Oedipus Trilogy

  CREON

  Hands off, have a care.

  CHORUS

  Restore the maidens, else thou goest not.

  CREON

  Then Thebes will take a dearer surety soon;

  I will lay hands on more than these two maids.

  CHORUS

  What canst thou further?

  CREON

  Carry off this man.

  CHORUS

  Brave words!

  CREON

  And deeds forthwith shall make them good.

  CHORUS

  Unless perchance our sovereign intervene.

  OEDIPUS

  O shameless voice! Would'st lay an hand on me?

  CREON

  Silence, I bid thee!

  OEDIPUS

  Goddesses, allow

  Thy suppliant to utter yet one curse!

  Wretch, now my eyes are gone thou hast torn away

  The helpless maiden who was eyes to me;

  For these to thee and all thy cursed race

  May the great Sun, whose eye is everywhere,

  Grant length of days and old age like to mine.

  CREON

  Listen, O men of Athens, mark ye this?

  OEDIPUS

  They mark us both and understand that I

  Wronged by the deeds defend myself with words.

  CREON

  Nothing shall curb my will; though I be old

  And single-handed, I will have this man.

  OEDIPUS

  O woe is me!

  CHORUS

  Thou art a bold man, stranger, if thou think'st

  To execute thy purpose.

  CREON

  So I do.

  CHORUS

  Then shall I deem this State no more a State.

  CREON

  With a just quarrel weakness conquers might.

  OEDIPUS

  Ye hear his words?

  CHORUS

  Aye words, but not yet deeds,

  Zeus knoweth!

  CREON

  Zeus may haply know, not thou.

  CHORUS

  Insolence!

  CREON

  Insolence that thou must bear.

  CHORUS

  Haste ye princes, sound the alarm!

  Men of Athens, arm ye, arm!

  Quickly to the rescue come

  Ere the robbers get them home.

  (Enter THESEUS)

  THESEUS

  Why this outcry? What is forward? wherefore was I called away

  From the altar of Poseidon, lord of your Colonus? Say!

  On what errand have I hurried hither without stop or stay.

  OEDIPUS

  Dear friend—those accents tell me who thou art—

  Yon man but now hath done me a foul wrong.

  THESEUS

  What is this wrong and who hath wrought it? Speak.

  OEDIPUS

  Creon who stands before thee. He it is

  Hath robbed me of my all, my daughters twain.

  THESEUS

  What means this?

  OEDIPUS

  Thou hast heard my tale of wrongs.

  THESEUS

  Ho! hasten to the altars, one of you.

  Command my liegemen leave the sacrifice

  And hurry, foot and horse, with rein unchecked,

  To where the paths that packmen use diverge,

  Lest the two maidens slip away, and I

  Become a mockery to this my guest,

  As one despoiled by force. Quick, as I bid.

  As for this stranger, had I let my rage,

  Justly provoked, have play, he had not 'scaped

  Scathless and uncorrected at my hands.

  But now the laws to which himself appealed,

  These and none others shall adjudicate.

  Thou shalt not quit this land, till thou hast fetched

  The maidens and produced them in my sight.

  Thou hast offended both against myself

  And thine own race and country. Having come

  Unto a State that champions right and asks

  For every action warranty of law,

  Thou hast set aside the custom of the land,

  And like some freebooter art carrying off

  What plunder pleases thee, as if forsooth

  Thou thoughtest this a city without men,

  Or manned by slaves, and me a thing of naught.

  Yet not from Thebes this villainy was learnt;

  Thebes is not wont to breed unrighteous sons,

  Nor would she praise thee, if she learnt that thou

  Wert robbing me—aye and the gods to boot,

  Haling by force their suppliants, poor maids.

  Were I on Theban soil, to prosecute

  The justest claim imaginable, I

  Would never wrest by violence my own

  Without sanction of your State or King;

  I should behave as fits an outlander

  Living amongst a foreign folk, but thou

  Shamest a city that deserves it not,

  Even thine own, and plentitude of years

  Have made of thee an old man and a fool.

  Therefore again I charge thee as before,

  See that the maidens are restored at once,

  Unless thou would'st continue here by force

  And not by choice a sojourner; so much

  I tell thee home and what I say, I mean.

  CHORUS

  Thy case is perilous; though by birth and race

  Thou should'st be just, thou plainly doest wrong.

  CREON

  Not deeming this city void of men

  Or counsel, son of Aegeus, as thou say'st

  I did what I have done; rather I thought

  Your people were not like to set such store

  by kin of mine and keep them 'gainst my will.

  Nor would they harbor, so I stood assured,

  A godless parricide, a reprobate

  Convicted of incestuous marriage ties.

  For on her native hill of Ares here

  (I knew your far-famed Areopagus)

  Sits Justice, and permits not vagrant folk

  To stay within your borders. In that faith

  I hunted down my quarry; and e'en then

  I had refrained but for the curses dire

  Wherewith he banned my kinsfolk and myself:

  Such wrong, methought, had warrant for my act.

  Anger has no old age but only death;

  The dead alone can feel no touch of spite.

  So thou must work thy will; my cause is just

  But weak without allies; yet will I try,

  Old as I am, to answer deeds with deeds.

  OEDIPUS

  O shameless railer, think'st thou this abuse

  Defames my grey hairs rather than thine own?

  Murder and incest, deeds of horror, all

  Thou blurtest forth against me, all I have borne,

  No willing sinner; so it pleased the gods

  Wrath haply with my sinful race of old,

  Since thou could'st find no sin in me myself

  For which in retribution I was doomed

  To trespass thus against myself and mine.

  Answer me now, if by some oracle

  My sire was destined to a bloody end

  By a son's hand, can this reflect on me,

  Me then unborn, begotten by no sire,

  Conceived in no mother's womb? And if

  When born to misery, as born I was,

  I met my sire, not knowing whom I met

  or what I did, and slew him, how canst thou

  With justice blame the all-unconscious hand?

  And for my mother, wretch, art not ashamed,

  Seeing she was thy sister, to extort

  From me the story of her marriage, such

  A marriage as I straightway will proclaim.

  For I will speak; thy lewd and impious speech

  Has broken all the bonds
of reticence.

  She was, ah woe is me! she was my mother;

  I knew it not, nor she; and she my mother

  Bare children to the son whom she had borne,

  A birth of shame. But this at least I know

  Wittingly thou aspersest her and me;

  But I unwitting wed, unwilling speak.

  Nay neither in this marriage or this deed

  Which thou art ever casting in my teeth—

  A murdered sire—shall I be held to blame.

  Come, answer me one question, if thou canst:

  If one should presently attempt thy life,

  Would'st thou, O man of justice, first inquire

  If the assassin was perchance thy sire,

  Or turn upon him? As thou lov'st thy life,

  On thy aggressor thou would'st turn, no stay

  Debating, if the law would bear thee out.

  Such was my case, and such the pass whereto

  The gods reduced me; and methinks my sire,

  Could he come back to life, would not dissent.

  Yet thou, for just thou art not, but a man

  Who sticks at nothing, if it serve his plea,

  Reproachest me with this before these men.

  It serves thy turn to laud great Theseus' name,

  And Athens as a wisely governed State;

  Yet in thy flatteries one thing is to seek:

  If any land knows how to pay the gods

  Their proper rites, 'tis Athens most of all.

  This is the land whence thou wast fain to steal

  Their aged suppliant and hast carried off

  My daughters. Therefore to yon goddesses,

  I turn, adjure them and invoke their aid

  To champion my cause, that thou mayest learn

  What is the breed of men who guard this State.

  CHORUS

  An honest man, my liege, one sore bestead

  By fortune, and so worthy our support.

  THESEUS

  Enough of words; the captors speed amain,

  While we the victims stand debating here.

  CREON

  What would'st thou? What can I, a feeble man?

  THESEUS

  Show us the trail, and I'll attend thee too,

  That, if thou hast the maidens hereabouts,

  Thou mayest thyself discover them to me;

  But if thy guards outstrip us with their spoil,

  We may draw rein; for others speed, from whom

  They will not 'scape to thank the gods at home.

  Lead on, I say, the captor's caught, and fate

  Hath ta'en the fowler in the toils he spread;

  So soon are lost gains gotten by deceit.

  And look not for allies; I know indeed

  Such height of insolence was never reached

  Without abettors or accomplices;

  Thou hast some backer in thy bold essay,

  But I will search this matter home and see

  One man doth not prevail against the State.

  Dost take my drift, or seem these words as vain

  As seemed our warnings when the plot was hatched?

  CREON

  Nothing thou sayest can I here dispute,

  But once at home I too shall act my part.

  THESEUS

  Threaten us and—begone! Thou, Oedipus,

  Stay here assured that nothing save my death

  Will stay my purpose to restore the maids.

  OEDIPUS

  Heaven bless thee, Theseus, for thy nobleness

  And all thy loving care in my behalf.

  (Exeunt THESEUS and CREON)

  CHORUS

  (Str. 1)

  O when the flying foe,

  Turning at last to bay,

  Soon will give blow for blow,

  Might I behold the fray;

  Hear the loud battle roar

  Swell, on the Pythian shore,

  Or by the torch-lit bay,

  Where the dread Queen and Maid

  Cherish the mystic rites,

  Rites they to none betray,

  Ere on his lips is laid

  Secrecy's golden key

  By their own acolytes,

  Priestly Eumolpidae.

  There I might chance behold

  Theseus our captain bold

  Meet with the robber band,

  Ere they have fled the land,

  Rescue by might and main

  Maidens, the captives twain.

  (Ant. 1)

  Haply on swiftest steed,

  Or in the flying car,

  Now they approach the glen,

  West of white Oea's scaur.

  They will be vanquished:

  Dread are our warriors, dread

  Theseus our chieftain's men.

  Flashes each bridle bright,

  Charges each gallant knight,

  All that our Queen adore,

  Pallas their patron, or

  Him whose wide floods enring

  Earth, the great Ocean-king

  Whom Rhea bore.

  (Str. 2)

  Fight they or now prepare

  To fight? a vision rare

  Tells me that soon again

  I shall behold the twain

  Maidens so ill bestead,

  By their kin buffeted.

  Today, today Zeus worketh some great thing

  This day shall victory bring.

  O for the wings, the wings of a dove,

  To be borne with the speed of the gale,

  Up and still upwards to sail

  And gaze on the fray from the clouds above.

  (Ant. 2)

  All-seeing Zeus, O lord of heaven,

  To our guardian host be given

  Might triumphant to surprise

  Flying foes and win their prize.

  Hear us, Zeus, and hear us, child

  Of Zeus, Athene undefiled,

  Hear, Apollo, hunter, hear,

  Huntress, sister of Apollo,

  Who the dappled swift-foot deer

  O'er the wooded glade dost follow;

  Help with your two-fold power

  Athens in danger's hour!

  O wayfarer, thou wilt not have to tax

  The friends who watch for thee with false presage,

  For lo, an escort with the maids draws near.

  (Enter ANTIGONE and ISMENE with THESEUS)

  OEDIPUS

  Where, where? what sayest thou?

  ANTIGONE

  O father, father,

  Would that some god might grant thee eyes to see

  This best of men who brings us back again.

  OEDIPUS

  My child! and are ye back indeed!

  ANTIGONE

  Yes, saved

  By Theseus and his gallant followers.

  OEDIPUS

  Come to your father's arms, O let me feel

  A child's embrace I never hoped for more.

  ANTIGONE

  Thou askest what is doubly sweet to give.

  OEDIPUS

  Where are ye then?

  ANTIGONE

  We come together both.

  OEDIPUS

  My precious nurslings!

  ANTIGONE

  Fathers aye were fond.

  OEDIPUS

  Props of my age!

  ANTIGONE

  So sorrow sorrow props.

  OEDIPUS

  I have my darlings, and if death should come,

  Death were not wholly bitter with you near.

  Cling to me, press me close on either side,

  There rest ye from your dreary wayfaring.

  Now tell me of your ventures, but in brief;

  Brief speech suffices for young maids like you.

  ANTIGONE

  Here is our savior; thou should'st hear the tale

  From his own lips; so shall my part be brief.

  OEDIPUS

  I pray thee do not wonder if the sight

  Of
children, given o'er for lost, has made

  My converse somewhat long and tedious.

  Full well I know the joy I have of them

  Is due to thee, to thee and no man else;

  Thou wast their sole deliverer, none else.

  The gods deal with thee after my desire,

  With thee and with this land! for fear of heaven

  I found above all peoples most with you,

  And righteousness and lips that cannot lie.

  I speak in gratitude of what I know,

  For all I have I owe to thee alone.

  Give me thy hand, O Prince, that I may touch it,

  And if thou wilt permit me, kiss thy cheek.

  What say I? Can I wish that thou should'st touch

  One fallen like me to utter wretchedness,

  Corrupt and tainted with a thousand ills?

  Oh no, I would not let thee if thou would'st.

  They only who have known calamity

  Can share it. Let me greet thee where thou art,

  And still befriend me as thou hast till now.

  THESEUS

  I marvel not if thou hast dallied long

  In converse with thy children and preferred

  Their speech to mine; I feel no jealousy,

  I would be famous more by deeds than words.

  Of this, old friend, thou hast had proof; my oath

  I have fulfilled and brought thee back the maids

  Alive and nothing harmed for all those threats.

  And how the fight was won, 'twere waste of words

  To boast—thy daughters here will tell thee all.

  But of a matter that has lately chanced

  On my way hitherward, I fain would have

  Thy counsel—slight 'twould seem, yet worthy thought.

  A wise man heeds all matters great or small.

  OEDIPUS

  What is it, son of Aegeus? Let me hear.

  Of what thou askest I myself know naught.

  THESEUS

  'Tis said a man, no countryman of thine,

  But of thy kin, hath taken sanctuary

  Beside the altar of Poseidon, where

  I was at sacrifice when called away.

  OEDIPUS

  What is his country? what the suitor's prayer?

  THESEUS

  I know but one thing; he implores, I am told,

  A word with thee—he will not trouble thee.

  OEDIPUS

  What seeks he? If a suppliant, something grave.

  THESEUS

  He only waits, they say, to speak with thee,

  And then unharmed to go upon his way.

  OEDIPUS

  I marvel who is this petitioner.

  THESEUS

  Think if there be not any of thy kin

  At Argos who might claim this boon of thee.

  OEDIPUS

  Dear friend, forbear, I pray.

  THESEUS

  What ails thee now?

  OEDIPUS

  Ask it not of me.

  THESEUS

  Ask not what? explain.

  OEDIPUS

  Thy words have told me who the suppliant is.

  THESEUS

  Who can he be that I should frown on him?

  OEDIPUS