Oedipus at Colonus
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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Oedipus
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Child of a blind old man, Antigone, to what region have we come, or to what city of men? Who will entertain the wandering Oedipus today with scanty gifts?
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Little do I crave, and obtain still less than that little, and with that I am content. For patience is the lesson of suffering, and of the long years upon me, and lastly of a noble mind. My child, if you see any resting-place,
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either on profane ground or by groves of the gods, stop me and set me down, so that we may inquire where we are. We have come to learn as foreigners from the townsmen, and to bring to completion whatever we hear.
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Antigone
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Father, toil-worn Oedipus, the towers that
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ring the city, to judge by sight, are far off; and this place is sacred, to judge from its appearance: laurel, olive, and vine grow thick-set; and a feathered crowd of nightingales makes music within. So sit here on this unshaped stone;
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you have travelled a long way for an old man.
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Oedipus
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Seat me, then, and watch over the blind.
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Antigone
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If time can teach, I need not learn that.
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Oedipus
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Can you tell me, now, where we have arrived?
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Antigone
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Athens I know, but not this place.
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Oedipus
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Yes, so much every traveller told us.
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Antigone
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Well, shall I go and learn what the spot is called?
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Oedipus
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Yes, child, if indeed it is inhabited.
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Antigone
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It surely is inhabited. But I think there is no need—I see a man nearby.
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Oedipus
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Setting off and coming toward us?
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Antigone
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He is at our side already. Speak whatever seems timely to you, for the man is here.
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Oedipus
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Stranger, hearing from this maiden, who has sight both for herself and for me,
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that you have arrived as a scout of good fortune for the solving of our doubts—
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Stranger
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Now, before you question me at length, leave this seat. You occupy ground which is unholy to tread upon.
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Oedipus
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And what is this ground? To which of the gods is it sacred?
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Stranger
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Ground inviolable, on which no one may dwell. The dread
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goddesses hold it, the daughters of Earth and Darkness.
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Oedipus
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Who are they? Whose awful name might I hear and invoke in prayer?
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Stranger
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The all-seeing Eumenides the people here would call them: but other names please elsewhere.
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Oedipus
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Then graciously may they receive their suppliant!
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Nevermore will I depart from my seat in this land.
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Stranger
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What does this mean?
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Stranger
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I dare not remove you without warrant from the city, until I report what I am doing.
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Oedipus
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Now by the gods, stranger, do not deny me, hapless wanderer as you see,
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the honor of the knowledge for which I beg you.
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Stranger
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Tell me, and you will not be without honor from me.
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Oedipus
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What, then, is the place that we have entered?
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Stranger
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All that I myself know, you will hear and learn. This whole place is sacred;
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august Poseidon holds it, and in it lives the fire-bearing god, the Titan Prometheus. But as for the spot on which you tread, it is called the bronze threshold of this land, the support of Athens. And the neighboring fields claim Colonus, the horse-rider, for their ancient ruler;
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and all the people bear his name in common as their own. Such, you see, stranger, are these haunts. They receive their honor not through story, but rather through our living with them.
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Oedipus
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Are there indeed dwellers in this region?
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Stranger
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Yes indeed, the namesakes of that god there Colonus.
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Oedipus
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Have they a king? Or does speaking in assembly rest with the masses?
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Stranger
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These parts are ruled by the king in the city.
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Oedipus
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And who is he that is sovereign in counsel and in might?
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Stranger
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Theseus he is called, son of Aegeus who was before him.
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Oedipus
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Could a messenger go to him from among you?
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Stranger
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With what aim? To speak, or to prepare his coming?
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Oedipus
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So that by a small service he may find a great gain.
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Stranger
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And what help can come from one who cannot see?
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Oedipus
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In all that I speak there will be vision.
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Stranger
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Take care now, stranger, that you come to no harm; for you are noble, if I may judge by your looks, leaving your ill-fortune aside. Stay here, where I found you, until I go and tell these things to the people of this district—not in the city.
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They will decide for you whether you should stay or go back. Stranger exits.
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Oedipus
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My child, has the stranger left us?
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Antigone
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He is gone, and so you can speak what you wish, father, fully at ease, knowing that I alone am near.
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Oedipus
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Ladies of dread aspect, since your seat is
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the first in this land at which I have bent my knee, show yourselves not ungracious to Phoebus or to myself; who, when he proclaimed that doom of many woes, spoke to me of this rest after long years: on reaching my goal in a land where I should find a seat of the Awful Goddesses
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and a shelter for foreigners, there I should close my weary life, with profit, through my having fixed my abode there, for those who received me, but ruin for those who sent me forth, who drove me away. And he went on to warn me that signs of these things would come,
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in earthquake, or in thunder, or in the lightning of Zeus. Now I perceive that in this journey some trusty omen from you has surely led me home to this grove; never otherwise could I have met with you, first of all, in my wanderings—I, in my sobriety, with you who touch no wine,
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—or taken this august seat not shaped by men. Then, goddesses, according to the word of Apollo, give me at last some way to accomplish and close my course—unless, perhaps, I seem too lowly,
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enslaved as I am evermore to woes the sorest on the earth. Hear, sweet daughters of primeval Darkness! Hear, you that are called the city of great Pallas, Athens, given most honor of all cities! Pity this poor ghost of the man Oedipus!
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For in truth it is the former living body no more.
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Antigone
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Hush! Here come some aged men to spy out your resting-place.
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Oedipus
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I will be mute. But hide me in the grove, apart from the road, till I learn
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how these men will speak. For in learning is the safeguard of our course. They exit.
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Chorus
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Look! Who was he, then? Where is he staying? Where has he rushed from this place,
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man most insatiate of all who live? Scan the ground, look well, press the search everywhere. A wanderer that old man must have been,
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a wanderer, not a dweller in the land; otherwise he never would have advanced into this untrodden grove of the maidens with whom none may strive.
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Their name we tremble to speak; we pass them by with eyes turned away, moving our lips, without sound or word, in still devotion. But now it is said that one has come who reveres them not at all;
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and him I cannot yet discern, though I look round all the holy place, nor do I know where to find his lodging.
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Oedipus
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Behold the man you seek! In sound is my sight, as the saying goes.
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Chorus
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Oh! Oh! Fearful he is to see, and fearful to hear!
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Oedipus
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Do not regard me, I beg you, as a lawless man.
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Chorus
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Zeus defend us! Who may this old man be?
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Oedipus
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Not so wholly of the best fate
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that you would call him fortunate, guardians of this land! It is plain; otherwise I would not be creeping, as you see, by the eyes of others, and buoying my strength upon weakness.
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Chorus
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Alas! Were you sightless even from birth?
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Evil have been your days, and many, it appears. But at least if I can help it, you shall not add this curse to your lot. You go too far—too far!
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That your rash steps may intrude on the field of this voiceless, grassy glade, where the waters of the mixing bowl blend their stream with the flow of honied offerings, beware, unhappiest of strangers.
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Retire! Withdraw! Let a wide space part us. Do you hear, toil-worn wanderer? If you have anything to say in converse with us,
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leave forbidden ground, and speak where it is lawful for all; but, till then, refrain.
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Oedipus
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Daughter, to what counsel shall we incline?
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Antigone
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My father, we must behave just as the townspeople do, listening and giving way where it is necessary.
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Oedipus
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Then give me your hand.
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Antigone
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I lay it in yours.
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Oedipus
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Strangers, let me not suffer wrong
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when I have trusted in you, and have passed from my refuge!
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Oedipus
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Strangers, I am without a city, but do not—
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Chorus
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What is this that you forbid, old man?
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Oedipus
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do not, do not ask me who I am! Do not seek or probe further!
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Chorus
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What does this mean?
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Oedipus
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Horrid the birth—
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Chorus
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Speak!
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Oedipus
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My child—ah, me!—what shall I say?
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Chorus
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What is your lineage, stranger? Speak! And who is your father?
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Oedipus
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Woe is me! What will become of me, my child?
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Antigone
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Speak, for you are driven to the verge.
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Oedipus
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Then speak I will. I have no way to hide it.
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Chorus
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You two make a long delay. Come, hasten!
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Oedipus
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Do you know of a son of Laius?
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Oedipus
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—And the race of the Labdacidae?
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Oedipus
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—and the pitiful Oedipus?
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Oedipus
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Have no fear of any words that I speak—
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Chorus
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Ah, no, no!
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Oedipus
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Daughter, what is about to happen?