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

And when you grow up,
when someone hears the story of your birth,
who will risk marrying you
Will they risk gossip about you and your parents
It’s all there. Your father killed his father;
he had children from his mother,
the source of his own life.
Those are the insults you will hear;
so who would marry you 1500
No one.
You’ll die unmarried and childless.
Creon, son of Menoeceus,
you are their father now.
Their own parents are dead.
Do not let them become beggars, or be unwed.
Do not let them suffer what I have had to suffer.
Take pity on them:
they have nothing
except what you choose to give them.
Say yes, you good man,
and touch them with your hand. 1510
I could tell you a lot of things, children,
if you were old enough.
But, now, pray that you live where you can,
and that your life be better than your father’s.
You have wept enough: go inside now.
I don’t want to, but I’ll do what you say.
Everything good has its time and place.
Do you know my conditions for leaving
CREON
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CREON
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