Dobree's με for γε is clearly right; “γε” would throw a false emphasis on χρή (‘Now, ought I to rule...?’): the sense requires the stress to fall on ἄλλῳ ἢ 'μοί. This dat. ‘of interest’ does not mean, ‘for my own advantage’ (or gain), but, ‘to my own satisfaction,’ i.e. ‘according to my own views.’ Haemon has made light of Creon's protest against dictation from Thebes. Creon rejoins, ‘What, am I to rule Thebes in dependence on any other judgment than my own?’ In Eur. Suppl. 410 Creon's herald says, “πόλις γὰρ ἧς ἐγὼ πάρειμ᾽ ἄπο ι ἑνὸς πρὸς ἀνδρός, οὐκ ὄχλῳ, κρατύνεται”.—For ἐμοί instead of “ἐμαυτῷ”, cp. Plat. Gorg. 474B “ἐγὼ γὰρ δὴ οἶμαι καὶ ἐμὲ καὶ σὲ...ἡγεῖσθαι”.—Though χρή γε is untenable, the dat. is no argument against it: “χρή” could be absolute, the dat. being still a dat. of interest. There is no certain Attic instance of “χρή” with dat. In Ión 1317 “τοῖσι δ᾽ ἐνδίκοις ι ἱερὰ καθίζειν, ὅστις ἠδικεῖτ᾽, ἐχρῆν”, Dobree's “τοὺς δέ γ᾽ ἐνδίκους” is needless: the sense is, ‘in the interest of the just, it was right,’ etc. In Lys. or. 28 § 10 “τοῖς ἄρχουσι τοῖς ὑμετέροις ἐπιδείξετε πότερον χρὴ δικαίοις εἶναι”, we should read “δικαίους”, and just afterwards “ὑφελομένους”. Xenophon has “δεῖ” with dat. and infin., if the text is sound in Xen. An. 3. 4. 35.
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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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