θεῖναι, not “θέσθαι.” “τίθημι νόμον” denotes simply the legislative act as such; hence it is fitting when the lawgiver is supreme or absolute; as Athena says, “θεσμὸν...θήσω” (Aesch. Eum. 484). “τίθεμαι νόμον” further implies the legislator's personal concern in the law; hence it is said of legislative assemblies (Ar. Pol. 4. 1. 9): but it can be said also of the despot, if his interest is implied: Plat. Rep. 338E “τίθεται δέ γε τοὺς νόμους ἑκάστη ἡ ἀρχὴ πρὸς τὸ αὑτῇ ξυμφέρον, δημοκρατία μὲν δημοκρατικούς, τυραννὶς δὲ τυραννικούς.” τὸν στρατηγόν. Creon is already “βασιλεὺς χώρας” (155), having become so by the fact of Eteocles falling (173). She calls him “στρατηγός” because that was the special capacity in which, as king, he had first to act; but the title serves also to suggest rigour. The poets sometimes speak of the “δῆμος” as “στρατός” ( Pind. P. 2. 87, Aesch. Eum. 566).
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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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