Creon:Was the opinion given that my counsels had brought the seer to utter his falsehoods?
Κρέων:τοὔπος δʼ ἐφάνθη, ταῖς ἐμαῖς γνώμαις ὅτιπεισθεὶς ὁ μάντις τοὺς λόγους ψευδεῖς λέγοι;
Chorus:Such things were said—I do not know with what meaning.
Χορός:ηὐδᾶτο μὲν τάδʼ, οἶδα δʼ οὐ γνώμῃ τίνι.
Creon:And was this charge laid against me with steady eyes and steady mind?
Κρέων:ἐξ ὀμμάτων δʼ ὀρθῶν τε κἀξ ὀρθῆς φρενὸςκατηγορεῖτο τοὐπίκλημα τοῦτό μου;
Chorus:I do not know. I see not what my masters do. But here comes our lord from the house.Oedipus enters.
Χορός:οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἃ γὰρ δρῶσʼ, οἱ κρατοῦντες οὐχ ὁρῶ.αὐτὸς δʼ ὅδʼ ἤδη δωμάτων ἔξω περᾷ.
Oedipus:You, how did you get here? Are you so boldfaced that you have come to my house, you who are manifestly the murderer of its master,the palpable thief of its crown? Come, tell me, in the name of the gods, was it cowardice or folly which you saw in me and which led you to plot this thing? Did you think that I would not notice this deed of yours creeping upon me by stealth, or that if I became aware of it I would not ward it off?
Οἰδίπους:οὗτος σύ, πῶς δεῦρʼ ἦλθες; ἦ τοσόνδʼ ἔχειςτόλμης πρόσωπον ὥστε τὰς ἐμὰς στέγαςἵκου, φονεὺς ὢν τοῦδε τἀνδρὸς ἐμφανῶςλῃστής τʼ ἐναργὴς τῆς ἐμῆς τυραννίδος;φέρʼ εἰπὲ πρὸς θεῶν, δειλίαν ἢ μωρίανἰδών τινʼ ἔν μοι ταῦτʼ ἐβουλεύσω ποεῖν;ἢ τοὔργον ὡς οὐ γνωριοῖμί σου τόδεδόλῳ προσέρπον ἢ οὐκ ἀλεξοίμην μαθών;
Is your attempt not foolish, to seek the throne without followers or friends—a prize which followers and wealth must win?
ἆρʼ οὐχὶ μῶρόν ἐστι τοὐγχείρημά σου,ἄνευ τε πλήθους καὶ φίλων τυραννίδαθηρᾶν, ὃ πλήθει χρήμασίν θʼ ἁλίσκεται;
Creon:Mark me now: hear a fair reply in answer to your words, and then judge for yourself on the basis of knowledge.
Κρέων:οἶσθʼ ὡς πόησον; ἀντὶ τῶν εἰρημένωνἴσʼ ἀντάκουσον, κᾆτα κρῖνʼ αὐτὸς μαθών.
Oedipus:You are apt in speech, but I have a poor wit for lessons, since I have found you a malignant foe.
Οἰδίπους:λέγειν σὺ δεινός, μανθάνειν δʼ ἐγὼ κακὸςσοῦ· δυσμενῆ γὰρ καὶ βαρύν σʼ ηὕρηκʼ ἐμοί.
Creon:Now hear first how I will explain this very thing.
Κρέων:τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ νῦν μου πρῶτʼ ἄκουσον ὡς ἐρῶ.
Oedipus:One thing—that you are not false—do not bother to explain to me.
Οἰδίπους:τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ μή μοι φράζʼ, ὅπως οὐκ εἶ κακός.
Creon:If you think that stubbornnesswithout sense is a virtue, you are not wise.
Κρέων:εἴ τοι νομίζεις κτῆμα τὴν αὐθαδίανεἶναί τι τοῦ νοῦ χωρίς, οὐκ ὀρθῶς φρονεῖς.
Oedipus:If you think you can wrong a kinsman and escape the penalty, you are not sane.
Οἰδίπους:εἴ τοι νομίζεις ἄνδρα συγγενῆ κακῶςδρῶν οὐχ ὑφέξειν τὴν δίκην, οὐκ εὖ φρονεῖς.
Creon:Justly said, I grant you: but tell me what the wrong is that you say you are suffering at my hands.
Κρέων:ξύμφημί σοι ταῦτʼ ἔνδικʼ εἰρῆσθαι· τὸ δὲπάθημʼ ὁποῖον φὴς παθεῖν, δίδασκέ με.
Oedipus:Did you, or did you not, advise me to send for that reverend seer?
Οἰδίπους:ἔπειθες ἢ οὐκ ἔπειθες, ὡς χρείη μʼ ἐπὶτὸν σεμνόμαντιν ἄνδρα πέμψασθαί τινα;
Creon:Even now I am of the same mind.
Κρέων:καὶ νῦν ἔθʼ αὑτός εἰμι τῷ βουλεύματι.
Oedipus:How long is it, then, since Laius...
Οἰδίπους:πόσον τινʼ ἤδη δῆθʼ ὁ Λάϊος χρόνον
Creon:Did what? I do not understand.
Κρέων:δέδρακε ποῖον ἔργον; οὐ γὰρ ἐννοῶ.
Oedipus:was swept out of sight by deadly violence?
Οἰδίπους:ἄφαντος ἔρρει θανασίμῳ χειρώματι;
Creon:The count of years would run far into the past.
Κρέων:μακροὶ παλαιοί τʼ ἂν μετρηθεῖεν χρόνοι.
Oedipus:Did this seer possess this skill in those days?
Οἰδίπους:τότʼ οὖν ὁ μάντις οὗτος ἦν ἐν τῇ τέχνῃ;
Creon:He was wise as now, and held in equal honor.
Κρέων:σοφός γʼ ὁμοίως κἀξ ἴσου τιμώμενος.
Oedipus:Did he make mention of me at that time?
Οἰδίπους:ἐμνήσατʼ οὖν ἐμοῦ τι τῷ τότʼ ἐν χρόνῳ;
Creon:Never, certainly, when I was within hearing.
Κρέων:οὔκουν ἐμοῦ γʼ ἑστῶτος οὐδαμοῦ πέλας.
Oedipus:Did you never investigate the murder?
Οἰδίπους:ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔρευναν τοῦ κτανόντος ἔσχετε;
Creon:Due search we made, of course, though we learned nothing.
Κρέων:παρέσχομεν, πῶς δʼ οὐχί; κοὐκ ἠκούσαμεν.
Oedipus:And how was it that this sage did not tell this story then.
Οἰδίπους:πῶς οὖν τόθʼ οὗτος ὁ σοφὸς οὐκ ηὔδα τάδε;
Creon:I do not know: where I lack insight it is my custom to be silent.
Κρέων:οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἐφʼ οἷς γὰρ μὴ φρονῶ σιγᾶν φιλῶ.
Oedipus:This much, at least, you know, and could declare with insight enough.
Οἰδίπους:τοσόνδε γʼ οἶσθα καὶ λέγοις ἂν εὖ φρονῶν.
Creon:What is that? If I know it, I will not deny it.
Κρέων:ποῖον τόδʼ; εἰ γὰρ οἶδά γʼ, οὐκ ἀρνήσομαι.
Oedipus:That, if he had not conferred with you, he would not have named me as Laius’ slayer.
Οἰδίπους:ὁθούνεκʼ, εἰ μὴ σοὶ ξυνῆλθε, τάσδʼ ἐμὰςοὐκ ἄν ποτʼ εἶπε Λαΐου διαφθοράς.
Creon:If he says this, you know best: but I deem it justto learn from you as much as you have from me now.
Κρέων:εἰ μὲν λέγει τάδʼ, αὐτὸς οἶσθʼ· ἐγὼ δὲ σοῦμαθεῖν δικαιῶ ταὔθʼ ἅπερ κἀμοῦ σὺ νῦν.
Oedipus:Learn your fill. I will never be found guilty of the bloodshed.
Οἰδίπους:ἐκμάνθανʼ· οὐ γὰρ δὴ φονεὺς ἁλώσομαι.
Creon:Say, then—have you married my sister?
Κρέων:τί δῆτʼ; ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἐμὴν γήμας ἔχεις;
Oedipus:The question allows no denial.
Οἰδίπους:ἄρνησις οὐκ ἔνεστιν ὧν ἀνιστορεῖς.
Creon:And you rule the land as she does, with equal sway.
Κρέων:ἄρχεις δʼ ἐκείνῃ ταὐτὰ γῆς ἴσον νέμων;
Oedipus:She obtains from me all that she wishes.
Οἰδίπους:ἃν ᾖ θέλουσα πάντʼ ἐμοῦ κομίζεται.
Creon:And do I not rank as a third peer of you two?
Κρέων:οὔκουν ἰσοῦμαι σφῷν ἐγὼ δυοῖν τρίτος;
Oedipus:It is just in this that you are seen to be a false friend.
Οἰδίπους:ἐνταῦθα γὰρ δὴ καὶ κακὸς φαίνει φίλος.
Creon:Not so, if you would reason with your heart as I do with mine. Weigh this first—whether you think that anyone wouldchoose to rule amid terrors rather than in unruffled peace, granted that he is to have the same powers. Now I, for one, have by nature no yearning to rule as a king rather than to do kingly deeds, and neither does any man I know who has a sound mind.
Κρέων:οὔκ, εἰ διδοίης γʼ ὡς ἐγὼ σαυτῷ λόγον.σκέψαι δὲ τοῦτο πρῶτον, εἴ τινʼ ἂν δοκεῖςἄρχειν ἑλέσθαι ξὺν φόβοισι μᾶλλον ἢἄτρεστον εὕδοντʼ, εἰ τά γʼ αὔθʼ ἕξει κράτη.ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὔτʼ αὐτὸς ἱμείρων ἔφυντύραννος εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ τύραννα δρᾶν,οὔτʼ ἄλλος ὅστις σωφρονεῖν ἐπίσταται.
For now I attain all everything from you without fear, but, if I were ruler myself, I would have to do much that went against my own pleasure. How, then, could royalty be sweeter to me to have than painless rule and influence? I am not yet so misguidedthat I desire other honors than those which bring profit. Now, every man has a greeting for me; now, all that have a request of you crave to speak with me, since in me lies all their hope of success. Why then should I give up these things and take those others?
νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἐκ σοῦ πάντʼ ἄνευ φόβου φέρω,εἰ δʼ αὐτὸς ἦρχον, πολλὰ κἂν ἄκων ἔδρων.πῶς δῆτʼ ἐμοὶ τυραννὶς ἡδίων ἔχεινἀρχῆς ἀλύπου καὶ δυναστείας ἔφυ;οὔπω τοσοῦτον ἠπατημένος κυρῶὥστʼ ἄλλα χρῄζειν ἢ τὰ σὺν κέρδει καλά.νῦν πᾶσι χαίρω, νῦν με πᾶς ἀσπάζεται,νῦν οἱ σέθεν χρῄζοντες ἐκκαλοῦσί με·τὸ γὰρ τυχεῖν αὐτοῖσι πᾶν ἐνταῦθʼ ἔνι.πῶς δῆτʼ ἐγὼ κεῖνʼ ἂν λάβοιμʼ ἀφεὶς τάδε;
No mind will become false while it is wise. No, I am no lover of such a policy, and if another put it into action, I could never bear to go along with him. And, in proof of this, first go to Pytho, and ask whether I brought a true report of the oracle.
οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο νοῦς κακὸς καλῶς φρονῶν.ἀλλʼ οὔτʼ ἐραστὴς τῆσδε τῆς γνώμης ἔφυνοὔτʼ ἂν μετʼ ἄλλου δρῶντος ἂν τλαίην ποτέ.καὶ τῶνδʼ ἔλεγχον τοῦτο μὲν Πυθώδʼ ἰὼνπεύθου τὰ χρησθέντʼ εἰ σαφῶς ἤγγειλά σοι·
Then next, if you have found that I have planned anything in concert with the soothsayer, take and slay me, by the sentence not of one mouth, but of two—by my own no less than yours. But do not assume my guilt on unproven inference. It is not just to judge bad men good at random,or good men bad. I think that casting off a true friend is for a man like casting away the life in his own bosom, which he most loves. You will surely learn about these affairs in time, since time alone reveals a just man.
τοῦτʼ ἄλλʼ, ἐάν με τῷ τερασκόπῳ λάβῃςκοινῇ τι βουλεύσαντα, μή μʼ ἁπλῇ κτάνῃςψήφῳ, διπλῇ δέ, τῇ τʼ ἐμῇ καὶ σῇ, λαβών·γνώμῃ δʼ ἀδήλῳ μή με χωρὶς αἰτιῶ.οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον οὔτε τοὺς κακοὺς μάτηνχρηστοὺς νομίζειν οὔτε τοὺς χρηστοὺς κακούς.φίλον γὰρ ἐσθλὸν ἐκβαλεῖν ἴσον λέγωκαὶ τὸν παρʼ αὑτῷ βίοτον, ὃν πλεῖστον, φιλεῖ.ἀλλʼ ἐν χρόνῳ γνώσει τάδʼ ἀσφαλῶς, ἐπεὶχρόνος δίκαιον ἄνδρα δείκνυσιν μόνος·
But you can discern a bad man even in one day alone.
κακὸν δὲ κἂν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ γνοίης μιᾷ.
Chorus:He has spoken well, my king, for one who is taking care not to fall: those who are quick in counsel are not sure.
Χορός:καλῶς ἔλεξεν εὐλαβουμένῳ πεσεῖν,ἄναξ· φρονεῖν γὰρ οἱ ταχεῖς οὐκ ἀσφαλεῖς.
Oedipus:When the stealthy plotter is moving on me quickly, I, too, must be quick in my counterplot.
Οἰδίπους:ὅταν ταχύς τις οὑπιβουλεύων λάθρᾳχωρῇ, ταχὺν δεῖ κἀμὲ βουλεύειν πάλιν·
If I await him in repose, his ends will have been gained, and mine lost.
εἰ δʼ ἡσυχάζων προσμενῶ, τὰ τοῦδε μὲνπεπραγμένʼ ἔσται, τἀμὰ δʼ ἡμαρτημένα.
Creon:What do you want then? To banish me from the land?
Κρέων:τί δῆτα χρῄζεις; ἦ με γῆς ἔξω βαλεῖν;
Oedipus:Hardly. I desire your death, not your exile, so that I might show what a thing envy is.
Οἰδίπους:ἥκιστα· θνῄσκειν, οὐ φυγεῖν σε βούλομαι.ὡς ἂν προδείξῃς οἷόν ἐστι τὸ φθονεῖν.
Creon:Are you resolved not to yield or believe?
Κρέων:ὡς οὐχ ὑπείξων οὐδὲ πιστεύσων λέγεις;
Oedipus:[No, for you persuade me that you are unworthy of trust.]
Οἰδίπους:…
Creon:No, for I see you are not sane.
Κρέων:οὐ γὰρ φρονοῦντά σʼ εὖ βλέπω.
Oedipus:Sane, at least, in my own interest.
Οἰδίπους:τὸ γοῦν ἐμόν.
Creon:But you should be so in mine also.
Κρέων:ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἴσου δεῖ κἀμόν.
Oedipus:You are false.
Οἰδίπους:ἀλλʼ ἔφυς κακός.
Creon:But if you understand nothing?
Κρέων:εἰ δὲ ξυνίης μηδέν;
Oedipus:Still I must rule.
Οἰδίπους:ἀρκτέον γʼ ὅμως.
Creon:Not if you rule badly.
Κρέων:οὔτοι κακῶς γʼ ἄρχοντος.
Oedipus:Hear him, city of Thebes!
Οἰδίπους:ὦ πόλις πόλις.
Creon:The city is mine too, not yours alone.
Κρέων:κἀμοὶ πόλεως μέτεστιν, οὐχί σοι μόνῳ.
Chorus:Cease, lords. In good time I see Iocasta coming from the house, with whose help you should resolve your present feud.Iocasta enters.
Χορός:παύσασθʼ, ἄνακτες· καιρίαν δʼ ὑμῖν ὁρῶτήνδʼ ἐκ δόμων στείχουσαν Ἰοκάστην, μεθʼ ἧςτὸ νῦν παρεστὸς νεῖκος εὖ θέσθαι χρεών.
Iocasta:Misguided men, why have you raisedsuch a foolish argument? Are you not ashamed, while the land is so sick, to stir up troubles of your own? Come, go into the house—and you, Creon, go to yours—and stop making so much of a petty grief.
Ἰοκάστη:τί τὴν ἄβουλον, ὦ ταλαίπωροι, στάσινγλώσσης ἐπήρασθʼ οὐδʼ ἐπαισχύνεσθε γῆςοὕτω νοσούσης ἴδια κινοῦντες κακά;οὐκ εἶ σύ τʼ οἴκους σύ τε, Κρέων, κατὰ στέγας,καὶ μὴ τὸ μηδὲν ἄλγος εἰς μέγʼ οἴσετε;
Creon:Kinswoman, Oedipus, your husband,wants to do one of two terrible things to me, either to thrust me from the land of my fathers or to arrest and slay me.
Κρέων:ὅμαιμε, δεινά μʼ Οἰδίπους ὁ σὸς πόσιςδρᾶσαι δικαιοῖ δυοῖν ἀποκρίνας κακοῖνἢ γῆς ἀπῶσαι πατρίδος ἢ κτεῖναι λαβών.
Oedipus:Yes indeed, for I have caught him, lady, working evil against my person with his wicked craft.
Οἰδίπους:ξύμφημι· δρῶντα γάρ νιν, ὦ γύναι, κακῶςεἴληφα τοὐμὸν σῶμα σὺν τέχνῃ κακῇ.
Creon:May I derive no benefit,but perish accursed, if I have done any of the things of which you charge me.
Κρέων:μή νυν ὀναίμην, ἀλλʼ ἀραῖος, εἴ σέ τιδέδρακʼ, ὀλοίμην, ὧν ἐπαιτιᾷ με δρᾶν.
Iocasta:In the name of the gods, believe it, Oedipus, first for the sake of this awful oath to the gods, then for my sake and for the sake of those who stand before you.
Ἰοκάστη:ὦ πρὸς θεῶν πίστευσον, Οἰδίπους, τάδε,μάλιστα μὲν τόνδʼ ὅρκον αἰδεσθεὶς θεῶν,ἔπειτα κἀμὲ τούσδε θʼ οἳ πάρεισί σοι.
Chorus:Consent, reflect, listen, my king, I beg you.
Χορός:πιθοῦ θελήσας φρονήσας τʼ, ἄναξ, λίσσομαι.
Oedipus:What would you have me grant you?
Οἰδίπους:τί σοι θέλεις δῆτʼ εἰκάθω;
Chorus:Respect him who was in the past not foolish, and who now is strong in his oath.
Χορός:τὸν οὔτε πρὶν νήπιον νῦν τʼ ἐν ὅρκῳ μέγαν καταίδεσαι.Οἰδίπους:οἶσθʼ οὖν ἃ χρῄζεις;
Oedipus:Do you understand what you crave?Chorus:I do.
Χορός:οἶδα.Οἰδίπους:φράζε δὴ τί φής.
Oedipus:Tell me, then, what you mean.Chorus:That you should never use an unproved rumor to cast a dishonoring charge on the friend who has bound himself with a curse.
Χορός:τὸν ἐναγῆ φίλον μήποτʼ ἐν αἰτίᾳσὺν ἀφανεῖ λόγῳ σʼ ἄτιμον βαλεῖν.
Oedipus:Then be quite aware that when you seek this you are seeking death or exile from this land for me.
Οἰδίπους:εὖ νυν ἐπίστω, ταῦθʼ ὅταν ζητῇς, ἐμοὶζητῶν ὄλεθρον ἢ φυγὴν ἐκ τῆσδε γῆς.
Chorus:No, by the god that stands at the head of all the host of the gods, no, by the sun. Unblest, unbefriended, may I die the worst possible death, if I have this thought!
Χορός:οὐ τὸν πάντων θεῶν θεὸν πρόμονἍλιον· ἐπεὶ ἄθεος ἄφιλος ὅ τι πύματονὀλοίμαν, φρόνησιν εἰ τάνδʼ ἔχω.
But my unhappy soul is worn by the withering of the land, as well as by the thought that our old sorrows should be crowned by new ones arising from the two of you.Oedipus:Then let him go, though I am surely doomed to be killedor thrust dishonored from the land. Your words, not his, move me to compassion; but he, wherever he be, shall be hated.
ἀλλά μοι δυσμόρῳ γᾶ φθινὰςτρύχει ψυχάν, τάδʼ εἰ κακοῖς κακὰπροσάψει τοῖς πάλαι τὰ πρὸς σφῷν.Οἰδίπους:ὁ δʼ οὖν ἴτω, κεἰ χρή με παντελῶς θανεῖνἢ γῆς ἄτιμον τῆσδʼ ἀπωσθῆναι βίᾳ.τὸ γὰρ σόν, οὐ τὸ τοῦδʼ, ἐποικτίρω στόμαἐλεινόν· οὗτος δʼ ἔνθʼ ἂν ᾖ στυγήσεται.
Creon:You are truly sullen in yielding, as you are vehement in the excesses of your wrath. But such natures arejustly most difficult for themselves to bear.
Κρέων:στυγνὸς μὲν εἴκων δῆλος εἶ, βαρὺς δʼ, ὅτανθυμοῦ περάσῃς· αἱ δὲ τοιαῦται φύσειςαὑταῖς δικαίως εἰσὶν ἄλγισται φέρειν.
Oedipus:Will you not be gone and leave me in peace?
Οἰδίπους:οὔκουν μʼ ἐάσεις κἀκτὸς εἶ;
Creon:I will go on my way. I have found you undiscerning, but in the view of these men I am just. He exits.
Κρέων:πορεύσομαι,σοῦ μὲν τυχὼν ἀγνῶτος, ἐν δὲ τοῖσδʼ ἴσος.
Chorus:Lady, why do you hesitate to take this man into the house?
Χορός:γύναι, τί μέλλεις κομίζειν δόμων τόνδʼ ἔσω;
Iocasta:I will, when I have learned what has happened.
Ἰοκάστη:μαθοῦσά γʼ ἥτις ἡ τύχη.
Chorus:Blind suspicion, bred of talk, arose, and injustice inflicts wounds.
Χορός:δόκησις ἀγνὼς λόγων ἦλθε, δάπτει δὲ καὶ τὸ μὴ ʼνʼδικον.
Iocasta:On both sides?
Ἰοκάστη:ἀμφοῖν ἀπʼ αὐτοῖν;
Iocasta:And what was the story?
Ἰοκάστη:καὶ τίς ἦν λόγος;
Chorus:It is enough, I think, enough, when our land is already vexed, that the matter should rest where it stopped.
Χορός:ἅλις ἔμοιγʼ, ἅλις, γᾶς προπονουμένας,φαίνεται ἔνθʼ ἔληξεν αὐτοῦ μένειν.
Oedipus:Do you see to what you have come, for all your noble intent, in seeking to slacken and blunt my zeal?
Οἰδίπους:ὁρᾷς ἵνʼ ἥκεις, ἀγαθὸς ὢν γνώμην ἀνήρ,τοὐμὸν παριεὶς καὶ καταμβλύνων κέαρ;
Chorus:King, I have said it more than once—be sure that I would have proved myself a madman, bankrupt in sane counsel, if I forsook you—you, who gave a true course to my beloved country when it wasdistraught with troubles, and who now are likely to prove our prospering guide.
Χορός:ὦναξ, εἶπον μὲν οὐχ ἅπαξ μόνον,ἴσθι δὲ παραφρόνιμον, ἄπορον ἐπὶ φρόνιμαπεφάνθαι μʼ ἄν, εἴ σʼ ἐνοσφιζόμαν,ὅς τʼ ἐμὰν γᾶν φίλαν ἐν πόνοιςἀλύουσαν κατʼ ὀρθὸν οὔρισας,τανῦν τʼ εὔπομπος, ἂν γένοιο.
Iocasta:In the name of the gods, tell me, king, the reason that you have conceived this steadfast wrath.
Ἰοκάστη:πρὸς θεῶν δίδαξον κἄμʼ, ἄναξ, ὅτου ποτὲμῆνιν τοσήνδε πράγματος στήσας ἔχεις.
Oedipus:That I will do, for I honor you, lady, above these men. Creon is the cause, and the plots he has laid against me.
Οἰδίπους:ἐρῶ· σὲ γὰρ τῶνδʼ ἐς πλέον, γύναι, σέβω·Κρέοντος, οἷά μοι βεβουλευκὼς ἔχει.
Iocasta:Come, tell me how the argument began.
Ἰοκάστη:λέγʼ, εἰ σαφῶς τὸ νεῖκος ἐγκαλῶν ἐρεῖς.
Oedipus:He says that I stand guilty of Laius’ blood.
Οἰδίπους:φονέα με φησὶ Λαΐου καθεστάναι.
Iocasta:On his own knowledge or on hearsay from another?
Ἰοκάστη:αὐτὸς ξυνειδὼς ἢ μαθὼν ἄλλου πάρα;
Oedipus:He has made a rascal seer his mouth piece: as for himself, he keeps his lips wholly pure.
Οἰδίπους:μάντιν μὲν οὖν κακοῦργον εἰσπέμψας, ἐπεὶτό γʼ εἰς ἑαυτὸν πᾶν ἐλευθεροῖ στόμα.
Iocasta:Then absolve yourself of the things about which you are speaking. Listen to me, and take comfort in learning that nothing of mortal birth shares in the science of the seer.
Ἰοκάστη:σύ νυν ἀφεὶς σεαυτὸν ὧν λέγεις πέριἐμοῦ ʼπάκουσον, καὶ μάθʼ οὕνεκʼ ἐστί σοιβρότειον οὐδὲν μαντικῆς ἔχον τέχνης.
I will give you a pithy proof of this. An oracle came to Laius once—I will not say from Phoebus himself, but from his ministers—saying that he would suffer his doom at the hands of the child to be born to him and me.
φανῶ δέ σοι σημεῖα τῶνδε σύντομα.χρησμὸς γὰρ ἦλθε Λαΐῳ ποτʼ, οὐκ ἐρῶΦοίβου γʼ ἄπʼ αὐτοῦ, τῶν δʼ ὑπηρετῶν ἄπο,ὡς αὐτὸν ἕξοι μοῖρα πρὸς παιδὸς θανεῖν,ὅστις γένοιτʼ ἐμοῦ τε κἀκείνου πάρα.
And Laius—as, at least, the rumor goes—was murdered one day by foreign robbers at a place where the three highways meet. And the child’s birth was not yet three days past, when Laius pinned his ankles together and had him thrown, by others’ hands, on a remote mountain.
καὶ τὸν μέν, ὥσπερ γʼ ἡ φάτις, ξένοι ποτὲλῃσταὶ φονεύουσʼ ἐν τριπλαῖς ἁμαξιτοῖς·παιδὸς δὲ βλάστας οὐ διέσχον ἡμέραιτρεῖς, καί νιν ἄρθρα κεῖνος ἐνζεύξας ποδοῖνἔρριψεν ἄλλων χερσὶν ἄβατον εἰς ὄρος.
So, in that case, Apollo did not bring it to pass that the child should become the slayer of his father, or that Laius should suffer that which he feared, death at the hands of his child: thus the messages of the seer’s art had mapped out the future. Pay them no regard. Whatever necessary eventthe god seeks, he himself will easily bring to light.
κἀνταῦθʼ Ἀπόλλων οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνον ἤνυσενφονέα γενέσθαι πατρὸς οὔτε Λάϊοντὸ δεινὸν οὑφοβεῖτο πρὸς παιδὸς θανεῖν.τοιαῦτα φῆμαι μαντικαὶ διώρισαν,ὧν ἐντρέπου σὺ μηδέν· ὧν γὰρ ἂν θεὸςχρείαν ἐρευνᾷ, ῥᾳδίως αὐτὸς φανεῖ.
Oedipus:What restlessness of soul, lady, what tumult has come upon me since I heard you speak!
Οἰδίπους:οἷόν μʼ ἀκούσαντʼ ἀρτίως ἔχει, γύναι,ψυχῆς πλάνημα κἀνακίνησις φρενῶν.
Iocasta:What anxiety has startled you, that you say this?
Ἰοκάστη:ποίας μερίμνης τοῦθʼ ὑποστραφεὶς λέγεις;
Oedipus:I thought that I heard this from you—that Laiuswas slain where the three roads meet.
Οἰδίπους:ἔδοξʼ ἀκοῦσαι σοῦ τόδʼ, ὡς ὁ Λάϊοςκατασφαγείη πρὸς τριπλαῖς ἁμαξιτοῖς.
Icasta:Yes, that was the report, and so it is still thought.
Ἰοκάστη:ηὐδᾶτο γὰρ ταῦτʼ οὐδέ πω λήξαντʼ ἔχει.
Oedipus:And where is the place where this occurred?
Οἰδίπους:καὶ ποῦ ʼσθʼ ὁ χῶρος οὗτος οὗ τόδʼ ἦν πάθος;
Iocasta:The land is called Phocis; the branching forks lead to the same spot from Delphi and from Daulia.
Ἰοκάστη:Φωκὶς μὲν ἡ γῆ κλῄζεται, σχιστὴ δʼ ὁδὸςἐς ταὐτὸ Δελφῶν κἀπὸ Δαυλίας ἄγει.
Oedipus:And how much time has passed since these events took place?
Οἰδίπους:καὶ τίς χρόνος τοῖσδʼ ἐστὶν οὑξεληλυθώς;
Iocasta:The news was announced to the town shortly before you first attained power over this land.
Ἰοκάστη:σχεδόν τι πρόσθεν ἢ σὺ τῆσδʼ ἔχων χθονὸςἀρχὴν ἐφαίνου, τοῦτʼ ἐκηρύχθη πόλει.
Oedipus:O Zeus, what have you decreed for me?
Οἰδίπους:ὦ Ζεῦ, τί μου δρᾶσαι βεβούλευσαι πέρι;
Iocasta:Why, Oedipus, does this matter weigh upon your heart?
Ἰοκάστη:τί δʼ ἐστί σοι τοῦτʼ, Οἰδίπους, ἐνθύμιον;
Oedipus:Do not ask me yet. Tell me rather what stature Laius had, and how ripe his manhood was.
Οἰδίπους:μήπω μʼ ἐρώτα· τὸν δὲ Λάϊον φύσιντίνʼ ἦλθε φράζε, τίνα δʼ ἀκμὴν ἥβης ἔχων.
Iocasta:He was tall—the silver just lightly strewn among his hair—and his form was not greatly unlike your own.
Ἰοκάστη:μέγας, χνοάζων ἄρτι λευκανθὲς κάρα,μορφῆς δὲ τῆς σῆς οὐκ ἀπεστάτει πολύ.
Oedipus:Unhappy that I am! I think that I havelaid myself under a terrible curse without realizing it.
Οἰδίπους:οἴμοι τάλας· ἔοικʼ ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀρὰςδεινὰς προβάλλων ἀρτίως οὐκ εἰδέναι.
Iocasta:How do you mean? I tremble when I look at you, my lord.
Ἰοκάστη:πῶς φῄς; ὀκνῶ τοι πρός σʼ ἀποσκοποῦσʼ, ἄναξ.
Oedipus:I have dread fears that the seer can see. But you will reveal the matter better if you tell me one thing more.
Οἰδίπους:δεινῶς ἀθυμῶ μὴ βλέπων ὁ μάντις ᾖ·δείξεις δὲ μᾶλλον, ἢν ἓν ἐξείπῃς ἔτι.
Iocasta:Indeed, though I tremble, I will hear and answer all that you ask.
Ἰοκάστη:καὶ μὴν ὀκνῶ μέν, ἃ δʼ ἂν ἔρῃ μαθοῦσʼ ἐρῶ.
Oedipus:Did he go with a small force, or like a chieftain, with many armed followers?
Οἰδίπους:πότερον ἐχώρει βαιὸς ἢ πολλοὺς ἔχωνἄνδρας λοχίτας, οἷʼ ἀνὴρ ἀρχηγέτης;Ἰοκάστη:πέντʼ ἦσαν οἱ ξύμπαντες, ἐν δʼ αὐτοῖσιν ἦν.
Iocasta:Five they were in all—a herald among them—and there was one carriage which bore Laius.Oedipus:Alas! It is all clear now! Who gave you this information, lady?
κῆρυξ· ἀπήνη δʼ ἦγε Λάϊον μία.Οἰδίπους:αἰαῖ, τάδʼ ἤδη διαφανῆ. τίς ἦν ποτεὁ τούσδε λέξας τοὺς λόγους ὑμῖν, γύναι;
Iocasta:A servant, the only survivor who returned home.
Ἰοκάστη:οἰκεύς τις, ὅσπερ ἵκετʼ ἐκσωθεὶς μόνος.
Oedipus:Is he by any chance in the house now?
Οἰδίπους:ἦ κἀν δόμοισι τυγχάνει τανῦν παρών;
Iocasta:No. Soon after he returned and found you ruling in Laius’ stead,he pled with me, with hand laid on mine, to send him to the fields, to the pastures of the flocks, that he might be far from the sight of this town. And I sent him; he was worthy, for a slave, to win even a larger favor than that.
Ἰοκάστη:οὐ δῆτʼ· ἀφʼ οὗ γὰρ κεῖθεν ἦλθε καὶ κράτησέ τʼ εἶδʼ ἔχοντα Λάϊόν τʼ ὀλωλότα,ἐξικέτευσε τῆς ἐμῆς χειρὸς θιγὼνἀγρούς σφε πέμψαι κἀπὶ ποιμνίων νομάς,ὡς πλεῖστον εἴη τοῦδʼ ἄποπτος ἄστεως.κἄπεμψʼ ἐγώ νιν· ἄξιος γὰρ οἷʼ ἀνὴρδοῦλος φέρειν ἦν τῆσδε καὶ μείζω χάριν.
Oedipus:Would, then, that he return to us without delay!
Οἰδίπους:πῶς ἂν μόλοι δῆθʼ ἡμὶν ἐν τάχει πάλιν;
Iocasta:That is easy. But why do you enjoin this?
Ἰοκάστη:πάρεστιν· ἀλλὰ πρὸς τί τοῦτʼ ἐφίεσαι;
Oedipus:I fear, lady, that my words have been rash, and therefore I wish to see him.
Οἰδίπους:δέδοικʼ ἐμαυτόν, ὦ γύναι, μὴ πόλλʼ ἄγανεἰρημένʼ ᾖ μοι διʼ ἅ νιν εἰσιδεῖν θέλω.
Iocasta:He will come. But I think thatI too have a claim to learn what lies heavy on your heart, my king.
Ἰοκάστη:ἀλλʼ ἵξεται μέν· ἀξία δέ που μαθεῖνκἀγὼ τά γʼ ἐν σοὶ δυσφόρως ἔχοντʼ, ἄναξ.
Oedipus:It will not be kept from you, now that my forebodings have advanced so far. To whom more than to you would I speak in suffering such a fortune as this? My father was Polybus of Corinth,my mother the Dorian Merope. I was considered the greatest of the folk in that town, until a chance event befell me, worthy, indeed, of wonder, though not of my overreaction regarding it. At a banquet, a man drunk with winecast it at me that I was not the true son of my father. And I, vexed, restrained myself for that day as best as I could, but on the next went to my mother and father and questioned them. They were angry at the one who had let this taunt fly.
Οἰδίπους:κοὐ μὴ στερηθῇς γʼ, ἐς τοσοῦτον ἐλπίδωνἐμοῦ βεβῶτος. τῷ γὰρ ἂν καὶ μείζονιλέξαιμʼ ἂν ἢ σοί, διὰ τύχης τοιᾶσδʼ ἰών;ἐμοὶ πατὴρ μὲν Πόλυβος ἦν Κορίνθιος,μήτηρ δὲ Μερόπη Δωρίς. ἠγόμην δʼ ἀνὴρἀστῶν μέγιστος τῶν ἐκεῖ, πρίν μοι τύχητοιάδʼ ἐπέστη, θαυμάσαι μὲν ἀξία,σπουδῆς γε μέντοι τῆς ἐμῆς οὐκ ἀξία.ἀνὴρ γὰρ ἐν δείπνοις μʼ ὑπερπλησθεὶς μέθῃκαλεῖ παρʼ οἴνῳ, πλαστὸς ὡς εἴην πατρί.κἀγὼ βαρυνθεὶς τὴν μὲν οὖσαν ἡμέρανμόλις κατέσχον, θἀτέρᾳ δʼ ἰὼν πέλαςμητρὸς πατρός τʼ ἤλεγχον· οἱ δὲ δυσφόρωςτοὔνειδος ἦγον τῷ μεθέντι τὸν λόγον.
So I had comfort about them, but the matter rankled in my heart, for such a rumor still spread widely. I went to Delphi without my parents’ knowledge, and Phoebus sent me forth disappointed of the knowledge for which I had come,but in his response set forth other things, full of sorrow and terror and woe: that I was fated to defile my mother’s bed, that I would reveal to men a brood which they could not endure to behold, and that I would slay the father that sired me. When I heard this, I turned in flight from the land of Corinth,from then on thinking of it only by its position under the stars, to some spot where I should never see fulfillment of the infamies foretold in my evil fate. And on my way I came to the land in which you say that this prince perished.
κἀγὼ τὰ μὲν κείνοιν ἐτερπόμην, ὅμως δʼἔκνιζέ μʼ ἀεὶ τοῦθʼ· ὑφεῖρπε γὰρ πολύ.λάθρᾳ δὲ μητρὸς καὶ πατρὸς πορεύομαιΠυθώδε, καί μʼ ὁ Φοῖβος ὧν μὲν ἱκόμηνἄτιμον ἐξέπεμψεν, ἄλλα δʼ ἄθλιακαὶ δεινὰ καὶ δύστηνα προύφηνεν λέγων,ὡς μητρὶ μὲν χρείη με μιχθῆναι, γένος δʼἄτλητον ἀνθρώποισι δηλώσοιμʼ ὁρᾶν,φονεὺς δʼ ἐσοίμην τοῦ φυτεύσαντος πατρός.κἀγὼ ʼπακούσας ταῦτα τὴν Κορινθίαν,ἄστροις τὸ λοιπὸν ἐκμετρούμενος, χθόναἔφευγον, ἔνθα μήποτʼ ὀψοίμην κακῶνχρησμῶν ὀνείδη τῶν ἐμῶν τελούμενα.στείχων δʼ ἱκνοῦμαι τούσδε τοὺς χώρους, ἐν οἷςσὺ τὸν τύραννον τοῦτον ὄλλυσθαι λέγεις.
Now, lady, I will tell you the truth. When on my journey I was near those three roads, there I met a herald, and a man in a carriage drawn by colts, as you have described. The leader and the old manhimself tried to thrust me rudely from the path. Then, in anger, I struck the one pushing me aside, the driver, and the old man, when he saw this, watched for the moment I was passing, and from his carriage, brought his double goad straight down on my head.
Οἰδίπους:καί σοι, γύναι, τἀληθὲς ἐξερῶ. τριπλῆςὅτʼ ἦ κελεύθου τῆσδʼ ὁδοιπορῶν πέλας,ἐνταῦθά μοι κῆρύξ τε κἀπὶ πωλικῆςἀνὴρ ἀπήνης ἐμβεβώς, οἷον σὺ φῇς,ξυνηντίαζον· κἀξ ὁδοῦ μʼ ὅ θʼ ἡγεμὼναὐτός θʼ ὁ πρέσβυς πρὸς βίαν ἠλαυνέτην.κἀγὼ τὸν ἐκτρέποντα, τὸν τροχηλάτην,παίω διʼ ὀργῆς· καί μʼ ὁ πρέσβυς ὡς ὁρᾷ,ὄχου παραστείχοντα τηρήσας, μέσονκάρα διπλοῖς κέντροισί μου καθίκετο.
Yet he was paid back with interest: with one swift blow from the staff in this hand he rolled right out of the carriage onto his back. I slew every one of them. But if this stranger had any tie of kinship to Laius,who is now more wretched than this man before you? What mortal could be proved more hateful to the gods? No stranger, no citizen, is allowed to receive him at home, it is unlawful for anyone to accost him, and all must push him from their homes. And this—this curse—was laid on me by no other mouth than my own. And I pollute the bed of the slain man with the hands by which he perished. Am I now vile? Oh, am I not utterly unclean, seeing that I must be banished, and in banishment neither see my own people,nor set foot in my own land, or else be joined in wedlock to my mother, and slay my father Polybus, who sired and reared me? Then would he who judged these things to be sent down by some cruel divinity not be right about Oedipus?
οὐ μὴν ἴσην γʼ ἔτισεν, ἀλλὰ συντόμωςσκήπτρῳ τυπεὶς ἐκ τῆσδε χειρὸς ὕπτιοςμέσης ἀπήνης εὐθὺς ἐκκυλίνδεται·κτείνω δὲ τοὺς ξύμπαντας. εἰ δὲ τῷ ξένῳτούτῳ προσήκει Λαΐου τι συγγενές,τίς τοῦδέ γʼ ἀνδρός ἐστιν ἀθλιώτερος;τίς ἐχθροδαίμων μᾶλλον ἂν γένοιτʼ ἀνήρ;ὃν μὴ ξένων ἔξεστι μηδʼ ἀστῶν τινιδόμοις δέχεσθαι μηδὲ προσφωνεῖν τινα,ὠθεῖν δʼ ἀπʼ οἴκων. καὶ τάδʼ οὔτις ἄλλος ἦνἢ ʼγὼ ʼπʼ ἐμαυτῷ τάσδʼ ἀρὰς ὁ προστιθείς.λέχη δὲ τοῦ θανόντος ἐκ χεροῖν ἐμαῖνχραίνω, διʼ ὧνπερ ὤλετʼ· ἆρʼ ἔφυν κακός;ἆρʼ οὐχὶ πᾶς ἄναγνος; εἴ με χρὴ φυγεῖν,καί μοι φυγόντι μἤστι τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἰδεῖνμηδʼ ἐμβατεύειν πατρίδος, ἢ γάμοις με δεῖμητρὸς ζυγῆναι καὶ πατέρα κατακτανεῖνΠόλυβον, ὃς ἐξέφυσε κἀξέθρεψέ με.ἆρʼ οὐκ ἀπʼ ὠμοῦ ταῦτα δαίμονός τις ἂνκρίνων ἐπʼ ἀνδρὶ τῷδʼ ἂν ὀρθοίη λόγον;
Prevent, prevent, you pure and awful gods, me from ever seeing that day! No, may I be swept away from all men, before I see myself visited with that brand of doom.
μὴ δῆτα, μὴ δῆτʼ, ὦ θεῶν ἁγνὸν σέβας,ἴδοιμι ταύτην ἡμέραν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ βροτῶνβαίην ἄφαντος πρόσθεν ἢ τοιάνδʼ ἰδεῖνκηλῖδʼ ἐμαυτῷ συμφορᾶς ἀφιγμένην.
Chorus:To us, king, these things are fraught with fear. Yet have hope, until at least you have gained full knowledgefrom the one who saw the deed.
Χορός:ἡμῖν μέν, ὦναξ, ταῦτʼ ὀκνήρʼ· ἕως δʼ ἂν οὖνπρὸς τοῦ παρόντος ἐκμάθῃς, ἔχʼ ἐλπίδα.
Oedipus:I have, in truth, this much hope alone: I await the man summoned from the pastures.
Οἰδίπους:καὶ μὴν τοσοῦτόν γʼ ἐστί μοι τῆς ἐλπίδος,τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν βοτῆρα προσμεῖναι μόνον.
Iocasta:And what do you want from him when he appears?
Ἰοκάστη:πεφασμένου δὲ τίς ποθʼ ἡ προθυμία;
Oedipus:I will tell you. If his story is foundto match withwith yours, I at least, will stand clear of disaster.
Οἰδίπους:ἐγὼ διδάξω σʼ· ἢν γὰρ εὑρεθῇ λέγωνσοὶ ταὔτʼ, ἔγωγʼ ἂν ἐκπεφευγοίην πάθος.
Iocasta:And what special note did you hear from me?
Ἰοκάστη:ποῖον δέ μου περισσὸν ἤκουσας λόγον;
Oedipus:You said that he spoke of Laius as slain by robbers. If, then, he still speaks of several as before, I was not the slayer:
Οἰδίπους:λῃστὰς ἔφασκες αὐτὸν ἄνδρας ἐννέπεινὥς νιν κατακτείνειαν. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔτιλέξει τὸν αὐτὸν ἀριθμόν, οὐκ ἐγὼ ʼκτανον·
a solitary man could not be considered the same as that band. But if he names one lonely wayfarer, then beyond doubt this guilt rests upon me.
οὐ γὰρ γένοιτʼ ἂν εἷς γε τοῖς πολλοῖς ἴσος·εἰ δʼ ἄνδρʼ ἕνʼ οἰόζωνον αὐδήσει, σαφῶςτοῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἤδη τοὔργον εἰς ἐμὲ ῥέπον.
Iocasta:Be assured that thus, at least, the tale was first told. He cannot revoke that,for the city heard it, not I alone. But even if he should diverge somewhat from his former story, never, king, can he show that the murder of Laius, at least, is truly square with the prophecy, for Loxias plainly said that he was to die at the hand of my child.
Ἰοκάστη:ἀλλʼ ὡς φανέν γε τοὔπος ὧδʼ ἐπίστασο,κοὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ τοῦτό γʼ ἐκβαλεῖν πάλιν·πόλις γὰρ ἤκουσʼ, οὐκ ἐγὼ μόνη, τάδε.εἰ δʼ οὖν τι κἀκτρέποιτο τοῦ πρόσθεν λόγου,οὔτοι ποτʼ, ὦναξ, σόν γε Λαΐου φόνονφανεῖ δικαίως ὀρθόν, ὅν γε Λοξίαςδιεῖπε χρῆναι παιδὸς ἐξ ἐμοῦ θανεῖν.
How was it then that that poor innocent never slew him, but perished first? From now on then, as far as divination goes, I would not look to my right hand or my left.
καίτοι νιν οὐ κεῖνός γʼ ὁ δύστηνός ποτεκατέκτανʼ, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς πάροιθεν ὤλετο.ὥστʼ οὐχὶ μαντείας γʼ ἂν οὔτε τῇδʼ ἐγὼβλέψαιμʼ ἂν εἵνεκʼ οὔτε τῇδʼ ἂν ὕστερον.
Oedipus:You are right. But nevertheless send someone to fetch the peasant,and do not neglect this matter.
Οἰδίπους:καλῶς νομίζεις· ἀλλʼ ὅμως τὸν ἐργάτηνπέμψον τινὰ στελοῦντα μηδὲ τοῦτʼ ἀφῇς.
Iocasta:I will send for him without delay. But let us go into the house: I will do nothing which does not please you. Exeunt Oedipus and Iocasta.
Ἰοκάστη:πέμψω ταχύνασʼ· ἀλλʼ ἴωμεν ἐς δόμους·οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν πράξαιμʼ ἂν ὧν οὐ σοὶ φίλον.
Chorus:May destiny still find me winning the praise of reverent purity in all words anddeeds sanctioned by those laws of sublime range, called into life through the high clear aether, whose father is Olympus alone. Their parent was no race of mortal men,no, nor shall oblivion ever lay them to sleep: the god is mighty in them, and he does not grow old.
Χορός:εἴ μοι ξυνείη φέροντιμοῖρα τὰν εὔσεπτον ἁγνείαν λόγωνἔργων τε πάντων, ὧν νόμοι πρόκεινταιὑψίποδες, οὐρανίανδιʼ αἰθέρα τεκνωθέντες, ὧν Ὄλυμποςπατὴρ μόνος, οὐδέ νινθνατὰ φύσις ἀνέρωνἔτικτεν οὐδὲ μή ποτε λάθα κατακοιμάσῃ·μέγας ἐν τούτοις θεὸς οὐδὲ γηράσκει.
Chorus:Insolence breeds the tyrant. Insolence, once vainly stuffed with wealththat is not proper or good for it, when it has scaled the topmost ramparts, is hurled to a dire doom, where one’s feet cannot serve to good advantage. But I pray that the god neverquell such rivalry as benefits the state. I will always hold the god as our protector.
Χορός:ὕβρις φυτεύει τύραννον·ὕβρις, εἰ πολλῶν ὑπερπλησθῇ μάταν,ἃ μὴ ʼπίκαιρα μηδὲ συμφέροντα,ἀκρότατον εἰσαναβᾶσʼαἶπος ἀπότομον ὤρουσεν εἰς ἀνάγκαν,ἔνθʼ οὐ ποδὶ χρησίμῳχρῆται. τὸ καλῶς δʼ ἔχονπόλει πάλαισμα μήποτε λῦσαι θεὸν αἰτοῦμαι.θεὸν οὐ λήξω ποτὲ προστάταν ἴσχων.
Chorus:But if any man walks haughtily in deed or word,with no fear of Justice, no reverence for the images of gods, may an evil doom seize him for his ill-starred pride, if he does not gain his advantage fairly,or avoid unholy deeds, but seeks to lay profaning hands on sanctities. Where such things occur, what mortal shall boast any more that he can ward off the arrow of the gods from his life?
Χορός:εἰ δέ τις ὑπέροπτα χερσὶν ἢ λόγῳ πορεύεται,δίκας ἀφόβητος οὐδὲ δαιμόνων ἕδη σέβων,κακά νιν ἕλοιτο μοῖρα,δυσπότμου χάριν χλιδᾶς,εἰ μὴ τὸ κέρδος κερδανεῖ δικαίωςκαὶ τῶν ἀσέπτων ἔρξεταιἢ τῶν ἀθίκτων θίξεται ματᾴζων.τίς ἔτι ποτʼ ἐν τοῖσδʼ ἀνὴρ θεῶν βέληεὔξεται ψυχᾶς ἀμύνειν;
No. For if such deeds are held in honor, why should we join in the sacred dance?
εἰ γὰρ αἱ τοιαίδε πράξεις τίμιαι,τί δεῖ με χορεύειν;
Chorus:No longer will I go reverently to the earth’s central and inviolate shrine, no more to Abae’s temple or to Olympia,if these oracles do not fit the outcome, so that all mortals shall point at them with their fingers.No, King—if this you are rightly called—Zeus all ruling, may it not escape you and your deathless power! The old prophecies concerning Laius are fading; already men give them no value, and nowhere is Apollo glorified with honors;
Χορός:οὐκέτι τὸν ἄθικτον εἶμι γᾶς ἐπʼ ὀμφαλὸν σέβων,οὐδʼ ἐς τὸν Ἀβαῖσι ναὸν οὐδὲ τὰν Ὀλυμπίαν,εἰ μὴ τάδε χειρόδεικταπᾶσιν ἁρμόσει βροτοῖς.ἀλλʼ, ὦ κρατύνων, εἴπερ ὄρθʼ ἀκούεις,Ζεῦ, πάντʼ ἀνάσσων, μὴ λάθοισὲ τάν τε σὰν ἀθάνατον αἰὲν ἀρχάν.φθίνοντα γὰρ Λαΐου παλαίφαταθέσφατʼ ἐξαιροῦσιν ἤδη,κοὐδαμοῦ τιμαῖς Ἀπόλλων ἐμφανής·
the worship of the gods is perishing.
ἔρρει δὲ τὰ θεῖα.
Iocasta:Princes of the land, I am planning to visit the shrines of the gods, with this wreathed branch and these gifts of incense in my hands. For Oedipus excites his soul excessively with all sorts of grief,as he does not judge the new things from the old, like a man of sense, but is under the control of the speaker, if he speaks of frightful things. Since, then, I can do no good by counsel, to you, Lycean Apollo—for you are nearest—I have come as a suppliant with these symbols of prayer, that you may find us some escape from uncleanliness. For now we are all afraid, like those who see fear in the helmsman of their ship.Enter a messenger.
Ἰοκάστη:χώρας ἄνακτες, δόξα μοι παρεστάθηναοὺς ἱκέσθαι δαιμόνων, τάδʼ ἐν χεροῖνστέφη λαβούσῃ κἀπιθυμιάματα.ὑψοῦ γὰρ αἴρει θυμὸν Οἰδίπους ἄγανλύπαισι παντοίαισιν· οὐδʼ ὁποῖʼ ἀνὴρἔννους τὰ καινὰ τοῖς πάλαι τεκμαίρεται,ἀλλʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ λέγοντος, εἰ φόβους λέγοι.ὅτʼ οὖν παραινοῦσʼ οὐδὲν ἐς πλέον ποιῶ,πρὸς σʼ, ὦ Λύκειʼ Ἄπολλον, ἄγχιστος γὰρ εἶ,ἱκέτις ἀφῖγμαι τοῖσδε σὺν κατεύγμασιν,ὅπως λύσιν τινʼ ἡμὶν εὐαγῆ πόρῃς·ὡς νῦν ὀκνοῦμεν πάντες ἐκπεπληγμένονκεῖνον βλέποντες ὡς κυβερνήτην νεώς.
Messenger:Can you tell me, strangers, wherethe house of King Oedipus is? Or better still, tell me where he himself is, if you know.
Ἄγγελος:ἆρʼ ἂν παρʼ ὑμῶν, ὦ ξένοι, μάθοιμʼ ὅπουτὰ τοῦ τυράννου δώματʼ ἐστὶν Οἰδίπου;μάλιστα δʼ αὐτὸν εἴπατʼ, εἰ κάτισθʼ ὅπου.
Chorus:This is his dwelling, and he himself, stranger, is within. This lady here is the mother of his children.
Χορός:στέγαι μὲν αἵδε, καὐτὸς ἔνδον, ὦ ξένε·γυνὴ δὲ μήτηρ ἥδε τῶν κείνου τέκνων.
Messenger:Then may she be ever happy in a happy home,since she is his blessed queen.
Ἄγγελος:ἀλλʼ ὀλβία τε καὶ ξὺν ὀλβίοις ἀεὶγένοιτʼ, ἐκείνου γʼ οὖσα παντελὴς δάμαρ.
Iocasta:Happiness to you also, stranger! Your fair greeting deserves this. But say what you have come to seek or to tell.
Ἰοκάστη:αὔτως δὲ καὶ σύ γʼ, ὦ ξένʼ· ἄξιος γὰρ εἶτῆς εὐεπείας εἵνεκʼ· ἀλλὰ φράζʼ ὅτουχρῄζων ἀφῖξαι χὤ τι σημῆναι θέλων.
Messenger:Good tidings, lady, for your house and your husband.
Ἄγγελος:ἀγαθὰ δόμοις τε καὶ πόσει τῷ σῷ, γύναι.
Iocasta:What are they? From whom have you come?
Ἰοκάστη:τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; παρὰ τίνος δʼ ἀφιγμένος;
Messenger:From Corinth, and at the message I will give now you will doubtless rejoice, though you may perhaps grieve too.
Ἄγγελος:ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου· τὸ δʼ ἔπος οὑξερῶ τάχα,ἥδοιο μέν, πῶς δʼ οὐκ ἄν, ἀσχάλλοις δʼ ἴσως.
Iocasta:What is it? Why has it this double potency?
Ἰοκάστη:τί δʼ ἔστι; ποίαν δύναμιν ὧδʼ ἔχει διπλῆν;
Messenger:The people will make him king of theIsthmian land, as it was said there.
Ἄγγελος:τύραννον αὐτὸν οὑπιχώριοι χθονὸςτῆς Ἰσθμίας στήσουσιν, ὡς ηὐδᾶτʼ ἐκεῖ.
Iocasta:How then? Is the aged Polybus no longer in power?
Ἰοκάστη:τί δʼ; οὐχ ὁ πρέσβυς Πόλυβος ἐγκρατὴς ἔτι;
Messenger:No. For death holds him in the tomb.
Ἄγγελος:οὐ δῆτʼ, ἐπεί νιν θάνατος ἐν τάφοις ἔχει.
Iocasta:What do you mean? Is Polybus dead, old man?
Ἰοκάστη:πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τέθνηκε Πόλυβος, ὦ γέρον;
Messenger:If I do not speak the truth, I am content to die.
Ἄγγελος:εἰ μὴ λέγω τἀληθές, ἀξιῶ θανεῖν.
Iocasta:Handmaid, away with all speed, and tell this to your master! Oracles of the gods, where do you stand now? It is this man that Oedipus long feared he would slay. And now this man has died in the course of destiny, not by his hand.Enter Oedipus.
Ἰοκάστη:ὦ πρόσπολʼ, οὐχὶ δεσπότῃ τάδʼ ὡς τάχοςμολοῦσα λέξεις; ὦ θεῶν μαντεύματα,ἵνʼ ἐστέ· τοῦτον Οἰδίπους πάλαι τρέμωντὸν ἄνδρʼ ἔφευγε μὴ κτάνοι, καὶ νῦν ὅδεπρὸς τῆς τύχης ὄλωλεν οὐδὲ τοῦδʼ ὕπο.
Oedipus:Iocasta, dearest wife, why have you summoned me forth from these doors?
Οἰδίπους:ὦ φίλτατον γυναικὸς Ἰοκάστης κάρα,τί μʼ ἐξεπέμψω δεῦρο τῶνδε δωμάτων;
Iocasta:Hear this man, and judge, as you listen, what the awful oracles have come to.
Ἰοκάστη:ἄκουε τἀνδρὸς τοῦδε, καὶ σκόπει κλύωντὰ σέμνʼ ἵνʼ ἥκει τοῦ θεοῦ μαντεύματα.
Oedipus:Who is he and what news does he have for me?
Οἰδίπους:οὗτος δὲ τίς ποτʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τί μοι λέγει;
Iocasta:He comes from Corinth to tell you that your father Polybus lives no longer, but has perished.
Ἰοκάστη:ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου, πατέρα τὸν σὸν ἀγγελῶνὡς οὐκέτʼ ὄντα Πόλυβον, ἀλλʼ ὀλωλότα.
Oedipus:How, stranger? Let me have it from your own mouth.
Οἰδίπους:τί φῄς, ξένʼ; αὐτός μοι σὺ σημάντωρ γενοῦ.
Messenger:If I must first make these tidings plain, know indeed that he is dead and gone.
Ἄγγελος:εἰ τοῦτο πρῶτον δεῖ μʼ ἀπαγγεῖλαι σαφῶς,εὖ ἴσθʼ ἐκεῖνον θανάσιμον βεβηκότα.
Oedipus:By treachery, or from illness?
Οἰδίπους:πότερα δόλοισιν ἢ νόσου ξυναλλαγῇ;
Messenger:A light tilt of the scale brings the aged to their rest.
Ἄγγελος:σμικρὰ παλαιὰ σώματʼ εὐνάζει ῥοπή.
Oedipus:Ah, he died, it seems, of sickness?
Οἰδίπους:νόσοις ὁ τλήμων, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἔφθιτο.
Messenger:Yes, and of the long years that he had lived.
Ἄγγελος:καὶ τῷ μακρῷ γε συμμετρούμενος χρόνῳ.
Oedipus:Alas, alas! Why indeed, my wife, should one look to thehearth of the Pythian seer, or to the birds that scream above our heads, who declared that I was doomed to slay my father? But he is dead, and lies beneath the earth, and here I am, not having put my hand to any spear—unless, perhaps, he died out of longing for me:thus, indeed, I would be the cause of his death. But as the oracles stand, at least, Polybus has swept them with him to his rest in Hades. They are worth nothing.
Οἰδίπους:φεῦ φεῦ, τί δῆτʼ ἄν, ὦ γύναι, σκοποῖτό τιτὴν Πυθόμαντιν ἑστίαν ἢ τοὺς ἄνωκλάζοντας ὄρνεις, ὧν ὑφηγητῶν ἐγὼκτενεῖν ἔμελλον πατέρα τὸν ἐμόν; ὁ δὲ θανὼνκεύθει κάτω δὴ γῆς. ἐγὼ δʼ ὅδʼ ἐνθάδεἄψαυστος ἔγχους· εἴ τι μὴ τὠμῷ πόθῳκατέφθιθʼ· οὕτω δʼ ἂν θανὼν εἴη ʼξ ἐμοῦ.τὰ δʼ οὖν παρόντα συλλαβὼν θεσπίσματακεῖται παρʼ Ἅιδῃ Πόλυβος ἄξιʼ οὐδενός.
Iocasta:Did I not long ago foretell this to you?
Ἰοκάστη:οὔκουν ἐγώ σοι ταῦτα προύλεγον πάλαι;
Oedipus:You did, but I was mislead by my fear.
Οἰδίπους:ηὔδας· ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ φόβῳ παρηγόμην.
Iocasta:Now no longer take any of those things to heart.
Ἰοκάστη:μὴ νῦν ἔτʼ αὐτῶν μηδὲν ἐς θυμὸν βάλῃς.
Oedipus:But surely I must fear my mother’s bed.
Οἰδίπους:καὶ πῶς τὸ μητρὸς οὐκ ὀκνεῖν λέχος με δεῖ;
Iocasta:What should a mortal man fear, for whom the decrees of Fortune are supreme, and who has clear foresight of nothing? It is best to live at random, as one may.
Ἰοκάστη:τί δʼ ἂν φοβοῖτʼ ἄνθρωπος ᾧ τὰ τῆς τύχηςκρατεῖ, πρόνοια δʼ ἐστὶν οὐδενὸς σαφής;εἰκῆ κράτιστον ζῆν, ὅπως δύναιτό τις.
But fear not that you will wed your mother. Many men before now have slept with their mothers in dreams. But he to whom these things are as though nothing bears his life most easily.
σὺ δʼ εἰς τὰ μητρὸς μὴ φοβοῦ νυμφεύματα·πολλοὶ γὰρ ἤδη κἀν ὀνείρασιν βροτῶνμητρὶ ξυνηυνάσθησαν. ἀλλὰ ταῦθʼ ὅτῳπαρʼ οὐδέν ἐστι, ῥᾷστα τὸν βίον φέρει.
Oedipus:All these words of yours would have been well said,were my mother not alive. But as it is, since she lives, I must necessarily fear, though you do speak well.
Οἰδίπους:καλῶς ἅπαντα ταῦτʼ ἂν ἐξείρητό σοι,εἰ μὴ ʼκύρει ζῶσʼ ἡ τεκοῦσα· νῦν δʼ ἐπεὶζῇ, πᾶσʼ ἀνάγκη, κεἰ καλῶς λέγεις, ὀκνεῖν.
Iocasta:Your father’s death is a great sign for us to take cheer.
Ἰοκάστη:καὶ μὴν μέγας γʼ ὀφθαλμὸς οἱ πατρὸς τάφοι.
Oedipus:Great, I know. But my fear is of her who lives.
Οἰδίπους:μέγας, ξυνίημʼ· ἀλλὰ τῆς ζώσης φόβος.
Messenger:And who is the woman about whom you fear?
Ἄγγελος:ποίας δὲ καὶ γυναικὸς ἐκφοβεῖσθʼ ὕπερ;
Oedipus:Merope, old man, the consort of Polybus.
Οἰδίπους:Μερόπης, γεραιέ, Πόλυβος ἧς ᾤκει μέτα.
Messenger:And what is it in her that moves your fear?
Ἄγγελος:τί δʼ ἔστʼ ἐκείνης ὑμὶν ἐς φόβον φέρον;
Oedipus:A divine oracle of dread import, stranger.
Οἰδίπους:θεήλατον μάντευμα δεινόν, ὦ ξένε.
Messenger:Proper, or improper, for another to know?
Ἄγγελος:ἦ ῥητόν; ἢ οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν ἄλλον εἰδέναι;
Oedipus:Proper, surely. Loxias once said that I wasdoomed to marry my own mother, and to shed with my own hands my father’s blood. For which reasons I long shirked my home in Corinth—with a happy outcome, to be sure, but still it is sweet to see the face of one’s parents.Messenger:Was it really for fear of this that you became an exile from that city?
Οἰδίπους:μάλιστά γʼ· εἶπε γάρ με Λοξίας ποτὲχρῆναι μιγῆναι μητρὶ τἠμαυτοῦ τό τεπατρῷον αἷμα χερσὶ ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἑλεῖν.ὧν οὕνεχʼ ἡ Κόρινθος ἐξ ἐμοῦ πάλαιμακρὰν ἀπῳκεῖτʼ· εὐτυχῶς μέν, ἀλλʼ ὅμωςτὰ τῶν τεκόντων ὄμμαθʼ ἥδιστον βλέπειν.
Oedipus:And because I did not wish, old man, to be the murderer of my father.
Ἄγγελος:ἦ γὰρ τάδʼ ὀκνῶν κεῖθεν ἦσθʼ ἀπόπτολις;
Messenger:Why have I not relieved you of this second fear, my lord, since I came to give you pleasure?
Οἰδίπους:πατρός τε χρῄζων μὴ φονεὺς εἶναι, γέρον.
Oedipus:And indeed you will have worthy thanks from me.
Ἄγγελος:τί δῆτʼ ἐγὼ οὐχὶ τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου σʼ, ἄναξ,ἐπείπερ εὔνους ἦλθον, ἐξελυσάμην;
Messenger:And indeed I came specially for this, thatI might profit from your returning home.
Οἰδίπους:καὶ μὴν χάριν γʼ ἂν ἀξίαν λάβοις ἐμοῦ.Ἄγγελος:καὶ μὴν μάλιστα τοῦτʼ ἀφικόμην, ὅπωςσοῦ πρὸς δόμους ἐλθόντος εὖ πράξαιμί τι.
Oedipus:But by no means will I ever go near my parents again.
Οἰδίπους:ἀλλʼ οὔποτʼ εἶμι τοῖς φυτεύσασίν γʼ ὅμοῦ.
Messenger:My son, it is crystal clear that you do not know what you are doing.
Ἄγγελος:ὦ παῖ, καλῶς εἶ δῆλος οὐκ εἰδὼς τί δρᾷς.
Oedipus:How so, old man? In the name of the gods, tell me.
Οἰδίπους:πῶς, ὦ γεραιέ; πρὸς θεῶν δίδασκέ με.
Messenger:If on account of this you are fleeing from returning home.
Ἄγγελος:εἰ τῶνδε φεύγεις οὕνεκʼ εἰς οἴκους μολεῖν.
Oedipus:Fearing indeed lest Apollo’s prophecy come true in me.
Οἰδίπους:ταρβῶν γε μή μοι Φοῖβος ἐξέλθῃ σαφής.
Messenger:Lest you acquire some pollution from your parents?
Ἄγγελος:ἦ μὴ μίασμα τῶν φυτευσάντων λάβῃς;
Oedipus:This very thing, old man, this constantly frightens me.
Οἰδίπους:τοῦτʼ αὐτό, πρέσβυ, τοῦτό μʼ εἰσαεὶ φοβεῖ.
Messenger:Do you know, then, that your fears are wholly in vain?
Ἄγγελος:ἆρʼ οἶσθα δῆτα πρὸς δίκης οὐδὲν τρέμων;
Oedipus:… How so, if I was born of those parents?
Οἰδίπους:πῶς δʼ οὐχί, παῖς γʼ εἰ τῶνδε γεννητῶν ἔφυν;
Messenger:Because you had no blood in common with Polybus.
Ἄγγελος:ὁθούνεκʼ ἦν σοι Πόλυβος οὐδὲν ἐν γένει.
Oedipus:What are you saying? Was Polybus not my father?
Οἰδίπους:πῶς εἶπας; οὐ γὰρ Πόλυβος ἐξέφυσέ με;
Messenger:Just as much, and no more, than he who speaks to you.
Ἄγγελος:οὐ μᾶλλον οὐδὲν τοῦδε τἀνδρός, ἀλλʼ ἴσον.
Oedipus:And how can my father be equal to him who is as though nothing to me?
Οἰδίπους:καὶ πῶς ὁ φύσας ἐξ ἴσου τῷ μηδενί;