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Oedipus
960
Audacious man ! thinkst thou the vil«3 reproach
960
Thou utter'st falls on me, or on thyself?
Thou who upbraidst me thus for all my woes.
Murder and incest, which against my will
I had committed, so it pleased the gods,
965
But 1 am guiltless ; canst thou name a fault
Deserving this ? For, tell me, Avas it mine,
Wlien to my father Phujbus did declare
That he should one day perish by the hand
970
Of his own child? Was CEdipus to blame.
Who had no being then ? If, born at length
To wretchedness, he met his sire unknown,
And slew him, that involuntary deed
Canst thou condemn ? And for my fatal marriage,
Dost thou not blush to name it ? Was not she
Thy sister, she who bore me, ignorant
And guiltless woman, afterwards my wife,
And mother to my children? What she did,
fShe did unknowing ; not like thee, who thus
Dost purposely upbraid us both. Heaven knows
985
Unwillingly I w^edded her, and now
Unwillingly repeat the dreadful tale ;
But, nor for that, nor for my murdered father,
Have I deserved thy bitter taunts ; for tell me.
990
Thy life attacked, wouldst thou have stayed to ask
Th' assassin if he were t\\j father ? No ;
Self-love would urge thee to revenge the insult.
Thus was I drove to ill by th' angry gods ;
995
This, should my father's soul revisit earth.
Himself would own, and pity CEdipus.
Thy bold and impious tongue still utters all ;
Just or unjust, thou pourst thy foul reproach
On me, pretending to revere the name
Of Theseus and his countiy. But remember,
The city, whom thou hast praised, is famed
For piety and reverence to the gods ;
Yet wouldst thou drive a needy suppliant thence,
And lead him captive. Thou hast stolen my daughter ;
But I implore the dreadful goddesses
1010
To grant me aid, that thou mayst feel the power
Which thou contemn'st, and know the force of Athens.
Audacious man ! thinkst thou the vil«3 reproach
960
Thou utter'st falls on me, or on thyself?
Thou who upbraidst me thus for all my woes.
Murder and incest, which against my will
I had committed, so it pleased the gods,
965
But 1 am guiltless ; canst thou name a fault
Deserving this ? For, tell me, Avas it mine,
Wlien to my father Phujbus did declare
That he should one day perish by the hand
970
Of his own child? Was CEdipus to blame.
Who had no being then ? If, born at length
To wretchedness, he met his sire unknown,
And slew him, that involuntary deed
Canst thou condemn ? And for my fatal marriage,
Dost thou not blush to name it ? Was not she
Thy sister, she who bore me, ignorant
And guiltless woman, afterwards my wife,
And mother to my children? What she did,
fShe did unknowing ; not like thee, who thus
Dost purposely upbraid us both. Heaven knows
985
Unwillingly I w^edded her, and now
Unwillingly repeat the dreadful tale ;
But, nor for that, nor for my murdered father,
Have I deserved thy bitter taunts ; for tell me.
990
Thy life attacked, wouldst thou have stayed to ask
Th' assassin if he were t\\j father ? No ;
Self-love would urge thee to revenge the insult.
Thus was I drove to ill by th' angry gods ;
995
This, should my father's soul revisit earth.
Himself would own, and pity CEdipus.
Thy bold and impious tongue still utters all ;
Just or unjust, thou pourst thy foul reproach
On me, pretending to revere the name
Of Theseus and his countiy. But remember,
The city, whom thou hast praised, is famed
For piety and reverence to the gods ;
Yet wouldst thou drive a needy suppliant thence,
And lead him captive. Thou hast stolen my daughter ;
But I implore the dreadful goddesses
1010
To grant me aid, that thou mayst feel the power
Which thou contemn'st, and know the force of Athens.
Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.