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[174-194] Oedipus at Colonus 619
OEDIPUS
Strangers, oh let me not suffer wrong when I have trusted in you,
and have passed from my refuge!
CHORUS
strophe 2
Never, old man, never shall any one remove thee from this place
of rest against thy will.
(OEDIPUS now begins to move forward.)
OEDIPUS (pausing in his gradual advance)
Further, then?
Come still further.
Further?
CHORUS
OEDIPUS (having advanced another step)
CHORUS
Lead him onward, maiden, for thou understandest.
[A verse for ANTIGONE, a verse for OEDIPUS, and then another verse
for ANTIGONE, seem to have been lost here.]
ANTIGONE
Come, follow me this way with thy dark steps, father, as I lead
thee.
[Here has been lost a verse for OEDIPUS.]
CHORUS
A stranger in a strange land, ah, hapless one, incline thy heart to
abhor that which the city holds in settled hate, and to reverence what
she loves!
OEDIPUS
systema 3
Lead me thou, then, child, to a spot where I may speak and listen
within piety's domain, and let us not wage war with necessity.
(Moving forward, he now sets foot on a platform of rock at the verge
of the grove.)
CHORUS
antistrophe 2
There!—bend not thy steps beyond that floor of native rock.
Thus far?
OEDIPUS