Extracts from Sophocles’ Antigone,

a Demonstration of the Literal Translation Style.

The following translation is made with absolutely no attempt to reproduce the poetics of the original Greek, rather it aims to be a very literal translation but still comprehensible. My general hope is that it both my serve the student of Ancient Greek and inform those not familiar with the language about the underlying structure present behind the translations which are read today. For more information, please see an explinations of my translating methodology.

Lines 332-341: The Ode to Man

πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ κοὐδὲν
ἀνθρώπου δεινότερον πέλει.
τοῦτο¹ καὶ πολιοῦ πέραν πόντου χειμερίῳ νότῳ
χωρεῖ, περιβρυχίοισιν
περῶν ὑπ’ οἴδμασιν.
θεῶν τε τὰν ὑπερτάταν, Γᾶν
ἄφθιτον, ἀκαμάταν, ἀποτρύεται
ἰλλομένων ἀρότρων ἔτος εἰς ἔτος
ἱππείῳ γένει πολεύων.

(Of) the many awesome² things,
nothing is more awesome than man,
and this moves over the surging
sea with the stormy southwind
engulfing, crossing under the swells,
the utmost of the gods, the Earth,
immortal, inexhaustible, he vexes her
with the winding plow for year after year,
turning up (the earth) with the race of horses.

κουφονόων τε φῦλον ὀρνίθων ἀμφιβαλὼν ἄγει
καὶ θηρῶν ἀγρίων ἔθνη
πόντου τ’ εἰναλίαν φύσιν
σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις,
περιφραδὴς ἀνήρ·
κρατεῖ δὲ μηχαναῖς ἀγραύλου
θηρὸς ὀρεσσιβάτα, λασιαύχενά θ’
ἵππον ὀχμάζεται ἀμφὶ λόφον ζυγῶν
οὔρειόν τ’ ἀκμῆτα ταῦρον.

Both leading together the flocks of empty-headed birds
and catching bands of beasts,
the offspring of the watery³ fish of the sea
with coiled nets,
clever is man, and being masters
of the field through his contrivances,
gripping fast the shaggy-necked mountain roaming horses, and yoking
together by the back of the neck on both sides the untiring bull of the mountains.

καὶ φθέγμα καὶ ἀνεμόεν
φρόνημα καὶ ἀστυνόμους
ὀργὰς ἐδιδάξατο καὶ δυσαύλων
πάγων ὑπαίθρεια καὶ
δύσομβρα φεύγειν βέλη
παντοπόρος· ἄπορος ἐπ’ οὐδὲν ἔρχεται
τὸ μέλλον· Ἅιδα μόνον
φεῦξιν οὐκ ἐπάξεται·
νόσων δ’ ἀμηχάνων φυγὰς ξυμπέφρασται.

He taught himself speech and windy
thought and states⁴
of city-laws and
how to avoid inhospitable winter
and arrows of rain,
all inventive, he is at a lost to nothing
in regards to the future; only Hades
he is not able to bring about an escape
but from baffling desease he contrives a plan.

σοφόν τι τὸ μηχανόεν
τέχνας ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδ’ ἔχων
τοτὲ μὲν κακόν, ἄλλοτ’ ἐπ’ ἐσθλὸν ἕρπει,
νόμους γεραίρων χθονὸς
θεῶν τ’ ἔνορκον δίκαν,
ὑψίπολις· ἄπολις ὅτῳ τὸ μὴ καλὸν
ξύνεστι τόλμας χάριν. μήτ’ ἐμοὶ παρέστιος
γένοιτο μήτ’ ἴσον φρονῶν
ὃς τάδ’ ἔρδει.

Having ingenious skill and
technology beyond hope
now at times evil, at other times her crawls towards good
fulfilling the laws of the land
and the justice bound by oath to the Gods
that person to whom the good does not exist for the sake of extreme boldness
do not let him be by my hearth
nor understand the same (as me)
one who does these things.

Footnotes

¹ The agreement of τοῦτο here with an antecedent is a bit tricky. Personally, I like to believe the shift into the neuter still refers to man, the subject, but is a depersonalisation of the race. Be aware others have choosen to see other gramatical explinations.

² Awesome is being used in the sense of inspiring of awe, and not as current slang might dictate. The issue here, of course, is rendering the word into English, as the Greek means both inspiring of fear and wonder, so using merely one is not enough to convey the full force, indicating a glaring oversight in the popular translations listed.

³ This is perhaps a very poor translation, but as it would sound odd to render both πόντου and εἰναλίαν together into the generic English of the sea, which would reduce the poetic force and, admittedly, sound silly.

⁴ ὀργὰς would be best translated as a state of mind in this particular context. Unfortunately, this is one of those instances were the Greek phrase, although understood in concept, is almost impossible to fit into an English vocabulary.

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