δέδοικα μὴ … ᾖ: cp. O. T. 747 “δεινῶς ἀθυμῶ μὴ βλέπων ὁ μάντις ᾖ”. In both these places, ‘I fear lest...’ means ‘I shrewdly suspect that...,’ and “δέδοικα μή” might therefore have been followed by pres. indic., which expresses a fear that something is now going on (cp. 278 n. Aristoph. Nub. 493 “δέδοικα...μὴ πληγῶν δέει”). τοὺς καθεστ. νόμους, the laws established by the gods,—the “θεῶν νόμιμα” of 454 f. σῴζοντα … τὸν βίον τελεῖν = σῴζειν ἕως ἂν τελευτῄσης: but the turn of phrase chosen unconsciously foreshadows Antigone's fate.
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