Haemon has thrown his arms around her waist (ἀμφὶ μέσσῃ περιπετῆ), embracing her (προσκείμενον), where she hangs lifeless. But verses 1236—1240 require us to suppose that Antigone's body is then stretched on the ground. We are left to understand that Haemon, while uttering his lament (1224 f.), has lifted the corpse, so as to extricate it from the noose, and has laid it down. Cp. O. T. 1266 (where Oed. finds Iocasta hanging), “χαλᾷ κρεμαστὴν ἀρτάνην.” μέσσῃ: cp. 1236: fr. 235. 5 (iambics). Eur. has this form only in lyr.; Aesch. nowhere. περιπετῆ, act.; but pass. in Ai. 907 “ἔγχος πε, πετές” (‘on which he fell’), unless I am right in suspecting that there we should read, “τόδ᾽ ἔγχος περιπετοῦς κατηγορεῖ”, ‘shows that he fell upon it.’ Cp. O. C. 1620 “ἐπ᾽ ἀλλήλοισιν ἀμφικείμενοι”, n.
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part III: The Antigone. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1900.
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