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τί δ᾽; ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἦ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

Antigone. Sophocles. Oxford. 1924.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (A. C. Pearson, 1924))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (11)

Greek (L. Benloew, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (L. Benloew, 1858)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε ¹ παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,
1275

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

a

Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 1281 focus

Κρέων

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον, ἢ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

1

ἰὼ
1225

Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ
1255

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

1

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἢ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
α

Greek (A. Colonna, 1978) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Colonna, 1978)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκεν, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Greek (A. Dain, 1955) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (A. Dain, 1955)) — 1281 focus

τί δ’ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκεν, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. D. Dawe, 1979)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Greek (G. Hermann, 1830) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (G. Hermann, 1830)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

1

Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (R. C. Jebb, 1906)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Antigone (OCR draft) Experimental (Antigone) — 1281 focus

Κρέων

τί δʼ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (K. Reinhardt, 1949)) — 1281 focus

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ; κάκιον ἦ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἄγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

Translations (11)

German (A. Boeckh, 1884) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (A. Boeckh, 1884)) — 1281 focus

KREON.

Was giebt es wieder Schlimmes? was ist noch mir schlimm?

HAUSDIENER.

Dein Weib erlag unselig, diesem Todten hier

ganz Mutter sie, von frisch geschlagner Wunden Streich.

KREON.
Gegenstr. 1.

O weh!
1225

Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (J. A. Bolufer, 1921)) — 1281 focus

¿Qué hay, pues, peor que el mismo mal?

EL MENSAJERO

Tu mujer ha muerto; la infeliz, madre amantísima de ese cadáver, se acaba de inferir herida mortal.

CREONTE

Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806) (OCR draft) Experimental (Latin (F. H. Bothe, 1806)) — 1281 focus

Quaenam alia calamitas hac maior denuo accedit?

Verna

Occidit uxor tua, vera mater huius mortui infelix, inflicto recens vulmere.

Creon

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 1281 focus

What more of woe,

Or what more woeful, sounds anew from thee?

2ND MESS

The honoured mother of that corse, thy queen,

Is dead, and bleeding with a new-given wound.

CR

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1281 focus

Was gibt es wieder? Schlimm'res als das Schlimme noch?

Der Diener.

Dein Weib, die treue Mutter dieses Todten hier,

Starb eben, ach! an frischgeschlagnen Wunden hin.

Erste Gegenstrophe.

Kreon.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 1281 focus

And can there be more woes? Is aught to

come

More horrible than this ?

Messenger

The queen is dead ;

Her wounds yet fresh. Eager, alas ! to show

A mother's love, she followed hfer lost child.

Creon

Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889) (OCR draft) Experimental (Spanish (A. G. Garbin, 1889)) — 1281 focus

¿Qué mayores desgracias puedo esperar aún que las que estoy sufriendo?

EL MENSAJERO

Tu esposa, la madre de ese hijo que lloras, ha muerto. ¡Infortunadal herida mortalmente, acaba de espirar.

Antistrofa 1.a

CREONTE

German (F. Hölderlin, 1804) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (F. Hölderlin, 1804)) — 1281 focus

KREON

Was ist denn schlimmer noch, als das, was schlimm ist?

BOTE

Die Frau ist todt; ganz Mutter dieses Todten.

Noch krümmt sie sich von neugeschlagnen Schlägen.

English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb1, 1904)) — 1281 focus

Creon

And what worse ill is yet to follow upon ills?

Messenger

Thy queen hath died, true mother of yon corpse—ah, hapless lady !—by blows newly dealt. 1

Creon

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 1284 focus

These are my unblest counsels! Omy son,

My son! Untimely is thy fate, cut off

English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb2, 1904)) — 1261-1345 focus

Creon

Ah, the blunders of an unthinking mind, blunders of rigidity, yielding death! Oh, you witnesses of the killers and the killed, both of one family!

What misery arises from my reasonings! Haemon, you have died after a young life, youngest and last of my sons! O God! You have departed not by your foolishness, but by my own!
1265

1270

Chorus

Ah, how late you seem to see the right!
1270

Creon

God, I have mastered the bitter lesson! But then, then, I think, some god struck me on my head with a crushing weight, and drove me into savage paths,

—ah!—and overthrew my joy to be trampled on! Ah, the labors men must toil through!
1275

1278 Enter the Messenger from the house.

Messenger

My master, you have come, I think, like one whose hands are not empty, but who has a ready store: first, you carry that burden visible in your arms;

second, you will soon look upon further sufferings inside your house.
1280

1281

Creon

What worse suffering is still to follow upon these sufferings?

Messenger

Your wife is dead, true mother of that corpse, poor lady, by wounds newly cut.

1284

Creon

O harbor of Hades, hard to purify!

Why, why do you ruin me? Herald of evil, of grief, what word do you say? Ah, you have done in a dead man anew! What are you saying, boy? What is this you report to me
1285

God no!—what new slaughter, my wife’s doom, is heaped upon this ruin?
1290

1293 The doors of the palace are opened, and the corpse of Eurydice is disclosed.

Chorus

The sight is at hand. It is no longer hidden inside.

1294

Creon

Ah, misery!

There I see a new, a second evil! What destiny, ah, what, can still await me? I have just now taken my son in my arms, and now I see another corpse before me!
1295

Oh, tormented mother! Oh, my son!
1300

Messenger

By the altar, with a sharp-whetted sword, she struck until her eyes went slack and dark. Before that she bewailed the noble fate of Megareus who died earlier, and then the fate of this boy, and also, with her last breath,

she called down evil fortune upon you, the slayer of her sons.
1305

1306

Creon

Ah, no! I tremble with fear. Why does no one strike me full on my chest with a two-edged sword?

I am miserable—ah—and bathed in miserable anguish!
1310

Messenger

Yes, because you were accused of responsibility for both this son’s death, and the other’s, by her whose corpse you see.

Creon

What was the manner of the violent deed by which she departed?

Messenger

Her own hand struck her to the heart upon learning her son’s sharply-lamented fate.
1315

1317

Creon

Ah this guilt can never be fastened onto any other mortal so as to remove my own! It was I, yes, I, who killed you, I the wretch.

I admit the truth. Lead me away, my servants, lead me from here with all haste, who am no more than a dead man!
1320

Chorus

The course you recommend is to your gain, if there can be gain amidst evil. What is briefest is best, when trouble lies at your feet.
1325

1328

Creon

Let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my final day,

the fate supreme! Oh, let it come, so that I may never see tomorrow’s light!
1330

1334

Chorus

These things are in the future. We must see to present affairs.

Fulfillment of these things rests in the hands where it should rest.
1335

Creon

All that I crave was summed in that prayer.

Chorus

Then pray no more; for mortals have no release from destined misfortune.

1339

Creon

Lead me away, I beg you, a rash, useless man.

I have murdered you, son, unwittingly, and you, too, my wife—the misery! I do not know which way I should look, or where I should seek support. All is
1340

amiss that is in my hands, and, again, a crushing fate has leapt upon my head.
1345

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-774-1 τί δ’ ἔστιν ¹ ἦ ²

mvp-comment-774-2 (2) Transposing αὖ ³ ἤ ⁴ ἦ ⁵

mvp-comment-774-3 (3) Canter gave,

τί δ’ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι

; The change of

ἐκ

ἢ

would have been peculiarly easy before initial

(KAKIONEKAKON for KAKIONEKKAKON). For ἐκ ⁶

mvp-comment-774-4 reading. The comparat. κάκιον ⁷

mvp-comment-775-1 παμμήτωρ ⁸

mvp-comment-775-2 νεοτόμ ⁹ ἄρτι ¹⁰

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus

1281. mvp-comment-717-1 And what worse evil is there? or what more of evil?' Some would read τί δ᾽ ἔστιν; ἢ κάκιον αὖ κακῶν ἔτι;

1282. mvp-comment-718-1 παμμήτωρ The royal mother. For this use of παν in composition, see Essay on Language § 55. p. 101; and cp. O. Τ. 930, παντελὴς δάμαρ.

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

τί δ᾽; ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἦ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

Current edition Experimental

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε 1 παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, 1275 δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων a

Κρέων τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον, ἢ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων 1 ἰὼ 1225

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ 1255 δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων 1

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἢ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων α

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκεν, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων 1

τί δ’ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκεν, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων 1

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων 1

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων 1

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων 1

Κρέων τί δʼ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ; κάκιον ἦ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἄγγελος γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ, δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

KREON. Was giebt es wieder Schlimmes? was ist noch mir schlimm?

HAUSDIENER. Dein Weib erlag unselig, diesem Todten hier ganz Mutter sie, von frisch geschlagner Wunden Streich.

KREON. Gegenstr. 1. O weh! 1225

EL MENSAJERO Tu mujer ha muerto; la infeliz, madre amantísima de ese cadáver, se acaba de inferir herida mortal.

CREONTE

Verna Occidit uxor tua, vera mater huius mortui infelix, inflicto recens vulmere.

Creon

What more of woe, Or what more woeful, sounds anew from thee?

2ND MESS The honoured mother of that corse, thy queen, Is dead, and bleeding with a new-given wound.

CR

Was gibt es wieder? Schlimm'res als das Schlimme noch?

Der Diener. Dein Weib, die treue Mutter dieses Todten hier, Starb eben, ach! an frischgeschlagnen Wunden hin. Erste Gegenstrophe.

Kreon.

And can there be more woes? Is aught to come More horrible than this ?

Messenger The queen is dead ; Her wounds yet fresh. Eager, alas ! to show A mother's love, she followed hfer lost child.

Creon

EL MENSAJERO Tu esposa, la madre de ese hijo que lloras, ha muerto. ¡Infortunadal herida mortalmente, acaba de espirar.

Antistrofa 1.a

CREONTE

KREON Was ist denn schlimmer noch, als das, was schlimm ist?

BOTE Die Frau ist todt; ganz Mutter dieses Todten. Noch krümmt sie sich von neugeschlagnen Schlägen.

Creon And what worse ill is yet to follow upon ills?

Messenger Thy queen hath died, true mother of yon corpse—ah, hapless lady !—by blows newly dealt. 1

Creon

These are my unblest counsels! Omy son, My son! Untimely is thy fate, cut off

Chorus Ah, how late you seem to see the right! 1270

Creon God, I have mastered the bitter lesson! But then, then, I think, some god struck me on my head with a crushing weight, and drove me into savage paths, —ah!—and overthrew my joy to be trampled on! Ah, the labors men must toil through! 1275

Messenger My master, you have come, I think, like one whose hands are not empty, but who has a ready store: first, you carry that burden visible in your arms; second, you will soon look upon further sufferings inside your house. 1280

Creon What worse suffering is still to follow upon these sufferings?

Messenger Your wife is dead, true mother of that corpse, poor lady, by wounds newly cut.

Creon O harbor of Hades, hard to purify! Why, why do you ruin me? Herald of evil, of grief, what word do you say? Ah, you have done in a dead man anew! What are you saying, boy? What is this you report to me 1285 God no!—what new slaughter, my wife’s doom, is heaped upon this ruin? 1290

Chorus The sight is at hand. It is no longer hidden inside.

Creon Ah, misery! There I see a new, a second evil! What destiny, ah, what, can still await me? I have just now taken my son in my arms, and now I see another corpse before me! 1295 Oh, tormented mother! Oh, my son! 1300

Messenger By the altar, with a sharp-whetted sword, she struck until her eyes went slack and dark. Before that she bewailed the noble fate of Megareus who died earlier, and then the fate of this boy, and also, with her last breath, she called down evil fortune upon you, the slayer of her sons. 1305

Creon Ah, no! I tremble with fear. Why does no one strike me full on my chest with a two-edged sword? I am miserable—ah—and bathed in miserable anguish! 1310

Messenger Yes, because you were accused of responsibility for both this son’s death, and the other’s, by her whose corpse you see.

Creon What was the manner of the violent deed by which she departed?

Messenger Her own hand struck her to the heart upon learning her son’s sharply-lamented fate. 1315

Creon Ah this guilt can never be fastened onto any other mortal so as to remove my own! It was I, yes, I, who killed you, I the wretch. I admit the truth. Lead me away, my servants, lead me from here with all haste, who am no more than a dead man! 1320

Chorus The course you recommend is to your gain, if there can be gain amidst evil. What is briefest is best, when trouble lies at your feet. 1325

Creon Let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my final day, the fate supreme! Oh, let it come, so that I may never see tomorrow’s light! 1330

Chorus These things are in the future. We must see to present affairs. Fulfillment of these things rests in the hands where it should rest. 1335

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε ¹ παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,
1275

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

a

Κρέων

τί δ᾽ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον, ἢ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

1

ἰὼ
1225

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ
1255

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

1

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
α

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκεν, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκεν, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων

1

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Κρέων
1

Κρέων

τί δʼ ἔστιν αὖ κάκιον ἐκ κακῶν ἔτι;

Ἐξάγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

Ἄγγελος

γυνὴ τέθνηκε, τοῦδε παμμήτωρ νεκροῦ,

δύστηνος, ἄρτι νεοτόμοισι πλήγμασιν.

KREON.

Was giebt es wieder Schlimmes? was ist noch mir schlimm?

HAUSDIENER.

Dein Weib erlag unselig, diesem Todten hier

ganz Mutter sie, von frisch geschlagner Wunden Streich.

KREON.
Gegenstr. 1.

O weh!
1225

EL MENSAJERO

Tu mujer ha muerto; la infeliz, madre amantísima de ese cadáver, se acaba de inferir herida mortal.

Verna

Occidit uxor tua, vera mater huius mortui infelix, inflicto recens vulmere.

What more of woe,

Or what more woeful, sounds anew from thee?

2ND MESS

The honoured mother of that corse, thy queen,

Is dead, and bleeding with a new-given wound.

Der Diener.

Dein Weib, die treue Mutter dieses Todten hier,

Starb eben, ach! an frischgeschlagnen Wunden hin.

Erste Gegenstrophe.

And can there be more woes? Is aught to

come

More horrible than this ?

Messenger

The queen is dead ;

Her wounds yet fresh. Eager, alas ! to show

A mother's love, she followed hfer lost child.

EL MENSAJERO

Tu esposa, la madre de ese hijo que lloras, ha muerto. ¡Infortunadal herida mortalmente, acaba de espirar.

KREON

Was ist denn schlimmer noch, als das, was schlimm ist?

BOTE

Die Frau ist todt; ganz Mutter dieses Todten.

Noch krümmt sie sich von neugeschlagnen Schlägen.

Creon

And what worse ill is yet to follow upon ills?

Messenger

Thy queen hath died, true mother of yon corpse—ah, hapless lady !—by blows newly dealt. 1

These are my unblest counsels! Omy son,

My son! Untimely is thy fate, cut off

Chorus

Ah, how late you seem to see the right!
1270

Creon

God, I have mastered the bitter lesson! But then, then, I think, some god struck me on my head with a crushing weight, and drove me into savage paths,

—ah!—and overthrew my joy to be trampled on! Ah, the labors men must toil through!
1275

Messenger

My master, you have come, I think, like one whose hands are not empty, but who has a ready store: first, you carry that burden visible in your arms;

second, you will soon look upon further sufferings inside your house.
1280

Creon

What worse suffering is still to follow upon these sufferings?

Messenger

Your wife is dead, true mother of that corpse, poor lady, by wounds newly cut.

Creon

O harbor of Hades, hard to purify!

Why, why do you ruin me? Herald of evil, of grief, what word do you say? Ah, you have done in a dead man anew! What are you saying, boy? What is this you report to me
1285

God no!—what new slaughter, my wife’s doom, is heaped upon this ruin?
1290

Chorus

The sight is at hand. It is no longer hidden inside.

Creon

Ah, misery!

There I see a new, a second evil! What destiny, ah, what, can still await me? I have just now taken my son in my arms, and now I see another corpse before me!
1295

Oh, tormented mother! Oh, my son!
1300

Creon

Ah, no! I tremble with fear. Why does no one strike me full on my chest with a two-edged sword?

I am miserable—ah—and bathed in miserable anguish!
1310

Messenger

Yes, because you were accused of responsibility for both this son’s death, and the other’s, by her whose corpse you see.

Creon

What was the manner of the violent deed by which she departed?

Messenger

Her own hand struck her to the heart upon learning her son’s sharply-lamented fate.
1315

Creon

Ah this guilt can never be fastened onto any other mortal so as to remove my own! It was I, yes, I, who killed you, I the wretch.

I admit the truth. Lead me away, my servants, lead me from here with all haste, who am no more than a dead man!
1320

Chorus

The course you recommend is to your gain, if there can be gain amidst evil. What is briefest is best, when trouble lies at your feet.
1325

Creon

Let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my final day,

the fate supreme! Oh, let it come, so that I may never see tomorrow’s light!
1330

Chorus

These things are in the future. We must see to present affairs.

Fulfillment of these things rests in the hands where it should rest.
1335

Creon

All that I crave was summed in that prayer.

Chorus

Then pray no more; for mortals have no release from destined misfortune.

Creon

Lead me away, I beg you, a rash, useless man.

I have murdered you, son, unwittingly, and you, too, my wife—the misery! I do not know which way I should look, or where I should seek support. All is
1340

amiss that is in my hands, and, again, a crushing fate has leapt upon my head.
1345