First Stasimon
510 δεινὸν μὲν τὸ πάλαι κείμενον ἤδη κακόν, ξεῖνʼ, ἐπεγείρειν·
ὅμως δʼ ἔραμαι πυθέσθαι
τί τοῦτο;
τᾶς δειλαίας ἀπόρου φανείσας
ἀλγηδόνος, ξυνέστας.
515 μὴ πρὸς ξενίας ἀνοίξῃς
τᾶς σᾶς πέπονθʼ ἀναιδῆ.
τό τοι πολὺ καὶ μηδαμὰ λῆγον
χρῄζω, ξεῖνʼ, ὀρθὸν ἄκουσμʼ ἀκοῦσαι.
ὤμοι.
στέρξον, ἱκετεύω.
φεῦ φεῦ.
520 πείθου· κἀγὼ γὰρ ὅσον σὺ προσχρῄζεις.
ἤνεγκʼ οὖν κακότατʼ, ξένοι, ἤνεγκʼ ἀέκων μέν,
θεὸς ἴστω,
τούτων δʼ αὐθαίρετον οὐδέν.
ἀλλʼ ἐς τί;
525 κακᾷ μʼ εὐνᾷ πόλις οὐδὲν ἴδριν
γάμων ἐνέδησεν ἄτᾳ.
ματρόθεν, ὡς ἀκούω,
δυσώνυμα λέκτρʼ ἐπλήσω;
ὤμοι θάνατος μὲν τάδʼ ἀκούειν,
530 ξεῖνʼ· αὗται δὲ δύʼ ἐξ ἐμοῦ μὲν
πῶς φῄς;
παῖδε, δύο δʼ ἄτα
Ζεῦ.
ματρὸς κοινᾶς ἀπέβλαστον ὠδῖνος.
535 σαί τʼ εἴσʼ ἄρʼ ἀπόγονοί τε καὶ
κοιναί γε πατρὸς ἀδελφεαί.
ἰώ.
ἰὼ δῆτα μυρίων γʼ ἐπιστροφαὶ κακῶν.
ἔπαθες
ἔπαθον ἄλαστʼ ἔχειν.
ἔρεξας
οὐκ ἔρεξα.
τί γάρ;
ἐδεξάμην
540 δῶρον, μήποτʼ ἐγὼ ταλακάρδιος
ἐπωφέλησας πόλεος ἐξελέσθαι.
δύστανε, τί γάρ; ἔθου φόνον
τί τοῦτο; τί δʼ ἐθέλεις μαθεῖν;
πατρός;
παπαῖ. δευτέραν ἔπαισας, ἐπὶ νόσῳ νόσον,
545 ἔκανες
545 ἔκανον. ἔχει δέ μοι
τί τοῦτο;
πρὸς δίκας τι.
τί γάρ;
ἐγὼ φράσω.
καὶ γὰρ ἄν, οὓς ἐφόνευσʼ, ἔμʼ ἀπώλεσαν·
νόμῳ δὲ καθαρός, ἄϊδρις εἰς τόδʼ ἦλθον.
Tap any Greek word to look it up
An open-access project
Jebb 1912
Loeb
Jebb, Cambridge, 1912 · 1912
The Editor

Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb (1841–1905) was one of the greatest Greek scholars in the English-speaking world. Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge and Member of Parliament for the University, Jebb produced monumental commentaries on Sophocles (7 volumes, 1883–1896) that remain indispensable. His editions combined minute textual criticism with a profound sensitivity to Greek poetry and dramatic art.

About This Edition

Jebb's editions of Sophocles, published by Cambridge University Press, set a new standard for Greek dramatic commentary. Each play received a critical text, prose translation, and detailed commentary that addressed textual, linguistic, dramatic, and archaeological questions. Jebb's texts are conservative, preferring the manuscript tradition where defensible, and his commentary remains the starting point for serious study of each play. While the OCT by Lloyd-Jones and Wilson (1990) now provides the standard critical text, Jebb's commentary is still regularly consulted.

Translator

F. Storr (Loeb Classical Library)

Text Basis

Text based on Jebb's Cambridge edition. Storr translated for the Loeb Classical Library.

Tap any Greek word to look it up