Oedipus the King
≤ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Cast of Characters in Order of Appearance
Oedipus, King of Thebes, son of Jocasta and King Laius
Priest of Zeus
Creon, brother of Jocasta
Chorus of fifteen Theban elders
Teiresias, a blind prophet
Jocasta, wife and mother of Oedipus
Corinthian Messenger, old man of Corinth, servant of King
Polybus
Shepherd, slave of the royal house of Thebes
Second Messenger, servant within the house
Nonspeaking Parts
Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta
Ismene, daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta
Guards and Attendants
Young Boy who leads Teiresias
OEDIPUS THE KING ≥
Scene: In front of the palace of Thebes. Double doors on the stage are the
entrance to the palace, and an altar of the god Apollo is in the middle of the
orchestra. One entrance, on the left side of the stage, represents the road to
Corinth and Delphi. The entrance on the right side of the stage is the direction
of the city of Thebes.
Time: Two generations before the Trojan War. Oedipus has been king for many
years since solving the riddle of the Sphinx. A plague has struck the city.
(A procession of citizens and priests, carrying the signs of suppliants, enters. The
double doors open and Oedipus comes forward.)
Oedipus
My children, new stock of old Cadmus, 1
why are you seated here before me
crowned by suppliants’ wreaths,
and the air of the city dense with incense,
groans, paeans, and prayers? 5
It is not enough to learn such things
from others, and so I come myself.
I, Oedipus, whose fame is known to all.
Tell me, old man, you are the one
who should speak for the people—why are you here, 10
what do you want, and fear? I will help
however I can. It would be heartless
not to pity such desperate pleas.
Priest
O Oedipus, ruler of our country,
you see us gathered at the altar— 15
some not yet strong enough to fly the nest,
others crippled by age. I am a priest of Zeus.
The best of our youth stand here with me.
All your people, garlanded, wait in the marketplace
at the double shrines of Pallas Athena, 20
the mantic fire on the banks of Ismenus.
You can see that the city is in turmoil,
everything in confusion. Bloody plague
crashes over our heads like a tide of death,
blighting the fruits of the earth, 25
∂ THE THEBAN PLAYS
blighting the wombs of cattle and women.
A fiery fever god stalks among us,
the city is emptied, the house of Cadmus
is mortally weakened, and black
Hades fattens on groans and tears. 30
No man can be the equal of the gods.
We do not compare you to them. But,
as first among men, tempered by life,
you know how to deal with whatever the gods bring.
You came to Cadmus’ city and freed us 35
from the tribute payment the Sphinx demanded—
that cruel singer! We could not tell you what
to do or how to do it—but we are sure
that the gods must have helped you to save our lives.
O Oedipus, most powerful of all, 40
as humble suppliants we beg for help.
Strengthen us now—either
through the inspiration of a god or
by human wisdom. I know that
the man who has lived most gives the best advice. 45
Come, noblest of men, rescue our city.
Come—act—because the whole country calls you
its hero since you first saved us.
Let your reign not be remembered
as starting in triumph but ending in disaster. 50
Save us again and rescue our city.
You brought good luck then and good omens—
bring equal fortune now.
You have power over this land—surely
it is better to rule living men. 55
An abandoned ship or the broken walls and towers
of an empty city are nothing.
Oedipus
Pitiful children, you come to me
wanting answers I cannot always give.
I already know how sick you are—but you 60
must know that I am stricken most of all.
The misery of each is for himself alone, none other.
But my soul groans for the whole city,
OEDIPUS THE KING ∑
for each of you as well as for myself.
Do not think you woke me from sleep. 65
Sleepless I pace and weep and my mind
wanders all the roads of thought
in search of remedy. The only one I found
was this: to send my kinsman Creon,
Menoeceus’ son, my wife Jocasta’s brother, 70
to the Pythia at the shrine of Phoebus Apollo,
to ask the god what I could do or say to save my city.
But too much time has passed, and now
I wonder, what is he doing?—
he has been away so long. 75
Whatever message he brings,
I shall obey the god’s command.
Priest
These are gracious and timely words—and look,
your servants wave and call that he approaches.
Oedipus
O lord Apollo, let it be your favored blessing on us 80
that shines from his eyes.
Priest
And all seems well—why else would his head
be garlanded with full-berried bay leaves?
Oedipus
Soon we shall know. He is close enough to hear.
Creon, welcome, my kinsman, son of Menoeceus. 85
What word do you bring from the shrine of Apollo?
(Enter Creon from direction of Delphi.)
Creon
Good news, I say, because if it ends well,
even what seems the worst would be good fortune.
Oedipus
What do you mean? As yet
I do not know whether to hope or fear. 90
∏ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Creon
Do you want these others to hear,
or should we go inside?
Oedipus
Speak to us all. I bear the pain
of everyone, not merely my own.
Creon
I shall tell what I heard from the god. 95
Lord Phoebus commands
that to drive this plague from our land, nourished by our land,
we must root it out, or it will be past cure.
Oedipus
What rite will expiate this crime?
Creon
Banishment or death for death—blood unavenged 100
menaces the city like a storm.
Oedipus
Does Apollo reveal the man who was killed?
Creon
Laius, O lord, was the ruler
of this city, before you saved it.
Oedipus
I have heard about him. But I never saw him. 105
Creon
He was killed, and the god clearly commands
vengeance upon his murderers.
Oedipus
Where can they be? Where
can we find the traces of this ancient crime?
OEDIPUS THE KING π
Creon
He says it lies in this land. What is sought 110
is found; the ignored will disappear.
Oedipus
Was it in another place, or here
in his own house or fields, that Laius died?
Creon
He was traveling abroad, so he said, on pilgrimage to Delphi,
but never returned home. 115
Oedipus
Did no one survive, was there no one else on the road
who saw what happened and could tell us something?
Creon
Everyone died, except one, who fled in fear
and could remember only one thing—
Oedipus
What did he say? From one clue 120
much can be deduced. This gives me hope.
Creon
He said it was a band of robbers
that attacked and killed him, not one, but many hands.
Oedipus
How could a single robber, unless bribed
by some vile man from here, dare to kill him? 125
Creon
That was thought of then. But with Laius’ death,
we had no defender against the many evils.
Oedipus
The king overthrown,
what evil was enough to stop the search?
∫ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Creon
The Sphinx’s riddling demands 130
kept our thoughts on what was at our feet.
Oedipus
I shall go back to the start of it all—
I know the god’s and your concern
for the one who has died.
You will see me as a true ally 135
avenging this land and Phoebus Apollo.
Not only for old friends but also for myself
must I drive away this defilement.
Whoever killed Laius now might choose
to murder me. To solve that crime 140
is to protect myself.
Come, children, hasten
from the altar steps, and raise your olive wreaths.
Let someone call the people of Cadmus
to join us. I vow to do all that I can. 145
With the god’s help, either we triumph or fail.
Priest
Rise to your feet.
We have heard what we want: Oedipus agrees.
And may the sacred power of Phoebus Apollo,
and the oracles he sent, defeat this plague. 150
(The Priest and suppliants leave through the right side, toward Thebes.
Oedipus exits through the double doors. Creon exits on the right.)
(The Chorus of fifteen elders of Thebes enters the orchestra from the right
and sings the opening ode, the parodos.)
Choral Entry Song (parodos)
Chorus Strophe A (151–57)
Is that the sweet-sounding voice of Zeus
from the gold-decked Pythian shrine
come to glorious Thebes?
My mind shudders with fear.
In awe we invoke you, healer-god of Delos.
What price will you exact, now or in the future,
OEDIPUS THE KING Ω
for what we ask?
Speak, immortal child of golden Hope,
we crave your words.
Antistrophe A (158–67)
First we call on you, daughter of Zeus,
deathless Athena, and your sister Artemis,
queen of our earth, on her throne in the marketplace,
and on Phoebus the far-shooting archer—
O you three, with your threefold power
to defend us now from death, appear!
As you have saved us before from destruction
racing toward our city,
save us again from these new flames of woe.
Come to us here.
Strophe B (168–78)
Alas, our troubles are endless.
All the people are sick—
no one knows how we can defend ourselves,
even the hardest thought cannot forge spear or sword.
Our richest fields are sterile now.
Our women labor in stillbirth.
Wherever you look, like winged birds
or forest fire, crowds flee toward
the darkening west, to Hades’ land.
Antistrophe B (179–89)
The city dies through these unnumbered deaths.
Its unmourned children rot on the plain
in pitiless contagion,
its wives and faded mothers wander
from one altar to another
groaning their woes and prayers.
The voices blend with the flutes in a paean to you,
O bright-faced, golden daughter of Zeus.
Send us your aid.
Strophe C (190–202)
We hear no clash of brazen arms,
but Ares’ threats and war cries ring through the city,
torment us night and day.
Oh, drive him from the borders of our fatherland
out to the furthest reaches of the western sea
and Amphitrite’s chamber,
∞≠ THE THEBAN PLAYS
or toward the rocky northern shores of Thrace
beyond the Hellespont,
for what night leaves unfinished, day completes—
you who wield the power of lightning stroke
to blast, and thunderbolt to crush him,
Great Father Zeus.
Antistrophe C (203–15)
And you, shining wolf-god Apollo,
let the adamantine shafts, our defenders,
fly from your plaited golden bowstring
like Artemis’ fiery torches
when she hunts on the Lycian hills.
Let the gold-crowned god
named for this land, wine-faced Bacchus,
come with his troop of maenads
brandishing their pitchy torches
and crying Euoi!
to drive o√ Ares our enemy—
that god despised by every other god.
(Oedipus enters through the double doors.)
Oedipus
I hear what you ask. And if you heed my words,
and tend the plague, much might be done
to overcome these evils.
I speak as a stranger to the story
and commission of this crime, with no idea 220
where to hunt for clues and signs.
But now I am one of you, a citizen
of Thebes—and announce to all Cadmeans
that whoever knows the name of the killer
of Laius, son of Labdacus, 225
I command him to reveal it to me.
Even if he must confess the crime
* * * * * *
himself, he has nothing to fear but banishment.
Unharmed he may depart this land.
If someone knows the murderer, 230
be he citizen or stranger, he should speak now.
He will be rewarded and thanked.
But if no one will speak, and shielding a friend
OEDIPUS THE KING ∞∞
or himself, ignores my words,
let him hear the punishment. 235
This man, whoever he is, will be forbidden
in any part of my realm,
nor may anyone give him aid
or shelter or greeting,
nor with him share the rites, libations, 240
and sacrifice to the gods, but should
thrust him from their house—being one accursed—
as the Pythian Oracle revealed to me.
Thus I honor my duty to the god
and to the dead man. 245
I pray that whoever did this—even if he has,
alone or with his murderous accomplices, escaped—
may his life always be wretched.
And I pray that if he should be one of my household—
and I know it—then let me su√er 250
every punishment I call down on others.
I ask you to make sure these things are done—
not only for my sake and for the sake of the god
but for our barren, god-forsaken land.
Even if it were not god-urged, 255
it would be wrong to allow this foulness to survive.
A noble man, a king, has died.
We must seek out the cause and avenge it.
Now that I rule with the same power he held,
become his kin, his wife and bed now mine— 260
and if he had been blessed with children as I have,
their birth from the same mother
would have bound us even closer.
But evil fortune came to that man.
Now, as if he were my own father, 265
I shall do everything I can to find the murderer
of the son of Labdacus, son of Polydorus,
of Cadmus before him, and ancient Agenor.
And whoever does not help me, I pray the gods
may blight their land and the wombs 270
of their wives, that their fate will be
to die an even worse death than his.
But for all loyal Cadmeans,
∞≤ THE THEBAN PLAYS
may their ally Justice,
and all the gods, be gracious and kind. 275
Chorus (The coryphaeus, the leader of the Chorus, speaks.)
Because of your curse, my lord, I must speak,
for I did not kill him nor can I say who did.
Phoebus set the task—it is for the god to tell
who did the deed.
Oedipus
You are right. But no one can force 280
the gods to speak if they do not wish.
Chorus
The second thing I’ll say—
Oedipus
And if you have one, give me your third reason also!
Chorus
I know that the seer Teiresias sees most like Phoebus.
If you can know what he sees, 285
you will come closest to the truth.
Oedipus
But I have not been idle and done nothing.
After hearing Creon talk of him, I sent two messengers,
and it is strange that he is not yet here.
Chorus
All those old reports are dull and stale— 290
Oedipus
What reports? Is there something I have not looked into?
Chorus
They say he was attacked by a gang of thieves and killed on the road.
Oedipus
That’s what I heard. But no one saw who did it.
OEDIPUS THE KING ∞≥
Chorus
If he knows what fear is, that man,
he will not linger, after your curses. 295
Oedipus
If he did not fear murder, he will not fear curses.
Chorus
But here comes the one to find him—
Teiresias. They lead him in, the divine seer—he who,
alone among men, always knows the truth.
(Enter Teiresias, a blind seer, led by a Young Boy, from the direction
of Thebes.)
Oedipus
O Teiresias, you who know and teach 300
Olympian secrets and mysteries here on the earth!
Though sightless, you perceive everything.
You know what sickness gnaws at the city.
Like a soldier in the front row of the phalanx
who takes the first onslaught, you alone can save us. 305
You must already know Phoebus’ message—
that the end to this plague will only come
when we track down Laius’ murderers
and kill them, or drive them from this land.
Whatever method you have to read the future— 310
from the flight of birds, or other ways of augury—
use it now to save yourself, your city, and me
from the pollution of unavenged murder.
We are all in your hands. For a man to use
his gifts to help others is the most noble labor. 315
Teiresias
Alas, how awful it is to have wisdom, when such knowledge
is useless. I knew this already, but ignored it—
or else I would have known better than to come.
Oedipus
How is it that you are so reluctant?
∞∂ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Teiresias
Let me go home. It will be better. 320
We shall each bear our fate easier if you obey me.
Oedipus
It is neither right nor kind to the city that bred you
if you deny it your prophetic powers.
Teiresias
I see your words fall wide of the mark and miss their aim.
I don’t want mine to do the same. 325
Oedipus
With the knowledge you have from the gods,
we bow at your feet and implore you to speak, not turn away.
Teiresias
You cannot imagine what evil I know already—
though I will not reveal it.
Oedipus
Do I hear right—that you will not tell what you know? 330
Do you want to betray us and destroy the city?
Teiresias
I do not want to harm you—or myself.
Do not interrogate me. I will say nothing.
Oedipus
O wicked, heartless man—you would madden
even a stone. Why will you not speak out 335
but insolent, stay stubbornly mute?
Teiresias
You attack my anger and blame me,
unconscious of your own.
Oedipus
Who would not be angry, hearing how
you deny me and dishonor our city? 340
OEDIPUS THE KING ∞∑
Teiresias
These things will come, though I muΔe them in silence.
Oedipus
What will come? You must tell me!
Teiresias
I shall say nothing else, but stay silent,
no matter how you rage and storm.
Oedipus
And I shall not hold back what I know, my anger 345
will not allow it. Know that I think you
were part of the plot, and even, I say,
that you alone would have done the evil deed
with your own hands, if you were not a blind man.
Teiresias
Is this so? Let me tell you— 350
you must abide by your own decree.
From this day forth, you must not speak to me or any man.
You yourself are the sacrilegious curse of this land.
Oedipus
Shameless to say such things!
Where do you think to escape now? 355
Teiresias
No need to escape. My words are true.
Oedipus
Who taught you this? Not your prophetic skill!
Teiresias
It was you; and made me speak against my will.
Oedipus
What did I say? Tell me once more, so I can try to take it in.
Teiresias
Have you not yet understood? Do you want to test me? 360
∞∏ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus
Perhaps I did not comprehend—explain it again.
Teiresias
I repeat that you yourself are the murderer you seek.
Oedipus
You will be sorry if you say that again—
Teiresias
I’ll tell you something else, which will anger you even more.
Oedipus
Spew out whatever you like—it will mean nothing to me. 365
Teiresias
All unaware, you have done shameless things with
your closest and dearest, and do not yet see the full horror of your
deeds.
Oedipus
Do you think you can say that and go unpunished?
Teiresias
There is strength in truth.
Oedipus
In truth, yes. But this is not truth, 370
but the ravings of a deaf, witless, blind man—blind in all his senses.
Teiresias
And you, poor wretch, will soon be the butt
of every insult you now direct at me.
Oedipus
You are a creature of night, and cannot
harm me, nor any other who can see the light. 375
Teiresias
It is not I who has made your fate.
That was Apollo’s task—that is his care.
OEDIPUS THE KING ∞π
Oedipus
Is it Creon, or another, who set you to this?
Teiresias
Creon is not your enemy—it is yourself.
Oedipus
Power and wealth, kingship and skill 380
surpassing skill in every art of life—
how they all produce only envy!
And is it because of this power—which the city
granted of its own free will, unasked for—
that Creon, whom I trusted as a friend, 385
now tries to undermine and depose me
by sending this trickster, this wizard
who can see nothing but his own gain,
being blind in his supposed art?
Give me an example of your vision. 390
How is it that when the dog-haunched singer squatted here
you said nothing to save the city and its people?
The riddle should not have waited for a stranger
to solve it. There was need of a prophet—
but neither from birds nor gods did you learn 395
the answer. It was I, Oedipus,
the ignorant, who stopped her, who triumphed
through my own intelligence, not the help of gods or birds—
I, whom you call the curse, and think to depose, hoping
it will bring you closer to power in Creon’s court. 400
Believe me, the two of you, your plotting
will end in tears. If you were not so old
I would punish you for such disloyal thoughts.
Chorus
It seems to us that the words of both—his
and yours—are spoken in anger. Oedipus, 405
this is pointless, and will get us no further
toward obeying the words of the oracle.
Teiresias
Even though you are the king, I am your equal
in this—the right to reply.
∞∫ THE THEBAN PLAYS
I am no man’s slave. I serve Loxias. 410
Creon has no power over me.
But I say to you, who have taunted me in my blindness,
that though you have sight, you cannot see your own evil
nor the truth of where you live and whom you live with.
Do you know your origin, know that you are the enemy 415
of all your line, those below the earth and those still on it,
and that your mother’s and father’s double-edged curse
with deadly step will drive you from this land—
like a light revealing all, before it blinds you.
Every cave and shelter in Cithaeron will echo 420
with your cries, when you realize
the full meaning of the marriage
you thought would be your safe harbor.
You cannot yet see the throng of other evils
which will reduce you to the level of your children. 425
Say the worst that you can about me and about Creon—
pelt us with mud—but there is no mortal
who will be more befouled than you.
Oedipus
I will not su√er this! I refuse to listen!
Damn you—get out— 430
why have you not gone, why are you still here?
Teiresias
I would not have come if you had not summoned me.
Oedipus
If I had known you would say such foolish things
I would not have ordered you here.
Teiresias
I might seem a fool to you— 435
but your parents thought me wise.
Oedipus
My parents? Wait—you knew those who bore me?
OEDIPUS THE KING ∞Ω
Teiresias
This day bears your birth and destruction.
Oedipus
Riddling again!
Teiresias
You are good at riddles. 440
Oedipus
You mock my talent.
Teiresias
The same talent has destroyed you.
Oedipus
But if I saved the city—that is all I care about.
Teiresias
Good. I shall go. You, boy, lead me away.
Oedipus
Yes, let him lead you away. Your presence disturbs me. 445
I shall be glad when you have gone.
Teiresias
When I have said what I came to say, then I shall leave—
not because I fear you. You cannot do me harm.
I tell you—the man you have sought for so long,
threatened, and denounced as the murderer 450
of Laius—that man is here.
Now he is called a stranger, an alien, but soon
will be known as a native-born Theban—
which will bring him no joy.
A beggar not a rich man, blind who now has eyes, 455
hesitantly tapping his sta√ through a foreign land,
he will be exposed as brother and father
to his own children, son and husband
to the woman who bore him, sharer of the marriage bed
with the father he murdered. 460
≤≠ THE THEBAN PLAYS
You go inside, but think on this. If I have seen wrong,
then call me blind—a false prophet.
(Exit Teiresias, led by the Boy, toward Thebes, stage right. Oedipus
exits through the double doors into the palace. The Chorus sings the first
stasimon.)
First Stasimon
Chorus Strophe A (463–72)
Who is this man the oracular rocks of Delphi curse
for unspeakable deeds
too terrible to describe?
Whose blood-drenched hands have done such work?
The hour has come for him to flee
like a horse before the storm
from the wrath of leaping Apollo,
armed like his father Zeus with fire and lightning bolt,
and from the implacable Keres,
goddesses of death, who snap at his heels.
Antistrophe A (473–82)
See how the signal flashes
from snow-capped Parnassus
for all to hunt the fugitive
through the tangled forest
and the deepest caverns
where he lurks between boulders
like a mountain bull with a crippled foot,
wretched and solitary, desperate to hide
from the oracles of the Omphalos
who flutter and squeak around his head.
Strophe B (483–97)
What this wise old prophet reads
from the auguries, agitates me, agitates me.
I am torn, and cannot decide
if I should believe what he says, or deny it—
waver between hope and fear,
uncertain where to seek the truth.
Tell me, what was the quarrel
between the house of Labdacus
and Polybus’ son?
OEDIPUS THE KING ≤∞
I have never heard talk of one,
now or in the past,
which might serve as proof; without it
how can I go against the good name of Oedipus—
I who am defender of the house of Labdacus—
and blame him for this obscure death?
Antistrophe B (498–512)
Zeus and Apollo are wise,
see deep into the hearts of men.
But even the most famous seer
is only a man, in the end—
need be no wiser than me.
Until I am convinced
that what the auger says is true,
I shall not believe those who blame the king.
When he bested the Sphinx, the Winged Maiden,
and saved our city
everyone loved him—
that will be my touchstone.
Until his guilt is proved,
for me he will be innocent.
(Enter Creon from the direction of Thebes, stage right.)
Creon
Citizens, I am told
that King Oedipus makes vile accusations against me.
It is unbearable! 515
If in his present misfortunes
he thinks he has su√ered at my hands,
his troubles caused by anything I’ve done
by word or deed, I would not want to live.
Such slander is not a simple thing to bear 520
but the worst of all—it taints me doubly
as an evil, both to my city and to my friends.
Chorus (The coryphaeus speaks.)
He says it, yes—but perhaps
he speaks without thinking, in anger.
≤≤ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Creon
Does he claim that I persuaded the seer 525
to make these accusations and say these lying words?
Chorus
That is what he said, but I do not know the reason.
Creon
Were his eyes clear, did he seem calm
when he laid this charge against me?
Chorus
I cannot tell you, I am not witness of my master’s acts. 530
But he himself now comes out of the house.
(Enter Oedipus through the double doors of the palace.)
Oedipus
You—wretch—how dare you show your face? Or
are you so shameless that you come to my house
openly, as an acknowledged murderer,
who schemes to rob me of my kingdom? 535
By the gods—do you regard me
as such a fool and coward that you can do these things,
or think I would not guess your most secret
plans and then protect myself?
And what a stupid plan—without 540
the backing of party and fortune and friends—
to think that you could track and seize the crown.
Creon
Do you have a better idea? Listen to me,
I will speak calmly, and you can judge.
Oedipus
You are good at making excuses, but I am bad 545
at believing them. To me, they sound like threats.
Creon
At least, hear what I have to say.
OEDIPUS THE KING ≤≥
Oedipus
As long as you do not claim you are not evil.
Creon
If you think this mindless bluster
is something to be proud of, you think wrong. 550
Oedipus
And if you think you can do evil against your kinsman
and not be punished, you think wrong.
Creon
I admit your words are just. But tell me,
what harm have I done you?
Oedipus
Did you, or did you not, insist I must 555
send for that man, that famous prophet?
Creon
And I would still give the same advice—
Oedipus
And how long is it since Laius—
Creon
Since Laius did what? What do you mean?
Oedipus
Vanished. Was murdered. 560
Creon
It was a very long time ago.
Oedipus
And was this seer as famous then?
Creon
Yes, and just as honored.
≤∂ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus
Did he mention my name then?
Creon
Not as far as I know. 565
Oedipus
But you searched for the killer?
Creon
Of course we did. But we discovered nothing.
Oedipus
And if he was so wise, why could he not find out these things?
Creon
I do not know, and so can give no answer.
Oedipus
You know very well—so say what you know. 570
Creon
What do I know? I would speak if I had something to say.
Oedipus
Because—if he were not in league with you,
he would never have said I killed Laius!
Creon
If he does say that, then you know why—
I am learning as much from you as you from me. 575
Oedipus
Learn then that I will not be named a murderer.
Creon
Yet, did you not take my sister for wife?
Oedipus
How can I deny it?
OEDIPUS THE KING ≤∑
Creon
And rule with equal power, you and she, over this land?
Oedipus
She has an equal share in everything. 580
Creon
And therefore am I not also equal to you both, one third of three?
Oedipus
Now you show your true thoughts—treacherous friend!
Creon
Not if you think about it coolly, as I have.
Consider this first: would anyone
choose to rule with all the fear that brings, rather 585
than sleep in peace, yet with the same power?
It is not in my nature to crave
the name of king—I’d rather do what a king does,
like anyone with good judgment.
Now, I have everything—except the fear. 590
If I were king, I would be forced into actions I hated.
How much sweeter to have the power
but not the grief of being king.
I am not such a fool that I need
more than the privilege and profit. 595
Now, I greet everyone equally, and they all praise me.
Now, whoever wants a favor from you, shows favor to me,
hoping it will help them gain what they wish.
Why would I give up all this?
A man who sees the world clearly does not plot treason. 600
No, I would never think like that,
nor fraternize with those who did.
And for proof, to test my words, go to the Pythia at Delphi,
question the oracle whether what I say is true.
If you should catch me out, plotting 605
with the seer, then sentence and slay me, not only
with your one vote, but with two—both mine and yours.
≤∏ THE THEBAN PLAYS
But if you are not sure, do not accuse me.
It is not justice to believe without proof
in the virtue of bad men, or that good men are evil. 610
To reject a true friend
is like casting away your own life.
In time you will understand such things,
for time alone reveals the just man—
but the evil-doer is recognized at once. 615
Chorus
What he says makes sense—safer to heed it
than to act in haste, stumble, and fall.
Oedipus
If he plots swift and secret
I must be as quick.
Otherwise, he will act while I wait 620
and all my aims miss their targets.
Creon
What do you want? To banish me?
Oedipus
Exile is not enough. I want your death.
* * * * * * *
Creon
That’s what envy leads to!
* * * * *
Oedipus
Stubborn wretch! Why don’t you believe me? 625
Creon: Because it’s clear your mind is in chaos.
Oedipus: —about myself?
Creon: Certainly about me.
Oedipus: You are treacherous!
Creon: And you understand nothing—
Oedipus: Except that I am king, and rule.
OEDIPUS THE KING ≤π
Creon: —rule badly.
Oedipus: O city, my city!
Creon
My city also, not only yours! 630
Chorus
Stop, lords! Here, just in time
I see Jocasta come from the house.
She will make peace between you.
(Enter Jocasta, through the double doors.)
Jocasta
You foolish men, why have you begun
to quarrel? Aren’t you ashamed, 635
the whole land sick, to flaunt your petty discontents?
Go home, the two of you. You—and you also, Creon.
You are making much of nothing.
Creon
Sister, your husband thinks he can do
what he likes to me—either drive me 640
out of my home and land, or kill me.
Oedipus
Yes wife, it’s true, exactly that—for I caught him
plotting evil against me.
Creon
May I never prosper and let me die accursed
if I have done any of this! 645
Jocasta
If he swears by the gods it is true,
then by the gods, trust him, Oedipus—
do this for me, and all these others.
First Kommos
Chorus Strophe (649–78)
Think carefully, then yield,
I beg you, my lord.
≤∫ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus
What exactly do you want me to do?
Chorus
Accept his word. He is no fool,
and swears before the gods.
Oedipus
Do you know what you are asking?
Chorus (The coryphaeus speaks): I know— 655
Oedipus: Say it again—make it absolutely clear.
Chorus
That you should not believe an unproved charge
against a friend who swears his innocence.
Oedipus
Can you not understand that what you ask
signifies my banishment and destruction?
Chorus
Never! not even by the greatest of the gods, 660
Helios. Let me die godless,
friendless and desperate,
before I think such things.
My grief is the fate of this blighted land, 665
and my heart will be torn in two
if to this evil is added
such hatred between you both.
Oedipus
Let him go, then—even if it means I must die,
or be forced into exile, dishonored. 670
It is not his words that move me, but yours.
Wherever he is, I shall always hate him.
Creon
How hard it is for you to yield!
The weight of your own nature
is heavier for you to bear than any other. 675
OEDIPUS THE KING ≤Ω
Oedipus
Get away from me—leave me alone!
Creon
I am going. You are vicious—
but these others have saved me.
(Exit Creon toward Thebes, stage right.)
Chorus Antistrophe (679–96)
Why so slow, O wife of Oedipus,
to lead this man into the house? 680
Jocasta
When I know what’s happened—
Chorus
Unjust suspicions, ignorant accusations
gnaw at the heart.
Jocasta
From each of them?
Chorus: Yes. 685
Jocasta: But what was said?
Chorus
Already we su√er enough through our land’s misfortunes.
We need no other cause of grief.
Oedipus
Good man that you are—yet
you see what it leads to, your e√ort to soothe my anger.
Chorus
Dear lord, I say it again— 690
that I would be quite mad, an idiot,
to turn from you now, you
who carried our land to safety,
like a ship before a fair wind,
≥≠ THE THEBAN PLAYS
from its time of woes. 695
Now once again may you be our good pilot.
Jocasta
By the gods, tell me the truth,
my lord—what it was
that caused such anger?
Oedipus
Wife whom I respect more than these men, 700
I say it is Creon who has plotted against me.
Jocasta
But can you tell me clearly the cause of the quarrel?
Oedipus
He dares to say that it was I who murdered Laius.
Jocasta
Is this his own accusation, or is he repeating another’s?
Oedipus
He sent his charlatan-wizard to speak for him, 705
so he is free of blame.
Jocasta
My dear, forget all that.
Listen to what I have to say, and learn
that no mortal can prophesy the future—
and I can prove it. 710
Long ago, an oracle came here to Laius—
I will not claim from Phoebus himself, but one of his priests—
who told him it was his fate to die by the hand
of any child born to me and him.
But you know the story—it was foreign robbers 715
who killed him at the crossroad where three roads meet.
And three days after the birth of our boy
Laius pinned the infant’s feet together
and gave the order to expose him on the pathless mountainside.
So Apollo’s prophecy was not accomplished: 720
that child could never murder his father,
OEDIPUS THE KING ≥∞
nor Laius su√er the fate he feared.
Such predictions can be ignored;
they mean nothing. Whatever a god wants,
he can tell us himself. 725
Oedipus
What agitation grips my mind and spirit
as I hear you, wife.
Jocasta
But why does this make you so anxious?
Oedipus
I seemed to hear you say that Laius
was butchered where three roads meet. 730
Jocasta
That was the story then, and still is now.
Oedipus
Where did this awful thing happen?
Jocasta
Phocis the place is called,
where the roads from Daulis and Delphi join.
Oedipus
And how long ago was it? 735
Jocasta
It was just before you appeared and took power in this land,
that the news came to the city.
Oedipus
O Zeus, what are your plans for me?
Jocasta
Tell me what troubles your heart, Oedipus.
≥≤ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus
Don’t ask yet. Just say—what did he look like, 740
how old was Laius then?
Jocasta
Tall enough, and beginning to go grey.
Very much as you look now.
Oedipus
Woe is me! How wretched I am, self-cursed
through my own ignorance. 745
Jocasta
I don’t want to understand what you mean.
Oedipus
I dread that seer saw right.
But you will help me most if you can tell me one more thing.
Jocasta
I shrink with dread also, but if I can, I’ll answer your question.
Oedipus
Was he alone, or did he have armed men with him, 750
the proper escort of a leader?
Jocasta
There were five of them, including a herald,
and Laius rode in the carriage.
Oedipus
Alas, it all comes clear. Who was it
who told this to you, wife? 755
Jocasta
A servant who returned alone, the only survivor.
Oedipus
Is he still here in the house now?
OEDIPUS THE KING ≥≥
Jocasta
No. Because when he arrived from that place and saw
that you were lord now Laius had perished,
he knelt, taking my hand, and begged me 760
to send him away to the fields to be my shepherd,
far from all sight of this city.
And I agreed. He was the sort, though a slave,
who deserved even greater favor.
Oedipus
Can he be brought here, quickly? 765
Jocasta
Yes, it can be done. But why do you ask?
Oedipus
I am afraid, Jocasta. I have said too much already.
That is why I must see him.
Jocasta
Then he will come. But surely I deserve to be told
what is tormenting you, lord. 770
Oedipus
I shall not hold back from telling you
my worst fears. Who else is dearer to me, or better
to share these things than you?
My father was Polybus of Corinth,
my mother, Merope, a Dorian. And I 775
was thought the first among our citizens
until, one night, something unexpected happened—
which I would have done better to ignore.
A drunken guest at a banquet called out
that I was a bastard, not my father’s son. 780
I managed to hold my tongue then, but it rankled,
and the next day went to my parents, repeated
what he had said and demanded the truth.
They were furious and denied it absolutely.
I believed them, but was still angry. 785
And the story spread—the way they always do.
≥∂ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Not saying a word to my parents,
I presented myself to the Pythian oracle,
but Phoebus refused my question—
instead, made terrible forecasts 790
that I was doomed to sleep with my mother
and engender a monstrous brood; become
the murderer of my own father.
Hearing such awful things, I fled,
using the stars as guides to make sure 795
I always moved away from Corinth,
so the evil oracle would never be accomplished,
and at last arrived at the place
where you say your old king died.
Wife, to you I can tell the truth. 800
As I came near to where the three roads join
I met a herald, and a horse-drawn carriage
like those you describe—
and the herald, and the man in the carriage,
forced me o√ the road. 805
It was the driver, as he tried to turn me aside,
I struck out at first in my anger.
Then, as I pushed past, the old man
jabbed from above at my head with his double goad.
But he paid for this—for now, 810
with the sta√ in my hand, I tumbled him out of the cart
and onto his back in the road
and slaughtered them all. If that stranger
had any connection with Laius,
what man is more wretched than I? 815
Who could be more hated by the gods than he
whom no stranger or citizen must allow into their house
nor speak to, but must cast out
and turn away—and it is I alone
who laid these curses on myself ! 820
The very bed of the murdered man
is polluted by the same hands that killed him.
O awful! Totally evil, I must seek even further
exile, to make sure I’ll never meet one of my own kin
nor tread the soil of my birth, or else I am doomed 825
to mate with my own mother and slay Polybus,
OEDIPUS THE KING ≥∑
the father who begot and raised me.
How could someone, judging such a fate,
not think me the plaything of a savage god?
No, let me vanish and die first, 830
before my name is stained forever by such shame.
Never, never, believe me, shall I allow
such things to happen, or commit such acts.
Chorus
We shrink from such knowledge, O lord,
but until he has spoken, you can have hope. 835
Oedipus
Indeed, this is my only hope—
to wait for the shepherd.
Jocasta
And when he comes, what is it you want to hear?
Oedipus
I shall tell you. If his story confirms yours,
my su√ering will be over. 840
Jocasta
What did I say that seemed so important?
Oedipus
You insisted he said that robber men
had killed him. Men—not a man. If he still
says that, I could not have done it,
because one is not the same as many. 845
But if he is sure it was one man alone,
then the scales of justice tilt and make me guilty.
Jocasta
That is what he said at first
and he cannot deny it.
Everyone heard, not only me. 850
And even if he should say something di√erent now
it still will prove nothing
about the murder of Laius, whom Loxias said
≥∏ THE THEBAN PLAYS
would be killed by my son.
That wretched child could never 855
have done it—he was already dead.
I pay no heed to prophecies—look neither
to right nor left, but on the road ahead.
Oedipus
That may be so. Still, do not neglect
to send someone to bring that man here. 860
Jocasta
It shall be done at once. Now come into the house.
I wish only to please you.
(Exit Oedipus and Jocasta into the palace, through the double doors.)
Second Stasimon
Chorus Strophe A (863–72)
Let me fulfill my fate
through the holy purity
of all my words and deeds
and follow the heavenly laws,
engendered in the bright ether
by their father Olympus,
laws we humans could not have framed;
they will never be forgotten
nor blotted out by sleep—the god lives
in them, eternal and mighty.
Antistrophe A (873–82)
Pride breeds tyrants, arrogant,
glutted on folly.
Pride blindly mounts the heights
then tumbles down the precipice
to the utmost depths,
losing its footing.
I pray the god will not revoke the need
for that healthy rivalry
which strengthens the city,
that he will always be our champion.
OEDIPUS THE KING ≥π
Strophe B (883–896)
The man who struts through life
vicious and arrogant in word and act,
who does not fear Justice
nor honors the gods—
may evil befall him
for such insolent impiety.
But if he profits fairly, shuns all outrage
nor lays profaning hands on holy things,
and still is punished,
then how can any mortal man evade
the angry arrows aimed from Olympus,
or the threat of heavenly vengeance?
If evil deeds like his are honored,
who would dance before god’s altar?
Antistrophe B (897–910)
No longer shall I go
in reverence to Delphi,
Omphalos of Earth.
I shall not visit the oracle at Abae
nor that of Olympia
because their words
no longer ring true,
though every mortal still wants to believe them.
O Zeus, as you are indeed called, ruler of all,
do not be unaware of this.
For the old prophecies about Laius
are already dismissed, and Apollo’s glory dimmed;
the gods grow weak and feeble. 910
(Enter Jocasta from the palace, through the double doors. She is carrying
wreaths and incense.)
Jocasta
Lords of the land, I have decided to go
on pilgrimage to the temples,
bearing wreathes and incense-o√erings to the gods,
for Oedipus torments himself with fear of the future
as much as dread of the past. 915
Whatever he’s told he believes.
He pays no heed to what I say.
I can do no more, but turn to you,
≥∫ THE THEBAN PLAYS
(Jocasta makes an o√ering at the altar.)
shining wolf-god Apollo, closest and dearest of all gods,
entreating your aid with these prayers— 920
that you release us from this curse.
For now we are all dismayed, to see
the pilot of our vessel himself disoriented.
(Enter Corinthian Messenger from the direction of Corinth, stage
left. He is elderly.)
Corinthian Messenger
Strangers, can you tell me where
Is the house of King Oedipus? 925
Better still—tell me if you know where he is?
Chorus
Here is his house, stranger, and he himself inside,
and this his fruitful wife, mother of his children.
Corinthian Messenger
May she be blessed, and all her kind—
the legitimate wife. 930
Jocasta
And blessings on you, stranger. You deserve them,
for your good words. But tell me,
why have you come, what news do you bring?
Corinthian Messenger
Good news for your house and your husband, woman.
Jocasta
What is it—and who sent you? 935
Corinthian Messenger
I come from Corinth, and what I have to say
will surely give you pleasure—how not?—yet will grieve you as much.
Jocasta
Tell me—how can it have this double power?
OEDIPUS THE KING ≥Ω
Corinthian Messenger
The people of Isthmian Corinth
want him for king—that is what they say. 940
Jocasta
Why? Isn’t old Polybus still king?
Corinthian Messenger
No—not since Death took him to his kingdom.
Jocasta
You say that Oedipus’ father is dead?
Corinthian Messenger
May I die, if I’m not telling the truth.
Jocasta
Maid, hurry, go to your master, and tell him 945
at once. So much for prophecies!
(Maid exits through the double doors into the palace.)
Where are they now? How many years is it
since Oedipus fled his land, fearing he must kill his father—
who now has died quite naturally, not by a son’s hand!
(Enter Oedipus from the palace, through the double doors.)
Oedipus
Jocasta, my dearest, 950
why did you send for me to come from the house?
Jocasta
Hear what this man says—then tell me
where they have gone, those prophecies of the gods?
Oedipus
Who is he, and what does he have to tell me?
Jocasta
He’s from Corinth, come to inform you 955
that your father Polybus has died.
∂≠ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus
What! Stranger, let me hear it from you.
Corinthian Messenger
If you want to hear it clearly again,
then know that he is dead and gone.
Oedipus
How did he die? Was it treachery? Sickness? 960
Corinthian Messenger
The least tilt of the scales puts an old man to rest—
Oedipus
Poor man, to die of sickness.
Corinthian Messenger
—and the many years he’d lived.
Oedipus
Ah, wife, why would anyone go
to the shrine of the Pythian seer, or look for auguries 965
from the screeching birds above, who prophesied
that I would kill my father. Now he is dead,
rests beneath the earth, and I am here, innocent,
with sword untouched—unless you could say
that it was longing for me that killed him. 970
Those useless oracles now rot in Hades,
taken there by Polybus.
Jocasta
Isn’t that just what I always said?
Oedipus
Yes, but I was frightened and did not believe you.
Jocasta
Now you know not to take any of it to heart. 975
Oedipus
But surely I must still fear the bed of my mother—
OEDIPUS THE KING ∂∞
Jocasta
Why be afraid?
Chance rules us all.
No one can foresee the future.
Best to live in the present, making no plans. 980
And why should you fear the bed of your mother?
Many a man has slept with his mother in dreams.
He who dismisses such thoughts lives easiest.
Oedipus
All that you say might be true,
if she who bore me were not still alive. But she is, 985
and so I have every reason to fear.
Jocasta
Yet your father’s funeral is a cause to rejoice.
Oedipus
Yes—but she is still alive.
Corinthian Messenger
Who is this woman you fear?
Oedipus
Merope, old man—who lived with Polybus. 990
Corinthian Messenger
Why be frightened of her?
Oedipus
A dreadful prophecy from a god.
Corinthian Messenger
Can you tell it to me, or is that forbidden?
Oedipus
It was Loxias who said
I was doomed to couple with my mother 995
and kill my father with my own hands.
Because of this dreadful prophecy, many years ago
∂≤ THE THEBAN PLAYS
I quit Corinth. Since then, my life has been fortunate—yet
to look into the eyes of one’s parents is the greatest joy.
Corinthian Messenger
And this is the reason you fled the city? 1000
Oedipus
I had no wish to be my father’s murderer!
Corinthian Messenger
I can so easily free you of these fears, my lord,
since I am well-disposed toward you.
Oedipus
What a favor you would grant me!
Corinthian Messenger
And I came especially for this— 1005
to bring you home, and reap the benefit.
Oedipus
I can never go near there.
Corinthian Messenger
My child, you don’t know what you are doing.
Oedipus
How, old man? For the gods’ sake, tell me!
Corinthian Messenger
So you won’t go back because of this story? 1010
Oedipus
I dread that Phoebus’ curse will come true.
Corinthian Messenger
Or that pollution would come from your parents?
Oedipus
Exactly that is what most terrifies me.
OEDIPUS THE KING ∂≥
Corinthian Messenger
Well, you can be sure that you have nothing to fear.
Oedipus
How could that be, if they begot me? 1015
Corinthian Messenger
There is no kinship of blood between you and Polybus.
Oedipus
What do you say? Polybus not my father?
Corinthian Messenger
No more than I am. In that we were equal.
Oedipus
A nothing like you the equal of he who sired me!
Corinthian Messenger
He did not sire you, neither he nor I. 1020
Oedipus
Then why did he name me his child?
Corinthian Messenger
I gave you to him as a gift—he received you from my hands.
Oedipus
Yet strange, that from another’s hands, he loved me dearly.
Corinthian Messenger
It was the years of childlessness won him over.
Oedipus
Had you bought me somewhere, or did you find me? 1025
Corinthian Messenger
I found you on the wooded slopes of Cithaeron.
Oedipus
Did you have some reason to be there?
∂∂ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Corinthian Messenger
It was on that mountain I kept my flocks.
Oedipus
Ah—a wandering shepherd—
Corinthian Messenger
—and your savior, then. 1030
Oedipus
Was I crying, when you took me up?
Corinthian Messenger
Crying with pain—your ankles still bear witness.
Oedipus
Why must I be reminded of that old story?
Corinthian Messenger
Your feet were pierced and pinned together, and I freed them.
Oedipus
This fearful scar I’ve borne since my cradle. 1035
Corinthian Messenger
And so you are called ‘‘swollen foot.’’
Oedipus
But tell me, for the gods’ sake, was this done by my mother or my
father?
Corinthian Messenger
That I cannot. The one who gave you to me knows better than I.
Oedipus
So you did not find me yourself?
Corinthian Messenger
No, another shepherd handed you over. 1040
OEDIPUS THE KING ∂∑
Oedipus
But who was he? Can you tell me?
Corinthian Messenger
They said he was one of Laius’ men.
Oedipus
You mean the old king of this land?
Corinthian Messenger
Yes, a shepherd of Laius.
Oedipus
And is he still alive? Can I see him? 1045
Corinthian Messenger
Your local people can answer that best.
Oedipus (addressing the Chorus)
Do any of you know if he is still alive,
the shepherd of whom he speaks,
or has seen him out in the fields or here in the city?
Speak at once!—the time has come to learn these things. 1050
Chorus (The coryphaeus speaks.)
I think he must be the countryman
you wanted to see. But here’s Jocasta—
she can tell you better than I.
Oedipus
Wife, do you know if the man we sent for
is the same person this shepherd mentions? 1055
Jocasta
Why even try to find out? Pay no attention
to all that nonsense.
Oedipus
Having come so far, do you think I can hold myself back
from trying to learn the truth of my birth?
∂∏ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Jocasta
Stop, in the name of the gods—if you value your life— 1060
from going further. I have been plagued enough!
Oedipus
Be brave, woman! Even if I am proved three times a slave,
from three generations of slaves, that will not make you base-born.
Jocasta
I beg you to heed me. Do not do this.
Oedipus
You cannot stop me from learning the truth. 1065
Jocasta
Believe me, I only want the best for you.
Oedipus
Your ‘‘best,’’ it seems, is what can grieve me most.
Jocasta
Unlucky man, may you never learn who you are.
Oedipus
Someone go—bring her shepherd to me—
And leave her to gloat over her own noble birth! 1070
Jocasta
Oh, poor doomed man! That is all I can say—
my final words.
(Jocasta rushes o√ stage through the double doors.)
Chorus
Why has she fled, your wife,
in such wild pain? Oedipus, I fear this silence
will be torn apart by evil. 1075
Oedipus
Whatever may come, let it burst forth! Even
if I spring from lowly stock, I must know.
OEDIPUS THE KING ∂π
Being a woman, she might have grand ideas
and feel ashamed of my base birth.
But I am a child of Fortune— 1080
who has treated me well—and cannot be dishonored.
She is my mother, and the months, my brothers,
have marked me out to wax and wane like them from slave to king.
Such is my nature, I have no wish
to change it—nor not seek out the truth of my birth. 1085
(Oedipus and Corinthian Messenger remain on stage.)
Third Stasimon
Chorus Strophe A (1086–97)
If I am a seer,
gifted by Olympus to speak the truth,
I prophesy, Mount Cithaeron, that you will know,
at tomorrow’s full moon,
how Oedipus exalts you as his native land,
his nurse and mother.
And we shall praise you
with wild cries, song and dance,
because you honor our king,
and make him glad.
Phoebus Apollo,
may these things please you!
Antistrophe A (1098–1109)
Oedipus, who was your mother?
Was she a long-lived nymph,
consort of goat-legged father Pan,
roamer of mountains,
or some mistress of Loxias,
who loves the empty pastures?
Maybe the Lord of Cyllene, or Bacchus himself,
god of the stormy peaks,
found you—a present left there
by one of his favorite playmates,
those almost-immortal
Helicon girls!
∂∫ THE THEBAN PLAYS
(Enter elderly Shepherd with Oedipus’ men from Thebes, stage
right.)
Oedipus
Though I have never met him, 1110
yet, Elders, I can guess this is the shepherd
we have looked for—he is old enough
to be that man.
I also recognize the ones who lead him as servants of mine.
But having seen the shepherd before, 1115
you must know better than I.
Chorus
I know him well—he was Laius’ man,
one of his trusty shepherds.
Oedipus
Tell me, Corinthian stranger,
is this the one you mean? 1120
Corinthian Messenger
The very man before your eyes.
Oedipus (addressing the Shepherd)
You there, old fellow—look at me, answer
my questions. Were you one of Laius’ men?
Shepherd
Yes, a slave—not bought though, but born into the household.
Oedipus
What sort of work did you do?
Shepherd
I followed the flocks for most of my life. 1125
Oedipus
Where did you usually camp when you were out with the flocks?
Shepherd
Sometimes in Cithaeron, or else nearby.
OEDIPUS THE KING ∂Ω
Oedipus
Then you must know this man—maybe you met him there?
Shepherd
What has he done—who do you mean?
Oedipus
This man here. Have you ever had anything to do with him? 1130
Shepherd
I can’t remember just like that!
Corinthian Messenger
And no wonder, my master! But
I’ll jog his memory—then I’m sure
he’ll remember when we both were at Cithaeron.
He with his two flocks, I with my one, 1135
* * * * * * *
three seasons we stayed together up there,
the six months from spring to the rising of Arcturus.
When winter came, I would drive
my herd to its fold, and he went back to Laius’ barns.
He can’t deny that all this happened. 1140
Shepherd
It’s true—though it was long ago.
Corinthian Messenger
And do you remember that child you gave me
to rear as my own?
Shepherd
What’s it to you—why do you talk of it?
Corinthian Messenger
And here, my friend, is the one who was that child. 1145
Shepherd
May you be cursed! Why won’t you be quiet?
∑≠ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus
Do not attack him, old man. It is you
who should be punished.
Shepherd
What have I done wrong, O best of masters?
Oedipus
You would not describe the child he asks about. 1150
Shepherd
He doesn’t know what he’s saying—he wastes his breath.
Oedipus
If you won’t speak willingly, I’ll make you talk.
Shepherd
For the gods’ sake, don’t put an old man to the torture.
Oedipus
Quickly, someone, twist back his arms.
(Oedipus’ men grab the Shepherd and twist back his arms.)
Shepherd
Wretched me! What do you want to know? 1155
Oedipus
Did you give the child he asks about to this very man?
Shepherd
I did. I wish I had died on that day.
Oedipus
You’ll come to it now, if you don’t speak the truth.
Shepherd
It will be worse for me, if I do speak.
Oedipus
This man, it seems, is determined to waste my time. 1160
OEDIPUS THE KING ∑∞
Shepherd
No, no, I’ve already said I gave him the child.
Oedipus
Where did he come from? Your own house, or somewhere else?
Shepherd
Not mine. Someone gave him to me.
Oedipus
Which of the citizens here—which house?
Shepherd
For the gods’ sake, do not ask me more, master! 1165
Oedipus
You’re dead already if I have to ask again.
Shepherd
Then—if I must speak—it was someone from the house of Laius.
Oedipus
Slave—or kin?
Shepherd
Now it comes—the terrible thing I must say—
Oedipus
—and I to hear. Whatever must be heard. 1170
Shepherd
They said the child was his. She—she, the one inside—
your wife—she can best tell it all.
Oedipus: It was she who gave the child to you?
Shepherd: Yes, master.
Oedipus: Why?
Shepherd: So I would kill it.
∑≤ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus The poor woman—her own child. Why? Why? 1175
Shepherd Because of the evil prophecies.
Oedipus: What prophecies?
Shepherd: That he would kill his parents.
Oedipus
Then why did you not obey—but give him to this man?
Shepherd
I felt so sorry for him, master, and thought
he would take the child away to his own land.
But instead, he saved him for an awful fate. 1180
For if you are who he says you are, you were doomed from birth.
Oedipus
Alas, alas, it all comes clear!
O light of day, this is the last time I see you!
I am exposed as cursed—in my birth
and my marriage bed, and by those I should never have slain. 1185
(Oedipus rushes o√ through the double doors. Shepherd and
Attendants exit toward Thebes, stage right, and the Corinthian
Messenger toward Corinth, stage left.)
Fourth Stasimon
Chorus Strophe A (1186–96)
O mortal generations,
lives passing so quickly and
equaling nothing. Show me
a man who thinks he is happy
and I will show you a man deluded—
his life means nothing.
Your fate, O wretched Oedipus,
is the example I take,
to prove the gods bless nothing.
Antistrophe A (1197–1203)
You it was who drew back your bow
beyond mortal limit, and gained the blessing of wealth.
By Zeus, it was you who destroyed the Sphinx,
the oracle singer, with her crooked-taloned claws,
OEDIPUS THE KING ∑≥
and stood like a tower
against the death that threatened our land.
Since then, we have called you our king
and crowned you with grand honors,
ruler of mighty Thebes.
Strophe B (1204–12)
And now, whose story is more wretched?
Who has su√ered a worse agony or more painful
fate than you, your life in chaos.
O famous Oedipus, how could the same deep harbor
serve for son and father,
sharing the same marriage bed and chamber;
how could the furrows your father ploughed first
be strong enough to bear you in silence?
Antistrophe B (1213–22)
Against your will, all-seeing Time has found you out
and judged your marriage an abomination
of begetting and begotten,
parent and child as one.
O son of Laius,
would I never had seen you.
Lamentations pour from my mouth.
I must say this—for it was you
who gave me the courage to live,
but now bring darkness down into my eyes.
(Enter Second Messenger from the palace, through the double
doors.)
Second Messenger
Honored nobles of this land
what dreadful thing you are about to hear, and see
with your minds’ eye; what great woe will overcome you, 1225
if you feel kinship to the house of Labdacus!
Not even the mighty rivers, not Ister nor Phasis,
could scour this house clean from pollution.
So much hidden evil exposed,
will it or no. The worst woes 1230
seem those we bring upon ourselves.
∑∂ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Chorus
What we know already
is bad enough. What more will you say?
Second Messenger
The shortest tale to tell and to hear—
our royal lady, Jocasta, is dead. 1235
Chorus
Poor wretched woman—how?
Second Messenger
By her own hand.
But you are spared the worst—you did not see it all.
I’ll tell you, though, what I can drag from my mind—
where it’s already buried—of her pitiful end.
Frantic, she rushed into her rooms, 1240
to the marriage chamber, slammed the door behind her,
and threw herself onto the bed,
tearing her hair with desperate fingers
and calling on Laius as if he were not dead
to remember the night they lay together 1245
and made the one who would kill him—
and then left her to be a mother to polluted children.
Weeping, she cursed her evil double fate:
to bear a husband from a husband,
and children from her own son. 1250
I cannot tell you more about her death,
for then, Oedipus, roaring with grief,
burst into the hall and I could only watch him,
raging around the walls, begging one after another
to give him a sword—and tell him where 1255
to find it, that double-ploughed field:
his wife not a wife, his mother the mother to his children.
One of the gods must have shown him the way—
it was none of us who were near—we were too frightened,
because shouting in frenzy, he threw himself 1260
at the great double doors,
tore the hinges from their sockets, and fell into her room—
OEDIPUS THE KING ∑∑
and we saw, O horrid spectacle, the woman hanging,
her neck entangled in a noose of coiled rope.
Then, with what a ghastly roar he leapt 1265
to loosen the cord and lay her gently on the ground.
Poor su√ering man—and the horror,
to watch him tear away the beaten golden brooches
from each shoulder of her robe, lift them high
and plunge them into the sockets of his eyes, 1270
crying out that they should never see him again,
nor what he su√ered nor the evil he did,
nor look on those they should not—
but only darkness, forever.
Like a dirge, over and over he chanted, 1275
lifting the pins, striking through his eyelids
until bloody matter spurted down his cheeks and beard—
not drops, but a gush like black rain
or hail drenching him.
All this was their doom, 1280
husband and wife—evils doubled between them.
The old happiness was finished,
but it had been real. Now,
anguish and despair, madness, dishonor and death—
every evil assailed them; no curse forgotten. 1285
Chorus
And has he no relief from this agony?
Second Messenger
Hear how he shouts for someone to swing back the doors
and let all the people of Cadmus see the father-killer,
the mother–. . . ;—no, I will not speak that sinful word!—
that he will banish himself from his house and land, 1290
the curse invoked by his own mouth.
But he is feeble now, and needs a guide.
The shock and pain are more than he can bear.
Look—he is showing us—the gates are opening.
Soon you will see such a sight 1295
that would move to pity even those who hate him.
(Exit Second Messenger toward Thebes, stage right.)
∑∏ THE THEBAN PLAYS
(Enter Oedipus from the palace, through the double doors, wearing a
mask that shows he is blind.)
Chorus
Terrible, to witness how men su√er.
I have never seen worse su√ering.
What frenzy possessed you,
O ill-fated one? What god, leaping 1300
from the furthest peaks, forced you
to the depths of ill-fortune?
Poor wretch!
I can hardly bear to watch you, though
there is so much I want to ask, 1305
so many things I want to learn and understand—
but even the sight of you makes me shudder.
Oedipus
Woe, woe, wretched I am indeed.
To what place am I being driven?
Where is my voice flying, carried before me? 1310
O fates, where are you rushing?
Chorus
To a terrible place—silent, invisible.
Second Kommos
Oedipus Strophe A (1313–20)
A cloud of darkness
overwhelms me—nameless
it conquers, driven
by a resistless wind.
Ah woe is me—the gadfly-goads
of memory torment me cruelly!
Chorus
Who can wonder that you su√er doubly
these present evils and remembered ones.
Oedipus Antistrophe A (1321–28)
Friends—
you are still here for me,
stay to take care of me
OEDIPUS THE KING ∑π
though I am blind—still loyal.
I sense you there and recognize your voices
though I am in darkness.
Chorus
How could you dare such a dreadful thing—
to blind yourself? Which god drove you to it?
Oedipus Strophe B (1329–49)
Apollo, my friends, it was Apollo
who made me do these acts which caused such su√ering.
But it was my own hands, no one else’s, that blinded me.
What need for eyes
when there was nothing I could see that gave me joy?
Chorus
That is what happened—just as you say.
Oedipus
There was nothing worth seeing
or loving or hearing. Friends,
are there still joyful sounds to hear?
Take me away from this place
as fast as you can.
O friends, lead away this evil,
murderous man,
the most accursed,
the most hated of mortals—
even to the gods.
Chorus
Equally wretched in your thoughts and fate—
better never to have known you!
Oedipus Antistrophe B (1349–69)
Let him die, whoever he was, the one
who cut the fetters from my ankles
and saved me from death.
That was no favor.
If I had died then,
∑∫ THE THEBAN PLAYS
how much pain would have been kept
from my dear ones, and me.
Chorus
If only it had been that way!
Oedipus
Then I would not have become the murderer
of my father nor be called
the defiler of the mother who bore me.
Now I am rejected by the gods—an unholy child—
the one who shared the bed of his engenderer.
If there are worse things yet
to be said or done,
be sure they are the lot of Oedipus.
Chorus
You have not planned this well—better,
it seems to me, to be a dead man than a blind one.
Oedipus
Do not tell me how things are best done nor try to give
me advice. 1370
What sort of eyes would I need, to look
at my father when I meet him in Hades,
and at my poor mother? What I have done
to the two of them deserves worse than hanging.
And the sight of my children, conceived 1375
as they were, should I want to see them?
Far better not to have eyes.
And the city with its high towers, sacred statues, and temples
of the gods, from all of this—
Thebes, the city that nourished me— 1380
I, wretched creature, have banished myself, I myself insisting
that the impious one should be thrust out. Now, I am
the one revealed by the gods as defiled—of Laius’ lineage.
My sinfulness exposed,
how could I face the people with open eyes? 1385
Never. And if it were possible
to block the stream of sound from entering my ears,
I would not have held back from sealing o√ my wretched body,
OEDIPUS THE KING ∑Ω
not only blind but able to hear nothing.
It would be good to be beyond the reach of dreadful thoughts. 1390
O Cithaeron, why did you accept me—why
did you not kill me at once, so that I could never
reveal my origins to any human?
O Polybus, and Corinth—my so-called
ancestor and home, what sort of creature, 1395
beautiful to see but foul underneath, you nurtured.
Now evil I am revealed, evil from birth.
Those three roads, the deep valley
and woods, the narrow place where they crossed
which drank my father’s blood 1400
spilled by my hands—how can I forget,
having done this, how I arrived here, and what I did next?
Oh, marriages, marriages,
one after another: first to give me life
and then for me to sow my own seed in the same field 1405
and bring forth confusion of fathers, brothers, sons,
sisters, daughters, mothers, and wives—every
atrocious thing a human can do, I have done.
But it is wrong to talk of wrongful acts.
Quickly, for the gods’ sake, hide me somewhere 1410
far from this land; kill me or throw me
into the sea so you will never have to look at me again.
Come, don’t be frightened to touch such a wretched creature.
Don’t flinch away—my sins are not contagious.
No mortal can bear them but me. 1415
Chorus
For that which you ask, Creon is here
and will do whatever is necessary.
He alone remains to be the guardian of this land.
Oedipus
What can I say to him?
How can he trust me? Everything 1420
I’ve said and done to him was wrong.
∏≠ THE THEBAN PLAYS
(Enter Creon from Thebes, stage right.)
Creon
I do not come to mock you, Oedipus,
nor to reproach you for past crimes.
And you—(he turns to Chorus and Attendants)
—if you have no regard
for human feelings, still you should respect 1425
the sun, Lord Helios, whose fire feeds all life, and not display
such an ill-fated being, which neither the earth,
the rain, nor the light of day can bear to see,
but hurry him into the house.
Only the closest kin should witness 1430
the shame of one of their own.
Oedipus
This is not what I expected, that you, the best of men,
would be so generous to the worst of men; so with the gods’ help,
let me persuade you, for your sake more than mine—
Creon
What is it you wish to persuade me to do? 1435
Oedipus
Expel me from this land, as soon as you can, to some place
far from the sight of man, where I cannot hear another human voice.
Creon
I would already have done it—but first
I must learn if that is the god’s will.
Oedipus
Everything cries out in his voice 1440
that I, the parricide and sinner, must die!
Creon
So it is said. Nevertheless, when unsure,
better to ask for a clear message.
Oedipus
You would consult the god for such a miserable creature?
OEDIPUS THE KING ∏∞
Creon
And you must trust what he says. 1445
Oedipus
I charge you, I implore you,
to arrange her burial—she inside the house—
however you think fit. It is your right as her kin.
And as for me—never let this city
of my fathers be cursed by my presence again. 1450
I’ll go to the peak of Cithaeron—
that is the name of the place my mother
and father chose for me to die—
so that I can fulfill their wish at last.
Yet I am sure that nothing can destroy me, neither sickness 1455
nor anything else. I have been saved for another fate—
strange and terrible.
I must let what is destined happen.
As for my sons, Creon,
no need to worry about them. They are grown men, 1460
and can look after themselves, wherever they go.
But my two daughters—pity the poor young creatures
who always were close to me, ate at my table,
shared all that I touched.
Take care of them—even let me 1465
touch them with these hands
and for a moment break the evil spell.
Please, my lord,
noble one—if I could feel them with my hands,
it would be as it was before, when I could see. 1470
(Antigone and Ismene, weeping, enter with Attendant from the
palace, through the double doors.)
What am I saying?
By the gods—can I really hear my two darlings
weeping; has Creon, taking pity,
sent for my two dear children?
Am I right? 1475
Creon
You are right—I did arrange it, remembering
the joy they gave you in the past.
∏≤ THE THEBAN PLAYS
Oedipus
I wish you all good fortune—that a god
will guard you and guide you along a better road than mine.
Children, where are you? Come, 1480
come to these brotherly hands
which destroyed the shining eyes
of one who never saw nor learned nor understood
that he fathered you, O sister-children,
in the same furrow where he himself was sown. 1485
All I can do is weep for you both—I cannot bear to contemplate
the bitterness of the rest of your lives
and all you will su√er at the hands of men.
If you ever should dare to join the people’s celebrations
you will go back home in tears 1490
long before seeing the festival’s ending.
When the time for marriage comes,
what sort of man would risk
the scorn and reproaches, the insults
and hints about your lineage, 1495
yours and mine alike.
Such an evil heritage: your father his father’s killer,
who ploughed where he was sown—the mother of his children—
and you two come from the same place.
Taunted with this, who would marry you? 1500
No one, dear children—it is clear
you must die virgin and barren.
O son of Menoeceus, you are the only father
left to them—their natural parents
no longer exist. Now, their only kin, 1505
do not let them wander like beggars,
husbandless, punished for my evils.
Have pity on them, so young
and vulnerable except for your protection.
Noble Creon, I’ll know you’ll do it, by the touch of your hand. 1510
And daughters, if you were old enough to understand
I would give you much advice. But promise me this,
wherever your future—to live a better life
than the father who sired you.
OEDIPUS THE KING ∏≥
Creon
Enough of weeping. Go now into the house. 1515
Oedipus: Though it’s hard, I shall obey.
Creon: What must be done, in time will seem good.
Oedipus: You know my terms?
Creon: State them and I shall hear and know.
Oedipus: That you banish me from Thebes into exile.
Creon: You ask of me what only the gods can give.
Oedipus: But the gods hate me.
Creon: Then your wish will soon be granted.
Oedipus:Does that mean you consent? 1520
Creon:I don’t equivocate, I only say what I mean.
Oedipus: I am ready, lead me inside.
Creon: The time has come—let go of the children.
Oedipus: Oh no, no—do not take them from me as well!
Creon:You cannot control everything.
All your former power is ended.
(Exit Creon, Antigone, and Ismene to the palace, through the
double doors. Exit Oedipus through the double doors into the palace.)
Chorus
Fellow Thebans, look on Oedipus—
he who solved the famous riddles, the man of power 1525
whom every citizen envied. See
what a wave of terrible misfortune has submerged him.
Before that final day when one can say
his life has reached its end with no distress or grief,
no man should be called happy. 1530
(Exit Chorus toward Thebes, stage right.)