Lost in translation

καίτοι τοσοῦτόν γ᾽ οἶδα, μήτε μ᾽ ἂν νόσον
μήτ᾽ ἄλλο πέρσαι μηδέν: οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε
θνῄσκων ἐσώθην, μὴ 'πί τῳ δεινῷ κακῷ.

- Sophocles, from Oedipus Tyrannus

["Although I know so much, I will not suffer any sickness 

or anything else: for if I were ever saved by dying, 

I would not be saved from the terrible evil."] 

 

Another translation has it:

 

[So much, at least, I know, that no sickness or other factor 

would have killed me; for I should never have been saved 

from death but for some dreadful evil.] 

 

The latter sense of "this alone I know" (or more precisely "at least this") is echoed in Fagles. Especially in light of his name, it can be taken as a summation not only of 

Oedipus's character but of the human claim to knowledge according to Sophocles.