CHORUS
(Str. 1)
O when the flying foe,
Turning at last to bay,
Soon will give blow for blow,
Might I behold the fray;
Hear the loud battle roar
Swell, on the Pythian shore,
Or by the torch-lit bay,
Where the dread Queen and Maid
Cherish the mystic rites,
Rites they to none betray,
Ere on his lips is laid
Secrecy’s golden key
By their own acolytes,
Priestly Eumolpidae.
There I might chance behold
Theseus our captain bold
Meet with the robber band,
Ere they have fled the land,
Rescue by might and main
Maidens, the captives twain.
(Ant. 1)
Haply on swiftest steed,
Or in the flying car,
Now they approach the glen,
West of white Oea’s scaur.
They will be vanquished:
Dread are our warriors, dread
Theseus our chieftain’s men.
Flashes each bridle bright,
Charges each gallant knight,
All that our Queen adore,
Pallas their patron, or
Him whose wide floods enring
Earth, the great Ocean-king
Whom Rhea bore.
(Str. 2)
Fight they or now prepare
To fight? a vision rare
Tells me that soon again
I shall behold the twain
Maidens so ill bestead,
By their kin buffeted.
Today, today Zeus worketh some great thing
This day shall victory bring.
O for the wings, the wings of a dove,
To be borne with the speed of the gale,
Up and still upwards to sail
And gaze on the fray from the clouds above.
(Ant. 2)
All-seeing Zeus, O lord of heaven,
To our guardian host be given
Might triumphant to surprise
Flying foes and win their prize.
Hear us, Zeus, and hear us, child
Of Zeus, Athene undefiled,
Hear, Apollo, hunter, hear,
Huntress, sister of Apollo,
Who the dappled swift-foot deer
O’er the wooded glade dost follow;
Help with your two-fold power
Athens in danger’s hour!
O wayfarer, thou wilt not have to tax
The friends who watch for thee with false presage,
For lo, an escort with the maids draws near.
[Enter ANTIGONE and ISMENE with THESEUS]
OEDIPUS
Where, where? what sayest thou?
ANTIGONE
O father, father,
Would that some god might grant thee eyes to see
This best of men who brings us back again.
OEDIPUS
My child! and are ye back indeed!
ANTIGONE
Yes, saved
By Theseus and his gallant followers.
OEDIPUS
Come to your father’s arms, O let me feel
A child’s embrace I never hoped for more.
ANTIGONE
Thou askest what is doubly sweet to give.
OEDIPUS
Where are ye then?
ANTIGONE
We come together both.
OEDIPUS
My precious nurslings!
ANTIGONE
Fathers aye were fond.
OEDIPUS
Props of my age!
ANTIGONE
So sorrow sorrow props.
OEDIPUS
I have my darlings, and if death should come,
Death were not wholly bitter with you near.
Cling to me, press me close on either side,
There rest ye from your dreary wayfaring.
Now tell me of your ventures, but in brief;
Brief speech suffices for young maids like you.
ANTIGONE
Here is our savior; thou should’st hear the tale
From his own lips; so shall my part be brief.
OEDIPUS
I pray thee do not wonder if the sight
Of children, given o’er for lost, has made
My converse somewhat long and tedious.
Full well I know the joy I have of them
Is due to thee, to thee and no man else;
Thou wast their sole deliverer, none else.
The gods deal with thee after my desire,
With thee and with this land! for fear of heaven
I found above all peoples most with you,
And righteousness and lips that cannot lie.
I speak in gratitude of what I know,
For all I have I owe to thee alone.
Give me thy hand, O Prince, that I may touch it,
And if thou wilt permit me, kiss thy cheek.
What say I? Can I wish that thou should’st touch
One fallen like me to utter wretchedness,
Corrupt and tainted with a thousand ills?
Oh no, I would not let thee if thou would’st.
They only who have known calamity
Can share it. Let me greet thee where thou art,
And still befriend me as thou hast till now.
THESEUS
I marvel not if thou hast dallied long
In converse with thy children and preferred
Their speech to mine; I feel no jealousy,
I would be famous more by deeds than words.
Of this, old friend, thou hast had proof; my oath
I have fulfilled and brought thee back the maids
Alive and nothing harmed for all those threats.
And how the fight was won, ’twere waste of words
To boast–thy daughters here will tell thee all.
But of a matter that has lately chanced
On my way hitherward, I fain would have
Thy counsel–slight ‘twould seem, yet worthy thought.
A wise man heeds all matters great or small.
OEDIPUS
What is it, son of Aegeus? Let me hear.
Of what thou askest I myself know naught.
THESEUS
‘Tis said a man, no countryman of thine,
But of thy kin, hath taken sanctuary
Beside the altar of Poseidon, where
I was at sacrifice when called away.
OEDIPUS
What is his country? what the suitor’s prayer?
THESEUS
I know but one thing; he implores, I am told,
A word with thee–he will not trouble thee.
OEDIPUS
What seeks he? If a suppliant, something grave.
THESEUS
He only waits, they say, to speak with thee,
And then unharmed to go upon his way.
OEDIPUS
I marvel who is this petitioner.
THESEUS
Think if there be not any of thy kin
At Argos who might claim this boon of thee.
OEDIPUS
Dear friend, forbear, I pray.
THESEUS
What ails thee now?
OEDIPUS
Ask it not of me.
THESEUS
Ask not what? explain.
OEDIPUS
Thy words have told me who the suppliant is.
THESEUS
Who can he be that I should frown on him?
OEDIPUS
My son, O king, my hateful son, whose words
Of all men’s most would jar upon my ears.
THESEUS
Thou sure mightest listen. If his suit offend,
No need to grant it. Why so loth to hear him?
OEDIPUS
That voice, O king, grates on a father’s ears;
I have come to loathe it. Force me not to yield.
THESEUS
But he hath found asylum. O beware,
And fail not in due reverence to the god.
ANTIGONE
O heed me, father, though I am young in years.
Let the prince have his will and pay withal
What in his eyes is service to the god;
For our sake also let our brother come.
If what he urges tend not to thy good
He cannot surely wrest perforce thy will.
To hear him then, what harm? By open words
A scheme of villainy is soon bewrayed.
Thou art his father, therefore canst not pay
In kind a son’s most impious outrages.
O listen to him; other men like thee
Have thankless children and are choleric,
But yielding to persuasion’s gentle spell
They let their savage mood be exorcised.
Look thou to the past, forget the present, think
On all the woe thy sire and mother brought thee;
Thence wilt thou draw this lesson without fail,
Of evil passion evil is the end.
Thou hast, alas, to prick thy memory,
Stern monitors, these ever-sightless orbs.
O yield to us; just suitors should not need
To be importunate, nor he that takes
A favor lack the grace to make return.
OEDIPUS
Grievous to me, my child, the boon ye win
By pleading. Let it be then; have your way
Only if come he must, I beg thee, friend,
Let none have power to dispose of me.
THESEUS
No need, Sir, to appeal a second time.
It likes me not to boast, but be assured
Thy life is safe while any god saves mine.
[Exit THESEUS]
