τοσοῦτον, ἐνθανεῖν μόνον is bold. The infin. must be explained as in appos. with “τοσοῦτον”,—“"just thus much right in the land—the right to die in it."” For the regular construction, see O. T. 1191 “τοσοῦτον ὅσον δοκεῖν”:
: Xen. Anab. 4.8.12 “τοσοῦτον χωρίον κατασχεῖν...ὅσον ἔξω τοὺς ἐσχάτους λόχους γενέσθαι τῶν πολεμίων κεράτων”: Thuc. 1.2 “νεμόμενοι...τὰ αὑτῶν ἕκαστοι ὅσον ἀποζῆν”. The conjecture of Blaydes, ὅσονπερ instead of τοσοῦτον, is hardly probable. ἐνθανεῖν: cp. [Eur.] Rhes. 869 “ὦ γαῖα πατρίς, πῶς ἂν ἐνθάνοιμί σοι”; a poet. word: in Lys. or. 16 § 15 the prose “ἐναποθανόντων” should prob. be restored. Remark that ἐνθανεῖν can mean only "to die in," not "to lie dead in": but the sense is, "just enough ground, with a view to dying (instead of reigning) on Theban soil"; i.e., as much as a dead man will need. The phrase is half-proverbial: Aristoph. Eccl. 592 “μηδὲ γεωργεῖν τὸν μὲν πολλήν, τῷ δ᾽ εἶναι μηδὲ ταφῆναι”. Freeman, Old English History p. 313,/bibl> “"...What will my brother King Harold of England give to King Harold of Norway?" … "Seven foot of the ground of England, or more perchance, seeing he is taller than other men."”“ ῾ιν ρεφ. το τηεσε σαμε βροτηερς᾿ σίδαρος
χθόνα ναίειν διαπήλας, ὁπόσαν καὶ φθιμένοισιν κατέχειν,
τῶν μεγάλων πεδίων ἀμοίρους
”
“When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound;
But now two paces of the vilest earth
Is room enough.
”
