Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus, 911

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[911] ἐπεισόδιον τρίτον. A messenger from Corinth, bringing the news that Polybus is dead, discloses that Oedipus was not that king's son, but a Theban foundling, whom the messenger had received from a servant of Laius. Iocasta, failing to arrest the inquiries of Oedipus, rushes from the scene with a cry.

Iocasta comes forth, bearing a branch (ἱκετηρίἀ, wreathed with festoons of wool (στέφἠ, which, as a suppliant, she is about to lay on the altar of the household god, Apollo Λύκειος, in front of the palace. The state of Oedipus frightens her. His mind has been growing more and more excited. It is not that she herself has much fear for the future. What alarms her is to see “the pilot of the ship” (923) thus unnerved. Though she can believe no longer in human μαντική, she has never ceased to revere the gods (708); and to them she turns for help in her need.

ναοὺς δαιμόνων can only mean the public temples of Thebes, as the two temples of Pallas and the Ἰσμήνιον (20). The thought had come to Iocasta that she should supplicate the gods; and in effect she does so by hastening to the altar which she can most quickly reach (919).

στέφη see on 3.

ἐπιθυμιάματα offerings of incense: cp. 4. In Soph. El. 634 , where Clytaemnestra comes forth to the altar of Apollo προστατήριος, an attendant carries θύματα πάγκαρπα, offerings of fruits of the earth. —λαβούσῃ. λαβοῦσαν would have excluded a possible ambiguity, by showing that the δόξα had come before and not after the wreaths were taken up: and for this reason the accus. often stands in such a sentence: Xen. Anab. 3.2.1

ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς προφυλακὰς καταστήσαντας συγκαλεῖν τοὺς στρατιώτας.

τὰ καινὰ the prophecies of Teiresias, τοῖς πάλαι , by the miscarriage of the oracle from Delphi: 710 f.

τοῦ λέγοντος Plat. Gorg. 508d

εἰμὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ, ὥσπερ οἱ ἄτιμοι τοῦ ἐθέλοντος, ἄντε τύπτειν βούληται, κ.τ.λ.

—as outlaws are at the mercy of the first comer: Soph. OC 752

τοὐπιόντος ἁρπάσαι

. ἢν φόβους λέγῃ has better MS. authority than εἰ λέγοι, and is also simpler: the latter would be an opt. like Soph. Aj. 520

ἀνδρί τοι χρεὼν (

= χρἢ | μνήμην προσεῖναι, τερπνὸν εἴ τί που πάθοι: cp. Soph. Aj. 1344 : Soph. Ant. 666 . But the statement of abstract possibility is unsuitable here. εἰ … λέγῃ has still less to commend it.

ὅτε seeing that, = ἐπειδή: Soph. Ant. 170 : Soph. El. 38 : Dem. 1.1

ὅτε τοίνυν οὕτως ἔχει

: so

ὁπότε

Thuc. 2.60 .

Λύκεῑ Ἄπολλον see on Λύκειε 203.

κατεύγμασιν the prayers symbolised by the ἱκετηρία and offerings of incense. The word could not mean “votive offerings.” Wunder's conject. κατάργμασιν , though ingenious, is neither needful nor really apposite. That word is used of (a) offerings of first-fruits, presented along with the εἰρεσιώνη or harvestwreath, Plut. Thes. 22 : (b) the οὐλοχύται or barley sprinkled on the altar and victim at the beginning of a sacrifice: Eur. IT 244

χέρνιβάς τε καὶ κατάργματα.

λύσιν … εὐαγῆ a solution without defilement: i.e. some end to our anxieties, other than such an end as would be put to them by the fulfilment of the oracles dooming Oedipus to incur a fearful ἄγος. For εὐαγὴς λύσις as = one which will leave us εὐαγεῖς, cp. Pind. O. 1.26

καθαροῦ λέβητος,

the vessel of cleansing.

ὡς κυβερνήτην νεώς not ὡς (ὄντα) κυβερν. ν., because he is our pilot, but ὡς (ὀκνοῖμεν ἂν) βλέποντες κυβερν. ν. ἐκπεπληγμένον: Aesch. Seven 2

ὅστις φυλάσσει πρᾶγος ἐν πρύμνῃ πόλεως | οἴακα νωμῶν, βλέφαρα μὴ κοιμῶν ὕπνῳ.

When the messenger arrives, Iocasta's prayer seems to have been immediately answered by a λύσις εὐαγής (921), as regards part at least of the threatened doom, though at the cost of the oracle's credit.

μάλιστα denotes what stands first among one's wishes: cp. 1466: Soph. Trach. 799

μάλιστα μέν με θὲς | ἐνταῦθ’ ὅπου με μή τις ὄψεται βροτῶν· | εἰδ’ οἶκτον ἴσχεις, κ.τ.λ.

: Soph. Phil. 617

οἴοιτο μὲν μάλισθ’ ἑκούσιον λαβών, | εἰ μὴ θέλοι δ’, ἄκοντα

: Soph. Ant. 327

ἀλλ’ εὑρεθείη μὲν μάλιστ’· ἐὰν δέ τοι | ληφθῇ τε καὶ μὴ κ.τ.λ.

γυνὴ δέ Here, and in 930, 950, the language is so chosen as to emphasise the conjugal relation of Iocasta with Oedipus.

παντελής because the wife's estate is crowned and perfected by the birth of children (928). The choice of the word has been influenced by the associations of τέλος, τέλειος with marriage. Aesch. Eum. 835

θύη πρὸ παίδων καὶ γαμηλίου τέλους

(the marriage rite): Aesch. Eum. 214

Ἥρας τελείας καὶ Διὸς πιστώματα

: schol. on Aristoph. Thes. 973

ἐτιμῶντο ἐν τοῖς γάμοις ὡς πρυτάνεις ὄντες τῶν γάμων· τέλος δὲ ὁ γάμος

: Pind. N. 10.18

τελεία μήτηρ

= Ἥρα, who ( Aristoph. Thes. 976 ) κλῇδας γάμου φυλάττει. In Aesch. Ag. 972

ἀνὴρ τέλειος

= οἰκοδεσπότης: as δόμος ἡμιτελὴς ( Hom. Il. 2.700 ) refers to a house left without its lord: cp. Luc. Dial. Mort. 19

ἡμιτελῆ μὲν τὸν δόμον καταλιπών, χήραν δὲ τὴν νεόγαμον γυναῖκα.

αὔτως ( Soph. Trach. 1040

ὧδ’ αὔτως ὥς μ’ ὤλεσε

) can be nothing but adverb from αὐτός (with Aeolic accent), = ”in that very way “: hence, according to the context, (a) simply “likewise,” or (b) in a depreciatory sense, “only thus,” —i.e. “inefficiently,” “vainly.” The custom of the grammarians, to write αὕτως except when the sense is “vainly,” seems to have come from associating the word with οὗτος, or possibly even with αὑτός. For Soph., as for Aesch. and Eur., our MSS. on the whole favour αὕτως: but their authority cannot be presumed to represent a tradition older than, or independent of, the grammarians. It is, indeed, possible that αὕτως was an instance of old aspiration on false analogy, —as the Attic ἡμεῖς (Aeolic ἄμμες for ἀσμές) was wrongly aspirated on the analogy of ὑμεῖς (see Peile, Greek and Latin Etymology p. 302, who agrees on this with Curtius). In the absence of evidence, however, that αὔτως was a like instance, it appears most reasonable to write αὔτως.

εὐεπείας gracious words, = εὐφημίας, in this sense only here: elsewhere = elegance of diction: Isocrates τὴν εὐέπειαν ἐκ παντὸς διώκει καὶ τοῦ γλαφυρῶς λέγειν στοχάζεται μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ ἀφελῶς ( Dion. Hal. Isoc. 538 ).

παρὰ τίνος The change of παρά into πρός by an early hand in L is remarkable. I formerly received πρός, supporting the phrase by Hom. Od. 8.28

ξεῖνος ὅδ’, οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅστις, ἀλώμενος ἵκετ’ ἐμὸν δῶ | ἠὲ πρὸς ἠοίων ἢ ἐσπερίων ἀνθρώπων.

There, however, πρός is more natural, as virtually denoting the geographical regions (cp. Hom. Od. 21.347

πρὸς Ἤλιδος,

”on the side of Elis “). And πρὸς θεῶν ὡρμημένος ( Soph. El. 70 ) would be parallel only if here we had ἐσταλμένος. Questioning, then, whether ἀφικνεῖσθαι πρός τινος is defensible, I now read παρά, with most edd.

τὸ δ’ ἔπος “at the word,” accus. of the object which the feeling concerns: Eur. El. 831

τί χρῆμ’ ἀθυμεῖς;

ἀσχάλλοις from root σεχ, prop. “not to hold oneself,” “to be impatient,” the opposite of the notion expressed by σχο‐λή ( Curt. Etym. 170 ): the word occurs in Her., Xen., Dem.; and in Hom. Od. 2.193 replaces the epic ἀσχαλάαν. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1049

πείθοῑ ἄν, εἰ πείθοῑ, ἀπειθοίης δ’ ἴσως.

ἐγκρατὴς = ἐν κράτει: cp. ἔναρχος = ἐν ἀρχῇ, in office, Appian Civ. War 1.14 .

A defective verse, πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τέθνηκε πόλυβος; has been patched up in our best MSS. by a clumsy expansion of the next verse (see crit. note). The γέρων supplied by Triclinius (whence some late MSS. have γέρον )was plainly a mere guess. Nauck's conj. ἦ τέθνηκεν Οἰδίπου πατήρ; is recommended (1) by the high probability of a gloss Πόλυβος on those words: (2) by the greater force which this form gives to the repetition of the question asked in 941: (3) by the dramatic effect for the spectators.

ὦ θεῶν μαντεύματα Iocasta's scorn is pointed, not at the gods themselves, but at the μάντεις who profess to speak in their name. The gods are wise, but they grant no πρόνοια to men (978). Cp. 712.

ἵν’ ἐστέ· ἵνα = ὅτι ἐνταῦθα, ”to think that ye have come to this! “: cp. 1311.

τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα … τρέμων ἔφευγε he feared and avoided this man, μὴ κτάνοι (αὐτόν).

πρὸς τῆς τύχης i.e. in the course of nature, and not by the special death which the oracle had foretold. Cp. 977.

ἐξεπέμψω the midd. as in ἐκκαλεῖσθαι (see on 597), μεταπέμπεσθαι, etc., the act. being properly used of the summoner or escort: see on στελοῦντα (860).

τί μοι λέγει; ”what does he tell (of interest) for me? “ (not ”what does he say to me? “: nor ”what, pray, does he say? “).

ὡς see on 848.

σημάντωρ is, I think, unquestionably right. A is among the MSS. which have it, and in several it is explained by the gloss μηνυτής. That the word was not unfamiliar to poetical language in the sense (“indicator,” “informant”) which it has here, may be inferred from Anthol. 6.62 (Jacobs 1.205) κυκλοτερῆ μόλιβον, σελίδων σημάντορα πλευρῆς, the pencil which makes notes in the margin of pages: Nonnus 37.551 σημάντορι φωνῇ. On the other hand, σημήνας γενοῦ could mean nothing but “place yourself in the position of having told me,” and could only be explained as a way of saying, “tell me at once.” But such a use of γενέσθαι with aor. partic. would be unexampled. The only proper use of it is made clear by such passages as these: Soph. Aj. 588

μὴ προδοὺς ἡμᾶς γένῃ,

do not make yourself guilty of having betrayed us: Soph. Phil. 772

μὴ σαυτόν θ’ ἅμα | κἀμὲ … κτείνας γένῃ,

do not make yourself guilty of having slain both yourself and me.

εὖ ἴσθ’ Dion. Hal. 1.41 thus quotes a verse from the Προμηθεὺς Λυόμενος of Aesch. (Nauck fr. 193. 2) ἔνθ’ οὐ μάχης εὖ οἶδα καὶ θοῦρός περ ὤν, where Strabo p. 183 gives σάφ’ οἶδα: and so Pors. here would write σάφ’ ἴσθι. But the immediately preceding σαφῶς is decisive against this. Soph. had epic precedent, Hom. Il. 1.385

εὖ εἰδὼς ἀγόρευε,

etc. Cp. 1071, ἰοὺ ἰού.

θανάσιμον βεβηκότα Soph. Aj. 516

μοῖρα … | καθεῖλεν Ἅιδου θανασίμους οἰκήτορας

: Soph. Phil. 424

θανὼν … φροῦδος.

ξυναλλαγῇ : see on 34.

σμικρὰ ῥοπή leve momentum: the life is conceived as resting in one scale of a nicely poised balance: diminish the weight in the other scale ever so little, and the inclination (ῥοπἤ, though due to a slight cause (σμικρἄ, brings the life to the ground ( εὐνάζει ). Plat. Rep. 556e

ὥσπερ σῶμα νοσῶδες μικρᾶς ῥοπῆς ἔξωθεν δεῖται προσλαβέσθαι πρὸς τὸ κάμνειν, … οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡ κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἐκείνῳ διακειμένη πόλις ἀπὸ σμικρᾶς προφάσεως … νοσεῖ.

Yes, he died of infirmities (νόσοις ἔφθιτὀ, and of the long years (τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ, causal dat.), in accordance with their term ( συμμετρούμενος , sc. αὐτοῖς, lit. ”commensurably with them “): the part. being nearly equiv. to συμμέτρως, and expressing that, if his years are reckoned, his death cannot appear premature. Cp. 1113, and Soph. Ant. 387

ποίᾳ ξύμμετρος προὔβην τύχῃ;

“ seasonably for what hap?”

σκοποῖτο midd. as Soph. Trach. 296 .

τὴν Π. ἑστίαν = τὴν Πυθοῖ μαντικὴν ἑστίαν, as Apollo himself is Πυθόμαντις, i.e.

ὁ Πυθοῖ μάντις,

Aesch. Lib. 1030 : cp. Πυθόκραντος, Πυθόχρηστος, Πυθόνικος. ἑστίαν , as Soph. OC 413

Δελφικῆς ἀφ’ ἑστίας

: Eur. Ion 461

Φοιβήιος … γᾶς | μεσόμφαλος ἑστία.

κλάζοντας the word used by Teiresias of the birds when their voice (φθόγγος) had ceased to be clear to him, Soph. Ant. 1001

κακῷ | κλάζοντας οἴστρῳ καὶ βεβαρβαρωμένῳ

ὧν ὑφηγητῶν sc. ὄντων, quibus indicibus: 1260 ὡς ὑφηγητοῦ τινος: Soph. OC 1588

ὑφηγητῆρος οὐδενὸς φίλων.

In these instances the absence of the part. is softened by the noun which suggests the verb; but not so in Soph. OC 83

ὡς ἐμοῦ μόνης πέλας.

κτενεῖν κτανεῖν, which the MSS. give, cannot be pronounced positively wrong; but it can hardly be doubted that Soph. here wrote κτενεῖν. If κτανεῖν is right, it is the only aor. infin. after μέλλω in Soph., who has the fut. infin. 9 times ( Soph. El. 359, 379, 538 : Soph. Aj. 925, 1027, 1287 : Soph. Ant. 458 : Soph. Phil. 483, 1084 ): and the pres. infin. 9 times ( Soph. El. 305, 1486 : Soph. Aj. 443 : Soph. OT 678, 1385 : Soph. OC 1773 : Soph. Trach. 79, 756 : Soph. Phil. 409 ). Aeschylus certainly has the aor. in Aesch. PB 625

μήτοι με κρύψῃς τοῦθ’ ὅπερ μέλλω παθεῖν.

Excluding the Laconic ἰδῆν in Aristoph. Lys. 117 , there are but two instances in Comedy, Aristoph. Birds 366

τί μέλλετ’—ἀπολέσαι,

and Aristoph. Ach. 1159

μέλλοντος λαβεῖν.

Cp. W. G. Rutherford, New Phrynichus pp. 420-425, and Goodwin, Greek Moods and Tenses sect. 23.2. The concurrence of tribrachs in the 4th and 5th places gives a semi-lyric character which suits the speaker's agitation.

κεύθει is hidden. Soph. Aj. 635

Ἅιδᾳ κεύθων.

In Soph. Trach. 989

σιγῇ κεύθειν

may be regarded as transitive with a suppressed acc., ”to shroud (thy thought) in silence. “ Elsewhere κεύθω is always trans., and only the perf. κέκευθα intransitive.

δὴ here nearly = ἤδη: cp. Soph. Ant. 170

ὅτ’ οὖν ὤλοντο … | ἐγὼ κράτη δὴ … ἔχω.

ἄψαυστος = οὐ ψαύσας: cp. ἀφόβητος 885 (n.): Hdt. 8.124

ἄκριτος,

without deciding: id. 9. 98 ἄπιστος, mistrustful; Soph. OC 1031

πιστός,

trusting (n.): Soph. Phil. 687

ἀμφίπληκτα ῥόθια,

billows beating around: Soph. Trach. 446

μεμπτός,

blaming: Eur. Hec. 1117

ὕποπτος,

suspecting. Cp. note on ἀτλητῶν 515.

εἴ τι μὴ an abrupt afterthought: -unless perchance: see on 124. —τὠμῷ πόθῳ: cp. 797: Hom. Od. 11.202

σὸς … πόθος,

longing for thee.

εἴη ξ cp. 1075: Soph. Phil. 467

πλεῖν μὴ ξ ἀπόπτου. ἐξ,

as dist. from ὑπό, is strictly in place here, as denoting the ultimate, not the proximate, agency.

τὰ δ’ οὖν παρόντα but the oracles as they stand, at any rate ( δ’ οὖν ,669, 834), Polybus has carried off with him, proving them worthless ( ἄξῑ οὐδενός , tertiary predicate), and is hidden with Hades.

τὰ παρόντα with emphasis: even supposing that they have been fulfilled in some indirect and figurative sense, they certainly have not been fulfilled to the letter. The oracle spoke of bloodshed (φονεύς, 794), and is not satisfied by κατέφθιτο ἐξ ἐμοῦ in the sense just explained.

συλλαβὼν is a contemptuous phrase from the language of common life: its use is seen in Aristoph. Pl. 1079

νῦν δ’ ἄπιθι χαίρων συλλαβὼν τὴν μείρακα,

now be off—with our blessing and the girl: Aristoph. Birds 1469

ἀπίωμεν ἡμεῖς συλλαβόντες τὰ πτερά,

let us pack up our feathers and be off: Soph. has it twice in utterances of angry scorn, Soph. OC 1383

σὺ δ’ ἔρρ’ ἀπόπτυστός τε κἀπάτωρ ἐμοῦ | κακῶν κάκιστε, τάσδε συλλαβὼν ἀράς,

begone … and take these curses with thee: Soph. Phil. 577

ἔκπλει σεαυτὸν συλλαβὼν ἐκ τῆσδε γῆς,

”hence in thy ship—pack from this land! “

ηὔδας instead of προὔλεγες: see on 54.

νυν enforcing the argument introduced by οὔκουν (973), is clearly better than the weak νῦν. —ἐς θυμὸν βάλῃς: Hdt. 7.51

ἐς θυμὸν βαλεῦ καὶ τὸ παλαιὸν ἔπος

: Hdt. 8.68

καὶ τόδε ἐς θυμὸν βαλεῦ, ὡς κ.τ.λ.

: Hdt. 1.84

ἰδὼν … τῶν τινα Λυδῶν καταβάντα … ἐφράσθη καὶ ἐς θυμὸν ἑβάλετο.

The active in the Βίος Ὁμήρου sect. 30 ἐς θυμὸν ἔβαλε τὸ ῥηθέν. In Soph. El. 1347

οὐδέ γ’ ἐς θυμὸν φέρω

is not really similar.

ᾦ, “for whom,” in relation to whom: not, “in whose opinion.”

τὰ τῆς τύχης is here somewhat more than a mere periphrasis for ἡ τύχη, since the plur. suggests successive incidents. τύχη does not here involve denial of a divine order in the government of the world, but only of man's power to comprehend or foresee its course. Cp. Thuc. 5.104

πιστεύομεν τῇ μὲν τύχῃ ἐκ τοῦ θείου μὴ ἐλασσώσεσθαι.

Lys. 24.22

οὖ μόνου μεταλαβεῖν ἡ τύχη μοι ἕδωκεν ἐν τῇ πατρίδι,

the only privilege which Fortune (i.e. my destiny) has permitted me to enjoy in my country.

πρόνοια Bentley on Phalaris (xvii, Dyce ii. 115) quotes Favorinus in Diog. Laert. Plat. 24 as saying that Plato πρῶτος ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ … ὠνόμασε … θεοῦ πρόνοιαν. Bentley takes this to mean that Plato was the first to use πρόνοια of divine providence (not merely of human forethought), and cites it in proof that Phalaris Ep. 3 (= 40 Lennep) ἕως ἂν ἡ διοικοῦσα πρόνοια τὴν αὐτὴν ἁρμονίαν τοῦ‐κόσμου φυλάττῃ is later than Plato. Lennep, in his edition of Phalaris (p. 158), puts the case more exactly. The Stoics, not Plato, first used πρόνοια, without further qualification, of a divine providence. When Plato says τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ … πρόνοιαν ( Plat. Tim. 30c ), προνοίας θεῶν ( Plat. Tim. 44c ), the phrase is no more than Herodotus had used before him, Hdt. 3.108

τοῦ θείου ἡ προνοίη.

The meaning of Favorinus was that Plato first established in philosophy the conception of a divine providence, though popular language had known such a phrase before. Note that in Soph. OC 1180

πρόνοια τοῦ θεοῦ

= ”reverence for the god “: in Eur. Phoen. 637 a man acts θείᾳ προνοίᾳ = ”with inspired foresight “: in Xen. Mem. 1.4.6

προνοητικῶς

= not, “providentially,” but simply, ”with forethought. “

εἰκῆ cp. Plat. Gorg. 503e

οὐκ εἰκῆ ἐρεῖ, ἀλλ’ ἀποβλέπων πρός τι

(with some definite object in view).

κράτιστον … ὅπως δύναιτο Cp. Soph. Ant. 666

ἀλλ’ ὂν πόλις στήσειε τοῦδε χρὴ κλύειν

: where χρὴ κλύειν = δικαίως ἂν κλύοι. So here, though ἐστί (not ἦν) must be supplied with κράτιστον, the whole phrase = εἰκῆ κράτιστον ἄν τις ζῴη. Xen. Cyrop. 1.6.19

τοῦ … αὐτὸν λέγειν ἃ μὴ σαφῶς εἰδείη φείδεσθαι δεῖ

= ὀρθῶς ἂν φείδοιτο.

φοβοῦ φοβεῖσθαι εἴς τι = to have fears regarding it: Soph. Trach. 1211

εἰ φοβεῖ πρὸς τοῦτο

: Soph. OC 1119

μὴ θαύμαζε πρὸς τὸ λιπαρές.

κἀν ὀνείρασιν in dreams also (as well as in this oracle); and, as such dreams have proved vain, so may this oracle. Soph. was prob. thinking of the story in Hdt. 6.107 that Hippias had such a dream on the eve of the battle of Marathon, and interpreted it as an omen of his restoration to Athens. Cp. the story of a like dream coming to Julius Caesar on the night before he crossed the Rubicon ( Plut. Caes. 32 , Suet. 7 ).

παρ’ οὐδέν Soph. Ant. 34

τὸ πρᾶγμ’ ἄγειν | οὐχ ὡς παρ’ οὐδέν.

ἐξείρητο the ἐξ– glances at her blunt expression of disbelief, not her frank reference to a horrible subject.

ὀφθαλμὸς the idea is that of a bright, sudden comfort: so Soph. Trach. 203 Deianeira calls on her household to rejoice, ὡς ἄελπτον ὄμμ’ ἐμοὶ | φήμης ἀνασχὸν τῆσδε νῦν καρπούμεθα (the unexpected news that Heracles has returned). More often this image denotes the “darling” of a family ( Aesch. Lib. 934

ὀφθαλμὸς οἴκων),

or a dynasty that is “the light” of a land (

Σικελίας δ’ ἔσαν | ὀφθαλμός,

Pind. O. 2.9 : ὁ Βάττου παλαιὸς ὄλβος … πύργος ἄστεος, ὄμμα τε φαεννότατον | ξένοισι, Pind. P. 5.51 ). Not merely (though this notion comes in) “a great help to seeing” that oracles are idle (δήλωσις ὡς τὰ μαντεύματα κακῶς ἔχει, schol.). A certain hardness of feeling appears in the phrase: Iocasta was softened by fear for Oedipus and the State: she is now elated.

καὶ with ἐκφοβεῖσθε ; 772, 851.

ἐκείνης what is there belonging to her, in her (attributive gen.): Eur. IA 28

οὐκ ἄγαμαι ταῦτ’ ἀνδρὸς ἀριστέως. —

ἐς φόβον φέρον , tending to fear: cp. 519.

θεήλατον sent upon us by the gods: cp. 255.

The MSS. having οὐ θεμιτὸν , the question is between οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν and οὐ θεμιστὸν. The former is much more probable, since θεμιτός is the usual form, found in Attic prose, in Eur. (as Eur. Orest. 97

σοὶ δ’ οὐχὶ θεμιτόν),

and in Soph. OC 1758

ἀλλ’ οὐ θεμιτὸν κεῖσε μολεῖν.

On the other hand θεμιστός is a rare poet. form, found once in Pindar (who has also θεμιτός), and twice in the lyrics of Aesch. Had we ἄλλῳ, the subject of θεμιτὸν would be μάντευμα : the accus. ἄλλον shows θεμιτὸν to be impersonal, as in Eur. Orest. 97 , Pind. P. 9.42

οὐ θεμιτὸν ψεύδει θιγεῖν.

τὸ πατρῷον αἷμα ἑλεῖν is strictly ”to achieve (the shedding of) my father's blood. “ Classical Greek had no such phrase as αἶμα χεῖν or ἐκχεῖν in the sense of “to slay.” αἱρεῖν is to make a prey of, meaning “to slay,” or “to take,” according to the context ( Soph. Trach. 353

Εὔρυτόν θ’ ἕλοι | τὴν θ’ ὑψίπυργον Οἰχαλίαν).

Cp. fr. 726 ἀνδρὸς αἶμα συγγενὲς | κτείνας, which is even bolder than this, but similar, since here we might have had simply τὸν πατέρα ἑλεῖν, ”to slay my father “: Eur. Orest. 284

εἴργασται δ’ ἐμοὶ | μητρῷον αἶμα,

I have wrought the murder of a mother.

The simplest view of ἡ Κόρινθος ἐξ ἐμοῦ ἀπῳκεῖτο is, as Whitelaw says, that it means literally, “Corinth was lived-away-from by me,” —being the passive of ἐγὼ ἀπῴκουν τῆς Κορίνθου. It is thus merely one of those instances in which a passive verb takes as subject that which would stand in gen. or dat. as object to the active verb: cp. the passive καταγελῶμαι, καταφρονοῦμαι, καταψηφίζομαι, ἐπιβουλεύομαι, etc. [I formerly took it to be passive of ἐγὼ ἀπῴκουν τὴν Κόρινθον, “I inhabited C. only at a distance,” —a paradoxical phrase like ἐν σκότῳ ὁρᾶν (1273).] ἀποικεῖν is a comparatively rare word. Eur. has it twice ( Eur. Her. 557 : Eur. IA 680 : in both with gen., ‘to dwell far from ’): Thuc. once with μακρὰν ( Thuc. 3.55 ) and Xen. once ( Xen. Oec. 4.6 ), —both absol., as = ‘to dwell afar ’: as prob. Theocr. 15.7 (reading ὦ μέλ’ ἀποικεῖς with Meineke): Plato once thus ( Plat. Laws 753a ), and twice as = to emigrate (

ἐκ Γόρτυνος,

Plat. Laws 708a ,

ἐς Θουρίους,

Plat. Euthyd. 271c ): in which sense Isocr. also has it twice ( Isoc. 4.122 , Isoc. 6.84 ): Pindar once (with accus. of motion to a place), Pind. P. 4.258

Καλλίσταν ἀπῴκησαν,

they went and settled at Callista.

εὐτυχῶς because of his high fortunes at Thebes.

τῶν τεκόντων = τῶν γονέων: Eur. Hipp. 1081

τοὺς τεκόντας ὅσια δρᾶν,

and oft.: cp. Eur. Her. 975

βοᾷ δὲ μήτηρ, ὦ τεκών [;

= ὦ πάτερ];, τί δρᾷς

ἀπόπτολις exile, as Soph. OC 208 .

πατρός τε So the MSS., rightly. It is the fear of Oed. regarding his mother by which the messenger's attention has been fixed. In explaining this, Oed. has indeed mentioned the other fear as to his father; but in v. 1000, ἦ γὰρ τάδ’ ὀκνῶν, the messenger means: “So this, then, was the fear about her which kept you away? ” —alluding to his own question in 991. As the speaker's tone seems to make light of the cause, Oed. answers, “ and that further dread about my father which I mentioned. ” πατρός γε is unsuitable, since it would imply that this was his sole fear.

ἐγὼ οὐχὶ synizesis: see on 332 ἐγὼ οὔτ’.

ἐξελυσάμην the aor. implies, “why have I not done it already?” i.e. “why do I not do it at once?” Aesch. PB 747

τί δῆτ’ ἐμοὶ ζῆν κέρδος, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐν τάχει | ἔρριψ’ ἐμαυτὴν τῆσδ’ ἀπὸ στύφλου πέτρας;

καὶ μὴν properly “however ”; here, like our “well indeed ” (if you would do so). The echoing καὶ μὴν of 1005 expresses eager assent. Cp. Soph. Ant. 221 .

τοῦτ’ ἀφικόμην see on 788.

καλῶς pulchre, belle, thoroughly, a colloquialism, perh. meant here to be a trait of homely speech: cp. Alciphron Ep. 1.36 πεινήσω τὸ καλόν ( “I shall be fine and hungry ”): Aelian Ep. 2 ἐπέκοψε τὸ σκέλος πάνυ χρηστῶς ( “in good style ”).

With Erfurdt I think that ταρβῶν is right; not that ταρβῶ could not stand, but Greek idiom distinctly favours the participle. Soph. Ant. 403

ΚΡ. ἦ καὶ ξυνίης καὶ λέγεις ὀρθῶς ἃ φής; ΦΥ. ταύτην γ’ ἰδὼν θάπτουσαν.

Soph. Ant. 517

ΑΝ. … ἀδελφὸς ὤλετο. ΚΡ. πορθῶν γε τήνδε γῆν.

Plat. Sym. 164e

εἶπον οὖν ὅτι … ἥκοιμι. —καλῶς

(v. l. καλῶς γ’), ἔφη, ποιῶν. Cp. 1130 ξυναλλάξας. —ἐξέλθῃ; cp. 1182 ἐξήκοι σαφῆ, come true.

Cp. Soph. Trach. 408

τοῦτ’ αὔτ’ ἔχρῃζον, τοῦτό σου μαθεῖν.

πρὸς δίκης as justice would prompt, “justly.” πρὸς prop. = “from the quarter of,” then “on the side of ”: Thuc. 3.59

οὐ πρὸς τῆς ὑμετέρας δόξης … τάδε,

not in the interest of your reputation: Plat. Gorg. 459c

ἐάν τι ἡμῖν πρὸς λόγου ᾖ,

“if it is in the interest of our discussion.” Plat. Rep. 470c

οὐδὲν … ἀπὸ τρόπου λέγεις· ὅρα δὴ καὶ εἰ τόδε πρὸς τρόπου λέγω,

“correctly.” Theophr. Char. 30 (= 26 in my 1st ed. p. 156) πρὸς τρόπου πωλεῖν, to sell on reasonable terms.

ἐν γένει Dem. 47.70

οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν γένει σοι ἡ ἄνθρωπος,

compared with sect. 72 ἐμοὶ δὲ οὔτε γένει προσῆκεν.

τῷ μηδενί, dat. of ὁ μηδείς, one who is such as to be of account (in respect of consanguinity with me), —the generic use of μή (cp. 397, 638).

ἀπ’ ἄλλης χειρὸς sc. λαβών.

ἐμπολήσας … ἢ τυχών i.e. “Did you buy me, or did you light upon me in the neighbourhood of Corinth? ” Oed. is not prepared for the Corinthian's reply that he had found the babe on Cithaeron. ἐμπολήσας : cp. the story of Eumaeus ( Hom. Od. 15.403-483 ) who, when a babe, was carried off by Phoenician merchants from the wealthy house of his father in the isle Syria, and sold to Laertes in Ithaca: the Phoenician nurse says to the merchants, τόν κεν ἄγοιμ’ ἐπὶ νηός, ὁ δ’ ὑμῖν μυρίον ὦνον | ἄλφοι, ὅπῃ περάσητε κατ’ ἀλλοθρόους ἀνθρώπους. τυχών is answered by εὑρών (1026) as in 973 προὔλεγον by ηὔδας. Cp. 1039. The τεκών of the MSS. is absurd after vv. 1016-1020. The man has just said, “Polybus was no more your father than I am ”; Oed. is anxiously listening to every word. He could not ask, a moment later, “Had you bought me, or were you my father?”

The fitness of the phrase ναπαίαις πτυχαῖς becomes vivid to anyone who traverses Cithaeron by the road ascending from Eleusis and winding upwards to the pass of Dryoscephalae, whence it descends into the plain of Thebes.

ἐπὶ θητείᾳ, like

ἐπὶ μισθῷ

Hdt. 5.65 etc. θητεία, labour for wages, opp. to δουλεία: Isoc. 14.48

πολλοὺς μὲν … δουλεύοντας, ἄλλους δ’ ἐπὶ θητείαν ἰόντας.

πλάνης , roving in search of any employment that he can find (not merely changing summer for winter pastures, 1137). The word falls lightly from him who is so soon to be ὁ πλανήτης Οἰδίπους ( Soph. OC 3 ).

σοῦ δ’ With the σοῦ γ’ of most MSS.: “Yes, and thy preserver” (the first γε belonging to the sentence, the second to σωτήρ). Cp. Hdt. 1.187

μὴ μέντοι γε μὴ σπανίσας γε ἄλλως ἀνοίξῃ

: where the second γε belongs to σπανίσας. There is no certain example of a double γε in Soph. which is really similar. With σοῦ δ’ : “ But thy preserver”: the γε still belonging to σωτήρ, and δὲ opposing this thought to that of v. 1029. For δέ γε cp. Aesch. Ag. 938

ΑΓ. φήμη γε μέντοι δημόθρους μέγα σθένει. ΚΛ. ὁ δ’ ἀφθόνητός γ’ οὐκ ἐπίζηλος πέλει.

“True, but … ” The gentle reproof conveyed by δέ γε is not unfitting in the old man's mouth: and a double γε , though admissible, is awkward here.

τί δ’ ἄλγος κ.τ.λ. And in what sense wast thou my σωτήρ? The ἐν κακοῖς of the later MSS. is intolerably weak: “ what pain was I suffering when you found me in trouble?” The ἐν καιροῖς of L (found also, with the addition of με, in one later MS., Pal.) seems most unlikely to have been a corruption of ἐν κακοῖς. Among the conjectures, ἀγκάλαις με (Kock), or, better, ἀγκάλαισι, is perh. most probable; being slightly nearer the letters than Verrall's ingenious ἴσχον τἀγκάλισμα. (For the dat. ἀγκάλαις without ἐν, cp. Eur. IT 289 , etc.) Such conjectures as ἐν δέοντι (Wecklein), ἐν καλῷ (Wunder), presuppose that ἐν καιροῖς was a gloss: but it is more probable that it was a corruption.

δεινόν γε in comment, as Soph. Phil. 1225 , Soph. El. 341 , Soph. Aj. 1127 .

σπαργάνων “ from my swaddling clothes ”: i.e. “from the earliest days of infancy ” (cp. Ovid Heroid. 9.22 Et tener in cunis iam Iove dignus eras). The babe was exposed a few days after birth (717). Soph. El. 1139

οὔτε … πυρὸς | ἀνειλόμην … ἄθλιον βάρος.

Some understand, “I was furnished with cruelly dishonouring tokens of my birth,” δεινῶς ἐπονείδιστα σπάργανα, alluding to a custom of tying round the necks of children, when they were exposed, little tokens or ornaments, which might afterwards serve as means of recognition ( crepundia, monumenta): see esp. Plaut. Rud. 4.4.111-126 , Plaut. Epidic. 5.1.34 : and Rich s. v. Crepundia, where a woodcut shows a statue of a child with a string of crepundia hung over the right shoulder. Plut. Thes. 4 calls such tokens γνωρίσματα. In Aristoph. Ach. 431 the σπάργανα of Telephus have been explained as the tokens by which (in the play of Eur.) he was recognised; in his case, these were ῥακώματα (431). But here we must surely take σπαργάνων with ἀνειλόμην.

ὥστε assents and continues: “(yes,) and so … ”

ὃς εἶ i.e. Οἰδίπους: see on 718.

πρὸς μητρός, ἢ πατρός; sc. ὄνειδος ἀνειλόμην (1035): “was it at the hands of mother or father (rather than at those of strangers) that I received such a brand?” The agitated speaker follows the train of his own thoughts, scarcely heeding the interposed remark. He is not thinking so much of his parents' possible cruelty, as of a fresh clue to their identity. Not: “was I so named by mother or father?” The name —even if it could be conceived as given before the exposure—is not the sting; and on the other hand it would be forced to take “ named” as meaning “ doomed to bear the name. ”

βοτήρ cp. 837, 761.

εἰδεῖτ’ = εἰδείητε, only here, it seems: but cp. εἶτε =

εἴητε

Hom. Od. 21.195 (doubtful in Soph. Ant. 215 ). εἰδεῖμεν and εἶμεν occur in Plato ( Plat. Rep. 581e , Plat. Theaet. 147a ) as well as in verse. In Dem. 14.27

καταθεῖτε

is not certain ( κατάθοιτε Baiter and Sauppe): in Dem. 18.324 he has ἐνθείητε. Speaking generally, we may say that the contracted termination ‐εῖεν for ‐είησαν is common to poetry and prose; while the corresponding contractions, ‐εῖμεν for ‐είημεν and ‐εῖτε for ‐είητε, are rare except in poetry.

οὖν with the first εἴτε , as Soph. El. 199 , 560: it stands with the second above, 90, 271, Soph. Phil. 345 .

ἐπ’ ἀγρῶν Hom. Od. 22.47

πολλὰ μὲν ἐν μεγάροισιν … πολλὰ δ’ ἐπ’ ἀγροῦ

: (cp. Soph. OC 184

ἐπὶ ξένης,

Soph. El. 1136

κἀπὶ γῆς ἄλλης·)

the usual Attic phrase was ἐν ἀγρῷ or κατ’ ἀγρούς.

ὁ καιρὸς for the art., cp. Plat. Axioch. 364b

νῦν ὁ καιρὸς ἐνδείξασθαι τὴν ἀεὶ θρυλουμένην πρὸς σοῦ σοφίαν. —

ηὑρῆσθαι : Bellermann (objecting to the tense) reads εὑρέσθαι, citing Soph. Aj. 1023 (where, as usual, the aor. midd. = “to gain ”): but the perf. is right, and forcible, here; it means, “to be discovered once for all. ” For the form, cp. 546 n. Isoc. 15.295

τῶν δυναμένων λέγειν ἢ παιδεύειν ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν δοκεῖ γεγενῆσθαι διδάσκαλος,

to be the established teacher.

Supply ἐννέπειν (αὐτόν), not ἐννέπει. The form οἶμαι , though often parenthetic (as Soph. Trach. 536 ), is not less common with infin. ( Plat. Gorg. 474a

οἶον ἐγὼ οἶμαι δεῖν εἶναι),

and Soph. often so has it, as Soph. El. 1446 .

ἂν … ἂν see on 862.

νοεῖς = “you wot of, ” the man- i.e. you understand to whom I refer. We need not, then, write εἰ κεῖνον for ἐκεῖνον with A. Spengel, or νοεῖς; ἐκεῖνον with Blaydes, who in 1055, reading τόνδ’, has a comma at ἐφιέμεσθα. Cp. 859.

τόνδ’ is certainly right: τόν θ’ arose, when the right punctuation had been lost, from a desire to connect λέγει with ἐφιέμεσθα . Dindorf, however, would keep τόν θ’: “know ye him whom we summoned and him of whom this man speaks?” i.e. “Can you say whether the persons are identical or distinct?” But the language will not bear this.

τί δ’ ὅντιν’ εἶπε; Aesch. PB 765

θέορτον ἢ βρότειον [γάμον γαμεῖ]; εἰ ῥητόν, φράσον. ΠΡ. τί δ’ ὅντιν’;

Aristoph. Birds 997

σὺ δ’ εἶ τίς ἀνδρῶν; Μ. ὅστις εἴμ’ ἐγώ; Μέτων.

Plat. Euthyph. 2b

τίνα γραφήν σε γέγραπται; ΣΩ. ἥντινα; οὐκ ἀγεννῆ.

Since οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως, οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο ὅπως mean “there is, there could be found, no way in which, ” τοῦθ’ is abnormal; yet it is not incorrect: “ this thing could not be attained, namely, a mode in which,” etc. Cp. the mixed constr. in Soph. Aj. 378

οὐ γὰρ γένοιτ’ ἂν ταῦθ’ ὅπως οὐχ ὧδ’ ἔχειν

(instead of ἕξεἰ.

Since the answer at 1042, Iocasta has known the worst. But she is still fain to spare Oedipus the misery of that knowledge. Meanwhile he thinks that she is afraid lest he should prove to be too humbly born. The tragic power here is masterly.

ἅλις (εἰμἲ νοσοῦσ’ ἐγώ instead of ἅλις ἐστὶ τὸ νοσεῖν ἐμέ: cp. 1368: Soph. Aj. 76

ἔνδον ἀρκείτω μένων

: Soph. Aj. 635

κρείσσων γὰρ Ἅιδᾳ κεύθων

: Hdt. 1.37

ἀμείνω ἐστὶ ταῦτα οὕτω ποιεύμενα

: Dem. 4.34

οἴκοι μένων, βελτίων

: Isaeus 2.7

ἱκανὸς γὰρ αὐτὸς ἔφη ἀτυχῶν εἶναι

: Athen. 435d

χρὴ πίνειν, Ἀντίπατρος γὰρ ἱκανός ἐστι νήφων.

For the genitive τρίτης μητρὸς without ἐκ, cp. Soph. El. 341

οὖσαν πατρός,

366 καλοῦ | τῆς μητρός. τρίτης μητρὸς τρίδουλος , thrice a slave, sprung from the third (servile) mother: i.e. from a mother, herself a slave, whose mother and grandmother had also been slaves. No commentator, so far as I know, has quoted the passage which best illustrates this: Theopompus fr. 277 (ed. Muller 1. 325) Πυθονίκην … ἣ Βακχίδος μὲν ἦν δούλη τῆς αὐλητρίδος, ἐκείνη δὲ Σινώπης τῆς Θρᾴττης, … ὥστε γίνεσθαι μὴ μόνον τρίδουλον ἀλλὰ καὶ τρίπορνον αὐτήν. Dem. 58.17

εἰ γὰρ ὀφείλοντος αὐτῷ τοῦ πάππου πάλαι … διὰ τοῦτ’ οἰήσεται δεῖν ἀποφεύγειν ὅτι πονηρὸς ἐκ τριγονίας ἐστίν … ,

“if, his grandfather having formerly been a debtor, … he shall fancy himself entitled to acquittal because he is a rascal of the third generation.” Eustathius Hom. Od. 15. 42-50 quotes from Hippônax Ἀφέω τοῦτον τὸν ἑπτάδουλον (Bergk fr. 75), i.e. “seven times a slave. ” For the force of τρι‐, cp. also τριγίγας, τρίπρατος (thricesold, —of a slave), τριπέδων (a slave who has been thrice in fetters). Note how the reference to the female line of servile descent is contrived to heighten the contrast with the real situation.

κακή = δυσγενής, like δειλός, opp. to ἀγαθός, ἐσθλός: Hom. Od. 4.63

ἀλλ’ ἀνδρῶν γένος ἐστὲ διοτρεφέων βασιλήων | σκηπτούχων· ἐπεὶ οὔ κε κακοὶ τοιούσδε τέκοιεν.

τὰ λῷστα … ταῦτα : cp. Soph. Ant. 96

τὸ δεινὸν τοῦτο

(i.e. of which you speak).

ὃς = ὅστις : Soph. OC 1171

ἔξοιδ’ ἀκούων τῶνδ’ ὅς ἐσθ’ ὁ προστάτης

(n.).

Iocasta rushes from the scene-to appear no more. Cp. the sudden exit of Haemon ( Soph. Ant. 766 ), of Eurydice ( Soph. Ant. 1245 ), and of Deianeira ( Soph. Trach. 813 ). In each of the two latter cases, the exit silently follows a speech by another person, and the Chorus comments on the departing one's silence. Iocasta, like Haemon, has spoken passionate words immediately before going: and here σιωπῆς (1075) is more strictly “reticence” than “silence.”

δέδοικα has here the construction proper to a verb of taking thought (or the like), as προμηθοῦμαι ὅπως μὴ γενήσεται, —implying a desire to avert, if possible, the thing feared. Plat. Euthyph. 4e

οὐ φοβεῖ δικαζόμενος τῷ πατρί, ὅπως μὴ αὖ σὺ ἀνόσιον πρᾶγμα τυγχάνῃς πράττων;

The subject to ἀναρρήξει is κακά , not ἡ γυνή: for (1) ἡ γυνὴ ἀναρρήξει κακά would mean, “the woman will burst forth into reproaches, ” cp. Aristoph. Kn. 626

ὁ δ’ ἄρ’ ἔνδον ἐλασίβροντ’ ἀναρρηγνὺς ἔπη

: Pind. fr. 172 μὴ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀναρρῆξαι τὸν ἀχρεῖον λόγον: (2) the image is that of a storm bursting forth from a great stillness, and requires that the mysterious κακά should be the subject: cp. Soph. Aj. 775

ἐκρήξει μάχη

: Aristot. Meteor. 2.8

ἐκρήξας … ἄνεμος.

χρῄζει scornfully personifies the κακά.

βουλήσομαι “I shall wish ”: i.e. my wish will remain unaltered until it has been satisfied. Cp. 1446 προστρέψομαι: Soph. Aj. 681

ὠφελεῖν βουλήσομαι,

it shall henceforth be my aim: Eur. Med. 259

τοσοῦτον οὖν σου τυγχάνειν βουλήσομαι,

I shall wish (shall be content) to receive from you only thus much (cp. Soph. Aj. 825

αἰτήσομαι δέ σ’ οὐ μακρὸν γέρας λαχεῖν).

Soph. OC 1289

καὶ ταῦτ’ ἀφ’ ὐμῶν … βουλήσομαι | … κυρεῖν ἐμοί

: Pind. O. 7.20

ἐθελήσω … διορθῶσαι λόγον,

I shall have good will to tell the tale aright. That these futures are normal, and do not arise from any confusion of present wish with future act, may be seen clearly from Plat. Phaedo 91a

καὶ ἐγω μοι δοκῶ ἐν τῷ παρόντι τοσοῦτον μόνον ἐκείνων διοίσειν· οὐ γὰρ ὅπως τοῖς παροῦσιν ἃ ἐγὼ λέγω δόξει ἀληθῆ προθυμηθήσομαι·

and Plat. Phaedo 191c .

ὡς γυνὴ for a woman: though, as it is, her “proud spirit” only reaches the point of being sensitive as to a lowly origin. She is proud of her lineage; Oedipus, of what he is. Whitelaw well compares Tennyson: “Her pride is yet no mate for mine, Too proud to care from whence I came.” Cp. Eur. Heraclid. 978

πρὸς ταῦτα τὴν θρασεῖαν ὅστις ἂν θέλῃ | καὶ τὴν φρονοῦσαν μεῖζον ἢ γυναῖκα χρὴ | λέξει

: Eur. Hipp. 640

μὴ γὰρ ἔν γ’ ἐμοῖς δόμοις | εἴη φρονοῦσα πλεῖον ἢ γυναῖκα χρή.

ὡς is restrictive; cp. 1118: Thuc. 4.84

ἦν δὲ οὐδὲ ἀδύνατος, ὡς Λακεδαιμόνιος, εἰπεῖν

(not a bad speaker, for a Lacedaemonian): imitated by Dionys. 10. 31 (of L. Icilius) ὡς Ῥωμαῖος, εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἀδύνατος. See on 763.

Whatever may have been his human parentage, Oed. is the “son of Fortune ” (said in a very different tone from “ Fortunae filius” in Hor. Sat. 2.6.49 ): Fortune brings forth the months with their varying events; these months, then, are his brothers, who ere now have known him depressed as well as exalted. He has faith in this Mother, and will not shrink from the path on which she seems to beckon him; he will not be false to his sonship. We might recall Schiller's epigram on the Wolfians; whatever may be the human paternity of the Iliad, “ hat es doch Eine Mutter nur, Und die Züge der Mutter, Deine unsterblichen Züge, Natur.”

τῆς εὖ διδούσης the beneficent: here absol., usu. with dat., as

σφῷν δ’ εὖ διδοίη Ζεύς,

Soph. OC 1435 . Not gen. abs., “while she prospers me, ” since the poet. τῆς for αὐτῆς could stand only at the beginning of a sentence or clause, as 1082.

συγγενεῖς as being also sons of Τύχη: the word further expresses that their lapse is the measure of his life: cp. 963: ἀλκᾷ ξύμφυτος αἰών ( Aesch. Ag. 107 ), years with which bodily strength keeps pace. Pind. N. 5.40

πότμος συγγενής,

the destiny born with one.

διώρισαν not: “ have determined that I should be sometimes lowly, sometimes great”; to do this was the part of controlling Τύχη. Rather: “have distinguished me as lowly or great”: i.e., his life has had chapters of adversity alternating with chapters of prosperity; and the months have marked these off (cp. 723). The metaphor of the months as sympathetic brothers is partly merged in the view of them as divisions of time: see on 866, 1300.

“Having sprung of such parentage ( ἐκφὺς , whereas φύς would be merely ”having been born such “) I will never afterwards prove ( ἐξέλθοιμι , evadam, cp. 1011) another man ” ( ἄλλος , i.e. false to my own nature). The text is sound. The license of ποτ’ at the beginning of 1085 is to be explained on essentially the same principle as μέλας δ’ |, etc. (29, cp. 785, 791) at the end of a verse; viz. that, where the movement of the thought is rapid, one verse can be treated as virtually continuous with the next: hence, too, Soph. Aj. 986

οὐχ ὅσον τάχος | δῆτ’ αὐτὸν ἄξεις δεῦρο

: Soph. Phil. 66

εἰ δ’ ἐργάσει | μὴ ταῦτα.

So here Soph. has allowed himself to retain ἔτι | ποτέ in their natural connexion instead of writing ἔτι | ἄλλος ποτ’. The genuineness of ποτ’ is confirmed by the numerous instances in which Soph. has combined it with ἔτι, as above, 892, below, 1412: Soph. Aj. 98 , 687: Soph. Trach. 830 , 922.

Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge, UK. 1885.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Experimental

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

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (2)

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 911 focus

χώρας ἄνακτες, δόξα μοι παρεστάθη

ναοὺς ἱκέσθαι δαιμόνων, τάδ᾽ ἐν χεροῖν

στέφη λαβούσῃ κἀπιθυμιάματα.

ὑψοῦ γὰρ αἴρει θυμὸν Οἰδίπους ἄγαν

λύπαισι παντοίαισιν· οὐδ᾽ ὁποῖʼ ἀνὴρ
915

ἔννους τὰ καινὰ τοῖς πάλαι τεκμαίρεται,

ἀλλ᾽ ἐστὶ τοῦ λέγοντος, εἰ φόβους λέγῃ.

ὅτ᾽ οὖν παραινοῦσ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐς πλέον ποιῶ,

πρὸς σ᾽, ὦ Λύκειʼ Ἄπολλον, ἄγχιστος γὰρ εἶ,

ἱκέτις ἀφῖγμαι τοῖσδε σὺν κατεύγμασιν,
920

ὅπως λύσιν τινʼ ἡμὶν εὐαγῆ πόρῃς·

ὡς νῦν ὀκνοῦμεν πάντες ἐκπεπληγμένον

κεῖνον βλέποντες ὡς κυβερνήτην νεώς.

ΑΓΓΕΛΟΣ.

ἆρ᾽ ἂν παρ᾽ ὑμῶν, ὦ ξένοι, μάθοιμ' ὅπου

τὰ τοῦ τυράννου δώματ' ἐστὶν Οἰδίπου;
925

μάλιστα δ᾽ αὐτὸν εἴπατ᾽, εἰ κάτισθ᾽ ὅπου.

Χορός

στέγαι μὲν αἵδε, καὐτὸς ἔνδον, ὦ ξένε·

γυνὴ δὲ μήτηρ ἥδε τῶν κείνου τέκνων.

Ἄγγελος

ἀλλ᾽ ὀλβία τε καὶ ξὺν ὀλβίοις ἀεὶ

γένοιτ', ἐκείνου γ' οὖσα παντελὴς δάμαρ.
930

Ἰοκάστη

αὕτως δὲ καὶ σύ γ', ὦ ξένʼ· ἄξιος γὰρ εἶ

τῆς εὐεπείας οὕνεκ'. ἀλλὰ φράζ᾽ ὅτου

χρῄζων ἀφῖξαι χὤ τι σημῆναι θέλων.

Ἄγγελος

ἀγαθὰ δόμοις τε καὶ πόσει τῷ σῷ, γύναι.

Ἰοκάστη

τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; παρὰ τίνος δ᾽ ἀφιγμένος;
935

Ἄγγελος

ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου. τὸ δ᾽ ἔπος οὑξερῶ τάχα,

ἥδοιο μέν, πῶς δ᾽ οὐκ ἄν, ἀσχάλλοις δ᾽ ἴσως.

Ἰοκάστη

τί δ᾽ ἔστι; ποίαν δύναμιν ὧδ᾽ ἔχει διπλῆν;

Ἄγγελος

τύραννον αὐτὸν οὑπιχώριοι χθονὸς

τῆς Ἰσθμίας στήσουσιν, ὡς ηὐδᾶτ᾽ ἐκεῖ.
940

τί δ᾽; οὐχ ὁ πρέσβυς Πόλυβος ἐγκρατὴς ἔτι;

Ἄγγελος

οὐ δῆτ᾽, ἐπεί νιν θάνατος ἐν τάφοις ἔχει.

Ἰοκάστη

πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τέθνηκε Πόλυβος, *ὦ γέρον;

Ἄγγελος

εἰ μὴ λέγω τἀληθές, ἀξιῶ θανεῖν.

ὦ πρόσπολ', οὐχὶ δεσπότῃ τάδ᾽ ὡς τάχος
945

μολοῦσα λέξεις; ὦ θεῶν μαντεύματα,

ἵν᾽ ἐστέ· τοῦτον Οἰδίπους πάλαι τρέμων

τὸν ἄνδρ᾽ ἔφευγε μὴ κτάνοι, καὶ νῦν ὅδε

πρὸς τῆς τύχης ὄλωλεν οὐδὲ τοῦδ᾽ ὕπο.

Οἰδίπους

ὦ φίλτατον γυναικὸς Ἰοκάστης κάρα,
950

τί μ' ἐξεπέμψω δεῦρο τῶνδε δωμάτων;

Ἰοκάστη

ἄκουε τἀνδρὸς τοῦδε, καὶ σκόπει κλύων

τὰ σέμν᾽ ἵνʼ ἥκει τοῦ θεοῦ μαντεύματα.

Οἰδίπους

οὗτος δὲ τίς ποτ᾽ ἐστὶ καὶ τί μοι λέγει;

Ἰοκάστη

ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου, πατέρα τὸν σὸν ἀγγελῶν
955

ὡς οὐκέτ᾽ ὄντα Πόλυβον, ἀλλ᾽ ὀλωλότα.

Οἰδίπους

τί φῄς, ξέν᾽; αὐτός μοι σὺ σημήνας γενοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

εἰ τοῦτο πρῶτον δεῖ μ᾿ ἀπαγγεῖλαι σαφῶς,

εὖ ἴσθ᾽ ἐκεῖνον θανάσιμον βεβηκότα.

Οἰδίπους

πότερα δόλοισιν, ἢ νόσου ξυναλλαγῇ;
960

Ἄγγελος

σμικρὰ παλαιὰ σώματ᾿ εὐνάζει ῥοπή.

Οἰδίπους

νόσοις ὁ τλήμων, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἔφθιτο.

Ἄγγελος

καὶ τῷ μακρῷ γε συμμετρούμενος χρόνῳ.

Οἰδίπους

φεῦ φεῦ, τί δῆτʼ ἄν, ὦ γύναι, σκοποῖτό τις

τὴν Πυθόμαντιν ἑστίαν, ἢ τοὺς ἄνω
965

κλάζοντας ὄρνις, ὧν ὑφηγητῶν ἐγὼ

κτανεῖν ἔμελλον πατέρα τὸν ἐμόν; ὁ δὲ θανὼν

[43 b.

κεύθει κάτω δὴ γῆς. ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὅδ᾽ ἐνθάδε

ἄψαυστος ἔγχους, εἴ τι μὴ τὠμῷ πόθῳ

κατέφθιθ᾽· οὕτω δ᾽ ἂν θανὼν εἴη ἐξ ἐμοῦ.
970

τὰ δ᾽ οὖν παρόντα συλλαβὼν θεσπίσματα

κεῖται παρ' Ἅιδῃ Πόλυβος ἄξιʼ οὐδενός.

Ἰοκάστη

οὔκουν ἐγώ σοι ταῦτα προὔλεγον πάλαι;

Οἰδίπους

ηὔδας· ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ φόβῳ παρηγόμην.

Ἰοκάστη

μὴ νῦν ἔτ᾽ αὐτῶν μηδὲν ἐς θυμὸν βάλῃς.
975

Οἰδίπους

καὶ πῶς τὸ μητρὸς λέκτρον οὐκ ὀκνεῖν με δεῖ;

Ἰοκάστη

τί δ᾽ ἂν φοβοῖτ᾽ ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ τὰ τῆς τύχης

κρατεῖ, πρόνοια δ᾽ ἐστὶν οὐδενὸς σαφής;

εἰκῆ κράτιστον ζῆν, ὅπως δύναιτό τις.

σὺ δ᾽ εἰς τὰ μητρὸς μὴ φοβοῦ νυμφεύματα·
980

πολλοὶ γὰρ ἤδη κἀν ὀνείρασιν βροτῶν

μητρὶ ξυνευνάσθησαν. ἀλλὰ ταῦθ᾽ ὅτῳ

παρ᾽ οὐδέν ἐστι, ῥᾷστα τὸν βίον φέρει.

Οἰδίπους

καλῶς ἅπαντα ταῦτ᾽ ἂν ἐξείρητό σοι,

εἰ μὴ ᾿κύρει ζῶσ᾽ ἡ τεκοῦσα· νῦν δ᾽ ἐπεὶ
985

ζῇ, πᾶσ᾽ ἀνάγκη, κεἰ καλῶς λέγεις, ὀκνεῖν.

Ἰοκάστη

καὶ μὴν μέγας *γ᾿ ὀφθαλμὸς οἱ πατρὸς τάφοι.

Οἰδίπους

μέγας, ξυνίημʼ· ἀλλὰ τῆς ζώσης φόβος.

Ἄγγελος

ποίας δὲ καὶ γυναικὸς ἐκφοβεῖσθ᾽ ὕπερ;

Οἰδίπους

Μερόπης, γεραιέ, Πόλυβος ἧς ᾤκει μέτα.
990

Ἄγγελος

τί δ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἐκείνης ὑμὶν ἐς φόβον φέρον;

Οἰδίπους

θεήλατον μάντευμα δεινόν, ὦ ξένε.

Ἄγγελος

ἦ ῥητόν; ἢ *οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν ἄλλον εἰδέναι;

Οἰδίπους

μάλιστά γʼ· εἶπε γάρ με Λοξίας ποτὲ

χρῆναι μιγῆναι μητρὶ τἠμαυτοῦ, τό τε
995

πατρῷον αἷμα χερσὶ ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἑλεῖν.

ὧν οὕνεχʼ ἡ Κόρινθος ἐξ ἐμοῦ πάλαι

μακρὰν ἀπῳκεῖτʼ· εὐτυχῶς μέν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως

τὰ τῶν τεκόντων ὄμμαθ᾽ ἥδιστον βλέπειν.

Ἄγγελος

ἦ γὰρ τάδ᾽ ὀκνῶν κεῖθεν ἦσθ᾽ ἀπόπτολις;
1000

Οἰδίπους

πατρός τε χρῄζων μὴ φονεὺς εἶναι, γέρον.

[44 a.

Ἄγγελος

τί δῆτ᾽ *ἐγὼ οὐχὶ τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου σ᾽, ἄναξ,

ἐπείπερ εὔνους ἦλθον, ἐξελυσάμην;

Οἰδίπους

καὶ μὴν χάριν γ᾽ ἂν ἀξίαν λάβοις ἐμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

καὶ μὴν μάλιστα τοῦτ᾽ ἀφικόμην, ὅπως
1005

σοῦ πρὸς δόμους ἐλθόντος εὖ πράξαιμί τι.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλ᾽ οὔποτ' εἶμι τοῖς φυτεύσασίν γ᾽ ὁμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

ὦ παῖ, καλῶς εἶ δῆλος οὐκ εἰδὼς τί δρᾷς.

Οἰδίπους

πῶς, ὦ γεραιέ; πρὸς θεῶν δίδασκέ με.

Ἄγγελος

εἰ τῶνδε φεύγεις οὕνεκʼ εἰς οἴκους μολεῖν.
1010

Οἰδίπους

ταρβῶ γε μή μοι Φοῖβος ἐξέλθῃ σαφής.

Ἄγγελος

ἦ μὴ μίασμα τῶν φυτευσάντων λάβῃς;

Οἰδίπους

τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό, πρέσβυ, τοῦτό μ᾽ εἰσαεὶ φοβεῖ.

Ἄγγελος

ἆρ᾽ οἶσθα δῆτα πρὸς δίκης οὐδὲν τρέμων;

Οἰδίπους

πῶς δ᾽ οὐχί, παῖς γ' εἰ τῶνδε γεννητῶν ἔφυν;
1015

Ἄγγελος

ὁθούνεκʼ ἦν σοι Πόλυβος οὐδὲν ἐν γένει.

Οἰδίπους

πῶς εἶπας; οὐ γὰρ Πόλυβος ἐξέφυσέ με;

Ἄγγελος

οὐ μᾶλλον οὐδὲν τοῦδε τἀνδρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσον.

Οἰδίπους

καὶ πῶς ὁ φύσας ἐξ ἴσου τῷ μηδενί;

Ἄγγελος

ἀλλ᾽ οὔ σ' ἐγείνατ' οὔτ᾽ ἐκεῖνος οὔτ᾽ ἐγώ.
1020

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ δὴ παῖδά μ' ὠνομάζετο;

Ἄγγελος

δῶρόν ποτ', ἴσθι, τῶν ἐμῶν χειρῶν λαβών.

Οἰδίπους

κᾆθʼ ὧδ᾽ ἀπ᾿ ἄλλης χειρὸς ἔστερξεν μέγα;

Ἄγγελος

ἡ γὰρ πρὶν αὐτὸν ἐξέπεισ᾽ ἀπαιδία.

Οἰδίπους

σὺ δ᾽ ἐμπολήσας ἢ τεκών μ' αὐτῷ δίδως;
1025

Ἄγγελος

εὑρὼν ναπαίαις ἐν Κιθαιρῶνος πτυχαῖς.

Οἰδίπους

ὡδοιπόρεις δὲ πρὸς τί τούσδε τοὺς τόπους;

Ἄγγελος

ἐνταῦθ᾽ ὀρείοις ποιμνίοις ἐπεστάτουν.

Οἰδίπους

ποιμὴν γὰρ ἦσθα κἀπὶ θητείᾳ πλάνης;

Ἄγγελος

σοῦ δ᾽, ὦ τέκνον, σωτήρ γε τῷ τότʼ ἐν χρόνῳ.
1030

Οἰδίπους

τί δ᾽ ἄλγος ἴσχοντ᾽ ἐν κακοῖς με λαμβάνεις;

Ἄγγελος

ποδῶν ἂν ἄρθρα μαρτυρήσειεν τὰ σά.

Οἰδίπους

οἴμοι, τί τοῦτ᾽ ἀρχαῖον ἐννέπεις κακόν;

Ἄγγελος

λύω σ᾽ ἔχοντα διατόρους ποδοῖν ἀκμάς.

Οἰδίπους

δεινόν γ᾽ ὄνειδος σπαργάνων ἀνειλόμην.
1035

Ἄγγελος

ὥστ᾽ ὠνομάσθης ἐκ τύχης ταύτης ὃς εἶ.

Οἰδίπους

ὦ πρὸς θεῶν, πρὸς μητρός, ἢ πατρός; φράσον.

Ἄγγελος

οὐκ οἶδ᾽· ὁ δοὺς δὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐμοῦ λῷον φρονεῖ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ γὰρ παρ᾽ ἄλλου μ᾿ ἔλαβες, οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς τυχών;

Ἄγγελος

οὔκ, ἀλλὰ ποιμὴν ἄλλος ἐκδίδωσί μοι.
1040

Οἰδίπους

τίς οὗτος; ἦ κάτοισθα δηλῶσαι λόγῳ;

Ἄγγελος

τῶν Λαΐου δήπου τις ὠνομάζετο.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ τοῦ τυράννου τῆσδε γῆς πάλαι ποτέ;

Ἄγγελος

μάλιστα· τούτου τἀνδρὸς οὗτος ἦν βοτήρ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ κἄστ᾽ ἔτι ζῶν οὗτος, ὥστ᾿ ἰδεῖν ἐμέ;
1045

Ἄγγελος

ὑμεῖς γ᾽ ἄριστ᾽ εἰδεῖτ᾽ ἂν οὑπιχώριοι.

Οἰδίπους

ἔστιν τὶς ὑμῶν τῶν παρεστώτων πέλας,

ὅστις κάτοιδε τὸν βοτῆρ᾽, ὃν ἐννέπει,

εἴτ᾿ οὖν ἐπ᾿ ἀγρῶν εἴτε κἀνθάδ' εἰσιδών;

σημήναθ᾽, ὡς ὁ καιρὸς εὑρῆσθαι τάδε.
1050

Χορός

οἶμαι μὲν οὐδέν᾽ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν ἐξ ἀγρῶν,

ὃν κἀμάτευες πρόσθεν εἰσιδεῖν· ἀτὰρ

ἥδ᾽ ἂν τάδ᾽ οὐχ ἥκιστ᾽ ἂν Ἰοκάστη λέγοι.

Οἰδίπους

γύναι, νοεῖς ἐκεῖνον, ὅντιν᾿ ἀρτίως

μολεῖν ἐφιέμεσθα; τόνδ' οὗτος λέγει;
1055

Ἰοκάστη

τί δ᾽ ὅντιν' εἶπε; μηδὲν ἐντραπῇς. τὰ δὲ

[44 b.

ῥηθέντα βούλου μηδὲ μεμνῆσθαι μάτην.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο τοῦθ᾽, ὅπως ἐγὼ λαβὼν

σημεῖα τοιαῦτ᾽ οὐ φανῶ τοὐμὸν γένος.

Ἰοκάστη

μὴ πρὸς θεῶν, εἴπερ τι τοῦ σαυτοῦ βίου
1060

κήδει, ματεύσῃς τοῦθ᾽· ἅλις νοσοῦσ᾽ ἐγώ.

Οἰδίπους

θάρσει· σὺ μὲν γὰρ οὐδ᾽ ἂν *εἰ τρίτης ἐγὼ

μητρὸς φανῶ τρίδουλος, ἐκφανεῖ κακή.

Ἰοκάστη

ὅμως πιθοῦ μοι, λίσσομαι· μὴ δρᾶ τάδε.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκ ἂν πιθοίμην μὴ οὐ τάδ᾽ ἐκμαθεῖν σαφῶς.
1065

Ἰοκάστη

καὶ μὴν φρονοῦσά γ᾽ εὖ τὰ λῷστά σοι λέγω.

Οἰδίπους

τὰ λῷστα τοίνυν ταῦτά μ᾿ ἀλγύνει πάλαι.

Ἰοκάστη

ὦ δύσποτμ', εἴθε μήποτε γνοίης ὃς εἶ.

Οἰδίπους

ἄξει τις ἐλθὼν δεῦρο τὸν βοτῆρά μοι;

ταύτην δ᾽ ἐᾶτε πλουσίῳ χαίρειν γένει.
1070

Ἰοκάστη

ἰοὺ ἰού, δύστηνε· τοῦτο γάρ σʼ ἔχω

μόνον προσειπεῖν, ἄλλο δ᾽ οὔποθ᾽ ὕστερον.

Χορός

τί ποτε βέβηκεν, Οἰδίπους, ὑπ᾿ ἀγρίας

ᾄξασα λύπης ἡ γυνή; δέδοιχ᾽ ὅπως

μὴ ἐκ τῆς σιωπῆς τῆσδ᾽ ἀναρρήξει κακά.
1075

Οἰδίπους

ὁποῖα χρῄζει ῥηγνύτω· τοὐμὸν δ᾽ ἐγώ,

κεἰ σμικρόν ἐστι, σπέρμ᾿ ἰδεῖν βουλήσομαι.

αὕτη δ᾽ ἴσως, φρονεῖ γὰρ ὡς γυνὴ μέγα,

τὴν δυσγένειαν τὴν ἐμὴν αἰσχύνεται.

ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν παῖδα τῆς Τύχης νέμων
1080

τῆς εὖ διδούσης οὐκ ἀτιμασθήσομαι.

τῆς γὰρ πέφυκα μητρός· οἱ δὲ συγγενεῖς

μῆνές με μικρὸν καὶ μέγαν διώρισαν.

τοιόσδε δ᾽ ἐκφὺς οὐκ ἂν ἐξέλθοιμ' †ἔτι

ποτ᾿ ἄλλος, ὥστε μὴ ἐκμαθεῖν τοὐμὸν γένος.
1085

Χορός

Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 911-1085 focus

Ἰοκάστη

χώρας ἄνακτες, δόξα μοι παρεστάθη

ναοὺς ἱκέσθαι δαιμόνων, τάδʼ ἐν χεροῖν

στέφη λαβούσῃ κἀπιθυμιάματα.

ὑψοῦ γὰρ αἴρει θυμὸν Οἰδίπους ἄγαν

λύπαισι παντοίαισιν· οὐδʼ ὁποῖʼ ἀνὴρ
915

ἔννους τὰ καινὰ τοῖς πάλαι τεκμαίρεται,

ἀλλʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ λέγοντος, εἰ φόβους λέγοι.

ὅτʼ οὖν παραινοῦσʼ οὐδὲν ἐς πλέον ποιῶ,

πρὸς σʼ, ὦ Λύκειʼ Ἄπολλον, ἄγχιστος γὰρ εἶ,

ἱκέτις ἀφῖγμαι τοῖσδε σὺν κατεύγμασιν,
920

ὅπως λύσιν τινʼ ἡμὶν εὐαγῆ πόρῃς·

ὡς νῦν ὀκνοῦμεν πάντες ἐκπεπληγμένον

κεῖνον βλέποντες ὡς κυβερνήτην νεώς.

Ἄγγελος

ἆρʼ ἂν παρʼ ὑμῶν, ὦ ξένοι, μάθοιμʼ ὅπου

τὰ τοῦ τυράννου δώματʼ ἐστὶν Οἰδίπου;
925

μάλιστα δʼ αὐτὸν εἴπατʼ, εἰ κάτισθʼ ὅπου.

Χορός

στέγαι μὲν αἵδε, καὐτὸς ἔνδον, ὦ ξένε·

γυνὴ δὲ μήτηρ ἥδε τῶν κείνου τέκνων.

Ἄγγελος

ἀλλʼ ὀλβία τε καὶ ξὺν ὀλβίοις ἀεὶ

γένοιτʼ, ἐκείνου γʼ οὖσα παντελὴς δάμαρ.
930

Ἰοκάστη

αὔτως δὲ καὶ σύ γʼ, ὦ ξένʼ· ἄξιος γὰρ εἶ

τῆς εὐεπείας εἵνεκʼ· ἀλλὰ φράζʼ ὅτου

χρῄζων ἀφῖξαι χὤ τι σημῆναι θέλων.

Ἄγγελος

ἀγαθὰ δόμοις τε καὶ πόσει τῷ σῷ, γύναι.

Ἰοκάστη

τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; παρὰ τίνος δʼ ἀφιγμένος;
935

Ἄγγελος

ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου· τὸ δʼ ἔπος οὑξερῶ τάχα,

ἥδοιο μέν, πῶς δʼ οὐκ ἄν, ἀσχάλλοις δʼ ἴσως.

Ἰοκάστη

τί δʼ ἔστι; ποίαν δύναμιν ὧδʼ ἔχει διπλῆν;

Ἄγγελος

τύραννον αὐτὸν οὑπιχώριοι χθονὸς

τῆς Ἰσθμίας στήσουσιν, ὡς ηὐδᾶτʼ ἐκεῖ.
940

Ἰοκάστη

τί δʼ; οὐχ ὁ πρέσβυς Πόλυβος ἐγκρατὴς ἔτι;

Ἄγγελος

οὐ δῆτʼ, ἐπεί νιν θάνατος ἐν τάφοις ἔχει.

Ἰοκάστη

πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τέθνηκε Πόλυβος, ὦ γέρον;

Ἄγγελος

εἰ μὴ λέγω τἀληθές, ἀξιῶ θανεῖν.

Ἰοκάστη

ὦ πρόσπολʼ, οὐχὶ δεσπότῃ τάδʼ ὡς τάχος
945

μολοῦσα λέξεις; ὦ θεῶν μαντεύματα,

ἵνʼ ἐστέ· τοῦτον Οἰδίπους πάλαι τρέμων

τὸν ἄνδρʼ ἔφευγε μὴ κτάνοι, καὶ νῦν ὅδε

πρὸς τῆς τύχης ὄλωλεν οὐδὲ τοῦδʼ ὕπο.

950

Οἰδίπους

ὦ φίλτατον γυναικὸς Ἰοκάστης κάρα,
950

τί μʼ ἐξεπέμψω δεῦρο τῶνδε δωμάτων;

Ἰοκάστη

ἄκουε τἀνδρὸς τοῦδε, καὶ σκόπει κλύων

τὰ σέμνʼ ἵνʼ ἥκει τοῦ θεοῦ μαντεύματα.

Οἰδίπους

οὗτος δὲ τίς ποτʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τί μοι λέγει;

Ἰοκάστη

ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου, πατέρα τὸν σὸν ἀγγελῶν
955

ὡς οὐκέτʼ ὄντα Πόλυβον, ἀλλʼ ὀλωλότα.

Οἰδίπους

τί φῄς, ξένʼ; αὐτός μοι σὺ σημάντωρ γενοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

εἰ τοῦτο πρῶτον δεῖ μʼ ἀπαγγεῖλαι σαφῶς,

εὖ ἴσθʼ ἐκεῖνον θανάσιμον βεβηκότα.

Οἰδίπους

πότερα δόλοισιν ἢ νόσου ξυναλλαγῇ;
960

Ἄγγελος

σμικρὰ παλαιὰ σώματʼ εὐνάζει ῥοπή.

Οἰδίπους

νόσοις ὁ τλήμων, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἔφθιτο.

Ἄγγελος

καὶ τῷ μακρῷ γε συμμετρούμενος χρόνῳ.

Οἰδίπους

φεῦ φεῦ, τί δῆτʼ ἄν, ὦ γύναι, σκοποῖτό τι

τὴν Πυθόμαντιν ἑστίαν ἢ τοὺς ἄνω
965

κλάζοντας ὄρνεις, ὧν ὑφηγητῶν ἐγὼ

κτενεῖν ἔμελλον πατέρα τὸν ἐμόν; ὁ δὲ θανὼν

κεύθει κάτω δὴ γῆς. ἐγὼ δʼ ὅδʼ ἐνθάδε

ἄψαυστος ἔγχους· εἴ τι μὴ τὠμῷ πόθῳ

κατέφθιθʼ· οὕτω δʼ ἂν θανὼν εἴη ʼξ ἐμοῦ.
970

τὰ δʼ οὖν παρόντα συλλαβὼν θεσπίσματα

κεῖται παρʼ Ἅιδῃ Πόλυβος ἄξιʼ οὐδενός.

Ἰοκάστη

οὔκουν ἐγώ σοι ταῦτα προύλεγον πάλαι;

Οἰδίπους

ηὔδας· ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ φόβῳ παρηγόμην.

Ἰοκάστη

μὴ νῦν ἔτʼ αὐτῶν μηδὲν ἐς θυμὸν βάλῃς.
975

Οἰδίπους

καὶ πῶς τὸ μητρὸς οὐκ ὀκνεῖν λέχος με δεῖ;

977

Ἰοκάστη

τί δʼ ἂν φοβοῖτʼ ἄνθρωπος ᾧ τὰ τῆς τύχης

κρατεῖ, πρόνοια δʼ ἐστὶν οὐδενὸς σαφής;

εἰκῆ κράτιστον ζῆν, ὅπως δύναιτό τις.

σὺ δʼ εἰς τὰ μητρὸς μὴ φοβοῦ νυμφεύματα·
980

πολλοὶ γὰρ ἤδη κἀν ὀνείρασιν βροτῶν

μητρὶ ξυνηυνάσθησαν. ἀλλὰ ταῦθʼ ὅτῳ

παρʼ οὐδέν ἐστι, ῥᾷστα τὸν βίον φέρει.

Οἰδίπους

καλῶς ἅπαντα ταῦτʼ ἂν ἐξείρητό σοι,

εἰ μὴ ʼκύρει ζῶσʼ ἡ τεκοῦσα· νῦν δʼ ἐπεὶ
985

ζῇ, πᾶσʼ ἀνάγκη, κεἰ καλῶς λέγεις, ὀκνεῖν.

Ἰοκάστη

καὶ μὴν μέγας γʼ ὀφθαλμὸς οἱ πατρὸς τάφοι.

Οἰδίπους

μέγας, ξυνίημʼ· ἀλλὰ τῆς ζώσης φόβος.

Ἄγγελος

ποίας δὲ καὶ γυναικὸς ἐκφοβεῖσθʼ ὕπερ;

Οἰδίπους

Μερόπης, γεραιέ, Πόλυβος ἧς ᾤκει μέτα.
990

Ἄγγελος

τί δʼ ἔστʼ ἐκείνης ὑμὶν ἐς φόβον φέρον;

Οἰδίπους

θεήλατον μάντευμα δεινόν, ὦ ξένε.

Ἄγγελος

ἦ ῥητόν; ἢ οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν ἄλλον εἰδέναι;

Οἰδίπους

μάλιστά γʼ· εἶπε γάρ με Λοξίας ποτὲ

χρῆναι μιγῆναι μητρὶ τἠμαυτοῦ τό τε
995

πατρῷον αἷμα χερσὶ ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἑλεῖν.

ὧν οὕνεχʼ ἡ Κόρινθος ἐξ ἐμοῦ πάλαι

μακρὰν ἀπῳκεῖτʼ· εὐτυχῶς μέν, ἀλλʼ ὅμως

τὰ τῶν τεκόντων ὄμμαθʼ ἥδιστον βλέπειν.

1000

Ἄγγελος

ἦ γὰρ τάδʼ ὀκνῶν κεῖθεν ἦσθʼ ἀπόπτολις;
1000

Οἰδίπους

πατρός τε χρῄζων μὴ φονεὺς εἶναι, γέρον.

Ἄγγελος

τί δῆτʼ ἐγὼ οὐχὶ τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου σʼ, ἄναξ,

ἐπείπερ εὔνους ἦλθον, ἐξελυσάμην;

Οἰδίπους

καὶ μὴν χάριν γʼ ἂν ἀξίαν λάβοις ἐμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

καὶ μὴν μάλιστα τοῦτʼ ἀφικόμην, ὅπως
1005

σοῦ πρὸς δόμους ἐλθόντος εὖ πράξαιμί τι.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ οὔποτʼ εἶμι τοῖς φυτεύσασίν γʼ ὅμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

ὦ παῖ, καλῶς εἶ δῆλος οὐκ εἰδὼς τί δρᾷς.

Οἰδίπους

πῶς, ὦ γεραιέ; πρὸς θεῶν δίδασκέ με.

Ἄγγελος

εἰ τῶνδε φεύγεις οὕνεκʼ εἰς οἴκους μολεῖν.
1010

Οἰδίπους

ταρβῶν γε μή μοι Φοῖβος ἐξέλθῃ σαφής.

Ἄγγελος

ἦ μὴ μίασμα τῶν φυτευσάντων λάβῃς;

Οἰδίπους

τοῦτʼ αὐτό, πρέσβυ, τοῦτό μʼ εἰσαεὶ φοβεῖ.

Ἄγγελος

ἆρʼ οἶσθα δῆτα πρὸς δίκης οὐδὲν τρέμων;

Οἰδίπους

πῶς δʼ οὐχί, παῖς γʼ εἰ τῶνδε γεννητῶν ἔφυν;
1015

Ἄγγελος

ὁθούνεκʼ ἦν σοι Πόλυβος οὐδὲν ἐν γένει.

Οἰδίπους

πῶς εἶπας; οὐ γὰρ Πόλυβος ἐξέφυσέ με;

Ἄγγελος

οὐ μᾶλλον οὐδὲν τοῦδε τἀνδρός, ἀλλʼ ἴσον.

Οἰδίπους

καὶ πῶς ὁ φύσας ἐξ ἴσου τῷ μηδενί;

Ἄγγελος

ἀλλʼ οὔ σʼ ἐγείνατʼ οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνος οὔτʼ ἐγώ.
1020

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλʼ ἀντὶ τοῦ δὴ παῖδά μʼ ὠνομάζετο;

Ἄγγελος

δῶρόν ποτʼ, ἴσθι, τῶν ἐμῶν χειρῶν λαβών.

Οἰδίπους

κᾆθʼ ὧδʼ ἀπʼ ἄλλης χειρὸς ἔστερξεν μέγα;

Ἄγγελος

ἡ γὰρ πρὶν αὐτὸν ἐξέπεισʼ ἀπαιδία.

Οἰδίπους

σὺ δʼ ἐμπολήσας ἢ τυχών μʼ αὐτῷ δίδως;
1025

1026

Ἄγγελος

εὑρὼν ναπαίαις ἐν Κιθαιρῶνος πτυχαῖς.

Οἰδίπους

ὡδοιπόρεις δὲ πρὸς τί τούσδε τοὺς τόπους;

Ἄγγελος

ἐνταῦθʼ ὀρείοις ποιμνίοις ἐπεστάτουν.

Οἰδίπους

ποιμὴν γὰρ ἦσθα κἀπὶ θητείᾳ πλάνης;

Ἄγγελος

σοῦ τʼ, ὦ τέκνον, σωτήρ γε τῷ τότʼ ἐν χρόνῳ.
1030

Οἰδίπους

τί δʼ ἄλγος ἴσχοντʼ ἀγκάλαις με λαμβάνεις;

Ἄγγελος

ποδῶν ἂν ἄρθρα μαρτυρήσειεν τὰ σά·

Οἰδίπους

οἴμοι, τί τοῦτʼ ἀρχαῖον ἐννέπεις κακόν;

Ἄγγελος

λύω σʼ ἔχοντα διατόρους ποδοῖν ἀκμάς.

Οἰδίπους

δεινόν γʼ ὄνειδος σπαργάνων ἀνειλόμην.
1035

Ἄγγελος

ὥστʼ ὠνομάσθης ἐκ τύχης ταύτης ὃς εἶ.

Οἰδίπους

ὦ πρὸς θεῶν, πρὸς μητρὸς ἢ πατρός; φράσον.

Ἄγγελος

οὐκ οἶδʼ· ὁ δοὺς δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐμοῦ λῷον φρονεῖ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ γὰρ παρʼ ἄλλου μʼ ἔλαβες οὐδʼ αὐτὸς τυχών;

Ἄγγελος

οὔκ, ἀλλὰ ποιμὴν ἄλλος ἐκδίδωσί μοι.
1040

Οἰδίπους

τίς οὗτος; ἦ κάτοισθα δηλῶσαι λόγῳ;

Ἄγγελος

τῶν Λαΐου δήπου τις ὠνομάζετο.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ τοῦ τυράννου τῆσδε γῆς πάλαι ποτέ;

Ἄγγελος

μάλιστα· τούτου τἀνδρὸς οὗτος ἦν βοτήρ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ κἄστʼ ἔτι ζῶν οὗτος, ὥστʼ ἰδεῖν ἐμέ;
1045

Ἄγγελος

ὑμεῖς γʼ ἄριστʼ εἰδεῖτʼ ἂν οὑπιχώριοι.

Οἰδίπους

ἔστιν τις ὑμῶν τῶν παρεστώτων πέλας,

ὅστις κάτοιδε τὸν βοτῆρʼ ὃν ἐννέπει,

εἴτʼ οὖν ἐπʼ ἀγρῶν εἴτε κἀνθάδʼ εἰσιδών;

σημήναθʼ, ὡς ὁ καιρὸς ηὑρῆσθαι τάδε.
1050

Χορός

οἶμαι μὲν οὐδένʼ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν ἐξ ἀγρῶν,

ὃν κἀμάτευες πρόσθεν εἰσιδεῖν· ἀτὰρ

ἥδʼ ἂν τάδʼ οὐχ ἥκιστʼ ἂν Ἰοκάστη λέγοι.

1054

Οἰδίπους

γύναι, νοεῖς ἐκεῖνον, ὅντινʼ ἀρτίως

μολεῖν ἐφιέμεσθα; τόνδʼ οὗτος λέγει;
1055

Ἰοκάστη

τί δʼ ὅντινʼ εἶπε; μηδὲν ἐντραπῇς· τὰ δὲ

ῥηθέντα βούλου μηδὲ μεμνῆσθαι μάτην.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο τοῦθʼ ὅπως ἐγὼ λαβὼν

σημεῖα τοιαῦτʼ οὐ φανῶ τοὐμὸν γένος.

Ἰοκάστη

μὴ πρὸς θεῶν, εἴπερ τι τοῦ σαυτοῦ βίου
1060

κήδει, ματεύσῃς τοῦθʼ· ἅλις νοσοῦσʼ ἐγώ.

Οἰδίπους

θάρσει· σὺ μὲν γὰρ οὐδʼ ἐὰν τρίτης ἐγὼ

μητρὸς φανῶ τρίδουλος, ἐκφανεῖ κακή.

Ἰοκάστη

ὅμως πιθοῦ μοι, λίσσομαι· μὴ δρᾶ τάδε.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκ ἂν πιθοίμην μὴ οὐ τάδʼ ἐκμαθεῖν σαφῶς.
1065

Ἰοκάστη

καὶ μὴν φρονοῦσά γʼ εὖ τὰ λῷστά σοι λέγω.

Οἰδίπους

τὰ λῷστα τοίνυν ταῦτά μʼ ἀλγύνει πάλαι.

Ἰοκάστη

ὦ δύσποτμʼ, εἴθε μήποτε γνοίης ὃς εἶ.

Οἰδίπους

ἄξει τις ἐλθὼν δεῦρο τὸν βοτῆρά μοι;

ταύτην δʼ ἐᾶτε πλουσίῳ χαίρειν γένει.
1070

Ἰοκάστη

ἰοὺ ἰού, δύστηνε· τοῦτο γάρ σʼ ἔχω

μόνον προσειπεῖν, ἄλλο δʼ οὔποθʼ ὕστερον.

Χορός

τί ποτε βέβηκεν, Οἰδίπους, ὑπʼ ἀγρίας

ᾄξασα λύπης ἡ γυνή; δέδοιχʼ ὅπως

μὴ ʼκ τῆς σιωπῆς τῆσδʼ ἀναρρήξει κακά.
1075

Οἰδίπους

ὁποῖα χρῄζει ῥηγνύτω· τοὐμὸν δʼ ἐγώ,

κεἰ σμικρόν ἐστι, σπέρμʼ ἰδεῖν βουλήσομαι.

αὕτη δʼ ἴσως, φρονεῖ γὰρ ὡς γυνὴ μέγα,

τὴν δυσγένειαν τὴν ἐμὴν αἰσχύνεται.

ἐγὼ δʼ ἐμαυτὸν παῖδα τῆς Τύχης νέμων
1080

τῆς εὖ διδούσης οὐκ ἀτιμασθήσομαι.

τῆς γὰρ πέφυκα μητρός· οἱ δὲ συγγενεῖς

μῆνές με μικρὸν καὶ μέγαν διώρισαν.

τοιόσδε δʼ ἐκφὺς οὐκ ἂν ἐξέλθοιμʼ ἔτι

ποτʼ ἄλλος, ὥστε μὴ ʼκμαθεῖν τοὐμὸν γένος.
1085

Translations (5)

English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 911 focus

Are ye the men to tell me where to find

The mansion of the sovereign Oedipus?

Or better, where he may himself be found?

CH

Here is the roof you seek, and he, our lord,

Is there within: and, stranger, thou behold’st

The queenly mother of his royal race.

COR. SH

May she and hers be alway fortunate!

Still may she crown him with the joys of home!
930

JO

Be thou, too, blest, kind sir! Thy gracious tongue

Deserves no less. But tell me what request

Or what intelligence thou bring’st with thee?

COR. SH

Good tidings for thy house and husband, queen.

JO

What are they? Who hath sent thee to our hall?
935

COR. SH

From Corinth come I, and will quickly tell

What sure will please you; though perchance ’twill grieve.

JO

What news can move us thus two ways at once?

COR. SH

’Twas rumoured that the people of the land

Of Corinth would make Oedipus their king.

JO

Is ancient Polybus not still in power?

COR. SH

No. Death confines him in a kingly grave.

JO

Hold there! How say you? Polybus in his grave?

COR. SH

May I die for him if I speak not true!

JO

(.)

Run thou, and tell this quickly to my lord!
945

Voices of prophecy, where are ye now?

Long time hath Oedipus, a homeless man,

Trembled with fear of slaying Polybus.

Who now lies slain by Fortune, not by him.

OED
Enter OEDIPUS .

Jocasta, my dear queen, why didst thou send
950

To bring me hither from our palace-hall?

JO

Hear that man’s tale, and then consider well

The end of yonder dreadful prophecy.

OED

Who is the man, and what his errand here?

JO

He comes from Corinth, to make known to thee
955

That Polybus, thy father, is no more.

OED

How, stranger? Let me learn it from thy mouth.

COR. SH

If my first duty be to make this clear,

Know beyond doubt that he is dead and gone.

OED

By illness coming o’er him, or by guile?
960

COR. SH

Light pressure lays to rest the timeworn frame.

OED

He was subdued by sickness then, poor soul!

COR. SH

By sickness and the burden of his years.

OED

Ah! my Jocasta, who again will heed

The Pythian hearth oracular, and birds

Screaming in air, blind guides! that would have made
965

My father’s death my deed; but he is gone,

Hidden underneath the ground, while I stand hero

Harmless and weaponless:—unless, perchance,

My absence killed him,—so he may have died

Through me. But be that as it may, the grave
970

That covers Polybus, hath silenced, too,

One voice of prophecy, worth nothing now.

JO

Did I not tell thee so, long since?

OED

Thou didst.

But I was drawn to error by my fear.

JO

Now cast it altogether out of mind.
975

OED

Must I not fear my mother’s marriage-bed?

JO

Why should man fear, seeing his course is ruled

By fortune, and he nothing can foreknow?

’Tis best to live at ease as best one may.

Then fear not thou thy mother’s nuptial hour.
980

Many a man ere now in dreams hath lain

With her who bare him. He hath least annoy

Who with such omens troubleth not his mind.

OED

That word would be well spoken, were not she

Alive that gave me birth. But since she lives,
985

Though you speak well, yet have I cause for fear.

JO

Your father’s burial might enlighten you.

OED

It doth. But I am darkened by a life.

COR. SH

Whose being overshadows thee with fear?

OED

Queen Meropè, the consort of your king.
990

COR. SH

What in her life should make your heart afraid?

OED

A heaven-sent oracle of dreadful sound.

COR. SH

May it be told, or must no stranger know?

OED

Indeed it may. Word came from Phoebus once

That I must know my mother’s shame, and shed
995

With these my hands my own true father’s blood.

Wherefore long since my home hath been removed

Far from Corinthos:—not unhappily;

But still ’tis sweet to see a parent’s face.

COR. SH

Did fear of this make thee so long an exile?
1000

OED

Of this and parricide, my aged friend.

COR. SH

I came with kind intent—and, dear my lord,

I fain would rid thee from this haunting dread.

OED

Our gratitude should well reward thy love.

COR. SH

Hope of reward from thee in thy return
1005

Was one chief motive of my journey hither.

OED

Return? Not to my parents’ dwelling-place!

COR. SH

Son, ’tis too clear, you know not what you do.

OED

Wherefore, kind sir? For Heaven’s sake teach me this.

COR. SH

If for these reasons you avoid your home.
1010

OED

The fear torments me, Phoebus may prove true.

COR. SH

Lest from your parents you receive a stain?

OED

That is the life-long torment of my soul.

COR. SH

Will you be certified your fears are groundless?

OED

How groundless, if I am my parents’ child?
1015

COR. SH

Because with Polybus thou hast no kin.

OED

Why? Was not he the author of my life?

COR. SH

As much as I am, and no more than I.

OED

How can my father be no more to me

Than who is nothing?

COR. SH

In begetting thee
1020

Nor I nor he had any part at all.
1020

OED

Why then did he declare me for his son?

COR. SH

Because he took thee once a gift from me.

OED

Was all that love unto a foundling shown?

COR. SH

Heirless affection so inclined his heart.

OED

A gift from you! Your purchase, or your child?
1025

COR. SH

Found in Cithaeron’s hollowy wilderness.

OED

What led your travelling footstep to that ground?

COR. SH

The flocks I tended grazed the mountain there.

OED

A shepherd wast thou, and a wandering hind?

COR. SH

Whatever else, my son, thy saviour then.
1030

OED

From what didst thou release me or relieve?

COR. SH

Thine instep bears memorial of the pain.

OED

Ah! what old evil will thy words disclose?

COR. SH

Thy feet were pierced. ’Twas I unfastened them.

OED

So cruel to my tender infancy!
1035

COR. SH

From this thou hast received thy name.

OED

By heaven

I pray thee, did my father do this thing,

Or was’t my mother?

COR. SH

That I dare not say.

He should know best who gave thee to my hand.

OED

Another gave me, then? You did not find me?

COR. SH

Another herdsman passed thee on to me.
1040

OED

Can you describe him? Tell us what you know.

COR. SH

Methinks they called him one of Laius’ people.

OED

Of Laius once the sovereign of this land?

COR. SH

E’en so. He was a shepherd of his flock.

OED

And is he still alive for me to see?
1045

COR. SH

You Thebans are most likely to know that.

OED

Speak, any one of you in presence here,

Can you make known the swain he tells us of,

In town or country having met with him?

The hour for this discovery is full come.
1050

CH

Methinks it is no other than the peasant

Whom thou didst seek before to see: but this

Could best be told by queen Jocasta there.

OED

We lately sought that one should come, my queen.

Know’st thou, is this of whom he speaks the same?
1055

JO

What matter who? Regard not, nor desire

Even vainly to remember aught he saith.

OED

When I have found such tokens of my birth,

I must disclose it.

JO

As you love your life,
1060

By heaven I beg you, search no further here!
1060

The sickness in my bosom is enough.

OED

Nay, never fear! Were I proved thrice a slave

And waif of bondwomen, you still are noble.

JO

Yet hearken, I implore you: do not so.

OED

I cannot hear you. I must know this through.
1065

JO

With clear perception I advise the best.

OED

Thy ‘best’ is still my torment.

JO

Wretched one,

Never may’st thou discover who thou art!

OED

Will some one go and bring the herdman hither?

Leave her to revel in her lordly line!
1070

JO

O horrible! O lost one! This alone

I speak to thee, and no word more for ever.

CH

Oedipus, wherefore is Jocasta gone,

Driven madly by wild grief? I needs must fear

Lest from this silence she make sorrow spring.
1075

OED

Leave her to raise what storm she will. But I

Will persevere to know mine origin,

Though from an humble seed. Her woman’s pride

Is shamed, it may be, by my lowliness.

But I, whilst I account myself the son

Of prospering Fortune, ne’er will be disgraced.
1080

For she is my true mother: and the months,

Coheirs with me of the same father, Time,

Have marked my lowness and mine exaltation.

So born, so nurtured, I can fear no change,

That I need shrink to probe this to the root.
1085

CHORUS
CHORUS .

German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 911 focus

Ihr Häupter Thebe's, ich beschloß in meinem Sinn,

Der Götter Tempeln mich zu nah'n, die Kränze hier
885

In meinen Händen tragend und das Räucherwerk.

Denn allzuschwer ringt Dedipus in bangem Muth

Mit mannigfachem Kummer; nach dem Alten mag

Er nicht das Neue messen, wie's dem Klugen ziemt;¹

Nein, offen ist er jedem Wort, das Schrecken bringt.
890

Mit meinem Zuspruch kann ich nichts hier schaffen mehr;

(sie wendet sich zu dem Altar des Apollon)

Drum nah' ich flehend mit den Weihgeschenken dir,

Lykeier Phöbos, weil du mir der Nächste bist,²

Auf daß du heilig lösest uns aus diesem Leid:

Denn, ach, wir alle zagen, nun wir ihn betäubt
895

Von Schrecken seh'n, der unsres Schiffes Steuer führt.

Ein Bote. Die Vorigen.

Der Botr.

Gewährtet ihr, o Freunde, wohl die Kunde mir,

Wo seine Wohnung Dedipus, der König, hat?

Doch, wisset ihr's, sagt lieber, wo er selber weilt.

Der Chor.

Hier seine Wohnung, und er selbst ist innen, Freund,
900

Und Mutter seiner Kinder ist hier diese Frau.

Der Bote.

Sie lebe glücklich, sei gesellt den Glücklichen

Für immer, sie, des Mannes reichgesegnet Weib!

Jokaste.

Du selbst, o Freund, nicht minder; denn du bist es werth

Des frommen Wunsches wegen. Doch erkläre, was
905

Ist dein Begehr, was anzukünden kamest du?

Der Bote.

Glück deinem Haus und deinem Gatten, edle Frau.

Jokaste.

Und welcher Art ist dieses? Und wer sendet dich?

Der Bote.

Korinthos. Ueber meine Rede wirst du wohl

Dich freu'n, (warum nicht?) und vielleicht betrüben auch.
910

Jokaste.

Was ist es? Wie besizt sie solche Doppelkraft?

Der Bote.

Zu seinem Herrscher will das Volk des isthmischen³

Gebietes ihn erheben: also hieß es dort.

Jokaste.

Wie? Hat der greise Polybos nicht mehr die Macht?

Der Bote.

Nicht mehr, da Todesschlummer ihn im Grab umfängt.
915

Jokaste.

Wie sagst du, Greis? Gestorben wäre Polybos?

Der Bote.

Wofern ich unwahr rede, sei mein Loos der Tod!

(zu einer ihrer Begleiterinnen)

Jokaste.

Auf, Mädchen, gehe schnell hinein, dem Herrscher dies

Alsbald zu melden! Ihr, o Göttersprüche, wo,

(die Dienerin ab.)

Wo seid ihr? Längst floh Dedipus mit Zittern fort,
920

Um nicht zu morden diesen Mann, und jezt erlag

Er durch das Schicksal, nicht entseelt von seiner Hand.

Dedipus. Die Vorigen.

Oedipus.

Mein trautes Weib, Iokaste, vielgeliebtes Haupt,

In welcher Absicht riefst du mich vom Haus hieher?

Jokaste.

Vernimm den Mann hier, und erwäge dann, wohin
925

Es mit des Gottes hohem Spruch gekommen ist.

Und dieser Mann

Oedipus.

wer ist er, und was bringt er mir?

Jokaste.

Vom Land Korinthos meldet er, daß Polybos,

Dein Vater, nicht mehr lebe, nein, des Todes sei.

Oedipus.

Was sagst du, Fremdling? Künde du mir selbst es an.
930

Der Bote.

Nun, wenn ich dies vor Allem deutlich sagen soll,

So wisse: jener ging dahin des Todes Weg.

Oedipus.

Und hat ihn Arglist oder Krankheit hingerafft?

Der Bote.

Ein leichter Anstoß wiegt in Ruh' ein greises Haupt.

Oedipus.

An einer Krankheit, scheint es, starb der Arme wohl?
935

Der Bote.

Und wie's gemäß des Lebens langer Dauer war.

Oedipus.

Weh, weh! Warum denn, mein Gemahl, beachten wir

Den Seherherd in Pytho, was die Vögel noch,

Die droben kreischen, die verkündet, daß ich einst

Den eignen Vater tödten soll? Ihn birgt der Schooß
940

Der Erde jezt als Todten, und ich weile hier,

Kein Schwert berührt' ich, - wenn ihn nicht Sehnsucht um mich

Verzehrte - so wohl kam er um durch meine Schuld.

Nein, diese Sehersprüche, die nahm Polybos

Mit sich hinab zum Hades; nichts bedeuten sie.
945

Jokaste.

Hab' ich dir das nicht lange schon vorhergesagt?

Oedipus.

Wohl sagtest du's; doch irre führte mich die Furcht.

Jokaste.

Nun komme nichts von diesem dir zu Sinne mehr!

Oedipus.

Wie? Darf der Mutter Ehe mich nicht ängstigen?

Jokaste.

Was hat der Mensch zu fürchten, den das Ungefähr
950

Beherrscht, und den kein sichrer Blick vorahnend lenkt?

Am besten lebt er ohne Harm, wie's eben geht.

Drum bange dir vor deiner Mutter Ehe nicht.

Denn viele Menschen sahen auch in Träumen schon

Sich zugesellt der Mutter; doch wer alles dies
955

Für nichtig achtet, trägt die Last des Lebens leicht.

Oedipus.

Wohl nennt' ich alles richtig, was du eben sprachst,

Wenn nicht die Mutter lebte. Nun, da diese lebt,

Nothwendig muß mir bangen, sprachst du richtig auch.

Jokaste.

Doch ist das Grab des Vaters dir ein helles Licht.
960

Oedipus.

Ich fühl's, ein helles! Doch mich schreckt die Lebende.

Der Bote.

Vor einem Weib, vor welchem bangt euch denn so sehr?

Oedipus.

Vor Merope, der Frau des Polybos, o Greis.

Der Bote.

Was ist es, das von dieser euch in Schrecken sezt?

Oedipus.

Ein grauser Spruch, o Fremdling, den der Gott gesandt.
965

Der Bote.

Darf ihn ein Andrer wissen? Hüllt ihn Schweigen ein?

Oedipus.

Vernimm! Apollon that mir kund, ich müsse mich

Der eignen Mutter als Gemahl gesellen und

Mit dieser Hand vergießen meines Vaters Blut.

Deßwegen zog ich aus Korinthos schon vorlängst
970

In weite Fernen, zwar zu meinem Glücke, doch

Was gibt es Süß'res, als der Eltern Auge schau'n?⁴

Der Bote.

Dies also fürchtend, bliebst du fern von jener Stadt?

Oedipus.

Und um des Vaters Mörder nicht zu sein, o Greis.

Der Bote.

Warum, o König, sollt' ich dich von dieser Furcht
975

Nicht gleich befreien? Kam ich doch wohlmeinend her!

Oedipus.

Auch nähmst du sicher würdigen Dank von mir dahin.

Der Bote.

In dieser Absicht kam ich auch zunächst zu dir,

Daß schöner Lohn mir würde, wenn du heimgekehrt.

Oedipus.

Doch, traun, zu meinen Eltern geh' ich nimmermehr!
980

Der Bote.

Mein Sohn, du weißt nicht, was du thuſt, ich seh' es klar

Oedipus.

Wie so, mein Alter? Bei den Göttern, sage mir's!

Wenn du dich ihretwegen heimzukommen scheust.

Ich zittre, sicher treffe Phöbos' Wort mir ein.

Der Bote.

Daß Gräul an deinen Eltern dich entheilige?
985

Oedipus.

Dies eben, Alter, dieses schreckt mich fort und fort.

Der Bote.

Nun, weißt du, daß du wider Recht dich ängstigest?

Oedipus.

Wie wäre das? Von diesen Eltern stamm' ich doch.

Der Bote.

Weil Polybos nicht deines Stammes war, o Herr.

Oedipus.

Wie sagst du? Hätte Polybos mich nicht gezeugt?
990

Der Bote.

Nicht mehr, o Herr, noch minder, als ich selber hier.

Oedipus.

Wie wär' ein Vater Einem gleich, der keiner ist?

Der Bote.

Er war so wenig, als ich selbst, dein Vater, Herr.

Oedipus.

Weßwegen aber nannt' er denn mich seinen Sohn?

Der Bote.

Aus meinen Händen nahm er als Geschenk dich einst.
995

Oedipus.

Und liebte dennoch mich so sehr aus fremder Hand?

Der Bote.

Ein kinderloses Leben hieß ihn also thun.

Oedipus.

Du kauftest oder fandest mich und gabst mich ihm?

Der Bote.

In tiefer Waldschlucht am Kithäron fand ich dich.

Oedipus.

In welcher Absicht kamst du denn an diesen Ort?
1000

Der Bote.

Dort war des Berges Heerde mir zur Hut vertraut.

Oedipus.

So warst du Hirte, zogst umher im Dienst des Herrn?

Der Bote.

Und dein Erretter ward ich, Sohn, in jener Zeit.

Oedipus.

Mit welchem Leiden sandst du mich in meiner Noth?

Der Bote.

Die Fußgelenke können dir's bezeugen, Kind.
1005

Oedipus.

Weh mir! Warum erwähnst du dieses alte Leid?

Der Bote.

Die durchgestochnen Füße löst' ich beide dir.

Oedipus.

Ein schmählich graunvoll Zeichen trug ich hier davon.

Der Bote.

Von diesem Unfall blieb bis heut der Name dir.

Oedipus.

Götter! That dies Vater oder Mutter? Sprich! Ich weiß es nicht;
1010

Der Bote.

Genauer weiß es, der dich gab in meine Hand.

Oedipus.

Von einem Andern nahmst du, fandst nicht selbst mich auf?

Der Bote.

Nicht selbst; ein andrer Hirte fand und gab dich mir.

Oedipus.

Wer war es? Weißt du näher mir zu nennen ihn?

Der Bote.

Man nannt' ihn, mein' ich, einen Knecht des Laïos.
1015

Oedipus.

Des Fürsten, der vor Zeiten hier im Land gebot?

Der Bote.

Ja, dieses Königs Hirte war der Mann, o Herr.

Oedipus.

Und lebt er jezt noch, daß ich selbst ihn sehen kann?

Der Bote.

Ihr Eingebornen wisset dies am besten wohl.

Oedipus.

Ist unter euch, ihr Männer, die mir nahe steh'n,
1020

Nicht Einer, der den Hirten kennt, von dem er spricht,

Sei's daß er hier ihn, oder auf dem Felde sah?

So sprecht; es auszugründen ist jezt wohl die Zeit.

Der Chor.

Kein Andrer ist es, glaub' ich, als vom Felde der,

Den du zu sehen früher schon verlangt; indeß
1025

Gibt wohl die beste Kunde dir Iokaste selbst.

Oedipus.

Frau, meinst du, jener, den wir eben jezt hieher

Beschieden, sei derselbe, den der Bote meint?

Jokaste.

Wer? Welchen nannt' er? Achte nicht hierauf, und dem,

Was er gesprochen, sinne nicht vergeblich nach.
1030

Oedipus.

Das bleibe ferne, daß ich jezt nicht mein Geschlecht

Enthüllen sollte, nun ich solche Spuren fand!

Jokaste.

Bei allen Göttern, wenn das eigne Leben dir

Lieb ist, so laß dies Forschen! Meine Dual genügt.

Oedipus.

Sei ruhig! Wenn ich nach der dritten Mutter auch⁵
1035

Dreifach ein Knecht erschiene, dir bringt's keine Schmach.

Jokaste.

Und doch (ich flehe) folge mir: ach, thu' es nicht!

Oedipus.

Nicht folgen kann ich, schauen muß ich's unverhüllt.

Jokaste.

Doch rath' ich dir das Beste; denn ich mein' es gut.

Oedipus.

Nun, eben dieses Beste quält mich lange schon.⁶
1040

Jokaste.

Erführst du niemals, wer du bist, Unseliger!

Oedipus.

Wird Einer mir den Hirten herzuführen geh'n?

Die lasset nur sich ihres hohen Stammes freu'n!

Jokaste.

Weh, weh dir, Armer! Dieses Wort vermag ich nur

Dir zuzurufen, und hinfort kein andres mehr!
1045
Dedipus. Der Bote. Der Chor.

Der Chor.

Was ging die Frau doch, Dedipus, so schnell hinweg,

Von wildem Jammer aufgestürmt? Ich fürchte sehr,

Aus diesem Schweigen bricht hervor ein schweres Leid.

Oedipus.

Was immer wolle, brech' hervor; doch mein Geschlecht,

Ich will es kennen lernen, ob's auch niedrig sei.
1050

Sie mag verschämt in ihrem Frauenstolze wohl

Erröthen über meines Stamms Unwürdigkeit.

Ich aber, wenn ich Tyche's Sohn, der Spenderin⁷

Des Glücks, mich achte, werde nicht erniedrigt sein.

Von dieser Mutter stamm' ich, und es ordneten
1055

Verwandte Monde Niedrigkeit und Größe mir.

Bei solcher Abkunst tracht' ich nicht nach Andrem mehr,⁸

Als nach dem Einen, mein Geschlecht an's Licht zu zieh'n.

Strophe. (ab.)

Der Chor.

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759)) — 911 focus

Thou art, and I will tell thee ;

Thou art my hope — to whom should I impart

My sorrows, but to thee? Know then, Jocasta,

I am the son of Polybus, who reigns

At Corinth, and the Dorian Merope

His queen ; there long I held the foremost rank,

Honoured and happy, when a strange event

The deep concern I felt) alarmed me much :

A drunken reveller at a feast proclaimed

That I was only the supposed son

Of Corinth's king. Scarce could I bear that day

The vile reproach. The next, I sought my parents

And asked of them the truth ; they too, enraged,

Resented much the base indignity.

I liked their tender warmth, but still I felt
915

A secret anguish, and, unknown to them,
915

Sought out the Pythian oracle. In vain.
915

Touching my parents nothing could I learn ;

But dreadful were the miseries it denounced

Against me. 'Twas my fate, Apollo said,

To wed my mother, to produce a race

Accursed and abhorred ; and last, to slay

My father who begat me. Sad decree !

Lest I should e'er fulfil the dire prediction,

Instant I fled from Corinth, by the stars

Guiding my hapless journey to the place

Where thou report'st this wretched king was slain.

But I will tell thee the whole truth. At length

came to where the three ways meet, when, lo!

I A herald, with another man hke him

! Wliom thou describst, and in a cliariot, met me.

Both strove with violence to drive me back ;
920

Enraged, I struck the charioteer, when straight.
920

As I advanced, the old man saw, and twice
920

Smote me o' th' head, but dearly soon repaid

The insult on me ; from his chariot rolled

Prone on the earth, beneath my staff he fell,

And instantly expired ! Th' attendant train

All shared his fate. If this unhappy stranger

And Laius be the same, lives there a wretch

So cursed, so hateful to the gods as I am ?

Nor citizen nor alien must receive,

Or converse, or communion hold with me,

But drive me forth with infamy and shame.

The dreadful curse pronounced with my own lips

Shall soon o'ertake me. I have stained the bed

Of him whom I had murdered ; am I then

Aught but pollution ? If I fly from hence,

The bed of incest meets me, and I go
925

Tc sby m^ father Polybus, the best,
925

The tenderest parent. This must bo. the work
925

Of some malignant power. Ye righteous gods !

^Let me not seejbhatdaj'-, but rest in death,

Bather than su'ffer such calamity.

Chorus
(For strange it was, though little meriting

That shepherd is my only hope : Jocasta,
950

Would he were here !

Joe. Suppose he were ; what then ?

What wouldst thou do ?

Oedipus

I'll tell thee : if he says

The same as thou dost, I am safe and guiltless.

Joe. What said I, th&n ?

Oedipus

Thou saidst he did report

Laius was slain by robbers ; if 'tis true

He fell by numbers, I am innocent,

For I was unattended ; if but one

Attacked and slew him, doubtless I am he.

Joe. Be satisfied it must be as he first

Reported it ; he cannot cliange the tale :

Xot I alone, but the whole city heard it.

Falfilled ; for Phoebus said, JocSsta's son

Should slay his father. That could never be ;

For, oh ! Jocasta's son long since is dead.

ITe could not murder Laius ; therefore never

Will I attend to prophecies again.

Oedipus
( )r ^rant he should, the oracle was ne'er

Right, my Jocasta ; but, I beg thee, send

And fetch this shepherd ; do not fail.

Joe. I will

This moment ; come, my lord, let us go in ••

I will do nothing but what pleases thee, - [Exeunt.

Grant me henceforth, ye powers divine,

In virtue's purest paths to tread !

In every word, in every deed.

May sanctity of manners ever shine !

Obedient to the laws of Jove,

The laws descended from above.

Which, not like those by feeble mortals given,

Buried in dark oblivion lie,

Or worn by time decay, and die,

But bloom eternal like their native heaven !

Pride first gave birth to tyrflnufi^r"^

That hateful vice, insulting pride,

When, every human power defied,

She lifts to glory's height her votary ;

Soon stumbling, from her tottering throne
985

She throws the wretched victim down.
985

But may the pfod indulgent hear my prnyer,
985

That god wliom humbly I adore,
985

Oh ! may he smile on Thebes once more,
985

And take its wretched monarch to his care !
985

Perish the impious and profane,
985

Who, void of reverential fear.
985

Nor justice nor the laws revere,
985

"Who leave their god for pleasure or for gain !

Who swell by fraud their ill-got store,

Who rob the wretched and the poor !

If vice unpunished virtue's meed obtain,

Who shall refrain the impetuous soul,

The rebel passions who control,

Or wherefore do I lead this choral train ?

No more to Delphi's sacred shrine

Need we with incense now repair,

No more shall Phocis hear our prayer ;

Nor fair Olympia see Jier rites divine ;

If oracles no longer prove

The power of Phoebus and of Jove.

Great lord of all, from thy eternal throne

Behold, how impious men defame

Thy loved Apollo's honoured name ;

Oh ! guard his rights, and vindicate thy own. [Exeunt.

'Scene I.

Jocasta
Scene V. StroijJie I. Antistrophe i. Stro2)he 2. Antistrophe 2. ACT IV.

Chorus.

Jocasta

Sages and rulers of the land, I come

To seek the altars of the gods, and there

With incense and oblations to appease

Offended Heaven. My (Edipus, alas !

JN"o longer wise and prudent, as you all

Remember once he was, with present things

Compares the past, nor judges like himself ;
1060

Unnumbered cares perplex his anxious mind,

And every tale awakes new terrors in him ;

Vain is my counsel, for he hears me not.

First, then, to thee, O Phoebus ! for thou still

Art near to help the wretched, we appeal,

And suppliant beg thee now to grant thy aid

Propitious ; deep is our distress ; for, oh !

"We see our pilot sinking at the helm,

And much already fear the vessel lost.

Shepherd from Corinth, Jocasta, Chorus.

Shepherd
Scene II.

Can you instruct me, strangers, which way

lies

The palace of king Oedipus ; himself

I would most gladly see. Can you inform me ?

Chorus

This is the palace ; he is now within ;
990

Thou seest his queen before thee.
990

Shepherd

Ever blest

And happy with the happy mayst thou live !

Joe. Stranger, the same good wish to thee, for well

Thy words deserve it ; but say, wherefore com'st thou,

And what 's thy news ?

Shepherd

To thee, and to thy husband.

Pleasure and joy.

Joe. What pleasure ? And whence art thou ?

Shepherd

From Corinth. To be brief, I bring thee

tidings

Of good and evil.

Joe. Ha ! what mean thy words

Ambiguous ?

Shepherd

Know then, if report say true,

The Isthmian people will choose CEdipus

Their sovereiirn.

No;

Joe.

SnEP.
995

Joe.
995

SllEP. If
995

Is not Polybus their king ?
995

Poly bus is dead.
995

What sayst thou ? Dead 1

I speak falsely, may death seize on me !

one of her Atpendants]. Why fliest thou not

to tell thy master ? Hence !

What aie you now, you oracles divine ?

Where is your truth? The fearful (Edipus

From Corinth Hed, lest he should slay the king,

This Polybus, who perished, not by him,

But by the hand of Heaven.

My dear Jocasta,

Why hast thou called me hither ?

Joe. Hear this man,

And when thou hearst him, mark what faith is due

To your revered oracles.

And what doth he report ?

Joe. He comes from Corinth,

And says thy father Polybus is dead.

speak !

Shepherd
(Edi. Scene III. (Edipus, Jocasta, Shepherd, Chorus. (Edi. Who is he ? (Edi. What sayst thou, stranger ? Speak to me — oh!

If touching this thou fii'St desir'st my answer ;
1000

Know, he is dead.
1000

Or some disease ?
1000

Shepherd
(Edi. How died he % Say, by treason.

Alas ! a little force

Will lay to rest the weary limbs of age.

Shepherd
(Edi. Distemper then did kill him ?

That in part,

And part a length of years that wore him down.

To prophecies, and seers, and clanioious birds

With their vain omens — they who had decreed

That T should kill my father. He thou seest

r

Beneath the earth lies buried, whilst I live

In safety here and guiltless of his blood :

Unless perhaps sorrow for loss of me

Shortened his days, thus only could I kill

My father. But ho's gone, and to the shades

Hath cariied with him those vain oracles

Of fancied ills, no longer worth my care.

Joe. Did I not say it would be thus?

Oedipus
(Edi. Now, my Jocasta, who shall henceforth trust

Thou didst ;

But I was full of fears.

Joe. Henceforth, no more

Indulge them.

Must be avoided. I must fly from that.

Joe. Why should man fear, whom chance, and chance

alone,

Doth ever rule 1 Foreknowledge, all is vain,

And can determine nothing. Therefore best

It is to live as fancy leads, at large,

Uncurbed, and only subject to our will.

Fear not thy mother's bed. Oftimes in dreams

Have men committed incest. But his life

Will ever be most happy who contemns

Such idle phantoms.

Did not my mother live. But as it is,

Spite of thy words, I must be anxious still.

Joe. Think on thy father's death ; it is a light

To guide thee here.

Oedipus
(Edi. But my mother's bed — that still (Edi. Thou wert right, Jocasta,

It is so. Yet I fear

Whilst she survives him.

Shepherd

Who is it you mean ?

What woman fear you ?

Oedipus

Merope, the wife

Of Polybus.

Shepherd

And wherefore fear you her?

QHdi. Know, stranger, a most dreadful oracle

Concerning her affrights me.

Shepherd

May I know it.

Or must it be revealed to none but thee?

Oedipus

Oh no ! I'll tell thee. Phoebus hath declared

Tliat (EcHpuR should stain his motlier's })e(l, 1

And dip his h.'inds in his own fatlier's blootl ;

Wherefore 1 iled from Corinth, and lived here,

In happiness indeed. But still thou knowst

It is a blessing to behold our parents,

And that I had not.

Shepherd
(ED! PUS TV R ANNUS,

Was it for this cause

Thou wert an exile then?

That I might one day prove my father's murderer.

SiiEP. What if I come, O king ! to banish hence

Thy terrors, and restore thy peace?

Oedipus
(Edi. It was. I feared

Oh stranger!
1015

Couldst thou do this, I would reward thee nobly.
1015

SiiEP. Know then, for this I came. I came to serve,
1015

And make thee happy.
1015

Oedipus

But I will not go

Back to my parents.

Shepherd

Son, I see thou knowst not

What thou art doing.

By heaven I beg thee then do thou instruct me.

Shepherd
(Edi. Wlierefore thinkst thou so ?

If thou didst fly from Corinth for this cause
1020

Shepherd
(Edi. Apollo's dire predictions still affright me.

Fearst thou pollution from thy parents ?

And that alone I dread.

Shepherd
(Edi. That,

Thy fears are vain.

Shepherd
(Edi. Not if they are my parents.

Polybus

Was not akin to thee.

Say, was not Polybus my father ?

Shepherd
(Edi. What sayst thou % Speak

No ;

No more than he is mine.

His son?

Shepherd
(Edi. Why call me then

Because long since I gave thee to him —
1025

He did receive thee from these hands.
1025

And could he love another's child so well ?
1025

Shepherd
(Edi. Indeed !

He had no children ; that persuaded him

To take and keep thee.

Oedipus

Didst thou buy me, then,

Or am I thine, and must I call thee father 1

Shepherd

I found thee in Cithaeron's woody vale.

Oedipus

What brought thee there ?

Shepherd

I came to feed my flocks
1030

On the green mountain's side.
1030

Oedipus

It seems thou wert

A wandering shepherd.

Shepherd

Thy deliverer;

I saved thee from destruction.

Had happened to me ?

Shepherd
(Edi. How ? What then

Thy own feet will best

Inform thee of that circumstance.

CEdt. Alas !

Why callst thou to remembrance a misfortune

Of so long date?

Shepherd

'Twas I who loosed the tendons
1035

Of thy bored feet.
1035

I suffered much, then.
1035

Shepherd
(Edi. It seems in infancy

Tc this incident

Thou ow'st thy name.

Oedipus

My father, or my mother,

Who did it 1 Knowst thou ?

Shepherd

He who gave thee to mo

Must tell thee that.

Oedipus

Then from another's hand

Thou didst receive me.

Shepherd

. Ay ; another shepherd.
1040

Oedipus

Whc was he? Canst thou recollect ?

Shepherd

'Twas one,

At least so called, of Laius' family.

Oedipus

Laius, who ruled at Thebes ?

Shepherd

The same ] this imai

Was shepherd to King Laius.

Oedipus

Lives he still ?
1045

And could I see him ?
1045

Shepherd

[pointing to the Chorus]. Some of these perhaps,

His countrymen, may give you information.

Oedipus
(EDI PUS TV RAN N US.

\to Ihe Chorus]. Oh

you Know

speak, my friends, if any of

This shepherd ; whether still he lives at Thebes,
1055

Or in some neighbouring country. Tell me quick,

For it concerns us near.

Chorus

It must be he

Whom thou didst lately send for ; but the queen

Can best inform thee.

QEdi. Knowst thou, my Jocasta,

Whether the man whom thou didst order hither.

And whom the shepherd speaks of, be the same 1

Joe Whom meant he ? for I know not. CEdipus,

Think not so deeply of this thing.

Forbid, Jocasta, I should now neglect

To clear my birth, when thus the path is marked

And open to me.

Joe. Do not, by the gods

I beg thee, do not, if thy life be dear.

Make further search, for I have felt enough

Already from it.

Oedipus
(Edi. Good heaven !

Kest thou satisfied ;
1065

Were I descended from a race of slaves,
1065

'Twould not dishonour thee.
1065

Joe. Yet hear me ; do not,
1065

Once more I beg thee, do not search this matter.
1065

And find it too.
1065

Joe. I know it best, and best
1065

Advise thee.
1065

Oedipus
(Edi. I will not be persuaded. I must search

That advice perplexes more.

Joe. Oh ! would to heaven that thou mayst never know

Or who, or whence thou art !

Oedipus

\to the Attendants]. Let some one fetch

That shepherd quick, and leave this woman here

To glory in her high descent.

Joe. Alas !

Unhappy CEdipus ! that word alone
1070

I now can soaak : remember 'tis my last.
1070

Qi^DiPUS, Chorus.
1070

Chorus
[Exit JOOAS'J'A. Scene IY.

"Why fled the queen in such disorder hence ?

Whate'er

May come of that, I am resolved to know

The secret of my birth, how mean soever

It chance to prove. Perhaps her sex's pride

May make her blush to find I was not born

Of noble parents ; but I call myself

The son of fortune, my indulgent mothei',

Whom I shall never be ashamed to own.

The kindred months that are like me, her children,

The years that roll obedient to her will,

Have raised me from the lowest state to power

And splendour. Wherefore, being what I am,

I need not fear the knowledge of my birth.

If my prophetic soul doth well divine.
1080

Ere on thy brow to-morrow's sun shall shine,
1080

Cithreron, thou the mystery shalt unfold ;
1080

The doubtful (Edipus, no longer blind,

Shall soon his country and his father find,

And all the story of his birth be told.

Then shall we in grateful lays

Celebrate our monarch's praise,

And in the sprightly dance our songs triumphant raise.

What heavenly power gave birth to thee, O king !

From Pan, the god of mountains, didst thou sprin^

With some fail' daughter of Apollo joined ;

Art thou from him who o'er Cyllene reigns,

JSwift Hermes, sporting in Arcadia's plains?

Some nymph of Helicon did Bacchus find —

Bacchus, who delights to rove
1085

Through the forest, hill and grove —
1085

And art thou, prince, the offspring of their love ?
1085

Oedipus
Scene V. Strophe. Antistroplie. Scene VI.

Chorus.

Messenger

English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 911 focus

To bring this herdsman back; omit not that,

Jocasta

Whate'er to thee is pleasing I would do.

Chorus
STRO. 1. ANTIS. 1.

No more to Phœbus honours pay;

And things divine decay.

Corinthian
STRO. 2. ANTIS. 2. JOCASTA, CHORUS.

Ye rulers of the state, with zealous mind

I hasten to the temples of the gods,

Bearing these wreaths, this incense in my hands;

Is tortured in suspense, nor, as becomes

His wisdom, from the past right judgment forms
930

Of later oracles, but yields his mind
930

To him that speaks, of terrors if he speak.
930

But since exhorting him I nought avail,

To thee, Lycean Phoebus, (for thy shrine

Is nearest) suppliant to present these pray'rs

I go, that thou would'st grant us from these griefs

Holy deliverance; for we all must fear,

When him, who steers our bark, we see appall'd.

May I by you, O strangers, be inform'd

Which is the royal seat of Edipus ?

Or where, instruct me, may I find the king?

Chorus
CORINTHIAN, JOCASTA, CHORUS.

The regal mansion this; the king is there;

The mother of his children here behold.

Corinthian

Oh be thou blest, and ever with the blest

Converse, since thou art his accomplish'd wife !

And be thou blest too, stranger; worthy thou

For these thy courteous words. But say what cause
945

Brought thee to Thebes: what hast thou to relate?

Good tidings to thy house, and to thy lord.

Those happy tidings what? Whence art thou come?

From Corinth. May what I shall speak to thee

Jocasta

Give joy! Yet haply it may give thee grief.

What may this be, and whence its double force ?

The Isthmian states (so, lady, fame proclaims

Among them) will appoint thy lord their king.

Holds not the aged Polybus that pow'r?

No more; for death hath laid him in the tomb.

What wou'dst thou say, that Polybus is dead?

If I speak aught but truth, be death my meed.

Go, my attendant, hasten to thy lord,

And tell him this. Ye oracles divine,

Where are you? Edipus long since, through fear,

Lest he should kill the king, from Corinth fled;

Now he is dead before this wretched fate,

Nor fell he by the hand of Edipus.

Oedipus
CEDIPUS, JOCASTA, CORINTHIAN, CHORUS.

O my Jocasta, dearest to my soul,
950

Why hast thou sent my presence to require?

Jocasta

Hear thou this man; then ponder well what end

The gods' high-honour'd oracles have found.

Oedipus

Who is this stranger? With what tidings fraught?

Jocasta

From Corinth is he come, to tell thee this,
955

That Polybus thy father is no more.

Oedipus

Speak, stranger; I would be inform'd by thee.

Corinthian

If this I plainly must at first declare,

Know thou that he hath trod the path to death.

Oedipus

By treachery, or th' attack of some disease ?
960

Slight force will sink the limbs of age to rest.
960

Oedipus

Wasted by sickness then, it seems, he died.

Corinthian

And weary progress through a length of years.

Oedipus

Alas, alas! Why, lady, should we pay

To Delphi's fate-foretelling shrine regard,

Or to the flight of birds that clang aloft?
965

I by their auspices was doom'd to slay

My father: but beneath the earth he lies

In death; and I am here, the sword not touch'd:

Unless perchance through fond desire of me

He wasted, so from me he had his death.
970

But, bearing with him all those oracles

Of no account, he lies among the dead.

Jocasta

All this did I not tell thee long ago?

Oedipus

Thou didst; but I was borne away by fears.

Jocasta

Now then let none of them disturb thy mind.
975

Oedipus

Behoves me not to fear my mother's bed?

Jocasta

Why should man fear, since fortune governs all?

Sage forecast sees nought clearly: wisest then

Is he who lives at hazard, as he may.

Fear not thy mother's bed; it is a dream,

Such as hath haunted many: he, who slights

Theseus

walks easiest through the ways of life.

Oedipus

In all these things thy words are wise and just,

But that my mother lives; and while she lives,
985

Though wise thy words, I must perforce have fears.

Jocasta

Clear proof thy father's tomb affords thine eyes.

Oedipus

True; but she lives: my fears are therefore just.
990

Corinthian

What woman this, who thus excites your fears?

Oedipus

Merope, stranger, wife of Polybus.

Corinthian

And what to her relating gives you fear?

Oedipus

An oracle heav'n-sent, of import dread.

Corinthian

To be divulg'd? Or may not strangers know?
1000

Oedipus

They may: and thus the Pythian god declared,

That I am doom'd to mount my mother's bed,

And with these hands to shed my father's blood.

Dreading these things from Corinth far I fled

Long since, by fortune bless'd indeed, but sweet

The pleasure to behold a parent's face.

Corinthian

Urged by this fear from Corinth didst thou fly?

Oedipus

And anxious not to shed my father's blood.

Corinthian

Why, since benevolent to thee I came,
1005

Should I not free thee from this anxious fear?

Oedipus

Grateful requital, stranger, this would claim.

Corinthian

For this I chiefly came, at thy return

That from thy hand some boon I might receive.

Oedipus

It may not be to those who gave me birth

I never will return.

Corinthian

This clearly shows
1010

Thou know'st not what thou dost.
1010

Oedipus

Now by the gods

Old man, explain these words.

Corinthian

If thy return

For their sake be denied.

Oedipus

My fears are strong,

Lest by th' event the oracle be found

Prophetic of the truth.

Corinthian

Dost thou then fear

Pollution from thy parents?

Oedipus

That, old man,
1015

That always gives me fear.
1015

Then be assured
1015

Corinthian

Thou hast no cause for fear:

Oedipus

No cause, if they

My parents, I their son?

Corinthian

Nought to thy blood

Was Polybus allied.

Oedipus

What mean thy words?

Was he not then my father ?

Corinthian

E'en as much
1020

As I, no more.
1020

Oedipus

Was he, who gave me birth,

Not more than thou my father ?

Corinthian

Nor to him

Owest thou thy birth; no, nor to me.

Oedipus

Why then

Did he avow me as his son?

Corinthian

A gift

He from my hands received thee.

Oedipus

And such love
1025

Bore to an infant from another's hands
1025

Received!
1025

Corinthian

To this his former childless state

Induced him.

Oedipus

Was I purchased with thy gold,

Or to thee born?

Corinthian

Amidst the bosky dales

Beneath Cithæron found.

Oedipus

To those retreats

What led thy devious steps ?

Corinthian

I kept the herds
1030

That o'er the mountain range.
1030

An herdsman thou
1030

Oedipus

For hire?

Corinthian

And thy preserver at that time.

Oedipus

What sufferings didst thou find me in that state

Of ills sustaining?

Corinthian

These thy wounded feet

Would evidence.

Oedipus

Ah, why recal this ill
1035

Of days long pass'd!
1035

Corinthian

I loose thy feet pierced through,

And bound together.

Oedipus

Barbarous were the wrongs

My infancy endured.

Corinthian

And hence thy name

From these thy sufferings given thee.

By the gods

Was this my father's, or my mother's deed?

I know not: he knows best from whom my hands

Received thee.

Oedipus

Was I then from other hands

By thee received, not found by chance?

Corinthian

To me
1040

Another herdsman gave thee.
1040

Oedipus

Who that man?

Canst thou inform me ?

Corinthian

Of the menial train

Of Laius

Oedipus

What, of him who once o'er Thebes

Reign'd king?

Corinthian

Of him; and herdsman to that king.

Oedipus

Is he, that I may see him, yet alive? -
1045

Corinthian

You, in this country who reside, best know.

Oedipus

Is there among you, that are standing here,

One, who the herdsman, by him mention'd knows,

Seen in the fields or city ? Make him known:

The time demands these things should be made clear.
1050

Chorus

I think he means none other, but the man

Whom from the fields long since thou hast desired

To see: none better than Jocasta knows.

Oedipus

Knowest thou, lady, him we wish'd to come

To be the man of whom this stranger speaks?

Who...speak of whom?...Regard him not, nor wish
1055

On words at random utter'd e'en to think.
1055

Oedipus

What, shall such traces of my birth appear,

And I not follow them! It may not be.

Oh, by the gods inquire not, if thy life

Be dear to thee! Enough that I am wretched.

Oedipus

Be cheer'd: for were I thrice a slave, and thrice

My mothers slaves, thence no disgrace were thine.

Yet let my prayers prevail; this search forbear.

Oedipus

No pray'rs shall move me: I will be inform'd.
1065

Jocasta

I have strong cause: I warn thee for thy peace.

Oedipus

My peace that cause, whate'er it be, destroys.

Never, oh never may'st thou know thy birth!

Oedipus

Go some one, bring this herdsman to me, haste

And let her glory in her noble birth.
1070

Jocasta

Alas, ill-fated man! for by that name

Alone, ah me! can I address thee now.

And by none other ever from this hour.

Chorus

Ah, wither is the queen with hasty step

Jocasta

Fled, pierced with anguish? From this silence great

My fear, lest something dreadful should burst forth.

Oedipus

Burst forth what may, my soul is bent to know,

Mean though it be, my race: but she perchance

(For, as a woman, lofty are her thoughts)

Looks with disdain on my ignoble birth.

I am the son of Fortune: while she smiles,
1080

I shall not be disgraced : my mother she,

The Months, my kindsmen, have design'd me mean,

And great: thus born, no other can I be,

Nor will I ever blush to know my race.

Chorus
STRO. ANTIS.

English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 911-1085 focus

Iocasta

Princes of the land, I am planning to visit the shrines of the gods, with this wreathed branch and these gifts of incense in my hands. For Oedipus excites his soul excessively with all sorts of grief,

as he does not judge the new things from the old, like a man of sense, but is under the control of the speaker, if he speaks of frightful things. Since, then, I can do no good by counsel, to you, Lycean Apollo—for you are nearest—
915

I have come as a suppliant with these symbols of prayer, that you may find us some escape from uncleanliness. For now we are all afraid, like those who see fear in the helmsman of their ship.
920

Enter a messenger.

Messenger

Can you tell me, strangers, where

the house of King Oedipus is? Or better still, tell me where he himself is, if you know.
925

Chorus

This is his dwelling, and he himself, stranger, is within. This lady here is the mother of his children.

Messenger

Then may she be ever happy in a happy home,

since she is his blessed queen.
930

Iocasta

Happiness to you also, stranger! Your fair greeting deserves this. But say what you have come to seek or to tell.

Messenger

Good tidings, lady, for your house and your husband.

Iocasta

What are they? From whom have you come?
935

Messenger

From Corinth , and at the message I will give now you will doubtless rejoice, though you may perhaps grieve too.

Iocasta

What is it? Why has it this double potency?

Messenger

The people will make him king of the

Isthmian land, as it was said there.
940

Iocasta

How then? Is the aged Polybus no longer in power?

Messenger

No. For death holds him in the tomb.

Iocasta

What do you mean? Is Polybus dead, old man?

Messenger

If I do not speak the truth, I am content to die.

Iocasta

Handmaid, away with all speed, and tell this to your master! Oracles of the gods, where do you stand now? It is this man that Oedipus long feared he would slay. And now this man has died in the course of destiny, not by his hand.
945

950 Enter Oedipus.

Oedipus

Iocasta, dearest wife, why have you summoned me forth from these doors?
950

Iocasta

Hear this man, and judge, as you listen, what the awful oracles have come to.

Oedipus

Who is he and what news does he have for me?

Iocasta

He comes from Corinth to tell you that your father Polybus lives no longer, but has perished.
955

Oedipus

How, stranger? Let me have it from your own mouth.

Messenger

If I must first make these tidings plain, know indeed that he is dead and gone.

Oedipus

By treachery, or from illness?
960

Messenger

A light tilt of the scale brings the aged to their rest.

Oedipus

Ah, he died, it seems, of sickness?

Messenger

Yes, and of the long years that he had lived.

Oedipus

Alas, alas! Why indeed, my wife, should one look to the

hearth of the Pythian seer, or to the birds that scream above our heads, who declared that I was doomed to slay my father? But he is dead, and lies beneath the earth, and here I am, not having put my hand to any spear—unless, perhaps, he died out of longing for me:
965

thus, indeed, I would be the cause of his death. But as the oracles stand, at least, Polybus has swept them with him to his rest in Hades. They are worth nothing.
970

Iocasta

Did I not long ago foretell this to you?

Oedipus

You did, but I was mislead by my fear.

Iocasta

Now no longer take any of those things to heart.
975

Oedipus

But surely I must fear my mother’s bed.

977

Iocasta

What should a mortal man fear, for whom the decrees of Fortune are supreme, and who has clear foresight of nothing? It is best to live at random, as one may.

But fear not that you will wed your mother. Many men before now have slept with their mothers in dreams. But he to whom these things are as though nothing bears his life most easily.
980

Oedipus

All these words of yours would have been well said,

were my mother not alive. But as it is, since she lives, I must necessarily fear, though you do speak well.
985

Iocasta

Your father’s death is a great sign for us to take cheer.

Oedipus

Great, I know. But my fear is of her who lives.

Messenger

And who is the woman about whom you fear?

Oedipus

Merope, old man, the consort of Polybus.
990

Messenger

And what is it in her that moves your fear?

Oedipus

A divine oracle of dread import, stranger.

Messenger

Proper, or improper, for another to know?

Oedipus

Proper, surely. Loxias once said that I was

doomed to marry my own mother, and to shed with my own hands my father’s blood. For which reasons I long shirked my home in Corinth—with a happy outcome, to be sure, but still it is sweet to see the face of one’s parents.
995

999

Messenger

Was it really for fear of this that you became an exile from that city?

Oedipus

And because I did not wish, old man, to be the murderer of my father.
1000

Messenger

Why have I not relieved you of this second fear, my lord, since I came to give you pleasure?

Oedipus

And indeed you will have worthy thanks from me.

Messenger

And indeed I came specially for this, that

I might profit from your returning home.
1005

Oedipus

But by no means will I ever go near my parents again.

Messenger

My son, it is crystal clear that you do not know what you are doing.

Oedipus

How so, old man? In the name of the gods, tell me.

Messenger

If on account of this you are fleeing from returning home.
1010

Oedipus

Fearing indeed lest Apollo’s prophecy come true in me.

Messenger

Lest you acquire some pollution from your parents?

Oedipus

This very thing, old man, this constantly frightens me.

Messenger

Do you know, then, that your fears are wholly in vain?

Oedipus

How so, if I was born of those parents?
1015

Messenger

Because you had no blood in common with Polybus.

Oedipus

What are you saying? Was Polybus not my father?

Messenger

Just as much, and no more, than he who speaks to you.

Oedipus

And how can my father be equal to him who is as though nothing to me?

Messenger

But he did not father you, any more than I did.
1020

Oedipus

How, then, did he call me his son?

Messenger

Long ago he received you as a gift from my hands.

Oedipus

And yet he loved me so dearly, who came from another’s hand?

Messenger

His former childlessness won him over.

Oedipus

And had you bought me or found me by chance, when you gave me to him?
1025

1026

Messenger

I found you in Cithaeron’s winding glens.

Oedipus

And why were you roaming those regions?

Messenger

I was in charge of mountain flocks.

Oedipus

What, you were a shepherd—a vagrant hireling?

Messenger

But your savior, my son, in that hour.
1030

Oedipus

And what was my pain when you took me in your arms?

Messenger

The ankles of your feet might bear witness.

Oedipus

Ah me, why do you speak of that old trouble?

Messenger

I freed you when you had your ankles pinned together.

Oedipus

It was a dread brand of shame that I took from my cradle.
1035

Messenger

So much so that from that fortune you were called by that name which you still bear.

Oedipus

Oh, in the name of the gods, was the deed my mother’s or father’s? Speak!

Messenger

I know not. He who gave you to me knows better of that than I.

Oedipus

What, you got me from another? You did not find me yourself?

Messenger

No. Another shepherd gave you to me.
1040

Oedipus

Who was he? Can you tell clearly?

Messenger

I think he was said to be one of the household of Laius.

Oedipus

The king who ruled this country long ago?

Messenger

The same. The man was a herdsman in his service.

Oedipus

Is he still alive, that I might see him?
1045

Messenger

You natives of this country should know best.

Oedipus

Is there any of you here present that knows the herdsman of whom he speaks, having seen him either in the pastures or here in town? Answer!

The hour has come for these things to be revealed finally.
1050

Chorus

I think he speaks of no other than the peasant you already wanted to see. But our lady Iocasta might best tell you that.

1054

Oedipus

Lady, do you know the one whom we summoned just now?

Is it of him that this man speaks?
1055

Iocasta

Why ask of whom he spoke? Regard it not; waste not a thought on what he said; it would be vain.

Oedipus

It must not happen that, with such clues in my grasp, I fail to bring my birth to light.

Iocasta

For the gods’ sake, if you have any care for your own life, do not continue this search! My anguish is enough.
1060

Oedipus

Be of good courage. Even if I should be found the son of a servile mother—a slave by three descents—you will not be proven baseborn.

Iocasta

Hear me, I implore you: do not do this.

Oedipus

I will not hear of not discovering the whole truth.
1065

Iocasta

Yet I wish you well—I counsel you for the best.

Oedipus

These best counsels, then, vex my patience.

Iocasta

Oh ill-fated man, may you never know who you are!

Oedipus

Go, some one, fetch me the herdsman.

Leave this woman to glory in her princely stock.
1070

Iocasta

Alas, alas, miserable man—that word alone can I say to you—and no other word ever again. She rushes into the palace.

Chorus

Why has this woman gone, Oedipus, rushing off in wild grief? I fear

a storm of sorrow will soon break forth from this silence.
1075

Oedipus

Break forth what will! Be my race ever so lowly, I crave to learn it. That woman perhaps—for she is proud with more than a woman’s pride—feels ashamed of my lowly origin. But I, who hold myself son of Fortune

that gives good, will not be dishonored. She is the mother from whom I spring, and the months, my kinsmen, have marked me sometimes lowly, sometimes great. Such being my heritage, never more can I prove
1080

false to it, or keep from searching out the secret of my birth.
1085

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Χορός στέγαι μὲν αἵδε, καὐτὸς ἔνδον, ὦ ξένε· γυνὴ δὲ μήτηρ ἥδε τῶν κείνου τέκνων.

Ἄγγελος ἀλλ᾽ ὀλβία τε καὶ ξὺν ὀλβίοις ἀεὶ γένοιτ', ἐκείνου γ' οὖσα παντελὴς δάμαρ. 930

Ἰοκάστη αὕτως δὲ καὶ σύ γ', ὦ ξένʼ· ἄξιος γὰρ εἶ τῆς εὐεπείας οὕνεκ'. ἀλλὰ φράζ᾽ ὅτου χρῄζων ἀφῖξαι χὤ τι σημῆναι θέλων.

Ἄγγελος ἀγαθὰ δόμοις τε καὶ πόσει τῷ σῷ, γύναι.

Ἰοκάστη τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; παρὰ τίνος δ᾽ ἀφιγμένος; 935

Ἄγγελος ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου. τὸ δ᾽ ἔπος οὑξερῶ τάχα, ἥδοιο μέν, πῶς δ᾽ οὐκ ἄν, ἀσχάλλοις δ᾽ ἴσως.

Ἰοκάστη τί δ᾽ ἔστι; ποίαν δύναμιν ὧδ᾽ ἔχει διπλῆν;

Ἄγγελος τύραννον αὐτὸν οὑπιχώριοι χθονὸς τῆς Ἰσθμίας στήσουσιν, ὡς ηὐδᾶτ᾽ ἐκεῖ. 940 τί δ᾽; οὐχ ὁ πρέσβυς Πόλυβος ἐγκρατὴς ἔτι;

Ἄγγελος οὐ δῆτ᾽, ἐπεί νιν θάνατος ἐν τάφοις ἔχει.

Ἰοκάστη πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τέθνηκε Πόλυβος, *ὦ γέρον;

Οἰδίπους

ὦ φίλτατον γυναικὸς Ἰοκάστης κάρα, 950 τί μ' ἐξεπέμψω δεῦρο τῶνδε δωμάτων;

Ἰοκάστη ἄκουε τἀνδρὸς τοῦδε, καὶ σκόπει κλύων τὰ σέμν᾽ ἵνʼ ἥκει τοῦ θεοῦ μαντεύματα.

Οἰδίπους οὗτος δὲ τίς ποτ᾽ ἐστὶ καὶ τί μοι λέγει;

Ἰοκάστη ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου, πατέρα τὸν σὸν ἀγγελῶν 955 ὡς οὐκέτ᾽ ὄντα Πόλυβον, ἀλλ᾽ ὀλωλότα.

Οἰδίπους τί φῄς, ξέν᾽; αὐτός μοι σὺ σημήνας γενοῦ.

Ἄγγελος εἰ τοῦτο πρῶτον δεῖ μ᾿ ἀπαγγεῖλαι σαφῶς, εὖ ἴσθ᾽ ἐκεῖνον θανάσιμον βεβηκότα.

Οἰδίπους πότερα δόλοισιν, ἢ νόσου ξυναλλαγῇ; 960

Ἄγγελος σμικρὰ παλαιὰ σώματ᾿ εὐνάζει ῥοπή.

Οἰδίπους νόσοις ὁ τλήμων, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἔφθιτο.

Ἄγγελος καὶ τῷ μακρῷ γε συμμετρούμενος χρόνῳ.

Ἰοκάστη οὔκουν ἐγώ σοι ταῦτα προὔλεγον πάλαι;

Οἰδίπους ηὔδας· ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ φόβῳ παρηγόμην.

Ἰοκάστη μὴ νῦν ἔτ᾽ αὐτῶν μηδὲν ἐς θυμὸν βάλῃς. 975

Οἰδίπους καὶ πῶς τὸ μητρὸς λέκτρον οὐκ ὀκνεῖν με δεῖ;

Ἰοκάστη

Οἰδίπους καλῶς ἅπαντα ταῦτ᾽ ἂν ἐξείρητό σοι, εἰ μὴ ᾿κύρει ζῶσ᾽ ἡ τεκοῦσα· νῦν δ᾽ ἐπεὶ 985 ζῇ, πᾶσ᾽ ἀνάγκη, κεἰ καλῶς λέγεις, ὀκνεῖν.

Ἰοκάστη καὶ μὴν μέγας *γ᾿ ὀφθαλμὸς οἱ πατρὸς τάφοι.

Οἰδίπους μέγας, ξυνίημʼ· ἀλλὰ τῆς ζώσης φόβος.

Ἄγγελος ποίας δὲ καὶ γυναικὸς ἐκφοβεῖσθ᾽ ὕπερ;

Οἰδίπους Μερόπης, γεραιέ, Πόλυβος ἧς ᾤκει μέτα. 990

Ἄγγελος τί δ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἐκείνης ὑμὶν ἐς φόβον φέρον;

Οἰδίπους θεήλατον μάντευμα δεινόν, ὦ ξένε.

Ἄγγελος ἦ ῥητόν; ἢ *οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν ἄλλον εἰδέναι;

Ἄγγελος

ἦ γὰρ τάδ᾽ ὀκνῶν κεῖθεν ἦσθ᾽ ἀπόπτολις; 1000

Οἰδίπους πατρός τε χρῄζων μὴ φονεὺς εἶναι, γέρον. [44 a.

Ἄγγελος τί δῆτ᾽ *ἐγὼ οὐχὶ τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου σ᾽, ἄναξ, ἐπείπερ εὔνους ἦλθον, ἐξελυσάμην;

Οἰδίπους καὶ μὴν χάριν γ᾽ ἂν ἀξίαν λάβοις ἐμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος καὶ μὴν μάλιστα τοῦτ᾽ ἀφικόμην, ὅπως 1005 σοῦ πρὸς δόμους ἐλθόντος εὖ πράξαιμί τι.

Οἰδίπους ἀλλ᾽ οὔποτ' εἶμι τοῖς φυτεύσασίν γ᾽ ὁμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος ὦ παῖ, καλῶς εἶ δῆλος οὐκ εἰδὼς τί δρᾷς.

Οἰδίπους πῶς, ὦ γεραιέ; πρὸς θεῶν δίδασκέ με.

Ἄγγελος εἰ τῶνδε φεύγεις οὕνεκʼ εἰς οἴκους μολεῖν. 1010

Οἰδίπους ταρβῶ γε μή μοι Φοῖβος ἐξέλθῃ σαφής.

Ἄγγελος ἦ μὴ μίασμα τῶν φυτευσάντων λάβῃς;

Οἰδίπους τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό, πρέσβυ, τοῦτό μ᾽ εἰσαεὶ φοβεῖ.

Ἄγγελος ἆρ᾽ οἶσθα δῆτα πρὸς δίκης οὐδὲν τρέμων;

Οἰδίπους πῶς δ᾽ οὐχί, παῖς γ' εἰ τῶνδε γεννητῶν ἔφυν; 1015

Ἄγγελος ὁθούνεκʼ ἦν σοι Πόλυβος οὐδὲν ἐν γένει.

Οἰδίπους πῶς εἶπας; οὐ γὰρ Πόλυβος ἐξέφυσέ με;

Ἄγγελος οὐ μᾶλλον οὐδὲν τοῦδε τἀνδρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσον.

Οἰδίπους καὶ πῶς ὁ φύσας ἐξ ἴσου τῷ μηδενί;

Ἄγγελος ἀλλ᾽ οὔ σ' ἐγείνατ' οὔτ᾽ ἐκεῖνος οὔτ᾽ ἐγώ. 1020

Οἰδίπους ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ δὴ παῖδά μ' ὠνομάζετο;

Ἄγγελος δῶρόν ποτ', ἴσθι, τῶν ἐμῶν χειρῶν λαβών.

Οἰδίπους κᾆθʼ ὧδ᾽ ἀπ᾿ ἄλλης χειρὸς ἔστερξεν μέγα;

Ἄγγελος ἡ γὰρ πρὶν αὐτὸν ἐξέπεισ᾽ ἀπαιδία.

Οἰδίπους σὺ δ᾽ ἐμπολήσας ἢ τεκών μ' αὐτῷ δίδως; 1025

Ἄγγελος

εὑρὼν ναπαίαις ἐν Κιθαιρῶνος πτυχαῖς.

Οἰδίπους ὡδοιπόρεις δὲ πρὸς τί τούσδε τοὺς τόπους;

Ἄγγελος ἐνταῦθ᾽ ὀρείοις ποιμνίοις ἐπεστάτουν.

Οἰδίπους ποιμὴν γὰρ ἦσθα κἀπὶ θητείᾳ πλάνης;

Ἄγγελος σοῦ δ᾽, ὦ τέκνον, σωτήρ γε τῷ τότʼ ἐν χρόνῳ. 1030

Οἰδίπους τί δ᾽ ἄλγος ἴσχοντ᾽ ἐν κακοῖς με λαμβάνεις;

Ἄγγελος ποδῶν ἂν ἄρθρα μαρτυρήσειεν τὰ σά.

Οἰδίπους οἴμοι, τί τοῦτ᾽ ἀρχαῖον ἐννέπεις κακόν;

Ἄγγελος λύω σ᾽ ἔχοντα διατόρους ποδοῖν ἀκμάς.

Οἰδίπους δεινόν γ᾽ ὄνειδος σπαργάνων ἀνειλόμην. 1035

Ἄγγελος ὥστ᾽ ὠνομάσθης ἐκ τύχης ταύτης ὃς εἶ.

Οἰδίπους ὦ πρὸς θεῶν, πρὸς μητρός, ἢ πατρός; φράσον.

Ἄγγελος οὐκ οἶδ᾽· ὁ δοὺς δὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐμοῦ λῷον φρονεῖ.

Οἰδίπους ἦ γὰρ παρ᾽ ἄλλου μ᾿ ἔλαβες, οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς τυχών;

Ἄγγελος οὔκ, ἀλλὰ ποιμὴν ἄλλος ἐκδίδωσί μοι. 1040

Οἰδίπους τίς οὗτος; ἦ κάτοισθα δηλῶσαι λόγῳ;

Ἄγγελος τῶν Λαΐου δήπου τις ὠνομάζετο.

Χορός

στέγαι μὲν αἵδε, καὐτὸς ἔνδον, ὦ ξένε·

γυνὴ δὲ μήτηρ ἥδε τῶν κείνου τέκνων.

Ἄγγελος

ἀλλ᾽ ὀλβία τε καὶ ξὺν ὀλβίοις ἀεὶ

γένοιτ', ἐκείνου γ' οὖσα παντελὴς δάμαρ.
930

Ἰοκάστη

αὕτως δὲ καὶ σύ γ', ὦ ξένʼ· ἄξιος γὰρ εἶ

τῆς εὐεπείας οὕνεκ'. ἀλλὰ φράζ᾽ ὅτου

χρῄζων ἀφῖξαι χὤ τι σημῆναι θέλων.

Ἄγγελος

ἀγαθὰ δόμοις τε καὶ πόσει τῷ σῷ, γύναι.

Ἰοκάστη

τὰ ποῖα ταῦτα; παρὰ τίνος δ᾽ ἀφιγμένος;
935

Ἄγγελος

ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου. τὸ δ᾽ ἔπος οὑξερῶ τάχα,

ἥδοιο μέν, πῶς δ᾽ οὐκ ἄν, ἀσχάλλοις δ᾽ ἴσως.

Ἰοκάστη

τί δ᾽ ἔστι; ποίαν δύναμιν ὧδ᾽ ἔχει διπλῆν;

Ἄγγελος

τύραννον αὐτὸν οὑπιχώριοι χθονὸς

τῆς Ἰσθμίας στήσουσιν, ὡς ηὐδᾶτ᾽ ἐκεῖ.
940

τί δ᾽; οὐχ ὁ πρέσβυς Πόλυβος ἐγκρατὴς ἔτι;

Ἄγγελος

οὐ δῆτ᾽, ἐπεί νιν θάνατος ἐν τάφοις ἔχει.

Ἰοκάστη

πῶς εἶπας; ἦ τέθνηκε Πόλυβος, *ὦ γέρον;

ὦ φίλτατον γυναικὸς Ἰοκάστης κάρα,
950

τί μ' ἐξεπέμψω δεῦρο τῶνδε δωμάτων;

Ἰοκάστη

ἄκουε τἀνδρὸς τοῦδε, καὶ σκόπει κλύων

τὰ σέμν᾽ ἵνʼ ἥκει τοῦ θεοῦ μαντεύματα.

Οἰδίπους

οὗτος δὲ τίς ποτ᾽ ἐστὶ καὶ τί μοι λέγει;

Ἰοκάστη

ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου, πατέρα τὸν σὸν ἀγγελῶν
955

ὡς οὐκέτ᾽ ὄντα Πόλυβον, ἀλλ᾽ ὀλωλότα.

Οἰδίπους

τί φῄς, ξέν᾽; αὐτός μοι σὺ σημήνας γενοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

εἰ τοῦτο πρῶτον δεῖ μ᾿ ἀπαγγεῖλαι σαφῶς,

εὖ ἴσθ᾽ ἐκεῖνον θανάσιμον βεβηκότα.

Οἰδίπους

πότερα δόλοισιν, ἢ νόσου ξυναλλαγῇ;
960

Ἄγγελος

σμικρὰ παλαιὰ σώματ᾿ εὐνάζει ῥοπή.

Οἰδίπους

νόσοις ὁ τλήμων, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἔφθιτο.

Ἄγγελος

καὶ τῷ μακρῷ γε συμμετρούμενος χρόνῳ.

Ἰοκάστη

οὔκουν ἐγώ σοι ταῦτα προὔλεγον πάλαι;

Οἰδίπους

ηὔδας· ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ φόβῳ παρηγόμην.

Ἰοκάστη

μὴ νῦν ἔτ᾽ αὐτῶν μηδὲν ἐς θυμὸν βάλῃς.
975

Οἰδίπους

καὶ πῶς τὸ μητρὸς λέκτρον οὐκ ὀκνεῖν με δεῖ;

Οἰδίπους

καλῶς ἅπαντα ταῦτ᾽ ἂν ἐξείρητό σοι,

εἰ μὴ ᾿κύρει ζῶσ᾽ ἡ τεκοῦσα· νῦν δ᾽ ἐπεὶ
985

ζῇ, πᾶσ᾽ ἀνάγκη, κεἰ καλῶς λέγεις, ὀκνεῖν.

Ἰοκάστη

καὶ μὴν μέγας *γ᾿ ὀφθαλμὸς οἱ πατρὸς τάφοι.

Οἰδίπους

μέγας, ξυνίημʼ· ἀλλὰ τῆς ζώσης φόβος.

Ἄγγελος

ποίας δὲ καὶ γυναικὸς ἐκφοβεῖσθ᾽ ὕπερ;

Οἰδίπους

Μερόπης, γεραιέ, Πόλυβος ἧς ᾤκει μέτα.
990

Ἄγγελος

τί δ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἐκείνης ὑμὶν ἐς φόβον φέρον;

Οἰδίπους

θεήλατον μάντευμα δεινόν, ὦ ξένε.

Ἄγγελος

ἦ ῥητόν; ἢ *οὐχὶ θεμιτὸν ἄλλον εἰδέναι;

ἦ γὰρ τάδ᾽ ὀκνῶν κεῖθεν ἦσθ᾽ ἀπόπτολις;
1000

Οἰδίπους

πατρός τε χρῄζων μὴ φονεὺς εἶναι, γέρον.

[44 a.

Ἄγγελος

τί δῆτ᾽ *ἐγὼ οὐχὶ τοῦδε τοῦ φόβου σ᾽, ἄναξ,

ἐπείπερ εὔνους ἦλθον, ἐξελυσάμην;

Οἰδίπους

καὶ μὴν χάριν γ᾽ ἂν ἀξίαν λάβοις ἐμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

καὶ μὴν μάλιστα τοῦτ᾽ ἀφικόμην, ὅπως
1005

σοῦ πρὸς δόμους ἐλθόντος εὖ πράξαιμί τι.

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλ᾽ οὔποτ' εἶμι τοῖς φυτεύσασίν γ᾽ ὁμοῦ.

Ἄγγελος

ὦ παῖ, καλῶς εἶ δῆλος οὐκ εἰδὼς τί δρᾷς.

Οἰδίπους

πῶς, ὦ γεραιέ; πρὸς θεῶν δίδασκέ με.

Ἄγγελος

εἰ τῶνδε φεύγεις οὕνεκʼ εἰς οἴκους μολεῖν.
1010

Οἰδίπους

ταρβῶ γε μή μοι Φοῖβος ἐξέλθῃ σαφής.

Ἄγγελος

ἦ μὴ μίασμα τῶν φυτευσάντων λάβῃς;

Οἰδίπους

τοῦτ᾽ αὐτό, πρέσβυ, τοῦτό μ᾽ εἰσαεὶ φοβεῖ.

Ἄγγελος

ἆρ᾽ οἶσθα δῆτα πρὸς δίκης οὐδὲν τρέμων;

Οἰδίπους

πῶς δ᾽ οὐχί, παῖς γ' εἰ τῶνδε γεννητῶν ἔφυν;
1015

Ἄγγελος

ὁθούνεκʼ ἦν σοι Πόλυβος οὐδὲν ἐν γένει.

Οἰδίπους

πῶς εἶπας; οὐ γὰρ Πόλυβος ἐξέφυσέ με;

Ἄγγελος

οὐ μᾶλλον οὐδὲν τοῦδε τἀνδρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσον.

Οἰδίπους

καὶ πῶς ὁ φύσας ἐξ ἴσου τῷ μηδενί;

Ἄγγελος

ἀλλ᾽ οὔ σ' ἐγείνατ' οὔτ᾽ ἐκεῖνος οὔτ᾽ ἐγώ.
1020

Οἰδίπους

ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ δὴ παῖδά μ' ὠνομάζετο;

Ἄγγελος

δῶρόν ποτ', ἴσθι, τῶν ἐμῶν χειρῶν λαβών.

Οἰδίπους

κᾆθʼ ὧδ᾽ ἀπ᾿ ἄλλης χειρὸς ἔστερξεν μέγα;

Ἄγγελος

ἡ γὰρ πρὶν αὐτὸν ἐξέπεισ᾽ ἀπαιδία.

Οἰδίπους

σὺ δ᾽ ἐμπολήσας ἢ τεκών μ' αὐτῷ δίδως;
1025

Οἰδίπους

ὡδοιπόρεις δὲ πρὸς τί τούσδε τοὺς τόπους;

Ἄγγελος

ἐνταῦθ᾽ ὀρείοις ποιμνίοις ἐπεστάτουν.

Οἰδίπους

ποιμὴν γὰρ ἦσθα κἀπὶ θητείᾳ πλάνης;

Ἄγγελος

σοῦ δ᾽, ὦ τέκνον, σωτήρ γε τῷ τότʼ ἐν χρόνῳ.
1030

Οἰδίπους

τί δ᾽ ἄλγος ἴσχοντ᾽ ἐν κακοῖς με λαμβάνεις;

Ἄγγελος

ποδῶν ἂν ἄρθρα μαρτυρήσειεν τὰ σά.

Οἰδίπους

οἴμοι, τί τοῦτ᾽ ἀρχαῖον ἐννέπεις κακόν;

Ἄγγελος

λύω σ᾽ ἔχοντα διατόρους ποδοῖν ἀκμάς.

Οἰδίπους

δεινόν γ᾽ ὄνειδος σπαργάνων ἀνειλόμην.
1035

Ἄγγελος

ὥστ᾽ ὠνομάσθης ἐκ τύχης ταύτης ὃς εἶ.

Οἰδίπους

ὦ πρὸς θεῶν, πρὸς μητρός, ἢ πατρός; φράσον.

Ἄγγελος

οὐκ οἶδ᾽· ὁ δοὺς δὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐμοῦ λῷον φρονεῖ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ γὰρ παρ᾽ ἄλλου μ᾿ ἔλαβες, οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς τυχών;

Ἄγγελος

οὔκ, ἀλλὰ ποιμὴν ἄλλος ἐκδίδωσί μοι.
1040

Οἰδίπους

τίς οὗτος; ἦ κάτοισθα δηλῶσαι λόγῳ;

Ἄγγελος

τῶν Λαΐου δήπου τις ὠνομάζετο.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ τοῦ τυράννου τῆσδε γῆς πάλαι ποτέ;

Ἄγγελος

μάλιστα· τούτου τἀνδρὸς οὗτος ἦν βοτήρ.

Οἰδίπους

ἦ κἄστ᾽ ἔτι ζῶν οὗτος, ὥστ᾿ ἰδεῖν ἐμέ;
1045

Ἄγγελος

ὑμεῖς γ᾽ ἄριστ᾽ εἰδεῖτ᾽ ἂν οὑπιχώριοι.

Χορός

οἶμαι μὲν οὐδέν᾽ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν ἐξ ἀγρῶν,

ὃν κἀμάτευες πρόσθεν εἰσιδεῖν· ἀτὰρ

ἥδ᾽ ἂν τάδ᾽ οὐχ ἥκιστ᾽ ἂν Ἰοκάστη λέγοι.

γύναι, νοεῖς ἐκεῖνον, ὅντιν᾿ ἀρτίως

μολεῖν ἐφιέμεσθα; τόνδ' οὗτος λέγει;
1055

Ἰοκάστη

τί δ᾽ ὅντιν' εἶπε; μηδὲν ἐντραπῇς. τὰ δὲ

[44 b.

ῥηθέντα βούλου μηδὲ μεμνῆσθαι μάτην.

Οἰδίπους

οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο τοῦθ᾽, ὅπως ἐγὼ λαβὼν

σημεῖα τοιαῦτ᾽ οὐ φανῶ τοὐμὸν γένος.