Sophocles by Oedipus Trilogy Read Free Book Online Page A

you.
Who then will wed you? None, I ween, but ye
Must pine, poor maids, in single barrenness.
O Prince, Menoeceus' son, to thee, I turn,
With the it rests to father them, for we
Their natural parents, both of us, are lost.
O leave them not to wander poor, unwed,
Thy kin, nor let them share my low estate.
O pity them so young, and but for thee
All destitute. Thy hand upon it, Prince.
To you, my children I had much to say,
Were ye but ripe to hear. Let this suffice:
Pray ye may find some home and live content,
And may your lot prove happier than your sire's.
    CREON
Thou hast had enough of weeping; pass within.
    OEDIPUS
I must obey,
Though 'tis grievous.
    CREON
Weep not, everything must have its day.
    OEDIPUS
Well I go, but on conditions.
    CREON
What thy terms for going, say.
    OEDIPUS
Send me from the land an exile.
    CREON
Ask this of the gods, not me.
    OEDIPUS
But I am the gods' abhorrence.
    CREON
Then they soon will grant thy plea.
    OEDIPUS
Lead me hence, then, I am willing.
    CREON
Come, but let thy children go.
    OEDIPUS
Rob me not of these my children!
    CREON
Crave not mastery in all,
For the mastery that raised thee was thy bane and wrought thy fall.
    CHORUS
Look ye, countrymen and Thebans, this is Oedipus the great,
He who knew the Sphinx's riddle and was mightiest in our state.
Who of all our townsmen gazed not on his fame with envious eyes?
Now, in what a sea of troubles sunk and overwhelmed he lies!
Therefore wait to see life's ending ere thou count one mortal blest;
Wait till free from pain and sorrow he has gained his final rest.

Oedipus at Colonus
*
ARGUMENT
    Oedipus, the blind and banished King of Thebes, has come in his
wanderings to Colonus, a deme of Athens, led by his daughter Antigone.
He sits to rest on a rock just within a sacred grove of the Furies and
is bidden depart by a passing native. But Oedipus, instructed by an
oracle that he had reached his final resting-place, refuses to stir, and
the stranger consents to go and consult the Elders of Colonus (the
Chorus of the Play). Conducted to the spot they pity at first the blind
beggar and his daughter, but on learning his name they are horror-
striken and order him to quit the land. He appeals to the world-famed
hospitality of Athens and hints at the blessings that his coming will
confer on the State. They agree to await the decision of King Theseus.
From Theseus Oedipus craves protection in life and burial in Attic soil;
the benefits that will accrue shall be told later. Theseus departs
having promised to aid and befriend him. No sooner has he gone than
Creon enters with an armed guard who seize Antigone and carry her off
(Ismene, the other sister, they have already captured) and he is about
to lay hands on Oedipus, when Theseus, who has heard the tumult, hurries
up and, upbraiding Creon for his lawless act, threatens to detain him
till he has shown where the captives are and restored them. In the next
scene Theseus returns bringing with him the rescued maidens. He informs
Oedipus that a stranger who has taken sanctuary at the altar of Poseidon
wishes to see him. It is Polyneices who has come to crave his father's
forgiveness and blessing, knowing by an oracle that victory will fall to
the side that Oedipus espouses. But Oedipus spurns the hypocrite, and
invokes a dire curse on both his unnatural sons. A sudden clap of
thunder is heard, and as peal follows peal, Oedipus is aware that his
hour is come and bids Antigone summon Theseus. Self-guided he leads the
way to the spot where death should overtake him, attended by Theseus and
his daughters. Halfway he bids his daughters farewell, and what followed
none but Theseus knew. He was not (so the Messenger reports) for the
gods took him.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
    OEDIPUS, banished King of Thebes.
ANTIGONE, his daughter.
ISMENE, his daughter.
THESEUS, King of Athens.
CREON, brother of Jocasta, now reigning at Thebes.
POLYNEICES, elder son of Oedipus.
STRANGER, a native of Colonus.
MESSENGER, an attendant of