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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, Il. 23.104). So the wraith of Helen is “εἴδωλον ἔμπνουν,” Eur. Helen 34.

οὐ γὰρ δὴ τό γ̓. 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,

“οὐ γὰρ δὴ τό γε
σῶμ᾽

”

: El. 1020 “οὐ γὰρ δὴ κενόν γ᾽ ἀφήσομεν”: Ph. 246 “οὐ γὰρ δὴ σύ γ᾽ ἦσθα ναυβάτης”. On the other hand “οὐ γὰρ δή” without “γε” occurs O. T. 576, Ant. 46.


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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hide References (9 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (9):
    • Euripides, Helen, 34
    • Sophocles, Antigone, 46
    • Sophocles, Electra, 1020
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 265
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 109
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 393
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 576
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 246
    • Homer, Iliad, 23.104
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