Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles - HTML preview

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.

 

 

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, and 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 [1]

*       *        *        *        *        *

 

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--

 

CHORUS

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,

Athens alone gives hospitality

And shelters the vexed stranger, so men say.

Have I found so?  I whom ye dislodged

First from my seat of rock and now would drive

Forth from your land, dreading my name alone;

For me you surely dread not, nor my deeds,

Deeds of a man more sinned against than sinning,

As I might well convince you, were it meet

To tell my mother's story and my sire's,

The cause of this your fear.  Yet am I then

A villain born because in self-defense,

Striken, I struck the striker back again?

E'en had I known, no villainy 'twould prove:

But all unwitting whither I went, I went--

To ruin; my destroyers knew it well,

Wherefore, I pray you, sirs, in Heaven's name,

Even as ye bade me quit my seat, defend me.

O pay not a lip service to the gods

And wrong them of their dues.  Bethink ye well,

The eye of Heaven beholds the just of men,

And the unjust, nor ever in this world

Has one sole godless sinner found escape.

Stand then on Heaven's side and never blot

Athens' fair scutcheon by abetting wrong.

I came to you a suppliant, and you pledged

Your honor; O preserve me to the end,

O let not this marred visage do me wrong!

A holy and god-fearing man is here

Whose coming purports comfort for your folk.

And when your chief arrives, whoe'er he be,

Then shall ye have my story and know all.

Meanwhile I pray you do me no despite.

 

CHORUS

The plea thou urgest, needs must give us pause,

Set forth in weighty argument, but we

Must leave the issue with the ruling powers.

 

OEDIPUS

Where is he, strangers, he who sways the realm?

 

CHORUS

In his ancestral seat; a messenger,

The same who sent us here, is gone for him.

 

OEDIPUS

And think you he will have such care or thought

For the blind stranger as to come himself?

 

CHORUS

Aye, that he will, when once he learns thy name.

 

OEDIPUS

But who will bear him word!

 

CHORUS

The way is long,

And many travelers pass to speed the news.

Be sure he'll hear and hasten, never fear;

So wide and far thy name is noised abroad,

That, were he ne'er so spent and loth to move,

He would bestir him when he hears of thee.

 

OEDIPUS

Well, may he come with blessing to his State

And me!  Who serves his neighbor serves himself. [2]

 

ANTIGONE

Zeus!  What is this?  What can I say or think?

 

OEDIPUS

What now, Antigone?

 

ANTIGONE

I see a woman

Riding upon a colt of Aetna's breed;

She wears for headgear a Thessalian hat

To shade her from the sun.  Who can it be?

She or a stranger?  Do I wake or dream?

'This she; 'tis not--I cannot tell, alack;

It is no other!  Now her bright'ning glance

Greets me with recognition, yes, 'tis she,

Herself, Ismene!

 

OEDIPUS

Ha! what say ye, child?

 

ANTIGONE

That I behold thy daughter and my sister,

And thou wilt know her straightway by her voice.

 

[Enter ISMENE]

 

ISMENE

Father and sister, names to me most sweet,

How hardly have I found you, hardly now

When found at last can see you through my tears!

 

OEDIPUS

Art come, my child?

 

ISMENE

O father, sad thy plight!

 

OEDIPUS

Child, thou art here?

 

ISMENE

Yes, 'twas a weary way.

 

OEDIPUS

Touch me, my child.

 

ISMENE

I give a hand to both.

 

OEDIPUS

O children--sisters!

 

ISMENE

O disastrous plight!