λέγειν … κλύειν; do you wish to speak, and yet not to hear? λέγειν τι has a euphemistic tone (‘to say something strong, or harsh’), like “δρᾶν τι” (El. 336), but the “τι” could hardly be represented in translation without exaggerating it. “λέγειν καὶ ἀκούειν” was a familiar phrase for fair discussion ( Thuc. 4.22 “λέγοντες καὶ ἀκούοντες περὶ ἑκάστου ξυμβήσονται”: cp. O. C. 189). El. 628 “πρὸς ὀργὴν ἐκφέρει, μεθεῖσά μοι ι λέγειν ἃ χρῄζοιμ᾽, οὐδ᾽ ἐπίστασαι κλύειν”: ib. 990 “ἡ προμηθία ι καὶ τῷ λέγοντι καὶ κλύοντι σύμμαχος”. The words imply a claim of equality, and are also full of scorn: hence Creon's outburst. —Not: ‘do you wish to taunt and not to be taunted in return?’—as if “κλύειν”=‘to have things said to one’ ( Ai. 1322 “κλύοντι φλαῦρα συμβαλεῖν ἔπη κακά”: El. 523 “κακῶς δέ σε ι λέγω κακῶς κλύουσα πρὸς σέθεν θαμά”).
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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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