Ch. 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.
Cr. Kinswoman, Oedipus thy lord claims to do dread things unto me,640 even one or other of two ills,—to thrust me from the land of my fathers, or to slay me amain.
Oe. Yea; for I have caught him, lady, working evil, by ill arts, against my person.
Cr. Now may I see no good, but perish accursed, if I have done aught to thee of that wherewith thou chargest me!
Io. 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?
str. 1. Ch. Consent, reflect, hearken, O my king, I pray thee!
Oe. What grace, then, wouldest thou have me grant thee?650
Ch. Respect him who aforetime was not foolish, and who now is strong in his oath.
Oe. Now dost thou know what thou cravest?
Ch. Yea.
Oe. Declare, then, what thou meanest.
Ch. That thou shouldest never use an unproved rumour to cast a dishonouring charge on the friend who has bound himself with a curse.
Oe. Then be very sure that, when thou seekest this, for me thou art seeking destruction, or exile from this land.
str. 2. Ch. No,660 by him who stands m 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.
Oe. Then let him go, though I am surely doomed to death, or to be thrust dishonoured from the land.670 Thy lips, not his, move my compassion by their plaint; but he, where'er he be, shall be hated.
Cr. 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.
Oe. Then wilt thou not leave me in peace, and get thee gone?
Cr. I will go my way; I have found thee undiscerning, but in the sight of these I am just.
[Exit.
ant. 1. Ch. Lady, why dost thou delay to take yon man into the house?
Io. I will do so, when I have learned what hath chanced.680
Ch. Blind suspicion, bred of talk, arose; and, on the other part, injustice wounds.
Io. It was on both sides?
Ch. Aye.
Io. And what was the story?
Ch. Enough, methinks, enough—when our land is already vexed—that the matter should rest where it ceased.
Oe. Seest thou to what thou hast come, for all thy honest purpose, in seeking to slack and blunt my zeal?
ant. 2. Ch. King, I have said it not once alone—be sure that I should have been shown a madman,690 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.
Io. In the name of the gods, tell me also, O king, on what account thou hast conceived this steadfast wrath.
Oe. That will I;700 for I honour thee, lady, above yonder men:—the cause is Creon, and the plots that he hath laid against me.
Io. Speak on—if thou canst tell clearly how the feud began.
Oe. He says that I stand guilty of the blood of Laïus.
Io. As on his own knowledge? Or on hearsay from another?
Oe. Nay, he hath made a rascal seer his mouthpiece; as for himself, he keeps his lips wholly pure.
Io. 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.710
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 that720 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.
Oe. What restlessness of soul, lady, what tumult of the mind hath just come upon me since I heard thee speak!
Io. What anxiety hath startled thee, that thou sayest this?
Oe. Methought I heard this from thee,—that Laïus was slain where three highways meet.730
Io. Yea, that was the story; nor hath it ceased yet.
Oe. And where is the place where this befell?
Io. The land is called Phocis; and branching roads lead to the same spot from Delphi and from Daulia.
Oe. And what is the time that hath passed since these things were?
Io. The news was published to the town shortly before thou wast first seen in power over this land.
Oe. O Zeus, what hast thou decreed to do unto me?
Io. And wherefore, Oedipus, doth this thing weigh upon thy soul?
Oe. Ask me not yet;740 but say what was the stature of Laïus, and how ripe his manhood.
Io. He was tall,—the silver just lightly strewn among his hair; and his form was not greatly unlike to thine.
Oe. Unhappy that I am! Methinks I have been laying myself even now under a dread curse, and knew it not.
Io. How sayest thou? I tremble when I look on thee, my king.
Oe. Dread misgivings have I that the seer can see. But thou wilt show better if thou wilt tell me one thing more.
Io. Indeed—though I tremble—I will answer all thou askest, when I hear it.
Oe. Went he in small force,750 or with many armed followers, like a chieftain?
Io. Five they were in all,—a herald one of them; and there was one carriage, which bore Laïus.
Oe. Alas! 'Tis now clear indeed.—Who was he who gave you these tidings, lady?
Io. A servant—the sole survivor who came home.
Oe. Is he haply at hand in the house now?
Io. 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,760 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.
Oe. Would, then, that he could return to us without delay!
Io. It is easy: but wherefore dost thou enjoin this?