by Sophocles
CREON
Thou hast had enough of weeping; pass within.
OEDIPUS
I must obey,
Though 'tis grievous.
CREON
Weep not, everything must have its day.
OEDIPUS
Well I go, but on conditions.
CREON
What thy terms for going, say.
OEDIPUS
Send me from the land an exile.
CREON
Ask this of the gods, not me.
OEDIPUS
But I am the gods' abhorrence.
CREON
Then they soon will grant thy plea.
OEDIPUS
Lead me hence, then, I am willing.
CREON
Come, but let thy children go.
OEDIPUS
Rob me not of these my children!
CREON
Crave not mastery in all,
For the mastery that raised thee was thy bane and wrought thy fall.
CHORUS
Look ye, countrymen and Thebans, this is Oedipus the great,
He who knew the Sphinx's riddle and was mightiest in our state.
Who of all our townsmen gazed not on his fame with envious eyes?
Now, in what a sea of troubles sunk and overwhelmed he lies!
Therefore wait to see life's ending ere thou count one mortal blest;
Wait till free from pain and sorrow he has gained his final rest.
Oedipus at Colonus
*
ARGUMENT
Oedipus, the blind and banished King of Thebes, has come in his wanderings to Colonus, a deme of Athens, led by his daughter Antigone. He sits to rest on a rock just within a sacred grove of the Furies and is bidden depart by a passing native. But Oedipus, instructed by an oracle that he had reached his final resting-place, refuses to stir, and the stranger consents to go and consult the Elders of Colonus (the Chorus of the Play). Conducted to the spot they pity at first the blind beggar and his daughter, but on learning his name they are horror- striken and order him to quit the land. He appeals to the world-famed hospitality of Athens and hints at the blessings that his coming will confer on the State. They agree to await the decision of King Theseus. From Theseus Oedipus craves protection in life and burial in Attic soil; the benefits that will accrue shall be told later. Theseus departs having promised to aid and befriend him. No sooner has he gone than Creon enters with an armed guard who seize Antigone and carry her off (Ismene, the other sister, they have already captured) and he is about to lay hands on Oedipus, when Theseus, who has heard the tumult, hurries up and, upbraiding Creon for his lawless act, threatens to detain him till he has shown where the captives are and restored them. In the next scene Theseus returns bringing with him the rescued maidens. He informs Oedipus that a stranger who has taken sanctuary at the altar of Poseidon wishes to see him. It is Polyneices who has come to crave his father's forgiveness and blessing, knowing by an oracle that victory will fall to the side that Oedipus espouses. But Oedipus spurns the hypocrite, and invokes a dire curse on both his unnatural sons. A sudden clap of thunder is heard, and as peal follows peal, Oedipus is aware that his hour is come and bids Antigone summon Theseus. Self-guided he leads the way to the spot where death should overtake him, attended by Theseus and his daughters. Halfway he bids his daughters farewell, and what followed none but Theseus knew. He was not (so the Messenger reports) for the gods took him.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
OEDIPUS, banished King of Thebes.
ANTIGONE, his daughter.
ISMENE, his daughter.
THESEUS, King of Athens.
CREON, brother of Jocasta, now reigning at Thebes.
POLYNEICES, elder son of Oedipus.
STRANGER, a native of Colonus.
MESSENGER, an attendant of Theseus.
CHORUS, citizens of Colonus.
Scene: In front of the grove of the Eumenides.
OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Enter the blind OEDIPUS led by his daughter, ANTIGONE.
OEDIPUS
Child of an old blind sire, Antigone,
What region, say, whose city have we reached?
Who will provide today with scanted dole
This wanderer? 'Tis little that he craves,
And less obtains—that less enough for me;
For I am taught by suffering to endure,
And the long years that have grown old with me,
And last not least, by true nobility.
My daughter, if thou seest a resting place
On common ground or by some sacred grove,
Stay me and set me down. Let us discover
Where we have come, for strangers must inquire
Of denizens, and do as they are bid.
ANTIGONE
Long-suffering father, Oedipus, the towers
That fence the city still are faint and far;
But where we stand is surely holy ground;
A wilderness of laurel, olive, vine;
Within a choir or songster nightingales
Are warbling. On this native seat of rock
Rest; for an old man thou hast traveled far.
OEDIPUS
Guide these dark steps and seat me there secure.
ANTIGONE
If time can teach, I need not to be told.
OEDIPUS
Say, prithee, if thou knowest, where we are.
ANTIGONE
Athens I recognize, but not the spot.
OEDIPUS
That much we heard from every wayfarer.
ANTIGONE
Shall I go on and ask about the place?
OEDIPUS
Yes, daughter, if it be inhabited.
ANTIGONE
Sure there are habitations; but no need
To leave thee; yonder is a man hard by.
OEDIPUS
What, moving hitherward and on his way?
ANTIGONE
Say rather, here already. Ask him straight
The needful questions, for the man is here.
(Enter STRANGER)
OEDIPUS
O stranger, as I learn from her whose eyes
Must serve both her and me, that thou art here
Sent by some happy chance to serve our doubts—
STRANGER
First quit that seat, then question me at large:
The spot thou treadest on is holy ground.
OEDIPUS
What is the site, to what god dedicate?
STRANGER
Inviolable, untrod; goddesses,
Dread brood of Earth and Darkness, here abide.
OEDIPUS
Tell me the awful name I should invoke?
STRANGER
The Gracious Ones, All-seeing, so our folk
Call them, but elsewhere other names are rife.
OEDIPUS
Then may they show their suppliant grace, for I
From this your sanctuary will ne'er depart.
STRANGER
What word is this?
OEDIPUS
The watchword of my fate.
STRANGER
Nay, 'tis not mine to bid thee hence without
Due warrant and instruction from the State.
OEDIPUS
Now in God's name, O stranger, scorn me not
As a wayfarer; tell me what I crave.
STRANGER
Ask; your request shall not be scorned by me.
OEDIPUS
How call you then the place wherein we bide?
STRANGER
Whate'er I know thou too shalt know; the place
Is all to great Poseidon consecrate.
Hard by, the Titan, he who bears the torch,
Prometheus, has his worship; but the spot
Thou treadest, the Brass-footed Threshold named,
Is Athens' bastion, and the neighboring lands
Claim as their chief and patron yonder knight
Colonus, an
d in common bear his name.
Such, stranger, is the spot, to fame unknown,
But dear to us its native worshipers.
OEDIPUS
Thou sayest there are dwellers in these parts?
STRANGER
Surely; they bear the name of yonder god.
OEDIPUS
Ruled by a king or by the general voice?
STRANGER
The lord of Athens is our over-lord.
OEDIPUS
Who is this monarch, great in word and might?
STRANGER
Theseus, the son of Aegeus our late king.
OEDIPUS
Might one be sent from you to summon him?
STRANGER
Wherefore? To tell him aught or urge his coming?
OEDIPUS
Say a slight service may avail him much.
STRANGER
How can he profit from a sightless man?
OEDIPUS
The blind man's words will be instinct with sight.
STRANGER
Heed then; I fain would see thee out of harm;
For by the looks, marred though they be by fate,
I judge thee noble; tarry where thou art,
While I go seek the burghers—those at hand,
Not in the city. They will soon decide
Whether thou art to rest or go thy way.
(Exit STRANGER)
OEDIPUS
Tell me, my daughter, has the stranger gone?
ANTIGONE
Yes, he has gone; now we are all alone,
And thou may'st speak, dear father, without fear.
OEDIPUS
Stern-visaged queens, since coming to this land
First in your sanctuary I bent the knee,
Frown not on me or Phoebus, who, when erst
He told me all my miseries to come,
Spake of this respite after many years,
Some haven in a far-off land, a rest
Vouchsafed at last by dread divinities.
"There," said he, "shalt thou round thy weary life,
A blessing to the land wherein thou dwell'st,
But to the land that cast thee forth, a curse."
And of my weird he promised signs should come,
Earthquake, or thunderclap, or lightning flash.
And now I recognize as yours the sign
That led my wanderings to this your grove;
Else had I never lighted on you first,
A wineless man on your seat of native rock.
O goddesses, fulfill Apollo's word,
Grant me some consummation of my life,
If haply I appear not all too vile,
A thrall to sorrow worse than any slave.
Hear, gentle daughters of primeval Night,
Hear, namesake of great Pallas; Athens, first
Of cities, pity this dishonored shade,
The ghost of him who once was Oedipus.
ANTIGONE
Hush! for I see some grey-beards on their way,
Their errand to spy out our resting-place.
OEDIPUS
I will be mute, and thou shalt guide my steps
Into the covert from the public road,
Till I have learned their drift. A prudent man
Will ever shape his course by what he learns.
(Enter CHORUS)
CHORUS
(Str. 1)
Ha! Where is he? Look around!
Every nook and corner scan!
He the all-presumptuous man,
Whither vanished? search the ground!
A wayfarer, I ween,
A wayfarer, no countryman of ours,
That old man must have been;
Never had native dared to tempt the Powers,
Or enter their demesne,
The Maids in awe of whom each mortal cowers,
Whose name no voice betrays nor cry,
And as we pass them with averted eye,
We move hushed lips in reverent piety.
But now some godless man,
'Tis rumored, here abides;
The precincts through I scan,
Yet wot not where he hides,
The wretch profane!
I search and search in vain.
OEDIPUS
I am that man; I know you near
Ears to the blind, they say, are eyes.
CHORUS
O dread to see and dread to hear!
OEDIPUS
Oh sirs, I am no outlaw under ban.
CHORUS
Who can he be—Zeus save us!—this old man?
OEDIPUS
No favorite of fate,
That ye should envy his estate,
O, Sirs, would any happy mortal, say,
Grope by the light of other eyes his way,
Or face the storm upon so frail a stay?
CHORUS
(Ant. 1)
Wast thou then sightless from thy birth?
Evil, methinks, and long
Thy pilgrimage on earth.
Yet add not curse to curse and wrong to wrong.
I warn thee, trespass not
Within this hallowed spot,
Lest thou shouldst find the silent grassy glade
Where offerings are laid,
Bowls of spring water mingled with sweet mead.
Thou must not stay,
Come, come away,
Tired wanderer, dost thou heed?
(We are far off, but sure our voice can reach.)
If aught thou wouldst beseech,
Speak where 'tis right; till then refrain from speech.
OEDIPUS
Daughter, what counsel should we now pursue?
ANTIGONE
We must obey and do as here they do.
OEDIPUS
Thy hand then!
ANTIGONE
Here, O father, is my hand,
OEDIPUS
O Sirs, if I come forth at your command,
Let me not suffer for my confidence.
CHORUS
(Str. 2)
Against thy will no man shall drive thee hence.
OEDIPUS
Shall I go further?
CHORUS
Aye.
OEDIPUS
What further still?
CHORUS
Lead maiden, thou canst guide him where we will.
ANTIGONE [4]
-
OEDIPUS
-
ANTIGONE
-
Follow with blind steps, father, as I lead.
OEDIPUS
-
CHORUS
In a strange land strange thou art;
To her will incline thy heart;
Honor whatso'er the State
Honors, all she frowns on hate.
OEDIPUS
Guide me child, where we may range
Safe within the paths of right;
Counsel freely may exchange
Nor with fate and fortune fight.
CHORUS
(Ant. 2)
Halt! Go no further than that rocky floor.
OEDIPUS
Stay where I now am?
CHORUS
Yes, advance no more.
OEDIPUS
May I sit down?
CHORUS
Move sideways towards the ledge,
And sit thee crouching on the scarped edge.
ANTIGONE
This is my office, father, O incline—
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ah me!
ANTIGONE
Thy steps to my steps, lean thine aged frame on mine.
OEDIPUS
Woe on my fate unblest!
CHORUS
Wanderer, now thou art at rest,
Tell me of thy birth and home,
From what far country art thou come,
Led on thy weary way, declare!
OEDIPUS
Strangers, I have no country. O forbear—
What is it, old man, that thou wouldst conceal?
OEDIPUS
Forbear, nor urge me further to reveal—
CHORUS
Why this reluctance?
OEDIPUS
Dread my lineage.
CHORUS
Say!
OEDIPUS
What must I answer, child, ah welladay!
CHORUS
Say of what stock thou comest, what man's son—
OEDIPUS
Ah me, my daughter, now we are undone!
ANTIGONE
Speak, for thou standest on the slippery verge.
OEDIPUS
I will; no plea for silence can I urge.
CHORUS
Will neither speak? Come, Sir, why dally thus!
OEDIPUS
Know'st one of Laius'—
CHORUS
Ha? Who!
OEDIPUS
Seed of Labdacus—
CHORUS
Oh Zeus!
OEDIPUS
The hapless Oedipus.
CHORUS
Art he?
OEDIPUS
Whate'er I utter, have no fear of me.
CHORUS
Begone!
OEDIPUS
O wretched me!
CHORUS
Begone!
OEDIPUS
O daughter, what will hap anon?
CHORUS
Forth from our borders speed ye both!
OEDIPUS
How keep you then your troth?
CHORUS
Heaven's justice never smites
Him who ill with ill requites.
But if guile with guile contend,
Bane, not blessing, is the end.
Arise, begone and take thee hence straightway,
Lest on our land a heavier curse thou lay.
ANTIGONE
O sirs! ye suffered not my father blind,
Albeit gracious and to ruth inclined,
Knowing the deeds he wrought, not innocent,
But with no ill intent;
Yet heed a maiden's moan
Who pleads for him alone;
My eyes, not reft of sight,
Plead with you as a daughter's might
You are our providence,
O make us not go hence!
O with a gracious nod
Grant us the nigh despaired-of boon we crave?
Hear us, O hear,
But all that ye hold dear,
Wife, children, homestead, hearth and God!
Where will you find one, search ye ne'er so well.
Who 'scapes perdition if a god impel!
CHORUS
Surely we pity thee and him alike
Daughter of Oedipus, for your distress;
But as we reverence the decrees of Heaven
We cannot say aught other than we said.
OEDIPUS
O what avails renown or fair repute?
Are they not vanity? For, look you, now
Athens is held of States the most devout,