Sophocles

“ CREON.
Aye, let him raise him seed from other fields.
ISMENE.
No new espousal can be like the old.
CREON.
A plague on trulls who court and woo our sons.
ANTIGONE.
O Haemon, how thy sire dishonors thee!
CREON.
A plague on thee and thy accursed bride!
CHORUS.
What, wilt thou rob thine own son of his bride?
CREON.
’Tis death that bars this marriage, not his sire.
CHORUS.
So her death-warrant, it would seem, is sealed.
CREON.
By you, as first by me; off with them, guards,
And keep them close. Henceforward let them learn
To live as women use, not roam at large. ”

“ 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? ”

“ Witness, thou Sun, such thought was never mine,
Unblest, unfriended may I perish,
If ever I such wish did cherish!
But O my heart is desolate
Musing on our striken State,
Doubly fall’n should discord grow
Twixt you twain, to crown our woe.
OEDIPUS.
Well, let him go, no matter what it cost me,
Or certain death or shameful banishment,
For your sake I relent, not his; and him,
Where’er he be, my heart shall still abhor.
CREON.
Thou art as sullen in thy yielding mood
As in thine anger thou wast truculent.
Such tempers justly plague themselves the most. ”

“ OEDIPUS.
Woe, woe!
CREON.
This is but prelude to thy woes.
OEDIPUS.
Hast thou my child?
CREON.
And soon shall have the other.
OEDIPUS.
Ho, friends! ye will not surely play me false?
Chase this ungodly villain from your land.
CHORUS.
Hence, stranger, hence avaunt! Thou doest wrong
In this, and wrong in all that thou hast done.
CREON (to his guards) .
’Tis time by force to carry off the girl,
If she refuse of her free will to go.
ANTIGONE.
Ah, woe is me! where shall I fly, where find
Succor from gods or men?
CHORUS.
What would’st thou, stranger? ”

“ Above all other men is truth inborn.
[Enter TEIRESIAS, led by a boy.]
OEDIPUS.
Teiresias, seer who comprehendest all,
Lore of the wise and hidden mysteries,
High things of heaven and low things of the earth,
Thou knowest, though thy blinded eyes see naught,
What plague infects our city; and we turn
To thee, O seer, our one defense and shield.
The purport of the answer that the God
Returned to us who sought his oracle,
The messengers have doubtless told thee—how
One course alone could rid us of the pest,
To find the murderers of Laius,
And slay them or expel them from the land. ”

“ To glory in her pride of ancestry.
JOCASTA.
O woe is thee, poor wretch! With that last word
I leave thee, henceforth silent evermore.
[Exit JOCASTA]
CHORUS.
Why, Oedipus, why stung with passionate grief
Hath the queen thus departed? Much I fear
From this dead calm will burst a storm of woes.
OEDIPUS.
Let the storm burst, my fixed resolve still holds,
To learn my lineage, be it ne’er so low.
It may be she with all a woman’s pride
Thinks scorn of my base parentage. But I
Who rank myself as Fortune’s favorite child,
The giver of good gifts, shall not be shamed. ”

“ Has Creon pitied me
And sent me my two darlings? Can this be?
CREON.
’Tis true; ’twas I procured thee this delight,
Knowing the joy they were to thee of old.
OEDIPUS.
God speed thee! and as meed for bringing them
May Providence deal with thee kindlier
Than it has dealt with me! O children mine,
Where are ye? Let me clasp you with these hands,
A brother’s hands, a father’s; hands that made
Lack-luster sockets of his once bright eyes;
Hands of a man who blindly, recklessly,
Became your sire by her from whom he sprang. ”

“ Hide it, O hide it, Oedipus, thou canst.
O, by our fathers’ gods, consent I pray;
Come back to Thebes, come to thy father’s home,
Bid Athens, as is meet, a fond farewell;
Thebes thy old foster-mother claims thee first.
OEDIPUS.
O front of brass, thy subtle tongue would twist
To thy advantage every plea of right
Why try thy arts on me, why spread again
Toils where ’twould gall me sorest to be snared?
In old days when by self-wrought woes distraught,
I yearned for exile as a glad release,
Thy will refused the favor then I craved. ”

“ He would bestir him when he hears of thee.
OEDIPUS.
Well, may he come with blessing to his State
And me! Who serves his neighbor serves himself. 5
ANTIGONE.
Zeus! What is this? What can I say or think?
OEDIPUS.
What now, Antigone?
ANTIGONE.
I see a woman
Riding upon a colt of Aetna’s breed;
She wears for headgear a Thessalian hat
To shade her from the sun. Who can it be?
She or a stranger? Do I wake or dream?
’Tis she; ’tis not—I cannot tell, alack;
It is no other! Now her bright’ning glance
Greets me with recognition, yes, ’tis she,
Herself, Ismene! ”

“ But if the sin is theirs, O may they suffer
No worse ills than the wrongs they do to me.
CHORUS.
The same ungovernable will
Drives like a gale the maiden still.
CREON.
Therefore, my guards who let her stay
Shall smart full sore for their delay.
ANTIGONE.
Ah, woe is me! This word I hear
Brings death most near.
CHORUS.
I have no comfort. What he saith,
Portends no other thing than death.
ANTIGONE.
My fatherland, city of Thebes divine,
Ye gods of Thebes whence sprang my line,
Look, puissant lords of Thebes, on me;
The last of all your royal house ye see. ”

“ Yet not from Thebes this villainy was learnt;
Thebes is not wont to breed unrighteous sons,
Nor would she praise thee, if she learnt that thou
Wert robbing me—aye and the gods to boot,
Haling by force their suppliants, poor maids.
Were I on Theban soil, to prosecute
The justest claim imaginable, I
Would never wrest by violence my own
Without sanction of your State or King;
I should behave as fits an outlander
Living amongst a foreign folk, but thou
Shamest a city that deserves it not,
Even thine own, and plentitude of years
Have made of thee an old man and a fool. ”

“ What is the breed of men who guard this State.
CHORUS.
An honest man, my liege, one sore bestead
By fortune, and so worthy our support.
THESEUS.
Enough of words; the captors speed amain,
While we the victims stand debating here.
CREON.
What would’st thou? What can I, a feeble man?
THESEUS.
Show us the trail, and I’ll attend thee too,
That, if thou hast the maidens hereabouts,
Thou mayest thyself discover them to me;
But if thy guards outstrip us with their spoil,
We may draw rein; for others speed, from whom
They will not ’scape to thank the gods at home. ”

“ Thy husband king—so ’twas reported there.
JOCASTA.
What! is not aged Polybus still king?
MESSENGER.
No, verily; he’s dead and in his grave.
JOCASTA.
What! is he dead, the sire of Oedipus?
MESSENGER.
If I speak falsely, may I die myself.
JOCASTA.
Quick, maiden, bear these tidings to my lord.
Ye god-sent oracles, where stand ye now!
This is the man whom Oedipus long shunned,
In dread to prove his murderer; and now
He dies in nature’s course, not by his hand.
[Enter OEDIPUS.]
OEDIPUS.
My wife, my queen, Jocasta, why hast thou
Summoned me from my palace? ”

“ Brief speech suffices for young maids like you.
ANTIGONE.
Here is our savior; thou should’st hear the tale
From his own lips; so shall my part be brief.
OEDIPUS.
I pray thee do not wonder if the sight
Of children, given o’er for lost, has made
My converse somewhat long and tedious.
Full well I know the joy I have of them
Is due to thee, to thee and no man else;
Thou wast their sole deliverer, none else.
The gods deal with thee after my desire,
With thee and with this land! for fear of heaven
I found above all peoples most with you,
And righteousness and lips that cannot lie. ”

“ Therefore ye rouse no sluggard from day-dreams.
Many, my children, are the tears I’ve wept,
And threaded many a maze of weary thought.
Thus pondering one clue of hope I caught,
And tracked it up; I have sent Menoeceus’ son,
Creon, my consort’s brother, to inquire
Of Pythian Phoebus at his Delphic shrine,
How I might save the State by act or word.
And now I reckon up the tale of days
Since he set forth, and marvel how he fares.
’Tis strange, this endless tarrying, passing strange.
But when he comes, then I were base indeed,
If I perform not all the god declares. ”

“ ISMENE.
The gods, who once abased, uplift thee now.
OEDIPUS.
Poor help to raise an old man fallen in youth.
ISMENE.
Howe’er that be, ’tis for this cause alone
That Creon comes to thee—and comes anon.
OEDIPUS.
With what intent, my daughter? Tell me plainly.
ISMENE.
To plant thee near the Theban land, and so
Keep thee within their grasp, yet now allow
Thy foot to pass beyond their boundaries.
OEDIPUS.
What gain they, if I lay outside?
OEDIPUS.
Thy tomb,
If disappointed, brings on them a curse.
OEDIPUS.
It needs no god to tell what’s plain to sense. ”

“ ISMENE.
Yes, and I had news
I would myself deliver, so I came
With the one thrall who yet is true to me.
OEDIPUS.
Thy valiant brothers, where are they at need?
ISMENE.
They are—enough, ’tis now their darkest hour.
OEDIPUS.
Out on the twain! The thoughts and actions all
Are framed and modeled on Egyptian ways.
For there the men sit at the loom indoors
While the wives slave abroad for daily bread.
So you, my children—those whom I behooved
To bear the burden, stay at home like girls,
While in their stead my daughters moil and drudge,
Lightening their father’s misery. ”

“ CREON.
Is that your counsel? You would have me yield?
CHORUS.
Yea, king, this instant. Vengeance of the gods
Is swift to overtake the impenitent.
CREON.
Ah! what a wrench it is to sacrifice
My heart’s resolve; but Fate is ill to fight.
CHORUS.
Go, trust not others. Do it quick thyself.
CREON.
I go hot-foot. Bestir ye one and all,
My henchmen! Get ye axes! Speed away
To yonder eminence! I too will go,
For all my resolution this way sways.
’Twas I that bound, I too will set her free.
Almost I am persuaded it is best
To keep through life the law ordained of old. ”

“ All-seeing Zeus, O lord of heaven,
To our guardian host be given
Might triumphant to surprise
Flying foes and win their prize.
Hear us, Zeus, and hear us, child
Of Zeus, Athene undefiled,
Hear, Apollo, hunter, hear,
Huntress, sister of Apollo,
Who the dappled swift-foot deer
O’er the wooded glade dost follow;
Help with your two-fold power
Athens in danger’s hour!
O wayfarer, thou wilt not have to tax
The friends who watch for thee with false presage,
For lo, an escort with the maids draws near.
[Enter ANTIGONE and ISMENE with THESEUS]
OEDIPUS.
Where, where? what sayest thou? ”

“ Let him not spurn, without a single word
Of answer, me the suppliant of the god.
ANTIGONE.
Tell him thyself, unhappy one, thine errand;
For large discourse may send a thrill of joy,
Or stir a chord of wrath or tenderness,
And to the tongue-tied somehow give a tongue.
POLYNEICES.
Well dost thou counsel, and I will speak out.
First will I call in aid the god himself,
Poseidon, from whose altar I was raised,
With warrant from the monarch of this land,
To parley with you, and depart unscathed.
These pledges, strangers, I would see observed
By you and by my sisters and my sire. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Till ’neath his feet the treacherous ashes burn.
Sure ’twas a sage inspired that spake this word;
If evil good appear
To any, Fate is near;
And brief the respite from her flaming sword.
Hither comes in angry mood
Haemon, latest of thy brood;
Is it for his bride he’s grieved,
Or her marriage-bed deceived,
Doth he make his mourn for thee,
Maid forlorn, Antigone?
[Enter HAEMON]
CREON.
Soon shall we know, better than seer can tell.
Learning may fixed decree anent thy bride,
Thou mean’st not, son, to rave against thy sire?
Know’st not whate’er we do is done in love? ”

“ CREON.
Fear not, I’ve posted guards to watch the corpse.
CHORUS.
What further duty would’st thou lay on us?
CREON.
Not to connive at disobedience.
CHORUS.
No man is mad enough to court his death.
CREON.
The penalty is death: yet hope of gain
Hath lured men to their ruin oftentimes.
[Enter GUARD]
GUARD.
My lord, I will not make pretense to pant
And puff as some light-footed messenger.
In sooth my soul beneath its pack of thought
Made many a halt and turned and turned again;
For conscience plied her spur and curb by turns.
“Why hurry headlong to thy fate, poor fool?” ”

“ 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. ”

“ Earthquake, or thunderclap, or lightning flash.
And now I recognize as yours the sign
That led my wanderings to this your grove;
Else had I never lighted on you first,
A wineless man on your seat of native rock.
O goddesses, fulfill Apollo’s word,
Grant me some consummation of my life,
If haply I appear not all too vile,
A thrall to sorrow worse than any slave.
Hear, gentle daughters of primeval Night,
Hear, namesake of great Pallas; Athens, first
Of cities, pity this dishonored shade,
The ghost of him who once was Oedipus.
ANTIGONE.
Hush! ”