τί δ᾽ ἔστι; cp. 311. δίδασκέ με ὡς μὴ εἰδότ̓. The μή is due to the imperative: cp. Ph. 253 “ὡς μηδὲν εἰδότ᾽ ἴσθι μ᾽ ὧν ἀνιστορεῖς”: ib. 415 “ὡς μηκέτ᾽ ὄντα κεῖνον ἐν φάει νόει”: Plat. Rep. 327C “ὡς τοίνυν μὴ ἀκουσομένων οὕτω διανοεῖσθε.” ὡς οὐ, instead of ὡς μή, sometimes stands, however, with the partic. (esp. in gen. or acc. absol.), although the verb is imperative: Eur. Med. 1311 “ὡς οὐκέτ᾽ ὄντων σῶν τέκνων, φρόντιζε δή”: Lys. or. 27 § 16 “μὴ...ἀζημίους ἀφίετε,...ὥσπερ τοῦ ὀνείδους ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τῆς ζημίας αὐτοῖς μέλον”. And, when the verb is not imperative, ὡς οὐ in such cases is normal, as Xen. Mem. 2.3.3 “τῶν δ᾽ ἀδελφῶν ἀμελοῦσιν, ὥσπερ ἐκ πολιτῶν μὲν γιγνομένους φίλους, ἐξ ἀδελφῶν δὲ οὐ γιγνομένους”: Thuc. 4.5 “ἐν ὀλιγωρίᾳ ἐποιοῦντο, ὡς...οὐχ ὑπομενοῦντας”: 6. 24 “ἔρως ἐνέπεσε τοῖς πᾶσιν...ἐκπλεῦσαι,...ὡς...οὐδὲν ἂν σφαλεῖσαν μεγάλην δύναμιν”. This is against referring μὴ εἰδότ̓ here to a cause independent of the imperative, viz. to the mental conception implied by ὡς: for though (e.g.) “ἐδίδαξας ὡς μὴ :εἰδότα” could mean, “"you instructed me on the supposition that I knew not,"” usage indicates that “ὡς οὐκ εἰδότα” would then have been preferred.
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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