στέρξαντες “having formed a desire”: the aor. part., as Soph. Aj. 212 ἐπεί σε … | στέρξας ἀνέχει “is constant to the love which he hath formed for thee.” Soph. El. 1100 καὶ τί βουληθεὶς πάρει ; Soph. Aj. 1052 αυτὸν ἐλπίσαντες … ἄγειν. Cp. Soph. OC 1093 καὶ τὸν ἀγρευτὰν Ἀπόλλω | καὶ κασιγνήταν … | στέργω διπλᾶς ἀρωγὰς | μολεῖν, “I desire”: where, in such an invocation(ἰὼ … Ζεῦ, … πόροις, κ.τ.λ.), στέργω surely cannot mean, “I am content.” Oed. asks: “Does this supplication mean that some new dread has seized you (δείσαντες)? Or that ye have set your hearts (στέρξαντες)on some particular boon which I can grant?”—Others render στέρξαντες “having acquiesced.” This admits of two views. (i) “Are ye afraid of suffering? Or have ye already learned to bear suffering?” To this point the glosses ὑπομείναντες, παθόντες. But this seems unmeaning. He knows that the suffering has come, and he does not suppose that they are resigned to it (cp. v. 58). (ii) Prof. Kennedy connects ἢ στέρξαντες ὡς θέλοντος ἂν | ἐμοῦ προσαρκεῖν πᾶν; i.e. are ye come in vague terror, or in contentment, as believing that I would be willing to help you? This is ingenious and attractive. But (a) it appears hardly consonant with the kingly courtesy of this opening speech for Oedipus to assume that their belief in his good-will would reconcile them to their present miseries. (b) We seem to require some direct and express intimation of the king's willingness to help, such as the words ὡς θέλοντος … πᾶν give only when referred to φράζε. (c) The rhythm seems to favour the question at στέρξαντες. —στέξαντες, explained as “having endured,” may be rejected, because (1) the sense is against it—see on (i) above: (2) στέγειν in classical Greek = “to be proof against,” not “to suffer”: (3) στέξω, ἔστεξα are unknown to Attic, which has only the pres. and the imperf. ὡς θέλοντος ἂν (to be connected with φράζε) implies the apodosis of a conditional sentence. Grammatically, this might be either (a) εἰ δυναίμην, θέλοιμι ἄν, or (b) εἰ ἠδυνάμην, ἤθελον ἄν: here, the sense fixes it to (a). ὡς , thus added to the gen. absol., expresses the supposition on which the agent acts. Xen. Mem. 2.6.32 ὡς οὐ προσοίσοντος (ἐμοὖ τὰς χεῖρας, … δίδασκε· “as (you may be sure) I will not lay hands on you, teach me.”