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Theseus
897
\to his Attendants], Quick, dispatch my servant^.
Fly to the altar, summon all my people,
Horsemen and foot ; give o'er the sacrifice,
And instant to the double gate repair,
Lest with the virgins the base ravishers
900
Escape unpunished, and my guest thus injui-ed
Laugh me to scorn for cowardice Away!
Were I to punish this oppressor here \tuming to Ceeox
As my resentment bids and he deserves.
He should this instant fall beneath my rage ;
905
But the same justice he to others deals.
Himself shall meet from us ; thou shalt not go
Till those whom thou didst basely ravish hence
Are brought before me. 'Twas unlike thyself,
Unworthy of thy country and thy race.
910
To enter thus a cultivated city.
Where law and justice reign, with violence
And rapine, snatching what thy fancy pleased.
Or didst thou think I ruled a desert land.
Or that my people were a race of slaves.
915
And Theseus but the shadow of a king ?
Thebes never taught thee such destnictive lessons,
For she abhors injustice : when she heai's
That Creon, thus despising sacred laws,
Hath ta'en with brutal violence my right,
920
And would have stolen a wretched suppliant from me,
She'll not approve thy conduct ; say I went
To Thebes, how just soever were the cause,
I should not seize on aught without the lea-ve
Of him who governed there ; but, as becomes
925
A stranger, bear myself unblamed by all.
Thou hast disgraced thy country and thy friends,
And weight of years hath ta'en thy senses from thee.
Again I say, restore the virgins to me.
Or stay with me thyself, for so thou shalt,
930
Howe'er unwilling \ what I've said, remember.
Is what I have resolved — therefore determine.
Chok. \to Creon]. Stranger, thy actions, noble as
thou art.
But ill become thy family and name.
935
Because unjust ; but thou beholdst thy fate.
\to his Attendants], Quick, dispatch my servant^.
Fly to the altar, summon all my people,
Horsemen and foot ; give o'er the sacrifice,
And instant to the double gate repair,
Lest with the virgins the base ravishers
900
Escape unpunished, and my guest thus injui-ed
Laugh me to scorn for cowardice Away!
Were I to punish this oppressor here \tuming to Ceeox
As my resentment bids and he deserves.
He should this instant fall beneath my rage ;
905
But the same justice he to others deals.
Himself shall meet from us ; thou shalt not go
Till those whom thou didst basely ravish hence
Are brought before me. 'Twas unlike thyself,
Unworthy of thy country and thy race.
910
To enter thus a cultivated city.
Where law and justice reign, with violence
And rapine, snatching what thy fancy pleased.
Or didst thou think I ruled a desert land.
Or that my people were a race of slaves.
915
And Theseus but the shadow of a king ?
Thebes never taught thee such destnictive lessons,
For she abhors injustice : when she heai's
That Creon, thus despising sacred laws,
Hath ta'en with brutal violence my right,
920
And would have stolen a wretched suppliant from me,
She'll not approve thy conduct ; say I went
To Thebes, how just soever were the cause,
I should not seize on aught without the lea-ve
Of him who governed there ; but, as becomes
925
A stranger, bear myself unblamed by all.
Thou hast disgraced thy country and thy friends,
And weight of years hath ta'en thy senses from thee.
Again I say, restore the virgins to me.
Or stay with me thyself, for so thou shalt,
930
Howe'er unwilling \ what I've said, remember.
Is what I have resolved — therefore determine.
Chok. \to Creon]. Stranger, thy actions, noble as
thou art.
But ill become thy family and name.
935
Because unjust ; but thou beholdst thy fate.
Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.