τοὔργον οὐ μακρὰν λέγεις,=“τὸ ἔργον ὂ λέγεις οὐ μακράν ἐστι”, ‘the task of which thou speakest is not far off,’ i.e. I can do thy bidding without going far. “τὸ ἔργον” is the search for (and in) the cave. This seems simpler than to take “μακράν” as=‘to a distance’ (O.T. 16), and “τοὔργον” as=‘mission.’ For the adverb as predicate, cp. O. C. 586“ἀλλ᾽ ἐν βραχεῖ δὴ τήνδε μ᾽ ἐξαιτεῖ χάριν”, n.: Tr. 962“ἀγχοῦ δ᾽ ἄρα κοὐ μακρὰν” | “προὔκλαιον” (sc. “ὄν”), ‘the sorrow foretold by my lament is near, and not afar’: El. 1191“πόθεν τοῦτ᾽ ἐξεσήμηνας κακόν”;
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part IV: The Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1932.
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