ἃ δ᾽ ἐξάγιστα, “"but as to things which are banned"” (which cannot be uttered without impiety). Cp. Aeschin. or. 3 § 113 “οἱ Λοκροὶ οἱ Ἀμφισσεῖς...τὸν λιμένα τὸν ἐξάγιστον καὶ ἐπάρατον πάλιν ἐτείχισαν”: “"the harbour which was banned and accursed,"”—the Amphictyons having pronounced an “ἀρά”, which said of the transgressor, “ἐναγὴς ἔστω” (ib. § 110). The verb occurs Aesch. Ag. 641 “πολλοὺς δὲ πολλῶν ἐξαγισθέντας δόμων”, many “"devoted to death"” out of many houses. “ἁγίζω”=to make “ἅγιος” (1495): “ἐξαγίζω”= to devote to avenging gods (cp. “ἐξοσιόω”, to dedicate), rather than (as some explain it) “"to de-consecrate."” μηδὲ κινεῖται λόγῳ, “"and such things as (“μηδέ"” of the class, cp. 73) are not to be touched upon in speech” (see on 624 “τἀκίνητ᾽ ἔπη”). Nauck proposed “δεῖ κινεῖν”, but the pres. “κινεῖται” expresses what fate has decreed ( Ph. 113 “αἱρεῖ”). μαθήσει, by sight as well as by hearing: see 1641, 1650.
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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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