The Tragedies of Sophocles

1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5378-1441-4
Verlag: Charles River Editors
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 382 Seiten

The Tragedies of Sophocles contains classics such as Oedipus and Antigone, translated into English in 1917.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sophocles

Weitere Mitwirkende

Claverhouse Jebb, Richard

Leseproben

OEDIPUS AT COLONUS.
.................. Oedipus. DAUGHTER OF THE BLIND OLD man, to what region have we come, Antigone, or what city of men? Who will entertain the wandering Oedipus to-day with scanty gifts? Little crave I, and win yet less than that little, and therewith am content; for patience is the lesson of suffering, and of the years in our long fellowship, and lastly of a noble mind.—My child, if thou seest any resting-place, whether on profane ground or by groves10 of the gods, stay me and set me down, that we may inquire where we are: for we stand in need to learn as strangers of denizens, and to perform their bidding. Antigone. Father, toil-worn Oedipus, the towers that guard the city, to judge by sight, are far off; and this place is sacred, to all seeming,—thick-set with laurel, olive, vine; and in its heart a feathered choir of nightingales makes music. So sit thee here on this unhewn stone; thou hast travelled a long way for an old man.20 Oe. Seat me, then, and watch over the blind. An. If time can teach, I need not to learn that. Oe. Canst thou tell me, now, where we have arrived? An. Athens I know, but not this place. Oe. Aye, so much every wayfarer told us. An. Well, shall I go and learn how the spot is called? Oe. Yes, child,—if indeed ‘tis habitable. An. Nay, inhabited it surely is;—but I think there is no need;—yonder I see a man near us. Oe. Hitherward moving and setting forth?30 An. Nay, he is at our side already. Speak as the moment prompts thee, for the man is here. Enter Stranger (a man of Colonus). Oe. Stranger, hearing from this maiden, who hath sight for herself and for me, that thou hast drawn nigh with timely quest for the solving of our doubts— St. Now, ere thou question me at large, quit this seat; for thou art on ground which ‘tis not lawful to tread. Oe. And what is this ground? To what deity sacred? St. Ground inviolable, whereon none may dwell: for the dread goddesses hold it, the daughters of Earth and Darkness.40 Oe. Who may they be, whose awful name I am to hear and invoke? St. The all-seeing Eumenides the folk here would call them: but other names please otherwhere. Oe. Then graciously may they receive their suppliant! for nevermore will I depart from my rest in this land. St. What means this? Oe. ‘Tis the watchword of my fate. St. Nay, for my part, I dare not remove thee without warrant from the city, ere I report what I am doing. Oe. Now for the gods’ love, stranger, refuse me not, hapless wanderer that I am,50 the knowledge for which I sue to thee. St. Speak, and from me thou shalt find no refusal. Oe. What, then, is the place that we have entered? St. All that I know, thou shalt learn from my mouth. This whole place is sacred; awful Poseidon holds it, and therein is the fire-fraught god, the Titan Prometheus; but as for the spot whereon thou treadest, ‘tis called the Brazen Threshold of this land, the stay of Athens; and the neighbouring fields claim yon knight Colonus for their primal lord,60 and all the people bear his name in common for their own. Such, thou mayest know, stranger, are these haunts, not honoured in story, but rather in the life that loves them. Oe. Are there indeed dwellers in this region? St. Yea, surely, the namesakes of yonder god. Oe. Have they a king? Or doth speech rest with the folk? St. These parts are ruled by the king in the city. Oe. And who is thus sovereign in counsel and in might? St. Theseus he is called, son of Aegeus who was before him. Oe. Could a messenger go for him from among you?70 St. With what aim to speak, or to prepare his coming? Oe. That by small service he may find a great gain. St. And what help can be from one who sees not? Oe. In all that I speak there shall be sight. St. Mark me now, friend—I would not have thee come to harm,—for thou art noble, if one may judge by thy looks, leaving thy fortune aside;—stay here, e’en where I found thee, till I go and tell these things to the folk on this spot,—not in the town: they will decide for thee whether thou shalt abide or retire.80 [Exit. Oe. My child, say, is the stranger gone? An. He is gone, and so thou canst utter what thou wilt, father, in quietness, as knowing that I alone am near. Oe. Queens of dread aspect, since your seat is the first in this land whereat I have bent the knee, show not yourselves ungracious to Phoebus or to myself; who, when he proclaimed that doom of many woes, spake of this as a rest for me after long years,—on reaching my goal in a land where I should find a seat of the Awful Goddesses,90 and a hospitable shelter,—even that there I should close my weary life, with benefits, through my having dwelt therein, for mine hosts, but ruin for those who sent me forth—who drove me away. And he went on to warn me that signs of these things should come, in earthquake, or in thunder, haply, or in the lightning of Zeus. Now I perceive that in this journey some faithful omen from you hath surely led me home to this grove: never else could I have met with you, first of all, in my wanderings,—I, the austere, with you who delight not in wine,—or taken this solemn seat not shaped by man.100 Then, goddesses, according to the word of Apollo, give me at last some way to accomplish and close my course,—unless, perchance, I seem beneath your grace, thrall that I am evermore to woes the sorest on the earth. Hear, sweet daughters of primeval Darkness! Hear, thou that art called the city of great Pallas,—Athens, of all cities most honoured! Pity this poor wraith of Oedipus,—for verily ‘tis the man of old no more.110 An. Hush! Here come some aged men, I wot, to spy out thy resting-place. Oe. I will be mute,—and do thou hide me in the grove, apart from the road, till I learn how these men will speak; for in knowledge is the safeguard of our course. [Exeunt. The Chorus (elders of Colonus) enter the orchestra, from the right of the spectators, as if in eager search. Chorus. str. 1. Give heed—who was he, then? Where lodges he?—whither hath he rushed from this place, insolent, he,120 above all who live? Scan the ground, look well, urge the quest in every part. A wanderer that old man must have been,—a wanderer, not a dweller in the land; else never would he have advanced into this untrodden grove of the maidens with whom none may strive,130 whose name we tremble to speak, by whom we pass with eyes turned away, moving our lips, without sound or word, in still devotion. But now ‘tis rumoured that one hath come who in no wise reveres them; and him I cannot yet discern, though I look round all the holy place, nor wot I where to find his lodging. syst. 1. Oedipus (stepping forward, with Antigone, from his place of concealment in the grove). Behold the man whom ye seek! for in sound is my sight, as the saying hath it. Ch. O! O!140 Dread to see, and dread to hear! Oe. Regard me not, I entreat you, as a lawless one. Ch. Zeus defend us! who may the old man be? Oe. Not wholly of the best fortune, that ye should envy him, O guardians of this land!—’Tis plain: else would I not be walking thus by the eyes of others, and buoying my strength upon weakness. ant. 1. Ch. Alas! wast thou sightless e’en from thy birth?150 Evil have been thy days, and many, to all seeming; but at least, if I can help, thou shalt not add this curse to thy doom. Too far thou goest—too far! But, lest thy rash steps intrude on the sward of yonder voiceless glade, where the bowl of water blends its stream with the flow of honied offerings, (be thou well ware of such trespass, unhappy160 stranger,)—retire,—withdraw!—A wide space parts us: hearest thou, toil-worn wanderer? If thou hast aught to say...