Stasimon 1
[Episode]
Maidens, I hear your Phoenician voice, and my old feet drag their tottering steps. O my son,
Jocasta
at last after countless days I see your face; throw your arms about your mother’s breast, stretch out to me your cheeks and the dark, curly locks of your hair, overshadowing my neck.
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Hail to you! all hail! scarcely here in your mother’s arms, beyond hope and expectation. What can I say to you? How in every way, by hands, by words, in the mazy delight
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of the dance, shall I find the pleasure of my former joy? Ah! my son, you left your father’s house desolate, when your brother’s outrage drove you away in exile.
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Truly you were missed alike by your friends and Thebes. And so I cut my white hair and let it fall for grief, in tears, not clad in robes of white, my son,
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but taking instead these dark rags.
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While in the house the old blind man, always possessed by his tearful longing for the pair of brothers estranged from the home,
rushed to kill himself with the sword or by the noose suspended over his chamber-roof, moaning his curses on his sons;
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and now he hides himself in darkness, always weeping and lamenting. And you, my child, I hear you have married and are begetting children to your joy in a foreign home,
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and are courting a foreign alliance, a ceaseless regret to me your mother and to Laius your ancestor, ruin brought by your marriage. I was not the one who lit for you the marriage-torch,
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the custom in marriage for a happy mother; Ismenus had no part at your wedding in supplying the luxurious bath, and there was silence through the streets of Thebes, at the entrance of your bride.
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Curses on them! whether the sword or strife or your father that is to blame, or heaven’s visitation that has burst riotously upon the house of Oedipus; for on me has come all the anguish of these evils.
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Chorus Leader
Their offspring are a wonderful thing to women; all of them have some love for their children.
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Polyneices
Mother, I have come among enemies wisely or foolishly; but all men must love their native land; whoever says otherwise
is pleased to say so, but his thoughts are turned elsewhere. I was so fearful and in such terror, lest my brother should kill me by treachery, that I came through the city sword in hand, looking all round. I had one advantage,
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the truce and your word, which brought me to to the paternal walls; and I arrived here weeping, to see after a long time my home and the altars of the gods, the training ground, scene of my childhood, and the water of Dirce, from which I was unjustly driven to live in a foreign city,
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a stream of tears flowing from my eyes. Now, grief upon grief, I see you with hair cut short and in black robes, alas for my sorrows!
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What a terrible thing, mother, is hatred between dear friends.
and how hard it makes reconciliation
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What is my old father doing within the house, looking on darkness? What of my two sisters? Surely the unhappy ones lament my exile?
Jocasta
Some god with evil intent is destroying the race of Oedipus.
So it began, my childbearing was unholy, and in an evil hour I married your father and you were born. But why repeat these horrors? What the gods send we have to bear. I am afraid to ask you what I would, for fear of stinging your heart; yet I long to.
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Polyneices
No, question me, leave out nothing; for your will, mother, is my pleasure too.
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Jocasta
Well then, first I ask you what I long to have answered. What is it, to be deprived of one’s country? Is it a great evil?
Polyneices
The greatest; harder to bear than tell.
Jocasta
What is it like? What annoys the exile?
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Polyneices
One thing most of all; he cannot speak his mind.
Jocasta
This is a slave’s lot you speak of, not to say what one thinks.
Polyneices
The follies of the rulers must be borne.
Jocasta
That too is painful, to join in the folly of fools.
Polyneices
Yet to gain our ends we must serve against our nature.
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Jocasta
Hope, they say, is the exile’s food.
Polyneices
Yes, hope that looks so fair; but always in the future.
Jocasta
But doesn’t time expose its emptiness?
Polyneices
It has a certain winsome charm in misfortune.
Jocasta
Where did you get your living, before your marriage found it for you?
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Polyneices
Sometimes I would have enough for the day, and sometimes not.
Jocasta
Didn’t your father’s friends and guests assist you?
Polyneices
Seek to be prosperous; friends are nothing in misfortune.
Jocasta
Didn’t your noble breeding lead you to the heights?
Polyneices
Poverty is a curse; breeding did not find me food.
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Jocasta
Man’s dearest treasure, it seems, is his country.
Polyneices
You could not name how dear it is!
Jocasta
How did you come to Argos? What was your scheme?
Polyneices
Loxias gave Adrastus an oracle.
Jocasta
What was it? What are you saying? I cannot guess.
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Polyneices
That he should marry his daughters to a boar and a lion.
Jocasta
What did you, my son, have to do with the name of beasts?
Polyneices
I don’t know; the deity summoned me there to my destiny.
Jocasta
Yes, for the god is wise; but how did you win your wife?
Polyneices
It was night when I reached the porch of Adrastus.
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Jocasta
In search of a resting-place, because you were in exile?
Polyneices
Yes; and then another exile came there.
Jocasta
Who was he? He too was in trouble, surely.
Polyneices
Tydeus; they say that Oineus is his father.
Jocasta
But why did Adrastus compare you to wild beasts?
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Polyneices
Because we came to blows about our bed.
Jocasta
Was it then that the son of Talaus understood the oracle?
Polyneices
Yes, and he gave the two of us his two daughters.
Jocasta
Are you blessed or cursed in your marriage?
Polyneices
As yet I have no fault to find with it.
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Jocasta
How did you persuade an army to follow you here?
Polyneices
Adrastus swore an oath to his two sons-in-law, Tydeus and myself; for he is my relative by marriage that he would restore us both to our country, me first.
So many Danaan and Mycenaean chiefs have joined me, doing me a bitter though needful service, for it is against my own city I am marching. Now I call the gods to witness, that it is not willingly I have raised the spear against my willing friends.
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But it belongs to you, mother, to dissolve this unhappy feud, and, by reconciling loving brothers, to end the trouble for me and you and the whole city. It has been said for a long time, but I will say it anyway: wealth is most valued by men,
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and of all things in the world it has the greatest power. This I have come to secure at the head of my great army; for a man well-born but poor is worth nothing.
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Chorus Leader
And see, Eteocles comes here to discuss the truce. It is your task, mother Jocasta, to speak
such words as may reconcile your sons.
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Eteocles
Mother, I am here; I have come to do you a favor. What am I to do? Let some one begin the conference; for I stopped marshalling the citizens in pairs of companies around the walls, so that I might hear your
arbitration between us, by which you persuaded me to admit this man under truce within the walls.
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Jocasta
Wait; haste does not carry justice with it; but slow deliberation often attains a wise result. Restrain the fierceness of your look and panting rage;
for this is not the Gorgon’s severed head but your own brother whom you see has come. You too, Polyneices, turn and face your brother; for if you look at him, you will speak and listen to him the better.
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I want to give you both one piece of good counsel; when a man that is angry with his friend confronts him face to face, he ought only to keep in view the object of his coming, forgetting all previous quarrels.
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My son Polyneices, speak first, for you have come at the head of a Danaid army, alleging wrongful treatment; may some god be the judge and reconciler of the troubles.
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Polyneices
The words of truth are naturally simple,
and justice needs no subtle interpretations, for it has a fitness in itself; but the words of injustice, being sick in themselves, require clever treatment. I provided for his interests and mine in our father’s house, being anxious to escape the curse
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which Oedipus once uttered against us; of my own free-will I left this land, allowing him to rule the country for one full year, on condition that I should then take up the rule in turn, instead of plunging into deadly enmity with this man,
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doing others harm and suffering it myself, as is now the case. But he, after consenting to this and calling the gods to witness his oath, has performed none of his promises, but is still keeping the sovereignty in his own hands together with my share of our heritage.
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And now I am ready to take my own
and dismiss the army from this land, receiving my house in turn to dwell in, and once more restore it to him for an equal period, instead of ravaging our country and bringing scaling-ladders against the towers,
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as I shall attempt to do if I do not get my rights. I call the gods to witness that spite of my just dealing in everything I am being unjustly robbed of my country, a most unholy act. I have made my points, mother, without stringing together
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words to entangle you, but urging a fair case, I think, in the judgment of the wise and the simple.
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Chorus Leader
To me, although I was not born and bred in Hellas, your words seem full of sense.
Eteocles
If all were unanimous in their ideas of honor and wisdom,
there would be no strife to make men disagree; but, as it is, fairness and equality have no existence in this world beyond the name; there is really no such thing. I will tell you this, mother, without any concealment: I would go to the rising of the stars and the sun,
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or beneath the earth, if I were able so to do, to win Tyranny, the greatest of the gods. Therefore, mother, I will not yield this blessing to another rather than keep it for myself; for it is cowardly to lose the greater
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and to win the less. Besides, I am ashamed to think that he should gain his object by coming with arms and ravaging the land; for this would be a disgrace to Thebes, if I should yield my scepter up to him for fear of Mycenaean might.
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He ought not to have attempted reconcilement by armed force, mother, for words accomplish everything that even the sword of an enemy might effect. Still, if on any other terms he cares to dwell here, he may; but that I shall never willingly let go.
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Shall I become his slave, when I can rule? Therefore come fire, come sword! Harness your horses, fill the plains with chariots, for I will not give up my tyranny to him. For if we must do wrong, to do so for tyranny
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is the fairest cause, but in all else piety should be our aim.
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Chorus Leader
One should not speak well on deeds that are not good; for that is not good, but bitter to justice.
Jocasta
Eteocles, my child, it is not all evil that attends old age; but experience
has something to say wiser than youth. Why, my son, do you so long for Ambition, that worst of deities? Oh, do not; the goddess is unjust; many are the homes and cities once prosperous that she has entered and left, to the ruin of her worshippers;
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and she is the one you are mad for. It is better, my son, to honor Equality, who always joins friend to friend, city to city, allies to allies; for Equality is naturally lasting among men; but the less is always in opposition to the greater,
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and begins the dawn of hatred. For it is Equality that has set up for man measures and divisions of weights, and has determined numbers; night’s sightless eye, and radiant sun proceed upon their yearly course on equal terms,
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and neither of them is envious when it has to yield. Though both sun and night are servants for mortals, you will not be content with your fair share of your heritage and give the same to him? Then where is justice?
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Why do you honor to excess tyranny, a prosperous injustice,
why do you think so much of it? Admiring glances are to be prized? No, that is an empty pleasure. Or do you want to have many troubles from the many riches in your house? What advantage is it? The name only; for the wise find what suffices to be enough.
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Mortals indeed have no possessions of their own; we hold the management of the gods’ property; and when they will, they take it back again. Prosperity is not secure, but as transient as the day.
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Come, suppose I put before you two alternatives, and ask you
whether you wish to rule or save your city? Will you say you wish to rule?
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Again, if this man conquers you and his Argive warriors take the army of Cadmus, you will see this city of Thebes conquered, and you will see many captured maidens
brutally dishonored by men of the enemy. Then that wealth you seek to have will become grievous to Thebes; but still ambition fills you.
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That I say to you; and this to you, Polyneices; Adrastus has conferred a foolish favor on you;
and you too have shown little sense in coming to lay your city waste. Suppose you conquer this land—may it not happen!—tell me, by the gods, how will you set up a trophy to Zeus? How will you begin the sacrifice after your country’s conquest or inscribe the spoils at the streams of Inachus:
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Polyneices after giving Thebes to the flames dedicated these shields to the gods? O my son, may you never win such fame from Hellas! If, on the other hand, you are beaten and your brother’s cause prevails, how will you return to Argos, leaving countless dead behind?
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Some one will be sure to say: Adrastus, you made an evil betrothal; we are ruined by the marriage of one bride.
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You are eager for two evils, my son, the loss of those there and ruin in the midst of your efforts here.
Lay aside your violence, my sons, lay it aside; two men’s follies,
once they meet, result in very deadly mischief.
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Chorus Leader
O gods, avert these troubles and reconcile the sons of Oedipus!
Eteocles
Mother, it is no longer a contest of words; the time we still delay is idle waste; your good wishes accomplish nothing;
for we can never be reconciled except upon the terms already named, that I should keep the scepter and be king of this land. Cease these tedious warnings and let me be. Turning to Polyneices And as for you, get outside the walls, or die!
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Polyneices
Who will kill me? Who is so invulnerable as to plunge a murderous sword
in my body without getting for himself the same fate?
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Eteocles
He is near, not far away. Do you see my hands?
Polyneices
I see them; but wealth is cowardly, a craven too fond of life.
Eteocles
Then did you come to battle with so many against a man worth nothing?
Polyneices
Yes, for a steadfast general is better than a bold one.
Eteocles
Relying on the truce, which saves your life, you turn boaster.
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Polyneices
And so do you; once more I demand back my scepter and share of the land.
Eteocles
I admit no demand; I will live in my own house.
Polyneices
And keep more than your share?
Eteocles
Yes. Leave the country!
Polyneices
O altars of my fathers’ gods—
Eteocles
Which you are here to destroy.
Eteocles
Who would hear you after you have marched against your fatherland?
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Polyneices
And temples of the gods who ride on white horses—
Eteocles
And who hate you.
Polyneices
I am being driven from my country—
Eteocles
Yes, for you came to destroy it.
Polyneices
Unjustly, O gods!
Eteocles
Call on the gods at Mycenae, not here.
Polyneices
You have become unholy—
Eteocles
But I have not, like you, become my country’s enemy.
Polyneices
By driving me out without my portion.
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Eteocles
I will kill you in addition.
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Polyneices
O father, do you you hear what I am suffering?
Eteocles
Yes, and he hears what you are doing.
Polyneices
And you, mother?
Eteocles
It is not lawful for you to mention your mother.
Eteocles
Go to Argos, and invoke the waters of Lerna.
Polyneices
I will; do not be troubled; but I thank you, mother.
Eteocles
Go forth from the land!
Polyneices
I will go; but let me see my father.
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Eteocles
You will not have your wish.
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Polyneices
At least then my maiden sisters.
Eteocles
You will not ever see them either.
Polyneices
Ah, my sisters!
Eteocles
Why do you, their bitterest enemy, call on them?
Polyneices
To you at least farewell, mother!
Jocasta
Indeed I am faring well, my son!
Polyneices
I am no longer your son.
Jocasta
I was born to great sorrow.
Polyneices
Because my brother treats me outrageously.
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Eteocles
I am treated just the same.
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Polyneices
Where will you be stationed before the towers?
Eteocles
Why do you ask me this?
Polyneices
I will set myself against you for your death.
Eteocles
I too have the same desire.
Jocasta
Woe is me! what will you do, my sons?
Polyneices
The event will show.
Jocasta
Oh, try to escape your father’s curse! Exit Jocasta.
Eteocles
May destruction seize our whole house!
Polyneices
Soon my sword will be busy, plunged in gore. But I call my native land and the gods to witness, with what dishonor and bitter treatment I am being driven forth, as though I were a slave, not a son of Oedipus as much as he. If anything happens to you, my city, blame him, not me;
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for I did not come willingly, and unwillingly I am driven from the land. And you, Phoebus, lord of highways, and my home, farewell, and my comrades, and statues of the gods, where sheep are sacrificed. For I do not know if I can ever again address you; though hope is not yet asleep, which makes me confident that with the gods’ help
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I shall slay him and rule this land of Thebes. Exit Polyneices.
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Eteocles
Get out of the country! It was a true name our father gave you, when, prompted by some god, he called you Polyneices, man of many quarrels. Exit Eteocles.
[Choral 1]
Cadmus of Tyre came to this land, and at his feet a four-footed,
Chorus
untamed heifer threw itself down, fulfilling an oracle, where the god’s prophecy told him to make his home in the plains rich with wheat,
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and where the lovely waters of Dirce pour over the fields, the green and deep-seeded fields; here Bromius’ mother gave birth
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from her union with Zeus; Bromius, round whom the ivy twined its wreaths while he was still a baby, covering him and blessing him in the shades of its green foliage,
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a Bacchic dance for the maids and wives inspired in Thebes.
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There was Ares’ murderous dragon, a savage guard,
watching with wandering eye the watery rivers and fresh streams. Cadmus destroyed it with a jagged stone, when he came there to draw lustral water; smiting the deadly head
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with a blow of his beast-slaying arm; and by the counsel of PalIas, the motherless goddess, he cast the teeth upon the deep fields to fall to the earth,
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from which the earth brought forth a sight fully-armed, above the surface of the soil; but grim slaughter once again united them to the earth they loved, bedewing with blood the ground that had
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shown them to the sunlit breath of heaven.
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[Choral]
And you, Epaphus, born from Io, our first mother, and child of Zeus: you I summon in foreign cry,
Chorus
oh! in foreign prayers: come, come to this land; your descendants settled here; and the goddesses of twofold name, Persephone and the kindly
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goddess Demeter the queen of all, Earth the nurse of all, won it for themselves; send to the help of this land those torch-bearing goddesses; for to gods all things are easy.
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