Delphi Complete Works of Sophocles

by Sophocles

  OEDIPUS

  Then may the gods ne’er 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. They never raised a hand,

  When I their sire was thrust from hearth and home,

  When I was banned and banished, what recked they?

  Say you ’twas done at my desire, a grace

  Which the state, yielding to my wish, allowed?

  Not so; for, mark you, on that very day

  When in the tempest of my soul I craved

  Death, even death by stoning, none appeared

  To further that wild longing, but anon,

  When time had numbed my anguish and I felt

  My wrath had all outrun those errors past,

  Then, then it was the city went about

  By force to oust me, respited for years;

  And then my sons, who should as sons have helped,

  Did nothing: and, one little word from them

  Was all I needed, and they spoke no word,

  But let me wander on for evermore,

  A banished man, a beggar. These two maids

  Their sisters, girls, gave all their sex could give,

  Food and safe harborage and filial care;

  While their two brethren sacrificed their sire

  For lust of power and sceptred sovereignty.

  No! me they ne’er shall win for an ally,

  Nor will this Theban kingship bring them gain;

  That know I from this maiden’s oracles,

  And those old prophecies concerning me,

  Which Phoebus now at length has brought to pass.

  Come Creon then, come all the mightiest

  In Thebes to seek me; for if ye my friends,

  Championed by those dread Powers indigenous,

  Espouse my cause; then for the State ye gain

  A great deliverer, for my foemen bane.

  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.

  CHORUS

  First make atonement to the deities,

  Whose grove by trespass thou didst first profane.

  OEDIPUS

  After what manner, stranger? Teach me, pray.

  CHORUS

  Make a libation first of water fetched

  With undefiled hands from living spring.

  OEDIPUS

  And after I have gotten this pure draught?

  CHORUS

  Bowls thou wilt find, the carver’s handiwork;

  Crown thou the rims and both the handles crown —

  OEDIPUS

  With olive shoots or blocks of wool, or how?

  CHORUS

  With wool from fleece of yearling freshly shorn.

  OEDIPUS

  What next? how must I end the ritual?

  CHORUS

  Pour thy libation, turning to the dawn.

  OEDIPUS

  Pouring it from the urns whereof ye spake?

  CHORUS

  Yea, in three streams; and be the last bowl drained

  To the last drop.

  OEDIPUS

  And wherewith shall I fill it,

  Ere in its place I set it? This too tell.

  CHORUS

  With water and with honey; add no wine.

  OEDIPUS

  And when the embowered earth hath drunk thereof?

  CHORUS

  Then lay upon it thrice nine olive sprays

  With both thy hands, and offer up this prayer.

  OEDIPUS

  I fain would hear it; that imports the most.

  CHORUS

  That, as we call them Gracious, they would deign

  To grant the suppliant their saving grace.

  So pray thyself or whoso pray for thee,

  In whispered accents, not with lifted voice;

  Then go and look back. Do as I bid,

  And I shall then be bold to stand thy friend;

  Else, stranger, I should have my fears for thee.

  OEDIPUS

  Hear ye, my daughters, what these strangers say?

  ANTIGONE

  We listened, and attend thy bidding, father.

  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.

  So to your work with speed, but leave me not

  Untended; for this frame is all too week

  To move without the help of guiding hand.

  ISMENE

  Then I will go perform these rites, but where

  To find the spot, this have I yet to learn.

  CHORUS

  Beyond this grove; if thou hast need of aught,

  The guardian of the close will lend his aid.

  ISMENE

  I go, and thou, Antigone, meanwhile

  Must guard our father. In a parent’s cause

  Toil, if there be toil, is of no account.

  [Exit ISMENE]

  CHORUS

  (Str. 1)

  Ill it is, stranger, to awake

  Pain that long since has ceased to ache,

  And yet I fain would hear —

  OEDIPUS

  What thing?

  CHORUS

  Thy tale of cruel suffering

  For which no cure was found,

  The fate that held thee bound.

  OEDIPUS

  O bid me not (as guest I claim

  This grace) expose my shame.

  CHORUS

  The tale is bruited far and near,

  And echoes still from ear to ear.

  The truth, I fain would hear.

  OEDIPUS

  Ah me!

  CHORUS

  I prithee yield.

  OEDIPUS

  Ah me!

  CHORUS

  Grant my request, I granted all to thee.

  OEDIPUS

  (Ant. 1)

  Know then I suffered ills most vile, but none

  (So help me Heaven!) from acts in malice done.

  CHORUS

  Say how.

  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.

  CHORUS

  Oh God!

  OEDIPUS

  Sprang from the wife and mother’s travail-pain.

  CHORUS

  (Str. 2)

  What, then thy offspring are at once —

  OEDIPUS

  Too true.

  Their father’s very sister’s too.

  CHORUS

  Oh horror!

  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.

  CHORUS

  How so?

  OEDIPUS

  I served t
he State; would I had never won

  That graceless grace by which I was undone.

  CHORUS

  (Ant. 2)

  And next, unhappy man, thou hast shed blood?

  OEDIPUS

  Must ye hear more?

  CHORUS

  A father’s?

  OEDIPUS

  Flood on flood

  Whelms me; that word’s a second mortal blow.

  CHORUS

  Murderer!

  OEDIPUS

  Yes, a murderer, but know —

  CHORUS

  What canst thou plead?

  OEDIPUS

  A plea of justice.

  CHORUS

  How?

  OEDIPUS

  I slew who else would me have slain;

  I slew without intent,

  A wretch, but innocent

  In the law’s eye, I stand, without a stain.

  CHORUS

  Behold our sovereign, Theseus, Aegeus’ son,

  Comes at thy summons to perform his part.

  [Enter THESEUS]

  THESEUS

  Oft had I heard of thee in times gone by —

  The bloody mutilation of thine eyes —

  And therefore know thee, son of Laius.

  All that I lately gathered on the way

  Made my conjecture doubly sure; and now

  Thy garb and that marred visage prove to me

  That thou art he. 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.

  Declare it; dire indeed must be the tale

  Whereat I should recoil. I too was reared,

  Like thee, in exile, and in foreign lands

  Wrestled with many perils, no man more.

  Wherefore no alien in adversity

  Shall seek in vain my succor, nor shalt thou;

  I know myself a mortal, and my share

  In what the morrow brings no more than thine.

  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.

  So without prologue I may utter now

  My brief petition, and the tale is told.

  THESEUS

  Say on, and tell me what I fain would learn.

  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.

  THESEUS

  What profit dost thou proffer to have brought?

  OEDIPUS

  Hereafter thou shalt learn, not yet, methinks.

  THESEUS

  When may we hope to reap the benefit?

  OEDIPUS

  When I am dead and thou hast buried me.

  THESEUS

  Thou cravest life’s last service; all before —

  Is it forgotten or of no account?

  OEDIPUS

  Yea, the last boon is warrant for the rest.

  THESEUS

  The grace thou cravest then is small indeed.

  OEDIPUS

  Nay, weigh it well; the issue is not slight.

  THESEUS

  Thou meanest that betwixt thy sons and me?

  OEDIPUS

  Prince, they would fain convey me back to Thebes.

  THESEUS

  If there be no compulsion, then methinks

  To rest in banishment befits not thee.

  OEDIPUS

  Nay, when I wished it they would not consent.

  THESEUS

  For shame! such temper misbecomes the faller.

  OEDIPUS

  Chide if thou wilt, but first attend my plea.

  THESEUS

  Say on, I wait full knowledge ere I judge.

  OEDIPUS

  O Theseus, I have suffered wrongs on wrongs.

  THESEUS

  Wouldst tell the old misfortune of thy race?

  OEDIPUS

  No, that has grown a byword throughout Greece.

  THESEUS

  What then can be this more than mortal grief?

  OEDIPUS

  My case stands thus; by my own flesh and blood

  I was expelled my country, and can ne’er

  Thither return again, a parricide.

  THESEUS

  Why fetch thee home if thou must needs obey.

  THESEUS

  What are they threatened by the oracle?

  OEDIPUS

  Destruction that awaits them in this land.

  THESEUS

  What can beget ill blood ‘twixt them and me?

  OEDIPUS

  Dear son of Aegeus, to the gods alone

  Is given immunity from eld and death;

  But nothing else escapes all-ruinous time.

  Earth’s might decays, the might of men decays,

  Honor grows cold, dishonor flourishes,

  There is no constancy ‘twixt friend and friend,

  Or city and city; be it soon or late,

  Sweet turns to bitter, hate once more to love.

  If now ’tis sunshine betwixt Thebes and thee

  And not a cloud, Time in his endless course

  Gives birth to endless days and nights, wherein

  The merest nothing shall suffice to cut

  With serried spears your bonds of amity.

  Then shall my slumbering and buried corpse

  In its cold grave drink their warm life-blood up,

  If Zeus be Zeus and Phoebus still speak true.

  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 ne’er complain that Oedipus

  Proved an unprofitable and thankless guest,

  Except the gods themselves shall play me false.

  CHORUS

  The man, my lord, has from the very first

  Declared his power to offer to our land

  These and like benefits.

  THESEUS

  Who could reject

  The proffered amity of such a friend?

  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. Thy choice is mine.

  OEDIPUS

  Zeus, may the blessing fall on men like these!

  THESEUS

  What dost thou then decide — to come with me?

  OEDIPUS

  Yea, were it lawful — but ’tis rather here —

  THESEUS

  What wouldst thou here? I shall not thwart thy wish.

  OEDIPUS

  Here shall I vanquish those who cast me forth.

  THESEUS

  Then were thy presence here a boon indeed.

  OEDIPUS

  Such shall it prove, if thou fulfill’st thy pledge.

  THESEUS

  Fear not for me; I shall not play thee false.

  OEDIPUS

  No need to back thy promise with an oath.

  THESEUS

  An oath would be no surer than my word.

  OEDIPUS

  How wilt thou act then?

  THESEUS

  What is it thou fear’st?

  OEDIPUS

  My foes will come —

  THESEUS

  Our friends will look to that.

  OEDIPUS


  But if thou leave me?

  THESEUS

  Teach me not my duty.

  OEDIPUS

  ’Tis fear constrains me.

  THESEUS

  My soul knows no fear!

  OEDIPUS

  Thou knowest not what threats —

  THESEUS

  I know that none

  Shall hale thee hence in my despite. Such threats

  Vented in anger oft, are blusterers,

  An idle breath, forgot when sense returns.

  And for thy foemen, though their words were brave,

  Boasting to bring thee back, they are like to find

  The seas between us wide and hard to sail.

  Such my firm purpose, but in any case

  Take heart, since Phoebus sent thee here. My name,

  Though I be distant, warrants thee from harm.

  CHORUS

  (Str. 1)

  Thou hast come to a steed-famed land for rest,

  O stranger worn with toil,

  To a land of all lands the goodliest

  Colonus’ glistening soil.

  ’Tis the haunt of the clear-voiced nightingale,

  Who hid in her bower, among

  The wine-dark ivy that wreathes the vale,

  Trilleth her ceaseless song;

  And she loves, where the clustering berries nod

  O’er a sunless, windless glade,

  The spot by no mortal footstep trod,

  The pleasance kept for the Bacchic god,

  Where he holds each night his revels wild

  With the nymphs who fostered the lusty child.

  (Ant. 1)

  And fed each morn by the pearly dew

  The starred narcissi shine,

  And a wreath with the crocus’ golden hue

  For the Mother and Daughter twine.

  And never the sleepless fountains cease

  That feed Cephisus’ stream,

  But they swell earth’s bosom with quick increase,

  And their wave hath a crystal gleam.

  And the Muses’ quire will never disdain

  To visit this heaven-favored plain,

  Nor the Cyprian queen of the golden rein.

  (Str. 2)

  And here there grows, unpruned, untamed,

  Terror to foemen’s spear,

  A tree in Asian soil unnamed,

  By Pelops’ Dorian isle unclaimed,

  Self-nurtured year by year;

  ’Tis the grey-leaved olive that feeds our boys;

  Nor youth nor withering age destroys

  The plant that the Olive Planter tends

  And the Grey-eyed Goddess herself defends.

  (Ant. 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.

  ANTIGONE

  Oh land extolled above all lands, ’tis now