1. Sophocles, Antigone, 1-99, 162-173, 175-177, 469-472, 491, 502-504, 517, 523, 531-581, 643-644, 688-700, 853-871, 1012, 1087, 1240-1241, 1261, 1320 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Ismene, and Antigone • Ismene, and Creon • Ismene, in the social hierarchy • Ismene, juxtaposing oneness and twoness • Ismene, role of • characters, tragic/mythical, Ismene
Found in books: Jouanna (2018), Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context, 203, 208, 317, 334, 335, 346, 347, 348, 350, 351, 352, 355; Liapis and Petrides (2019), Greek Tragedy After the Fifth Century: A Survey from ca, 278; Meinel (2015), Pollution and Crisis in Greek Tragedy, 99
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1 Ismene, my sister, true child of my own mother, do you know any evil out of all the evils bequeathed by Oedipus that Zeus will not fulfil for the two of us in our lifetime? There is nothing—no pain, no ruin,'2 Ismene, my sister, true child of my own mother, do you know any evil out of all the evils bequeathed by Oedipus that Zeus will not fulfil for the two of us in our lifetime? There is nothing—no pain, no ruin, 5 no shame, nor dishonor—that I have not seen in your sufferings and mine. And now what is this new edict that they say the general has just decreed to all the city? Do you know anything? Have you heard? Or does it escape you that
10 evils from our enemies are on the march against our friends?
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1 To me no word of our friends, Antigone, either bringing joy or bringing pain has come since we two were robbed of our two brothers who died in one day by a double blow.
15 And since the Argive army has fled during this night, I have learned nothing further, whether better fortune is mine, or further ruin.
18 I knew it well, so I was trying to bring you outside the courtyard gates to this end, that you alone might hear. 20 Hear what? It is clear that you are brooding on some dark news. 2
1 Why not? Has not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honored burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he has laid in the earth 25 for his honor among the dead below. As for the poor corpse of Polyneices, however, they say that an edict has been published to the townsmen that no one shall bury him or mourn him, but instead leave him unwept, unentombed, for the birds a pleasing store 30 as they look to satisfy their hunger. Such, it is said, is the edict that the good Creon has laid down for you and for me—yes, for me—and it is said that he is coming here to proclaim it for the certain knowledge of those who do not already know. They say that he does not conduct this business lightly, 35 but whoever performs any of these rites, for him the fate appointed is death by public stoning among the entire city. This is how things stand for you, and so you will soon show your nature, whether you are noble-minded, or the corrupt daughter of a noble line. 39 Poor sister, if things have come to this, what would I 40 profit by loosening or tightening this knot? 4
1 Consider whether you will share the toil and the task. 42 What are you hazarding? What do you intend? 43 Will you join your hand to mine in order to lift his corpse? 44 You plan to bury him—when it is forbidden to the city? 45 Yes, he is my brother, and yours too, even if you wish it otherwise. I will never be convicted of betraying him. 47 Hard girl! Even when Creon has forbidden it? 48 No, he has no right to keep me from my own. 49 Ah, no! Think, sister, how our father 50 perished in hatred and infamy, when, because of the crimes that he himself detected, he smashed both his eyes with self-blinding hand; then his mother-wife, two names in one, with a twisted noose destroyed her life; 55 lastly, our two brothers in a single day, both unhappy murderers of their own flesh and blood, worked with mutual hands their common doom. And now we, in turn—we two who have been left all alone—consider how much more miserably we will be destroyed, if in defiance of the law 60 we transgress against an autocrat’s decree or his powers. No, we must remember, first, that ours is a woman’s nature, and accordingly not suited to battles against men; and next, that we are ruled by the more powerful, so that we must obey in these things and in things even more stinging. 65 I, therefore, will ask those below for pardon, since I am forced to this, and will obey those who have come to authority. It is foolish to do what is fruitless. 69 I would not encourage you—no, nor, even if you were willing later, 70 would I welcome you as my partner in this action. No, be the sort that pleases you. I will bury him—it would honor me to die while doing that. I shall rest with him, loved one with loved one, a pious criminal. For the time is greater 75 that I must serve the dead than the living, since in that world I will rest forever. But if you so choose, continue to dishonor what the gods in honor have established. 78 I do them no dishonor. But to act in violation of the citizens’ will—of that I am by nature incapable. 80 You can make that your pretext! Regardless, I will go now to heap a tomb over the brother I love. 82 Oh no, unhappy sister! I fear for you! 83 Do not tremble for me. Straighten out your own destiny. 84 Then at least disclose the deed to no one before you do it. 85 Conceal it, instead, in secrecy—and so, too, will I. 86 Go on! Denounce it! You will be far more hated for your silence, if you fail to proclaim these things to everyone. 88 You have a hot heart for chilling deeds. 89 I know that I please those whom I am most bound to please. 90 Yes, if you will also have the power. But you crave the impossible. 9
1 Why then, when my strength fails, I will have finished. 92 An impossible hunt should not be tried in the first place. 93 If you mean that, you will have my hatred, and you will be subject to punishment as the enemy of the dead. 95 But leave me and the foolish plan I have authored to suffer this terrible thing, for I will not suffer anything so terrible that my death will lack honor. 98 Go, then, if you so decide. And of this be sure: though your path is foolish, to your loved ones your love is straight and true. Exit Antigone on the spectators’ left. Ismene exits into the palace.
162 My fellow citizens! First, the gods, after tossing the fate of our city on wild waves, have once more righted it. Second, I have ordered you through my messengers to come here
165 apart from all the rest, because I knew, first of all, how constant was your reverence for the power of the throne of Laius; how, again, you were reverent, when Oedipus was guiding our city; and lastly, how, when he was dead, you still maintained loyal thoughts towards his children.
170 Since, then, these latter have fallen in one day by a twofold doom—each striking, each struck, both with the stain of a brother’s murder—I now possess all the power and the throne according to my kinship with the dead.
175 Now, it is impossible to know fully any man’s character, will, or judgment, until he has been proved by the test of rule and law-giving. For if anyone who directs the entire city does not cling to the best and wisest plans,
469 So for me to meet this doom is a grief of no account. But if I had endured that my mother’s son should in death lie an unburied corpse, that would have grieved me. Yet for this, I am not grieved. And if my present actions are foolish in your sight, 470 it may be that it is a fool who accuses me of folly. 47
1 She shows herself the wild offspring of a wild father, and does not know how to bend before troubles. 49
1 I charge that other with an equal share in the plotting of this burial. Call her out! I saw her inside just now, raving, and not in control of her wits. Before the deed, the mind frequently is convicted of stealthy crimes when conspirators are plotting depravity in the dark.
502 is there anything that pleases me—and may there never be! Similarly to you as well my views must be displeasing. And yet, how could I have won a nobler glory than by giving burial to my own brother? All here would admit that they approve, 5
17 It was his brother, not his slave, who died.
523 It is not my nature to join in hate, but in love. 53
1 You who were lurking like a viper in my own house and secretly gulping up my life’s blood, while I was oblivious that I was nurturing two plagues, two revolutions against my throne—tell me now, will you also affirm 535 your share in this burial, or will you forswear all knowledge of it? 536 I performed the deed—as long as she concurs—and I share and carry the burden of guilt. 538 No, justice will not permit you to do this, since you were not willing to help with the deed, nor did I give you a part in it. 540 But now with this sea of troubles around you, I am not ashamed to sail in a sea of suffering at your side. 542 As to whose deed it is, Hades and the dead are witnesses. A friend in words is not the type of friend I love. 544 No, sister, do not strip me of death’s honor, 545 but let me die with you and make due consecration to the dead. 546 Do not share my death. Do not claim deeds to which you did not put your hand. My death will suffice. 548 And how can I cherish life, once I am deprived of you? 549 Ask Creon. Your concern is for him. 550 Why do you torture me like this, when it does not help you? 55
1 No, if I mock you, it is to my own pain that I do so. 552 Tell me, how can I help you, even now? 553 Save yourself. I do not grudge your escape. 554 Ah, misery! Will I fall short of sharing your fate? 555 Your choice was to live, it was mine to die. 556 At least your choice was not made without my protests. 557 One world approved your wisdom, another approved mine. 558 Nevertheless, the offense is identical for both of us. 559 Take heart! You live. But my life has long been 560 in Death’s hands so that I might serve the dead. 56
1 One of these maidens, I declare, has just revealed her foolishness; the other has displayed it from the moment of her birth. 563 Yes, Creon. Whatever amount of reason nature may have given them does not remain with those in dire straits, but goes astray. 565 Yours did, I know, when you chose dire actions with dire allies. 566 What life would there be for me alone, without her presence? 567 Do not speak of her presence . She lives no longer. 568 What? You will kill your own son’s bride? 569 Why not? There are other fields for him to plough. 570 But not fitted to him as she was. 57
1 I abhor an evil wife for my son. 572 Haemon, dearest! How your father wrongs you! 573 Enough! Enough of you and of your marriage! 574 Will you really cheat your son of this girl? 575 Death it is who will end these bridals for me. 576 Then it seems that it is resolved that she will die. 577 Resolved, yes, for you and by me. To the two Attendants. No more delay! Servants, take them inside! Hereafter they must be women, and not left at large. 580 For it is known that even the brave seek to flee, when they see Death now closing on their life. Exeunt Attendants, guarding Antigone and Ismene. Creon remains.
643 Yes, my son, this is the spirit you should maintain in your heart—to stand behind your father’s will in all things. It is for this that men pray: to sire and raise in their homes children who are obedient, that they may requite their father’s enemy with evil and honor his friend, just as their father does.
688 For my part, to state how you are wrong to say those things is beyond my power and my desire, although another man, too, might have a useful thought. In any case, it is my natural duty to watch on your behalf all that men say, or do, or find to blame. 690 For dread of your glance forbids the ordinary citizen to speak such words as would offend your ear. But I can hear these murmurs in the dark, how the city moans for this girl, saying: No woman ever merited death less— 695 none ever died so shamefully for deeds so glorious as hers, who, when her own brother had fallen in bloody battle, would not leave him unburied to be devoured by savage dogs, or by any bird. Does she not deserve to receive golden honor? 700 Such is the rumor shrouded in darkness that silently spreads. For me, father, no treasure is more precious than your prosperity. What, indeed, is a nobler ornament for children than the fair fame of a thriving father, or for a father than that of his children?
853 You have rushed headlong to the far limits of daring, and against the high throne of Justice 855 you have fallen, my daughter, fallen heavily. But in this ordeal you are paying for some paternal crime. 858 You have touched on my most bitter thought 860 and moved my ever-renewed pity for my father and for the entire doom ordained for us, the famed house of Labdacus. Oh, the horrors of our mother’s bed! Oh, the slumbers of the wretched mother at the side 865 of her own son, my own father! What manner of parents gave me my miserable being! It is to them that I go like this, accursed and unwed, to share their home. 870 Ah, my brother, the marriage you made was doomed, and by dying you killed me still alive!
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12 the gall was scattered high up in the air; and the streaming thighs lay bared of the fat that had been wrapped around them. Such was the failure of the rites that yielded no sign, as I learned from this boy. For he is my guide, as I am guide to others.
1087 launched at you, archer-like, in my anger. They fly true—you cannot run from their burning sting. Boy, lead me home, so that he may launch his rage against younger men, and learn to keep a quieter tongue
1240 Corpse enfolding corpse he lay, having won his marriage rites, poor boy, not here, but in Hades’ palace, and having shown to mankind by how much the failure to reason wisely is the most severe of all afflictions assigned to man. Eurydice departs into the house.
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1 Ah, the blunders of an unthinking mind, blunders of rigidity, yielding death! Oh, you witnesses of the killers and the killed, both of one family!
1320 I admit the truth. Lead me away, my servants, lead me from here with all haste, who am no more than a dead man! ' None |
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2. Sophocles, Oedipus At Colonus, 45, 88-95, 720-1043 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Ismene • Ismene, and Oedipus • Ismene, and the oracle
Found in books: Augoustakis (2014), Flavian Poetry and its Greek Past, 203; Jouanna (2018), Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context, 386, 737; Sommerstein and Torrance (2014), Oaths and Swearing in Ancient Greece, 101; Verhagen (2022), Security and Credit in Roman Law: The Historical Evolution of Pignus and Hypotheca, 203
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45 Nevermore will I depart from my seat in this land. Stranger
88 the first in this land at which I have bent my knee, show yourselves not ungracious to Phoebus or to myself; who, when he proclaimed that doom of many woes, spoke to me of this rest after long years: on reaching my goal in a land where I should find a seat of the Awful Goddesse 90 and a shelter for foreigners, there I should close my weary life, with profit, through my having fixed my abode there, for those who received me, but ruin for those who sent me forth, who drove me away. And he went on to warn me that signs of these things would come, 95 in earthquake, or in thunder, or in the lightning of Zeus. Now I perceive that in this journey some trusty omen from you has surely led me home to this grove; never otherwise could I have met with you, first of all, in my wanderings—I, in my sobriety, with you who touch no wine,
720 Land that is praised above all lands, now it is your task to make those bright praises seen in deeds! Oedipu 724 Ah, dearest old men, now give me 725 the final proof of my salvation! Choru 726 Courage! It will be yours. For even if I am aged, this country’s strength has not grown old. Enter Creon, with attendants. Creon 728 Gentlemen, noble dwellers in this land, I see from your eyes that a sudden fear has troubled you at my coming; 730 but do not shrink back from me, and let no evil word escape you. I am here with no thought of force; I am old, and I know that the city to which I have come is mighty, if any in Hellas has might. 735 No, I have been sent, aged as I am, to plead with this man to return with me to the land of Cadmus. I am not one man’s envoy, but have a mandate from all our people; since it belonged to me, by family, beyond all other Thebans to mourn his woes. 740 Unhappy Oedipus, hear us, and come home! Justly are you summoned by all the Cadmeans, and most of all by me, since I—unless I am the worst of all men born—feel most sorrow for your woes, old man, 7
45 when I see you, unhappy as you are, a stranger and a wanderer evermore, roaming in beggary, with one handmaid for your support. Ah, me, I had not thought that she could fall to such a depth of misery as that to which she has fallen— 750 this poor girl!—as she tends forever your dark life amid poverty; in ripe youth, but unwed: a prize for the first passerby to seize. Is it not a cruel reproach—alas!—that I have cast at you, and me, and all our race? 755 But indeed an open shame cannot be hidden. Oedipus, in the name of your ancestral gods, listen to me! Hide it, and consent to return to the city and the house of your ancestors, after bidding a kind farewell to this city. Athens is worthy; yet your own city has the first claim on your reverence, 760 ince it was Thebes that nurtured you long ago. Oedipu 761 You who will dare anything, who from any just plea would derive a crafty trick, why do you make this attempt on me, and seek once more to snare me in your trap where I would feel most grief? 765 Long ago, when I labored under the sickness of my self-made evils, and I yearned to be cast out of the land, you refused to grant the favor. But when my fierce anger had spent its force, and seclusion in the house was sweet to me, 770 it was then that you thrust me from the house and cast me from the land. And this common race that you mention—that was not at all dear to you then. Now, in turn, when you see that I have a kindly welcome from this city and all its race, you try to pluck me away, wrapping your cruel thoughts in soft words. 775 And yet what pleasure do you find in this, in treating me as dear against my will? As if a man should refuse you a gift, bring you no aid, when you continually begged for it; but after your heart was sated with your desires, he should grant it then, when the favor could bring no joy 780 —would you not find your delight in this empty? Yet such is the nature of your own offers to me: noble in appearance, but in substance base. And I will declare it to these men too, to show you up as base. You have come to get me, 785 not to bring me home, but to plant me near your borders, so that your city might escape uninjured by evils from this land. That fate is not for you, but this one: the brooding of my vengeful spirit on your land forever; and for my sons, this heirloom: 790 just so much soil in my realm in which to die. Am I not wiser than you in the fortunes of Thebes ? Yes, far wiser, by as much as the sources of my knowledge are truer: Phoebus I mean, and his father, Zeus himself. But you have come here with fraud on your lips, yes, 795 and with a tongue keener than the edge of a sword; yet by their use you may well reap more sorrow than salvation. Still, since I know that I cannot persuade you of this, go! Allow us to live on here; for even in this plight our life would not be bad, if we should be content with it. Creon 800 Which of us, do you think, suffers more in this exchange—I by your action, or you by your own? Oedipu 802 For me, it is enough if your pleading fails both with me and with these men nearby. Creon 804 Unhappy man, will you let everyone see that even in your years you have gained no sense? 805 Must you live on to disgrace your old age? Oedipu 806 You have a clever tongue, but I know no just man who can produce from every side a pretty speech. Creon 808 Words may be many, and yet not to the point. Oedipu 809 As if yours, indeed, were few, but on the mark. Creon 810 They cannot be, not for one whose mind is such as yours. Oedipu 811 Begone! I will say it for these men too. And do not besiege me with a jealous watch where I am destined to remain. Creon 813 I call these men, and not you, to witness the tenor of your words to your friends. And if I ever catch you— Oedipu 815 And who could catch me against the will of these allies? Creon 816 I promise you, soon you will be pained even without that. Oedipu 817 Where is the deed which backs that threatening word? Creon 818 One of your two daughters I have myself just seized and sent away. The other I will drag off immediately. Oedipu 822 Oh! Strangers, what will you do? Will you betray me? Will you not drive the godless man from this land? Choru 824 Depart, stranger! Quick! 825 Your present deed is not just, nor the deed which you have done. Creon To his attendants. 826 It is time for you to drag this girl off against her will, if she will not go freely. Antigone 828 Wretched that I am! Where can I flee? Where find help from gods or men? Choru 830 I will not touch this man, but her who is mine. Oedipu 833 Oh, city ! Choru 834 What are you doing, stranger? Release her! 835 Your strength and ours will soon come to the test. Creon 837 There will be war with Thebes for you, if you harm me. Oedipu 839 Do not make commands where you are not the master. Choru 841 Help, men of Colonus , bring help! The city, our city, is attacked by force! Come to our aid! Antigone 844 I am being dragged away in misery. Strangers, strangers! Oedipu 848 So those two staffs will never again support your path. 850 But since you wish to overcome your country and your friends, whose will I, though tyrant as well, am here discharging, then I wish you victory. For in time, I am sure, you will come to recognize all this, that now too as in time past, it is you who have done yourself no good, by indulging your anger despite your friends. 855 This has always been your ruin. Choru 857 I will not let go, unless you give back the maidens. Creon 858 Then you will soon give the city a more valuable prize, for I will lay hands on more than those two girls. Choru 862 Indeed, unless the ruler of this realm prevents you. Oedipu 863 Voice of shamelessness! Will you really lay hands on me? Creon 870 grant in time an old age such as mine! Creon 871 Do you see this, people of the land? Oedipu 872 They see both you and me. They know that I have suffered in deeds, and my defense is mere words. Creon 874 I will not check my anger. Though I am alone 875 and slow with age, I will take this man by force. Oedipu 876 Ah, my wretchedness! Choru 877 What arrogance you have come with, stranger, if you think you will achieve this! Creon 878 I will. Choru 879 Then I think this city no longer exists. Creon
880 For men who are just, you see, the weak vanquishes the strong. Oedipu
884 Hear people, hear rulers of the land! Come quickly, come!
885 These men are on their way to cross our borders! Enter Theseus. Theseu
887 What is this shout? What is the trouble? What fear has moved you to stop my sacrifice at the altar to the sea-god, the lord of your Colonus ? Speak, so that I may know the situation; for that is why I have sped 890 here more swiftly than was pleasant. Oedipu 891 Dearest of men! I know your voice. Terrible are the things I have just suffered at the hands of this man here. Theseu 893 What things are these? And who has pained you? Speak! Oedipu 894 Creon, whom you see here, 895 has torn from me my children—my only two. Theseu 897 Hurry, one of you attendants, to the altars there, and order the people to leave the sacrifice 900 and race on foot and by horse full speed, to the region where the two highways meet, so that the maidens may not pass, and I not become a mockery to this stranger as one worsted by force. Quick, I say, away with you! Turning towards Creon. 905 anger went as far as he deserves, I would not let him go uninjured from my hand. But now, just such law as he himself has brought will be the rule for his correction. Addressing Creon. 909 You will never leave this land 910 until you bring those maidens and produce them in my sight. For your action is a disgrace to me, and to your own ancestors, and to your country. You have come to a city that practices justice and sanctions nothing without law, 915 yet you have spurned her lawful authorities and made this violent assault. You are taking captives at will and subjugating them by force, as if you believed that my city was void of men, or manned by slaves, and that I counted for nothing. Yet it was not Thebes that trained you to be evil. Thebes is not accustomed to rearing unjust men;— 920 nor would she praise you, if she learned that you are despoiling me, and despoiling the gods, when by force you drive off their unfortunate suppliants. If my foot were upon your land, never would I drag off or lead away someone 925 without permission from the ruler of the land, whoever he might be—no, even if my claim were the most just of all. I would know how a stranger ought to live among citizens. But you are disgracing a city that does not deserve it: your own, 930 and your years, despite their fullness, bring you an old age barren of sense. Now, I have said before, and I say it once again: let the maidens be brought here speedily, unless you wish to be an unwilling immigrant to this country by force. 935 These are the words of my lips; my mind is in accord. Choru 937 Do you see your plight, stranger? You are judged to be just by where you are from, but your deeds are found to be evil. Creon 939 It is not because I thought this city void of men, son of Aegeus, or of counsel, as you say, 940 that I have done this deed; but because I judged that its people could never be so zealous for my relatives as to support them against my will. And I knew that this people would not receive a parricide and a polluted man, 9
45 a man whose unholy marriage—a marriage with children—had been found out. Such wisdom, I knew, was immemorial on the Areopagus, which does not allow such wanderers to dwell within this city. Trusting in that, I sought to take this prize. 950 And I would not have done so, had he not been calling down bitter curses on me and on my race. As I was wronged in this way, I judged that I had a right to this requital. For anger knows no old age, until death comes; 955 the dead alone feel no galling pain. In response to this, you will do what pleases you; for, though my case is just, the lack of aid makes me weak. Yet in the face of your actions, despite my age, I will endeavor to pay you back. Oedipu 960 Shameless arrogance, where do you think this outrage falls—on my old age, or on your own? Bloodshed, incest, misery—all this your tongue has launched against me, and all this I have borne in my wretchedness by no choice of mine. 965 For this was dear to the gods, who were angry, perhaps, with my race from of old. Taking me alone, you could not find a reproach for any crime, in retribution for which I was driven to commit these sins against myself and against my kin. Tell me now: if, by the voice of an oracle, some divine doom was coming on my father, 970 that he should die by a son’s hand, how could you justly reproach me with this, when I was then unborn, when no father had yet begotten me, no mother’s womb conceived me? But if, having been born to misery—as I was born—I came to blows with my father and slew him, ignorant of what 975 I was doing and to whom, how could you reasonably blame the unwitting deed? And my mother—wretch, do you feel no shame in forcing me to speak of her marriage, when she was your sister, and when it was such as I will now tell? 980 For I will not be silent, when you have gone so far in impious speech. Yes, she was my mother, yes—alas, for my miseries! I did not know it, nor did she, and to her shame she bore children to the son whom she had borne. 985 But one thing, at least, I know: that you willingly revile her and me, but I did not willingly marry her, and I do not willingly speak now. No, I will not be called evil on account of this marriage, nor in the slaying of my father, which you charge me with again and again in bitter insult. 990 Answer just one thing of those I ask. If, here and now, someone should come up and try to murder you—you, the just one—would you ask if the murderer was your father, or would you revenge yourself on him straightaway? 995 I think that if your life is dear to you, you would requite the criminal, and not look around for a justification. Such then were the evils into which I came, led by the gods; and in this, I think, my father’s soul, could it come back to life, would not contradict me. 1000 But you are not just; you are one who considers it a fine thing to utter every sort of word, both those which are sanctioned and those which are forbidden—such are your taunts against me in the presence of these men. And to you it seems a fine thing to flatter the renowned Theseus, and Athens , saying how well it is governed.'1001 But you are not just; you are one who considers it a fine thing to utter every sort of word, both those which are sanctioned and those which are forbidden—such are your taunts against me in the presence of these men. And to you it seems a fine thing to flatter the renowned Theseus, and Athens , saying how well it is governed. 1005 Yet while giving such generous praise, you forget that if any land knows how to worship the gods with honors, this land excels in that. It is from her that you had planned to steal me, a suppliant and an old man, and tried to seize me, having already carried off my daughters. 1010 Therefore I now call on the goddesses here, I supplicate them, I beseech them with prayers, to bring me help and to fight on my behalf, that you may learn well what kind of men this city is guarded by. Choru 1014 The stranger is a good man, lord. 1015 His fate has been accursed, but it is worthy of our aid. Theseu 1016 Enough of words. The doers of the deed are in flight, while we, the sufferers, stand still. Creon 1018 What order, then, do you have for a powerless man? Theseu 1019 Guide the way on the path to them while I escort you, 1020 in order that if you are keeping the maidens whom we seek in these lands, you yourself may reveal them to me. But if your men are fleeing with the spoils in their grasp, we may spare our trouble; the chase is for others, from whom they will never escape out of this land to thank their gods. 1025 Come, lead the way! And know that the captor has been captured; fate has seized you as you hunted. Gains unjustly got by guile are soon lost. And you will have no ally in your purpose; for I well know that it is not without accomplice or resource that you have come to such 1030 outrage, from the daring mood which has inspired you here. There was someone you were trusting in when you did these deeds. This I must consider, and I must not make this city weaker than one man. Do you take my drift? 1035 Or do these words seem as empty as the warnings given when you were laying your plans? Creon 1036 Say what you wish while you are here; I will not object. But at home I too will know how to act. Theseu 1038 Make your threats, then, but go forward. As for you, Oedipus, stay here in peace with my pledge that, unless I die beforehand, 1040 I will not cease until I put you in possession of your children. Oedipu 1042 Thanks to you, Theseus, for your nobleness and your righteous care for me! Theseus exits with attendants and Creon. Choru ' None |
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