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SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS THE KING
Translation by F. Storr, BA
Formerly Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge
From the Loeb Library Edition
Originally published by
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
and
William Heinemann Ltd, London
First published in 1912
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ARGUMENT
To Laius, King of Thebes, an oracle foretold that the child born
to him by his queen Jocasta would slay his father and wed his mother. ... But a shepherd found the
babe and tended him, and delivered him to another shepherd who took
him to his master, the King or Corinth. ... Arriving at Thebes
he answered the riddle of the Sphinx and the grateful Thebans made
their deliverer king. ... Oedipus denounces the crime of which
he is unaware, and undertakes to track out the criminal. ... The closing scene
reveals Jocasta slain by her own hand and Oedipus blinded by his own
act and praying for death or exile.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Oedipus. ... Before the Palace of Oedipus.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OEDIPUS THE KING
Suppliants of all ages are seated round the altar at the palace doors,
at their head a PRIEST OF ZEUS. To them enter OEDIPUS.
OEDIPUS
My children, latest born to Cadmus old,
Why sit ye here as suppliants, in your hands
Branches of olive filleted with wool? ...
Children, it were not meet that I should learn
From others, and am hither come, myself,
I Oedipus, your world-renowned king. ...
PRIEST
Yea, Oedipus, my sovereign lord and king,
Thou seest how both extremes of age besiege
Thy palace altars--fledglings hardly winged,
and greybeards bowed with years; priests, as am I
of Zeus, and these the flower of our youth. ...
Therefore, O King, here at thy hearth we sit,
I and these children; not as deeming thee
A new divinity, but the first of men;
First in the common accidents of life,
And first in visitations of the Gods. ...
And now, O Oedipus, our peerless king,
All we thy votaries beseech thee, find
Some succor, whether by a voice from heaven
Whispered, or haply known by human wit. ...
OEDIPUS
Ah! ...
OEDIPUS
O King Apollo! ...
OEDIPUS
We soon shall know; hes now in earshot range. ...
OEDIPUS
How runs the oracle? ...
OEDIPUS
Speak before all; the burden that I bear
Is more for these my subjects than myself. ...
King Phoebus bids us straitly extirpate
A fell pollution that infests the land,
And no more harbor an inveterate sore.
OEDIPUS
What expiation means he? ...
OEDIPUS
Whom can he mean, the miscreant thus denounced? ...
OEDIPUS
I heard as much, but never saw the man. ...
OEDIPUS
Where are they? ... "
OEDIPUS
Was he within his palace, or afield,
Or traveling, when Laius met his fate? ...
OEDIPUS
Came there no news, no fellow-traveler
To give some clue that might be followed up? ...
OEDIPUS
And what was that? ...
OEDIPUS
Did any bandit dare so bold a stroke,
Unless indeed he were suborned from Thebes? ...
OEDIPUS
What trouble can have hindered a full quest,
When royalty had fallen thus miserably? ...
OEDIPUS
Well, _I_ will start afresh and once again
Make dark things clear. ...
Not for some far-off kinsman, but myself,
Shall I expel this poison in the blood;
For whoso slew that king might have a mind
To strike me too with his assassin hand. ...
[Exeunt OEDIPUS and CREON]
PRIEST
Come, children, let us hence; these gracious words
Forestall the very purpose of our suit. ... 3)
O that thine arrows too, Lycean King,
From that taut bows gold string,
Might fly abroad, the champions of our rights;
Yea, and the flashing lights
Of Artemis, wherewith the huntress sweeps
Across the Lycian steeps. ...
[Enter OEDIPUS.]
OEDIPUS
Ye pray; tis well, but would ye hear my words
And heed them and apply the remedy,
Ye might perchance find comfort and relief. ...
Thus as their champion I maintain the cause
Both of the god and of the murdered King. ...
For, let alone the gods express command,
It were a scandal ye should leave unpurged
The murder of a great man and your king,
Nor track it home. ...
OEDIPUS
Well argued; but no living man can hope
To force the gods to speak against their will. ...
OEDIPUS
Aye, if there be a third best, tell it too. ...
OEDIPUS
Here too my zeal has nothing lagged, for twice
At Creons instance have I sent to fetch him,
And long I marvel why he is not here. ...
OEDIPUS
Tell them, I would fain know all. ...
OEDIPUS
So I heard,
But none has seen the man who saw him fall. ...
OEDIPUS
Words scare not him who blenches not at deeds. ... ]
OEDIPUS
Teiresias, seer who comprehendest all,
Lore of the wise and hidden mysteries,
High things of heaven and low things of the earth,
Thou knowest, though thy blinded eyes see naught,
What plague infects our city; and we turn
To thee, O seer, our one defense and shield. ...
Therefore begrudging neither augury
Nor other divination that is thine,
O save thyself, thy country, and thy king,
Save all from this defilement of blood shed. ...
OEDIPUS
What ails thee? ...
OEDIPUS
For shame! ...
TEIRESIAS
_Thy_ words, O king, are wide of the mark, and I
For fear lest I too trip like thee. ...
OEDIPUS
Oh speak,
Withhold not, I adjure thee, if thou knowst,
Thy knowledge. ... [2]
OEDIPUS
What then, thou knowest, and yet willst not speak! ...
OEDIPUS
Monster! ...
OEDIPUS
And who could stay his choler when he heard
How insolently thou dost flout the State? ...
OEDIPUS
Since come it must, thy duty is to tell me. ...
OEDIPUS
Yea, I am wroth, and will not stint my words,
But speak my whole mind. ...
OEDIPUS
Vile slanderer, thou blurtest forth these taunts,
And thinkst forsooth as seer to go scot free. ...
OEDIPUS
Who was thy teacher? ...
OEDIPUS
What speech? ...
OEDIPUS
I but half caught thy meaning; say it again. ...
OEDIPUS
Thou shalt rue it
Twice to repeat so gross a calumny. ...
OEDIPUS
Say all thou wilt; it will be but waste of breath. ...
OEDIPUS
Thinkst thou for aye unscathed to wag thy tongue? ...
OEDIPUS
With other men, but not with thee, for thou
In ear, wit, eye, in everything art blind. ...
OEDIPUS
Offspring of endless Night, thou hast no power
Oer me or any man who sees the sun. ...
OEDIPUS
Is this a plot of Creon, or thine own? ...
OEDIPUS
O wealth and empiry and skill by skill
Outwitted in the battlefield of life,
What spite and envy follow in your train! ...
And yet the riddle was not to be solved
By guess-work but required the prophets art;
Wherein thou wast found lacking; neither birds
Nor sign from heaven helped thee, but _I_ came,
The simple Oedipus; _I_ stopped her mouth
By mother wit, untaught of auguries. ...
CHORUS
To us it seems that both the seer and thou,
O Oedipus, have spoken angry words. ...
TEIRESIAS
King as thou art, free speech at least is mine
To make reply; in this I am thy peer. ...
OEDIPUS
Must I endure this fellows insolence? ...
OEDIPUS
I know not thou wouldst utter folly, else
Long hadst thou waited to be summoned here. ...
OEDIPUS
What sayest thou--"parents"? ...
OEDIPUS
Thou lovst to speak in riddles and dark words. ...
OEDIPUS
Twit me with that wherein my greatness lies. ...
OEDIPUS
No matter if I saved the commonwealth. ...
OEDIPUS
Aye, take him quickly, for his presence irks
And lets me; gone, thou canst not plague me more. ...
[Exeunt TEIRESIAS and OEDIPUS]
CHORUS
(Str. ...
How can I now assent when a crime is on Oedipus laid?
CREON
Friends, countrymen, I learn King Oedipus
Hath laid against me a most grievous charge,
And come to you protesting. ...
[Enter OEDIPUS.]
OEDIPUS
Sirrah, what makst thou here? ...
OEDIPUS
Thou art glib of tongue, but I am slow to learn
Of thee; I know too well thy venomous hate. ...
OEDIPUS
O argue not that thou art not a rogue. ...
OEDIPUS
If thou dost hold a kinsman may be wronged,
And no pains follow, thou art much to seek. ...
OEDIPUS
Didst thou or didst thou not advise that I
Should call the priest? ...
OEDIPUS
Tell me how long is it since Laius. ...
OEDIPUS
By violent hands was spirited away. ...
OEDIPUS
Did the same prophet then pursue his craft? ...
OEDIPUS
Did he at that time ever glance at me? ...
OEDIPUS
But was no search and inquisition made? ...
OEDIPUS
Why failed the seer to tell his story _then_? ...
OEDIPUS
This much thou knowest and canst surely tell. ...
OEDIPUS
But for thy prompting never had the seer
Ascribed to me the death of Laius. ...
OEDIPUS
Question and prove me murderer if thou canst. ...
OEDIPUS
A fact so plain I cannot well deny. ...
OEDIPUS
I grant her freely all her heart desires. ...
OEDIPUS
Yea, and it is that proves thee a false friend. ... As for me,
I have no natural craving for the name
Of king, preferring to do kingly deeds,
And so thinks every sober-minded man.
Now all my needs are satisfied through thee,
And I have naught to fear; but were I king,
My acts would oft run counter to my will. ...
OEDIPUS
When with swift strides the stealthy plotter stalks
I must be quick too with my counterplot. ...
OEDIPUS
I would not have thee banished, no, but dead,
That men may mark the wages envy reaps. ...
OEDIPUS
[None but a fool would credit such as thou. ...
OEDIPUS
Wise for myself at least. ...
OEDIPUS
Why for such a knave? ...
OEDIPUS
Yet kings must rule. ...
OEDIPUS
Oh my Thebans, hear him! ...
CREON
My royal sister, Oedipus, thy lord,
Hath bid me choose (O dread alternative! ...
OEDIPUS
Yes, lady; I have caught him practicing
Against my royal person his vile arts. ...
JOCASTA
Believe him, I adjure thee, Oedipus,
First for his solemn oaths sake, then for mine,
And for thine elders sake who wait on thee. ... 1)
Hearken, King, reflect, we pray thee, but not stubborn but relent.
OEDIPUS
Say to what should I consent? ...
OEDIPUS
Dost know what grace thou cravest? ...
OEDIPUS
Declare it then and make thy meaning plain. ...
OEDIPUS
Bethink you that in seeking this ye seek
In very sooth my death or banishment? ...
OEDIPUS
Well, let him go, no matter what it cost me,
Or certain death or shameful banishment,
For your sake I relent, not his; and him,
Whereer he be, my heart shall still abhor. ...
OEDIPUS
Leave me in peace and get thee gone. ...
OEDIPUS
Strange counsel, friend! ... 2)
King, I say it once again,
Witless were I proved, insane,
If I lightly put away
Thee my countrys prop and stay,
Pilot who, in danger sought,
To a quiet haven brought
Our distracted State; and now
Who can guide us right but thou?
JOCASTA
Let me too, I adjure thee, know, O king,
What cause has stirred this unrelenting wrath.
OEDIPUS
I will, for thou art more to me than these. ...
OEDIPUS
He points me out as Laius murderer. ...
OEDIPUS
He is too cunning to commit himself,
And makes a mouthpiece of a knavish seer. ... O king,
Regard it not. ...
OEDIPUS
What memories, what wild tumult of the soul
Came oer me, lady, as I heard thee speak! ...
OEDIPUS
Methought I heard thee say that Laius
Was murdered at the meeting of three roads. ...
OEDIPUS
Where did this happen? ...
OEDIPUS
And how long is it since these things befell? ...
OEDIPUS
O Zeus, what hast thou willed to do with me!
JOCASTA
What is it, Oedipus, that moves thee so?
OEDIPUS
Ask me not yet; tell me the build and height
Of Laius? ...
OEDIPUS
O woe is me! ... When I look upon thee, my king,
I tremble.
OEDIPUS
Tis a dread presentiment
That in the end the seer will prove not blind. ...
OEDIPUS
Had he but few attendants or a train
Of armed retainers with him, like a prince? ...
OEDIPUS
Alas! ...
OEDIPUS
Haply he is at hand or in the house? ...
OEDIPUS
Fetch him at once. ...
OEDIPUS
Lady, I fear my tongue has overrun
Discretion; therefore I would question him.
JOCASTA
Well, he shall come, but may not I too claim
To share the burden of thy heart, my king?
OEDIPUS
And thou shalt not be frustrate of thy wish. ...
CHORUS
We too, O king, are troubled; but till thou
Hast questioned the survivor, still hope on.
OEDIPUS
My hope is faint, but still enough survives
To bid me bide the coming of this herd. ...
OEDIPUS
Ill tell thee, lady; if his tale agrees
With thine, I shall have scaped calamity. ...
OEDIPUS
In thy report of what the herdsman said
Laius was slain by robbers; now if he
Still speaks of robbers, not a robber, I
Slew him not; "one" with "many" cannot square. ...
OEDIPUS
Thou reasonest well. ...
[Exeunt OEDIPUS and JOCASTA]
CHORUS
(Str. ...
O Zeus, reveal thy might,
King, if thourt named aright
Omnipotent, all-seeing, as of old;
For Laius is forgot;
His weird, men heed it not;
Apollo is forsook and faith grows cold. ...
I had a mind to visit the high shrines,
For Oedipus is overwrought, alarmed
With terrors manifold. ... ]
MESSENGER
My masters, tell me where the palace is
Of Oedipus; or better, wheres the king. ...
MESSENGER
The Isthmian commons have resolved to make
Thy husband king--so twas reported there. ... is not aged Polybus still king? ... is he dead, the sire of Oedipus? ...
This is the man whom Oedipus long shunned,
In dread to prove his murderer; and now
He dies in natures course, not by his hand.
[Enter OEDIPUS.]
OEDIPUS
My wife, my queen, Jocasta, why hast thou
Summoned me from my palace? ...
OEDIPUS
Who is this man, and what his news for me? ...
OEDIPUS
What? ...
OEDIPUS
By treachery, or by sickness visited? ...
OEDIPUS
So of some malady he died, poor man. ...
OEDIPUS
Out on it, lady! ...
OEDIPUS
Thou didst: but I was misled by my fear. ...
OEDIPUS
Must I not fear my mothers marriage bed. ...
OEDIPUS
I should have shared in full thy confidence,
Were not my mother living; since she lives
Though half convinced I still must live in dread. ...
OEDIPUS
Much, but my fear is touching her who lives. ...
OEDIPUS
Merope, stranger, wife of Polybus. ...
OEDIPUS
A heaven-sent oracle of dread import. ...
OEDIPUS
Aye, tis no secret. ...
OEDIPUS
Yea, and the dread of slaying my own sire.
MESSENGER
Why, since I came to give thee pleasure, King,
Have I not rid thee of this second fear?
OEDIPUS
Well, thou shalt have due guerdon for thy pains. ...
OEDIPUS
Nay, I will neer go near my parents more. ...
OEDIPUS
How so, old man? ...
OEDIPUS
Yea, lest the gods word be fulfilled in me. ...
OEDIPUS
This and none other is my constant dread. ...
OEDIPUS
How baseless, if I am their very son? ...
OEDIPUS
What sayst thou? ...
OEDIPUS
My sire no more to me than one who is naught? ...
OEDIPUS
What reason had he then to call me son? ...
OEDIPUS
Yet, if no child of his, he loved me well. ...
OEDIPUS
A foundling or a purchased slave, this child? ...
OEDIPUS
What led thee to explore those upland glades? ...
OEDIPUS
A vagrant shepherd journeying for hire? ...
OEDIPUS
My savior? ...
OEDIPUS
Ah, why remind me of that ancient sore? ...
OEDIPUS
Yes, from my cradle that dread brand I bore. ...
OEDIPUS
Who did it? ...
OEDIPUS
What, did another find me, not thyself? ...
OEDIPUS
Who was he? ...
OEDIPUS
The king who ruled the country long ago?
MESSENGER
The same: he was a herdsman of the king.
OEDIPUS
And is he living still for me to see him? ...
OEDIPUS
Doth any bystander among you know
The herd he speaks of, or by seeing him
Afield or in the city? ...
OEDIPUS
Madam, dost know the man we sent to fetch? ...
OEDIPUS
No, with such guiding clues I cannot fail
To bring to light the secret of my birth. ...
OEDIPUS
Be of good cheer; though I be proved the son
Of a bondwoman, aye, through three descents
Triply a slave, thy honor is unsmirched. ...
OEDIPUS
I cannot; I must probe this matter home. ...
OEDIPUS
I grow impatient of this best advice. ...
OEDIPUS
Go, fetch me here the herd, and leave yon woman
To glory in her pride of ancestry. ...
[Exit JOCASTA]
CHORUS
Why, Oedipus, why stung with passionate grief
Hath the queen thus departed? ...
OEDIPUS
Let the storm burst, my fixed resolve still holds,
To learn my lineage, be it neer so low. ... )
If my soul prophetic err not, if my wisdom aught avail,
Thee, Cithaeron, I shall hail,
As the nurse and foster-mother of our Oedipus shall greet
Ere tomorrows full moon rises, and exalt thee as is meet. ...
OEDIPUS
Elders, if I, who never yet before
Have met the man, may make a guess, methinks
I see the herdsman who we long have sought;
His time-worn aspect matches with the years
Of yonder aged messenger; besides
I seem to recognize the men who bring him
As servants of my own. ... ]
OEDIPUS
Corinthian, stranger, I address thee first,
Is this the man thou meanest! ...
OEDIPUS
And now old man, look up and answer all
I ask thee. ...
OEDIPUS
What was thy business? ...
OEDIPUS
What were the pastures thou didst most frequent? ...
OEDIPUS
Then there
Thou must have known yon man, at least by fame? ...
OEDIPUS
The man here, having met him in past times. ...
OEDIPUS
Softly, old man, rebuke him not; thy words
Are more deserving chastisement than his. ...
OEDIPUS
Not answering what he asks about the child. ...
OEDIPUS
If thou lackst grace to speak, Ill loose thy tongue. ...
OEDIPUS
Arrest the villain, seize and pinion him! ...
OEDIPUS
Didst give this man the child of whom he asks? ...
OEDIPUS
And die thou shalt unless thou tell the truth. ...
OEDIPUS
The knave methinks will still prevaricate. ...
OEDIPUS
Whence came it? ...
OEDIPUS
From whom of these our townsmen, and what house? ...
OEDIPUS
If I must question thee again, thourt lost. ...
OEDIPUS
Slave-born or one of Laius own race? ...
OEDIPUS
And I of hearing, but I still must hear. ...
OEDIPUS
What! ...
HERDSMAN
Tis so, my king.
OEDIPUS
With what intent? ...
OEDIPUS
What, she its mother. ...
OEDIPUS
What weird? ...
OEDIPUS
What didst thou give it then to this old man? ...
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ...
[Exit OEDIPUS]
CHORUS
(Str. ...
Thy fall, O Oedipus, thy piteous fall
Warns me none born of women blest to call. ...
We hailed thee king and from that day adored
Of mighty Thebes the universal lord. ...
O Oedipus, discrowned head,
Thy cradle was thy marriage bed;
One harborage sufficed for son and sire. ...
What happened after that I cannot tell,
Nor how the end befell, for with a shriek
Burst on us Oedipus; all eyes were fixed
On Oedipus, as up and down he strode,
Nor could we mark her agony to the end. ...
[Enter OEDIPUS blinded. ...
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ...
OEDIPUS
(Str. ...
OEDIPUS
(Ant. ...
OEDIPUS
(Str. ...
OEDIPUS
Say, friends, can any look or voice
Or touch of love henceforth my heart rejoice? ...
OEDIPUS
(Ant. ...
OEDIPUS
Then had I never come to shed
My fathers blood nor climbed my mothers bed;
The monstrous offspring of a womb defiled,
Co-mate of him who gendered me, and child.
Was ever man before afflicted thus,
Like Oedipus. ...
OEDIPUS
Whats done was well done. ...
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ...
CREON
Not in derision, Oedipus, I come
Nor to upbraid thee with thy past misdeeds. ...
OEDIPUS
O listen, since thy presence comes to me
A shock of glad surprise--so noble thou,
And I so vile--O grant me one small boon. ...
OEDIPUS
Forth from thy borders thrust me with all speed;
Set me within some vasty desert where
No mortal voice shall greet me any more. ...
OEDIPUS
His will was set forth fully--to destroy
The parricide, the scoundrel; and I am he. ...
OEDIPUS
Dare ye inquire concerning such a wretch? ...
OEDIPUS
Aye, and on thee in all humility
I lay this charge: let her who lies within
Receive such burial as thou shalt ordain;
Such rites tis thine, as brother, to perform. ...
OEDIPUS
God speed thee! ...
OEDIPUS
I must obey,
Though tis grievous. ...
OEDIPUS
Well I go, but on conditions. ...
OEDIPUS
Send me from the land an exile. ...
OEDIPUS
But I am the gods abhorrence. ...
OEDIPUS
Lead me hence, then, I am willing. ...
OEDIPUS
Rob me not of these my children! ...
CHORUS
Look ye, countrymen and Thebans, this is Oedipus the great,
He who knew the Sphinxs riddle and was mightiest in our state. ...
END OF OEDIPUS REX.
SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Translation by F. Storr, BA
Formerly Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge
From the Loeb Library Edition
Originally published by
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
and
William Heinemann Ltd, London
First published in 1912
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ARGUMENT
Oedipus, the blind and banished King of Thebes, has come in his
wanderings to Colonus, a deme of Athens, led by his daughter Antigone. ... But Oedipus, instructed by an
oracle that he had reached his final resting-place, refuses to stir,
and the stranger consents to go and consult the Elders of Colonus (the
Chorus of the Play). ... They agree to await the decision of
King Theseus. From Theseus Oedipus craves protection in life and
burial in Attic soil; the benefits that will accrue shall be told
later. ... No
sooner has he gone than Creon enters with an armed guard who seize
Antigone and carry her off (Ismene, the other sister, they have
already captured) and he is about to lay hands on Oedipus, when
Theseus, who has heard the tumult, hurries up and, upbraiding Creon
for his lawless act, threatens to detain him till he has shown where
the captives are and restored them. ... He informs Oedipus that a
stranger who has taken sanctuary at the altar of Poseidon wishes to
see him. It is Polyneices who has come to crave his fathers
forgiveness and blessing, knowing by an oracle that victory will fall
to the side that Oedipus espouses. But Oedipus spurns the hypocrite,
and invokes a dire curse on both his unnatural sons. A sudden clap of
thunder is heard, and as peal follows peal, Oedipus is aware that his
hour is come and bids Antigone summon Theseus. ...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
OEDIPUS, banished King of Thebes. ...
THESEUS, King of Athens. ...
POLYNEICES, elder son of Oedipus. ...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Enter the blind OEDIPUS led by his daughter, ANTIGONE.
OEDIPUS
Child of an old blind sire, Antigone,
What region, say, whose city have we reached? ...
ANTIGONE
Long-suffering father, Oedipus, the towers
That fence the city still are faint and far;
But where we stand is surely holy ground;
A wilderness of laurel, olive, vine;
Within a choir or songster nightingales
Are warbling. ...
OEDIPUS
Guide these dark steps and seat me there secure. ...
OEDIPUS
Say, prithee, if thou knowest, where we are. ...
OEDIPUS
That much we heard from every wayfarer. ...
OEDIPUS
Yes, daughter, if it be inhabited. ...
OEDIPUS
What, moving hitherward and on his way? ...
[Enter STRANGER]
OEDIPUS
O stranger, as I learn from her whose eyes
Must serve both her and me, that thou art here
Sent by some happy chance to serve our doubts--
STRANGER
First quit that seat, then question me at large:
The spot thou treadest on is holy ground.
OEDIPUS
What is the site, to what god dedicate? ...
OEDIPUS
Tell me the awful name I should invoke? ...
OEDIPUS
Then may they show their suppliant grace, for I
From this your sanctuary will neer depart. ...
OEDIPUS
The watchword of my fate. ...
OEDIPUS
Now in Gods name, O stranger, scorn me not
As a wayfarer; tell me what I crave. ...
OEDIPUS
How call you then the place wherein we bide? ...
OEDIPUS
Thou sayest there are dwellers in these parts? ...
OEDIPUS
Ruled by a king or by the general voice? ...
OEDIPUS
Who is this monarch, great in word and might?
STRANGER
Theseus, the son of Aegeus our late king.
OEDIPUS
Might one be sent from you to summon him? ...
OEDIPUS
Say a slight service may avail him much. ...
OEDIPUS
The blind mans words will be instinct with sight. ...
[Exit STRANGER]
OEDIPUS
Tell me, my daughter, has the stranger gone? ...
OEDIPUS
Stern-visaged queens, since coming to this land
First in your sanctuary I bent the knee,
Frown not on me or Phoebus, who, when erst
He told me all my miseries to come,
Spake of this respite after many years,
Some haven in a far-off land, a rest
Vouchsafed at last by dread divinities. ...
Hear, gentle daughters of primeval Night,
Hear, namesake of great Pallas; Athens, first
Of cities, pity this dishonored shade,
The ghost of him who once was Oedipus. ...
OEDIPUS
I will be mute, and thou shalt guide my steps
Into the covert from the public road,
Till I have learned their drift. ...
OEDIPUS
I am that man; I know you near
Ears to the blind, they say, are eyes. ...
OEDIPUS
Oh sirs, I am no outlaw under ban. ...
OEDIPUS
No favorite of fate,
That ye should envy his estate,
O, Sirs, would any happy mortal, say,
Grope by the light of other eyes his way,
Or face the storm upon so frail a stay? ...
OEDIPUS
Daughter, what counsel should we now pursue? ...
OEDIPUS
Thy hand then!
ANTIGONE
Here, O father, is my hand,
OEDIPUS
O Sirs, if I come forth at your command,
Let me not suffer for my confidence. ...
OEDIPUS
Shall I go further? ...
OEDIPUS
What further still? ...
ANTIGONE [1]
* * * * * *
OEDIPUS
* * * * * *
ANTIGONE
* * * * * *
Follow with blind steps, father, as I lead.
OEDIPUS
* * * * * *
CHORUS
In a strange land strange thou art;
To her will incline thy heart;
Honor whatsoer the State
Honors, all she frowns on hate.
OEDIPUS
Guide me child, where we may range
Safe within the paths of right;
Counsel freely may exchange
Nor with fate and fortune fight. ...
OEDIPUS
Stay where I now am? ...
OEDIPUS
May I sit down? ...
ANTIGONE
This is my office, father, O incline--
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ...
OEDIPUS
Woe on my fate unblest! ...
OEDIPUS
Strangers, I have no country. ...
OEDIPUS
Forbear, nor urge me further to reveal--
CHORUS
Why this reluctance?
OEDIPUS
Dread my lineage. ...
OEDIPUS
What must I answer, child, ah welladay!
CHORUS
Say of what stock thou comest, what mans son--
OEDIPUS
Ah me, my daughter, now we are undone! ...
OEDIPUS
I will; no plea for silence can I urge. ...
OEDIPUS
Knowst one of Laius--
CHORUS
Ha? ...
OEDIPUS
Seed of Labdacus--
CHORUS
Oh Zeus!
OEDIPUS
The hapless Oedipus. ...
OEDIPUS
Whateer I utter, have no fear of me. ...
OEDIPUS
O wretched me! ...
OEDIPUS
O daughter, what will hap anon? ...
OEDIPUS
How keep you then your troth? ...
CHORUS
Surely we pity thee and him alike
Daughter of Oedipus, for your distress;
But as we reverence the decrees of Heaven
We cannot say aught other than we said.
OEDIPUS
O what avails renown or fair repute? ...
OEDIPUS
Where is he, strangers, he who sways the realm? ...
OEDIPUS
And think you he will have such care or thought
For the blind stranger as to come himself? ...
OEDIPUS
But who will bear him word! ...
OEDIPUS
Well, may he come with blessing to his State
And me! ...
OEDIPUS
What now, Antigone? ...
OEDIPUS
Ha! ...
OEDIPUS
Art come, my child? ...
OEDIPUS
Child, thou art here? ...
OEDIPUS
Touch me, my child. ...
OEDIPUS
O children--sisters! ...
OEDIPUS
Her plight and mine? ...
OEDIPUS
What brought thee, daughter? ...
OEDIPUS
A daughters yearning? ...
OEDIPUS
Thy valiant brothers, where are they at need? ...
OEDIPUS
Out on the twain! ...
And thou, my child, whilom thou wentest forth,
Eluding the Cadmeians vigilance,
To bring thy father all the oracles
Concerning Oedipus, and didst make thyself
My faithful lieger, when they banished me. ...
OEDIPUS
Hast thou indeed then entertained a hope
The gods at last will turn and rescue me? ...
OEDIPUS
What oracles? ...
OEDIPUS
And who could gain by such a one as I? ...
OEDIPUS
So, when I cease to be, my worth begins. ...
OEDIPUS
Poor help to raise an old man fallen in youth. ...
OEDIPUS
With what intent, my daughter? ...
OEDIPUS
What gain they, if I lay outside?
OEDIPUS
Thy tomb,
If disappointed, brings on them a curse.
OEDIPUS
It needs no god to tell whats plain to sense. ...
OEDIPUS
Mean they to shroud my bones in Theban dust? ...
OEDIPUS
Then never shall they be my masters, never! ...
OEDIPUS
When what conjunction comes to pass, my child? ... [3]
OEDIPUS
And who hath told thee what thou tellst me, child? ...
OEDIPUS
Hath Phoebus spoken thus concerning me? ...
OEDIPUS
And can a son of mine have heard of this? ...
OEDIPUS
They knew it, yet the ignoble greed of rule
Outweighed all longing for their sires return. ...
OEDIPUS
Then may the gods neer quench their fatal feud,
And mine be the arbitrament of the fight,
For which they now are arming, spear to spear;
That neither he who holds the scepter now
May keep this throne, nor he who fled the realm
Return again. ...
CHORUS
Our pity, Oedipus, thou needs must move,
Thou and these maidens; and the stronger plea
Thou urgest, as the savior of our land,
Disposes me to counsel for thy weal.
OEDIPUS
Aid me, kind sirs; I will do all you bid. ...
OEDIPUS
After what manner, stranger? ...
OEDIPUS
And after I have gotten this pure draught?
CHORUS
Bowls thou wilt find, the carvers handiwork;
Crown thou the rims and both the handles crown--
OEDIPUS
With olive shoots or blocks of wool, or how? ...
OEDIPUS
What next? ...
OEDIPUS
Pouring it from the urns whereof ye spake? ...
OEDIPUS
And wherewith shall I fill it,
Ere in its place I set it? ...
OEDIPUS
And when the embowered earth hath drunk thereof? ...
OEDIPUS
I fain would hear it; that imports the most. ...
OEDIPUS
Hear ye, my daughters, what these strangers say? ...
OEDIPUS
I cannot go, disabled as I am
Doubly, by lack of strength and lack of sight;
But one of you may do it in my stead;
For one, I trow, may pay the sacrifice
Of thousands, if his heart be leal and true. ... 1)
Ill it is, stranger, to awake
Pain that long since has ceased to ache,
And yet I fain would hear--
OEDIPUS
What thing? ...
OEDIPUS
O bid me not (as guest I claim
This grace) expose my shame. ...
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ...
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ...
OEDIPUS
(Ant. ...
OEDIPUS
The State around
An all unwitting bridegroom bound
An impious marriage chain;
That was my bane.
CHORUS
Didst thou in sooth then share
A bed incestuous with her that bare--
OEDIPUS
It stabs me like a sword,
That two-edged word,
O stranger, but these maids--my own--
CHORUS
Say on.
OEDIPUS
Two daughters, curses twain. ...
OEDIPUS
Sprang from the wife and mothers travail-pain. ... 2)
What, then thy offspring are at once--
OEDIPUS
Too true. ...
OEDIPUS
Horrors from the boundless deep
Back on my soul in refluent surges sweep.
CHORUS
Thou hast endured--
OEDIPUS
Intolerable woe.
CHORUS
And sinned--
OEDIPUS
I sinned not. ...
OEDIPUS
I served the State; would I had never won
That graceless grace by which I was undone. ...
OEDIPUS
Must ye hear more? ...
OEDIPUS
Flood on flood
Whelms me; that words a second mortal blow. ...
OEDIPUS
Yes, a murderer, but know--
CHORUS
What canst thou plead?
OEDIPUS
A plea of justice. ...
OEDIPUS
I slew who else would me have slain;
I slew without intent,
A wretch, but innocent
In the laws eye, I stand, without a stain. ... So pitying thine estate,
Most ill-starred Oedipus, I fain would know
What is the suit ye urge on me and Athens,
Thou and the helpless maiden at thy side. ...
OEDIPUS
Theseus, thy words so apt, so generous
So comfortable, need no long reply
Both who I am and of what lineage sprung,
And from what land I came, thou hast declared. ...
OEDIPUS
I come to offer thee this woe-worn frame,
A gift not fair to look on; yet its worth
More precious far than any outward show. ...
OEDIPUS
Hereafter thou shalt learn, not yet, methinks. ...
OEDIPUS
When I am dead and thou hast buried me. ...
OEDIPUS
Yea, the last boon is warrant for the rest. ...
OEDIPUS
Nay, weigh it well; the issue is not slight. ...
OEDIPUS
Prince, they would fain convey me back to Thebes. ...
OEDIPUS
Nay, when _I_ wished it _they_ would not consent. ...
OEDIPUS
Chide if thou wilt, but first attend my plea. ...
OEDIPUS
O Theseus, I have suffered wrongs on wrongs. ...
OEDIPUS
No, that has grown a byword throughout Greece. ...
OEDIPUS
My case stands thus; by my own flesh and blood
I was expelled my country, and can neer
Thither return again, a parricide. ...
OEDIPUS
Destruction that awaits them in this land. ...
OEDIPUS
Dear son of Aegeus, to the gods alone
Is given immunity from eld and death;
But nothing else escapes all-ruinous time. ...
No more: tis ill to tear aside the veil
Of mysteries; let me cease as I began:
Enough if thou wilt keep thy plighted troth,
Then shall thou neer complain that Oedipus
Proved an unprofitable and thankless guest,
Except the gods themselves shall play me false. ...
First, he can claim the hospitality
To which by mutual contract we stand pledged:
Next, coming here, a suppliant to the gods,
He pays full tribute to the State and me;
His favors therefore never will I spurn,
But grant him the full rights of citizen;
And, if it suits the stranger here to bide,
I place him in your charge, or if he please
Rather to come with me--choose, Oedipus,
Which of the two thou wilt. ...
OEDIPUS
Zeus, may the blessing fall on men like these! ...
OEDIPUS
Yea, were it lawful--but tis rather here--
THESEUS
What wouldst thou here? ...
OEDIPUS
Here shall I vanquish those who cast me forth. ...
OEDIPUS
Such shall it prove, if thou fulfillst thy pledge. ...
OEDIPUS
No need to back thy promise with an oath. ...
OEDIPUS
How wilt thou act then? ...
OEDIPUS
My foes will come--
THESEUS
Our friends will look to that.
OEDIPUS
But if thou leave me? ...
OEDIPUS
Tis fear constrains me. ...
OEDIPUS
Thou knowest not what threats--
THESEUS
I know that none
Shall hale thee hence in my despite. ... 2)
Yet another gift, of all gifts the most
Prized by our fatherland, we boast--
The might of the horse, the might of the sea;
Our fame, Poseidon, we owe to thee,
Son of Kronos, our king divine,
Who in these highways first didst fit
For the mouth of horses the iron bit;
Thou too hast taught us to fashion meet
For the arm of the rower the oar-blade fleet,
Swift as the Nereids hundred feet
As they dance along the brine. ...
OEDIPUS
Why this appeal, my daughter? ...
OEDIPUS
Fear not, it shall be so; if we are old,
This countrys vigor has no touch of age. ...
O listen to me, luckless Oedipus,
Come home! ...
Hide it, O hide it, Oedipus, thou canst. ...
OEDIPUS
O front of brass, thy subtle tongue would twist
To thy advantage every plea of right
Why try thy arts on me, why spread again
Toils where twould gall me sorest to be snared? ...
OEDIPUS
I shall be well contented if thy suit
Fails with these strangers, as it has with me. ...
OEDIPUS
Thou hast a glib tongue, but no honest man,
Methinks, can argue well on any side. ...
OEDIPUS
Thy words, forsooth, are few and all well aimed! ...
OEDIPUS
Depart! ...
CREON
I protest to these,
Not thee, and for thine answer to thy kin,
If eer I take thee--
OEDIPUS
Who against their will
Could take me? ...
OEDIPUS
What power hast thou to execute this threat? ...
OEDIPUS
Woe, woe! ...
OEDIPUS
Hast thou my child? ...
OEDIPUS
Ho, friends! ...
OEDIPUS
O princes of the land! ...
OEDIPUS
Help, Athens! ...
OEDIPUS
Did I not warn thee? ...
OEDIPUS
Where art thou, daughter? ...
OEDIPUS
Thy hands, my child! ...
OEDIPUS
Ah, woe is me, ah woe! ...
OEDIPUS
O shameless voice! ...
OEDIPUS
Goddesses, allow
Thy suppliant to utter yet one curse! ...
OEDIPUS
They mark us both and understand that I
Wronged by the deeds defend myself with words. ...
OEDIPUS
O woe is me! ...
OEDIPUS
Ye hear his words? ...
OEDIPUS
Dear friend--those accents tell me who thou art--
Yon man but now hath done me a foul wrong. ...
OEDIPUS
Creon who stands before thee. ...
OEDIPUS
Thou hast heard my tale of wrongs. ...
Were I on Theban soil, to prosecute
The justest claim imaginable, I
Would never wrest by violence my own
Without sanction of your State or King;
I should behave as fits an outlander
Living amongst a foreign folk, but thou
Shamest a city that deserves it not,
Even thine own, and plentitude of years
Have made of thee an old man and a fool. ...
OEDIPUS
O shameless railer, thinkst thou this abuse
Defames my grey hairs rather than thine own? ... Thou, Oedipus,
Stay here assured that nothing save my death
Will stay my purpose to restore the maids.
OEDIPUS
Heaven bless thee, Theseus, for thy nobleness
And all thy loving care in my behalf. ...
Flashes each bridle bright,
Charges each gallant knight,
All that our Queen adore,
Pallas their patron, or
Him whose wide floods enring
Earth, the great Ocean-king
Whom Rhea bore. ...
[Enter ANTIGONE and ISMENE with THESEUS]
OEDIPUS
Where, where? ...
OEDIPUS
My child! ...
OEDIPUS
Come to your fathers arms, O let me feel
A childs embrace I never hoped for more. ...
OEDIPUS
Where are ye then? ...
OEDIPUS
My precious nurslings! ...
OEDIPUS
Props of my age! ...
OEDIPUS
I have my darlings, and if death should come,
Death were not wholly bitter with you near. ...
OEDIPUS
I pray thee do not wonder if the sight
Of children, given oer for lost, has made
My converse somewhat long and tedious. ...
OEDIPUS
What is it, son of Aegeus? ...
OEDIPUS
What is his country? ...
OEDIPUS
What seeks he? ...
OEDIPUS
I marvel who is this petitioner. ...
OEDIPUS
Dear friend, forbear, I pray. ...
OEDIPUS
Ask it not of me. ...
OEDIPUS
Thy words have told me who the suppliant is. ...
OEDIPUS
My son, O king, my hateful son, whose words
Of all mens most would jar upon my ears. ...
OEDIPUS
That voice, O king, grates on a fathers ears;
I have come to loathe it. ...
OEDIPUS
Grievous to me, my child, the boon ye win
By pleading. ...
OEDIPUS
Who may he be? ...
So likewise hold the soothsayers, for when
I came to Argos in the Dorian land
And took the king Adrastus child to wife,
Under my standard I enlisted all
The foremost captains of the Apian isle,
To levy with their aid that sevenfold host
Of spearmen against Thebes, determining
To oust my foes or die in a just cause. ...
CHORUS
For the kings sake who sent him, Oedipus,
Dismiss him not without a meet reply.
OEDIPUS
Nay, worthy seniors, but for Theseus sake
Who sent him hither to have word of me. ... Go now proclaim
What thou hast heard to the Cadmeians all,
Thy staunch confederates--this the heritage
that Oedipus divideth to his sons. ...
OEDIPUS
Children, my children! ...
OEDIPUS
This winged thunder of the god must bear me
Anon to Hades. ...
OEDIPUS
Daughters, upon me the predestined end
Has come; no turning from it any more. ...
OEDIPUS
I know full well. ... once more the deafening sound
Peals yet louder all around
If thou darkenest our land,
Lightly, lightly lay thy hand;
Grace, not anger, let me win,
If upon a man of sin
I have looked with pitying eye,
Zeus, our king, to thee I cry!
OEDIPUS
Is the prince coming? ...
OEDIPUS
For all his benefits I would perform
The promise made when I received them first. ... Haste, O King! ...
OEDIPUS
Thou comst much wished for, Prince, and sure some god
Hath bid good luck attend thee on thy way. ...
OEDIPUS
My life hath turned the scale. ...
OEDIPUS
The gods themselves are heralds of my fate;
Of their appointed warnings nothing fails. ...
OEDIPUS
This thunder, peal on peal, this lightning hurled
Flash upon flash, from the unconquered hand. ...
OEDIPUS
O son of Aegeus, for this state will I
Unfold a treasure age cannot corrupt. ...
[Enter MESSENGER]
MESSENGER
Friends, countrymen, my tidings are in sum
That Oedipus is gone, but the event
Was not so brief, nor can the tale be brief. ...
"Oedipus, Oedipus, why tarry we? ...
This promise given, Oedipus put forth
Blind hands and laid them on his children, saying,
"O children, prove your true nobility
And hence depart nor seek to witness sights
Unlawful or to hear unlawful words. ...
After brief space we looked again, and lo
The man was gone, evanished from our eyes;
Only the king we saw with upraised hand
Shading his eyes as from some awful sight,
That no man might endure to look upon. ...
ANTIGONE
What sayst thou, King? ... Creon desires to bury Oedipus on the confines of Thebes so as to
avoid the pollution and yet offer due rites at his tomb. Ismene tells
him of the latest oracle and interprets to him its purport, that some
day the Theban invaders of Athens will be routed in a battle near the
grave of Oedipus. ...
END OF OEDIPUS AT COLONUS. ... Storr, BA
Formerly Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge
From the Loeb Library Edition
Originally published by
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
and
William Heinemann Ltd, London
First published in 1912
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ARGUMENT
Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, the late king of Thebes, in defiance of
Creon who rules in his stead, resolves to bury her brother Polyneices,
slain in his attack on Thebes. She is caught in the act by Creons
watchmen and brought before the king. ...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ANTIGONE and ISMENE - daughters of Oedipus and sisters of Polyneices
and Eteocles.
CREON, King of Thebes. ...
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister of my blood and heart,
Seest thou how Zeus would in our lives fulfill
The weird of Oedipus, a world of woes! ... Creon our new lord draws near,
Crowned by this strange chance, our king. ...
But you by special summons I convened
As my most trusted councilors; first, because
I knew you loyal to Laius of old;
Again, when Oedipus restored our State,
Both while he ruled and when his rule was oer,
Ye still were constant to the royal line. ...
Such is the policy by which I seek
To serve the Commons and conformably
I have proclaimed an edict as concerns
The sons of Oedipus; Eteocles
Who in his countrys battle fought and fell,
The foremost champion--duly bury him
With all observances and ceremonies
That are the guerdon of the heroic dead. ... But wheres the King? ...
O Oedipus, by reckless pride undone! ...
Not sleep that lays all else beneath its spell,
Nor moons that never tier: untouched by Time,
Throned in the dazzling light
That crowns Olympus height,
Thou reignest King, omnipotent, sublime. ...
I warrant such a one in either case
Would shine, as King or subject; such a man
Would in the storm of battle stand his ground,
A comrade leal and true; but Anarchy--
What evils are not wrought by Anarchy! ...
CHORUS
If he says aught in season, heed him, King. ... There let her call in aid
The King of Death, the one god she reveres,
Or learn too late a lesson learnt at last:
Tis labor lost, to reverence the dead. ... 1)
Thus Dryas child, the rash Edonian King,
For words of high disdain
Did Bacchus to a rocky dungeon bring,
To cool the madness of a fevered brain. ...
O King, thy willful temper ails the State,
For all our shrines and altars are profaned
By what has filled the maw of dogs and crows,
The flesh of Oedipus unburied son. ...
CHORUS
Yea, king, this instant. ... 2)
Brightest of all the orbs that breathe forth light,
Authentic son of Zeus, immortal king,
Leader of all the voices of the night,
Come, and thy train of Thyiads with thee bring,
Thy maddened rout
Who dance before thee all night long, and shout,
Thy handmaids we,
Evoe, Evoe! ...
But as he nearer drew a hollow sound
Of lamentation to the King was borne. ...
When the King saw him, with a terrible groan
He moved towards him, crying, "O my son
What hast thou done? ... the King himself appears. ... I quake
Gainst a king such charge to make)
But all must own,
The guilt is his and his alone.
Approximate Word count = 37147
Approximate Pages = 148.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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