συλῶντα “κ.τ.λ.”, forcibly carrying off what belongs to me,—yes, and what belongs to the gods, when you seek to lead captive unhappy men who are suppliants. It is best to put a comma after τὰ τῶν θεῶν, which is explained by βίᾳ ἄγοντα, etc. He robs the gods when he seeks to seize the sacred suppliant of the Eumenides (44, 287). He robs Theseus (τἀμὰ) when he seizes persons who are under the protection of Attic law (915). If τὰ τῶν θεῶν φωτῶν ἀθλ. ἱκτήρια were joined (as Blaydes prefers), the double gen. would be very awkward. φωτῶν ἀθλίων ἱκτήρια=literally “"suppliant objects consisting in hapless per sons,"”=“φῶτας ἀθλίους ἱκτηρίους”. The gen. defines the “"material,"” or nature, of the “ἱκτήρια”, as in El. 758 “σῶμα δειλαίας σποδοῦ” is a body consisting in (reduced to) ashes. We could not render, “"the emblems of supplication brought by hapless persons."” Nor, again, “"the suppliants belonging to a wretched man"” (the two maidens). In the following periphrases we see an analogous poet. use of the neut. plur., though the relation to the gen. is not precisely the same: Ant. 1209 “ἀθλίας ἄσημα...βοῆς”, “"confused accents of a mournful cry,"” where the gen. might be either of material, as here, or possessive: ib. 1265 “ὤμοι ἐμῶν ἄνολβα βουλευμάτων” (partitive gen.): Eur. Phoen. 1485 “οὐ προκαλυπτομένα βοτρυχώδεος ι ἁβρὰ παρήιδος”, “"not veiling the delicate cheek,"”—for this is clearly the sense, rather than “"spreading a delicate veil"” (sc. “καλύμματα”) over it.
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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