Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Antigone

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365-375

The ode closes with a more direct reference to the incident which suggested its theme. The daring ingenuity shown by the unknown breaker of Creon's edict is an instance of the subtlety which leads to ruin. The implied contrast with Creon—“ὑψίπολις” by his care for the laws—is effective in view of the destined “περιπέτεια”.

σοφόν τι … ἔχων: lit., possessing, in his resourceful skill, a thing subtle beyond belief: “σοφόν τι” is predicate, and in apposition with “τὸ μηχανόεν τέχνας”. Cp. Thuc. 2.89 “μέγα τι τῆς διανοίας τὸ βέβαιον ἔχοντες ἀντιτολμῶσιν”: ‘they are strong in the confidence of their spirit when they confront the foe.’ There is no ground for altering “σοφόν” into “δεινόν, τοῖον”, or the like.

τὸ μηχανόεν τ., the inventive quality in his skill: for “τέχνας”, cp. O. T. 380 n.; for the absence of “τᾶς”, cp. above, 10 (“κακά”). Cp. Thuc. 1.90 “τὸ...βουλόμενον καὶ ϋποπτον τῆς γνώμης”: 2. 61 “ἐν τῷ ὑμετέρψ ἀσθενεῖ τῆς γνώμης”.