[287] οὐκ ἐν ἀργοῖς τοῦτο κατέλιπον would have meant, “I did not leave this among things neglected.” Soph. fuses the negative form with the positive, and instead of κατέλιπον writes ἐπραξάμην: “I saw to this （midd.） in such a manner that it also should not be among things neglected.” πράσσεσθαι （midd.） elsewhere usu. = “to exact” （Thuc. 4.65 etc.）: here = διαπράσσεσθαι, effect for oneself. Cp. Soph. Aj. 45 “ἐξεπράξατο” （effected his purpose）. G. Wolff, sharing Kviecpala's objections to the phrase ἐν ἀργοῖς πράσσεσθαι, places a point after τοῦτ᾽ （“but neither is this among things neglected: —I did it”）. The extreme harshness of the asyndeton condemns this; and the suggested ἔπραξα μήν is no remedy. For ἐν cp. οὐκ ἐν ἐλαφρῷ ἐποιεύμην （Hdt. 1.118）, ἐν εὐχερεῖ ι ἔθου （ταῦτα） Soph. Phil. 875, “ταῦτ᾽ οὖν ἐν αἰσχρῷ θέμενος” Eur. Hec. 806. ἀργοῖς, not things undone, but things at which the work is sluggish or tardy; Soph. OC 1605 “κοὐκ ἦν ἔτ᾽ οὐδὲν ἀργὸν ὧν ἐφίετο”: Eur. Phoen. 776 “ἓν δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡμῖν ἀργόν, εἴ τι θέσφατον ι οἰωνόμαντις Τειρεσίας ἔχει φράσαι,” i.e. “in one thing our zeal has lagged, —the quest whether” etc.: Theognis however （583 Bergk 3rd ed.） has τὰ μὲν προβέβηκεν ἀμήχανόν ἐστι γενέσθαι ι ἀργά, = ἀποίητα, infecta.
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