ὥς σοι … τιθῇ. Like “τοῦτον” in 1522, ὅδε refers to “χῶρον” (1520), “"this spot"”; it is not for “ἀνὴρ ὅδε” (450). For πρὸ cp. Thuc. 1.33 “ἣν ὑμεῖς ἂν πρὸ πολλῶν χρημάτων καὶ χάριτος ἐτιμήσασθε δύναμιν ὑμῖν προσγενέσθαι, αὕτη πάρεστιν αὐτεπάγγελτος”. (Not, “"against many shields etc.,"” as Xen. Anab. 7.8.18 “ὅπως τὰ ὅπλα ἔχοιεν πρὸ τῶν τοξευμάτων”, “"that they might have their shields to screen them from the arrows."”) Cp. O. T. 218 n. δορός τ᾽ ἐπακτοῦ. As the hoplite was armed with a “δόρυ” no less than with a shield, there is no contrast here between infantry and cavalry, but only between citizens and foreign allies. Cp. Isocr. or. 10 § 37 “οὐδ᾽ ἐπακτῷ δυνάμει” (foreign mercenaries) “τὴν ἀρχὴν διαφυλάττων, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῶν πολιτῶν εὐνοίᾳ δορυφορούμενος”.—The old v.l. γειτονῶν, “"being near you,"” would be weak: as to the form, “γειτονέω” is classical, though Attic prose preferred “γειτνιάω”. Others join ἀλκὴν … γειτόνων, “"a defence against neighbours"” (the Thebans, 1534), but, though the objective gen. is quite correct (see on O. T. 218), the order of the words makes it hardly possible to disjoin γειτόνων from δορός τ᾽ ἐπακτοῦ.
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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