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. Eum. 255 “ὅρα, ὅρα μάλ᾽ αὖ, λεῦσσέ τε πάντα” (v.l. “παντᾶ”), the sense is, "scan all the ground." Cp. Ai. 890 ("'tis cruel," the Chorus say, baffled in their quest) “αμενηνὸν ἄνδρα μὴ λεύσσειν ὅπου”.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part II: The Oedipus Coloneus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1899.
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