τὸν ἑπτάλογχον … στόλον, “"the expedition with seven bodies of spearmen"”; i.e. the compound adj. is equivalent to two separate epithets, “"sevenfold,"” and “"armed with spears"”: cp. on 17 “πυκνόπτεροι”. The boldness of the phrase consists in the collective sing. “στόλον” being used instead of a plur. like “τάξεις” (1311). Not, “"under the seven spears of seven leaders,"” as if the “λόγχη” of each leader was an ensign. Cp. on 1311. The art. τόν, because the expedition is no longer a project, but a fact (1312).
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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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