Parodos
[Choral 1]
Look! Who was he, then? Where is he staying? Where has he rushed from this place,
Chorus
man most insatiate of all who live? Scan the ground, look well, press the search everywhere. A wanderer that old man must have been,
120
a wanderer, not a dweller in the land; otherwise he never would have advanced into this untrodden grove of the maidens with whom none may strive.
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Their name we tremble to speak; we pass them by with eyes turned away, moving our lips, without sound or word, in still devotion. But now it is said that one has come who reveres them not at all;
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and him I cannot yet discern, though I look round all the holy place, nor do I know where to find his lodging.
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Oedipus
Behold the man you seek! In sound is my sight, as the saying goes.
Chorus
Oh! Oh! Fearful he is to see, and fearful to hear!
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Oedipus
Do not regard me, I beg you, as a lawless man.
Chorus
Zeus defend us! Who may this old man be?
Oedipus
Not so wholly of the best fate
that you would call him fortunate, guardians of this land! It is plain; otherwise I would not be creeping, as you see, by the eyes of others, and buoying my strength upon weakness.
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Chorus
Alas! Were you sightless even from birth?
Evil have been your days, and many, it appears. But at least if I can help it, you shall not add this curse to your lot. You go too far—too far!
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That your rash steps may intrude on the field of this voiceless, grassy glade, where the waters of the mixing bowl blend their stream with the flow of honied offerings, beware, unhappiest of strangers.
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Retire! Withdraw! Let a wide space part us. Do you hear, toil-worn wanderer? If you have anything to say in converse with us,
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leave forbidden ground, and speak where it is lawful for all; but, till then, refrain.
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Oedipus
Daughter, to what counsel shall we incline?
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Antigone
My father, we must behave just as the townspeople do, listening and giving way where it is necessary.
Oedipus
Then give me your hand.
Antigone
I lay it in yours.
Oedipus
Strangers, let me not suffer wrong
when I have trusted in you, and have passed from my refuge!
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[Choral 2]
Never, old man, never will anyone remove you from your resting-place here against your will.
Chorus
Come still further.
Chorus
Lead him onward, maiden, for you hear us and obey.
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Antigone
Come, follow this way with your dark steps, father, as I lead you.
Chorus
Stranger in a foreign land,
poor man, have the courage to detest what the city steadfastly holds as not dear, and to reverence what it holds dear!
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Oedipus
Lead me, then, child, to a spot where I may speak and listen within piety’s domain,
and let us not wage war with necessity.
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Chorus
There! Do not incline your steps beyond that ledge of bedrock.
Oedipus
Shall I sit down?
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Chorus
Yes, move sideways, and crouch low on the edge of the rock.
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Antigone
Father, this is my task: calmly to—
Antigone
—fit step to step, and lean your aged frame upon my dear arm.
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Oedipus
Alas for my sad destruction!
Chorus
Ah, poor man, since now you are at ease, speak! What is your lineage among mortals? With what name are you led on your weary path?
What fatherland can you tell us of?
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[Choral]
Strangers, I am without a city, but do not—
Chorus
What is this that you forbid, old man?
Oedipus
do not, do not ask me who I am! Do not seek or probe further!
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Chorus
What does this mean?
Oedipus
Horrid the birth—
Oedipus
My child—ah, me!—what shall I say?
Chorus
What is your lineage, stranger? Speak! And who is your father?
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Oedipus
Woe is me! What will become of me, my child?
Antigone
Speak, for you are driven to the verge.
Oedipus
Then speak I will. I have no way to hide it.
Chorus
You two make a long delay. Come, hasten!
Oedipus
Do you know of a son of Laius?
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Oedipus
—And the race of the Labdacidae?
Oedipus
—and the pitiful Oedipus?
Oedipus
Have no fear of any words that I speak—
Oedipus
Unhappy that I am!
Oedipus
Daughter, what is about to happen?
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Chorus
Out with you! Go forth from the land!
Oedipus
And your promise—to what fulfillment will you bring it?
Chorus
No man is visited by the punishment of fate if he requites deeds which were first done to himself.
Deceit on the one part matches deceits on the other, and gives pain instead of pleasure for reward. And you—back with you! Out from your seat!
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Away from my land with all speed, that you may not fasten some heavier burden on my city!
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Antigone
Reverent strangers, since you have not endured my aged father—knowing, as you do,
the rumor of his unintended deeds—pity at least my poor self, I implore you, who supplicate you for my father alone. I beg you with eyes that can still look
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on your own, like one sprung from your own blood, that this sufferer may meet with reverent treatment. On you, as on a god, we depend in our misery. But come, grant the favor for which we hardly dare hope!
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I implore you by everything that you hold dear at home: by child, by wife, or treasure, or god! Look well and you will not find the mortal who, if a god should lead him on, could escape.
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