αὐθαδία (poet. for “αὐθάδεια”), self-will, incurs the reproach of “σκαιότης” (for ὀφλισκάνει cp. 470). As “δεξιός” is a quick-witted man, of flexible and receptive mind, so “σκαιός” is one whose mental clumsiness makes him unapt to learn. “σκαιότης”, ‘ineptitude,’ is often associated with ignorance and with inaccessibility to new ideas. Cp. Plat. Rep. 411E; one who omits to cultivate his mind acts “βίᾳ...καὶ ἀγριότητι, ὥσπερ θηρίον..., καὶ ἐν ἀμαθίᾳ καὶ σκαιότητι μετὰ ἀρρυθμίας τε καὶ ἀχαριστίας ζῇ”. Lys. or. 10 § 15 “ἡγοῦμαι...τοῦτον...οὕτω σκαιὸν εἷναι ὥστε οὐ δύνασθαι μαθεῖν τὰ λεγόμενα”. Aristoph. Vesp. 1183 “ὦ σκαιὲ κἀπαίδευτε”. So here “σκαιότης” expresses a stupidity that is deaf to remonstrance.
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part III: The Antigone. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1900.
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