THESEUS
Oft had I heard of thee in times gone by–
The bloody mutilation of thine eyes–
And therefore know thee, son of Laius.
All that I lately gathered on the way
Made my conjecture doubly sure; and now
Thy garb and that marred visage prove to me
That thou art he. So pitying thine estate,
Most ill-starred Oedipus, I fain would know
What is the suit ye urge on me and Athens,
Thou and the helpless maiden at thy side.
Declare it; dire indeed must be the tale
Whereat _I_ should recoil. I too was reared,
Like thee, in exile, and in foreign lands
Wrestled with many perils, no man more.
Wherefore no alien in adversity
Shall seek in vain my succor, nor shalt thou;
I know myself a mortal, and my share
In what the morrow brings no more than thine.
OEDIPUS
Theseus, thy words so apt, so generous
So comfortable, need no long reply
Both who I am and of what lineage sprung,
And from what land I came, thou hast declared.
So without prologue I may utter now
My brief petition, and the tale is told.
THESEUS
Say on, and tell me what I fain would learn.
OEDIPUS
I come to offer thee this woe-worn frame,
A gift not fair to look on; yet its worth
More precious far than any outward show.
THESEUS
What profit dost thou proffer to have brought?
OEDIPUS
Hereafter thou shalt learn, not yet, methinks.
THESEUS
When may we hope to reap the benefit?
OEDIPUS
When I am dead and thou hast buried me.
THESEUS
Thou cravest life’s last service; all before–
Is it forgotten or of no account?
OEDIPUS
Yea, the last boon is warrant for the rest.
THESEUS
The grace thou cravest then is small indeed.
OEDIPUS
Nay, weigh it well; the issue is not slight.
THESEUS
Thou meanest that betwixt thy sons and me?
OEDIPUS
Prince, they would fain convey me back to Thebes.
THESEUS
If there be no compulsion, then methinks
To rest in banishment befits not thee.
OEDIPUS
Nay, when _I_ wished it _they_ would not consent.
THESEUS
For shame! such temper misbecomes the faller.
OEDIPUS
Chide if thou wilt, but first attend my plea.
THESEUS
Say on, I wait full knowledge ere I judge.
OEDIPUS
O Theseus, I have suffered wrongs on wrongs.
THESEUS
Wouldst tell the old misfortune of thy race?
OEDIPUS
No, that has grown a byword throughout Greece.
THESEUS
What then can be this more than mortal grief?
OEDIPUS
My case stands thus; by my own flesh and blood
I was expelled my country, and can ne’er
Thither return again, a parricide.
THESEUS
Why fetch thee home if thou must needs obey.
THESEUS
What are they threatened by the oracle?
OEDIPUS
Destruction that awaits them in this land.
THESEUS
What can beget ill blood ‘twixt them and me?
OEDIPUS
Dear son of Aegeus, to the gods alone
Is given immunity from eld and death;
But nothing else escapes all-ruinous time.
Earth’s might decays, the might of men decays,
Honor grows cold, dishonor flourishes,
There is no constancy ‘twixt friend and friend,
Or city and city; be it soon or late,
Sweet turns to bitter, hate once more to love.
If now ’tis sunshine betwixt Thebes and thee
And not a cloud, Time in his endless course
Gives birth to endless days and nights, wherein
The merest nothing shall suffice to cut
With serried spears your bonds of amity.
Then shall my slumbering and buried corpse
In its cold grave drink their warm life-blood up,
If Zeus be Zeus and Phoebus still speak true.
No more: ’tis ill to tear aside the veil
Of mysteries; let me cease as I began:
Enough if thou wilt keep thy plighted troth,
Then shall thou ne’er complain that
OEDIPUS
Proved an unprofitable and thankless guest,
Except the gods themselves shall play me false.
CHORUS
The man, my lord, has from the very first
Declared his power to offer to our land
These and like benefits.
THESEUS
Who could reject
The proffered amity of such a friend?
First, he can claim the hospitality
To which by mutual contract we stand pledged:
Next, coming here, a suppliant to the gods,
He pays full tribute to the State and me;
His favors therefore never will I spurn,
But grant him the full rights of citizen;
And, if it suits the stranger here to bide,
I place him in your charge, or if he please
Rather to come with me–choose, Oedipus,
Which of the two thou wilt. Thy choice is mine.
