Oedipus Rex

Sophocles, David Mulroy

Published by University of Wisconsin Press

Sophocles and David Mulroy.

Oedipus Rex.
University of Wisconsin Press, 2011.
Project MUSE. muse.jhu.edu/book/2459.

For additional information about this book

https://muse.jhu.edu/book/2459

[ Access provided at 21 Jan 2021 02:28 GMT from The University of British Columbia Library ]
Oedipus Rex
 Characters
o e d i p u s , the ruler of Thebes. Oedipus grew up in Corinth
thinking that he was the son of its king and queen, Polybus
and Merope. He fled Corinth on account of an oracle that
he would kill his father and marry his mother and was made
ruler of Thebes when he slew the monstrous Sphinx by
answering her riddle. He has reigned there for approximately
twenty years.
A crowd of Theban suppliants including young children and
old men
A priest of zeus, king of the gods
A chorus of Theban elders, the town fathers
creon, Oedipus’ brother-in-law
tiresias, a blind prophet serving Apollo, god of prophecy
j o c a s ta , the widow of Oedipus’ predecessor, King Laius,
now married to Oedipus
A c i t i z e n o f c o r i n t h , formerly a friend of Laius’ man
l a i u s ’ m a n , a servant born in the household of Laius and
Jocasta
A servant who works inside Oedipus’ royal residence
o e d i p u s ’ t wo d au g h t e r s, mute characters known from
other sources as Antigone and Ismene

2
 (The action occurs on the front steps of the palace of
Oedipus and Jocasta in Thebes. There is a grand doorway
in the middle through which the residents of the palace,
starting with Oedipus, enter the stage. Off to one side
there is an altar; a statue of Apollo, god of prophecy,
stands on a pedestal next to it. Of two side entrances,
one is for characters like the chorus who enter from
other parts of Thebes itself; the other is for those arriving
from the countryside or other towns, namely Delphi
and Corinth. A number of elderly men and young
children sit on the palace steps. An old priest stands in
their midst. Two youths who helped him mount the
stairs stand behind him. Oedipus enters.)1

oedipus:
Children of Cadmus,2 ancient king’s new brood,
why have you taken seats before me here
as suppliants with olive boughs and wreaths?3
Meanwhile the city’s full of fragrant smoke
and loud with sacred songs and cries of grief.4

1. I have provided parenthetical stage directions on the basis of hints

found in the play itself. There are no stage directions in ancient manuscripts.
2. Cadmus, a Phoenician, is the legendary founder and first king of
Thebes, Laius’ great-grandfather. The kings of Thebes were Cadmus,
Polydorus, Labdacus, Laius, and Oedipus. During Laius’ childhood, royal
power was exercised by a regent named Lycus, who was deposed and replaced
by Amphion and Zethus, sons of Zeus.
3. Suppliants are needy individuals who formally request protection or
some other kind of help from those in power. Suppliants in ancient Greece
carried olive boughs wreathed with bands of wool. Sophocles’ words seem to
imply that these suppliants also wore woolen bands on their heads in addition
to carrying them on suppliant boughs.
4. Citizens were singing hymns, specifically those honoring Apollo as a
god of healing, and burning incense at altars as a way of soliciting divine help.

3
Not thinking it correct to hear about
such matters second-hand, I came myself,
the celebrated man called Oedipus.
But tell me, ancient sir—it’s only right
for you to be their spokesman—what accounts 10
for this? Some fear or longing? I’ll assist
in every way. He’d be a callous man,
who didn’t pity suppliants like these.

priest of zeus:
My country’s lord and master, Oedipus,
you see that we before your altars are
of different ages: some of us too young
to fly away, some weighted down by years.
I’m Zeus’s priest and these selected youths
attend me. Others wreath their heads and sit
in agoras, Athena’s double shrines,5 20
or where Isménus skirts prophetic ash,6
and you yourself can plainly see the cause.
The city’s drowning now. She lacks the strength
to keep her head above the bloody surge.

5. The city of Thebes originally consisted of an area of high ground that

came to be called Cadmeia. In the sixth or early fifth century BCE, walls were
built encircling a larger area. It is likely that in Sophocles’ day Thebes had
two agoras, or market places, and two temples of Athena, one on the Cadmeia
and one in the newer part of the city. It is, of course, anachronistic to import
this topography into the Thebes of Oedipus’ day.
6. The Ismenus was a stream flowing through Thebes. According to
Pausanias (9.11.7–12.1), it passed near an altar to Apollo Spodios, “Apollo
of the Ashes,” where divination was practiced. The ritual involved the
interpretation of chance remarks or noises. The reason for Apollo’s cult title
was that this altar was made out of the ashes of burnt victims.

4
She’s failing fast. The fruitful buds of earth
are failing, herds are failing, women bear
their labor pains in vain, and plague attacks,
the hateful fire-bringing god. He leaps
and leaves Cadmeia7 empty. Tears and groans
have made dark Death the “wealthy one” indeed.8 30
These children here who sit before your hearth9
and I don’t call you equal to the gods,
but think that you’re the foremost man in life’s
mishaps and reconciling those above.
On first arriving here, you rescued Thebes
from paying the cruel musician’s deadly tax.10
You didn’t get advice from us. Untaught,
but with a god’s assistance, so it’s said
and widely credited, you saved our lives.
We come in supplication, turn to you, 40

7. Thebes was originally called Cadmeia, after its founder, Cadmus, and
later supposedly renamed in honor of Thebe, a minor goddess who married
Zethus, King Laius’ predecessor. See note 5.
8. Literally, “Black death is enriched ( ploutizetai ) by groans and sighs.”
This is a pun. Pluto, “Wealth Giver,” was one of the titles of Hades, god of
the dead, because of his association with the earth and agricultural abundance.
9. The hearth or central fireplace was symbolic of one’s home. Suppliants
sometimes sat in the ashes around a hearth, as Odysseus did when seeking
help from the king and queen of Phaeacia in the Odyssey (7.153–154). Oedipus’
suppliants, however, are speaking metaphorically.
10. A reference to the Sphinx. Sphinxes were monsters with a human
head, an eagle’s wings, and a lion’s body. The one that visited Thebes was a
female who asked passersby what creature had four legs in the morning, two
in the afternoon, and three in the evening. When people could not answer,
she killed them. Oedipus’ claim to fame is that he answered the question
correctly, whereupon the Sphinx killed herself. See Appendix 1.

5
the mightiest of mortals, Oedipus,
to find some means of safety, whether gods
inspire you or human counsel helps.
[ We know most often men who’ve suffered trials
before provide the counsels that succeed.]11
Come, best of mortals, set the city right!
But carefully. We call you savior now,
remembering your former services.
We wouldn’t want your reign recalled as one
in which we stood upright and later fell. 50
[Proceed with caution, set the city right!
Once omens smiled12 and you restored our luck.
Be just as equal to our present needs!
If you will govern here, the government
of men’s a finer thing than ruling emptiness.
A vacant fort is worthless. So’s a ship
without its crew, with no one living there.]13

oedipus:
Poor children! I’m aware, not unaware,
of what you’re longing for. I recognize

11. Lines in brackets are ones that I believe are interpolations or later
additions to Sophocles’ original text.
12. More literally, “You restored our good fortune under a favorable
bird.” At the beginning of an undertaking, Greeks often tried to learn
whether the gods favored their actions by examining various kinds of omens
or signs. Often that involved interpreting the appearance or behavior of birds
as expressions of divine dispositions. In fact, skillful prophets like Tiresias
could supposedly learn all kinds of things from the behavior of birds. Actions
that succeeded were said to have taken place under a favorable bird even if no
one had actually observed the birds at the time.
13. See note 11.

6
that sickness touches all of you, but none 60
of you, however sick, is sick as me.
Your pain affects a single person, one.
You suffer selfishly, alone. I feel
the city’s pain and yours and mine as well.
You haven’t wakened me from quiet sleep.
No, I’ve been weeping constantly for you,
exploring many winding roads of thought.
My search turned up a single remedy,
which I’ve pursued. Menoeceus’s son,
my wife’s own brother, Creon, went at my 70
command to Pytho, Phoebus’s abode,14
to learn if something I can say or do
will save the state. I’m worried, measuring
the time. I wonder what he’s doing there.

(The priest’s attendants have seen something of interest

in the distance. As Oedipus speaks, they nudge the priest,
who also looks with interest.)

His absence seems unduly long, but when

he finally comes then I’m no good at all
if I don’t do whatever god commands.

priest:
Your words are timely. These attendants just
alerted me that Creon’s coming now.

14. Phoebus, the “Brilliant (or Shining) One,” is a name for Apollo, god
of prophecy. His prophecies or oracles came through the voice of his priestess
in his temple at Delphi on Mount Parnassus. Delphi is also known as Pytho
and is “Phoebus’ abode.”

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oedipus:
O hear my prayer, Apollo, let him bring 80
salvation shining like his joyous face.

priest:
It seems his news is welcome. Otherwise,
he’d not come crowned with berry-laden bay.15

oedipus:
We’ll be enlightened soon. He’s close enough
to hear. Menoeceus’s child, my kin,
what news do you come bearing from the god?

(Enter actor 2 as Creon.)

creon:
Good news, since troubles finally ending well,
in my opinion, count as fortunate.

oedipus:
What were his words? I’m neither confident
nor frightened, hearing how your speech begins. 90

creon:
If you would listen here amid this crowd,
I’ll tell you now—or follow you within.

15. Bay trees, also known as bay laurels, have thick, glossy leaves. They
were sacred to Apollo, and wreaths made of their leaves were worn by him in
artistic representations and by people in various contexts as tokens of honor
and celebration. Creon is happy that he has received a reply from the oracle
that promises to end the plague.

8
oedipus:
Speak out before us all. I worry more
for them than any personal concern.

creon:
Then here is what I heard the godhead say.
Lord Phoebus orders us explicitly
to purge an evil growing up in Thebes,
not nourish it until it can’t be cured.

oedipus:
What sort of purging? How should we proceed?

creon:
We have to drive a killer out or pay
for death with death. The city’s drenched in blood. 100

oedipus:
Did he reveal the murder victim’s name?

creon:
Before you set the city straight, my lord,
another leader, Laius, ruled the land.

oedipus:
I know by hearsay. Never saw him, though.

creon:
Our orders are in no uncertain terms
to punish his cold-blooded murderers.

oedipus:
But where to look? How can the faded tracks
of ancient crime be rediscovered now?

9
creon:
This land has answers, so he said. You catch 110
what’s sought. The disregarded thing escapes.

oedipus:
Did Laius meet his bloody end at home,
in open fields, or traveling abroad?

creon:
He led a sacred embassy, they said,
departing Thebes and never coming back.

oedipus:
No messenger or fellow traveler
returned, from whom some knowledge might be gained?

creon:
A lone survivor fled in fear, but he
knew nothing, save one isolated fact.

oedipus:
Which fact? A single fact can lead to rich 120
discoveries—to seize a slender hope.

creon:
He said that robbers met by chance, not one,
a massive force, attacked and murdered him.

oedipus:
How could a brigand be so bold unless
he made a deal involving silver here?16

16. As is pointed out in the scholia (anonymous footnotes on ancient

10
creon:
That crossed our minds, but after Laius died,
we lacked a leader. Times were very hard.

oedipus:
A tyranny17 had fallen! What new ill
prevented you from finding out the truth?

creon:
The Sphinx’s singing18 turned our minds to what 130
lay underfoot,19 not solving mysteries.

oedipus:
Then I’ll uncover all of it again.
It’s right of Phoebus, also right of you,
to show this dead man special courtesy.
Therefore you’ll see me join the righteous fight
to help the country’s cause and serve the god.
It’s not a case of helping distant friends.
I’ll purify the country for myself.
Whoever murdered Laius might decide

manuscripts), this remark seems aimed at Creon. Oedipus might suspect that
Creon hired an assassin so that he would inherit the throne.
17. It is important to remember throughout the play that “tyrant” and
“tyranny” were not pejorative terms. A tyrant was an absolute ruler. In Archaic
and Classical Greece, “tyrant” was applied mostly to those who gained control
of a polis by a violent coup. In Oedipus Rex, however, it is also applied to
Polybus and Laius, the legitimate hereditary kings of Corinth and Thebes,
respectively, and to Oedipus, whose situation is unique.
18. On the Sphinx, see note 10.
19. Throughout the play, Sophocles favors images involving feet. He is
playing on the name “Oedipus,” which may be understood as containing the
words oidein (“to swell”) or oida (“I have seen” or “I know”) and pous (“foot”).

11
to lay his violent hands on me as well. 140
I stand to benefit from doing this.
You children, look alive, get up and leave
my steps, and take those olive twigs away.
Let someone bring the men of Cadmus here.
I’ll handle everything, and with the god
we’ll find our fortune fair—or slip and fall.

priest:
Yes, rise, my children. His decree fulfills
the purposes for which we gathered here.
May Phoebus, having sent the oracle,
become our savior now and end the plague! 150

(The chorus of fifteen enters the dancing area at the

foot of the stage. They are young dancers impersonating
bearded men, the city’s elders. They sing in unison,
dancing as they do.)

chorus: 151–21520
O dulcet voice of Zeus, with what design Strophe A (151–158)
have you come down from Pytho’s
golden shrine 21
to splendid Thebes? My mind is wracked
with horror,

20. Line numbers for choral passages correspond to the Greek text
rather than the translation. See Preface, page xii.
21. Worshipers at Delphi dedicated gifts to Apollo, including gold and
silver artifacts. King Croesus of Lydia was especially generous, donating 117
bricks of gold as well as many other gifts (Herodotus 1.50.2).

12
my limbs are trembling. God that
Delos bore,22
Ah-ahh! Paean! 23 I stand in awe of you.
Will you accomplish something strange and new?
Or will the years as they unfold
reveal what they revealed of old?
Will I lament? Will I rejoice?
Tell me now, immortal voice,
O child of golden hope.

Great Zeus’s daughter is the first I name, Antistrophe A (159–166)

Athena; 24 next her sister, fair of fame,
Artemis 25—the marketplace her throne,
she guards our native land as if her own—
and Phoebus striking from afar—you three,
allies in mortal danger, come to me.
If ever in some former year,
with deadly ruin drawing near,
the three of you did not refrain

22. Apollo was said to have been born on the tiny island of Delos.
23. In Homer, Paean was a minor healing god, Olympus’ physician (cf.
Iliad 5.401, 899–900), but the word was also used as a common noun to
denote a joyous hymn of praise (cf. Iliad 1.473), the use that survives in
English. In later authors, as here, Paean lost his status as a separate deity and
became a name for Apollo when viewed in his role as a healing god.
24. Athena, Zeus’ daughter by Metis (Wisdom), is a great goddess
associated with skill in warfare, the domestic arts such as weaving, and
practical intelligence generally.
25. Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Apollo’s full sister, is a goddess of
wildlife and hunting. Pausanias (9.17.1) mentions a temple in Thebes dedicated
to Artemis Eukleia, the “Fair-famed.”

13
from banishing the burning pain,
then come again, I pray.26

Alas, my pains are infinite, Strophe B (167–176)

all the host is ill.
And there’s no weapon in my wit.
I’ve no defender’s skill.

Our famous land is barren earth;

its ample harvests fail.
Women labor, giving birth,
but all to no avail.

One here, one there. It’s all the same.

You see them rise and soar
like birds or some relentless flame
to reach the dark god’s shore.27

Countlessly, the city dies. Antistrophe B (177–186)

No compassion’s found.
A deadly generation lies
unpitied on the ground.

Wives and mothers, young and old,

lament by altar’s shore
pains and sufferings untold.
Their mournful voices soar.

26. This may be an allusion to two major outbreaks of plague in Athens

at the time in which Sophocles wrote. See Introduction, pages xxv–xxvi.
27. The “dark god” is Hades, god of the dead. His kingdom is sometimes
imagined to be in the far west, in a region of perpetual darkness beyond the
sunset.

14
Their brilliant hymn and cries combine.
Zeus’s daughter, please,
golden girl, O send benign
encouragement to these.

May Ares 28 charging boisterously, Strophe C (187–202)

without a brazen shield in hand
but fierce with heat that scorches me,
reverse his steps and leave our land

for Amphitrite’s spacious room,29

or harbor-hostile Thracian seas.
What nights release the days consume.30
O father Zeus, destroy him please,
hurl your fire-bearing rods.

Lycéan lord,31 I would exalt Antistrophe C (203–215)

your arrows shot from golden twine,

28. Ares is the son of Zeus and his wife, Hera. A god of war, he is
depicted less sympathetically than the warrior goddess Athena. Whereas she
is the patron and symbol of warriors who fight with intelligence and honor,
Ares embodies pure rage and violence.
29. Amphitrite is the goddess of the sea, the wife of the sea-god Po-
seidon. Her “spacious room” would be the sea itself, i.e., the Mediterranean,
whereas “Thracian seas” refers to northern waters: the northern Aegean, the
Sea of Marmara, and the Black Sea. The chorus is just praying that Ares will
go far away.
30. A mysterious line, literally: “For if night releases anything, it comes
to completion by day.” Perhaps the idea is that Ares presses his attack both
day and night. If a person survives the night, he or she dies the next day.
31. Apollo is the Lycéan lord. The epithet indicates a connection
with wolves (lykoi ). In Sophocles’ Electra (6), Apollo is called lykoktonos,

15
our best defense against assault,
and Artemis’s blazing pine,32

with which she streaks the Lycian crest.33

O Maenads’ mate,34 land’s eponym,35
Bacchus,36 golden-crowned, possessed,
hurl your flaming torch at him,
the god despised by other gods.37

“wolf-slayer.” The title may hark back to more primitive times when a major
function of Apollo was to protect herds and herdsmen from predators. There
is no etymological connection between the term Lycéan in this line and the
reference to the region of Lycia below. There are many examples in the Greek
of successive stanzas echoing each other’s language.
32. Artemis’ “blazing pine” is her torch. Pine trees and their pitch were
and still are used to make torches.
33. Lycia was a region in southern Turkey where there was an important
oracular temple of Apollo. Hence Apollo is sometimes called “Lycian” (e.g.,
Pindar Pythian 1.39). Here the chorus imagines the huntress Artemis, Apollo’s
sister, running around the hills in the vicinity of her brother’s temple by
night, carrying a torch. Sophocles probably chose the location just to echo
“Lycéan” in the previous stanza.
34. The term “maenad” means a mad person. The Maenads were the
ecstatic female followers of Bacchus, also known as Dionysus, god of wine
and drunken revelry. He was the “Maenads’ mate.”
35. An eponym is a person whose name has become synonymous with a
place or era; e.g., the “land of Lincoln,” the “age of Augustus.” Bacchus was
the son of Zeus and the Theban princess Semele, Cadmus’ daughter. Hence
Thebes was sometimes referred to as the city of Bacchus.
36. See note 34.
37. This is true enough. In the Iliad (5.889–898), for example, Zeus berates
Ares as a troublemaker, calling him the most hateful of all the gods. In the
Odyssey (8.266–366), he is caught sleeping with another god’s wife, Aphrodite,
goddess of love, who was married to Hephaestus, the divine blacksmith.

16
 (The chorus comes to rest, taking seats on the edge of
the dancing area. Their leader remains standing. Actor 1
as Oedipus has entered the stage from the palace during
the chorus.)

oedipus:
You’ve said your prayers. Regarding them, accept
my orders, helping me confront the plague.
You’ll scatter evils then and save your lives.
To deal with this, I’ll speak of something
strange
to me, a tale and deed I’ve no connection to 220
and cannot find its trail without some clue.
For I’m a recent citizen of Thebes.
and so demand this help of native sons.
If anyone of you has knowledge of
the man by whom Labdacid38 Laius died,
I order you to tell me who he is.
Don’t even hesitate to bring the charge
against yourself. You’ll suffer nothing more
unpleasant than a safe departure hence.
Or if you know about another man, 230
a killer from a foreign land, then speak!
You’ll make a profit. I’ll be grateful too.
But if you’re silent, fearing that the truth
endangers you or damages a friend,
then hear the other words of my decree.
I now forbid that persons anywhere
that I am lord and master greet the man

38. “Labdacid” is a patronymic. It means “son or descendant of Labdacus,”

who was Laius’ father.

17
whoever he may be, or speak to him
or let him offer prayers and sacrifice
or wash his hands in holy water. No! 240
He must be pushed away from every door.
That man is our pollution. That is what
the voice of Pytho’s god39 made clear to me,
and that being so, I join the battle as
the god’s ally and murder victim’s friend.
I curse the unknown man who did the deed
alone or helped by many. Let him spend
his evil life in squalid solitude.
And if my hearth is ever shared by him
and I have guilty knowledge that it is, 250
I call these curses down upon myself.
I order you to help fulfill these words,
for me, the god, and this our native land,
our dying, barren, godforsaken earth.
Yet even if the gods were not involved,
neglecting such impurity was wrong.
When any noble man or king is killed,
the guilty party must be found. Besides,
it’s I who gained the powers that were his
and share his marriage bed and fertile wife, 260
and if he hadn’t come to grief, there would
have been the bond of common children too,
but fortune dealt his head a fatal blow.
For all these reasons I shall fight for him,
as though he were my father. Yes! I’ll go
to any length to catch the murderer

39. Pytho is Delphi; Pytho’s god is Apollo. See note 14.

18
of that Labdacid son, the heir of kings,
of Polydorus, Cadmus, Agenor.40
If any persons don’t cooperate,
I ask the gods to give them barren fields, 270
and barren women too. Our present toil
or something even worse destroy them all!
You other sons of Cadmus who approve
these words of mine, may Justice join with all
the other gods to dwell in peace with you.

choral leader:
Speaking as one to whom your dreadful curse
applies, my lord, I didn’t murder him
nor know who did, but Phoebus having raised
the issue should reveal the killer’s name.

oedipus:
You argue justly, yet there’s not a man 280
can force unwilling deities to act.

choral leader:
Might I suggest a second-best approach?

oedipus:
Don’t even shrink from mentioning a third!

choral leader:
I know most often lord Tiresias

40. Agenor, Cadmus’ father, was the king of Phoenicia, which

corresponds geographically to modern Lebanon. On the other kings of
Thebes, see note 2.

19
sees eye-to-eye with lord Apollo. One
might learn a lot, interrogating him.

oedipus:
Here too you’ll find I haven’t been remiss.
At Creon’s urging I already sent
two escorts. I’m surprised he isn’t here.

choral leader:
We’ve also heard some murky old reports. 290

oedipus:
Which ones? For I’ll consider everything.

choral leader:
That he was killed by certain travelers.

oedipus:
I know, but no one saw the guilty man.41

choral leader:
But if the killer has a speck of fear
and hears your curses, lord, he’s sure to flee.

41. The Greek text as transmitted actually reads, “but nobody sees the
man having seen”; i.e., no one knows who the witness was. Since that
contradicts Creon’s statement and does not sit well with the next exchanges,
which concern the murderer, i.e., the doer, and not the see-er, many editors
accept an anonymous conjecture appearing in an eighteenth-century edition:
“but nobody sees the doer.” In Greek, this means changing d’ idonta to de
drônta. My translation is based on that reading.

20
oedipus:
Men bold in action aren’t afraid of speech.

choral leader:
There is, however, one he can’t escape.
These servants bring the sacred seer now,
in him alone the truth has taken root.

(Actor 2 enters as Tiresias. Two youths attend him.)

oedipus:
Tiresias, omniscient mastermind 300
of mystery and science, earth and sky,
although you cannot see, you’re well aware
the city’s visited by plague. In you
alone our only hope for safety lies.
In case you haven’t heard the messengers—
when we consulted Phoebus, we were told
we must—to end the plague—discover who
Laius’s killers were and either take
their lives or send them fleeing to other lands.
So don’t begrudge the knowledge birds impart.42 310
Use every mantic 43 power you possess
and save the city! Save yourself and me!
Deliver us from murder’s ugly stain.
We’re in your hands. No work is fairer than
using your gifts to help your fellow man.

42. As a prophet, Tiresias was adept at interpreting omens, especially

the behavior of birds.
43. “Mantic” means prophetic. It is from the Greek word mantis,
“prophet, seer.”

21
tiresias (aside):
How dreadful wisdom is when wisdom brings
no gain! I knew these matters well but I
destroyed them.44 Otherwise, I hadn’t come.

oedipus:
What ails you, man? You’re looking out of sorts.

tiresias:
Just send me home. You’ll bear your burden best, 320
as I will mine, by heeding my request.

oedipus:
You break the law withholding your advice!
That isn’t what your city’s friend would do!

tiresias:
I’ve seen you hurling words that miss the mark.
I’d rather not commit the same mistake.

oedipus:
You can’t refuse to share your knowledge now!
Look here! We’re all your humble suppliants!

tiresias:
You’re all shortsighted fools! I won’t expose
my secret sorrows, not to mention yours.

44. An important line, rarely discussed. Tiresias says that he knew about
Oedipus’ crimes but that he destroyed that knowledge. In our terms, he
repressed it. The passage introduces the notion of volitional ignorance,
which could also apply to Oedipus.

22
oedipus:
What’s that? Are you concealing secrets? Why? 330
Will you abandon us? Destroy the state?

tiresias:
I won’t cause needless pain—to you or me.
Why question me? I’ve nothing more to say.

oedipus:
You evilest of evil men! Do you
refuse to speak? You’d anger stone. How dare
you be so useless, so insensitive!

tiresias:
While railing at my character, you miss
the one that dwells within to censure me.

oedipus:
Who wouldn’t lose his temper, hearing how
you show this city blatant disrespect? 340

tiresias:
Although my silence covers things, they come.

oedipus:
Your job is telling me of things to come!

tiresias:
I’ll say no more, so freely rant and rage
against my words. Let’s see your finest wrath!

oedipus:
My anger’s such at least that I will not
refrain from stating what I think, which is:

23
you planned and all but did the fatal deed.
In fact, if you had any way to see,
I’d call the murder yours and yours alone!

tiresias:
You’d do so truly? I suggest that you 350
obey your own decree and starting now
converse with neither these good men nor me,
since you’re unholy. You pollute the land.

oedipus:
And now it’s brazen insults! Tell me why
you think you’ll get away with saying that.

tiresias:
I’m safe. I’m nurturing a mighty truth.

oedipus:
And who’s your teacher? Surely not your “art”!

tiresias:
You—urging me to speak against my will.

oedipus:
Saying what again? I need a better grasp.

tiresias:
Are you obtuse or merely testing me? 360

oedipus:
Your meaning wasn’t clear. Please try again.

tiresias:
The murderer you’re looking for is you!

24
oedipus:
You won’t enjoy repeating lies for long!

tiresias:
Should I say more to stir your anger up?

oedipus:
Go right ahead. You’re only wasting breath.

tiresias:
Your closest ties bring infamous disgrace.
You dwell in evil you’re too blind to see.

oedipus:
You think you’ll say such things in comfort long?

tiresias:
If truth possesses any power, yes.

oedipus:
It does—for any man but you, for you 370
are truly blind, in eyes and ears and mind.

tiresias:
Poor fool, reproaching me with epithets
the world will quickly redirect at you!

oedipus:
One nursed by endless night can do no harm
to me or any man who sees the light.

tiresias:
Your fated fall is not through me. The end
is in Apollo’s self-sufficient hands.

25
oedipus:
Did Creon lay these plans? If not, then who?

tiresias:
Your problem isn’t Creon. It is you.

oedipus:
O riches, tyranny, and art supreme,45 380
that ornaments the precious life I lead,
how great the envy is that we arouse
if loyal Creon, ancient friend, so longs
to gain the royal power that the state
conferred on me, a gift I didn’t seek,
that he’d contrive a plot to banish me,
suborning this conniving sorcerer
this tricky mendicant, who has an eye
for profit, sure, but in his art is blind!
Come now, if you’re a prophet, where’s the proof ? 390
What happened when the rhapsode bitch46 was here?
You should have spoken up and saved the town!
Her riddle wasn’t meant for passersby
to solve. It needed your prophetic art.
And yet you didn’t know the answer. Birds
could tell you nothing. Gods were silent too.

45. In Oedipus’ view and that of Greeks generally, the supreme art, the
master skill, is politics, which governs all others. The same view is expressed
at the beginning of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
46. The “rhapsode bitch” is the Sphinx. A rhapsode was a performer
who chanted ancient poems. The Sphinx is described as singing her riddle. In
the Greek, she is referred to as a female dog, a term of abuse applicable—like
“bitch” in English—to any disagreeable female.

26
but Oedipus, the ignoramus, came
and beat the beast with logic, not with birds—
the very man you’re trying to banish now
in hopes of finding room by Creon’s throne. 400
But you and he who plotted this will wage
a tearful purge, and if you weren’t so old,
you’d learn your lesson now by suffering.

choral leader:
In our opinion, both your words and his
were said in anger, Oedipus, for which
we haven’t any need. We should discuss
how best to puzzle out the god’s commands.

tiresias:
Though you’re the tyrant, I’ve an equal right
to answer you. At least that power’s mine.
I’m not your slave, my master’s Loxias,47
nor have I need of Creon’s patronage.48 410
You who belittled me for being blind
have eyes but do not see your evil state,
your dwelling place, or those you’re living with,
nor even know from whom you came. You miss
the fact that you’re your family’s enemy

47. “Loxias” is another name for Apollo, like “Phoebus.” It may be

derived from the adjective loxos, “slanted, crooked,” and refer to the fact that
his oracles were never straightforward.
48. In Athens, foreign residents were represented in legal proceedings by
patrons. Tiresias alludes to the fact that he is a native of Thebes, whereas
Oedipus is (as far as he knows) just a foreign resident. Tiresias refers to
Oedipus’ apparent status again in line 452.

27
in life and death. Your parents’ two-edged curse
is headed here on dreaded feet,49 and you
will flee. Your perfect sight will darken then.
What harbor won’t receive your frantic cry? 420
What Citheron50 will not re-echo it?
Your balmy marriage will at once become
a hostile sea in which your household sinks.
A mass of other evils still unseen
makes you your father’s equal, children’s too.
So go ahead. Keep throwing mud at me
and Creon. Never shall a mortal man
be more completely crushed to bits than you.

oedipus:
Am I supposed to listen to this rant?
To hell with you! Don’t linger here. Just leave 430
the way you came. Vacate this household now.

tiresias:
I’d not have come except you summoned me.

oedipus:
I didn’t know what foolishness you’d spout.
I hardly would have called on you for that.

tiresias:
In your opinion, I’m a perfect fool,
but ask your parents. They would call me wise.

49. “On dreaded feet” translates the Greek adjective deinopous, which is
obviously a play on Oedipus’ name, Oidipous in Greek. See note 19.
50. Mount Citheron is a limestone ridge between Thebes and Athens,
rising to 4,600 feet. It will be revealed that Oedipus’ parents ordered that he
be left to die on Citheron as an infant.

28
oedipus:
How’s that? No, wait! Who was my father then?

tiresias:
Today will be—and your destroyer too.

oedipus:
You speak in riddles. Everything’s obscure.

tiresias:
I heard that you excel at solving them. 440

oedipus:
Mock skill in which you’ll find my greatness lies.

tiresias:
That very skill, however, ruined you!

oedipus:
It saved the city. That’s enough for me.

tiresias:
So then I’ll leave. I need assistance, boy.

oedipus:
Yes, let him help you leave. Your presence just
annoys me. Leave and spare me further pain!

tiresias:
I’m leaving since I’ve said the things for which
I came. Your angry looks don’t worry me.
They cannot kill. But ponder this: the man
you seek with proclamations far and wide 450
about the death of Laius stands right here.
Once called a “foreign resident,” he’ll be

29
revealed a native son of Thebes, but not
enjoy the moment. Blind, though born with sight,
a beggar, wealthy once, he’ll use a staff
to steer his steps across a foreign land.
His children’s father, children’s brother too,
his mother’s son and husband all in one,
he kindly helped his father sow his field
and killed him. Go inside, examine that 460
account and if it’s wrong in any way,
then call my mantic inspiration false.

(Exeunt Oedipus and Tiresias.)

chorus: 463–512
Who is the man of whom we heard Strophe A (463–472)
in rocky Delphi’s mantic song,
whose bloody hands were not deterred
from crimes unutterably wrong?

It’s time he use his foot for flight,

he must outrun a wind-swift horse.
Apollo’s arms are hot and bright,
and he’ll arrive in force.

Unerring Keres 51 follow him,

spirits that we dread.

51. Keres ( pronounced like “carries”) are winged goddesses of death, the
daughters of Night and sisters of the Fates. They carry away to Hades people
whose time has come, especially doomed warriors. They are “unerring” in the
sense that no one escapes them in the long run.

30
The snowy peak flashed its command! Antistrophe A (473–482)
All must chase the hidden knave,
a bull traversing rocky land,
savage wood and sunless cave.

Wretched, sorrowful, and glum,

lame of foot and all alone,
he flees the prophecies that come
from Gaea’s navel stone,52

but they’re forevermore alive

and flutter overhead.

The wise bird-expert 53 causes fear Strophe B (483–497)

and leaves my thought in disarray.
Agree? Deny? The truth’s unclear.
I don’t know what to say.

There’s nothing settled in my mind,

for though I look I cannot see

52. Gaea (pronounced “guy-uh”) is the great goddess Earth, the mother
of the Titans, who ruled the heavens before Zeus and the Olympians. One of
the sacred objects revered at Delphi was a boulder. According to Hesiod
(Theogony 497–498), it was the very stone that Cronos, king of the Titans,
attempting to thwart the fate of being overthrown by his own children, was
tricked into swallowing instead of the infant Zeus. The stone was called the
omphalos (“navel”) and represented the center of the earth.
53. “Bird-expert” translates the unusual term oiono-thetas (oiono-, “bird”;
thetas, “one who puts in place”; a nomothetas is a lawgiver). This is another
reference to the study of birds as part of the practice of prophecy. Throughout
the play, such references usually seem disparaging.

31
what’s present now or lies behind.54
What is the enmity

between Labdacids and the son

of Polybus that proves the claim
the priest has made? I know of none,
and won’t assail the name

of Oedipus to help avenge

some murders dim with time.

Though Zeus and Phoebus know and see Antistrophe B (498–512)

everything that mortals do,
to say the priest knows more than me
is not entirely true.

One man’s wisdom sometimes will

outstrip another’s. That is all.
I won’t believe the charge until
the truth stands straight and tall.

The winged maid 55 attacked him then

by day before our very eyes.
He proved a loyal citizen
and obviously wise.

I’d never want to think that he

committed such a crime.

54. For the Greeks, what “lies behind” is the future. They thought that
the future was behind them because they could not see it, whereas the past
lay, in effect, in front of their eyes.
55. The winged maid is the Sphinx, of course.

32
 (Enter actor 2 as Creon.)

creon:
Men! Citizens! I’ve heard alarming news.
Our ruler Oedipus denounces me.
I’m here in protest. These are troubled times.
If he believes I’d ever be a part
of plans to injure him in word or deed—
I wouldn’t want to go on living with
a reputation such as that. It’s not
a little slight, for nothing could be worse 520
than being adjudged the city’s enemy,
an evil man, by you and all my friends.

choral leader:
It’s likely that his criticism came
from stress and anger, not his careful thought.

creon:
Did he declare in public that the priest,
at my suggestion, manufactured lies?

choral leader:
That’s what he said. I couldn’t tell you why.

creon:
Well, did he have a steady gaze or seem
insane when charging me with that offense?

choral leader:
I don’t observe the way my masters act, 530
but he himself is coming through the door.

(Enter actor 1 as Oedipus.)

33
oedipus:
It’s you! You trespass here? Is your contempt
for decent feeling such that you intrude
on me at home though clearly having killed
that man and hoping now to steal my throne?
In plotting this you must have seen in me
some cowardice or folly. Tell me which!
Did you believe I wouldn’t know that you
were creeping up on me, or not react?
But isn’t it a foolish thing, to try 540
to gain a tyranny while lacking friends
and wealth? To capture one requires both.

creon:
You ought to balance speech with listening,
then make a judgment based on what you learn.

oedipus:
How fluent! Still it’s hard for me to learn
from one like you, a grievous enemy.

creon:
Just hear me out about that very thing.

oedipus:
Just don’t deny how evil you’ve become!

creon:
If you consider stubbornness apart
from understanding valuable, you’re wrong. 550

oedipus:
Like you if thinking you can violate
familial bonds and never pay the price.

34
creon:
I quite agree with you. That’s justly said,
but tell me how you’ve suffered such abuse.

oedipus:
You did persuade me, didn’t you, that I
should interview a certain pompous priest?

creon:
And even now I’d call it good advice.

oedipus:
The Laius matter, when did that occur?

creon:
What matter? I’m not following you now.

oedipus:
When Laius disappeared. The homicide. 560

creon:
The times involved are in the distant past.

oedipus:
And was that prophet practicing his art?

creon:
As wisely then and just as honored too.

oedipus:
And did he ever mention me at all?

creon:
He never did while I was there to hear.

35
oedipus:
But didn’t you investigate the death?

creon:
Of course we did, but never learned a thing.

oedipus:
Why was it, then, that wise man didn’t speak?

creon:
Where knowledge fails, I’m fond of reticence.

oedipus:
You know and should at least acknowledge this. 570

creon:
I’m always honest. Tell me what you mean.

oedipus:
He never would have blamed Laius’s death
on me if you had not persuaded him.

creon:
You know the things the prophet said the best,
but now I claim the right to question you.

oedipus:
You’ll never prove that I’m a murderer!

creon:
Your wedded wife’s my sister, is she not?

oedipus:
You’ve finally made a charge I can’t deny!

36
creon:
You share your powers equally with her?

oedipus:
Her every wish is carried out by me. 580

creon:
My rank is third—with equal power too?

oedipus:
And that’s what proves that you’re an evil friend.

creon:
Not if your point of view resembles mine.
Begin by asking whether anyone
would choose to govern, nagged by fear, instead
of sleeping well with equal privilege.
I’ve never wished to be a tyrant, just
to act as tyrants do. No one who knows
what moderation56 means would disagree.
I’m not resented. All my needs are met 590
by you. I’d have distasteful duties if
I ruled. So how would that be sweeter than
this painless reign and dynasty of mine?
I’m not yet so deluded as to long
for something more than honorable wealth.
Now smiling faces greet me everywhere.

56. Moderation, sophrosyne, is a virtue of central importance in Greek

ethical thought. Its essence lies in striving to achieve the proper amount of
everything, neither too much nor too little. Creon’s ostensible satisfaction
with being the third most powerful person in Thebes fits the formula well.

37
Those courting you request a private word,
and their success or failure rests with me.
Should I relinquish that for tyranny?
[Sound thoughts do not produce an evil mind.]57 600
I’ve never cherished such a sentiment;
I wouldn’t dare to help someone who did.
Now test my statements’ truthfulness. Return
to Pytho, ask if what I said was true,
and if you prove I plotted anything
with that soothsayer priest, you’ll have my vote
as well as yours to punish me with death.
But don’t convict me absent solid proof.
[For carelessly mistaking evil men
for good or good for evil isn’t right.]58 610
To cast a noble friend aside is bad
as loss of life, one’s dearest property.
In time, you’ll second everything I say,
for time alone discovers who is just.
It’s villainy that only takes a day.

choral leader:
As one who’s careful not to slip, I think
he’s spoken well. There’s risk in hasty thought.

oedipus:
When foes are closing fast with secret plots
one’s only choice is thinking quickly too.
If I should merely sit and wait, his plans 620
will be accomplished. Mine will go astray.

57. See note 11.

58. See note 11.

38
creon:
What’s your desire then—to banish me?

oedipus:
Oh no! I’d have you die, not merely flee—
to demonstrate how evil envy is.59

creon:60
You say you’ll never be convinced or yield?
....

oedipus:
(I’ll never yield to mortal enemies!)61

creon:
You’ve clearly gone insane!

oedipus:
I guard myself.

creon:
I’m equally involved!

59. Editors agree that one or more lines have been omitted in this area.
The text as transmitted has Creon saying, “whenever you show what a thing
envy is,” which is difficult to fit into the context. My translation follows an
emendation suggested by R. C. Jebb, reading the Greek for “in order that”
(hôs an) for “whenever” (hotan). I assign the line to Oedipus, who is persuaded
that Creon envies his position (cf. 381–386). He wants Creon to die to show
to the world the ill effects of envy.
60. Some lines have dropped out. If 624 belonged to Oedipus, as I
suppose, then Creon probably had a two-line reply.
61. My conjectural reconstruction of Oedipus’ missing reply.

39
oedipus:
An evil man?

creon:
If you’re mistaken?

oedipus:
Still I have to rule.

creon:
Not ruling badly.

oedipus:
City, do you hear!

creon:
I have some claim upon the city too! 630

choral leader:
Please stop, my lords! Jocasta’s coming through
the doors, a welcome sight, for she’s the one
with whom you ought to settle this dispute.

(Enter actor 3 as Jocasta.)

jocasta:
What’s all this senseless bickering about?
Aren’t you ashamed, you wretched fools? While you
are arguing, the city’s deathly ill.
Come in the palace, you and Creon too!
Stop magnifying your petty grievances!

creon:
But, sister, Oedipus, your husband, means

40
to punish me with one of two decrees: 640
arrest and instant death or banishment.

oedipus:
That’s right. I caught him doing evil things
to injure me, suborning perjury!

creon:
May I fare poorly, yes, and die accursed
if I have done a single thing you say.

jocasta:
By heaven, be persuaded, Oedipus!
Respect the sacred oath he just pronounced
for me and all the others standing here.

chorus (to Oedipus): Lament (649–697)62

Be wise and change your mind, I pray. Strophe (649–667)

oedipus:
What’s this concession you’re asking me for?

chorus:
He wasn’t foolish yesterday.
Honor the terrible oath that he swore.

62. Lines 649–697 constitute what Aristotle (Poetics 1452b24) calls a

kommos (“lament”). It is a sorrowful passage in which the chorus and individual
actors sing alternately. The actors also speak some lines, as indicated in the
original by metrical changes and here by the alternation of italics and roman
type. This kommos seems intended to show the chorus’s distress at the quarrel
between Oedipus and Creon. Their grief is what prevents Oedipus from taking
action against Creon.

41
oedipus:
You’re sure of your desire?

chorus:
Yes.

oedipus:
Which is?

chorus:
Not to convict and cast out in disgrace,
on uncertain charges, a friend under oath.

oedipus:
Just know that what you’re asking for amounts
to seeking death or banishment for me.

chorus:
By the Sun, the most prominent god of all gods,63
may I perish completely, abandoned by gods
and mortals, if ever I thought such a thing!
And yet with the country so wasting away,
your quarreling on top of our previous ills
gnaws at the heart of this sorrowful man.

oedipus:
Then even though it means that I must die
or be disgraced and exiled, let him leave. 670

63. It was appropriate to swear by the Sun, Helios, because he saw

all things and would therefore be aware of perjury. He was the “most
prominent” god only in the sense of being literally the most visible.

42
I’m moved by your unhappy face, not his.
He’ll have my hatred anywhere he goes.

creon:
You even yield with hate! Your anger’s hard
to bear, but natures such as yours inflict
most pain upon themselves, and justly so.

oedipus:
I thought you meant to leave.

creon:
I’m leaving now,
unknown to you but fairly judged by them.

(Exit Creon.)

chorus (to Jocasta): Antistrophe (678–696)

Aren’t both of you departing too?

jocasta:
First tell me what was happening.

chorus:
Ignorant verbal charges flew.
Even unjust statements sting.64

64. These two lines are as strange in the original Greek as they sound in
this translation. Literally, they read: “An ignorant opinion of words came.
Even the unjust rends.” The chorus seems to be saying that Oedipus
expressed his misguided opinions about Creon’s treachery and that Creon felt
injured even though the charges were unjust. The obscurity of the language

43
jocasta:
And both were fighting?

chorus:
Yes.

jocasta:
The issue being?

chorus:
To someone concerned with his country it seems
sufficient to leave such a matter alone.

oedipus:
It’s come to this! For all your wisdom you’d
dismiss my case and blunt my anger’s edge.

chorus:
Ah lord, and I’ve said this so often before,
I’d be manifestly insane and devoid of all sense
if I would abandon a leader like you.
Our country was lost, overwhelmed by its toils.
You steered us to port like a fortunate breeze.
We pray even now that you guide us again.

jocasta:
By gods! Enlighten me, my lord, and say
what action angered you to such a pitch!

may be attributed to the chorus’s reluctance to disagree with Oedipus

too clearly—and to Sophocles’ need to match the meter of the strophe
exactly.

44
oedipus:
Since I have rather more respect for you, 700
I will: a plot by Creon, aimed at me.

jocasta:
Come tell me clearly what you charge him with.

oedipus:
He says that I’m Laius’s murderer.

jocasta:
He knows you are or merely heard it said?

oedipus:
He had an evil seer spread the tale
to keep his own mouth wholly free of blame.

jocasta:
Then put your mind at ease regarding that.
Listen to me and learn a basic truth.
No human being possesses mantic skill.
I’ve brief but cogent evidence of that. 710
An oracle once came to Laius from
(let’s say) Apollo’s servants, not the god,
declaring that whatever child was born
to him and me would cause Laius’s death;
but he was killed by strangers, so we’re told,
some robbers, where a wagon trail divides.
The days my baby lived were scarcely three
when Laius yoked his feet and had a man
abandon him on pathless hills to die.
Apollo didn’t make his words come true, 720
he didn’t make my son a patricide,
and Laius didn’t die the way he feared,

45
but that was what prophetic tongues foretold.
Don’t let them bother you, for what a god
wants known, he’ll simply bring to light himself.

oedipus:
I suddenly felt dizzy, listening
just now. My thoughts are racing everywhere.

jocasta:
What’s your concern? What startled you like that?

oedipus:
I think I heard you mention Laius being
cut down by some divided wagon trail. 730

jocasta:
That’s what was said. The story never changed.

oedipus:
And where exactly did his death occur?

jocasta:
The land is Phocis.65 Paths diverging lead
this way to Delphi, that to Daulia.66

oedipus:
How many years have come and gone since then?

65. Phocis was the name of the region in which Delphi was located. It
lay northwest of Boeotia, the region of Thebes.
66. Daulia is a small town about thirteen miles east of Delphi. The
famous crossroads still exists. About twelve miles from Delphi, a traveler

46
jocasta:
The city heard the story just before
you came and made your powers evident.

oedipus:
O Zeus! What’s this? Have you been plotting too?

jocasta:
Please tell me what’s the matter, Oedipus!

oedipus:
Not now! I need to know how Laius looked. 740
Was he still young, enjoying his youthful prime?

jocasta:
His hair had only started turning gray.
A tall man, rather similar to you.

oedipus:
Ah-ahh! I may have placed an awful curse
upon myself, not knowing what I did.

jocasta:
What do you mean? I shudder seeing your face!

oedipus:
I fear the prophet isn’t really blind,
but something else may cast some further light.

coming from Thebes can take a right turn and travel roughly the same
distance to Daulia.

47
jocasta:
I tremble, yet I’ll tell you all I know.

oedipus:
Did Laius travel light or, being a king, 750
command a company of armored guards?

jocasta:
He took a single carriage. Five in all,
counting the herald,67 made up his entourage.

oedipus:
The truth is now becoming obvious!
Who gave you all this information, wife?

jocasta:
A slave, the only witness left alive.

oedipus:
Would he be here inside the palace now?

jocasta:
No longer. Coming back from there, he saw
that you had taken charge with Laius dead.
He took my hand and humbly begged that I 760

67. Besides being messengers, heralds were arbiters of ritual and etiquette,
charged with seeing that official business of whatever sort was conducted
correctly. The inclusion of a herald in Laius’ party casts Oedipus’ behavior in
a bad light. Presumably, the herald asked Oedipus to step aside in a manner
that was normal and appropriate under the circumstances. Heralds were
sacred personages; for that reason, the Spartans repented of having killed
Persian heralds on the eve of the Persian Wars. Cf. Herodotus 7.133–134.

48
would send him off to distant pasturelands,
as far from city walls as possible.
And so I did. As servants go, he well
deserved to have some even better gift.

oedipus:
Is there some way to summon him at once?

jocasta:
There is, but why would you desire to?

oedipus:
I fear that I’ve already said too much.
I think I’d better see him face-to-face.

jocasta:
He’ll come at once, but surely I’ve the right
to know what weighs your spirit down, my lord. 770

oedipus:
I’ve fallen prey to such foreboding that
I can’t refuse. Besides, what better friend
to whom to speak at such a fateful time?
My father ruled in Corinth, Polybus
by name; my mother, Doric68 Merope;
and I was thought the leading citizen

68. The Dorians and the Ionians were the two great tribal divisions of
the ancient Greeks. The Corinthians were Dorians. Hence it seems superfluous
to identify Queen Merope as Dorian. Perhaps “Doric” should be interpreted
as a patronymic, implying that she was a descendant of Dorus, the legendary
founder of the Dorian tribe.

49
before an incident—surprising, yes,
but hardly worth the anger that it stirred.
We had a feast with flowing wine. A man,
a drunkard, called me illegitimate. 780
It bothered me all day. I barely kept
myself in check and sought my parents out
next day to question them. They angrily
denounced the man who let the story slip.
In that I took some pleasure. Still the thing
was irritating, always cropping up.
I made my way to Pytho secretly,
but Phoebus didn’t dignify my plea.
He spoke instead of other dreadful things,
of horrors the future held in store for me. 790
He said that I would surely couple with
my mother, show to men a horrid brood,
and be my natural father’s murderer.
At that I fled from Corinth’s land, resolved
to use the stars to measure distances
and find some place where I would never see
the oracle’s appalling words come true.
I came in time across the junction where,
by your account, that tyrant met his end.
With you, I’ll be completely honest. I 800
had gotten near the triple path on foot.
A herald met me there together with
a man aboard a carriage drawn by colts,
like you describe. The leader tried to block
my progress using force. The older man
did too. I hit the driver angrily
for pushing me away. The older man
withdrew until I crowded past, then took
a double cattle prod and struck my head!
He didn’t pay an equal price. In brief, 810

50
he felt the walking stick I had in hand,
fell backward off the cart and rolled away,
and then I slaughtered everyone. Now if
that foreigner and Laius were somehow
akin, is any man less fortunate,
more dogged by hostile deities, than me,
whom neither foreigners nor citizens
may greet or offer entertainment to
but have to shun? I placed those curses on
myself. Nobody else has any blame. 820
My guilty hands, which spilt Laius’s blood,
have stained his bed. Am I an evil man
by birth? Is every part of me defiled,
compelled to flee this country, yet avoid
my native land and kin or else become
my mother’s spouse and murder Polybus,
the man who gave me life and nurtured me?
I think it’s only rational to see
in these events some savage god’s design.
But sacred majesty of all the gods, 830
I swear I’ll never look upon that day.
I’ll vanish from the earth before I see
a stain of ruin such as that on me.

choral leader:
There’s cause for worry, lord, but cling to hope
until the witness comes and tells his tale.

oedipus:
That is, indeed, my only hope. I must
await the shepherd. All depends on him.

jocasta:
What are you hoping for when he appears?

51
oedipus:
Let me explain. My danger’s passed if we 840
discover that his words agree with yours.

jocasta:
What did I say that carries so much weight?

oedipus:
You said he spoke about some robbers, men
who slaughtered Laius. If he still refers
to men, I cannot be the murderer,
for one and many cannot be the same,
but if he mentions one unaided man,
the deed comes crashing down on me.

jocasta:
But rest assured that was his story then.
He can’t unsay his testimony now.
I’m not alone. The city heard him too. 850
And even if he changes what he said,
he’ll never vindicate the oracle
of Loxias, which stated that a child
of mine would be Laius’s murderer,
and that poor infant never killed a man.
He surely perished long before he could.
That’s why I haven’t given any kind
of prophecy a moment’s thought since then.

oedipus:
And quite correctly. Still, dispatch a messenger
to bring the servant. Don’t neglect the task. 860

jocasta:
I’ll send him quickly. Now let’s go inside.
You know I’ll never act against your will.

52
 (Exeunt Oedipus and Jocasta.)

chorus: 863–910
May fate find me accompanied Strophe A (863–872)
by purity in word and deed,
revering laws that walk on high,
the children of the azure sky.

They were not born of flesh and bone

Olympus fathered them alone.69
They never nod with eyes grown dim,
or age, for god 70 is great in them.

Hubris 71 breeds a tyrant. When Antistrophe A (873–882)

hubris satisfying its yen

69. The chorus is referring to seemingly timeless laws such as pro-

hibitions against patricide and incest. They propose a fanciful mythological
origin for such laws. They are the children of a father, Olympus (either the
mountain itself or a metaphor for Heaven, Ouranos), and a mother, the
bright upper air or heavenly ether, which I have translated as “the azure
sky.”
70. As often happens, the chorus refers to “god” without an article,
which makes them sound like monotheists. In fact, the Greeks generally
believed in many gods but spoke of “god” (as we speak of “man”) to denote
them collectively.
71. Hubris is the belief that one is above the law, an arrogant lack of
conscience. This is an important and controversial line, since it seems to
imply that Oedipus is guilty of hubris, an idea that many scholars reject. One
editor, R. D. Dawe, argues that Sophocles must have originally written,
“Tyranny breeds hubris.” Given that reading, the chorus is saying that
Oedipus’ position of power either has made him or will eventually make him
succumb to hubris. This is one of the many interpretive issues that each
reader must decide on his or her own.

53
for harmful substances ascends
the topmost beam to where it ends,

there must come next a sharp descent

that skillful feet cannot prevent.
God, keep the city in your grip.
I’ll always trust your leadership.

May evil fate reduce to dust Strophe B (883–896)

the man of haughty word and deed
who scoffs at gods and what is just
to satisfy his wretched greed.

How shall the man who profits much

but wanders from the holy path
and touches what he shouldn’t touch
defend his soul from lightning’s wrath?

If acts like those ennoble men,

why should I ever dance again? 72

’Til these predictions prove their worth, Antistrophe B (897–910)

I’ll leave the holy shrines alone:

72. In addition to their value as entertainment, dances, such as those

performed by tragic choruses, were viewed as a way of honoring the gods.
The question is why the gods should be honored if their laws can be ignored
with impunity. In these words, the chorus steps out of character as a group
of elder citizens in Oedipus’ Thebes and speaks as the tragic chorus that it
really is.

54
Olympia,73 Abae,74 and earth’s
untouchable omphalic stone.

Great Zeus, almighty in repute,

deathless sovereign, you should know,
men disregard the faded truth
revealed to Laius long ago.

Apollo ’s everywhere denied

bright honors. Piety has died.

(Enter actor 3 as Jocasta.)

jocasta:
Lords of the land, the notion came to me
to visit temples where the gods reside
with holy wreaths and frankincense in hand.
For Oedipus is frantic, prey to pain
of every sort. It’s quite irrational
the way he judges present things by past,
believing every frightful tale he hears.
My protestations fail, and so I turn
to you, Apollo, being the nearest god.
I bring these gifts and humbly beg your help. 920

73. Olympia in southwestern Greece was the site of the most famous
temple of Zeus—in addition to being the home of the original Olympic
games. The chorus seems to be saying that they will cease all religious worship
until Apollo’s oracle linking the plague and the murderer of Laius is vindicated.
74. A town located, like Delphi, in the region called Phocis, Abae
(pronounced “uh-buy”) was the site of another Oracle of Apollo.

55
Provide some pious way to end our grief.
We’re at a loss completely, seeing the man
who steers our galley paralyzed by fear.

(Enter actor 2 as citizen of Corinth.)

citizen of corinth:
Could anyone, O strangers, tell me where
the house of Oedipus, the ruler, stands,
or better still, the man’s own whereabouts?

choral leader:
You see his palace, stranger. He’s within
and she’s his wife and mother of his sons.

citizen of corinth:
Then may she always prosper, she and all
her household, as befits his wedded wife. 930

jocasta:
The same to you. Your gracious words deserve
no less, but tell us why you journeyed here.
In need of something? Having news to share?

citizen of corinth:
Good tidings, lady, both for house and lord.

jocasta:
What tidings, man? Whose messenger are you?

citizen of corinth:
I come from Corinth. Things I have to say
will surely please, but also cause distress.

56
jocasta:
How so? Explain this twofold potency.

citizen of corinth:
The Isthmians75 desire him to be
their ruler too. The word is spreading there. 940

jocasta:
Does ancient Polybus no longer rule?

citizen of corinth:
No longer. Death detains him down below.

jocasta:
What’s that? Is Oedipus’s father dead?

citizen of corinth:
Kill me if I’m not telling you the truth.

jocasta:
Attendant, run and tell our lord the news.
O sacred oracles, where are you now?
This is the very man that Oedipus
once fled in fear of killing. Now he’s dead
by some misfortune, not by Oedipus.

(Enter actor 1 as Oedipus.)

75. The Isthmians are the Corinthians. The city of Corinth is located at
the southern end of the Isthmus of Corinth.

57
oedipus:
Ah, there you are, Jocasta, dearest one! 950
Why have you summoned me outside the house?

jocasta:
Just hear this man and hearing give some thought
to where those holy oracles belong.

oedipus:
Who is this person? What’s he got to say?

jocasta:
He brings you news from Corinth. Polybus,
your father, isn’t anymore. He’s dead.

oedipus:
Come stranger, be your own interpreter.

citizen of corinth:
If you require confirmation, sir,
I say the man is truly dead and gone.

oedipus:
Did treachery or illness do him in? 960

citizen of corinth:
A little jolt puts ancient limbs to sleep.

oedipus:
The poor old fellow died from sickness then.

citizen of corinth:
And simply having been alive so long.

58
oedipus:
Amazing! Woman, why should anyone
respect the seat of Pytho’s oracles
or heed the squawking birds above, when they
declared I’d kill my father, who is dead
and buried now, while I am here without
a weapon, innocent, unless he died
from missing me and thus I “murdered” him.76 970
No! Oracles are worthless. Polybus
has taken them to Hades, one and all.

jocasta:
And that’s what I’ve predicted all along!

oedipus:
It is, but I was driven mad by fear.

jocasta:
Now none of this should weigh your spirit down.

oedipus:
Of course, I must beware my mother’s bed!

76. In myth and legend, oracles were always fulfilled, but sometimes
metaphorically. Oedipus’ remark raises the interesting possibility that he
might have avoided killing Laius literally if he had done so in some symbolic
way instead. Another famous story implies that he could even have slept with
his mother symbolically. Herodotus (6.107) tells us that before the battle of
Marathon, the exiled Athenian tyrant Hippias dreamt that he slept with his
mother and interpreted the dream as meaning that he would be restored to
Athens by the Persians and ultimately be laid to rest in native soil. Instead, he
lost a tooth in the sandy beach and fulfilled the omen that way.

59
jocasta:
What good can worry do a person? Chance
controls our fortunes. No one sees ahead.
What’s best is just surviving day by day.
Forget about your mother’s nuptials. 980
Many a man has shared his mother’s bed
in dreams, and living life is easiest
for those who simply disregard the fact.

oedipus:
All that you say would be convincing if
my mother weren’t alive, but since she lives,
despite your words, there’s every need to fear.

jocasta:
Your father’s death is still a beam of light.

oedipus:
Agreed. I dread the living woman though.

citizen of corinth:
What woman causes you to be afraid?

oedipus:
The king’s companion, sir, Queen Merope. 990

citizen of corinth:
And what’s in Merope that causes fear?

oedipus:
A dreadful, god-inspired oracle.

citizen of corinth:
One fit to tell or needing secrecy?

60
oedipus:
It’s not a secret. Loxias proclaimed
that I was doomed to share my mother’s bed
and that paternal blood would stain my hands.
Therefore I’ve always treated Corinth as
a distant colony. I’ve prospered, true,
but seeing your parents face-to-face is sweet.

citizen of corinth:
And fearing that, you’ve always stayed away? 1000

oedipus:
I didn’t want to kill my father, sir!

citizen of corinth:
Suppose I end these worries, lord, what then?
I came to you in friendship, after all.

oedipus:
You’ll find me good at showing gratitude.

citizen of corinth:
And that’s exactly why I journeyed here,
the hope of doing well when you returned.77

oedipus:
I never will—while either parent lives!

77. A traveler who was first to arrive in a city with valuable information
for its ruler expected to be rewarded. Such is the Corinthian citizen’s ostensible
motivation for bringing to Thebes the news of Polybus’ death and Oedipus’
election. By a wonderful coincidence, this same enterprising fellow played a
critical role in Oedipus’ earlier life, as is soon revealed.

61
citizen of corinth:
You clearly act in ignorance, my boy.

oedipus:
How’s that, old man? Become my teacher, please!

citizen of corinth:
You fled your family fearing what you said? 1010

oedipus:
Afraid Apollo might fulfill his words.

citizen of corinth:
And sins against your parents stain your soul?

oedipus:
Yes, that’s the thing that always frightened me.

citizen of corinth:
Then nothing ever justified your fear.

oedipus:
How could that be, if I’m my parents’ son?

citizen of corinth:
You’re not related, Polybus and you.

oedipus:
He didn’t sire me? Is that your drift?

citizen of corinth:
No more than I. Our credit’s equal there.

oedipus:
My father equaled some nonentity?

62
citizen of corinth:
I mean I’m not your father, nor was he. 1020

oedipus:
Why is it then he always called me “son”?

citizen of corinth:
You were a gift these very hands conferred.

oedipus:
And yet he loved me deeply even so?

citizen of corinth:
His prior childlessness had taught him how.

oedipus:
Was I a gift you bought or something found?

citizen of corinth:
Found in the wooded glades of Citheron.

oedipus:
What business brought you there, to that locale?

citizen of corinth:
My job was watching over flocks of sheep.

oedipus:
A vagrant shepherd then, a hired hand?

citizen of corinth:
Your savior too on that occasion, son. 1030

oedipus:
In what distress did you discover me?

63
citizen of corinth:
You ought to let your ankles testify.78

oedipus:
Why talk about that ancient injury?

citizen of corinth:
You lay with ankles pierced. I set you free.

oedipus:
I suffered infamy in swaddling clothes!

citizen of corinth:
Your very name recalls the circumstance.79

oedipus:
O gods! My father’s deed or mother’s, which?

citizen of corinth:
The man who gave you up could answer that.

oedipus:
I was a gift and not a foundling then?

citizen of corinth:
You were another shepherd’s gift to me. 1040

78. Evidently, Oedipus’ feet were still noticeably deformed from having
been pinned together in infancy. That should have alerted Jocasta to the
possibility that he was her long-lost son.
79. Oedipus’ name can be interpreted as meaning “swollen-foot.” See
note 19.

64
oedipus:
Which shepherd? Can’t you make your meaning
clear?

citizen of corinth:
He called himself “Laius’s man,” I think.

oedipus:
He served this country’s former tyrant then?

citizen of corinth:
That’s right. That one was that man’s shepherd,
yes.

oedipus:
And is that shepherd living? Could we meet?

citizen of corinth:
These local residents might tell us that.

oedipus:
Is anybody here acquainted with
the shepherd being discussed? Has anyone
caught sight of him in countryside or town?
Speak up! The time for learning truth is now. 1050

choral leader:
I know of only one, the man you sought
already, scouring the fields. But here
Jocasta’s not without authority.

oedipus:
My wife, the man we summoned recently—
is he the one this fellow talks about?

65
jocasta:
What difference could it make? Don’t be concerned.
Don’t give his statements any further thought!

oedipus:
With clues like these there isn’t any way
I won’t discover who I am by birth.

jocasta:
I’m humbly begging you. Your life’s at stake.
Give up! My sickness ought to be enough. 1060

oedipus:
Calm down! Suppose I’m proved a triple slave,
my mother too. Your name’s undamaged still.

jocasta:
I know, but listen, please, and don’t go on.

oedipus:
Not if it means I cannot learn the truth.

jocasta:
I only know and say what’s best for you.

oedipus:
If so, this “best” has tortured me for years.

jocasta:
I pray you don’t discover who you are!

oedipus:
Will someone bring that shepherd here to me?
Let her luxuriate in family wealth!

66
jocasta:
I weep for you, unlucky man. That’s all 1070
I have to say. That’s all I’ll ever say.

(Exit Jocasta.)

choral leader:
Why did the woman leave us, Oedipus?
She dashed away in bitter pain. I fear
that evils burst from silence such as that.

oedipus:
Whatever needs to burst out will. I still
insist on seeing my seed, however small.
The woman has her feminine conceits.
She finds my lowly birth embarrassing.
But I am Fortune’s child. When she is kind,
her gentle parenting brings no disgrace. 1080
If she’s my mother, let my brothers be
the passing months. They made me small and great.
I’m me. I won’t become another man
and falter at uncovering my birth.

chorus: 1086–110980
If I’m a prophet, tried and true, Strophe (1086–1097)
Citheron, the full moon’s when
Oedipus will honor you
as mother, nurse, and countryman.

80. This short, happy song reflects Oedipus’ strange optimism about
learning the secret of his birth and provides the starkest possible contrast with
the awful reversal that ensues.

67
We’ll dedicate our roundelay
to you for all the courtesies
you’ve shown our rulers. Phoebus, may
nothing that we say displease!

Who was your mother, child, disclose. Antistrophe (1098–1109)

A sprite hill-ranging Pan 81 came near?
A bedmate that Apollo chose,
to whom the tablelands are dear?

Was Cyllene’s lord 82 the one?

Maybe Bacchus, holding sway
on mountain summits, found a son
among his bright-eyed nymphs at play.

(Enter actor 3 as Laius’ man.)

oedipus:
If one who never met the man can judge, 1110
the shepherd we’ve been looking for is here.
At least, this fellow’s age would harmonize
with that conjecture. Add moreover that
the menials conducting him are mine.
But you’re much better qualified to make
the judgment. You and he have met before.

81. Pan is the god of shepherds. He resembles a human being except for
having a goat’s horns, tail, and hooves.
82. Cyllene is a mountain in southern Greece. Cyllene’s lord is Hermes,
the gods’ herald and the illegitimate son of Zeus. His mother, Maia, was a
minor rustic goddess who lived in a cave in Mount Cyllene, where Zeus
visited her.

68
choral leader:
I know him very well: Laius’s man.
No truer servant ever tended sheep.

oedipus:
I’d better check with you, Corinthian.
Is this the man?

citizen of corinth:
The very one you see. 1120

oedipus (to Laius’ man):

Then pay attention, ancient sir, to what
I ask. Did you belong to Laius once?

l aius’ man:
I did, a servant born and bred at home.

oedipus:
What duties did you have? What livelihood?

l aius’ man:
Most of my life I tended flocks of sheep.

oedipus:
And passed your days in certain areas?

l aius’ man:
Mount Citheron and nearby pasturelands.

oedipus:
And did you get to know this fellow here?

l aius’ man:
What did he do? Who’s that you’re speaking of ?

69
oedipus:
This fellow. Did you ever meet before? 1130

l aius’ man:
I couldn’t say right now from memory.

citizen of corinth:
That’s not at all surprising, lord, but I
can help him recollect. He surely does
recall the times he grazed his double flock,
and I my single one, on Citheron.
From spring until Arcturus rose,83 for six
entire months, we labored side by side,
three times. When winter finally came, he drove
his flocks to Theban stables, I to mine.
Did all this happen as I say or not? 1140

l aius’ man:
It happened, yes, but rather long ago.

citizen of corinth:
Do you remember giving me a child,
an infant I could raise and call my own?

l aius’ man:
What’s going on? Why question me like this?

83. Arcturus, the “Bear’s Guardian,” is one of the brightest stars. It is

named from its location near the constellation Ursa Major, the “Greater
Bear.” In the northern hemisphere it first appears above the eastern horizon
at dawn in mid-September. For the Greeks, its appearance marked the
beginning of stormy, winter weather. The Corinthian says, in effect, that he

70
citizen of corinth:
Good friend, that little child is now this man.

l aius’ man:
Damnation! Can’t you learn to hold your tongue?

oedipus:
Old man, you’d better stop rebuking him.
Your words, not his, require discipline.

l aius’ man:
Most noble master! Where do I go wrong?

oedipus:
Not telling him about the little child. 1150

l aius’ man:
He’s ignorant! He’s only wasting time.

oedipus:
If kindness doesn’t make you speak, there’s pain.

l aius’ man:
O gods! I’m elderly! Don’t torture me!

oedipus:
Enough delay! Will someone hold his arms? 84

and Laius’ man grazed their sheep on Citheron from March to September,
from the vernal to the autumnal equinox.
84. Oedipus’ intention at this point is apparently to have Laius’ man
flogged.

71
l aius’ man:
Unhappy man! What is it you must know?

oedipus:
You gave this man the child he’s speaking of ?

l aius’ man:
I did and only wish I died that day!

oedipus:
If you don’t talk, you’ll finally get your wish.

l aius’ man:
I fear I’ll get it sooner if I do.

oedipus:
I think this man is bent on wasting time! 1160

l aius’ man:
But I already said I gave the child!

oedipus:
But gotten where? Your own? Some other
man’s?

l aius’ man:
He wasn’t mine. He came from someone else.

oedipus:
Which house? A citizen’s? One standing here?

l aius’ man:
O master, please don’t ask me any more!

72
oedipus:
If I must ask you any more, you’ll die.

l aius’ man:
All right! The child was one that Laius . . . had.

oedipus:
You mean a servant’s child or one of his?

l aius’ man:
Ah-ahh! I’m close to saying the awful thing.

oedipus:
And I to hearing. Yet it must be heard. 1170

l aius’ man:
They said that Laius fathered him, but one
within would tell the story best—your wife.

oedipus:
She gave the little child to you?

l aius’ man:
She did.

oedipus:
With what instructions?

l aius’ man:
“Do away with him.”

oedipus:
His mother! Why?

73
l aius’ man:
Her fear of prophecies.

oedipus:
Of what?

l aius’ man:
He’d be his father’s murderer.

oedipus:
What prompted you to give the child to him?

l aius’ man:
Just pity. I assumed he’d carry him
away to foreign parts, to where he lived.
He saved the child—for greatest misery. 1180
If you are he, you’re surely cursed by fate.

oedipus:
Aa-ahh! Now everything’s becoming clear!
O light—the last I’ll ever see, I stand
exposed, all wrong in parents, those with whom
I lived and him I murdered, wrong, all wrong!

(Exeunt Oedipus and Laius’ Man.)

chorus: 1186–1222
Spawn of mortal generations, hear! Strophe A (1186–1196)
Your lives are nothing. Who of you can
say
his happiness did more than just appear
and having done so turned and
walked away?

74
If Oedipus’s fate’s 85 the test,
no human state is truly blest.

You shot a lofty arrow, unafraid Antistrophe A (1197–1204)

to gain all that for which a mortal
strives.
You slew the mantic, predatory maid,
became our fortress, saved our very lives.

Our highest honors as the lord

and king of Thebes were your reward.

But now who has a sadder tale to tell Strophe B (1205–1212)

of cruel destruction, toil, reverse of lot?
Poor Oedipus, one harbor served you well
as child and husband, getting and begot.

How could the field your father plowed,

when plowed by you, not cry aloud ?

Time seeing all things, exposing you Antistrophe B (1213–1222)

at last,
condemns the monstrous troth of
sire-son.
I wish I’d never seen you. I’m aghast.
I weep and wail, and yet you are the one

85. The Greek word translated as “fate” is daimon. Its primary meaning is
“supernatural being,” i.e., anything from a major god to an anonymous spirit.
It is especially used, however, of a lesser deity that supervises an individual’s
fate. Because of that association, it sometimes is used as nothing more than a
colorful synonym for moira, the proper term for fate, as is the case here.

75
who once enabled me to rise
and drifted sleep across my eyes.

(Enter actor 3 as servant.)

servant:
This land’s most highly honored gentlemen,
if you still hold the house Labdacids built
in high regard, what dreadful deeds you have
to hear about and witness! What dismay!
The Danube merged with Phasis 86 couldn’t
clean
the building, such atrocities it hides
and will too quickly bring to light. These ills
were voluntary, not the opposite. 1230
What hurt the most are pains we freely choose.

choral leader:
The facts that we’ve already learned are grief
enough. Do you have something more to add?

servant:
The news most quickly said and understood
is this: the godlike Queen Jocasta’s dead.

choral leader:
Unhappy woman! How? What caused her death?

86. A river that flows into the eastern extremity of the Black Sea,
the counterpart of the Danube on the west. The city of Colchis, where
Jason sailed to obtain the Golden Fleece, was located at the mouth of
the Phasis.

76
servant:
She killed herself. The most distressing part
of what occurred is absent now: the sight,
but you shall hear the woman’s sufferings
as fully as my memory allows. 1240
She passed inside the hall in passion’s grip,
tearing her hair with all her fingers’ might,
and went directly toward her marriage bed.
Arriving there, she slammed the bedroom doors
and called on Laius, dead for years, a corpse.
She recollected times he “planted seeds
by which he perished,” leaving her “to bear
his offspring misbegotten progeny.”
She cursed her bed: she bore “a husband by
her husband there and children by her child.” 1250
I can’t describe what happened next, her death,
for Oedipus came bursting in with shouts,
preventing us from seeing her suffering.
Instead we watched him lurching round the hall.
He ordered us to fetch his sword and find
his wife, “though less a wife than double field,
maternal soil, his own, and children’s too.”
Mad as he was, some spirit showed the way,
for no one standing close at hand had dared.
As if some force directed him, he yelled 1260
and crashed against the double doors until
he bent the bars and tumbled in the room.
That’s when we saw Jocasta hanging there,
ensnared in woven ropes. He saw her too.
His groan was like a wounded animal’s.
Untying the noose, he laid his woman down.
What happened next was horrible to see.
She wore a gown with brooches made of gold.
He took them off her shoulders, raised them high

77
and struck the rounded sockets of his eyes. 1270
He cried that they would never look upon
the evils he’d experienced or done.
He’d see forbidden faces darkly now
and those he should have known would
vanish too.
Meanwhile the brooches never ceased to rise
and fall. He struck his eyes so many times
his face was soaking wet with blood that poured
from them, and not a sprinkling here and there,
a blinding storm, a hurricane of gore.
These evils didn’t break from him alone. 1280
A man and woman’s partnership was cause.
The happiness they had in former years
was truly happiness, but now, today,
disgrace and ruin, lamentation, death
—no evil you can name has stayed away.

choral leader:
Has that poor man found any peace of mind?

servant:
He’s shouting now to part the doors and show
to Thebes a father-killer who . . . but no,
I can’t repeat his sacrilegious words.
He’ll make himself an outcast, not remain
at home accursed by curses he proclaimed. 1290
But even so he needs a steady guide.
So great a sickness can’t be borne alone.
He’ll show you soon enough. The palace doors
are parting. Presently, you’ll see a sight
to move a bitter enemy to tears.

(Enter actor 1 as Oedipus blind.)

78
chorus: Lament (1297–1366)87
O dreadful suffering to see,
most dreadful sight beneath the sun,
what is this wild insanity 1300
assaulting you, unhappy one?
What power leaping from the skies
oversees your wretched fate?
Pheu! Pheu! 88 I turn my eyes,
although there’s much to contemplate.
and many questions do arise.
The horror you cause is much too great.

oedipus:
Ah-ahh! Ah-ahh! How wretched am I!
Where in the world are you carrying me?
Where does my utterance, borne about, fly? 1310
Where have you vaulted—eeoh!—Destiny? 89

chorus:
Some dreadful place, unfit to hear or see.

oedipus:
O loathsome dark that won’t recede,
O foul fair wind against my back,
the sharp pangs of my recent deed
and evil memories attack!

87. Another kommos. See note 62.

88. Pheu! is a Greek interjection expressing grief and anger. In my
translation, I treat it as a disyllable, “Phay-oo, phay-oo!”
89. Oedipus uses the word daimon for destiny (or fate). See note 85.
“Eeoh” transliterates the interjection that precedes daimon in Greek. It is a
cry of distress used when invoking gods.

79
chorus:
Amid such sorrow, it’s no wonder that
you doubly grieve and feel a double pain. 1320

oedipus:
My friend! Now only you are here
To care for one who’s lost his sight.
You don’t escape. Your voice is clear,
I know it through the darkest night.

chorus:
Of dreadful deeds you’ve done, how could
you quench
your sight? What power put you up to that?

oedipus:
Apollo caused all this dismay, 1330
but it was I alone, not he,
who struck my eyes. What good are they
when there is nothing sweet to see?

chorus:
I could not disagree.

oedipus:
What sight is there that I hold dear,
what greeting I’d be pleased to hear?

Friends, drive me out and far away, 1340

eliminate the awful pest,
the man accursed, without delay,
the human being the gods detest.

80
chorus:
Your thoughts are sad as your misfortunes
are.
I’d rather not have known of you at all.

oedipus:
I curse the herdsman who untied
cruel bonds and saved my life. No gain. 1350
For otherwise I would have died
and spared myself and you such pain.

chorus:
I too would not complain.

oedipus:
I’d not have killed my father then,
been called my mother’s groom by men.

Now I’m the godless child who’s been

in his unholy parents’ bed. 1360
Whatever evil precedes sin 90
Oedipus inherited.

choral leader:
I wouldn’t say that what you did is wise.
Prefer no longer being to living blind!

90. Literally, “if any evil is older than evil.” Here Oedipus seems to
allude to the paradox that his acts were determined before he was born, and
yet he is conscious of guilt.

81
oedipus:
Don’t lecture me, insinuating that
my recent action wasn’t for the best. 1370
I can’t conceive what brazen eyes I’d need
to greet my father there in Hades’ realm
or view my mother’s grief. The things I did
to them make hanging seem too lenient.
Would I enjoy my children’s faces then
and yearn to watch such blossoms blossoming?
That’s not a sight my eyes would ever seek,
nor are the city walls and battlements
or sacred statues, all of which I’m banned
from seeing by curses I pronounced myself, 1380
once Thebes’ most pampered citizen, when I
bid all to shun the sinner, whom the gods
have shown to be Laius’s cursèd son.
While sporting such a filthy stain, how could
I meet another’s eyes with steady looks?
If there were any way to block the stream
of sound that courses through my ears, I’d not
refrain from sealing all my sorry self,
being deaf and sightless too. How sweet to have
a mind that dwells where evil cannot reach! 1390
Why did you shelter me, O Citheron?
You should have killed me quickly, then and
there,
that I might never show my source to men.
O Polybus and Corinth, native land,
as once supposed, you raised a lovely thing
in me, but evil festered underneath.
Behold an evil man with evil roots!
O valley hidden where a trail divides,
three narrow paths amid the crowding oaks,

82
crossroads that drank my father’s blood, my own 1400
and spilt by me, do you remember still
the things I did by you? My later deeds
upon arriving here?
O wedding days!
my wedding days! you gave me birth and then
reused my seed, and so the harvest grew:
fraternal fathers, single-blooded sons,
mothers in bridal gowns, and every sin
the human race has called most foul, and yet—
one shouldn’t name unlovely deeds aloud.
Act quickly now and drive me far away, 1410
or murder me or bury me beneath
the sea and never see me anymore.
Step forward. Deign to touch my suffering.
Don’t be afraid. No other human being
could bear my evils, only Oedipus!

(Enter actor 2 as Creon.)

choral leader:
Look! Here is Creon, just in time to act
or counsel us on your demands, since he
replaces you as Thebes’ sole guardian.

oedipus:
No! No! What words have I for Creon now?
Do I have any way to win his trust? 1420
I did him every kind of wrong before.

creon:
I haven’t come for gloating, Oedipus,
or criticizing you for past mistakes,

83
but if you haven’t any shame before91
the sons of men, respect the fire that
sustains all living things, lord Helios.
Do not expose your foul pollution. Earth,
the pouring rain, and light of day recoil.
Attendants, quickly help him go inside.
It’s simple decency that kindred folk, 1430
and they alone, should witness family grief.

oedipus:
Your coming here, a man so good to one
this vile, has changed my expectation so
I’d ask a favor, more for you than me.

creon:
What is this service you’re so eager for?

oedipus:
Make me an outcast now, exiled to where
I’ll never meet another human being.

creon:
I would have done so gladly. First I wished
to ask the god what action he prescribes.

oedipus:
But his command was very clear. You must 1440
destroy the godless father-killer, me.

91. Dawe argues that the original end of the play is lost and that what we
have (i.e., lines 1424–1530) was written by a different, later author in order to
bring the story into line with Sophocles’ later sequel, Oedipus at Colonus. The

84
creon:
That’s what was said, but given where we stand,
we’d better learn for certain what to do.

oedipus:
Do that for such a wretched man as me?

creon:
Indeed, and you must finally trust the god.

oedipus:
I do demand and humbly pray that you
do something else. Provide the final rites
you choose for her within, as kinsmen should,
but never ask my father’s city here
to welcome me alive within its walls. 1450
No, let me wander hills where I belong,
the heights that people call Mount Citheron,
the place my parents made my living grave.
I’ll die the way that pair of killers wished.
Of this, I’m very sure. No accident
or illness ever could have caused my death.
I was preserved for something horrible.
Let fate continue down its chosen path.
About my sons,92 you need not, Creon, give
them any thought. They’re men and can secure 1460
their livelihoods wherever they may be.

quality of the thought and language of the text does seem to decline from this
point forward, but it is the only ending we have.
92. Oedipus’ sons are known from other sources as Polynices and Eteocles.
When Oedipus goes into exile, they fight over control of Thebes and end up
killing each other.

85
 (Oedipus’ two daughters emerge from the palace and
slowly approach Oedipus.)

My poor, defenseless, maiden daughters93 though—

my dining table never stood apart
from them. They never ate without me. All
the food I ever touched I shared with them.
Take care of them and grant my fondest wish,
to feel their touch while weeping grief away.
Oh please, my lord!
Oh please! You’re nobly born. A touch would make
their presence real, as when I had my sight. 1470
What am I saying?
Do I not hear my two belovèd girls?
I hear them weep! Did Creon sympathize
and bring my darling daughters here to me?
Could I be right?

creon:
Yes, I arranged their presence here myself.
I knew the joy they’ve always brought to you.

oedipus:
Then fare you well, and for this favor may
a kinder fate attend your life than mine.
Where are you, children? Where? Come here to me! 1480
Come here to these fraternal hands, by whose
kind service your prolific father’s eyes,
which used to glisten, see the way they do.

93. Oedipus’ daughters are Antigone and Ismene. In Oedipus at Colonus,

Antigone attends her father in exile and then, in Antigone, martyrs herself in
the cause of securing a proper burial for her brother Polynices. See Appendix 2.

86
Why not? I fathered you by sowing soil
where I was sown, without a question, blind.
For you my tears are flowing, sightless tears,
imagining the bitter trials you’ll face,
how you’ll depend on others just to live.
What citizen assemblies will you join?
What festivals won’t send you walking home 1490
in tears before you see the holy rites.
And when the season comes for you to wed,
my children, what’s your prospect? Who will risk
the foul reproaches, damaging to all
the children I begot and all of theirs?
What evil’s missing there? Your father struck
his father down and plowed the very field
where he was sown and thus acquired you
from that maternal soil that gave him birth.
Amid such mocking, who will marry you? 1500
The answer’s simple: no one will. It’s clear
you’re doomed to die as maidens, barren earth.
Now you, Menoeceus’s son, alone
are left to be their father—since the two
of us who gave them life have perished. Please
don’t let them wander, poor, unmarried kin,
or suffer hardships comparable to mine,
but pity them. Regard their tender age,
possessing nothing, save what you provide.
Touch me, my noble lord, and nod your head! 1510

(Creon puts his hand on Oedipus’ shoulder and nods

his head.)

If only, children, you were old enough

to understand, I’d offer much advice.
As is, just pray for somewhere safe to live
and lives a little happier than mine.

87
creon:
You’ve accomplished all you can by weeping.
Go inside.

oedipus:
Very well—although it’s bitter.

creon:
Timeliness is fair.

oedipus:
Do you know my terms for leaving?

creon:
Hearing them, I will.

oedipus:
Make me live outside this land.

creon:
That gift’s the god’s to give.

oedipus:
I’m the one the gods detest!

creon:
Perhaps you’ll get your wish.

oedipus:
Promise me! 1520

creon:
I’m not too fond of empty promises.

88
oedipus:
Very well. Lead on.

creon:
This way and let your daughters go.

oedipus:
No! Don’t take away my girls!

creon:
Stop issuing commands!
Power’s left your retinue. It wasn’t yours for life.

(Exeunt Creon, Oedipus, and the others.)

chorus:
Native residents of Thebes, consider Oedipus,
one who solved the famous riddle, mightiest of men.
Everyone who looked on him was jealous of his fate.
What a flood of grim misfortune overwhelms him now!
Thus we learn how necessary seeing the final day
is for judging mortals blest. Otherwise refrain.
Happiness means ending life without being crushed by 1530
pain.

89