Sophocles

“ The fate of her who should have been his bride,
⁠The maid Antigone,
⁠Grieving o'er vanished joys?⁠630
Enter Hæmon.
⁠Creon. Soon we shall know much more than seers can tell.
Surely thou dost not come, my son, to rage
Against thy father, hearing his decree,
Fixing her doom who should have been thy bride;
Or dost thou love us still, whatever we do?
Hæmon. My father, I am thine; and thou dost guide
With thy wise counsels, which I gladly follow.
No marriage weighs one moment in the scales
With me, while thou dost guide my steps aright. ”

“ For thee, my brother. Never did she love,
Thy mother, as I loved thee; nor did they
Who dwell within there nurse thee, but 'twas I,
And I was ever called thy sister true;
But now all this has vanished in a day
In this thy death; for, like a whirlwind, thou⁠1150
Hast passed, and swept off all. My father falls;
I perish; thou thyself hast gone from sight;
Our foes exult. My mother, wrongly named,
For mother she is none, is mad with joy,
Of whom thou oft did'st send word secretly
That thou would'st come and one day show thyself
A true avenger. ”

“ And yet, for those who scan and look around,
Is cause to fear for one who prospers much,
Lest he too fail. Sad pity creeps on me,
My friends, when I behold these wretched ones
In a strange land as homeless, fatherless;⁠300
And they who sprang, perchance, from free-born sires,
Now lead the life of bond-slaves. Grant, Ο Zeus,
Thou God averting evil, that I ne'er
May see Thee coming thus against my seed,
Nor, if Thou needs must work Thy will on them,
Fulfil it while I live. Such dread I feel
Beholding these. [To Iole.] Ο hapless one, what lot,
A maiden's, or a mother's, falls to thee? ”

“ Since I prevailed to gain Achilles' arms;
But, though he were so, being what he was,
I would not put so foul a shame on him,
As not to own I looked upon a man,
The best and bravest of the Argive host,⁠1340
Of all that came to Troïa, saving one,
Achilles' self. Most wrong 'twould therefore be
That he should suffer outrage at thy hands;
Thou would'st not trample upon him alone,
But on the laws of God. It is not right
To harm, though thou should'st chance to hate him sore,
A man of noble nature lying dead.
Agam. Art thou, Odysseus, this man's champion found? ”

“ For my wooer was a river-god, Acheloüs, who in three shapes10 was ever asking me from my sire,—coming now as a bull in bodily form, now as a serpent with sheeny coils, now with trunk of man and front of ox, while from a shaggy beard the streams of fountain-water flowed abroad. With the fear of such a suitor before mine eyes, I was always praying in my wretchedness that I might die, or ever I should come near to such a bed.
But at last, to my joy, came the glorious son of Zeus and Alcmena; who closed with him in combat, and delivered me. ”

“ Aias.
Away! Wilt thou not go?
Away with thee! . . . Woe, woe!
Tecmessa.
Nay, by the Gods, be calm and yield to us.
Aias.
Ο wretched fool, whose hands have failed to keep
⁠My foe's accursèd brood,
And falling on horn'd kine and goodly sheep,
⁠Poured out their purple blood!
Chorus.
Why wilt thou grieve at what is past and done?
These things can never be but as they are.
Aias.
⁠Ο thou, who spy'st out all,
Thou son of Lartios, tool for all things vile,
Of all the host to shame the meanest thrall,
For joy of heart, I trow, thou now wilt smile. ”

“ Save from the curse the dead has left behind;
On thee we hang. To use our means, our power,
In doing good, is noblest service owned.
⁠Teir. Ah me! ah me! how dread is wisdom's gift,
When no good issue waiteth on the wise!
I knew it all too well, and then forgot,
Or else I had not on this journey come.
Œdip. What means this? How despondingly thou com'st!
Teir. Let me go home! for thus thy lot shalt thou,
And I mine own, bear easiest, if thou yield.
Œdip. No loyal words thou speak'st, nor true to Thebes
Who reared thee, holding back this oracle. ”

“ And if thou find me plotting with the seer,
In common concert, not by one decree,
But two, thine own and mine, put me to death.
But charge me not with crime on shadowy proof;
For neither is it just, in random thought,
The bad to count as good, nor good as bad; ⁠610
For to thrust out a friend of noble heart,
Is like the parting with the life we love.
And this in time thou'lt know, for time alone
Makes manifest the righteous. Of the vile
Thou may'st detect the vileness in a day.
Chorus. To one who fears to fall, his words seem good ”

“ For thou wast he who plunged me in this woe;
Thou drov'st me into exile; by thy deed,
A wanderer through the world, I beg my bread,
And had I not these girls to care for me,
That too would fail, for aught that thou would'st do.
But now they save my life; they tend on me;
No women they, but men in will to toil:
But ye are not my sons; I own ye not.
As yet the God forbears to look on thee,⁠1370
As soon He shall, if these thy armies move
Against the towers of Thebes. It may not be
That thou shalt ever lay that city waste,
But thou thyself shalt fall, with blood defiled ”

“ Is it, by all the Gods, that thou hast seen
Or cowardice or folly in my soul,
That thou hast laid thy plans? Or thoughtest thou
That I should neither see thy sinuous wiles,
Nor, knowing, ward them off? This scheme of thine,
Is it not wild, backed nor by force nor friends, ⁠540
To seek the power which force and wealth must grasp?
Creon. Dost know what thou wilt do? For words of thine
Hear like words back, and as thou hearest, judge.
Œdip. Cunning of speech art thou. But I am slow
Of thee to learn, whom I have found my foe.
Creon. Of this, then, first, hear what I have to speak. . . . ”

“ Olympian Zeus, the father of us all,
Sent him forth sold in bondage, spared him not,
Because he slew this man, alone of men,
With base deceit; for, had he come on him
In open fight, then Zeus had pardoned him
With justice conquering; for wanton wrong
Not even Gods can bear with. Those that waxed⁠280
Too haughty in the pride of evil speech
Are dwellers now in Hades, all of them,
Their city captured. These thou look'st upon,
Falling from high estate to piteous life,
Now come to thee: for so thy husband charged,
And I, his faithful servant, do his will. ”

“ There place me; prop me up, that we may learn
Where now we are. As strangers we have come,
To learn from those that dwell as townsmen here,
And what we hear, in all completeness do.
⁠Antig. My father, woe-worn Œdipus! afar,
If I see right, are towers that shield a town: [1]
This spot is holy, one may clearly tell,
Full as it is of laurel, olive, vine,
And many a nightingale within sings sweetly. [2]
Rest thy limbs here upon this rough-hewn rock;
Long hast thou travelled, for thine age, to-day. ”

“ Call thou all those that name thee brother here,
And call the poor Alcmena (all in vain
The bride of Zeus) that ye may hear, and learn
The last of all the oracles I know.⁠1150
Hyllos. Thy mother is not here, for so it chanced,
She dwelleth now on Tiryns' further shore;
And of thy children some she rears with her,
And some, know thou, dwell under Theban towers.
But we, my father, that are present here,
Will hear and do whatever thou shalt bid.
⁠Hera. Hear then what presses. Thou hast reached an age
When thou must show what mould of man thou art,
That thou art called my son. ”

“ Which slew him with all shame of foulest crime.
Antistrophe.
And so with many a foot and many a hand,
⁠Lurking in ambush dread,
⁠Shall come with brazen tread,
⁠Erinnys terrible;
For lo! the clasp of blood-stained marriage-bed
⁠Came in foul wedlock's band
⁠On those who might not wed;
And now, in face of these things, I must deem
⁠That those who did or shared the deed of guilt
Shall have good reason to mislike their dream:
⁠Yea, oracles are vain,
⁠In dreams or prophet's strain,
Unless this shadowy phantom of the night
Shall reach its goal, victorious in the right. ”

“ Sharing the woe of him our lord and friend,
⁠Whom shame and dark disgrace,
⁠That none may dare to face,
As prisoner keep, and hold him to the end.
Tecmessa.
⁠Nay, it is so no more;
⁠For as the swift South-west,
That rushes on without the lightning-blaze,
⁠Soon lulls its tempest roar,
So he is calm; and now his care-worn breast
Broods o'er new trouble, filled with sore amaze;
For to look out on ills ourselves have wrought,
⁠Which no hand else has brought,
⁠This of all grief and pain
⁠Is hardest to sustain. ”

“ When youth hath passed away,
⁠With follies vain,
Who then is free from cares?
⁠Where is not pain?
Murders and strifes and wars,
⁠Envy and hate;
Then, evil worst of all,
⁠The old man's fate:
Powerless and wayward then,
⁠No friend to cheer,—
All ills on ills are met,
⁠All dwelling there.
Epode.
Thus this poor sufferer lives,
⁠Not I alone;
As on far northern coast
⁠Wild waters moan,
So without rest or hope,
⁠Woes round him swarm,
Dread as the waves that rage,
⁠Dark as the storm,—
Some from the far, far west
⁠Where sunsets glow ”

“ Thou shalt not quit this land until thou bring those maidens, and produce them in my sight;910 for thy deed is a disgrace to me, and to thine own race, and to thy country. Thou hast come unto a city that observes justice, and sanctions nothing without law,—yet thou hast put her lawful powers aside,—thou hast made this rude inroad,—thou art taking captives at thy pleasure, and snatching prizes by violence, as in the belief that my city was void of men, or manned by slaves, and I—a thing of nought. ”

“ Go to the winds. For thee I bid thee, I,
Be base to others, but to me be true.
Chor. Yes, hearken thou to her considerate speech,
And then in time to come thou shalt not blame⁠470
This woman, and from me shalt favour win.
⁠Lichas. Well, then, dear mistress, since I see that thou,
Being human, hast a human heart, and know'st
No stubborn purpose, I will tell thee all,
The whole truth, nought concealing. All is so
As this man tells thee. Strong desire for her
Did seize on Heracles, and so her land,
Œchalia, was laid waste by armed host,
And brought full low. ”

“ Creon. And in what way struck she the murderous blow?
Sec. Mess. With her own hand below her heart she stabbed,
Hearing her son's most pitiable fate.
⁠Creon. Ah me! The fault is mine. On no one else,
Of all that live, the fearful guilt can come;
I, even I, did slay thee, woe is me!
I, yes, I speak the truth. Lead me, ye guards,⁠1320
Lead me forth quickly; lead me out of sight,
More crushed to nothing than is nothing's self.
Chor. Thou counsellest gain, if gain there be in ills,
For present ills when shortest then are best.
Creon. ”

“ I, Ο thou son of sire whom Œta knows
I, for the future, with a far-off glance
At Ilion and the Atreidæ, stand on guard;
And where the worse o'erpowers the better man,
And good things perish, and the coward wins,
These men, and such as these, I ne'er will love;
But rocky Skyros shall in time to come [10]
Suffice for me to take mine ease at home.⁠460
Now to my ship I go. And thou, Ο son
Of Pœas, fare thee well, good luck be thine,
And may the Gods release thee from thy pain,
As thou desirest! Now then let us start;
When God fair weather gives us, then we sail. ”

“ Alas, thou darkness, my sole light! O thou nether gloom, fairer for me than any sunshine! take me to dwell with you,—yea, take me; for I am no longer worthy to look for help to the race of the gods, or for any good from men, the children of a day.400
No, the daughter of Zeus, the strong goddess, torments me to the death. Whither then shall a man flee? Whither shall I go to find rest? If my past fame is destroyed, my friends, along with such victims as these near me—if I have set myself to win a madman's triumphs, and all the host, with sword uplifted in both hands, would strike me dead! ”

“ To thee the Lord of Thebes we all our homage bring.
Stroph. II.
And who of all men is more wretched now?
Who dwells with woe perpetually as thou,
⁠In chance and change of life,
Ο Œdipus renowned, for whom was won
The same wide haven, sheltering sire and son?
⁠Ah how, Ο mother-wife,
Could that defilèd bed, when he had come,
⁠Receive him and be dumb?
Antistroph. II.
Time, the all-seeing, finds thee out at last,
And passes sentence on the hateful past,
⁠The wedlock none might wed,
Where son and spouse in strange confusion met. ”