ὦ δυσάθλιαι τροφαί, wretched mode of life (338), — referring to the outward signs of suffering and destitution on which Creon dwells, 745 ff.: cp. 1250 ff. By his reply, ἦ τῆσδε κἀμοῦ; Oed. seems to hint that she separates herself from those whom she pities. Ismene with quick sensibility rejoins, δυσμόρου τ᾽ ἐμοῦ τρίτης, the life is to be mine, too, in your company (for τρίτης cp. 8). Dindorf's conjecture, ὦ δὔ ἀθλίω τροφά, makes the subsequent question of Oedipus appear needless. ὅμαιμον expresses the sisters' relation to each other only (“"my children and my sisters"” would be “δύσφημον” here). In Soph. “ὅμαιμος, ὁμαίμων” always refer to brother or sister: 323, 979, 1275, 1405, 1772: Ant. 486, 512 f.: El. 12, 325, 531: O. T. 639.
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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