1^5 t^e JCi*-*

r '3
 CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY

OEDIPUS, King of Thebes

jocASTA, Queen of T hebes, wife and another of oedipus

CREON, brother of jocasta

TiRESiAs, a prophet

BOY, attendant of tiresias

PRIEST OF ZEUS

SHEPHERD

FIRST MESSENGER, from Corinth

SECOND MESSENGER

CHORUS of Theban elders

attendants
 OEDIPUS THE KING
Scene: Before the doors of the palace of oedipus at Thebes.
A crowd of citizens are seated next to the two altars
at the sides. In front of one of the altars statids the
PRIEST OF ZEUS.

Etiter OEDIPUS
)EDIPUS:
Why are you here as suppliants, my children,
You in whose veins the blood of Cadmus flows?
What is the reason for your boughs of olive.
The fumes of incense, the laments and prayers
That fill the city? Because I thought it wrong,
My children, to depend on what was told me,
Ihave come to you myself, I, Oedipus,
Renowned in the sight of all. (to priest) Tell me— you are
Their natural spokesman— what desire or fear
Brings you before me? I will gladly give you 10
Such help as is in my power. It would be heartless
Not to take pity on a plea like this.
priest:
King Oedipus, you see us, young and old.
Gathered about your altars: some, mere fledglings
Not able yet to fly; some, bowed with age;
Some, priests, and I the priest of Zeus among them;
And these, who are the flower of our young manhood.
The rest of us are seated— the whole city—
With our wreathed branches in the market places.
Before the shrines of Pallas, before the fire 20
By which we read the auguries of Apollo.
Thebes, as you see yourself, is overwhelmed
By the waves of death that break upon her head.
No fruit comes from her blighted buds; her cattle
Die in the fields; her wives bring forth dead children.
A hideous pestilence consumes the city.
Striking us down like a god armed with fire.
Emptying the house of Cadmus, filling full
The dark of Hades with loud lamentation.
I and these children have not thronged your altars 30
Because we hold you equal to the immortals.
But because we hold you foremost among men.

41
 SOPHOCLES
Bo^ in the happenings of daily life
^nd when some visitation of the gods
Confronts us. For we know that when you came here, L
You freed us from our bondage, the bitter tribute |

The Sphinx wrung from us by her sorceries.

And we know too that you accomplished this !

Without foreknowledge, or clue that we could furnish. !

**

We think, indeed, some god befr iend ed you, 40 I

When you renewed our lines'. Therefore, great kin_g, i

Glorious in all men’s eyes, we now beseech

To find some way of helping us, your suppliants.
Some way the gods themselves have told you of.
Or one that within our mortal power;
lies

For the words of men experienced in evil

Are mighty and effectual. Oedipus!
Rescue our city and preserve your honor.
Since the land hails you as her savior now 1

For your past service. Never let us say 50

That when you ruled us, we were lifted up
Only to be thrown down. Restore the state
And keep it forever steadfast. Bring again ;

The happiness and good fortune you once brought us. ,

If you are still to reign as you reign now.

Then it is better to have men for subjects
Than to be king of a mere wilderness.
Since neither ship nor town has any value !

Without companions or inhabitants.

OEDIPUS:
I pity you, my children. Well I know 60 j

What hopes have brought you here, and well I know i

That all of you are suffering Yet your grief,

. 1

However great, is not so great as mine.

E ach of yoLLSuffefs-fnf-himself-alene.
B ut my heart feels rhaJiaav ipess of my-sarrow,
Your sorrow, and the, sorrow of all the others .
I
YouTiave not roused me, I have not been sleeping. i

No. I have wept, wept long and bitterly, j

Treading the devious paths of anxious thought;

And I have taken the only hopeful course 70 •

That I could find. I have sent my kinsman, Creon,

Son of Menoeceus, to the Pythian home
Of Phoebus Apollo to find what word or deed
Of mine might save the city. He has delayed ;

Too long already, his absence troubles me;

But when he comes, I pledge myself to do
My utmost to obey the god’s command. j

42
 OEDIPUS THE KING
riest:
Your words are timely, for even as you speak
They sign to me that Creon is drawing near.
EDIPUS:
! O Lord Apollo! Grant he may bring to us 8o
Fortune as smiling as his smiling face.
riest:
'

Surely he brings good fortune. Look! The crown

'
Of bay leaves that he wears is full of berries.
) lEDIPUS:
VVe shall know soon, for he is close enough
To hear us. Brother, son of Monoeceus, speak!
What news? What news do you bring us from the god?

Enter creon
creon:
I Good news. If we can find the fitting way
To end this heavy scourge, all will be well.
OEDIPUS:
That neither gives me courage nor alarms me.
What does the god say? What is the oracle? 90
creon:
Ifyou wish me to speak in public, I will do so.

Otherwise let us go in and speak alone.

OEDIPUS:
Speak here before everyone. I fe^more sorrow
For their sakes than I feel for rnjrnwTrtifei'^
^
'
creon:
Then I will give the message of Lord Phoebus:
A plain command to drive out the pollution
Here in our midst, and not to nourish it

Till our disease has grown incurable.

OEDIPUS:
What rite will purge us? How are we corrupted?
creon:
We must banish a man, or have him put to death 100
To atone for the blood he shed, for it isblood
That has brought this tempest down upon the city.
OEDIPUS:
Who is the victim whose murder is revealed?
creon:
King Laius, who was our lord before you came
To steer the city on its proper course.
OEDIPUS:
I know his name well, but I never saw him.

43
 SOPHOCLES
creon:
Laius was killed, and now we are commanded
To punish his killers, whoever they may_he.
OEDIPUS:
How can they be discovered? Where shall we look
For the faint traces of this ancient crime? ik
creon:
In Thebes, the god said. Truth can be always found:
Only what is neglected ever escapes.
OEDIPUS:
Where was King Laius murdered? In his home.
Out in the fields, or in some foreign land?
creon:
He told us he was journeying to Delphi.
After he left, he was never seen again.
OEDIPUS:
Was no one with King Laius who saw what happened?
You could have put his story to good use.
creon;
The sole survivor fled from the scene in terror.
And there was only one thing he was sure of. 1 20
OEDIPUS:
What was it? A clue might lead us far
Which gave us even the faintest glimmer of hope.
CREON:
He said that they were violently attacked
Not by one man but by a band of robbers.
OEDIPUS:
Robbers are not so daring. Were they bribed
To commit this crime by some one here in Thebes?
CREON:
That was suspected. But in our time of trouble
No one appeared to avenge the death of Laius.
OEDIPUS:
But your King was killed! What troubles could you have had
To keep you from searching closely for his killers? 130
creon:
We had the Sphinx. Her riddle made us turn
From mysteries to what lay before our doors.
OEDIPUS:
Then I will start fresh and again make clear
Things that are dark. All honor to Apollo
And to you, Creon, for acting as you have done
On the dead King’s behalf. So I will take
My rightful place beside you as your ally,
Avenging Thebes and bowing to the god.
44
 OEDIPUS THE KING

Not for a stranger will I dispel this taint,

But for my own sake, since the murderer. 140
Whoever he is, may strike at me as well.
Therefore in helping Laius I help myself.
Come, children, come! Rise from the altar steps.
And carry away those branches. Summon here
The people of Cadmus. Tell them I mean to leave
Nothing undone. So with Apollo’s aid
We may at last be saved— or meet destruction.
Exit OEDIPUS
priest:
My children, let us go. The King has promised
The favor that we sought. And may Lord Phoebus
Come to us with his oracles, assuage 150
Our misery, and deliver us from death.
Exeunt. Enter chorus

chorus:
The god’s great word, in whose sweetness we ever rejoice,
To our glorious city is drawing nigh,
,
Now, even now, from the gold of the Delphic shrine.
What next decree will be thine,
Apollo, thou healer, to whom in our dread we cry?
We are anguished, racked, and beset by fears!
What fate will be ours? One fashioned for us alone.
Or one that in ancient time was known
That returns once more with the circling years? 160
Child of our golden hope, O
speak, thou immortal voice!

Divine Athene, daughter of Zeus, hear! O

Hear thou, Artemis! Thee we hail.
Our guardian goddess throned in the market place.
Apollo, we ask thy grace.
Shine forth, all three, and the menace of death will fail.
Answer our call! Shall we call in vain?
If ever ye came in the years that have gone before.
Return, and save us from plague once more.
Rescue our city from fiery pain! 170
Be your threefold strength our shield. Draw near to us now, draw near!

Death is upon us. We bear a burden of bitter grief.

There is nothing can save us now, no device that our thought can frame.
No blossom, no fruit, no harvest sheaf
Springs from the blighted and barren earth.
Women cry out in travail and bring no children to birth;
But swift as a bird, swift as the sweep of flame.

45
 SOPHOCLES
Life after life takes sudden flight
To the western god, to the last, dark shore of night.

Ruin has fallen on Thebes. Without number her children are

dead; i8o
Unmourned, unattended, unpitied, they lie polluting the ground.
Grey-haired mothers and wives new-wed
W
ail at the altars everywhere.

With entreaty, with loud lament, with clamor filling the air.
And songs of praise to Apollo, the healer, resound.
Athene, thou knowest our desperate need.
Lend us thy strength. Give heed to our prayer, give heed!

Fierce Ares has fallen upon us. He comes unarrayed for war.
Yet he fills our ears with shrieking, he folds us in fiery death.
Grant that he soon may turn in headlong flight from our land, 190
Swept to the western deep by the fair wind’s favoring breath.
Or swept to the savage sea that washes the Thracian shore.
We few who escape the night are stricken down in the day.
O Zeus, whose bolts of thunder are balanced within thy hand,
Hurl down thy lightning upon him! Father, be swift to slay!

Save us, light-bringing Phoebus! The shower of thine arrows let fly;
Loose them, triumphant and swift, from the golden string of thy bow!
Ogoddess, his radiant sister, roaming the Lycian glade.
Come with the flash of thy fire! Artemis, conquer our foe!
And thou, O wine-flushed god to whom the Bacchantes cry, 200
With thy brilliant torch ablaze amid shouts of thy maenad train.
With thy hair enwreathed with gold, O Bacchus, we beg thine aid
Against our destroyer Ares, the god whom the gods disdain!

Enter oedipus
OEDIPUS:
You have been praying. If you heed my words
And seek the remedy for your own disease.
The gods will hear your prayers, and you will find
Relief and comfort. I myself know nothing

About nothing about the murder,

this story,
So that unaided and without a clue
I could not have tracked it down for any distance. 210
And because I have only recently been received
Among you as a citizen, to you all.
And to all the rest, I make this proclamation:
Whoever knows the man who killed King Laius,
Let him declare his knowledge openly.

46
 OEDIPUS THE KING

If he himself is puiltv . let him confess

And go unpunished, except for banishment.
Or if he knows the murderer was an ahen.
Let him by speaking earn his due reward,
And thanks as well. But if he holds his tongue, 220
Hoping to save himself or save a friend.
Then let him hear what
I, the King, decree

For all who Thebes, the land I rule.

live in
No one shall give this murderer shelter. No one
Shall speak to him. No one shall let him share
In sacrifice or prayer or lustral rites.
The door of every house is barred against him.
The god has shown me that he is polluted.
So by this edict I ally myself
With Phoebus and the slain. A s for the slaver. 230

This is my
solemn prayer concerning him:
May evil of e vil; may he live
come
A wretched life and meet a wretched end.
And as for me, if I should knowingly
Admit him as a member of my household.
May the same fate which invoked for others
I

Fall upon me. Make my words good, I charge you.

For love of me, Apollo, and our country
Blasted by the displeasure of the gods. 240
You should not have left this guilt unpurified.
Even without an oracle to urge you.
When a man so noble, a man who was your King,
Had met his death. Rather, it was your duty
To seek the truth. But now, since it is I
Who hold the sovereignty that once was his,
I whohave wed his wife, who would have been
Bound to him by the tie of having children
Born of one mother, if he had had a child
To be a blessing, if fate had not struck him down— 250
Since this is so, I intend to fight his battle
As though he were my father. I will leave
Nothing undone to find his murderer.
Avenging him and all his ancestors.
And I pray the gods that those who disobey
May suffer. May their fields bring forth no harvest.
Their wives no children; may the present plague.
Or one yet worse, consume them. But as for you.
All of you citizens who are loval to me.
May Justice, our champion, and all the gods 260
Show you their favor in the days to come.

47
 SOPHOCLES
CHORUS:
King Oedipus, I will speak to avoid your curse.
I am no slayer, nor can I point him out.
The question came to us from Phoebus Apollo;
It is for him to tell us who is guilty.
OEDIPUS:
Yes. But no man on earth is strong enough
To force the gods to act against their will.
CHORUS:
There is, I think, a second course to follow.
OEDIPUS:
If there is yet a third, let me know that.
chorus:
Tiresias, the prophet, has the clearest vision 270
Next to our Lord Apollo. He is the man
Who can do most to help us in our search.
OEDIPUS:
I have not forgotten. Creon suggested it.

And I have summoned him, summoned him twice.

I am astonished he is not here already.

chorus:
The only rumors are old and half-forgotten.
OEDIPUS:
What are they? I must find out all I can.
chorus:
It is said the King was killed by travelers.
OEDIPUS:
So I have heard, but there is no eye-witness.
chorus:
If fear can touch them, they will reveal themselves 280
Once they have heard so dreadful a curse as yours.
OEDIPUS:
Murderers are not terrified by words.
CHORUS:
But they can be convicted by the man
Being brought here now, Tiresias. He alone
Is godlike in his knowledge of the truth.

Enter tiresias, led by a boy

OEDIPUS:
You know all things in heaven and earth, Tiresias:

Things you may speak of openly, and secrets

Holy and not to be revealed. You know.
Blind though you are, the plague that ruins Thebes.
And you, great prophet, you alone can save us. 290

48
 OEDIPUS THE KING

Phoebus has sent an answer to our question.

An answer that the messengers may have told you,
Saying there was no cure for our condition
Until we found the killers of King Laius
And banished them or had them put to death.
Therefore, Tiresias, do not begrudge your skill
In the voice of birds or other prophecy.
But save yourself, save me, save the whole city.
Save everything that the pestilence defiles.
We are at your mercy, and man’s noblest task 300
Is to use all his powers in helping others.
tiresias:
How dreadful a thing, how dreadful a thing is wisdom.
When to be wise is useless! This knew I

f But I forgot, or else I would never have come.

OEDIPUS:
What is the matter? Why are you so troubled?
tiresias:
Oedipus, let me go home. Then you will bear
Your burden, and I mine, more easily.
OEDIPUS:
Custom entitles us to hear your message.
By being silent you harm your native land.
tiresias:
You do not know when, and when not to speak. 310
Silence will save me from the same misfortune.
OEDIPUS:
Ifyou can be of help, then all of us
Kneel and implore you not to turn away.
TIRESIAS:
I refuse to pain you. I refuse to pain myself. .
|
It is useless to ask me. I will tell you nothing. V
OEDIPUS:
You utter scoundrel! You would enrage a stone!
Is there no limit to your stubbornness?
tiresias:
You blame my anger and forget your own.
OEDIPUS:
No one could help being angry when he heard
How you dishonor and ignore the state. 320
TIRESIAS:
What is to come will come, though I keep silent
OEDIPUS:
If it must come, your duty is to speak.
TIRESIAS:
I will say no more. Rage to your heart’s content.

49
 SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS: I

Rage? Yes, I will rage! I will spare you nothing.

In the plot against King Laius, I have no doubt
That you were an accomplice, yes, almost
The actual killer. If you had not been blind,
I would have said that you alone were guilty.

TIRESIAS:
Then listen to my command! Obey the edict
I

1 That you yourself proclaimed and never speak, 330

\ From this day on, to me or any Theban.
L_^You are the sinner who pollutes our land.
OEDIPUS:
Have you no shame? How do you hope to escape
The consequence of such an accusation?
TIRESIAS:
I have escaped. My strength is the living truth.
OEDIPUS:
This is no prophecy. Who taught you this?
TIRESIAS:
You did. You forced me to speak against my will.
OEDIPUS:
Repeat your slander. Let me learn it better.
TIRESIAS:
Are you trying to tempt me into saying more?
I have spoken already. Have you not understood?
OEDIPUS:
No, not entirely. Give your speech again.
TIRESIAS:
I say you are the killer, you yourself.
OEDIPUS:
Twice the same insult! You will pay for it.

TIRESIAS:
Shall I say more to make you still more angry?
OEDIPUS:
Say what you want to. It will make no sense.
TIRESIAS:
You are living in shame with those most dear to you.
As yet in ignorance of your dreadful fate.
OEDIPUS:
Do you suppose that you can always use
Language like that and not be punished for it?

TIRESIAS:
Yes. I am safe, if truth has any strength. 350
OEDIPUS:
Truth can save anyone excepting you.
You with no eyes, no hearing, and no brains!

50
 OEDIPUS THE KING
TIRESIAS:
Poor fool! You taunt me, but you soon will hear
The self-same insults heaped upon your head.
OEDIPUS:
You live in endless night. What can you do
To me or anyone else who sees the day?
TIRESIAS:
Nothing. I have no hand in your destruction.
For that, Apollo needs no help from me.
OEDIPUS:
Apollo! Is this your trick, or is it Creon’s?
TIRESIAS:
Creon is guiltless. The evil is in you. 360
OEDIPUS:
How great is the envy roused by wealth, by kingship.
By the subtle skill that triumphs over others
life’s hard struggle! Creon, who has been
In
For years my trusted friend, has stealthily
Crept in upon me anxious to seize my power.
The unsought gift the city freely gave me.
Anxious to overthrow me, he has bribed
This scheming mountebank, this fraud, this trickster.
Blind in his art and in everything but money!
Your art of prophecy! When have you showm it? 370
Not when the watch-dog of the gods was here.
Chanting her riddle. Why did you say nothing.
When you might have saved the city? Yet her puzzle
Could not be solved by the first passer-by.
A prophet’s skill was needed, and you proved
That you had no such skill, either in birds
Or any other means the gods have given.
But I came, I, the ignorant Oedipus,
And silenced her. 1 had no birds to help me.
I used my brains. And it is I you now 380
Are trying to destroy in the hope of standing
Close beside Creon’s throne. You will regret
This zeal of yours to purify the land.
You and your fellow-plotter. You seem old;
Otherwise you would pay for your presumption.
chorus:
Sir, it appears to us that both of you
Have spoken in anger. Anger serves no purpose.
Rather we should consider in what way
We best can carry out the god’s command.
51
 SOPHOCLES
TIRESIAS:
I King though you are, I have a right to answer 390
Equal to yours. In that I too am king.
I serve Apollo. I do not acknowledge
You as my lord or Creon as my patron.
You have seen fit to taunt me with my blindness.
Therefore I tell you this: you have your eyesight
And cannot see the sin of your existence,
Cannot see where you hve or whom you live with,
Are ignorant of your parents, bring disgrace
Upon your kindred in the world below
And here on earth. And soon the double lash 400
Of your mother’s and father’s curse will drive you headlong
Out of the country, blinded, with your cries
Heard everywhere, echoed by every hill
In all Cithaeron. Then you will have learned
The meaning of your marriage, learned in what harbor,
After so fair a voyage, you were shipwrecked.
And other horrors you could never dream of
Will teach you who you are, will drag you down
To the level of your children. Heap your insults
On Creon and my message if you choose to. 410
Still no one ever will endure the weight

I Of greater misery than will fall on you.

OEDIptSr
Am I supposed to endure such talk as this.

Such talk from him? Go, curse you, go! Be quick!

TIRESIAS:
Except for your summons I would never have come,
OEDIPUS:
And I would never have sent for you so soon
If I had known you would prove to be a fool.
TIRESIAS:
Yes. I have proved a fool— in your opinion.
And yet your parents thought that I was wise.
OEDIPUS:
What parents? Wait! Who was my father? Tell me! 420
TIRESIAS:
Today will see your birth and your destruction.
OEDIPUS:
You cannot speak unless you speak in riddles!
TIRESIAS:
And yet how brilliant you are in solving them!
OEDIPUS:
You sneer at me for what has made me great.
TIRESIAS:
The same good fortune that has ruined you.

52
 :

OEDIPUS THE KING

lEDIPUS:
If I have saved the city, nothing else matters.
IRESIAS:
In that case I will go. Boy, take me home.
lEDIPUS:
Yes, let him take you. Here, you are in the way.
Once you are gone, you will give no further trouble.
IRESIAS
I I have said my say.
will not go before 430
Indifferent toyour black looks. You cannot harm me.
And I say this: the man whom you have sought.
Whom you have threatened, whom you have proclaimed
The killer of King Laius— he is here.
Now thought an ahen, he shall prove to be
A native Theban, to his deep dismay.
Now he has eyesight, now his wealth is great;
But he shall make his way to foreign soil
Blinded, in beggary, groping with a stick.
In his own household he shall be shown to be 440
The father of his children— and their brother.
Son to the woman who bore him— and her husband.
The killer and the bedfellow of his father.
Go and consider this; and if you find
That I have been mistaken, you can say
That I have lost my skill in prophecy.
Exeunt oedipus and tiresias
chorus:

What man is this the god from the Delphic rock denounces.
Whose deeds are too shameful to tell, whose murderous hands

are red?
Let be swifter now than hooves of horses racing
his feet
The storm-clouds overhead. 450
For Zeus’s son, Apollo, leaps in anger upon him.
Armed with lightning to strike and slay;
And the terrible Fates, unflagging, relentless,
Follow the track of their prey.

The words of the god have flashed from the peaks of snowy Parnassus,
Commanding us all to seek this killer as yet unknown.
Deep in the tangled woods, through rocks and caves he is roaming
Like a savage bull, alone.
On his lonely path he journeys, wretched, broken by sorrow.
Seeking to flee from the fate he fears; 460
But the voice from the center of earth that doomed him
Inescapably rings in his ears.

53
 SOPHOCLES
Dreadful, dreadful those words! We can neither approve nor
deny them.
Shaken, confounded with fears, we know not what to say.
Nothing is clear to us, nothing— what is to come tomorrow,
Or what is upon us today.
If the prophet seeks revenge for the unsolved murder of Laius,
Why is Oedipus charged with crime?
Because some deep-rooted hate divides their royal houses?
The houses of Laius and Oedipus, son of the King of Corinth? 470
There is none that we know of, now, or in ancient time.

From Zeus’s eyes and Apollo’s no human secret is hidden;

But man has no test for truth, no measure his wit can devise.
Tiresias, indeed, excels in every art of his office.
And yet we too may be wise.
Though Oedipus stands accused, until he is proven guilty
We cannot blacken his name;
For he showed his wisdom the day the winged maiden faced him.
He triumphed in that ordeal, saved us, and won our affection.
We can never believe he stooped to an act of shame. 480

Enter creon
creon:
Thebans, I come here outraged and indignant,
For I have learned that Oedipus has accused me
Of dreadful crimes. If, in the present crisis.
He thinks that have wronged him in any way.
I

Wronged him in word or deed, then let my life

Come to a speedy close. I cannot bear
The burden of such scandal. The attack
Ruins me utterly, if my friends, and you,
And the whole city are to call me traitor.
chorus:
Perhaps his words were only a burst of anger, 490
And were not meant as a deliberate insult.
creon:
He did say that I plotted with Tiresias?
And that the prophet lied at my suggestion?
chorus:
Those were his words. I cannot guess his motive.
creon:
Were his eyes clear and steady? Was his mind
Unclouded, when he brought this charge against me?
chorus:
I cannot say. To see what princes do

Is not our province. Here comes the King himself.

54
 OEDIPUS THE KING

Enter oedipus
DEDIPUS:
So you are here! What brought you to my door?
Impudence? Insolence? You, my murderer! 500
You, the notorious stealer of my crown!
Why did you hatch this plot? What kind of man.
By heaven, what kind of man, could you have thought me?
A coward or a fool? Did you suppose
I would not see your trickery take shape.

Or when I saw it, would not counter it?

How stupid you were to reach for royal power
Without a troop of followers or rich friends!
Only a mob and money win a kingdom.
creon:
Sir, let me speak. When you have heard my answer. 510
You will have grounds on which to base your judgment.
OEDIPUS:
I cannot follow all your clever talk.
I only know that you are dangerous.
creon:
That is the issue. Let me explain that first.

OEDIPUS:
Do not explain that you are true to me.
creon:
Jf you imagine that a blind self-will
Ts strength or character, you are mistaken.
OEDIPUS:
As you are, if you strike at your own house.
And then expect to escape punishment.
all
creon:
Yes, you are right. That would be foolishness. 520
But tell me, what have I done? How have I harmed you?
OEDIPUS:
Did you, or did you not, urge me to summon
Tiresias, that revered, that holy prophet?
creon:
Yes. And I still think my advice was good.
OEDIPUS:
Then answer this: how long ago was Laius—
creon:
Laius! Why how am I concerned with him?
OEDIPUS:
How many years ago was Laius murdered?
CREON:
So many they cannot easily be counted.

55
 SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS:
And was Tiresias just as cunning then?
creon:
As wise and honored as he is today. 530
OEDIPUS:
At that time did he ever mention me?
creon:
Not in my hearing. I am sure of that.
OEDIPUS:
And the murderer— a thorough search was made?
CREON:
Yes, certainly, but we discovered nothing.
OEDIPUS:
Then why did the man of wisdom hold his tongue?
CREON:
I cannot say. Guessing is not my habit.
OEDIPUS:
One thing at least you need not guess about.
CREON:
What is it? If I know it, I will tell you.
OEDIPUS:
Tiresias would not have said I murdered Laius,
If you two had not put your heads together. 540
creon:
You best know what he said. But now I claim
The right to take my turn in asking questions.
OEDIPUS:
Very well, ask. You never c an findjne guilty.
creon:
Then answer this: my sister is your wife?
OEDIPUS:
I cannot deny that fact. She is my wife.
CREON:
And in your rule she has an equal share?
OEDIPUS:
She has no wish that goes unsatisfied.
creon:
And as the third I stand beside you both?
OEDIPUS:
True. That position proves your treachery.
creon:
No. You would see, if you thought the matter through 550
As have done. Consider. Who would choose
I

Kingship and all the terrors that go with it.

If, with the same power, he could sleep in peace?

I have no longing for a royal title

Rather than royal freedom. No, not I,

56
 OEDIPUS THE KING

Nor any moderate man. Now 1 fear nothing.

Every request I make of you is granted,
And yet as king I should have many duties
I

That went against the grain. Then how could rule

Be sweeter than untroubled influence? 560
1 have not lost my mind. I want no honors
I

! Except the ones that bring me solid good.

Now all men welcome me and wish me joy.
Now all your suitors ask to speak with me,
Knowing they cannot otherwise succeed.
Why should I throw away a life like this

'
For a king’s life? No one is treacherous
Who knows his own best interests. To conspire
With other men, or to be false myself,
'
Is not my nature. Put me to the test. 570
First, go to Delphi. Ask if I told the truth
About the oracle. Then if you find
Ihave had dealings with Tiresias, kill me.
My voice will echo yours in passing sentence.
But base your verdict upon something more
Than mere suspicion. Great injustice comes
From random judgments that bad men are good
And good men bad. To throw away a friend
Is, in effect, to throw away your life.

The prize you treasure most. All this, in time. 580

Will become clear to you, for time alone
Proves a man’s honesty, but wickedness
Can be discovered in a single day.
CHORUS:
good advice, if one is prudent.
Sir, that is
Hasty decisions always lead to danger.
OEDIPUS;
When a conspiracy is quick in forming,
I must move quickly to retaliate.
If I sat still and let my enemy act,
I would lose everything that he would gain.
CREON:
So then, my banishment is what you want? 590
OEDIPUS:
No, not your ba nishment. Your execu tion.
^

CREON:
I think you are mad. oe.: I can protect myself.
CREON:
You should protect me also, oe.: You? A traitor?
CREON:
Suppose you are wrong? oe.; I am the King. I rule.

57
 SOPHOCLES
creon:
Not if you ri^ie u njustly. jbE.: Thebes! Hear that!
NT
"
CREON:
Thebes is my city too, as well as yours.
CHORUS:
No more, no more, sirs! Here is Queen Jocasta.
She comes in time to help make peace between you.

Enter jocasta
jocasta:
Oedipus! Creon! How can you be so foolish?
What! Quarrel now about a private matter 600
When the land is dying? You should be ashamed.
Come, Oedipus, come in. Creon, go home. |
You make a tri vial prob lem too important. (
creon:
' ^
your husband has made dreadful threats.
Sister,
He claims the right to have me put to death
Or have me exiled. He need only choose.
OEDIPUS:
Yes. I have caught him at his treachery,
Plotting against the person of the King.

creon:
If I am guilty, may it be my fate
To live in misery and to die accursed. 610
jocasta:
Believe him, Oedipus, believe him, spare him—
I beg you by the gods— for his oath’s sake,

For my sake, for the sake of ail men here.

chorus:
Consent, O King. Be gracious. Hear us, we beg you.
OEDIPUS: What shall I hear? To what shall I consent?
CHORUS: Respect the evidence of Creon’s wisdom,
Respect the oath of innocence he has taken.
OE.: You know what this means? ch.: Yes. oe.: Tell me again what
you ask for.
CHORUS: To yield, to relent.
He is your friend and swears he is not guilty. 620
Do not act in haste, convicting him out of hand.
OEDIPUS: When you ask for this, you ask for my destruction;
You sentence me to death or to banishment.
Be sure that you understand.

58
 OEDIPUS THE KING
:horus:
No, by Apollo, no!
If suchthought has ever crossed my mind.
a
Then may I never find
A friend to love me or a god to save;
And may dark doom pursue me to the grave.
My country perishes, and now new woe 630
Springs from your quarrel, one affliction more
Has come upon us, and my heart is sore.

OEDIPUS:
Let him go free, even though that destroys me.
I shall be killed, or exiled in disgrace.
Not his appeal but yours aroused my pity.
I shall hate him always, no matter where he is.

creon:
You go beyond bounds when you are angry.
all

And are sullen when youyield. Natures like yours

Inflict their heaviest torments on themselves.
OEDIPUS:
Go! Go! Leave me in peace! ev..: Yes, I will go. 640
You have not understood, but m the sight
Of all these men here 1 am innocent.
Exit CREON

CHORUS: Take the King with you. Madam, to the palace.

jocasta: When I have learned what happened, we will go.
chorus: The King was filled with fear and blind suspicion.
Creon resented what he thought injustice,
joc.: Both were at fault? ch.: Both, joc.: Why was the King
suspicious?
CHORUS: Do not seek to know.
We have said enough. In a time of pain and trouble
Inquire no further. Let the matter rest. 650
OEDIPUS: Your well meant pleading turned me from my purpose.
And now you come to this. You fall so low
As to think silence best.

CHORUS:
I say again, O King,
No one except a madman or a fool
Would throw aside your rule.
For you delivered us; your single hand

59
 SOPHOCLES
Lifted the load from our beloved land.
When we were mad with grief and suffering,
In our extremity you found a way 660
To save the city, as you will today.
jocasta:
But tell me, Oedipus, tell me, I beg you.
Why you were so unyielding in your anger.
OEDIPUS:
I will, Jocasta, for I honor you
More than I do the elders. It was Creon’s plotting.
jocasta:
What do you mean? What was your accusation?
OEDIPUS:
He says I am the murderer of King Laius.
jocasta:
Did he speak from first-hand knowledge or from hearsay?
OEDIPUS:
He did not speak at all. His lips are pure.
He bribed Tiresias, and that scoundrel spoke. 6701
jocasta;
yrhen you can rid your mind of any fear
That you No mortal
are guilty. Listen to me.
Shares in the gods’ foreknowledge. I can give you
Clear proof of that. There came once to King Laius
An oracle— I will not say from Phoebus,
But from his priest— saying it was his fate
That he should be struck down by his own child.
His child and mine. But Laius, as we know.
Was killed by foreign robbers at a place
Where three roads came together. As for the child. 680
When it was only three days old, its father
Pierced both its ankles, pinned its feet together,
J
And then gave orders that it be abandoned
/ On a wild mountainside. So in this case
Phoebus did not fulfill his oracle. The child
Was not its father’s murderer, and Laius
Was not the victim of the fate he feared.
Death at his son’s hands, although just that fate
Was what the seer predicted. Pay no heed
To prophecies. Whatever may be needful 690
Ijhe god himself can show us easily.
OEDIPUS:
What have you said, Jocasta? What have you said?
The past comes back to me. How terrible!
rocASTA:
Why do you start so? What has happened to you?
60
 OEDIPUS THE KING
OEDIPUS:
It seemed to me— I thought you said that Laius
Was struck down where three roads came together.
jocasta:
I did. That was the story, and still is.

OEDIPUS:
Where was it that this murder was committed?
jocasta:
In Phocis, where the road from Thebes divides,
Meeting the roads from Daulia and Delphi. 700
OEDIPUS:
Is this my fate? Is this what the gods decreed?
JOCASTA:
What have I said that has so shaken you?
OEDIPUS:
Do not ask me yet. Tell me about King Laius.
What did he look like? Was he young or old?
'

JOCASTA:
His build was not unlike yours. He was tall.
His hair was just beginning to turn grey.
OEDIPUS:
I cannot bear the thought that I called down
A curse on my own head unknowingly.
jocasta:
What is it, Oedipus? You terrify me!
OEDIPUS:
I dread to think Tiresias had clear eyesight; 710
But tell me one thing more, and I will know.

JOCASTA:
And I too shrink, yet I will answer you.
OEDIPUS:
How did he travel? With a few men only.
Or with his guards and servants, like a prince?
JOCASTA:
There were five of them in all, with one a herald.
They had one carriage in which King Laius rode.
OEDIPUS:
It is too clear, too clear! Who told you this?
JOCASTA:
The only servant who escaped alive.
OEDIPUS:
And is he still here now, still in the palace?
jocasta:
No. When he came home and found Laius dead 720
And you the reigning king, he pleaded with me
To send him where the sheep were pasturing.
As far as possible away from Thebes.
61
 SOPHOCLES
And so I sent him. He was a worthy fellow
And, if a slave can, deserved a greater favor.
OEDIPUS:
I hope it is possible to get him quickly.
JOCASTA:
Yes, that is easy. Why do you want to see him?
OEDIPUS:
Because I am afraid, deadly afraid
That I have spoken more than I should have done.
JOCASTA:
He shall come. But Oedipus, have I no right 730
To learn what weighs so heavily on your heart?
OEDIPUS:
You s hall learn everything, now that my fear s
Have grown so great, for who is dearer to me
Than you, locasta? Whom should I speak to sooner.
When am in such straits? King Polybus
I

Of Corinth was my father. Merope,

A Dorian, was my mother. I myself '

Was foremost among all the citizens.

Till something happened, strange, but hardly worth
My feeling such resentment.) As we sat 740
One day at dinner, a man who had drunk too much
Insulted me by saying I was not
My father’s son. In spite of being angry,
I managed to control myself. Next day
I asked my parents, who were both indignant
That he had leveled such a charge against me.
This was a satisfaction, yet the thing
Still rankled, for the rumor grew widespread.
At last 1 went to Delphi secretly.
Apollo gave no answer to my question 750
x^But sent me off, anguished and terrified,
I With fearful prophecies that I was fated
\ To be my mother’s hu-sband, to bring forth

IChildren whom men could not endure to see,

lAnd to take my father’s life. When I heard this
|l turned and fled, hoping to find at length

Some place where I would know of Corinth only

‘

I
As a far distant land beneath the stars.
Some place where I would never have to see
The infamies of this oracle fulfilled. 760
I
And asI went on, I approached the spot

At which you tell me Laius met his end.

Now this, Jocasta, is the absolute truth.
When had come to where the three roads fork.
I

62
 OEDIPUS THE KING

A herald met me, walking before a carriage.

Drawn by two colts, in which a man was seated.
you said. The old man and the herald
Just as
Ordered me off the road with threatening gestures.
Then as the driver pushed me to one side,
I struck him angrily. And seeing this, 770
The old man, as I drew abreast, leaned out
And brought his driver’s two-pronged goad down hard
Upon my head. He paid a heavy price
For doing that. With one blow of my staff
I knocked him headlong from his chariot
Flat on his back. Then every man of them
I killed. Now if the
blood of Laius flowed
In that old stranger’s veins, what mortal man
’

Could be more wretched, more accursed than I?

I whom no citizen or foreigner ^ 780
’
May entertain or shelter, I to whom
No one may speak, I, I who must be driven
From every door. No other man has cursed me,
I ha ve broug ht down this curse upon myself.
TKehandTthatToIIed him now pollute his bed!
'.aA.
Am I not vile, foul, utterly unclean?
For must fly and never see again
I

My people or set foot in my own land.

Or else become the husband of my mother
And put to death my father Polybus, 790
To whom I owe my life and my upbringing.
Men would be right in thinking that such things
Have been inflicted by some cruel fate.
May the gods’ high and holy majesty
Forbid that I should see that day. No! No!
Rather than be dishonored by a doom
So dreadful may I vanish from the earth.
CHORUS:
Sir, these are terrible things, but there is hope
Until you have heard what the one witness says.
OEDIPUS:
That is the one remaining hope I have, 800
To wait for the arrival of the shepherd.
JOCASTA:
And when he has arrived, what can he do?
OEDIPUS:
He can do this. If his account agrees
With vours, I stand acquitted of this crime.
JOCASTA:
Was what I said of any consequence?

63
 SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS:
You said his story was that robbers killed
King Laius. If he speaks of the same number,
Then I am not the murderer. One man
Cannot be several men. But if he says
One traveler, single-handed, did the deed, 8io
Beyond all doubt the evidence points to me.
jocasta:
I am quite certain that was what he said.
He cannot change now, for the whole of Thebes
Heard it, not I alone. In any case,
'
Even supposing that his story should
Be somewhat different, he can never make
Laius’s death fulfill the oracle.
Phoebus said plainly Laius was to die
At my son’s hands. However, that poor child
Certainly did not kill him, for it died 820
Before its father. I would not waste my time
In giving any thought to prophecy.
j
oedipusT
Yes, you are right. And yet have someone sent
To bring the shepherd here. Make sure of this.
jocasta;
I will, at once. Come, Oedipus, come in.

I will do nothing that you disapprove of.

Exeunt oedipus and jocasta

chorus:
May piety and reverence mark my actions;
May every thought be pure through all my days.
May those great laws whose dwelling is in heaven
Approve my conduct with their crown of praise: 830
Offspring of skies that overarch Olympus,
Laws from the loins of no mere mortal sprung.
Unslumbering, unfailing, unforgetting.
Filled with a godhead that is ever young.

Pride breeds the tyrant. Insolent presumption.

Big with delusive wealth and false renown.
Once it has mounted to the highest rampart
Is headlong hurled in utter ruin down.
But pour out all thy blessings. Lord Apollo,
Thou who alone hast made and kept us great, 840
On all whose sole ambition is unselfish.
Whospend themselves in service to the state.

64
 OEDIPUS THE KING

Let that man be accursed who is proud,

In act unscrupulous, in thinking base.
Whose knees in reverence have never bowed.
In whose hard heart justice can find no place,
8ii Whose hands profane mysteries,
life’s holiest

j
How can he hope to shield himself for long
From the gods’ arrows that will pierce him through?
If evil triumphs in such ways as these, 850
1 Why should we seek, in choric dance and song,
)
To give the gods the praise that is their due?

I
cannot go in full faith as of old,
I

1
To sacred Delphi or Olympian vale,
'

Unless men see that what has been foretold

I
Has come to pass, that omens never fail.
All-ruling Zeus, if thou art King indeed,
I

I
Put forth thy majesty, make good thy word,
I
Faith in these fading oracles restore!
i
To priest and prophet men pay little heed; 860
r Hymns to Apollo are no longer heard;
And all religion soon will be no more.

Enter jocasta
jocasta:
Elders of Thebes, I thought that I should visit
The altars of the gods to offer up
These wreaths I carry and these gifts of incense.
The King is overanxious, overtroubled.
He is no longer calm enough to judge
The present by the lessons of the past.
But trembles before anyone who brings
An evil prophecy. I cannot help him. 870
Therefore, since thou art nearest, bright Apollo,
I bring these offerings to thee. O, hear me!

Deliver us from this defiling curse.

His fear infects us all, as if we were
Sailors who saw their pilot terrified.

Enter messenger
messenger;
Sirs, I have come to find King Oedipus.
Where is his palace, can you tell me that?
Or better yet, where is the King himself?
CHORUS:
Stranger, the King is there, within his palace.
This is the Queen, the mother of his children. 880

65
 :

messenger:
May all the gods be good to you and yours!
Madam, you are a lady richly blessed.
jocasta:
And may the gods requite your courtesy.
But what request or message do you bring us?
messenger:
Good tidings for your husband and your household.
jocasta:
What is your news? What country do you come from?
messenger:
From Corinth. And the news I bring will surely
Give you great pleasure— and perhaps some pain.
JOCASTA:
What message can be good and bad at once?
messenger:
The citizens of Corinth, it is said.
Have chosen Oedipus to be their King.
JOCASTA:
What do you mean? Their King is Polybus.
messenger:
No, madam. Polvbus is dead and hnripd
jocasta:
What! Dead! T he father of King Oedipus?
messenger:
If I speak falsely, let me die myself.
JOCASTA {to attendant):
Go find the King and tell him this. Be quick!
What does an oracle amount to now?
This i s the man whom Oedipus all tbe.se years
*7 Has feared and sh unned to keep from killing him,
* An d now w e find he dies a natural death!

Enter oedipus
OEDIPUS:
My dear Jocasta, why have you sent for me?
jocasta:
Listen to this man’s message, and then tell me
What faith you have in sacred oracles.
OEDIPUS:
Where does he come from? What has he to say?
JOCASTA:
He comes from Corinth and has this to say:
The King, your father. Polybus is dead.
OEDIPUS (to messenger)
My father! Tell me that again yourself.
 OEDIPUS THE KING
jessenger:
I will say first what you first want to know.
You may be certain he is dead and gone .

(iDiPUs:
How did he die? By violence or sickness? 910
essenger:
The scales of life tip easily for the old.
2DIPUS;
That is to say he died of some disease.
essenger:
Yes, of disease, and merely of old age.
EDIPUS:
Hear that, Jocasta! Why should anyone
Give heed to oracles from the Pythian shrine,
Or to the birds that shriek above our heads?
They prophes ied that I must kill my father.
'
But he is dead; the eartH Has covered HTrii.
And I am Here, I who have never raised
My hand against him— unless he died of grief. 920
Longing to see me. Then I might be said
To have caused his death. But as they stand, at least.
The oracles have been swept away like rubbish.
They are with Polybus in Hades, dead.
ocasta:
Long ago, Oedipus, I told you that.
lEDIPUS:
You did, but I was blinded by my terror.
OCASTA:
Now you need take these things to heart no longer.
lEDIPUS:
But there is still my mother’s bed to fear.
iOCASTA:
Why should you be afraid? Chance rules our lives.
And no one can foresee the future, no one. 930
We live best when we live without a purpose
From one day to the next. Forget your fear
Of marrying your mother. That has happened
To many me n before this in their dreams.
We find existence most endurable
When such things are neglected and forgotten.
TEDIPUS:
That would be true, Jocasta, if my mother
M’ere not alive; but now your eloquence
Is not enough to give me reassurance.
jocasta:
And yet your father’s death is a great comfort. 940

67
 SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS: dh

Yes, but I cannot rest while she is living.

messenger: f!

Sir, will you tell me who it is you fear?

OEDIPUS: i#
Queen Metope, the wife of Polybus.
messenger: sc

What is so terrible about the Queen?

OEDIPUS: !(iii

A dreadful prophecy the gods have sent us.

MESSENGER: HI

Are you forbidden to speak of it, or not?

OEDIPUS: (8

It may be told. The Lord Apollo said

A That I was doomed to marry my own mother, ‘

J And shed my father’s blood with my own hands.

And so for years I have stayed away from Corinth, 95
My native land— a fortunate thing for me.
Though it is very sweet to see one’s parents.
MESSENGER:
Was that the reason you have lived in exile?
OEDIPUS:
Yes, for I feared my mother and my father.
messenger:
Then since my journey was to wish you well.
Let me release you from your fear at once.
OEDIPUS:
That would deserve my deepest gratitude.
MESSENGER:
did come here with the hope of earning
Sir, I
Some recompense when you had gotten home.
OEDIPUS:
No. I will never again go near my home. 961

MESSENGER:
0 son, son! You know nothing. That is clear—
OEDIPUS:
What do you mean, old friend? Tell me, I beg you.
MESSENGER:
If that is why you dare not come to Corinth.
OEDIPUS:
1 fear Apollo’s word would be fulfilled.
messenger:
That you would be polluted through your parents?
Oedipus:
Yes, yes! My life is haunted by that horror.
messenger:
You have no reason to be horrified.

68
 OEDIPUS THE KING
EDIPUS:
I have no reason! Why? They are my parents.
iessenger:
No. You are not the son of Poly bus.
lEDIPUS:
What did you say? Polybus not my father? 970
MESSENGER:
He was as much your father as I am.
)EDIPUS:
How can that be— my father like a stranger?
»iessenger:
But he was not your father, nor am I.

lEDIPUS:
If that is so, why was I called his son?
VIESSENGER:
Because he took you as a gift, from me.
DEDIPUS:
Yet even so, he loved me like a father?
MESSENGER:
Yes, for he had no children of his own.
OEDIPUS:
And when you gave me, had you bought or found me?
MESSENGER:
I found you in the glens of Mount Cithaeron.
OEDIPUS:
What could have brought you to a place like that? 980
MESSENGER:
The flocks of sheep that I was tending there.
OEDIPUS:
You went from place to place, hunting for work?
messenger:
I did, my son. And yet I saved your life.

OEDIPUS:
How? Was I suffering when you took me up?
MESSENGER:
Your ankles are the proof of what you suffered.
OEDIPUS:
That misery! Why do you speak of that?
MESSENGER:
Your feet were pinned together, and 1 freed them.
OEDIPUS:
Yes. From my cradle I have borne those scars.
MESSENGER:
They are the reason for your present name.
OEDIPUS:
Who did it? Speak! Aly mother, or my father? 990

69
 SOPHOCLES
MESSENGER: 0
Only the man who gave you to me knows.
OEDIPUS: JOC

Then you yourself did not discover me.

MESSENGER: W
No. A man put you in my arms, some shepherd.
OEDIPUS:
Do you know who he was? Can you describe him?
MESSENGER:
He was, I think, one of the slaves of Laius.
OEDIPUS:
The Laius who was once the King of Thebes?
MESSENGER:
Yes, that is right. King Laius was his master.
OEDIPUS:
How could I see him? Is he still alive?
MESSENGER: (

One of his fellow Thebans would know that.

OEDIPUS:
Does anyone here know who this shepherd is? lOOO
Has anyone ever seen him in the city
Or in the fields? Tell me. Now is the time
To solve this mystery once and for all.

chorus:
Sir, I believe the shepherd whom he means
Is the same man you have
already sent for.
The Queen, perhaps, knows most about the matter.
OEDIPUS:
Do you, Jocasta? You know the man we summoned.
Is he the man this messenger spoke about?

JOC.'tSTA:
Why do you care? What difference can it make?
j
To ask is a waste of time, a waste of time! 1010
OEDIPUS:
I cannot let these clues slip from my hands.
I must track down the secret of my birth.
JOCASTA:
Oedipus, Oedipus! By all the gods.
If you set any value on your life. 1

Give up this search! I have endured enough.

OEDIPUS:
Do not be frightened. Even if my mother
Should prove to be a slave, and born of slaves,
This would not touch the honor of your name.
JOCASTA:
Listen, I beg you! Listen! Do not do this!

70
 OEDIPUS THE KING
OEDIPUS:
I cannot fail to bring the truth to light. loao
JOCASTA:
1 know my way is best for you, I know it!

OEDIPUS:
I know your best way is unbearable.
JOCASTA:
May you^s-saved 'from learning who you are!
OEDIPUS:
Go, someone. Bring the shepherd. As for her.
Let her take comfort in her noble birth.
JOCASTA:
You are lost! Lost! That is all I can call you now!
That is all 1 will ever call you, ever again!
Exit JOCASTA

chorus:
What wild grief, sir, has driven the Queen away?
Evil, I fear, will follow from her silence,
A storm of sorrow that will break upon us. 1030
OEDIPUS:
Then let it break upon us. I must learn
My parentage, whatever it may be.
The Queen proud, far prouder than most women.
is

And feels herself dishonored by my baseness.

But I shall not be shamed. I hold myself
The child of Fortune, giver of all good.
She brought me forth. And as 1 lived my life.
The months, my brothers, watched the ebb and flow
Of my well-being. Never could I prove
False to a lineage like that, or fail 1040
To bring to light the secret of my birth.
chorus:
May Phoebus grant that I prove a true prophet!
My heart foreknows what the future will bring:
At tomorrow’s full moon we shall gather, in chorus
To dance and sing
hail Cithaeron, to
In praise of the mountain by Oedipus honored,
Theban nurse of our Theban King.

What long-lived nymph was the mother who bore you?

What god whom the joys of the hills invite
Was the god who begot you? Pan? or Apollo? 1050
Or I’ermes, Lord of Cvlene’s height?
Or on Helicon’s slope did an oread place you
In Bacchus’s arms for his new delight?

71
 SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS:
Elders, I think I see the shepherd coming
Whom we have sent for. Since never met him, I

I am not sure, yet he seems old enough.

And my own slaves are the men bringing him.

But you, perhaps, know more of this than I,
If any of you have seen the man before.
CHORUS:
Yes, it is he. I know him, the King’s shepherd.
As true a slave as Laius ever had.

Enter shepherd
OEDIPUS:
I start with you, Corinthian. Is this man
The one you spoke of? mess.: Sir, he stands before you. i

OEDIPUS:
Now you, old man. Come, look me in the face. {'

Answer my questions. You were the slave of Laius? |

SHEPHERD: I

Yes, but not bought. I grew up in his household. 1

OEDIPUS:
What was the work that you were given to do?
shepherd:
Sheep-herding. I have always been a shepherd.
OEDIPUS:
Where was it that you took your sheep to pasture?
shepherd:
On Mount Cithaeron, or the fields near by. 1070
OEDIPUS:
Do you remember seeing this man there?
shepherd:
What was he doing? What man do you mean?
OEDIPUS:
That man beside you. Have you ever met him?
shepherd:
No, I think not. I cannot recollect him.
messenger:
Sir, I am
not surprised, but I am sure
That can make the past come back to him.
I

He cannot have forgotten the long summers

We grazed our sheep together by Cithaeron,
He with two flocks, and I with one— three years.
From spring to autumn. Then, for the winter months, 1080
I used to drive my sheep to their own fold.

And he drove his back to the fold of Laius.

Is that right? Did it happen as I said?

72 1
 OEDIPUS THE KING
hepherd:
Yes, you are right, but it was long ago.
vIESSENGer:
Well then, do you remember you once gave me
An infant boy to bring up as my own?
iHEPHERD;
What do you mean? Why do you ask me that?
VIESSENGER:
Because the child you gave me stands before you.
5HEPHERD:
Will you be quiet? Curse you! Will you be quiet?
OEDIPUS {to shepherd):
You there! You have no reason to be angry. 1090
You are far more to blame in this than he.
shepherd:
What have I done, my Lord? What have I done?
OEDIPUS:
You have not answered. He asked about the boy.
SHEPHERD:
Sir, he knows nothing, nothing at all about it.

OEDIPUS:
And you ^ay nothing. We must make you speak.
shepherd:
My Lord, I am an old man! Do not hurt me!
OEDIPUS {to guards):
One of you tie his hands behind his back.
SHEPHERD:
Why do you want to know these fearful things?
OEDIPUS:
Did you, or did you not, give him that child?
SHEPHERD:
I did. I wish that I had died instead. 1 100
OEDIPUS:
You will die now, unless you tell the truth.
SHEPHERD:
And if I speak, I will be worse than dead.
OEDIPUS:
You seem to be determined to delay.
shepherd:
No. No! I told you that I had the child.
OEDIPUS:
Where did it come from? Was it yours or not?
shepherd:
No, it was not mine. Someone gave it to me.
OEDIPUS:
Some citizen of Thebes? Who was it? Who?
73
 111

SOPHOCLES
shepherd:
Oh! Do not ask me that! Not that, my Lord!
OEDIPUS:
If I must ask once more, you are a dead man.
SHEPHERD:
The child came from the household of King Laius. 1

OEDIPUS:
Was it a slave’s child? Or of royal blood?
shepherd:
I stand on the very brink of speaking horrors.

OEDIPUS:
And I of hearing horrors— but I must.
SHEPHERD:
Then hear. The child was said to be the King’s.
You can best learn about this from the Queen.
OEDIPUS:
The Queen! She gave it to you? shep.: Yes, my Lord.
OEDIPUS:
Why did she do that? shep.: So that I should kill it.

OEDIPUS:
Her own child? shep.: Yes, she feared the oracles.
OEDIPUS:
What oracles ? shep.: That it must kill its fat!l^er.

OEDIPUS:
Then why did you give it up to this old man? 1

shepherd:
I pitied the poor child.I thought the man

Would take with him back to his own country.

it

He saved its life only to have it come

At last to this. If you should be the man
He says you are, you were born miserable.
OEDIPUS:
All true! All, all made clear! Let me no longer
Look on the light of day. I am known now
For what I am— I, cursed in being born.
Cursed in my marriage, cursed in the blood I shed.
^ Exit OEDIPUS

chorus:
Men are of little worth. Their brief lives last 1

A single day.
They cannot hold elusive pleasure fast;
It melts away.
All laurels wither; all illusions fade;
Hopes have been phantoms, shade on air-built shade.
Since time began.

74
 OEDIPUS THE KING

Your fate, O King, your fate makes manifest

Life’s wretchedness. We can call no one blessed.
No, not one man.

Victorious, unerring, to their mark 1 140

Your arrows flew.
The Sphinx with her curved claws, her riddle dark,
Y our wisdom slew.
By this encounter you preserved us all.
Guarding the land from death’s approach, our tall.
Unshaken tower.
From that time, Oedipus, we held you dear,
Great King of our great Thebes, without a peer
I

In place and power.

*
But now what sadder story could be told? 1150
! A life of triumph utterly undone!
^
What fate could be more grievous to behold?
Father and son
Both found a sheltering port, a place of rest,
I
On the same breast.
'
Father and son both harvested the yield
[
Of the same bounteous field.
How could that earth endure such dreadful wrong
And hold its peace so long?

condemned your marriage lot;

All-seeing time 1 160
Inwavs you least expected bared its shame—
;
Union wherein begetter and begot
Were both the same.
j
This loud lament, these tears that well and flow.
This bitter woe
Are for the day you rescued us, O King,
From our great suffering;
For the new life and happiness you gave
You drag down to the grave.

Enter second messenger

SECOND MESSENGER:
Most honored elders, princes of the land. 1170
If you are true-born Thebans and still love
The house of Labdacus, then what a burden
Of sorrow you must bear, what fearful things
You must now hear and see! There is no river—
No, not the stream of Ister or of Phasis—
That could wash clean this house from the pollution
75
 SOPHOCLES
Ithides within it or will soon bring forth:
Horrible deeds not done in ignorance,
But done deliberately. The crudest evils
Are those that we embrace with open eyes. ii8(
chorus:
Those we already know of are enough
To claim our tears. What more have you to tell?
second messenger:
It may be briefly told. The Queen is dead.
chorus:
Poor woman! oh, poor woman! How? What happened?
SECOND messenger:
She killed herself. You have been spared the worst,
Not being witnesses. Yet you shall learn
What her fate was, so far as I remember.
When she came in, almost beside herself,
Clutching her hair with both her hands, she rushed
i

Straight to her bedroom and slammed shut the doors 1 190

Behind her, screaming the name of Laius—
I

Laius long dead, but not her memory

Of their own child, the son who killed his father,
The son by whom his mother had more children,
i She cursed the bed in which she had conceived
Husband by husband, children by her child,
^ A dreadful double bond. Beyond this much
I do not know the manner of her death.

For with a great cry Oedipus burst in,

Preventing us from following her fate 1 200!
To its dark end. On him our gaze was fixed,
As in a frenzy he ran to and fro,
Calling: ‘Give me a sword! Give me a sword!
Where is that wife who is no wife, that mother.
That soil where I was sower and was sown? ’
,

And ashe raved, those of us there did nothing.

Some more than mortal power directed him.
With a wild shriek, as though he had some sign.
He hurled himself against the double doors.
Forcing the bars out of their loosened sockets, 1210
And broke into his room. There was the Queen,
Hanged in a noose, still swinging back and forth.
When he saw this, the King cried out in anguish.
Untied the knotted cord in which she swung.
And laid the wretched woman on the ground.
What happened then was terrible to see.
He tore the golden brooches from her robe,
Lifted them up as high as he could reach.

76
 OEDIPUS THE KING

And drove them with all his strength into his eyes,
Shrieking, ‘No more, no more shall my eyes see 1220
The horrors of my life— what I have done.
What I have suffered. They have looked too long
On whom they ought never to have seen.
those
They never knew those whom I longed to see.
Blind, blind! Let them be blind!’ With these wild words
He stabbed and stabbed his eyes. At every blow.
The dark blood dyed his beard, not sluggish drops.
But a great torrent like a shower of hail.
A two-fold punishment of two-fold sin
Broke on the heads of husband and of wife. 1230
Their happiness was once true happiness.
But now disgrace has come upon them, death.
Sorrow, and ruin, every earthly ill
That can be named. Not one have they escaped. I
lORUS:
Is he still suffering? Has he found relief?
COND messenger:
He calls for someone to unbar the doors
And show him to all Thebes, his father’s killer.
His mother’s— no, I cannot say the word;
It is unholy, horrible. He intends
To leave the country, for his staying here
Would bring down his own curse upon his house. 1240
He has no guide and no strength of his own.
H is paiiy is unendurable. This too
You will see. They aredrawing back the bars.
The sight is loathsome and yet pitiful.

Enter oedipus
HORUS:
Hideous, hideous! I have seen nothing so dreadful.
Ever before!
I can look no more.

Oedipus, Oedipus! W’hat madness has come upon you?

What malignant fate
Has leaped with its full weight. 1250
Has struck you dowm with an irresistible fury.
And born you off as its prey?
Poor wretch! There is much that I yearn
To ask of you, much I would learn;
But I cannot. The sight of you fills me with horror!
I shudder and turn away.

77
 SOPHOCLES
OEDIPUS:
Oh, Oh! What pain! I cannot rest in my anguish!
Where am I? Where?
Where are my words? They die away as I speak them,
Into thin air.

What is my fate to be?

chorus: A fate too fearful for men to hear of, for men to see.

OEDIPUS: Lost! Overwhelmed by

the rush of unspeakable darkness!
smothers me in its cloud.
It
The pain of my eyes is piercing.
The thought of my sins, the horrors that I have committed.
Racks me without relief.
No wonder you suffer, Oedipus, no wonder you cry aloud
Under your double burden of pain and grief.

OEDIPUS: My friend, my friend How steadfast you are, how ready

! 1
27
To help me in my great need!
I feel your presence beside me.
Blind as I am, I know your voice in the blackness
Of my long-lasting night.
chorus: How could you put out your eyes, still another infamous deed
What god, what demon, induced you to quench their light?

OEDIPUS: It my friends, who brought me low,

was Apollo,
Apollo crushed me beneath this unbearable burden;
who
But it was my hand, mine, that struck the blow.
Why should I see? What sight could have given me pleasure
chorus: These things are as you say.
OEDIPUS: What is there now to love? What greeting can cheer me?
Lead me away.
Quickly, quickly! O lead me out of the country
To a distant land! I am beyond redemption
Accursed, beyond hope lost, the one man living
Whom all the gods most hate.
chorus: Would we had never heard of your existence.
Your fruitless wisdom and your wretched fate.

OEDIPUS: My. curses be upon him, whoever freed_ 1291

Mv feet t'rom tne cruel fetters, there onYhe mounta ii^ ‘
Who restored me from death to life, a thankless deed.
My death would have saved my friends and me from anguish.^ 1

78
 OEDIPUS THE KING

HORUS: I too would have had it so. ' /

EDIPUS: Then would I never have been my father’s killer. ^ y

Now all men know
That I am the infamous son who defiled his mother.
That I shared the bed of the father who gave me being
And if there is sorrow bevon d any mortal sorrow, _
I have brouglu it upon my^ hea3.

HORUS: I cannotsayTHat you havFacted wis^y.'

Alive and blind? You would be better dead^

lEDIPUS;
( Give me no more advice, and do not tell me
j

'That I was wrong. What I have done is best./

For if I still had eyesight when I went

Down to the underworld, how could 1 bear

To see my father and my wretched mother?
After the terrible wrong 1 did them both.
It would not have been punishment enough

(If I had hanged myself .^r do you think

That 1 could find enjoyment in the sight
Of children born as mine were born? No! No!
Nor in the sight of Thebes with its towered walls
And sacred statues of the gods. For I—
Who is so wretched?— I, the foremost Theban,
Cut myself off from this by my own edict
That ordered everyone to shun the man
Polluting us, the man the gods have shown
To be accursed, and of the house of Laius.
f Once I laid bare my shame, could I endure)
\To look my fellow-citizens in the face?
Never! Never! If I had found some way
Of choking off the fountain of my hearing,
I would have made a prison of my body.

Sightless and soundless. It would be sweet to live

Beyond the reach of sorrow. Oh, Cithaeron!
Why did you give me shelter rather than slay me
As soon as I was given to you? Then
No one would ever have heard of my begetting.
Polybus, Corinth, and the ancient house
Ithought mv forebears’! You reared me as a child.
My fair appearance covered foul corruption,
I am impure, born of impurity.
Oh, narrow crossroad where the three paths meet!
Secluded valley hidden in the forest.

79
 SOPHOCLES
You that drank up my blood, my father’s blood
Shed by my hands, do you remember all
I did for you to see? Do you remember
What else I when I came
did here to Thebes?
'T!)h marriage rites! By which was begotten,
I i34(
You then brought forth children by your own child.
) Creating foulest blood-relationship:
An interchange of fathers, brothers, sons.
Brides, wives, and mothers— the most monstrous shame
Man can be guilty of. I should not speak
Of what should not be done. By all the gods.
Hide me, I beg you, hide me quickly somewhere
Far, far away. Put me to death or throw me
Into the sea, out of your sight forever.
Come to me, friends, pity my wretchedness. i35(
Let your hands touch me. Hear me. Do not fear.
My curse can rest on no one but myself.

chorus:
Creon is coming. He is the one to act
On your requests, or to help you with advice.
He takes your place as our sole guardian.
OEDIPUS:
Creon! What shall I say? I cannot hope
That he will trust me now, when my past hatred
Has proved to be so utterly mistaken.

Enter creon
CREON:
I have not come to mock you, Oedipus,
Or to reproach you for any evil-doing. 136c
{to attendants) You there. If you have lost all your respect
For men, revere at least the Lord Apollo,
Whose flame supports all life. Do not display
So nakedly pollution such as this.
Evil that neither earth nor holy rain
Nor light of day can welcome. Take him in,
Take him in, quickly. Piety demands
That onlyjcinsmen shar e a kin^ an ’s wo e.
OEDIPUS:
Creon, since you haye proved my fears were groundless.
Since you have shown such magnanimity 1 37c
To one so vile as I, grant my petition.
I ask you not for my sake but your own.

80
 OEDIPUS THE KING
3REON:
What is it that you beg so urgently?
3EDIPUS:
Drive me away at once. Drive me far off.
Let me not hear a human voice again.
creon:
I have delayed only because I wished
To have the god reveal to me my duty.
5EDIPUS:
Buthis command was certain: put to death
The unholy parricide. And I am he.
CREON:
True. But as things are now, it would be better 1 380
To find out clearly what we ought to do.
3EDIPUS:
An oracle for a man so miserable?
CREON:
Yes. Even you will now believe the god.
3EDIPUS:
I will. Creon, I charge you with this duty.
Accept it, I entreat you. Give to her
Who lies within such burial as you wish.
For she belongs to you. You will perform
The proper obsequies. But as for me.
Let not my presence doom my father’s city.
But send me to the hills, to Mount Cithaeron, 1390
My mountain, which my mother and my father
Chose for my grave. So will I die at last
By the decree of those who sought to slay me.
And yet I know I will not die from sickness
Or anything else. I was preserved from death
To meet some awful, some mysterious end.
My own fate does not matter, only my children’s.
Creon, my so nsneed give you no concern,
FoTthey men, ana can find anywhere
are
A But Creon, my two girls!
livelihood. 1400
Hq w lost, how pitiable! They alway s ate
Their daily bread with me, at my own table.
And had their share oreveryfhing T touched.
Take care of them! O Creon, take care of them!
And more— if I could only touch them
oneTFiing
And with them weep. O prince, prince, grant me this!
Grant it, O
noble Creon! If I touched them,
,
I could believe I saw them once again.

81
 SOPHOCLES
(

Enter ismene and antigone (

What! Do I hear my daughters? Hear them sobbing? (

Has Creon had pity on me? Has he sent them, 1410

My children, my two darlings? Is it true?
CREON;
Yes. I have had them brought. I kn ew how much I

You used to love the m, how you love them still.

OEDIPUS:
May the gods bless you, Creon, for this kindness;
And may they guard you better on your journey
Than they have guarded me. Children, where are you?
Come to your brother’s hands, the hands that made
Your father’s clear eyes into what these are—
Your father, who saw
nothing and knew nothing.
Begetting you where he had been conceived.
I cannot see you, but I weep for you,

Weep for the bitter lives that you must lead

Henceforward. Never, never will you go
To an assembly with the citizens.
Or to a festival, and take your part.
You will turn back in tears. And when you come
To the full bloom of womanhood, what man
Will run the risk of bringing on himself
Your shame, my daughters, and your children’s shame?
1:

Is there one evil, one, that is not ours? 1430

‘Your father killed his father; he begot
Children of his own mother; she who bore you
Bore him as well.’ These are the taunts, the insults
That you will hear. Who, the n, Avill marry you?
No one, my children. Clearly it is yo ur fate
To waste aw ay in_b^gn maidgnhood.
Creon, Creon, their blood flows in your veins.
You are the only father left to them;
They have lost both their parents. Do not let them
Wander away, unmarried, destitute. 1440
As miserable as I. Have pity on them.
So young, so utterly forlorn, so helpless
Except for you. You are kind-hearted. Touch me
To tell me that I have your promise. Children,
There is so much, so much that I would say.
If you were old enough to understand it.
But now I only teach you this one prayer:
May I be given a place in which to live. I

And may my life be happier than my father’s.

82
 OEDIPUS THE KING
CREON:
Come, come with us. Have done with further woe. 1450
OE.: Obedience is hard, cr.: No good in life endures beyond
its season.
OE.: Do you know why I yield? cr.: When I have heard your
reason I will know.
OE.: You are to banish me. cr.: The gods alone can grant you
that entreaty.
OE.: I am
hated by the gods, cr.: Then their response to you
will not be slow.
OE.: So you consent to this? cr.: I say no more than I have
said already.
OE.: Come, then, lead me away, cr.: Not with your children.
You must let them go.
OE.: Creon, not that, not that! cr.: You must be patient.
Nothing can restore
Your old dominion. You are King no more.
Exeunt creon, oedipus, ismene, and antigone

CHORUS:
Behold him, Thebans: Oedipus, great and wise.
Who solved the famous riddle. This is he 1460
Whom all men gazed upon with envious eyes.
Who now is struggling in a stormy sea.
Crushed by the billows of his bitter woes.
Look to the end of mortal life. In vain
We say a man is happy, till he goes
Beyond life’s final border, free from pain.

83