σφιν, i.e. they looked on and did nothing: see on “αὐτοῖν” 430. The question between ἀεί (L) and ἐγώ (A) turns on these points. With “ἀεί, ἠλώμην” = "continued to wander." He can scarcely mean that, after his expulsion, they might at any time have recalled him, since he regards the new oracle as having given them an opportunity which did not exist before (418). But he may mean that their silence at the moment of his expulsion was the cause of the whole sequel. With “ἐγώ, ἠλώμην” might mean, "proceeded to wander forth," referring to the moment of expulsion (cp. “ἐξηλαυνόμην” 356). But (a) the tense is somewhat awkward here, and (b) “ἐγώ” is weak unless taken as= "I—their father."
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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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