Part 2

CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY

OEDIPUS, supposed son of Polybus, King of Corinth; now elected King of Thebes.

JOCASTA, Queen of Thebes; widow of Laïus, the late King, and now wife to Oedipus.

CREON, a Prince of Thebes, brother to Jocasta.

TIRESIAS, an old blind seer.

PRIEST OF ZEUS.

A STRANGER from Corinth.

A SHEPHERD of King Laïus.

A MESSENGER from the Palace.

CHORUS of the Elders of Thebes.

A Crowd of Suppliants, men, women, and children.

The following do not appear in the play but are frequently mentioned:--

LAÏUS (pronounced as three syllables, Lá-i-us), the last King of Thebes before Oedipus.

CADMUS, the founder of Thebes; son of Agênor, King of Sidon.

POLYBUS AND MEROPÊ, King and Queen of Corinth, supposed to be the father and mother of Oedipus.

APOLLO, the God specially presiding over the oracle of Delphi and the island Delos: he is also called PHOEBUS, the pure; LOXIAS, supposed to mean "He of the Crooked Words"; and LYKEIOS, supposed to mean "Wolf-God." He is also the great Averter of Evil, and has names from the cries "I-ê" (pronounced "Ee-ay") and "Paian," cries for healing or for the frightening away of evil influences.

KITHAIRON, a mass of wild mountain south-west of Thebes.

ARGUMENT

While Thebes was under the rule of LAÏUS and JOCASTA there appeared a strange and monstrous creature, "the riddling Sphinx," "the She-Wolf of the woven song," who in some unexplained way sang riddles of death and slew the people of Thebes. LAÏUS went to ask aid of the oracle of Delphi, but was slain mysteriously on the road. Soon afterwards there came to Thebes a young Prince of Corinth, OEDIPUS, who had left his home and was wandering. He faced the Sphinx and read her riddle, whereupon she flung herself from her rock and died. The throne being vacant was offered to OEDIPUS, and with it the hand of the Queen, JOCASTA.

Some ten or twelve years afterwards a pestilence has fallen on Thebes. At this point the play begins.

The date of the first production of the play is not known, but was probably about the year 425 B.C.

OEDIPUS, KING OF THEBES

SCENE.--Before the Palace of OEDIPUS at Thebes. A crowd of suppliants of all ages are waiting by the altar in front and on the steps of the Palace; among them the PRIEST OF ZEUS. As the Palace door opens and OEDIPUS comes out all the suppliants with a cry move towards him in attitudes of prayer, holding out their olive branches, and then become still again as he speaks.

OEDIPUS.

My children, fruit of Cadmus' ancient tree New springing, wherefore thus with bended knee Press ye upon us, laden all with wreaths And suppliant branches? And the city breathes Heavy with incense, heavy with dim prayer And shrieks to affright the Slayer.--Children, care For this so moves me, I have scorned withal Message or writing: seeing 'tis I ye call, 'Tis I am come, world-honoured Oedipus. Old Man, do thou declare--the rest have thus Their champion--in what mood stand ye so still, In dread or sure hope? Know ye not, my will Is yours for aid 'gainst all? Stern were indeed The heart that felt not for so dire a need.

PRIEST.

O Oedipus, who holdest in thy hand My city, thou canst see what ages stand At these thine altars; some whose little wing Scarce flieth yet, and some with long living O'erburdened; priests, as I of Zeus am priest, And chosen youths: and wailing hath not ceased Of thousands in the market-place, and by Athena's two-fold temples and the dry Ash of Ismênus' portent-breathing shore. For all our ship, thou see'st, is weak and sore Shaken with storms, and no more lighteneth Her head above the waves whose trough is death. She wasteth in the fruitless buds of earth, In parchèd herds and travail without birth Of dying women: yea, and midst of it A burning and a loathly god hath lit Sudden, and sweeps our land, this Plague of power; Till Cadmus' house grows empty, hour by hour, And Hell's house rich with steam of tears and blood. O King, not God indeed nor peer to God We deem thee, that we kneel before thine hearth, Children and old men, praying; but of earth A thing consummate by thy star confessed Thou walkest and by converse with the blest; Who came to Thebes so swift, and swept away The Sphinx's song, the tribute of dismay, That all were bowed beneath, and made us free. A stranger, thou, naught knowing more than we, Nor taught of any man, but by God's breath Filled, thou didst raise our life. So the world saith; So we say.

Therefore now, O Lord and Chief, We come to thee again; we lay our grief On thy head, if thou find us not some aid. Perchance thou hast heard Gods talking in the shade Of night, or eke some man: to him that knows, Men say, each chance that falls, each wind that blows Hath life, when he seeks counsel. Up, O chief Of men, and lift thy city from its grief; Face thine own peril! All our land doth hold Thee still our saviour, for that help of old: Shall they that tell of thee hereafter tell "By him was Thebes raised up, and after fell!" Nay, lift us till we slip no more. Oh, let That bird of old that made us fortunate Wing back; be thou our Oedipus again. And let thy kingdom be a land of men, Not emptiness. Walls, towers, and ships, they all Are nothing with no men to keep the wall.