θυμοῦ, the anger which moved Creon to make the seizure: cp. 874 “οὔτοι καθέξω θυμόν”. Theseus had said that Creon's violence disgraced his years (931). Creon replies, “"There is no old age for anger, except death"”; i.e., “"anger, under gross insult, ceases to be felt only when a man is dead, and can feel nothing."” Schol.: “τοῦτο δὲ καὶ παροιμιακῶς λέγεται, ὅτι ὁ θυμὸς ἔσχατον γηράσκει”. Cp. Aesch. Theb. 682 “οὐκ ἔστι γῆρας τοῦδε τοῦ μιάσματος”. Here, too, γῆρας is figurative,— “"decay,"” “"abatement,"” of anger; while θανεῖν has its literal sense, the subject being “τινά” understood. θανόντων: El. 1170 “τοὺς γὰρ θανόντας οὐχ ὁρῶ λυπουμένους”: Tr. 1173 “τοῖς γὰρ θανοῦσι μόχθος οὐ προσγίγνεται”.
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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