In the MSS. the verse ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ; etc. stands immediately after the verse πρόσψαυσον, ὦ παῖ, etc. Musgrave has been followed by nearly all subsequent editors, in separating these two verses by the insertion between them of the verse ὦ σπέρμ᾽ ὅμαιμον etc. This transposition is plainly necessary: else Ismene will say that she touches not only her father and sister, but herself. Campbell defends “θιγγάνω … δυσμόρου … ἐμοῦ τρίτης” as meaning, "I too am linked in this unhappy circle": adding that “"the construction of a reply, in this sort of dialogue, is not to be pressed too closely."” The source of the confusion in the MSS. was obviously that the gen. ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ etc. could depend, in grammar, either on θιγγάνω or on τροφαί, though the sense leaves no choice. Nauck further places v. 327 (“ὦ τέκνον, ἥκεις”) after v. 329 (“πρόσψαυσον”). Wecklein places v. 328 (“τέκνον, πέφηνας”) after v. 329. Neither of these changes is hurtful; but neither appears necessary.
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.
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education provided support for entering this text.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.