ἔχεται ἐπὶ βιαίας νόσου, is captive to a violent (=a most grievous) plague. The “νόσος” is the divine anger which Thebes has incurred (1015). “ἐπὶ νόσου” seems to be like “ἐπ᾽ εἰρήνης” (‘in time of peace’Il. 2.797), “ἐπὶ σχολῆς” ( Aeschin. or. 3 § 191): i.e., the prep. expresses the continuing presence of the “νόσος”, and the whole phrase strictly means, ‘the city is in distress, under the prevalence of a malady.’ (We could scarcely compare “ἐπὶ ξύλου”, and suppose a metaphor from a rack or cross; cp. n. on 308 f.) Musgrave's ὑπό (for “ἐπί”) is tame. For ἔχεται cp. Plat. Legg. 780B “ὑπὸ πολλῆς ἀπορίας ἐχομένοις”. There is only a verbal likeness to Her. 6.11 “ἐπὶ ξυροῦ γὰρ ἀκμῆς ἔχεται” (are poised) “ἡμῖν τὰ πρήγματα”.—For βιαι^ας cp. n. on 1310 “δείλαι^ος”. The text is sound, without Boeckh's conjectural insertion of ἀμὰ before πόλις: see on 1150. πάνδαμος: cp. on 7.
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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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