Oedipus the King
Sophocles
Translated by David Grene
CHARACTERS
CREON, His Brother-in-Law
TEIRESIAS, an Old Blind Prophet
A CHORUS OF OLD MEN OF
THEBES
PART I:
Scene: In front of the palace of Oedipus at Thebes. To the
Right of the stage near the altar stands the PRIEST with a
crowd of children.
OEDIPUS emerges from the central door.
OEDIPUS: Children, young sons and daughters of old
Cadmus,
why do you sit here with your suppliant crowns?
the town is heavy with a mingled burden
of sounds and smells, of groans and hymns and
incense;
5 I did not think it fit that I should hear
of this from messengers but came myself,--
I Oedipus whom all men call the Great.
[He returns to the PRIEST.]
You’re old and they are young; come, speak for them.
What do you fear or want, that you sit here
10 suppliant? Indeed I’m willing to give all
that you may need; I would be very hard
should I not pity suppliants like these.
PRIEST: O ruler of my country, Oedipus,
You see our company around the altar;
15 you see our ages; some of us, like these,
who cannot yet fly far, and some of us
heavy with age; these children are the chosen
among the young, and I the priest of Zeus.
Within the market place sit others crowned
20 with suppliant garlands
, at the double shrine
of Pallas
and the temple where Ismenus
gives oracles by fire
. King, you yourself
have seen our city reeling like a wreck
Cadmus n. mythical founder and first king of Thebes, a city in
central Greece where the play takes place
suppliant crowns wreaths worn by people who ask favors of
the gods.
suppliant garlands branches wound in wool, which were
placed on the altar and left there until the suppliant’s request
was granted.
double shrine of Pallas the two temples of Athena.
temple where Isemenus gives oracles by fire Temple of
Apollo, located by Ismenus, the Theban river, where the priests
studied patterns in the ashes of sacrificial victims to foretell the
future.
already; it can scarcely lift its prow
25 out of the depths, out of the bloody surf.
A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth.
A blight is on the cattle in the fields,
a blight is on our women that no children
are born to them; a God that carries fire,
30 a deadly pestilence, is on our town,
strikes us and spears us not, and the house of Cadmus
is emptied of its people while black Death
grows rich in groaning and in lamentation.
We have not come as suppliants to this altar
35 because we thought of you as a God,
but rather judging you the first of men
in all the chances of this life and when
we mortals have to do with more that man.
You came and by your coming saved our city,
40 freed us from the tribute which we paid of old
to the Sphinx,
cruel singer. This you did
in virtue of no knowledge we could give you,
in virtue of no teaching; it was God
that aided you, men say, and you are held
45 with God’s assistance to have saved our lives.
Now Oedipus, Greatest in all men’s eyes,
here falling at your feet we all entreat you,
find us some strength for rescue.
Perhaps you’ll hear a wise word from some God.
50 perhaps you will learn something from a man
(for I have seen that for the skilled of the practice
the outcome of their counsels live the most).
Noblest of men, go, and raise up our city,
go,-- and give heed. For now this land of ours
55 calls you its savior since you saved it once.
So, let us never speak about your reign
as of a time when first our feet were set
secure on high, but later fell to ruin.
Raise up our city, save it and raise it up.
lamentation n. expression of deep sorrow
Sphinx winged female monster at Thebes that ate men who
could not answer her riddle: “what is it that walks on four legs
at dawn, two legs at midday, and three legs in the evening, and
has only one voice; when it walks on most feet, is it weakest?”
Creon, appointed ruler of Thebes, offered the kingdom and the
hand of his sister, Jocasta, to anyone who could answer the
riddle. Oedipus saved Thebes by answering correctly, “Man,
who crawls in infancy, walks upright in his prime, and leans on
a cane in old age.” Outraged, the Sphinx destroyed herself, and
Oedipus became King of Thebes
