See Appendix on this passage. ὅς, with caus. force, “"since thou hast..."”: see on “οἵτινες”, 263. ψιλὸν ὄμμ̓ can mean only “"a defenceless eye,"” i.e. a defenceless maiden (Antigone) who was to him as eyesight. The phrase has bitter point, since Creon himself, in his smooth speech, had pathetically described Antigone as “τοὐπιόντος ἁρπάσαι” (752). It is also less bold in Greek than in English, owing to the common figurative use of ὄμμα, as if he had said, “"my defenceless darling"” (cp. on O. T. 987). ψιλὸν should not be taken as acc. masc. with με: this would be tame and forced. Cp. below 1029 “οὐ ψιλὸν οὐδ᾽ ἄσκευον”, not without allies or instruments: Ph. 953 “ψιλός, οὐκ ἔχων τροφήν” (when stripped of his bow). ἀποσπάσας takes a double acc. (like “ἀφαιρεῖν”, etc.): this is so natural that we need not desire “ὅς γ̓” or “ὅς μου”.
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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