by Sophocles
OEDIPUS
I came to offer you my disfigured
body as a gift. Though not pleasant
to look at, it will generate benefits
beauty could not.
THESEUS
This advantage
you claim to have brought us—what is it?
OEDIPUS
In time you will know. But not for a while.
THESEUS
Your . . . enhancement—when will it be revealed?
OEDIPUS
After I’m dead and you have buried me. 640
THESEUS
You ask me to oversee your last rites,
but say nothing of your life before then.
OEDIPUS
Grant my wish. Everything else will follow.
THESEUS
This favor you’re asking seems a small one.
OEDIPUS
Take care. This is no trivial matter.
THESEUS
Then you anticipate trouble. From your sons?
OEDIPUS
King, my sons want to return me to Thebes.
THESEUS
If that’s your desire, why would you refuse?
OEDIPUS
(loudly and with fury)
Because, when I wished to stay, they refused!
THESEUS
Fool! When you’re in trouble, rage never helps. 650
OEDIPUS
Wait till you’ve heard me out. Then chastise me.
THESEUS
Go on. I shouldn’t speak without the facts.
OEDIPUS
Theseus, I have suffered terribly.
THESEUS
You mean the ancient curse on your family.
OEDIPUS
No. Not that story every Greek has heard.
THESEUS
Then what superhuman pain do you suffer?
OEDIPUS
Here’s what my two sons did to me.
They banished me from my homeland. I can’t
return because I killed my own father.
THESEUS
If that’s the case, why would Thebes want you back? 660
OEDIPUS
God’s voice will compel them to take me back.
THESEUS
Oracles must have frightened them. Of what?
OEDIPUS
That Fate will strike them down in your country.
THESEUS
And what could cause such hatred between us?
OEDIPUS
Gentle son of Aigeus, only the gods
never grow old and die. All-powerful
Time ravages the rest. Just as the Earth
decays, so does the body’s strength. When trust
between people dies, betrayal begins.
A spirit of respect can never last 670
between two friends, or between two cities,
because sooner or later resentment
kills all friendships. Though sometimes they revive.
The weather now is sunny between Thebes
and Athens, but Time in due course will bring
on a war sparked by a minor grievance—
endless days and nights in which Theban spears
shatter the peace they had promised to keep.
Then my dead body, slumbering, buried,
deathly cold, will drink their hot blood—if Zeus 680
is still Zeus, if Apollo spoke the truth.
But since there’s no pleasure in pronouncing
words that should never be said, I will stop.
Keep your word and you’ll never be sorry
you welcomed Oedipus to your city—unless
the gods abort their promises to me.
LEADER
From the beginning, King, this man has shown
he has the nerve to keep every promise
he’s made to our country—and he’ll keep more.
THESEUS
Who would refuse the kindness of a man 690
like this? We welcome him to our home fires.
As our wartime ally he’s earned the right.
Now he comes asking our gods to help him,
an act with no small implication
for Athens and myself. I value
what he brings. Reject his offers?
Never! I’ll settle him in our land
with the rights of a citizen.
If it’s the stranger’s desire to live here,
(turning toward the LEADER)
I will charge you with his protection. 700
Or he may wish to join me.
Oedipus,
it’s your decision. I’ll respect your choice.
OEDIPUS
O Zeus, do your utmost for this man.
THESEUS
What is your pleasure? To live in my house?
OEDIPUS
If that were allowed. But here is the place . . .
THESEUS
Here? What will you do here? I’m not opposed . . .
OEDIPUS
. . . where I will punish those who drove me out.
THESEUS
Then the great gift you meant—is your presence?
OEDIPUS
Yes. If you keep the pledges you gave me.
THESEUS
Don’t doubt me. I will never betray you. 710
OEDIPUS
I won’t demand an oath from you—as though
you were a man who couldn’t be trusted.
THESEUS
But that’s all I can offer you: my word.
OEDIPUS
How then will you act . . .
THESEUS
What is your worst fear?
OEDIPUS
That troops will come.
THESEUS
My men will deal with them.
OEDIPUS
Take care that when you leave me . . .
THESEUS
Please. Don’t tell me what to do.
OEDIPUS
How can I not be afraid?
THESEUS
My heart isn’t pounding.
OEDIPUS
You don’t know what they threaten . . .
THESEUS
I know this:
no men will seize you unless I allow it. 720
And if they brag how simple it will be
to kidnap you, I think the sea they’re crossing
will prove too vast and too rough for their skills.
For now, take courage. Aside from any
assurance I’ve given, it was Apollo
who sent you. While I’m gone,
my word will protect you.
Exit THESEUS.
OLD MEN
You’ve come, stranger, to shining Kolonos
abounding with horses
and Earth’s loveliest farms. 730
Here the Nightingale
sings her long clear trills
under green forest trees
laden with apples and berries.
In the wine-dark ivy she sings,
in the forbidden
thickets of goddesses
untroubled by hot sun
or the chill blast of winter.
She sings in the clearings 740
where Dionysos dances
among the everloving
maenads who raised him.
Here, drinking dew from the sky
morning after morning,
narcissi flourish.
Their heavenly blossoms
crown two immortals,
Persephone and Demeter—sunlight
illumines the golden crocus. 750
Bountiful fountains send Kephisos
cascading down the mountain.
He never stops flowing, greening
all that grows, pouring daily
his pure waters
through the valley’s nurturing hills.
Nor do the Muses,
singing in harmony, or the Goddess of Love
with golden reins in her hands,
stay away long.
760
A tree not found in Asia,
or on the Dorian Island of Pelops,
lives here, a tree born from itself,
a tree no one plants.
A terror to enemy spears,
the gray-green olive
grows freely on our land,
nourishing our children.
Neither the young men nor the old
will shatter and destroy it, 770
for Zeus of the Olive Groves,
and Athena with seagreen eyes,
guard it with tireless glare.
And now with all our strength we sing
our gratitude to our mother city,
for the great gifts the gods have given her:
that peerless glory of our land,
the strength of stallions, the speed of colts—
and the rolling power of the sea.
It was you, son of Kronos, 780
who gave Kolonos our throne,
and you, Lord Poseidon,
who taught us to harness, out on these roads,
the fury of horses, taught us to drive
the long-limbed oar that pulses us
over salt seas, in pursuit
of fifty Nereids’ skittering feet.
ANTIGONE’s attention is drawn offstage left.
ANTIGONE
You’ve praised your land beyond all others—
prove now you can act on those glowing words.
OEDIPUS
What makes you say that to them, daughter? 790
ANTIGONE
Kreon’s arriving, Father, backed by troops.
OEDIPUS
Can I trust these kind old men to protect me?
LEADER
Don’t worry, you’re in good hands. I may have aged,
but this country has lost none of its strength.
Enter KREON, escorted by his armed Soldiers.
KREON
You men must be the local nobility.
I detect some fear showing in your eyes
at my arrival. Don’t be alarmed.
There’s no need for hostile murmuring.
I haven’t come intending to use force.
I’m an old man. Yours is a powerful city, 800
if ever there was one in Greece. So yes—
I was sent here, on account of my age,
to reason with that man, and bring him home.
No single person sent me—all Thebes did.
Kinship demands I show greater concern
for his troubles than do my countrymen.
(turning to face OEDIPUS)
You’ve suffered for too long, Oedipus.
Please hear me out, then we can both go home.
It’s high time your fellow Kadmeans
took you back. More than anyone else, I 810
share your sorrows, old man, now that I see
how you live in your miserable exile—
drifting in constant want, with only this girl
as your servant.
I never thought her life
would sink to such gross squalor, but it has:
tending to you, to your personal needs,
living in poverty. And at her age,
with no experience of men, she’s ripe
for the first vulgar lout who comes along.
Those are harsh judgments, aren’t they, alas, 820
on you and on me? On our whole family.
Since there’s no way to hide your obvious
degradation, Oedipus, please agree
to placate our family gods by coming
home to the house and city of your fathers.
Thank Athens for her kindness as you leave,
for she deserves it. But your birthplace must,
if you would do the right thing, have the final
claim on you. Long ago, she nurtured you.
OEDIPUS
You! You’ll try anything! You have based your 830
insidious arguments on the most
ethical grounds. But why make the attempt?
Why try to slide a noose around my neck?
That would cause me unendurable pain.
Some time ago, when I was tormented
by self-inflicted agony and wanted
with all my heart to be banished from Thebes,
you refused me. Later, when my grief eased
and I wished to remain home, you drove me
from my house, off the land, into exile, 840
without one thought of this kinship you claim.
Now this time, seeing the friendly welcome
Athens and her people have given me,
you try to abduct me—your harsh purpose
sheathed in amiable words. What joy is there
in kindness that’s imposed against our will?
Suppose someone refuses to help you—
though you’ve begged him for help. But once
you possess what your heart craves—then he
offers to give what you no longer want. 850
Would that be kindness? Fulfillment like that
is worthless—as are your offers to me.
They sound good, but in fact they’re evil.
Let me explain your motives to these men,
so they’ll see just how treacherous you are.
You have sought me out—not to take me home—
but to plant me outside your borders,
so that your city will emerge unscathed
from any invasion launched against it.
You won’t get that, but you’ll get something else: 860
this part of me—my spirit—ravaging
your country. And it will rage there always:
my sons will inherit from their father
only enough of my homeland to die in!
Don’t you see? I know the future of Thebes
better than you do. A great deal better,
because my sources are better: Apollo,
for instance, and his father, Zeus himself.
Your lying mouth has come here spitting out
all those words—your tongue’s keener than a blade. 870
But your guile hurts you far more than it helps.
I don’t think I’ve persuaded you. So leave!
Let me live here! Poor as I am, I won’t
live in want if I’m at peace with myself.
KREON
In our exchange, who do you think suffers
more, me by your views, or you by your own?
OEDIPUS
All that matters to me is that you’ve failed
to change my mind, or the minds of these men.
KREON
Growing old hasn’t improved your judgment,
friend. It’s perpetuated your disgrace. 880
OEDIPUS
Your tongue’s extremely quick. But a good man
never pleads a dishonorable cause.
KREON
Making noise doesn’t prove you’re making sense.
OEDIPUS
As if you spoke briefly, and to the point?
KREON
Not pointedly enough to pierce your mind.
OEDIPUS
Go! I speak for these men and for myself.
Don’t keep me under hostile surveillance
in a land that’s destined to be my home.
KREON gestures toward the OLD MEN and his Soldiers.
KREON
I ask these men—not you—and I ask my . . .
comrades here, to note the tone you’re taking 890
with a kinsman. If I ever seize you . . .
OEDIPUS
Who could seize me against my friends’ will?
KREON
I swear you’ll suffer even if we don’t.
OEDIPUS
How do you plan to back up your bluster?
KREON
I’ve already seized one of your daughters
and removed her. I’ll take the other soon.
> OEDIPUS
My god.
KREON
Soon you’ll have greater cause to say, “My god.”
OEDIPUS
You took Ismene?
KREON
And I’ll soon take this one.
KREON indicates ANTIGONE.
OEDIPUS
What will you do, my hosts—my friends? 900
Fail me by not banishing
this blaspheming thug?
LEADER
(to KREON)
Stranger, go. There’s no way to justify
what you’re attempting, or what you’ve just done.
KREON
(to his Soldiers)
It’s time we take this girl away, by force
if she puts up the slightest resistance.
ANTIGONE
I don’t know where to run. Are there men
or gods willing to help me?
LEADER
What are you doing, stranger?
KREON
I’ll leave him, but I will take her. She’s mine.
OEDIPUS
You men in power here!
LEADER
Stranger, there’s no 910
justification for what you’re doing.
KREON
I can justify it.
LEADER
How can you do that?
KREON
I’m taking what belongs to me.
KREON grabs ANTIGONE.
OEDIPUS
Stop him, Athens!
LEADER
What is this, stranger? Let the daughter go—
or you’ll discover who holds power here.
KREON
Stand back!
LEADER
Not from you! Not while you do this!
KREON
Touch me, and you’re at war with Thebes.
OEDIPUS
All of this I foresaw.
LEADER
Release the girl.
KREON
Don’t issue orders when you have no power.
LEADER
I warn you, let her go.
KREON
And I warn you: leave! 920
LEADER
(yelling offstage)
Over here, citizens! Join our fight! My city,
our city, is attacked! Come help us!
ANTIGONE
They’re dragging me away! Friends! FRIENDS!