Read Online Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sophocles, Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles
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tending sheep.
OEDIPUS In what region did you normally work?
HERDSMAN Mainly Cithairon, and the country around there.
(Oedipus gestures toward the Messenger.)
OEDIPUS That man. Do you recall ever seeing him . . .
HERDSMAN Recall him how? Doing what? Which man?
(Oedipus goes to the Messenger and puts his hand on him.)
OEDIPUS This man right here. Have you ever seen him before?
HERDSMAN Not that I recognizenot right away.
MESSENGER It's no wonder, master. His memory's faded,
but I'll revive it for him. I'm sure he knows me.
We worked the pastures on Cithairon together
1300 he with his two flocks, me with one
for three whole grazing seasons, from early spring
until Arcturus rose. When the weather turned cold
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I'd drive my flock home to its winter pens,
he drove his away to Laius' sheepfolds.
Do I describe what happened, old friend? Or don't I?
HERDSMAN That's the truth, but it was so long ago.
MESSENGER Do you remember giving me a boy
I was to raise as my own son?
HERDSMAN What? Why ask me that?
1310 MESSENGER There, friend, is the man who was that boy.
(He nods toward Oedipus.)
HERDSMAN Damn you! Shut up and say nothing.
OEDIPUS Don't you attack him for his words, old man.
Your own ask to be punished far more.
HERDSMAN Tell me, royal master, what I've done wrong.
OEDIPUS You didn't answer him about the boy.
HERDSMAN He's trying to make something out of nothing.
OEDIPUS Speak willingly, or you'll speak under torture.
HERDSMAN Dear god! Don't hurt me, I'm an old man.
OEDIPUS One of you bind his arms behind his back.
(Servants approach the Herdsman and start to seize his arms.)
1320 HERDSMAN Why this, you doomed man? What else must you know?
OEDIPUS Did you give this man the child he claims you gave?
HERDSMAN I did. I wish I had died that day.
OEDIPUS You'll die yet if you don't speak the truth.
HERDSMAN Answering you is what will get me killed.
OEDIPUS I think this man is determined to stall.
HERDSMAN No! I've said once that I gave him the boy.
OEDIPUS Did the boy come from your house? Or someone else's?
HERDSMAN Not from my house. Someone gave him to me.
OEDIPUS Name the person! Name the house!
1330 HERDSMAN Don't ask that of me, master. For god's sake, don't.
OEDIPUS You will die if I ask one more time.
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HERDSMAN He was a child from the house of Laius.
OEDIPUS A slave? Or was he born to Laius' own blood?
HERDSMAN I've come to the terrorwhich I must speak.
OEDIPUS And which I must hear. But I will hear it.
HERDSMAN The child was said to be Laius' own son.
Your lady in the house would know that best.
OEDIPUS She gave you the child?
HERDSMAN She gave him, King.
1340 OEDIPUS To do what?
HERDSMAN I was to let it die.
OEDIPUS Kill her own child?
HERDSMAN She feared prophecies.
OEDIPUS What prophecies?
HERDSMAN That this child would kill his father.
OEDIPUS Why, then, did you give him to this old man?
HERDSMAN I pitied him, master. The man would take him,
I hoped, to a new home in another land.
But that man saved him for this
1350 the worst grief of all. If the child
he speaks of is you, master, you know,
now, all the evil of your birth and life.
OEDIPUS All! All! It has all happened,
it was all true. O light! May this
be the last time I see you.
You see now who I am. I am
the child who must not be born,
I loved where I must not love,
I killed where I must not kill.
(Oedipus runs into the palace.)
1360 CHORUS Men and women who live and die,
I set no value on your lives.
Which one of you ever, who reaches
for the true blessedness that lasts,
seizes more than what seems blest?
You live in that seeming
a brief time, then you plunge.
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Your fate teaches me this, Oedipus,
yours, you suffering man, the story
god spoke through you: praise
1370 no human life, none, for its luck.
O Zeus, no man drew a bow like this man,
he shot his arrow home,
winning power and pleasure and wealth,
he killed the virgin Sphinx
whose talons curl, who sang
the god's black oracles.
He fought death in our
OEDIPUS In what region did you normally work?
HERDSMAN Mainly Cithairon, and the country around there.
(Oedipus gestures toward the Messenger.)
OEDIPUS That man. Do you recall ever seeing him . . .
HERDSMAN Recall him how? Doing what? Which man?
(Oedipus goes to the Messenger and puts his hand on him.)
OEDIPUS This man right here. Have you ever seen him before?
HERDSMAN Not that I recognizenot right away.
MESSENGER It's no wonder, master. His memory's faded,
but I'll revive it for him. I'm sure he knows me.
We worked the pastures on Cithairon together
1300 he with his two flocks, me with one
for three whole grazing seasons, from early spring
until Arcturus rose. When the weather turned cold
page_55
Page 55
I'd drive my flock home to its winter pens,
he drove his away to Laius' sheepfolds.
Do I describe what happened, old friend? Or don't I?
HERDSMAN That's the truth, but it was so long ago.
MESSENGER Do you remember giving me a boy
I was to raise as my own son?
HERDSMAN What? Why ask me that?
1310 MESSENGER There, friend, is the man who was that boy.
(He nods toward Oedipus.)
HERDSMAN Damn you! Shut up and say nothing.
OEDIPUS Don't you attack him for his words, old man.
Your own ask to be punished far more.
HERDSMAN Tell me, royal master, what I've done wrong.
OEDIPUS You didn't answer him about the boy.
HERDSMAN He's trying to make something out of nothing.
OEDIPUS Speak willingly, or you'll speak under torture.
HERDSMAN Dear god! Don't hurt me, I'm an old man.
OEDIPUS One of you bind his arms behind his back.
(Servants approach the Herdsman and start to seize his arms.)
1320 HERDSMAN Why this, you doomed man? What else must you know?
OEDIPUS Did you give this man the child he claims you gave?
HERDSMAN I did. I wish I had died that day.
OEDIPUS You'll die yet if you don't speak the truth.
HERDSMAN Answering you is what will get me killed.
OEDIPUS I think this man is determined to stall.
HERDSMAN No! I've said once that I gave him the boy.
OEDIPUS Did the boy come from your house? Or someone else's?
HERDSMAN Not from my house. Someone gave him to me.
OEDIPUS Name the person! Name the house!
1330 HERDSMAN Don't ask that of me, master. For god's sake, don't.
OEDIPUS You will die if I ask one more time.
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HERDSMAN He was a child from the house of Laius.
OEDIPUS A slave? Or was he born to Laius' own blood?
HERDSMAN I've come to the terrorwhich I must speak.
OEDIPUS And which I must hear. But I will hear it.
HERDSMAN The child was said to be Laius' own son.
Your lady in the house would know that best.
OEDIPUS She gave you the child?
HERDSMAN She gave him, King.
1340 OEDIPUS To do what?
HERDSMAN I was to let it die.
OEDIPUS Kill her own child?
HERDSMAN She feared prophecies.
OEDIPUS What prophecies?
HERDSMAN That this child would kill his father.
OEDIPUS Why, then, did you give him to this old man?
HERDSMAN I pitied him, master. The man would take him,
I hoped, to a new home in another land.
But that man saved him for this
1350 the worst grief of all. If the child
he speaks of is you, master, you know,
now, all the evil of your birth and life.
OEDIPUS All! All! It has all happened,
it was all true. O light! May this
be the last time I see you.
You see now who I am. I am
the child who must not be born,
I loved where I must not love,
I killed where I must not kill.
(Oedipus runs into the palace.)
1360 CHORUS Men and women who live and die,
I set no value on your lives.
Which one of you ever, who reaches
for the true blessedness that lasts,
seizes more than what seems blest?
You live in that seeming
a brief time, then you plunge.
page_57
Page 57
Your fate teaches me this, Oedipus,
yours, you suffering man, the story
god spoke through you: praise
1370 no human life, none, for its luck.
O Zeus, no man drew a bow like this man,
he shot his arrow home,
winning power and pleasure and wealth,
he killed the virgin Sphinx
whose talons curl, who sang
the god's black oracles.
He fought death in our
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