6 OCTOBER 1888, Page 13

" THEBES " AND " THEBF.."

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] *Sin,—I beg leave to make a remark on one point in your -valuable notice of Professor Jebb's edition of the Antigone, in the Spectator of June 2nd. By the word " Thebe," in his translation of line 937, Professor Jebb must mean the daughter -of Asopus (Herod., v., 80), whom Sophocles would appear to regard as the tutelar nymph of the city. The name Thebe stands in the same relation to Thebes as does Athens to Athens. Both here, and in one or two other passages in the play, I should be inclined to prefer the personal translation, although more often, as in line 940, the form Thebe means simply Thebes. I give Professor Jebb great credit for recog. nixing in his translation of line 937 a fact generally overlooked by readers and commentators.—I am, Sir, &o.,