First Stasimon
τίς ὅντινʼ θεσπιέπεια Δελφὶς εἶπε πέτρα
465 ἄρρητʼ ἀρρήτων τελέσαντα φοινίαισι χερσίν;
ὥρα νιν ἀελλάδων
ἵππων σθεναρώτερον
φυγᾷ πόδα νωμᾶν.
ἔνοπλος γὰρ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐπενθρῴσκει
470 πυρὶ καὶ στεροπαῖς Διὸς γενέτας,
δειναὶ δʼ ἅμʼ ἕπονται
κῆρες ἀναπλάκητοι
ἔλαμψε γὰρ τοῦ νιφόεντος ἀρτίως φανεῖσα
φάμα Παρνασοῦ τὸν ἄδηλον ἄνδρα πάντʼ ἰχνεύειν.
475 φοιτᾷ γὰρ ὑπʼ ἀγρίαν
ὕλαν ἀνά τʼ ἄντρα καὶ
πέτρας ἰσόταυρος
μέλεος μελέῳ ποδὶ χηρεύων,
480 τὰ μεσόμφαλα γᾶς ἀπονοσφίζων
μαντεῖα· τὰ δʼ ἀεὶ
ζῶντα περιποτᾶται.
δεινὰ μὲν οὖν, δεινὰ ταράσσει σοφὸς οἰωνοθέτας
485 οὔτε δοκοῦντʼ οὔτʼ ἀποφάσκονθʼ· τι λέξω δʼ ἀπορῶ.
πέτομαι δʼ ἐλπίσιν οὔτʼ, ἐνθάδʼ ὁρῶν οὔτʼ ὀπίσω.
τί γὰρ Λαβδακίδαις
490 τῷ Πολύβου νεῖκος ἔκειτʼ, οὔτε πάροιθέν ποτʼ ἔγωγʼ
ἔμαθον, πρὸς ὅτου δὴ βασανίζων βασάνῳ
ἐπὶ τὰν ἐπίδαμον φάτιν εἶμʼ Οἰδιπόδα Λαβδακίδαις
495 ἐπίκουρος ἀδήλων θανάτων.
ἀλλʼ μὲν οὖν Ζεὺς τʼ Ἀπόλλων ξυνετοὶ καὶ τὰ βροτῶν
500 εἰδότες· ἀνδρῶν δʼ ὅτι μάντις πλέον ʼγὼ φέρεται,
κρίσις οὔκ ἔστιν ἀλαθής· σοφίᾳ δʼ ἂν σοφίαν
παραμείψειεν ἀνήρ.
505 ἀλλʼ οὔποτʼ ἔγωγʼ ἄν, πρὶν ἴδοιμʼ ὀρθὸν ἔπος, μεμφομένων ἂν καταφαίην.
φανερὰ γὰρ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, πτερόεσσʼ ἦλθε κόρα
510 ποτέ, καὶ σοφὸς ὤφθη βασάνῳ θʼ ἁδύπολις τῷ ἀπʼ ἐμᾶς
φρενὸς οὔποτʼ ὀφλήσει κακίαν.
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