν νομίζεται ; "to which of the gods is it deemed to belong?" After verbs of being thought, called, etc., the gen. expresses "belonging" (1) to a possessor, as here and 738 οὐ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἡ πόλις νομίζεται ; or (2) to a class, as Eur. 12 τῶν ἐλευθερωτάτων οἴκων νομισθεῖσ’ . With (1) here cp. the gen. of the deity after ἱερός ( Plat. 85B ἱερὸς τοῦ αὐτοῦ θεοῦ ).

ἄθικτος οὐδ’ οἰκητός , sc. ἐστιν , answering τίς ἔσθ’ ὁ χῶρος ; cp. 1274 ἄναυδος οὐδ’ ἃμηνίεις φράσας , 2 ἄστειπτος οὐδ’ οἰκουμένη . The second question, τοῦ θεῶν νομίζεται ; is answered by αἱ γὰρ ἔμφοβοι κ.τ.λ.

Γῆς τε καὶ Σκότου κόραι : as in Aesch. 416they call themselves Νυκτὸς αἰανῆς τέκνα , and invoke μᾶτερ Νύξ (844) : Aesch. does not name the other parent. In Hesiod. 184the mother is Earth, impregnated by the blood of Uranus,—the idea being that the Erinyes were called into life by the crime of a son (Zeus) against a father. Other versions made them daughters of Euonymè (a name for Earth) and Cronus ( Epimenides ap. Tzetzes on Lycophron 406), or of Earth and Phorkys ( i.e. the sea): cp. Welcker 3. 81.

τίνων … κλύων ; of whom hearing the august name might I make a prayer? i.e. "who may they be, whose name I am to hear, and to invoke?" The optat. with ἄν gives a reverential tone to the question: εὐξαίμην ἄν refers to such propitiatory words of invocation as were uttered on approaching a shrine. The description has left the Theban stranger in doubt as to the particular deities meant. He might think of other "Daughters of Darkness," — as of the Κῆρες ( Hes. 217), or of the Μοῖραι ,—whom the Eumenides of Aeschylus address as ματροκασιγνῆται , children of the same mother, Νύξ ( 961).

πάνθ’ ὁρώσας , because no crime escapes their ken: 835f. τὰς ἀεί τε παρθένους ἀεί θ’ ὁρώσας πάντα τἀν βροτοῖς πάθη, σεμνὰς Ἐρινῦς τανύποδας.

Εὐμενίδας , the title of the Erinyes at Sicyon ( Paus. 2.11.4 ), was not used by Aeschylus in his play of that name, unless with Herm. we assume that it was in a part of Athena's speech which has dropped out after v. 1028 . When Harpocration says that the Athena of Aeschylus, πραΰνασα τὰς Ἐρινύας, Εὐμενίδας ὠνόμασεν , he perh. refers to such epithets as εὔφρονες ( 992) , ἵλαοι, εὐθύφρονες (1040) , Σεμναί (1041) . Demosthenes ( or. 23 § 66 ) uses the name in referring to the trial of Orestes.

ἄλλα δ’ ἀλλαχοῦ καλά : schol. ἄλλα ὀνόματα παρ’ ἄλλοις καλὰ νομίζεται . Wunder and others quote Plut. 27 ὦ ξένε, νόμοι διαφέρουσιν ἀνθρώπων· ἄλλα δ’ ἄλλοις καλά . This is against rendering, "but otherwhere [the folk would give them] other fair names." Near Megalopolis, on the road to Messene, there was a shrine of the Μανίαι : δοκεῖν δέ μοι, θεῶν τῶν Εὐμενίδων ἐστὶν ἐπίκλησις , Paus. 8.34.1 . Aeschines gives the attributes of the Erinyes to the Ποιναί ( τοὺς ἠσεβηκότας...ἐλαύνειν καὶ κολάζειν δᾷσὶν ἡμμέναις, .or. 1 § 190 ). As at Athens they were Σεμναί , at Thebes they were Πότνιαι (cp. 84 ). Another name was Ἀραί ( 417).

μὲν seems right. It implies a thought answering, rather than opposed, to ἵλεῳ δεξαίατο : i.e. "gracious on their part may be the welcome, (as, on mine, the duty to remain is clear)": not , "gracious, indeed, may be their welcome, ( but , even if they should be stern, I must stay)." Cp. the μέν , without a following δέ , which lightly emphasises rather than contrasts: Xen. 1.4.12 ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ οἶδα (as others, perhaps, may).

τὸν ἱκέτην , without με (which I should at least prefer to )μὲ or ἐμὲ , if μὲν were changed), is more solemn: cp. 284 ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἔλαβες τὸν ἱκέτην.

δεξαίατο , Ionic: so 921 πυθοίατο , 945 δεξοίατο , 1274 ὀψοίατο, γνωσοίατο , where see n.

ὡς is clearly right. The ὥστ’ of the MSS. would mean, " and so " ( i.e. since they are the Eumenides). It could not mean, "and in that case," i.e. "if they prove kind." ὡς is best taken as simply causal, "for" ( schol. ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐκ ἀναστήσομαι ), rather than as="know that" ( Eur. 1664 ΚΡΕΩΝ. ὡς οὔτις ἀμφὶ τῷδ’ ὑγρὰν θήσει κόνιν ).

γῆς : cp. 668 τᾶσδε χώρας … ἔπαυλα . Eur. 797 ὁρᾷς τάφου τοῦδ’ ἀθλίους ἕδρας ἐμάς;

>ἂν ἐξέλθοιμ’ : the optat. with ἄν calmly expresses a fixed resolve: cp. 343 οὐκ ἂν πέρα φράσαιμι .

τί δ’ ἐστὶ τοῦτο; "What means this?" (cp. τί δ’ ἔστι; "what now?" 319n.). "What has this sudden resolve to do with the mention of the Eumenides?"

ξυμφορᾶς ξύνθημ’ ἐμῆς . σύνθημα =something agreed upon ( συντίθεμαι ), as e.g. a military watchword ( Her. 9.98 ). Apollo had told Oedipus that, when he reached a shrine of the Σεμναί , then he should find rest (90) . This was the σύνθημα , the sign preconcerted between them, which Oedipus has now recognised at Colonus (cp. ἔγνωκα, 96 ). He calls his own prayer (44 f.) the σύνθημα of his fate, because it embodies the two points of the σύνθημα , — "Here are the Eumenides, — here I stay." Campbell renders, " the word that sums my destiny," and seems to regard the notion of "sign" as blended with that of "summary." But the two notions are distinct. σύνθημα is always parallel in sense with συντίθεμαι as="to concert" ( βουλήν , etc.), never with συντίθημι as="to put briefly together."

ἐμοί is indispensable, while οὐδὲ μέντοι would be weak.

τοὐξανιστάναι : the art. with the infin. (whether subject or object) is esp. frequent in the dramatists, for the simple reason that it was often metrically convenient: 442 : 114 τέρψις ἥδε σοι τὸ δρᾶν : 78 τὸ γὰρ βίᾳ πολιτῶν δρᾶν ἔφυν ἀμήχανος .

δίχ’ , like ἄνευ or χωρίς , "without the sanction of": 768 καὶ δίχα κείνων , "e'en without the gods' help." Nauck objects to the position: but not less bold, at least, is 1084 ἔτι ποτ’ ἄλλος , 986 οὐχ ὅσον τάχος δῆτ’ αὐτὸν ἄξεις …;

ἐνδείξω τί δρῶ , indicate what I am doing: δρῶ is pres. indic.: Plat. 488A ἱκανῶς μοι ἔνδειξαι τί ἔστι τοῦτο . Antiphon or. 6 § 37 ἐνδεῖξαι τῷ δικαστηρίῳ τὰ ἀδικήματα . The technical ἔνδειξις was an information laid against usurpers of public functions, or, in certain cases, against κακοῦργοι . Schneidewin and Wecklein take δρῶ as subjunct., understanding, —"report the matter ( and ask ) what I am to do": but the idea of asking could not be supplied.

ξεῖνε : 33 . !-- this isn't obvious: what's the lemma here? -->

μὴ μ’ ἀτιμάσῃς tou/twn(genit. as after verbs of depriving) ἅ σε προστρέπω (cp. 831 τοσαῦτά σε... προστρέπω), φράσαι (epexegetic infin.): deny me not the grace of the things for which I supplicate thee, that thou shouldest declare them. Cp. 35 .

τίς ἔσθ’ , i.e. "what is it called? "In answer to the same query at v. 38 he had only learned that part of it was sacred. Cp. 26 .

κἀγώ . We say: — "What I know, you also shall know" ( ὅσ’ οἶδ’ ἐγώ, καὶ σὺ ἐπιστήσει ). The Greeks could say: — "What I also (=I on my part) know, you (also) shall know." The second "also" ( καί ) is absent here, since σύ is wanting. Xen. 2. 25 δοκεῖ μέντοι μοι καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν συμπόσια ταὐτὰ πάσχειν ἅπερ καὶ τὰ ἐν γῇ φυόμενα . Antiphon or. 5 § 23 ἐζητεῖτο οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἢ καὶ ὑπ’ ἐμοῦ . So Soph. 1146 οὔτε γάρ ποτε μητρὸς σύ γ’ ἦσθα μᾶλλον ἢ κἀμοῦ φίλος . Cp. below, 870 ( κἀμὲ ): 525: 927.

Ποσειδῶν . Paus. 1.30.4 δείκνυται δὲ καὶ χῶρος καλούμενος Κολωνὸς Ἵππιος...καὶ βωμὸς Ποσειδῶνος Ἱππίου καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς Ἱππίας (1069) , ἡρῷον δὲ Πειρίθου καὶ Θησέως (1593) , Οἰδίποδός τε καὶ Ἀδράστου . This altar of Poseidon ( ἐπιστάτης Κολωνοῦ 889 ) lies beyond the stage-scene (888) .

ἐν δ’ (adv.), sc. ἐστίν : Prometheus did not belong to Colonus itself (as Poseidon did), but to the neighbouring Academy (see on 56 ): he is named as one of several divine presences in the vicinity. So ἐν δ’ adds a new member to a group, 27(where the same words ἐν δ’ ὁ π. θεός refer to the plague), 675. If, instead of ἐν δ’ we read ἠδ’ (which Soph. sometimes used in dialogue, fr. 345 and 493 ), this would rather link the two deities as holding Colonus.

Προμηθεύς is a "Titan" as son of the Titan Iapetus ( Hes. 510). Welcker ( 2. 254)thinks that "Titan," instead of "Titanid," is used here only because, like the Titans, Prometheus rebelled against Zeus: but this seems strained. Cp. Cic. 2. 10.23(from the of Aesch., Prometheus speaking) Titanum suboles, socia nostri sanguinis, Generata caelo. πυρφόρος (55) , because represented with a torch in the right hand: Eur. 1121(on the shield of Tydeus) δεξιᾷ δὲ λαμπάδα Τιτὰν Προμηθεὺς ἔφερεν ὡς πρήσων πόλιν . So πυρφόρος of Artemis ( 207), and Capaneus ( 135). Cp. Philostratus p. 602 (quoting the Athenian rhetorician Apollonius, circ. 225 A.D. ) ἰὼ Προμηθεῦ δᾳδοῦχε καὶ πυρφόρε . His altar was in the Academy, just S. of Colonus, and this was the starting-point of the λαμπαδηφορία (to the acropolis) at the three torch-festivals. Harpocrat. 184 τρεῖς ἄγουσιν Ἀθηναῖοι ἑορτὰς λαμπάδας, Παναθηναίοις καὶ Ἡφαιστείοις καὶ Προμηθείοις . Schol. Aristoph. 131 λαμπαδηφορίαι δὲ γίγονται τρεῖς ἐν τῷ Κεραμεικῷ, Ἀθηνᾶς, Ἡφαίστου, Προμηθέως . Aesch. wrote both a (the 1st play of his trilogy) and a satyric .

τόπον by inverse attraction: Lys. or. 19 § 47 τὴν οὐσίαν ἣν κατέλιπε τῷ υἱεῖ οὐ πλείονος ἀξία ἐστίν κ.τ.λ. : cp. on 449.

ὀδός . Somewhere near the grove of the Eumenides, but not within the stagescene, was a spot called "the threshold" of Hades,—a steeply-descending rift or cavern in the rock, at the mouth of which some brazen steps had been made (see on 1590 f. ),—in accordance with the epic notion that Hades had a χάλκεος οὐδός ( 8.15). From this spot , the immediately adjacent region (including the grove) was known as " the brazen threshold ," — χαλκόπους , borrowed from the literal χαλκᾶ βάθρα (1591) , taking the general sense of "adamantine." As "rooted on the nether rock" ( γῆθεν ἐρριζωμένον 1591 ), and also as linked by mystic sanctities with the Powers of the Under-world, this region of the "brazen threshold" is called ἔρεισμ’ Ἀθηνῶν , the stay of Athens: a phrase in which the idea of physical basis is joined to that of religious safeguard.

χαλκόπους , with feet of brass ( 491 χ. Ἐρινύς , untiring), i.e. furnished with brazen steps: not, putting brass under the foot, as some have taken it: so ἀργυρόπους, χρυσόπους etc.

The name — though κολωνός was so familiar a word — is traced in the usual Greek fashion to a hero Colonus, the ἐπώνυμος of the deme; and, to justify the epithet of the place, ἵππιος , he is called ἱππότης , horseman, or knight. In the roads about Colonus ( ταῖσδε...ἀγυιαῖς 715 ) men first learned to use Poseidon's gift of the horse. With τόνδ’ cp. 65 τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ . In the case of the tribes, at least, statues of eponymi were familiar to Athenians (cp. Aristoph. 1183 τὸν ἀνδριάντα τὸν Πανδίονος ). A statue of the hero Colonus on the stage would be an effective device for giving greater vividness to the local legend. The speaker could point to it with dramatic fitness, since Antigone is with her blind father.

ἀρχηγός , or ἀρχηγέτης ,=esp. the founder of a family or clan, or (like κτίστης, οἰκιστής ) of a city. Bekker I. 449 ἀρχηγέται· ἡγεμόνες οἱ ἐπώνυμοι τῶν φυλῶν , quoting from the of Ar. παρὰ τοὺς ἀρχηγέτας ,=by the statues of the ten ἐπώνυμοι ἥρωες of the Attic tribes. Arist. fr. 85 (Berl. ed. p. 1491 a 20) ἀρετὴ τοῦ γένους, καὶ εὐγενεῖς οἱ ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ γένους, οὐκ ἐὰν ὁ πατὴρ εὐγενὴς ᾖ ἀλλ’ ἐὰν ὁ ἀρχηγός . Isocr. or. 3 § 28 Τεῦκρος μὲν ὁ τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν ἀρχηγός . Plat. 21E τῆς πόλεως θεὸς ἀρχηγός τίς ἐστιν (of Saïs in Egypt, which claimed origin from the goddess Neith).

And all (the δημόται , supplied κατὰ σύνεσιν from γύαι as= δῆμος ) bear his name in common ( κοινόν , in their capacity as Κολωνεῖς ), being designated thereby. τοὔνομα , acc. of object to φέρουσι , is also cognate accus. to ὠνομασμένοι , which is added to mark the fixity of the deme-name,—a title not merely ornamental (like Ἐρεχθεῖδαι for Athenians), but regular.

σοι , ethic dat.: 761 τοιαῦτά σοι ταῦτ’ ἐστίν, ὡς μὲν ἐν λόγῳ ἀλγεινά, κ.τ.λ.

λόγοις , "story," legend, generally, but esp. poetry, in which Colonus had not yet figured: the (23. 679) buries Oedipus at Thebes: cp. Paus. 1.30.4 (of the Oedipus-myth at Colonus) διάφορα μὲν καὶ ταῦτα τῇ Ὁμήρου ποιήσει .

τῇ ξυνουσίᾳ , "by the dwelling with them": i.e. those who live at Colonus feel the charm of its holy places grow upon them. So the Thucydidean Pericles describes the Athenians as τὴν τῆς πόλεως δύναμιν καθ’ ἡμέραν ἔργῳ θεωμένους καὶ ἐραστὰς γιγνομένους αὐτῆς (2. 43) : cp. the schol. here, τῷ ἔργῳ καὶ τῇ πείρᾳ πλέον τιμώμενα, οὐ τοῖς λόγοις .

ἦ γάρ κ.τ.λ.The eager interest of Oed. in this question depends on his knowledge, derived from the oracle, that he brought κέρδη τοῖς δεδεγμένοις (92) .

καὶ κάρτα : cp. 301 : Eur. 89 ΘΕ. ἆρ’ ἄν τί μου δέξαιο...; ΙΠ καὶ κάρτα γ’ .

θεοῦ , the hero Colonus. Though the distinction had lost nothing of its clearness at this date (cp. Antiphon or. 1 § 27 οὔτε θεοὺς οὔθ’ ἥρωας οὔτ’ ἀνθρώπους δείσασα ), θεός is sometimes the generic term for beings who receive divine honours: so Amphion and Zethus, the Theban heroes, are τὼ σιώ ( Aristoph. 905), and Eupolis says ( fr. 3) ἐν εὐσκίοις δρόμοισιν Ἀκαδήμου θεοῦ (the ἐπώνυμος of the Ἀκαδήμεια ).

Elmsley reads ἄρχει τίς αὐτῶν; " Who is their king?" But Oed. rather asks, "Have they a monarchy or a democracy?" It would be a prosaic objection that the question is hardly suited to the heroic age of πατρικαὶ βασιλεῖαι (Thuc. I. 13) .

ἢ ’πὶ τῷ πλ. λόγος; "or does power of discussion rest with the people?" πλήθει , the popular assembly , as oft. τὸ ὑμέτερον πλῆθος in the Attic orators. Thuc. 2.40 (Pericles, on the Athenian democracy) οὐ τοὺς λόγους τοῖς ἔργοις βλάβην ἡγούμενοι . The schol. paraphrases, ἢ ἐν τῷ πλ. ἐστὶν ἡ ἰσχύς ; and κράτος is a conject. instead of λόγος . Elmsley and others cp. Eur. 119 τίνος κλύοντες; (under what king?) ἢ δεδήμευται κράτος; There is no evidence for λόγος as (1) the commanding word, "sway": (2) the deciding word, "arbitrament": or (3) the "principle" ( ratio ) of government.

ἐκ , of the head and fount of power: 264 κἀκ τῶνδ’ ἄρχομαι : 63 ἀρχόμεσθ’ ἐκ κρεισσόνων .

οὗτος … τίς (ὢν) … κρατεῖ ; = τίς ἔστιν οὗτος ὃς κρατεῖ; Eur. 501 τίς οὗτος σῶμα τοὐμὸν οὐκ ἐᾷς κεῖσθαι;

λόγῳ τε καὶ σθένει , word (counsel) and might (of deeds): 16.242(Odysseus) χεῖράς τ’ αἰχμητὴν ἔμεναι καὶ ἐπίφρονα βουλήν : Pind. 5.111(may Cyrene's king be blest) ἐπ’ ἔργοισιν ἀμφί τε βουλαῖς : Soph. 884(of a τύραννος ) εἰ δέ τις ὑπέροπτα χερσὶν ἢ λόγῳ πορεύεται . So Theseus is described by Thuc. 2.15 as γενόμενος μετὰ τοῦ ξυνετοῦ καὶ δυνατός .

Sophocles conceives the union of the Attic communes (commemorated by the annual festival of the συνοίκια in August) as already accomplished by Theseus. Athens is the capital, all the people of Attica being reckoned as its citizens ( ἁπάντων ἤδη ξυντελούντων ἐς αὐτήν, Thuc. 2.15 ). Isocr. or. 10 § 18 speaks of Theseus as ὁ λεγόμενος μὲν Αἰγέως, γενόμενος δ’ ἐκ Ποσειδῶνος . Aegeus, too, was said to have been king of Athens: see on 297 ; and was the eponymus of one of the ten Attic tribes ( Αἰγηὶς φυλή, Andoc. or. 1 § 62 ). He gave the title to a lost play of Sophocles.

ἆρ’ ἄν τις … μόλοι; "I wonder if any one would go?" = I wish that some one would go. 10.303 τίς κέν μοι τόδε ἔργον ὑποσχόμενος τελέσειε δώρῳ ἔπι μεγάλῳ; Cp. infra 1100 .

αὐτῷ , poet. after the verb of motion: cp. 12.374 ἐπειγομένοισι δ’ ἵκοντο : Aesch. 358 ἦλθεν αὐτῷ Ζηνὸς...βελος : cp. 711.

πομπός , one sent to bring a person, 288.

ὡς πρὸς τί goes with both participles, μολεῖν with the second only. The Chorus are uncertain whether Oedipus has merely some message for Theseus, or wishes to bring him in person to the spot (as πομπός might imply). Our pointing is better than ὡς πρὸς τί; λ. ἢ κ. μολεῖν ; The query turns more on the motive of the appeal than on a sharp contrast between its possible forms. λέξων should not be joined with μολεῖν ( " bid him come,"Blaydes).

The reading and explanation of the verse hinge on the question whether ὡς (1) belongs to πρὸς τί , = "with what view?" or (2) is final, = "in order that." Now (1) is strongly supported by two other places of Soph., in each of which this formula stands, as here, at the beginning of a question: 1174 ΟΙ. ὡς πρὸς τί χρείας; 1182 ΥΑ. ὡς πρὸς τί πίστιν τήνδ’ ἄγαν ἐπιστρέφεις; The simple πρὸς τί ; (also freq. in Soph.) = merely "with reference to what?" while ὡς πρὸς τί = "with reference to what, in your conception or intention ( ὡς )?": hence the latter is appropriate when the questioner cannot imagine the agent's motive.

καταρτύσων μολεῖν , to prepare things (to work upon his mind, directly or indirectly), so that he shall come: for the inf. cp. 1286 : Plat. 562C τὴν πολιτείαν... παρασκευάζει τυραννίδος δεηθῆναι : and for καταρτύω of mental or moral influence, Plut. 38 D ἂν...μὴ λόγοις χρηστοῖς ἀφαιρῶν ἢ παρατρέπων καταρτύῃ τὴν φύσιν .

With L's μόλοι ( ὡς being then final), we must render: "That Theseus might come with what view ( πρὸς τί ), —to say or to arrange (what)?" The opt. can stand (in spite of κερδάνῃ 72 ), since ἆρ’ ἂν μόλοι; (70) puts the case hypothetically: see on 11 . But: ( a ) the double μόλοι , at the end of two successive verses, is intolerable. Dindorf, therefore, conjecturally reads παρῇ , which Wecklein and others adopt. ( b ) The antithesis between λέξων and καταρτύσων is hardly clear. Wecklein explains, πρὸς ποῖον λόγον ἢ ἔργον; Certainly τί λέξων ἢ δράσων could mean, "for what conceivable purpose?" (cp. 71 ὅ τι δρῶν ἢ τί φωνῶν ): but καταρτύσων would be a very strange substitute for δράσων .

μὴ βλέποντος, not οὐ , since the blindness is a condition: "if he has not sight."

ὁρῶντα : the blind man's words will be instinct with mental vision. (Cp. 747.) The insight is ascribed to the words themselves, not to the speaker, as at 267 πεπονθότα and δεδρακότα are epithets of the ἔργα , not of the agent. Cp. Aesch. 854 φρέν’...ὠμματωμένην , 467 ὠμμάτωσα...σαφέστερον ( λόγον ). Milton, 3. 51 So much the rather thou, Celestial Light, Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers Irradiate; there plant eyes.

οἶσθ’ … ὡς … μὴ σφαλῇς; dost thou know (how to act), — that thou mayest not come to harm? A modification of the phrase οἶσθ’ ὡς ποίησον , in which ποίησον is abruptly substituted for δεῖ σε ποιῆσαι . So, here, οἶσθα eagerly bespeaks attention to the advice: see on 543.

ὡς ἰδόντι : ὡς has a limiting force (as above, 20 ), 1161 ἦν ζηλωτός, ὡς ἐμοί (cp. on 763). The dat. is that of the person interested by the perception, as in ὡς μὲν συνελόντι εἰπεῖν (Xen. 3. 1 § 38) , πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα παραλιπόντι ( Thuc. 2.51 ), συλλαμβάνοντι κατὰ τὸ ὀρθόν (for one who rightly comprehends, Her. 7.143 ), τῷ ἁπτομένῳ οὐ θερμὸν ἦν ( Thuc. 2.49 ), etc.

δαίμονος , sortis : so 1337 , and oft.: boldly in fr. 587 μὴ σπεῖρε πολλοῖς τὸν παρόντα δαίμονα , sow not the rumour of thy fate abroad.

μὴ κατ’ ἄστυ is a comforting parenthesis. μὴ is due to the preceding imperative μέν’ : cp. Thuc. I. 124 ψηφίσασθε τὸν πόλεμον, μὴ φοβηθέντες τὸ αὐτίκα δεινόν : Xen. 3.1.37 ἀπάγου τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τοὺς παῖδας, μηδὲν αὐτῶν καταθείς : but it has, in itself, almost the effect of a reassuring injunction, "do not suppose that I mean." We could not make οἱ ἐνθάδ’ αὐτοῦ μὴ κατ’ ἄστυ δημόται a single phrase, as=such of the folks as are not in the town, but here.

ἐνθάδ’ αὐτοῦ : Solon fr. 36. 11 τοὺς δ’ ἐνθάδ’ αὐτοῦ (in Attica, as opp. to abroad): so Eupolis fr. inc. 1. 4 (where Bothe after Meineke badly points τῶν ἐνθάδ’, αὐτοῦ ), etc. The word δημότης in 690, 1071=a common man as opp. to a chief. Here, as in Eur. (Aesch. has not the word) and Pind. ( 7. 65), δημόται are the "citizens" generally; though in this place the term is tinged with the notion of "demesmen."

εἰ χρή . All our MSS. have ἢ χρή (which Campbell retains); but, as between ἢ and εἰ in such a case, their authority is small: thus in Aesch. 994, where εἴτ’ is certain, L gives the senseless ἤτ’ . Epic usage allows ἠὲ ( ἢ ), answered by ἦε ( ἦ ), in an indirect question: 2.299 ὄφρα δαῶμεν ἢ ἐτεὸν Κάλχας μαντεύεται, ἦε καὶ οὐκί . But is there any Attic example of this construction? Three instances are indeed alleged from Aesch. ( 780, 756, 890 ), but they are most doubtful: see Appendix. Attic usage prescribed εἰ (or εἴτε ) as = whether , introducing the indirect question: the correlative or was usu. εἴτε , but sometimes, as here, ἤ .

ἡμὶν , ethic dat.: do we find ourselves alone? Cp. 62 .

ἐν ἡσύχῳ , in quiet case, nearly= ἡσύχως , as 1675 ἐν πυμάτῳ = "at the last": cp. 384 νῦν γὰρ ἐν καλῷ φρονεῖν .

μόνης πέλας , sc. οὔσης , a gen. absol. (we could not understand ὡς ὄντι πέλας ἐμοῦ μόνης ): cp. 1588 : 966 ὧν ὑφηγητῶν , sc. ὄντων .

πότνιαι , fitting in his mouth, as being esp. their name at Thebes (43) .

δεινῶπες : as looking sternly on sin (42) . The face of the Avengers is still terrible to his inner eye. Sophocles nowhere portrays the lineaments of the Furies, as Aesch. does ( 46-54), but he leaves on the mind an impression not less awful.

εὖτε : νῦν ἔκαμψα ἐπὶ ἕδρας ( gen. sing. ) ὑμῶν πρώτων (possess. gen.) τῆσδε γῆς (partitive gen.). ἐπί can be so placed since ὑμῶν is possessive gen. (= ὑμετέρας ): cp. 126 , 177 ἀκτὰν πρὸς ἑσπέρου θεοῦ.

ἔκαμψα ( sc. γόνυ ) absol., as Eur. 1079 πᾶ βῶ, πᾶ στῶ, πᾶ κάμψω;

ἀγνώμονες , without γνώμη , hence, inconsiderate ; and so, unfeeling : 473 φρονοῦσαν θνητὰ κοὐκ ἀγνώμονα , i.e. not refusing to make allowance for human frailty. Xen. 2.8.5 ἀγνώμονι κριτῇ περιτυχεῖν , to fall in with a judge who makes no allowance. But ἀγνώς = "undiscerning," 677.

ἐξέχρη , since in Attic χράω contracts in η : Tyrtaeus 3. 3 Ἀπόλλων χρυσοκόμης ἔχρη πίονος ἐξ ἀδύτου : Pind. 7.92 ἔχρεον( v.l. ἔχραον ): Lucian 22 ἔχρα καὶ ἐθέσπιζε (common dialect). τὰ πόλλ’, cp. 564 τὰ πολλὰ πνεύματ’ , those frequent winds. The prophecy was made to Oedipus at Delphi when he went thither in his youth from Corinth, to ask whether he was indeed the son of Polybus, the Corinthian king, and Meropè. The god did not solve his doubt,— ἄλλα δ’ ἄθλια καὶ δεινὰ καὶ δύστηνα προὔφηνεν λέγων ( 789) . Eur. makes Oedipus, while still at Thebes, tell Antigone of a χρησμός which doomed him to die at ἱερὸς Κολωνός ( 1705 ff.). Far more poetical is the conception of Sophocles, that Apollo had appointed the sign , but not named the place.

ταύτην ἔλεξε παῦλαν : spoke of this as a rest. The pronominal object of the verb, instead of being τοῦτο , is assimilated to the gender of the predicate παῦλαν : cp. Plat. 433E λέγει... εἶναι ταύτην ὀρθότητα ὀνόματος, ξυνθήκην , he says that in this consists the correctness of a word,—convention: Lysias or. 12 § 37 ταύτην γὰρ ἐσχάτην δίκην δυνάμεθα παρ’ αὐτῶν λαβεῖν , this (death) is the extreme penalty which we can exact from them.

ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ : so 330: 422, 235, etc.: but 1648 χρόνῳ βραχεῖ (without ἐν ). The general Attic rule was to use ἐν in such phrases as ἐν πολλῷ, μακρῷ, ὀλίγῳ, βραχεῖ χρόνῳ, ἐν ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις, ἐν πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν . The instances in which ἐν is omitted are comparatively rare in poetry, and very rare (usu. doubtful) in prose, with the exception of the phrase ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ which in prose usu. lacks ἐν : it takes it, however, below at 614 and 18.

ἐλθόντι … βίον . Apollo said: αὕτη παῦλά σοι ἔσται, ἐλθόντι χώραν τερμίαν, ὅπου ἂν λάβῃς θ. ς. ἕδραν καὶ ξενόστασιν· ἐνταῦθα κάμψεις κ.τ.λ. In the orat. obliqua, if the tense of the principal verb were primary (as λέγει ), ὅπου ἂν λάβῃς would become ὅπου ἂν λάβω : since it is secondary ( ἔλεξε ), we have ὅπου λάβοιμι . The part. ἐλθόντι expresses the first condition to be fulfilled before the παῦλα can be attained. ταύτην is explained by ἐνταῦθα κάμψειν. τερμίαν is proleptic: in whatever land he should find the Semnae, that land was to be for him τερμία , i.e. was to contain the goal of his wanderings. The word occurs elsewhere only in 1331, τερμίαν ἁμέραν , one's last day. It fits the metaphor of κάμψειν , from rounding the post in the δίαυλος ( κάμψαι διαύλου θάτερον κῶλον πάλιν , Aesch. 344), since τέρμα oft.= νύσσα or καμπτήρ , the turning-post ( 23.466 εὖ σχεθέειν περὶ τέρμα).

σεμνῶν : see on 43 .

ξενόστασιν , quarters for strangers. Pollux 9. 50 μέρῃ δὲ καὶ πόλεως καὶ πανδοκεῖον καὶ ξενὼν καὶ ὡς ἐν Ἰνάχῳ Σοφοκλέους (a satyric drama, fr. 253) , πανδόκος ξενόστασις . The word occurs only in these two places of Soph.: so ἱππόστασις, βούστασις .

κέρδη μέν κ.τ.λ. : with advantages, through my having settled there ( οἰκήσαντα ), for my entertainers, and ruin for the Thebans. The conjecture οἰκίσαντα , "having founded," deserves to be carefully weighed. Cp. the poet. use of κτίσας below (715) in regard to the invention of the curb: also Aesch. 250 τυφλὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐλπίδας κατῴκισα . On the other hand, the blessing to Attica turned on the personal residence of Oed. therein at the close of his life: cp. 626 κοὔποτ’ Οἰδίπουν ἐρεῖς ἀχρεῖον οἰκητῆρα δέξασθαι . This favours οἰκήσαντα . κέρδη and ἄτην , accusatives in appos. with the sentence ἐνταῦθα κάμψειν τὸν βίον : the participle οἰκήσαντα (in antithesis with δεδεγμένοις , cp. 13 ξένοι πρὸς ἀστῶν ) serves to bring out the point on which the κέρδη and ἄτη depend. For the plur. acc. in appos. cp. Eur. 6 καί με θητεύειν πατὴρ ...τῶνδ’ ἄποιν’ ἠνάγκασεν . This is better than to refer κέρδη and ἄτην to the person of Oed. ( "having dwelt there as a blessing" etc.), which would suit ἄτην , but hardly the plur. κέρδη ,—used here instead of κέρδος (cp. 579 ) because the "blessings" were to be felt in many ways and on many occasions (see 1524 ff. ).

τοῖς πέμψασιν is supplemented by ἀπήλασαν , since πέμπειν can be said of those who "speed the parting guest": 15.74 χρὴ ξεῖνον παρεόντα φιλεῖν ἐθέλοντα δὲ πέμπειν .

παρηγγύα cannot mean "pledged,""promised" ( ἠγγυᾶτο ), but only "passed the watchword to me," i.e. " told me, as a sign. " Xen. 3.3.58 παρηγγύα ὁ Κῦρος σύνθημα, Ζεὺς σύμμαχος καὶ ἡγεμών , "C. proceeded to pass the watchword, 'Zeus'" , etc. παρεγγυάω regularly has this sense (which sometimes passes into that of "exhorting," "encouraging" one another); or else that of "putting something into another's hand," "entrusting" it to him. The omission of the temporal augment in L and other MSS. is not a sufficient ground for adopting Herwerden's φερέγγυα ("trusty").

ἢ σεισμόν, ἢ βροντήν τιν’ , some such sign as earthquake or thunder ( τινά with both): thunder is the sign given at 1606 . τιν’ suggests that the god spoke merely of "signs": Oed. interprets. Cp. schol. Aristoph. 171 διοσημία δέ ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ καιρὸν χειμών . Plut. 419 F σύγχυσιν μεγάλην περὶ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ διοσημίας πολλὰς γενέσθαι .

ἔγνωκα μὲν is answered (101) by ἀλλά μοι...δότε . νυν , "then," seems better than νῦν , (though this could stand,) since the oracle is the basis of his belief.

τήνδε τὴν ὁδὸν : acc. of extension in space (with ἐξήγαγε ), denoting the ground traversed: cp. 1686 : 1223 κέλευθον ἕρπεις .

οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅπως οὐ , which in grammatical order immediately follows ὡς , can be thus placed because felt as one adverbial expression=" assuredly ": so often ἔστιν ὅτε (="sometimes"), οὐκ ἔστιν ᾗ ("in no wise"), οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐ ("everybody"), etc.

πτερὸν : no outward sign had been given. The "omen" was in the leading of his will. Cp. the feeling in the (more spiritual here than the ) that the gods sometimes act directly on the human mind by inspiring a thought at a crisis. 16.282(Odysseus to his son, when planning to slay the suitors) ὁππότε κεν πολύβουλος ἐνὶ φρεσὶ θήσει Ἀθήνη, νεύσω μέν τοι ἐγὼ κεφαλῇ : which anticipates such a πτερόν as is meant here. For πτερόν as= οἰωνός or ὄρνις (= πάνθ’ ὅσαπερ περὶ μαντείας διακρίνει Aristoph. 719 ), Schneidewin cp. Callimachus 124 ποίων ( ὀρνίθων )οὐκ ἀγαθαὶ πτέρυγες , Propert. 4. 10. 11 felicibus edita pennis (with happy auguries).

ἐξήγαγ’ , i.e. "to my goal" ( ἐξ‐ ), not, "aside from the highway." Plat. 66B κινδυνεύει τοι ὥσπερ ἀτραπός τις ἐκφέρειν ἡμᾶς (and so Soph. 7).

οὐ γὰρ ἄν , "for else ," etc., the suppressed protasis being εἰ μὴ ἐξήγαγε : so 125 : 82, and Appendix to p. 221.

νήφων ἀοίνοις ; the austere wanderer lights first on the shrine of the austere goddesses ( ὡς αἰεὶ τὸν ὁμοῖον ἄγει θεὸς ὡς τὸν ὁμοῖον ); νήφων implying the thought that he has been in a manner consecrated to suffering. Water, and honey mixed with milk ( μελίκρατον ), formed the χοὰς ἀοίνους, νηφάλια μειλίγματα (Aesch. 107) of the Furies. Pollux 6. 26 τὸ γὰρ νηφαλιεύειν τὸ νηφάλια θύειν ἔλεγον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ χρῆσθαι θυσίαις ἀοίνοις, ὧν τὰς ἐναντίας θυσίας οἰνοσπόνδους ἔλεγον . Photius s. v. νηφάλιοι θυσίαι , ἐν αἷς οἶνος οὐ σπένδεται, ἀλλὰ ὕδωρ καὶ μελίκρατον .

ἀσκέπαρνον (cp. 19 ), not shaped by the adze ( σκέπαρνος, fr. 724 ): so Soph. is quoted by Hesychius (1. 90) for ἀδρέπανον (from δρεπάνη ).

βίου … πέρασιν … καὶ καταστροφήν τινα , some ending of life,—some close to my course. βίου πέρασις is τὸ περᾶν τὸν βίον , a passing through life to its end, a concluding of it ( Eur. 101 τὴν τελευταίαν...περάσας ἡμέραν ): καταστροφή adds the notion of a career which approaches its goal. Thuc. 2.42 (of those who had fallen in the war) δοκεῖ δέ μοι δηλοῦν ἀνδρὸς ἀρετὴν πρώτη τε μηνύουσα καὶ τελευταία βεβαιοῦσα ἡ νῦν τῶνδε καταστροφή (the closing scene of their lives). Polyb. 5. 54 τὴν αὐτὴν ἐποιήσαντο τοῦ βίου καταστροφήν .

ὀμφὰς : see on 550 .

μειόνως ἔχειν = μείων εἶναι . This euphemistic mode of expression with the comparative adverb is often found where censure or disparagement is to be conveyed less bluntly. Plat. 75A ὀρέγεται μὲν πάντα ταῦτα εἶναι οἷον τὸ ἴσον, ἔχει δὲ ἐνδεεστέρως (repeated just afterwards thus, αὐτοῦ ἐνδεέστερά ἐστιν ): 34 C τάχ’ ἂν οὖν τις ταῦτα ἐννοήσας αὐθαδέστερον ἂν πρός με σχοίη , = αὐθαδέστερος ἂν εἴη : 932 A ἐάν τις ἐν τῇδε τῇ πόλει γονέων ἀμελέστερον ἔχῃ τοῦ δέοντος = ἀμελέστερος ᾖ . Oedipus says to the Furies: "Grant me rest, unless haply ( τι , adv., as 969, here with bitter irony) I seem to be beneath such grace ,—I, who have suffered so much and so long." μειόνως ἔχειν means here to be μείων in the sense of " too insignificant ," " of too little account ," in respect of suffering: i.e. , one who has not yet suffered enough. Thus we arrive at the same sense which the scholiast extorts by a method which seems impossible. He explains μειόνως ἔχειν as = ἐλαττόνως ἔχειν τὰ κακά , "to have ills in too small a degree." But (1) as Herm. said, this would be μεῖον or μείω ἔχειν , and (2) it is impossible to understand τὰ κακά . Campbell thinks that μειόνως ἔχειν λατρεύων = μειόνως ἔχειν λατρευμάτων : which is open to objection (1), and also to this, that the partic. λατρεύων could not do duty for a partitive gen. after ἔχειν . Wecklein (who follows the schol.) suggests μειόνως ἔχειν κακῶν , and ἀεί for βροτῶν in 105 .

μόχθοις λατρεύων : Aesch. 217 ἀνάγκας ἔδυ λέπαδνον : Eur. 877 χρημάτων ζευχθεὶς ὕπο (in bonds to lucre). 357 πόνων λατρεύματα (servitude in toils) is not similar.

ἴτ’ , in urgent petition, as 248 , 46 ἴθ’...ἀνόρθωσον : 1413 ἴτ’, ἀξιώσατ .

γλυκεῖαι , with blandishment, as 1040 ὦ γλυκὺς Ἅιδας . No other poet of the class. age (I think) ventures on this use of γλυκύς in addressing deities, which, indeed, is somewhat apt to recall the Aristophanic ὦ γλύκων, ὦ γλυκύτατε .

Σκότου : on 40 .

Παλλάδος , possessive gen. with καλούμεναι : Athens, thou that art said to belong to Pallas, of all cities most honoured: Eur. 8 ἔστιν γὰρ οὐκ ἄσημος Ἑλλήνων πόλις, τῆς χρυσολόγχου Παλλάδος κεκλημένη : ib. 311 Λοξίου κεκλήμεθα , I am called (the servant) of Apollo.

εἴδωλον (cp. 393 ), a mere wraith, with the semblance and speech of the man, ἀτὰρ φρένες οὐκ ἔνι πάμπαν , but the living heart is not therein (as Achilles says of the εἴδωλον of Patroclus, 23.104). So the wraith of Helen is εἴδωλον ἔμπνουν, Eur. 34 .

οὐ γὰρ δὴ τό γ’ . After τόδ’ in 109 a second τόδ’ here would be very awkward: and the article, if not necessary, is at least desirable. οὐ γὰρ δή is esp. used in rejecting an alternative to something already stated, and γε is often added with the force of "at any rate"; below, 265 οὐ γὰρ δὴ τό γε σῶμ’ : 1020 οὐ γὰρ δὴ κενόν γ’ ἀφήσομεν : 246 οὐ γὰρ δὴ σύ γ’ ἦσθα ναυβάτης . On the other hand οὐ γὰρ δή without γε occurs 576, 46.

The grove being close to the village, the man of the place has done his errand quickly, and the elders of Colonus are already heard approaching (cp. 78 ).

χρόνῳ , dat. of circumstance with παλαιοί , old in respect of their years, i.e. "aged." The phrase (an unusual one) does not seem to be intensive, as Campbell makes it, "very old" ( γονῇ γενναῖε in 1469is not similar), but simply pleonastic, as in 13.432 παλαιοῦ... γέροντος, an old man of many years.

ἐπίσκοποι here= speculatores , explorers, but in 217overseers, watchers, and ib. 1148of Dionysus, "master" (of mystic rites).

καὶ σύ μ’ ἐξ ὁδοῦ πόδα κρύψον all MSS. (1) This is usu. explained by partitive apposition ( σχῆμα καθ’ ὅλον καὶ μέρος ), the part πόδα being in appos. with the whole με : "Hide me,—that is, my foot,—apart from the road." The construction is common ( 1301 μέθες με...χεῖρα , Hom. 11.240 τὸν δ’ ἄορι πλῆξ’ αὐχένα ): the question here is as to the sense. ἄγαγέ με πόδα could bear such a sense: but κρύψον με πόδαcannot do so, unless we grant that κρύπτειν πόδα could mean "to guide another's steps to a hiding place." Wholly different is Eur. 812 ποῖ μ’ ὑπεξάγεις πόδα; "whither art thou withdrawing thy steps from me?" = ποῖ με φεύγεις ; (2) Paley thinks that πόδα is "quite redundantly used," as if ἄγουσα had been part of the sentence. The evidence cited for a "redundant" use of πόδα consists in ( a ) the phrase βαίνω πόδα , Eur. 1173etc., where βαίνω is trans.: ( b ) one place, Eur. 1153 ἀλλ’ εὐτυχοίης, νόστιμον δ’ ἔλθοις πόδα : where, if right, π. is a bold cognate acc., come with returning foot: but ὁδόν and δόμον are vv. ll. (3) Campbell takes με as governed, πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον , by κρύψον πόδα as= ὑπέξαγε : but this involves the difficulty noticed under (1). I regard as probable H. Keck's ἐκποδὼν ὁδοῦ . Cp. Eur. 978 χθονὸς τῆσδ’ ἐκποδών . No substitute for πόδα is satisfactory: among the conjectures are κόρα, μέ ποι, πάλιν, πέλας, πέρα, πρόσω, τάχα, τόδε, τόδ’ ἄψ .

τῶνδ’ … ἐκμάθω τίνας λόγους ἐροῦσιν , learn in regard to these men what they will say; not, learn from them (by speaking to them), since his present object is only to overhear them, unseen. This gen. of connection often goes thus with verbs of perceiving, etc.: Xen. 3.6.17 ἐνθυμοῦ τῶν εἰδότων ὅτι λέγουσι . Plat. 517C ἀγνοοῦντες ἀλλήλων ὅτι λέγομεν . Distinguish 593 ὅταν μάθῃς μου νουθέτει, when thou hast learnt from me.

ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθεῖν : i.e. "for in learning (how the people of the place are disposed) consists the caution of (proper for) all that we are doing": we are poor strangers, who must be prepared to shape our course according to the mood of the ἀστοί (13) . The spondee can stand in the 5th place, since ἐν , to which γάρ adheres, itself coheres closely with τῷ μαθεῖν : so 376 εἰ γὰρ τῶνδέ μοι (where, as here, Elms. proposed δὲ instead of γὰρ ): ib. 409 τῷ τοῦτ’ ἤρεσεν ; cp. 664 .

τῶν ποιουμένων : so 84(just before an exit, as here): ταῦτα γὰρ φέρει νίκην τ’ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν καὶ κράτος τῶν δρωμένων . The γνώμη here, though perhaps meant to mark the caution taught by bitter experience (cp. 273 ), has the tone of Periclean Athens: cp. Thuc. 2.40 (it is a mischief) μὴ προδιδαχθῆναι...λόγῳ πρότερον ἢ ἐπὶ ἃ δεῖ ἔργῳ ἐλθεῖν : 3. 42 (Diodotus answering Cleon) τοὺς...λόγους... διδασκάλους τῶν πραγμάτων .

Parodos, passing at v. 138 into a lyric dialogue ( κομμός ) between the Chorus and Oedipus (see preliminary n. on the structure of the play ). For the metres see Metrical Analysis.

The framework is as follows. (1) first strophe, 117 τίς ἄρ’ ἦν to 137 ναίει , = first antistrophe, 149 ἐή to 169 ἀπερύκου . (2) second strophe, 176 οὔτοι to 187 σέβεσθαι , = second antistr., 192 αὐτοῦ to 206 ἐκπυθοίμαν . Between the 1st strophe and the 1st antistrophe is interposed an anapaestic "system" ( σύστημα ) of 11 verses, 138 ὅδ’ ἐκεῖνος to 148 ὥρμουν (Oed. and Ch.). Between the 1st antistr. and the 2nd strophe, a second system of 6 verses, 170 θύγατερ to 175 μεταναστάς (Oed. and Ant.). Between the 2nd strophe and the 2nd antistr., a third system of 4 verses, 188 ἄγε νυν to 191 πολεμῶμεν (Oed.). From v. 207 to the end (253) , the verses are without strophic correspondence ( ἀνομοιόστροφα ). A doubt exists as to the genuineness of vv. 237-253 ( ὦ ξένοι—δύναιτο ), and of the 4 trimeters which follow ( 254-257 ): see on 237 .

The Chorus induce Oed. to leave the grove by promising that no one shall remove him from Colonus by force (176) , but, on learning who he is (222) , revoke the promise, and command him to leave Attica. Antigone appeals to them.

ὅρα : cp. Aesch. 255(the Furies hunting Orestes): ὅρα, ὅρα μάλ’ αὖ λεῦσσέ τε πάντα, μὴ λάθῃ φύγδα βὰς ματροφόνος ἀτίτας : cp. also the scene in which the Chorus of the are seeking the hero ( 867 πᾶ πᾶ πᾶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔβαν ἐγώ; ).

τίς ἄρ’ ἦν; imperf. of previous mention (not implying that he is not still trespassing): who was he of whom our informant spoke? Plat. 47D ὃ τῷ μὲν δικαίῳ βέλτιον ἐγίγνετο (is, as we agreedas we agreed, τῷ δὲ ἀδίκῳ ἀπώλλυτο . Slightly different is the imperf. of a truth newly seen: 978 ὅδ’ ἦν ἄρα ὁ ξυλλαβών με , "so (all the time) this was he who has seized me."

ναίει , of mere situation (not habitation), as 2.626 νήσων αἳ ναίουσι πέρην ἁλός : so 597(of Salamis), and 99(of a wanderer).

ἐκτόπιος instead of ἐκ τόπου : 716 ἁλία...πλάτα θρώσκει : 1340 ἀπάγετ’ ἐκτόπιον : 1411 θαλάσσιον ἐκρίψατ’ : 785 φοιτᾷς δ’ ὑπερπόντιος : 419 ἐφέστιον πῆξαι : Eur. 1424 παράκτιοι δραμεῖσθε . Plut. 25 πελάγιοι πρὸς τὴν Σικελίαν ἔφευγον .

ἀκορέστατος , "most insatiate" ( κόρος ); hence, reckless of due limit,— shameless: cp. improbus annis atque mero fervens (Iuv. 3. 282) . Eur. 926 (deprecating ὕβρις ), μήποτ’ ἐμὸν φρόνημα ψυχά τ’ ἀκόρεστος εἴη . A positive ἀκορής is found in later Greek ( Themistius, or. 90 D , 4th cent. A.D. ): and as διακορής and κατακορής are classical (Plato, etc.), it may be a mere accident that ἀκορής has no earlier warrant. If referred to ἀκόρεστος , the superl. would be a poet. form like νέατος, μέσατος .

This verse is corrupt in the MSS., but two things seem clear: (1) there is no reason to suspect προσδέρκου : (2) the singular λεῦσσε must be restored, and placed after προσδέρκου . The antistrophic verse (153) is ἀλλ’ οὐ μὰν ἔν γ’ ἐμοί . A long syllable is then wanted to complete the verse προσδέρκου, λεῦσσε . Hermann's νιν has been generally adopted. But λεῦσσε νιν could only mean " see him": not, " look for him": λεύσσειν τινά could not stand for ζητεῖν τινα . The MS. αὐτὸν was prob. a gloss which came in after προσδέρκου and λεῦσσε had been transposed; and the plur. λεύσσετε may have arisen from λεῦσσε δή . In 135 ὅν is governed by γνῶναι , not by λεύσσων : and in Aesch. 255 ὅρα, ὅρα μάλ’ αὖ, λεῦσσέ τε πάντα( v.l. παντᾶ ), the sense is, "scan all the ground." Cp. 890("'tis cruel," the Chorus say, baffled in their quest) αμενηνὸν ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν ὅπου .

προσπεύθου (only here) ought to mean "ask, or learn, further " (the reg. sense of προσπυνθάνεσθαι, προσερωτᾶν ), but this is weak: here, it seems rather to mean, " press the inquiry," inquire assiduously: cp. προσαιτεῖν, προσλιπαρεῖν . προσφθέγγου ("speak to him"), a v.l. for προσπεύθου , is plainly unsuitable. Hermann transposed προσδέρκου and προσπεύθου : but the "looking" naturally precedes the "asking," and πανταχῇ suits both. The conjectures λεῦσσ’ αὐτόν, προσδρακοῦ, προσπεύθου (or προσπυθοῦ, προσδέρκου ) are open not only to the objection from the sense of λεύσσειν (121) , but also to this, that the aor. is less fitting here. As to προσδρακοῦ , ἐδρακόμην in 7. 224is a very rare example of that form.

πλανάτας , one who has wandered hither from beyond our borders, and so = ξένος : cp. on 3 .

προσέβα γὰρ οὐκ ἄν : cp. 98 : for the place of οὐκ , 96.

ἄλσος ἐς : see on 84 .

ἀμαιμακετᾶν : used by the poets of any violent force, divine or elemental, with which men cannot cope (as the Chimaera, 6.179; Artemis in her wrath, Pind. 3.33; the sea, ib. 1.14; fire, 177), and probably associated with ἄμαχος . But the reduplication recalls μαι‐μά‐ω (cp. πορ‐φύρ‐ω, ποι‐πνύ‐ω ), —the ἀ being intensive: and if we suppose a secondary development of √MA as μακ ( Fennell on Pind. 1. 14), the proper sense of ἀμαιμάκετος would be " very furious. " The word being of epic coinage, it is conceivable that associations with μάχομαι may have influenced the formation as well as the usage.

καὶ παραμειβόμεσθ’ κ.τ.λ. In approaching or passing a shrine, it was usual to salute ( προσκυνεῖν ), and to invoke the deity audibly. But in passing the grove of the Eumenides the people of Colonus avoid looking towards it. No sound , no articulate word, escapes them. Their lips only move in sign of the prayer which the mind conceives. Cp. on 489 .

τὸ τᾶς ἐφάμου στόμα φροντίδος ἱέντες = "moving the lips of (in) reverently-mute thought"; ἱέναι (instead of οἴγειν, λύειν, διαίρειν ) στόμα has been suggested by the phrases φωνὴν (or γλῶσσαν ) ἱέναι : cp. fr. 844. 3 πολλὴν γλῶσσαν ἐκχέας μάτην . This is better than to make στόμα purely figurative (like "the still, small voice" ), when the sense would be, "giving a (still) voice to our reverent thought," εὐφάμου (= silent ) qualifying the metaphor as when discord is called πῦρ ἀνήφαιστον , Eur. 621.

ἀφώνως . The ancient custom was to pray aloud, partly from a feeling that one ought not to make any prayer which might not be heard by all mortals. Pythagoras in Clemens Alex. 4. 26 § 173(it is usual μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεσθαι ) ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, οὐχ ὅτι τὸ θεῖον ᾤοντο μὴ δύνασθαι τῶν ἡσυχῇ φθεγγομένων ἐπαΐειν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι δικαίας ἐβούλοντο εἶναι τὰς εὐχάς, ἃς οὐκ ἄν τις αἰδεσθείη ποιεῖσθαι πολλῶν συνειδότων . Persius 2. 6 Haud cuivis promptum est murmurque humilesque susurros Tollere de templis et aperto vivere voto. Lucan 5. 104 tacito mala vota susurro Concipiunt.

After ἱέντες we may place either (1) a point,—making τὰ δὲ νῦν begin a new sentence: or (2) merely a comma,— taking ἃς (129) as still the object to ἅζονθ’ : (1) is best.

οὐδὲν , sc. αὐτάς : οὐδὲν ἅζονθ’ as="reverencing nothing " would be at least unusual. The act. of ἅζομαι occurs only here; but that fact scarcely seems to warrant a change. If any were made, the simplest would be οὐδὲν ἄγονθ’ (in the sense of θεοὺς ἄγειν ), with ἔχεις in 166 .

ὃν with γνῶναι only: λεύσσων absol.: see on 121 .

μοι ethic dat. ( 62 , 81 )

ναίει 117.

ἐκεῖνος , of whom ye were speaking: 384: Aristoph. 41 τοῦτ’ ἐκεῖν’ οὑγὼ )λεγον: 1167 ὅδ’ ἐκεῖνος ἀνήρ: 665.

φωνῇ γὰρ ὁρῳ : (I appear to you), for in sound is my sight ( i.e. I know your presence by your voices). To this announcement of his blindness a certain gentle pathos is added by τὸ φατιζόμ . (acc. in appos.), "as they say of us the blind": alluding generally, perh., to the fig. use of ὁρᾶν, βλέπειν in ref. to mental sight (as 747, of the blind seer, δέδοικα μὴ βλέπων ὁ μάντις ᾖ ), rather than to any special proverb. So Thuc. 7.87 πανωλεθρίᾳ δή, τὸ λεγόμενον,...οὐδὲν ὅτι οὐκ ἀπώλετο , referring merely to the phrase. [Dem.] or. 25 § 89 ὥσπερ τὸ τῆς παροιμίας, ὁρῶντας μὴ ὁρᾶν καὶ ἀκούοντας μὴ ἀκούειν . We must not render (1) with the schol., "I understand by sound what ye mean," τὸ λεγόμενον παρ’ ὑμῶν , nor (2) with Ellendt, "I perceive what is uttered by your voice." The pause saves the short final of φατιζόμενον from being a breach of synaphea: cp. 143 ( πρέσβυς ;): 932( ὕπερ ).

ὁρᾶν, κλύειν , epexegetic inf., like χαλεπὸς συζῆν ( Plat. 302B). The cry which bursts from the Chorus merely utters their horror at first seeing and hearing the wretch who has dared so great an impiety;—they have not yet had time to scan the traces of misery which the blind man's form exhibits (cp. 286 ).

προσίδητ’ ἄνομον , regard as lawless: schol. λείπει τὸ ὡς . The omission is remarkable. Doederlein cp. Thuc. 2.72 δέχεσθε δὲ ἀμφοτέρους φίλους , which is less bold: so, too, is 412 τυφλόν μ’ ὠνείδισας(where see n.). In modern Greek, however, (and the use doubtless goes far back,) θεωρεῖν regularly= "to consider as " (without ὡς ).

The hiatus allows Ζεῦ to be short.

ἀλεξῆτορ : Aristoph. 161 Ἄπολλον ἀποτρόπαιε, τοῦ μαντεύματος.

οὐ πάνυ μοίρας πρώτης not wholly of the best fortune, εὐδαιμονίσαι (epexeg. inf., εἰς τὸ εὐδαιμονίσαι schol.) so that men should call him happy. The gen. is a poet. form of the possessive, "belonging to" the best fortune (as to a category); cp. Pind. 3.60 οἵας εἰμὲν αἴσας, of what estate we (mortals) are: Plut. 2 κρείττονος ἦν μοίρας. The place of εὐδαιμ . has been influenced by its common constr. with a causal gen.: but we could not say, οὐκ εἰμὶ εὐδαιμονίσαι , I am not to be congratulated.

πρώτης , not "from his birth," but "best" : 1347 τὸ φρονεῖν εὐδαιμονίας πρῶτον ὑπάρχει : a sense associated with the idea of first prize ( 23.275 τὰ πρῶτα λαβών ), τὰ πρωτεῖα : cp. 1313 ; and so 1228 πολὺ δεύτερον .

οὐ πάνυ oft means "not at all," but prob. as a result of the primary ironical sense, "not altogether."

ἔφοροι : since the stranger had said κρινοῦσι (79) .

δηλῶ δ’ (like σημεῖον δέ, τεκμήριον δέ ), i.e. , and this is plain from my being guided by yonder maiden: cp. 1145 : 1294 δείξει δὲ καὶ σοί(sc. Οἰδίπους ): Aristoph. 936 δείξει τάχ’ αὐτός: Lys. or. 10 § 20 δηλώσει δέ· οἰχήσεται γὰρ ἀπιών.

ἀλλοτρίοις ὄμμ . (instrumental dat.): 989 τοῖς τυφλοῖσι γὰρ αὕτη κέλευθος ἐκ προηγητοῦ πέλει : Eur. 834 ἡγοῦ πάροιθε, θύγατερ, ὡς τυφλῷ ποδὶ ὀφθαλμὸς εἶ σύ . (In Plat. 99B, quoted by Blaydes, read ἀλλοτρίῳ ὀνόματι , not ὄμματι .)

Oedipus is indeed old and worn (110) : but μέγας contrasts the man of mature age with the girl, his defenceless guide (752) . Cp. 2.313(Telemachus) ἐγὼ δ’ ἔτι νήπιος ἦα· νῦν δ’, ὅτε δὴ μέγας εἰμί ( full-grown ).

σμικροῖς : for the allusive (masc.) plur., instead of σμικρᾷ , cp. 366 σὺν τοῖς φιλτάτοις(with Iocasta): for the sense, below, 957 ἐρημία με … σμικρὸν τίθησι . The antithesis of persons suggests that σμικροῖς is masc. rather than neut.: so below 880 : 158 σμικροὶ...μεγάλων χωρίς, 160 μετὰ γὰρ μεγάλων βαιὸς ἄριστ’ ἂν καὶ μέγας ὀρθοῖθ’ ὑπὸ μικροτέρων . If σμικροῖς were neut., it could mean: ( a ) like the masc., weak persons: cp. 1 Cor. i. 27 τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεός, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς : ( b ) fig. , "weak things ,"frail supports. But the neut. plur. σμικρά in such antitheses usu.= "lowly fortunes ": Pind. 3. 107 σμικρὸς ἐν σμικροῖς, μέγας ἐν μεγάλοις ἔσσομαι : Eur. 406 εἴπερ εἰσὶν εὐγενεῖς οὐκ ἔν τε μικροῖς ἔν τε μὴ στέρξουσ’ ὁμῶς;

ὥρμουν : usu. ἐπί τινος : Dem. § 281 οὐκ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς( ἀγκύρας ) ὁρμεῖ τοῖς πολλοῖς : but also ἐπί τινι : Plut. 19(he added the Βουλή to the Areopagus) οἰόμενος ἐπὶ δυσὶ βουλαῖς ὥσπερ ἀγκύραις ὁρμοῦσαν ἧττον ἐν σάλῳ τὴν πόλιν ἔσεσθαι . For the metaphor cp. Soph. fr. 619 ἀλλ’ εἰσὶ μητρὶ παῖδες ἄγκυραι βίου . Eur. fr. 858 ἥδε μοι τροφός, μήτηρ, ἀδελφή, δμωίς, ἄγκυρα, στέγη . 68 ὡς τά γ’ ἄλλ’ ἐπ’ ἀσθενοῦς ῥώμης ὀχούμεθ’ : 770 ἐκ τοῦδ’ ἀναπτόμεσθα πρυμνήτην κάλων. Campbell understands — "Nor, being a prince ( μέγας ), as I am, should I have taken up my rest here to crave a small boon." But (1) μέγας in this sense ill suits the present tone of Oed.: cp. 110 , 393 . (2) This version of ἐπὶ σμικροῖς ὥρμουν is impossible: the scholium ἐπὶ εὐτελέσιν αἰτήμασιν οὐκ ἂν σφόδρα ἱκέτευον evades the point.

ἐή . L has ἒ ἒ· which should metrically answer to ὅρα (117) . It is possible that in an exclamation, followed by a momentary pause, the second ἔ should stand here: but it is more prob. that, as in Aesch. 966etc., we should write ἐή .

ἀλαῶν ὀμμάτων . Oedipus has spoken of his own ill fortune as if it consisted primarily in his blindness. The Chorus then ask: — "Ah! and wast thou blind from thy birth? Thy life has been long, as well as unhappy, one may judge." The gen. could depend on ἐή , as oft. on φεῦ, ὦ, οἴμοι , etc., but is better taken with φυτάλμιος , of which the sense (with αὐτῶν understood ) would else be obscure.

φυτάλμιος = "generator" : i.e. didst thou bring them with thee into life? ἔφυσας τυφλὰ ὄμματα ;= ἦσθα τυφλὸς ἐκ γενετῆς ; 1077 κἂν σῶμα γεννήσῃ μέγαthough one grow a great body (=though his frame wax mighty).

=120 ὁ πάντων ἀκορέστατος . In regard to L's reading, μακραίων τέ θ’ (σιξ) ὡς ἐπεικάσαι, note these points: (1) ὡς is wrong, as the metre shows, (2) τ’ is certainly right. We should not read, with Campb., δυσαίων; μακραίων τις, ἐπεικάσαι , because the thought turns on the linking of δυσαίων with μακραίων , the chief stress falling (as oft. in Greek) on the second: thou art old as well as hapless: i.e. thou hast borne thy woes long. (3) ἔθ’ may, I think, be rejected, as too weak. (4) How, then, is the short syllable to be supplied? ( a ) We might read;— μακραίων θ’, ὅσ’ ἐπεικάσαι: cp. Thuc. 6.25 ὅσα...ἤδη δοκεῖν αὐτῷ , "so far as he could now judge." ( b ) μακραίων τέ τις , εἰκάσαι: cp. 82 ἀλλ’, εἰκάσαι μέν, ἡδύς. I prefer ( a ), since all MSS. have ἐπεικάσαι .

( "Thou hast already suffered;) but verily, within my power ( ἔν γ’ ἐμοί , =if I can help it), thou shalt not add these curses (to thy woes)."

μάν strengthens the adversative force of ἀλλά (as in ἀλλὰ μήν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μήν ): ἔν γ’ ἐμοί = ἐν ἐμοί γε . Cp. 247 : 314(n.): Xen. 7.14 τίς ἡ ἐμὴ δύναμις; ἀλλ’ ἐν σοὶ πάντα ἐστίν . The thought is like that of 556 ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐπ’ ἀρρήτοις γε τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις(sc. θανεῖ ).

προσθήσει , make thine own, bring on thyself: Aesch. 531 μὴ καί τι πρὸς κακοῖσι προσθῆται κακόν : Eur. 146 ἴδια προσθέσθαι κακά : 394 τί δέ με καὶ τεκεῖν ἐχρῆν ἄχθος τ’ ἐπ’ ἄχθει τῷδε προσθέσθαι διπλοῦν; The MSS. have προσθήσεις : but the active word would require either ( a ) the reflexive pronoun, as in fr. 323 ταῦτ’ ἐστὶν ἄλγιστ’, ἢν παρὸν θέσθαι καλῶς αὐτός τις αὑτῷ τὴν βλάβην προσθῇ φέρων : 819 οὔτις ἄλλος ἦν ἢ )γὼ )π’ ἐμαυτῷ τάσδ’ ἀρὰς ὁ προστιθείς : or ( b ) some dat. such as τοῖς σοῖς κακοῖς : and we cannot legitimately supply either. So, again, the version "thou shalt not bring on us " ( οὐκ ἐμοὶ προσθήσεις τὴν σὴν ἀράν schol.) could stand only if ἐμοί or ἡμῖν were expressed.

περᾷς , absol.: "thou art going too far" (into the grove): Oed., not reassured by their cry (141) , has moved some steps back.

ἀλλ’ ἵνα … μὴ προπέσῃς is answered by μετάσταθ’ 162.

προπέσῃς ἐν νάπει , advance blindly in the grove, till he stumble (so to say) on its inmost mystery. Cp. Arist. 3.7.12 οἱ μὲν θρασεῖς προπετεῖς . Isocr. or. 5 § 90 (the Greeks, when conquering the Persians at Cunaxa, 401 B.C.401 B.C.διὰ τὴν Κύρου προπέτειαν , his precipitancy in rushing at his brother Artaxerxes ( Xen. 1.8.26 εἰπών, Ὁρῶ τὸν ἄνδρα, ἵετο ἐπ’ αὐτόν ).

ἀφθέγκτῳ : see on 130 ff .

οὗ κάθυδρος κρατὴρ συντρέχει ῥεύματι μειλιχίων ποτῶν , where the bowl filled with water is used along with the stream of sweetened drink-offering: i.e. where libations are poured, first, of water alone , and then of water mingled with honey; see on vv. 472-479 .

μειλιχίων π. : schol. γλυκέων ποτῶν, ὅ ἐστι, μέλιτος, οἷς μειλίσσουσι τὰς θεάς (see on 100 ).

συντρέχει , is combined with: 295 πολλή )στ’ ἀνάγκη τῇδε ( σξ. τῇ πράξει )τοῦτο συντρέχειν , this joy of mine must needs attend on this good fortune of my husband. While κρατήρ points to the figurative use of συντρέχει, ῥεύματι suggests its literal sense. Others understand:— "where the basin ( κρατήρ" ) runs together in a stream ( ῥεύματι modal dat.) of sweetened waters, i.e. "is filled by the confluence of sweetened waters"; but ( a ) κρατήρ is the bowl from which the χοαί are poured, not a basin which receives them: ( b ) such an inversion is impossible.

The τῶν of L and most MSS. cannot be right. To be on one's guard against a thing is always φυλάσσομαί τι , never τινος . In Thuc. 4.11 φυλασσομένους τῶν νεῶν μὴ ξυντρίψωσιν = acting cautiously on account of the ships (where Classen cp. χαλεπῶς φέρειν τινός, 1. 77 ): in Aesch. 390 τούτου φυλάσσου μήποτ’ ἀχθεσθῇ κέαρ , join τούτου κέαρ . The v.l. τὸν points to τό , which in this parenthetic warning= τοῦτο ( τὸ προπεσεῖν ) rather than ὅ . τόν (referring to κρατήρ ) is less good; and τῷ ("wherefore") would be weak.

ἐρατυ^/ει , arcet , keeps (thee) off (from us), separates: Eur. 1260 ἐρήτυσον τέκνα | δεινῆς ἁμίλλης . This is said to themselves rather than to Oed.: they are not sure that he has heard their cry, ἀπόβαθι . To Musgrave's ἐρατύοι the objections are:—(1) the opt. where we should expect the imperat. The opt. is sometimes joined with the imper. in good wishes or counsels ( Pind. 13.25 ἀφθόνητος γένοιο...καὶ τόνδε λαὸν εὔθυνε ): but here, where peremptory command is given ( 162 μετάσταθ’, ἀπόβαθι — 169 φώνει ), the opt. is quite out of place. (2) The sense would be weak, after 161 .

οἴσεις , written in L over the vulgate ἔχεις , cannot be a correction of the latter, but must represent a distinct reading (whether conjectural or not). ἴσχεις would suit the metre (= ἅζονθ’ 134 , where see n. ) equally well: but the language slightly favours οἴσεις.

φέρειν λόγον πρὸς ἐμὰν λέσχαν =to bring forward something to be discussed with us (cp. 159 σύγκλητον τήνδε γερόντων προὔθετο λέσχην ), not, "in answer to our address ," a sense which λέσχη never has. For φέρειν cp. 122 ὧν ἐπιμεμφομένα σ’ ἁδεῖα ( αἰδοῖαai)doi=aμὲν ἀντία δ’ οἴσω : for fut. indic. with εἰ of immediate purpose, with an imperat. in apodosis, Aristoph. 759 αἶρε πλῆκτρον εἰ μαχεῖ .

ἀβάτων : see on 10 .

ἵνα πᾶσι νόμος , where use suffers all (to speak): for the omission of ἐστί cp. Her. 1.90 ἐπειρωτᾶν...εἰ ἀχαρίστοισι νόμος εἶναι τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖσι θεοῖσι .

ἀπερύκου , ἀπέχου τοῦ φωνεῖν : schol. πρότερον δὲ μὴ διαλέγου .

ποῖ τις φροντίδος ἔλθῃ ; Such phrases present thought , speech , or the mind itself, as a region in which the wanderer is bewildered; cp. 310 : 922 οὐκ οἶσθ’ ὅποι γῆς οὐδ’ ὅποι γνώμης φέρει : "thou knowest not whither or into what fancies thou art roaming" : ib. 1174 ποῖ λόγων … ἔλθω; ib.390 ποῦ ποτ’ εἶ φρενῶν; 705 οὐκ ἔχω...ποῖ γνώμης πέσω .

ἔλθῃ , delib. subjunct., in third pers., as Dem. § 124 πότερόν σέ τις, Αἰσχίνη, τῆς πόλεως ἐχθρὸν ἢ ἐμὸν εἶναι φῇ; L has ἔλθοι , which might be defended as = "whither can one possibly turn?" — a more despairing form of ἔλθῃ . Mr. A. Sidgwick has pointed out ( Aesch. Append. p. 122) that the Attic examples of such an optat. without ἄν are always directly or indirectly interrogative (as 604 τίς...κατάσχοι; ), and are akin to the interrogative or "deliberative" subjunctive, not to the conditional optat. with ἄν . The principle is (I think) true. But here, at least, the genuinely "deliberative" ἔλθῃ seems best. See Appendix.

ἀστοῖς ἴσα χρὴ μελετᾶν , we must practise the same customs which they practise. Eur. 890 οὐ γὰρ κρεῖσσόν ποτε τῶν νόμων γιγνώσκειν χρὴ καὶ μελετᾶν : we must never set our theory, or practice, above the laws.

Since κἀκούοντας suits both metre and sense, it seems more likely that this was the reading from which, by a scribe's mistake, κοὐκ ἀκούοντας arose, than that ἀκούοντας conceals some other participle (such as κατοκνοῦντας or ἀπιθοῦντας ). It is hard to see why Herm. thought the "negatio contrarii" to be necessary here,—common though it is (see on 58 γνωτὰ κοὐκ ἄγνωτα ). After χρὴ μελετᾶν , too, we should expect μηδέ , not καὶ οὐκ ; the latter supposes that οὐ and its partic. form one word. κοὐκ ἄκοντας (B and Campbell) would mean, "and that, too, not unwillingly" —surely a weak sense. The existence of this as the only v.l. confirms κἀκούοντας .

καὶ δή : see on 31 .

μὴ … ἀδικηθῶ . The prohibitive subjunct. (esp. aor.) is freq. in the 1st pers. plur. , but the 1st pers. sing. is very rare: 802 μηδ’ αὐτοῦ θάνω : 1.26 μή σε κιχείω : 21. 475 μή σευ ἀκούσω .

σοὶ (the coryphaeus) after ὦ ξεῖνοι (the Chorus): cp. 208 ὦ ξένοι,...μή μ’ ἀνέρῃ : 242 ff. ὦ ξένοι, οἰκτείρατ’ , followed by ὄμμα σόν . Cp. 1111 πρέσβεις , 1115 σύ . καὶ was omitted by Herm., to make a paroemiac (when the sound and rhythm become extremely unpleasing); σοὶ was omitted, with the same object, by Brunck and Elmsley. Both words are genuine. A paroemiac is neither needful nor desirable here, when another follows so closely (177).

τῶνδ’ ἑδράνων , "these seats," the resting-place, generally, in front of the grove, rather than the particular rocky seat pointed out at 192 f. : cp. 233 f. (Hardly " abodes ," i.e. Colonus, as Aesch. 4 .)

ἄξει was altered to ἄρῃ by Elmsley on the ground that οὐ μή with the fut. indic. forbids; with the subjunctive, denies. But, besides the passages in which οὐ μή stands with the 2nd pers. fut. ind. , and forbids (as Aristoph. 462 οὐ μὴ διατρίψεις , "don't dawdle"), there are others in which it stands with the 1st or 3rd pers. fut. ind. , and denies. In some of these our MSS. are doubtless corrupt; but there are others in which the correction, if any, must be bold. Thus: (1) with 1st pers.: Soph. 1052 οὔ σοι μὴ μεθέψομαί ποτε : Aristoph. 508 οὐ μή σ’ ἐγὼ | περιόψομἀπελθόντ’ . (2) with 3rd pers.: Xen. 1.6.32 εἶπεν ὅτι ἡ Σπάρτη οὐδὲν μὴ κάκιον οἰκιεῖται αὐτοῦ ἀποθανόντος : Eur. 1590 σαφῶς γὰρ εἶπε Τειρεσίας οὐ μήποτε σοῦ τήνδε γῆν οἰκοῦντος εὖ πράξειν πόλιν (oblique of οὐ μὴ πράξει ). On the whole the evidence points to the conclusion that οὐ μή could be used with the 1st or 3rd pers. fut. indic., as with the aor. or pres. subjunct., in giving a strong assurance. !-- e)/ti_ wants a macron over the iota, similarly to_ -->

L's ἔτ’ οὖν ἔτι προβῶ; metrically answers to οὕτως in 194 . The choice seems to lie between ἔτ’ οὖν; and προβῶ; The latter might easily have been added to explain the former: and ἔτ’ οὖν is not too abrupt, since πρόσθιγέ νύν μου (173) has already marked the beginning of his forward movement. ἔτι βαῖνε seems better than ἐπίβαινε in the case of a blind man advancing step by step , and asking at each step whether he has come far enough. This is well expressed by ἔτ’ οὖν;— ἔτι βαῖνε.— ἔτι; For ἔτι— before προβ. , cp. 612 το— πρίν .

After ἀΐεις three verses have been lost (the 1st and 3rd for Ant., the 2nd for Oed.), answering to 197 πάτερ — 199 ἅρμοσαι : and after ᾇ σ’ ἄγω (183) a verse for Oed. answering to 202 ὤμοι … ἄτας . See Metrical Analysis.

μάν (a stronger μέν , "verily") may here be simply hortative ("come!") as it oft. is with the imperat.: 1.302 εἰ δ’ ἄγε μὴν πείρησαι : 5. 765 ἄγρει μάν : Aesch. 1018 ἴτε μάν . If the lost words of Oed. uttered a complaint, then μάν may have had an adversative force, "yet": but this is more oft. γε μήν than μήν alone: cp. 587.

ὧδ’ , in this direction: see on 7.

ἀμαυρῷ κώλῳ = τυφλῷ ποδί (Eur. 1050) : cp. 1639 ἀμαυραῖς χερσίν . In Eur. 123, however, ποδὸς ἀμαυρὸν ἴχνος = merely "my feeble steps" (for Amphitryon is not blind ). That might be the meaning here too. But in choosing between the literal sense of ἀμαυρός , "dim," and the fig. sense, "feeble," we must be guided by the context of each passage; and the context here favours the former. Cp. 1018.

τόλμα … σέβεσθαι . These four vv. are wrongly given by the MSS. to Antigone. Her gentle counsel in 171 ff. may have prompted the attribution.

ξεῖνος ἐπὶ ξένης : 135 τί χρή με, δέσποτ’, ἐν ξένᾳ ξένον στέγειν, ἢ τί λέγειν...;

ὦ τλάμων : the nom. can thus stand for the voc. even in direct address, as Eur. 1133 μὴ σπέρχου, φίλος : but is sometimes rather a comment, as ib. 61 ὦ μῶρος, εἰ χρὴ δεσπότας εἰπεῖν τόδε . Cp. 753 , 1471.

τέτροφεν ἄφιλον , holds in settled dislike:—the perfect tense marking how the sentiment which forbids impiety towards the Eumenides has interwoven itself with the life of the place. τρέφω τί ἄφιλον =to hold a thing (in one's thoughts) as unloveable: cp. ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφω τι ( 897) . For the perfect, denoting a fixed view, cp. Her. 3.38 οὕτω νενομίκασι τὰ περὶ τοὺς νόμους (and so 7. 153 , 8. 79 ): Plat. 8. 837 C ὁ...ἐρων τῇ ψυχῇ...ὕβριν ἥγηται τὴν περὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ σώματος πλησμονήν : 348 E οὕτω πεπίστευκας σαυτῷ . The perf. act. of τρέφω occurs in Append. 111. 2 (Jacobs vol. II. p. 795) ἄνδρας ἀγακλειτοὺς τέτροφε Κεκροπίη : in Polybius ( 12. 25 h in the later form τέτραφα ), etc.: but in older Greek only in the Homeric use, as 23.237 περὶ χροῒ τέτροφεν ἅλμη (the brine has hardened on their flesh): whence Nauck here, πόλει τέτροφεν(as= πέφυκεν ) ἄφιλον , (whate'er) hath grown unpleasing to the city.

ἄν with the optat. verbs, not with ἵνα : "(to a place) where I may speak on the one hand, and hear on the other": τὸ μὲν … τὸ δέ are adverbial: cp. Xen. 4.1.14 τὰ μέν τι μαχόμενοι, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἀναπαυόμενοι.

εἴποιμεν … ἀκούσαιμεν , i.e. "arrive at a mutual understanding," — a regular phrase: Thuc. 4.22 ξυνέδρους δὲ σφίσιν ἐκέλευον ἑλέσθαι οἵτινες λέγοντες καὶ ἀκούοντες περὶ ἑκάστου ξυμβήσονται : Theocr. 25. 48 αἰσυμνήτης ᾧ κε τὸ μὲν εἴποιμι, τὸ δ’ ἐκ φαμένοιο πυθοίμην (a head-man, "who to shrewd questions shrewdly can reply," Calverley).

ἄν with the optat. in the relative clause just as in apodosis; so Theocr. 25. 61 ἐγὼ δέ τοι ἡγεμονεύσω … ἵνα κεν τέτμοιμεν ἄνακτα (to a place where we are likely to find him): Xen. 3.1.40 οὐκ οἶδα ὅ τι ἄν τις χρήσαιτο αὐτοῖς (I know not what use one could make of them).

εὐσεβίας ἐπιβαίνοντες , entering on piety , placing ourselves within its pale: but this figurative sense is here tinged with the notion of "entering on lawful ground " (schol. εὐσεβῶς πατοῦντες ). For the fig. sense cp. 23.52 ὄφρα σφῶϊν ἐϋφροσύνης ἐπιβῆτον ἀμφοτέρω φίλον ἦτορ , "that ye may both enter into your heart's delight"(Butcher and Lang): 1463 δόξης οὔποτε τῆσδ’ ἐπιβάντες , though we had never entered on that hope (dared to entertain it).

καὶ μὴ χρ. πολ. : 1106 ἀνάγκῃ δ’ οὐχὶ δυσμαχητέον . Simonides fr. 5. 21 ἀνάγκᾳ δ’ οὐδὲ θεοὶ μάχονται . Eur. fr. 709 χρεία διδάσκει, κἂν βραδύς τις ᾖ, σοφόν .

αὐτοῦ . Oed. has now advanced to the verge of the grove. Here a low ledge of natural rock forms a sort of threshold, on which his feet are now set.

αὐτοπέτρου βήματος , a "step," i.e. ledge, of natural rock , not shaped by man (as was the ordinary βῆμα or raised place for speakers, etc.), distinct, of course, from the ἄξεστος πέτρος of 19 , which was within the grove. So αὐτόξυλος (of rough wood, 35), αὐτοπόρφυρος (of natural purple), αὐτόποκος (of simple wool), αὐτόπυ—ρος (of unbolted wheaten flour), αὐτόκομος (with natural hair, Aristoph. 822), αὐτόροφοι πέτραι (rocks forming a natural roof, Oppian 1. 22). The ἀντιπέτρου of the MSS. could mean:—(1) "A ledge like rock"; cp. ἀντίπαις ( Aesch. 38)= " weak as a child": and so the schol. in L, ἰσοπέτρου, χαλκοῦ ,— i.e. "a ledge of material firm as rock," "of brass," meaning the χαλκόπους ὀδός understood literally : see, however, on 57 . (2) "A ledge serving as a rock": cp. ( ὀνείδη ) ἀντίκεντρα ( Aesch. 136), λίθος ἀντιθύρετρος ( Nonnus 11. 140 ), ἀντίπυργος πέτρα ( Eur. 1097). (3) "A seat of rock fronting thee ": cp. ἀντίπρῳρος , with πρῴρα facing one. This does not fit the data. (4) Bellermann: "a (stone) seat over against a rock," i.e. "behind which the stone wall rises" (?).—Campb. renders first by " rocky ," then by " rock-like ," and refers it to "some peculiarity in the basement of the low seats."

πόδα κλίνῃς (aor.) like πόδα τρέπειν ( Eur. 718), since, the seat being now at his side, he turns away from it if he moves forward. Wecklein explains it as = γόνυ κάμψῃς ("sit down"), but (1) πόδα could not here stand for γόνυ , and (2) the question is now of halting , not yet of sitting down (see 195 ).

ἦ ἑσθῶ; "am I to sit down?" deliberative aor. subj. of ἕζομαι . This aor. of the simple verb occurs nowhere else: but ἐκαθέσθην is used in later Greek (as καθεσθέντα Paus. 3.22.1 ). Since ἑ is the radical vowel, it seems better to suppose a synizesis ( ἦ ἑσθῶ; ) than an aphaeresis ( ἦ )σθῶ; ): the ἦ , though not necessary, is prob. genuine. I have left this questionable ἑσθῶ in the text, on the strength of ἐκαθέσθην : but the v.l. ἦ στῶ ("am I to halt?"), preferred by the schol. in L, seems more defensible than it has been thought by recent edd. The answer of the Chorus, no doubt, refers to sitting down. So, however, it could do after ἦ στῶ; He has already been told to go no further (191 f.) : but, in his anxiety to avoid further offence, it is conceivable that he should repeat his question in the clearest form. (Cp. Eur. 1079 πᾶ βῶ, πᾶ στῶ, πᾶ κάμψω ...;)

λέχριός γ’ … ὀκλάσας , "yes, moving sideways," — the rocky seat being near his side — "(sit down), crouching low on the top of the rock." ὀ‐κλάζω (cp. ὀ‐δάξ , from √δακ ), from κλά‐ω , to bend the hams in crouching down; Xen. 6.1.10 τὸ Περσικὸν ὠρχεῖτο,...καὶ ὤκλαζε καὶ ἐξανίστατο , "he danced the Persian dance, sinking down and rising again by turns" (there was a dance called ὄκλασμα ): so ὀκλαδίας =a folding campstool.

βραχὺς , "low," (as μέγας = "tall," ) because the seat is near the ground.

ἄκρου , on the outer edge of the rocky platform ( βῆμα 192 ).

λᾶος , gen. of λᾶας , as 8.192 λᾶος ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς . No part of λᾶας occurs in trag., except here and Eur. 1157acc. λᾶαν . The MSS. have λάου , and the schol. in L quotes Herodian ( 160 A.D. ), ἐν τῷ ε— τῆς καθόλου ( =bk 5 of his lost work ), as taking it from a nom. λάος : but Herodian had perhaps no warrant besides this passage, and no other trace of such a form occurs.

ἐμὸν τόδ’ : i.e. the office of placing him in his seat (cp. 21 κάθιζέ... με ). Hermann changes the ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ of the MSS. to ἐν ἁσυχαίᾳ , joining it with βάσει . The corresponding strophic verse is lost (see on 181 ): but the metre confirms the emendation (see Metrical Analysis). The words ἐν ἡσυχαίᾳ … ἐμάν are said as she helps him to sit down. He has to make one step sideways (195) to the seat. Taking his arm, she says: "Lean on me, and join step to quiet step" ( ἅρμοσαι aor. imper. midd.): i.e. "advance one foot to the resting-place, bring the other up beside it, and then (supported by my arm) sit down." Cp. Eur. 233 ἦ κἀπὶ γαίας ἁρμόσαι πόδας θέλεις; "wouldest thou set thy feet together (plant thy feet) on the ground?" Pseudo-Simonides 182 ὅπᾳ ποδὸς ἴχνια πρᾶτον ἁρμόσαμεν , where we first planted our feet (on the battlefield,—there we fell). Campbell takes βάσιν as the foot of Oed., and βάσει as a "stone support for the foot attached to the seat," rendering, "fit thy foot into its quiet resting place." This seems improbable. "Time thy step to my quiet step" is unsuitable, since they are close to the seat already. The interjection ἰώ μοί μοι , given by the MSS. to Antigone, but by Herm. (rightly) to Oed., need not, with Herm., be placed after ἅρμοσαι .

δύσφρονος , as the work of a mind clouded by the gods: 1261 ἰὼ φρενῶν δυσφρόνων ἁμαρτήματα . The gen. after the exclamation ὤμοι : cp. on 149 .

τλάμων , see on 185 .

χαλᾷς , hast ease (alluding to his words betokening pain and exhaustion): not , εἴκεις καὶ οὐκ ἀντιτείνεις τῷ ἐξελθεῖν (from the grove), as the schol.

τίς ὁ πολ. : cp. on 68 .

τίν’ ἂν … πατρίδ’ . For the twofold question, cp. 220 τίνες ποτ’ ἐς γῆν τήνδε κατέσχετ’; … ποίας πάτρας ἂν ἢ γένους ὑμᾶς ποτε τύχοιμ’ ἂν εἰπών ; Eur. 86 ἀτὰρ τίς εἶ; πόθεν; τίν’ ἐξαυδᾶν σε χρή ; (Dind. τίνος σ’ αὐδᾶν χρέων ;) 1.170 (and in five other places)τίς πόθεν εἶς ἀνδρῶν; πόθι τοι πόλις ἠδὲ τοκῆες;

Oed. replies to their second question by ἀπόπτολις , which is almost an exclamation; — "I have no πατρίς now": he deprecates their first question ( τίς ἄγει; ) altogether. Cp. Aesch. 1410(the Argive elders to Clytaemnestra) ἀπόπολις δ’ ἔσει, | μῖσος ὄβριμον ἀστοῖς . Soph. has ἀπόπτολις in 1000(dialogue) and 647(lyr.). Cp. 1357.

μή, μή μ’ ἀνέρῃ . As the verses from 207 onwards are ἀνομοιόστροφα (see on 117 ), the strophic test is absent, but μή, μή μ’ is metrically preferable to μὴ μὴ μή μ’ here (see Metr. Analysis). And, after the preceding ἀλλὰ μή , a threefold iteration would rather weaken than strengthen. !-- this is not, in fact, ionics -->

Wunder's correction of the MS. δεινὰ to αἰνὰ is required by the Ionic measure ( uu | - uu ): see Metr. Analysis.

φύσις =origin, birth: 270 : 379(Iolè) λαμπρὰ … φύσιν, | πατρὸς μὲν οὖσα γένεσιν Εὐρύτου, κ.τ.λ.

γεγώνω , delib. perf. subjunct. from γέγωνα : whence, too, the imper. γέγωνε , 238. Both these could, indeed, be referred to a pres. γεγώνω , which is implied by other forms, as ἐγέγωνε ( 14.469): cp. Monro § 27. Poetry recognised, in fact, three forms,—a perf. γέγωνα , a pres. γεγώνω , and a pres. γεγωνέω ( γεγωνεῖν , 12.337). Cp. ἄνωγα with impf. ἤνωγον .

τίνος εἶ σπέρματος ; possessive gen., denoting the stock, country, etc., to which one belongs: cp. on 144 : Plat. 203A πατρὸς τίνος ἐστὶ καὶ μητρός; 94 D οἰκίας μεγάλης ἦν : Dem. or. 57 § 57 ὅσοι τῶν μεγάλων δήμων ἐστέ.

πατρόθεν with εἶ : the Chorus, whose uneasy curiosity is now thoroughly roused, presses for an explicit answer, and first (as usual) for the father's name. Plat. 753C εἰς πινάκιον γράψαντα τοὔνομα πατρόθεν καὶ φυλῆς καὶ δήμου . 547 ἐμὸς τὰ πατρόθεν .

τί πάθω … ; "what is to become of me?" 973(Hyllus, in his wild grief for his father) τί πάθω; τί δὲ μήσομαι; οἴμοι .

ἐπ’ ἔσχατα βαίνεις , "thou art coming to the verge" (not, "thou treadest on the verge," which would require gen. or dat.), since, after the hint αἰνὰ φύσις (212) , the full truth cannot long be withheld. Cp. fr. 658 (Orithyia was carried) ἐπ’ ἔσχατα χθονός : 853 προβᾶσ’ ἐπ’ ἔσχατον θράσους : Her. 8.52 ἐς τὸ ἔσχατον κακοῦ ἀπιγμένοι .

Hermann's μέλλετον (for the MS. μέλλετ’ ) is fitting, since Oed. and Ant. have just been speaking together; and is clearly better than μέλλετέ γ’ (Triclinius) or μέλλομεν (suggested by Elms.). The sing. τάχυνε rightly follows, since it is from Oed. alone that a reply is sought.

μακρὰ , neut. plur. as adv.: 883 ὑπέροπτα (n.): Aristoph. 550 οὔρια θεῖτε : Eur. 152 χρόνια...πεσὼν...εὐνάζεται .

Λαΐου ἴστε τιν’ ; The word ἀπόγονον , seemingly a gloss, which follows τιν’ in the MSS., is against the metre, which requires -uuu- after τιν’ : it also injures the dramatic force. Each word is wrung from Oed.; the gen. Λαΐου tells all. The long syll. after τιν’ could be,—(1) ὤ , which Herm. supplies,—giving it, however, to the Chorus,—whereas the rhythm will be better if it is an interjection by Oed.: (2) ὄντ’ ; (Dindorf): or (3) οὖν ; (Elmsley). The two latter are somewhat tame.

The family patronymic was taken from Labdacus (the father of Laïus), though the line was traced directly up to Cadmus, father of Polydorus and grandfather of Labdacus ( 267; Her. 5.59 ).

The relat. clause ὅσ’ αὐδῶ is most simply taken as representing an accus., governed by δέος ἴσχετε μηδὲν as= μὴ δειμαίνετε (rather than a genitive depending on δέος ): 996 οἵαν μ’ ἄρ’ ἔθου λώβαν : Dem. § 81 ὅ γε δῆμος ὁ τῶν Φωκέων οὕτω κακῶς...διάκειται, ὥστε...τεθνάναι τῷ φόβῳ...τοὺς Φιλίππου ξένους : Aesch. 289 μέριμναι ζωπυροῦσι τάρβος (= ποιοῦσί με ταρβεῖνpoiou=s1i/ me tarbei=n τὸν ἀμφιτειχῆ λεών : Eur. 572 τοῦτο κἄμ’ ἔχει πόθος . Cp. below, 583 , 1120 . In such instances the acc. might also, however, be taken as one of "respect."

The MSS. give the one word δυσμορος to Oed., as uttered by him between the exclamations of the Chorus. It thus marks his despair at their refusal to hear him. There is dramatic force in the sentence of expulsion (226) being the first articulate utterance of the Chorus after the disclosure which has appalled them.

ποῖ καταθήσεις; fig. from the payment of a debt in money. If you will not pay it here and now, to what place will you bring the payment for it? i.e. when, and in what form, can your promise of a safe refuge (176 f.) be redeemed, if I am driven from Colonus? ποῖ with a verb pregnantly used, as 476 τὸ δ’ ἔνθεν ποῖ τελευτῆσαί με χρή; towhat end am I to bring it? Cp. 383 . For καταθήσεις cp. Dem. § 99 οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ὄφλημα ὅ τι χρὴ καταθέντα ἐπίτιμον γενέσθαι τουτονί , there is no debt (to the Treasury), by paying which he can recover the franchise. Pind. 7.75 νικῶντί γε χάριν … οὐ τραχύς εἰμι καταθέμεν .

οὐδενὶ μοιριδία τίσις ἔρχεται , to no one comes punishment from fate, ὧν (= τούτων ἃ ) προπάθῃ , for things (caus. gen.) which he has already suffered, τὸ τίνειν (acc.), in respect of his requiting them. συγγνωστόν ἐστιν ἐὰν τίνῃ τις ἃ ἂν προπάθῃ . <"Thou didst deceive us by getting our promise before telling thy name; we may requite thy deceit by deeming our promise void." τίνειν (with τὸ added, see on 47 ) further explains the causal gen. ὧν : "no one is punished for deeds which have first been done to him —that is, for repaying them to the aggressor." Cp. 1203 πάσχειν, παθόντα δ’ οὐκ ἐπίστασθαι τίνειν : Eur. 109 τίνοι...τροφάς , repay care.

ὧν for ὧν ἄν , as 395 , 1231(n.).

With Wunder's ἃν some construe:— οὐδενὶ τὸ τίνειν ἃ ἂν προπάθῃ ἔρχεται μοιριδία τίσις , "for no one retaliation becomes (= γίγνεται ) a fate-doomed punishment": but could the τίσις itself thus stand for the cause of the τίσις ? The ὧν of the MSS. is confirmed by other passages where, instead of an acc. governed by the infin., we have a gen. depending on another word, and then the infin. added epexegetically: 542 ἵμερον τέκνων … ἔσχε δαίσασθαι : Plat. 52B οὐδ’ ἐπιθυμία σε ἄλλης πόλεως οὐδ’ ἄλλων νόμων ἔλαβεν εἰδέναι : 443 B ἀρχόμενοι τῆς πόλεως οἰκίζειν .

ἀπάτα δ’ : guile on the one part ( ἑτέρα ), matching itself against deeds of guile on the other ( ἑτέραις ), makes a recompense of woe, not of grace (as in return for good deeds): ἔχειν , epexeg. "(for the deceiver) to enjoy" (cp. 1.347 δῶκε δ’ ἄγειν ).

ἀπάτα ἑτέρα , not another kind of guile, but another instance of it, as 138 τέχνα (a king's skill) τέχνας ἑτέρας προὔχει , excels skill in another man.

παραβαλλ ., as Eur. 1094 ἐγώ σοι παραβάλλομαι θρήνους , vie with thee in dirges: 290 παραβαλλόμεναι , abs., "in rivalry." For the sentiment cp. Plat. 49B οὐδὲ ( δεῖ )ἀδικούμενον ἄρα ἀνταδικεῖν, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ οἴονται : Archil. fr. 67 ἓν δ’ ἐπίσταμαι μέγα, τὸν κακῶς με δρῶντα δεινοῖς ἀνταμείβεσθαι κακοῖς . Pind. 2.83 φίλον εἴη φιλεῖν· ποτὶ δ’ ἐχθρὸν ἅτ’ ἐχθρὸς ἐὼν λύκοιο δίκαν ὑποθεύσομαι, ἄλλ’ ἄλλοτε πατέων ὁδοῖς σκολιαῖς.

ἑδράνων with ἔκτοπος (cp. on 119 ), χθονὸς with ἄφορμος , which adds force to ἔκθορε ; cp. 430 οὐκ εἰς ὄλεθρον; οὐχὶ θᾶσσον; οὐ πάλιν ἄψορρος οἴκων τῶνδ’ ἀποστραφεὶς ἄπει; Eur. 155 has ναυβάτας τις ἔπλευσεν | Κρήτας ἔξορμος , "from an anchorage in Crete," cp. ἐξορμεῖν to be (or go) out of port: but ἄφορμος belongs to ἀφορμᾶν (there is no ἀφορμεῖν ), "rushing from" ( ἀφορμηθείς , schol.).

χρέος … προσάψῃς (like κῦδος, τιμάς, αἰτίαν προσάπτειν ), fix a debt or obligation on the city, i.e. make it liable to expiate a pollution. But χρέος = simply "matter" in 155, n.

αἰδόφρονες : as ye have αἰδώς for the Eumenides, so have αἰδώς for the suppliant. Cp. Dem. or. 37 § 59 ἂν ἑλών τις ἀκουσίου φόνου...μετὰ ταῦτ’ αἰδέσηται καὶ ἀφῇ (with ref. to the kinsman of a slain man pardoning the involuntary slayer).

ἀλλ’ , "Nay," opening the appeal: cp. 14. The second ἀλλ’ in 241 = "at least."

This whole μέλος ἀπὸ σκηνῆς of Antigone (237 — 253) , with the tetrastichon of the Chorus (254 — 257) , was rejected by some of the ancient critics, acc. to the schol. on L: "for they say it is better that Oed. should forthwith address his justification to them."But, as the schol. rightly adds, it is natural and graceful that an appeal to pity ( ἐλεεινολογία ),— which the daughter makes,—should precede the father's appeal to reason ( τὸ δικαιολογικόν ). The schol. further remarks that Didymus ( circ. 30 B.C. ) had not obelized any part of the passage. This is important, as making it most improbable that the ἀθέτησις rested on the absence of these verses from the older Alexandrian copies. Though the text is doubtful in some points, the internal evidence cannot be said to afford any good ground for suspicion.

γεραὸν … ἐμὸν : the text of this verse is doubtful, and there is no strophic test, but it seems most likely that ἀλαὸν was an interpolation: see crit. n.

ἀκόντων , epithet of the agent, instead of that proper to the act ( ἀκουσίων ): 977 : 1229 κακὰ ἑκόντα κοὐκ ἄκοντα . Cp. 74 , 267.

ἀΐοντες αὐδάν , "perceiving," i.e. "being aware of,""having heard," the report of his involuntary deeds. Cp. 792 κλύω : Thuc. 6.20 ὡς ἐγὼ ἀκοῇ αἰσθάνομαι .—Not: (1) "on hearing (from him) the mention of his deeds" — as implied in his name: nor (2) "on hearing his first utterance," as if ἀκόντ .

ἔργων could be caus. gen. with οὐκ ἀνέτλατε .

ἀλλ’ , "at least," cp. 1276 : fr. 24 κἂν ἄλλο μηδέν, ἀλλὰ τοὐκείνης κάρα .

Hermann's τοὐμοῦ μόνου (for the MS. τοῦ μόνου ) is metrically right, but μόνου can hardly be sound. It must mean (1) "for my father alone" (and not for my own sake): not (2) "lonely, as he is": nor (3) "for my own father" (Campbell's view, which I do not comprehend). ΤΟΥΜΟΝΟΥ may have come from ΤΟΥΔΑΘΛΙΟΥ (Mekler), but τὸν ἄθλιον in 246 is against this (see, however, on 554 ). Perhaps τοῦδ’ ἀμμόρου .

οὐκ ἀλαοῖς , as his are.

προσορωμένα : for the midd. cp. 1059 ἐσορώμενοι . The midd. of the simple ὁράω is poet. only ( 594): but the midd. of προοράω and περιοράω occurs in Attic prose.

ὥς τις κ.τ.λ.: as if I were a young kinswoman of your own, appealing to you, the eldest of my house, for protection. The words are hardly so strong as "like daughter to father"; and though σὸν is addressed to the coryphaeus (cp. on 175 ), this sense would be less fitting. So Creon imagines his niece Antigone appealing to the sacred ties of kinship ( 487 Ζηνὸς ἑρκείου ; 658 ἐφυμνείτω Δία | ξύναιμον ).

ἐν ὔμμι κείμεθα , "we are situated " ( not , "prostrate") "in your power": ἐν ὔμμι , penes vos , cp. 392 , 422 , 1443 , 314(n.), Dem. § 193 ἐν γὰρ τῷ θεῷ τοῦτο τὸ τέλος ἦν, οὐκ ἐν ἐμοί . The epic forms ὔμμες (nom.), ὔμμι (dat.), ὔμμε (acc.), freq. in Hom., belonged esp. to the Lesbian Aeolic: the acc. occurs in Aesch. 620 βουλῇ πιφαύσκω δ’ ὔμμ’ ἐπισπέσθαι πατρός : Soph. 846 ξυμμάρτυρας ὔμμ’ ἐπικτῶμαι. ἐν ὑμῖν γὰρ(MSS.) is unmetrical: and if γὰρ is omitted, ὑμῖν still mars the metre, which requires a dactyl.

κείμεθα , of a critical situation, as 82 ἐν οὖν ῥοπῇ τοιᾷδε κειμένῳ, τέκνον, οὐκ εἶ ξυνέρξων; (when his fate is thus trembling in the balance). Cp. 1510 .

νεύσατε with acc. of the boon, as 5.445, Eur. 978 Ζεὺς ὅ τι νεύσῃ (more oft. ἐπι‐ or κατανεύειν ).

τὰν ἀδόκητον χάριν , the unlooked-for grace, i.e. for which, after your stern words (226), we can scarcely dare to hope,—but which, for that very reason, will be the more gracious. Eur. 1417 καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντ’ οὐκ ἐτελέσθη, τῶν δ’ ἀδοκήτων πόρον εὗρε θεός .

πρός ς’ : in supplications the poets often insert the enclitic σε between πρός and the gen. of that by which one adjures: 1333 : 436 μή, πρός σε τοῦ κατ’ ἄκρον κ.τ.λ. : 468 πρός νύν σε πατρός, πρός τε μητρός, ὦ τέκνον, πρός τ’ εἴ τί σοι κατ’ οἶκόν ἐστι προσφιλές, ἱκέτης ἱκνοῦμαι. ἐκ σέθενcould go with ἄντομαι only if πρός σ’ were πρός τ’ or πρὸς δ’ and even then would be harsh. Join, then, ὅ τι σοι φίλον ἐκ σέθεν , "whatever, sprung from thyself , is dear to thee"; the next words repeat this thought, and add to it: "yea, by child —or wife, or possession, or god." Cp. 530 ἐξ ἐμοῦ . ἐκ σέθεν could not mean simply, "on thy part," as = "in thy home." Against Elmsley's tempting οἴκοθεν (cp. Eur. 506 τοῖς οἴκοθεν φίλοις ) it may be remarked that the alliteration πρός σ’ … σοι — ἐκ σέθεν seems intentional (cp. 370n.).

ἢ χρέος ἢ θεός : a designed assonance ( παρομοίωσις ): cp. Isocr. or. 5 § 134 καὶ τὴν φήμην καὶ τὴν μνήμην : or. 4 § 45 ἀγῶνας...μὴ μόνον τάχους· καὶ ῥώμης ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγου καὶ γνώμης. χρέος here= χρῆμα , "thing," any cherished possession (cp. 23.618 καί σοι τοῦτο, γέρον, κειμήλιον ἔστω ), rather than "business," "office."

ἀθρῶν , if thou look closely. Plat. 577C τὴν ὁμοιότητα ἀναμιμνησκόμενος τῆς τε πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς οὕτω καθ’ ἕκαστον ἐν μέρει ἀθρῶν τὰ παθήματα ἑκατέρου λέγε .

ἄγοι , i.e. draw on to evil: 623 ὅτῳ φρένας | θεὸς ἄγει πρὸς ἄταν . Oedipus was led on to his unwitting deeds by a god. Cp. fr. 615 οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς φύγοι βροτῶν ποθ’, ᾧ καὶ Ζεὺς ἐφορμήσῃ κακά : so, too, 696. For the hiatus after ἄγοι , cp. 1202 f. καλεῖ | ἐμός .

First ἐπεισόδιον . Oedipus appeals to the Chorus, who resolve that Theseus shall decide (295) . Ismene arrives from Thebes (324) , with news of the war between her two brothers, and presently goes to perform the prescribed rites in the grove of the Eumenides (509) . After a κομμός (510—548) between Oedipus and the Chorus, Theseus enters, and assures Oedipus of protection.

τὰ δ’ ἐκ θεῶν , euphemistic: cp. Aesch. 373 οὐ γὰρ τὸ μέλλον ἐκ θεῶν ἠπίστατο . For ἐκ cp. also 1316 τὰς … ἐκ θεῶν | τύχας : Eur. 1763 τὰς ἐκ θεῶν ἀνάγκας . Similarly 1610 τὰ τῶν θεῶν (=their dispensations).

For τῶν as 1st syll. of 3rd foot cp. 95 ἀλλ’ ἔα με καὶ τὴν ἐξ ἐμοῦ δυσβουλίαν .

ῥεούσης , when it flows away, perishes, μάτην , "vainly," without result: i.e. issues in no corresponding deeds. 698 ῥεῖπᾶν ἄδηλον : 1000 (our fortune)ἀπορρεῖ κὰπὶ μηδὲν ἔρχεται : 1267 χάρις διαρρεῖ . Cp. Lat. futilis, fluere ( Cic. 2. 32. 106 fluit voluptas corporis et prima quaeque avolat ). For μάτην cp. Aesch. 845 λόγοι ... θνήσκοντες μάτην . (Not, "when the fame is current without good ground.")

εἰ with ind. φασί ( siquidem dicunt ) introduces the actual case which has suggested the general question, τί δῆτα κ.τ.λ. : cp. 823 ποῦ ποτε κεραυνοὶ Διός, ἢ ποῦ φαέθων Ἅλιος, εἰ ταῦτ’ ἐφορῶντες κρύπτουσιν ἕκηλοι; γεoft. follows εἰ (and εἴπερ ) in such cases, but here is better taken with τάς : it slightly emphasises the name of Athens.

θεοσεβεστάτας . Athens is pre-eminently (1) religious, (2) compassionate towards the oppressed. Paus. 1.17.1 Ἀθηναίοις δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ ἄλλα ἐστὶν οὐκ ἐς άπαντας ἐπίσημα καὶ Ἐλέου βωμός, ᾧ μάλιστα θεῶν ἐς ἀνθρώπινον βίον καὶ μεταβολὰς πραγμάτων ὅτι ὠφέλιμος, μόνοι τιμὰς Ἑλλήνων νέμουσιν Ἀθηναῖοι. τούτοις δὲ οὐ τὰ ἐς φιλανθρωπίαν μόνον καθέστηκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐς θεοὺς εὐσεβοῦσιν ἄλλων πλέον· καὶ Αἰδοῦς σφίσι βωμός ἐστι καὶ Φήμης καὶ Ὁρμῆς .

μόνας , not strictly "alone," but "more than all others" : cp. 299n.

τὸν κακούμενον ξένον . The two standard instances were subsequent, in mythical date, to the time of Oedipus. (1) Theseus, at the prayer of Adrastus king of Argos, compels Creon and his Thebans to permit the burial of the Argive warriors who had fallen in the war of Eteocles and Polynices. This is the subject of the of Eur., which continues the story of the and the (2) Demophon, the son of Theseus, protects the children of Hercules against the Argive Eurystheus. This is the subject of the of Eur.

These two examples are cited in Her. 9.27 ; in the spurious ἐπιτάφιος ascribed to Lysias ( or. 2 §§ 4-16 ); and in that ascribed to Demosthenes ( or. 60 §§ 7, 8 ). Isocrates quotes them in the , as showing how the Athenians διετέλεσαν τὴν πόλιν κοινὴν παρέχοντες καὶ τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις ἀεὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐπαμύνουσαν (§ 52) ; also in his § 31; and again in his , where he remarks that Tragedy has made them familiar to all ( § 168 τίς οὐκ ἀκήκοε τῶν τραγῳδοδιδασκάλων Διονυσίοις ;). They figure, too, in the Platonic , with the comment that Athens might justly be accused of too great compassion, and too much zeal for "the weaker cause": ὡς ἀεὶ λίαν φιλοικτίρμων ἐστὶ καὶ τοῦ ἥττονος θεραπίς, 244 E . Cp. Her. 8.142 αἰεὶ καὶ τὸ πάλαι φαίνεσθε πολλοὺς ἐλευθερώσαντες ἀνθρώπων . Andocides or. 3 § 28 τοὺς κρείττους φίλους ἀφιέντες ἀεὶ τοὺς ἥττους αἱρούμεθα .

σῴζειν , to give him a safe refuge: ἀρκεῖν , to come to his rescue ( 322 ἐσθλός, ὥστ’ ἀρκεῖν φίλοις ), if anyone seeks to take him thence by force.

οἵας τε , sc. εἶναι , here synonymous with ἔχειν . After οἷός τε this ellipse of εἰμί is frequent.

κἄμοιγε ποῦ . The thought of the whole passage is,— τί δόξα μάτην ῥέουσα ὠφελεῖ, εἰ τὰς Ἀθήνας φασὶ ( μὲν ) θεοσεβεστάτας εἶναι, ἐμοὶ δὲ ταῦτα μηδαμοῦ ἐστιν; Instead however, of a clause ἐμοὶ δὲ...κ.τ.λ. , thus depending on εἰ , a new sentence is opened by the direct question,— καὶ ἔμοιγε ποῦ ταῦτά ἐστιν;

καί , prefixed to interrogative words (as ποῦ, πῶς, ποῖος, τίς ), makes the query an indignant comment on a preceding statement: 236: Dem. § 232 καὶ τίς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῦτ’ ἰδὼν τὸ παράδειγμα δίκαιον αὑτὸν παρασχεῖν ἐθελήσει;

οἵτινες , causal, as if παρ’ ὑμῖν had preceded: hence= ἐπεὶ ὑμεῖς . Cp. 427 , 866 . Thuc. 4.26 ἀθυμίαν τε πλείστην ὁ χρόνος παρεῖχε παρὰ λόγον ἐπιγιγνόμενος, οὓς ( ὅτι αὐτοὺς ) ᾤοντο ἡμερῶν ὀλίγων ἐκπολιορκήσειν , since they had thought to reduce them in a few days. 1. 68 νῦν δὲ τί δεῖ μακρηγορεῖν, ὧν ( = ἐπεὶ ἡμῶν ) τοὺς μὲν δεδουλωμένους ὁρᾶτε ...; 6. 68 πολλῇ μὲν παραινέσει...τί δεῖ χρῆσθαι, οἳ πάρεσμεν ἐπὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀγῶνα ; 8. 76 § 6 ( οἵ γε ). Aristoph. 1225 ἵππον; οὐκ ἀκούετε ὃν ( = ὅτι ἐμὲ ) πάντες ὑμεῖς ἴστε μισοῦνθ’ ἱππικήν . 457 τί χρὴ δρᾶν; ὅστις ἐμφανῶς θεοῖς | ἐχθαίρομαι . Cp. 1228n.: 1364.

As 276 shows, ἐξάραντες refers to his first seat, in the grove. They had induced him to leave that seat ( 174 ff. ), on a pledge that no one should remove him from the resting-place outside of the grove. Yet now they command him to quit Attica ( ἐλαύνετε : 226 ἔξω...βαίνετε χώρας ).

τάδε βάθρα denote, generally, the seats afforded by the natural rock in or near the grove: here he is thinking specially of the βάθρον ἀσκέπαρνον (101) within its precincts.

οὐ γὰρ δὴ τό γε : see on 110 . For the art. τό , followed only by γε at the end of the v., with its noun σῶμα in the next v., cp. 67 τὸ γὰρ | … πράσσειν , ib. 78 τὸ δὲ | … δρᾶν : 92, 742 .

ἐπεὶ … ἔξοιδα . I am "a man more sinned against than sinning" ( 3. 2. 60) ,—as would appear, could I unfold to you my relations with my parents ( τὰ μητρὸς καὶ πατρός ), on account of which relations (the parricide and the incest— ὧν neuter) ye dread me. Of that I am sure. (For those relations began with their casting out their new-born son to perish. That first wrong led to the rest: hence it was that I knew not the face of my assailant in the pass, or of my bride at Thebes.)

πεπονθότ’ … δεδρακότα . The agent's activities ( τὰ ἔργα μου ) here stand for the agent himself; and so, instead of τοῖς ἔργοις πεπονθώς εἰμι (cp. 873 ), we have τὰ ἔργα μου πεπονθότ’ ἐστί . (Cp. 74 , 1604 .) 1214 γάμος· τεκνῶν καὶ τεκνούμενος = one in which the son has become the spouse. So a particular activity of a person's mind is sometimes expressed by the active participle (neut.) of a verb to which the person himself would properly be subject: τὸ βουλόμενον, τὸ ὀργιζόμενον τῆς γνώμης ( Thuc. 1.90 , 2. 59 ): τὸ δεδιός, τὸ θαρσοῦν αὐτοῦ (1. 36) .

"Ye shrink from me as from a guilty man. And yet ( καίτοι ),— evil as were my acts (in themselves),— how have I shown an evil disposition ( φύσιν ), or incurred moral guilt? Before I struck my father, he had struck me ( παθὼν ἀντέδρων : see 809). Even if I had been aware ( φρονῶν ) who he was, I might plead this in my defence: but, in fact, I did not know. Nor did I recognise my mother. They , on the other hand, had deliberately tried to kill their babe." — Note that the clause ὥστ’ εἰ φρονῶν … κακός , which could not apply to the incest, limits the reference of ἀντέδρων to the parricide; while ἱκόμην ( 273 ) refers to both stains.

He has two distinct pleas, (1) provocation, and (2) ignorance. These could have been expressed by ἀντέδρων (1) παθὼν μέν , (2) εἰδὼς δ’ οὐδέν . But (2) is forestalled by the thought that, if he had known, (1) would have excused him. This hypothesis is then contrasted with the fact (273) ; and the fact on his side is next contrasted with the fact on the other (274) . Hence παθὼν μέν has no clause really answering to it; for νῦν δ’ answers to εἰ φρονῶν , and ὑφ’ ὧν δ’ to οὐδὲν εἰδώς . The impf. ( ἀντέδρων ) expresses the situation ("I was retaliating"): the aor. (273) , an act accomplished at a definite moment.

ἱκόμην ἵν’ ἱκόμην : cp. 336 , 974 ; 1376(n.) βλαστοῦσ’ ὅπως ἔβλαστε .

ὑφ’ ὧν δ’ ἔπασχον , impf. of attempted act, cp. 1454 οἵ μ’ ἀπωλλύτην .

ἔπασχον : when the iron pin was driven through the babe's feet and he was exposed on Cithaeron, 718.

ὥσπερ με κἀνεστής .: as ye caused me to leave my seat in the grove, so give me the safety which ye then promised: see on 264 : for καί , on 53 . For ἀνιστάναι , of causing ἱκέται to leave sanctuary, cp. Thuc. 1.126 (cylon and his adherents) καθίζουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν ἱκέται τὸν ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει. ἀναστήσαντες δὲ αὐτοὺς οἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐπιτετραμμένοι,... ἐφ’ ᾧ μηδὲν κακὸν ποιήσουσιν, ἀπαγαγόντες ἀπέκτειναν .

θεοὺς … τοὺς θεοὺς : the art. with the repeated word, as 5 , 992 θεοὺς προτείνων τοὺς θεοὺς ψευδεῖς τίθης .

μοίραις ποεῖσθε could not stand for ἐν μοίραις ποιεῖσθε . The prep. ἐν is indispensable. See the discussion of this passage in the Appendix. The gentlest remedy would be μοίρας ( as gen. sing. ), which two MSS. have. As ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ ποιεῖσθαι (Her. 3.50) and ἐν οὐδεμιᾷ μοίρᾳ ἄγειν (2. 172) are parallel phrases, so οὐδενὸς λόγου ποιεῖσθαι (1. 33) might suggest οὐδεμιᾶς μοίρας ποιεῖσθαι . For the two negatives cp. 336 καὶ μὴ δοκεῖν μὲν δρᾶν τι πημαίνειν δὲ μή , "and not to seem active yet do no harm." It is hollow, Oed. says, to insist so strictly on the sanctity of a grove ( θεοὺς τιμῶντες ), and then to refuse the gods their μοῖρα , their due tribute of practical piety. You treat the gods as if they were not, when at their shrines you do ἀνόσια ἔργα (283) by violating your pledge to a suppliant.

ποεῖσθε . Numerous Attic inscriptions of the 5th and 4th cent. B.C. show that in this verb ι was regularly omitted before ει or η ( ποεῖ, ποήσει ), though never before ου, οι , or ω ( ἐποίουν, ποιοίη, ποιῶν : Meisterhans, p. 27). L generally, but not always, omits the ι before ει or η if the syll. is short. Forms from ποιῶ , with the 1st syll. short, occur below in 459 , 584 , 652 , 1018 , 1033 , 1037 , 1144 . In 584 and 652 , as here, L keeps the ι : in the other five places it omits it. In 1517 , where the quantity is different, L has ποεῖν .

The place of του before φωτός (cp. 29 καί μοί τις ὀπτήρ , 519 μὴ νῦν μέν τις εὐχερὴς παρῇς ) would be less awkward if φυγὴν and μήπω changed places: but the latter is reserved for the emphatic place at the beginning of the verse.

μήπω , not οὔπω , because of the imperat. ἡγεῖσθε (278) . After verbs of thinking , the negative with the inf. is ordinarily οὐ ( Plat. 317A ἡγοῦμαι γὰρ αὐτοὺς οὔ τι διαπράξασθαι ): though μή is used in asseveration (as with ὄμνυμι ), and sometimes in strong expressions of personal conviction: 1455 οἶδα μήτε μ’ ἂν νόσον | μήτ’ ἄλλο πέρσαι μηδέν , where see n. Thuc. 6.102 ad fin. νομίσαντες μὴ ἂν...ἱκανοὶ γενέσθαι (and id. 4. 18 ): Xen. 7.5.59 ἐνόμισε δὲ μὴ ἂν γενέσθαι ποτὲ πιστόν.

φωτὸς … βροτῶν , no wight among mortals , no one in the world. In 1358 τοιοίδε μέντοι φῶτες ἔμπληκτοι βροτῶν , though βροτοῖς is a specious variant, βροτῶν has the better authority: cp. 17.587 οὐ γάρ πού τινες ὧδε καταθνητῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀνέρες ὑβρίζοντες : 23. 187 ἀνδρῶν δ’ οὔ κέν τις ζωὸς βροτός .

ξὺν οἷς , σὺν τοῖς θεοῖς (schol.), "with whose help," since the gods strengthen men to refrain from evil, as well as to do good.

μὴ κάλυπτε , as with a veil ( κάλυμμα ) of dishonour cast over her bright fame: cp. 17.591 τὸν δ’ ἅχεος νεφέλη ἐκάλυψε μέλαινα . Thuc. 7.69 ἀξιῶν...τὰς πατρικὰς ἀρετάς, ὦν ἐπιφανεῖς ἦσαν οἱ πρόγονοι, μὴ ἀφανίζειν . Plut. 31 ἠμαυρωμένος τῇ δόξῃ.

τὰς εὐδαίμονας : Her. 8.111 λέγοντες ὡς κατὰ λόγον ἦσαν ἄρα αἱ Ἀθῆναι μεγάλαι τε καὶ εὐδαίμονες .

ἔλαβες , since Oed. put himself into their hands when he left sanctuary (174 f.).

τὸν ἱκέτην , cp. 44 , 487 .

ἐχέγγυον , having received your ἐγγύη , pledge, that I should not be wronged (176) . Elsewhere ἐχέγγ. = "having a good ἐγγύη to give ," trustworthy (like φερέγγυος ); Eur. 388 γῆν ἄσυλον καὶ δόμους ἐχεγγύους (= πύργος ἀσφαλής ib. 389 ). But Oed. could call himself ἐχέγγυος in this sense only as coming with credentials from Apollo; and that is not the point here. Cp. Her. 5.71 ἀνιστᾶσι ( τοὺς ἱκέτας ) … οἱ πρυτάνιες, … ὑπεγγύους πλὴν θανάτου , under a pledge that they should stand their trial, but not suffer death.

ἐκφύλασσε , till I am out of peril: only here, and twice in Eur. as = "to watch well " ( 1259, 741).

δυσπρόσοπτον , since the sightless orbs bore traces of his dreadful act ( 1268): cp. 577 . Continue με with ἀτιμάσῃς .

ἱερός , as now formally the ἱκέτης of the Eumenides (44)

εὐσεβής , since he has come thither κατ’ ὀμφὰς τὰς Ἀπόλλωνος (102) .

φέρων | ὄνησιν : the first hint, to the Chorus, of the κέρδη mentioned in the prayer which only his daughter witnessed (92) . Cp. 72 .

ὁ κύριος … τις : the master— whoever he be. 107 τοὺς αὐτοέντας ...τιμωρεῖν τινας the murderers—whoever they be. Plat. 716A ὁ μὲν εὐδαιμονήσειν μέλλων...ὁ δέ τις ἐξαρθείς κ.τ.λ. The art. implies that the person exists; the indef. pron., that his name is unknown.

τὰ δὲ μεταξὺ τούτου , in the space between (the present time) and that event ( sc. τοῦ παρεῖναι αὐτόν )

τὰ as in τὰ νῦν, τὸ αὐτίκα, τὸ ἐκ τοῦδε , etc. Dem. § 26 τὸν μεταξὺ χρόνον...τῶν ὅρκων , the interval between (that time, and) the oaths: Aristoph. 187 ἐν μέσῳ...ἀήρ ἐστι γῆς , between (heaven and) earth: 433 ἄνωθεν τῶν Θυεστείων ῥακῶν, μεταξὺ τῶν Ἰνοῦς , between (them and) Ino's.

τἀπὸ σοῦ , coming from thee, urged on thy part: 844 τὰ δ’ ἀπ’ ἀλλόθρου | γνώμας μολόντ’ : 95 τὴν ἐξ ἐμοῦ δυσβουλίαν .

ὠνόμασται , "expressed" (rather than "mentioned" ): cp. Dem. § 35 οὐ γὰρ τὰ ῥήματα τὰς οἰκειότητας ἔφη βεβαιοῦν, μάλα σεμνῶς ὀνομάζων (expressing himself in very stately language).

βραχέσι , not "short," but "light," "trivial": Thuc. 1.78 βουλεύεσθε οὖν βραδέως ὡς οὐ περὶ βραχέων .

ἄνακτας , i.e. Theseus: Aesch. 53 δεσποτῶν θανάτοισι (Agamemnon's death). Cp. 146 , 814 , 970 .

διειδέναι , here, diiudicare: usu.= dignoscere; Plat. 262 A τὴν ὁμοιότητα...καὶ ἀνομοιότητα ἀκριβῶς διειδέναι . Cp. 394 διειπεῖν ( αἴνιγμα ), to solve it.

The ξένος had spoken of Theseus as ὁ κατ’ ἄστυ βασιλεύς (67) , but had not said where he then was.

πατρῷον ἄστυ γῆς , not for πατρῴας γῆς ἄστυ , but simply "his father's city in the land" (the gen. γῆς as 45 ), i.e. the city from which Aegeus (69) had swayed Attica. The poets can use πατρῷος as= πάτριος ; but in the mouth of Oed. ( 1450) πατρῷον ἄστυ means the city of Laïus, and in that of Ant. ( 937) the city of Oedipus: on the other hand, τὰ πάτρια...δώματα ( 1394), his "ancestral" home.

ἔχει = "is in," cp. 37 . Isocrates conceives the line of hereditary Attic kings as having been unbroken from Erichthonius down to Theseus ( § 126). The greatness of Athens as the centre of government was reputed to date from Theseus; but the royal seat of his predecessors was supposed to have been a lesser Athens (the acropolis and the part south of it. Thuc. 2.15 ), from which they swayed Attica while its communes were still independent ( σποράδην καὶ κατὰ κώμας οἰκοῦσαν , Isocr. § 35 ).

σκοπὸς refers to the quality in which the man of Colonus had presented himself to Oed. (35) , and so helps him at once to know who is meant. The word can mean "messenger" only in the sense of "one sent to obtain news"; but we need not change it, as Wecklein does, to πομπός .

κἀμὲ : see on 53 .

ἔπεμψεν is better here than ἔπεμπεν , which could only mean, "was our summoner."

στελῶν , to make him set forth, to fetch him: 860 πέμψον τινὰ στελοῦντα .

Wecklein brackets these nine verses, thinking that they arose from a misunderstanding of 551-554 . Theseus divined the name of Oedipus from the description of his person; but these vv. were inserted by one who thought it necessary to explain how Theseus knew the name. I hold the verses to be genuine. The ξένος must have been sent to Athens by the Chorus before they came to the grove (117) , and could not, therefore, know the name of Oedipus (first disclosed at 222 ). He could only tell Theseus that there was a blind stranger at Colonus, who hinted at his own power to confer benefits (72) , and who looked noble (76) . Theseus, on entering (551) , at once greets Oedipus by name, though he had never seen him before (68) . He had divined the identity through a knowledge of the history (553) — i.e. he started from Athens on the strength of what the ξένος could tell. And on the way to Colonus (adds Theseus) he has been made certain of the fact (554) — i.e. he had heard the name. Now, it was precisely for such certainty that the dramatist meant this passage to provide. He felt that otherwise there might have been too great improbability in the instant confidence of the recognition by Theseus.

Join αὐτὸν with ἐλθεῖν , not with ἕξειν : cp. 6 ἁγὼ δικαιῶν μὴ παρ’ ἀγγέλων, τέκνα, ἄλλων ἀκούειν αὐτὸς ὧδ’ ἐλήλυθα .

καὶ κάρθ’ : cp. 65 .

κέλευθος : cp. 164 . Some wayfarers, passing by Colonus towards Athens, may have heard the prolonged tumult of horror which greeted the name of Oedipus (222) . As the distance to the city is more than a mile, there will be many chances for the news to be caught up from their lips, and carried to Theseus.

πλανᾶσθαι : cp. Cic. 1. 17 speremus nostrum nomen volitare et vagari latissime.

τῶν refers to ἔπη . ἀΐωand like verbs can take a gen. either of the person , or (as 1187 ) of the thing , heard: though the latter is more often in the acc. (as 240 ).

θάρσει, παρέσται : the same words (in another context) 726 .

πολὺ , with strong rumour: 786 ὑφεῖρπε γὰρ πολύ . Aeschin. or. 1 § 166 πολὺς μὲν γὰρ ὁ Φίλιππος ἔσται (we shall hear a great deal of him), ἀναμιχθήσεται δὲ καὶ τὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ὄνομα Ἀλεξάνδρου .

κεἰ βραδὺς εὕδει , even if he is reposing (from affairs), and is unwilling to move.

εὕδω , in the fig. sense ( 65), is more often said of things (as εὕδει πόντος , etc., cp. 621 ) than of men: but καθεύδω , at least, was often thus used: Plut. 15 ὥρα μέντοι σοι μὴ καθεύδειν ἀλλὰ προσέχειν τοῖς πράγμασιν . The conjectures ἕρπει and σπεύδει (the latter referring, not happily, to σπεῦδε βραδέως ) both suppose that Theseus lingers by the way. But, if he started, he would scarcely loiter.

βραδύς here=indisposed to exertion (as βραδύς is joined with μαλακός in Plat. 307A, and βραδύτης with ἡσυχιότης in 160 B).

κλύων σοῦ (gen. of connection), hearing about thee, 317 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής ; 439 ἀναξίου μὲν φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι : 11.174 εἰπὲ δέ μοι πατρός τε καὶ vἱέος . Cp. 355.

τίς γὰρ ἐσθλός . Oedipus has hinted to the Chorus that he brings ὄνησιν ἀστοῖς τοῖσδε , but has reserved all explanation of his meaning until Theseus shall arrive (288) . His exclamation here again touches on his secret; but, instead of interpreting εὐτυχής , he turns it off, for the present, by a quickly-added commonplace. "Does not experience, indeed, teach us that the benefactor of others is often his own?" The generous man, though he acts from no calculation of self-interest, actually serves himself by making zealous friends. Like thoughts are found in many popular shapes elsewhere: 13.734 (of the man with νόος ἐσθλόςno/os e)s1qlo/sκαί τε πολέας ἐσάωσε, μάλιστά τέ κ’ αὐτὸς ἀνέγνω , "he saveth many, yea, and he himself best recognises (the worth of wisdom)": Menander 141 ἐσθλῷ γὰρ ἀνδρί [ γ’ ] ἐσθλὰ καὶ διδοῖ θεός : ib. 391 ξένοις ἐπαρκῶν τῶν ἴσων τεύξῃ ποτέ : 23 ὁ χρηστός, ὡς ἔοικε, καὶ χρηστοὺς ποιεῖ : pseudo - Philem. ap. Boissonad. 1. 147 μετέρχεται τὸ δίκαιον εἰς πλεονεξίαν . Conversely, οἷ αὐτῷ κακὰ τεύχει ἀνὴρ ἄλλῳ κακὰ τεύχων (Hes. 265) , λίαν φιλῶν σεαυτὸν οὐδ’ ἕξεις φίλον (Men. 310) . We should not suppose a suppressed clause: ("I do not say, to himself ,") "for what good man is not a friend to himself?" The interest of the king is identified with that of his realm. To distinguish them so sharply is unfitting here. Cp. 1124, 1496, 1553. The conjecture ἔσθ’ ὃς (for ἐσθλὸς ) makes Oed. apologise for the selfishness of ἐμοί τε : "for who is not his own friend?" (!)

τίλέξω , here prob. fut. ind. rather than aor. subj. (though 315 τί φῶ; ): cp. 1419 οἴμοι, τί δῆτα λέξομεν πρὸς τόνδ’ ἔπος; 1233 ὦ Ζεῦ, τί λέξεις; For fut. ind. combined with aor. subj., cp. Eur. 758 εἴπωμεν ἢ σιγῶμεν ἢ τί δράσομεν;

ποῖ φρενῶν : see on 170 .

τί δ’ ἔστι; (cp. 46 ) marking surprise, as 319(n.), 1144 etc.

Αἰτναίας … πώλου , not seen, of course, by the spectators: Ismene leaves it with her servant (334) , and enters on foot (320) . Sicily having a reputation both for its horses ( Oppian 1. 170) and for its mules ( Photius 366. 12 ), some understand a mule here, as that animal (with an easy saddle, ἀστράβη ) was much used for such journeys. But though πῶλος , with a defining word (as τῶν καμήλων Arist. 1.1.47 , κύνεοι 12. 238 ) could denote the young of animals other than the horse, πῶλος alone would always mean a young horse.

Αἰτναίας implies some choice breed, as in Theophr. XXI(=VII in my 1st ed.) the μικροφιλότιμος buys Λακωνικὰς κύνας, Σικελικὰς περιστεράς , etc. In Aristoph. 73the Αἰτναῖος μέγιστος κάνθαρος is not a mere joke on the Etna breed of horses , but alludes to a species of beetle actually found there (cp. Aesch. fr. 229 , Plato Com. fr. 13, quoted by schol. ad loc.).

κρατὶ : locative dat., "on her head," rather than dat. of interest with ἡλιοστερὴς , "for her head." The ἡλιοστερής of the MSS. is a very strange word. It ought to mean "deprived of the sun": cp. βιοστερής 747 , ὀμματοστερής 1260 . Even with an active sense, "depriving of the sun," it is awkward. It could not mean "sun- averting. " In Aesch. 1063 Ζεὺς...ἀποστεροίη γάμον is not, "may he avert from us," but "may he take away (from our foes)": Hartung would read ἀποστρέφοι μοι . (1) ἡλιοσκεπὴς (Nauck) is supported by 16.224 χλαινάων ἀνεμοσκεπέων , and (2) ἡλιοστεγὴς (Coraes) by the use of στέγω as "to keep out." The latter seems most applicable to rain: cp. Pind. 4. 81 ἀμφὶ δὲ παρδαλέᾳ στέγετο φρίσσοντας ὄμβρους , 6. 90 πῖλον...ὑδασιστεγῆ : the former, to heat, cold, or wind: cp. 6. 335, on a καυσία (a broad-brimmed felt hat, used in Macedonia—from καῦσις ), καὶ σκέπας ἐν νιφετῷ, καὶ κόρυς ἐν πολέμῳ.

Θεσσαλὶς κυνῆ , a form of the Thessalian πέτασος , a felt hat (somewhat like our "wide-awake") with brim, worn esp. by travellers: cp. schol. on Aristoph. 1203(where Iris enters with a κυνῆ ), κυνῆ δέ, ὅτι ἔχει περικεφαλαίαν τὸ πέτασον . In the Soph. made Iris wear an Ἀρκὰς κυνῆ (fr. 251) .

πρόσωπα : Aristoph. 542 οὐδὲ γόνατ’ ὰν κόπος ἕλοι με .

Elms. cp. Eur. 577 ἆρ’ εἰσίν; ἆρ’ οὐκ εἰσί; τίς φράσειεν ἄν;

πλανᾷ , misleads (me): the act. never="to wander." Plat. 356D αὕτη μὲν ( sc. sc.ἡ τοῦ φαινομένου δύναμιςh( tou= fainome/nou du/namisἡμᾶς ἐπλάνα . Hor. 3. 4. 5 an me ludit amabilis Insania?

Arist. 3. 6 ἀδύνατον ἅμα καταφάναι καὶ ἀποφάναι ἀληθῶς.

τί φῶ , the delib. subj. in a dependent clause ( τί might be ὅ τι ): cp. 71n.

φαιδρὰ , neut. acc. plur. as adverb: cp. 1695 : 883 ὑπέροπτα...πορεύεται (n.).

σαίνει με , greets me: cp. Aesch. 725 (the young lion)φαιδρωπὸς ποτὶ χεῖρα σαίνων ("fawning") : Soph. 1214 παιδός με σαίνει φθόγγος , "greets mine ear." [Eur.] 55 σαίνει μ’ ἔννυχος φρυκτωρία , the beacon flashes on my sight.

The δῆλον of the MSS. can mean only "manifest to me" (a very weak sense): for it could not bear the emphatic sense, "in living presence" (as opp. to "in my fancy"). Nor, again, can it well be taken as a parenthetic adv., "'tis clear" (like 906 αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ· δῆλον· ). The conjecture ἀδελφὸν (cp. 1 ὦ κοινὸν αὐτάδελφον Ἰσμήνης κάρα ) may be right.

Ismene has come from Thebes, where she has hitherto continued to live, in order to bring her father important tidings. The Thebans will shortly make an attempt to fix his home, not within, but near their borders. A war has already broken out between his sons.

There is no contrast in this play, as in the early part of the , between the spirit of the sisters. But the contrast between their circumstances indirectly exalts Antigone. She is wandering barefooted, enduring heat and cold ( 349 f. ), — Creon is struck by the suffering shown in her aspect ( 748 ), — while Ismene has at least the ordinary comforts of life.

ὦ δισσὰ πατρὸς καὶ κασιγν . κ.τ.λ. = ὦ πάτερ καὶ κασιγνήτη, δισσὰ ἐμοὶ ἥδιστα προσφωνήματα , two names most sweet for me to use: cp. 1049 ὦ στέρν’ ἀδελφῆς … τάδ’ ἀντὶ παίδων καὶ γαμηλίου λέχους προσφθέγματ’ ἀμφὶ τοῖς ταλαιπώροις πάρα . 802 ὦ παῖδες, ὦ πικρὸν φίλων προσηγόρημα ματέρων ("sons," a name bitter for your mothers to utter).

δεύτερον , when I have found you.

λύπῃ , caus. dat.: Archilochus fr. 101 (strong emotion) πολλὴν κατ’ ἀχλὺν ὀμμάτων ἔχευεν .

ὁρᾶν , epexeg. inf.: so ἄτλητον … ὁρᾶν, 792 . The form δύσμοιρος only here.

In the MSS. the verse ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ ; etc. stands immediately after the verse πρόσψαυσον, ὦ παῖ , etc. Musgrave has been followed by nearly all subsequent editors, in separating these two verses by the insertion between them of the verse ὦ σπέρμ’ ὅμαιμον etc. This transposition is plainly necessary: else Ismene will say that she touches not only her father and sister, but herself. Campbell defends θιγγάνω … δυσμόρου … ἐμοῦ τρίτης as meaning, "I too am linked in this unhappy circle": adding that "the construction of a reply, in this sort of dialogue, is not to be pressed too closely." The source of the confusion in the MSS. was obviously that the gen. ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ etc. could depend, in grammar , either on θιγγάνω or on τροφαί , though the sense leaves no choice. Nauck further places v. 327 ( ὦ τέκνον, ἥκεις ) after v. 329 ( πρόσψαυσον ). Wecklein places v. 328 ( τέκνον, πέφηνας ) after v. 329 . Neither of these changes is hurtful; but neither appears necessary.

ὦ δυσάθλιαι τροφαί , wretched mode of life (338) , — referring to the outward signs of suffering and destitution on which Creon dwells, 745 ff. : cp. 1250 ff . By his reply, ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ; Oed. seems to hint that she separates herself from those whom she pities. Ismene with quick sensibility rejoins, δυσμόρου τ’ ἐμοῦ τρίτης , the life is to be mine, too, in your company (for τρίτης cp. 8 ). Dindorf's conjecture, ὦ δὔ ἀθλίω τροφά , makes the subsequent question of Oedipus appear needless.

ὅμαιμον expresses the sisters' relation to each other only ( "my children and my sisters" would be δύσφημον here). In Soph. ὅμαιμος, ὁμαίμων always refer to brother or sister: 323 , 979 , 1275 , 1405 , 1772 : 486, 512 f. : 12, 325 , 531 : 639.

σῇ (caus. dat.)=an objective gen. σοῦ : 969 τὠμῷ πόθῳ (n.).

πότερα , instead of πότερον , to avoid an anapaest: 265n.

πόθοισι ; (causal:) was it because thou wast fain to see me after so long a time? (or was there some further special cause?) Cp. 531 φόβοισί γ’ αὐτὸν ἐξελυσάμην.

λόγων αὐτάγγ . object.gen., αὐτὴλόγουσἀγγέλλουσα . Aesch. 646 πραγμάτων εὐάγγελον. λόγοιςwould be a dat. of circumstance ("with"), but very harsh.

ξὺν ᾧπερ … μόνῳ = ξὺν ( τούτῳ ) οἰκετῶν ὅνπερ εἶχον πιστὸν μόνον , the attrac tion of the relative extending to the predicative adj.: Dem. § 298 οὔτε φόβος οὔτ’ ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἐπῆρεν...ὧν ἔκρινα δικαίων καὶ συμφερόντων τῇ πόλει οὐδὲν προδοῦναι .

πονεῖν , epexeg. infin. with ποῦ ( εἰσι ): so as to do their part. The infin. was thus used in affirmative clauses (esp. after ὅδε ), as 9.688 εἰσὶ καὶ οἵδε τάδ’ εἰπέμεν, οἵ μοι ἕποντο , here are these also to tell the tale , who went with me: Eur. 294 γυναῖκες αἴδε συγκαθιστάναι νόσον , here are women to help in soothing thy trouble. So on the affirmative οἵδε εἰσὶ πονεῖν ( "here they are to serve ") is modelled the interrogative ποῦ εἰσὶ πονεῖν ; "where are they, that they may serve (as they are bound to do)?" So Eur. 1473 ποῦ δῆτ’ ἀμύνειν οἱ κατὰ στέγας Φρύγες;

ποῦ (the scholiast's reading) is right. ποῖ supposes a very harsh ellipse of ἥκουσιν or the like, and agrees less well with the reply.

οὗπέρ εἰσι : on 273 . Schaerer's τἀν is better than the MS. δ’ ἐν because the hint is made more impressive by the abruptness.

τανῦν is adv.

Αἰγύπτῳ . Her. 2.35 τὰ πολλὰ πάντα ἔμπαλιν τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἀνθρώποισι ἐστήσαντο ἤθεά τε καὶ νόμους· ἐν τοῖσι αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες ἀγοράζουσι καὶ καπηλεύουσι, οἱ δὲ ἄνδρες κατ οἴκους ἐόντες ὑφἀίνουσι . Soph. certainly seems to have had this passage of his friend's work in view: else it would be strange that v. 341 should correspond so exactly with the special tasks ascribed to the women by Her. So the reference in 62to the (supposed) dead returning recalls the Thracian Salmoxis in Her. 4.95 , and the disputed passage 905ff. recalls the wife of Intaphernes in Her. 3.119 . Nymphodorus of Syracuse ( 275 B.C.? ), in the 3rd book (read γ’ for ιγ’ in the schol. here, Müller fr. Hist. 2. 380) of his Νόμιμα Βαρβαρικά , repeated the statement of Her., adding (prob. of himself) that Sesostris had thus sought to tame the men of Egypt to his sway. Anaxandrides, of the Middle Comedy ( circ. 340 B.C.), in his , represented the Athenians as rejecting an Egyptian alliance on the ground of the opposition between the manners of Greece and Egypt: — οὔθ’ οἱ τρόποι γὰρ ὁμονοοῦς), οὔθ’ οἱ νόμοι | ἡμῶν ( Bothe p. 426) .

φύσιν , 270

τροφάς , 330 .

ἱστουργοῦντες : 6.490 (Hector to Andromache) ἀλλ’ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ’ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε, ἱστόν τ’ ἠλακάτην τε, καὶ ἀμφιπόλοισι κέλευε ἔργον ἐποίχεσθαι· πόλεμος δ’ ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει .

τἄξω βίου τροφεῖα , those means of supporting life which are sought outside of the home,—paraphrasing the ἀγοράζουσι καὶ καπηλεύουσι of Her. 2.35 . Elsewhere τροφεῖα always = "reward for rearing" ( Plat. 520B, etc.).

σφῷν δ’ , dat. of interest, "for you two" (Ant. and Ism.), in your case. Some take it as partitive gen.: then it would mean, "of you two pairs ," — the pair of brothers being one unit, and the pair of sisters another. But I know no parallel for such an use of a dual pronoun. It is different when ἄμφω is said of two "sides" or armies, considered as units ( 2.123 εἴπερ γάρ κ’ ἐθέλοιμεν Ἀχαιοί τε Τρῶές τε | … ἀριθμηθήμεναι ἄμφω ): or when a dual verb has a twofold dual subject, 8.185 Ξάνθε τε καὶ σύ, Πόδαργε, καὶ Αἴθων Λάμπε τε δῖε νῦν μοι τὴν κομιδὴν ἀποτίνετον .

Not noticing Ismene's hint (336) , Oedipus imagines his sons in repose at Thebes. He is soon to learn that one of them, an exile, is levying war against the other (374) .

οἰκουροῦσιν , not οἰκουρεῖτον , though a dual follows (345) : 1511f. εἰχέτην...εὔχεσθε : Xen. 6.1.47 ὡς εἰδέτην...ἠσπάσαντο ἀλλήλους : Plat. 330C εἴπετον δή μοι...ὃ ὠνομάσατε ἄρτι .

ὥστε = ὡς , an epic use freq. in Aesch. and Soph.

παρθένοι . [Dem.] (or. 59) § 86 ἱκανὸν φόβον ταῖς γυναιξὶ παρασκευάζων τοῦ σωφρονεῖν καὶ μηδὲν ἁμαρτάνειν ἀλλὰ δικαίως οἰκουρεῖν . Eur. 928 εἰ τἄνδον οἰκουρήμαθ’ οἱ λελειμμένοι φθείρουσιν .

τἀμὰ δυστήνου : 1126 τὰν ἐμὰν μελέου τροφάν : so nostros vidisti flentis ocellos Ov. 5. 43. τἀμὰ … κακὰ: cognate acc. to ὑπερπονεῖτον (like πονεῖν πόνους ), "ye bear the woes of me hapless for me" ( δυστήνου , placed between art. and noun, must not be taken with ὑπερππονεῖτον ). Cp. Plat. 717C (a son must cherish his aged parents)ἀποτίνοντα δανείσματα ἐπιμελείας τε καὶ ὑπερπονουντων ὠδῖνας παλαιὰς ἐπὶ νέοις δανεισθείσας , requiting...their pangs of old, when they suffered for him.

νέας τροφῆς ἔληξε , ceased to need the tender care which is given to children. νέα τροφή , here, "the nurture ( not "growth") of the young": so 510 νέας | τροφῆς στερηθείς , bereft of the tendance which childhood needs: 1143 (speaking of her brother's infancy) τροφῆς | … τὴν … ἀμφὶ σοὶ | παρέσχον . But in 1 νέα τροφή = "last-born nurslings."

κατίσχυσεν , became strong (ingressive aor.), δέμας , "in body" (acc. of respect). This compound verb, though metrically convenient, seems not to occur elsewhere before the 2nd cent. B.C. : it was usu. intrans., as Polyb. 11. 13 κατίσχυον καὶ τῷ πλήθει καὶ ταῖς εὐχειρίαις (began to prevail in the battle). Evang. Matth. xvi. 18 πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύουσιν αὐτῆς .

γερονταγωγεῖ , on the analogy of παιδαγωγεῖν (so, in late Greek, ξεναγωγεῖν for ξεναγεῖν ): Aristoph. 1098 ("i give myself to thee," says demus)γερονταγωγεῖν κἀναπαιδεύειν πάλιν .

νηλίπους : schol. α·νυπόδητος . Apoll. Rhod. 3. 646 νήλιπος, οἰέανος (shoeless, with only a tunic): Theocr. 4. 56 εἰς ὄρος ὅκχ’ ἕρπῃς, μὴ ἀνάλιπος ἔρχεο, Βάττε : where schol. ἦλιψ γὰρ τὸ ὑπόδημα . If the word really comes from an ἦλιψ (of which there is no other trace), then νηλίπους (used also by Lycophron 635 , who, however, may have followed Soph.) is less correct than νήλιπος , which Blomfield ( Aesch. 248) wished to restore here. Eustathius 787. 52 derives νήλιπος from λίπος (fat, unguent), explaining it by αὐχμηρὸς καὶ ἀλιπής ( "unkempt" ).

ἡγεῖται . The sentence γερονταγωγεῖ, πολλὰ μὲν ... ἀλωμένη, πολλοῖσι δ’ ὄμβρ. μοχθοῦσα , is so far regular and complete: then we should have expected ἡγουμένη , introducing a comment on the whole sentence. Instead, we have ἡγεῖται , which draws μοχθοῦσα to itself, and thus breaks the symmetry of the antithesis. The substitution of a finite verb for a second participial clause is freq. in Greek; but is usu. managed as if here we had πολλὰ μὲν...ἀλωμένη, πολλοῖς δ’ ὄμβρ. μοχθεῖ, ἡγουμένη etc. Cp. 190 οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους πατρός, ὦδε μὲν ἀεικεῖ σὺν στολᾷ, κεναῖς δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις (instead of ἀμφισταμένη ): 213 ff. οὐ μολπὰν...ἔχων,—...ἀλλὰ...βοᾷ (instead of βοῶν ): Lys. or. 12 § 15 ἐδόκει μοι ταύτῃ πειρᾶσθαι σωθῆ\ναι, ἐνθυμουμένῳ ὅτι, ἐὰν μὲν λάθω, σωθήσομαι·, ἐὰν δὲ ληφθῶ, ἡγούμην etc.: and 1134n. See also 806(n. on ζητεῖτ’ ).

τὰ τῆς . There are only three other instances in Soph. of the art. so placed: 263 Φιλοκτήτης ὃν οἱ | δισσοὶ στρατηγοί : 409 κόνιν σήραντες ἢ κατεῖχε τὸν | νέκυν : 879 κἀπὶ τοῖς | σαυτῆς κακοῖσι . Close cohesion in thought and utterance is the excuse for this, as for the elision of δ’, τ’, ταῦτ’ at the end of a v. ( 29n.).

εἰ … ἔχοι is an abstract statement of the condition: — " him to have tendance, she is content." For optat. in protasis, with pres. ind. in apodosis, cp. Antiphanes fr. incert. 51 (Bothe p. 412) εἰ γὰρ ἀφέλοι τις τοῦ βίου τὰς ἡδονάς, καταλείπετ’ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τεθνηκέναι , " supposing one takes away...then nothing is left."

τροφὴν , "tendance": see on 345 : cp. 1614.

μαντεῖα πάντα implies several oracles, given to the Thebans about Oedipus after he had left Thebes. There is no clue to their purport, and we need not ask: they are invented merely to create a pious office for Ismene. It would not have seemed well that she should have stayed at Thebes all these years without showing any active interest in his fate: on the other hand, the poetic legend required that Antigone should be the sole guide of his wanderings. The oracle about final rest had been given to Oed. in his youth (see on 87 ); the oracle about his grave has only just been received at Thebes (389) . Between these two, the only oracle suggested by the Sophoclean version of the story is a response to the question which Creon had proposed to ask at Delphi ( 1438), as to whether Oed. should remain at Thebes. But the story of the expulsion ( 768 ff. ) implies that no such response had then been obtained.

τοῦδε σώματος (without περί ), gen. of connection; see on 307 .

φύλαξ δέ μοι κ.τ.λ., a general description of her part, subjoined to the special instance just given: "and you constituted yourself a trusty watcher (at Thebes) in my interest, when I was being driven from the land," i.e. from the moment when the decision to expel me had been taken, and the act was in contemplation.

μοι for μου seems necessary: and I suspect that μου first arose from inattention to the exact sense. A gen. after φύλαξ always denotes the object guarded: thus φύλαξ μου ought to mean (not, "a watcher in my interest," but) "a guardian of my person"; this, however, was Antigone's part (21) : Ismene had never roamed with him. So in Eur. 612 τίς μοι φύλαξ ἦν; (say the Bacchants to Dionysus), "what overseer, master (of our rites, like ἐπίσκοπος of Dionysus, 1148) had we?" — not, "what guardian of our persons was there?" Yet there L2 (cod. Laur. 32. 2) has μου .

στόλος , a journey with a purpose, a "mission": 243 τίνι | στόλῳ προσέσχες; on what mission hast thou touched here?

μὴ οὐχὶ … φέρουσα explains the special sense of κενή . "You have not come empty-handed— i.e. without bringing some terror for me." μὴ οὐ properly stands with a partic. in a negative statement only when μή could stand with it in the corresponding affirmative statement: thus ( a ) affirmative: βραδὺς ἔρχει μὴ φέρων, you (always) come slowly, if you are not bringing: ( b ) negative: οὐ βραδὺς ἔρχει, μὴ οὐ φέρων, you never come slowly, unless you are bringing. Here μὴ οὐ is irregular, because the affirmative form would be ἥκεις οὐ (not μὴ ) φέρουσα , a simple statement of fact; and so the negative should be οὐχ ἥκεις οὐ φέρουσα . But bringing bad news is felt here as a condition of her coming. Hence μὴ οὐ is used as if the sentence were formally conditional: οὐκ ἂν ἦλθες μὴ οὐ φέρουσα .

From Thebes to Athens is a short day's journey; but Ismene has sought her father far and wide. This could not well have been if, as Campbell supposes (on 355 ), the oracles which she herself had formerly brought to him had directed his course towards Attica.

ζητοῦσα τὴν σὴν τροφήν , "enquiring as to your way of life " is supplemented by ποῦ κατοικοίης , i.e. , " where you were living."Cp. Thuc. 4.42 ἐπετήρουν τοὺς Ἀθηναίους οἷ κατασχήσουσιν .

ἀμφὶ … παίδοιν (dat.), "about" : oft. of encompassing tenderness, as 1614 ; here, of besetting trouble: unless we take it as merely = "in the case of": cp. 727 ἀλλ’ ἀμφὶ τοῖς σφαλεῖσι μὴ )ξ ἑκουσίας | ὀργὴ πέπειρα .

Eteocles and Polyneices were young boys at the fall of Oedipus (see on 1 ), and their uncle Creon (brother of Iocasta) became regent ( 1418). As the two brothers grew up, they agreed, at first, in wishing to resign the throne, of which they were joint heirs, to Creon, lest Thebes should be tainted by their own rule; but afterwards they fell to striving with each other for the sole power.

ἔρως , desire (436) , is a necessary and a certain correction. The MS. ἔρις would have to mean " emulous desire," either ( a ) between the two brothers, if τε … μηδέ = " both " … "and not": or ( b ) between the brothers and ( τε ) Creon. Now, there is no objection to using ἐρίζω, ἔρις of noble rivalry. The fatal objection is that the idea of rivalry at all is here completely,—almost ludicrously,—out of place. The notion that Soph. was thinking of the ἀγαθὴ ἔρις , which rouses men to effort, as opp. to the κακὴ ἔρις ( Hes. 11 ff.), is surely very frigid. It is possible, however, that it was this notion which first brought ἔρις into 367.

Κρέοντί τε . The τε = "both," answering to μηδέ "and not." So τε is answered by οὐδέ (instead of οὔτε ) Eur. 697, or by δέ Soph. 1312 . So, too, οὔτε by δέ , Eur. 223, etc. Such irregularity is natural when the second thought is opposed to the first. The objection to reading μήτε in 368 is that, while οὔτε (or μήτε )... τε is common enough, there is no example of τε...οὔτε (or μήτε ).

Paley's Κρέοντι δὴ is, however, highly probable. It would mean, "to Creon in the next resort." So δὴ is used of succession in 173, where Creon says ἐγὼ κράτη δὴ πάντα καὶ θρόνους ἔχω , I next (the sons of Oed. being dead); and Aesch. 3 ἣ δὴ τὸ μητρὸς δευτέρα τόδ’ ἕζετο | μαντεῖον .

ἐᾶσθαι , pass., as 329 ἡ δ’ οὖν ἐάσθω : Thuc. 1.142 ( ἐασόμενοι ) : Eur. 331 ( ἐάσομαι ) : 1344 ( ἐώμενος ) : etc. The midd. of ἐάω is not classical.

πόλιν : so in 776 ὅπως μίασμα πᾶσ’ ὑπεκφύγῃ πόλις , it is implied that the whole State may be polluted by an act of the king.

λόγῳ , in the light of reason, with calm reflection (in contrast to the blind passion for power which afterwards seized them), a dat. of manner, cp. 381 , 405 ὀργῇ λελέχθαι , 621 σοφίᾳ...ἔπος πέφανται.

τὴν πάλαι … φθοράν , beginning with the curse called down on Laïus by Pelops, for robbing him of his son Chrysippus. Cp. 596 (of this labdacid house) οὐδ’ ἀπαλλάσσει γενεὰν γένος, ἀλλ’ ἐρείπει | θεῶν τις etc.: one generation doth not free another, but some god brings ruin.

κἀλιτηρίου . The MS. reading, κἀξ ἀλĭτηροῦ , is against metre, and gives a form of the adj. which occurs nowhere else; though, had it existed, it would have been most convenient for epic verse. ἀλιτήριος , and the poet. ἀλĭτρός , alone are found. The preceding ἐκ may have led the scribe into an erroneous repetition, as in 205L has ὁ δεινὸς ὁ μέγας instead of ὁ δεινὸς μέγας (cp. Wecklein, XVI. pp. 69 ff.). This seems, on the whole, more likely than that the Homeric ἀλείτης ("sinner," ἀλοιτός in Lycophr. 579 ) should have suggested a form ἀλειτηρός or ἀλοιτηρός , of which there is no other trace. Hesychius (I. 236) , s.v. ἀλιτροσύνη , says that in the Soph. used the subst. ἀλιτρία ( Aristoph. 907 ὥσπερ πίθακον ἀλιτρίας πολλᾶς πλέων ), whence Dindorf κἀξ ἀλιτρίας φρενός, "from a sin of the mind." The objection to this is the unexampled lengthening of the second syllable.

The dat. after εἰσῆλθε is strictly a dat. of the person interested, but was perh. influenced by the analogy of the dat. in παρέστη μοι , "it occurred to me," and the like; cp. 298 ἐμοὶ γὰρ οἶκτος... εἰσέβη : Her. 1.86 ) λέγεται ( τῷ Κροίσῳ … ἐσελθεῖν...τὸ τοῦ Σόλωνος : but 6. 125 τὸν Κροῖσον γέλως ἐσῆλθε : and so Eur. 931 εἰσῆλθέ μ’ οἶκτος .

τρὶς ἀθλίοιν for τρισαθλίοιν was first given by Porson, since otherwise there would be no caesura either in the 3rd or in the 4th foot. He compares 5.306 τρὶς μάκαρες Δαναοὶ καὶ τετράκις : Ar. 851 καὶ τρὶς κακοδαίμων καὶ τετράκις, κ.τ.λ. To Hermann's argument, that in any case τρὶς and ἀθλίοιν cohere, the answer is that, for the metre, the degree of coherence makes all the difference. Blaydes, keeping τρισαθλίοιν , quotes five such cases as "free from suspicion." They are the same five which Porson had discussed and proposed to amend in connection with this passage ( praef. p. xxviii): viz. Aesch. 501(transpose κρυσταλλοπῆγα ), Eur. 1586 (transpose ὁρωμένου ), Soph. 969(not strictly similar,— ἐπεγγελῷεν ), Aesch. 1261(=1252 Dind. παρεσκόπεις , doubtful), 252 (=244 D. ἐπεικάσαι , doubtful). Of these, παρεσκόπεις is the only exact parallel to τρισαθλίοιν , as being a single word coincident with the dipodia, and not preceded by elision.

If νεάζων merely = νεώτερος ὤν , the pleonasm would be too weak: perh., then, it is tinged with the notion of νεανιευόμενος (as in Eur. 713: ποῖ; μῶν νεάζων οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἃ χρῆν σ’ ὁρᾶν; — said by Creon to Eteocles). Cp. Aesch. 763 φιλεῖ δὲ τίκτειν ὕβρις μὲν παλαιὰ νεά‐ ζουσαν ὕβριν .

τὸν πρόσθε : Polyneices alludes to his right as the firstborn, 1294 , 1422 : Eur. ( 71) followed the common account in making Eteocles the elder. The change adopted by Soph. is here a twofold dramatic gain; for ( a ) Polyneices, who is to come on the scene, can be treated as the foremost ofiender; ( b ) Eteocles has now a special fault, and so the curse on both sons is further justified (421).

ἀποστερίσκει , historic pres., "deprives of" (rather than a true pres., "is excluding from"). The simple στερίσκω (Thuc., Plat., Eur., etc.) was commoner in Attic than this compound.

πληθύων , lit., becoming full (of the Nile rising, Her. 2.19 ): Aesch. 869 ὡς ἐπλήθυον λόγοι .

Ἄργος , the territory, not only the city; called κοῖλον because the Argive plain is bounded on W., N. and E. by hills, as on S. by the sea. This epithet had already been given to it, acc. to the schol., in the epic called the Ἐπίγονοι , popularly ascribed to Homer ( Her. 4.32 , who expresses doubt), and was again used by Soph. in his (fr. 222). Cp. Strabo 8. 370 τῆς τε χώρας (the argive plain) κοίλης οὔσης καὶ ποταμοῖς διαρρεομένης (the inachus and the erasînus) καὶ ἕλη καὶ λίμνας παρεχομένης . So Her. 7.129 τὸ μέσον δὲ τούτων τῶν λεχθέντων ὀρέων ἡ Θεσσαλίη ἐστί, ἐοῦσα κοίλη : 4.1 Λακεδαίμονα κοίλην (the valley of the Eurotas); Polyb. 1. 3. 1 Κοίλη Συρία (as lying between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon). The epith. κοῖλον has an epic tone, as suggesting a distinction from the Homeric Πελασγικὸν Ἄργος (perh. Thessaly), Ἀχαϊκὸν and Ἴασον Ἄργος (Peloponnesus).

κῆδος , affinitatem , with Adrastus, by marrying his daughter Argeia ( κῆδος Ἀδράστου λαβών , Eur. 77).

καινόν , in a new quarter (as opp. to his native land). Perhaps Statius, whom Schneid. quotes, was translating this: iamque ille novis, scit fama, superbit Conubiis, viresque parat, queis regna capessat ( 2. 108) .

ὡς κ.τ.λ.: "as purposing that Argos should either possess the Theban land in honour, or exalt Thebes to the skies" (by the glory of having defeated Argos).

ὡς … Ἄργος … καθέξον ἢ … βιβῶν , acc. absol. in the personal constr., as 101 ὡς τόδ’ αἷμα χειμάζον πόλιν : Thuc. 6.24 ἔρως ἐνέπεσε τοῖς πᾶσιν...ἐκπλεῦσαι...ὡς ἢ καταστρεψομένοις ἐφ’ ἃ ἔπλεον, ἢ οὐδὲν ἂν σφαλεῖσαν μεγάλην δύναμιν , in the belief that they would reduce Sicily, or that at all events a great armament could suffer no disaster. Eur. 964 ΠΑΙΔ. σοὶ δ’ ἐς τί δόξ’ εἴσῆλθεν ἐκβαλεῖν τέκνον;—ΚΡΕΟΥΣΑ. ὡς τὸν θεὸν σώσοντα τόν γ’ αὑτοῦ γόνον .

τιμῇ , dat. of manner: cp. 369 .

καθέξον , occupy as conquerors: Dem. or. 18 § 96 τὰ κύκλῳ τῆς Ἀττικῆς κατεχόντων ἁρμοσταῖς καὶ φρουραῖς .

πρὸς οὐρ. βιβῶν : cp. κλέος οὐρανὸν ἵκει ( 9.20) , κλέος οὐρανόμηκες (Aristoph. 459) : Eur. 972 ὥστ’ οὐρανῷ στηρίζον εὑρήσεις κλέος (thou wilt find thy fame towering in the sky). But the best illustration is Isocr. or. 15 § 134 τὰ μὲν ἁμαρτανόμενα παρόψονται, τὸ δὲ κατορθωθὲν οὐρανόμηκες ποιήσουσιν , they will overlook your failures, and exalt your success to the skies. So Lucr. 1. 78 religio pedibus subiecta vicissim Opteritur, nos exaequat victoria caelo. Wecklein strangely understands: — "or will make Thebes rise to the sky" (in smoke , by burning the city), comparing Eur. 1298 πτέρυγι δὲ καπνὸς ὥς τις οὐ‐ ράνια πεσοῦσα δορὶ καταφθίνει γᾶ , which means simply: "our land hath fallen like smoke that hath sunk down on its wing from the sky, and is perishing by the spear."

ἀριθμός : Eur. 475 κἀνταῦθ’ ἀριστεύοντ’ ἐγεινάμην τέκνα, οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἄλλως, ἀλλ’ ὑπερτάτους Φρυγῶν . Hor. 1. 2. 27 Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati.

If the MS. ὅποι (Vat. ὅπη ) is right, the phrase is harsh beyond example. ποῖ, ὅποι , instead of ποῦ, ὅπου , are often boldly used, when the verb implies either ( a ) motion , as 227 καταθήσεις , 476 τελευτῆσαι , Eur. 184 καθιστάναι , etc.; or ( b ) patience up to a point, as Aristoph. 526 ποῖ γὰρ καὶ χρῆν ἀναμεῖναι; But it is hard to see how ὅποι κατοικτιοῦσιν could mean " how far they will prolong (thy woes) before they pity them." To supply προελθόντας or προαγαγόντες is to cut the knot. If the phrase meant anything, it ought rather to mean, " up to what point they will pity them." As in 335 ποῖ is a MS. error for ποῦ , so here ὅποι for ὅπου (Wecklein prefers ὅπῃ , "in what way"). Note that, in this context, πόνους = the woes of Oed. generally (mental and physical), not merely his toils in wandering: this is against the emend. κατοικιοῦσιν .

ὡς … ἕξειν . Against the tempting conjecture θεοὶ … ἕξουσ’ , remark that in some other passages, where our MSS. give this mixed construction, the acc. and inf. could not be eliminated without strong measures: thus Xen. 6.5.42 ἐλπίζειν δὲ χρὴ ὡς ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς μᾶλλον ἢ κακοὺς αὐτοὺς γενήσεσθαι : 8. 1. 25 πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἐλογίζετο ὡς εἰ πάντες οἱ κοινῶνες θεοσεβεῖς εἶεν, ἧττον ἂν αὐτοὺς ἐθέλειν : where the least violent remedy would be to delete ὡς —a course not possible here. In some other such places, indeed, the inf. can be very easily corrected (as 3. 4. 27 εἴη for εἶναι , 7. 4. 39 δεῖ for δεῖν ).

ὡς … θεοὺς ἕξειν may be sound. Harsh as it seems to us, usage had perhaps accustomed the ear to hearing the speaker's own view introduced by ὡς , even when the corresponding construction did not follow. ὧδ’ ἐμοῦ would be weak. But ὥστ’ ἐμοῦ (against which the presence of ὥστε in 386 is not conclusive, cp. on 544 ) is worth weighing: cp. Eur. 52 ἐλπίδα δὲ δή τιν’ ἔχομεν ὥστε μὴ θανεῖν .

Since ἔγωγε is virtually one word, this v. cannot be regarded as an instance of γε used twice in the same sentence. Such repetition is allowable when more than one word is to be emphasised, as Eur. 554 ἐπεὶ τά γ’ ἀρκοῦνθ’ ἱκανὰ τοῖς γε σώφροσιν , but no certain example happens to occur in Soph.: see on 1030.

The purport of this new oracle seems to have been: — "The welfare of Thebes depends on Oed., alive or dead." Ismene paraphrases it: — "It shows that you will be in request with the Thebans some day ( ποτέ , i.e. some day soon , 397 ), — not merely after your death, but while you live." She knows that Creon is coming in the hope of carrying Oed. back — not to Thebes, but to some place just beyond the Theban border, where his person, and afterwards his grave, should be under Theban control. Cp. on 1331 .

εὐσοίας , used by Soph. also in the (fr. 119) ἐπεὶ δὲ βλάστοι, τῶν τριῶν μίαν λαβεῖν εὔσοιαν ἀρκεῖ , quoted by the schol., who describes it as the reading ἐν τοῖς ἀναγκαιοτέροις τῶν ἀντιγράφων (the better copies) … ὃ καὶ οἱ ὑπομνηματισάμενοι ἀξιοῦσιν(the Alexan drian commentators). It does not occur except in Soph.: but Theocr. 24. 8 has εὔσοα τέκνα ("safe and sound").

A and other MSS. have τοιοῦδ’ ὑπ’ , which gives a clear constr. It seems arbitrary to assume that in L's reading τίς δ’ ἂν τοιοῦδ’ ἀνδρὸς εὖ πράξειεν ἄν the syllable lost was rather τι after τίς δ’ ἂν , the gen. being one of source. Herm. supports the latter view by 1006 σοῦ πρὸς δόμους ἐλθόντος εὖ πράξαιμί τι , but there the gen. is absolute. Wecklein gives τίς δ’ ἀντὶ τοιοῦδ’ ἀνδρὸς εὖ πράξειεν ἄν; comparing ἀνθ’ οὗ, ἀντὶ τοῦ ; but in such phrases ἀντί = "in recompense for," not "through the agency of."

ἐν σοὶ : 247.

γίγνεσθαι is never merely εἶναι. ἐν σοὶ γίγνεται τὰ κείνων κράτη =their power comes to be in thy hand: i.e. the new oracle so appoints.

φασί with indef. subject, "people say," report says (we cannot supply "the θεωροί " from 413 ).

κράτη , political predominance generally, but with esp. ref. to prevalence in war against Athens (1332) : the plur. as of royal power ( 173 κράτη...καὶ θρόνους ).

ἀνήρ , emphatic, as oft.: Aristoph. 823 ὃ σὺ μαθὼν ἀνὴρ ἔσει : Xen. 4.2.25 οὐκέτ’ ἀνήρ ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ σκευοφόρος .

ὤλλυσαν , imperf. of intention; see on 274 . This was their design up to the moment of his fall. From that moment dates the period meant by νῦν .

see on 1 .

δ\ς πέσῃ without ἄν , as oft. in poetry, seldom in prose ( 1231n.).

καὶ μὴν here = "Well, however that may be" (even if it is φλαῦρον ).

γε throws back a light stress on Κρέοντα : " Creon thinks the matter important." For a slightly different use of καὶ μήν... γε cp. 345n.

βαιοῦ … χρόνου . The gen. of the "time within which " expresses the period to which the act belongs , and might so be viewed as possessive: Plat. 448A οὐδείς μέ πω ἠρώτηκε καινὸν οὐδὲν πολλῶν ἐτῶν , i.e. non-questioning of me has now been the attribute of many years. ἐντός is sometimes added ( Isocr. or. 6 § 46 ἐντὸς τριῶν μηνῶν κατέσχεν ἅπασαν Μακεδονίαν ).

κοὐχὶ μ. , with warning emphasis: 58 γνωτὰ κοὐκ ἄγνωτα (n.). Cp. 617 .

στήσωσι , sc. οἱ Θηβαῖοι : Creon himself lays stress on his mission to speak for all (737) . Schol. κατοικίσωσι . The word has a certain harsh fitness for τὸν πλανήτην (3) . Against ὡς ἄγχι γῆς στήσῃ σε speaks the plural strain of the whole passage ( 392 κείνων , 400 κρατῶσι , 402 κείνοις , 405 θέλουσι , etc.).

ὅρων . ἐμβαίνω usu. takes either dat., or prep. with gen. or accus.: the simple gen. could be explained as partitive, but prob. is rather on the analogy of the gen. with ἐπι βαίνω: cp. 825 ἐμβατεύειν πατρίδος . The gen. with ἐπεμβαίνω (924) is warranted by the first preposition.

The tenor of this fine passage should be observed.

Oedipus took ἐν σοί (392) to mean that the welfare of Thebes depended on his presence there. He is thinking of a restoration to his Theban home (395) . He asks, therefore, —"Of what use can I be to them if I am left at their doors, and not received within their land?" "They will suffer," she replies, "if your tomb is neglected." Oedipus does not see the force of this answer: he still infers (from θανόντα in 390 ) that, whatever may be his doom in life, he is at least to be buried at Thebes. "Why, of course they will," he replies (403) . " So " — pursues the daughter (404) — "they mean to keep you within their grasp." A new suspicion flashes on him. "They will bury me at Thebes?" "It cannot be." That is enough. He will never give himself into their hands. — Remark that he was supposing Apollo's former decree (91) to have been cancelled by this later one (389) . He now sees that the new oracle does not cancel the former, but merely confirms it in one aspect, viz. in the promise of ἄτην τοῖς πέμψασιν (93) .

θύρασι , foris , as Eur. 2074 οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν δεῖ θύρασιν εὐπρεπὲς | φαίνειν πρόσωπον (she ought not to show her beauty abroad ), where, as here, Elms. restored it from the MS. θύραισι . Campbell retains the latter. But, while in θύρασι, θύραζε, θύραθεν, θυραῖος the notion of "external" is uppermost, the figurative uses of the plural θύραι always speak of approaching the house: as ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας φοιτᾶν, ἐπὶ ταῖς θύραις διατρίβειν, ἐπὶ ταῖς θύραις τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐσμέν ( Xen. 6.5.23). So here θύραισι would mean, not, "outside of their doors," but "at their very doors."

κειμένου : schol. οἰκοῦντος .

κείνοις with βαρύς only.

δυστυχῶν =if it does not receive due honours: cp. ἄμοιρος...νέκυς of a corpse denied due rites ( 1071). Eur. 319 τύμβον δὲ βουλοίμην ἂν ἀξιούμενον τὸν ἐμὸν ὁρᾶσθαι . Since in death (390) he was still to sway their destiny, they wished his grave to be where they could make the due offerings ( ἐναγίζειν ) at it: cp. Her. 2.44 τῷ μὲν ὡς ἀθανάτῳ...θύουσι, τῷ δὲ...ὡς ἥρωι ἐναγίζουσι . Such ἐναγισμός would be at least annual (cp. Isae. or. 2 § 46 ). The schol. takes δυστυχῶν as = "if not on Theban soil": but this is excluded by 407 .

Cp. 398 γνώμῃ κυρήσας οὐδ’ ἀπ’ οἰωνῶν μαθών . It needed no oracle to tell one that they would incur divine anger for neglecting the first duties of piety towards their late king.

σε προσθέσθαι , "to associate you with them (as a prospective ally) in the neighbourhood of their land, and not (to leave you) in a place where you will be your own master." Cp. Her. 1.69 χρήσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν Ἕλληνα φίλον προσθέσθαι,...ὑμέας...προσκαλέομαι φίλος τε θέλων γενέσθαι καὶ σύμμαχος . With μηδ’ , etc., a verbal notion such as ἐᾶσαι οἰκεῖν must be supplied from προσθέσθαι : cp. 71 καὶ μή μ’ ἄτιμον τῆσδ’ ἀποστείλητε γῆς, ἀλλ’ ἀρχέπλουτον ( sc. καταστήσατε ).

ἂν … κρατοῖς , nearly = κρατήσεις . See on ἵν’ ἂν...εἴποιμεν , 189 . With the MS. κρατῇς , ἄν belongs to ἵνα : "wherever you may be your own master": which is evidently less suitable here.

καὶ with κατασκιῶσι (not with ἧ , which would imply that he did not expect it, 368): "Having settled me near their land, will they further bury me within it?" For κατασκιάζειν cp. 493 (Kaibel, Berl. 1878) θανόντα...γαῖα κατεσκίασεν.

τοὔμφυλον αἷμα , thy blood-guilt for the death of a kinsman: so ἐμφύλιον αἷμα (Pind. 2.32) , αἷμα συγγενές (Eur. 148) , αἷμα γενέθλιον (Or. 89) : but in 1406 αἷμ’ ἐμφύλιον merely= "a blood-kinship." Oed. was doomed to ἀειφυγία (601) . Even to bury him in Theban ground would seem impious towards Laïus. So, when Antigone has given the burial-rite to Polyneices, Creon asks, ( 514) πῶς δῆτ’ ἐκείνῳ δυσσεβῆ τιμᾷς χάριν; "How, then, canst thou render a grace which is impious towards that other?" (Eteocles).

συναλλαγῆς , strictly, a bringing together (by the gods) of persons and circumstances, a "conjuncture": rarely without the defining gen. (as νόσου ξ. , 960); for in 845 ὀλεθρίαισι ξυναλλαγαῖς prob.= "at the fatal meeting" (of Deianeira with Nessus).

σοῖς … τάφοις , poetical locative dat. ( 381n.), freq. in Homer, as 21.389 ἥμενος Οὐλύμπῳ . Some day the Thebans will invade Attica, and will be defeated by the Athenians near the grave of Oedipus. Cp. Aristeides p. 284(the great men of the Greek past are guardian spirits), καὶ ῥύεσθαί γε τὴν χώραν οὐ χεῖρον ἢ τὸν ἐν Κολωνῷ κείμενον Οἰδίπουν : where the schol. records a vague legend of his epiphany in some fight with Theban invaders. When the Persians ( 480 B.C. ) were repulsed from Delphi, two gigantic warriors pursued them; τούτους δὲ τοὺς δύο Δελφοὶ λέγουσι εἷναι τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους ἥρωας, Φύλακόν τε καὶ Αὐτόνοον, τῶν τὰ τεμένεά ἐστι περὶ τὸ ἱρόν (Her. 8.39) . So Theseus was seen at Marathon ( Plut. 35); Athene appeared, and the Aeacidae helped, at Salamis ( Her. 9.83 f. ).

θεωρῶν , sent from Thebes to Delphi, to consult the oracle in solemn form ( 114): cp. on 354 .

ἑστίας , the "hearth of the Pythian seer" ( 965), "at earth's centre" ( μεσόμφαλος , Eur. 462).

ἐφ’ ἡμῖν , "in my case" (n. on 829).

οἱ μολόντες : schol. οἱ θεωροί .

παίδων τις (there being only two sons) virtually strengthens the question, as if he asked —"Had my sons any knowledge whatever of this?"

καὶ εἶτα , "and after that," is explained by τῶνδ’ ἀκούσαντες.

τῶνδ’ : see on 304 .

πάρος … προὔθεντο : Eur. 382 οἱ δ’ ἡδονὴν προθέντες ἀντὶ τοῦ καλοῦ | ἄλλην τιν’ : Isocr. 9 § 17 ἄλλους ἀνθ’ ἡμων προκριθῆναι : and so Plat. προτιμᾶν τι ἀντί τινος ( 219 D) , πρό τινος ( 727 D) , πλέον τινός ( ib. 777 D) , μᾶλλον ἤ τι (887 B) . What is the complaint of Oed. against his sons? This: — Apollo had made him the arbiter, in life and death, of Theban welfare (389) . His sons might have pleaded with the Thebans: — "Apollo has now virtually condoned the ἔμφυλον αἷμα ( 407 ). Restore our father to the throne." But they desired the throne for themselves. Here, as in regard to his expulsion, they neglected an opportunity which natural piety should have seized (441) .

τοὐμοῦ πόθου : the possess. pron. =object. gen. of pers. pron.: see on 332 .

φέρω δ’ ὅμως is usually taken, "but such are my tidings" (cp. 360 ). This would be fitting if, with Wecklein, we might read φέρουσα for κλύουσα : but the latter is in all MSS., and naturally refers to the words just heard by Ismene from Oed., not to a report heard by her at Thebes. The indignant question of Oed. invited a defence. She replies, "I am pained to hear my brothers charged with such conduct, but I must bear it" — i.e. I cannot deny the charge. The contrast between ἀλγῶ and φέρω has thus more point.

ἀλλ’ . "Nay, then" — opening the imprecation, as 1040 ἀλλ’, ὦ πατρῴα γῆ θεοί τ’ ἐγχώριοι, τείσασθε, τείσασθ’ .

σφιν , not σφι , was prob. always the form used by Attic tragedy. It is required by metre below, 444 , 451 , 1490 : 570: 1070: Aesch. 252, 457 : 759, 807 : fr. 157 ( ap. Plat. 391E). Eur. has the dat. in two places where, as here, σφι is possible , but in both σφιν has MS. authority, and should probably be read, 398( v.l. σφι ), 769. On the other hand there is no place in trag. where metre excludes σφιν .

τὴν πεπρωμένην , by the curse in the house of Laïus (369) .

ἐν δ’ after μήτε is harsh, and Elmsley's ἔν τ’ may be right. There is, however, a good deal of MS. evidence for τε...δέ in trag.: see on 367 . Cp. 1096 τό τ’ εἰκαθεῖν γὰρ δεινόν, ἀντιστάντα δὲ κ.τ.λ. , n.

ἐν ἐμοί (cp. 247 ), may the issue for them come to be (392) in my hands, i.e. may the gods allow me to be the final arbiter, and to doom them both by a father's curse.

κἀπαναίρονται . The words καὶ ἐπαναίρονται δόρυ do not form a second relative clause,—as if, from the ἧς before ἔχονται , we had to supply the relat. pron. in a different case ( ἐφ’ ᾗ , or εἰς ἥν ) with ἐπαναίρονται . They form an independent sentence, which is co-ordinated with the relative clause, ἧς ἔχονται . This is the normal Greek construction. See note in Appendix. Cp. 467 , 731 .

ἐπαναιροῦνται δόρυ , the MS. reading, would mean, "are taking a spear upon them," the verb being used figuratively (like in se suscipere ) of obligations or responsibilities ( φιλίαν, πόλεμον, τέχνην, λατρείαν etc.); but ἐπαναίρεσθαι , in its literal sense of "uplifting against," is more natural and more poetical with δόρυ : cp. Eur. 313 καὶ μήποτ’ ἐς γῆν ἐχθρὸν αἴρεσθαι δόρυ .

ὡς , "for" (if I were to have the decision). Blomfield's conjecture ὧδ’ is unnecessary.

οἵ γε , causal: see on οἵτινες 263 .

ἀτίμως : cp. 440 βίᾳ : 770 ἐξεώθεις . Soph. has this adv. thrice elsewhere of ignominious or ruthless treatment, 1181, 1069, fr. 593. 7.

οὐκ ἔσχον , did not stop me (from being expelled). We find such phrases as ἔχω τινὰ ποιοῦντά τι , to check one in the act of doing something ( 888 βουθυτοῦντά μ’...ἔσχετ’ ), but not ἔχω τινὰ ἀδικούμενον , to stop one from being wronged (like παύω ). Here, then, it is better to supply τὸ (or ὥστε ) μὴ ἐξωθεῖσθαι than to take ἔσχον with ἐξωθούμενον . Cp. Xen. 3.5.11 πᾶς...ἀσκὸς δύο ἄνδρας ἕξει τὸ ( v.l. τοῦ ) μὴ καταδῦναι· ὥστε δὲ μὴ ὀλισθάνειν, ἡ ὕλη καὶ ἡ γῆ σχήσει .

ἤμυναν , sc. ἐμοί.

ἀνάστατος , made to rise up and quit one's abode, "driven from house and home," implying ἀειφυγία (601) , 39 ἐν Τραχῖνι τῇδ’ ἀνάστατοι ξένῳ παρ’ ἀνδρὶ ναίομεν (driven from our home at Argos). Thuc. 1.8 οἱ...ἐκ τῶν νήσων κακοῦργοι ἀνέστησαν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ (were expelled).

αὐτοῖν , not dat. of the agent (very rare except with perf., plpf., or fut. pf. pass.), but dat. of interest ("so far as they were concerned"): cp. 1030 τέθνηχ’ ὑμῖν πάλαι : Aesch. 12 σφῷν μὲν ἐντολὴ Διὸς | ἔχει τέλος δή .

ἐξεκηρύχθην , by a proclamation of Creon (as regent) to the citizens—like that which Oed. himself had made ( 216ff.). κήρυγμα is used of the royal edict , 8, 161, etc. Cp. Lys. or. 12 § 95 (of those banished by the Thirty) ἐξεκηρύχθητε...ἐκ τῆς πόλεως .

εἴποις ἂν : the figure called ὑποφορά (Lat. subiectio , Cornificius 4. 23. 33 ), the "suggestion" of an objection, with the reply; Tiberius § 36( Spengel III. 77) ὑποφορὰ δέ ἐστιν ὅταν μὴ ἑξῆς προβαίνῃ ὁ λόγος, ἀλλ’ ὑποθείς τι ἢ ὡς παρὰ τοῦ ἀντιδίκου ἢ ὡς ἐκ τοῦ πράγματος ἀποκρίνηται πρὸς αὑτόν, ὥσπερ δύο ἀντιλεγόμενα πρόσωπα μιμούμενος . Oed. here speaks chiefly to Ism., whose pain for her brothers (420) might suggest the excuse; though in 445 , 457 he addresses the Chorus. Wecklein conceives Oed. as speaking directly to the spectators, who might recollect the close of the Need we charge the poet with this dramatic impropriety?

θέλοντι , "desiring" (not merely "consenting"): cp. 767 : 1356 θέλοντι κἀμοὶ τοῦτ’ ἂν ἦν . The desire of Oed. to be sent away from Thebes is passionately expressed in the ( 1410 ff. , 1449 ff. ). At the end of that play he repeats the request ( 1518 ), and Creon replies that it must be referred to Delphi.

τότε with κατῄνεσεν , i.e. "when I was banished"; so 650 τότε ="in those old days."

The ι in L's κατηίνυσεν speaks for κατῄνεσεν ,— clearly much fitter here than κατήνυσεν . Cp. 1633 καταίνεσον , 1637 κατῄνεσεν . The contrast is between exile imposed as a doom or granted as a boon,—not merely between a wish fulfilled or unfulfilled.

ἡμέραν : the acc. of duration (cp. 1138) is strictly warrantable, as in Xen. 6.3.11 καὶ ἐχθὲς δὲ καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν (the day before yesterday) τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἔπραττον : though in a negative sentence we might have rather expected the gen. (cp. 3. 3. 11 τῆς ἡμέρας ὅλης διῆλθον οὐ πλέον πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι σταδίων ).

τὴν αὐτίχ’ : Thuc. 2.64 ἔς τε τὸ μέλλον...ἔς τε τὸ αὐτίκα : 3. 112 ἐν τῷ αὐτίκα φόβῳ .

λευσθῆναι πέτροις , the typical form of summary vengeance on one who has incurred public execration: 3.56 ἠέ κεν ἤδη | λάϊνον ἕσσο χιτῶνα : Aesch. 1616 δημορριφεῖς...λευσίμους ἀράς : 254 λιθόλευστον Ἄρη (on the part of the infuriated army): Eur. 442 θανεῖν ὑπ’ ἀστῶν λευσίμῳ πετρώματι (the pleonasm as here). Her. 9.5 (the "lynching" of the athenian who advised his fellowcitizens to accept the persian terms, 479 b.c.479 b.c.περιστάντες Λυκίδην κατέλευσαν βάλλοντες . The redundant πέτροις adds emphasis: so 200 πυρὶ | πρῆσαι κατάκρας . Cp. 1255 φοιτᾷ γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἔγχος ἐξαιτῶν πορεῖν : 1411 φονεύσατ’ ἢ θαλάσσιον | ἐκρίψατ’ .

ἔρωτ’ ἐς τόνδ’ , the conjecture of Papageorgius (see cr. n.), is, I think, almost certain. The MS. change supposed is of the slightest kind, and such as continually occurs in our MSS.: while ἔρωτος τοῦδ’ cannot be defended as either ( a ) gen. of connection, "helping in regard to this desire," or ( b ) possessive gen. with ὠφελῶν as= εὐεργέτης , "helper of this desire." See Appendix.

πέπων . The metaphor is not directly from the mellowing of fruit, but from the medical use of the word in ref. to the subsiding of inflammation (as in angry tumours, etc.). Cp. the fig. sense of ὠμός . So πεπαίνεσθαι Hippocr. 1170 B : Arist. 4.3 ἡ φυμάτων (tumours)καὶ φλέγματος...πέπανσις : 12. 80 τί σοι τὸ πεπανθὲν Ἔρωτος τραῦμα διὰ σπλάγχνων αὖθις ἀναφλέγεται; Hence, too, 728 ὀργὴ πέπειρα .

ἐκδραμόντα , had rushed out, run to excess (not, run ἔξω δρόμου , out of the course): 08: cp. 752 ἦ κἀπαπειλῶν ὧδ’ ἐπεξέρχει θρασύς ; dost thou e'en go to the length of threatening so boldly?

The gen. might be taken with μείζω , "a chastiser greater than the sins," i.e. "severer than they merited" ( ἢ κατὰ τὰ ἡμαρτ .); but it is simpler to take it with κολαστήν , "too great a chastiser of the sins." As μέγας θυμός is "violent anger," so θυμός which is over-violent can be called μείζων κολαστής . The rhythm of the verse will not permit us to disjoin μείζω (as by a comma) from κολαστήν .

τὸ τηνίκ’ ἤδη , just when that time had come (the art. as in τὸ αὐτίκα, "at the moment," Thuc. 2.41 ). While τηνικάδε ("at this time of day") was common, the simple τηνίκα occurs nowhere else in elass. Attic; it is found, however, in the Alexandrian poets, and in later Greek.

τοῦτο μέν is answered by δέ (441) instead of τοῦτο δέ , as by ἔπειτα δέ ( 63) , τοῦτ’ αὖθις ( ib. 165) , εἶτα ( 1345) , τοῦτ’ ἄλλο ( 605) .

χρόνιον , "after all that time," — repeating the thought with which he had begun ( χρόνῳ 437). Thuc. 1.141 χρόνιοι...ξυνιόντες , meeting only at long intervals: 3. 29 σχολαῖοι κομισθέντες , having made a leisurely voyage: 8. 14 ἀφικνοῦνται αἰφνίδιοι.

ἐπωφελεῖν with dat. (like ἐπαρκεῖν ) as Eur. 677, elsewhere usu. with acc. ( 905, etc.): cp. the poet. dat. with the simple verb, 560 τοῖς θανοῦσιν ὠφελεῖν .

οἱ τοῦ πατρὸς τῷ πατρί blends two forms of antithesis,—(1) οἱ παῖδες τῷ πατρί , and (2) οἱ τοῦ Οἰδίποδος τῷ Οἰδίποδι . The gen. of "origin," τοῦ πατρός , really a possessive gen., comes in with peculiar force here, as suggesting that the sons belong to the sire. For πα^τρὸς...πα—τρί cp. 883 , 296 ἀλλ’ ἐν πέτροισι πέτρον , 1310n.

τὸ δρᾶν , on 47 .

ἔπους σμικροῦ χάριν , for lack of a few words in his defence ( ἀντιλογίας βραχείας , schol.). As if one said, "They incurred all this loss for the sake of a petty sum" ( i.e. to save it). This is a slight deviation from the ordinary use of ἕνεκα, οὕνεκα (22) , ἕκατι, χάριν , in such phrases. Cp. fr. 510. 6 κἀμοὶ γὰρ ἂν πατήρ γε δακρύων χάριν ἀνῆκτ’ ἂν εἰς φῶς , would have been brought up, if tears could bring him: Aesch. 337 πλήθους...ἕκατι , if numbers could give victory.

σφιν , i.e. they looked on and did nothing: see on αὐτοῖν 430. The question between ἀεί (L) and ἐγώ (A) turns on these points. With ἀεί , ἠλώμην= "continued to wander." He can scarcely mean that, after his expulsion, they might at any time have recalled him, since he regards the new oracle as having given them an opportunity which did not exist before (418) . But he may mean that their silence at the moment of his expulsion was the cause of the whole sequel. With ἐγώ , ἠλώμην mightmean, "proceeded to wander forth," referring to the moment of expulsion (cp. ἐξηλαυνόμην 356 ). But ( a ) the tense is somewhat awkward here, and ( b ) ἐγώ is weak unless taken as= " I —their father."

τοῖνδε , not ταῖνδε , is the form of the fem. du. as found in Attic inscrr. of c. 450—320 B.C. : cp. 769n. But as to the partic., the dual forms in ‐α, ‐αιν , and those in ‐ε, ‐οιν , seem to have been used concurrently (cp. 1676 n. ): I have not, therefore, changed οὔσαιν to ὄντοιν with Nauck.

τροφάς : cp. 330 , 341 .

γῆς ἄδειαν , a strange phrase (perh. corrupt), must mean, security in regard to the land (where I find myself at any given time), a secure resting-place. Cp. Thuc. 8.64 λαβοῦσαι αἱ πόλεις...ἄδειαν τῶν πρασσομένων , security in regard to their proceedings. His daughters, so far as they can, give him in exile all that his sons should have given him at Thebes,—(1) maintenance, (2) safety in his movements, (3) generally, the support due from kinsfolk.

Nauck's στέγης τ’ ἄδειανseems too suggestive of a fixed home to suit τὸν πλανήτην (3): Wecklein's κοίτης τ’ ἄδειανmakes a detail too prominent in this general acknowledgment. With regard to βλάβης τ’or κἄτης ἄδειαν(Blaydes), remark that ἄδεια never occurs with a gen. of that against which one is safe. The καὶ before γῆς seems genuine: were it absent, the καὶ before τροφὰς must answer to that before γένους . And, for a rhetorical passage, γῆς is in some degree confirmed by the assonance with γένους .

γένους = ἣν τὸ γένος παρέχει . Thuc. 7.34 διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀνέμου (subject.) ἄπωσιν τῶν ναυαγίων (object.)= ὅτι ὁ ἄνεμος ἀπωθεῖ τὰ ναυάγια ( Thompson, § 98).

The constr. is, εἱλέσθην θρόνους, καὶ κραίνειν σκῆπτρα , etc.

κραίνειν =(1) to bring a thing to pass, (2) to exercise power, to reign , sometimes with a gen. of the persons ruled ( 296 , 862 , etc.).

σκῆπτρα goes with κραίνειν as an almost adverbial cognate accus., "to rule with sceptre": as 140 σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσεται (pass.) implies a similar σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσω . Rhythm forbids to take σκῆπτρα with εἱλέσθην , making κραίνειν epexegetic ("so as to rule").

As most editors since Elmsley have allowed, the MS. οὔ τι ... οὔτε cannot be right. And οὔ τι ... οὐδέ is clearly more forcible than οὔτε ... οὔτε .

λάχωσι : this verb with gen. is less common than with accus., but is well attested not only in poetry but in prose, as Plat. 775E τιμῆς ἐὰν τῆς προσηκούσης...λαγχάνῃ (Krüger 1. 47. 14). It is surely needless, then, to adopt Brunck's τύχωσι .

τοῦδε , very rare for τοῦδ’ ἀνδρός as = ἐμοῦ : so τῆσδε = ἐμοῦ 305, τῷδε = ἐμοί ib. 1012.

συμμάχου predicate; cp. 1482 ἐναισίου δὲ σοῦ τύχοιμι , and 1486 .

The oracle newly brought by Ismene is distinguished from the oracle given to Oedipus himself at Delphi in former years (see on 87 ). He calls the former her oracle, because she brings it. Both oracles alike concern him. We must not, then, change τἀξ to τἀπ’ ( "concerning me" ).

τὰ ἐξ ἐμοῦ παλαίφατα =the earlier predictions which I, on my side, can produce: those which the resources of my knowledge furnish forth.

ἐξ is appropriate, since they have been so long treasured in his inmost soul. Cp. on 293 .

ἤνυσεν , by bringing him to the grove (cp. 87 ), in earnest that the requital predicted for the authors of his exile ( 93 ) will also come to pass. If ἤνυσεν were referred to the involuntary crimes of Oed., the connection of thought would be less close.

ὁμοῦ | προστάτισι (predicative), along with them as your protectors or champions against Theban violence. Oed. is already under the guard of the Eumenides as their ἱκέτης (284) : if the Coloniates are loyal to the Eumenides, Attica and he will alike be saved.

In the reading θέλητέ μου πρὸς ταῖσι ταῖς , note these points: (1) ἀλκήν μου ποιεῖσθαιwould not mean, "defend me," but rather "defend against me" (cp. on 1524 ): we must at least have μοι . (2) πρός yields no tolerable sense. ὑμεῖς, πρὸς ταῖς θεαῖς , "ye, in addition to the goddesses," ranks the Coloniates with, or above, their deities. The gloss σύν , written in L over πρός (whence it came into other MSS.), was a palliative. Nor could πρός mean here, "close to their shrine."

For Dindorf's ὁμοῦ προστάτισι it may be urged:—(1) ταῖσι ταῖς is in all MSS., which would be strange if ταῖσδε ταῖς were genuine; while πρὸς ταῖσι ταῖς is simply explained by προστά ( τ ) ισι ταῖς . (2) A change of προστάτισι into πρὸς ταῖσι might have produced the change of ‐θ’ ὁμοῦ into ‐τέ μου . (3) After ἐμοῦ in 455 it is easy to dispense with the pronoun.—Cp. 882 θεὸν οὐ λήξω ποτὲ προστάταν ἴσχων : 209 Ἀπόλλωνα προστάταν : Porphyry 12 νύμφαις ὑδάτων προστάτισιν .

δημούχοις , holding, reigning among, your people: cp. 160 γαιάοχον … | Ἄρτεμιν : Aristoph. 581 Παλλὰς πολιοῦχος : Aesch. 69 πολισσοῦχοι θεοί . But below, 1087 γᾶς...δαμούχοις = the Athenians, 1348 δημοῦχος χθονός = the king. The word is tinged here with the notion of "deme": cp. 78 .

ἀλκὴν ποεῖσθαι (for the spelling see 278 n. ), a simple periphrasis,= ἀλκαθεῖν : Thuc. 1.124 ποεῖσθαι τιμωρίαν = τιμωρεῖν (to succour), 2. 94 φυλακὴν... ἐποιοῦντο = ἐφύλασσον , etc. Distinguish ἀλκὴν τιθέναι τινός (1524) , to create a defence against a thing. A gen. after ἀλκή as = "succour" must denote ( a ) the defender, as in Διὸς ἀλκή , or ( b ) the danger;— not the interest defended.