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The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex/Oedipus at Colonus/Antigone

Page 33

by Sophocles


  ANTIGONE

  (still shouting)

  That I see your daughter and my sister!

  You’ll recognize her as soon as she speaks.

  Enter ISMENE, having just dismounted from a small horse. She is accompanied by her Servant.

  ISMENE

  Father! Sister! It’s wonderful to say those names!

  It was so hard to find you. Now that I have,

  I can hardly see you through my tears.

  OEDIPUS

  You’ve come, child?

  ISMENE

  I hate to see you like this, Father.

  OEDIPUS

  But you’ve joined us.

  ISMENE

  Not without some trouble. 360

  OEDIPUS

  Touch me, daughter.

  ISMENE

  Each of you take a hand.

  OEDIPUS, ANTIGONE, and ISMENE join hands and hold them a while.

  OEDIPUS

  My daughters. Sisters.

  ISMENE

  Two wretched lives!

  OEDIPUS

  Hers and mine?

  ISMENE

  Yes. And my life as well.

  OEDIPUS

  Why did you come, child?

  ISMENE

  I care about you, Father.

  OEDIPUS

  Then you missed me?

  ISMENE

  I did. And I bring news

  I wanted you to hear from me.

  I also brought our last faithful servant.

  OEDIPUS

  Our family’s menfolk, your brothers—

  where are they when we need them?

  ISMENE

  They are . . . wherever they are. Grim times for them. 370

  OEDIPUS

  Those two boys imitate the Egyptians

  in how they think and how they run their lives.

  Egyptian men stay in their houses weaving,

  while their women are out earning a living.

  Your brothers, who should be here helping me,

  are back home keeping house like little girls,

  while you two shoulder your father’s hardships.

  Antigone has been traveling with me

  since she outgrew the care a child needs.

  She gained enough strength to be an old man’s 380

  guide, picking her way barefoot through forests,

  hungry, rain-drenched, sun-scorched.

  Home comforts

  took second place to caring for her father.

  And you, Ismene, slipped out of Thebes

  undetected so many times—to bring

  the latest oracles to your father.

  You were my eyes inside Thebes after I

  was banished. Ismene, what’s the news

  you’ve brought? Why have you come?

  I’m sure you haven’t traveled here empty- 390

  handed. Is there something I should fear?

  ISMENE

  Father, I’d rather not describe

  the trouble I had trying to find you.

  Just let it be! Retelling it

  would only revive all the misery.

  It’s the real trouble your miserable sons are in—

  it’s their wrath I’ve come to tell you about.

  They were keen, at first, to let Kreon rule,

  so as not to pollute the city, well

  aware the curse we inherit from way back 400

  still holds your house in a death grip.

  But spurred on by a god, and by their own

  disturbed minds, my brothers—three times cursed!—

  began battling each other for dominance

  and the king’s throne in Thebes.

  Now that hothead,

  Eteokles, your youngest, has stripped

  Polyneikes, your firstborn, of all power

  and driven him out of the country.

  Polyneikes was, from the reports I hear,

  exiled to Argos. There he married power, 410

  gaining friends willing to fight his battles—

  determined to make Argos glorious

  if it can conquer Thebes,

  or to lift Thebes’ reputation

  sky-high should Argos lose.

  It isn’t just loose talk, father,

  it has become horrible fact.

  When will the gods lighten

  your troubles? I wish I knew.

  OEDIPUS

  Do you hold out some hope that the gods 420

  might take notice and end my suffering?

  ISMENE

  I do, Father. I have new oracles.

  OEDIPUS

  What are they? What do they say, daughter?

  ISMENE

  That your own people will someday need you,

  living—and dead—to ensure their survival.

  OEDIPUS

  How could a man like me save anyone?

  ISMENE

  They say: you will hold Thebes’ life in your hands.

  OEDIPUS

  When I’m nothing . . . how can I still be a man?

  ISMENE

  The gods who ruined you will now restore you.

  OEDIPUS

  Does little good to restore an old man 430

  after they have laid waste to his youth.

  ISMENE

  Listen! The gods will transform you, and Kreon

  will come here earlier than you might think.

  OEDIPUS

  Has he a plan, child? Tell me.

  ISMENE

  To station you at the Theban frontier,

  but prevent you from crossing over.

  OEDIPUS

  What help am I if I’m outside their borders?

  ISMENE

  It’s your tomb. If it’s not paid proper respect,

  that could cause them serious trouble.

  OEDIPUS

  They shouldn’t need a god to tell them that. 440

  ISMENE

  It’s still the reason they want you nearby,

  not off someplace where you’d be in charge.

  OEDIPUS

  Then will they bury me in Theban earth?

  ISMENE

  Father, that’s not allowed. You killed your father.

  OEDIPUS

  Then they must never have me in their power!

  ISMENE

  If they don’t, things will go badly for Thebes.

  OEDIPUS

  What will cause things to go badly, daughter?

  ISMENE

  Your rage, when they’re deployed around your tomb.

  OEDIPUS

  Who told you, child, what you have just told me?

  ISMENE

  Sacred envoys sent to the Delphic hearth. 450

  OEDIPUS

  Did the god truly say this about me?

  ISMENE

  All the returning envoys swore he did.

  OEDIPUS

  Did either of my sons hear them say it?

  ISMENE

  They heard it and they both knew what it meant.

  OEDIPUS

  With this knowledge, did those scoundrels

  put the kingship ahead of helping me?

  ISMENE

  It hurts me to say this, Father. Yes, they did.

  OEDIPUS

  Gods, don’t interfere with this brawl you’ve ordained!

  But give me the right to decide how it ends—

  this battle toward which my sons lift up spears 460

  and on which they’re now dead set. May my son

  in power, who wields the scepter, lose it.

  May my exiled son never make it home.

  When I was driven shamefully from Thebes,

  they made no move to stop it or help me.

  They were spectators to my banishment.

  They heard me proclaimed a homeless outcast!

  You might think that Thebes acted properly,

  that it gave me what I once craved. That’s wrong.

  On the far-off day when my fury seeth
ed, 470

  a death by stoning was my heartfelt wish.

  But there was no one willing to grant it.

  Later, when my suffering diminished,

  I realized my rage had gone too far

  in punishing my mistakes. Only then

  did the city decide to force me out—

  after all those years. And my own two sons,

  who could have saved their father, did nothing.

  It would have taken just one word. But I

  wandered off into permanent exile. 480

  My two unmarried girls fed me as best

  they could. They sheltered and protected me,

  my only family. But my sons traded

  their father for power and a kingdom.

  You can be certain I’ll give them no help

  in fighting their battles, and they will gain

  nothing from having been rulers of Thebes.

  I know that because, when I heard the oracles

  this girl brought, I recalled some prophecies—

  ones Phoibos Apollo has now fulfilled. 490

  I’m ready. Let them send Kreon to find me—

  or anyone who’s powerful in Thebes.

  If you strangers, together with those

  intimidating goddesses who live

  among you, are willing to enlist me,

  you’ll get a champion in the bargain,

  someone who will defend your country

  against its enemies, and damage his own.

  LEADER

  You’ve earned our pity, Oedipus,

  both you and your daughters here. 500

  And because you’ve offered to defend us,

  I’m going to give you some advice.

  OEDIPUS

  Whatever my host wants done, I’ll do.

  LEADER

  Ask atonement from the goddesses you first

  met here, and whose ground you’ve invaded.

  OEDIPUS

  By what means? Tell me what I must do, friends.

  LEADER

  Dip water from a stream that flows year round,

  wash your hands in it, then bring some here.

  OEDIPUS

  And when I’ve brought this pure water, what then?

  LEADER

  You’ll find bowls made by a skilled craftsman. 510

  Adorn their handles and their rims.

  OEDIPUS

  With branches or wool cloths—and then what?

  LEADER

  Gather fresh-cut fleece from a she-lamb.

  OEDIPUS

  How shall I end the ritual?

  LEADER

  Face the sunrise and pour an offering.

  OEDIPUS

  From the bowls you’ve just described?

  LEADER

  Spill some from each bowl, then empty the last.

  OEDIPUS

  Tell me what to put in the bowls.

  LEADER

  No wine. Just pure water sweetened with honey.

  OEDIPUS

  After I’ve drenched the ground under the trees? 520

  LEADER

  Using both hands, set out three bundles of nine

  olive twigs each, while you recite a prayer.

  OEDIPUS

  That’s it—get to the heart of the matter.

  LEADER

  Pray that the goddesses called the Gracious Ones

  protect the suppliant, in their kindness,

  and grant him a safe refuge. That’s your prayer,

  or someone else’s who will pray for you.

  Don’t raise your voice, pray quietly,

  and, without looking back, leave.

  Do as I’ve said, and I’m sure you’ll succeed. 530

  If you don’t, stranger, I’m afraid for you.

  OEDIPUS

  Daughters, have you heard what our friend here said?

  ANTIGONE

  We heard. What would you like us to do?

  OEDIPUS

  I lack the eyes—and the strength—to go myself.

  My double loss. One of you must do it.

  It is possible for one living soul

  to pay a debt that’s owed by ten thousand,

  provided it’s done with conviction.

  One of you go—but don’t leave me alone.

  My body’s too weak to move without help. 540

  ISMENE

  I’ll carry out the ritual, but someone

  must show me the right place to perform it.

  LEADER

  Go around to the far side of the grove.

  If you need anything else, there’s a man

  living nearby who will point you the way.

  ISMENE

  I’ll go now, Sister. You stay with Father.

  Helping a parent who can’t help himself

  should never seem a burden.

  Exit ISMENE and her Servant.

  LEADER

  Unpleasant it may be, stranger, to stir up

  a long dormant grief. Yet there is something 550

  I would like to hear straight from you.

  OEDIPUS

  What’s your concern?

  LEADER

  That bitter, incurable anguish—

  the kind you had to wrestle with.

  OEDIPUS

  Out of consideration for a guest,

  don’t dwell on my unfortunate past.

  LEADER

  Your story’s widely told, my friend.

  I’d like to hear the truth of it.

  OEDIPUS

  (pronouncing with a brusque hissing sound)

  Ssstop!

  LEADER

  Hear me out, let me speak!

  OEDIPUS

  (aspirated vowel; spoken querulously)

  Whhhy? 560

  LEADER

  You owe me this. I’ve granted all you’ve asked.

  OEDIPUS

  I suffered anguish, friends,

  suffered what my own

  blind actions caused.

  But let the gods testify:

  I chose to do none.

  LEADER

  Then how did this happen?

  OEDIPUS

  Thebes married me, who suspected nothing,

  to a woman who would destroy me.

  LEADER

  Was she your mother, as I’ve heard, 570

  who shared your infamous marriage bed?

  OEDIPUS

  She was. Your words feel

  harsh as death in my ears.

  And those daughters I fathered . . .

  LEADER

  What are you saying now?

  OEDIPUS

  —twin scourges—

  LEADER

  O Zeus!

  OEDIPUS

  . . . were born from the birth pangs

  of the mother we shared.

  LEADER

  They’re your daughters, and . . .

  OEDIPUS

  Yes! They’re my sisters.

  OLD MEN

  (low whispering)

  How horrible.

  OEDIPUS

  Oh yes! A thousand evils 580

  surge back, all through me.

  LEADER

  Then you suffered . . .

  OEDIPUS

  I suffered an indelible torment.

  LEADER

  Then you’ve sinned . . .

  OEDIPUS

  There was no sin.

  LEADER

  How did you not?

  OEDIPUS

  I was presented with a gift—

  one that would break my heart—

  to repay me for all the help

  I gave Thebes. It was a gift

  I should never have accepted. 590

  LEADER

  Horrible. And then? You killed . . . ?

  OEDIPUS

  Why this? What are you asking me?

  LEADER

  . . . your father?

  OEDIPUS

  You open one old wound after another.

&nbs
p; LEADER

  Then you killed him.

  OEDIPUS

  Yes, I killed him. But I have . . .

  LEADER

  You have what?

  OEDIPUS

  Justice on my side.

  LEADER

  How could that be?

  OEDIPUS

  Let me tell you. The men

  I fought and killed

  would have killed me.

  Before the law

  my hands are clean. 600

  My actions were driven

  not by malice,

  but by ignorance.

  One of Theseus’ Men enters, whispers to the LEADER, and then exits.

  LEADER

  Aigeus’ son, our king, has arrived, willing

  to do all you have asked of him.

  Enter THESEUS, who walks up and examines OEDIPUS.

  THESEUS

  For years I’ve heard that you had done

  bloody damage to your eyes—so I

  recognize you, son of Laios. What I learned

  on my way here made me almost certain.

  And to see you now at your journey’s end 610

  removes all doubt. Your clothes, your ravaged face,

  tell me your name. Oedipus, I

  truly pity you. And I will help you.

  You and this poor girl have come here

  suddenly—why? To request a favor

  from Athens and from me? If so, ask it.

  You would need to tell me an appalling

  story indeed before I’d turn you down.

  Remember, I was also raised in exile,

  combating threats to my life of a kind 620

  no other man has ever had to face.

  I would never refuse a homeless man—

  which you are—my help. I’m also mortal,

  like you, with no greater assurance

  than you have that I’ll be alive tomorrow.

  OEDIPUS

  There’s little I need add, Theseus.

  With a few gracious words

  you’ve said exactly who I am, and who

  my father was, and what country I’m from—

  so nothing remains. Except to tell you 630

  what most concerns me. Then I’ll be silent.

  THESEUS

  Go on. Say what you mean. I must know.

 

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