Where's the bold wooers who will jeopardize
To take unto himself such disrepute
As to my children's children still must cling,
For what of infamy is
lacking here?
"Their father slew his father, sowed the seed
Where he himself was gendered, and begat
These maidens at the source wherefrom he sprang."
Such are the gibes that men will cast at you.
Who then will wed you? None, I ween, but ye
Must pine, poor maids, in single barrenness.
O Prince, Menoeceus' son, to thee, I turn,
With the it rests to father them, for we
Their natural parents, both of us, are lost.
O leave them not to
wander poor, unwed,
Thy kin, nor let them share my low estate.
O pity them so young, and but for thee
All
destitute. Thy hand upon it, Prince.
To you, my children I had much to say,
Were ye but ripe to hear. Let this suffice:
Pray ye may find some home and live content,
And may your lot prove happier than your sire's.
CREON
Thou hast had enough of
weeping; pass within.
OEDIPUS
I must obey,
Though 'tis grievous.
CREON
Weep not, everything must have its day.
OEDIPUS
Well I go, but on conditions.
CREON
What thy terms for going, say.
OEDIPUS
Send me from the land an exile.
CREON
Ask this of the gods, not me.
OEDIPUS
But I am the gods' abhorrence.
CREON
Then they soon will grant thy plea.
OEDIPUS
Lead me hence, then, I am willing.
CREON
Come, but let thy children go.
OEDIPUS
Rob me not of these my children!
CREON
Crave not
mastery in all,
For the
mastery that raised thee was thy bane and
wrought thy fall.
CHORUS
Look ye, countrymen and Thebans, this is Oedipus the great,
He who knew the Sphinx's
riddle and was mightiest in our state.
Who of all our townsmen gazed not on his fame with
envious eyes?
Now, in what a sea of troubles sunk and overwhelmed he lies!
Therefore wait to see life's
ending ere thou count one
mortal blest;
Wait till free from pain and sorrow he has gained his final rest.
FOOTNOTES
---------
1. Dr. Kennedy and others render "Since to men of experience I see
that also comparisons of their counsels are in most
lively use."
2. Literally "not to call them thine," but the Greek may be rendered
"In order not to reveal thine."
3. The Greek text that occurs in this place has been lost.
==========================================================================
SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Translation by F. Storr, BA
Formerly Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge
From the Loeb Library Edition
Originally published by
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
and
William Heinemann Ltd, London
First published in 1912
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ARGUMENT
Oedipus, the blind and banished King of Thebes, has come in his
wanderings to Colonus, a deme of Athens, led by his daughter Antigone.
He sits to rest on a rock just within a
sacred grove of the Furies and
is bidden depart by a passing native. But Oedipus, instructed by an
oracle that he had reached his final resting-place, refuses to stir,
and the stranger consents to go and
consult the Elders of Colonus (the
Chorus of the Play). Conducted to the spot they pity at first the
blind
beggar and his daughter, but on
learning his name they are
horror-striken and order him to quit the land. He appeals to the
world-famed
hospitality of Athens and hints at the
blessings that his
coming will confer on the State. They agree to await the decision of
King Theseus. From Theseus Oedipus craves
protection in life and
burial in Attic soil; the benefits that will accrue shall be told
later. Theseus departs having promised to aid and
befriend him. No
sooner has he gone than Creon enters with an armed guard who seize
Antigone and carry her off (Ismene, the other sister, they have
already captured) and he is about to lay hands on Oedipus, when
Theseus, who has heard the
tumult, hurries up and, upbraiding Creon
for his
lawless act, threatens to
detain him till he has shown where
the captives are and restored them. In the next scene Theseus returns
bringing with him the rescued maidens. He informs Oedipus that a
stranger who has taken
sanctuary at the altar of Poseidon wishes to
see him. It is Polyneices who has come to crave his father's
forgiveness and
blessing,
knowing by an
oracle that
victory will fall
to the side that Oedipus espouses. But Oedipus spurns the hypocrite,
and invokes a dire curse on both his
unnatural sons. A sudden clap of
thunder is heard, and as peal follows peal, Oedipus is aware that his
hour is come and bids Antigone
summon Theseus. Self-guided he leads
the way to the spot where death should
overtake him, attended by
Theseus and his daughters. Halfway he bids his daughters farewell,
and what followed none but Theseus knew. He was not (so the Messenger
reports) for the gods took him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
OEDIPUS, banished King of Thebes.
ANTIGONE, his daughter.
ISMENE, his daughter.
THESEUS, King of Athens.
CREON, brother of Jocasta, now reigning at Thebes.
POLYNEICES, elder son of Oedipus.
STRANGER, a native of Colonus.
MESSENGER, an
attendant of Theseus.
CHORUS, citizens of Colonus.
Scene: In front of the grove of the Eumenides.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Enter the blind OEDIPUS led by his daughter, ANTIGONE.
OEDIPUS
Child of an old blind sire, Antigone,
What region, say, whose city have we reached?
Who will provide today with scanted dole
This
wanderer? 'Tis little that he craves,
And less obtains--that less enough for me;
For I am taught by
suffering to endure,
And the long years that have grown old with me,
And last not least, by true nobility.
My daughter, if thou seest a resting place
On common ground or by some
sacred grove,
Stay me and set me down. Let us discover
Where we have come, for strangers must inquire
Of denizens, and do as they are bid.
ANTIGONE
Long-
suffering father, Oedipus, the towers
That fence the city still are faint and far;
But where we stand is surely holy ground;
A
wilderness of
laurel, olive, vine;
Within a choir or songster nightingales
Are warbling. On this native seat of rock
Rest; for an old man thou hast
traveled far.
OEDIPUS
Guide these dark steps and seat me there secure.
ANTIGONE
If time can teach, I need not to be told.
OEDIPUS
Say, prithee, if thou knowest, where we are.
ANTIGONE
Athens I recognize, but not the spot.
OEDIPUS
That much we heard from every wayfarer.
ANTIGONE
Shall I go on and ask about the place?
OEDIPUS
Yes, daughter, if it be inhabited.
ANTIGONE
Sure there are habitations; but no need
To leave thee; yonder is a man hard by.
OEDIPUS
What, moving hitherward and on his way?
ANTIGONE
Say rather, here already. Ask him straight
The needful questions, for the man is here.
[Enter STRANGER]
OEDIPUS
O stranger, as I learn from her whose eyes
Must serve both her and me, that thou art here
Sent by some happy chance to serve our doubts--
STRANGER
First quit that seat, then question me at large:
The spot thou treadest on is holy ground.
OEDIPUS
What is the site, to what god dedicate?
STRANGER
Inviolable, untrod; goddesses,
Dread brood of Earth and Darkness, here abide.
OEDIPUS
Tell me the awful name I should invoke?
STRANGER
The Gracious Ones, All-seeing, so our folk
Call them, but
elsewhere other names are rife.
OEDIPUS
Then may they show their suppliant grace, for I
From this your
sanctuary will ne'er depart.
STRANGER
What word is this?
OEDIPUS
The watchword of my fate.
STRANGER
Nay, 'tis not mine to bid thee hence without
Due
warrant and
instruction from the State.
OEDIPUS
Now in God's name, O stranger, scorn me not
As a wayfarer; tell me what I crave.
STRANGER
Ask; your request shall not be scorned by me.
OEDIPUS