Oedipus at Colonus
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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Oedipus
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Dearest of men! I know your voice. Terrible are the things I have just suffered at the hands of this man here.
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Theseus
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What things are these? And who has pained you? Speak!
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Oedipus
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Creon, whom you see here,
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has torn from me my children—my only two.
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Theseus
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What is that you say?
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Theseus
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Hurry, one of you attendants, to the altars there, and order the people to leave the sacrifice
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and race on foot and by horse full speed, to the region where the two highways meet, so that the maidens may not pass, and I not become a mockery to this stranger as one worsted by force. Quick, I say, away with you!
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anger went as far as he deserves, I would not let him go uninjured from my hand. But now, just such law as he himself has brought will be the rule for his correction.
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You will never leave this land
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until you bring those maidens and produce them in my sight. For your action is a disgrace to me, and to your own ancestors, and to your country. You have come to a city that practices justice and sanctions nothing without law,
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yet you have spurned her lawful authorities and made this violent assault. You are taking captives at will and subjugating them by force, as if you believed that my city was void of men, or manned by slaves, and that I counted for nothing. Yet it was not Thebes that trained you to be evil. Thebes is not accustomed to rearing unjust men;—
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nor would she praise you, if she learned that you are despoiling me, and despoiling the gods, when by force you drive off their unfortunate suppliants. If my foot were upon your land, never would I drag off or lead away someone
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without permission from the ruler of the land, whoever he might be—no, even if my claim were the most just of all. I would know how a stranger ought to live among citizens. But you are disgracing a city that does not deserve it: your own,
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and your years, despite their fullness, bring you an old age barren of sense. Now, I have said before, and I say it once again: let the maidens be brought here speedily, unless you wish to be an unwilling immigrant to this country by force.
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These are the words of my lips; my mind is in accord.
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Chorus
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Do you see your plight, stranger? You are judged to be just by where you are from, but your deeds are found to be evil.
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Creon
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It is not because I thought this city void of men, son of Aegeus, or of counsel, as you say,
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that I have done this deed; but because I judged that its people could never be so zealous for my relatives as to support them against my will. And I knew that this people would not receive a parricide and a polluted man,
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a man whose unholy marriage—a marriage with children—had been found out. Such wisdom, I knew, was immemorial on the Areopagus, which does not allow such wanderers to dwell within this city. Trusting in that, I sought to take this prize.
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And I would not have done so, had he not been calling down bitter curses on me and on my race. As I was wronged in this way, I judged that I had a right to this requital. For anger knows no old age, until death comes;
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the dead alone feel no galling pain. In response to this, you will do what pleases you; for, though my case is just, the lack of aid makes me weak. Yet in the face of your actions, despite my age, I will endeavor to pay you back.
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Oedipus
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Shameless arrogance, where do you think this outrage falls—on my old age, or on your own? Bloodshed, incest, misery—all this your tongue has launched against me, and all this I have borne in my wretchedness by no choice of mine.
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For this was dear to the gods, who were angry, perhaps, with my race from of old. Taking me alone, you could not find a reproach for any crime, in retribution for which I was driven to commit these sins against myself and against my kin. Tell me now: if, by the voice of an oracle, some divine doom was coming on my father,
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that he should die by a son’s hand, how could you justly reproach me with this, when I was then unborn, when no father had yet begotten me, no mother’s womb conceived me? But if, having been born to misery—as I was born—I came to blows with my father and slew him, ignorant of what
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I was doing and to whom, how could you reasonably blame the unwitting deed? And my mother—wretch, do you feel no shame in forcing me to speak of her marriage, when she was your sister, and when it was such as I will now tell?
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For I will not be silent, when you have gone so far in impious speech. Yes, she was my mother, yes—alas, for my miseries! I did not know it, nor did she, and to her shame she bore children to the son whom she had borne.
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But one thing, at least, I know: that you willingly revile her and me, but I did not willingly marry her, and I do not willingly speak now. No, I will not be called evil on account of this marriage, nor in the slaying of my father, which you charge me with again and again in bitter insult.
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Answer just one thing of those I ask. If, here and now, someone should come up and try to murder you—you, the just one—would you ask if the murderer was your father, or would you revenge yourself on him straightaway?
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I think that if your life is dear to you, you would requite the criminal, and not look around for a justification. Such then were the evils into which I came, led by the gods; and in this, I think, my father’s soul, could it come back to life, would not contradict me.
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But you are not just; you are one who considers it a fine thing to utter every sort of word, both those which are sanctioned and those which are forbidden—such are your taunts against me in the presence of these men. And to you it seems a fine thing to flatter the renowned Theseus, and Athens, saying how well it is governed.
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Yet while giving such generous praise, you forget that if any land knows how to worship the gods with honors, this land excels in that. It is from her that you had planned to steal me, a suppliant and an old man, and tried to seize me, having already carried off my daughters.
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Therefore I now call on the goddesses here, I supplicate them, I beseech them with prayers, to bring me help and to fight on my behalf, that you may learn well what kind of men this city is guarded by.
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Chorus
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The stranger is a good man, lord.
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His fate has been accursed, but it is worthy of our aid.
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Theseus
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Enough of words. The doers of the deed are in flight, while we, the sufferers, stand still.
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Creon
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What order, then, do you have for a powerless man?
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Theseus
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Guide the way on the path to them while I escort you,
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in order that if you are keeping the maidens whom we seek in these lands, you yourself may reveal them to me. But if your men are fleeing with the spoils in their grasp, we may spare our trouble; the chase is for others, from whom they will never escape out of this land to thank their gods.
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Come, lead the way! And know that the captor has been captured; fate has seized you as you hunted. Gains unjustly got by guile are soon lost. And you will have no ally in your purpose; for I well know that it is not without accomplice or resource that you have come to such
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outrage, from the daring mood which has inspired you here. There was someone you were trusting in when you did these deeds. This I must consider, and I must not make this city weaker than one man. Do you take my drift?
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Or do these words seem as empty as the warnings given when you were laying your plans?
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Creon
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Say what you wish while you are here; I will not object. But at home I too will know how to act.
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Theseus
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Make your threats, then, but go forward. As for you, Oedipus, stay here in peace with my pledge that, unless I die beforehand,
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I will not cease until I put you in possession of your children.
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Oedipus
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Thanks to you, Theseus, for your nobleness and your righteous care for me! Theseus exits with attendants and Creon.
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Chorus
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Oh, to be where the enemy, turned to fight,
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will soon join in Ares’ clash of bronze, by the shores of Apollo, perhaps, or by that torch-lit beach
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where the Great Goddesses maintain awful rites for mortals on whose lips the ministering Eumolpidae have laid the golden seal of silence. There, I think, the war-rousing
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Theseus and the two maiden sisters will soon meet within our borders, amid the war-cry of resisting men!
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Chorus
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Or perhaps they will soon draw near to the pastures on the west of Oea’s snowy rock,
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fleeing on young horses or in chariots racing full speed. He will be caught!
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Terrible is the neighboring Ares, terrible the might of the followers of Theseus. Yes, the steel of every bridle flashes,
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and against their opponents charges forward our whole cavalry, who honor horse-riding Athena, and the earth-girdling Sea-god, the dear son of Rhea.
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Chorus
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Wandering stranger, you will not say your watcher was a false prophet, for I see your daughters once again drawing near.
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Oedipus
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Where? Where? What is that? What do you mean?
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I wish some god would grant that your eyes might see this excellent man, who has brought us here to you!
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Oedipus
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My child, are you really here?
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Oedipus
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Come here, my children, to your father!
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Grant me your embrace—restored beyond all hope!
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Antigone
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We shall grant your wish, for we crave the favor we bestow.
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Oedipus
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Where, then, where are you?
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Oedipus
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Dearest offspring!
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Oedipus
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Supports of a man—
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Oedipus
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I hold my dearest. Now, if I should die, I would not be wholly wretched, since you have come to me. Press close to me on either side, children, cling to your father, and rest from your wandering, so desolate, so grievous!
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And tell me what has happened as briefly as you can, since brief speech suffices for young maidens.
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Antigone
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Here is our savior: you should hear the story from him, father, since the deed was his. So short will by part be.
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Oedipus
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Stranger, do not be amazed at my persistence, if I prolong my words to my children,
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found again beyond my hope. I well know that my present joy in them has come to me from you, and you alone, for you—and not any other mortal—have rescued them. May the gods grant to you my wish,
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both to you yourself and to this land; for among you, above all mankind, I have found piety, the spirit of decency, and lips that tell no lie. I know these things, and I repay them with these words; for what I have, I have through you, and no one else.
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Stretch out to me your right hand, lord, that I may touch it; and if it is right, let me kiss your cheek. But what am I saying? Wretched as I have become, how could I wish you to touch a man in whom every stain of evils has made its dwelling?
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I will not touch you—nor will I allow it, if you do consent. They alone, who know them, can share these burdens. Receive my greeting where you stand, and in the future too give me your righteous care, as you have given it up to this hour.
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Theseus
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I feel no amazement, if you have had a lengthy conversation
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from joy in these children, or if your first concern has been for their words rather than for me. Indeed, there is nothing to vex me in that. Not with words so much as with deeds would I add luster to my life. You have this proof:
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I have cheated you in none of my sworn promises, old man. Here am I, with the maidens living, uninjured by those threats. As to how the struggle was won, what need have I vainly to boast of what you will learn from these two when you are together?
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But there is a matter that has just presented itself to me, as I came here. Give me your counsel regarding it; for, though it is small, it is food for wonder. And mortal man must consider nothing beneath his concern.
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Oedipus
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What is it, son of Aegeus? Tell me; I myself know nothing of what you inquire.
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Theseus
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They say a man—not from your city, yet of your race—has somehow thrown himself down, as a suppliant, at our altar of Poseidon, where I was sacrificing when I first set out here.
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Oedipus
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What land does he come form? What does he desire by his supplication?
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Theseus
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I know one thing only: they tell me he asks to speak briefly with you, a thing of no great burden.
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Oedipus
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On what topic? That suppliant state is of no small account.
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Theseus
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He asks, they say, no more than that he may confer with you,
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and return unharmed from his journey here.
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Oedipus
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Who can he be that implores the god in this way?
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Theseus
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Consider whether there is anyone in your race at Argos, who might desire this favor from you.
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Oedipus
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Dearest friend, say no more!
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Oedipus
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Do not ask me for—
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Oedipus
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From hearing these things I know who the suppliant is.
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Theseus
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And who can he be, that I should have an objection to him?
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Oedipus
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My son, lord, a hated son whose words would vex my ear like the words of no man besides.
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Theseus
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What? Can you not listen, without doing what you do not wish to do? Why does it pain you to hear him?
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Oedipus
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Lord, that voice has become most hateful to his father. Do not constrain me to yield in this.
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Theseus
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But consider whether his suppliant state constrains you;
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what if you have a duty of respect for the god?
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Antigone
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Father, listen to me; I will offer counsel though I am young. Allow this man here to gratify his own feelings and the god as he wishes, and for your daughters’ sake allow our brother to come.
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He will not tear you by force from your resolve—never fear—with such words as will not be for your good. What harm can there be in listening to words? Deeds wickedly devised, as you know, are betrayed by speech. You sired him,
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so, even if he wrongs you with the most impious of wrongs, father, it is not right for you to wrong him in return. Let him come! Other men too have evil offspring and a sharp anger, but they hear advice and are charmed from their mood by the gentle spells of friends.
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Look to the past, away from the present; consider all the pains that you have suffered through your father and mother. If you consider those things, I know well that you will perceive that what results from an evil anger is evil. Your reasons to reflect on this are not trivial,
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bereft of your unseeing eyes. Yield to us! It is not a fine thing for those seeking justice to keep asking; nor is it good that a man should be treated well, and thereafter not know how to requite it.
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Oedipus
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My child, by your pleading you overcome me; but your pleasure here is my grief.
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Still, let it be as is dear to you. Only, if that man is to come here, stranger, let no one ever become master over my soul.