SKĒPTRON IN SOPHOCLES’ OEDIPVS REX

Abstract

In Sophocles’ Oedipus Coloneus, after laying hands on Antigone and Ismene, Creon ridicules Oedipus by saying these words (OC 848–9):οὔκουν ποτ’ ἐκ τούτοιν γε μὴ σκήπτροιν ἔτιὁδοιπορήσῃς.Then you shall never more walk with the aid of these two props!It is possible that Creon is here alluding to Oedipus’ actual appearance throughout the play. As far as we know, Oedipus comes on stage with no walking stick, and uses Antigone and Ismene as a crutch while walking. Creon's comparing Oedipus’ daughters to a crutch, however, is also metaphorical. Such a metaphor is quite common in some modern languages (for example in Italian, ‘bastone della vecchiaia’, or in French, ‘bâton de vieillesse’), but was known by ancient Greek poetry as well. In Euripides’ Hecuba, for instance, Hecuba depicts her daughter Polyxena as her crutch (281 βάκτρον).