Voltaire

“ Did the gods speak concerning him?
JOCASTE.
Did the gods speak concerning him? I'll tell thee
What from myself I would have gladly hidden.
But 'twas a false one; therefore be not moved.
Thou must have heard I had a son by Laius.
A mother's fond disquietude provoked me
To ask his fate of the great oracle.
Alas! what madness 'tis to wrest from heaven
Those secrets which it kindly would conceal:
But I was a weak woman, and a mother. ”

“ Demands his blood: canst thou resist the torrent,
Defend, or save him?
JOCASTE.
Defend, or save him? Yes: I will defend him;
Even though Thebes should lift the murderous hand
Against her queen, beneath her smoking walls
To crush Jocaste, ne'er would I betray
Such injured innocence; but still I fear
The tongue of slander: well thou knowest my heart
Once sighed for Philoctetes; now, Ægina,
Will they not say I sacrifice to him
My fame, my gods, my country, and my husband?
Will they not say Jocaste loves him still?
ÆGINA.
Calm thy vain fears ”

“ Who called himself thy father, left thee; there
To perish: some kind God conducted me
That way; I pitied, took thee in my arms,
Revived, and cherished thee: to Corinth then
Carried my little charge, and to the king
Presented thee; who, mark thy wondrous fate!
His child just dead, adopted thee his son,
And by that stroke of policy confirmed
His tottering power: As son of Polybus
Thou wert brought up by him who had preserved thee:
The throne of Corinth never was thy right,
But conscience robbed thee of what chance bestowed.
ŒDIPUS.
Immortal powers, who rule the fate of kings! ”

“ I envy those whom death has freed
From all their cares: but what remains for me,
What pain and torment to a virtuous heart!
ÆGINA.
'Tis terrible indeed: the clamorous people,
Warmed with false zeal, will cry aloud for vengeance,
And soon demand their victim. I forbear
To accuse him; but if he at last should prove
The murderer of thy unhappy lord,
How it must shock thy soul!
JOCASTE.
How it must shock thy soul! Impossible!
Such guilt and baseness never dwelt in him. ”

“ Is there aught more to fear?
JOCASTE.
Is there aught more to fear? Thou dwellest at Thebes;
The detestation of avenging gods;
The baneful pestilence stalks forth amongst us;
The blood of Laius cries aloud, and heaven
Pursues us still: the murderer must bleed;
He has been sought for; some have dared to say
That he is found, and call him Philoctetes.
PHILOCTETES.
Astonishment! ”

“ That constant love—— Nay, think not that my heart
Still nourishes a guilty passion for him;
I conquered that long since; yet, dear Ægina,
Howe'er the soul may act which virtue guides,
Its secret motions, nature's children, still
Must force their way: they will not be subdued,
But in the folds and windings of the heart,
Lurk still, and rush upon us; hid in fires
We thought extinguished, from their ashes rise:
In the hard conflict, rigid virtue may
Resist the passions, but can ne'er destroy them.
ÆGINA.
How just, and yet how noble is thy grief! ”

“ These worthless Thebans, who deserve their fate
For thus suspecting thee: but, hence! begone!
Our vows are fruitless: heaven reserves for thee
Superior blessings. Thou wert born to serve
The gods, whose wisdom would not bury here
Virtues like thine, or suffer love to rule
A heart designed for universal sway,
And courage fit to save and bless mankind. ”

“ And by its priest shall soon point out the victim.
The gods shall soon decide 'twixt Thebes and thee.
PHILOCTETES.
Great is thy love of truth, O king, but know
Justice extreme is height of injury;
We must not always hearken to the voice
Of rigor: honor is the first of laws,
Let us observe it. But thou seest me sunk
Beneath myself, answering the slandrous tongues
Of base defamers, whom I should despise. ”

“ The poor remains of blood which then escaped thee
Now thou mayest shed; and since thou must remember
The fatal place where Laius——
ŒDIPUS.
The fatal place where Laius—— Spare the rest:
It is enough: I see it now: 'twas I:
Ye gods! my eyes are opened.
JOCASTE.
Ye gods! my eyes are opened. Can it be?
ŒDIPUS.
And art thou he whom my unhappy rage
Attacked at Daulis in the narrow path?
O yes it is, must be so: in vain myself
Would I deceive, all speaks too plain against me,
I know thee but too well.
PHORBAS.
I know thee but too well. ”

“ Are equal even to kings, I know they are:
But still remember, prince, whoe'er slew Laius,
His head must answer for the woes of Thebes;
And thou——
PHILOCTETES.
And thou—— I slew him not; let that suffice.
If I had done the deed, I would have owned,
Nay boasted of it. Hear me, Œdipus,
Though vulgar souls, by vulgar methods, deign
To vindicate their injured honor; kings
And heroes, when they speak, expect, no doubt,
To be believed: perhaps thou dost suspect
I murdered Laius. It becomes not thee,
Of all men, to accuse me: to thy hand
Devolved his sceptre and his queen. ”

“ Once more my Thebans, yielded up my life,
And sheltered thine: but 'twas not in my power.
The blood of guilt must flow, thou standest accused.
Defend thyself: if thou art innocent,
None shall rejoice so much as Œdipus;
Nor as a criminal shall then receive thee,
But as my noble friend, as Philoctetes.
PHILOCTETES.
I thought myself, indeed, above suspicion:
From many a base assassin has this arm,
While Jove's dread thunder slept, relieved mankind.
Whom we chastise, we seldom imitate. ”

“ And reverence from mankind: if I may dare
To say it, Laius much resembled thee;
With pleasure I behold in Œdipus
His virtues and his features thus united.
What have I said to alarm thee thus?——
ŒDIPUS.
What have I said to alarm thee thus?—— I see
Some strange misfortune will o'ertake me soon;
The priest, I fear, was by the gods inspired,
And but too truly hath foretold my fate:
Could I do this, and was it possible?
JOCASTE.
Are then these holy instruments of heaven
Infallible? Their ministry indeed
Binds them to the altar, they approach the gods,
But they are mortals still ”

“ JOCASTE, ÆGINA.
JOCASTE.
Yes, my Ægina, I expect him here;
'Tis the last time these eyes shall e'er behold
The wretched Philoctetes.
ÆGINA.
The wretched Philoctetes. Thou hast heard,
My royal mistress, to what desperate height
The clamorous people carry their resentment;
Our dying Thebans from his punishment
Expect their safety. Old men, women, children,
United by misfortunes, breathe forth vengeance ”

“ Where am I? heaven! what do I hear! Barbarians—
HIGH PRIEST.
'Tis done: the gods are satisfied: no more
Doth Laius from the tomb cry out for vengeance:
Jocaste, thou mayest live and reign; the blood
Of Œdipus sufficeth. ”

“ Within their entrails bear the fates of men?
O no! to search for truth by ways like these
Is to usurp the rights of power supreme;
These priests are not what the vile rabble think them,
Their knowledge springs from our credulity. ”

“ HIGH PRIEST.
Pity the afflicted, pity—— Œdipus
Deserves more, much more, pity than his people.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS.
Œdipus loves them with paternal fondness;
To his we join our prayers. O! hear us thou
Interpreter of heaven; now hear, and save!
SECOND PERSON OF THE CHORUS.
We die, O save us! turn aside the wrath
Of the angry gods; name the perfidious monster!
LEADER OF THE CHORUS.
Name him, and soon the parricide shall die,,
HIGH PRIEST.
Unhappy men! why will ye press me thus?
LEADER OF THE CHORUS.
Speak but the word, he dies, and we are saved.
HIGH PRIEST.
O! ”

“ And of what country was that child? Of Thebes.
ŒDIPUS.
And thou art not his father?
PHORBAS.
And thou art not his father? No: alas!
Sprung from a nobler, but more wretched race——
ŒDIPUS.
Who was he then?
PHORBAS.
Who was he then? ”

“ Our thoughts; and when their busy artifice,
Spite of ourselves, hath drawn the secret from us,
Then their loud censures cast invidious light
O'er all our actions, and the instructed world
Is quickly taught to echo every weakness.
ÆGINA.
But what hast thou to fear from calumny? ”

“ He says, from Corinth, and desires admittance.
ŒDIPUS.
I'll go and meet him——fare thee well, Jocaste:
But stop thy tears; no more shalt thou behold
The wretched Œdipus; it is determined:
My reign is past; thou hast no husband now,
I am no more a sovereign, nor Jocaste's.
Oppressed with ills I go, in search of climes,
Where far removed from thee and from my country,
I still may act as shall become a king,
Worthy of thee, and justify the tears
Thou sheddest for Œdipus: farewell! forever. ”

“ The gods have from the living cut thee off
Indignant, nor will e'er accept thy gifts;
Go, take thy offerings to the furies, seek
The serpents that stand ready to devour thee;
These are thy gods, begone, and worship them. ”

“ Their impious rage, and back their insolence.
ŒDIPUS.
Alas! thy virtue doubles all my woes,
For great as my misfortunes is thy soul;
Beneath the weight of care that hangs upon me;
Who strives to comfort can but more oppress. ”

“ Hear then my tale; perchance when thou shalt know
The sad relation, which they bear each other,
Thou too wilt tremble: Born the natural heir
To Corinth's throne, from Corinth far removed,
I look with horror on my native land:
One day—that fatal day I well remember,
For O! 'tis ever present to my thoughts,
And dreadful to my soul—my youthful hands.
For the first time their solemn gift prepared
An offering to the gods, when lo! ”