swear. I slew him not myself, nor can I nameThe slayer. For the quest, 'twere well, methinks That Phoebus, who proposed the riddle, himself Should give the answer--who the murderer was.
OEDIPUS
Well argued; but no living man can hope
To force the gods to speak against their will.
CHORUS
May I then say what seems next best to me?
9
OEDIPUS
Aye, if there be a third best, tell it too.
CHORUS
My liege, if any man sees eye to eye
With our lord Phoebus, 'tis our prophet, lord
Teiresias; he of all men best might guide
A searcher of this matter to the light.
OEDIPUS
Here too my zeal has nothing lagged, for twice At Creon's instance have I sent to fetch him, And long I marvel why he is not here.
CHORUS
I mind me too of rumors long ago-- Mere gossip.
OEDIPUS
Tell them, I would fain know all.
CHORUS
'Twas said he fell by travelers.
OEDIPUS
So I heard,
But none has seen the man who saw him fall.
CHORUS
Well, if he knows what fear is, he will quail
And flee before the terror of thy curse.
OEDIPUS
Words scare not him who blenches not at deeds.
CHORUS
But here is one to arraign him. Lo, at length They bring the god-inspired seer in whom Above all other men is truth inborn.
[Enter TEIRESIAS, led by a boy.]
OEDIPUS
Teiresias, seer who comprehendest all, Lore of the wise and hidden mysteries,
High things of heaven and low things of the earth, Thou knowest, though thy blinded eyes see naught, What plague infects our city; and we turn
To thee, O seer, our one defense and shield.
10
The purport of the answer that the God
Returned to us who sought his oracle,
The messengers have doubtless told thee--how
One course alone could rid us of the pest,
To find the murderers of Laius,
And slay them or expel them from the land. Therefore begrudging neither augury
Nor other divination that is thine,
O save thyself, thy country, and thy king, Save all from this defilement of blood shed. On thee we rest. This is man's highest end, To others' service all his powers to lend.
TEIRESIAS
Alas, alas, what misery to be wise
When wisdom profits nothing! This old lore
I had forgotten; else I were not here.
OEDIPUS
What ails thee? Why this melancholy mood?
TEIRESIAS
Let me go home; prevent me not; 'twere best
That thou shouldst bear thy burden and I mine.
OEDIPUS
For shame! no true-born Theban patriot
Would thus withhold the word of prophecy.
TEIRESIAS
Thy words, O king, are wide of the mark, and I For fear lest I too trip like thee...
OEDIPUS
Oh speak,
Withhold not, I adjure thee, if thou know'st, Thy knowledge. We are all thy suppliants.
TEIRESIAS
Aye, for ye all are witless, but my voice
Will ne'er reveal my miseries--or thine. 2
OEDIPUS
What then, thou knowest, and yet willst not speak!
Wouldst thou betray us and destroy the State?
TEIRESIAS
I will not vex myself nor thee. Why ask
Thus idly what from me thou shalt not learn?
11
OEDIPUS
Monster! thy silence would incense a flint.
Will nothing loose thy tongue? Can nothing melt thee, Or shake thy dogged taciturnity?
TEIRESIAS
Thou blam'st my mood and seest not thine own
Wherewith thou art mated; no, thou taxest me.
OEDIPUS
And who could stay his choler when he heard
How insolently thou dost flout the State?
TEIRESIAS
Well, it will come what will, though I be mute.
OEDIPUS
Since come it must, thy duty is to tell me.
TEIRESIAS
I have no more to say; storm as thou willst, And give the rein to all thy pent-up rage.
OEDIPUS
Yea, I am wroth, and will not stint my words,
But speak my whole mind. Thou methinks thou art he, Who planned the crime, aye, and performed it too,
All save the assassination; and if thou
Hadst not been blind, I had been sworn to boot
That thou alone didst do the bloody deed.
