Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus 55

Oedipus.

Tochter, ging der Fremde schon hinweg von uns?

Antigone.

Schon ging er; Alles kannst du denn in Ruhe nun,

Mein Vater, sagen; ich allein bin nahe dir.

Oedipus (betend).

Ihr hehren, furchtbar'n Wesen! Nun ich mich zuerst

Auf eurem Grund in diesem Lande niederließ,

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Ogrollet mir nicht, hegt dem Phöbos keinen Groll,

Der, als er dieses viele Leid verkündigte,

Das Ziel des Jammers mir verhieß nach langer Frist,

Käm' ich zum lezten Lande, wo ich gastliche

Zuflucht, o strenge Mächte, fänd' in eurem Siz;

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Hier ende meines Lebens gramgebeugter Lauf,

Und bringe denen, die mich aufgenommen, Heil,

Fluch denen, die mich in die Fern' hinausgebannt.

Als Zeichen dessen komme mir, verhieß der Gott,

Erdbeben oder Donner oder Bliz von Zeus.

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Wahrhaft erkenn' ich heute, daß auf diesem Pfad

Nur ihr's gewesen, welche mich mit sichrer Hand

In diesen Hain geleitet; denn ich träfe sonst

Nicht euch zuerst auf meinem Weg, ich Nüchterner

(ab.)

Euch, die den Wein verschmähen, säß' an heiliger, ²

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An dieser rauhen Stätte nicht. Ihr Göttinnen,

So gönnt, Apollons Ruf gemäß, nun endlich mir

Der Stunden lezte, die das Band des Lebens löst,

Dünkt euch noch nicht zu wenig, was ich duldete,

Allzeit in Drangsal ringend, wie kein Sterblicher!

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Auf, holde Töchter aus des Skotos altem Blut! ³

Auf, die du dich der stolzen Pallas eigen nennst,

Vor allen andern hochverehrte Stadt Athen!

Mitleidig schaut hier Dedipus' unſeliges

Gebilde; nicht mehr ist ja dies mein alter Leib!

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Antigone.

Halt' ein, o Vater; denn es, nah'n dort Einige,

Schon alt an Jahren, die nach deinem Size späh'n.

Oedipus.

Ich werde schweigen; führe du vom Weg mich ab,

Und birg mich hier im Haine, bis ich ihren Sinn

Erforscht aus ihren Reden; denn durch Forschen nur

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Gewinnt man Vorsicht und Bedacht in allem Thun.

(Sie ziehen sich in den Hain zurück. Der Chor tritt auf.)

Oedipus

Child of a blind old man, Antigone, to what region have we come, or to what city of men? Who will entertain the wandering Oedipus today with scanty gifts?

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Little do I crave, and obtain still less than that little, and with that I am content. For patience is the lesson of suffering, and of the long years upon me, and lastly of a noble mind. My child, if you see any resting-place,

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either on profane ground or by groves of the gods, stop me and set me down, so that we may inquire where we are. We have come to learn as foreigners from the townsmen, and to bring to completion whatever we hear.

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Antigone

Father, toil-worn Oedipus, the towers that

ring the city, to judge by sight, are far off; and this place is sacred, to judge from its appearance: laurel, olive, and vine grow thick-set; and a feathered crowd of nightingales makes music within. So sit here on this unshaped stone;

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you have travelled a long way for an old man.

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Oedipus

Seat me, then, and watch over the blind.

Antigone

If time can teach, I need not learn that.

Oedipus

Can you tell me, now, where we have arrived?

Antigone

Athens I know, but not this place.

Oedipus

Yes, so much every traveller told us.

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Antigone

Well, shall I go and learn what the spot is called?

Oedipus

Yes, child, if indeed it is inhabited.

Antigone

It surely is inhabited. But I think there is no need—I see a man nearby.

Oedipus

Setting off and coming toward us?

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Antigone

He is at our side already. Speak whatever seems timely to you, for the man is here.

Oedipus

Stranger, hearing from this maiden, who has sight both for herself and for me,

that you have arrived as a scout of good fortune for the solving of our doubts—

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Stranger

Now, before you question me at length, leave this seat. You occupy ground which is unholy to tread upon.

Oedipus

And what is this ground? To which of the gods is it sacred?

Stranger

Ground inviolable, on which no one may dwell. The dread

goddesses hold it, the daughters of Earth and Darkness.

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Oedipus

Who are they? Whose awful name might I hear and invoke in prayer?

Stranger

The all-seeing Eumenides the people here would call them: but other names please elsewhere.

Oedipus

Then graciously may they receive their suppliant!

Nevermore will I depart from my seat in this land.

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Stranger

What does this mean?

Oedipus

The watchword of my fate.

Stranger

I dare not remove you without warrant from the city, until I report what I am doing.

Oedipus

Now by the gods, stranger, do not deny me, hapless wanderer as you see,

the honor of the knowledge for which I beg you.

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Stranger

Tell me, and you will not be without honor from me.

Oedipus

What, then, is the place that we have entered?

Stranger

All that I myself know, you will hear and learn. This whole place is sacred;

august Poseidon holds it, and in it lives the fire-bearing god, the Titan Prometheus. But as for the spot on which you tread, it is called the bronze threshold of this land, the support of Athens . And the neighboring fields claim Colonus , the horse-rider, for their ancient ruler;

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and all the people bear his name in common as their own. Such, you see, stranger, are these haunts. They receive their honor not through story, but rather through our living with them.

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Oedipus

Are there indeed dwellers in this region?

Stranger

Yes indeed, the namesakes of that god there Colonus .

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Oedipus

Have they a king? Or does speaking in assembly rest with the masses?

Stranger

These parts are ruled by the king in the city.

Oedipus

And who is he that is sovereign in counsel and in might?

Stranger

Theseus he is called, son of Aegeus who was before him.

Oedipus

Could a messenger go to him from among you?

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Stranger

With what aim? To speak, or to prepare his coming?

Oedipus

So that by a small service he may find a great gain.

Stranger

And what help can come from one who cannot see?

Oedipus

In all that I speak there will be vision.

Stranger

Take care now, stranger, that you come to no harm; for you are noble, if I may judge by your looks, leaving your ill-fortune aside. Stay here, where I found you, until I go and tell these things to the people of this district—not in the city.

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They will decide for you whether you should stay or go back. Stranger exits.

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Oedipus

My child, has the stranger left us?

Antigone

He is gone, and so you can speak what you wish, father, fully at ease, knowing that I alone am near.

Oedipus

Ladies of dread aspect, since your seat is

the first in this land at which I have bent my knee, show yourselves not ungracious to Phoebus or to myself; who, when he proclaimed that doom of many woes, spoke to me of this rest after long years: on reaching my goal in a land where I should find a seat of the Awful Goddesses

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and a shelter for foreigners, there I should close my weary life, with profit, through my having fixed my abode there, for those who received me, but ruin for those who sent me forth, who drove me away. And he went on to warn me that signs of these things would come,

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in earthquake, or in thunder, or in the lightning of Zeus.
  Now I perceive that in this journey some trusty omen from you has surely led me home to this grove; never otherwise could I have met with you, first of all, in my wanderings—I, in my sobriety, with you who touch no wine,

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—or taken this august seat not shaped by men.
  Then, goddesses, according to the word of Apollo, give me at last some way to accomplish and close my course—unless, perhaps, I seem too lowly,

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enslaved as I am evermore to woes the sorest on the earth. Hear, sweet daughters of primeval Darkness! Hear, you that are called the city of great Pallas, Athens , given most honor of all cities! Pity this poor ghost of the man Oedipus!

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For in truth it is the former living body no more.

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Antigone

Hush! Here come some aged men to spy out your resting-place.

Oedipus

I will be mute. But hide me in the grove, apart from the road, till I learn

how these men will speak. For in learning is the safeguard of our course. They exit.

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