Second Episode (with the First Kommos, 649–697)

Creon.Fellow-citizens, having learned that Oedipus the king lays dire charges against me, I am here, indignant. If, in the present troubles, he thinks that he has suffered from me, by word or deed, aught that tends to harm, in truth I crave not my full term of years, when I must bear such blame as this. The wrong of this rumour touches me not in one point alone, but has the largest scope, if I am to be called a traitor in the city, a traitor too by thee and by my friends.

Chorus.Nay, but this taunt came under stress, perchance, of anger, rather than from the purpose of the heart.

Creon.And the saying was uttered, that my counsels won the seer to utter his falsehoods?

Chorus.Such things were said — I know not with what meaning.

Creon.And was this charge laid against me with steady eyes and steady mind?

Chorus.I know not; I see not what my masters do: but here comes our lord forth from the house.

Oedipus.Sirrah, how camest thou here? Hast thou a front so bold that thou hast come to my house, who art the proved assassin of its master, — the palpable robber of my crown? Come, tell me, in the name of the gods, was it cowardice or folly that thou sawest in me, that thou didst plot to do this thing? Didst thou think that I would not note this deed of thine creeping on me by stealth, or, aware, would not ward it off? Now is not thine attempt foolish, — to seek, without followers or friends, a throne, — a prize which followers and wealth must win?

Creon.Mark me now, — in answer to thy words, hear a fair reply, and then judge for thyself on knowledge.

Oedipus.Thou art apt in speech, but I have a poor wit for thy lessons, since I have found thee my malignant foe.

Creon.Now first hear how I will explain this very thing —

Oedipus.Explain me not one thing — that thou art not false.

Creon.If thou deemest that stubbornness without sense is a good gift, thou art not wise.

Oedipus.If thou deemest that thou canst wrong a kinsman and escape the penalty, thou art not sane.

Creon.Justly said, I grant thee: but tell me what is the wrong that thou sayest thou hast suffered from me.

Oedipus.Didst thou advise, or didst thou not, that I should send for that reverend seer?

Creon.And now I am still of the same mind.

Oedipus.How long is it, then, since Lai’us —

Creon.Since Lai’us...? I take not thy drift...

Oedipus.— was swept from men’s sight by a deadly violence?

Creon.The count of years would run far into the past.

Oedipus.Was this seer, then, of the craft in those days?

Creon.Yea, skilled as now, and in equal honour.

Oedipus.Made he, then, any mention of me at that time?

Creon.Never, certainly, when I was within hearing.

Oedipus.But held ye not a search touching the murder?

Creon.Due search we held, of course — and learned nothing.

Oedipus.And how was it that this sage did not tell his story then?

Creon.I know not; where I lack light, ’tis my wont to be silent.

Oedipus.Thus much, at least, thou knowest, and couldst declare with light enough.

Creon.What is that? If I know it, I will not deny.

Oedipus.That, if he had not conferred with thee, he would never have named my slaying of Laïus.

Creon.If so he speaks, thou best knowest; but I claim to learn from thee as much as thou hast now from me.

Oedipus.Learn thy fill: I shall never be found guilty of the blood.

Creon.Say, then — thou hast married my sister?

Oedipus.The question allows not of denial.

Creon.And thou rulest the land as she doth, with like sway?

Oedipus.She obtains from me all her desire.

Creon.And rank not I as a third peer of you twain?

Oedipus.Aye, ’tis just therein that thou art seen a false friend.

Creon.Not so, if thou wouldst reason with thine own heart as I with mine. And first weigh this, — whether thou thinkest that any one would choose to rule amid terrors rather than in unruffled peace, — granting that he is to have the same powers. Now I, for one, have no yearning in my nature to be a king rather than to do kingly deeds, no, nor hath any man who knows how to keep a sober mind. For now I win all boons from thee without fear; but, were I ruler myself, I should be doing much e’en against mine own pleasure. How, then, could royalty be sweeter for me to have than painless rule and influence? Not yet am I so misguided as to desire other honours than those which profit. Now, all wish me joy; now, every man has a greeting for me; now, those who have a suit to thee crave speech with me, since therein is all their hope of success. Then why should I resign these things, and take those? No mind will become false, while it is wise. Nay, I am no lover of such policy, and, if another put it into deed, never could I bear to act with him. And, in proof of this, first, go to Pytho, and ask if I brought thee true word of the oracle; then next, if thou find that I have planned aught in concert with the soothsayer, take and slay me, by the sentence not of one mouth, but of twain — by mine own, no less than thine. But make me not guilty in a corner, on unproved surmise. It is not right to adjudge bad men good at random, or good men bad. I count it a like thing for a man to cast off a true friend as to cast away the life in his own bosom, which most he loves. Nay, thou wilt learn these things with sureness in time, for time alone shows a just man; but thou couldst discern a knave even in one day.

Chorus.Well hath he spoken, O king, for one who giveth heed not to fall: the quick in counsel are not sure.

Oedipus.When the stealthy plotter is moving on me in quick sort, I, too, must be quick with my counterplot. If I await him in repose, his ends will have been gained, and mine missed.

Creon.What wouldst thou, then? Cast me out of the land?

Oedipus.Not so: I desire thy death — not thy banishment— that thou mayest show forth what manner of thing is envy.

Creon.Thou speakest as resolved not to yield or to believe?

Oedipus.[No; for thou persuadest me not that thou art worthy of belief.]

Creon.No, for I find thee not sane.

Oedipus.Sane, at least, in mine own interest.

Creon.Nay, thou shouldst be so in mine also.

Oedipus.Nay, thou art false.

Creon.But if thou understandest nought?

Oedipus.Yet must I rule.

Creon.Not if thou rule ill.

Oedipus.Hear him, O Thebes!

Creon.Thebes is for me also — not for thee alone.

Chorus.Cease, princes; and in good time for you I see Iocasta coming yonder from the house, with whose help ye should compose your present feud.

Iocasta.Misguided men, why have ye raised such foolish strife of tongues? Are ye not ashamed, while the land is thus sick, to stir up troubles of your own? Come, go thou into the house, — and thou, Creon, to thy home, — and forbear to make much of a petty grief.

Creon.Kinswoman, Oedipus thy lord claims to do dread things unto me, even one or other of two ills, — to thrust me from the land of my fathers, or to slay me amain.

Oedipus.Yea; for I have caught him, lady, working evil, by ill arts, against my person.

Creon.Now may I see no good, but perish accursed, if I have done aught to thee of that wherewith thou chargest me!

Iocasta.O, for the gods’ love, believe it, Oedipus — first, for the awful sake of this oath unto the gods, — then for my sake and for theirs who stand before thee?

Chorus.Consent, reflect, hearken, O my king, I pray thee!

Oedipus.What grace, then, wouldest thou have me grant thee?

Chorus.Respect him who aforetime was not foolish, and who now is strong in his oath.

Oedipus.Now dost thou know what thou cravest?

Chorus.Yea.

Oedipus.Declare, then, what thou meanest

Chorus.That thou shouldest never use an unproved rumour to cast a dishonouring charge on the friend who has bound himself with a curse.

Oedipus.Then be very sure that, when thou seekest this, for me thou art seeking destruction, or exile from this land.

Chorus.No, by him who stands in the front of all the heavenly host, no, by the Sun! Unblest, unfriended, may I die by the uttermost doom, if I have that thought! But my unhappy soul is worn by the withering of the land, and again by the thought that our old sorrows should be crowned by sorrows springing from you twain.

Oedipus.Then let him go, though I am surely doomed to death, or to be thrust dishonoured from the land. Thy lips, not his, move my compassion by their plaint; but he, where’er he be, shall be hated.

Creon.Sullen in yielding art thou seen, even as vehement in the excesses of thy wrath; but such natures are justly sorest for themselves to bear.

Oedipus.Then wilt thou not leave me in peace, and get thee gone?

Creon.I will go my way; I have found thee undiscerning, but in the sight of these I am just. [Exit.

Chorus.Lady, why dost thou delay to take yon man into the house?

Iocasta.I will do so, when I have learned what hath chanced.

Chorus.Blind suspicion, bred of talk, arose; and, on the other part, injustice wounds.

Iocasta.It was on both sides?

Chorus.Aye.

Iocasta.And what was the story?

Chorus.Enough, methinks, enough — when our land is already vexed — that the matter should rest where it ceased.

Oedipus.Seest thou to what thou hast come, for all thy honest purpose, in seeking to slack and blunt my zeal?

Chorus.King, I have said it not once alone — be sure that I should have been shown a madman, bankrupt in sane counsel, if I put thee away — thee, who gavest a true course to my beloved country when distraught by troubles — thee, who now also art like to prove our prospering guide.

Iocasta.In the name of the gods, tell me also, O king, on what account thou hast conceived this steadfast wrath.

Oedipus.That will I; for I honour thee, lady, above yonder men: — the cause is Creon, and the plots that he hath laid against me.

Iocasta.Speak on — if thou canst tell clearly how the feud began.

Oedipus.He says that I stand guilty of the blood of Laïus.

Iocasta.As on his own knowledge? Or on hearsay from another?

Oedipus.Nay, he hath made a rascal seer his mouthpiece; as for himself, he keeps his lips wholly pure.

Iocasta.Then absolve thyself of the things whereof thou speakest; hearken to me, and learn for thy comfort that nought of mortal birth is a sharer in the science of the seer. I will give thee pithy proof of that. An oracle came to Laïus once — I will not say from Phoebus himself, but from his ministers — that the doom should overtake him to die by the hand of his child, who should spring from him and me. Now Laïus, — as, at least, the rumour saith, — was murdered one day by foreign robbers at a place where three highways meet. And the child’s birth was not three days past, when Laïus pinned its ankles together, and had it thrown, by others’ hands, on a trackless mountain. So, in that case, Apollo brought it not to pass that the babe should become the slayer of his sire, or that Laïus should die — the dread thing which he feared — by his child’s hand. Thus did the messages of seer-craft map out the future. Regard them, thou, not at all. Whatsoever needful things the god seeks, he himself will easily bring to light.

Oedipus.What restlessness of soul, lady, what tumult of the mind hath just come upon me since I heard thee speak!

Iocasta.What anxiety hath startled thee, that thou sayest this?

Oedipus.Methought I heard this from thee, — that Laïus was slain where three highways meet.

Iocasta.Yea, that was the story; nor hath it ceased yet.

Oedipus.And where is the place where this befell?

Iocasta.The land is called Phocis; and branching roads lead to the same spot from Delphi and from Daulia.

Oedipus.And what is the time that hath passed since these things were?

Iocasta.The news was published to the town shortly before thou wast first seen in power over this land.

Oedipus.O Zeus, what hast thou decreed to do unto me?

Iocasta.And wherefore, Oedipus, doth this thing weigh upon thy soul?

Oedipus.Ask me not yet; but say what was the stature of Laïus, and how ripe his manhood.

Iocasta.He was tall, — the silver just lightly strewn among his hair; and his form was not greatly unlike to thine.

Oedipus.Unhappy that I am! Methinks I have been laying myself even now under a dread curse, and knew it not.

Iocasta.How sayest thou? I tremble when I look on thee, my king.

Oedipus.Dread misgivings have I that the seer can see. But thou wilt show better if thou wilt tell me one thing more.

Iocasta.Indeed — though I tremble — I will answer all thou askest, when I hear it.

Oedipus.Went he in small force, or with many armed followers, like a chieftain?

Iocasta.Five they were in all, — a herald one of them; and there was one carriage, which bore Laïus.

Oedipus.Alas! ’Tis now clear indeed. — Who was he who gave you these tidings, lady?

Iocasta.A servant — the sole survivor who came home.

Oedipus.Is he haply at hand in the house now?

Iocasta.No, truly; so soon as he came thence, and found thee reigning in the stead of Laïus, he supplicated me, with hand laid on mine, that I would send him to the fields, to the pastures of the flocks, that he might be far from the sight of this town. And I sent him; he was worthy, for a slave, to win e’en a larger boon than that.

Oedipus.Would, then, that he could return to us without delay!

Iocasta.It is easy: but wherefore dost thou enjoin this?

Oedipus.I fear, lady, that mine own lips have been unguarded; and therefore am I fain to behold him.

Iocasta.Nay, he shall come. But I too, methinks, have a claim to learn what lies heavy on thy heart, my king.

Oedipus.Yea, and it shall not be kept from thee, now that my forebodings have advanced so far. Who, indeed, is more to me than thou, to whom I should speak in passing through such a fortune as this? My father was Polybus of Corinth, — my mother, the Dorian Merope; and I was held the first of all the folk in that town, until a chance befell me, worthy, indeed, of wonder, though not worthy of mine own heat concerning it. At a banquet, a man full of wine cast it at me in his cups that I was not the true son of my sire. And I, vexed, restrained myself for that day as best I might; but on the next I went to my mother and father, and questioned them; and they were wroth for the taunt with him who had let that word fly. So on their part I had comfort; yet was this thing ever rankling in my heart; for it still crept abroad with strong rumour. And, unknown to mother or father, I went to Delphi; and Phoebus sent me forth disappointed of that knowledge for which I came, but in his response set forth other things, full of sorrow and terror and woe; even that I was fated to defile my mother’s bed; and that I should show unto men a brood which they could not endure to behold; and that I should be the slayer of the sire who begat me. And I, when I had listened to this, turned to flight from the land of Corinth, thenceforth wotting of its region by the stars alone, to some spot where I should never see fulfilment of the infamies foretold in mine evil doom. And on my way I came to the regions in which thou sayest that this prince perished. Now, lady, I will tell thee the truth. When in my journey I was near to those three roads, there met me a herald, and a man seated in a carriage drawn by colts, as thou hast described; and he who was in front, and the old man himself, were for thrusting me rudely from the path. Then, in anger, I struck him who pushed me aside — the driver; and the old man, seeing it, watched the moment when I was passing, and, from the carriage, brought his goad with two teeth down full upon my head. Yet was he paid with interest; by one swift blow from the staff in this hand he was rolled right out of the carriage, on his back; and I slew every man of them. But if this stranger had any tie of kinship with Laïus, who is now more wretched than the man before thee? What mortal could prove more hated of heaven? Whom no stranger, no citizen, is allowed to receive in his house; whom it is unlawful that any one accost; whom all must repel from their homes! And this — this curse — was laid on me by no mouth but mine own! And I pollute the bed of the slain man with the hands by which he perished. Say, am I vile? Oh, am I not utterly unclean? — seeing that I must be banished, and in banishment see not mine own people, nor set foot in mine own land, or else be joined in wedlock to my mother, and slay my sire, even Polybus, who begat and reared me. Then would not he speak aright of Oedipus, who judged these things sent by some cruel power above man? Forbid, forbid, ye pure and awful gods, that I should see that day! No, may I be swept from among men, ere, I behold myself visited with the brand of such a doom!

Chorus.To us, indeed, these things, O king, are fraught with fear; yet have hope, until at least thou hast gained full knowledge from him who saw the deed.

Oedipus.Hope, in truth, rests with me thus far alone; I can await the man summoned from the pastures.

Iocasta.And when he has appeared — what wouldst thou have of him?

Oedipus.I will tell thee. If his story be found to tally with thine, I, at least, shall stand clear of disaster.

Iocasta.And what of special note didst thou hear from me?

Oedipus.Thou wast saying that he spoke of Laïus as slain by robbers. If, then, he still speaks, as before, of several, I was not the slayer: a solitary man could not be held the same with that band. But if he names one lonely wayfarer, then beyond doubt this guilt leans to me.

Iocasta.Nay, be assured that thus, at least, the tale was first told; he cannot revoke that, for the city heard it, not I alone. But even if he should diverge somewhat from his former story, never, king, can he show that the murder of Laïus, at least, is truly square to prophecy; of whom Loxias plainly said that he must die by the hand of my child. Howbeit that poor innocent never slew him, but perished first itself. So henceforth, for what touches divination, I would not look to my right hand or my left.

Oedipus.Thou judgest well. But nevertheless send some one to fetch the peasant, and neglect not this matter.

Iocasta.I will send without delay. But let us come into the house: nothing will I do save at thy good pleasure.