1 Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus Introduced and Translated by ...

Chance is my mother, 1080
and my brothers and sisters
are the moons and stars,
that determined at one time, for me to be small,
and at another time, great.
With such a parent, how could I turn out
to be a man who would not search out his origin
CHORUS
I swear by Olympus without end,
If I can see anything,
And am wise in my judgment,
When the full moon shines tomorrow,
Cithaeron,
Oedipus will praise you
As his kinsman, his mother, and his nurse.
We shall dance in your honor, 1090
Because you are celebrated by our king.
O Apollo, to whom men cry out,
May this find favor in your eyes.
Which of the gods,
Who wander the mountains at Pan’s side, 1100
Gave birth to you, Oedipus
Did Apollo bed a goddess
He loves mountain pastureland.
Or Hermes perhaps
Or divine Bacchus,
Who lives on the mountain tops
Did some bright-eyed nymph,
One of his beloved playmates,
Offer you to him as a gift of fortune
Enter SHEPHERD.
OEDIPUS
I don’t know the man, 1110
but if I can judge from his age,
and from my attendants with him,
I would say that here comes
the shepherd we are looking for.
You could say better than I,
because you know him.
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