πονεῖν, epexeg. infin. with ποῦ (“εἰσι”): so as to do their part. The infin. was thus used in affirmative clauses (esp. after “ὅδε”), as Il. 9.688 “εἰσὶ καὶ οἵδε τάδ᾽ εἰπέμεν, οἵ μοι ἕποντο”, here are these also to tell the tale, who went with me: Eur. Hipp. 294 “γυναῖκες αἴδε συγκαθιστάναι νόσον”, here are women to help in soothing thy trouble. So on the affirmative “οἵδε εἰσὶ πονεῖν” (“"here they are to serve"”) is modelled the interrogative “ποῦ εἰσὶ πονεῖν”; “"where are they, that they may serve (as they are bound to do)?"” So Eur. Or. 1473 “ποῦ δῆτ᾽ ἀμύνειν οἱ κατὰ στέγας Φρύγες;” ποῦ (the scholiast's reading) is right. ποῖ supposes a very harsh ellipse of “ἥκουσιν” or the like, and agrees less well with the reply.
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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