τοὔμφυλον αἷμα, thy blood-guilt for the death of a kinsman: so “ἐμφύλιον αἷμα” (Pind. Pyth. 2.32), “αἷμα συγγενές” (Eur. Suppl. 148), “αἷμα γενέθλιον” (Or. 89): but in O. T. 1406 “αἷμ᾽ ἐμφύλιον” merely=“"a blood-kinship."” Oed. was doomed to “ἀειφυγία” (601). Even to bury him in Theban ground would seem impious towards Laïus. So, when Antigone has given the burial-rite to Polyneices, Creon asks, （Ant. 514) “πῶς δῆτ᾽ ἐκείνῳ δυσσεβῆ τιμᾷς χάριν;” "How, then, canst thou render a grace which is impious towards that other?" (Eteocles).
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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