For since I caught her alone of all the city in open defiance, I will not make myself a liar to my city. I will kill her. So let her call on Zeus who protects kindred blood. If I am to foster my own kin to spurn order,surely I will do the same for outsiders. For whoever shows his excellence in the case of his own household will be found righteous in his city as well. But if anyone oversteps and does violence to the laws, or thinks to dictate to those in power,such a one will never win praise from me. No, whomever the city may appoint, that man must be obeyed in matters small and great and in matters just and unjust. And I would feel confident that such a man would be a fine ruler no less than a good and willing subject,and that beneath a hail of spears he would stand his ground where posted, a loyal and brave comrade in the battle line. But there is no evil worse than disobedience. This destroys cities; this overturns homes; this breaksthe ranks of allied spears into headlong rout. But the lives of men who prosper upright, of these obedience has saved the greatest part. Therefore we must defend those who respect order, and in no way can we let a woman defeat us. It is better to fall from power, if it is fated, by a man’s hand,than that we be called weaker than women.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ αὐτὴν εἷλον ἐμφανῶς ἐγὼπόλεως ἀπιστήσασαν ἐκ πάσης μόνην,ψευδῆ γʼ ἐμαυτὸν οὐ καταστήσω πόλει,ἀλλὰ κτενῶ. πρὸς ταῦτʼ ἐφυμνείτω Δίαξύναιμον. εἰ γὰρ δὴ τά γʼ ἐγγενῆ φύσειἄκοσμα θρέψω, κάρτα τοὺς ἔξω γένουςἐν τοῖς γὰρ οἰκείοισιν ὅστις ἔστʼ ἀνὴρχρηστός, φανεῖται κἀν πόλει δίκαιος ὤν.ὅστις δʼ ὑπερβὰς ἢ νόμους βιάζεταιἢ τοὐπιτάσσειν τοῖς κρατύνουσιν νοεῖ,οὐκ ἔστʼ ἐπαίνου τοῦτον ἐξ ἐμοῦ τυχεῖν.ἀλλʼ ὃν πόλις στήσειε τοῦδε χρὴ κλύεινκαὶ σμικρὰ καὶ δίκαια καὶ τἀναντία.καὶ τοῦτον ἂν τὸν ἄνδρα θαρσοίην ἐγὼκαλῶς μὲν ἄρχειν, εὖ δʼ ἂν ἄρχεσθαι θέλειν,δορός τʼ ἂν ἐν χειμῶνι προστεταγμένονμένειν δίκαιον κἀγαθὸν παραστάτην.ἀναρχίας δὲ μεῖζον οὐκ ἔστιν κακόν.αὕτη πόλεις ὄλλυσιν, ἥδʼ ἀναστάτουςοἴκους τίθησιν, ἥδε συμμάχου δορὸςτροπὰς καταρρήγνυσι· τῶν δʼ ὀρθουμένωνσῴζει τὰ πολλὰ σώμαθʼ ἡ πειθαρχία.οὕτως ἀμυντέʼ ἐστὶ τοῖς κοσμουμένοις,κοὔτοι γυναικὸς οὐδαμῶς ἡσσητέα.κρεῖσσον γάρ, εἴπερ δεῖ, πρὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐκπεσεῖν,κοὐκ ἂν γυναικῶν ἥσσονες καλοίμεθʼ ἄν.
Chorus:To us, unless our years have stolen our wit, you seem to say what you say wisely.
Χορός:ἡμῖν μέν, εἰ μὴ τῷ χρόνῳ κεκλέμμεθα,λέγειν φρονούντως ὧν λέγεις δοκεῖς πέρι.
Haemon:Father, the gods implant reason in men, the highest of all things that we call our own.
Αἵμων:πάτερ, θεοὶ φύουσιν ἀνθρώποις φρένας,πάντων ὅσʼ ἐστὶ κτημάτων ὑπέρτατον.
For my part, to state how you are wrong to say those things is beyond my power and my desire, although another man, too, might have a useful thought. In any case, it is my natural duty to watch on your behalf all that men say, or do, or find to blame.
ἐγὼ δʼ ὅπως σὺ μὴ λέγεις ὀρθῶς τάδε,οὔτʼ ἂν δυναίμην μήτʼ ἐπισταίμην λέγειν.γένοιτο μέντἂν χἀτέρῳ καλῶς ἔχον.σοῦ δʼ οὖν πέφυκα πάντα προσκοπεῖν ὅσαλέγει τις ἢ πράσσει τις ἢ ψέγειν ἔχει.
For dread of your glance forbids the ordinary citizen to speak such words as would offend your ear. But I can hear these murmurs in the dark, how the city moans for this girl, saying: “No woman ever merited death less—”“none ever died so shamefully for deeds so glorious as hers, who, when her own brother had fallen in bloody battle, would not leave him unburied to be devoured by savage dogs, or by any bird. Does she not deserve to receive golden honor?”
τὸ γὰρ σὸν ὄμμα δεινὸν ἀνδρὶ δημότῃλόγοις τοιούτοις, οἷς σὺ μὴ τέρψει κλύων·ἐμοὶ δʼ ἀκούειν ἔσθʼ ὑπὸ σκότου τάδε,τὴν παῖδα ταύτην οἷʼ, ὀδύρεται πόλις,πασῶν γυναικῶν ὡς ἀναξιωτάτηκάκιστʼ ἀπʼ ἔργων εὐκλεεστάτων φθίνει.ἥτις τὸν αὑτῆς αὐτάδελφον ἐν φοναῖςπεπτῶτʼ ἄθαπτον μήθʼ ὑπʼ ὠμηστῶν κυνῶνεἴασʼ ὀλέσθαι μήθʼ ὑπʼ οἰωνῶν τινος.οὐχ ἥδε χρυσῆς ἀξία τιμῆς λαχεῖν;
Such is the rumor shrouded in darkness that silently spreads. For me, father, no treasure is more precious than your prosperity. What, indeed, is a nobler ornament for children than the fair fame of a thriving father, or for a father than that of his children?
τοιάδʼ ἐρεμνὴ σῖγʼ ἐπέρχεται φάτις.ἐμοὶ δὲ σοῦ πράσσοντος εὐτυχῶς, πάτερ,οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν κτῆμα τιμιώτερον,τί γὰρ πατρὸς θάλλοντος εὐκλείας τέκνοιςἄγαλμα μεῖζον, ἢ τί πρὸς παίδων πατρί;
Do not, then, bear one mood only in yourself: do not think that your word and no other, must be right. For if any man thinks that he alone is wise—that in speech or in mind he has no peer—such a soul, when laid open, is always found empty.
μή νυν ἓν ἦθος μοῦνον ἐν σαυτῷ φόρει,ὡς φὴς σύ, κοὐδὲν ἄλλο, τοῦτʼ ὀρθῶς ἔχειν.ὅστις γὰρ αὐτὸς ἢ φρονεῖν μόνος δοκεῖ,ἢ γλῶσσαν, ἣν οὐκ ἄλλος, ἢ ψυχὴν ἔχειν,οὗτοι διαπτυχθέντες ὤφθησαν κενοί.
No, even when a man is wise, it brings him no shame to learn many things, and not to be too rigid. You see how the trees that stand beside the torrential streams created by a winter storm yield to it and save their branches, while the stiff and rigid perish root and all?
ἀλλʼ ἄνδρα, κεἴ τις ᾖ σοφός, τὸ μανθάνεινπόλλʼ, αἰσχρὸν οὐδὲν καὶ τὸ μὴ τείνειν ἄγαν.ὁρᾷς παρὰ ῥείθροισι χειμάρροις ὅσαδένδρων ὑπείκει, κλῶνας ὡς ἐκσῴζεται,τὰ δʼ ἀντιτείνοντʼ αὐτόπρεμνʼ ἀπόλλυται.
And in the same way the pilot who keeps the sheet of his sail taut and never slackens it, upsets his boat, and voyages thereafter with his decking underwater. Father, give way and allow a change from your rage. For if even from me, a younger man, a worthy thought may be supplied,by far the best thing, I believe, would be for men to be all-wise by nature. Otherwise—since most often it does not turn out that way—it is good to learn in addition from those who advise you well.
αὕτως δὲ ναὸς ὅστις ἐγκρατῆ πόδατείνας ὑπείκει μηδέν, ὑπτίοις κάτωστρέψας τὸ λοιπὸν σέλμασιν ναυτίλλεται.ἀλλʼ εἶκε καὶ θυμῷ μετάστασιν δίδου.γνώμη γὰρ εἴ τις κἀπʼ ἐμοῦ νεωτέρουπρόσεστι, φήμʼ ἔγωγε πρεσβεύειν πολὺφῦναι τὸν ἄνδρα πάντʼ ἐπιστήμης πλέων·εἰ δʼ οὖν, φιλεῖ γὰρ τοῦτο μὴ ταύτῃ ῥέπειν,καὶ τῶν λεγόντων εὖ καλὸν τὸ μανθάνειν.
Chorus:My king, it is right, if he speaks something appropriate, that you should learn from himand that you, in turn, Haemon, should learn from your father. On both sides there have been wise words.
Χορός:ἄναξ, σέ τʼ εἰκός, εἴ τι καίριον λέγει,μαθεῖν, σέ τʼ αὖ τοῦδʼ· εὖ γὰρ εἴρηται διπλῇ.
Creon:Men of my age—are we, then, to be schooled in wisdom by men of his?
Κρέων:οἱ τηλικοίδε καὶ διδαξόμεσθα δὴφρονεῖν ὑπʼ ἀνδρὸς τηλικοῦδε τὴν φύσιν;
Haemon:Not in anything that is not right. But if I am young, you should look to my conduct, not to my years.
Αἵμων:μηδὲν τὸ μὴ δίκαιον· εἰ δʼ ἐγὼ νέος,οὐ τὸν χρόνον χρὴ μᾶλλον ἢ τἄργα σκοπεῖν.
Creon:Is it worthy conduct to honor disrupters?
Κρέων:ἔργον γάρ ἐστι τοὺς ἀκοσμοῦντας σέβειν;
Haemon:I could not urge anyone to show respect for the wicked.
Αἵμων:οὐδʼ ἂν κελεύσαιμʼ, εὐσεβεῖν εἰς τοὺς κακούς.
Creon:And is she not in the grasp of that disease?
Κρέων:οὐχ ἥδε γὰρ τοιᾷδʼ ἐπείληπται νόσῳ;
Haemon:All the people of this city of Thebes deny it.
Αἵμων:οὔ φησι Θήβης τῆσδʼ ὁμόπτολις λεώς.
Creon:Shall Thebes prescribe to me how I must rule?
Κρέων:πόλις γὰρ ἡμῖν ἁμὲ χρὴ τάσσειν ἐρεῖ;
Haemon:See, there, how you have spoken so much like a child.
Αἵμων:ὁρᾷς τόδʼ ὡς εἴρηκας ὡς ἄγαν νέος;
Creon:Am I to rule this land by the will of another than myself?
Κρέων:ἄλλῳ γὰρ ἢ ʼμοὶ χρή με τῆσδʼ ἄρχειν χθονός;
Haemon:That is no city, which belongs to one man.
Αἵμων:πόλις γὰρ οὐκ ἔσθʼ ἥτις ἀνδρός ἐσθʼ ἑνός.
Creon:Does not the city by tradition belong to the man in power?
Κρέων:οὐ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἡ πόλις νομίζεται;
Haemon:You would make a fine monarch in a desert.
Αἵμων:καλῶς γʼ ἐρήμης ἂν σὺ γῆς ἄρχοις μόνος.
Creon:This boy seems to be fighting on the side of the woman.
Κρέων:ὅδʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, τῇ γυναικὶ συμμαχεῖ.
Haemon:If you are a woman, for, to be sure, my concern is for you.
Αἵμων:εἴπερ γυνὴ σύ. σοῦ γὰρ οὖν προκήδομαι.
Creon:You traitor, attacking your father, accusing him!
Κρέων:ὦ παγκάκιστε, διὰ δίκης ἰὼν πατρί;
Haemon:Because I see you making a mistake and committing injustice.
Αἵμων:οὐ γὰρ δίκαιά σʼ ἐξαμαρτάνονθʼ ὁρῶ.
Creon:Am I making a mistake when I respect my own prerogatives?
Κρέων:ἁμαρτάνω γὰρ τὰς ἐμὰς ἀρχὰς σέβων;
Haemon:Yes. You do not respect them, when you trample on the gods’ honors.
Αἵμων:οὐ γὰρ σέβεις, τιμάς γε τὰς θεῶν πατῶν.
Creon:Polluted creature, submitting to a woman!
Κρέων:ὦ μιαρὸν ἦθος καὶ γυναικὸς ὕστερον.
Haemon:You will never catch me submitting to shamelessness.
Αἵμων:οὔ τἂν ἕλοις ἥσσω γε τῶν αἰσχρῶν ἐμέ.
Creon:You do. Your every word, after all, pleads her case.
Κρέων:ὁ γοῦν λόγος σοι πᾶς ὑπὲρ κείνης ὅδε.
Haemon:And yours, and mine, and that of gods below.
Αἵμων:καὶ σοῦ γε κἀμοῦ, καὶ θεῶν τῶν νερτέρων.
Creon:You can never marry her, not while she is still alive.
Κρέων:ταύτην ποτʼ οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὡς ἔτι ζῶσαν γαμεῖς.
Haemon:Then she will die, and in death destroy another.
Αἵμων:ἣ δʼ οὖν θανεῖται καὶ θανοῦσʼ ὀλεῖ τινα.
Creon:What! Does your audacity run to open threats?
Κρέων:ἦ κἀπαπειλῶν ὧδʼ ἐπεξέρχει θρασύς;
Haemon:How is it a threat to speak against empty plans?
Αἵμων:τίς δʼ ἔστʼ ἀπειλὴ πρὸς κενὰς γνώμας λέγειν;
Creon:You will regret your unwise instructions in wisdom.
Κρέων:κλαίων φρενώσεις, ὢν φρενῶν αὐτὸς κενός.
Haemon:If you were not my father, I would have called you insane.
Αἵμων:εἰ μὴ πατὴρ ἦσθʼ, εἶπον ἄν σʼ οὐκ εὖ φρονεῖν.
Creon:You woman’s slave, do not try to cajole me.
Κρέων:γυναικὸς ὢν δούλευμα μὴ κώτιλλέ με.
Haemon:Do you want to have your say and then have done without a reply?
Αἵμων:βούλει λέγειν τι καὶ λέγων μηδὲν κλύειν;
Creon:Is that so? By Olympus above—know this well—you will have no joy for taunting me over and above your censures.
Κρέων:ἄληθες; ἀλλʼ οὐ τόνδʼ Ὄλυμπον, ἴσθʼ ὅτι,χαίρων ἐπὶ ψόγοισι δεννάσεις ἐμέ.
Bring out that hated thing, so that with him looking on she may die right now in her bridegroom’s presence and at his side!
ἄγαγε τὸ μῖσος ὡς κατʼ ὄμματʼ αὐτίκαπαρόντι θνῄσκῃ πλησία τῷ νυμφίῳ.
Haemon:No, not at my side will she die—do not ever imagine it. Nor shall you ever look at me and set eyes on my face again.Indulge in your madness now with whomever of your friends can endure it. Exit Haemon.
Αἵμων:οὐ δῆτʼ ἔμοιγε, τοῦτο μὴ δόξῃς ποτέ,οὔθʼ ἥδʼ ὀλεῖται πλησία, σύ τʼ οὐδαμὰτοὐμὸν προσόψει κρᾶτʼ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶν,ὡς τοῖς θέλουσι τῶν φίλων μαίνῃ συνών.
Chorus:The man is gone, King Creon, in anger and haste. A young mind is fierce when stung.
Χορός:ἁνήρ, ἄναξ, βέβηκεν ἐξ ὀργῆς ταχύς·νοῦς δʼ ἐστὶ τηλικοῦτος ἀλγήσας βαρύς.
Creon:Let him do—no!—let him plan something more immense than befits a man. Farewell to him! Still he will not save these two girls from death.
Κρέων:δράτω· φρονείτω μεῖζον ἢ κατʼ ἄνδρʼ ἰών·τὼ δʼ οὖν κόρα τώδʼ οὐκ ἀπαλλάξει μόρου.
Chorus:Then the pair of them, you really intend to kill them both?
Χορός:ἄμφω γὰρ αὐτὼ καὶ κατακτεῖναι νοεῖς;
Creon:Not the one who did not put her hands to the burial. You are right.
Κρέων:οὐ τήν γε μὴ θιγοῦσαν· εὖ γὰρ οὖν λέγεις.
Chorus:And by what mode of death do you mean to kill the other?
Χορός:μόρῳ δὲ ποίῳ καί σφε βουλεύει κτανεῖν;
Creon:I will take her where the path is deserted, unvisited by men, and entomb her alive in a rocky vault,setting out a ration of food, but only as much as piety requires so that all the city may escape defilement. And praying there to Hades, the only god she worships, perhaps she will obtain immunity from death, or else will learn, at last, even this late,that it is fruitless labor to revere the dead. Exit Creon.
Κρέων:ἄγων ἔρημος ἔνθʼ ἂν ᾖ βροτῶν στίβοςκρύψω πετρώδει ζῶσαν ἐν κατώρυχι,φορβῆς τοσοῦτον ὡς ἄγος μόνον προθείς,ὅπως μίασμα πᾶσʼ ὑπεκφύγῃ πόλις.κἀκεῖ τὸν Ἅιδην, ὃν μόνον σέβει θεῶν,αἰτουμένη που τεύξεται τὸ μὴ θανεῖν,ἢ γνώσεται γοῦν ἀλλὰ τηνικαῦθʼ ὅτιπόνος περισσός ἐστι τἀν Ἅιδου σέβειν.
Chorus:Love, the unconquered in battle, Love, you who descend upon riches, and watch the night through on a girl’s soft cheek,you roam over the sea and among the homes of men in the wilds. Neither can any immortal escape you,nor any man whose life lasts for a day. He who has known you is driven to madness.
Χορός:Ἔρως ἀνίκατε μάχαν, Ἔρως, ὃς ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις,ὃς ἐν μαλακαῖς παρειαῖς νεάνιδος ἐννυχεύεις,φοιτᾷς δʼ ὑπερπόντιος ἔν τʼ ἀγρονόμοις αὐλαῖς·καί σʼ οὔτʼ ἀθανάτων φύξιμος οὐδεὶςοὔθʼ ἁμερίων σέ γʼ ἀνθρώπων. ὁ δʼ ἔχων μέμηνεν.
Chorus:You seize the minds of just men and drag them to injustice, to their ruin. You it is who have incited this conflict of men whose flesh and blood are one.
Χορός:σὺ καὶ δικαίων ἀδίκους φρένας παρασπᾷς ἐπὶ λώβᾳ,σὺ καὶ τόδε νεῖκος ἀνδρῶν ξύναιμον ἔχεις ταράξας·
But victory belongs to radiant Desire swelling from the eyes of the sweet-bedded bride. Desire sits enthroned in power beside the mighty laws.For in all this divine Aphrodite plays her irresistible game.Enter Antigone under guard from the palace.
νικᾷ δʼ ἐναργὴς βλεφάρων ἵμερος εὐλέκτρουνύμφας, τῶν μεγάλων πάρεδρος ἐν ἀρχαῖςθεσμῶν. ἄμαχος γὰρ ἐμπαίζει θεὸς Ἀφροδίτα.
Chorus:But now, witnessing this, I too am carried beyond the bounds of loyalty. The power fails me to keep back my streaming tears any longer, when I see Antigone making her way to the chamber where all are laid to rest,now her bridal chamber.
Χορός:νῦν δʼ ἤδη ʼγὼ καὐτὸς θεσμῶνἔξω φέρομαι τάδʼ ὁρῶν ἴσχειν δʼοὐκέτι πηγὰς δύναμαι δακρύων,τὸν παγκοίτην ὅθʼ ὁρῶ θάλαμοντήνδʼ Ἀντιγόνην ἀνύτουσαν.
Antigone:Citizens of my fatherland, see me setting out on my last journey, looking at my last sunlight,and never again. No, Hades who lays all to rest leads me living to Acheron’s shore, though I have not had my due portion of the chant that brings the bride, nor has any hymn been minefor the crowning of marriage. Instead the lord of Acheron will be my groom.
Ἀντιγόνη:ὁρᾶτʼ ἔμʼ, ὦ γᾶς πατρίας πολῖται, τὰν νεάταν ὁδὸνστείχουσαν, νέατον δὲ φέγγος λεύσσουσαν ἀελίου,κοὔποτʼ αὖθις. ἀλλά μʼ ὁ παγκοίτας Ἅιδας ζῶσαν ἄγειτὰν Ἀχέροντοςἀκτάν, οὔθʼ ὑμεναίων ἔγκληρον, οὔτʼ ἐπινύμφειόςπώ μέ τις ὕμνος ὕμνησεν, ἀλλʼ Ἀχέροντι νυμφεύσω.
Chorus:Then in glory and with praise you depart to that deep place of the dead, neither struck by wasting sickness,nor having won the wages of the sword. No, guided by your own laws and still alive, unlike any mortal before, you will descend to Hades.
Χορός:οὐκοῦν κλεινὴ καὶ ἔπαινον ἔχουσʼἐς τόδʼ ἀπέρχει κεῦθος νεκύων,οὔτε φθινάσιν πληγεῖσα νόσοιςοὔτε ξιφέων ἐπίχειρα λαχοῦσʼ,ἀλλʼ αὐτόνομος ζῶσα μόνη δὴθνητῶν Ἅιδην καταβήσει.
Antigone:I have heard with my own ears how our Phrygian guest, the daughter of Tantalus, perishedin so much suffering on steep Sipylus—how, like clinging ivy, the sprouting stone subdued her. And the rains, as men tell, do not leave her melting form, nor does the snow,but beneath her weeping lids she dampens her collar. Most like hers is the god-sent fate that leads me to my rest.
Ἀντιγόνη:ἤκουσα δὴ λυγροτάταν ὀλέσθαι τὰν Φρυγίαν ξένανΤαντάλου Σιπύλῳ πρὸς ἄκρῳ, τὰν κισσὸς ὡς ἀτενὴςπετραία βλάστα δάμασεν, καί νιν ὄμβροι τακομέναν,ὡς φάτις ἀνδρῶν,χιών τʼ οὐδαμὰ λείπει, τέγγει δʼ ὑπʼ ὀφρύσι παγκλαύτοιςδειράδας· ᾇ με δαίμων ὁμοιοτάταν κατευνάζει.
Chorus:Yet she was a goddess, as you know, and the offspring of gods,while we are mortals and mortal-born. Still it is a great thing for a woman who has died to have it said of her that she shared the lot of the godlike in her life, and afterwards, in death.
Χορός:ἀλλὰ θεός τοι καὶ θεογεννής,ἡμεῖς δὲ βροτοὶ καὶ θνητογενεῖς.καίτοι φθιμένῃ μέγα κἀκοῦσαιτοῖς ἰσοθέοις σύγκληρα λαχεῖν.ζῶσαν καὶ ἔπειτα θανοῦσαν.
Antigone:Ah, you mock me! In the name of our fathers’ gods,why do you not wait to abuse me until after I have gone, and not to my face, O my city, and you, her wealthy citizens? Ah, spring of Dirce, and you holy ground of Thebes whose chariots are many,you, at least, will bear me witness how unwept by loved ones, and by what laws I go to the rock-closed prison of my unheard-of tomb! Ah, misery!
Ἀντιγόνη:οἴμοι γελῶμαι. τί με, πρὸς θεῶν πατρῴων.οὐκ οἰχομέναν ὑβρίζεις, ἀλλʼ ἐπίφαντον;ὦ πόλις, ὦ πόλεως πολυκτήμονες ἄνδρες·ἰὼ Διρκαῖαι κρῆναιΘήβας τʼ εὐαρμάτου ἄλσος, ἔμπας ξυμμάρτυρας ὔμμʼ ἐπικτῶμαι,οἵα φίλων ἄκλαυτος, οἵοις νόμοιςπρὸς ἕργμα τυμβόχωστον ἔρχομαι τάφου ποταινίου·
I have no home among men or with the shades, no home with the living or with the dead.
ἰὼ δύστανος, βροτοῖς οὔτε νεκροῖς κυροῦσαμέτοικος οὐ ζῶσιν, οὐ θανοῦσιν.
Chorus:You have rushed headlong to the far limits of daring, and against the high throne of Justiceyou have fallen, my daughter, fallen heavily. But in this ordeal you are paying for some paternal crime.
Χορός:προβᾶσʼ ἐπʼ ἔσχατον θράσουςὑψηλὸν ἐς Δίκας βάθρονπροσέπεσες, ὦ τέκνον, πολύ·πατρῷον δʼ ἐκτίνεις τινʼ ἆθλον.
Antigone:You have touched on my most bitter thoughtand moved my ever-renewed pity for my father and for the entire doom ordained for us, the famed house of Labdacus. Oh, the horrors of our mother’s bed! Oh, the slumbers of the wretched mother at the sideof her own son, my own father! What manner of parents gave me my miserable being! It is to them that I go like this, accursed and unwed, to share their home.
Ἀντιγόνη:ἔψαυσας ἀλγεινοτάτας ἐμοὶ μερίμνας,πατρὸς τριπόλιστον οἶκτον τοῦ τε πρόπαντοςἁμετέρου πότμου κλεινοῖς Λαβδακίδαισιν.ἰὼ ματρῷαι λέκτρωνἆται κοιμήματά τʼ αὐτογέννητʼ ἐμῷ πατρὶ δυσμόρου ματρός,οἵων ἐγώ ποθʼ ἁ ταλαίφρων ἔφυν·πρὸς οὓς ἀραῖος ἄγαμος ἅδʼ ἐγὼ μέτοικος ἔρχομαι.
Ah, my brother, the marriage you made was doomed, and by dying you killed me still alive!
ἰὼ δυσπότμων κασίγνητε γάμων κυρήσας,θανὼν ἔτʼ οὖσαν κατήναρές με.
Chorus:Your pious action shows a certain reverence, but an offence against power can no way be tolerated by him who has power in his keeping.
Χορός:σέβειν μὲν εὐσέβειά τις,κράτος δʼ ὅτῳ κράτος μέλειπαραβατὸν οὐδαμᾷ πέλει·
Your self-willed disposition is what has destroyed you.
σὲ δʼ αὐτόγνωτος ὤλεσʼ ὀργά.
Antigone:Unwept, unfriended, without marriage-song, I am led in misery on this journey that cannot be put off. No longer is it permitted me, unhappy girl,to look up at this sacred eye of the burning sun. But for my fate no tear is shed, no friend moans in sorrow.Enter Creon.
Ἀντιγόνη:ἄκλαυτος, ἄφιλος, ἀνυμέναιος ταλαίφρων ἄγομαιτὰν πυμάταν ὁδόν. οὐκέτι μοι τόδελαμπάδος ἱερὸν ὄμμαθέμις ὁρᾶν ταλαίνᾳ.τὸν δʼ ἐμὸν πότμον ἀδάκρυτονοὐδεὶς φίλων στενάζει.
Creon:Do you not know that dirges and wailing before death would never be given up, if it were allowed to make them freely?
Κρέων:ἆρʼ ἴστʼ, ἀοιδὰς καὶ γόους πρὸ τοῦ θανεῖνὡς οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς παύσαιτʼ ἄν, εἰ χρείη λέγειν;
Take her away—now! And when you have enshrouded her, as I proclaimed, in her covered tomb, leave her alone, deserted—let her decide whether she wishes to die or to live entombed in such a home. It makes no difference, since our hands are clean so far as regards this girl.But no matter what, she will be stripped of her home here above.
οὐκ ἄξεθʼ ὡς τάχιστα; καὶ κατηρεφεῖτύμβῳ περιπτύξαντες, ὡς εἴρηκʼ ἐγώ,ἄφετε μόνην ἔρημον, εἴτε χρῇ θανεῖνεἴτʼ ἐν τοιαύτῃ ζῶσα τυμβεύειν στέγῃ·ἡμεῖς γὰρ ἁγνοὶ τοὐπὶ τήνδε τὴν κόρην·μετοικίας δʼ οὖν τῆς ἄνω στερήσεται.
Antigone:Tomb, bridal-chamber, deep-dug eternal prison where I go to find my own, whom in the greatest numbers destruction has seized and Persephone has welcomed among the dead!
Ἀντιγόνη:ὦ τύμβος, ὦ νυμφεῖον, ὦ κατασκαφὴςοἴκησις ἀείφρουρος, οἷ πορεύομαιπρὸς τοὺς ἐμαυτῆς, ὧν ἀριθμὸν ἐν νεκροῖςπλεῖστον δέδεκται Φερσέφασσʼ ὀλωλότων·
Last of them all and in by far the most shameful circumstances, I will descend, even before the fated term of my life is spent. But I cherish strong hopes that I will arrive welcome to my father, and pleasant to you, Mother, and welcome, dear brother, to you.
ὧν λοισθία ʼγὼ καὶ κάκιστα δὴ μακρῷκάτειμι, πρίν μοι μοῖραν ἐξήκειν βίου.ἐλθοῦσα μέντοι κάρτʼ ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφωφίλη μὲν ἥξειν πατρί, προσφιλὴς δὲ σοί,μῆτερ, φίλη δὲ σοί, κασίγνητον κάρα·
For, when each of you died, with my own hands I washed and dressed you and poured drink-offerings at your graves. But now, Polyneices, it is for tending your corpse that I win such reward as this. [And yet I honored you rightly, as the wise understand.]
ἐπεὶ θανόντας αὐτόχειρ ὑμᾶς ἐγὼἔλουσα κἀκόσμησα κἀπιτυμβίουςχοὰς ἔδωκα. νῦν δέ, Πολύνεικες, τὸ σὸνδέμας περιστέλλουσα τοιάδʼ ἄρνυμαι.καίτοι σʼ ἐγὼ ʼτίμησα τοῖς φρονοῦσιν εὖ.
[Never, if I had been a mother of children, or if a husband had been rotting after death, would I have taken that burden upon myself in violation of the citizens’ will. For the sake of what law, you ask, do I say that? A husband lost, another might have been found, ][and if bereft of a child, there could be a second from some other man. But when father and mother are hidden in Hades, no brother could ever bloom for me again. Such was the law whereby I held you first in honor, but for that Creon judged me guilty of wrongdoing][and of dreadful outrage, dear brother! And now he leads me thus in his hands’ strong grasp, when I have enjoyed no marriage bed or bridal song and have not received any portion of marriage or the nurture of children. But deserted by friends, ][in misery I go living to the hollow graves of the dead.] What law of the gods have I transgressed? Why should I look to the gods anymore? What ally should I call out to, when by my reverence I have earned a name for irreverence?
οὐ γάρ ποτʼ οὔτʼ ἄν, εἰ τέκνων μήτηρ ἔφυν,οὔτʼ εἰ πόσις μοι κατθανὼν ἐτήκετο,βίᾳ πολιτῶν τόνδʼ ἂν ᾐρόμην πόνον.τίνος νόμου δὴ ταῦτα πρὸς χάριν λέγω;πόσις μὲν ἄν μοι κατθανόντος ἄλλος ἦν,καὶ παῖς ἀπʼ ἄλλου φωτός, εἰ τοῦδʼ ἤμπλακον,μητρὸς δʼ ἐν Ἅιδου καὶ πατρὸς κεκευθότοινοὐκ ἔστʼ ἀδελφὸς ὅστις ἂν βλάστοι ποτέ.τοιῷδε μέντοι σʼ ἐκπροτιμήσασʼ ἐγὼνόμῳ Κρέοντι ταῦτʼ ἔδοξʼ ἁμαρτάνεινκαὶ δεινὰ τολμᾶν, ὦ κασίγνητον κάρα.καὶ νῦν ἄγει με διὰ χερῶν οὕτω λαβὼνἄλεκτρον, ἀνυμέναιον, οὔτε του γάμουμέρος λαχοῦσαν οὔτε παιδείου τροφῆς,ἀλλʼ ὧδʼ ἔρημος πρὸς φίλων ἡ δύσμοροςζῶσʼ εἰς θανόντων ἔρχομαι κατασκαφάς.ποίαν παρεξελθοῦσα δαιμόνων δίκην;τί χρή με τὴν δύστηνον ἐς θεοὺς ἔτιβλέπειν; τίνʼ αὐδᾶν ξυμμάχων; ἐπεί γε δὴτὴν δυσσέβειαν εὐσεβοῦσʼ ἐκτησάμην.
Well, then, if these events please the gods, once I have suffered my doom I will come to know my guilt. But if the guilt lies with my judges, I could wish for them no greater evils than they inflict unjustly on me.
ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν οὖν τάδʼ ἐστὶν ἐν θεοῖς καλά,παθόντες ἂν ξυγγνοῖμεν ἡμαρτηκότες·εἰ δʼ οἵδʼ ἁμαρτάνουσι, μὴ πλείω κακὰπάθοιεν ἢ καὶ δρῶσιν ἐκδίκως ἐμέ.
Chorus:Still the same tempest of the soulgrips this girl with the same fierce gusts.
Χορός:ἔτι τῶν αὐτῶν ἀνέμων αὑταὶψυχῆς ῥιπαὶ τήνδε γʼ ἔχουσιν.
Creon:Then because of this her guards will have reason to lament their slowness.
Κρέων:τοιγὰρ τούτων τοῖσιν ἄγουσινκλαύμαθʼ ὑπάρξει βραδυτῆτος ὕπερ.
Antigone:Ah, no! That command verges close on death.
Ἀντιγόνη:οἴμοι, θανάτου τοῦτʼ ἐγγυτάτωτοὔπος ἀφῖκται.
Creon:I cannot console you with any hope that your doom is not to be fulfilled in that way.
Χορός:θαρσεῖν οὐδὲν παραμυθοῦμαιμὴ οὐ τάδε ταύτῃ κατακυροῦσθαι.
Antigone:O city of my fathers, land of Thebes, and you gods, our ancestors! I am led away now; there is no more delay!
Ἀντιγόνη:ὦ γῆς Θήβης ἄστυ πατρῷονκαὶ θεοὶ προγενεῖς,ἄγομαι δὴ κοὐκέτι μέλλω.
Look at me, you who are Thebes’ lords—look at the only remaining daughter of the house of your kings. See what I suffer, and at whose hands, because I revered reverence! Antigone is led away by the guards.
λεύσσετε, Θήβης οἱ κοιρανίδαιτὴν βασιλειδᾶν μούνην λοιπήν,οἷα πρὸς οἵων ἀνδρῶν πάσχω,τὴν εὐσεβίαν σεβίσασα.
Chorus:So too endured Danae in her beauty to changethe light of the sky for brass-bound walls, and in that chamber, both burial and bridal, she was held in strict confinement. And yet was she of esteemed lineage, my daughter,and guarded a deposit of the seed of Zeus that had fallen in a golden rain. But dreadful is the mysterious power of fate—there is no deliverance from it by wealth or by war, by towered city, or dark, sea-beaten ships.
Χορός:ἔτλα καὶ Δανάας οὐράνιον φῶςἀλλάξαι δέμας ἐν χαλκοδέτοις αὐλαῖς·κρυπτομένα δʼ ἐν τυμβήρει θαλάμῳ κατεζεύχθη·καίτοι καὶ γενεᾷ τίμιος, ὦ παῖ παῖ,καὶ Ζηνὸς ταμιεύεσκε γονὰς χρυσορύτους.ἀλλʼ ἁ μοιριδία τις δύνασις δεινά·οὔτʼ ἄν νιν ὄλβος οὔτʼ Ἄρης, οὐ πύργος, οὐχ ἁλίκτυποικελαιναὶ νᾶες ἐκφύγοιεν.
Chorus:And Dryas’s son, the Edonian king swift to rage, was tamed in recompense for his frenzied insults, when, by the will of Dionysus, he was shut in a rocky prison. There the fierce and swelling force of his madness trickled away.That man came to know the god whom in his frenzy he had provoked with mockeries. For he had sought to quell the god-inspired women and the Bacchanalian fire,and he angered the Muses who love the flute.
Χορός:ζεύχθη δʼ ὀξύχολος παῖς ὁ Δρύαντος,Ἠδωνῶν βασιλεύς, κερτομίοις ὀργαῖςἐκ Διονύσου πετρώδει κατάφαρκτος ἐν δεσμῷ.οὕτω τᾶς μανίας δεινὸν ἀποστάζειἀνθηρόν τε μένος. κεῖνος ἐπέγνω μανίαιςψαύων τὸν θεὸν ἐν κερτομίοις γλώσσαις.παύεσκε μὲν γὰρ ἐνθέους γυναῖκας εὔιόν τε πῦρ,φιλαύλους τʼ ἠρέθιζε Μούσας.
Chorus:And by the waters of the Dark Rocks, the waters of the twofold sea, are the shores of Bosporus and the Thracian city Salmydessus,where Ares, neighbor of that city, saw the accursed, blinding wound inflicted on the two sons of Phineus by his savage wife. It was a wound that brought darkness to the hollows, making them crave vengeancefor the eyes she crushed with her bloody hands and with her shuttle for a dagger.
Χορός:παρὰ δὲ Κυανεᾶν πελάγει διδύμας ἁλὸςἀκταὶ Βοσπόριαι ἠδʼ ὁ Θρῃκῶν ⟨ἄξενος⟩Σαλμυδησσός, ἵνʼ ἀγχίπτολις Ἄρηςδισσοῖσι Φινεΐδαιςεἶδεν ἀρατὸν ἕλκοςτυφλωθὲν ἐξ ἀγρίας δάμαρτοςἀλαὸν ἀλαστόροισιν ὀμμάτων κύκλοιςἀραχθέντων, ὑφʼ αἱματηραῖςχείρεσσι καὶ κερκίδων ἀκμαῖσιν.
Chorus:Wasting away in their misery, they bewailed their miserable sufferingand their birth from their mother stripped of her marriage. But she traced her descent from the ancient line of the Erechtheids, and in far-distant caves she was raised amidst her father’s gusts. She was the child of Boreas,running swift as horses over the steep hills, a daughter of gods. Yet she, too, was assailed by the long-lived Fates, my child.Enter Teiresias, led by a boy, on the spectators’ right.
Χορός:κατὰ δὲ τακόμενοι μέλεοι μελέαν πάθανκλαῖον, ματρὸς ἔχοντες ἀνύμφευτον γονάν·ἁ δὲ σπέρμα μὲν ἀρχαιογόνωνἄντασʼ Ἐρεχθεϊδᾶν,τηλεπόροις δʼ ἐν ἄντροιςτράφη θυέλλαισιν ἐν πατρῴαιςΒορεὰς ἅμιππος ὀρθόποδος ὑπὲρ πάγουθεῶν παῖς. ἀλλὰ κἀπʼ ἐκείνᾳΜοῖραι μακραίωνες ἔσχον, ὦ παῖ.
Teiresias:Princes of Thebes, we have come on a shared journey, two scouting the way by the eyes of one.For this is the method of travel for the blind, using a guide.
Τειρεσίας:Θήβης ἄνακτες, ἥκομεν κοινὴν ὁδὸνδύʼ ἐξ ἑνὸς βλέποντε· τοῖς τυφλοῖσι γὰραὕτη κέλευθος ἐκ προηγητοῦ πέλει.
Creon:What is it, old Teiresias? What is your news?
Κρέων:τί δʼ ἔστιν, ὦ γεραιὲ Τειρεσία, νέον;
Teiresias:I will tell you. You, obey the seer.
Τειρεσίας:ἐγὼ διδάξω, καὶ σὺ τῷ μάντει πιθοῦ.
Creon:It was not my habit before, at any rate, to stand apart from your will.
Κρέων:οὔκουν πάρος γε σῆς ἀπεστάτουν φρενός.
Teiresias:Therefore you captained this city on an upright course.
Τειρεσίας:τοιγὰρ διʼ ὀρθῆς τήνδʼ ἐναυκλήρεις πόλιν.
Creon:I have felt and can attest your benefits.
Κρέων:ἔχω πεπονθὼς μαρτυρεῖν ὀνήσιμα.
Teiresias:Realize that once more now you are poised on fortune’s razor-edge.
Τειρεσίας:φρόνει βεβὼς αὖ νῦν ἐπὶ ξυροῦ τύχης.
Creon:What do you mean? I shudder to hear you!
Κρέων:τί δʼ ἔστιν; ὡς ἐγὼ τὸ σὸν φρίσσω στόμα.
Teiresias:You will understand, when you hear the signs revealed by my art. As I took my place on my old seat of augurywhere all birds regularly gather for me, I heard an unintelligible voice among them: they were screaming in dire frenzy that made their language foreign to me. I realized that they were ripping each other with their talons, murderously—the rush of their wings did not lack meaning.
Τειρεσίας:γνώσει, τέχνης σημεῖα τῆς ἐμῆς κλύων.εἰς γὰρ παλαιὸν θᾶκον ὀρνιθοσκόπονἵζων, ἵνʼ ἦν μοι παντὸς οἰωνοῦ λιμήν,ἀγνῶτʼ ἀκούω φθόγγον ὀρνίθων, κακῷκλάζοντας οἴστρῳ καὶ βεβαρβαρωμένῳ.καὶ σπῶντας ἐν χηλαῖσιν ἀλλήλους φοναῖςἔγνων· πτερῶν γὰρ ῥοῖβδος οὐκ ἄσημος ἦν.
Quickly, in fear, I tried burnt-sacrifice on a duly-kindled altar, but from my offerings Hephaestus did not blaze. Instead juice that had sweated from the thigh-flesh trickled out onto the embers and smoked and sputtered;the gall was scattered high up in the air; and the streaming thighs lay bared of the fat that had been wrapped around them. Such was the failure of the rites that yielded no sign, as I learned from this boy. For he is my guide, as I am guide to others.
εὐθὺς δὲ δείσας ἐμπύρων ἐγευόμηνβωμοῖσι παμφλέκτοισιν· ἐκ δὲ θυμάτωνἭφαιστος οὐκ ἔλαμπεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ σποδῷμυδῶσα κηκὶς μηρίων ἐτήκετοκἄτυφε κἀνέπτυε, καὶ μετάρσιοιχολαὶ διεσπείροντο, καὶ καταρρυεῖςμηροὶ καλυπτῆς ἐξέκειντο πιμελῆς.τοιαῦτα παιδὸς τοῦδʼ ἐμάνθανον πάρα,φθίνοντʼ ἀσήμων ὀργίων μαντεύματα.ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὗτος ἡγεμών, ἄλλοις δʼ ἐγώ.
And it is your will that is the source of the sickness now afflicting the city. For the altars of our city and our hearths have one and all been tainted by the birds and dogs with the carrion taken from the sadly fallen son of Oedipus. And so the gods no more accept prayer and sacrifice at our hands,or the burning of thigh-meat, nor does any bird sound out clear signs in its shrill cries, for they have tasted the fatness of a slain man’s blood. Think, therefore, on these things, my son. All men are liable to err.
καὶ ταῦτα τῆς σῆς ἐκ φρενὸς νοσεῖ πόλις.βωμοὶ γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐσχάραι τε παντελεῖςπλήρεις ὑπʼ οἰωνῶν τε καὶ κυνῶν βορᾶςτοῦ δυσμόρου πεπτῶτος Οἰδίπου γόνου.κᾆτʼ οὐ δέχονται θυστάδας λιτὰς ἔτιθεοὶ παρʼ ἡμῶν οὐδὲ μηρίων φλόγα,οὐδʼ ὄρνις εὐσήμους ἀπορροιβδεῖ βοάςἀνδροφθόρου βεβρῶτες αἵματος λίπος.ταῦτʼ οὖν, τέκνον, φρόνησον. ἀνθρώποισι γὰρτοῖς πᾶσι κοινόν ἐστι τοὐξαμαρτάνειν·
But when an error is made, that man is no longer unwise or unblessed who heals the evil into which he has fallen and does not remain stubborn. Self-will, we know, invites the charge of foolishness. Concede the claim of the dead. Do not kick at the fallen.What prowess is it to kill the dead all over again? I have considered for your good, and what I advise is good. The sweetest thing is to learn from a good advisor when his advice is to your profit.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἁμάρτῃ, κεῖνος οὐκέτʼ ἔστʼ ἀνὴρἄβουλος οὐδʼ ἄνολβος, ὅστις ἐς κακὸνπεσὼν ἀκῆται μηδʼ ἀκίνητος πέλῃ.αὐθαδία τοι σκαιότητʼ ὀφλισκάνει.ἀλλʼ εἶκε τῷ θανόντι μηδʼ ὀλωλότακέντει· τίς ἀλκὴ τὸν θανόντʼ ἐπικτανεῖν;εὖ σοι φρονήσας εὖ λέγω. τὸ μανθάνειν δʼἥδιστον εὖ λέγοντος, εἰ κέρδος λέγοι.
Creon:Old man, you all shoot your arrows at me, like archers at their mark, and I am not safeeven from the plottings of the seer’s divine art, but by their tribe I have long been bought and sold and made their merchandise. Turn your profits, make your deals for the white gold of Sardis and the gold of India, if it pleases you, but you shall not cover that man with a grave,not even if the eagles of Zeus wish to snatch and carry him to be devoured at the god’s throne. No, not even then, for fear of that defilement will I permit his burial, since I know with certainty that no mortal has the power to defile the gods.
Κρέων:ὦ πρέσβυ, πάντες ὥστε τοξόται σκοποῦτοξεύετʼ ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε, κοὐδὲ μαντικῆςἄπρακτος ὑμῖν εἰμι· τῶν δʼ ὑπαὶ γένουςἐξημπόλημαι κἀμπεφόρτισμαι πάλαι.κερδαίνετʼ, ἐμπολᾶτε τἀπὸ Σάρδεωνἤλεκτρον, εἰ βούλεσθε, καὶ τὸν Ἰνδικὸνχρυσόν· τάφῳ δʼ ἐκεῖνον οὐχὶ κρύψετε,οὐδʼ εἰ θέλουσʼ οἱ Ζηνὸς αἰετοὶ βορὰνφέρειν νιν ἁρπάζοντες ἐς Διὸς θρόνους,οὐδʼ ὣς μίασμα τοῦτο μὴ τρέσας ἐγὼθάπτειν παρήσω κεῖνον· εὖ γὰρ οἶδʼ ὅτιθεοὺς μιαίνειν οὔτις ἀνθρώπων σθένει.
But even the exceedingly clever, old Teiresias, falls with a shameful fall, when they couch shameful thoughts in fine phrasing for profit’s sake.
πίπτουσι δʼ, ὦ γεραιὲ Τειρεσία, βροτῶνχοἰ πολλὰ δεινοὶ πτώματʼ αἴσχρʼ, ὅταν λόγουςαἰσχροὺς καλῶς λέγωσι τοῦ κέρδους χάριν.
Teiresias:Alas! Does any man know, does any consider—
Τειρεσίας:φεῦ.ἆρʼ οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων τις, ἆρα φράζεται,
Creon:What is this? What universal truth are you announcing?
Κρέων:τί χρῆμα; ποῖον τοῦτο πάγκοινον λέγεις;
Teiresias:—by how much the most precious of our possessions is the power to reason wisely?
Τειρεσίας:ὅσῳ κράτιστον κτημάτων εὐβουλία;
Creon:By as much, I think, as senselessness is the greatest affliction.
Κρέων:ὅσῳπερ, οἶμαι, μὴ φρονεῖν πλείστη βλάβη.
Teiresias:Yet you came into being full of that disease.
Τειρεσίας:ταύτης σὺ μέντοι τῆς νόσου πλήρης ἔφυς.
Creon:I have no desire to trade insults with the seer.
Κρέων:οὐ βούλομαι τὸν μάντιν ἀντειπεῖν κακῶς.
Teiresias:Yet that is what you do in saying that I prophesy falsely.
Τειρεσίας:καὶ μὴν λέγεις, ψευδῆ με θεσπίζειν λέγων.
Creon:Yes, for the prophet-clan was ever fond of money.
Κρέων:τὸ μαντικὸν γὰρ πᾶν φιλάργυρον γένος.
Teiresias:And the race sprung from tyrants loves shameful gain.
Τειρεσίας:τὸ δʼ ἐκ τυράννων αἰσχροκέρδειαν φιλεῖ.
Creon:Do you know that you ramble so about your king?
Κρέων:ἆρʼ οἶσθα ταγοὺς ὄντας ἃν λέγῃς λέγων;
Teiresias:I am aware, since through me you have saved this city.
Τειρεσίας:οἶδʼ· ἐξ ἐμοῦ γὰρ τήνδʼ ἔχεις σώσας πόλιν.
Creon:You are a wise seer, but fond of doing injustice.
Κρέων:σοφὸς σὺ μάντις, ἀλλὰ τἀδικεῖν φιλῶν.
Teiresias:You will stir me to utter the dire secret in my soul.
Τειρεσίας:ὄρσεις με τἀκίνητα διὰ φρενῶν φράσαι.
Creon:Out with it! But only if it is not for gain that you speak it.
Κρέων:κίνει, μόνον δὲ μὴ ʼπὶ κέρδεσιν λέγων.
Teiresias:Indeed, I think I speak without mention of gain—where you are concerned.
Τειρεσίας:οὕτω γὰρ ἤδη καὶ δοκῶ τὸ σὸν μέρος.
Creon:Be certain that you will not trade in my will.
Κρέων:ὡς μὴ ʼμπολήσων ἴσθι τὴν ἐμὴν φρένα.
Teiresias:Then know, yes, know it well! You will not live through many morecourses of the sun’s swift chariot, before you will give in return one sprung from your own loins, a corpse in requital for corpses. For you have thrust below one of those of the upper air and irreverently lodged a living soul in the grave,while you detain in this world that which belongs to the infernal gods, a corpse unburied, unmourned, unholy. In the dead you have no part, nor do the gods above, but in this you do them violence. For these crimes the avenging destroyers,the Furies of Hades and of the gods, lie in ambush for you, waiting to seize you in these same sufferings. And look closely if I tell you this with a silvered palm. A time not long to be delayed will reveal in your house wailing over men and over women.
Τειρεσίας:ἀλλʼ εὖ γέ τοι κάτισθι μὴ πολλοὺς ἔτιτρόχους ἁμιλλητῆρας ἡλίου τελεῖν,ἐν οἷσι τῶν σῶν αὐτὸς ἐκ σπλάγχνων ἕνανέκυν νεκρῶν ἀμοιβὸν ἀντιδοὺς ἔσει,ἀνθʼ ὧν ἔχεις μὲν τῶν ἄνω βαλὼν κάτωψυχήν τʼ ἀτίμως ἐν τάφῳ κατῴκισας,ἔχεις δὲ τῶν κάτωθεν ἐνθάδʼ αὖ θεῶνἄμοιρον, ἀκτέριστον, ἀνόσιον νέκυν.ὧν οὔτε σοὶ μέτεστιν οὔτε τοῖς ἄνωθεοῖσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ σοῦ βιάζονται τάδε.τούτων σε λωβητῆρες ὑστεροφθόροιλοχῶσιν Ἅιδου καὶ θεῶν Ἐρινύες,ἐν τοῖσιν αὐτοῖς τοῖσδε ληφθῆναι κακοῖς.καὶ ταῦτʼ ἄθρησον εἰ κατηργυρωμένοςλέγω· φανεῖ γὰρ οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου τριβὴἀνδρῶν γυναικῶν σοῖς δόμοις κωκύματα.
All the cities are stirred up in hostility, whose mangled corpses the dogs, or the wild beasts or some winged bird buried, carrying an unholy stench to the city that held each man’s hearth. There, now, are arrows for your heart, since you provoke me,launched at you, archer-like, in my anger. They fly true—you cannot run from their burning sting. Boy, lead me home, so that he may launch his rage against younger men, and learn to keep a quieter tongueand a better mind within his breast than he now bears. Exit Teiresias.
ἐχθραὶ δὲ πᾶσαι συνταράσσονται πόλεις,ὅσων σπαράγματʼ ἢ κύνες καθήγνισανἢ θῆρες ἤ τις πτηνὸς οἰωνός, φέρωνἀνόσιον ὀσμὴν ἑστιοῦχον ἐς πόλιν.τοιαῦτά σου, λυπεῖς γάρ, ὥστε τοξότηςἀφῆκα θυμῷ καρδίας τοξεύματαβέβαια, τῶν σὺ θάλπος οὐχ ὑπεκδραμεῖ.ὦ παῖ, σὺ δʼ ἡμᾶς ἄπαγε πρὸς δόμους, ἵνατὸν θυμὸν οὗτος ἐς νεωτέρους ἀφῇ,καὶ γνῷ τρέφειν τὴν γλῶσσαν ἡσυχαιτέραντὸν νοῦν τʼ ἀμείνω τῶν φρενῶν ἢ νῦν φέρει.
Chorus:The man is gone, my king, leaving dire prophecies behind. And for all the time that I have had this hair on my head, now white, once dark, I know that he has never been a false prophet to our city.
Χορός:ἁνήρ, ἄναξ, βέβηκε δεινὰ θεσπίσας·ἐπιστάμεσθα δʼ, ἐξ ὅτου λευκὴν ἐγὼτήνδʼ ἐκ μελαίνης ἀμφιβάλλομαι τρίχα,μή πώ ποτʼ αὐτὸν ψεῦδος ἐς πόλιν λακεῖν.
Creon:I, too, know it well, and my mind is troubled. To yield is terrible, but, to resist, to strike my pride with ruin—this, too, inspires terror.
Κρέων:ἔγνωκα καὐτὸς καὶ ταράσσομαι φρένας.τό τʼ εἰκαθεῖν γὰρ δεινόν, ἀντιστάντα δὲἄτῃ πατάξαι θυμὸν ἐν δεινῷ πάρα.
Chorus:The moment, Creon, requires that you reason wisely.
Χορός:εὐβουλίας δεῖ, παῖ Μενοικέως, λαβεῖν.
Creon:What should I do, then? Speak, and I will obey.
Κρέων:τί δῆτα χρὴ δρᾶν; φράζε. πείσομαι δʼ ἐγώ.
Chorus:Go and free the girl from her hollowed chamber. Then raise a tomb for the unburied dead.
Χορός:ἐλθὼν κόρην μὲν ἐκ κατώρυχος στέγηςἄνες, κτίσον δὲ τῷ προκειμένῳ, τάφον.
Creon:And you recommend this? You think that I should yield?
Κρέων:καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐπαινεῖς καὶ δοκεῖς παρεικαθεῖν;
Chorus:Yes, my king, and with all possible speed. For harms sent from the gods swiftly cut short the follies of men.
Χορός:ὅσον γʼ, ἄναξ, τάχιστα· συντέμνουσι γὰρθεῶν ποδώκεις τοὺς κακόφρονας βλάβαι.
Creon:Ah, it is a struggle, but I depart from my heart’s resolve and obey. We must not wage vain wars with necessity.
Κρέων:οἴμοι· μόλις μέν, καρδίας δʼ ἐξίσταμαιτὸ δρᾶν· ἀνάγκῃ δʼ οὐχὶ δυσμαχητέον.
Chorus:Go, do these things and do not leave their performance to others.
Χορός:δρᾶ νυν τάδʼ ἐλθὼν μηδʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλοισιν τρέπε.
Creon:Right away I will go. Go, go, my servants, each and all of you! Take axes in your hands,and hurry to that place there in view! But since my judgment has taken this turn, I will be there to set her free, as I myself confined her. I am held by the fear that it is best to keep the established laws to life’s very end.
Κρέων:ὧδʼ ὡς ἔχω στείχοιμʼ ἄν· ἴτʼ ἴτʼ ὀπάονες,οἵ τʼ ὄντες οἵ τʼ ἀπόντες, ἀξίνας χεροῖνὁρμᾶσθʼ ἑλόντες εἰς ἐπόψιον τόπον.ἐγὼ δʼ, ἐπειδὴ δόξα τῇδʼ ἐπεστράφη,αὐτός τʼ ἔδησα καὶ παρὼν ἐκλύσομαι.δέδοικα γὰρ μὴ τοὺς καθεστῶτας νόμουςἄριστον ᾖ σῴζοντα τὸν βίον τελεῖν.
Chorus:God of many names, glory of the Cadmeian bride and offspring of loud-thundering Zeus, you who watch over far-famed Italy and reignin the valleys of Eleusinian Deo where all find welcome! O Bacchus, denizen of Thebes, the mother-city of your Bacchants, dweller by the wet stream of Ismenus on the soilof the sowing of the savage dragon’s teeth!
Χορός:πολυώνυμε, Καδμείας νύμφας ἄγαλμακαὶ Διὸς βαρυβρεμέταγένος, κλυτὰν ὃς ἀμφέπειςἸταλίαν, μέδεις δὲπαγκοίνοις, ἘλευσινίαςΔῃοῦς ἐν κόλποις, Βακχεῦ Βακχᾶνὁ ματρόπολιν Θήβανναιετῶν παρʼ ὑγρῶνἸσμηνοῦ ῥείθρων ἀγρίου τʼ ἐπὶ σπορᾷ δράκοντος.
Chorus:The smoky glare of torches sees you above the cliffs of the twin peaks, where the Corycian nymphs move inspired by your godhead,and Castalia’s stream sees you, too. The ivy-mantled slopes of Nysa’s hills and the shore green with many-clustered vines send you, when accompanied by the cries of your divine words,you visit the avenues of Thebes.
Χορός:σὲ δʼ ὑπὲρ διλόφου πέτρας στέροψ ὄπωπελιγνύς, ἔνθα Κωρύκιαιστείχουσι νύμφαι Βακχίδες,Κασταλίας τε νᾶμα.καί σε Νυσαίων ὀρέωνκισσήρεις ὄχθαι χλωρά τʼ ἀκτὰπολυστάφυλος πέμπει,ἀμβρότων ἐπέωνεὐαζόντων Θηβαΐας ἐπισκοποῦντʼ ἀγυιάς·
Chorus:Thebes of all cities you hold foremost in honor, together with your lightning-struck mother.
Χορός:τὰν ἐκ πᾶσαι τιμᾷς ὑπερτάταν πόλεωνματρὶ σὺν κεραυνίᾳ·
And now when the whole city is held subject to a violent plague, come, we ask, with purifying feet over steep Parnassus,or over the groaning straits!
καὶ νῦν, ὡς βιαίας ἔχεταιπάνδαμος πόλις ἐπὶ νόσου,μολεῖν καθαρσίῳ ποδὶ Παρνασίαν ὑπὲρ κλιτὺνἢ στονόεντα πορθμόν.
Chorus:O Leader of the chorus of the stars whose breath is fire, overseer of the chants in the night, son begotten of Zeus,appear, my king, with your attendant Thyiads, who in night-long frenzy dance and sing you as Iacchus the Giver!Enter Messenger, on the spectators’ left.
Χορός:ἰὼ πῦρ πνειόντων χοράγʼ ἄστρων, νυχίωνφθεγμάτων ἐπίσκοπε,παῖ Διὸς γένεθλον, προφάνηθʼ,ὦναξ, σαῖς ἅμα περιπόλοιςΘυίαισιν, αἵ σε μαινόμεναι πάννυχοι χορεύουσιτὸν ταμίαν Ἴακχον.
Messenger:Neighbors of the house of Cadmus and of Amphion, there is no station of human life that I would ever praise or blame as being settled. Fortune sets upright and Fortune sinks the lucky and unlucky from day to day,and no one can prophesy to men concerning the order that has just been established. For Creon, as I saw it, was once blest: he had saved this land of Cadmus from its enemies; and having won sole and total dominion in the land, he guided it on a straight course and flourished in his noble crop of children.
Ἄγγελος:Κάδμου πάροικοι καὶ δόμων Ἀμφίονος,οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὁποῖον στάντʼ ἂν ἀνθρώπου βίονοὔτʼ αἰνέσαιμʼ ἂν οὔτε μεμψαίμην ποτέ.τύχη γὰρ ὀρθοῖ καὶ τύχη καταρρέπειτὸν εὐτυχοῦντα τόν τε δυστυχοῦντʼ ἀεί·καὶ μάντις οὐδεὶς τῶν καθεστώτων βροτοῖς.Κρέων γὰρ ἦν ζηλωτός, ὡς ἐμοί, ποτέ,σώσας μὲν ἐχθρῶν τήνδε Καδμείαν χθόναλαβών τε χώρας παντελῆ μοναρχίανηὔθυνε, θάλλων εὐγενεῖ τέκνων σπορᾷ·
And now all this has been lost. When a man has forfeited his pleasures, I do not reckon his existence as life, but consider him just a breathing corpse. Heap up riches in your house, if you wish! Live with a tyrant’s pomp! But if there is no joyalong with all of that, I would not pay even the shadow of smoke for all the rest, compared with joy.
καὶ νῦν ἀφεῖται πάντα. τὰς γὰρ ἡδονὰςὅταν προδῶσιν ἄνδρες, οὐ τίθημʼ ἐγὼζῆν τοῦτον, ἀλλʼ ἔμψυχον ἡγοῦμαι νεκρόν.πλούτει τε γὰρ κατʼ οἶκον, εἰ βούλει, μέγακαὶ ζῆ τύραννον σχῆμʼ ἔχων· ἐὰν δʼ ἀπῇτούτων τὸ χαίρειν, τἄλλʼ ἐγὼ καπνοῦ σκιᾶςοὐκ ἂν πριαίμην ἀνδρὶ πρὸς τὴν ἡδονήν.
Chorus:What is this new grief for our princes that you have come to report?
Χορός:τί δʼ αὖ τόδʼ ἄχθος βασιλέων ἥκεις φέρων;
Messenger:They are dead, and the living are guilty of the deaths.
Ἄγγελος:τεθνᾶσιν. οἱ δὲ ζῶντες αἴτιοι θανεῖν.
Chorus:Who is the murderer? Who the murdered? Tell us.
Χορός:καὶ τίς φονεύει; τίς δʼ ὁ κείμενος; λέγε.
Messenger:Haemon is dead—his blood was shed by no strange hand.
Ἄγγελος:Αἵμων ὄλωλεν· αὐτόχειρ δʼ αἱμάσσεται.
Chorus:Was it his father’s, or his own?
Χορός:πότερα πατρῴας ἢ πρὸς οἰκείας χερός;
Messenger:He did it by his own, enraged with his father for the murder.
Ἄγγελος:αὐτὸς πρὸς αὑτοῦ, πατρὶ μηνίσας φόνου.
Chorus:Ah, prophet, how true, then, you have proved your word!
Χορός:ὦ μάντι, τοὔπος ὡς ἄρʼ ὀρθὸν ἤνυσας.
Messenger:Knowing that these things are so, you must consider the rest.
Ἄγγελος:ὡς ὧδʼ ἐχόντων τἄλλα βουλεύειν πάρα.
Chorus:Wait, I see the unhappy Eurydice, Creon’s wife, nearby. She comes from the house either knowing of her son, or merely by chance.Enter Eurydice.
Χορός:καὶ μὴν ὁρῶ τάλαιναν Εὐρυδίκην ὁμοῦδάμαρτα τὴν Κρέοντος. ἐκ δὲ δωμάτωνἤτοι κλύουσα παιδὸς ἢ τύχῃ πάρα.
Eurydice:People of Thebes, I heard your words as I was on my way to the gates to address divine Pallas with my prayers.At one and the same time I was loosening the bolts of the gate to open it, and the sound of a blow to our house struck my ear. In terror I sank back into the arms of my handmaids, and my senses fled.
Εὐρυδίκη:ὦ πάντες ἀστοί, τῶν λόγων ἐπῃσθόμηνπρὸς ἔξοδον στείχουσα, Παλλάδος θεᾶςὅπως ἱκοίμην εὐγμάτων προσήγορος.καὶ τυγχάνω τε κλῇθρʼ ἀνασπαστοῦ πύληςχαλῶσα, καί με φθόγγος οἰκείου κακοῦβάλλει διʼ ὤτων· ὑπτία δὲ κλίνομαιδείσασα πρὸς δμωαῖσι κἀποπλήσσομαι.
But repeat what your news was, for I shall hear it with ears that are no strangers to sorrow.
ἀλλʼ ὅστις ἦν ὁ μῦθος αὖθις εἴπατε·κακῶν γὰρ οὐκ ἄπειρος οὖσʼ ἀκούσομαι.
Messenger:Dear mistress, I will tell what I witnessed and leave no word of the truth unspoken. For what good would it do that should I soothe you with words in which I must later be found false?The truth is always best. I attended your husband as his guide to the furthest part of the plain, where unpitied the body of Polyneices, torn by dogs, still lay. After we had prayed to the goddess of the roadsand to Pluto to restrain their anger in mercy, we washed him with pure washing, and with freshly-plucked boughs we burned what remains there were. Lastly we heaped a high-mounded tomb of his native earth. Afterwards we turned away to enter the maiden’s stoney-beddedbridal chamber, the caverned mansion of Hades’ bride. From a distance, one of us servants heard a voice of loud wailing near that bride’s unwept bed and came to tell our master Creon. And as the King moved closer and closer, obscure signs rising from a bitter cry surrounded him—he groaned and said in bitter lament, “Ah, misery, am I now the prophet of evil? Am I going on the path most lined with grief of all that I have walked before? My son’s voice greets me. Go, my servants,”“hurry closer, and when you have reached the tomb, enter the opening where the stones of the mound have been torn away, up to the cell’s very mouth. See if it is Haemon’s voice that I recognize, or if I am cheated by the gods.”
Ἄγγελος:ἐγώ, φίλη δέσποινα, καὶ παρὼν ἐρῶκοὐδὲν παρήσω τῆς ἀληθείας ἔπος.τί γάρ σε μαλθάσσοιμʼ ἂν ὧν ἐς ὕστερονψεῦσται φανούμεθʼ; ὀρθὸν ἁλήθειʼ ἀεί.ἐγὼ δὲ σῷ ποδαγὸς ἑσπόμην πόσειπεδίον ἐπʼ ἄκρον, ἔνθʼ ἔκειτο νηλεὲςκυνοσπάρακτον σῶμα Πολυνείκους ἔτι·καὶ τὸν μέν, αἰτήσαντες ἐνοδίαν θεὸνΠλούτωνά τʼ ὀργὰς εὐμενεῖς κατασχεθεῖνλούσαντες ἁγνὸν λουτρόν, ἐν νεοσπάσινθαλλοῖς ὃ δὴ 'λέλειπτο συγκατῄθομεν,καὶ τύμβον ὀρθόκρανον οἰκείας χθονὸςχώσαντες αὖθις πρὸς λιθόστρωτον κόρηςνυμφεῖον Ἅιδου κοῖλον εἰσεβαίνομεν.φωνῆς δʼ ἄπωθεν ὀρθίων κωκυμάτωνκλύει τις ἀκτέριστον ἀμφὶ παστάδα,καὶ δεσπότῃ Κρέοντι σημαίνει μολών.τῷ δʼ ἀθλίας ἄσημα περιβαίνει βοῆςἕρποντι μᾶλλον ἆσσον, οἰμώξας δʼ ἔποςἵησι δυσθρήνητον· ὦ τάλας ἐγώ,ἆρʼ εἰμὶ μάντις; ἆρα δυστυχεστάτηνκέλευθον ἕρπω τῶν παρελθουσῶν ὁδῶν;παιδός με σαίνει φθόγγος. ἀλλὰ πρόσπολοι,ἴτʼ ἆσσον ὠκεῖς καὶ παραστάντες τάφῳἀθρήσαθʼ, ἁρμὸν χώματος λιθοσπαδῆδύντες πρὸς αὐτὸ στόμιον, εἰ τὸν Αἵμονοςφθόγγον συνίημʼ ἢ θεοῖσι κλέπτομαι.
This search, at our desperate master’s word,we went to make, and in the furthest part of the tomb we saw her hanging by the neck, fastened by a halter of fine linen threads, while he was embracing her with arms thrown around her waist, bewailing the loss of his bride to the spirits below, as well as his father’s deeds, and his grief-filled marriage.But his father, when he saw him, cried aloud with a dreadful cry and went in and called to him with a voice of wailing: “Ah, unhappy boy, what have you done! What plan have you seized on? By what misfortune have you lost your reason?”
Ἄγγελος:τάδʼ ἐξ ἀθύμου δεσπότου κελευσμάτωνἠθροῦμεν· ἐν δὲ λοισθίῳ τυμβεύματιτὴν μὲν κρεμαστὴν αὐχένος κατείδομεν,βρόχῳ μιτώδει σινδόνος καθημμένην,τὸν δʼ ἀμφὶ μέσσῃ περιπετῆ προσκείμενον,εὐνῆς ἀποιμώζοντα τῆς κάτω φθορὰνκαὶ πατρὸς ἔργα καὶ τὸ δύστηνον λέχος.ὁ δʼ ὡς ὁρᾷ σφε, στυγνὸν οἰμώξας ἔσωχωρεῖ πρὸς αὐτὸν κἀνακωκύσας καλεῖ·ὦ τλῆμον, οἷον ἔργον εἴργασαι· τίνανοῦν ἔσχες; ἐν τῷ συμφορᾶς διεφθάρης;
“Come out, my son, I pray you, I beg you!” But the boy glared at him with savage eyes, spat in his face, and without a word in response drew his twin-edged sword. As his father rushed out in flight, he missed his aim. Then the ill-fated boy was enraged with himselfand straightway stretched himself over his sword and drove it, half its length, into his side. Still conscious, he clasped the maiden in his faint embrace, and, as he gasped, he shot onto her pale cheek a swift stream of oozing blood.
ἔξελθε, τέκνον, ἱκέσιός σε λίσσομαι.τὸν δʼ ἀγρίοις ὄσσοισι παπτήνας ὁ παῖς,πτύσας προσώπῳ κοὐδὲν ἀντειπών, ξίφουςἕλκει διπλοῦς κνώδοντας. ἐκ δʼ ὁρμωμένουπατρὸς φυγαῖσιν ἤμπλακʼ· εἶθʼ ὁ δύσμοροςαὑτῷ χολωθείς, ὥσπερ εἶχʼ, ἐπενταθεὶςἤρεισε πλευραῖς μέσσον ἔγχος, ἐς δʼ ὑγρὸνἀγκῶνʼ ἔτʼ ἔμφρων παρθένῳ προσπτύσσεται.καὶ φυσιῶν ὀξεῖαν ἐκβάλλει ῥοὴνλευκῇ παρειᾷ φοινίου σταλάγματος.
Corpse enfolding corpse he lay, having won his marriage rites, poor boy, not here, but in Hades’ palace, and having shown to mankind by how much the failure to reason wisely is the most severe of all afflictions assigned to man. Eurydice departs into the house.
κεῖται δὲ νεκρὸς περὶ νεκρῷ, τὰ νυμφικὰτέλη λαχὼν δείλαιος εἰν Ἅιδου δόμοις,δείξας ἐν ἀνθρώποισι τὴν ἀβουλίανὅσῳ μέγιστον ἀνδρὶ πρόσκειται κακόν.
Chorus:What would you infer from this? The ladyhas turned back and gone without a word, either for good or for evil.
Χορός:τί τοῦτʼ ἂν εἰκάσειας; ἡ γυνὴ πάλινφρούδη, πρὶν εἰπεῖν ἐσθλὸν ἢ κακὸν λόγον.
Messenger:I, too, am startled. Still I am nourished by the hope that at the grave news of her son she thinks it unworthy to make her laments before the city, but in the shelter of her home will set her handmaids to mourn the house’s grief.
Ἄγγελος:καὐτὸς τεθάμβηκʼ· ἐλπίσιν δὲ βόσκομαιἄχη τέκνου κλύουσαν ἐς πόλιν γόουςοὐκ ἀξιώσειν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ στέγης ἔσωδμωαῖς προθήσειν πένθος οἰκεῖον στένειν.
For she is not unhabituated to discretion, that she should err.
γνώμης γὰρ οὐκ ἄπειρος, ὥσθʼ ἁμαρτάνειν.
Chorus:I do not know. But to me, in any case, a silence too strict seems to promise trouble just as much as a fruitless abundance of weeping.
Χορός:οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἐμοὶ δʼ οὖν ἥ τʼ ἄγαν σιγὴ βαρὺδοκεῖ προσεῖναι χἠ μάτην πολλὴ βοή.
Messenger:I will find out whether she is not, in fact, hiding some repressed plan in the darkness of her passionate heart.I will go in, since you are right—in an excess of silence, too, there may be trouble. Exit Messenger.Enter Creon, attended and carrying the shrouded body of Haemon, on the spectators’ left.
Ἄγγελος:ἀλλʼ εἰσόμεσθα, μή τι καὶ κατάσχετονκρυφῇ καλύπτει καρδίᾳ θυμουμένῃ,δόμους παραστείχοντες· εὖ γὰρ οὖν λέγεις.καὶ τῆς ἄγαν γάρ ἐστί που σιγῆς βάρος.
Chorus:Look, here is the King himself approaching, his hands grasping a monument plainly signing that his—if we may say it—and no one else’s,was the madness of this error.
Χορός:καὶ μὴν ὅδʼ ἄναξ αὐτὸς ἐφήκειμνῆμʼ ἐπίσημον διὰ χειρὸς ἔχων,εἰ θέμις εἰπεῖν, οὐκ ἀλλοτρίανἄτην, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ἁμαρτών.
Creon:Ah, the blunders of an unthinking mind, blunders of rigidity, yielding death! Oh, you witnesses of the killers and the killed, both of one family!
Κρέων:ἰὼφρενῶν δυσφρόνων ἁμαρτήματαστερεὰ θανατόεντʼ,ὦ κτανόντας τε καὶθανόντας βλέποντες ἐμφυλίους.
What misery arises from my reasonings! Haemon, you have died after a young life, youngest and last of my sons! O God! You have departed not by your foolishness, but by my own!
ὤμοι ἐμῶν ἄνολβα βουλευμάτων.ἰὼ παῖ, νέος νέῳ ξὺν μόρῳαἰαῖ αἰαῖ,ἔθανες, ἀπελύθηςἐμαῖς οὐδὲ σαῖσι δυσβουλίαις.
Chorus:Ah, how late you seem to see the right!
Χορός:οἴμʼ ὡς ἔοικας ὀψὲ τὴν δίκην ἰδεῖν.
Creon:God, I have mastered the bitter lesson! But then, then, I think, some god struck me on my head with a crushing weight, and drove me into savage paths,—ah!—and overthrew my joy to be trampled on! Ah, the labors men must toil through!Enter the Messenger from the house.
Κρέων:οἴμοι,ἔχω μαθὼν δείλαιος· ἐν δʼ ἐμῷ κάρᾳθεὸς τότʼ ἄρα τότε μέγα βάρος μʼ ἔχωνἔπαισεν, ἐν δʼ ἔσεισεν ἀγρίαις ὁδοῖς,οἴμοι, λακπάτητον ἀντρέπων χαράν.φεῦ φεῦ, ὦ πόνοι βροτῶν δύσπονοι.
Messenger:My master, you have come, I think, like one whose hands are not empty, but who has a ready store: first, you carry that burden visible in your arms;second, you will soon look upon further sufferings inside your house.
Ἐξάγγελος:ὦ δέσποθʼ, ὡς ἔχων τε καὶ κεκτημένος,τὰ μὲν πρὸ χειρῶν τάδε φέρων, τὰ δʼ ἐν δόμοιςἔοικας ἥκειν καὶ τάχʼ ὄψεσθαι κακά.
Creon:What worse suffering is still to follow upon these sufferings?
Κρέων:τί δʼ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;
Messenger:Your wife is dead, true mother of that corpse, poor lady, by wounds newly cut.
Ἐξάγγελος:γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.
Creon:O harbor of Hades, hard to purify!Why, why do you ruin me? Herald of evil, of grief, what word do you say? Ah, you have done in a dead man anew! What are you saying, boy? What is this you report to meGod no!—what new slaughter, my wife’s doom, is heaped upon this ruin?The doors of the palace are opened, and the corpse of Eurydice is disclosed.
Κρέων:ἰώ.ἰὼ δυσκάθαρτος Ἅιδου λιμήν,τί μʼ ἄρα τί μʼ ὀλέκεις;ὦ κακάγγελτά μοιπροπέμψας ἄχη, τίνα θροεῖς λόγον;αἰαῖ, ὀλωλότʼ ἄνδρʼ ἐπεξειργάσω.τί φής, παῖ; τίνʼ αὖ λέγεις μοι νέον,αἰαῖ αἰαῖ,σφάγιον ἐπʼ ὀλέθρῳγυναικεῖον ἀμφικεῖσθαι μόρον;
Chorus:The sight is at hand. It is no longer hidden inside.
Χορός:ὁρᾶν πάρεστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐν μυχοῖς ἔτι.
Creon:Ah, misery!There I see a new, a second evil! What destiny, ah, what, can still await me? I have just now taken my son in my arms, and now I see another corpse before me!
Κρέων:οἴμοι,κακὸν τόδʼ ἄλλο δεύτερον βλέπω τάλας.τίς ἄρα, τίς με πότμος ἔτι περιμένει;ἔχω μὲν ἐν χείρεσσιν ἀρτίως τέκνον,τάλας, τὸν δʼ ἔναντα προσβλέπω νεκρόν.
Oh, tormented mother! Oh, my son!
φεῦ φεῦ μᾶτερ ἀθλία, φεῦ τέκνον.
Messenger:By the altar, with a sharp-whetted sword, she struck until her eyes went slack and dark. Before that she bewailed the noble fate of Megareus who died earlier, and then the fate of this boy, and also, with her last breath,she called down evil fortune upon you, the slayer of her sons.
Ἐξάγγελος:ἡ δʼ ὀξυθήκτῳ βωμία περὶ ξίφειλύει κελαινὰ βλέφαρα, κωκύσασα μὲντοῦ πρὶν θανόντος Μεγαρέως κλεινὸν λάχος,αὖθις δὲ τοῦδε, λοίσθιον δὲ σοὶ κακὰςπράξεις ἐφυμνήσασα τῷ παιδοκτόνῳ.
Creon:Ah, no! I tremble with fear. Why does no one strike me full on my chest with a two-edged sword?
Κρέων:αἰαῖ αἰαῖ,ἀνέπταν φόβῳ. τί μʼ οὐκ ἀνταίανἔπαισέν τις ἀμφιθήκτῳ ξίφει;
I am miserable—ah—and bathed in miserable anguish!
δείλαιος ἐγώ, αἰαῖ,δειλαίᾳ δὲ συγκέκραμαι δύᾳ.
Messenger:Yes, because you were accused of responsibility for both this son’s death, and the other’s, by her whose corpse you see.
Ἐξάγγελος:ὡς αἰτίαν γε τῶνδε κἀκείνων ἔχωνπρὸς τῆς θανούσης τῆσδʼ ἐπεσκήπτου μόρων.
Creon:What was the manner of the violent deed by which she departed?
Κρέων:ποίῳ δὲ κἀπελύσατʼ ἐν φοναῖς τρόπῳ;
Messenger:Her own hand struck her to the heart upon learning her son’s sharply-lamented fate.
Ἐξάγγελος:παίσασ' ὑφʼ ἧπαρ αὐτόχειρ αὑτήν, ὅπωςπαιδὸς τόδʼ ᾔσθετʼ ὀξυκώκυτον πάθος.
Creon:Ah this guilt can never be fastened onto any other mortal so as to remove my own! It was I, yes, I, who killed you, I the wretch.I admit the truth. Lead me away, my servants, lead me from here with all haste, who am no more than a dead man!
Κρέων:ὤμοι μοι, τάδʼ οὐκ ἐπʼ ἄλλον βροτῶνἐμᾶς ἁρμόσει ποτʼ ἐξ αἰτίας.ἐγὼ γάρ σʼ ἐγὼ ἔκανον, ὢ μέλεος,ἐγώ, φάμʼ ἔτυμον. ἰὼ πρόσπολοι,ἄγετέ μʼ ὅ τι τάχιστʼ, ἄγετέ μʼ ἐκποδών,τὸν οὐκ ὄντα μᾶλλον ἢ μηδένα.
Chorus:The course you recommend is to your gain, if there can be gain amidst evil. What is briefest is best, when trouble lies at your feet.
Χορός:κέρδη παραινεῖς, εἴ τι κέρδος ἐν κακοῖς.βράχιστα γὰρ κράτιστα τἀν ποσὶν κακά.
Creon:Let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my final day,the fate supreme! Oh, let it come, so that I may never see tomorrow’s light!
Κρέων:ἴτω ἴτω,φανήτω μόρων ὁ κάλλιστʼ ἔχωνἐμοὶ τερμίαν ἄγων ἁμέρανὕπατος· ἴτω ἴτω,ὅπως μηκέτʼ ἆμαρ ἄλλʼ εἰσίδω.
Chorus:These things are in the future. We must see to present affairs.Fulfillment of these things rests in the hands where it should rest.
Χορός:μέλλοντα ταῦτα. τῶν προκειμένων τι χρὴπράσσειν. μέλει γὰρ τῶνδʼ ὅτοισι χρὴ μέλειν.
Creon:All that I crave was summed in that prayer.
Κρέων:ἀλλʼ ὧν ἐρῶ, τοιαῦτα συγκατηυξάμην.
Chorus:Then pray no more; for mortals have no release from destined misfortune.
Χορός:μή νυν προσεύχου μηδέν· ὡς πεπρωμένηςοὐκ ἔστι θνητοῖς συμφορᾶς ἀπαλλαγή.
Creon:Lead me away, I beg you, a rash, useless man.I have murdered you, son, unwittingly, and you, too, my wife—the misery! I do not know which way I should look, or where I should seek support. All isamiss that is in my hands, and, again, a crushing fate has leapt upon my head.As Creon is being conducted into the house, the Chorus Leader speaks the closing verses.
Κρέων:ἄγοιτʼ ἂν μάταιον ἄνδρʼ ἐκποδών,ὅς, ὦ παῖ, σέ τʼ οὐχ ἑκὼν κάκτανονσέ τʼ αὖ τάνδʼ, ὤμοι μέλεος, οὐδʼ ἔχωὅπᾳ πρὸς πότερα κλιθῶ· πάντα γὰρλέχρια τἀν χεροῖν, τὰ δʼ ἐπὶ κρατί μοιπότμος δυσκόμιστος εἰσήλατο.
Chorus:Wisdom is provided as the chief part of happiness, and our dealings with the gods must be in no way unholy. The great words of arrogant men have to make repayment with great blows, and in old age teach wisdom.
Χορός:πολλῷ τὸ φρονεῖν εὐδαιμονίαςπρῶτον ὑπάρχει. χρὴ δὲ τά γʼ εἰς θεοὺςμηδὲν ἀσεπτεῖν. μεγάλοι δὲ λόγοιμεγάλας πληγὰς τῶν ὑπεραύχωνἀποτίσαντεςγήρᾳ τὸ φρονεῖν ἐδίδαξαν.