τὸν τελευταῖον βίον is most simply taken (1) as=“"the last part of my life,"” its close, as (e.g.) Il. 6.40 “ἐν πρώτῳ ῥυμῷ”=at the end of the pole. He is going “"to hide the close of his life with Hades"” (“παρ᾽ Ἅιδην” since motion is implied), not merely because he is about to quit life, but because he is destined to quit it by a strange passing not beheld of men.—(2) We might also take τελευταῖον as proleptic adj. with art. (see on 1089 “τὸν εὔαγρον”): “"to hide my life, so that it shall be ended."” I prefer (1).
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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