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Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus by Sir Richard C. Jebb

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urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0011.tlg007.perseus-grc2:2
χώρους ἀφίγμεθʼ τίνων ἀνδρῶν πόλιν;

Commentary

urn:cts:greekLit:viaf2603144.viaf002.perseus-eng1:3

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0011.tlg007.perseus-grc2:2

χώρους , like loca , vaguely, "region" (so O.T. 798): but sing. χῶρος below ( 16 , 37 , 54 ), of a definite spot. Oed. already knows that they are near Athens ( 25 ), but it is time that the day's journey was ended ( 20 ); will this rural region—or town—supply their needs if they halt? The exordium has something of a Homeric tone,—due not merely to the form of the question (like that of Odysseus on awakening in Phaeacia, Od. 6.119, and in Ithaca, Od. 13.200 τέων αὖτε βροτῶν εἰς γαῖαν ἱκάνω; ), but also to the epic phrase ἀνδρῶν πόλιν ( Il. 17.737etc.).

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