And for this Creon has held me guiltv of evil-doing. What then of the prophesies? The calls overwhelm the drums and for a moment the drums are heard only faintly. This know I well, though him I never saw. I shall send for the shepherd now. Born of such parents, with them henceforth I abide, Wretched, accursed, unwed. Or did his father kill him? The shadow of a cloud of grief lies deep On her face, darklv flushed; and in her pain Her tears are falling like a flood of rain.
Fierce Ares has fallen upon us. Schooled in discretion, she will do no wrong. For PhÂœbus if, perchance, thou hast not heard Sent back this word to us, who sent to ask, That this one way was open to escape From the fell plague; if those who Laius slew, We in our turn, discovering, should slay, Or drive them forth as exiles from the land. I have no idea what to think of this and my brain flies this way and that without being able to see neither ahead of me or behind. And yet your parents thought that 1 was wise. There is a natural seat here in the rock.
How, How, could I longer see when sight Brought no delight? As I got to that spot, I came across a herald and a man on a horse-drawn carriage. One marriage, one bed brings out all these odious deeds. Indeed, if you had eyes that could see I would have said you did the deed all alone! Let me show you proof of this. O Creon, take care of them! Chorus Then I have another thought for you. Yet even from the highest peak he will fall into the deepest abyss from where there is no escape. Even if by this search I discover that I was a third generation slave, it will not affect your standing in our city.
He claims the right to have me put to death Or have me exiled. However, nothing counts except my safety. Tell me, is it because you thought I was a weakling or a fool that you have put such ideas into your head? Plays were performed on two annual occasions, both religious, the more important of which was the spring festival lasting six days in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and of the general fertility of nature. Only the gods are privy to our deeds! I have no wish to see another day. Jocasta He has just arrived from Corinth to tell us that your father, Polybus is dead. It is your mouth that has gained my sympathy, not his. In terror 1 fell back fainting in my women's arms.
Creon By banishing that murderer or by washing away the blood of that murder with the blood of another murder. S New and your marriage! Oedipus So, did someone else hand me to you or did you find me yourself? Innocence takes time to be revealed; guilt can be announced far too quickly. What are you thinking of? No god may escape you, no short-lived mortal From the madness that love inflicts may flee. Come, look me in the face. No tower, no ship is worth anything if it is bereft of men. Creon No, Oedipus, not if you think through all this the way I do. Then topples o'er and lies in ruin prone; No foothold on that dizzy steep.
I wonder if, perhaps, some new disaster will emerge from that silence of hers. Not Ister nor all Phasis' flood, I ween, Could wash away the blood-stains from this house, The ills it shrouds or soon will bring to light, Ills wrought of malice, not unwittingly. A Fate that gave you success will now give you pain. He passes for an alien in the land But soon shall prove a Theban, native born. How can its horrors be told? Is there one evil, one, that is not ours? But Haemon comes, of your two sons the last. Tell him about the child.
He is the one to act On your requests, or to help you with advice. Although resting on a basis of slavery, these city-states, particularly Athens, attained a considerable degree of democracy. For at seven portals, their seven leaders, 120 Down to the earth their bronze arms threw In tribute to Zeus, the lord of the battle; Save the fated brothers, the wretched two, Who went to their common doom together, Each wielding a spear that the other slew. Let me shun his thoughts. But now we have learned that an impious man is here, Whose heart is untouched with awe in this holy spot. Shut her in her grave And leave her there, alone.
You still stand by me, me, a blind man, and still you try to help me. Jocasta Tall… his hair was just turning grey… looked quite like you do now. Oedipus How long ago did the murder happen? You have no reason to be angry. Who now more desolate, Whose tale more sad than thine, whose lot more dire? And once you find out to what harbour of misery your wedding has brought you that fine day, well then, what spot in the whole of Kitheron will not hear the echo of your groans? I will gladly give you 10 Such help as is in my power. Lying hidden in my house, Sucking my blood in secret, while I reared, Unknow ingly, two subverters of mv throne. Oedipus Yes, I can speak of it.
W T hat did he look like? The children approach Oedipus and hold onto his clothes. Mehtinks unwittingly I laid but now a dread curse on myself. Herald of evil, messenger of ill, Your harsh words kill, Thev smite me now anew. Is this how you will take your heart to your grave? You were the slave of Laius? Yes, be very sure of it. Who is it who has been murdered? I have the children he would have had if he were alive and the father of an heir. No one could get careless. Still, perhaps I am a murderer nonetheless, if I have caused him unbearable grief and if grief was the cause of his death.
It is thought of as a unit and often speaks through the mouth of the chorus leader, or choragus. Tell me and it will certainly be granted! You are the sinner who pollutes our land. I or we know that when you came here, Vou freed us from our bondage, the bitter tribute 1 Ik Sphinx wrung from us by her sorceries. We few who escape the night are stricken down in the day. Teiresias I have already hidden them. You, looking at the ground. Well, be it mine to track them to their source.