ἀντάσειν (Buecheler),—a conjecture which had occurred independently to myself,—seems the most probable correction of ἂν δώσειν. The Chorus express a presentiment that they will soon again be brought face to face with the maidens who were dragged away before their eyes; and this prepares for the approaching entrance of Antigone and Ismene, 1097 “τὰς κόρας γὰρ εἰσορῶ.” ἀντάω usu. takes a dat. of meeting a person, but sometimes a gen., as Il. 16.423 “ἀντήσω γὰρ ἐγὼ τοῦδ᾽ ἀνέρος” (in battle). With the gen., ἀντάω also=“κυρεῖν, τυγχάνειν”: Od. 3.97 “ἤντησας ὀπωπῆς”: Her. 2.119 “ξεινίων ἤντησε μεγάλων”. Cp. Soph. Ant. 982 “ἄντασ᾽ Ἐρεχθειδᾶν”, she attained unto them (traced her lineage back to them). Here the idea of obtaining back is blended with that of being brought face to face. It is not, then, a valid objection that the Chorus do not move to meet the maidens. To ἀνδώσειν the objections are: (1) it could not possibly mean “ἀποσώσειν”, “"give back."” In Pind. fr. 133. 3, the sole passage quoted for this sense, “ἀνδιδοι ψυχὰν πάλιν” is not “"gives back,"” but “"sends up,"” to the sunlight,—like “γῆ ἀναδίδωσι καρπόν”. We must not be confused by our “"give up."” (2) To supply “"Creon"” or “"the enemy"” as subject is extremely awkward. (3) The sing. τὰν...τλᾶσαν, etc., which this requires, cannot well be defended on the ground that Antigone is chiefly thought of. With ἐνδώσειν we have to render:— “"that the sufferings of those who have endured dread things, and found dread sufferings at the hands of kinsmen, will remit,"”—become milder. Hippocrates (Progn. 43) uses the intrans. “ἐνδιδόναι” of a malady which remits its force. But is “πάθη … ἐνδώσειν” tolerable here, where the question is not of the sisters' sufferings being mitigated, but of their triumphant deliverance from the hands of the enemy? If, again, “ἐνδώσειν”=“"give up,"” it incurs the 2nd and 3rd objections to “ἀνδώσειν”.
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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