Oedipus Rex of Sophokles
A new translation by Wayne S. Turney
Copyright 1999
All rights reserved

Dramatis Personae
PRIEST
OEDIPUS
IOKASTA
KREON
KORINTHIAN EMISSARY
SHEPHERD
MESSENGER
KHOROS OF ELDERS OF THEBES
MUTE KHOROS OF CITIZENS
MUTE CHILDREN OF OEDIPUS
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
MUTE BOY WHO HELPS THE BLIND TEIRESIAS

NOTE: Originally, the play used three actors (with masks) and a khoros of fifteen. The double casting can be done in more than one way, but the most common breakdown is:
Protagonist: Oedipus
Deuteragonist: Iokasta, Shepherd, Messenger
Tritagonist: Kreon, Teiresias, Korinthian Emissary

The Priest (Hieros) of Zeus may be taken by the leader of the khoros. You can of course use any breakdown that will allow for costume changes etc.

PROLOGOS

Oedipus: My children: you of Kadmos' ancient clan--
What draws you here to huddle before my altar fire
Bearing suppliant branches wreathed in wool?
The very air of Thebes is thick with the smoke
Of frankincense and prayers and hymns to God
And frightful lamentation. What can it be?
I thought it wrong, my children, to hear your pleas
From the mouths of others. So I have come myself
To hear what you would have that I may do.
I, Oedipus, known to every man throughout
The world. Old sir: your venerable age
Appoints you spokesman. What is in your hearts?
Why are you so affrighted and so sad?
Be sure that I will gladly give you all
My help. My heart would be hard indeed if I
Could not pity entreaties such as these.

Priest: O mighty Oedipus, ruler of our land,
You see cowering before your altars men
Of every age: some too young to try
Their wings; others bowed down with weight of years;
Some priests, like me, of Zeus; and these:
The best of our youth. All the rest of Thebes
Kneels in the market-place; before Athene's
Temples; and Apollo's river shrine
Where fires of divination dance and priests
Can see the future in the sacred flames.
Your own eyes can see our city is tossed
As if upon a murd'ring sea. She can
Not lift her head above the angry waves.
Ai! A deadly blight devours the buds
And fruitful blossoms of our fields; the herds
Are barren; and our wives miscarry or die
In childbirth. Last and worst, the fiery god
Of feverish plague swoops down upon us all
And empties the city of Kadmos, enriching the realm
Of Hades with our groans and tears. Ai!
Great king, we know you are no god but we
Have come, your children and I, to your palace door
Knowing that you of all men are the best
At solving life's riddles and seeing the ways of the gods.
For it was you who saved us from the Sphinx
And the bloody tribute we'd paid her so long.
You did this with no help from us, for we
Could teach you nothing. We believe the gods
Were with you on that day and touched you just
As we believe the gods are with you still.
Therefore, mighty one, we beg of you:
Rescue us! Deliver us again!
But rule a city filled with living men
Not an empty wasteland. All the ships
And all the towered cities in the world
Are as nothing without living men.

Oedipus: O,
My children, how I pity you! I know
Already what you seek from me and all
You suffer. But for all your suffering I
Suffer more. For your pain strikes each one
Of you alone; each bears but a single pain.
My heart groans for myself, for all of you,
And for the whole city. You do not find me
Sleeping; you haven't wakened me. I weep
For you and nightly walk through labyrinths
Of care. And the only remedy I could see
Thus pacing up and down, I've tried: I have sent
My own wife's brother, Menoikeus' son, I have sent
Kreon to Delphi, to Apollo's sacred oracle
To learn if he can what act or oath of mine
Might save the city. But something troubles me:
I count the days in torment since he's gone;
I find it strange that he has not returned!
And yet - when he comes back I should do ill
To fail to do whatever the god commands.

Priest: O timely oath! For see where even now
Kreon approaches!

Oedipus: Apollo be praised! May his news
Be as fair as the shining in his eyes!

Priest: It must be good news! Surely the god is smiling.
Look at the laurel wreath that circles his head!
It's thick with berries!

Oedipus: We'll see soon enough. He can hear
Me now! Kreon, my royal brother, what news?
What message from the god?

Kreon: Good news!
I mean, it's said that good may come even
From the worst afflictions, if they are taken well.

Oedipus: These vague words leave me still hanging between
Despair and hope! What said Apollo's oracle?

Kreon: Do you wish to hear it here in public, or shall
We go into the palace? I am at your service.

Oedipus: We shall hear it here. Their sufferings distress
Me more than my own life!

Kreon: Then I will report
The words of Apollo. They were very clear.
A rank pollution bred long ago in this land
Still dwells in our midst. And Apollo commands that we
Uproot this unclean thing and purge it before
It grows ranker still and festers beyond all cure.

Oedipus: What is this unclean thing? And how may we
Purge it?

Kreon: Banish or kill the murderer whose deed
Brought this fearful pestilence on us all.

Oedipus: And who is the man whose fate Apollo reveals?

Kreon: My lord, before you came, King Laios steered
Our ship of state.

Oedipus: I know it well. Or I
Should rather say, so I have heard
For I never saw him myself.

Kreon: Laios is the man
Whose murder the god would see avenged. He bids
Us punish his killers whomever they may be.

Oedipus: But where in the world can they be found? O where
Can we hope to uncover the long-forgotten trail
Of so ancient a crime?

Kreon: The god said, "Here in Thebes.
A man who seeks with care may often find
What others overlook."

Oedipus: Where was he killed?
Here in the palace? Or in the countryside?
Or had he traveled to some foreign land?

Kreon: It's said he went to consult the oracle but
He never returned.

Oedipus: And did this king travel
Alone? No retinue, no witness who saw
What happened and could have helped you in your search?

Kreon: All killed. Except one terror-stricken man
Who fled. But he told us nothing of value.

Oedipus: What was that "nothing of value?" The smallest clue
May set us on the trail if we can see
The way to use it.

Kreon: He said they met a band
Of robbers -not only one but many - who fell
On them, killing the king and all the party but him.

Oedipus: I find it strange that a robber should be
So bold - unless someone here bribed him to do it.

Kreon: That's what we thought, but after Laios' death,
New afflictions arose and no one stirred
To avenge him.

Oedipus: What affliction could prevent
Your seeking out the killer of a king?

Kreon: The miseries wrought by the riddling Sphinx made us turn
Our minds away from all mysteries but her own.

Oedipus: I can see it is up to me again to bring
What's dark to light. Apollo was right, as were you,
Kreon, to show us our duty to the dead. And now
You shall see how I shall avenge both god
And city. I do this for my own sake too -
Whatever person killed Laios may one day soon
Turn his bloody hands on me. So arise,
Dear children! Away with these boughs! Assemble all
The citizens of Thebes and tell them I
I shall do everything! And by the grace
Of the god we shall be saved - or we shall fall!

Priest: Come then, children! All that we have asked
The King has promised. Let us now pray that Phoebus
Apollo who gave us this answer will come himself
To save us.

PARODOS

Strophe
Khoros: Do you hear what Zeus is singing
To us in our sun-drenched city
From his golden seat at Delphi?
Terror shakes me! Dreadful terror!
Healer of Delos, hear our cries!
Dread Apollo, hear our prayers!
What new sacrifice is needed?
What forgotten rite remember?
Tell us, O immortal voice!
Tell us, child of golden hope!

Antistrophe
First I call on you Athene
Daughter of Almighty Zeus,
Then on Artemis your sister
Guardian of our Theban land
Seated on her throne of glory
Far above our market-place.
Then on Phoebus, he whose arrows
Fly afar, Apollo! Saviours!
Three Protectors of our city:
You who saved us from disaster:
Drove away the fire of evil:
Turned away the flood of dying:
Rescue us; protect our city!

Strophe II
Legions of sorrows, misfortunes and suffering!
Sickness is rampant; contagion is everywhere!
No one with learning enough to deliver us!
Crops in the fields have all withered and died!
Women are screaming in labor in vain. Ai!
Babies are dying in new mothers' wombs. Ai!
Soul after soul like a great flock of birds that is
Racing the firestorm of day to the far western
Shore have flown straight to the gathering darkness.

Antistrophe II
Death! O death! Numberless deaths!
So many deaths that no man could count them all!
Thebes is dying! Our city is dying!
See our dead children unburied, unmourned for
New-married wives are clinging to altars and
Mothers with gray hair are kneeling beside them!
Golden Athene, you must hear our crying!
Healer! Apollo! You must hear our prayer!
Send us deliverance! Save us from death!

Strophe III
And grant that Ares, god of war,
Master of Death, Destroyer of men,
Be driven from our walls for though
There are no swords in this attack,
No battle cries surround us here,
Yet we are ringed with fearful moan!
Force him to the far Atlantic!
Drive him to the Thracian coast!
For in the day the god of death
Destroys what dark of night protects!
Mighty Zeus, destroy our foe!
Split him with your holy lighting!

Antistrophe III
Phoebus, lord of light, we beg you
Bend your longbow; stretch your bowstring!
Send your golden arrows flying!
Golden bowstring! Shafts of Power!
Goddess of the golden headress,
Artemis, Huntress, hear our prayer!
Dionysus, Lord of Dance,
With your face aglow with wine
Followed by ecstatic women!
Come with lighting! Come with torches!
Come, destroy the god of Death!
Burn the god that all gods hate!

Episode I
Oedipus: You pray! Now hear an answer to your prayers!
Obey me and do what this crisis demands
And you shall find relief from your distress.
I have been a stranger to this story
And this crime. What could I have done
Alone, to find the track without a clue?
For I was then a foreigner and I
Only later became a Theban citizen.
Therefore, now I publicly proclaim:
If any man among you knows whose hand
It was that slew Laios our king,
The son of Labdacus, then let that man
Tell the whole truth to me. He has nothing to fear.
Even if he implicates himself,
Let him speak! And so escape the worst.
He will suffer nothing worse than exile.
And he may leave us totally unharmed!

Or, if any knows the assassin to be
A man from foreign soil, then let him speak!
I will reward him handsomely for his pains,
And he shall have the eternal thanks of all Thebes!

But if, for fear, he hold his peace and seek
To hide himself, or friend, or family
From this my word, then hear what I will do!
That man, no matter who that man may be,
Shall be forbidden intercourse of speech
With any citizen o'er whom I rule;
Nor shall he be given sanctuary;
Sacramental water shall not cleanse this man!
He shall be expelled from every house!
For he is the image of our plague, the heart
Of our corruption, which was revealed to me
But now by Apollo's sacred oracle.
This is but my duty to the god
And to the memory of the murdered man.

And for the unknown man who did this murder,
It is my solemn prayer - whether he be one
Or one of many - let him drag out his life
In agony and degradation, step
By painful step. And if by any chance
I find him sheltered even in my own house,
May every curse I've called down on him strike me!

See that every thing I've said is done
For my sake, for Apollo, and for our
Barren city beleaguered by angry gods.

But something troubles me. Even without
This prompting from the god, how could you let
The stain of so great a crime as regicide
Remain with no attempt to wash it away?
Surely this was your duty to the murdered king!

But now since it is I who hold the throne
That he once held; since it is I who share
His bed and even have his Queen to wife -
Indeed if that unhappy man had sired
A child of his own, he would be a brother
To my dear ones. We share this bond of blood,
Laios and I, and so I will uphold his cause
Just as if he truly were my father.
I shall not rest till I have found the hand
That slew the royal son of Labdacus
Son of Polydorus, son of Kadmos
Son of Agenor.
This is my curse on him
Who disobeys: may the gods render his fields
Parched and barren and his woman childless;
May all our present plagues and worse be his
Forever.
But for you loyal sons of Thebes
Who hear my words this day and side with me,
I pray that Justice, our champion, and all the gods
Be with you always and keep you safe from harm.

Khoregos: Since you have placed us under oath, my lord,
I swear that I am not the man who did
The murder nor can I tell you who he is.
Phoebus Apollo proposed the search, surely
It is for him to tell us the killer's name.

Oedipus: Well said. But no man on earth can force the gods
To do a thing they do not want to do.

Khoregos: Then, if I might suggest the second best…

Oedipus: Second and third best, too! You must not fail
To tell me anything you can!

Khoregos: My lord,
We all know Teiresias is king
Of all of Apollo's many sacred prophets.
Perhaps we might ask him and learn the truth
Most clearly.

Oedipus: This I have already done!
Twice I have sent for him on Kreon's advice.
I marvel he has not already come!

Khoregos: At last we will be able to dismiss
The old rumors and…

Oedipus: What rumors are these?
I want to weigh everything -even rumors!

Khoregos: It was said that he was killed by travelers.

Oedipus: So I have heard. And yet we have no eye
Witnesses.

Khoregos: But if the killer has any remorse in him
Surely your curse will draw him out of hiding.

Oedipus: No. A man who would dare to kill a king
Will never fear a curse spoken by any man.

Khoregos: Yet there is one who can expose that man.
See where they bring the blind Teiresias
Who has in him a tongue that cannot lie.

Oedipus: Teiresias! You who know all things, both seen
And unseen, sacred and profane. We know
No earthly secret can be hidden from
Your sight. For though your eyes are dark, you see
The pestilence visited on our poor city.
And so, great prophet-king, we look to you
To be only help and only protector.
Perhaps you were not told that we have sent
To Apollo's oracle and he has sent us answer:
The only way that we may be rid of this plague
Is to find and punish the killers of King Laios
Either with death or exile. Now, sir do not
Hold back. Tell us what your skills have gleaned
From slaughtered birds or other subtle means
Of divination. Save us! Save yourself!
Save our city! Save each corrupted thing
Defiled by this king's death. We're in your hands.
A man may know no nobler calling than
To help his fellow man in his distress.

Teiresias: Ai! What good is knowledge when no good
Can come from knowing! I thought I knew this well!
Why did I come?

Oedipus: What's this? How sad you are!

Teiresias: Let me go home! It will go better for us both
If you should let me go.

Oedipus: A strange reply!
Such words as these make you seem disloyal to Thebes
That nurtured you from birth.

Teiresias: Because I see
The folly of your words, I would keep silent.

Oedipus: For the love of the gods, do not turn away from us.
As suppliants we beg you on bended knee!

Teiresias: You know not what you ask. I will never
Tell you what I know. Now it is my
Sorrow, but tomorrow it shall be yours.

Oedipus: You mean you know a secret and will not tell?
You want to ruin Thebes and destroy us all!

Teiresias: I do not wish to bring pain on myself or you.
Ask me no more. I will not answer you.

Oedipus: You insolent villain! You would inflame
A stone to rage. Can no misfortune touch
Your granite heart? How dare you keep silent!

Teiresias: Go on, find fault in me. But you don't see
The fault you live with day and night.

Oedipus: Do you hear?
How could I not find fault? You insult all Thebes!

Teiresias: The future will come though I shroud it in silence.

Oedipus: If you know it will come, why don't you speak of it?

Teiresias: I will speak no further. Storm, if you want!
Rage to your heart's content!

Oedipus: And so I will!
Do you want to know the truth-it was you!
You planned it all along. If you had eyes
I'd swear you did the murder too.

Teiresias: Did I?
I charge you to obey your own decree:
Speak no more to me or any Theban.
The cursed defiler of this land is you!

Oedipus: The insolence! And do you think you may
Go free?

Teiresias: O, I am free. Truth makes me strong.

Oedipus: This is not soothsaying. Who put you up to this?

Teiresias: You did!
You made me speak. I did not want to speak.

Oedipus: Say it again. Let me be sure I heard you.

Teiresias: Was I not clear enough? Or would you tempt me further?

Oedipus: I would remove all doubt. Say it again.

Teiresias: I say the murderer you seek is you!

Oedipus: You hear? A second time! You shall regret this!

Teiresias: Then shall I say more that shall incense you more?

Oedipus: By all means! Tell us everything you know!

Teiresias: I know, as you do not, the shameful life
Of sin you lead with those most dear to you.

Oedipus: Do you imagine you can utter such
Obscenities with impunity?

Teiresias: Yes, if the truth
Has any force at all.

Oedipus: The truth has force!
But not in you! You are a blind and deaf
And brainless fool!

Teiresias: I pity you.
For you'll remember soon enough these taunts
And gibes and insults that you hurl at me
When all the world shall hurl the same at you.

Oedipus: You can't hurt me, you creature of the night,
Me or any man who sees the light.

Teiresias: Oh no. it is not I who brings you down.
Apollo is enough. And he will see
To it.

Oedipus: Kreon! Of course! Did he put you up to this?

Teiresias: No, he did not. Your enemy is yourself.

Oedipus: O wealth, and power and skillful statesmanship!
O royal life, the envy of all men!
How many savage jealousies you inspire!
And all for this: a crown the city gave
Me. I never asked for it. And for this, Kreon,
My trusted friend, seeks to overthrow me
With secret plots! He sends this mountebank,
Who's blind to everything but his own profit,
Come Prophet, prophesy! Where were you
When the dog-faced Sphinx was here singing her riddles?
You had no words to save the people then!
No ordinary mind could break her spell.
You were no prophet then. For all your birds
You could not get your gods to speak. But I-
Ignorant Oedipus-who wandered here without a clue,
Guessed the truth and stopped the riddler's mouth
By mother-wit, without any help from birds.
This is the man that you would overthrow
So you can be close to Kreon once he's king.
You and Kreon, I promise you, will pay
For this treachery. And if you were not so old
You would have already paid the price of treason!

Khoregos: My Lord, both of you spoke in the heat of anger
Or so it seems to us. But what we need
Are not bitter recriminations but wise
Counsel how best to interpret the god's oracle.

Teiresias: Though you are king, I have the right to answer.
In this we are as equals. I serve not you
But Apollo. Neither do I follow Kreon.
And since you mock my blindness, I tell you
You have eyes and do not see the evils
That surround you. Eyes, and do not see the home
In which you dwell or whom you're living with.
Do you think you know whose son you are?
You do not even know that you have sinned
Against your kin both here above and in
The grave. And your mother's and your father's curse,
Like a double lash, will whip you out of this land
One day and your bright eyes shall be darkened forever.
Where will your cries of agony not be heard-where
In Kithaeron will your shrieks not echo when
You learn the meaning of the marriage-song-
The song they sang when first you came to Thebes
And you found this happy-seeming haven?
All this and more you cannot guess at now
Will show you where you stand and make you one
With your own children. So rail against Kreon
And me and every word I've spoken, too.
But know that no man living shall be crushed
So utterly as you.

Oedipus: Enough! Am I
To suffer words like these? Out of my sight!
Begone! Back where you came from, you charlatan prophet!

Teiresias: You called me here or I would never have come.

Oedipus: If I had known the nonsense you would spout
I would have spared myself the trouble.

Teiresias: Yes!
To you I seem a fool, but to your parents
I was a wise man indeed.

Oedipus: My parents. Wait!
Who do you say my parents are!

Teiresias: This day shall
Show you both your birth and your destruction.

Oedipus: Riddles! Now all you can speak are riddles.

Teiresias: I thought you were the best at solving riddles.

Oedipus: You taunt me with the gift that gave me greatness.

Teiresias: Greatness, true. It also gave you ruin.

Oedipus: If it saved the city, what do I care?

Teiresias: Well, I will leave you then. Boy, take my hand.

Oedipus: Yes. Take him home. Take the nuisance away

Teiresias: When I have said what I have come to say,
I will go. I do not fear your anger.
I tell you yet again, great king, the man
You seek with awful threats and edicts is here!
You think that he is foreign-born, but soon
You will discover he was born in Thebes,
But there will be no joy in that discovery.
Even though he has his eyes now, he is blind.
Even though he's rich now, he is destitute.
With a stick in his hand he'll wander foreign lands
With his children with him, and all will know
He is their father and their brother, too.
He is husband to the mother that bore him.
He is one who raised up seed to his father
Drenched in his father's blood. Go ponder that!
And if you find that I'm deceived, why then
You may say I have no skill in prophecy.

Exeunt all but Khoros

ODE I
Strophe I.
Khoros: Who is the voice of the god denouncing
Echoing out of the cave at Delphi?
What is the horror too dark to tell?
Whose were the bloody hands that did it?
Now is the time for that man to flee,
Swift as a stallion racing the wind!
Armed to the teeth comes Apollo with lightning bolts
Ready to strike at the unhappy murderer!
Soon we'll see Furies pursue him eternally!

Antistrophe I
The snow on high Parnassus shines!
Apollo's sacred mountaintop!
A gleaming message from the god!
Let every citizen hunt down the murderer!
Hiding in caves. Deep in the woods!
Lost as a bull that broke free from the slaughterhouse!
Dogged by the menacing Furies that circle him!

Strophe II.
What the prophet said was strange!
Troubling. Unnerving. What can he mean?
I cannot agree. I cannot deny.
Was there some long-forgotten feud-
I know of none-between the house
Of Laios and that of Oedipus' birth?
Though we must learn who killed our king,
How can we believe our hero,
Oedipus revered by all,
Is guilty when we have no proof?

Antistrophe.
Zeus and Apollo are wise and know everything.
From them no secrets are hidden of earthly things.
But can the word of a seer who's a man like me
Carry more wisdom than my word or yours?
No one can say for sure. Yet it is certain that
One man is wise while another is foolish.
'Til there is proof I won't side with his enemies.
We saw him prove himself solving the Riddle and
Saving our city. So never in my heart shall
He be condemned.

Kreon: Men of Thebes, they tell me Oedipus
The King has made a vile charge against me.
I deeply resent this. I had to come to defend
Myself. For if he thinks that I could say
Or do further harm to our troubled city,
I had rather die than live with such scandal.
There is nothing worse than to be thought
A traitor to all of you and my good friends.

Khoregos: We think the charge was born of anger not
Of sober judgement.

Kreon: You heard him publicly
Charge that I convinced the old prophet to lie?

Khoregos: That's what he said. Who can tell if he meant it?

Kreon: But you were here. You saw him. Were his eyes
Steady? Did he look like a madman?

Khoregos: I cannot tell.
It is not for my eyes to look into great men's deeds.
But here is the king himself.

Oedipus: So you dare to come back!
Where do you find the gall to darken my door?
I have proof you plotted to take my life
And steal my crown. Do you take me for a fool
Or a coward to think you could accomplish this?
A fool, who wouldn't see through this shameless scheme,
Or a coward, who would never try to resist you?
You are the fool to reach so high with no
Friends or fortune to back you.

Kreon: Are you quite done?
If so then give me equal time and when
You've heard me out, then judge me on the facts.

Oedipus: Kreon, you're very good with words! But I
Have trouble understanding you. The fact
Is you are a false villain!

Kreon: If you truly
Think unreasonable stubbornness is good,
You're wrong.

Oedipus: If you truly think that you
Can harm your kinsman with no consequence, you're wrong!

Kreon: That's true, but explain what harm I've done you.

Oedipus: Did you or did you not advise that I
Should send for that-that most reverend prophet?

Kreon: Of course I did. And I would do it again.

Oedipus: I see. Now tell me how long ago it's was
That Laios…

Kreon: What about Laios?

Oedipus: Disappeared.
Vanished in that incident by the road.

Kreon: That was a long time ago.

Oedipus: And this prophet,
Was he in business then, as well.

Kreon: He was.
And just as wise and revered as he is now.

Oedipus: And did he mention me in his prophecies then?

Kreon: If he did, I never heard it.

Oedipus: But you
Did investigate the murder, surely.

Kreon: We did the best we could, but at the time
We found nothing.

Oedipus: And at that time, your great
Prophet accused me of nothing. Why not?

Kreon: I have no idea. And when I lack
The facts, I hold my peace.

Oedipus: You know one fact.
And if you're wise you'll tell it.

Kreon: Anything
I know I'll tell you freely.

Oedipus: Tell me, please if he
Had not met with you, would he have said
That I was the man who murdered Laios?

Kreon: If that is what he says, then only you
Would know. Now since you have questioned me
Let me ask you something.

Oedipus: Ask anything you like, for I am not
A murderer.

Kreon: Are you not my sister's husband?

Oedipus: Of course I am. I would not want to deny that.

Kreon: And you and she rule Thebes as equals, true?

Oedipus: And all that she desires is hers by right.

Kreon: Do I have a third equal share of honor?

Oedipus: You do. The more dishonor for your treason.

Kreon: No, not treason. Look at the matter with reason
As I do and you'll see I am no traitor.
First of all, would any rational man
Take on the cares of state when he could have
All the benefits of power and still
Sleep peacefully at night? Certainly not!
I would sooner act a king than be one.
And so would any man who's truly wise.
As it is, I can do anything I like
With your good grace. But I don't have to share
Your awesome responsibilities and do things I hate.
Were I the king, I'd feel more like a slave.
Why should I prefer a crown to what
I already have-royalty with no troubles.
I have not gone mad. I need no more honors
Than the ones I already have. Everyone knows me.
I'm greeted daily in the marketplace.
And if anyone seeks your favor, first he
Comes to me to plead his case for him
Knowing that is the surest way to success.
Why would I want to change my life for yours?
A mind at peace doesn't go looking for quarrels.
To be a traitor is not in my nature nor could
I abide to be in the company of traitors.
Put me to the test and send to Delphi.
See for yourself if the word I brought was true.
If you learn the prophet and I have plotted
To usurp you, don't hesitate. Take me and kill me.
I will join you in pronouncing the sentence.
But I won't be convicted on blind suspicion alone!
It is not right to judge a man bad or good
On a whim. Neither is it right to discard
A true and loyal friend. That is no better
Than to throw away your very life! In time
You'll learn this lesson, for Time alone reveals
The honest man. A single day reveals
The sinner.

Khoregos: He speaks most carefully, my lord,
Like a wise man who would avoid disaster.
Hasty words often prove dangerous.

Oedipus: When I
Discover a dangerous plot against me, I
Make haste to stop the mastermind. If I
Am slow to act, I'll discover
He has gained his end and I am lost.

Kreon: I take it then you want to banish me.

Oedipus: Not banishment but your death is what I want
So all may see what end a traitor comes to.

Kreon: Stubborn man, you refuse to believe me, then?

Oedipus: False man, you are not worthy of belief!

Kreon: This is insane!

Oedipus: Sane enough for my interests!

Kreon: But what if your charge is false?

Oedipus: I still must rule!

Kreon: Not if you rule badly!

Oedipus: Hear him, O Thebes!

Kreon: You are not Thebes! I am a citizen, too!

Khoregos: Gentlemen, please! The Queen comes to join you.
With her help, perhaps you can mend your differences.

Iokasta: Unruly men! What has sparked this wild
Dispute? For shame to stir up private troubles
When the public weal is so deathly ill!
Brother, go home, and husband, go inside.
Don't make matters worse than they already are!

Kreon: Sister, Oedipus, your dear husband,
Thinks it just to punish me with one
Of two most dreadful fates: exile or death!

Oedipus: Indeed I have, for I have discovered his plot
To murder me.

Kreon: Let me die under the curse
Of heaven if I am guilty of this vile thing!

Iokasta: For the love of god, believe him, Oedipus!
You must respect so strong an oath! Believe
Him for my sake and for the sake of these Theban men.

Ode 2
Strophe
Khoros: My lord, we pray you
Give us your consent.
Think what you're doing.
Yield to us, mighty king!

Oedipus: What would you have me
Yield to you?

Khoros: Respect
For a man who has
Never been foolish.
Give respect to his
Terrible oath!

Oedipus: Do
You know what it is
That you ask of me?

Khoros: Yes.

Oedipus: State what you want.

Khoros: That you, reverend sir,
Never use rumor
To convict a friend,
Dishonoring him,
Who's sworn such an oath.

Oedipus: Surely you all must know
When you seek for this
You seek my downfall:
Or exile from home!

Strophe II
Khoros: No! By him who stands
Before the gods, No!
By the blazing sun,
Seat of Apollo!
May I die without
Sacrament or friends;
May I die the worst
Of deaths if I have
Such a thing in mind!
My unhappy soul
Is weighed down beneath
Sorrows our city
Endures and the thought
Of the two of you
At odds, breaks my heart.
Do not heap new wounds
On old!

Oedipus: So be it.
Even though this word
Seals my doom: to die
Or be driven out
Doubly dishonored.
Since it is your lips
Not his that ask this,
I grant it; But he--
Wherever you find
Him-I shall despise
For eternity!

Kreon: We see what you are:
Unwilling to yield
And quick of temper.
A nature like yours
Is hardest to bear
For a man like you.

Oedipus: O, leave me in peace!
Get out of my sight!

Kreon: I will go my way,
Misjudged by my friend.
In the eyes of all
Others I am just!

Antistrophe 1
Khoros: Lady, you hesitate
Why don't you enter your
House with our King?

Iokasta: I will
Enter, but after I
Learn what has happened here.

Khoros: Insults, suspicion, and
Undeserved charges made.

Iokasta: Both of them did these things?

Khoros: Yes, madam.

Iokasta: What was said?

Khoros: I think it best, madam,
Seeing the state we're in,
Matters should stay as they
Are.

Oedipus: Do you see what you're
Doing, you well-meaning
Men, as you blunt my fell
Purpose? It's come to this!

Antistrophe II
Khoros: Great king, I must say what I said before:
I would show myself a madman
If I wanted to drive you away.
When Thebes was found'ring in the storm,
You brought her safely to the shore.
Now we pray that you may save us
Yet again.

Iokasta: For the love of heaven
Tell me why you were so angry.

Oedipus: I will tell you, for you mean more to me,
Dear one, than all these men who gather here.
Kreon is the reason for my anger.
Kreon and the plots he laid against me!

Iokasta: Go on. Tell me how this feud began.

Oedipus: Kreon accused me of the blood of Laios!

Iokasta: Did he say this from his own knowledge?
Or did he hear it from some witness or other?

Oedipus: He's far too subtle to say these things himself.
He sent a churlish prophet to speak for him.

Iokasta: Then, darling, you may set your mind at rest.
Listen to what I say and be comforted.
No mortal on earth can truly know the art
Of divination. Prophets don't exist.
And I have proof. Once an oracle came to
Laios-not from Apollo but from his priests-
Saying that he would die at the hands of his own
Son that he would have of me. But how
Did Laios die? Everyone knows he was killed
By foreign robbers at a place where three
Roads meet. And as for our son, he was not three
Days old when Laios pinned together his heels
And cast him out (by other hands, not his)
To perish on a pathless mountainside.
And so Apollo did not make the son
Become the slayer of his own father.
And so Laios was saved from his greatest fear,
A fear planted by a prophet's warning.
You need not listen to these so-called prophets.
Whatever the god would have us know, I'm sure
He will reveal whenever he will.

Oedipus: Iokasta, dearest one, you said something-
And terror shakes me to the very soul!

Iokasta: What could I have said to frighten you so?

Oedipus: I thought I heard you say Laios was killed
At a place where three roads meet?

Iokasta: That was the story
Then, and that is the story still.

Oedipus: But where
Exactly did this all take place?

Iokasta: The land
Is called Phokis. There the road from Delphi
Joins the road to Daulia.

Oedipus: How many years
Have passed since all these things were done?

Iokasta: The news
Reached us shortly before your reign began.

Oedipus: Zeus! What have you decreed be done to me?

Iokasta: My dear, what weighs so heavy on your soul?

Oedipus: Don't ask me yet. Tell me what manner of man
Was Laios?

Iokasta: He was tall and silver-haired.
And he was built very like you.

Oedipus: Ai!
Have I, in ignorance, cursed myself?

Iokasta: Darling!
What do you mean? You make me tremble!

Oedipus: I
Have a dreadful fear the prophet was not blind.
But to make things clear, tell me one more thing.

Iokasta: I can't stop trembling, but I'll tell you all
I know.

Oedipus: Did Laios have a small entourage?
Or was he attended by many men-at-arms
Like a king?

Iokasta: There were five in all. A herald
Led the way, and one man rode with Laios
In the carriage drawn by colts.

Oedipus: It's all so clear!
But who told you all this?

Iokasta: A servant of ours
The only one who survived that day.

Oedipus: And might
We find this servant still in our house?

Iokasta: Oh, no.
When he returned and saw that you now reigned
In his master's place, he begged you on his knees
To let him go away into the country
Where he could become a shepherd. He wanted to go
As far as he could from the eyes of his countrymen. I
Gave him leave, poor soul. He deserved even more.

Oedipus: I would see him. Summon him here at once.

Iokasta: But why do you desire to see this man?

Oedipus: O wife, I fear that I have said too much
Already. Therefore I would see this man.

Iokasta: Therefore he shall come. But as your wife, I
Would know what terror weighs so heavy on your soul.

Oedipus: You shall know, for in my present terror
You are more to me than all the men of Thebes.
Polybos of Korinth was my father.
Merope, my mother, was a Dorian.
And I was always treated as a prince
By all the people there until one day
Something happened-something unimportant,
Perhaps, but troubling nonetheless. One day
At a feast, a man who'd had too much to drink
Shouted out for all to hear that I
Was not my father's son. I held my temper-
Barely--so as no to spoil the banquet, but
The next day, I went to my mother and father and
Asked them of the matter. They were furious
That such a thing was said and at the fool
Who said it. This relieved my troubled heart
But only for a time. The slander gnawed
At me. So without my parents' knowledge, I
Went to Delphi. Apollo gave me no
Clear reply but spoke of vague horrors. I
Was to couple with my own mother and breed a race
That no man could bear to look on. And I
Was to murder the father who gave me life!
When I heard that I vowed never to return
To Korinth. From that day, only the stars
I looked on, looked on Korinth, not my eyes.
I became a voluntary exile
Rather that see such horrors come to pass.
As I fled I came near where you say Laios was killed.
Now Lady, here is the truth: As I came to the place
Where three roads meet, I met a herald just
As you described, and after him a man
Seated in a carriage drawn by colts.
The old man had his driver try to force me
From the road. In a fury I struck the driver hard.
Seeing this, the old man waited his chance
And brought down his goad with two sharp teeth full
Upon my head. I paid the old man back
In full. With the staff in this hand I struck him
A blow that rolled him out of his seat and sent
Him lifeless onto his back. I killed them all!

But if the blood of Laios flowed in that man's
Veins-Ai-is there any man more miserable
Than the one you see before you now? O, who
Could be more despised of the gods? No man alive
May take him in or give him a kind word.
Everyone must drive him from his door!
And this dreadful curse was laid on me
By my own mouth! These hands that killed this man
Pollute his bed! Am I not the vilest
Of men? I must be banished and yet, even
In banishment I must avoid my home
Lest I be wedded to my mother and kill
My dear father Polybos who raised me!
May it not be justly said of Oedipus
These things were laid on him by a cruel
Power from above? O, you gods, I pray
That you never let me see that day!
Grant that I be swept from the sight of men
Before I see myself stained to the soul
With such corruption!

Khoregos: My Lord, you fill us with fear!
But still do not lose hope until you hear
The whole story from the man who saw it all!

Oedipus: Such is my only hope: to wait for the man
We summoned away from his sheep in the pastures.

Iokasta: And when he appears, what can you learn from him?

Oedipus: I will tell you. If his story agrees
With yours, I may be cleared of blame.

Iokasta: What part of my story could be so crucial?

Oedipus: You told me he said that Laios was killed
By robbers-plural-not by one lone man.
If he stays with that story, I am innocent
Of the murder. "One" is not "many." But if
He speaks of "one" only, it will be clear
He speaks of me. And I am the guilty one.

Iokasta: You may be sure he spoke of robbers, plural.
He cannot change his story now. The whole
City heard what I heard. But even if
This shepherd should change some small detail, no one
Could claim that dear Laios' murder fulfilled
Apollo's prophecy. For the oracle said
Quite clearly Laios must die by the hand of my
Son. But we know my boy didn't kill him-
Poor thing-he perished first. So much for prophecy.
Do not look for god's truth in mortal hands.

Oedipus: This is sage advice. Yet I would see
This shepherd. Someone go and summon him here.

Iokasta: I will send for him without delay. But come.
Let us go into the house. I would have nothing
But that which pleases you, my dearest lord.

Ode 2
Strophe I
Khoros: May future generations find
My life was led in purity
Of word and action, keeping laws
Ordained by highest heav'n above.
For truest laws were handed down
From Mt. Olympus' tow'ring heights
Universal laws are not
Creations of a mortal mind.
Forgetfulness can't make them sleep;
The godly in them knows no age.

Antistrophe I
Insolent pride breeds the tyrant-
Hybris borne on empty riches-
Scales the dizzy heights and seizes
Royal power and mounts the throne
Only to lose it's heady footing
And tumble headlong to its doom.
I pray the god may never quell
A contest that will help the State;
The god alone shall have my praise;
For god alone is our defense.

Strophe II.
But may the man who walks in pride-
Who's arrogant in word and deed-
Who has no fear of Justice-nor
Reveres the images of god
May an evil doom o'ertake him
For his prideful, grand delusions.
If he will not prosper fairly
If he seeks unholy profit
Or profanes a sacred object
May an evil doom o'ertake him!

Where such impious deeds as these are done,
Who could find a shield from the arrows of god?
If such deeds as these are done in honor,
Why should we continue the sacred dance?

Antistrophe II
I'll no longer be a pilgrim
Seeking the hearth at Earth's navel
Seeking Abae's holy temple
Praying at Olympia's shrine
If oracles are proved untrue
So that skeptics wag their fingers.
Zeus reveal your mighty power!
If you are rightly called a King,
All-seeing and omnipotent
Show us your immortal power!

The prophecies concerning Laios fade;
Already men are doubting these old words;
Apollo is not honored anywhere.
And worship of the gods is vanishing!

Iokasta: Princely elders of Thebes, it has occurred
To me to visit the shrines of the gods bearing
Branches wreathed in wool and these offerings
Of incense. For you see, our king is overwrought.
Horrible visions have clouded his judgement. Nothing
I say seems to help. But anyone who speaks of terrors
Has his ear. And so, Apollo, I turn
To you, since you are close at hand. I come
With suppliant branches and incense and I pray-
I beg you-purify us. Set us free
From this cursed plague. We are frightened seeing
Oedipus, who steers our ship of state
With such a steady hand, so terrified.

Korinthian: Pardon me, strangers, could you direct me to
The palace of your king? Or better yet
Could you show me to Oedipus himself?

Khoregos: This is the palace. Oedipus is within.
But this lady is his queen and mother
Of his children.

Korinthian: Blessings on you, lady,
Wife of such a man as Oedipus,
May your house be ever blessed and happy!

Iokasta: What a greeting! May the same be yours, sir.
But what brings you here? Do you bring news?

Korinthian: Wonderful news for your husband and his house!

Iokasta: What wonderful news? And who sent you?

Korinthian: Korinth
Sent me. May you find joy in what I say
Though this news will also bring you sorrow.

Iokasta: What can it be? Cloaked in such ambiguity?

Korinthian: If the common people have their say
Oedipus will be the next king of Korinth!

Iokasta: Is Polybos no longer on the throne?

Korinthian: No, for Death has laid him in his tomb.

Iokasta: Polybos is dead?

Korinthian: On my life, he is.

Iokasta: Run to your master, girl. Bring him this news!
Where are you oracles now? This is the man
Oedipus avoided for so long
Fearing he would kill him. And now he has died
A natural death-not murdered by his son!

Oedipus: Darling, what made you call me from the palace?

Iokasta: Hear what this man has to say. Then see
How little oracles are truly worth!

Oedipus: Who is this man? And what does he have to say?

Iokasta: He brings news from Korinth that Polybos,
Is dead.

Oedipus: Polybos dead? Let me hear it from you!

Korinthian: Since you would have me tell this first: it's true.
Death has carried Polybos away.

Oedipus: How did he die? Was it murder. Or sickness?

Korinthian: A little thing can lay an old man low.

Oedipus: It was sickness, then, that took Polybos' life?

Korinthian: Sickness, yes, and he had had many a long year!

Oedipus: O wife, why should a man pay any heed
To the fortune-telling fire at Pythos or the birds
That caw above our heads? Foolish oracles!
They foretold that I would kill my father!
But he is covered by the earth and I
Am here, my sword in its sheath-unless, perhaps
He died of grief mourning for my absence.
Then it might be said I was his killer.
But no, Polybos is dead, and those prophecies
I feared so much are with him in his grave!

Iokasta: Did I not say as much from the beginning?

Oedipus: Darling, you did. It was my fear that misled me.

Iokasta: Don't' let these oracles trouble you any longer.

Oedipus: Even so, I fear-my mother's bed…

Iokasta: Why should a man have fear? A man can see
Nothing that Fortune has in store for him.
It is better to take each random thing as it comes.
And as for this fear of your mother's bed, such thoughts
Are not worth dwelling on. Many a man
Has had such dreams. But the man who would live in peace
With himself must dismiss such dreams for the shadows they are.

Oedipus: These words would make me brave if she were not
Living. But as long as my mother lives, then I
Must live in fear.

Korinthian: And who is this woman you fear?

Oedipus: Merope, the wife of Polybos, sir.

Korinthian: And what
Is there to fear from her?

Oedipus: A most dreadful
Prophecy sent from the gods.

Korinthian: Is it lawful
For a stranger to know this prophecy?

Oedipus: It's lawful,
To be sure. Apollo's oracle once declared
That I was doomed to take my mother to wife
And defile these hands with shedding my father's blood.
This is why, for so many years, I've kept
Away from Korinth. And Fortune has smiled on me.
Still, it would have been sweet to look on my parents'
Faces.

Korinthian: This is why you fled our city?

Oedipus: This, and the fear of becoming a parricide.

Korinthian: As I have come in friendship, let me free
You from that fear as well.

Oedipus: You will be well
Rewarded.

Korinthian: That, my lord, is why I came!
That your return to Korinth would be to my
Benefit.

Oedipus: But I will never go there lest
I should meet my parents.

Korinthian: My boy, it's clear you know
Nothing of what you're doing.

Oedipus: How's that, old man?
For god's sake tell me.

Korinthian: This fear that keeps you from home…

Oedipus: I fear Apollo's oracle may be true.

Korinthian: That contact with your parents would defile
You?

Oedipus: That is my constant fear.

Korinthian: Then fear no more!

Oedipus: How can I not? I am the child of Polybos
And Merope, am I not?

Korinthian: There is not one
Drop of Polybos' blood in your veins.

Oedipus: What's this?
Are you saying that Polybos wasn't my father?

Korinthian: No more your father than I am, sir.

Oedipus: But why
Did he call me his son?

Korinthian: You were a gift-
Given to him by these very hands many
Years ago.

Oedipus: Yet he loved me as a son.

Korinthian: He had no children of his own, you see.

Oedipus: And you-had you bought me or was I a foundling?

Korinthian: I found you in the woods on Mount Kithaeron.

Oedipus: What were you doing there?

Korinthian: Tending my sheep.

Oedipus: You were just a migrant, working for wages?

Korinthian: I was. But in that hour, I was your savior.

Oedipus: When you took me in your arms, was I in pain?

Korinthian: Your ankles will bear witness of that. Just look.

Oedipus: Why remind me of that old affliction?

Korinthian: Your ankles were pinned together and I freed you.

Oedipus: That shameful scar has been with me from the cradle.

Korinthian: That is how you got the name of Oedipus.

Oedipus: Who did this thing to me, my father or my mother?

Korinthian: I couldn't say. The one I got you from
Knows more than I.

Oedipus: Someone other than you
Found me, then?

Korinthian: Yes. Another shepherd gave you
To me.

Oedipus: Who was he? What was his name?

Korinthian: He said
He was a servant of-if memory serves-
Laios.

Oedipus: The king who ruled here long ago?

Korinthian: The very one. That shepherd was his servant.

Oedipus: Is he still alive? Can I see him?

Korinthian: These people here would know that better than I.

Oedipus: Have any of you here seen the shepherd
This man spoke of? Has any seen him here
In the city or in the pastures. Tell us
If you know his whereabouts. At last,
The time has come for all to be revealed.

Khoregos: I think this shepherd is the very man
You have already sent for. But our lady
Iokasta would be the best one to tell us this.

Oedipus: Darling Iokasta, do you remember this man?
Is he the one this fellow speaks of?

Iokasta: O, what
Does it matter who he is? It's not important!
Pay no attention to this idle gossip!

Oedipus: I can't ignore a clue like this. And fail
To bring the mystery of my birth to light.

Iokasta: In god's name, stop! If you care for your life at all.
Let my suffering be sufficient!

Oedipus: Take courage!
Even if we find my mother was a slave,
And I'm descended from three lines of slaves, you
Would not seem base-born.

Iokasta: I beg you, listen to me!
Do not do this!

Oedipus: I cannot hear your plea!
I cannot stop 'til I know all the truth.

Iokasta: Darling, take my advice! I know what's best.

Oedipus: Your "best advice" begins to tax my patience.

Iokasta: Ill-fated man! May you never learn who you are!

Oedipus: Someone go and bring the shepherd here.
Let this lady revel in her royal birth.

Iokasta: Ai! Ai! Misery! That is the only
Word I have for you now and forever!
Ai!

Khoregos: Why did the lady depart in such agony
Of grief? I fear this silence. Some horrible
Thing may come of it.

Oedipus: Let the horrors come. I
Must know the secret of my birth, however base!
The Queen, it seems, with a woman's pride, is ashamed
Of my low birthright. But I believe that I
Am a son of Good Fortune and will not be
Dishonored. Fortune is my mother and
My brothers, the passing months, have found me both poor
And rich. With such a heritage, why would I want
To deny my state? How could I neglect
To find the wondrous secret of my birth?

Ode 4
Strophe
Khoros: If I have any skill in prophecy,
Or if my heart is wise, Mount Kithaeron
You shall hear before the full moon rises,
Oedipus greet you as his foster-mother
And his nurturer. We shall sing and dance
Your praises since you are pleasing to our king.
O Phoebos Apollo to you we raise our prayer:
May all these things find favor in your sight!

Antistrophe.
Where did you come from, my son? Who was your mother?
What immortal brought you to Pan, the god
Of the mountain? Perhaps Loxias bred you in a high
Pasture! He loves to wander there. Or perhaps
Cyllene's lord, Hermes! Or the Bacchae's god-
Dionysos! Dionysos who lives
On the hilltops among the nymphs of Helicon!
Was it he who received you, his new-born joy,
From the arms of his favorite nymphs?

Oedipus: Gentlemen! Though I never met the man,
I believe I see the shepherd we've been
Seeking. He is of an age with this stranger here.
And I think the servants who bring him belong
To my house. But in such matters you know better
Than I. Have you ever seen this shepherd?

Khoregos: I know him well. He was a slave of Laios.
He was as trustworthy a shepherd as any you'll see.

Oedipus: First let me ask this stranger from Korinth, Is this
The man you mean?

Korinthian: It is, sir, for a fact.

Oedipus: Come here, old man. Now look me in the eye.
Answer every question I will ask you.
Were you ever in the service of Laios?

Shepherd: I was a slave born and raised in his house.

Oedipus: What were your duties? What was your way of life?

Shepherd: For the greatest part of my life, I tended the flocks.

Oedipus: And in what place did you chiefly tend the flocks?

Shepherd: On Mount Kithaeron and the neighboring hills.

Oedipus: Did you ever see this man in those places?

Shepherd: Doing what?-What man are you talking about?

Oedipus: Why, this man here. Have you ever met him?

Shepherd: I can only say I don't recall.

Korinthian: Little wonder, sir. But I can refresh
His memory. Surely he remembers the time
When we both lived on Mount Kithaeron-he with
Two flocks and I with one. We lived up there
For three half years from the early spring until
The month of Arcturus when I would drive my flock
To my home and he would drive his to the house
Of Laios. Now is that the truth or not?

Shepherd: That is the truth. But it was long ago.

Korinthian: Now, don't you remember the baby boy you gave
To me to raise as if he were my own?

Shepherd: What do you mean? What sort of question is that?

Korinthian: That man standing there was that baby!

Shepherd: Shut up, damn you! Can't you just keep quiet!

Oedipus: Don't be cross with him, old man. You are
The one who needs scolding!

Shepherd: What have I done, sir?

Oedipus: You refuse to answer about the boy.

Shepherd: He's a busybody. Who knows nothing!

Oedipus: You won't talk freely. Perhaps a little pain…

Shepherd: For the love of god, please don't hurt an old man!

Oedipus: You there, twist his arms behind him. Do it now!

Shepherd: Why are you doing this? What do you want to know?

Oedipus: He asked if you remember giving him
A boy to raise.

Shepherd: Yes! I gave him a boy!
I wish I had died that day.

Oedipus: You will die this day
Unless you tell me all the truth.

Shepherd: The more
I tell you, the worse the death I die will be.

Oedipus: I see this fellow wants to stretch things out.

Shepherd: No! I said before I gave him the boy!

Oedipus: Where did it come from-our house? Or another's

Shepherd: It wasn't mine. A man gave it to me.

Oedipus: Was it one of these men here? From which house?

Shepherd: Don't ask me that. You mustn't ask me that!

Oedipus: You are a dead man if I have to ask
Again.

Shepherd: The baby came from Laios' house.

Oedipus: Was it a slave? Or was it Laios' boy?

Shepherd: Ai. The horror I am about to tell.

Oedipus: Yes. And the horror I am about to hear.
Yet I must hear!

Shepherd: Master, you must know then
It was said to be his only son.
But your lady within could tell you all the truth.

Oedipus: It was she who gave you the baby?

Shepherd: Yes,sir

Oedipus: O, why?

Shepherd: That I should take the baby away.

Oedipus: Her own baby? Poor thing.

Shepherd: She feared evil
Prophecies.

Oedipus: What were these prophecies?

Shepherd: The story was
He was to kill his father.

Oedipus: Knowing that, why
Did you give him to this man?

Shepherd: I did it for pity, sir.
I thought he would take him home with him where he'd be safe.
But he saved him for the worst of fates. If you
Are the man he says, you were born to misery.

Oedipus: All the ancient prophecies are true. Ai!
Light, may I never look on you again.
I, who have been found to be accursed
In my birth, in marriage, and in shedding of blood.

Ode 5
StropheI
Khoros: Ai! You lines of mortal men
Stretching through time for generations:
Your life is but a shadow in darkness!
Is there a mortal anywhere
Who wins more than a semblance of happiness?
And after the semblance a dizzying fall!
Unhappy Oedipus, yours is a destiny
That warns me: No earthly creature is blessed.

Antistrophe I.
O Zeus, he always hit his mark
And won the prize of vast fortune.
He killed the crooked taloned Sphinx
And silenced her horrible song. He was a tower
Of strength that guarded our land against death!
And from that day, Oedipus was our king!
Honored above all other men
Supreme ruler of mighty Thebes!

Strophe II.
But now, whose story's more dreadful to hear?
Who is more caught by troubles and plagues-
Whose life has been totally reversed!
Ai! You famous prince, Oedipus!
Your cradle was your marriage bed!
A sumptuous couch for father and son!
How could the soil your father sowed
Suffer such a wrong in silence!

Antistrophe II.
All-seeing Time has found you out.
He has judged the monstrous marriage
In which the father and son were one.
Ai! O child of Laios, I wish that I
Had never looked on your face. Ai!
This lamentation must pour from my lips!
It's true you gave me life, but now,
Through you, darkness descends on my eyes!

Messenger: Most honored men of Thebes, what deeds shall you hear!
What deeds shall you see! What a burden of sorrow is yours,
If you are truly men of Thebes and care
For the house of Labdacus.
All the rivers of Greece
Could never wash this house clean, so many
Are the sins that are shrouded within. But they will soon
Be brought into the light-sins committed
Delib'rately, not by accident. The sins we choose
To do always give us the greatest pain.

Khoregos: The pain we already know is cause enough
For lamentation. Is there more to tell?

Messenger: Brief to tell and brief to hear, the queen,
Iokasta is dead.

Khoros: Ai! Poor lady. How?

Messenger: By her own hand. But you are spared the worst
For it was not for you to see. Nonetheless
I will tell you all I can remember
Of this unhappy woman's misery.
She was in a frenzy as she burst
Into the vestibule. And there, clutching her hair
With both hands, she dashed straight for her bedchamber.
Once inside, she closed the doors behind her
We heard her call on Laios, long since dead,
Reminding him of the son she bore him long
Before-the son who killed his sire, leaving
The mother to breed a cursed race from her son.
How she wept for the marriage-bed where she bred
Husband by her husband, children by her child.
I cannot say just how it was she died
For suddenly Oedipus, shrieking, burst upon us.
Our eyes were fixed on him, tearing around
The room, calling for a sword, asking for his wife
Who was not a wife but a mother whose womb had borne
His children and himself. And as he raved
Some power higher than us all guided him
And with a dreadful cry, he hurled himself
At the great double doors and bending the bolts
From their sockets, flung the doors wide and rushed in.
There we saw the woman hanging by the neck
Swinging back and forth and spinning gently.
And when he saw her, he moaned with such misery
It broke our hearts. And he loosened the halter
From which she hanged. When the poor woman was stretched
On the ground-what happened next was dreadful to see.
He tore the golden brooches from her gown
And lifted them up and plunged them into his eyeballs
All the while muttering words like, "See no more pain-
The pain that I'm suffering; pain that I cause!
You have looked long enough on things you should never have seen!
You were blind to things you should have known!
Therefore, from this hour, you shall be dark!"
Speaking thus, he lifted his hands not once
But again and again he plunged the pins in his eyes;
And at every blow, his tortured eyeballs bled,
Not in gentle drops like dew, but a dark shower
Coming down like hail, drenching his beard.

This is the misery that broke upon them both,
Misery not for one alone, but for man and wife.
The happiness of their ancestral house
Was happiness indeed, but now…Ruin
Lamentation, death, unbearable shame,
Every earthly misery you could name
Are theirs.

Khoregos: Is he free from pain, at last?

Messenger: He cries for someone to unbolt the doors
So he can show all Thebes his father's killer,
His mother's-No, I cannot say the word-
It is unholy. He wants to cast himself
Out of this land. He wants to live no more
In the house cursed by his own curse. But he lacks strength.
And there is no one to guide his steps. His despair
Is greater than any man may bear. And you
Shall see this for yourselves, for look the bolts
Are drawn and the doors are opening. Soon you shall see
A sight, though loathsome, worthy of our pity.

Khoros: O, miserable fate for men to see.
Greatest misery I have ever looked on!
Unhappy man, what madness came over you?
What super-human power-what angry god-
Mad you his unfortunate prey. Ai!
Unhappy man, I cannot look on you!
Though I have much to ask, and much to learn,
What I see before me makes me tremble.

Oedipus: Ai! Ai! Misery! I am misery!
Where, Oh, where am I going in my misery!
How far afield is my voice borne on the wings
Of the air? Oh my fate, where have you taken me?

Khoros: To a place dreadful to hear, dreadful to see.

Strophe I
Oedipus: Veil of blackest night enfolds me;
Darkest shadows! Nameless terrors!
Driven by a wind too fair!
Ai! Misery!
How my flesh is stung with stabbing!
How my soul is burned by sorrows!

Khoros: Yes, when sorrows are so many
Pain of flesh and pain of spirit
Are your burden and must be carried.

Andtistrophe I
Oedipus: Ah, my friend, you still are loyal!
You attend me! How I need you!
You would care for one who's blind!
You can not be hidden from me.
Though my eyes are locked in darkness,
Still I know your voice so well.

Khoros: How could such a man as Oedipus
On his own, destroy his vision?
What unhuman power drove you?

Strophe II
Oedipus: Apollo drove me, friends, Apollo
Made these dreadful things all happen.
But the hand that struck these eyes was
Mine and mine alone Ai!
Why should I desire to see when
Joy cannot be brought by seeing.

Khoros: Everything you say is true.

Oedipus: What is left for me to look on?
What is left for me to love?
Where will I find joy in greeting
Any person anywhere?
Quickly, lead me from the city!
I, who bear a triple curse.
I, the most despised of heaven!

Khoros: Miserable in your fortune!
Miserable in your knowledge
Of your fortune! Greater misery!
O, that I had never known you!

Antistrophe II
Oedipus: Curses on the man, whoever
He may be, who freed my ankles,
Rescued me from certain death and
Gave me back a life of misery.
Better far for me and mine if
I had perished on that day.

Khoros: I cannot say you made a good decision.
Death were better than such a life with blindness.

Oedipus: What I've done is for the best. I need
No advice. If I had sight, how could I
Go into the underworld and look
My father in the eye. What sort of eyes
Could look on my mother in her misery there?
My sins are sins mere death could not repay.
Can you think that children born as mine are
May be lovely sights for me to see?
Never lovely in my eyes. And neither
Is this city lovely to me for all
Its towers and sacred statues of the gods.
For mine is a triple misery. I, the noblest
Son of Thebes have doomed myself to see these
Things no more, since I myself commanded
All the world to shun the unclean one. I
Whom the gods themselves revealed unholy!
I, the son of Laios! With such a stain
How could I look my countrymen in the eye?
Indeed, if I had means to stop my ears,
I would quickly make this loathsome body
A prison, locking out both sight and sound,
So that my thoughts might live outside the sphere
Of misery. Ai! Kithaeron, why
Did you provide a sanctuary for me?
Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance,
Instead of saving me to tell the world
My shameful origins? Polybus! Korinth!
The house I thought to be my father's house!
Did you know the handsome son you raised,
Festered with foul corruption beneath his fair
Exterior? Now you see I am evil
And of evil birth. O, you three roads and you
Dark and woody pass where three roads met,
You who drank my father's blood-my own
Blood spilled by my own hands-do you remember
The things you saw me do? And then, when I
Came here, what other things I was to do?

Marriage. O, marriage, you gave me birth. And when
You brought me into the light of day, you raised
Up my seed in incest, bring forth fathers, brothers,
Sons, Brides, Wives, Mothers, all in the foulest shame
A man can do. Enough! It is wrong to name
What should remain nameless. For the love of god,
Hide me somewhere out of this land.
Or kill me, or throw me into the sea
Where I may never be seen again! Come here.
Don't be afraid to touch a miserable man.
My plague can infect no one but myself.

Khoregos: Here comes Kreon. Make your requests of him.
He'll know what to do. For he alone
Is left to guard the city in your place.

Oedipus: Where shall I find words to speak to him?
Why should he believe the truth from me
When in the past I was so false to him.

Kreon: I do not come to mock you, Oedipus.
Nor do I come to blame you for some past wrong.
But if you are not ashamed to show your face
In public, at least respect the blazing Sun
Sacred to our lord Apollo, whose rays
Give life to everything. Hide from the sun
The pollution standing naked before our eyes.
Neither earth, nor holy rain, nor light
Can give it welcome. Take him into the house
As quickly as you can for it is best
For family to see the family's misery.

Oedipus: For the love of the god. Since you were always kind
To my former self, and since I sense you come
So nobly to one so vile, I ask you grant
Me a favor, not for my sake, but for yours.

Kreon: What is the favor you would have of me?

Oedipus: Cast me quickly out of this land. Send me
To some desert place where there is no one to greet me.

Kreon: I'd have already done that, but I first
Wanted to know the will of the god.

Oedipus: The god?
His will is clear enough: To let me die-
Unholy father-killer that I am.

Kreon: That was the god's intent, surely, but still
It's best to learn precisely what's to be done.

Oedipus: Would you ask the god about a miserable
Man like me?

Kreon: Of course! For now even you
Will put your trust in god.

Oedipus: I will, indeed.
This is my order-I forget myself-
I beg you bury the woman within with such
Obsequies as you see fit since she
Is one of yours. But as for me, never
Allow the city to be defiled by my
Presence as long as I live. Rather let me
Live on the infamous slopes of Mount Kithaeron.
And since my parents meant it to be my tomb,
There shall I die as their word had appointed.
This much I know: that I cannot be killed
By sickness or any other earthly cause,
For I was not snatched from death except to fulfill
Some strange doom. My fate will land where it will.
As for my sons, Kreon, do not trouble
Yourself with them. They are men. Wherever
They may be, they can fend for themselves. But my girls-
My two unhappy girls-who never ate
A meal apart from me, who shared every
Dish prepared for me, I beg of you, care
For them. O, I beg you one final wish:
Let me touch them with my hands; suffer
Me to lay my hands upon them. Grant this
Poor request, you noble heart. If I
Could but touch them once again, I might
Believe them mine, as when I had my sight.
Heavens, do I hear my dear ones sobbing?
Has Kreon taken pity on me and sent
My darlings to me? Has he? Can it be true?

Kreon: Yes. I know the joy they always gave you;
The joy that now is yours.

Oedipus: Bless you, Kreon!
And for this kindness, may the gods be kinder to you
Than they were to me!
My children! Where are you? Come!
Come to me! Come take the hands of one whose mother
Was your own; the hands that rendered your father's eyes,
That once were bright as yours, blind. A man who
Seeing nothing, knowing nothing, fathered
You in the womb from which he came. I weep
For you-though I cannot see you-when I
Contemplate the bitter life that men
Will make you live. Where can you ever go?
What holiday can you enjoy? You'll come
Running home in tears. And in a few years,
When you are ripe for marriage, what man would risk
Taking on the curse that dogs my children
And your children, too? What more misery
Could you want? Your father killed his father; sowed
His seed in her who bore him; and fathered you
In the womb that fathered him! These are the jibes
That will be hurled at you! Can you be married?
No man living-no, my darlings, you must
Remain barren, in childless maidenhood.

Kreon, son of Menoikeus, you are the only
Father left to them for both their parents are lost.
Don't let them wander in poverty, begging, abandoned
By men. Remember they are your flesh and blood.
Don't bring them down to the level of my misery.
Pity their youth and sad condition for you
Are their only hope. Give me your hand in token
Of this generous pledge. Children, if you were older,
I could tell you tell you many helpful things, but
Now I ask your prayers. Children, pray for the life
Where fortune would have you; pray for a life
Happier than your father's.

Kreon: This is enough.
You have grieved enough! Go into the house.

Oedipus: I must obey. Though obedience is bitter.

Kreon: So I see, but in good time, all things are good.

Oedipus: I will go on one condition.

Kreon: I'm listening.

Oedipus: Drive me out of Thebes and into exile.

Kreon: You ask me for something the god must grant.

Oedipus: Surely, I am hated by all the gods.

Kreon: Then you shall have your wish.

Oedipus: Then you agree?

Kreon: It is my custom to say what I mean.

Oedipus: Then the time has come to lead me away.

Kreon: Come, then.
Let go of your children.

Oedipus: No! Don't take them from me!

Kreon: Give up your desire to be master in all things.
The power you once won has not followed you through life.

Exodos
Khoros: Thebans, countrymen, look on Oedipus the great!
He solved the famous riddle-mightiest of men!
Who among us did not envy his fortune?
What a sea of troubles covers him now!
Therefore as our eyes await the sight
Of our destined final day, we dare
Call no mortal happy before that man
Has crossed life's border free from pain.

Finis