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CHORUS (Ant. 2) King, I say it once again, Witless were I proved, insane, If I lightly put away Thee my country's prop and stay, Pilot who, in danger sought, To a quiet haven brought Our distracted State; and now Who can guide us right but thou? JOCASTA Let me too, I adjure thee, know, O king, What cause has stirred this unrelenting wrath. OEDIPUS I will, for thou art more to me than these. Lady, the cause is Creon and his plots. JOCASTA But what provoked the quarrel? make this clear. OEDIPUS He points me out as Laius' murderer. JOCASTA Of his own knowledge or upon report? OEDIPUS He is too cunning to commit himself, And makes a mouthpiece of a knavish seer. JOCASTA Then thou mayest ease thy conscience on that score. Listen and I'll convince thee that no man Hath scot or lot in the prophetic art. Here is the proof in brief. An oracle Once came to Laius (I will not say 'Twas from the Delphic god himself, but from His ministers) declaring he was doomed To perish by the hand of his own son, A child that should be born to him by me. Now Laius--so at least report affirmed-- Was murdered on a day by highwaymen, No natives, at a spot where three roads meet. As for the child, it was but three days old, When Laius, its ankles pierced and pinned Together, gave it to be cast away By others on the trackless mountain side. So then Apollo brought it not to pass The child should be his father's murderer, Or the dread terror find accomplishment, And Laius be slain by his own son. Such was the prophet's horoscope. O king, Regard it not. Whate'er the god deems fit To search, himself unaided will reveal.
OEDIPUS What memories, what wild tumult of the soul Came o'er me, lady, as I heard thee speak! JOCASTA What mean'st thou? What has shocked and startled thee? OEDIPUS Methought I heard thee say that Laius Was murdered at the meeting of three roads. JOCASTA So ran the story that is current still. OEDIPUS Where did this happen? Dost thou know the place? JOCASTA Phocis the land is called; the spot is where Branch roads from Delphi and from Daulis meet. OEDIPUS And how long is it since these things befell? JOCASTA 'Twas but a brief while were thou wast proclaimed Our country's ruler that the news was brought. OEDIPUS O Zeus, what hast thou willed to do with me! JOCASTA What is it, Oedipus, that moves thee so? OEDIPUS Ask me not yet; tell me the build and height Of Laius? Was he still in manhood's prime? JOCASTA Tall was he, and his hair was lightly strewn With silver; and not unlike thee in form. OEDIPUS O woe is me! Mehtinks unwittingly I laid but now a dread curse on myself. JOCASTA What say'st thou? When I look upon thee, my king, I tremble. OEDIPUS 'Tis a dread presentiment That in the end the seer will prove not blind. One further question to resolve my doubt. JOCASTA
Page 1 and 2: The Project Gutenberg EBook of The
Page 3 and 4: Explain your mood and purport. Is i
Page 5 and 6: King Phoebus bids us straitly extir
Page 7 and 8: If in the days of old when we nigh
Page 9 and 10: But may they waste and pine, as now
Page 11 and 12: TEIRESIAS I will not vex myself nor
Page 13 and 14: The trusty Creon, my familiar frien
Page 15 and 16: That I have missed the mark, hencef
Page 17 and 18: Therein thou judgest rightly, but t
Page 19 and 20: The thing he counts most precious,
Page 21: CHORUS No, by the leader of the hos
Page 25 and 26: My mother and my sire and questione
Page 27 and 28: Then topples o'er and lies in ruin
Page 29 and 30: OEDIPUS What? let me have it, stran
Page 31 and 32: OEDIPUS Yea, lest the god's word be
Page 33 and 34: Afield or in the city? answer strai
Page 35 and 36: HERDSMAN I was, a thrall, not purch
Page 37 and 38: HERDSMAN Well then--it was a child
Page 39 and 40: SECOND MESSENGER My tale is quickly
Page 41 and 42: The double weight of past and prese
Page 43 and 44: Thy prayer by action or advice, for
Page 45 and 46: Such are the gibes that men will ca
Page 47 and 48: Creon enters with an armed guard wh
Page 49 and 50: Tell me the awful name I should inv
Page 51 and 52: Of cities, pity this dishonored sha
Page 53 and 54: Follow with blind steps, father, as
Page 55 and 56: CHORUS O wretched me! Begone! OEDIP
Page 57 and 58: OEDIPUS Well, may he come with bles
Page 59 and 60: To suffer, first in act and then in
Page 61 and 62: They knew it, yet the ignoble greed
Page 63 and 64: And I shall then be bold to stand t
Page 65 and 66: OEDIPUS Horrors from the boundless
Page 67 and 68: OEDIPUS Yea, the last boon is warra
Page 69 and 70: What wouldst thou here? I shall not
Page 71 and 72: Oh land extolled above all lands, '
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Not for a man indeed with wits like
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OEDIPUS Where art thou, daughter? A
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CHORUS Haste ye princes, sound the
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Me then unborn, begotten by no sire
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(Ant. 1) Haply on swiftest steed, O
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What say I? Can I wish that thou sh
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Grievous to me, my child, the boon
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But by his popular acts; and the pr
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To Thebes, O then disown me not, I
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Bristles for fear. Again that flare
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For this way Hermes leads, the spir
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That no man might endure to look up
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ANTIGONE ISMENE Is fain? ANTIGONE I
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Charged me straitly that no moral S
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ANTIGONE Ismene, sister of my blood
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ISMENE My poor, fond sister, how I
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Again, when Oedipus restored our St
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What say'st thou? Who hath dared to
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(Str. 1) Many wonders there be, but
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CREON Speak, girl, with head bent l
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Surely, if good and evil fare alive
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Thy choice with evil-doers to do il
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But who begets unprofitable sons, H
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Am I to rule for others, or myself?
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Straight to folly will fall, at a t
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Are guiltless as concerns this maid
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By Destiny That knows not death nor
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Dost know at whom thou glancest, me
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(Ant. 1) Thee on the two-crested ro
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And ran back to our lord to tell th
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CREON (Ant. 2) Alas! another added
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subject to the trademark license, e
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"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other form
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