Creon and the Children
ἰὼ σκότου
νέφος ἐμὸν ἀπότροπον, ἐπιπλόμενον ἄφατον,
1315 ἀδάματόν τε καὶ δυσούριστον ὄν.
οἴμοι,
οἴμοι μάλʼ αὖθις· οἷον εἰσέδυ μʼ ἅμα
κέντρων τε τῶνδʼ οἴστρημα καὶ μνήμη κακῶν.
καὶ θαῦμά γʼ οὐδὲν ἐν τοσοῖσδε πήμασιν
1320 διπλᾶ σε πενθεῖν καὶ διπλᾶ φορεῖν κακά.
ἰὼ φίλος,
σὺ μὲν ἐμὸς ἐπίπολος ἔτι μόνιμος· ἔτι γὰρ
ὑπομένεις με τὸν τυφλὸν κηδεύων.
φεῦ φεῦ.
1325 οὐ γάρ με λήθεις, ἀλλὰ γιγνώσκω σαφῶς,
καίπερ σκοτεινός, τήν γε σὴν αὐδὴν ὅμως.
δεινὰ δράσας, πῶς ἔτλης τοιαῦτα σὰς
ὄψεις μαρᾶναι; τίς σʼ ἐπῆρε δαιμόνων;
Ἀπόλλων τάδʼ ἦν, Ἀπόλλων, φίλοι,
1330 κακὰ κακὰ τελῶν ἐμὰ τάδʼ ἐμὰ πάθεα.
ἔπαισε δʼ αὐτόχειρ νιν οὔτις, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τλάμων.
τί γὰρ ἔδει μʼ ὁρᾶν,
1335 ὅτῳ γʼ ὁρῶντι μηδὲν ἦν ἰδεῖν γλυκύ;
ἦν τᾷδʼ ὅπωσπερ καὶ σύ φῄς.
τί δῆτʼ ἐμοὶ βλεπτὸν
στερκτὸν προσήγορον
ἔτʼ ἔστʼ ἀκούειν ἡδονᾷ φίλοι;
1340 ἀπάγετʼ ἐκτόπιον τι τάχιστά με,
ἀπάγετʼ, φίλοι, τὸν μέγʼ ὀλέθριον
τὸν καταρατότατον, ἔτι δὲ καὶ θεοῖς
1345 ἐχθρότατον βροτῶν.
δείλαιε τοῦ νοῦ τῆς τε συμφορᾶς ἴσον,
ὡς σʼ ἠθέλησα μηδέ γʼ ἂν γνῶναί ποτε.
ὄλοιθʼ ὅστις ἦν, ὃς ἀγρίας πέδας
1350 μονάδʼ ἐπιποδίας ἔλυσʼ μʼ ἀπό τε φόνου
ἔρυτο κἀνέσωσεν, οὐδὲν εἰς χάριν πράσσων.
τότε γὰρ ἂν θανὼν
1355 οὐκ φίλοισιν οὐδʼ ἐμοὶ τοσόνδʼ ἄχος.
θέλοντι κἀμοὶ τοῦτʼ ἂν ἦν.
οὔκουν πατρός γʼ ἂν φονεὺς
ἦλθον οὐδὲ νυμφίος
βροτοῖς ἐκλήθην ὧν ἔφυν ἄπο.
1360 νῦν δʼ ἄθεος μέν εἰμʼ, ἀνοσίων δὲ παῖς,
ὁμολεχὴς δʼ ἀφʼ ὧν αὐτὸς ἔφυν τάλας.
1365 εἰ δέ τι πρεσβύτερον ἔτι κακοῦ κακόν,
τοῦτʼ ἔλαχʼ Οἰδίπους.
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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.

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