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Afewminuteslate Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Nothing without ruin?

O common one of the same womb, head of Ismene,(11)
do you know of any suffering of those from Oedipus
that Zeus is yet to fulfill for us two yet living?
Nothing painful, nothing †without ruin†,(12)
no disgrace, no dishonor exists 5
that I have not seen among your evils and mine.

I think "nothing without ruin" doesn't make any sense at all. It was said that without ruin is a corrupted part of the text so I guess that's why it doesn't sound right. This is an extract from Antigone. Am I wrong?

http://www.stoa.org/diotima/anthology/ant/antigstruct.htm
  

Top answer

"Nothing without ruin exists that I have not seen among your evils and mine" would be a tripple negative. That's why I think the transcription error also resulted in a semantical error.

— Afewminuteslate

  • "Nothing without ruin exists that I have not seen among your evils and mine" would be a tripple negative.
  • That's why I think the transcription error also resulted in a semantical error.
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4 Answers
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"Nothing without ruin exists that I have not seen among your evils and mine" would be a tripple negative. That's why I think the transcription error also resulted in a semantical error.
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afewminuteslateThis is an extract from Antigone. Am I wrong?
From what I remember of that play, it certainly seems to be an extract from Antigone, so I suspect you're right.

CJ
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afewminuteslate"Nothing without ruin exists that I have not seen among your evils and mine" would be a tripple triple negative. That's why I think the transcription error also resulted in a semantical error.

That makes sense. I think you're right. I agree with you.

CJ
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