Campbell City (part 12 of 13)

447. 'The proclamation made.' Cobet's conjecture (Nov. Lect. 1858. p. 215), while restoring the recognised Attic form, is unobjectionable in point of syntax. But the use of the article in pointing to his own decree is characteristic of Creon, and if is retained in the Iliad, 22. 280, why not in Tragedy ?

450 ff. 'I obeyed no decree of yesterday, but the eternal law. That cannot be annulled by any enactment of a mere man. It may be that I shall die for what I have done. But it needed not your proclamation to tell me that I must die. And to die before the term appointed me is to lose so much of sorrow.'

452. This line is rightly explained by the Scholiast and Donaldson, 'H (Schol.) 'She replies, that she did not consider his proclamations as emanating from Zeus, the supreme God, or from that justice which regulated the rights of the dead, who, she says, have established these laws, namely, the laws of sepulture, which do not need any enactment, but have their set up in the human heart.' (Donaldson.) The iteration of in contrasting the law which she obeyed with the edict of Creon, is dramatically appropriate, and there is no difficulty in the vague use of the demonstrative. See Essay on L. § 22. 34. Cp. Od. Io. 326,

454. ' Unwritten and sure" Cp. O. T. 865 ff, and note. is not 'only 'Never failing to apply,' but also 'Never failing to vindicate their authority. Cp. 1}. 456 ff.

455. Sc. understood from 'That a mortal man should run beyond the silent irrefragable ordinances of the Gods.' Cp. Eur. Ion 973, O.T. 476-482 terday.' The particle ye, 'ay,' serves to connect the sentences, and ve is unnecessary, aS appears from the similar expression, in Plat. Legg. 3. 677

458, 9. 'The penalty to be exacted in vindication of these" The Gods might be said although the word in the genitive after more frequently signifies the offence for which punishment is awarded. Cp. infr. 1074,

men stand upon. | Cass. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life | Cuts off so many years of fearing death. | Bru. Grant that, and then is death a benefit: | So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridged | His time of fearing death. sc. pe

462. i.e. although not necessary to the construction, as appears from Plat. Apol. 40 E, is better here than which weakens

467. *hvoxouynv| (1) may be defended by the analogy of the syncopated in Epic Greek. Otherwise (2) may be cancelled as a gloss, and read, according to the conj. of Prof. E. L. Lushington. Or (3) may be read in the sense of §55,4.p.101. But this is doubtful.

470. pope] i.e. One whose judgment is self-condemned, because opposed to the eternal laws. The word is not prompted by mere petulance, but is uttered with profound conviction.

473 ff. The self-will of Creon appears with increasing distinctness. (1) He asserts his confidence in the use of power to suppress insubordination. (2) He speaks of his ward, whom he does not care to name, as in the place of a slave (479): (3) he implies that to cede an inch of authority is to give the sovereignty to another (485). (4) He throws the tie of kindred to the

485. 'If this authority is to be allowed to rest with her unchallenged.' By an exaggeration of feeling like that in 1. 208, he thinks that to pardon disobedience is to yield authority to the offender. For Cp. El, 361, cot | : in Hdt. 1.97, és

486. is the more rational and stronger reading: although in weighing a hyperbolical expression of this kind, that is perhaps hardly a sufficient argument, and may be urged on the other side as accounting for the alteration of the MS.

is probably to be construed both with and ('I accuse equally of plotting equally'), and is partly gen. after partly after

493, 4. 'And it commonly happens that the spirit of those who are plotting some utter wickedness in secret is convicted of its occulted guilt before the act.'

493. To be arrested in some stealthy enterprise. The perfect tense marks that the detection is completed before the purpose is carried into effect. Cp. .. in O. T. 621.

495. ' Yet I hate it equally when one who is caught in actual mischief tries to make a virtue of the offence.' = 'In trouble,' i.e. In crime, and not merely, like Ismene, in the consciousness of crime. Cp. Fr. 843, aidas

496. Creon affects to regard Antigone's appeal to the higher law as a piece of hypocrisy. Cp. Fr. 845, tis |

*éyeAeioat| Cp. supr. 1. 180. Dindorf's correction (with for is retained in preference to The future optative is clearly wrong.

506, 7. These two lines: have been considered spurious. But their scornful tone may be compared with supr. 469, 70. 509. (cp. supr. 340) is 'To move within bounds,' or 'To

519. Cp. supr. 452. the reading of the corrector of L, rather injures the line by dividing the emphasis, which rests entirely on dpws. Essay on L. § 41. p. 76 (4).

521. 'Who can tell if this be not esteemed pious in the under-world?' this, which you count impious, the burial of Polynices. Schol., oidev Tis like 'Haud scio an' in Latin, suggests an affirmative as possible, as in the lines | ; See V. T7., 15 possibly right.

22, 3. Creon means that Eteocles must still hate Polynices after death. To which Antigone rejoins, in the line which expresses what is deepest in her, 'Tf it be so, his hatred is no rule for

524,5. 'Go, then, to your grave, and there, if you must love them, love the dead below!' sc. Tots with particular reference to Polynices.

526, foll. ' Here comes Ismene forth, shedding sisterly tears; from clouds above her brow, that moisten her fair cheek, doing disgrace unto her flushed countenance. Cp. Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, 1.1, ' Lys. Why is your cheek so pale? | How chance the roses there do fade so fast? | Herm. Belike, for want of rain, 'which I could well | Beteem them from the tempest of mine eyes. Ant. and Cleo. 3. 2. 52. Tl. 17. 591, Eur. Hipp. 173, Aesch. Prom. 144, 5, ..

527. is the Triclinian reading for has been conjectured, But the construction, with adverbial, is less simple and therefore less pathetic. is read in M5, a 3 ~ , Eopel : 53 ? ' ~ + Sf Kat 3 ~ 3 o, 540 "Atdns pe AN.

531. ' Having slid in secretly like a snake;' i.e. Like a serpent lurking. For the feeling associated with cp. O. T. 387,

526, HS Spoppo0et| The Scholiast has noticed the apparent absurdity of Ismene's adding this condition to her avowal; and Schneidewin alters the line to " But the inconsistency is touchingly sig- Cp. Aesch. Prom. 331, Kal 539. Supr. 69. 541. Essay on L. p. 94. 542. Antigone's offering to the dead was made in solitude, and without the presence of the sun. 545. Schol. Ismene means, 'Though I shrank from the deed,

B51. Schneidewin's explanation of this line, 'It is painful to me to be mocking you, my sister,' is out of harmony with the tone of Antigone, although it is true that in this line her bitterness is somewhat softened. Either xei must be read, or explained as=xei. 'I have grief enough, I assure you, though I laugh a bitter laugh at thee.' Cp. 728, véos='Though 1 am young:' Eur. Or. 484, TLunTéos. See Essay on L. § 28. p. 47.

556. 'But not withoutmy saying what Isaid,' was this choice made. Ismene would clear herself from the imputation of merely shrinking from the attempt through cowardice, or without laying before her sister the grounds of her own conduct, as she had done supr. 49 ff. She also wishes to remind Antigone of Il. 78, 99, which acquit her of indifference towards the dead. But Antigone only recalls the argument against opposing those in. power, Wolff

557. 'Your counsel seemed wise to these' (Creon, etc., " but mine to those' (Polynices and the powers below, The form of the sentence is accommodated to the latter part of it. If the first part were fully expressed it would be G. Wolff and Wecklein prefer the reading oot. But the opposition of Tots is more pointed.

558. (1) Ismene reiterates, still feebly, what she had asserted in 536, 7. Or (2) 'We are both in equal error,' - you against the state, and 1 against the dead. The first (1) is best. In either case, Antigone rejoins, You need not trouble yourself to make confessions, You are safe,

559, 60. .. 'My soul has long been with the dead, to do them service.' In these words Antigone may be supposed to say, either (1) From the moment when my resolution was taken, my life has been with the dead, devoted in sacrifice to their aid; cp. supr. 72 and note: or (2) I have long been dead to all the joys of life, and am therefore a fit sacrifice to the service of the dead. So Wecklein. Cp. Shak. Merch. of V. 4. 1, 1 am a tainted wether of the flock,' etc. But the former meaning (1) Is alone consistent

563, 4. 'The unfortunate never retain even the reason that was born with them, but lose it in distraction.' Ismene intends her excuse to cover Antigone.

_ §67. 'Say not "this maiden." She is no longer here.' The word remains in the nominative. This often happens when a word is quoted with the article; which, however, is elsewhere omitted in similar cases, as for instance when the word so quoted is the predicate of a sentence. Cp.

Plato, Theact. 164 B, ye where is equally out of construction with in this line.

570. 'Not as their hearts were plighted.'? Literally, 'Not in such a way as harmony had been prepared between him and her.' Cp. Pind. Pyth. 9. 13, TE

572. *AN.] The MSS. have IS. But Bockh has given strong reasons for following Aldus in assigning the line to Antigone. The last speech of Creon might well move herto break silence, which she does naturally by resenting the words not for herself, but for Haemon. There is also greater bitterness in this line than in any speech of Ismene. Then, granting that addressed to Ismene, might mean 'The marriage you prate of, the words express a much deeper feeling as addressed to Antigone. Outwardly a mere expression of impatience, they convey the only touch of natural feeling which Creon betrays. 574 and 576 are then most naturally given to the chorus. The act of Creon in sacrificing his son's happiness is more solemnly marked when his words are addressed to the coryphaeus. While adhering to this view I am bound to add that some of the best critics prefer the other arrangement of the persons.

578. 'Henceforth these must be really women, and not left at large;' i.e. They must be treated as women. Cp. 1. 484. This reading, although defaced in L, may well be defended against such would-be improvements as | (Dind. ), and ] (Seyffert), which are to be condemned, amongst other reasons, for destroying the singleness of the emphasis. Creon, as usual, covers his self-will under the appearance of f principle. Cp. Plat. Legg. 1. 637, yap gov Tis : Ar. Pol. 2. 6. The words indicate that Antigone's going beyond the gate, supr. 18, 19, was an exceptional freedom, consequent on the war. Thus Sophocles is contented with a hint, where Euripides thinks an explanation necessary: Phoen. 89-91.

582 ff. The fate of Antigone is sealed, and the chorus moralize over the power of fate and of Zeus, as shown in the continued calamities of the race of Labdacus, and the infatuation ('quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat ') of Antigone. The spectator is left free to apply the same reflections to the case of Creon.

'Calamity is like a storm that stirs the lowest depths and sounds afar. The race once touched is never free. Each generation as it rises is struck down.

'The house of Labdacus has sorrow upon sorrow. Amidst the ruined grove one root was springing, - only to be swept under by the cruel dues of Hades in a frenzy of infatuation.

'Who can restrain the power of Zeus? Unchecked by sleep or age he ever dwells in the light of Olympus. This was and shall be now and evermore, a truth that spareth not the lives of men, - whom hope deceives, giving comfort indeed, but also inspiring passionate folly, till disappointment comes, before the man hath seen that he is tread ing on fire. Wise was he who said that evil seemeth good to one whom God is drawing to perdition. Few are the days of his exemption from that dark lot.'

582. .. ' Whose life is free from taste of misery.' Blessed, because of the rarity of their lot, and because of the unsparing persistence of calamity when it comes to any. For cp. O. T. 969, éyxous.

583, 4. | Cp. L, 2, ff. 585. The real subject of this is (or drys) implied in the preceding words, the positive being educed from the negative. 'Calamity stints not, but goes on till it fulfils the number of the race.' three dactylo-epitritic or 'Doric' lines, which are followed by iambic and trochaic rhythms. The and strophe is logaoedic, with syncope of thesis in when the billow courses over the darkening deep before fell Thracian blasts from the Euxine sea.' Some interpreters make subj. and obj. of émdpaun, 'when the darkening wave courses over the main.' But elsewhere in Sophocles is not the expanse (aequor) but the swelling of the sea, and can hardly be anything else than the 'nether darkness of the deep' For the accumulation of adjectives, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 37. Seyffert reads ws

AaBdakiday 593 505

593, foll. 'From of old I see with pain' (op&poar, 'ethical' middle, Essay on L, § 31. p. 52) 'the calamities of the house of Labdacus accumulating on the calamities of those that are gone; nor does one generation free another, but some god casts them down; nor is there hope of redemption.'

595. The reading of this line has been much questioned, but the meaning is clear, although it is uncertain what word (whether or some other) has been supplanted by the unmetrical : which may be due to a reminiscence of Aesch. Cho, 403, 4, mapa |

596. yevos| There is no distinction of meaning (such as 'One generation, .. 'The whole race'). Cp.O.C. 27, 28, ..

The Scholiast notes the asyndeton 6): which is expressive and allows vw to be referred to to which it naturally belongs. And in the reading the order of words is questionable. For érérato cp. Phil, 831, 'The 'light' is the grace and nobleness of Antigone, and her bright hopes. The conj. for which, cp. Pind. Ol. 2. 45, is uncalled for.

601. kar' was rightly restored by Triclinius for (i.e. which had been introduced to avoid the asyndeton. (Schol. 'Edv Kar'

602, 3. Schol. The latter is right. As, is 'To cover oneself with dust,' so, by a poetical inversion, the dust may be said 'To cover,' or 'Sweep out of sight.' Essay on L. 42. p. 80, B.

603. The reasoning of Antigone in 450 ff. seems wild to the chorus, and her conduct shows her to them as possessed with a fatal frenzy.

The grotesque image of Death, or Hades, armed with a bloody chopper or cleaver, however agreeable to the manner of Euripides, or some other poets, has no parallel in the language of Sophocles. And the transition from this concrete imagery to the spirits of fury and madness is, to say the least, awkwardly abrupt. The words 7 "Epivus are most natural if they are added to expand an obscure allusion to the deed which had brought Antigone into danger. And the words .. 'The deadly dust sacred to the gods below,' convey such an allusion not more obscurely than do the words in Tr. 836 ff., k.T.A., express the condition of Heracles in the poisoned robe. 'Triclinius was therefore not absurd in saying

604 ff. This is suggested by the position of Antigone, whose offence brings swift retribution ; but is felt by the spectator to be more applicable to that of Creon.

606. ' Not slumber that brings age to all things.' Cp. Hom. 1]. 14. 242, where Sleep says, |

The conjecture of Bamberger, Onpas, is plausible. But for the closeness of the association between Age and Sleep, cp. T. 870, 1, ..

607, 8. The reading adopted involves the simplest change which avoids a breach of metrical rules. Others suppose, the loss of a syllable after reading domo for with in the fourth line of the antistrophe.

For added as a sort of epithet = ' Divine,' cp. supra 454, 369: O. T. 647: Aj. 711, Phil. 198: also Tr. 1191, Znvcs. The indefiniteness of this use obviates the objection of Schneidewin, that the months ofthe Gods are opposed to Zeus, who is generally the orderer of time, as in Hom. Il. 2. 134, There is possibly, however, in some allusion to the heavenly bodies, who, as Plato says, are the

608. Suvactas] 'With power whose duration is untouched by age.' For the personification of xpdévos, see E. on L. pp. 81, 82. The reading seems to be of some antiquity, and is embodied in one of the Scholia.

610. Cp. Hom. 1]. 1. 532, aiyAnevros The conception of Olympus is here more Homeric than elsewhere in Sophocles. See on O. T. 867, O. C, 1655.

8. : 613. The reading *éptrwv is to some extent confirmed by the Scholium on 6 and is the most probable of the emendations of this passage. It has been supposed that and also have crept in from below; but this stasimon is peculiarly full of verbal echoes. See Essay on L. § 44. p. 76. 'This principle' (the sovereignty of Zeus) ' will last the coming time, and the time to come, as well as the time past, never swerving, as it moves onwards, from calamity to the life of mortals in all their cities." Lit. 'Coming to the life of mortals (a law of every city) in no respect out of the way of calamity.' adverbial. dat. of reference (Essay on L. § 12. p. 18). mdprroAts, 'universal,' i.e. a law not of any one state, but embracing all. For cp. infra 1. 1318: .. (-- : O. C. 1575, Essay on L. 42. p. 79.

clear instance of an active use of moAvmdayktos, for in Hom. Il. 13. 308, iwhs, 'The fartravelled wind,' is a probable enough meaning. Cp. Shakespeare's ' Empty, vast, and wandering air.' So here 'Widely roving' is better than ' Muchdeceiving.' Cp. infr. 785, 6.

617. is not genitive of object, but of cause: not 'Disappointment of desire,' but ' Deception through desire." 'To many, hope is but the deceitfulness of winged desire."

618. 'And it comes to him all at unaware,' i.e. The event or calamity comes. For the vague subject, cp. supra 597, and note. This is better than 'Nothing befals him while he is aware.'

619. ' Till his foot be scorched in the hot blaze.' For the insertion of tts in the second clause, cp. Aj. 964, | Tis Tr. 2, 3, | ms. Seidler's conj. is less good than the reading of L.

has been read, and is possibly the rst hand of L; see v. rr. But may mean a time that is one of few, i.e. one that comes rarely or seldom. in Legg. 10. 896 B, is not 'small,' but 'many times removed,' and has the force of a superlative, as it has also in Phileb. 44 where it means 'minutest.'

628. had probably been written over peAAoydpov or as a gloss. The words vipgns are omitted in V'M*. This whole expression may have been a gloss on aa or on infr,

Avocatvey| 'Madly raging; as if opposition to a father could only be accounted for by madness. The word is and is for this reason preferable to the weaker

635-765. Haemon professes obedience to his father, but with the implied condition that his father commands what is right. Not heeding this, Creon welcomes his general profession, and enlarges on the blessings that follow from obedience in public and private. He urges Haemon to renounce Antigone. Haemon replies by repeating the praise of her which he has heard in the city (Ar. Rhet. 3.

and begs his father not to be deaf to all opinions but his own. Creon is impatient at this, and, after an altercation, in which both speakers become exasperated, Creon orders Antigone to be brought for immediate execution, and Haemon breaks away in sullen anger. This episode interposes a necessary pause between the condemnation of Antigone and its results, i.e. between the two chief crises of the action, and assists the main impression by bringing the light of natural affection and common opinion to bear on the situation.

635. por | Sc. éué. having good advice for me, direct me.' por is in construction with the nearer word.

637. 'No marriage can, if I think rightly, be a more valued prize to me.' has been changed to But 'To be deemed of more importance to obtain,' is an awkward and unauthorized expression: and, for the position and emphatic use of the adverb, which is the only difficulty, see Essay on L. § 24. pp. 37, 38, and cp, the adverbial use of in El. 1260 ff., ris .. .. .. ; 'Than you and your good guidance.' The condition is assumed to be inseparable from the subject, as in Plat. Rep. 1. 335 A, TOV

640. 'In all things to follow your father's judgment." The image is that of taking up a position behind a leader: i.e. Not to break rank, but to follow in good order. Cp. Plat. Protag. 315 B, (the disciples of Protagoras) TO

648. dh' The reading of Vat. is retained, not as clearly right, but as more probable than later corrections. 'ye may be supposed to give a strong emphasis to 'Do not lose your wits, whatever you do. And this is rather confirmed by the way in which Haemon echoes the word in 1, 683.

653. wrvoas | 'Rejecting with abhorrence. Here and in 1. 1232, seems to imply a gesture of dislike or loathing, directed towards a person or thing. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1192, |

659, 60. .. yevous] 'For if I fail to bring up orderly those born akin to me, most surely I shall fail with those remote.' Creon turns Antigone's nearness of kindred to him into a reason for severity. If he cannot control his kinswoman, how much less can he control the state! Authority begins at home.

663. 'The transgressor who either violates the laws.' The alternative is thought of after the sentence is begun. is in two constructions, (1) with (2) with

668-71, 'And of this man (the man who obeys the ruler) I would have no fear but that he would rule nobly, and be a good and willing subject, and if posted near me in the storm of battle, would stand firmly as a staunch and trusty comrade.' For the vague reference of the pronoun, see Essay on L. § 22. 34. And for Sopds .. ib.

the omission of (2) by reading for This Homericism is defended by comparing 1. 653. There is slight MS. authority for both these changes (see v.rr.). But strong reasons are required for the introduction of a particle not used elsewhere by Sophocles, and after the regularly balanced re. . the asyndeton in the next line would be too abrupt. If any change were necessary, the omission of would be preferable, but the lines are more expressive as they are.

674. Bothe conjectured 'The rout of the leagued war.' But the reading of the MS. has a more vivid meaning. 'This, aiding the conflict of the spear, breaks down (the vanquished) into shapeless rout:' i.e. 'Disorder helps with battle to make utter rout. For see Essay on L. p. 75, and for the accusative tpomds, ib. § 17. p. 25, etc.

675. 'Of those who are not routed, but are successful.' Opposed to of implied in Cp. El. 742,

»' 3 > 3 " an ? oS ~ N 3 N, 3 ~ > x ae 4 ' >» « " ? 3 "~ 2 6 TO

677. ..Koopoupevois| 'Thus one ought to support one's own decrees. 'Thus,' viz. as 1 am doing. For this use of the passive participle, see Essay on L. § 17. p. 25, Some would explain the words as masculine, 'One must defend the cause of the orderly subject. Cp. Thuc. 8. 24, éxupwrepov. But such an immediate application of the is less in character than the arbitrary assertion of authority. Cp. Hdt. 1. 100,

683 ff. .. ' Wisdom, whose value is above all possessions in the world, is the Gods' gift." Haemon begins by echoing his father's thought, supr. 648, that sound sense is to be prized most highly, but gently hints that Heaven only knows on which side the true wisdom lies. The reading requires as in

686. i.e. 'And may IT never bring myself to say it.' Cp. Trach. 543, 4, |

687. Schol. Kat Hence Erfurdt and others conjectured xarépa, Hermann, retaining xa7épw, interprets, 'Another also may have wisdom as well as you:' 1.6. sc. But the context rather suggests sc. 76 'That you are wrong in what you now say I have no power, and may I never have the skill, to affirm. But it may be that from anothers mouth such an assertion were not ungracious.' xai in this case belongs to the whole sentence. See Essay on L. § 25. p. 43, 4.

688. is decidedly better than which seems to have been suggested by cov in what follows. The true connection is, 'It is not for me to say that you are wrong, though another might do so. However, as your son, it naturally belongs to me to consider in your interest what men do, or say, or find fault with. For the common citizen does not speak his mind in your presence, but I may freely hear.' Haemon winds about his father with all this circumstance before pleading for

Antigone under shelter of the common opinion, which he professes to quote in the interest of Creon. The tact shown in this is noticed by Aristotle (Rhet. 3. 7) and by the Scholiast. The reading of A, V pr., V°, deserves consideration.

690, I. .. 'For your eye overawes the subject in conversation which will displease you to hear.' is dative of the occasion or reason, assisted by the attraction of ois. Essay on L. 14. p. 20.

692. 'But I may hear all this under shadow' (out of the light of your eye). The words might equally have been connected with the following line. 'I hear in secret what is spoken in secret.'

7oo. 'Dark,' i.e. ' Fraught with hidden danger" (Cp. supra). The word is used with something of the association of awe and dread attaching to night and darkness. Cp. Hom. Il. 1. 47, 6

703. 'The good renown of prosperous sire. Haemon thus gently hints his fear of the effect of the sentence on Creon's reputation in the city.

705, 6. 'Do not, I beseech you, wear one unchanging temper in your breast, and hold that nothing else is right but as you say. is added because of the imperfect correlation of the clauses. See Essay on L. p. 75, and, for ib. § 20. p. 31.

and branch. For the image, cp. Webster's Appius and Virginia, p. 203. (il. 3), 'The bending willow, yielding to each wind, | Shall keep his footing firm, when the proud oak, | Braving the storm, presuming on his root, | Shall have his body rent from head to foot.'

715. 'The sheet which has power over the vessel.' This is a more poetical and rhythmical expression than the other reading, vads Tis |

716, 17. .. 'Upsetting, makes the rest of his voyage with benches overturned.' Join otpeas. as in 1]. 310, foll., where there is a similar contradictory expression. 'The omission of the accusative after orpéas is natural in speaking of so familiar an occurrence as the over-setting of a boat. Essay on L. pp. 73, 98. which Hermann reads for is hardly a correct synonym for or oxados.

418. 'Nay, yield. Be not wholly irremovable in anger.' Lit. 'Afford also a removal from anger.' This seems to be the best arrangement of this difficult line; i.e. exes, The asyndeton is expressive (Kssay on L. § 34. 58). The reading of LA, is perhaps due to a false reminiscence of Il. 9. 598, Seyffert reads

720, 24. The real stress is on the last line. The paratactic form of sentence is retained, the sense being, ' However excellent a thing perfect knowledge is, yet, since it is rare, it is well to take good advice.' Sc. which is to be assumed from the next clause, where py has a strong emphasis. For the sentiment, Hermann compares Hesiod, Op.

728. The combination of the indefinite with the definite article is curious, and suggests the idea that is adverbial. But the Scholiast is probably right in explaining the words as equivalent to Cp. supra 360, Essay on L. § 22. p. 36. And for emphatic ib. § 28. p. 47, supr. 551.

729. 'You ought not to regard differences of time, but rather to face the actual requirements of the case. are not the merits of Haemon, but the truth of his plea.

730. 'What? Is it a "requirement" to fall down and worship rebels?' Creon, as usual, represents mercy as submission. seems to have the same meaning as in and

736. 'Is it right, I say, for another than me to rule this land?' The reading of L and most MSS, pol, (cp. Eur. Jon 1317) is supported by Thom. M. s.v. and is certainly the 'durior lectio.'? But he may have reasoned from a faulty text. See note on 1. 681. is expressive. For M* see list of MSS. in the Preface to this edition.

737. Cp. Aesch. Suppl. 370, ov ; Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1. 2, ' When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome, | That her wide walls encompassed but one man? | Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough, | When there is in it but one only man." The genitive .. is ambiguous between possessive genibelonging to one man,' and 'A city composed of one man.'

742. This line is sometimes printed with a note of interrogation, as if the words were epexegetic (" Villain, when you are wrangling with your father?) But the connection of the lines in this is not very close, and the more obvious meaning (' Villain, to wrangle with your father!) is more probable.

743-5. ov oé- Here, as in 730, there is the same tendency to play on the word that was observed in the speeches of the

751. 1.6. Essay on L. § 22. p. 34, 4. Interpreters have avoided taking these words in their obvious meaning as implying a threat, which Haemon all but carries into execution afterwards in ll. 1233, 4. It is true, however, that this intention is less distinctly present to his mind than the conviction that vengeance will come to

756. *' Woman's minion that you are, mince not your words with me.' The subdued tone of Haemon dv) only adds fuel to the wrath of Creon.

759. |' Reproach and revile me.' For the prepositional phrase, cp. El. 108, and see Essay on 18. p. 27.

". ? 3 Bld N IN N "" KATAKTELVAL VOELS | 770 > 7? NX " ' > \ Kai ode ;

765. 1.. C'V. Vat. 1. L. A Vat. 12, 767. Bapis| L. (3, KaTakTevat| L,

765. So that you may exhibit your madness to those of your friends who can brook it.' sc. col: There is a strong emphasis on this participle.

7647. 'And at his age the spirit, when chafed, is dangerous.' Cp. O. C. 751, | Eumepos..: and for see Essay on L. p. 93.

770. The order of words shows that the chief emphasis is on : Essay on L. 41. p. 77. Hence kat is to be taken with the whole sentence: ib. § 25. p. 43,4. 'Do you really intend to put

773. ' Where track of human footstep there is none. The privative is used for the negative by a redundancy like those adduced in Essay on L. § 40. p. 753; and (Phil. 2), so that the expression =' Where no track of mortals has been trodden,'

775. i.@. Essay on L. § 39. p. 74. For ='expiation,' see Hesych.,

'Never-vanquished love, that layest riches waste, keeping nightly watch in the fair, soft, youthful cheek: love that roamest over seas and findest out the wildest nook! No god, nor any mortal man, escapes thy maddening power.

'By love the upright mind is drawn to wrong unto its hurt. By love this present strife is kindled between kinsmen. And clearly triumphant is the influence of desire that cometh from the looks of the fair bride - desire that divides empire with the majestic law: so resistlessly doth goddess Aphrodite mock mankind.'

A glyconic quatrain is followed by two choriambic lines, and the strophe ends with a return to the glyconic rhythm. L. 7 admits of being otherwise

782. (i. 6. These words have been variously interpreted and emended. They probably mean, 'Who fallest upon wealth,' i.e. art the destroyer of possessions, ruining worldly fortunes in various ways, as the love of Helen wasted Troy, etc. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 538, foll., |. . | pas | So, in this instance, Haemon is losing all for love. Others interpret, 'Desire who makest wealth thy object' (Schol. rec.), ' Love, who by attacking enslavest,' or 'Who makest victims of the wealthy.'

783, 4. .. Cp. Milton, L'Allegro, 29, 30, 'Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, | And love to live in dimple sleek.' Love is still figured as an enemy, who keeps nightly watch where he is ready to spring forth armed on the unwary. Pind. Nem. 8. 2, .. ..

790. The insertion of the preposition, although omitted with is no objection to this reading. See Essay on L. § 19. 27: and for with the genitive, meaning 'In the case of,' 'So far as extends to,' cp. Plato, Rep. 3. 406 C, 6..

.. alib. The force of the preposition and case here is nearer to the original locative sense, = 'Extending over,' ' Quantum hominum genus propagatum extenditur' (Ellendt.)

791, 2. .. i.e. 'Drawest awry to wrong. For this ' proleptic' use of the adjective, see Essay on L. § 23. p. 39; § 38. p. 71.

794. is an emphatic epithet added by an afterthought (Essay on L. § 23. p. 38) and by hypallage made to agree with the principal word, although more properly belonging to (Ibid. § 42. p. 80).

The modern poet speaks of love as 'engendered in the eyes, with gazing fed:' the ancients rather spoke of an influence passing from the eye of the beloved épwri- Plat. Phaedr. 253 E) to the soul of the lover. Desire was viewed as an emanation from the object. Hence Plato's account of Phaedr. 251 B, C, This ancient conception, which had a root in language as well as in philosophy, is reflected even in Milton, L'Allegro, 1. 121, ' With store of ladies, whose bright eyes | Rain influence,' though in this case probably with a further allusion to astrology.

796-9. .. 'In the counsels of princes holding an equal place with the majesty of law.' This seems the best way of taking these words, which have been variously interpreted ; e.g. 'Equal to the laws in power.' 'Assessor in the authority of the laws,' etc. There is an allusion to Haemon, who, though a prince, has been led to disobey his father, and to disregard the edict of the king. Cp. Hdt. 4. 165, 'The resolution of the arsis in is extremely unusual; see Christ's Metrik, § 178; and Arndt suggested ' Assessor with the rule of majesticlaw.' But qy. *dpyais, with in 786 ff.

800. Wecklein finds here an oxymoron, turning on the opposition of and 'She is resistless, though sport is her only weapon.' But this is doubtful.

804. . 'The MN chamber where all must lie" The im- me plied contrast between the fate of Anti- ae i gone and her intended bridal recurs re- - -- peatedly throughout the latter part of eG SO pie yee es the play. Supr. 575, Anapaests of cho. 817-22, 834-7. infr. 891, . : 1205, Second strophe and antistrophe. 806-82. Antigone bewails her un- Be GS os Oe eon ene een timely death, and the chorus attempt , to console her by pointing to the singu- Se yet ee larity of her end. She quotes the ex- PR Se ample of Niobe, who was encrusted ee ae [5

. - . 7 7 7 f the maiden bursts into a cry against ee ee such vain comfort, and appeals to the ee Se ee ae ee ee forms of nature around Thebes to bear 7 ,re witness to the strangeness of her fate. q ae - / The tone of the chorus changes to ad- AE SI eee Sa monition. 'Thou hast offended against -- the majesty of law. Some curse, in- a herited from thy sire, must have led thee on." At last they have touched SS ov

7 . in marriage had been death to him and pote Tambic. to her. The chorus reiterate that piety { towards her brother should have yielded. og eg St eps to authority. 'Selfwill has been thy ruin.' Antigone: 'Friendless, unmourn- ed, uncomforted, I leave the holy light cy of day. 1 die unmarried, and no one weeps for me.' -- The metres in this commos, ll. 806-- - 33, chiefly logaoedic, and for the most The effect produced by the epitrite IND I iy egies ghee rhythm in a' 9, 8, 5, and of the EG spondees in 6, is especially noticeable. : ; me / 808. véarov is an adjective. See on KE. Dind. corr. 820. L. Vat. 822. LA. Vat. (in text) 1.3, araykoiras is here active =' seals up all in rest." Essay on L. pp. 98, 101. The metre suggests cp. infr. 828, the corresponding line of the antistrophe.

815. which Dindorf has restored for émyvypidios, is more probable than although this appears to be supported by the note of the Scholiast, otras.

plains this, This is not free from ambiguity ; but the true meaning is rather ' By an ordinance peculiar to your case' than 'In your independence of law,' or 'As being a law to yourself." The chorus nowhere speak with admiration of the independent attitude of Antigone, although they secretly sympathize with her pious motive. The word is used with consciousness of the derivation. The which is peculiar to Antigone is the privilege of a living death.

824, 5. 'Our friend far off in Phrygia, Tantalus' daughter.' Sipylus was placed by some in Phrygia, by others in Lydia. (Strabo, 12. p. 571.) Donaldson well remarks that is applied to Niobe, ' because she married Amphion, king of Thebes.'

828. rakopevav] The conjectural emendation has been very generally received. But the Highlands of Phrygia are not subject to perpetual showers. It is more natural to think of a snow-capped peak ever running down with moisture from the melting snow. On the general sense thus given to see Essay on L. § 52. p. 98. ' And as she flows down with moisture, the snow leaves her not, but still she wets the ridges of her neck beneath her tearful brow. The position of need cause no difficulty. Essay on L. pp.65, 6. It has been observed that the words and Sepas are equally applicable to a mountain and to a human being. The subj. of réyyee is not but NidBa.

837. The words have little point, and being omitted by Aldus (as in A), have never been restored except by Seyffert, who reads in 1, 826. Those who omit 837, invert the preceding lines for the sake of the paroemiac, and read | For 'to have said of one,' cp. Phil. 1074, ws

842. She first turns from the elders to the city at large; and then, remembering how little sympathy she has had from man, she appeals, like Philoctetes

851. Hermann (ed. 1839) was contented to read but remarked that the long anacrusis of the second part of the line, = is very rare. Qu Gporots, Tis vexpotow? But the original line is probably lost.

854. is here the pedestal on which the image of Justice is imagined to rest. Cp. Plat. Phaedr. 254 B, O. T. 865,

855. is allowed to pass by Hermann without comment, but has been more recently called in question, partly on the metrical ground that the line should end with a long syllable. is certainly no improvement. On the attempt to give special force to such a general word, see Essay on L. § 81. 97.

856. *' But thou art paying some debt of expiation inherited from thy sire.' is here a task or burden imposed by some higher power, like the labours of Heracles, and is perhaps associated by Sophocles with the derivative The combined metaphorical use of and is not too great a

857. 'Thou hast touched my saddest thought, the thrice-told tale of my father's sorrow.' Boeckh has cleared up the difficulties of this passage (1) by showing that harmonizes better with the context than or and also gives a construction to : (2) by tracing the derivation of from moAi(w=moAéw, which occurs in the compound : (3) by rightly explaining the dative See E. on L. § 13. p. 19. He also points out that is genitive, because the singular is more forcible, and would have suited the metre equally well. The only remaining doubt is the construction of may govern the accusative, as appears from 961. But the change from the genitive to the accusative is still to be accounted for. (1) The word ebavoas was chosen with special reference to pepipvas. édrefas, or some other general word, would have been sufficient if this had not imtervened. Hence the general meaning of the verb (= is alone continued. (2) The case is partly governed by the verbal notion in (3) The tendency of a Greek sentence is to pass from a more special to a more general construction. Essay on L. pp. 64, 5, is to be resumed with which is co-ordinate with 'Thou hast harped on what my mind broods over with saddest care, the thrice renewed pity for my father, and for the general fortune of our race, the lot that fell upon the famed Labdacidae.' Seyffert thinks that in Antigone is thinking of her own ever-deepening grief, But the Scholiast and Boeckh are probably right in explaining the word (like with reference to the widely felt compassion: for Oedipus. Cp. O. 817, Anyov: ib. 597, For cp. Phil. 1238,

861. is said with bitterness, as in O. T. 1207, The dative is used in explanation of Ist as clearer than the genitive with so many genitives preceding ; and with an 'ethical' force; 'the lot that fell on us.'

863. 'O my mother, to whom marriage was calamity, O my _ hapless father, who in wedlock with a mother, held guilty intercourse with her from whom he came.' " My mother's calamity in marriage." is descriptive or distinctive genitive (Essay on L. § g. p. 12), and the _possessive parp@a is joined to ara: taken as one word. In observing Antigone's tenderness for her mother we are reminded that the plot of the Oedipus Tyrannus was not yet conceived.

865. 15 objective genitive, after = and also descriptive, like O. C. 945. F or the condensed expression Hs see E.on L. § 43. p. 81, and for the force of in composition, ibid. p. 107. The dative (E. on L. § 13. 19, see on 1. 861) is occasioned by the adjective; i.e. avroyévynr' The nature of constructions in such condensed expressions can only be explained by expanding each phrase into a sentence. The meaning of the passive verbal termination in is extremely indefinite. The other way of taking the words ('Connubium dicit Jocastae cum Oedipo quem ipsa pepererat,' Dind.), although giving a more obvious construction to the dative, has the fatal blemish of making a twofold apostrophe to Jocasta, whereas otwv implies a reference to both parents, which is much more forcible.

868. may possibly have the association of 'an alien,' because she could not expect to meet with proper burial. But for the generalised meaning of cp. supr. 852: O. C. 934: infr. 890, perouxias.

872-5. ' There is some piety in pious action ; but, as towards him who wieldeth it, authority must in no wise be transgressed. A_ self-determined impulse hath undone thee.' Cp. Phil. 138, | [ where there is a similar ellipse of the antecedent. The meaning is, 'He who has authority must not suffer authority to be thwarted, This may be made clearer by supplying as dative of the person interested, for the antecedent to 'He must not have it (i.e. suffer it to be) transgressed.'

884. 'If it were allowed.' Cp. O. T. 1110, mw, | : O. C, 1711, This modified use of = 'One is to,' not 'One must,' is only possible in hypothetical or interrogative sentences.

887. This is on the whole more probable than The change from the future with to the imperative has probably occasioned the corruption of the text.

This the Scholiast explained by i.e. he read And this is necessary, if is read in 888. But the reading of Triclinius, is supported by in AV', 'Whether she must die there, or shall live a buried life in that dark cell.' For ei .. cp. El. 399, And for see E. on L. p. 64 6. The intransitive use of ruuBevew occurs nowhere else.

889. Creon claims to be pure from the blood of Antigone, because he has altered the doom of stoning (1. 36) to that of immurement, and because of the modicum of food that is to be shut in with her, ws (1. 775).

899. This must be addressed to Polynices, who is most in the thoughts of the spectators, and is again invoked in the same words in 1,915: not to Eteocles, of whose burial Antigone only knew by hearsay, supr. 23 ff. The difficulty of reconciling this with the following lines has been adduced as one of several reasons for rejecting the passage from 1. goo to 1. 928 in whole or in part. The lines 905-12 are apt to appear to modern readers, as they did to Goethe, a blemish in a place which might have been expected to be most carefully finished. The saying, which Herodotus, 3. 119, attributes almost in the same terms to the wife of Intaphernes, would seem from this to have had a wide currency in Ionia - for it is a precarious supposition that either author derived it from the other - and fell in with the natural tendency of Greek life to exalt the bond of brotherhood above all other ties of affection and kindred. The general feeling of the speech is well traced by Seyffert. Antigone, when brought face to face with death, in utter isolation from human sympathy, comes down from the lofty tone she had assumed in her first answer to Creon, and recognizes the simple fact that it was the strength of her affection which impelled her to defy the law. Her love for Poly- nices was wonderful, passing the love that could be felt for a husband or a child. She dilates on this and justifies it by a primitive sophism, which the passage of Herodotus cited above shows to be more in the spirit of the time of Sophocles or of the age preceding him than of any later period. If the Antigone is the earliest of the seven plays (see Introduction), we need not be surprised by an archaism of thought which is much less remarkable than several which occur in Aeschylus. In an early English ballad, called the Douglas Tragedy, a woman interceding for the life of her father, whom her lover would slay, gives the following reason :- - 'True lovers I can get many a one, | But a father never get more.' goo, 1. In these lines she is thinking of her father and mother. The libation only had been given to Polynices, who is specially mentioned in the following line. 11. goo, 1 could not have been written after O. C. 1756 ff.

go4. 'And certainly those who consider rightly will say 1 did honour thee.' For the dative, see E. on L. 13. p. 19. Others take with but for the stress, - 'it was a real honour,' - cp. the emphatic use of O. C. 393, and of ib. 882.

905. Feeling the incongruity of saying, 'If I had lost a child,' she says, ' If I had had children,' leaving the further supposition to be implied.

907. Cp. supr. 74, 5. Creon is the representative of the State, and the elders in supr. 872 ff. have confirmed his sentence. Antigone is throughout perfectly conscious of the nature of her action, and at this moment she sees more clearly than ever the audacity of it. But even after the impulse has subsided she goes resolutely, though sadly, to her fate.

912. .. Although not strictly logical, this is much more touching and expressive than which it has been proposed to substitute here.

918. 'The rearing of children.' This is censured by Dindorf as unmaidenly: but cp. El. 963-6, Srrws | | [ Eur. Ion 485 ff., Tov | 7' elev pov | For the active sense of in the passage last quoted and in the text, see Essay on L. § 53. p. 98, and cp. EI. 1143 ff., | Oap [

20. which occurs only in L and M', is very unlikely to have been changed to in the Byzantine period. The latter is therefore probably the authentic reading, and not merely due to conjecture.

; 9 2 \ "7 : "9 Piss 5) ? ; XN 4 3 7 > 2 ~ fs Tad 928 : a 2 ) ANCES lA \ 4 \ ? ' ~ 7 3 7 XO.

O21, 2. wolav..; The suddenness of these transitions is very expressive of the agitation of Antigone's mind. Her fate leads her even to doubt the providence of the gods, but not to admit that she has done wrong. She will make the admission when death has taught it her, but not before. If her judges are wrong they will suffer too.

ye The momentary doubt about the vindication of right in the world heightens the tragic effect. Cp. Phil. 428, ; ib. 451, 2, | Get" Trach.1266: Aj. 950 ff.

924. The vice of impiety is confused with the blame of impiety, just as sometimes means a reputation for virtue. Cp. Phil. 1443, yap Bporots. Essay on L. p. 95.

925. 'If, after all, this course of theirs is approved in heaven, when I have suffered I suppose I shall acknowledge my fault. The emphatic position of implies, 'After 1 have suffered,

927. | This has actually been interpreted as prayer of Antigone for her enemies. Others explain it as a warning to them 'Let them see to it that they do not suffer more. The real meaning is, that she cannot imprecate heavier sufferings on them than they are inflicting on her. 'Let them suffer, I will not say more, but the same evils which they unrighteously inflict on me.' For a curse, similarly half-checked in utterance, with ph, cp. Phil. 961, | peToioes: To translate this 'Mayest thou not perish yet,' would be a similar mistake to that which has caused the difficulty about the present passage. It is true, however, that Antigone's tone is rather that of one who judges, than of one who condescends to ban her enemies.

929, 30. For the addition of see Essay on L. § 40. p. 75, 2, and for which is added to soften the metaphor (since the chorus are less bold in an anapaestic than in a purely lyric passage, supr. 137), see Ib. 5.

931. which is genitive of the cause, is not likely to have been interpolated. It is more probable that the second ro: arose from

933, 4. .. 'This word is nearest death of all that have come. Cp. Thuc. 3. 59, Tots The adverb of place is aaa predicate ; see Essay on L..§ 24. p. 4

935, 6. follows the ile 'laid down in Essay on L. § 29. p. 49, 3 a. Bockh and Dindorf, taking a cee from the Scholia, give these lines to the chorus, on the ground that Creon has already withdrawn all hope. But the word katrakupoto@at is characteristic of Creon, who may be thought not unlikely, even superfluously, to have made this final assertion of his will.

938. mpoyevets}] ' My divine ancestry, including Cadmus and Harmonia, and their parents. Cp. supr. 100. éyyeveis, and note: Hdt. 2. 143, eis

940. royal line of Thebe!' This has usually been explained as an address to the chorus. But Antigone expects no more sympathy from them (least of all if ll. 935, 6 are rightly given to the chorus). It is rather an apostrophe to the members of the princely family living and dead, including the Cp. Aesch. Cho. 800-2, 7' |

941. is Seyffert's ingenious emendation, based on Hesychius' Baoiacidns' Ismene is throughout only thought of as a foil for Antigone, and there is no more impropriety in Antigone speaking of herself as the last of her race than in the chorus (supr. 599 ff.) singing of the extinction of the light that was spreading over the last remaining shoot of the Labdacidae.

942. As a princess, she speaks with seorn of Creon, who is not of royal birth. The words may also contain an allusion to the of his (or the chorus' ?) last speech.

944-987. The chorus, in the manner of Pindar, moralise on the fate of Antigone through examples drawn from the circle of mythology and legend; and thus suggest the same cold comfort as in their mention of Niobe. The effect of this ode is to repress the excitement and solemnize the thoughts of the spectator.

'And on the Thracian promontory Phineus' sons, blinded by their father's wife (Idothea), bewailed their rejected mother Cleopatra's hapless lot, who, descended from an ancient line, and endowed with swiftness by her divine sire, was notwithstanding overtaken by the long-lived fates.'

Danaé and Cleopatra were, like Antigone, of royal birth, and, like Antigone, were bound in a living tomb. So also was the son of Dryas, himself a king: and this, in his case, was the penalty of an impetuous and defiant spirit.

Sophocles seems to have followed one version of the obscure and variable legend of Phineus, according to which Cleopatra did not die, but was rejected by Phineus for Idothea, and imprisoned in a cave, from which she was afterwards released by Heracles. The sons were blinded by their step-mother.

The first strophe and antistrophe are choriambic with an iambic close; the second, logaoedic. The choriambi here were probably chanted slowly, so as to have a weighty, solemn effect. The scheme is as follows : - 'In a brassbound room.' The compound of merely suggests the general notion of confinement (Essay on L. § 55. 3, ror), and has nothing to do with the riveting of brazen plates to the walls.

955-7. The punishment of Lycurgus was the subject of an Aeschylean trilogy. It was variously related. Sophocles chooses the version of the story that suits his purpose. For the earliest description of the crime, see Il. 6. 130-140.

960. Two lines, dv Onpov-| voo E. KEpTolearned at length that it was in madness that he provoked the God with biting speech.' The emphatic applies the to the case of Lycurgus. There is a stress on

For the metaphorical use, cp. Aesch. Ag. 178, | Others render, 'trickles away,' i.e. comes to nought. But is more naturally joined with the adjectives, whose position shows that they are emphatic, than with the verb.

960. 'Blooming,' and so reaching its height: cp. Tr. 1089, 'A fury so over-powering,' 1.6. Leading inevitably to such calamitous issues.

Dative of manner, expressing the predicate, quasi pavias. Essay on L. § 14. pp. 20, 21. The v. r. pavias (acc. plur.) is not so good.

g61. In the rather unusual sense of 'Tempting,' ' Provoking' ( = épe- cp. and hence used, TO with the accusative.

966-8. 'And hard by Cyanean rocks that divide the seas, are the cliffs of the Bosphorus and the Thracian promontory of Salmydessus, where,' etc. The genitive gives indefiniteness to the notion of place, and implies neighbouring extent.

966. see v. rr., although metrically allowable (weAadyéaiv), is condemned by the vagueness of the meaning and the tautology in .. ddds. The ingenious conjecture of Wieseler is therefore adopted. It is confirmed by the gloss The ist syllable of "Apns is long in arsi supr. 139.

Joy 9

970. This can only mean 'The War-god whose temple is near the city' (of Salmydessus). Cp. Aesch. S.c.T. 501. The details of the legend as accepted by Sophocles are unknown to us, and hence we can hardly judge of the appropriateness of the epithet. The Thracian worship of Ares is well known.

'The blinding wound inflicted." The 'cognate verb' is substituted for or the like. Essay on L. § 17. p. 25, ¢.

974. GAadv 'Sightless (i.e. producing blindness) on the vengeful orbits of their eyes.' For the causative use of see Essay on L. 53. p. 98.

" Bringing vengeance,' i.e. Pleading successfully though silently for retribution. The dative is partly dative of place and partly of direct

075. | LAEL?*, Vat. 976. Vat. 977-81. Division of lines, kdatov o77. E,

976. A woman's weapon. The shuttle was sharpened at the point, so as to be inserted between the threads, in order to regulate the density of the web. This process was called and the art is named by Plato Plat. Polit. 282 B, C: Sophist. 226 B: Crat. 388 A.

980. | éxovres devtov This punctuation is preferred to simply because the fate of Cleopatra, and not that of the Phineidae, is the chief point of the illustration.

yovav] ' Having a birth not honoured by wedlock: because their mother's marriage was repudiated, and their legitimacy was therefore not acknowledged. Note the repetition of yovay in a different sense after in 950.

g81. 'And she in lineage reached even unto the ancient race of the Erechtheidae." Because her mother Orithyia, whom Boreas rapt from the Ilissus (Plat. Phaedr. 229 B), was a daughter of Erech-

983. The exact meaning of the compound epithet is doubtful. Either (1) 'F ar-piercing,' i.e. Extending far into the mountainside: or (2) 'Distant,' the second part of the epithet being redundant, or merely repeating the notion of a hollow passage implied in 1.6.

985. Cp. O. T. 466, and note. And for Hom. IL. Ig. 415. 'Keeping pace with the steed over the steep path of the hill." On the compounds of see Essay on L. § 55. p. 101. is literally 'Raising the foot upright.' The second part of the compound is subordinated, but in this connection must have reference to the foot of the climber, and not to the foot of the hill. The words are in construction with the verbal notion in sc.

986, 7. .. 'But even on her the long-lived fates laid hold." Cp. Hom. 1]. 21. 110, Kpa- Tain. is 'To extend to, and the tmesis gives the preposition a fresh construction with the dative. The Fates are ever-living, and therefore can afford to ' bide their time.'

988, 011. The coming Teiresias is the beginning of the 'The change in the spirit' of Creon's 'dream.' The external marks of the prophet are noticed more prominently than in the Oedipus Tyrannus. Cp. especially 998 - go, with O. T. 371, K.T.A., and 444, mat, 992-95, with O. T. 436, of Eudpoves. The figure of the blind prophet is more ideal in the Oedipus Tyrannus, and the peculiarity of his position is brought out, in a higher mode of art, with one or two light touches. On the other hand, his sudden and unlooked-for coming suits exactly with the purpose of this drama and the person of Creon.

992. The authority of 'the seer' is here simply asserted and acknowledged. Cp. 1053. In the Oedipus Tyrannus he appears with still higher claims, as a prince, whose honours are guarded by his lord Apollo.

Cp. Tr. 600, 601. The conjecture évav- KAnpes iS no improvement. The present means, ' You have hitherto guided safely,' and this is not inconsistent with what follows. Cp. Aesch. Agam. 1, 'I have been asking.' g95. 'I have experienced benefits, and can bear witness of them.' E. on L. § 36. p.66. There is perhaps an allusion here to the sacrifice of Megareus, which was prompted by the prophecy of Teiresias. But cp. 1058 and note.

996. «.7.A.] (2) 'Beware once more, as thou standest now upon an edge of peril.' The participle is not to be construed with the verb, but is in apposition to the subject. For absolute, cp. T. 617, ot : ib. 649, 7', Otherwise (2) 'Know that now again thou standest, ete. Cp. Trach. 289, vv ws Phil. 810, The expression is proverbial: ep. I. 10.173: Eur. H. F. 630.

997. 'How 1 shudder at thy speech.' ws as in 1. 82, has the association of privileged, prophetic utterance, as in O. T. 426,

1005. By analogy for "1 made trial of the divination by burnt sacrifice,' similar to that used in the temple of Ismenus: O. 21.

1006. 'At the blazing altar.' in composition is simply intensive, as in El. 1139: and the epithet is generally descriptive. See E. on L. 55. ror.

fice the Fire-god refused to gleam; and on the ash a dank humour dripped from the thigh-bones, and fumed and sputtered, and the gall was sprinkled abroad in air, and the thighs wasted and lay bared of their enclosing fat.

100g. is supplementary predicate. The preposition in is emphatic. Cp. Od. 23. 179, Aéxos: Thuc. 4, 129. § 3,

is explained to mean 'Flowing down with moisture,' but means rather 'Fallen away.' Cp. Paus. 10. 2, 6 (L. and 5. 5. v. I. 4), GapKas.

rors. The apparently active use of comes from in the sense of placing as a covering, i.e. pnpots. For the meaning, cp. Aesch. Pr. 496, foll., TE | és | | Twoa,

1013. 'Such failing tokens given by baffling auspices. Lit. 'Of victims giving no sign.' Cp. Ps. 74. 9, 'We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet.' are not 'Prophecies of decay, but 'Rites of divination fading away,' i.e. losing their virtue. Cp. O. T. 902, .. |

1016. 'And all the number of our sacred hearths.' is little more than but expresses that the word added to comprises every consecrated spot in the whole city. Cp. El. 982,

1017. 'Infected.' Cp. 1052. = Cp. infr. 1052: Phil. 1087, 8, For the general notion, cp. Webster, Appius and Virg. p. 165, ed. Dyce, 'Come, you birds of death | And fill your greedy cups with human flesh ; |

Then to the city fly, disgorge it there | Before the senate, and from thence arise | A plague to choke all Rome.' Join .. not as some edd. .. Bopas. 'By the act of dogs and birds in feeding, etc.' So Ellendt. Cp. infr. 1083.

dmoppopdet| 'Utters noisily." The word is not strictly applicable to the screaming of birds. But there is the same indefiniteness about words expressing sound as about the names of colours. This word, expressing a confused noise, is probably suggested by 1. 1004.

1030. 'To slay a second time.' For the meaning of cp. For the idea, cp. Il. 24. 54: Plat. Rep. 5. 469 D, E.

1031. (1) 'After careful consideration I speak to you with good heed.' 'Carefully,' as in O. T. 308, supr. 410, alib. Or (2) ' Meaning well to thee.'

1034, 5. eit] 'And you practise on me with divination too.' By a not infrequent inexactness in the use of the Greek passive voice, from mpar- Tivos, 'To intrigue against a person,' would come 'To be intrigued against,' and hence 'Unattempted,' 'Unpractised on,' Ks is gen. of respect after the privative adjective.

1035. whose fraternity, sc. This is Brunck's emendation, which gives better sense than any other that has been proposed. Creon's heated imagination suggests to him that the whole tribe of prophets and diviners (cp. 1055) have greedily marked him for their prey.

1036. 'I am bartered away long since and turned to gain.' Literally, 'Sold and shipped off" Although ova: has the authority of the 1st hand of L, is more forcible.

1037. Professor Geddes, in his 'Problem of the Homeric Poems,' p. 168, note 15, prefers #AexTpos as the form of nominative, 'on analogy of other metals, such as etc., which are masculine.' But the general opinion is in favour of neuter, and although mpos Sapdewy is not unmetrical, Sapdewv is preferable here in point of rhythm. Granting that is masculine in late Greek, it is unlikely that Herodotus, 3, 115, would write and Sophocles here

1042, 3. .. The future indicative after ov py, as in O. C. 177, tis : El. 1052, Cp. Phil. 612, | Inall these places there may be a slight confusion of two constructions. See Essay on L. 36. p. 62, and for the slight redundancy of expression, which marks Creon's eagerness, ib. § 40. p. 75.

Legg. B. 10) anticipates the Epicurean notion of the Divine Nature, which 'Nec bene promeritis capitur, neque tangitur ira.' Cp. with this and with O. T. 964, foll., Hector's defiance of augury in 1]. 12. 237, foll.

TE, KP TE. . 1060 KP. "mi TE. KP, TE? GAN 1065 1057. from L. 1061. om. L. add. Cl. 1062, from by C*. 1063. L. 1064. ing of the preposition is not to be pressed, It is merely an extension of the familiar metaphor of ' Kind' for 'Class.' Cobet conj. ye But not to advert to the broken tribrach in the first place, so unlike the earlier manner of Sophocles, the expression is less forcible. It is like the difference between saying 'the class of tyrants' and 'the breed of tyrants' in English. Cp. Eur. Hec. 254, 5, |.¢n- On the of the tyrant, see O. T. 873,

1057. The accusative tayovs is in a double construction with and The construction of the participle is also twofold: 1. 6. évTas

1058. 'For you possess this city through saving it by my counsel.' depends partly on and partly on The line has been supposed to refer to the self-immolation of the son of Creon by the advice of Teiresias. Eur. Phoen. 918, foll. Cp. supr. 933-5, infr.1303. But it isnot clear that Sophocles has any distinct incident in view. These things are Ar. Poet. 1460 a.

1062. (1) These words are generally interpreted as interrogative. 'Do I really seem in what I have already said to do so in regard to you?' i.e. You at least are not likely to reward me for my prophecy. And this is on the whole the most pointed way of taking the words. Wecklein understands them to mean, (2) 'Methinks, so far as you are concemed, I do speak so;' 1. 6. My speech will not bring you gain. In the former case (1) is o. SoxAoews: in the latter (2) it is 7. o.

1063. 'I tell thee thou shalt not make traffic of my purposes;' i.e. They shall not be changed so as to bring gain to you, whether it be from me or from others that you look for gain.

1065. 'Not many swift courses of the sun ;' i.e. The days will be short, and few. On the condensation of time in this play, see Introduction. Cp. Milton, Sonnet 7, 'My hasting days fly on with full career:' Shakespeare, Sonnet 60, 'Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, | So do our minutes hasten to their end; | Each changing place with that which goes before, | In sequent toil all forwards do contend.' would mean, 'Not many turns of the sun's chariot wheel.'

1066. The regular construction after the negative would be : but the sentence takes an affirmative turn, and is continued as if the beginning were .« E.on L. § 36. p.64. Cp.0.C. 617 ff. | xpdvos | ais, «.7.A.

1o71. ' Without funeral rites, and unsanctified.' Cp. Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1. 5, ' Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled.'

1073. (1) Sc. of to whom it was an offence to have a dead body intruded into their realm: or, (2) the gods generally, including in 1070, as well as in 1072. In support of the former interpretation (1), Mr. Evelyn Abbott has adduced Lys. 2. 7, TloAvveixous ove Tovs véxpous,

1078. Sc. i.e. the truth of ll. 1074-6. 'The cry of men and women in thy halls shall declare it ere long.' For in this sense, cp. O. C. 721, For the ellipse, ov sc. cp. supr. 1. 577. This is more probable than the other explanation, which is certainly possible, 'A little while will bring forth lamentations,' etc. Some MSS. have i.e.

1080, ' And all cities are (even now) being stirred up in leagued enmity (to Thebes), whose mangled citizens have found burial in being devoured by dogs, or by wild beasts, or by some winged bird, that bears an unholy savour into a city and its sacred hearths.' This is probably intended by Sophocles as a prophecy of the war with the Epigoni, of which the seeds are said to be laid by the abomination of some bird carrying an inauspicious odour home. It is assumed, although not mentioned elsewhere in the play, that the bodies of the allies of Polynices had shared his fate, as there had been no truce for burying the dead. This is part of the legend as appears from the Supplices of Euripides. For the expression, cp. Aesch. S. c. TF. 1020, | : Soph. El. 1487, vow mpodes | eixds : Gorg. ap. Long. 3. 2, Shaksp. Macbeth, 3. 4, 'Our monuments | Shall be the maws of kites.' The conceit is common with the Elizabethan dramatists, Seyffert's conjecture, 'Whose business has been marred with pollution by dogs,' etc., is rather pointless, and gives a very doubtful meaning to =' To affect with pollution.' It is uncertain whether or is the right word. The latter is somewhat more probable as the Ionic form. Cp.

1083. és 1. 6. Not into the wastes, where such pollution can do no harm, but to a city, where it tends to injure the sacred fire on the public and private hearths, which are

Boeckh objects to the above interpretation of ll. 1080 ff., and supposes them to contain a general maxim pointed at the case of Thebes. 'Any state is sure to rise in enmity in which a mangled corse has been devoured,' etc.

1084. 'Such arrows like a bowman have I launched at you in wrath, for you provoke me, arrows that pierce the heart and fasten there, whose smart you will not escape.' He echoes 1]. 1033, foll. is objective genitive after the verbal notion in

1092, 3. 'Since I have been crowned with these locks, once dark, which now are white with age,' The expression is condensed by prolepsis, so that the phrase which, if the thought had been regularly developed, would have been added in apposition, has the place of an attribute.

1094. -. is preferred to because of the abstract generality of the statement, which is also the reason of an implied precept not to disobey the seer. Cp supr. 1064 and note.

1096. 'But by resistance to bring the stroke of calamity upon one's soul is an alternative which presents a terrible aspect" E. on L. § 11. p. 18. The words have been questioned by Nauck, but nothing better has been substituted; and the phrase is supported by the analogy of 384, Thuc. 2. 53.

1098. the reading of most of the later MSS, is not improbable, or of L. having come in accidentally from 1094. which Seyffert had conjectured, gives a kind of sense, and so does of E, But neither is satisfactory. The true reading is possibly lost.

1103, 4. .. BAGBar] 'For the swiftly coming harms of the gods suddenly overtake' (or 'make short work with') 'the evil-minded.' in the generally neuter or absolute sense of 'To come quickly on,' here acquires a new construction with the accusative. E. on L. § 16. p. 23. Cp. Hdt. 5. 41, i.e. 'Adpropinquante, instante tempore.'

1105. 'I find it hard indeed, but yet I wrench my soul from her place to do this thing.' Cp. Plat. Rep. 10. 607 E, Bia

1110. 'To the place in view. Polynices was exposed on the highest part of the plain, and this may have been represented in outline as part of the scenery.

1112. wat] For the sake of emphasis, what would naturally be expressed by the participle is made into a coordinate sentence with the finite verb. Cp. O. T. 413, Sopxas E.onL. p. 68.

1115. In the excitement of a desperate hope caused by the late repentance of Creon, the chorus break forth into a joyous invocation to Dionysus, accompanied with dancing or gesticulation, as appears in comparing the similar canticle in Aj. 693, where the chorus are under the excitement of a similar delusive expectation. Cp. Tr. 205-24. The Dionysiac worship, of which the tragic poet is a votary, is associated with the mystic hopes which Creon denied, supr. 780.

'Glory of Semele, child of Zeus, Thou that tendest Campania And rulest in Eleusis' mystic vale, Dwelling, where thy votaries dwell, In Thebes by Ismenus' waters, Presiding o'er the dragon's brood: Seen o'er the forked height By the pitchy flame, Where move the Bacchic nymphs of Corycus, Where is the Castalian fount: And ushered on thy way To visit Thebe's roads By the ivy-clad banks of Nysean mountains, And the bloomy shore with many a cluster, While the shout of the immortal strain resounds. Thebe thou honourest far above all cities, Thou and thy mother whom the lightning glorified. And now that our whole multitude Is overtaken by misfortune dire, Appear with healing tread, Over the Parnassian steep Or groaning narrow sea. Thou that leadest up the dance of the fire-breathing stars, Visitant of nightly voices, Son born of Zeus, Rise with thy attendant Maenads, Who, all night long, Celebrate thee with dances, lacchus, the dispenser of their joys.'

1116. in erasure in mg. L', Vat. A, 1122. LA. 1126-36. Division of lines, -[ 4

The prevailing rhythm is logaoedic, with frequent syncope (or antispastic movement), long syllables in thesi, and occasional resolution both of arsis and thesis. Each strophe begins with an anacrusis.

1115. Schol. Avatov, Etxov, ad- Bacchus is claimed as a Theban God, and at the same time, the wide extent of his dominion is celebrated.

'Delight,' or 'Glory.' The word expresses the pride taken by a mother in her child. Plat. Tim. 37 D, Eur. Suppl. 370,

1118. The mention of Italy is singular, but hardly more so than that of Naxos in connection with Dionysus. The aim of the song being to celebrate the universality of his empire, it is not wonderful that allusion should be made to Italy, quam 'oravidae fruges et Bacchi Massicus humor Implevere,' Virg. Georg. 2. 143. And if Italy was mentioned by Sophocles in the Triptolemus in connection with Demeter, why not herein connection with Bacchus? Fr. 540 N. Ut.. 'Sophocles poeta in fabula Triptolemo frumentum Italicum ante cuncta laudaverit, ad verbum translata sententia Et fortunatam Italiam frumenty canere candido.' Plin. H. N. 18.12. Some edd. substitute an eastward deme of Attica, and a seat of Dionysiac worship.

1123, 4. "Iopyvod Some have preferred, chiefly for metrical reasons, the Triclinian reading .. for which compare supr. 1. 966.

1126, 7, orépo .. Avyvus| 'The blinding torch-flame hath beheld.' There is an opposition of sound rather than of sense in Cp. Eur. Phoen. 226, | where the succeeding lines also deserve to be compared with the description of Mount Parnassus in this passage. The fabled fire on Mount Parnassus was commonly explained of the torches of the Maenads, and seems to have been so understood by Sophocles.

Corycian cave on Mount Parnassus. Aesch. Eum,. 22, Kwpvuls | | 1130. .. (1) Se. OY (2)

1131-6. Nuoatov ..dayutds} Bacchus is imagined as leaving the throng of revellers, who follow in his train along the Nysaean slopes in Euboea, and as

1133. 'Lustrous with fresh green. The word suggests the richness of young vegetation, especially of the vine, See E, on L. p. 103. Stephanus in Nica ..

1146, 7. xopaye*| Cp. Ar. Ran. 341, 2, Bacchus is lord and leader of the sights and sounds of night. The stars in their courses hold revel with his torchbearers: the 'voices of the night' are wakened by their shouting. This is more probable than an allusion to the mystical notion that Bacchus was an impersonation of the sun. I have ventured to retain transposing the two preceding words and scanning aS a spondee by synizesis. may be taken as compound. Cp. Hom. 11.7. 310,

1155

1152. The word as appears from its use in Pindar, had in Doric Greek the special meaning of 'Lord' (cp. the Anglo-Saxon ' Hlafford'): and may have been a favourite attribute of Bacchus in this sense.

1156. (1) The participle is to be taken closely with the adjective = as in the gloss of V. 'There is no present position of a human life, in which I would praise it, or find fault with it.' Cp. Phil. 174, where the participle is similarly added in epexegesis. Or,

1162. There is a change from the participial construction to the indicative as well as from pév.. to 1.6. agrees with the subject of and the finite verb is substituted for This is more in accordance with the ' growing' nature of the language of Sophocles, than to suppose, with Seyffert, that begins a new sentence in apposition to, and epexegetic of, the previous clause.

Cp. supr. 578, and note. On the change from plural to singular, see Essay on L. § 20. p. 31. And on the inversion (760- vas = ibid. 42. p. 80, In favour of the reading of the MSS. it must be admitted that the plural in this pronominal sense, is unusual.

The meaning of the MS. reading is, 'A man's pleasures, when they have deserted him, I hold of no account.' But this does not agree with the concluding lines of the speech. Line 1167 had been dropped, and then 1. 1166 was altered so as to make sense.

1168. This is the first hand of L, and the words are so quoted by Athenaeus according to some MSS. I have always felt that the transition to the second person imperative (which has been suggested by was somewhat harsh. The present indicative is sometimes used in putting a hypothetical case: (Plat. Theaet. 192 E, ém- So the aor. indicative in Hdt. 7. 10, And the conversational use of (which assists the expression) is too familiar to need illustration. See L. and S. s. v. Bov- Aopat, 2.

1178. On the indefiniteness of the compounds of see E. on L. p. ror. This word, as here used, is extended from meaning 'By his own hand,' to mean ' By unnatural violence.' See above, 1, 172, and cp. the Latin parricida.

1177. 'For the death of Antigone. This is better than which, however, might mean 'In a murderous way,' i.e. ftv Cp. 1. 1233.