Oedipus The King

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Louis Fi
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CEDIPUS THE KING
OEDIPUS THE KING
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OF SOPHOCLES

INTO ENGLISH VERSE
BY
E. D. A. MORSHEAD , M.A.
LATE FELLOW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD :
ASSISTANT MASTER OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE
" Erfahre sie, wie ich geschwind

Mich mit Verwünschung von dir wende !
Die Menschen sind im ganzen Leben blind,
Nun, Fauste, werde du's am Ende ! "-Goethe.
London
MACMILLAN AND CO .
1885
KD287
51
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
46*227
Printed by R. & R. CLARK , Edinbur

ΤΟ
George Ridding .
Thrice-happy Sophocles, one said ; and on
Calmly he lived, calm to the grave did go.
Seeing, they saw thee not : thy soul had k
Nor bliss nor calm, save in their outward s
Thou sawest tides of human woe and pain
Swell round the rock where Age abides for
Tears of Electra sorrowing in vain
Dropped in thy sight upon Orestes' urn :
Foiled by the hate of man and wile of heav
Thy maddened warrior smote his soul away
Eta and Lemnos' cave, with anguish riven
Saw demigod and captive loathe the day.
And ah thy blind king's eyes, that longed
His woeful wedlock's fruit, Antigone !
ARGUMENT.
Laius, son of Labdacus, ruled in Thebes : and "

there came unto him an oracle that if Iocasta his
wife bare him a son, he should thereafter be slain

by that son. Therefore when a son was born unto
them , they fastened the feet of the child together

and cast him forth on Mount Cithæron, that he
might die. But certain shepherds found him, and
he was carried to Corinth, and Polybus, King of

Corinth, took him to his own home : and the
name of the child was called Œdipus, because his
feet were swollen with the fetter. But afterward
there came to dipus an oracle that he was fated

to slay his father and wed with his mother ; in
fear whereof he fled from Corinth, deeming that
Polybus and his wife were truly his parents. But

viii ARGUMENT.
as he journeyed on his way, he met Lai

in a chariot, and slew him, not knowin
slew. And he came unto Thebes, and
the people from the Sphinx who preyed

and was made king in room of Laius, a
with Iocasta, and begat sons and daugh
there fell a pestilence on Thebes, and
bade them cast forth that which caused
lence and at the last it was shown unt
what thing he had wrought unknowin

Iocasta slew herself, and Œdipus thrust ou
and went forth an exile from the place of
and kingdom .
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
EDIPUS.
THE PRIEST OF ZEUS.
CREON.
TIRESIAS.
IOCASTA .
MESSENGER.
SERVANT OF LAIUS.
SECOND MESSENGER.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN OF THEBES.
The Scene is laid before the palace of Œdipus at Thebes.

In the centre, a large raised altar : two smaller altars bythe
side-doors.
•
CEDIPUS THE KING .
Œdipus.
O latest born of ancient Cadmus' race,
My Theban children, with what suppliance

Thus throng ye to my presence, bearing high
The wands of prayer, the branches wound with
wool ?
Rife too the city is with heavy reek

Of victims slain, and rife with divers cries,
The wail for healing and the moan for death.
Not meet I held it, children of my realm,
To know thro' lips of messengers alone
Tales of your suffering. Behold me here,

Great Œdipus, the rumour of the world.
But thou, old man, say on— thou standest forth
In speech to champion these that here are met—

What are ye set to seek ? unto your fear
B
2 CEDIPUS THE KING.
What aid, or to your love what grace t

Right fain am I to help ; yea, stern I v
And ruthless, if I recked not of such p
The Priest.
Hear now, O king and lord of this my

Thou seest, Œdipus, how to thy shrine
We throng, a crowd of ages manifold.
Some faltering yet on childhood's
wing,
Some bowed with venerable years, who
The shrines of gods, as I of Zeus ; and

Are chosen blossoms of youth's mateles
And otherwhere, with crownèd wands,
Sit other suppliants, where the marts are
Or by the shrines of Pallas' twofold fane
Or by Ismenus ' fires of augury.
For, as thyself art witness, all too deep
Wallows the city in the surge of woe,
And scarce bears up her overlaboured b
From gulfs of foam incarnadined with de
Wasting in every bud that teemed with
CEDIPUS THE KING. 3
Wasting in every herd that roamed the field,

And every child that quickened in the womb,
The while, death's torch within his hand, the
God
Swoops down to rack with fellest plague the land .

Void by his hand lies Cadmus' ancient hall,
While the dark realm of hell is rich, full-fed
With moans of pain and wailings o'er the grave.
Therefore I sit, these younger suppliants 1
Beside me, at thy shrines, to crave thine aid—
Thine— not as deeming thee a god in power,
Yet holding thee, in man's fatalities
And the gods' dealings.us-ward, first of men.
For thou it was that came to Cadmus' town
And freed us from the tribute wrung from us
By the grim Sphinx and her perplexing song.

And this thou didst, inquiring nought from us,
Lessoned by us in nought ; heaven's aid alone
Gave thee to win from us this thought, this
word,
His gift it is, our life stands safe once more.

Therefore, O highest head, revered of all,
To thee we throng, and thee we supplicate----
4 CEDIPUS THE KING.
Find some stronghold of safety unto

Or in the voice of gods or aid of men
For to the wise, as thou art, well I wo
The issues of their counsels thrive am
Lord among men, arise, the state rede
Rise, jealous of thine honour : once th
Won thee for title, Saviour of this land
Let not our record of thy rule go down
He raised us up, butfor a furtherfall.
Nay, set the state aloft and stablish he
Fair was the omen of the former chand
Thou broughtest us ; be strong as then

For if thine arm of sway shall rule here
Better it is to rule o'er living men
Than a land desolate. Nor ship nor to
Unarmed by human hands, hath aught
CEDIPUS.
Alack, my children, all too well I know

The things ye come to crave : nor
tell
How your whole state is sick, for howsoe
CEDIPUS THE KING. 5
Ye sicken, sicker is this heart of mine.

H
Each for himself, ye suffer—deep, not wide— "
But I for state and self and eke for you,
Soul-smitten, groan in threefold agony ;

I, whom ye summon, slumber not nor sleep
(Rest ye assured), but watch with many tears, 1
And wander in the maze of many thoughts,
And seek with pains, and find one only cure,

Which thus I compassed. To the Pythian shrine
Of Phoebus I sent forth Menœceus' son,
Creon, the brother of my queen, to learn

What word or act of mine the state may save.
And lo, this day, by time's comparison,

Doth vex me for his fortunes by the way ;
For, of a truth, unduly tarries he
Beyond the fitting measure of his time.
But when he comes, then were I base to fail
In aught of all that the God's voice reveals.
The Priest.
Nay, fair thy word and timely : as thou speakest,

These by a sign say, Lo where Creon comes.
6 CEDIPUS THE KING.
EDIPUS.
O King Apollo, grant he bring to us

A saving fortune, bright as is his mie
The Priest.
With news of good, methinks, he com

Were his head thickly wreathed with
EDIPUS.
Soon shall we know : my voice can rea
Prince, kinsman of my queen, Menœce

What message dost thou bear us from
CREON.
Tidings of good. For e'en things hard

So they have prosperous issue, all are w
EDIPUS.
Nay, but how stands the presage ? not a

Feel I from thy word comfort nor alarm.
CEDIPUS THE KING. 7
CREON.
If thou dost will to hear with these beside,
I stand to speak—or, with thee, pass within.
Œdipus.
Speak in the ears of all —more keen for them,

Than for mine own soul, is my inward pain.
Creon.
Then will I speak what from the God I heard.

This clear command King Phoebus lays on us—
Out with the land's pollution, howsoe'er

It nestle deep—nor nourish cureless bane.
Œdipus.
Say, by what purge ? in what guise stands the ill ?
Creon.
Drive hence the slayer, or quit blood with blood :

That murder's blast blows wintry upon Thebes.
1
8 CEDIPUS THE KING.
EDIPUS.
Say, at whose door doth Phoebus lay th
CREON.
Know that this land was erst by Laius r

Ere thou didst guide our state aright, O
EDIPUS.
Mine ears have heard of one mine eyes s
CREON.
Clear now the God's command is, that we

This dead man's murderers, whosoe'er the
EDIPUS.
But they, where hide they ? where shall

scried
The track inscrutable of bygone crime ?

EDIPUS THE KING.
CREON.
Within this land, the God said— Seek andfind,

The thing unsought escapeth, saith the saw.
Œdipus.
Met Laius and death then, face to face,

At home, afield, or in some other land ?
Creon.
Bidden, he said, to the God's shrine, he went,

And, once departed, he returned no more.
Œdipus.
Went there no fellow-farer at his side ?
None whose eye saw, whose tongue might aid our

search ?
Creon.
Nay, all are dead save one, who fled in fear,

And, save of one thing, told no certain tale.
ΙΟ CEDIPUS THE KING.
EDIPUS.
What thing ? For one might well reve

Could we but clutch a slender clue of
CREON.
Robbers, he said, did meet and slay the

By manifold assault, no single arm .
Œdipus.
Yet had the robber dared so dark a dee
Were not some wile of gold devised in
CREON.
'Twas shrewdly thought ; but we, with I

Could find no champion to confront our
EDIPUS.
Yet say, what woe could bar your quest
And hide the cause of murder'd majesty

CEDIPUS THE KING. II
CREON .
The Sphinx with crafty lore constrained us

To leave dark things and our each step to heed.
Œdipus.
But I will drag these things to light anew :

For well did Phoebus, well did each one here
Hold this respect unto the slain king's cause.

Therefore me also ye can rightly claim
To see as champion of the God and Thebes,
For I, not only for the loved and gone,
But for mine own sake too, will purge this stain .
For look you— whosoe'er did slay the king
Me too belike may smite with slaught'rous hand .
Therefore, avenging him, myself I aid.
Now haste ye, O my children, to arise
From shrines and seats, take hence these suppliant
wands, 1
And let some herald gather hitherward
The folk of Cadmus' town, for to this quest
I set myself resolved : right soon withal,
By the God's strength, shall we or stand or fall.
12 CEDIPUS THE KING.
THE PRIEST.
Arise, my children : ye have heard him
The very boon we hither came to crav

And thou who sentest us so clear comi
Phoebus, draw nigh to purge and save
[Exeunt Priest and Suppliants. E
CHORUS.
Fair voice of the high God's will, what

Thebes hast thou told
From the shrine of the glorious gifts, the

treasure of gold ?
O God, that in Delos wast born, O Lo
pitiful cry,
With awe I adore thee, to learn if fate
tion draw nigh ?
For the terror of doubt doth rack me ; i
swayeth my soul—
Is the hour of fulfilment afar in the year
us-ward roll ?
EDIPUS THE KING. 13
Or now wilt thou wreak thine intent ? even now as

I speak is the hour ?
O child of all-golden Hope, O voice of Eternal
Power?
Thee first, immortal Athena, of the high God

daughter divine,
Thee first I invoke and implore, and Artemis,
sister of thine—
Artemis, Lady of Thebes, of the throne of the ፡
1
glorious show,
Begirt with the Agora's round, and Phoebus, the
lord of the bow !
O ye in your threefold might, averters of death and

of teen,
Come forth at the cry of our wailing, come forth in

your ruth and be seen—
If e'er in the old time invoked, when death to the
city drew near,

Ye drove out the flame and the curse, come now
and redeem us from fear !
O powers of the heaven above ! for sumless and
countless my woes-
And my whole state inwardly faints and

the stress of my throes—
And none hath a weapon of might, a
wariness made,
To parry the onset of Fate : the blight

and on blade—
And woe to the women who come to th
the child to be born !
They cry out and endure not their tr

pine and they perish forlorn—
And one after one we pass as a bir
pinion hath fled
More fleet than the chasing flame invi

are we sped
To the God of the western darkness, the
death and the dead.
We pass, and the city is void : our place

know us again !
And ah for the children unpitied ! thei
breathe death from the plain ;
Cut off from compassion they lie : by th
of the altar are bowed
Wan wives and hoary mothers, and the

their wailing is loud,
CEDIPUS THE KING. 15
And deep is the moan of their sorrow : clear rings

the pitiful call
For healing, but groans of the dying are mingled
and blended withal ;
O golden daughter of Zeus ! for those whom the
curse doth consume ,
Send down the sweet aspect of Help, to stand

between us and our doom !
Yea, banish the ravening God : not now with war's

weapons he comes,
But compassed with wailings of death, with pesti-
lence scorching our homes—
Bid him backward afar from our land — on the
wings ofthe wind let him flee,

To the lone sea-chamber of Her who rules in the
uttermost sea,
To the halls of Amphitrite, or the harbourless waste

of the wave
Where the Thracian billow and blast round the
wand'ring seamen rave :

For the Night falls deadly upon us : and he whom
she spareth to slay,
16 EDIPUS THE KING.
He is slain by the Sun in his wrath,

the havoc of Day.
Zeus, father of Gods, who wieldest
thee do we call—
In the blast of thy blazing bolt let Ares

fall.
Thee too, Lycean Apollo, and the s

golden string,
The invincible shafts unerring, right
welcome and sing—
Yea, sing thee our champion ordaine

of the gleam and the glow
When the torches of Artemis' train o'er
highlands go !
Thou too, brow-bound with gold, who
the light of our land,
Bacchus, aflush with wine, the joy of th
band,
Come thou with thy kindled torch, di

with the splendour of flame
The God whom the Gods abhor, the God
death in his name.
ŒEDIPUS.
I hear thy prayer : for what thy prayer demands--

So thou have will to hearken to my words
And aid me in the healing of this plague—
Thou shalt find refuge and thy sorrow's cure.
This hear me tell, as truly I know nought
Of all this tale, nought of that deed of old ;

Nor could I track it far, of mine own skill,
Unholpen by a word or sign of proof.

But now since, later than the deed, I came
To rank me as a citizen of Thebes—
To you, the clan of Cadmus, I proclaim—

Whoe'er hath cognisance, by what man's hand
Laius son of Labdacus was slain,
I bid that man reveal to me the whole.
And if he fears, let him elude the risk

Of others' accusation, tax himself
As the deed's doer ; nought shall he incur
Of uglier doom , but pass to banishment
Forth from this land, an exile but unscathed .
Further, if any knows that he who smote
Is alien, of another land than ours,
C
18 CEDIPUS THE KING
Let him speak out ; to him I pledge

And store of gratitude from us witha
But if ye will not tell—if any here
In forethought for his friend or for
Shall privily reject this word of mine

Behoves you mark what I will do the
Be that man who he may, I do forbi
That any of this land, whose sway is
In which enthroned I sit, should call

Home to his hearth, or hail him by t
Or bid him to a share in sacrifice
Or supplication or the lustral rite ;

I bid all spurn him from their doors-
That is our plague-spot here ; for so o

Spake forth to me its sooth the Delph
I therefore stand in such resolve allied
Unto the God and to the murder'd ma
And I denounce on him who wrought
Whether alone he wrought and hid the
Or among many lay concealed—this d
That he, cut off from joy, wear down h

Vile in his misery as in his crime.
This ban moreover on myself I speak-
If e'er the slayer with consent of mine

Dwell as a guest beside my hearth, on me
Fall every curse which upon those I spake.
For you, I bid you all my hest fulfil,
For my sake and the God's, and for this land
Thus blighted in its fruits, and god-abhorred.
For—were this matter not imposed by heaven-—
It yet were base to leave this guilt unpurged,
Yea, for a great man's death, and him your king,
Close inquisition were ye bound to hold.
And now, since unto me hath come that sway
That erst he held, the same consorted bed,
And common children from one mother's womb
Were his and mine, had not an ill fate fallen

Upon his offspring—yea upon his head too
Swooped Fortune sternly—since these things are so,
For him as lief as for my sire I swear
To front this wrong, press on by divers ways
In quest of him who wrought the deed of blood
Upon the child of Labdacus, the line
Of Polydorus and of Cadmus old
And of Agenor, our ancestral sire.

Last, upon those who spurn at my command,
20 EDIPUS THE KING.
I lay this ban, that never unto them

The Gods allow the fruits of earth to
Nor the womb teem for them ; but t

By their now present doom, or one m
But unto you, the rest of Cadmus' fol
The loyal to this word, may justice sta
And all the Gods, sworn aids at your
CHORUS.
King, on that oath thou profferest, I w

I slew him not, nor know the man that
Phoebus alone, who laid us on this que
Can rightly tell us who hath dared the
EDIPUS.
Right is thy word : but none of living m

Can force the Gods to speak beyond the
CHORUS.
That failing, let me prompt the second w
EDIPUS.
Yea, and a third, if such there be ; say of

CHORUS.
Our lord Tiresias hath sight, I ween,

Nighest to that which our lord Phoebus hath .
From him one might descry the truth aright.
Œdipus.
Nor was this way unheeded of my care.

For twice at Creon's prompting, have I sent
Men who should bring him : strange he cometh not !
Chorus.
Faint, save for him, and timeworn is the tale.
DIPUS.
What tale ? to every word my thought I turn.
Chorus.
'Twas said he died by bandits of the way.

EDIPUS.
I too heard that ; who saw it, no man
CHORUS.
But, if his heart know aught of fear, n

Will he dare tarry : fell thy curses rang
Œdipus.
Whom the deed scared not, him no wo
CHORUS.
Yet is there one to prove his guilt—for

At length they bring the seer of godlike
In whom, alone of men, truth's self doth
[Enter Tiresias, conducted by
EDIPUS.
Tiresias, thou whose soul encompasseth
All knowledge of the things man learns

And things ineffable, in heaven's high vault,

Or in earth's trodden ways, blind though thou be,
Truly thou knowest, in what plague of ill
Our city dwells ; and in that ill, we find,
For champion and for saviour, thee alone.
Know if the messengers have told thee not—
Phoebus to us, who sent to ask of him,
Thus answered— From that devastating plague
One only riddance can there come : do ye
Descry aright the men who Laius slew,
And slay or cast them forth to banishment.
Grudge thou not therefore either lore of birds
Or other clue of thy divining art,
But save thyself, thy townsmen, me thy king,

And all whom murder unavenged doth blast.
For in thy hand we lie : man's noblest deed
Is with all heart and will to help at need.
Tiresias.
Alack, alack, how deadly to be wise.

Where wisdom profits not ! right well I knew
And yet forgot this : alas I ne'er had come.
24 CEDIPUS THE KING
EDIPUS
What ails thee ? how despair comes
TIRESIAS.
Speed me back homeward : if thou gra

Best shalt thou dree thy weird, and I
EDIPUS.
Unfitted are thy words and harsh of cl

To this thy mother-town : hide not thy
TIRESIAS.
Nay, for thy words fly forth unseasonab

Therefore the like mischance I hold in
EDIPUS.
Nay, for the Gods' sake, hide not

knowest—
All we in suppliance here bow before the

TIRESIAS.
Yea, for ye know nought : I will blazon not

Mine inner sorrow, lest I tell of thine.
Œdipus.
How sayest thou ? dost know and wilt not tell ?

Hast mind to fail us and to wreck the state ?
Tiresias.
I will not vex mine heart nor thine : in vain
Why dost thou ask ? thou shalt discover nought.
Œdipus.
Villain among the villains, thou wouldst stir

The very stones to mutiny ! no word ?
Still unrelenting, dogged to the end ?
Tiresias.
My mood thou blamest, recking not of one

Consorting with thee : me thou chidest still.
EDIPUS.
And who could curb his anger, hearin

Such words as thine, our state dishon
TIRESIAS.
Nought skills concealment ; what is d

on,
Œdipus.
Therefore the more thou on thy part n
TIRESIAS.
My lips shall tell no more : thou, an th

Kindle to wildest wrath, thy nature kno
EDIPUS.
Yea of a truth I will not spare to speak

All my surmise, so wrathful is my soul.
Know that I deem thee a conspirator
17
With them that slew— nay, murderer thyself

In heart, not hand : and, hadst thou eyes to see,
I had proclaimed this deed thine, thine alone.
Tiresias.
Sooth sayest thou ? I bid thee then abide
By that behest which thou didst utter forth,

And from this day speak nor to these nor me :
For thou art he whose guilt pollutes this land.
Œdipus.
Scoffest thou thus, in shameless insolence ?

How lookest thou to ' scape its rightful meed ?
Tiresias.
I have escaped : truth is my help and hold.
Œdipus.
In this who schooled thee ? not thine art, I deem.
Tiresias.
Thou, goading me to speech against my will.

EDIPUS.
What speech ? recount it, for my bette
TIRESIAS.
Didst thou mishear ? or temptest me i
EDIPUS.
Not clearly did I learn it ; speak once
TIRESIAS.
I say thou art the slayer whom thou se
EDIPUS.
Twice words of insult ! thou shalt rue t
TIRESIAS.
More shall I say then, to enhance thy w
EDIPUS.
Say all thy will ; I reck not what thou sa

TIRESIAS.
I say that unawares, in foulest bonds,
Thou with thy kindred dost consort, nor knowest

The chain of infamy that binds thee round.
Œdipus.
Lookest thou ever to speak thus, unscathed ?
Tiresias.
Yea, if there be a sure defence in truth.
Œdipus.
There is, but not for thee ; for thee is none,

But in thee ear and mind and eye are naught.
Tiresias.
Go to—such taunts come ill from thee, on whom

All men here living soon will cast the same.
DIPUS.
Thou, foster-child of timeless night, nor me

Nor any man who sees the sun canst harm .
CEDIPUS
KING
THE
30
330
.
TIRESIAS.
Nay, not by me doth fate ordain thy f

Apollo wills it, and can wreak his will.
Œdipus.
Sprang this device from Creon or from
TIRESIAS.
Creon is not thy bane, but thou thine
EDIPUS.
O wealth and kingship and O craft of n

O'erreaching man in emulous careers,
How deep the envy that is stored beside
If for this sway, even this, which in my
The city laid, a gift unasked by me,
For this doth Creon, erst my loyal friend
From the beginning, creep with t
lust
To push me from my throne, suborning t

A close contriver of deluding guile,
A wily trickster, a keen eye for gain

And for nought else, in divination blind.
Go to now— what approveth thee a seer ?
Why, when the watching pest, death's riddling
hound,
Dwelt by us here, hadst thou no word to give

Deliverance to Thebes ? it well behoved
The prophet's art to rede that riddling lore,

Nor leave it for chance-comer to resolve.
Void of such art too plainly wert thou shown-

None hadst thou, or from note or flight of birds,
Or from the voice of any god revealed—
I , I it was, the stranger to the tale,
I, Œdipus, that did make dumb the Sphinx,
By skilled conjecture, all untaught of birds.
And me forsooth thou schemest to thrust out,
Looking to stand in trust by Creon's throne !
Deep to your cost, methinks, wilt thou and he
Who wove this mesh, contrive to purge the land,

Yea, wert thou not so plainly full of years,
Thou shouldst know ruefully thy wisdom's

worth.
32 EDIPUS THE KING.
CHORUS.
As we descry, both this man's words a
Seem roused, O Œdipus, by wrathfuln

Not such our need, but this alone— to
How best the God's command we may
TIRESIAS.
Though thou be king, yet this equality

Of free rejoinder must be mine ; of this
I too am paramount ; not slave to thee
But Loxias' servant live I— never then
Shall I as Creon's client be recorded.
And mark me now—since thou hast sc
Even for my blindness—thou both hast

And, seeing, seest not thy proper ill,
Nor where thou art, nor side by side wit
Know'st thou thy lineage ? know, unwitt
Thy love too kind is loathing to thy kin

Dead and alive, and like a double scourg
Thy father's and thy mother's ban shall

With dread pursuing feet, forth from this
With darkness on those eyes that now se
ea, and what hollow place of waves or hills,

What dell in all Cithæron's clamorous1 side,
ut shall re-echo to thy cry, what time

Thou learnest of the wedlock whereunto
gale of seeming fortune sped thee on

But to a hell for harbour. Nought thou knowest
Of all the crowding swarm of imminent ills
That shall reveal unto thee what thou art—
Own brother to the children of thy loins.

So stands the truth— now, an thou wilt, fling scorn
On Creon, on my presage—for no man
Shall e'er be crushed by heavier fate than thine.
Œdipus.
Hold ! are such taunts from such lips to be borne ?

Away to hell ! avaunt and tarry not,
In backward flight from this my threshold turning.
Tiresias.
Hadst thou not called me, ne'er had I drawn near.
1 "Ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho

Orgia, nocturnusque vocat clamore Cithæron. "
Virg. , Æn. , iv. 302.
D
EDIPUS.
Late had I called thee to my home, h

Foreknown the froward folly of thy to
TIRESIAS.
Even such I am—a fool unto thy seem

But to thy veritable parents, wise.
Œdipus.
What parents ? tarry—who of men beg
TIRESIAS.
This day shall give thee parents, give th
EDIPUS.
Ever in riddles, over-dark in speech !
Tiresias.
Nay, but such riddles 'tis thine art to red

EDIPUS.
Mock that wherein thou shalt my greatness own !
Tiresias.
Yet by that happy chance thou wert undone.

1
Œdipus.
No matter, if I saved the state withal.
Tiresias.
Well, I will go hence : lead me onward, boy.
Œdipus.
Let him lead on then : an offence thou art
Here, and, aloof, thou can'st not vex me more.
Tiresias.
Hence will I go, my say said ; of thy scowl

Aweless am I ; thou canst not doom my death.
But mark me now— that man whom all this time
Thou seekest, threatening, proclaiming

Into the death of Laius— I say
That man is here—in semblance amor
A stranger and a sojourner ; yet soon

A true-born Theban shall he stand rev
And deem such lot a curse : for blind
That now see clear, bereaved of all the

That now he holds, unto a stranger lan
With beggar's staff shall he grope hence

And to his children, now beside him he
Brother at once and father shall he prov
Husband and son to her who brought h
And slayer of that sire whose bed he cli
Now go within and think this presage of
And if thou find that in one word I lie,

Then as thou wilt my prophet power de
[Exeunt EDIPUS an
led by his Atte
CHORUS.
Who is he whom the Delphian rock hath

with its god- given song
The slayer of blood-stained hand, who wrought

the ineffable wrong ?
Let him urge on his flight

With a speed more light
Than the storm-swift coursers', a foot more strong ;
For with lightning armed, and the smiting levin,

Springs forth on his track the child of high
heaven,
And at his side unerring tread
The Fates, and in their step is dread.
For it flashed from the snowy Parnassus, a message
new born to the light,

That with uttermost strength we should strain on
the track of the unknown wight.
Where the wild woods wave—
Past the rock and the cave,
He is roaming as wanders a bull, out of sight,

Forlorn and with sorrowful foot and alone,
And vainly the omens of Delphi he biddeth
begone—
They around him are flying,
And hover, undying.
US
38 CEDIP THE KING.
For awful in truth unto me is the
prophet most wise,

And I dare not believe nor deny : I swa
and surmise :
I know not the things that are, nor
future descry,
But I flutter in hope and in fear : for

days gone by,
Nor in days still near did I learn that
Polybus' seed
And the children of Labdacus' line di
enmity breed,
That were proof well-approved to my r
sailing the lord of men's love,
In vengeance for Labdacus' race, on the
slayer thereof.
Ah but Apollo and Zeus are wise and dis

man
And the things of man's life ; but that

mortal 'tis given to span
More scope of the future than I, no proof

be than is sure—
Yet a man may his brother surpass in wisdom's

prophetical lore :
But not till the tale be shown true will I join in the
whisper of blame :
For, plain unto all to behold, against him ravening

came
The winged maid : wise thereupon and a light to

the state was he proved ;
Therefore my soul will not lay this crime to my

lord well-loved.
[Re-enter Creon.
Creon.
Thebans and countrymen, mine ears have heard

How Œdipus your king doth lay against me
Dread accusation, and in wrath I come.
If in these evils that now hang upon us
He deems that from my will, even mine, hath come

Aught that in word or deed conduced to harm,
I crave not to live out my life's full span,
Bearing such charge. Not in one aspect only
Am I by this word blamed, but in wide scope
Ill citizen, ill friend, ill kinsman termed.
PUS THE KING.
40 CEDI
CHORUS.
Nay, but perchance this railing word w

Urged more by wrath than by a sober
CREON.
And who hath showed that by my prom
The prophet spake his words perverted
CHORUS.
Such charge was laid : I wot not of its p
CREON.
Was it with clear sight both of eyes and
That against me this baseness was alleged
Chorus.
I know not : what a master wills to do
A servant sees not. Lo, my lord comes f
[Re-enter
CEDIPUS THE KING. 4I
EDIPUS.
Sirrah, how comest hither ? is thy brow

So hard in impudence that thou hast come
Unto my roof? thou, shown beyond dispute
The slayer of this chieftain, plainly proved
The would-be robber of my crown from me !
Say, in the gods' name, was it cowardice
Or folly seen in me, that set thee on
To scheme this thing ? or didst thou deem of me
That I should never mark thy stealth draw nigh,
Or, if I marked, should know not to repel ?
Was not thine emprise dull in villainy,
Without or favourers or friends to seek
A throne, the prize of favour and of gold ?
Creon.
Look to it—thou hast spoken, listen now

In fairness, mark and for thyself judge right.
Œdipus.
Shrewd art thou, shrewd in speech, but I am slow

To learn of thee, whom false I find , and fell.
CREON.
First note me then, how in this very th
EDIPUS.
This very innocence ! peace, tell not m
Creon.
Amiss thou thinkest, if thou dost believ

Self-will, without discernment, worth a
DIPUS.
Madly thou thinkest, if thou hopest thu

To wrong a kinsman and escape thy du
Creon.
Right was that word, I hold with thee ;
What evil thing dost deem that thou has
EDIPUS.
Was it or not thy prompting, I should se

An escort to bring here that holy seer ?
CREON.
was I hold to the same counsel still.
Œdipus.
How long then is the time since Laius-
Creon.
How? Laius ? I wot not of thy meaning.
Œdipus.
ass'd into darkness by a murd'rous deed.
Creon.
o time's dim backward would the reckoning run.
Œdipus.
as then this seer lord of his art, as now?
Creon.
ea, wise as now, and held in fame as high.

EDIPUS.
Spake he at that time a surmise of me
Creon.
Nay : not at least when I was near to
EDIPUS.
But held ye then no search anent the
CREON.
How otherwise ? we searched, and n

hear.
Œdipus.
And wherefore hid this seer his story th
CREON.
Ask me not : where I know not, I am d
CEDIPUS.
Thus much thou knowest, mightest wise

CREON.
What thing ? for nought I know will I forswear.
Œdipus.
his—that of Laius as slain by me

He ne'er had told, but for thy trafficking.
Creon.
hou knowest if he saith this ; but I claim,
Questioned of thee, to question thee in turn.
Œdipus.
sk as thou wilt : my guilt thou canst not show.
Creon.
ay then—hast thou my sister ta'en to wife ?
Œdipus.
he thing thou askest cannot be denied.

S
IPU G
46 CED THE KIN .
CREON.
And art thou lord, she lady, of the land
Œdipus.
Whate'er she wills, of me she asks and
CREON.
And am not I third compeer of your sw
EDIPUS.
Yea, and therein art shown a trait'rous f
CREON.
1 It is not so ; take thought with thine ow

As I with mine : this question ask thyse
Foremost ; would any man reach out at

Linked to its terrors, were it offered him
Wedded to fearless sleep, and dower'd tl
I for myself avow, I cannot crave
More to be king than as a king to do
hings royal : such too were the choice of all

Who know to hold ambition with a curb.
Now, without peril, all things that I ask

win from thee : but were I very king,
Much should I do perforce, and loathe the doing.

How then were kingship sweeter unto me
han power sans pain, and weight with those who
rule ?
Not yet am I ambition's fool so far
As to crave aught of honour save its good.

Now, every man doth greet me, every man
Smiles an all-hail ; those who have suit to thee
Call me to audience, for well they know
Their hope to win thee centres all in me.
Fling this away, to grasp that power of thine ?
Nay—a calm wisdom never turns to craft.
In truth I hanker not for such design,
And him who acted it would scorn to aid.
Askest thou proof? hie thee to Delphi straight

And ask if truthfully I bore its word :
Next, if thou find me with the prophet joined
In treacherous traffic, not one mouth alone,
But two—the voice of me and thee alike—
S
IPU G
48 CED THE KIN .
Shall doom me to the death thy hand

But set me not apart and judge me no
On dim surmises : wrongful is the moo
That dubs or bad men good or good m
At random. To abjure a loyal friend

Is to cast off one's life, the best of boo
Or so I hold it ; so will time assure the
For time can prove a just man, time al
But in one short day is a villain known
Chorus.
Wise words, O king, for one who fears

Yea, quick resolved is ill resolved, men sa
EDIPUS.
But if the man who plots with wile be q

Quickly must I too counterwork his wild
For if I bide inactive, all his schemes
Will come to issue, mine will miss the a
CREON.
What is thy will then ? wilt thou banish

CEDIPUS.
Nay, not thine exile will I, but thy death,

That in thee may be shown where envy leads.
Creon.
Stubborn thou speakest and distrustful still.
Œdipus.
Yea, for I hold thy words of falsehood full.¹
CREON.
Not sane I hold thee.
EDIPUS.
Sane for mine own ends.
Creon.
Mine too my king should study.
1 The rearrangement of this dialogue which has approved

self to Professor Jebb has, after consideration, been adopted. It
nvolves the supplying, at this point, of a lost line, which seems,
rom the context, to have been of the import given above. - —Tr.
E
EDIPUS.
Thine, the t
CREON.
Thou, comprehending nought-
EDIPUS.
Yet must I ru
CREON.
Not if thou rule amiss.
EDIPUS.
Ye Thebans,
CREON.
I too have share in Thebes, not thou ald
CHORUS.
Prithee have done, my lords ; at point of

o stay you, I behold Iocasta come
orth from the palace with her countenance

is meet ye lay this wrangle to its rest.
[Enter Iocasta.
Iocasta.
obstinate in folly, to have raised

his strife of tongues ! are ye not shamed to stir,
id public woe, your private bickerings ?
o in, my lord— hence, Creon, to thy home, -
or magnify to feud your petty grudge.
Creon.
ster, thy husband Œdipus doth claim
o wreak fierce wrong upon me, giving choice

f two ills, banishment or present death.
Œdipus.
ea, for I found him, queen, contriving ill

gainst my life with treach'rous artfulness.
Creon.
o blessing but God's curse on me, if I

id thee one wrong, of all thou dost impute.
IOCASTA.
In heaven's name, Œdipus, accept his

Awed by this oath he proffers to the Go
And for my sake, and theirs who stand
CHORUS.
Consent, with thy will and thy heart ;

bow low to beseech.
DIPUS.
Wherein dost thou will me to bend
Chorus.
He was prudent in counsel aforetime : wit
he hath strengthened his speech.
Œdipus.
Thou cravest—dost know to what er
CHORUS.
I know.
EDIPUS.
Say it forth.
Chorus.
implore that thou let not dim rumour impeach

Nor dishonour the oath of thy friend.
Œdipus.
But know thou well, this asking thou dost ask

Or death or exile from this land for me.
Chorus.
Nay, by the Sun-god, high-enthroned

Before the host of heaven, I vow—
May I, god-hated, man-disowned,

Be cast to utter death below,
If such a thought I cherish !
But ah, my soul is all outworn
And faints to see the city perish,—
O'er old and new woe grieves forlorn—

New woe, from your division born.
54 EDIPUS THE KING.
EDIPUS.
Then let him go—although to me the e

Be utter death or exiled ignominy.
Thy plea, not his, doth touch me to the

With pity ; him shall hate dog through
CREON.
In yielding stands thy sullenness confest

As, in excess of wrath, thy violent mood.
Such natures justly are their own sore pa
EDIPUS.
Then leave me—haste, avaunt thee !
CREON.
By thee misread, but righteous held by the

[Exi
CHORUS.
Lady, delay thee no more ; to the pala

homeward the king
IOCASTA.
Yea, when of this hap I know all.
Chorus.
spicion sprang blind out of words ; and the
taunt that is baseless hath sting.
IOCASTA.
com both ?
CHORUS.
Yea, from both did it fall.
Iocasta.
ay, what was the tale ?
Chorus.
Nay, enough, while the land is thus vext, of this

thing ;
Where it ceased, let it slumber withal.
US
56 CEDIP THE KING.
EDIPUS.
Dost see what end thine honest purpos
Relaxing thus and deadening my zeal ?
Chorus.
Once and again, king, have I said

Know that beside myself I were—
My reason cancelled, void and dead
IfI drew back nor held thee dea
For thou it was that, when my lan
Tottered and wavered in the ga
Didst lay for us thy saving hand
Upon the rudder, ruled the sail
Nor this time let thy guidance fa
IOCASTA.
Tell me too, in the name of heaven, O ki

Whereat so strongly thou hast set thine ir
EDIPUS.
Thee will I tell, queen, above these preferr

With Creon am I wroth, and his designs.
EDIPUS THE KING. 57
7
IOCASTA.
peak, if thou canst refer the feud aright.
EDIPUS.
He dubs me murderer of Laius.
Iocasta.
rom his own knowledge ? or on hearsay only ?
Œdipus.
Nay, he suborns a prophet villainous,

And, for himself, keeps all his tongue assoiled.
Iocasta.
Cast thyself clear of all thou speakest now

nd list to me, and learn unto thy joy
How prophecy and man stand sundered quite.
hrewd proof whereof I in a word will show.
An oracle came once to Laius—
say not from Apollo's self it came

But from his ministers— that destiny
hould reach him by the hand of his own son,
US
58 CEDIP THE KING.
Who should be born, the child of him a

And, so saith rumour, that same Laius
Was in a triple cross-way done to death

By foreign robbers : for the child itself—
Scarce had three days from its birth-hou

When Laius pierced and bound with pin
Its ankle-joints and by some other hand
Cast it upon a mountain's pathless wild.
It stands then that Apollo's prophecy
Was doubly foiled, in child and father to
The son was ne'er made murderer of his
Nor Laius brought unto the doom he fea

Death by his son's hand. Such discernn
The Delphic presages of things to come !
Heed them not thou : what the God seek
Himself will easiest bring to light of day.
Œdipus.
Lady, the while thou spakest, came on m

What maze of memories, old thoughts stirr
IOCASTA.
What care hath startled thee unto this wo

EDIPUS.
ethought I heard from thee that Laius

as in a triple cross-way done to death.
Iocasta.
O rumour told, so still unchecked it tells.
Œdipus.
here is the place where this mischance befel ?
Iocasta.
hocis, the land is named ; there, sundered roads

rom Delphi and from Daulia combine.
DIPUS.
ay too, what lapse of time since these things were ?
Iocasta.
hort time before thou eamest to men's eyes
s the land's king, this hap was here proclaimed.

EDIPUS.
Zeus, in thy counsels what is doomed f
IOCASTA.
Wherein doth this lie heavy on thy soul
Œdipus.
Ask me not yet, but speak of Laius,

What stature had he ? and how ripe his
IOCASTA.
Tall was he, lightly touched with silverin

Nor far from thine the semblance of his
EDIPUS.
Alack for me ! methinks that in this hou

I laid dread curses on me unawares.
Iocasta.
What say'st thou, king ? I shudder, lookin

EDIPUS.
eep is my dread lest true the seer saw :

ut say one thing more, to make doubly sure.
Iocasta.
shudder, yet will mark and answer thee.
CEDIPUS.
Went Laius with escort small, or fenced

With many weaponed men, as chieftains go ?
Iocasta.
ome five they were in all, and one of them

herald : and one car for Laius.
Œdipus.
las, ' tis all too clear : say, who was he,
Olady, who to thee such tidings told ?
Iocasta.
slave, who came the one survivor home.

62 EDIPUS THE KING.
EDIPUS.
And hath chance kept him tarrying by y
IOCASTA.
Nay : for what time, thence coming, he b

How Laius was dead and thou enthrone
He clasped my hand in suppliance, and i

That I would send him hence unto the w
The pasturage of flocks, where he might

Most widely sundered from this city's sigh
Therefore I sent him ; for he merited
Such higher favour as a slave may earn.
Œdipus.
Could he but come again to us with speed
Iocasta.
Nought hinders it ; but wherefore thy desi
EDIPUS.
Lady, I fear lest all too many words

I have already spoken : let him come.
IOCASTA.
a, he shall come ; yet I too, I methinks

ve claim to know thy heart's sore burden, king.
Œdipus.
a, and it shall not be withheld from thee,

deep is my foreboding ; who indeed
ath stronger claim than thou to hear me tell
hat strait of fortune I am passing now ?

now, Polybus of Corinth was my sire
nd Doric Merope my mother : there,
hief of the citizens I once was held,
ll there befel this chance, of wonder worthy,
ot of the passion that it roused in me.

or at a feast, one flown with wine did call me
eside our cups, no true son of my sire ;

nd I was angered, yet to that day's end
eld me in curb, but hardly : on the next
nto my parents went I, questioning.
nd they toward him who let that taunt escape
esented it with passion : sweet to me
The anger of their love, but yet the thing

64 EDIPU K
S THE ING.
Gnawed at my heart, for it crept on ama

Therefore, unknown to mother as to sire
To Delphi I went forth ; and thence the
Sent me back baffled of my quest, but sp
Proclaiming other things, of misery

Of terror and of curse— how fate ordaine
My mother for my wife, and for men's ey

An offspring of intolerable birth,
And for my hand the slaying of my sire.
This when I heard, to banishment I wen
Scanning thenceforth, of the Corinthian
Nought but the stars that looked on it af
That somewhere in the wide world I mig
The curse of ghastly oracles, to me
Given, in me fulfilled. Then, as I roam
I came unto that region where thou say's
The king of Thebes was slain. List, whi
The very truth, O lady, unto thee.
What time I wended near those triple roa
A herald met me, and a chief that sate
In a car drawn by colts, as in thy tale.
And then the herald, in the forefront com
And the chief's self did roughly strive to
›m off the path ; and I in anger smote

e driver, as he made me swerve : thereon
e old man eyed me as I passed, and struck,
om the car bending, with a double goad
ll on my head—ah me, how manifold
e price he paid for dealing of that blow !
r sharply smitten with a staff I held
ithin this hand, right from the car he rolled
pine, and him and all his train I slew.
it now— if aught of kinship or of blood
ing that unknown man near to Laius,
hat woe in all the world could mine exceed,
hat man prove hate of heaven more bitterly ?
or me no Theban and no stranger hearth
enceforth can welcome, none can hail me friend ,
nd all shall thrust me forth, and I, even I
was that laid these curses on myself.
ea, and the dead man's marriage-couch is red-

lood from his slayer's hands ! a villain I ?
m I not one pollution ? I must flee
rom Thebes, yet ne'er unto mine own return
Nor set my foot upon my country's soil—
Or else pollute my mother, slay my sire
F
Who me begat and fostered, Polybus.

Were not his deeming right, who judge
As thus made wretched by some ruthle
Never, ye Gods, the worshipful, the pu
Never that day come on me ! let me på
Away from men into some viewless wo
Ere on me I behold such damned stain
Chorus.
Rueful, O king, these things to us appe

Yet, till the eye-witness tell all, hope on
Œdipus.
So much, no more, there is of hope for

As bids me bide until that herdsman co
IOCASTA.
And if he come, why dost thou crave to
EDIPUS.
That will I tell thee : if his tale be found
With thine agreeing, I shall ' scape the cu

IOCASTA.
What tale of mine didst hear and mark so well ?
CEDIPUS.
The herdsman sware- -so ran thy tale to me-

That robber-men did Laius to death.
Therefore, if still he speak of those he saw

With the same reckoning, I slew him not—
For none could deem one lonely man a band.
But if he now say one sole traveller,
Then, all too plain, this guilt declines on me.
Iocasta.
But rest assured, so was the tale first told,

Nor can the teller now revoke his word ;
Not I alone but the whole city heard it.
Therefore not even should he swerve this time
From what he told before, can he now prove
The doom of Laius fulfilled aright—
Who by Apollo's presage should have died

By my son's hand. Go to that hapless child
Ne'er slew his sire, but died himself long

Out upon divination ! not for it
Would I at least look right or left, again.
CEDIPUS.
Shrewdly thou judgest, yet bestir thyself

To send one who shall fetch the herdsman
IOCASTA.
I will send, tarrying not ; go we within—

Nought will I do save what will pleasure th
[Exeunt Œdipus and ]
CHORUS.
Mine be it, mine to hold,

With destiny to aid, the stainless sanctity
In words and actions manifold,
Whereof the laws do live and move on h
Set in eternal spheres,
Born in the bright expanse of upper sky,
Birth of the high God, not of mortal year
Nor unto dull oblivion a prey :
trong, ageless deity is theirs, and waneth not away.
The child of earthly pride

s tyranny, when once man's life doth teem
With wealth too great to profit or beseem .

Up, by a path untried,
Up to the crowning peak of bliss
She climbs, then headlong down the sheer abyss
Helpless she sinks to the unfooted void !
Yet unto God I pray that he may ne'er annul

Man's strife that man's estate be honoured to the
full.
God is my help ; to him my faith clings unde-

stroyed.
But if a man, in deed or word,

Walks o'er-informed with pride and might,
By fear of justice undeterred,

Scorning the seats of deity,
Ill doom, to that man drawing nigh,
His ill-starred arrogance requite !
Unless toward his proper gain
With uncorrupted hand he strain,

Unless he loathe all filthiness,
If with lewd hands he touch the grace of
Henceforth, if such things be, no mortal
Can from his life repel
The darts of heaven and boast that foiled
If he who walks such ways
Deserve man's honour and his praise,
Wherefore with holy dance should I the Go
Never again from Delphi's central hearth,

The sacred spot inviolate of earth,
Will I seek Phœbus ' grace,
Nor unto Abae nor Olympia go,

Unless these presages come forth ,
Clear, to the issue joined, for all to see an

But unto thee we pray,
Zeus, lord and king ! if so men call on thee

Deathless thou art, eternal, full of sway
Let not transgression ' scape thy sight !

Wrecks of a bygone day,
The ancient oracles of Laius' line
Are cast contemned away !
No more is glorified Apollo's, shrine,

Death falls on things divine.
[Re-enter Iocasta.
Iocasta.
Chiefs of this land, resolve hath risen in me,
To go a suppliant to sacred shrines,

These coronals and incense in my hands.
For restless is the soul of Œdipus,
High-strung with manifold alarms, nor knows
With wariness to mete new prophecies
By what befel the old, but lays its faith

In any speaker, if he speak of fears.
Since then by counselling I compass nought,
To thee, Lycean Phoebus, hard at hand
To aid, I come, these signs of suppliance
Within my hands, and craving to obtain
Our cleansing and deliverance of thee.
For now we tremble at our king's affright,
As mariners who see their pilot shake.
[Enter a Messenger.
MESSENGER.
Fair sirs, beseech you tell me of the way

Unto the halls of Œdipus the king :
Or, if ye can, unto his presence guide me
Chorus.
Stranger, behold his halls ! he stays withi

And this the mother-queen who bore his
MESSENGER.
Hail unto her, and fair befal her home—

His wife, with all the crown of wedded lov
Iocasta.
Fair fall thee too, sir, for thy courtesy.
But speak thy wish, or tell thy tidings strai
MESSENGER .
Fair news for palace and for lord, O queen
Iocasta.
Yea, but what news ? and sent from whom art

73
MESSENGER .
-om Corinth I : the news upon my lips
ill sure rejoice thee, yet may fret thee too.
Iocasta.
hat is it ? how hath it this double scope ?
Messenger.
he dwellers there—so ran the word in Corinth—
Will make thy lord king of the Isthmian land.
Iocasta.
How ? hath not still old Polybus the sway ?
Messenger .
ay ; in good sooth, death laps him in the grave.
Iocasta.
hat is thy word, old man ? is Polybus dead ?
Messenger.
said it on my life, the truth I spake.

IOCASTA.
O servant, speed and tell unto thy lord

These tidings ; ah ye oracles of heaven
Where lie ye now ? that Polybus, from
Edipus fled of old, in fear to slay—
Fate and not dipus hath slain him no
[Re-ent
EDIPUS.
O wherefore, Iocasta well-beloved,

Thus hast thou bid me from the palace
IOCASTA.
Hear thou this man, and when thou hea

To what small issue speak the solemn sh
EDIPUS.
What of this man ? who is he, what his t
IOCASTA.
He is of Corinth, and he comes to tell

That Polybus thy sire is dead and gone.
CEDIPUS THE KING.. 75
EDIPUS.
to thy tale ! thyself impart to me.
MESSENGER.
it behoves me first to tell this plain-

well assured that he hath pass'd away.
EDIPUS.
traitor's wiles, or sickness' visitings ?
Messenger.
buch but the scale, an old man sinks to rest.
EDIPUS.
me ! by brunt then of disease he died ?
Messenger.
nd by the tale of years, his life wore down.
EDIPUS.
well-a-day ! and why henceforth, O queen,

Beseemeth it that any turn his thought
Unto the Pythian shrine, or to the bird

Whose cry is in the branches ? by their
I was ordained to slay my sire, who no
Lies dead and deep in earth, the while
Here, and have laid no hand to any sp
Unless, perchance, regretting me he pir
To death— so had I been death's cause
But to the underworld with Polybus

The presages are swept, and all made v
IOCASTA.
Was it not thus I told thee it should be
Œdipus.
Even so but me my terror led astray.
Iocasta.
Ponder no longer aught of all these thing
EDIPUS.
Nay, I must fear the doom incestuous.

IOCASTA.
! what should mortal fear, whom chance doth

sway
lly, who wotteth nought of things to come ?
the world slide, give life its way and will.
of that love incestuous reck not thou :
co ; in dreams have many men done this—
led their mother's couch ; but, if a man
n such forebodings, life sits light on him.
Œdipus.
l were these words of thine proclaimed aloud,

I not my mother live : but, she alive,
- all thy brave talk, I must needs feel fear.
Iocasta.
t dawns clear comfort from thy father's death.
Œdipus.
ear comfort, ay— but her who lives I fear.

MESSENGER.
But say, what woman hold ye thus in dr
EDIPUS.
Merope, old man, wife of Polybus.
Messenger .
And what in her doth stir you to alarm ?
Œdipus.
Good sir, an oracle divine and dread.
Messenger.
May it be told ? or must no other know i
CEDIPUS.
Surely thou mayest. Phoebus once procl
That I was doomed my mother to defile

And with mine own hands shed my fathe
ear whereof, I held my Corinth home,

from afar, and prospered well ; but yet
ght is so sweet as the home faces were.
MESSENGER.
; it that fear that sundered thee from home ?
ĈEDIPUS.
, and the dread of parricide, old man.
Messenger.
en wherefore, coming friendly as I did,

ve I not freed thee from this fear, O king?
Œdipus.
om me indeed expect requital due.
Messenger.
ainly for this end came I, that when thou

omeward should'st come, I might have grace of
thee.
EDIPUS.
Ne'er will I come, while sire or mother l
MESSENGER.
Thou know'st not what thou dost, 'tis plai
EDIPUS.
How so, old man ? for the Gods ' sake, sp
MESSENGER.
If these things sunder thee from house ar
EDIPUS.
They do ; lest Phoebus prove him true in
MESSENGER.
Dreadest thou guilt from mother and from
CEDIPUS.
Old man, that fear clings ever close to me

MESSENGER.
vbeit, knowest thou thy fear is naught ?
Œdipus.
w naught, if I be of those parents sprung ?
Messenger .
us ; Polybus was never kin of thine.
Œdipus.
w? Polybus not verily my sire ?
MESSENGER.
much was he as I was, and no more.
Œdipus.
ow thus unfathered, out of kin, like thee ?
Messenger .
ecause nor he nor I thy father was.

G
EDIPUS.
Then wherefore, wherefore called he me
MESSENGER.
Know, from my hands he had thee long
EDIPUS.
So close he cherished me, a stranger's gi
MESSENGER.
His longing prompted thus the childless
EDIPUS.
Bought, or a foundling, was I given to hi
Messenger.
I found thee, in Cithæron's folding vales.
Œdipus.
And how wert thou amid that region roam

MESSENGER.
ere was I set the mountain flocks to tend.
Œdipus.
rt thou a shepherd, hired to roam the hills ?
Messenger .
a, but thy saviour too , son, in that hour.
Œdipus.
hat pain beset me, in that ill plight found ?
Messenger.
hine ankle-joints may witness unto that.
Œdipus.
lack, why tellest thou that ancient woe ?
Messenger.
Finding thy feet transfixed and bound, I freed thee.

84 CEDI THE KIN .
PUS G
EDIPUS.
Dark shame I won me from such swaddli
MESSENGER.
So that thy name thou holdest from that
EDIPUS.
In God's name, say—by sire's or mother's
MESSENGER.
Belike he knows who gave thee ; I know n
EDIPUS.
Didst thou not find, but from another have
MESSENGER.
I found thee not ; a shepherd gave thee to
EDIPUS.
Who was he ? canst thou tell of him aright

MESSENGER.
ethinks, a serf of Laius he was styled.
Œdipus.
f him who long ago did rule this land ?
Messenger.
Yea, herdsman was he of the chief thou namest.
Œdipus.
And lives that herdsman, that mine eyes might see

him ?
Messenger.
That, ye should know best, who inhabit here.
Œdipus.
Ho, ye who stand hard by—doth any know

The herdsman whom he names ? hath any man
Or in the fields or in the city seen him ?

Speak, for the time is come that all be known.
CHORUS.
Methinks, it is that countryman he names

Whom thou before wert craving to behold
But this most surely could Iocasta tell.
Œdipus.
Dost thou know, lady, him whom late we

To summon hither ? Speaks this man of
IOCASTA.
Why this of whom he spake ? heed nought

Discard vain memories of useless words.
DIPUS.
It shall not be that I, with such clues won,

Should fail to force to light my parentage .
IOCASTA.
By the Gods' love, leave searching, if thou

For thine own life—enough what I endure.
EDIPUS.
ke heart : not though I prove me thrice a slave

Itriple slave-stock, shalt thou come to shame.
Iocasta.
atheless, obey my prayer and search no more.
Œdipus.
Not for thy prayer shall this thing lie concealed.
Iocasta.
Yet oh ! in ruth and for thy weal I plead !
Œdipus.
I tell thee then, long since I rue that weal.
Iocasta.
Ah woeful man ! seek not thy birth to learn .

888
CEDIPUS THE KING.
EDIPUS (turning to a Servant)
Go, fetch the herdsman hither unto me,

And leave her to her goodly birth and p
IOCASTA.
Woe, woe, upon thee, wretched man ! th

Is mine the rest be silence evermore.
[She breaks away, rushing into
CHORUS.
Why hath the queen rushed hence, O CE

Urged by fierce agony ? my mind misgive
Lest from her silence should break forth a
EDIPUS.
Break forth what list ! I will not spare to s
Mean though it be, the seed from which I

Yet she, methinks—she hath a woman's pr
Takes to her shame the vileness of my birt
Howbeit I, who deem me child of chance—
Chance that gives good— will spurn dishon
me.
EDIPUS THE KING. 89
ance was my mother, and coeval months
owed me forth lowly, then exalted me.

such kin came I, nor can wrong my birth,
r will I spare my lineage to learn.
CHORUS.
the dwelling of God I swear, if prophecy live in

my spirit,
Thee will we praise, Cithæron, yea unto thee

will we sing ;
ome the full moon of to-morrow, thou shalt not

be void but inherit
Honour, as birthplace at once, mother and nurse

of the king :
ea and since great was thy boon, and unto my

king thou didst bear it,
Thee will we greet with the dance. Grant us,

Apollo, this thing.
Child, wert thou born of immortals ? To Pan the

hill-lover's embraces ,
Or to Apollo himself bare thee some nymph of

the wild ?
Dear to Apollo they are, the pastures,

tainous places ;
Or was thy mother by Hermes, lord

beguiled ?
Was it Bacchus, high-throned on the 1
clasped thee and hailed thee wi
New-born upon Helicon's side from
playmate, O child ?
Œdipus.
Elders, if I who never in the past

Consorted with him, yet may judge arigh
Yonder he comes, the herdsman of our se
For in its tale of years that herdsman's ag
Must measure with this man's : I know w
That they, who bring him, of my househo

But ye, methinks, in certainty hereof
Surpass me, having seen the man of old.
Chorus.
Aye, doubt it not, I know him : once he

Right leal to Laius, as a herd may be.
[Enter a Herdsman, conducted by A

EDIPUS.
ee first I ask, new come from Corinth's land,

this the man thou meanest ?
Messenger.
Yea, this man.
Œdipus.
nou, aged man, speak face to face with me

nd answer—Wert thou slave of Laius once ?
Herdsman.
was not bought but nurtured in his home.
Œdipus.
What work or way of life was thine to tend ?
Herdsman.
followed flocks the more part of my life.
Œdipus.
And in what region didst thou roam and rest ?

26
HERDSMAN.
At whiles Cithæron, then the uplands ne
EDIPUS.
There didst thou ever see and mark this
HERDSMAN .
This man— how serving ? what man nam
EDIPUS.
This man now here —didst e'er consort w
HERDSMAN.
Not so that memory can spur my tongue.
Messenger.
No marvel that, my lord : yet will I bring

A clear remembrance to his halting mind
For well I wot he can recall the days
en, in the highland of Cithæron's range,

ice for a full half-year did he and I
m spring to autumn and Arcturus' rise
ell each by each, he with three flocks to tend
d I with one ; then for the winter's time
: drove our flocks apart, I to my fold
d he unto the stead of Laius.
eak I aright, or not, that so we fared ?
Herdsman.
ou sayest truth, although of time long past.
Messenger .
y then, dost thou recall that unto me

child thou gavest for my fosterling ?
Herdsman.
hat say'st thou ? wherefore askest thou of this ?
Messenger (pointing to Œdipus).
ood sir, there standeth he that was that child.

94 EDIPUS THE KING.
HERDSMAN .
Hell silence thee ! wilt thou not hold thy
EDIPUS.
Peace, old man, chide him not — these

thine,
More than his tale, deserve a chastener.
Herdsman.
Wherein, most goodly lord, do I offend ?
Œdipus.
Avowing not the child of whom he asks.
Herdsman.
He speaks sans knowledge, frets himself in
EDIPUS.
Thou wilt not speak with grace, thou sh

tears.
HERDSMAN.
r God's sake, wrong me not, for I am old.
Œdipus.
›, bind him, bind his arms behind his back.
Herdsman .
herefore, O hapless man ? what more wouldst

learn ?
Œdipus.
idst give to him the child of whom he asks ?
Herdsman .
gave it—would that I had died that day !
Œdipus.
This day thou diest, if thou hide the truth.
Herdsman.
et I die doubly, if I hide it not.

S
96 CEDIPU THE KING.
EDIPUS.
Methinks he driveth yet at more delay.
Herdsman .
Nay, nay—I have owned that I gave the
EDIPUS.
Whence having it ? another's, or thine ow
Herdsman .
Mine it was not ; but by another given.
Œdipus.
By whom in Thebes, from what home, high
HERDSMAN.
For heaven's sake, O my master, ask no m
EDIPUS.
Thou art but dead, if I shall ask again.

46
HERDSMAN.
1 help— it was a child of Laius' house.
Œdipus.
slave-child, or in his own lineage born ?
Herdsman.
>e's me— in speech I stand on horror's verge.
Œdipus.
nd I in hearing : natheless I must hear.
Herdsman .
now then, his own child it was said to be.

o, ask thy queen within : she best can say.
CEDIPUS.
Was it she gave it thee ?
Herdsman
It was, O king.
H
PUS G
98 CEDI THE KIN .
EDIPUS.
And for what end ?
HERDSMAN.
That I should quen
EDIPUS.
So hard a mother ?
HERDSMAN.
By ill presa
EDIPUS.
What presage ?
HERDSMAN.
That the child should slay
EDIPUS.
Then why unto this graybeard didst thoug

alakad
Bedakska
HERDSMAN.
lord, I pitied it, and deemed that he
ould bear it hence away to his own land.

e saved it, well-a-day, for sorrow's crown.
or if thou art that child of whom he tells,
: well assured thou wert to ill fate born.
EDIPUS.
oe, woe upon me ! all the issue clear-
ight, be thou dark to me for evermore !

ursed in my birth, and in my marriage cursed,
nd cursed in blood-shedding I stand revealed !
[He rushes into the palace.
Chorus.
O ye of mortal birth,
I deem your life on earth
dream, a shadow, yea, a thing of nought !
For what man winneth more
Than for a brief scope to be thought

The child of fortune— then a touch, and all is o'er !
Alas, O Œdipus, alas for thee !

Thy doom I witness, thine ! and th' o
hear—
Call no man happy—sounding in min
He it was, even he
That drew the bow of thought with match
Achieving fortune's crown—
The crook- clawed maid of riddling lo
down,
And against death stood up, a tower t
land.
Thence wert thou hailed as king, O C

throned
[n glorious Thebes, with highest honour

And now—what sadder tale of grief is to
Whom did wild woes and troubles e'er en
As thee, with life's reversal overthrown ?

O head of high renown !
Thee the same gate and harbour wide
Received thee child from sire, received th
to bride !
CEDIPUS THE KING. ΙΟΙ
Alack the seed-field, by that father sown !

How in long silence could those furrows be
Refurrowed, and by thee ?
Behold, thou art descried,
eluctant, by th' all-seeing eye of Time—
_me, branding the curs'd wedlock big with doom—
Begotten and begetting in one womb !
Alack, O Laius' son !

Would I had seen thee never, well-a- day !
Behold I wail and wail, as one
Who from his lips doth pour a dirge alway.
For sooth it is, through thee my life took heart of

yore,
And through thee now it swoons to woe and night
once more.
[Enter Second Messenger.
d Mess nger. O ye
S co of stablished honour in this land,
What horrors for your ears and eyes shall be,

What burden for your hearts, if loyal yet
Ye own and love the race of Labdacus !
I deem, not Ister nor the Phasis' wave

Can purge and cleanse this home of what
Or what anon it will bring forth to-day,

Of woes wrought wittingly. Most sharply
The agonies that self-imposed are seen.
Chorus.
What erst we knew hereof did fail no whit
Of deep lament ; what new thing dost thou
SECOND MESSENGER.
This is the swiftest word to tell and hear—
Queen Iocasta's godlike head lies low.
Chorus.
Alas for her ! say by what cause she fell.
Second Messenger.
Her own hand smote her. But this horror's
Is not for you, who have not seen the sight.

Natheless, so far at least as memory
ands me in stead, hear ye her woeful end.

hen in her agony she sped within
he palace porch, straight to her marriage-bed

nward she flung, and rent with either hand
er floating hair ; then, to her chamber come,
he clanged the doors behind her, wailing out
he name of Laius so long time dead,
Mindful of him, her offspring once, by whom
His father died and, dying, left his wife
A womb of incest for his son and hers.
Loud she lamented o'er the marriage-bed
Where, fate-abhorred, a double brood she bare—
Husband from husband, children from her child.

And how thereon she died, I cannot tell.
For Œdipus burst in with horror's cry,
So that on her woe we could look no more,
But turned to gaze upon him raging round.

For up and down he raved, A sword, a sword,
Give me a sword—where is my wife, no wife,
The womb that bare me and my children too ?
Then to his madness did some spirit-guide
A
Point out the way, for none of us who watched
Moved hand or foot. Some unseen beckoning
104 EDIPUS THE KING.
With a wild yell he followed ; the twin do

Burst as he sprang and from their sockets
The yielding bolts and hurled himself with
There we beheld, ah me ! the queen— her

Noosed with the twisted strands of hanging
He, seeing, with all agony in his cry,
Tore slack the hanging noose, and on the g
She lay—alas the sight, alas to tell
The further horror that our eyes beheld !
He, rending from her raiment as she lay
The golden clasps that decked her, raised t
And full upon his eyeballs smote withal,
Crying aloud, Out, out ! and see no more.
See not the hell of what I bore and wrought !
Henceforth to darkness fall your sight of them
Whom to your curse ye have seen, and of those
Whom ye could tell not, when I craved to kno
So cried he o'er and o'er, and oftentimes
Smote the uplifted points upon his eyes ;
1 This rather " dark saying " is reproduced as it st

the original. I have followed Professor Jebb's interpretatio
Edipus curses his eyes as having seen his unhallowed
and offspring, and failed to know Laius his true father, w
met and might have spared him.
nd at each blow the eyeball's gushing stream

an down unto his beard— no oozing drops
f gore emitting, but in sable shower,
ke sudden rain-drops pattered down the blood.
hus, nor on him alone, the storm of ills
ath burst—on him, on her, a mingling doom.

nd all their storied fortune was of old
ortune indeed—to-day, —woe worth the day !

ll evils tongue can tell— lament and doom,
eath and pollution— all are on them now!
CHORUS.
las for him ! hath he yet ease from pain ?
Second Messenger.
Aloud he cries, Ho, fling the barred gates wide—

Show to the folk of Cadmus him who slew
His father who his mother— but the words
Wrung from his lips shall not dishallow mine.
Forth from the land he wills to cast himself,
Nor bide and bring his own curse on his home.
Yet lacks he strength for this, and one to guide,
For none, unholpen, could endure such pa

Thou too shalt see it—Lo, the gates unbar
Thou shalt anon a spectacle behold,
Fit to wring pity's tear from loathing's eye.
[The doors ofthe palace are thro

·Re-enter Œdipus, blinde
Chorus.
O dread, O fear, O sight the worst
That ever yet mine eyes hath curs'd !

What frenzy drew unto thy side ?
What spirit strong, with ravening stride
Swifter than man's, and swooping hard,
Hath sprung upon thy life ill-starred ?
Alas for thee ! I dare not turn
Mine eyes to thine, though fain I were
Much to gaze on thee, much to learn,

And much to scan thy face—such fear
Runs shuddering to my inmost soul !
Œdipus.
Woe on me, utter woe !

How hath hard fate undone me !
er the wide earth unto what goal

nd am I borne, in fate's control ?
d my voice wanders on the breeze-
-ong spirit of my destinies,

Ow hast thou sprung upon me !
Chorus.
read was his spring—too dread for ear and eye.
Œdipus.
cloud of my darkness abhorred, ineffable, swift

to enfold,
vincible eamest thou on, by the wind of my

destiny rolled !
Ah woe and well-a-day !
How am I stung with memory of ills
And the keen points that madden me with pain.
Chorus.
Centred in woe thou art—I marvel not
That pangs to wail and to endure are thine.

108 EDIPUS THE KING.
EDIPUS.
O steadfast in pity and bold to stand at m

a friend,
Thy heart is compassionate yet, the wretc
blindness to tend !
Alas !
I know thou art at hand ; though dark I a
Yet is thy voice right native to mine ear.
Chorus.
O deed of blood !—how hadst thou heart t
Thy vision thus ? what power impelled thy
EDIPUS.
Apollo it was, O friends, Apollo that wro

his will
The woe upon woe that befel me, the pain

piteous ill.
No hand ofthe stranger it was, but I in
did smite—
And the darkness fell on mine eyes—for I
joy in the light.

ght, nought there was that I could crave to

see.
Chorus.
o true they are, alas ! those words of thine.
Œdipus.
Alas ! for what henceforth avail
The joy of sight, the grace of love,

The gladness of a friend's all-hail ?
Out with me, lead me hence afar,
With utter death accursed , to rove—
Yea, even to the Gods above
The most abhorred of men that are !
Chorus.
ll-starred in fate thou dost too keenly feel.

Would that we saw not, ne'er had seen thy face !
Œdipus.
A curse on the man that released, when the cast-

away lay on the wold,
My feet from the fetter that bound them

from the death did withhold,
And lifted me up to my saving ! alack, an i

he wrought—
I would he had left me to perish ; a dead
fereth nought.
Nor friends nor I so deep had rued the da
Chorus.
I too were fain it had been even so.
CEDIPUS.
So had I ne'er my father slain

Nor among men this name had won ,
A woman's consort and her son.
That womb from which I sprung erewhil
That womb, that couch I did defile !
If bane there be transcending bane,
That is my heritage of pain.
Chorus.
I know not to proclaim thy counsel good ;

Better were death than life with sightless ey
CEDIPUS THE KING. III
EDIPUS.
pol me no more nor say that what is done

lone amiss—truce to thy counsels now !
me, I know not, had I vision still,
w I had dared to gaze upon my sire
en in the underworld I met his face—
upon her, the woeful among women,

at was my mother—since to both alike
eds I have wrought that not the strangling cord

ghtly could recompense. Ye deem forsooth
y children's aspect—born as they were born-
ight fill my soul with yearning ? God forefend !
hey welcome to mine eyes ? O never, never—
ever for me this city and its towers,
ever the holy images of Gods—
hom I, the prey of curses manifold,
noblest born of all that dwell in Thebes,
Have banned myself to know not evermore !

By mine own hest I did it, bidding all
Expel the man unholy, even him
Declared by heaven accurs'd, and Laius' son.
Such is my damned stain, and I myself
I12 CEDIPUS THE KING.
Have shown it forth- should I not b
gaze
With seeing eyes on Thebes ? it could not
Nay, were it possible to choke withal
The fount of hearing in mine ears, right fa
Had I been thus to cancel and close up
Each avenue of mine accursed frame,

And make me deaf as sightless : sweet it is
When inward senses dwell shut off from w
Alack Cithæron ! thou didst rescue me,
But to what issue ? wherefore having ta'en

Didst thou not slay me straight ? such de
saved,
Nor shown the horror of my birth to men.
O Polybus, O Corinth, and ye halls

J Miscalled the ancient birthplace of my sires
How did ye foster me, in semblance fair,

But foul beneath, a hidden running sore.
For vile am I displayed, and vilely born.

O triple cross-way and O hidden dell,
Oak-grove and defile where three pathways

I shed mine own blood from my father's ve
It sank in you ! Speak, have ye yet in min

nding by you what deeds I wrought, and

what,
therward passing, I achieved in Thebes ?
arriage, alack the marriage, whence I sprang

id, born, begat—even I, the self-same child-
ildren on her that bare me, and the light

w father, brother, son—a mingled brood-
ride, wife, and mother—hellishly combined-
arker pollution is not among men.
truce to this—foul deeds are ill to tell.
Delay not, in the name of God, to hide me

Beyond the borders of the land, or slay,
Or fling me to the wave and whelm me there,
Beyond your sight for ever. O draw near,
Scorn not to touch, that once, a wretch abhorred—

But grant my prayer, fear nothing—this my curse
Is destined for no other man than me.
Chorus.
Nay, at the point of time to hear thy prayer,

For action or for counsel, Creon comes—
Left in thy stead, our solitary guard.

I
EDIPUS.
Alack, but what word dare I speak to him,

How justly claim that he should list to me—
Me, proved his basest foeman heretofore ?
[Re-enter
CREON.
Not as to mock thee, Œdipus, I come,
Nor in thy teeth to cast thy former wrongs—
[To the Atte
Ye, if ye hold in ruth your fellow-men

No longer, yet at least, in awe of him
Whose flame doth feed and foster all the wor
The Sun-god, show not thus unscreened and

A thing so foul as neither earth itself
Nor dews divine of rain nor light can bear.
Nay, swiftly hurry him within the house—

Only a kinsman may with reverence see
And hear the horrors of a kinsman's doom.
EDIPUS.
heaven— since thou hast torn me from my
thought,
hat presaged ill, and come with grace humane
o me a man dishumanised— I pray,
rant me one gift ! for thee, not me, my word.
Creon .
And for what need dost thou implore me thus ?
Œdipus.
Haste—tarry not, but fling me from this land,
Out beyond ken or speech of mortal men.
Creon.
Rest thee assured, already had I done it,

Craved I not first to know the God's full will.
Œdipus.
Nay, but his whole command was clearly shown-

Slay the polluted man who slew his sire.
CREON.
So was it spoken—yet, at point of need,

Better to learn of heaven the rightful way.
Œdipus.
Dare ye, for such a wretch, inquire of heave
Creon.
Yea— now, I wot, e'en thou wilt trust the Go
EDIPUS.
Lo, thee I charge, to thee will plead for this—

To her now laid within such funeral give
As meet thou deemest ; thee the rite befits,
As for thy sister held : but, as for me—
Ne'er be the city of my father doomed
To have me living for its denizen.
Nay, on the mountain let me live henceforth
Cithæron, unto which my fameless fame
Doth cling for aye—where they, whose child
ving, ordained my place of death to be.

ere, by such end as they who schemed to slay
me
illed I should suffer, let me pass away.
nd yet, of this at least I stand assured,

o sickness and no common chance of man
in end me ; never had I been held back
pon death's verge, save for a doom more

strange.
eave me to fate to drift me down its tide—
et ah my children ! —Creon, for my sons

ex not thyself—they cannot, being men,
ail to win sustenance, where'er they be.

ut my two girls, in piteous fate forlorn,
rom whom my table ne'er was set apart,
Nor I from them, but whatsoe'er was mine
To touch or taste, they ever shared with me—
Them tend for me, and to my longing arms
Bring them once more, that I may fail my

fate
Unto the full. O Creon, princely heart,

As noble as thy line, go—grant they come, —
Could I but touch them, they would seem to be
Close to my heart, as when my eyes had sig
[Attendants bring in ANTIGONE and
Hush—what the sound I hear ? God—ca
My darlings weeping ? and hath Creon's ru

Sent me my daughters, treasure of my soul
Doth he give this ?
Creon.
I give it, knowing w

That ancient tenderness that still is thine.
Œdipus.
All grace of fortune go with thee, and heav

Guard thee, in meed of this thine errand d
More kindly than it ever guarded me.
Where are ye, sweet my children ? O draw
Come to these arms that should a father's
And are a brother's— hands whose act cont
Such sight unto the eyes that clear of old

Looked from your father's face. Alas, my
I am your father, and, unknowing all,
gat you in the womb from which I sprang.

a, I bewail you , whom I cannot see—
using of what sad life the future holds
r you rejected at the hands of man.
r to what company of Theban men,
nto what festal concourse can ye come,
ve to creep homeward, beggared of the joy,

elling with tears ? and when by girlhood's
growth
e are made meet for marriage—ah my children,
all there come any man to brave the world
nd take to him such scorns as sear henceforth
er name who bare your father and bare you ?

our life is ringed with horror— I your sire
lew my own sire and ploughed that female field
Where erst I grew, and from a mutual womb
Had my own birth and yours. So men will say,
oathing—and who will marry him to scorn ?

No man on earth, O children—plain it is,
Unwed and childless ye shall pine away.
Hear me, Menœceus' son—since thou alone
Art left to be a father to these twain—
For we, their veritable parents, both

Are lost and gone — leave not thes

roam
Beggared, unwedded —are they not thy

Nor rate them at the measure of my wo
Nay, hold them in compassion : young

And all unholpen, save for thee alone.
Touch me, O soul of honour, with thine
Pledge thine assent ! O children, had y
Much had I counselled you— but this at
Pray as I bid you— that your lot may lie

Where kindly chance allows, and what ye
Of life, may fairer than your father's be.
Creon.
To the full hast thou gone in thy weep
now to the palace within.
Œdipus.
I obey thee reluctant-
Creon.
In all things, 'tis seemly the season

EDIPUS.
Dost thou know on what pledge I will go ?
Creon.
Speak thou—I shall hear and perceive.
Œdipus.
That thou banish me far from the land.
Creon.
What thou askest, God only can give.
Œdipus.
But hateful to God am I grown.
Creon.
Then more soon will he grant thee such plea.
EDIPUS.
Dost thou grant it ?

I 2
CREON.
Speech were idle, till God's will be plain to
EDIPUS.
Lead me hence, I pray.
Creon.
Then follow—hold no more thy children's
EDIPUS.
Leave me these, whate'er thou takest !
Creon.
Seek not all things to com

For authority came to thee and hath left the
came.
Chorus.
Look upon him, O my Thebans, on your kir

child of fame !
This mighty man, this Œdipus the lore far-famed

could guess,
And envy from each Theban won, so great his

lordliness—
Lo to what a surge of sorrow and confusion hath

he come !
Let us call no mortal happy till our eyes have seen

the doom
And the death-day come upon him—till, unharassed

by mischance,
He pass the bound of mortal life, the goal of ordi-
nance .
[Exeunt Omnes.
THE END.
Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh.

Oedipus The King

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This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized

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TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OF SOPHOCLES

" Erfahre sie, wie ich geschwind

Printed by R. & R. CLARK , Edinbur

Laius, son of Labdacus, ruled in Thebes : and "

wife bare him a son, he should thereafter be slain

them , they fastened the feet of the child together

he was carried to Corinth, and Polybus, King of

there came to dipus an oracle that he was fated

Polybus and his wife were truly his parents. But

as he journeyed on his way, he met Lai

the people from the Sphinx who preyed

what thing he had wrought unknowin

The Scene is laid before the palace of Œdipus at Thebes.

CEDIPUS THE KING .

O latest born of ancient Cadmus' race,

My Theban children, with what suppliance

Rife too the city is with heavy reek

Tales of your suffering. Behold me here,

In speech to champion these that here are met—

What aid, or to your love what grace t

Hear now, O king and lord of this my

The shrines of gods, as I of Zeus ; and

Wasting in every herd that roamed the field,

Swoops down to rack with fellest plague the land .

By the grim Sphinx and her perplexing song.

His gift it is, our life stands safe once more.

Find some stronghold of safety unto

Thou broughtest us ; be strong as then

Alack, my children, all too well I know

Ye sicken, sicker is this heart of mine.

Soul-smitten, groan in threefold agony ;

And seek with pains, and find one only cure,

Creon, the brother of my queen, to learn

And lo, this day, by time's comparison,

Nay, fair thy word and timely : as thou speakest,

O King Apollo, grant he bring to us

With news of good, methinks, he com

Soon shall we know : my voice can rea

Prince, kinsman of my queen, Menœce

Tidings of good. For e'en things hard

Nay, but how stands the presage ? not a

If thou dost will to hear with these beside,

I stand to speak—or, with thee, pass within.

Speak in the ears of all —more keen for them,

Then will I speak what from the God I heard.

Out with the land's pollution, howsoe'er

Say, by what purge ? in what guise stands the ill ?

Drive hence the slayer, or quit blood with blood :

Say, at whose door doth Phoebus lay th

Know that this land was erst by Laius r

Mine ears have heard of one mine eyes s

Clear now the God's command is, that we

But they, where hide they ? where shall

The track inscrutable of bygone crime ?

Within this land, the God said— Seek andfind,

Met Laius and death then, face to face,

Bidden, he said, to the God's shrine, he went,