ἀκερδῆ χάριν μετάσχ., have for my portion an unprofitable recompense (in return for the sympathy shown to Oed.); cp. Aesch. PV 544 “ἄχαρις χάρις” (“"a thankless favour"”), Soph. Ai. 665 “ἄδωρα δῶρα”. Pind. Ol. 1.54 “ἀκέρδεια”=disaster (with a similar euphemism). In the verb, μετά here=“"along with Oedipus,"” “"as my share in his curse"”: χάριν is acc., not gen., because it denotes the share, not the thing shared. μετέχω takes (1) gen. of thing shared, (2) acc. of share, (3) dat. of partner: but when (3) is present, (2) is usu. absent, unless equality is affirmed or denied, as Xen. Cyr. 7.2.28 “εὐφροσυνῶν πασῶν ἐμοὶ τὸ ἴσον μετεῖχε”. Hiero 2. 7 “τούτου” (“τοῦ κακοῦ”) “πλεῖστον μέρος οἱ τύραννοι μετέχουσιν”. In Aristoph. Pl. 1144 “οὐ γὰρ μετεῖχες τὰς ἴσας πληγὰς ἐμοί”, the dat. depends on “ἴσας”, not on the verb: “"you did not get for your share the same number of blows as I."” (Cp. Dein. or. 1 § 54 “τὸ πέμπτον μέρος οὐ μετείληφε τῶν ψήφων”.) The peculiarity here is only in the use of the acc. alone, without a gen. (as “τῆς ἀρᾶς”).
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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