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

Time, the all-seeing,
Has found you out, all unwilling,
And judged you of old,
Indicting that marriage that was no marriage,
Father, not father, and child, not child,
But both one and the same.
O son of Laius,
How I wish, how I wish,
Never to have seen you.
Streaming from my lips
Is sorrow, bitter sorrow.
If I speak truly, 1220
You gave me life again,
Only to close my eyes in their final sleep.
Enter second MESSENGER.
MESSENGER (2)
You, who are honored most in this land,
What things you will now hear that were done,
and what things you will see for yourselves!
How you shall mourn if you still are loyal to the house of Labdacus! I do not think that
the Ister or Phasis rivers
could cleanse this house of the horrors it conceals,
and which the light of day will now illuminate,
both those done willingly and those unwillingly. 1230
Those sufferings pain us most that we ourselves have chosen.
CHORUS
What has happened is already beyond endurance;
how can you add anything more
Jocasta is dead.
MESSENGER (2)
Poor woman. How did she die
CHORUS
MESSENGER (2)
She did it herself.
You’ve escaped the worst, because you didn’t see it.
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