p.^ 
 
 5 
 
 i*6 4
 
 
 '^m^w.0r^^<.Mmm 

 
 v 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Wallace Higfc School. 
 
 Div....,^.. Shelf. 
 
 No ..„
 
 Pocket Literal 
 Translations of the Classics* 
 
 CLOTH BINDING. EACH, 50 CENTS. 
 
 These translations have been prepared with great care. They 
 follo^v the original text literally, thus forming a valuable help 
 to the student in his efforts to master the difficulties which beset 
 him. Pleasing sketches of the authors appear in the form of an 
 introduction to each of the volumes. 
 
 The books are in a convenient form, being exceptionally 
 handy for the pocket. They are printed from clear type, and 
 are attractivelv and durably bound. 
 
 Caesar's Commentaries. — Six 
 
 Books. 
 
 Gcero's Defence of Roscius. 
 Cicero on Old Age and Friend- 
 ship. 
 Cicero on Oratory, 
 Cicero's Select Orations. 
 Cicero's Select Letters. 
 Cornelius Nepos^ complete. 
 Horace^ complete. 
 Tuvenal's Satires, complete. 
 Livy. — Books l and 2. 
 Livy. — Books 21 and 22. 
 
 Ovid's Metamorphoses.— 
 Books 1-7. 
 
 Ovid's Metamorphoses. — 
 
 Books 8-15- 
 Plauttts' Captivi and Mostel- 
 
 laria. 
 Sallust's Catiline and The 
 
 Jugurthine War. 
 Tacitus' Annals.— The Urst 
 
 Six Books. 
 Tacitus' Germany and Agric- 
 
 ola. 
 Virgil's Aeneid. — Six Books. 
 Virgil's Eclogues and Geor- Schiller's Mlid"of (>Ie'an^I 
 
 gics- SchiUer's Maria Stuart. 
 
 Viri Romae. Schiller's William Tell. 
 
 Others will be added at short intervals. 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Aeschylus'Prometheus Bound 
 and Seven Against Thebes. 
 
 Aristophanes' Clouds, Birds, 
 and Frogs. — In one Vol, 
 
 Demosthenes' On the Crown, 
 
 Demosthenes' Olynthiacs and 
 Philippics. 
 
 Euripides* Alcestis andElectra. 
 
 Euripides' Medea. 
 
 Herodotus. — Books 6 and 7. 
 
 Homer's Iliad.— Nine Books. 
 
 Homer's Odyssey. — Thirteen 
 Books. 
 
 Lysias' Select Orations. 
 
 Plato's Apology, Crito and 
 Phaedo. 
 
 Plato's Gorgias. 
 
 Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus, 
 Electra, and Antigone. 
 
 Xenophon's Anabasis. — Five 
 Books. 
 
 Xenophon's Memorabilia, 
 complete. 
 
 Goethe's Egmont. 
 
 Goethe's Faust. 
 
 Goethe's Hermann and Doro- 
 thea.^ 
 
 Lessing's Minna von Barn- 
 helm. 
 
 Lessing's Nathan the "Wise.
 
 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS, 
 ELECTRA, AND ANTIGONE 
 
 OP 
 
 SOPHOCLES. 
 
 THE OXFORD TRANSLATION. 
 
 REVISED EDITION, WITH NOTES. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 EDWARD BROOKS, Jr. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Publisher, 
 
 1022 Market Street.
 
 Copyriglit, 1897, by David McKay.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Of the three most eminent Greek dramatic writers 
 iEschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, the palm should be 
 awarded to Sophocles. To ^schylus is due the credit of 
 the greatest development of the drama, but Sophocles, so 
 perfected and finished the development which his prede- 
 cessor began, that his successor, Euripides, was unable 
 to add anj^thing in the way of improvement, and indeed 
 to the latter has been frequently attributed the downfall 
 of Greek tragedy. 
 
 Sophocles was born at Colonos, a small village near 
 Athens, in the j^ear 495 B.C. His father, Sophilus, was 
 a man of good family and possessed of a considerable for- 
 tune. He spared no expense in giving his son a liberal 
 education. Among the early instructors of the poet was 
 Lamprus, the famous musician, under whose teaching 
 Sophocles became so proficient in the art of music that 
 when but fifteen he was chosen to play an accompaniment 
 on the lyre to the paean sung in celebration of the vic- 
 tory at Salamis. It is thought by some that he also com- 
 posed the words of the p^an. 
 
 At the age of twenty-seven he made his first appear- 
 ance as a dramatic writer, competing in the tragic contests 
 
 2056201 *'^
 
 vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 held at the festival of Dionysia. On this occasion he won 
 the prize over ^schylus, who had been the undoubted 
 master of the Athenian stage for over thirty years, and 
 gained a supremacy which he maintained until Euripides, 
 in his turn, was successful over him twenty-seven years 
 later. 
 
 Sophocles lived to the age of ninety, dying in 405 B.C. 
 During his lifetime he held various offices of honor and 
 distinction. So pleased were his countrymen upon the 
 occasion of his exhibiting the "Antigone " that they se- 
 lected him to act as the colleague of Pericles and Thucy- 
 dides in the war against Samos. Later on he was made 
 priest of Halon and was also one of the committee of 
 public safety. 
 
 He is said to have written one hundred and thirteen 
 dramas, of which, however, only seven have come down 
 to us complete. His later j^ears were made unhappy by 
 an attempt on the part of his son to have him declared 
 feeble-minded. His only defence was to read to his judges 
 portions of a drama which he had just composed, upon 
 hearing which the case was dismissed and his son rebuked 
 for his unfilial conduct. 
 
 In the following pages will be found translations of 
 three of the greatest of the poet's works, the " (Edipus 
 Tyrannus," the "Electra" and the "Antigone." 
 
 The first of these tragedies is based upon the legendary 
 story of (Edipus, the son of Laius, King of Thebes, and 
 his wife, Jocasta, at whose birth it was predicted that one 
 day he would murder his father and marry his own 
 mother. In order to render impossible the fulfilment of 
 this prophesy, the young child was exposed in the mouo-
 
 INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 tains, that he might die, but was discovered by some 
 shepherds and taken to Corinth, where he was educated. 
 Being taunted with being the supposititious child of the 
 king of that country, he journeyed to Thebes, and meet-" 
 ing with Laius, whom he did not know, and a quarrel en- 
 suing, Q^dipus unwittingly slew him. On arriving at 
 Thebes he found the city under the bane of the Sphinx, 
 who was harrassing the Thebans by killing all those who 
 tried but failed to solve the riddle she propounded. (Edi- 
 pus solved the riddle, and as a reward was made ruler 
 over Thebes in place of Laius, and married the widowed 
 Jocasta, thus fulfilling the fatal prediction. 
 
 The play opens at a time when the Thebans are suffer- 
 ing from a terrible plague which has afflicted them for a 
 long time. Creon, brother of Jocasta, has been sent to 
 consult the oracle of Apollo by what deed the city may 
 be delivered from the pestilence. Creon, returning, an- 
 nounces that the deliverance can only be brought about 
 by the detection and punishment of the assassins of King 
 Laius. In order to learn by whose hand Laius had died, 
 it is suggested that Tiresias, the blind soothsayer, be con- 
 sulted. Tiresias refuses absolutely to disclose who the 
 assassin is, which so greatly angers Oedipus that, in his 
 rage, he accuses Tiresias himself with having done the 
 deed. Stung by this accusation, Tiresias charges (Edi- 
 pus with being the perpetrator of the crime. This the 
 more enrages (Edipus, who now accuses Creon with con- 
 spiring with the soothsayer to overthrow him in order 
 that he might succeed him as ruler of Thebes. The quarrel 
 of the two princes is interrupted by the arrival of Jocasta, 
 who, endeavoring to pacify the strife, inadvertently re-
 
 viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lates the story of tlie birth of CEdipus and the fatal pre- 
 diction and describes the place where Laius is alleged to 
 have been killed by foreign robbers. The first inkling of 
 the truth then begins to dawn upon the mind of (Edipus. 
 He questions Jocasta as to the appearance of Laius, and 
 her answers are by no means reassuring. At this mo- 
 ment a messenger arrives bringing the intelligence of the 
 death of Polj'bus, King of Corinth, and inviting (Edipus 
 to return and rule over that countr3^ (Edipus refusing, 
 out of fear that the fatal prediction may be fulfilled, the 
 messenger declares that he is not the son of Polybus, but 
 that he is a foundling from the bushy dells of Cith?era3 
 whither he had been placed by a servant of Laius. The 
 frightful truth then forces itself upon the mind of Jo- 
 casta, and she rushes from the scene in wild despair. The 
 servant is summoned and confesses that the child he 
 placed upon the mountain was the son of Laius and Jo- 
 casta. A messenger then appears, announcing that Jo- 
 casta has hung herself (Edipus rushes to her, and tear- 
 ing from her dress the golden clasps, gouges out his own 
 eyes. The tragedy ends by (Edipus going into voluntary 
 banishment, after persuading Creon to look after and care 
 for his children. 
 
 The principal characters represented in the " Electra" 
 are Orestes, son of Agamemnon, his sister Electra, CI3'- 
 temnestra, the faithless wife of Agamemnon and her para- 
 mour aEgisthus. During the absence of the Greeks on 
 their expedition against Troy, Clytemnestra, the wife of 
 Agamemnon, proves false to him, and on his return she 
 with her paramour, ^Egisthus, murders him at a ban- 
 quet given to celebrate his home-coming. It was the in-
 
 INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 tent of the guilty pair to slay Orestes also, who, although 
 not yet of an age to excite apprehension, was a person 
 who might prove dangerous in after years. His life is, 
 however, saved by his sister sending him secretly to his 
 uncle Strophius, King of Phocis, in whose palace he was 
 reared with his cousin Pylades. Being reminded fre- 
 quently by his sister of his duty to avenge his father's 
 death, Orestes disguises himself as a messenger from 
 Strophius, and repairs to the court of Clytemnestra, an- 
 nouncing the death of Orestes and bringing with him his 
 own funeral ashes. Having thus allayed the fears of the 
 murderers, he discloses himself to Electra, and subse- 
 quently kills Clytemnestra and ^Egisthus. Perhaps the 
 most exquisite part of this play is the scene between 
 Orestes and Electra, when the former, mistaking his 
 sister for a domestic and desirous of keeping his arrival 
 a secret, shows her the urn in which his own ashes are 
 supposed to rest, and causes Electra to pour forth her 
 grief in language full of tenderness and despair. 
 
 In the " Antigone " the principal persons represented 
 are x\ntigone and Ismene, daughters of Glldipus and Jo- 
 casta, their uncle, Creon, brother of Jocasta, and H^emon, 
 his son, who is in love with Antigone. After the banish- 
 ment of (Edipus from Thebes, his two sons, Eteocles and 
 Polynices, agreed to share the kingdom between them and 
 reign alternately year by year. The choice of reigning the 
 first year fell by lot to Eteocles who, on the expiration of 
 his term, refused to surrender the kingdom to his brother. 
 Polynices, thereupon, fled to Adrastus, King of Argos. 
 Having married his daughter, he persuaded him to lend 
 him an army to make an attack upon Thebes, and thus 
 I*
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 enforce his claim to the kingdom. This gave rise to the 
 famous expedition known as the ' ' Seven againstThebes, ' ' 
 which is made the subject of a tragedy by Euripides. The 
 siege which ensued was long drawn out with successes on 
 each side. At length it was agreed that the two brothers 
 should decide the issue by single combat. In the duel 
 which resulted both combatants were killed, and there- 
 upon the contending armies again took up the fight, but 
 the invaders were finally repulsed with great loss. Creon 
 then assumed control over Thebes and decided that the 
 body of Eteocles should be buried with distinguished 
 honor, but that Polynices should lie where he fell, and 
 forbade any one to accord him funeral rites, on pain of 
 death. Antigone rebelled at the decree which consigned 
 her brother's body to the dogs and vultures, and though 
 dissuaded by her afi'ectionate but timorous sister, Ismene, 
 and unable to procure assistance, resolved to bury her 
 brother with her own hands. Being detected in the act, 
 despite the intervention of her lover H^emon, she was or- 
 dered to be buried alive. Hasmon, unable to bear the 
 misery of surviving his loved Antigone, took his own 
 life. His mother, Eurydice, also destroys herself, calling 
 down maledictions upon the murderer of Antigone and 
 Haemon, and not until then does Creon repent his cruelty.
 
 (EDIPUS TYRANNUS. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 CEdipus was reproached with being the supposititious child 
 of Polybus, the king of Corinth, and in disgust exiled him- 
 self, and went to Thebes. Here he solved the riddle of the 
 Sphinx, and as a reward received the kingdom, and the hand 
 of the queen Jocasta in marriage. A long plague ravaged 
 Thebes, and, on Creon being sent to Delphi, the murderer of 
 Laius, the former king of Thebes, was denounced as the 
 cause of the evil. In his anxiety to discover the murderer, 
 and through the statements of Tiresias, corroborated by 
 those of certain old servants, G^dipus made the fearful dis- 
 covery that he had been exposed in childhood, to avert an 
 awful prophecy, which he had unwittingly fulfilled in the 
 murder of his father La'ius on his way from Corinth to 
 Thebes, and in his subsequent cohabitation with his mother 
 Jocasta. Jocasta hung herself, and CEdipus, in despair, tore 
 out his eyes. — B. 
 
 DKAMATIS PERSON.E. 
 
 CEdipus.i 
 
 Priest. 
 
 Creon. 
 
 Chorus of Aged Thebans. 
 
 Tiresias. 
 
 Jocasta. 
 Messenger. 
 Servant of Laius. 
 Messenger extraordinary. 
 
 CEdipus. My children, youthful generation of Cadmus of 
 old, what can be [the meaning of] these sittings ye are 
 
 1 ArriaU; ap. Stob. S. 97. 28, hints that both the (Edipi were 
 personated by Polus, a distinguished actor, of whom Gellius 
 makes mention, 7. 5.
 
 12 CEDIPUS TVR ANNUS. [3-15. 
 
 thronging^ hither before me, decorated with suppliant 
 branches? while the cit}^ is at the same time fraught with 
 incense-offerings, and at the same time with both pa?an- 
 liymns and wailings. Which things, I thinking it my duty 
 not to hear from others, and those messengers,^ my children, 
 have myself come hither ; I, Oedipus, styled by alP the Illus- 
 trious. But, O aged man, say, since it naturally becomes 
 thee to speak on behalf of these, in what mood ye stand af- 
 fected, fearing,* or earnestly seeking ; since I would willingly 
 give you every succor ; for I were unfeeling not to compas- 
 sionate a meeting such as this. 
 
 Priest. But, O Oedipus, thou who rulest over my country, 
 us indeed thou beholdest, of Avhat ages are we who sit as 
 
 1 The word "thronsiug" takes in both the ideas usually ap- 
 plied to this word. Wuuder takes it merely to mean "sitting, 
 occupying," and so Buttmann, Lexil. sub voc. Cf. yEsch. Suppl. 
 595. Others render it " hurrying." The word is probably 
 akin to do6-. See Erfurdt, and Liddel's Lexicon. B. 
 
 '^ So Wander, quoting Eur. Orest. 5.31, ri [laprvpwv aWoiv uko- 
 v£iv hi fi' a y' iiaopdv irapa. This corresponds to the Latin exe- 
 getical use of adeo. But perhaps aWwv is merely redundant in 
 opposition to airo-. B. 
 
 ^ From the position of -am it might not be improper to 
 translate "the all-illustrious." with a construction like that 
 of V. 40. See also (Ed. Col. 1446. Te. — This verse might more 
 poetically be rendered, "I, CEdipus, by all illustrious height." 
 It is condemned by Wuuder as spurious. B. 
 
 * I have preserved the participles, to make the translation 
 of this awkward passage more clear. After the remarks of 
 Wuuder, it seems evident that hiaavre' denotes /mr wliich led 
 these suppliants, artpyeiv, to seek for assistance. As a-ipyeiv is 
 used to denote a passive content or satisfaction (see Blomf. on 
 ^Esch. Prom, ii.), so it may pass to another signification, by 
 which we are said to sceli those things which we should be 
 pleased to have. In OEd. C. 518, we find orcpfoi/ explained by 
 -eidov immediately following, which is just the reverse of the 
 present sense. Otherwise, we mio^ht render the passa.se; "are 
 ye fearing an impending, or enduring a present evil?" (So 
 St. Gregory, Horn. i. in Ev. ^ 1, "Ex quibus profecto omnibus 
 alia jam facta ceruimus, alia e proximis venturaformidamus.") 
 Some may regard this as a frigid antithesis, but CEdipus. like 
 Puff's hero in "The Critic," does not ask for information for 
 himself, but for the benefit of the audience. B.
 
 16-37.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 13 
 
 suppliants before thine altars here ;^ some of us not yet of 
 strength to wing our flight afar ; other priests Aveighed down 
 with old age, I myself the priest of Jupiter ; and these other 
 chosen of the youths : but the rest of the populace decked 
 with branches, is seated in the market-places, and near both 
 the shrines of Pallas, and at Ismenus' ashes of divination, ^ 
 For the city, as thou thyself behold, is now over-roughly 
 tossing, and from the depths of the bloody surge can no 
 longer lift her head ; withering in the ripening husks^ of the 
 soil, withering in the pasturing herds of kine, and in the yet 
 unborn labors of women : and the fire-bearing god, most 
 hated pestilence, having darted down, ravages the city ; by 
 Avhom the house of Cadmus is made empty, but dark Hades 
 grows rich with wailings and groans. Now I and these 
 youths here are seated petitioners by the house, deeming 
 thee not equal to the gods, but of men the first, whether for 
 the casualties of life, or the interventions of the gods. Who, 
 indeed, when thou wast come to Cadmus' capital, didst put 
 an end to the tribute of the stern chantress, which we were 
 furnishing : and this too neither knowing nor taught by us, 
 any strange knowledge ;* but by the prompting of god thou 
 
 ^ The altars alluded to were of various deities, placed by in- 
 dividuals before their houses, as patriotism or private gratitude 
 might dictate. See the Curculio of Plautus, I. i. 7; Arist. 
 Wasps, 875. 
 
 2 " Both the shrines." Minerva had a temple at Thebes in 
 virtue of her name Oncfea, and another as Ismenia, which lat- 
 ter name Apollo also bore, and presided over an altar of burnt 
 sacrifices. 
 
 ^ I have here followed Wunder. iyKdinroi?- raust mean the 
 corn just ripened, but blighted at the very moment of burst- 
 ing, TTEpi (TITO' EK^oXfji'^ {u Thucyd. iv. 1. Soon after the epithet 
 dyihoisr does not mean, "abortive," but "unborn," owing to the 
 strength of the mothers failing. Wunder appositely compares 
 Herodot. vi. 139. Compare also Seneca, CEdip. Act. i, sc. 2, v. 
 33, nay, the whole description. B. 
 
 4 nXsov can not mean "any thing further," i.e., than the bare 
 fact of the riddle proposed, as the translators have supposed; 
 but n\£r]p Eioevai is a form peculiarly applied to the possession 
 of occult knowledge. So in Nicolaus Damascenus, from a MS. 
 in the Escurial, fob 3 A, 6 Ba^v'Xojvio^, el J*? n -kXeXov to. QcXa elScog, 
 av/x^aWei rhv rov ovtipov (l>vinr]v. And of Joseph's skill in dreams,
 
 14 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [38-74. 
 
 art reputed and believed to have righted our condition. 
 Now too, O head of ffidipus, owned most potent by all, we 
 implore thee, all prostrate here before thee, to tind some 
 help for us, whether thou, by hearing the voice of any god, 
 or from any human source, knowest such : since to the ex- 
 perienced I observe even the issues of their counsels to be 
 the most flourishing. Go, best of mortals, re-establish the 
 state, go, take good counsel ; since at present indeed this 
 our land celebrates thee as its preserver for thy former zeal 
 — and may we in no wise remember thy reign for our having 
 botk regained our footing and afterward fallen ; but raise 
 up this our city in safety. For as with propitious augury 
 thou didst render to us the former lucky service, so in the 
 present instance be equal [to thyself]. Since if in sooth 
 thou wilt govern this our land, as thou dost sway it, it is a 
 fairer thing to rule it with its men, than desolate. For 
 neither tower nor ship is aught, if destitute of men dwell- 
 ing therein. 
 
 OEd. My children, objects of my pity, you have come 
 wishing for things known, and not unknown to me ; for well 
 am I aware that ye are all sickening,^ and sickening though 
 ye be, there is not one of you who sicken equally with me. 
 For your affliction falls on one alone, in his own person and 
 on none other ; while my soul sighs at once both for the city 
 and for myself and for you. So that ye awake me not in- 
 deed slumbering in repose, but know that I already have 
 shed many tears, have traversed many paths in the wander- 
 ings of thought ; and that only mode of cure which I had 
 discovered by careful scrutiny, that have I put in execution. 
 For Creon, the son of Menoeceus, my kinsman by marriage, I 
 dispatched to the Pythian shrine of Apollo, to inquire by 
 what deed or word I might deliver this city. And the day 
 being already commensurate with the time [for his return], 
 pains me for his fate, since beyond reasonable expectation 
 
 Clemens Alexandr. Strom. V. p. 245, 38, vhv tovtov s'^Xwcair^s 
 
 oi d(^£X0oi, rrXeTov ri Trpoopojxcvov Kara rrjv yvidcriv. B. 
 
 1 "Diseased" is certainly literal, but an equivocal term is 
 required to express the bodily disease of the people, and the 
 " hearts' aching " of CEdipns in his despair. I think " sicken " 
 better expresses this double sense of voaelv than "disease." 
 Others render it by "being distressed." B.
 
 75-96. J CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. 15 
 
 he is away longer than the due period. But whenever he 
 shall have arrived, that instant I were a villain not to per- 
 form to the full all that the god may reveal. 
 
 Pr. Nay, thou hast both well said, and these too just 
 now signify to me that Creon is approaching. 
 
 CEi). Hear, king Apollo, for O that he may have come 
 with some saviour fortune at least, even as he is sparkling 
 of eye. 
 
 Pr. If one may guess, however, he is welcome ; else would 
 he not be coming hithex, his head thus amply wreathed Avith 
 all-fruitful laurel.^ 
 
 QLt>. Quickly shall we know, for he is within reach of 
 hearing us. Prince, my relation, son of Menoeceus, what 
 report from the god comest thou bringing to us ? 
 
 Creon. Good : for I assert that even our grievances, 
 should they chance to have their issues aright, might be al- 
 together fortunate.^ 
 
 Q^D. But of what purport is the oracle?^ Fori am neither 
 emboldened, nor yet prematurely alarmed, at least by thy 
 present speech. 
 
 Cr. If thou choosest to hear while these are by, I am 
 ready to tell thee, or else to retire within doors. 
 
 OEd. Speak out to all, for I endure more suffering for 
 these my people than even for my own life. 
 
 Cr. I will say what I have heard from the god. King 
 Phoebus openly enjoins us to expel from the country a* pol- 
 
 ^ The laurel crowu, say the commentators, was the privilege 
 of those " quibus Isetse sortes obtlgerant." Chremylus in the 
 Phitus, however, will hardly allow the " laetse sortes" to be his 
 lot, though his slave wears the chaplet. 
 
 '^ A purposely dark auswer, breathing the true Loxian spirit. 
 
 ^ Gr. scTiu OS Tzolov TovTtOi'^ Quid hoc sermonis est? Br. 
 "What mean thy words?" Dale. "ETrof is emphatically an 
 oracle, and moreover the expression rw ys vvv \oyw would be a 
 mere repetition, if Brunck's translation were correct. In the 
 same passage the opposition of Opaavg to npoSclaos gives con- 
 firmation to the distinction made between dpda-og and edpaog, 
 audacia and fiducia. Tr. — I prefer " emboldened " to " rashly 
 sanguine." B. 
 
 * This is much more correct than "the pollution." It was 
 as yet unknown what the pollution was. as is evident from the
 
 i6 CEDIPUS TYRAXXUS. [97-117. 
 
 lution, as having been bred in this our land, nor to foster 
 what is incurable. 
 
 CEd. By what kind of purification ? What is the manner 
 of the evil ? 
 
 Cr. By banishing, or requiting death with death, since the 
 following bloodshed troubles the state. ^ 
 
 (Ed. AVhv, of what manner of man does he indicate this 
 fate ? 
 
 Cr. We had once, O king, Laius as the sovereign of this 
 land, ere thou didst regulate this state. 
 
 CEb. I knew him by hearsay, for I never as yet saw him 
 at least. 
 
 Cr. This man having perished, Apollo now clearly gives 
 one orders to punish his assassins. - 
 
 CEd. But where on eartli are these same? "Where shall be 
 discovered this track of an ancient crime, hard to conjecture? 
 
 Cr. He said, in this land. But what is searclied for, is to 
 be got at, while that which is unregarded escapes. 
 
 (Ed. But is it in the house, or in the field, or in another 
 land, that Laius encounters this bloody death? 
 
 Cr. Quitting home, as he told us, to consult the oracle, 
 he never returned home, as lie had departed. 
 
 (Ed. And was no messenger, nor partaker of his journey, 
 a witness to this, from whom gaining intelligence one might 
 have used it? 
 
 inquiry of CEdipus: rts 6 rp6-os rn^ ^"n/opas, wliicli has been 
 wrongiy taken to mean, "what is the method of averting the 
 calamity?" B. 
 
 1 ToS' alua \f(//roi/ Tr6\t:'. Although the translator lias not 
 ventured to reudtr this otlierwise than Erfurdt, Hermann, 
 and Elmsley have given it, i.e., as an accusative absolute, and 
 with the word rocs referring to something subsequent, he has 
 still a doubt whether ^o-ri might not be understood, and the 
 passage construed thus: "Since this is a case of bloodshed 
 troubling the city." The answer of CEdipus will then run 
 thus: "How so? for of what manner of man," etc.; but it 
 hardly seems natural that CEdipus should interrupt one who 
 indicated (as is done by roh, according to the critics) his pur- 
 pose of immediately proceeding to specify the murder. Tr. — 
 Another translation has " since this blood is as pernicious as 
 winter to the city." B. 
 
 2 But see my note on v. 140. B.
 
 1 1 8-143] a':DIPUS TVR ANNUS. 17 
 
 Cr. No ; for tliey are dead, except one individual, who, 
 having fled in terror, could tell for certain nothing he saw, 
 but one fact. 
 
 CEd. Of wliat nature that fact? for one thing might find 
 means to learn many, could we lay hold of hut a slender 
 foundation of hope. 
 
 Cr. He said that robbers, having encountered him, slew 
 him, not by the valor of one arm, but with a number of 
 hands. 
 
 (Ed. How then would the bandit, had there been no tam- 
 perings by bribes from hence, have reached such a pitch of 
 audacity as this? 
 
 Cr. This was suspected ; but amid disasters there came 
 forward no one as the avenger of Lai'us now no more 
 
 CEd. But what kind of distress interfering, when the mon- 
 arch^ had thus fallen, checked you from sifting out this 
 matter ? 
 
 Cr. The Sphinx, mysterious songstress, compelled us to 
 look to that which was before our feet, having abandoned 
 what was obscure. 
 
 CEd. But from its first cause will I bring it to light again. 
 For right worthily has Phoebus, and worthily luist thou set 
 on foot this present examination in the cause of the deceased : 
 so that deservedly ye will see me also your abettor, avengmg 
 at once my land here, and the god. For in behalf, not of 
 my more distant friends, but myself of myself, shall I dis- 
 perse this pollution. Since whoever it was that murdered 
 him, he might perhaps wish to^ take vengeance on me too 
 with like hand. In supporting his cause, therefore, I advan- 
 tage mtfself. But with what speed ye may, my children, do 
 
 ^ I prefer taking rvpawiSog as abstract for coucrete, with the 
 old translation. B. 
 
 2 This is certainly the usual sense of rijXMpeXv. But Wunder 
 thinks the sense of "slaying" or " killing " more suitable, and 
 thinks that in v. 105, >C£'pt TijxMpeiv conveys the like idea. 
 Granting, as I do, that this sense is more suitable (and I think 
 defensible) in the present passage, I am even more certain of 
 v. 140. w'here, in rovg aiiToiurag X£'P' TintopeXv we have "death for 
 death" implied in an almost proverbial manner. So ^sch. 
 
 Choeph. 312, avrl 6e Tr\riyf)i 'i>oi'iag 'i>oviai' ]J\riyf]v rti/ircj. ipaaavTi 
 TradetvTpiyepMv jivdos rade (piovei. Cf. Eum. 264. B.
 
 iS CEDIPUS TYRAXNUS. [144-166. 
 
 yon on your part arise from oS your seats, ^ taking up tiiese 
 brandies of supplication ; but let some one else assemble 
 hither the people of Cadmus, since I purpose to take every 
 step. For we will prove ourselves either with heaven's aid 
 prosperous or undone. 
 
 Pr. My children, let us rise; since even for the sake of 
 those things^ this man promises, came we hither. But may 
 Phtebus, who has sent us these divinations, come with them 
 both as a deliverer and as a healer to our sickness. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 O sweetly-speaking oracle of Jove, mIiv canst thou have 
 come from Pytho stored with gold, to illustrious Thebes? I 
 am on the rack in my timorous spirit, quivering with dis- 
 may, O healer, Delian, Pfean, awfully anxious about thee, as 
 to what matter thou wilt bring to pass for me, either at once, 
 or hereafter in the revolving seasons. Tell me, thou child of 
 golden hope,"* immortal Voice. First I invoke thee, daughter 
 of Jove, immortal Minerva, and thy sister, protectress of our 
 soil, Artemis, who* sits enthroned on her glorious circling 
 chair in the market-place, and far-darting Apollo : oh, be ye 
 timely present to me, three several averters of destruction, if 
 ever, in the case of a previous calamity also hovering over my 
 country, ye thoroughly exterminated the flame of mischief, 
 now too come ; ye gods, for I suffer incalculable miseries ; nay, 
 
 ^ When the request was granted, the suppliants took up the 
 boughs, which they had previously laid ou the altar, aud de- 
 parted, See Wunder's 1st Excursus ou v. 3. B. 
 
 2 For E^aYytWe-ai, "promises," cf. Eurip. Heracl. 531. Kdfay- 
 
 ytWcTuai OvfiaKEiv dcs^pioi/ noice KdfiavrrJs v-ep. B. 
 
 ^ Dr. Spillan has rightly seen that Fame has nothing to do 
 with the matter. <^diia is the voice of the oracle here invoked. 
 The construction of AccvXo^sri'o? soon after (for which the transla- 
 tor read Ac-fAcAo^EJw ) is well defended by Wunder. B. 
 
 * There is much diificulty about the epithet evK'XEa, which, 
 if considered as the Epic accusative for ei'K\£a, violates the 
 meter. Eespecting the epithet of Artemis, BoKkeia (whence 
 Brunck and Elmsley read Y.vK'Xia), see Wunder, and Pausauias, 
 i. 14. and ix. 17. On the many meanings assigned to K'K}<on'ra, 
 see Wunder. The most plausible seems to be Dr. Spillan's: 
 " the seat encircled by the forum." B.
 
 167-186.] GEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 19 
 
 my wliole people to a man is sickening ; nor is there among us 
 a weapon of precaution, wherewith one shall defend himself; 
 for neither do the productions of our celebrated^ soil thrive, 
 nor in childbed do our women recover from their poignant 
 throes;^ but one upon another mightest thou see, even as a 
 well-fledged bird, more fiercely than uncontrollable fire,'^ 
 speeding toward the shore of the western god.* In the un- 
 counted hosts of whom the city is perishing, and the deadly^ 
 generations of men impitied are lying without a tear (to their 
 memory) on the plain ; while among them wives and gray- 
 haired mothers withal, some from this, some from that 
 quarter, along the rising altar-slope as suppliants, wail sadly 
 because of their deplorable afflictions. And clear bursts forth 
 
 1 Brunck says that one codex reads KXvra, but the plain of 
 Bceotia is particularized by ancient writers, and, among others, 
 by Thucydides in his preface, for its fertility. Tr. — I should 
 prefer taking k^vtS; as an epithet of the earth simply. B. 
 
 2 di'cxovat, "hea,r up with." All the commentators seem to 
 coincide in accepting Hesychius's interpretation of im'og^ as 
 translated. 
 
 ^ In the Hecuba of Euripides, the anarchy of a ship's crew 
 is termed, Kpeiarrwv TTvpo; in a similar sense to that given in this 
 translation; yet the second interpretation of the scholiast, 
 "too fast for the (funeral) fires though unquenched,"' derives 
 plausibilitv from Thucydides' account of avaiax^'vroi e^Kat, ii. 52. 
 
 * " Western god." Neminem pvaiterea novi qui sic Plutonem 
 vocaverit, nopev' 'Axspoirog aKra nap' evaKtov habet Pindarus Pyth. 
 ii. str. 2. Vide et Antig. 806, 7. Musgrave. In the pero- 
 ration of Lysias' Oration against Andocides in this passage, 
 "To expiate this pollution" (the mutilation of the Hermse), 
 "the priestesses and priests, turning toward the setting sun, 
 the dwelling of the infernal (lods, devoted with curses the sacri- 
 legious wretch, and shook their purple robes, in the manner 
 prescribed by that law which has been transmitted from ear- 
 liest times." Mitford, Hist, of Greece, c. xxii. sect. 2. 
 
 ^ The reading eavaTn<pdpto was adopted by all the translators, 
 except a recent one, who renders OavannBopa simply "dead." 
 I have rendered it by "deadly," for, as Wunder well remarks, 
 contagion rendered them so, and prevented them meeting with 
 the customary mourning and funeral rites. Cf. Seneca, O^^dip. 
 62. " Quin luctu in ipso luctus exoritur novus, Suseque circa 
 
 funus exequife caduut Deest terra tumulis, jam rogos 
 
 silvse negaut." B.
 
 20 CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. [187-222. 
 
 the paean anthem, and a sorrow-breathing voice chiming in. 
 Wherefore, O golden daughter of Jove, send thine aid, fair 
 of aspect, and make the ravening Mars, who now unarmed 
 with brazen shield rushing on with loud roars, scorches me, 
 to turn his back in homeward hurrying flight, an outlaw 
 from my country, either to the vast grot^ of Amphitrite, or 
 to that inhospitable harborage the Thracian breakers ; for, 
 in fine, if night have spared a relic, day assails it. Whicli 
 (Mars), O thou that wieldest the sovereignty of the fiery 
 lightning, O Jove our sire, blast by thy thunderbolt. Thine 
 invincible arrows also, O lord of light,- from the golden 
 twisted horns of thy bow would I gladly celebrate as cham- 
 pions sent forth to our aid, and the fiery torches of Diana, 
 wherewith she scours the Lycian mountains : him of the 
 golden mitre, too, I call, surnamed of this our land Bacchus 
 Evius, of aspect flushed with wine, fellow-rambler of the 
 MrenadiB, to approach, flaming Avith beamy pine-torch, upon 
 the god unhonored among gods.^ 
 
 (F.J). Thou petitionest ; but for thy petition, if thou be 
 willing to hear and receive these my words, and to give thy 
 attention to the disease, thou mightest obtain succor and 
 alleviation of thy miseries : which words I shall speak as a 
 stranger to this tale before us, a stranger to the crime com- 
 mitted. For I by myself could not trace the matter far, un- 
 less I had some clew : but now, seeing that I am enrolled 
 
 1 ea\ai.tos I have rendered "^rot," which seems more poetical 
 than ''bower," "bed," or "chamber," when applied to Amphi- 
 trite. B. 
 
 2 The old word \vicri or \vK6g (whence, probably, the Latin 
 lux), forms An/fo^rff and \vKapng. The latter word occurring 
 in Apollouius Ehodius, Argon, i. 198, first suggested to the 
 translator of this play an idea which he is happy to find sanc- 
 tioned by Maltby's authority (v. \vKEiog), that even the Sopho- 
 clean ^vkoktui^o; is one, among many other fanciful substitutes, 
 for the true origin of this epithet. Tr. — So also Miiller, Dor. 
 ii. 6, ^ 8 ; but I should prefer retaining "Lycian King." Cf. 
 ^sch! Sept. c. Th. 145. B. 
 
 3 (XTToriixos, Pindar, Pyth. ii. 80: 
 
 rdi'op i-:rEp(f)ia\ov, 
 
 Moi'G, Koi fiovov, ovr tv av- 
 
 Spdai yepatjipopov ovt'' iv Oecov I'opoTs,
 
 223-243.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 21 
 
 among our citizens^ a citizen of latest date, to all you 
 Cadma?ans I make proclamation thus :^ Whatsoever man of 
 you chances to know of Laius son of Labdacus, by what man 
 he fell, him I command to make full confession to me. 
 And whether he fears, as having to divulge from conceal- 
 ment the impeachment himself against himself ; let him, 
 seeing he shall suffer nothing else unwelcome, but shall quit 
 the country unharmed ; or whether on the other hand, any 
 one have known another^ from another land as such, let him 
 not be silent as to the assassin, for his reward I will pay, and 
 gratitude shall accrue to him besides. But if, on the con- 
 trary, ye shall be dumb, and any one apprehensive either 
 on his friend's account, or even on his own, shall reject my 
 words, ye must needs hear from me what I shall do hereaf- 
 ter. I prohibit any one of this land, of which I wield the 
 powers and royalties, from either receiving or accosting, 
 from making a communicant with himself or either vows or 
 sacrifices to the gods, and from apportioning the lavers of 
 holy water to this man, whoever he is ; but^ I command that 
 all thrust him from their homes, as this man being the de- 
 
 ^ Elmsley and Wunder read avrdg for daTos, which seems 
 preferable. B. 
 
 2 vTit^eXibv TovTTiK'XriiJia, "crimen, confitendo diluens." Elms. 
 "Conditum promens." Hermann; who quotes the Electra, 
 1411, where the scholiast's interpretation is plainer than his 
 own; and Eurip. Hipp. 629 (ed. Monk), where Monk says, 
 "hunc versum forsau omitti potuisse censuit Valkenserius ;" 
 and where the idea of draining silently off seems as apposite as 
 conditum promens, when applied to oA/3o^ iMiiaroiv. In the 4th 
 book of Thucydides, c. 83, the better authorities have vire^eXelv, 
 for vTre^eXeeTp ra Seivd, which is most aptly rendered "to remove 
 out of the way." The reader must choose between the note 
 and the text, which follows Hermann. Tr. — Wunder's inter- 
 pretation, derived from Matthise, is as follows: "et si metuit 
 {sc. vixcjp Tts navra ar]jxaiveiv eixoi) crimen csedis, cujus ipse reus 
 sit, surripiat, sive subterfugiat, et in terram peregrinam abeat ; 
 nullum euim alia patietur malum." Elmsley's view seems 
 simplest. B. 
 
 ^ Wunder approves of the emendation of Nevius, x^pos for 
 XOovdg. But Vauvilliers more neatly proposes aardv ]) 'idWrjs 
 XOovos. B. 
 
 * K£X£i)w must be taken from the preceding d-rravSo}. B.
 
 22 CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. [244-281. 
 
 filement upon us, as the Pythian oracle of the divinity has 
 just now revealed to me. Such an' ally then am I both to 
 the deity and the mortal who is dead. But I imprecate on 
 the perpetrator, whether he have escaped detection being 
 some single person, or with more, that, evil-doer as he is, 
 he may in evils drag out an unhappy existence. But should 
 he be an inmate in these my halls with my knowledge, I 
 pray that I may suffer the very penalties which I have 
 just now invoked on these. But on you I strictly impose 
 the performance of all this, both on my own behalf, and of 
 the god, and of this our land, thus without its fruits and 
 without^ the gods brought to decay. For not even if the 
 matter had not been taken up by the god, ought you in rea- 
 son to leave it thus unatoned, when the best of men, and 
 your monarch, had perished, but thoroughly to sift it : but 
 now, since it is I who possess the authority which he held 
 before, who possess too his bed, and the same wife to raise 
 up seed ; and since a common offspring to his in common 
 would have been of her born, had not issue unhappily failed 
 him, whereas now fate has fallen violently on his head ; for 
 these causes I will thus do battle for him, even as it were 
 mine own father ; and will resort to all means in seeking to 
 take the doer of his murder to the son of Labdacus, and of 
 Polydorus, and of earlier Cadmus, and of the ancient Agenor: 
 and for those who fail to perform these orders, I pray the 
 gods to allow to spring neither seed-crop to them from their 
 land, no, nor children from their wives ; but that they may 
 be wasted away by their present doom, and by one yet more 
 hateful than this. But to you the other Cadm^eans, unto as 
 many as these designs are acceptable, may both the friendly 
 power, Justice, and all the gods' weal, be present evermore. 
 
 Ch. Even as thou hast involved me in a curse, thus, O 
 king, will I speak : for neither was I the slayer, nor have I 
 power to disclose that slayer. But this same question it was 
 the part of Phcebus who gave the message to have it declared, 
 namely, who on earth has done the deed. 
 
 OEd! Thou hast rightly spoken. But to compel the gods 
 to that^ which they shall not be pleased to do, coidd no man 
 have power. 
 
 1 aeecjT, " neglected by the gods." So El. 1181, and below^ 
 661, £Trel adeoT aapiXoS'. . . .'oXoifxav. B.
 
 282-308.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 23 
 
 Ch. I would fain suggest the second step after this which 
 occurs to me. 
 
 CEt>. Nay, even if there be a third, see thou omit not to 
 give it utterance. 
 
 Ch. I know that king^ Tiresias most especially has insight 
 into the same things with king Apollo, from whom one in- 
 quiring of these matters, O king, might derive the clearest 
 knowledge of them. 
 
 CEd. But not even this have I managed as a slothful work, 
 for I have dispatched, at Creon's word, two to fetch him ; 
 and long since he moves my wonder by his non-attendance. 
 
 Ch. Well, certainly the other stories are absurd, and 
 stale. 
 
 Qi^D. To what purpose these same ? for I scrutinize every 
 report. 
 
 Ch. He was said to have fallen by some wayfarers. 
 
 (Ed. I, too, have heard so ; but the witness of this no one 
 knows. 
 
 Ch. But surely, if he possess one particle of fear, at least 
 he will not endure hearing such curses as these of thine. 
 
 CEd. Him wlio can have no horror of the deed, neither 
 will a word overawe. 
 
 Ch. Yet is there one who shall expose him, for those 
 yonder are slow conducting hither the heavenly seer ; in 
 whom alone of men is the truth innate. 
 
 OEd. Tiresias, thou who dost contemplate all things, both 
 those which may be taught, and those which are unspeak- 
 able, and those which are of heaven, and those that tread 
 our earth ; vmder what a disease our city labors, even though 
 thou seest not, thou must still be sensible : wherein we dis- 
 cover thee, O king, our only protector and deliverer. For 
 Phoebus, should thou not be informed of it by the messen- 
 gers, has sent word in return to us who sent to ask that re- 
 lease from this our present sickly state alone could come, if, 
 having rightly discovered, we should put to death those who 
 
 1 The expression ava^ refers here to the functions of the 
 king, priest, and prophet, which were united from the earliest 
 times, and which neither the Athenians nor Eomans, when 
 they abolished the regal power, dared nominally to separate, 
 but still retained their titular ^aaiXevr and rex.
 
 24 OEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [309-333. 
 
 killed Laius, or send them into banishment from the land. 
 Do thou, therefore, on thv part, grudging us neither response 
 from augury, nor if thou hast other way of divination what- 
 ever, redeem thyself and the state, redeem me, redeem the 
 whole pollution of the dead.^ For in thy hands we are ; but 
 for a man to do benefit from such means as he may have and 
 can use, is of labors the most glorious. 
 
 TiRESiAS. Woe, woe, how dreadful to be wise, where it 
 can not pay its profits to the wise. Alas ! for though I knew 
 this Avell, I altogether forgot it, else had I not come hither. 
 
 Q^D. Xav, what is this? how dispirited art thou come to 
 us! \ 
 
 TiR. Dismiss me to my home, for most easily Avilt thou 
 endure thy doom and I mine, if thou wilt be prevailed on 
 by me. 
 
 CEd. Thou hast said what is neither lawful nor friendly to 
 this thy country which nursed thee, in depriving her of this 
 divulgement. 
 
 Tie,, Why, I observe that neither does thy speech pro- 
 ceed from thee seasonably ; I do it, therefore, that I may not 
 suffer the same evil on my part. 
 
 Ch. Do not, in the name of the gods, if aware of this, be 
 averse [to speak], since we all here, prostrate as suppliants, 
 kneel to thee. 
 
 TiR. Because ye are all infatuated : but I ,^ no, never; 
 
 be it that I may not, by telling my own, unfold thy miseries. 
 
 CEt>. What sayest thou ? though knowing it, Avilt thou not 
 give it utterance, but thinkest thou to betray us, and destroy 
 the state. 
 
 TiR. I will grieve neither myself nor thee. * Wherefore 
 dost thou vainly probe these matters ? for never shalt thou 
 learn them from me. 
 
 1 That is. " all that the death of Laius has polluted." 
 
 2 " But I ." This is translated after the punctuation of 
 
 Hermann's edition. In his addenda, however, Ehusley con- 
 siders Erf urdt to have correctly interpreted the passage, the 
 second //»? to redound, and the order to be, £yw 6c oi nii-ors eKipiivio 
 
 (id est, ovTTOrE CKipavio) to. aa koko., io~ au cUttm ra e^a fxavTCvuara. 
 
 "Never imagine that I will bring to light thy misfortuues, in 
 order that I may utter my prophecies." Te. — Dindorf s text 
 seems unintelligible. B.
 
 334-356.] CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. 25 
 
 Q^D. "What, worst of villains ! for thou on thy part wouldst 
 enrage the temper even of a stone ; wilt thou never declare 
 it at all, and show thyself unsoftened and unsatisfying ? 
 
 TiR. Thou hast complained of my ill humor, but thine 
 own that dwells with thee hast thou not discerned ;^ yet 
 blamest thou me. 
 
 GLd. I do ; for who would not be incensed at hearing such 
 words as those, in which thou now settest at naught this city ? 
 
 Tie,. Why, they will come to pass, even though I suppress 
 them in silence. 
 
 (Ed. Oughtest not thou, then, to inform me of at least 
 that which will come to pass? 
 
 Tie.. I can tell thee no further ; whereupon, if thou wilt, 
 be exasperate with whatever rage is most ferocious. 
 
 (Ed. Ay, on my soul, and I will at least pass over noth- 
 ing, so enraged am I, of what I am apprised of. For, know, 
 thou art suspected by me both to have helped engender the 
 deed, and to have done it, in all but killing him with thine 
 hands ; nay, hadst thou possessed sight, even this deed its 
 very self had I asserted to be thine alone. 
 
 Tie. Is it even so? 1 charge thee to abide by the proc- 
 lamation, even that which thou hast promulged, and from 
 this day forth to accost neither these present, nor me ; for 
 that thou art the unhallowed defiler of this land. 
 
 OEd. Hast thou thus shamelessly given vent to these words 
 of thine, and canst thou possibly expect that thou shalt ac- 
 quit thyself of this? 
 
 TiR. I stand acquitted, for I cherish truth in its strength. 
 
 1 Hermann considers that Eustatliius is right in attributing 
 to these words an allusion to Jocasta, and says, that the expres- 
 sion ojiou vatovo-ai/ is otherwise useless ; which, however, it would 
 not be, since it contains the very reason which gives Tiresias's 
 remonstrance so much force. The ambiguity, if any ought to 
 be, is well preserved in these lines ; 
 
 "Thou hast reproved my warmth, yet little know'st 
 What dwells in thine own bosom, though on me 
 Thou heap'st reproach." 
 
 Dale's Trans, vol. i. 32. Tr. 
 See V. 414, and cf. Nonnus Dionys. xxv. 20. — ni^ ^omw Xlarpo<b6. 
 
 vov Troaiv via napswa^ovra TEKOvar]. Statius Theb. 1, 68; Si dulcea 
 
 furias, et lameutabile matris Counubium gavisus ini. B. 
 2
 
 26 (EDIPUS TYRAXNUS. [357-382. 
 
 CEd. At whose hand schooled ? for surely not from thy 
 art. 
 
 Tin. At thine ; for thou hast provoked me reluctant to 
 speak. 
 
 CEd. What manner of speech ? speak again, that I may 
 the rather apprehend. 
 
 TiR. Understood' st thou not before, or temptest thou my, 
 words ? 
 
 Q^D. No, not at least to have termed it intelligible ; but 
 say again. 
 
 Tm. I say thou art the murderer of the man whose mur- 
 derer thou seekest. 
 
 CEd. But in no wise with impunity shalt thou twice at 
 least utter taunts. 
 
 TiR. Shall I tell thee, then, one other thing also, that 
 thou mayest be the more angered ? 
 
 (Ed. As much at least as thou inclinest, since it Avill be 
 said in vain. 
 
 TiR. I affirm thee to be unconsciously holding the most 
 shameful intercourse with thy dearest friends, and not to see 
 in what state of evil thou art. 
 
 (Ed. And dost think thou shalt always say these things 
 even exultingly ? 
 
 TiR. Yes, if at least there be any might in truth. 
 
 (Ed. Kay, there is, save to thee ; but to thee there is not 
 this, since thou art blind both in thine ears and thy mind 
 and thine eyes. 
 
 TiR. But thou at any rate art wretched in reproaching 
 me with this, wherewith is there not one of these present 
 who will not speedily reproach thee. 
 
 (Ed. Thou art fostered by night alone, so that thou couldst 
 never do either me or any other, whoever he be, that looks 
 on the light, a mischief. 
 
 TiR. For it is not fated thou shouldst fall, at least by me, 
 since Apollo is sufficient, whose care it is to accomplish all 
 this. 
 
 (Ed. Are these the inventions of Creon, or thine own? 
 
 TiR. Kay, Creon is no bane to thee, but thyself to thyself. 
 
 (Ed. O wealth and sovereignty, and art surpassing art in 
 this life of constant emulation, how great is the jealousy 
 stored up among you I if at least for the sake of this my
 
 383-401 •] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 27 
 
 power, which the city reposed in my hands, a free gift and 
 not solicited. Creon, the loyal, my former friend, secretly 
 supplanting me is longing to eject me from it, having sub- 
 orned a sorcerer such as this, a vaniper-up of plots, a Avily 
 mountebank, a wretch that hath eyes only for his gains, but 
 as to his art was born blind. For if not, come tell me, 
 wherein thou art a true seer? How didst thou not, when 
 the monster of wild song^ was here, pronounce some spell 
 of deliverance to these our citizens? And yet her riddle at 
 least was not for a chance-comer to expound, but required 
 divination, which thou plainly exposedst thyself as not pos- 
 sessing, either from birds or known from any one of the gods ; 
 but I, when I was come, the nothing-knowing ffidipus, put 
 her down, having mastered it by judgment, and not having 
 learned it from birds : I, whom forsooth thou must try to 
 depose, expecting that thou shalt stand next in place near 
 the Cretonean throne.'^ To thy cost methinks both thou and 
 he that contrived all this will go exorcising i^ollutions : nay, 
 
 1 17 pa'^Mcog KVMv,] A puzzling title to translate; but the 
 Sphinx was all a puzzle, and would have made a great figure 
 in these days of Egyptian statues and hieroglyphics, particu- 
 larly as her a(;ted charades were bettor than her spoken, at 
 least they nonplussed the poor Thebans more, being of that 
 ancient kind which he who receives aright "had need from 
 head to foot well understand." For the translation, if any one 
 have so much of Euripides, or rather Diogenes, in him as to 
 prefer " enigmatical bitch," he may find in the poem of Chris- 
 tabelle one of the same breed, and most "enigmatical," vv. 2 
 et seq. Tr. — kvcov is applied to the Sphinx, as to the hydra by 
 Eurip. Here. F. 1277, and to the Harpies in Apollou. 13, 289. 
 So Brunck. See also ^sch. Prom. 803. Soph. Electr. 1388. It 
 was probably applied to the Sphinx from her rapacity and rob- 
 beries. See Pausan. ix. 26. Hygiu. Fab. Ixvii. or from her 
 participating in the form of a dog. Palaephat de incred. hist. 
 ^7. B. 
 
 2 On the expression rw AapSaKsico iraiSi (v. 267), Brunck has a 
 long note from Eustathius, producing two examples from Homer 
 of these adjectives in eiog, in both of which there seem a certain 
 solemnity and state intended to be expressed, which indeed are 
 more palpable in these instances from Sophocles : rw Aa/iJu^ou 
 rs rraiSi would not have the same force.
 
 28 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [402-426. 
 
 but that thou seemest an old man, to thv cost hadst tliou 
 known^ what manner of things they be thou purposest. 
 
 Ch. As we conjecture, both this man's Avords and thine, O 
 CEdipus, appear to have been uttered in passion. But there 
 is want not of such words as these, but to consider, but how 
 we shall best expedite the oracles of the god. 
 
 Tr. Even though thou art a king, the right of an equal 
 reply at any rate must be equally granted to both, for of this 
 I too am master. For in no wise do I hold life as servant to 
 thee, but to Loxias, so. that I shall not by and by be entered 
 under Creon as patron. But I tell thee, inasmuch as thou 
 hast taunted me with being blind also : thou actually hast thy 
 sight, and seest not in what evil thou art, nor where thou art 
 dwelling, nor with whom thou art consorting. Knowest thou 
 now from whom thou art? Thou art even unaware that thou 
 art the enemy of thine own buried kindred, and of those on 
 earth above. And thee with fearful steps shall a curse both^ 
 from thy mother and thy father, one day, with double stroke 
 chase from this land, thee seeing now indeed rightly, but 
 then darkness. But with thine outcry what manner of 
 haven, what Cithajron, shall not speedily be in unison, when 
 thou shalt have become sensible of the marriage into which, 
 though void of harborage, thou hast in thine halls steered 
 thy course, happening on a fair voyage time? But thou 
 dost not feel conscious of a multitude of other evils, which^ 
 shall level thee with thy real self and with thy children. 
 Now then revile both Creon and my words, for there lives 
 
 1 Brunek renders ''damnotuo cognosceres, quam male sen- 
 tias." This is not satisfactory, the force of the particle Trep 
 being entirely lost, unless it be thought, implied by "sentias." 
 Since OEdipus appears confident of the nature of Tiresias' in- 
 tentions, may we translate "thou hadst known as the sufferer 
 just what thou knowest as the designer," and consider it a 
 threat of banishment; or does ola -rzp mean qualia cunque? 
 Elmsley prints them together, oraTrep; Hermann, separately. 
 
 2 Jetj/OTroi'j. 
 
 ** And long upon my troubled ear 
 Eang his dark courser's hoofs of feai*." — Giaouk. 
 ^ There is probably a play upoii the word I'o-i-?, referring to 
 CEdipus discovering both what he himself was, and also how 
 he stood related to his children. See Wunder. B.
 
 427-449-] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 29 
 
 not the mortal who shall ever wear himself away more dire- 
 fully than thou. 
 
 (Ed. And is all this then bearable to hear from this thing i 
 Wilt not away to thy death ? Wilt not instantly ? Wilt 
 thon not turn thy back upon these halls, and get thee away 
 again in haste? 
 
 TiR. Nay, I for my part had not come, hadst thou not 
 bidden me hither. 
 
 CEd. I did, because I was by no means aware that thou 
 wouldst utter folly, else had I taken my time at least in 
 fetching thee to my dwelling. 
 
 TiR. Such as we are, we are, to thy thinking, fools ; but 
 to the parents who begat thee, wise. 
 
 Q^D. What parents ? tarry : nay, who of mankind is my 
 parent ? 
 
 TiR. This day shall give thee thy birth and thy destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 (Ed. How over-mysterious and obscure dost thou speak 
 every thing ! 
 
 TiR. Art not thou then by nature the aptest at discover- 
 ing these ? 
 
 (Ed. Revile me, and welcome, in those things in which 
 thou wilt find me great. 
 
 TiR. Yet is it nevertheless this very success which has 
 beeu thy ruin.^ 
 
 (Ed. Nay, but if I have rescued this our city, I care not. 
 
 TiR. Now then will I depart, and do thou, boy, conduct 
 me. 
 
 (Ed. Well, let him conduct thee, since while here thou 
 troublest and hinderest us, and, wert thou gone, thou couldst 
 not annoy us more. 
 
 TiR. I will be gone when I have spoken that for which I 
 came, not from awe of thy presence.^ For there is no mean 
 whereby thou shalt destroy me. But I tell thee : this very 
 
 ^ Compare '' Fatal Marriage," Act v. so. 4 : 
 
 " Why, that which damns most men has ruined me ; 
 The making of my fortune." B. 
 2 Hermann understands by -rrpoawrov audacity; but as it is 
 used with T-oA/ii?? in a subsequent passage, the translator has 
 followed Brunck.
 
 30 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [450-486. 
 
 man, whom all this while thou art searching out with men- 
 aces and proclamations touching Lai'us' murder, this man 
 is here, a foreign settler here bv report, but by and by shall 
 he be manifested a Theban born, nor will he be pleased with 
 his fortune. For blind instead of seeing, and a beggar in- 
 stead of rich, over a strange land shall he be a wayfarer, 
 essaying his way with a staff ; but with his own children 
 shall he be detected abiding, at once their brother and their 
 sire, and of the Avoman of whom he was born both son and 
 husband, and of his father both co-rival and assassin. And 
 these things, going in-doors, reason over with thyself ; and 
 if thou detect me to have falsified, say then that I have no 
 skill in divination. 
 
 Chorus. Who is he whom the prophetic Delphic rock 
 denounced as having wrought with murderous hands the 
 most nefarious of most nefarious deeds? Time were it for 
 him to employ in flight a foot more vigorous than coursers 
 swift as the storm ; for the offspring of Jove all armed with 
 fire and lightnings is springing upon him, and together are 
 following the dread inevitable fates. For a voice hath glanced 
 forth, but now appearing from the snowy Parnassus, that every 
 one must track the undiscovered criminal. For under some 
 wild wood is he straying, among caverns and crags, like a 
 bull,^ with miserable foot a miserable widower : shunning 
 the prophecies sprung from earth's middle: but they flit 
 around him, ever living. Fearfully, however, fearfully does 
 the sage augur trouble me, neither assenting nor denying ;^ 
 nay I am at a loss Avhat to say. But I flutter on hopes, see- 
 ing neither in prospect nor in retrospect ; for what feud lay 
 
 1 "Like a bull." See Virgil's Georgic, iii. 219-236. The 
 expressions cnroioacpiscop, TTspiTTorarai, etc, Seem allusions to the 
 oestrum. And the epithet xip^v^ov, wliich might apply so well 
 to the bull, derives a tremendous force from the coutrast of the 
 murderer's actual condition. 
 
 '■^ So above, 89. ovrs yap epaav;, Ovr ovv Trpoceiaas eipl tm ys vvv 
 
 XoyiL). But ovr£ Soxovvr ovr' dTro<pd(rKoi'0' are generally taken, with 
 Seiva, as nominatives plural, and explained, as by the Scholiast: 
 ovre ~tc-ra ovre aTicra. Yet, as the prophet Imd affirmed CEdipns 
 to be the murderer, the Chorus could hardly say that his words 
 neither asserted nor denied, and I therefore think the present 
 translation the best. B.
 
 487-533-] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 31 
 
 between either the Labdacidfe or the son of Polybus, I for 
 my part never learned neither heretofore, nor in the present 
 case have I yet from any one^ with whose test I, as an aven- 
 ger of the Labdacidae in respect to that mysterious murder, 
 should go against the popular fame of OEdipus, Yet Jupi- 
 ter and Apollo however are wise, and ken the affairs of mor- 
 tals ; but among men, that a soothsayer is of more account 
 than I, is no certain conclusion ; yet a man might surpass 
 wisdom by wisdom :'^ but never would I for my part, until I 
 saw [the seer's] words prove true, agree with those who 
 condemn him. The winged maid came once publicly, and 
 he was then upon trial seen to be sage, and the city's friend ; 
 wherefore in my mind he shall never be cast as guilty of a 
 crime. 
 
 Creon. Men and citizens, having learned that Qildipus the 
 king accuses me in grievous terms, I come before you ill 
 brooking it. For if in these the distresses of the present 
 time he considers himself to have suffered aught at my 
 hands, at least by word or deed tending to his injury, truly 
 I have no hankering after a long-enduring life while I bear 
 this report. For the penalty of this calumny upon me tends 
 to no simple evil, but to one of the first magnitude, if I am 
 henceforth to be called a traitor in the city, a traitor before 
 thee and my friends. 
 
 Ch. Yet surely this said reproach came, as it might be, 
 forced out by rage, rather than by judgment of the mind. 
 
 Cr. But by what did it appear that, persuaded by my 
 counsels, the prophet speaks his words falsely ? 
 
 Ch. This was indeed averred, but I know not with what 
 meaning. 
 
 (Jr. But was this same accusation alleged against me Avith 
 eyes and mind set aright ? 
 
 Ch. I know not, for I have no eyes for what my masters 
 do. But the man himself is now sallying forth from the 
 palace. 
 
 QCdipus. Ho, fellow ! how camest thou hither ? hast thou 
 such a front of impudence that thou art come to my very 
 
 1 Here there is a lacuna, which Brunck supplies by xprna^ic' 
 
 VOg. B. 
 
 '^ Cf. v. 380 — Kai TEXvr] Tcxvrjg Y-Trepfipovaa. B.
 
 32 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [534-564. 
 
 roof being palpably the assassin of this man, and the con- 
 fessed robber of my royalty? Pray tell me, in heaven's 
 name, what cowardice or idiocy having remarked in me hast 
 thou plotted to do this? Was it that I should not detect 
 this work of thine, creeping on me by stealth, and when I 
 had learned should not protect myself against it ? AVhy, is 
 not this thine enterprise a silly one, Avithout a multitude of 
 friends to be hunting after empire, which by numbers and 
 by wealth is to be achieved ? 
 
 Cr.^ Knowest thou what to do? In answer to what has 
 been said, listen to an equal statement, and then be thyself 
 the arbiter when informed. 
 
 CEd. Thou art shrewd at speaking, but I am dull at learn- 
 ing of thee ; for I have found thee ill disposed and irksome 
 to me. 
 
 Cr. This very point now first hear from me as I shall 
 state it. 
 
 QEd. This very point now see thou tell me not, how thou 
 art not a villain. 
 
 Cr. Truly, if thou thinkest wilfulness to be any gain 
 when separate from understanding, thou thinkest not wisely. 
 
 (Kt). Truly, if thou thinkest that ill-treatment a kinsman 
 thou shalt not undergo the penalty, thou thinkest not 
 wisely. 
 
 Cr. I agree with thee that this is spoken with justice : but 
 inform me of the grievance, what it may be that thou pro- 
 fessest to have suffered. 
 
 (Ed. Didst thou persuade or not persuade me, that it be- 
 hooved me to send some one for the holy man of prophecy ? 
 
 Cr. Ay, and am even yet constant to my counsel. 
 
 CEd. Well, how long time may it be now, then, since 
 Laius — 
 
 Cr. Did what manner of deed ? for I comprehend not. 
 
 CEt). ^Mysteriously disappeared by a fatal assault. 
 
 Cr. Long and ancient periods might be reckoned up. 
 
 (Et>. Was, then, this same diviner at that time in the 
 practice of his calling ? 
 
 Cr. At least he was as sage and as much respected. 
 
 CEd. Well, made he any mention of me then at that time? 
 
 1 See Keen on Gregorius de Dial. Attic. ^ 2. B.
 
 565-5S2.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 23 
 
 Cr. Certainly not, never, at least, where I was a bystander. 
 
 (Ed. But held ye no inquisition for the deceased ? 
 
 Cr. We commissioned one ; nay, how should we not ? and 
 heard nothing, 
 
 OEd. How was it, then, that at that time this sage revealed 
 not these things ? 
 
 Cr. I know not ; for in matters on which I have no un- 
 derstanding I prefer being silent. 
 
 (F^D. Yet this much at least thou knowest, and Avould state 
 if honest of purpose. 
 
 Cr. Of what sort is this thing? for if I do know it, I will 
 not deny it. 
 
 (Ed. It is, that unless he has conspired with thee,^ he 
 never could have said that the destruction of Laius was my 
 doing. 
 
 Cr. Whether he says so, thou thyself knowest ; but I 
 claim the right of ascertaining from thee just the same things 
 which thou hast now from nie also. 
 
 (Et>. Ascertain them ; for certainly I shall not be detected 
 a murderer. 
 
 Cr. What sayest thou, then? art thou married to my own 
 sister? 
 
 OEd. There is no denial of that thou questionest. 
 
 Cr.'^ And hast thou the same sovereignty with her, 
 swaying in equal share of territory? 
 
 CEd. W^hatever be her pleasure, she obtains every thing 
 from me. 
 
 Cr. Am not I then the third on a par with you too ? 
 
 (Kb. Why, 'tis even in this in fact thou showest thee a 
 false friend. 
 
 1 "09' ovvEKa.] Thus in the old English, the ballad of the 
 field-mouse : 
 
 " Who for because her livelihood was thin, 
 Would needs go seek her townish sister's house." 
 
 2 Doederlin remarks that y>is ought rather to be made to 
 depend upon apY^'f tlian upon 'iao", and he prefers interpreting 
 caov vtixMv, '■'■ parein dignitatem fribuens, scil. Jocasta?, ut Phil. 
 1020: ovSev rjSv yap 0£ol vkjxomi jxoi, coll. V. 1062, Ant. 1373, nam 
 de liberalitate (Edipi sermo est, quse in dando posita est, non 
 de potentia ejusdem, quae in obtinendo ceruitur." B.
 
 34 GEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [583-619. 
 
 Cr. Xot so, if at least thou wouldst reason with thyself, as 
 I do. But reflect on this first, if thou think that any would 
 choose for himself, to rule in a state of apprehension, ratlier 
 than to sleep fearless, if at least he shall still have the same 
 powers. Neither, then, am I myself of a nature to covet the 
 being a monarch rather than the acting as a monarch, nor 
 any other who has a sense of prudence ; for now indeed I 
 receive every thing from thee without fear, but were I king 
 myself I should do many things even against my wishes. 
 How then is monarchy naturally more pleasing to me to 
 possess, than rule and puissance without pain ? I do not 
 yet happen to be so nuich deceived as to wish for aught else 
 than what is with profit honorable. Now I am friends with 
 all, now every one salutes me, now they avIio have a suit to 
 thee^ summon me out ; for their success is centered altogether 
 in me. How then should I, having abandoned this place, 
 grasp at that other? A well-intentioned spirit could not be- 
 come wicked. But I am neither by nature a warm admirer 
 of this same sentiment, nor should I ever venture on it with 
 another to effect it : and as a test of this, in the first place, 
 go to Delphi, and inquire if I have fairly reported to thee, 
 what was prophesied ; thus much more ; if thou detect me 
 to have complotted aught in common with the soothsayer, 
 take and put me to death, not by a single suffrage, but by a 
 double one, both mine and thine ; but hold me not guilty 
 without a hearing, on an uncertain opinion. For it is not 
 just lightly to deem the wicked good, or the good wicked. 
 For to cast away a virtuous friend, I call as bad as to cast 
 away one's own life, which one loves best. But in time thou 
 shalt discern all this, without fail, since time alone develops 
 the honest man; but a traitor thou mightest discover even in 
 one day. 
 
 Ch. Comraendably hath he spoken to one who is cautious 
 of falling, O prince ; for they who are hasty to judge are 
 insecure. 
 
 CEi>. When any one takes quick steps in covert plots, it 
 needs me to counteract him in counsel quickly ; but if, keep- 
 
 1 Wunder reads aiKciWovai, "court me," from the conjecture 
 of Diud. Perhaps the common reading may be defended by 
 Trach. 1206, oia //' CKKaXel, -Karep.
 
 620-643.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 35 
 
 ing quiet, I wait for him, his plans will be accomplished, 
 but mind marred. 
 
 Cr. Well then, what is thine aim ? To eject me from the 
 land ? 
 
 QEd. By no means : I wish thee to die, not to be exiled. 
 
 Cr. When thou shalt first have shown the nature of thy 
 grudge to me. 
 
 CEd. Speakest thou as one who will obey neither command 
 nor agreement ?^ 
 
 Cr. Yes ; for I see thou art not in thy right mind. 
 
 CEd. For my own interest at least. 
 
 Cr. But thou oughtest as much for mine too. 
 
 OEd, But thou art a born traitor. 
 
 Cr. But what an thou understandest nothing? 
 
 CEd. Yet still one must be ruled. 
 
 Cr. Surely not by a bad ruler at least. 
 
 OEd. O city, city'! 
 
 Cr. I too have a part in the city, and not thou only. 
 
 Ch. Princes, desist ; but opportunely for you both, I see 
 Jocasta advancing from the palace, in concert with whom 
 you are bound amicably to settle your quarrel now pending. 
 
 Jocasta. Why, infatuated, have ye raised this unadvised 
 strife of tongue, nor blush ye, when our land is thus dis- 
 eased, at stirring up private mischiefs? Wilt not both thou 
 get thee home, and thou, Creon, to thy dwelling, and not 
 raise a nothing of an offense to magnitude ? 
 
 Cr. Sister, CEdipus, thy husband, thinks proper to do me 
 foul wrong, having limited choice to two evils, either to 
 banish me from my father's land, or to take and slay me. 
 
 (Ed. I confess it ; for I have detected him, lady, in mal- 
 practices against my person with wicked craft. 
 
 ^ Dr. Spillan's version has, "Say you that you will not yield 
 and submit?" The Cambridge, " Do you speak as not about to 
 depart nor to obey me?" The old Oxford, "Sayest thou that 
 thou wilt neither yield, nor obey?" None of these interpreta- 
 tions appear satisfactory. I think there is some error in -mre- 
 vacov, and perhaps no interrogation is needed. One would al- 
 most expect such a sense as this, " You speak as one that can 
 neither yield nor convince." Tap is similarly used in a passage 
 very like the present one, Trach. 1232, cir ipyaceicov oiSev Stv 
 Xeyu epouT. YAAOS, tiT ydp tzod . B.
 
 36 CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. [644-679. 
 
 Cr. Xow marl never prosper, but perish accursed, if I 
 have done aught to thee of what thou accusest me of doing. 
 
 Jo. Oh ! in the gods' name, Oedipus be persuaded to this : 
 most especially, indeed, in respect to this adjuration of the 
 gods ; secondly, to both me and these Avho are here present. 
 
 Ch. Be prevailed on, willingly and sensibly, O king, I 
 implore thee. 
 
 (Ed. What wilt thou, then, I shall concede to thee ? 
 
 Ch. To respect him who neither ere now was imprudent, 
 and now is mighty in virtue of his oath. 
 
 (Ed. Dost know then what thou wishest? 
 
 Ch. I do know. 
 
 (Ed. Explain, then, what thou hast to say. 
 
 Ch. That thou bring not into impeachment and disgrace 
 thy friend, who has thus made oath,^ at least upon an uncer- 
 tain charge. 
 
 (Ed. Know now full well, that when thou seekest this, 
 thou art seeking death or banishment from this land for me. 
 
 Ch. No, by the god, chieftain of all the gods, the sun, 
 since I wish I may die godless, friendless, the direst of all 
 deaths, whatever it be, if I have this design ; but the with- 
 ering land wears out the spirits of hapless me, especially if 
 these troubles, I mean those which arise from you two, shall 
 attach to the previous afflictions. 
 
 CEd. Then let him begone ; ay, if it be my destiny utterly 
 to fall a victim, or be thrust out by violence, dishonored 
 from this country ; for 'tis thy piteous appeal, not his, that 
 I compassionate ; but he, wherever he shall be, shall be 
 loathed. 
 
 Cr. Full of loathing, indeed, thou plainly showest thyself 
 in yielding ; but sad [wilt thou be], when thou shalt have 
 exceeded in thy passion. Such tempers, however, are justly 
 the most painful to themselves to bear with. 
 
 CEd. Wilt thou not leave me alone, and get thee forth? 
 
 Cr. I will be gone, having met with you indeed who 
 know me not ; but in the eyes of these men just. 
 
 Ch. Lady, why delay est thou to convey this man Avithin 
 the house? 
 
 1 This is Erfurdt's interpretation of evayn. Liddell well 
 renders it, "who has pledged himself under a curse.'' See 
 Lexicon, sub v. B.
 
 68o-7o6.] GEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 37 
 
 Jo. I M'ill, when I have learned at least what may have 
 happened. 
 
 Ch. An uncertain suspicion came of certain words : even 
 the unjust taunt is cutting. 
 
 Jo. From both of them ? 
 
 Ch. Even so. 
 
 Jo. And what was the saying? 
 
 Ch. Enough, enough to me at least it seems, when the 
 land is previouslv distressed, that it rest there where it left 
 off. 
 
 (Et>. Seest thou to what thou, a man of upright intention, 
 art come,^ giving up my side, and hardening your heart 
 against me ? 
 
 Ch. O prince, I have said not once alone, but know that 
 I should show myself beside my senses, incapacitated from 
 regaining those senses, were I to secede from thee, who hast 
 piloted right steadily down the stream mine own dear land, 
 when rocking about in troubles ; and now too,'-^ be safe con- 
 voy to it, if thou mayest. 
 
 Jo. In the gods' name inform me also, O king, from what 
 circumstances on earth thou hast conceived so great wrath as 
 this. . 
 
 OEd. I will tell thee ; for I hold thee, lady, in more re- 
 spect than these : it is from Creon ; that he has plotted such 
 devices against me. 
 
 Jo. Speak, if thou wilt plainly state the cause of quarrel, 
 charging it on him. 
 
 (Et>. He says that I am the murderer of Lai'us. 
 
 Jo. Of his own privity, or having learned it from other? 
 
 QLj). Why, by having sent me a knavish soothsayer, how- 
 ever ; for as to himself, at least, he exculpates his speech 
 entirely. "^ 
 
 1 So F. Jacobs : Trapisis" is, to the best of my knowledge, al- 
 ways used of what one does of or to one's self, not of what one 
 causes another to do. (See Ellendt.) The same remark applies 
 to v<pei^. The old translation was, " by lowering and deadening 
 my spirit." B. 
 
 '^ Cf. V. 52, sq. B. ytvov is condemned by Hermann as spuri- 
 ous. 
 
 •^ I.e., from having accused me. It appears strange that so 
 many commentators should have missed the true sense of a
 
 38 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [707-735. 
 
 Jo. Do thou now, leaving thine own matter alone, as 
 touching the things thou speakest of, give ear to me, and 
 learn for thy comfort, that there is no mortal thing possessed 
 of the prophetic art. But I will develop to thee concise evi- 
 dence of this. For long ago came an oracle to Laius, I will 
 not assert from Phoebus himself, however, but from his min- 
 isters, that his doom should come for him to fall by a son 
 who should be begotten of me and him. And him, indeed, 
 at least as the story goes, do foreign robbers murder on a 
 time, at the junction of three carriage-ways. Bat from the 
 birth of the child there intervened not three days before he, 
 having tied the joints of its feet together, cast it away by 
 others' hands, upon an untrodden mountain. And therein 
 Apollo brought to pass neither that it should be the slayer 
 of its father, nor that Laius, the disaster which he then 
 dreaded, should die by his son's hand. Such fates did the 
 prophetic declarations predetermine, of which take thou no 
 heed. For whatever the god investigates as necessary, will 
 he in person easily make appear. 
 
 CEt>. What distraction of soul and perturbation of feelings 
 at this moment possess me, having heard thee, lady. 
 
 Jo. By what manner of solicitude altered in mind sayest 
 thou this? 
 
 OEd. I thought I heard this from thee, that Laius was 
 slaughtered near three highways. 
 
 Jo. Yes; for these things were rumored, nor have they 
 yet ceased to be. 
 
 (Ed. And where is this said spot where this catastrophe 
 occurred ? 
 
 Jo. Pliocis the land is called : but a separate road leads to 
 the same point from Delphi and from Daulia. 
 
 QEd. And what is the time that has elapsed to these 
 events ? 
 
 -passage so strongly marked by the particles nsv ovv, and the ye 
 m the next clause. CEdipus is positive {ovi/) of Tlresias being 
 merely Creon's mouth-piece, though Creou himself had vindi- 
 cated his own language. See Hermann's and Erfurdt's notes. 
 Tr. — More simply, "he keeps his speech free from such asser- 
 tion." In Liddell's Lexicon it is rendered, "every man's 
 tongue is ready to acquit himself.'' B.
 
 736-755-] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 39 
 
 Jo. Some short time previous to thy coming forward as 
 ruler of this land, were these rumors published to the city. 
 
 (Ed. O Jupiter, what hast thou purposed to do by me? 
 
 Jo. But what, O (Edipus, is this monster of thy thought? 
 
 (Ed. Question me not yet.^ But of Laius tell me what 
 personal appearance he had, and that^ at what era of his 
 prime. 
 
 Jo. Of lofty port, just now whitening to down the hoary 
 honors of his head : but he was not very unlike thy own 
 form.^ 
 
 QLt>. Woe me unhappy ! It seems I have, without know- 
 ing it, even now forced myself prematurely into horrid 
 curses. 
 
 Jo. How sayest thou? verily I shudder as I glance at 
 thee, O king. 
 
 CEd. Fearfully am I despondent, lest the prophet see too 
 well : but thou wilt the surer demonstrate it if thou wilt be 
 explicit on one more point. 
 
 Jo. Indeed, indeed I shrink from it ; yet what thou shalt 
 ask, if aware, I will tell. 
 
 (Ed. Was he journeying thinly attended, or with a train 
 of many armed retainers, as one of a chieftain's rank 
 should? 
 
 Jo. They were five altogether ; and among them was a 
 herald ; but a single chariot conveyed Laius. 
 
 QEd. Alas ! all this is now full clear. Who on earth was 
 he who told this same narrative to you, lady ? 
 
 1 " Not yet." Porsou says, ad Hec. 1260 (ed. Pors.), that nv-u 
 is used for hvttotc. which Erfurdt quotes ou this place, although 
 totally iuapplicable, and quotes moreover without the most 
 essential part, the " Xtrdrrys" qusedam " of //"ttco for fifinorE ; which 
 omission might lead one to suppose that Porson thought the 
 two words equivalent, and the particle ttw to have two senses. 
 
 2 "And that." Erfurdt's note on this place is truly admira- 
 ble, when contrasted with the opinions of those learned men 
 who, by dubbing those words noirs faineants which they can 
 not express, would conceal their own laziness or the poverty 
 of modern languages. "Participia excop, XajSwi^, et alia nunquam 
 sic ponuntur, ut nihil plane signilicent, semperque imaginibus 
 rerum ad summam illam, cui Grsecorum nobilissima gens per 
 omnia studebat, perfectiouem exprimendis inserviunt." 
 
 » See Schiegel's Vllth Lecture, p. 102. B.
 
 40 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [756-782. 
 
 Jo. A certain domestic, who in fact Avas the only one who 
 returned safely escaped. 
 
 (J^T>. And does he happen to be now at hand in the 
 palace ? 
 
 Jo. O no ! for from the time when he returned thence and 
 saw both thee holding the government, and Laius dead, he 
 petitioned me, grasping my hand, to send him into the 
 country and to the pastures of the flocks, that he might be 
 most completely removed from sight of this city. And I 
 sent him : for he was worthy, considering he was a slave, to 
 obtain even a higher favor than this. 
 
 (Ed. Would then that he might return to us speedily ! 
 
 Jo. It is possible : but Avherefore seekest thou this ? 
 
 CEd. For myself I fear, lady, lest overmuch have been 
 said by me, for which cause I wish to see him. 
 
 Jo. Nay, he shall come. But surely I also am worthy to 
 learn, at least what circumstances are irksome to thee, O 
 king. 
 
 CEd. And thou surely must by no means be disappointed 
 of this, when I have now arrived at such a pitch of expect- 
 ancy.^ For to Avhom could I speak w^ho would be of more 
 account even than thou, when implicated in such a fate as 
 this ? I had for my father Polybus of Corinth, for my mother, 
 Merope of Doris ; and I was esteemed chiefest in rank of the 
 citizens of Corinth, before an accident befell me such as I 
 shall tell, worthy indeed of wonder, but unworthy never- 
 theless of the interest I took in it. For at a banquet a man 
 overcharged with wine, brands me over his cups with being 
 a supposititious son of my father. And I, deeply displeased, 
 with much ado restrained me for that day ; but on the next 
 I visited my mother and my father, and strictly questioned 
 them ; but they were highly offended for the affront with 
 him who gave vent to the assertion. And 1 was pleased in- 
 deed with them : but yet this [innuendo] was always galling 
 ' me, for it had sunk deep in my mind. So unknown to my 
 mother and father I go on a journey to Delphi. And Phoebus, 
 as to the matters for which I came, sent me away without 
 
 1 Erfurdt, referring to v, 829, thinks i:\-i~ correctly trans- 
 lated by hope here. The other seems the most natural sequel 
 to Oedipus' words immediately preceding.
 
 783-Soo.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 41 
 
 the honor of an answer ; but other fortunes, wretched, and 
 horrible, and deplorable, he was but too ready to telP that 
 it was my doom to commit incest with my mother, and 
 that I should bring to light a progeny mankind should not 
 endure to beliold, and that I should be the murderer of the 
 father who begot me. And I on hearing this, from that time 
 forth mea'^uring^ out the site of the land of Corinth by the 
 stars, began my flight from it to where I might never witness 
 the scandals of those evil prophecies about me accomplished. 
 But in my travel I reach those very spots on which thou 
 sayest that this same monarch met his death. And to thee, 
 lady, will I divulge the truth : Avhen I wending on my way* 
 
 1 Upov(l)ai>ri XiXcov. Aperie prxdixii, Brunck. But both the sense 
 of the passage and the force of ■!rpo(pavr}Te in the first chorus are 
 in favor of the other rendering. Tr. — Wunder reads ~po\)ii>r}vcv, 
 \kyMv. See his note, B. 
 
 2 But see Heath. B. 
 
 3 This is the first of four passages which Hermann in his 
 preface to Erfurdt's edition has specially noticed. Elmsley in 
 his preface has these words; " 'H pro rw, eram, quater reposui. 
 'Hv aliquoties ante vocalem legitur apud Euripidem, ut in Hip- 
 pol. 1012; Ale. 658; Iph. Aul. 944; Ion. 280. Qnamquam hffic 
 omnia corrupta esse suspicor. Sic etiam ter Aristophanes, sed 
 in Pluto, novissima omnium fabula, v. 29, 695, 823. Nihil tale 
 apud Sophoclem reperitur. Vid. (Ed. Tvr. 801, 112.3, 1.389, 
 1393; CEd. Col. 768, 97.3, 1366; Trach. 87, 414; Aj. 1377; Phil. 
 1219; El. 1023." From this remark of our critic, Hermann 
 has taken occasion to dilate at some length on the propriety of 
 limiting the alteration proposed, and brings forward the follow- 
 ing points for consideration: 1st. That if the tragic writers 
 never, and Aristophanes only in his latest written play, used 
 rjv, it is strange that Plato, many of whose writings are subse- 
 quent to the Plutus, should have adhered to the obsolete form. 
 That to the above lines of Euripides no other suspicion of a 
 corrupt text can attach than the identical v in question; and 
 that therefore it were safer to have determined that tragic and 
 comic writers used vv, in order to avoid the hiatus before a 
 vowel. 2d. That if ea or va and i'ov be found in Homer as im- 
 perfects of elfit, the old grammarians considered rjriv no less so 
 (II. 0, 80) : that the ea of Herodotus, the imperfect, seems dif- 
 ferent from Homer's ta, which in one instance (Od. ^ 351 ), must 
 be taken as an aorist, and may in all he has cited. 3d. That
 
 42 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [801-835. 
 
 was close upon this triple road, there did both a herald, and 
 a man mounted on a chariot with young steeds, even as thou 
 describest, meet me ; and both the guide and the old man 
 himself were for driving me by force off the road. So I in 
 passion strike him who was turning me off, the charioteer. 
 And the old man M'hen he sees this, having watched my 
 passing by, struck me from the car with a doubled goad a 
 descending blow on the middle of the head. Ay, and he 
 paid a penalty not equivalent, I trow, but hastily struck by 
 a staff from this hand, he is instantly rolled out of the chariot 
 prostrate, and I slay the whole of them. But if Laius and 
 this same stranger have any near connection,^ who is a more 
 pitiable object than I, even I? What man could there be 
 more abhorred of the gods ? to whom it is permitted that 
 none of the strangers or natives should admit him within 
 their dwellings ; that none should even accost him, but tlirust 
 him from their dwellings : and this it was no other than I, 
 that fastened on myself even these curses. Xay the couch 
 of him who is deceased do I pollute by my hands, those 
 hands by which he fell. Am I not by nature a villain? am 
 I not totally impure? if I must needs flee the country, and 
 having fled am to be permitted neither to behold my own, 
 nor to set foot on my native soil ; or I am doomed to be 
 yoked in wedlock with my mother,^ and to kill outright my 
 father Polybus, who reared, who begot me. And would not 
 any one, pronouncing all this to be the work of a ruthless 
 djemon upon me, be right in his words? Then O may I never, 
 may I never, thou spotless majesty of heaven, see this day, 
 but may I be gone from among mankind into darkness ere 
 that I view such a taint of misery come upon me. 
 
 Ch. To us, O king, these tidings are alarming : until how- 
 evef thou hast ascertained fully from the eyewitness, have 
 hope. 
 
 the Attics may, as in other cases of a double imperfect, have 
 taken »1, though formed from the undoubted imperfect ea, as 
 an aorist. For the examples adduced in support of this opin- 
 ion, see Hermann's preface. In this passage he retains >>, ad- 
 mitting either to be correct. 
 
 1 This verse is condemned by L. Dindorf and Wuudcr. B. 
 
 2 Wunder's objections to this verse seem reasonable. B.
 
 836-870.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 43 
 
 CEd. Yes, certainly, so much hope at least I have, as 
 merely to abide the coming of the man, the herdsman. 
 
 Jo. But when he has made his appearance, what reas- 
 surance canst thou have? 
 
 QLd. I will inform thee. For should he be found to be 
 in the same story with thee, I for my part may have escaped 
 the woe. 
 
 Jo. But what word heardst thou from me, so particularly 
 remarkable? 
 
 OEi). Thou toldst that he spake of certain robbers, that 
 they slew the king : if therefore he shall report the same 
 number still, I was not his slayer, for one at least could not 
 be the same with many. But if he shall mention one man 
 journeying alone, this very deed thereupon plainly falls 
 upon me. 
 
 Jo. Nay, be assured that the tale was so published at 
 least, and he can not again nullify this at any rate ; for the 
 whole city, and not I only, heard Ihese tidings. But if, after 
 all, he should in any point deviate from his former account, 
 never, O prince, shall he show that Lai'us' murder at least 
 was duly consistent, whom I ween Loxias declared must 
 perish by a son of mine.^ And yet he, the ill-starred babe, 
 never slew him, but himself perished long before. So that I 
 never again for the sake of divination at least would turn 
 mine eyes either this way or that. 
 
 CEd. Well dost thou determine ; but yet send one to con- 
 vey hither the hind, nor neglect this. 
 
 Jo. I will hasten to dispatch one ; but let us go in doors ; 
 for I would do naught which might be displeasing to thee. 
 
 Chorus. O may it be my lot to support the all-sainted 
 purity of every word and action, regarding which are pro- 
 pounded laws of state sublime, engendered within the firma- 
 ment of heaven, whose only father is Olympus ; nor did the 
 perishable nature of man give them being, no, nor shall 
 oblivion even drown them in sleep. Great is the divinity 
 in these, nor groweth old. Insolence engenders the tyrant, 
 Insolence, if idly she have been over-glutted with much that 
 
 1 This passage is not clear. Bothe and Wunder read, cov ys 
 for rov y£, " nondum tameu a te Laium interfectum esse omnino 
 probat." B.
 
 44 CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. [871-892. 
 
 is neither seasonable nor serviceable, having surmounted 
 the^ topmost precipice, dashes onward into ruin, where she 
 useth her feet in vain But the rival energy that profits the 
 state I implore the deitv never to unnerve ; whom never 
 will I cease to take for my patron. But if any walk pre- 
 sumptuously in deed or word, unawed of justice nor rever- 
 encing the seats of the powers above, may evil doom over- 
 take him in reward of his fatal wantonness ; until he shall 
 gain his gains honestly, and refrain himself from all un- 
 hallowed things, or if he, vain fool, shall grasp at what is 
 sacred from the touch. ^ In this state of things, what man 
 will ever gain glory^ in repulsing from his soul the darts of 
 
 ^ But aKporarov and aToro/zoi' can uot be joined, and there is 
 equal difficulty in the metrical disagreement between this and 
 the strophic verse. Dindorf supposes some substantive lost, 
 which Wuuder thinks may have given place to one of the 
 adjectives. I do not, however, see why he should object to 
 joining d-oroiiov with avayKav, for d-::6Toi.ioi may be taken both 
 in its ordinary sense of "abruptus" (Cf. Herodot. 1, 84), and 
 for '"harsh, rough,'' as we find in Eurip, Alcest. 931, ovck ns 
 
 d-zoro^ov \)ij.iar5g iariv ai^ 's. B. 
 
 2 The difficulty in this passage arises from the separation 
 
 of the two clauses, ft' n^ . . -opiverai and n tuiv eB . £^ . jwa-a^coi/, 
 
 by the intermediate words. With 'iplerai we must understand 
 /t??, and connect it closely with the preceding words. B. 
 
 ^ This translation follows Hermann's correction, evlerai . . 
 B'pov .. duvvirv; but Hermann has himself changed his mind, 
 and would throw out tpUrai altogether, in which he is followed 
 by Wunder in his third edition, ep^erai can not be construed. 
 Hermann's third opinion is that we should read rig en -or tv 
 roiac' ai'hp, Oecov 0e\ij rvxag duvpEiv. Brunck reads e^et, Elmsley 
 e'cij^Ercii. As this variation of opinions will sufficiently puzzle 
 the reader, I will merely observe that Brunck's reading ap- 
 pears easiest, and that Hermann's last opinion, as m many 
 other instances, is his worst. Dindorf leaves the text unin- 
 telligible. 0rt/<oj must not be altered, for it is against passion 
 that the whole advice of the Chorus is directed. And if altered, 
 what are ai roialh TTpa^Eis^ The sense ought doubtless to be 
 that expressed by the translator, or something near it, and 
 the chief difficulty appears to rest in the verb to be employed. 
 With this chorus compare the one in the 4th act of Seneca's 
 CEdipus. B.
 
 893-920.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 45 
 
 passion? for if practices such as these be had in honor, why 
 need I lead the chorus? Never again will I make pilgrim- 
 age to the hallowed center of earth as worshiper, nor to the 
 shrine at Abte, nor to the Olympian, unless' these matters 
 shall turn out congruous, so as to be pointed at by the finger 
 of all mankind. But, O sovereign Jove, if indeed thou art 
 rightly styled ruler of the universe, be it not unregarded by 
 thee and thine ever-undying empire. For already they are 
 overthrowing the prophecies delivered to Laius, which fall 
 into decay, and nowhere is Apollo conspicuous in worship, 
 but all that is divine is going to ruin. 
 
 Jo."^ Princes of the land, the design has suggested itself to 
 me of repairing a suppliant to the temples of the gods, liav- 
 ing taken in my hands these chaplets and incense-offerings. 
 For ffidipus raises his feelings to too high excitement by 
 griefs of every variety, nor, as should a man of understand- 
 ing, conjectures what is new by what is old ; but is the 
 speaker's dupe, if he but speak of horrors. Since then by 
 advising I make none the more progress, to thee, O Lyctean 
 Apollo,'^ seeing thou art nearest at hand, am I come a peti- 
 
 ^ The construction seems rather to be el fin tuSe dpjxoGsi -rrdcnv 
 Pparoig, wore x^'porieiKra elvat, "unless these things shall turn 
 out to the satisfaction of all mortals, so that they may point 
 to them with the finger." B. 
 
 2 Jocasta here, contrasted with the Jocasta of the following 
 scenes, seems an instance of that d/idAwj ao-j^aAoj of Aristotle, 
 which Bossu so well illustrated hy the regular irregularities 
 of "th' inconstant moon." That Jocasta is amoi.ia\og in the play 
 is evident; but is she so o//aXwf ? The mother who in three 
 days from the birth of her first-born could abandon him to 
 his fate without an efibrt to save him ; the queen-consort who 
 could so soon forget the husband of her youth that in such 
 time as it took to finish a journey from Delphi to Thebes, hear 
 and solve a riddle, she could wed an utter stranger; such a 
 woman might assuredly, without violation of historic truth, 
 be represented as changing with the breath of every rumor. 
 If any thing were wanting to make the character more natural, 
 it is supplied in her clear-sightedness with regard to her hus- 
 band, who, says she, £(tti tov Xeyovrog, quite unconscious of this 
 being her own chief weakness. 
 
 3 Probably having an altar on the stage, in front of the pal- 
 ace. See the Schol. B.
 
 46 CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. [921-951. 
 
 tioner with these rites of prayer, that thou mavest furnish 
 us with some holy remedy, since now we are all quailing to 
 see him, as pilot of the vessel, horror-stricken. 
 
 Messenger. Could I learn from you, strangers, where is 
 the abode of the monarch Qildipus? hut chiefly of himself, 
 tell me if ye know where he is. 
 
 Ch. This is his mansion, and himself is within, stranger ; 
 but this lady is the mother of his children. 
 
 Mes. But may she be prosperous herself, and ever con- 
 sort with the prosperous,^ for that she is his true and proper 
 wife. 
 
 Jo. Nay, and thou also the same, O stranger, since thou 
 deservest it for thy courteous accost : but make known in 
 quest of what thou hast come, and what desirous to impart. 
 
 Mes. Good to thy house and husband, lady. 
 
 Jo. Of what nature this same good ? and from wlience ar- 
 rived ? 
 
 Mes. From Corinth ; but at the tale which I shall divulge 
 thou mightst perhaps be gratified ; nay, how shouldst thou 
 not ? yet haply mightst thou be sorry. 
 
 Jo. But what is it ? what sort of twofold force does it thus 
 possess ? 
 
 Mes. The inhabitants of the Isthmian land will set him 
 up for their king, as was there reported. 
 
 Jo. But what ? is not the aged Polybus still on the throne ? 
 
 Mes. No truly, since death prisons him in the grave. 
 
 Jo. How hast thou said? is Polybus deceased, old man? 
 
 Mes. If I speak not the truth, I confess me worthy of 
 death. 
 
 Jo. Ho, handmaiden, wilt thou not be gone and tell this 
 with all speed to thy lord ? Predictions of the gods, where 
 are ye ? This very man Qildipus, long ago in alarm lest he 
 should murder, went into banishment, and now, behold ! he 
 has perished by course of nature, not by my husband. 
 
 OEDIPUS. O dearest head of my Avife Jocasta, wherefore 
 hast thou sent for me hither out of the palace here ? 
 
 1 Here seems to be a masterly allusion to the real state of 
 things. The very messenger, whose intelligence leads to the 
 fatal discovery, lays emphatic stress upon the married felicity 
 of Jocasta ! Musgrave has made a similar remark respecting 
 the words, yvvn ie^ifjmp. B.
 
 952-976.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 47 
 
 Jo. Listen to this man, and as thou hearest, mark to what 
 are come the solemn predictions of the god. 
 
 CEd. But who can this man be, and what has he to tell 
 me? 
 
 Jo. From Corinth, to bring thee news that thy father 
 Polybus is no more, but is dead. 
 
 (Ed, What sayest thou, stranger ? Do thou thyself be- 
 come my informant. 
 
 Mes. If I must first deliver me of this fact clearly, be 
 assured that he is dead and gone.^ 
 
 CEb. By treachery, or the encounter of disease ?^ 
 
 Mes. a trifling bend of the scale sends aged frames to 
 rest. 
 
 CEd. By sickness, it seems, the poor sufferer wasted away. 
 
 Mes. And^ commensurately, I ween, with a long time of 
 life. 
 
 (Ed. Alas ! alas ! when then, my queen, should any one 
 regard the prophetic hearth of Pytho, or the birds that 
 scream above our heads, under whose predestination I was 
 fated to slay my own father? But he is dead and buried 
 deep down in earth, while I here before you am guiltless of 
 handling weapon against him, unless in any degree he pined 
 away from regret of me,^ but so he might have died by my 
 means. The present oracles then Polybus has swept off with 
 him utterly worthless, and lies in Hades. 
 
 Jo. Did I not now forewarn thee of this long ago ? 
 
 CEd. Thou didst say it ; but I was led away by my fear. 
 
 Jo. See thou no longer give one of them place in thy mind 
 now. 
 
 CEd. And how must I not shrink from a mother's bed? 
 
 ^ Not with oMv understood after 0ai/ao-(/ioi/, but the latter agre- 
 ing with ^t^nxora, according to Erfurdt. 
 
 2 Seneca CEdip. activ. so. 2, 4, "Edissere agedum, quo cadat 
 fato parens. Senex. Animam senilem mollis exsolvit sopor." 
 B. 
 
 3 ivnjxcTpovjxtvo^ must be taken with £00(ro understood, as if it 
 were the adverb IvfineTpovulvws-. This is much the most simple 
 way. B. 
 
 * Perhaps for ovtm S' we should read ovtm y\ " ita saltern," 
 "So, forsooth, he might have died by my means." B.
 
 48 (EDIPUS TYRANNUS. [977-997- 
 
 Jo.^ But why should man fear, whom the decrees of chance 
 control, while there is no certain foresight of aught ? 'T were 
 best to live at random, e'en as one could. But have thou no 
 fear of the bridal alliance with thy mother ; for many among 
 mankind have ere now, and that in dreams, done incest with 
 a mother ; but to whomsoever this reckons as nothing, he 
 bears his life the easiest. 
 
 (Ed. Fairly had all this been stated by thee, had my 
 mother happened not to have been alive ; but now, since she 
 does live, there is positive necessity, even though thou sayest 
 fairly, for me to recoil. 
 
 Jo. And yet the burial of thy father at least throws a great 
 light on this. 
 
 H1t>. Great, I admit ; but I have dread of the surviving 
 woman. 
 
 Mes. But on what woman's account it is even that ye are 
 afraid ? 
 
 G^^D. Of Merope, old man, with whom Polybus used to 
 live. 
 
 Mes. But what is there of her which makes to your ap- 
 prehension ? 
 
 (Ed. a dreadful heaven-sent prediction, stranger. 
 
 Mes. Is it to be spoken, or is it not lawful that another 
 know it ? 
 
 (Et>. Most certainly it is. For Apollo foretold once that 
 it was my destiny to be my own mother's paramour, and 
 with mine own hands to shed my father's blood. For which 
 cause has Corinth, this long while, been dwelt far away from 
 
 1 These reflections on the part of the king and queen are the 
 more ungrateful, in that Apollo had just sent them, without 
 demur, instructions for the removal of the plague. The whole 
 demeanor of these impious personages, who 
 " Lifted up so high, 
 Disdained subjection, and thought one step higher 
 AVould set them highest;" 
 and their encouragement of each other in irreligion, reminds 
 one forcibly of Vathek and Xourouihar, when "with haughty 
 and determined gait" they descended the staircase of Istak- 
 har to the Hall of Eblis. In both princes curiosity is the 
 
 prime agent; and in both "TiSptr, aKpdrarov Eiaava^aa a-rroronov.
 
 998--1018.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 49 
 
 by me, prosperously indeed ; but still it is most sweet to be- 
 hold the faces of one's parents. 
 
 Mes. Why, was it in dread of this thou becamest an exile 
 from thence? 
 
 (Ed. And from desire also to avoid being my father's 
 murderer, old man. 
 
 Mes. Why then have I not released thee from this thy 
 fear, O king, since in fact I came thy well-wisher? 
 
 CEd. And if you do so, thou shalt have a right worthy 
 recompense of me. 
 
 Mes. Ay, and I swear I came especially for this, that, on 
 thy restoration to thy home, I might in some way be ad- 
 vantaged. 
 
 CEd. But never will I come into the presence of my 
 parents, at least. 
 
 Mes. My son, thou^ fairly showest that thou knowest not 
 what thou art doing. 
 
 G^D. How, old man ? In the name of the gods, instruct 
 me. 
 
 Mes. If for these causes thou shunnest to return home. 
 
 (Ed. It is at least from alarm lest Phoebus prove in the 
 issue true toward me. 
 
 Mes. Is it lest thou shouldst contract contamination from 
 thy parents ? 
 
 CEd. This very thing, old man, even this forever affrights 
 me. 
 
 Mes. Knowest thou not, then, that thou tremblest with 
 no just cause ? 
 
 Mb. Nay, how should I not, at least if I was the child of 
 these progenitors ? 
 
 Mes. Even because Polybus was in no wise of kin to 
 thee. 
 
 CEd. How hast thou said? Why, was not Polybus my 
 father ? 
 
 Mes. Not a whit more than he thou seest before thee, 
 about as much. 
 
 1 This is the most literal construing of Ka\co~ eJ SnXoT. On 
 KrtXws- lu the sense of "valde," "prorsus," see Wakefield and 
 Schsefer. Compare the Latin phrases "pulchre scire, intelli- 
 gere." B.
 
 50 (EDIPUS TYRANNUS. [1019-1037. 
 
 (Ed. And how comes one's father to be on a par with no 
 one?i 
 
 Mes. But neither he begat thee, nor I. 
 
 (Ed. But in consideration of what, then, did he allow me 
 a son's title? 
 
 Mes. Know, it was from having received thee formerly a 
 present from my hands. 
 
 CEd. And then did he, though from another's hand, thus 
 dearly love me ? 
 
 Mes. Yes, for his former childless state induced him. 
 
 CEd. But wert thou my purchaser or parent,^ and gavest 
 me to him ? 
 
 Mes. Having found thee in the bushy dells of Cithaeron. 
 
 CEd. But for what purpose wert thou a wayfarer in those 
 said regions? 
 
 Mes. I used to be superintendent there of the mountain 
 flocks. 
 
 CEd. How ! wert thou a shepherd and a wanderer on a 
 menial drudgery ? 
 
 Mes. Ay, but thy savior at the same time, my son ! 
 
 CEd. But what pain dost thou find me suffering in that 
 wretchedness ? 
 
 Mes. The joints of thy feet might attest that. 
 
 CEd. Woe is me ! why mention this ancient curse ? 
 
 Mes. I unbind thee having the soles of thy feet bored 
 through. 
 
 CEd. Dire indignity, indeed, did I sustain from these 
 tokens.^ 
 
 1 This, according to Erfurdt, is not to be understood of the 
 meanness or nothingness of the herdsman, but, as he para- 
 phrases it, "Qui dici possunt genuisse aliquem, quorum nemo 
 geuuit?" See v. 838, and the note following, 
 
 2 " Or parent." Hermann remarks that it might seem won- 
 derful for CEdipus to ask this, when the messenger had just 
 told him that he was not his father any more than Polybus; 
 but that he must consider CEdipus as attending to the inten- 
 tion of the old man, and not his words. Hence, too, when 
 CEdipus says rws" 6 eiaa^ £| 'iaov tc3 jxridEvi, he does not allude 
 slightingly to the old man, but merely to himself having no 
 father. 
 
 ^ Bruuck translates a~{xpyava by crepundia, child's baubles or
 
 1038-1053.] O^.DIPUS TYRANNUS. 51 
 
 Mes. Insomuch that thou wert named this misfortune as 
 thou art. 
 
 (Ed. Say, in heaven's name, by my father's or my mother's 
 deed ? 
 
 Mes. I know not ; but he who gave thee understands this 
 better than I. 
 
 CEd. Why didst thou receive me of another, nor find me 
 thyself? 
 
 Mes. I found thee not, but 'tis another shepherd who 
 transferred thee to me. 
 
 CEd. Who was this ? knowest thou to designate him in 
 words ? 
 
 Mes. He was named, I am sure, one of the servants of 
 La'ius. 
 
 CEd. Of him who was monarch of this land long ago ? 
 
 Mes. Certainly. Of that very man was this a herdsman. 
 
 CEd. And is he yet alive, that I may see him? 
 
 Mes. You, the natives of this country surely should best 
 know. 
 
 Qi^D. Is there any of you bystanders who knows this 
 herdsman to Avhom he alludes, having seen him in short 
 either in the country or here ? inform me, since it is the 
 moment for this to be investigated., 
 
 Ch. I, indeed, deem him none other than the servant 
 from the country, whom even before this thou soughtest 
 diligently to see. But, however, Jocasta here could certify 
 this the best. 
 
 badges, not supplying ck, which dv£i\6jxr)v however seems to re- 
 quire. Perhaps there might have been in a-ndpyat'ov a sense not 
 given by lexicographers, from the verb oTrapyaa), tumeo. Tr., 
 who rendered it, "Ah, dire indignity, indeed, did I bring 
 off with me from my swaddling clothes." But it is far 
 more elegant to suppose an allusion to the crepundia, which 
 were hung about the necks of children when exposed, (See 
 Wunder's note.) To these CEd i pus compares the wounds in his 
 feet. Nicolaus Damascenus, in the same MS. extract quoted 
 above, uses the phrase (oSst yap tovt ■n-dSas' vnd anapyavwv. Seneca, 
 who imitates this whole scene closely, understood it as I do, 
 act. 4, sc. 2, 39: CEdipus. "Nunc adjice eertas corporis nostri 
 notas. Senex. Forato ferro gesseras vestigia, Tumore uactus 
 uomeu ac vitio pedum." B.
 
 52 CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. [1054-10S5. 
 
 (Ed. Lady, knowest thou him whom but now we were 
 earnest should come, and of whom this person speaks? 
 
 Jo. {u'ildly.) B\itwho, Avho is he of whom he spake? Heed 
 it not : nay, what has been uttered, do not wish so much as 
 to remember for no good. 
 
 QEd. This can not be, that I having obtained such a clew 
 as this, shall not elucidate my descent. 
 
 Jo. By the gods I beg thee, do not, if at least thou care 
 for thine own life, investigate this : 'tis enough that I be ill 
 at ease. 
 
 (Ed. Courage ; for never, not even were I proved by three 
 descents a trebly servile slave, Avilt thou be exposed as base. 
 
 Jo. Yet obey me, I conjure thee : do not this. 
 
 (Ed. I could not obey thee in not clearly sifting this out. 
 
 Jo. And yet with kind intentions at least I advise thee for 
 the best. 
 
 (Ed. Why now it is this very best that long since ag- 
 grieves me. 
 
 Jo. Miserable man, I would thou mightest never know 
 who thou art ! 
 
 (Ed. Will some one go and bring hither to me the herds- 
 man ? But for her, leave her to enjoy her noble lineage. 
 
 Jo. Woe, woe, unhappy man ! for this only have I to say 
 to thee, but other word hereafter — none. 
 
 Ch. For what possible cause can the queen be gone, O 
 (Edipus, having rushed away under the impulse of a Avild 
 anguish ? I dread lest from this very silence there burst forth 
 mischief. 
 
 (Ed. Burst forth whatever will : but I shall choose to dis- 
 cover my origin, even if it be humble. But she perhaps, 
 since for a Avoman she has a high spirit, is scandalized at this 
 my meanness of extraction. But I, ranking myself the child 
 of that Chance which gives me her blessing, shall not feel 
 dishonored. For of her, as of a mother, was I born,^ and 
 the congenial months ordained me humble and exalted. But 
 being born such, I could never turn out to be another, that 
 I should not search out my pedigree. 
 
 1 Hermann understands by avyyevsls- jxilvss-, menses qui mecum 
 fnerunt, i.e., viiae mese. The translation above given is suscepti- 
 ble of the same meaning.
 
 io86-rii4.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 53 
 
 Chorus.^ If I am indeed a prophet, and knowing in my 
 mind, thou, O Cithieron, I swear by Olympus, shalt not, by 
 to-morrow's full moon, be without experience of our extol- 
 ling thee at least as both of one country with OEdipus, and as 
 his nurse, and as his mother, nor of being visited by us in 
 choric dances, as performing acceptable service to my princes. 
 But O that this, O Healer Apollo, might be agreeable to 
 thee. Who, O son, what daughter'^ of the immortals, I won- 
 der, was thy mother, visited haply as a paramour by moun- 
 tain-ranging Pan, or, since 'tis thou, by Apollo ? for to him 
 the champaign downs are all endeared : or did the reigning 
 prince of Cyllene, or the Bacchanalian god, whose home is 
 on the topmost hills, receive thee a foundling from some one 
 of the Heliconian nymphs, with whom he is oftenest frolick- 
 ing. 
 
 CEd. If I too have any right to conjecture, old man, who 
 have never yet had converse with him, methinks I see that 
 very herdsman, whom all this while we are seeking. For in 
 his extreme old age he corresponds as the contemporary of 
 this man here ; and besides, I recognize his conductors as my 
 own domestics. But in acquaintance with him thou very 
 
 1 The chorus here changes its tone from that of the preced- 
 ing ode very suddenly, and more for the advantage of the 
 reader (who thereby gains a beautiful snatch of a Greek alle- 
 gro) than of its own character for consistency. Still these 
 fond ancestral reveries in honor of a patriot king awaken in us 
 the sense of contrast by touches almost Miltonic: themselves 
 a fairy dream, they shape us out a fearful reality, "which sub- 
 stance may be called, yet shadow seems," and, like the funeral 
 oration of Pericles, and ever linked and haunted with an op- 
 posing spirit, a mysterious double of what meets the ear. 
 
 2 Hermann's alteration of the punctuation here has restored 
 evyar-rrp to her rightful inheritance, by omitting the note of in- 
 terrogation after naKpauovwv. If his note leave any thing un- 
 explained in full, it is the force of ae ye, which probably infers 
 Apollo, father of CEdipus, because the latter was so apt in solv- 
 ing hard sayings. Tr. — The passage is still unsatisfactory; 
 and Wunder condemns both rts" evyarnp and o-e yk as corrupt. 
 Perhaps we might read Mavds- dpeacn^aTa yrou (or ^ardo with Wun- 
 der). Upocnrs'XaaeETa' eirz ae TtT Ovyarrip Ao^iov, i.e., Uai'dr eXtc 
 
 Aofio'K On the omission of the first sits, cf. ^sch. Ag. 1403, 
 and above 517, XoyoKriv dr epyoiaiv. B.
 
 54 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [1115-1141. 
 
 possibly mayest have the advantage of uie, from having seen 
 the herdsman before. 
 
 Ch, Why yes, be sure I do ; for I have known liim since 
 he belonged to Laius, trusty in his degree of grazier, if ever 
 another were. 
 
 (Ed. Thee first I interrogate, the Corinthian stranger, is 
 this the man thou meanest ? 
 
 Mes. This very man whom thou seest. 
 
 CEb. Ho, thou old man, look hither tOAvard me, and 
 answer to all that I shall ask thee. Wert thou ever in 
 Laius' service? 
 
 Servant. I was ;^ a slave, not purchased, but reared in 
 his house. 
 
 (Ed. Concerned in what avocation, or manner of life ? 
 
 Ser. For the best part of my life I was in attendance on 
 flocks. 
 
 CEb. In what places principally a resident? 
 
 Ser. It would be Citha?ron, and it would be the adjacent 
 districts. 
 
 CEd. Well, then, knowest thou this man, having made 
 acquaintance with him any Avliere in these parts? 
 
 Ser. As doing what thing? of what manner of man even 
 art thou speaking ? 
 
 CEd. This man, who is before thee : hast thou ever before 
 now had dealings with him? 
 
 Ser. Not at least that I could readily affirm it from recol- 
 lection. 
 
 Mes. And no wonder either, my lord : but I will distinctly 
 remind him of forgotten times ; for I am sure he knows when 
 in the region of Cithteron, he being with two flocks, I with 
 one, I was the neighbor of this very man from spring to early 
 autumn, three entire periods of six months each. And when 
 now it was winter, I used on my part to drive my charge 
 into sheepcotes, and he to the pens of Laius. Say I any of 
 these things or say I it was not as was done ? 
 
 Ser. Thou speakest the truth, though in sooth from a 
 distant time. 
 
 ^ Hermann reading T] here, says, " et hie quidem aperta est 
 aoristi siguificatio neque id eram quisquam, sed/wi vertit. See 
 note on v. 793.
 
 1142-1155.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 55 
 
 Mes. Come, now tell me ; rememberest thou to have given 
 me any child at that time, that I might rear it as a nursling 
 to myself? 
 
 Ser. But what means this ? wherefore inquirest thou in 
 these words ? 
 
 jMes. This, my comrade, is that very one who was then 
 an infant. 
 
 See. Will not perdition seize thee? wilt not hold thy 
 peace ? 
 
 (Ed. Hold, old man ! chastise not this man, since thine 
 own words have more need of a chastiser than his. 
 
 Ser. But in what, my most gracious liege, am I in fault ? 
 
 CEd. In not declaring the child of whom this man asks 
 thee. 
 
 Ser. Because he speaks knowing nothing, but labors in 
 vain. 
 
 QLd. Thou indeed Avilt not speak as a favor, but to thy 
 cost thou shalt speak. ^ 
 
 Ser. Do not, I pray, for the love of the gods, ill use me, 
 an old man. 
 
 Q^D. Will not some one with all speed tie this fellow's 
 hands behind him ? 
 
 Ser. Wretched man, for what purpose ? what wouldst thou 
 know more ? 
 
 1 The altercation with Creon, and this scene with the shep- 
 herds, from the snarling repartee which runs through them, 
 are supposed by Twining to be among the parts of our poet 
 which gave occasion to the ridiculous idea of a comic writer 
 in Diogenes Laertius (4. 20.) that Sophocles had a dog to help 
 him write tragedies; kvmv ng e^vkzi cvunoieXv M-oXomKog. That 
 eminent translator seems to forget that anger levels most men, 
 and that of kings especially "the wrath is great;" he forgets 
 that every passage, he has produced /ro?9t Sopliodes to this point, 
 is the expi-ession of angry feeling ; he forgets the simplicity 
 of the times of which he is writing. But when he quotes 
 Longinus, to prove that in these places the spirit of Sophocles 
 
 ajSivvvrai a\6YM<;^ kuI ninTeL drvx^arara' putting aside that aS to 
 
 Longinus's meaning he begs the question, let him show that 
 Louginus ever wrote naturally for ten lines together, ere he 
 takes that really great critic's dictum on the expression of. 
 heated feelings.
 
 56 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [1156-1177. 
 
 (Ed. Gavest tliou to this man the boy of whom he ques- 
 tions thee ? 
 
 Ser. I did ; but O that I liad died on that day. 
 
 Q^D. Nay, to this thou wilt come, at least if thou speak 
 not the truth. 
 
 Ser. Much more certain is my destruction, if I shall 
 speak. 
 
 (Ed. This fellow, it seems, is driving at delay. 
 
 Ser. Not I, truly ; but I said long ago that I had given 
 the boy. 
 
 (Ed. Whence having got him ? of thine own house or of 
 any other? 
 
 Ser. Surely I gave not my own away, but I received him 
 from some one. 
 
 OEd. From whom among these citizens, and from a house 
 of what degree ? 
 
 Ser. Do not for the gods' sake, do not, my sovereign, in- 
 quire further. 
 
 OEd. Thou diest, if I shall ask thee this again. 
 
 Ser. It was then one of Lams' offspring. 
 
 CEd. a slave, or one by birth of kin to him ? 
 
 Ser. Woe is me ! I am surely on the verge of speaking 
 the very horror. 
 
 (Ed. And I surely of hearing : yet it must be heard. 
 
 Ser. Why then, it was said to be actually his own child ; 
 but the lady within could best inform thee how this stands. 
 
 CEd. AVhy, is she the donor of this child to thee ? 
 
 Ser. Even so, sire. 
 
 OEd. For what purpose ? 
 
 Ser. That I might make away with him. 
 
 (Ed. The own mother, hard-hearted?^ 
 
 Ser. In horror, however, of evil prophecies. 
 
 (Ed. Of what import ? 
 
 Ser. There was a story, that he should be his parents' 
 murderer. 
 
 Q^D. How earnest thou then to resign him to this elder ? 
 
 1 Erfurdt has a note here from Eubnkeu's Preface to Schel- 
 ler's Lexicon, which seems uncalled for. Thlixi means ''to have 
 the heart " to do any thing: and rXfj/iwi' here takes this signifi- 
 cation much better, surely, than that of perdita or miser.
 
 II78-I22I.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 57 
 
 See. Pitying it, my liege, as supposing that lie would 
 carry him away to another land, whence he himself was : 
 but he reserved him for the direst miseries : for if thou art 
 he whom this man declares thee to be, know thou art born 
 to a cursed destiny. 
 
 CEt>. Alas ! alas ! All the predictions turn out true.^ O 
 light, may I look on thee now for the last time : I, that have 
 been shown the son of those of whom I shoidd not have 
 been, holding commerce with those with whom it became me 
 not, and having killed whom it was my duty never. 
 
 Chorus. O generations of mortals, how as nothing do I 
 reckon you in this life ! For where, where is the man that 
 achieves more of happiness,^ than barely so much as to fancy 
 he has it, and so fancying to fall away from it ? Even'' thine 
 example having before me, tliy destiny, even thine, O hap- 
 less (Edipus, I term,* nothing of mortal fortunes happy : thou 
 who with excess of fortune aimed at and achieved the prize 
 of all-blissful prosperity, O Jove ! having done to death the 
 maiden prophetess with forked talons, nay, a bulwark against 
 slaughters didst thou stand up to my country, whence also 
 thou art titled my sovereign, and hast been supremely digni- 
 fied with honor, lording it in Thebes the mighty. But now 
 as I hear, who is more miserable? who in reverse of state is 
 more familiar with cruel griefs and troubles ? Alas ! Oh 
 glorious majesty of Oedipus, to whom one and the same 
 ample haven was enough for son and father as a bridegroom 
 to run into: how ever, how ever were thy father's furrows 
 enabled to endure thee in silence so long, unfortunate? Time 
 the all seeing detected thee reluctant; justice long since 
 sentences the marriageless marriage, begetting and begotten. 
 Oh ! son of Laius, would, would that I had never seen thee. 
 For I mourn with passing sorrow from loudly-plaintive lips. 
 Yet to tell the truth, by the bounty have I drawn my breath 
 again, and closed mine eyes in repose. 
 
 1 See Wunder on v. 922. B. 
 
 2 Grotius elegantly translates : 
 
 " Hsec est sola beatitas Humano generi data 
 Quam quis dum putat accipit, Aramittitque putando." B. 
 
 3 Wander more rightly reads with Camerarius rdv aov rot, 
 " holding thy fortunes, yea thine, as an example." B. 
 
 4 oUiva is against the meter, and altered by Hermann. B.
 
 Sa CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [1222-1262. 
 
 MESSENGER Extraordinary. O ve, ever respected the 
 most highly of this land, what deeds shall ye hear, what 
 deeds shall ye witness, how heavy a grief shall ye have to 
 bear, if from a feeling of kindred ye are yet concerned for 
 the house of Labdacus? For, I believe, neither Ister nor 
 Phasis, could lave with water of purification this roof before 
 you of all which it conceals : while other ills will forthwith 
 show themselves to the light, ills voluntary, and not unin- 
 tended. But of mischiefs, those are the most afilicting which 
 show themselves self-incurred. 
 
 Ch. Xay, even what we knew before lacks naught of being 
 deeply deplorable : but Avhat hast thou to tell in addition to 
 those? 
 
 M. E. The speediest of tales both to tell and to hear : the 
 most noble Jocasta is no more. 
 
 Ch. Most unhappy woman ! By what earthly means ? 
 
 M. E. Herself by her own hand. But of the action the 
 most painful part is spared us, since the eye-witness is not 
 ours ; but yet, as far at least as the memory of them resides 
 in me, thou shalt hear the sufferings of that lost princess. 
 For Avhen, instinct with fury, she passed by within the por- 
 tal, she M'ent straight to her bridal bed, tearing her hair 
 with both her hands ; and having, as soon as she was within, 
 violently closed the doors on the inside, she cries on Laius, 
 now long since dead, bearing in memory that ancient issue 
 by whose hands he was himself to die, and leave the mother 
 to his own, a procreatress of wretched children. But she 
 mourned over the couch where she had become, unfortunate, 
 the mother of a double progeny, husbands by husband, 
 children by children. And how after this she perished I 
 have no further knowledge ; for Q^dipus with outcries broke 
 in, for whom it was impossible for us to witness her fate to 
 its end ; but we turned our eyes on him roving round. For 
 he begins wildly rushing, beseeching us to furnish him Avith 
 a weapon, and tell him where to reach "the wife yet no 
 wife, his motber with her common womb for himself and his 
 children." To him in his frenzy some unearthly poAver dis- 
 covers this, for it was no one of us men who were standing 
 by : but shouting fearfully, as with, some guide to lead him, 
 he sprung in against the double doors, and from their very 
 deepest fastening he wrenched the hollow staples, and falls
 
 1263-1287.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 59 
 
 in upon the apartment ; where we then looked in upon his 
 wife suspended, entangled in twisted nooses. But he, when 
 he sees her, with horrible bellowings, poor wretch ! loosens 
 the hanging knot ; but when the hapless was laid on the 
 ground, the sequel was awful to behold : for having torn oft" 
 from her the golden-embossed clasps^ of her vestments, where- 
 with she used to adorn herself, he lifted them and smote the 
 balls of his own eyes, uttering words of this sort, ^'that 
 'twas because they had discerned for him neither what 
 mischiefs he was suffering, nor what he was doing ; but 
 darkly should they see, for the time to come, those whom 
 he ought never to have seen, nor should they recognize those 
 whom he so longed to recognize." Venting curses such as 
 these full often, and not once only^ did he Avound them, 
 forcing up his eyelids. And at once the bloody pupils be- 
 dewed his cheeks, nor emitted mere humid drops of gore, 
 but all at once, a shower of sable blood-clot hail was shed.^ 
 These are miseries that broke forth of two, not of him alone, 
 but the consorted miseries of a husband and a Avife. For 
 their happiness of a long date before, 'twas hitherto de- 
 serving of the name ; but now, on this very day, lamenta- 
 tion, ruin, death, dishonor of whatsoever ill whatever name 
 there be, not one is wanting. 
 
 Ch. But in what respite from ill is the sufferer now ? 
 
 M. E. He is shouting for some one to open the barriers, 
 
 ^ Perhaps this was an attempt of the poet to reconcile his 
 fair-armed country-woman to long sleeves, they having lost 
 the privilege of the irepovm by their inhuman conduct toward 
 the sole survivor of the disastrous iEginetan expedition. See 
 Herod, v. 87 ; on which place Larcher quotes an old scholiast, 
 to prove that the Laceda3monians adopted this dress with clasps 
 in order to make their women masculine, and the Athenians the 
 Ionian with a view to the opposite effect. Asthe Argive ladies 
 wore large clasps on this same event taking place, 'tis to be 
 hoped they did not worship Juno in vain. 
 
 2 Hermann joins the words TvoWaKis- re kovk aTra^ with jwv/uj'wi', 
 and says of Elmsley's punctuation that it gives a meaning 
 "justo credelius." The imperfect 'ipao-o-e, howeved, favors the 
 old way of rendering. Potter translates as Hermann. 
 
 ^ The two following verses are bracketed by Dindorf, and 
 considered corrupt by Wunder. B.
 
 6o CEDIPUS TYRAXNUS. [1288-1330. 
 
 and expose to all the race of Cadmus the slayer of his father, 
 his mother's — uttering unlioly things, things not for me to 
 speak ; purposing seemingly to make himself an outcast from 
 the land, nor any longer to tarry in his home accursed, as 
 he cursed himself. Yet still he wants strength at least, and 
 some one for his guide ; since his disease is greater than he 
 can bear. Nay, he Avill show thee so himself. For these 
 fastenings of the gates are being opened, and speedily shalt 
 thou behold a spectacle of such a sort as even an enemy must 
 pity- 
 
 Ch. Oh, disaster fearful to mankind to behold ! Oh most 
 fearful of all that I have ever yet encountered ! What frenzy, 
 sad sufferer, beset thee ? \Vhat demon is it that, with 
 mightier than the mightiest bound, hath sprung on thine 
 unblest fate ? Woe, woe, unfortunate I But I can not so 
 much as look on thee, anxious as I am to question much, 
 much to learn, and much to see, such shuddering dost thou 
 cause me. 
 
 CEd. Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, alas, alas, wretch that I am ! 
 whither on earth am I, miserable, carried ? Where is flitting 
 this voice which I hear thus hurriedly? Oh, fate, whither 
 hast thou leaped ? 
 
 Ch. To horror, not fit for hearing, nor for sight. 
 
 GEd. O cloud of my darkness, abominable, falling upon 
 me unspeakable, in that thou art alike unconquerable, and 
 all-prosperous to my bane. Ah me ! Ah me ! again and 
 again. Ah me ! How hath sunk deep within me hand in 
 hand at once the maddening sting of these goads, and the 
 memory of my woes ! 
 
 Ch, And surely it is no Avonder, in afflictions great as 
 these, that thou hast a double sorrow, and bearest double 
 ills. 
 
 (Ed. O my friend, thou as my adherent art still constant, 
 for still dost thou submit to care for me the blind. Alas ! 
 alas ! for thou escapest me not, but well do I know thee, 
 darkened though I be, at least thy voice. 
 
 Ch. O thou of dreadful deeds, how hadst thou the heart 
 thus to mangle thine eyes ? What higher power prompted 
 thee to it ? 
 
 CEd. Apollo was he, Apollo, O my friends, that brought 
 to pass these my, my wretched sufferings. But no one wil-
 
 1331-1377.] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 6r 
 
 fully pierced them, but hapless I. For what need had I of 
 sight, I, to whom when seeing there was naught sweet to 
 look on ? 
 
 Ch. This was so, even as thou sayest, 
 
 (FjT>. What then, I pray, have I, object of sight, of love, 
 of accost, that I could hear any longer with pleasure, my 
 friends? Bear me away from the place with all speed, bear 
 me away, my friends, the monstrous destruction, the most 
 accursed, and most god-detested of human kind. 
 
 Ch. O lamentable alike in thy feeling and thy fate, how 
 have I wished that I at least had never known thee ! 
 
 GLb. Perish he, whosoever he be, that took me from the 
 barbarous chain that pastured on my feet, and rescued and 
 preserved me from a violent death earning a thankless re- 
 turn ; for had I died then, I had not been so great a sorrow 
 to my friends nor self. 
 
 Ch. This would have been to my wish also. 
 
 CEd. Ay, then I had not come the slayer of my father at 
 least, nor been titled by mankind the bridegroom of those 
 of whom I sprung. But now am I a godless being, child of 
 unholy parents, allied to those from whom I wretched drew 
 my birth. But if there be in kind one evil among evils 
 paramount, this to his share hath OEdipus. 
 
 Ch. I know not how to say that thou hast well advised ; 
 for thou wert better to live no longer than live in blindness. 
 
 (Ed. That this hath not been best done thus, tutor me 
 not, nor counsel me longer. For I know not with what 
 manner of eyes beholding, I could have looked my father 
 in the face when I went down to Hades, ^ no, nor my hapless 
 mother, to both of whom deeds have been done by me that 
 hanging is too good for. But forsooth the sight of my chil- 
 dren was to be coveted by me to see, springing forth as they 
 sprung. No, to my eyes never : nor citadel, nor tower, nor 
 sacred images of gods, whereof I the all-unhappy, noblest by 
 
 1 The ancients believed that whatever defects or injuries 
 men suffered during life, they carried with them to the shades 
 below. Thus, in Virgil, Mn. vi. 450, ^Eneas meets Dido "re- 
 cens a vulnere," and 495, " Deiphobum vidit, laceruni crude- 
 liter era." So Clytgemuestra says in Jilsch. Eum. 103, opa St 
 
 7r\r]ydT rdaSe. B.
 
 62 CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. [137S-1406. 
 
 birth of any one at least in Thebes, have bereaved my own 
 self, myself enjoining all to thrust oiit the impious one, the 
 man branded of heaven as polluted^ [and proved to be] of 
 the race of Laius, could I, who had exposed such a blot in 
 mine own person, ever look on these with steadfast eyes? 
 No, never, surely ! Nay, had there been yet means of stop- 
 page of the fountain of hearing through my ears, 1 would 
 not have refrained from blocking up my miserable body, that 
 I might have been both sightless and devoid of hearing:^ for 
 to have one's feelings abiding beyond reach of one's misfor- 
 tunes were sweet. Alas, Cithferon, wherefore harboredst thou 
 me? wherefore having taken me in didst thou not forthwith 
 kill me, that I had never shown mankind in the lineage whence 
 I sprang?^ OPolybus and Corinth, and ancient halls, reputed 
 my ancestors', what a goodly outside skin of scars beneath 
 have ye reared me ! For now am I discovered vile, and of 
 the vile. O ye three roads, and thou concealed dell, and 
 oaken copse, and narrow outlet of three ways, Avhich drank 
 mine own blood from my father, shed by mine own hands, 
 do ye remember me how that I — what deeds having done to 
 you, then came hither, and again what deeds I perpetrated? 
 O bridals, bridals, ye have begotten us, and having begotten, 
 again ye brought to light the selfsame seed, and display 
 
 ^ Hermann's punctuation has been followed here in joining 
 Kai ytvovs- Tov Aaiov to the next Hue. Tk. — I have preferred 
 following Dindorf and Wunder. B. 
 
 2 " Hie etsi iraperfeetum recte se habet, nf essem cxais et sur- 
 dns, tamen etiam aoristo locus est, ut f actus essem cfrcus et surdus, 
 verbo 77 idem quod eyEv6f).j)v significaute." Herm. Pref. see note 
 on V. 793. 
 
 ^ Hermann, reading >>, observes that here, if any where, an 
 aorist might be thought needful, to express the sense ar Hei^a 
 liii-OT£ ivOev iy£vv)]driv. But though n without the participle would 
 staud for iyewfienv, with it >? will not, because ysyojr implies 
 time present, and thus »7 yey-'^'r would be inide natus fnissem, a 
 proper expression of one once, but no longer alive: dul yeytJr 
 then standing for the present, vf yey.o- becomes from a pluper- 
 fect an imperfect; and if by the laws of the lauo^nage c6r Set^o) 
 evQev eijxl yeywT, when changed by a person speaking of a past 
 event, would have required wr ecei^aivetv nv yzyw~, then is the 
 latter form correct here. See note on v. 793.
 
 I407-I443-] CEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 63 
 
 fathers, brothers, sons, blood all of one tribe, brides, wives, 
 and mothers, and all the deeds that are most infamous among 
 mankind. But, for it is not fitting to utter what neither is 
 it fitting to do, with all speed, in heaven's name, hide me 
 somewhere far away, or slay me, or set me adrift on the sea, 
 where never again ye shall behold me. Come, deign to 
 touch a wretch forlorn. Be prevailed on, fear not ; for evils 
 such as mine no mortal but I is liable to bear. 
 
 Ch. But for what thou requestest at an apt moment comes 
 Creon here, to act or to advise, since he is left sole protector 
 of the realm in thy room. 
 
 (Eb. Woe is me ! In what words then shall we address 
 him? AVhat trust shall there in reason be shown to me by 
 him ? For in the former transactions have I been discovered 
 altogether base toward him. 
 
 Creon. Kot as a scoffer, Gj^dipus, have I come, nor to 
 reproach thee with any of the former wrongs. But do ye, 
 if ye no longer blush before the race of man, at all events 
 respect more the fire of the royal sun that feeds all things, 
 than to exhibit a pollution such as this thus uncovered, 
 which neither earth, nor heaven-sent^ rain, nor light will 
 pin up with. But as speedily as possible convey him to his 
 home ; for that those of the family alone should see and 
 hear the miseries of a relative, is what piety requires. 
 
 QEd. For the gods' sake, since thou hast forced me from 
 my expectation by coming the noblest of men as thou art, to 
 me the vilest, concede one thing to me, for I will speak for 
 thy interest and not mine. 
 
 Cr. And to obtain what demand art thou thus urgent 
 with me ? 
 
 (Et>. Cast me out from this land with what haste thou 
 may est, where I shall be found by no earthly being to be 
 spoken with. 
 
 Cr. I had done it, of this be satisfied, had I not first of all 
 been anxious to learn from the divinity what was to be done. 
 
 CEd. But surely his whole prophetic answer openly ordered 
 to put to death the parricide, the impious, myself. 
 
 Cr. So this was said ; but still in the emergency wherein 
 we are placed, 'twere better to learn what is to be done. 
 
 1 ofi^pos tpof. So oiag xpaKaSog, Eurip. Helen. 2. — B.
 
 64 CEDIPUS TYRANXUS. [1444-1477. 
 
 CEt). Will ye then thus inquire on behalf of a creature 
 Utterly fallen ? 
 
 Cr. Yes : for even thou surely^ mighest now give credit 
 to the god. 
 
 CEd. To thee then do I solemnly give charge, and will 
 exhort thee too ; of her within the house make such sepul- 
 ture as thou choosest, for duly wilt thou perform this on be- 
 half of thine own at least. ^ But me, never let this, the city of 
 my fathers, deign to admit a living inhabitant ; no, suffer me 
 to abide in the mountains, where is that very Cithteron sur- 
 named mine, which both my father and mother allotted to me 
 yet living as my proper tomb, that I may die by their counsel, 
 who were indeed my destroyers. And yet this much at least 
 I know, that neither disease nor any other chance shall be 
 my downfall ; for never had I been saved in the hour of death, 
 unless for some dreadful evil. But for my fate, let it go which 
 way soever it will : but for my children, on the males I would 
 not, Creon, thou shouldest concern thyself more ; they are 
 men, so that they never can feel a scarcity of sustenance 
 wherever they shall chance to be ; but on my hapless and 
 pitiable girls, before whom was never my table laid without 
 food wanting my own presence, but of all that I touched were 
 they two ever the partakers : for whom do thou interest thee 
 for my sake ; and above all, suffer me to feel them with mine 
 hands, and pour a last lament over their misfortunes. Do 
 it, O prince, do it, O thou thyself of pure lineage and noble. 
 Surely if I touched them with these hands, I sliould fancy I 
 held them, even as when I had my sight. What shall I say? 
 Tell me, in the name of the gods, do I not surely hear my 
 darlings crying ? And has Creon in compassion sent me the 
 best beloved of my children ? Am I right ? 
 
 Cr. Thou art right ; for I am he that supplied thee with 
 these babes, having known the yet lively delight which from 
 old time possessed thee in them. 
 
 ^ rav^ scil. Toi at'. See V. 1446 (ed. Herm.) and Eurip, Med. 
 V. 1011. Porson. 
 
 2 Jocasta being his sister. The confidence reposed by CEdipus 
 in one who was afterward to appear as the infringer of these 
 most sacred rights, and that toward QCdipus's son and liis own 
 nephew, is introduced with the poet's usual refinement of art.
 
 147^1512.] CEDIPUS TYR ANNUS. 65 
 
 CEd. Then all happiness to thee, and for this their coming 
 may thy tutelary power protect thee better than me. My 
 children, Avhere can ye be ? draw near hither, come to these 
 my fraternal hands, which have thus served the once bright 
 eyes of the author of your being for you to see ; of me, my 
 children, who without sight, without question of it, was 
 proved your father by that source from Avhence myself had 
 been raised. And for you I weep, for I have no power to 
 behold you, in imagining the rest of your bitter life, with 
 what treatment at men's hands ye are doomed to live it out. 
 For to Avhat social meetings of the citizens will ye come ? 
 nay, to what festivals, whence ye will not betake yourselves 
 home all in tears in place of enjoyment from the scene. ^ But 
 when at length ye shall have come to marriageable years, 
 who will be he ? who will rashly risk, my children, to incur 
 such scandals as will be destruction to those at once my 
 parents and yours ? For what horror is wanting ? your father 
 murdered his father ; committed incest with that mother 
 who.'^e seed he was himself, and from the self-same source 
 whence he was born, begat himself you. In such sort will 
 ye be reviled ; and then who will espouse you. There is not 
 a man, my children ; but too plainly is it your destiny to pine 
 to death barren and unwedded. But since, O son of Menoeceus, 
 thou art left sole father to these twain, for we their natural 
 parents are both fallen victims to destruction, do not thou 
 look on and see them, thy kindred, beggars, husbandless, 
 wanderers, nor make them sharers in my woes ; but pity 
 them, seeing them as thou dost at their tender years destitute 
 of every thing, except as far as thy part goes. Accord this, 
 noble sir, pledging me with thine hand. But to you, my 
 children, if ye had already understanding, I would have 
 given much advice ; but now^ pray this on my behalf, that I 
 
 ^ If Muso^rave's references to ^schylus's Choephorse, vv. 450 
 and 719 (ed. Blom.) be correct, and they are approved by Abre- 
 schius and Blomfield, tJie passage can not stand as the former 
 edition, followiuEc Brunck, has it, viz., "from whence ye will 
 not return lamented rather than the spectacle exhibited ;" be- 
 cause K£K\a^^nkvai in neither of those passages has a passive sense, 
 and is by Blomfield translated lachrymis perfusus. 
 
 2 £i\£o-0£ can not, I think, be taken passively, and I have
 
 66 CEDIPUS TYRAXXUS. [15 13-1528. 
 
 may ever live where it is for me to .live, and may ye meet 
 with a better life than that of the father who begot you. 
 
 Cr. Enough of tears hast thou shed, go now within 
 doors. 
 
 CEd. I must needs obey, though it be no pleasing thing. 
 
 Cr. Why, all things are becoming in their season. 
 
 (Ed. Know you then on what conditions I will go ? 
 
 Cr. Thou shalt tell me, and hearing I shall then know. 
 
 (Ed. That thou wilt send me into exile from this land. 
 
 Cr. Thou askest me what is the gods' to give. 
 
 (Ed. But to the gods at least I come most odious. 
 
 Cr. "Wherefore, be sure thou shalt be quickly grati- 
 fied. 
 
 (Ed. Sayest thou so, then ? 
 
 Cr. Yes, for what I mean not I am not wont idly to 
 say. 
 
 (Ed. Away Avith me then from this spot now. 
 
 ('R. Proceed then, and let go thy children. 
 
 (Ed. By no means take these at least from me. 
 
 Cr. Seek not to have thy way in every thing, for that 
 wherein thou hadst thv will conduced not to thy welfare in 
 life. 
 
 Chorus. O inhabitants of Thebes my country, behold, 
 this (Edipus, who solved the famous enigma, and was the 
 most exalted of mankind, wlio, looking with no envious 
 eye^ upon the enviable fortunes of the citizens, into how vast 
 a stormy sea of tremendous misery he hath come ! Then 
 mortal as thou art, looking out for a sight of that day, the 
 
 therefore followed Dindorf, whose emendation is also adopted 
 by Wunder. lu Kaipd- there is, I think, a double meaning, both 
 of the fated spot where OEdipus should dwell or die, and a ref- 
 erence to its ordinary meaning, as less shocking to the hearers. 
 — B. 
 
 ^ Erfurdt has a long and excellent note on the word i-m^'Xeirw:'^ 
 •which he shows to answer exactly the Latin " iuvidens." Her- 
 mann's reading has been followed for the rest.— Te. I have 
 given the best sense to this passage in my power, but I still 
 think ^>?Xw Kal rvxais- a harsh eudyadis for C»?Awrarr rx^xats-, and 
 that s''?Xm would be mure naturally joined with e-i^Xe-jojv. 
 Should we read — ttoXitcov rar TVXa~ tm/SXiTrwi' ? — B.
 
 1529-1530-] GEDIPUS TYRANNUS. 67 
 
 last,^ call no man happy, ere lie shall have crossed the boun- 
 dary of life, the sufferer of nought painful. 
 
 1 "The first dark day of nothingness, 
 The last day of danger and distress," 
 says Lord Byron, and so said (in part, at least) Solon before 
 him. But Aristotle, who was not a man to adopt hypothesis 
 for fact, whether supported by poet or philosopher, disputing 
 the first axiom in toto, brings the second into considerable 
 doubt.— Eth. 1.
 
 Shelf. 
 
 mCTRA.' 
 
 Orestes, in company with his tutor and Pylades. comes to Ar- 
 gos, and, liaving deceived ^Egisthus and Clytemnestra with 
 the report that he had been killed by fiilling from his chariot 
 in the Olympic games, he reveals his being yet alive to his 
 sister, who had bewailed him as dead, and slays the two 
 murderers, while vainly exulting in his own supposed 
 end.— B. 
 
 DEAMATIS PEESOX^. 
 
 Attendant. 
 Okestes. 
 Electka. 
 Chorus. 
 
 Chrysothemis. 
 Clytemxestra. 
 ^gisthus. 
 
 Attendant. O son of Agamemnon, who once commanded 
 the army at Troy,- now may est thou here present behold 
 those things for which thou wert ever eagerly longing ; for 
 this is the ancient Argos,^ which thou didst desire, the grove 
 
 1 This play was translated into Latin by Attilius. Cic. de 
 Fin. I. c. ii. | 5. ".4 quibns tantum dissenth, nt, qiium Sophocles 
 vel opi'nne scripserit Electrnm, tamen male conversam Attilii legen- 
 dam pntem : de quo Licinius, ferreiim scriptorem ; verum, opinor, 
 scriptorem tamen, ut legendus dt." See Beutley on Tus. Quiest. 
 p. 56. Hermann. 
 
 2 Euripides twitted Sophocles with this line as superfluous, 
 who retorted with the same objection on the two first lines of 
 the Phcenissffi.— Sch. ad Phceu. Hermann thinks either exor- 
 dium would be the worse for the omission. 
 
 ^ Argos is here applied to the country by Brunck; but ac- 
 cording to the Museum Criticum, No. I., " The cities of Argos 
 \ 68 )
 
 5-23] ELECTRA. 69 
 
 of the frenzy-stricken daughter of Inachus,^ and this, Ores- 
 tes, the Lycsean forum of the wolf-slaying god ; but this on the 
 left, the renowned temple of Juno ; and for the place whither 
 we are arrived, assure thyself thou seest the all-opulent Myce- 
 nae : and this the habitation of Pelopidae teeming with mur- 
 ders, whence I formerly, having received thee from thine own 
 sister, bore and rescued thee from thy father's bloody fate, and 
 nourished thee thus far onward in thy youth, as an avenger of 
 his murder to thy sire. Now therefore, Orestes, and thou, 
 Py lades, ^ dearest of foreign friends, what it is needful to do 
 we must quickly consider, since already the brilliant light 
 of the sun wakes clear the morning carols of the birds, and 
 the dark night has gone from heaven.^ Ere, therefore, any 
 of the inhabitants walk forth from his dwelling, we must 
 confer in counsel, since we are come to that point where 
 there is no longer any season for delay, but the crisis for ac- 
 tion. 
 
 Orestes. O most beloved of serving-men, what evident 
 
 and Mycenae, being almost contiguous, went by the general 
 name of Argos, as the cities of Loudon and Westminster are 
 known by the common denomination of London." If the an- 
 cient reading, rd ydp, be revived, and the colon after ovTzoesis- 
 removed, take aXao?- in apposition with Argos. Brunck's read- 
 ing injures the metre. Hermann quotes Euripides to defend 
 Sophocles' boldness; Ivaxov poai: he considered Ar^os used 
 loosely to denominate the whole country and its divisions 
 alike. 
 
 1 lo, whose story is told in the Prometheus of ^Eschylus, 
 from which i>lay the word oiVrpoTrA??^ is borrowed. The temple 
 of Juno was, according to Strabo, fifteen stades to the left of 
 the town: she was the patroness of Argos. 
 
 2 Pylades was the son of Strophius, a Phocian prince, by a 
 sister of Agamemnon, and bein.s educated with his cousin Ores- 
 tes, formed with him a friendship that has become proverbial. 
 
 •^ Commentators disagree on the interpretation of this place. 
 The scholiast sufigeststwo constructions, an antiptosis, iieS.aivrjr 
 vvKTos- rii aarpa ckXcXoittci^, Vfhlch has been followed by Brunck, 
 and cKXcMnre rf.Ti' aarpuiv f) neXawa cv'ppovr]. Musgrave translates 
 iK\k\onTEv excessit, understanding aorpa to mean the whole 
 heavens, as Virp;il, ^11. III. 567: 
 
 '*Ter spumarn elisam et rorantia vidimus astra." 
 And this last is approved of by Monk in the Museum Criticum.
 
 70 ELECTRA. [24-56. 
 
 proofs sliowest thou that thou art good toward us ; for even 
 as a generous horse, although he be aged, in danger has not 
 lost his spirit, but pricks his ears upright, even so thou both 
 urgest us forward and art among tiie first to follow us. 
 Wherefore my determination will I unfold ; and do thou, 
 lending an alert attention to my words, if in aught I miss of 
 what is fitting, set me right. For when I came a suppliant 
 to the Pythian oracle, that I might learn in what way I should 
 exact justice for my father from his murderers, Phoebus gave 
 me an answer, such as thoii presently shalt hear: "That in 
 person, alike unfurnished with armor and with martial host, 
 by craft I should steal the lawful slaughter of mine hand." 
 Since, then, we have heard such an oracle as this, do thou 
 entering, when opportunity shall introduce thee, into this 
 house, learn all that there is doing, that being informed thou 
 mayest tell us sure tidings. For fear not that with both thine 
 own age and the long lapse of time they shall recognize thee, 
 or even suspect thee thus tricked out. ^ But make use of some 
 such tale as this, that thou art a Phocian,'^ stranger, coming 
 from Phanoteus, since he is the chiefest of the foreign allies 
 they have. But announce, adding an oatli,^ that Orestes is 
 dead by a violent death, having been tumbled from a wheeled 
 chariot-car at the f*ythian games. So let thy story stand. 
 But we having, as he enjoined, fii*st crowned my father's sep- 
 ulchre with libations and locks cropjjed from my head, will 
 then come back again, bearing in our hands a brazen-sided 
 vessel, which thou also knowest is somewhere hidden among 
 the brushwood, that cheating them with words we may bring 
 
 1 Musgrave objects to this meaning of the word iiveiarnkvov, 
 and also to the scholiast's idea: he proposes himself to render 
 it "canis capillis ror/ff/a/HHi." ui'^or is certainly applied to the 
 hair. Suidas and Moschopulus are against him. 
 
 2 cf>ct)K£a)r -a[j ai'^poi' <i>avoT£(x}S' is Blomfield's reading. Mus. 
 Crit. ^KK£v~. — H. 
 
 ^ The objection of Camerarius, that Orestes should not be 
 made to advise perjurv, has given Musgrave great trouble ; and 
 proposes for opKw to read oyxM. But it is too true that Orestes, 
 by his own admissions just after, could make, like Ulysses, his 
 own principles and those of others equally subservient to his 
 Interest without much remorse. For the suppressed word 
 ayyeXiav, see Brunck's note.
 
 57-81.] ELECTRA. 71 
 
 them pleasant tidings, how that my body is perished, already 
 consumed by fire and reduced to ashes. For what does this 
 pain me, when, dead in words, in deeds I shall be safe, and 
 bear away renown ? I indeed think no expression ill-omened 
 which gain attends :^ for already have I frequently seen the 
 wise also in story falsely dying i'^ then afterward, when they 
 shall again have returned home, they have been the more 
 honored. As I presume that I also, coming to life subse- 
 quently to this report, shall yet blaze forth, as a star, to my 
 foes. But O land of my forefathers, and ye its gods indig- 
 enous, welcome me as prosperous in this my journey ; and 
 thou too, O abode of my ancestors, for, urged by an impulse 
 from heaven, I come to purge thee by my just revenge : then 
 dismiss me not in dishonor from this my country, but [make 
 me] master of my wealth and the restorer of my house. "^ 
 This now I have said, but, old man, be it at once thy care, 
 having gone, to execute with caution thy duty, but we will 
 go forth, for it is the season ; which indeed is to mankind 
 the greatest arbiter of every act.* 
 
 Electra. Alas ! ah me unhappy ! 
 
 At. In sooth methought I heard from the door some fe- 
 male servant inside heaving a suppressed sigli, my son. 
 
 Or. Can it be the hapless Electra ? wilt thou tarry here 
 and listen to her cries ? 
 
 1 Thus Menelaus in Euripides: 
 
 KUKOS" fxiv opviS" £1 Ss KspSavco \iyu)v 
 STai/jidS' eifxL [xf] 0avCjv, Adyw OavETv. 
 
 2 This alludes to Pythagoi^as, who feigned himself dead to ac- 
 quire the reputation of prophetic skill. Zamolxis and Aristeus 
 of Proconnesus, author of the Arimaspians, have similar stories 
 told of them by Herodotus, B. IV. Hermann wonders at the 
 commentators for their illustrations here, undertanding the 
 poet to allude to such distinguished men generally as, being at 
 one time in disgrace with and banishment from their country, 
 were afterward held in greater repute than ever. 
 
 ^ This may be given better thus, perhaps ; " And make me 
 not a dishonored outcast from my country, but a master," etc. 
 * Thus in Philoctetes, v. 837 :' 
 
 KUipoT TOL TTiivroyv yvMixav jVywi' 
 Tro\v rrapa rroSa KparoT apvvrai.
 
 72 ELECTRA. [82-112. 
 
 At. By no means. Let us attempt to execute nothing 
 prior to the commands of Loxias,^ and from these to com- 
 mence our course, pouring out the libations to thy father, for 
 this brings us both victory and strength in action. 
 
 El. O holy light, and air that sharest ecj[ual space Avith 
 earth, how many a strain of mournful dirges, how many a 
 blow against my bleeding breast hast thou witnessed for me, 
 when murky night shall have retired !^ But for my live- 
 long nights — the hateful couches of this house of woes are 
 conscious : how oft I mourn mine unhappy sire, Avhom in a 
 foreign country gory Mars entertained not,^ but my mother, 
 and ^Egisthus the partner of her bed, lop off his head with 
 murderous axe, as wood-cutters an oak. And for all this 
 no pity is felt by any other save me, when thou, my father, 
 hast perished so disgracefully and piteously. But never 
 then Avill I desist from laments and bitter cries, as long as I 
 look on the all -glowing beams of the stars, as I look on this 
 daylight ; so as not, like some nightingale that has lost her 
 young,^ to pour forth to all mine echo inviting to shrill la- 
 ment before these gates of my native home. O abode of 
 Pluto and of Proserpine, O nether Mercury^ and awful Curse, 
 
 1 "The epithet 'Lctsrian,' so constantly used by the Greek 
 poets, is interpreted by the scholia in two w^ays, either as re- 
 ferring to the oblique direction of his voice (/.<?., the amhiguity 
 of his oracles), or as belonging to him from the oblique path of 
 the sun through the ecliptic." Oxf. Translation of Aristo- 
 phanes. 
 
 2 'YTro\£i(p0T}, Schol. -apeXeri, Brunck recessit. Musgrave says, 
 tVoXct-fii', quod pro deficere, minui positum citat Bud^us ex 
 Aristotele, melius omnino hie couveuit quam passivum v~o\el- 
 -£(70ai, quod resto, supersinn valet. Utrum tamen legendum sit 
 vno\£i~r)SLn vtzoXuxLt}^ mihi nou satis liquet." 
 
 3 Cf. iEsch. Choeph. 345, ti yap v-' 'lAuo 'Jlpor nvoS- \vKiwv, 
 Ttartp Sopiri.irjTOS' Karr]vapio0r]~. — B. 
 
 * Brunck translates the Greek word "p?t??/.? orbata," Mus- 
 grave, however, considering it an allusion to the fate of Philo- 
 mela and Itys, renders it "Uberorum suomm interfedrix." As 
 Franklin observes on v. 147, Procne, who put Itys to death, 
 is supposed bv aEschylus, Euripides, and Aristophanes (in his 
 play of the Birds 1 to have been changed into a nightingale. 
 
 ^'Mercury is addressed by this name in allusion to his office 
 as conductor of the dead
 
 1 13-145.] ELECTRA. 73 
 
 and ye venerable children of the gods, ye Furies, who regard 
 them that unjustly perish, them that by stealth usurp an- 
 other's bed,^ come ye, lend aid, avenge the murder of our 
 father, and to me send my brother, for alone I have no longer 
 strength to weigh up the burden of affliction that is in the 
 opposite scale. 
 
 Chorus. Ah ! Electra, child, child of a most wretched^ 
 mother, why thus insatiably dost thou pine in lamentation, 
 for Agamemnon long since taken most godlessly in snares 
 by thy crafty mother and to an evil hand betrayed ? O that 
 he who caused this might perish, if it be lawful for me to 
 utter this. 
 
 El. Offspring of noble parents, ye are come as the solace 
 of my troubles ; 1 both know and am conscious of this ; in 
 no Avise does it escape me, nor will I forsake this [task] so 
 as not to bemoan my Avretched father. But, ye that requite 
 the boon of every kind of friendship, leave me thus to lan- 
 guish, alas ! alas ! I implore you. 
 
 Ch. Yet still thou wilt never raise thy father at least from 
 the lake of Pluto, man's common bourne, neither by shrieks 
 nor prayers.^ But from moderate [laments] to a grief be- 
 yond reason, thou ever with groans art perishing. In mat- 
 ters wherein there is no release from evil, why, I pray you, 
 art thou fond of misery intolerable? 
 
 El. Foolish he, wdio is forgetful of his parents calami- 
 
 -Animas ille evocat Oreo 
 
 Palleutes, alias sub Tartara tristia mittit ; 
 Dat somnos adimitque, et lumina morte resignat." 
 From the third otEce enumerated by Virgil, we raay suppose 
 that Electra's prayers had already been effectually addressed 
 to this god, as Clytemnestra shortly after sends offerings to 
 Agamemnon's tomb in consequence of having had her rest dis- 
 turbed by dreams of ill omen. 
 
 ^ Hermann, admitting an hiatus of some words before tovt, 
 tills it up thus : aiaxp^^s- \eKTpwv TTpo^oTovs- evvaT, qiiibus furtoerep- 
 tus est pyoditus torus. 
 
 2 "Ai-orai/orarar, Schol. EfwXEorarry?- recte. Vide Musgravium 
 ad Enripidis Here. Fur. 1349." — Brunck. 
 
 ^ Hermann reads avraiq, the vestiges of which he thinks he 
 has found in Hesychius: avrfiaei (scribe avrriai), 'Kiraveiaig, 
 avT)]<xeaiv.
 
 74 ELECTRA. [146-174. 
 
 tously deceased. But the sorrower that mourns for Itys,^ 
 ever Itvs, that affrighted bird, messenger of Jove, accords 
 with mv feelings at least. O all-wretched Niobe, thee, thee 
 I account a deity, who ever in thy stony tomb weepest, alas ! 
 alas ! 
 
 Ch. Xot to thee alone, be sure, my child, among man- 
 kind hath grief arisen, wherewith thou surpassetli those 
 within, with whom thou art from the same source, and by 
 birth akin : as is the life of Chrysothemis and Iphianassa, 
 and he that sorroweth in his youth concealed,- Avhom one 
 day the renowned land of the Mycenians sliall welcome 
 haply, in ancestry illustrious, under the benign conduct of 
 Jove returning to this land, Orestes.^ 
 
 El. AVhom forsooth I unceasingly expecting, wretch that 
 I am ! childless, unwedded, am ever roaming, drenched in 
 tears, supporting unceasing pain of miseries ; while he is 
 forgetful of all that he has received, and all he has been 
 taught. For what message goes forth from me that is not 
 mocked? Since he is ever longing indeed, but though he 
 longs, he deigns not to make his appearance. 
 
 Ch. Courage, my daughter, courage ! There is a mighty 
 Jove in heaven, * who o verlooketh and swayeth all things ; 
 
 1 Penelope, in the Odyssey, similarly describes her grief. 
 Od. xix. 520. See some excellent observations on the line I'irc 
 Ba^id rpoTzcoaa xift -zoX^rjxea (piovijv amoug Twiulnsc's remarks on 
 the expression of musical sound by poetry. Arist. Poet. Prel. 
 Diss. 
 
 2 Hermann makes dxiwv a noun, and construes it with Kpv-Td, 
 "Happy in a youth unknown to sorrows :" scmota a doloribtis. 
 This is much less forced than the common version. — Tr. But 
 if Orestt^s was free from evils, why mention him? If we read 
 Kpv-ra c' lixkov, and put a longer stop after 'liptdvac-aa, we shall 
 have a better sense : "thou art, like them, unhappy; but blest 
 is he, whom now in age of sorrow reckless at some time My- 
 cene's glorious land shall hail." — B. 
 
 3 The withholding this magic of a name till the last, to crown 
 the aiiectiouate appeal to Electra's bappier thoughts, is worthy 
 of Sophocles; and if equaled at all, is so in the turn .given by 
 Electra's wounded spirit to that which was meant so differently. 
 This, however, none of the older editors have preserved ; and 
 Bruuck's and Musgrave's annotations on this passage show 
 their error. 
 
 * Plato Phsedr., p. 344, H. '0 iilv Sri fikyag rtyifKjdv Kar* ovpavov Zeis
 
 175-213-] ELECTRA. 75 
 
 to whom referring thy too bitter choler, be neither over- 
 indignant with nor forgetful of those whom thou detestest : 
 for time is a lenient god. Since neither is the son of Aga- 
 memnon that lives on the herd-pasturing shore of Crisa^ 
 without return, nor the god that reigns by Acheron. 
 
 El. But from me the greater part of life hath already 
 passed away without hope, nor can I longer endure, who 
 without parents am wasting myself away, for whom no man 
 stands forth as champion, but like some worthless stranger 
 I dvvell in the chambers of my father, in raiment thus dis- 
 graceful, and take my place at empty tables. 
 
 Ch. Pitiable indeed were the words at his return, ^ and 
 pitiable that in thy father's chambers, when the adverse 
 stroke of the all-brazen axe was inflicted on him. Fraud it 
 was that prompted, lust that perpetrated, the murder, hav- 
 ing fearfully brought into being a fearful shape, ^ whether it 
 were god or mortal that did all this. 
 
 El. Oh ! that day, that dawned above all indeed most 
 hateful to me : O night, O shocking woes of that horrible 
 banquet — the disgraceful death my sire beheld from twain 
 assassins, that seized upon my life betrayed, that destroyed 
 me ! To whom may the mighty god of Olympus give to 
 endure retributive sufferings, and may they never enjoy 
 their splendor, having accomplished such deeds. 
 
 Ch. Bethink thee : speak no farther : art thou not con- 
 scious* from what a state tbou fallest at present into hard- 
 
 .... ^laKoafjMV -livra Kal ETnj.it\6nevog. Cf. Themist. Orat. XV. p. 
 332; Maximus Tyr. xxix. p. 348.— B. 
 
 ^ Crisa, usually written Crissa, was a large town of Phocis, 
 said to be the capital of Strophius. It gave name to the Cris- 
 ssean bay, the scene of several actions in the Peloponnesian war. 
 2 Alluding to the presaging sorrow of the Argive people on 
 Agamemnon's return, the adulterous loves of ^^isthus and 
 Clytemnestra being known to them. See JEschylus. 
 2 Precisely Shakespeare's idea ; 
 
 "Between the acting of a dreadful thing, 
 And the first motion, all the interim is 
 Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream." 
 
 Jul. Cses., act 2, so. 1. 
 * Musgrave, in his notes, proposes the following alterations 
 in these lines :
 
 76 ELECTRA. [214-250. 
 
 ships all thine own thus unworthily ! For thou hast incurred 
 over and above an excess of evils, continually gendering 
 quarrels by thy sad spirit. But these matters are not worth 
 the strife, to cope with those in power. ^ 
 
 El. By dreadful woes have I been forced to it, ay, terrible. 
 I am fully conscious of my wrath, nor does it escape me. 
 But enough, amid such atrocious crimes I shall never check"-^ 
 these miseries as long as life shall contain me. For from 
 whom, O friendly race, could I ever hear a profitable word? 
 from whom that which is opportune. Forbear, forbear me, 
 ye comforters ; for these woes shall be ne'er relaxed ! never 
 will I rest from these troubles thus countless in my laments. 
 
 Ch. Nay, but with good-will at least I advise as a faithful 
 mother, that thou beget not woe on woe. 
 
 El. And what measure exists to my wretchedness ? Come, 
 how is it honorable to be careless of the dead? with whom 
 of mankind originated this?^ May I neither be had in honor 
 among them, nor if I am united to any good may I dwell 
 with it in tranquillity, if I repress the flights of my shrill- 
 toned shrieks to the dishonor of my parents ; for if he, hav- 
 ing fallen, shall lie in earth a thing of nought, and they 
 shall not in turn give satisfaction with blood for blood, then 
 may shame and piety from all mankind be annihilated. * 
 
 Oil yvojfiav iaX£i^ t^ oariov 
 TO. TtapovT oiKEiS', a r' eiT ara^ 
 'E/Lt7rt7rr££r ov~(o aKaioJT. 
 He also interprets, and perhaps with correctness, ani by vesania. 
 — Tr. oiKeia~ ara?-, " evils all your own." ForElectra had not 
 shown the same submission asChrysothemis, and consequently 
 met with harsher treatment. — B. 
 
 ^ Herm. i^vxa Tro\kiiovS', rait toX~ 6vvaT0iS' 
 
 OvK epiara TrXdOeiv. 
 " So as to cope with those in power on these points which admit 
 not of gainsaying." — Tr. Perhaps we should read -XdOwv, — B. 
 2 ara-, see V. 208. 
 
 ^ Or, " in whom of men hath this arisen?" This is perhaps 
 the better translation. Brunck's Latin version has, ubinam homo 
 est eo ingenio natus f 
 
 * Timon's curse on Athens, when he quits it forever, is a fine 
 amplification of this prayer ( if it be a prayer) of Electra. See 
 Timon of Athens, act. 4, sc. 1.
 
 251-282.] ELECTRA. 77 
 
 Ch. I indeed, my child, came to promote at once thy wel- 
 fare and mine own ; but if I advise not well, do thou pre- 
 vail, for we will follow in thy company. 
 
 El. Ladies, I blush, if ia my many lamentations I seem 
 to you to be too downhearted, yet, for their violence forces 
 me to do it, forgive me. For how could any woman of high 
 family, looking on her father's wrongs, not act thus ? wrongs 
 that by day and by night I see continually budding rather 
 than withering ;i to whom, in the first place, the deeds of the 
 mother that bore me have turned out most hateful ; next, in 
 mine own home I consort with the assassins of my father, and 
 by these I am controlled, and from these it is my lot alike to 
 receive and to want : furthermore, what manner of days think 
 you I pass, when I behold j^gisthus seated on my father's 
 throne ; and look on him dressed in the very garments that he 
 wore,^ and pouring out libations to the household gods, where 
 he slew him ? Avhen I see, too, the crowning insult of all this, 
 the assassin himself in the bed of my father with my guilty 
 mother, if I must call her mother, thus cohabiting with him ? 
 So hardened is she, that she lives with that pollution, in fear 
 of no avenging Fury ; but as if triumphantly laughing at what 
 she has done, having looked out for that day on which she 
 formerly slew my father by treachery, on that day she insti- 
 tutes the festive dance, and sacrifices the monthly offerings of 
 sheep to her guardian gods;"^ while I, the miserable, witnessing 
 
 ^ Similarly Philoctetes : 
 
 f) 6' Zjif] VOffOS' 
 
 del -rridrjXe, Kanl fxtisov epxerai. — V. 258. 
 
 ^ "Vestimenta regibus solemniter gestata. Statius. Tbeb. v. 
 315, notas, regum gestamina, Testes : et. vi. 80, cultusqiie, insignia 
 regni, Purpureos. Germanic. Arat. Phsenomeu. Beges— satis 
 religiose timicati. Nounus. K. 20. 
 
 pa<Ti\fi'ia (paiSpa roKrioT 
 ^vaaro^ nopcpvpico T:CTraXayi.itva (pdpea koXco." — Musgrave. 
 
 ^ "Clyteninestra, in imitation of the solemn honors paid to 
 the gods and heroes of the new moons, called therefore, 'ippniva 
 icpn, iustituted a monthly festival, witli sacrifices to the gods her 
 preservers, on the day on which Agamemnon was murdered, 
 Tliis was celebrated with songs and dances, and a feast inso- 
 lently called Epulai Agamemnonise."— Potter. To which 
 Franklin adds, that Diuias, in his history of Ai'gos, informs us
 
 78 ELECTRA. [283-306. 
 
 all this at home, lament, pine away and shriek over the Ill- 
 omened feast that bears my father's name ; alone, to myself, 
 for 1 have not power even to weep so much as my soul has 
 pleasure in doing ; since the woman herself, in words high- 
 spirited,^ accosts and reviles me with such harsh terms as 
 these: "O god -detested thing of hate, to thee alone is thy 
 father dead ? Is none else of mankind in grief ? Mayest thou 
 perish evilly, nor may the nether gods ever release thee from 
 thy present woes." Thus she insults me : but when she 
 hears from'any that Orestes is about to come, then infuriate 
 she comes and cries aloud : "Art thou not the cause of all 
 this to me ? Is not this thy work, that didst steal and spirit 
 away Orestes from my hands? But be assured that thou 
 shalt pay a deserved penalty at least. "^ Thus does she bark 
 upon me, and with her close at her side sets her on to this 
 that glorious man, her husband, that utter dastard, that very 
 pest, that fighter of his battles with woman's aid. While I, 
 unhappy, expecting from time to time that Orestes will 
 come upon them to put a stop to all this, am undone. For, 
 ever purposing to effect something, he hath ruined my hopes 
 both present and to come.* In such a condition, then, my 
 
 it was on the tliirteenth of the month Gamelion, which answers 
 to the beginning of our January, or, according to Potter, the 
 latter end of tliat month, or beginning of February. 
 
 1 Musgrave objects to the idea of Clytemnestra being noble 
 in words, and proposes to read AoYoio-f ycj/i/aui, iJJa in insidiis 
 fortis. — Tr. But as yewaio- is often used ironically, we may 
 very well take yew. \6y, to mean " word-valiant." The transla- 
 tion, " as she is called," is quite wrong. — B. 
 
 ■^ Indeed it is by no means easy to see why Electra had not 
 ere this fallen a victim to the vengeance of her mother, as by 
 her own account she took no pains to conceal her abhorrence 
 of Clytemnestra's conduct. Perhaps we must refer it to the 
 same cause which, in the Odyssey, preserves Telamachus so 
 long — superstition ; to which the Greeks were most prone, and 
 which by no means ceases with religion and virtue, as both the 
 impious festival and penitential offerings of the Argive queen 
 sufficiently prove. 
 
 ^ 'By ovrra- Kal a-ouo-ar, Hermann understands her hopes in 
 herself present and in Orestes absent. Many probably will 
 disagree with him. — Te, Liddell, s. v. a~£ifjn, well remarks
 
 307-334.] ELECTRA. 79 
 
 friends, there is no room for either prudence or proper re- 
 spect, but in evils forsooth, there is absolutely necessity to be 
 subservient to evil. 
 
 Ch. Come, tell me, whether sayest thou all this to us, 
 iEgisthus being at hand or having quitted his home? 
 
 El. Even so. Think not I could walk abroad were he 
 near ; but now he happens to be in the country. 
 
 Ch.. Truly, then, would I with greater boldness join with 
 thee in discourse, if this be indeed so. 
 
 Eli. As he is now absent, question what thou wilt. 
 
 Ch. Then 1 ask thee, what sayest thou of thy brother? 
 will he come, or delays he ? I wish to know. 
 
 El. He promises at least, but promising he performs 
 nought of what he says. 
 
 Ch. Ay, for man in the performance of a mighty deed is 
 wont to delay. 
 
 El. And yet it was not with delay I saved him. 
 
 Ch. Courage ; he is naturally generous to aid his friends. 
 
 El. I am confident of it, else had I not long to live. 
 
 Ch. Speak nothing farther at present, since coming out of 
 the house I perceive thy sister, by birth of the same father 
 and mother, Chrysothemis/ bearing the sepulchral offerings 
 in her hands, such as are the appointed due of the dead. 
 
 Chrysothemis. Sister, what talk is this thou again boldest, 
 having come forth to the entrance of the vestibule ; nor art 
 willing to be taught by length of time not idly to gratify a 
 fruitless rage ? Nevertheless thus far I know myself, that 
 I am grieved at present circumstances ; so muchso that were 
 I to acquire the power, I would disclose what are my senti- 
 
 that this is merely like a-yre- kuI (wof rsr, aud means "all the 
 hopes I have." — B. 
 
 ^ Thus Homer, II. ix. : 
 
 " Yet more — tliree daughters in his court are bred, 
 
 And each well worthy of a royal bed ; 
 
 Loadice, and Iphigenia fair, 
 
 And bright Chrysothemis with golden hair." 
 The original has Iphianassa, which Pope appears to have little 
 reason for changing to Iphigenia, who had been sacrificed at 
 Aulis. Electra is usually considered the same with Lao- 
 dice. — Tr. But they are one and the same person. Cf. Lucret. 
 I. 85.— B.
 
 So ELECT R A. [.^^--364. 
 
 meni> toward thorn. Bitt now in miseries I thiitk tit to voy- 
 age with lowered >ail. and wox faney indeed 1 elTeot sonie- 
 thinii-. y«. t work them no n)i>ehief. Thtts moreover would I 
 have thee also aei : any yet the riuht is. not wherein 1 speak, 
 but wlierein liuni jndgest. But it I nui>t need> live free. 1 
 must wholly obey my nuister. 
 
 Ki.. Shameful at least is it.'' that thou being from th? 
 father who>e bo^rn child thou art. forgettest him, hut art 
 regardfid of thy mother. For all these admonitions to me 
 are taught thee by her, and nought thou speakest of tliyself. 
 Else choose at least one of the two. either to be senseless, or 
 in thy senses to liave no remembrance of thy friends, since 
 thou just now snyest, couldst thou bin get strength to it, 
 thou wouldst demonstrate tliy abliorrence of these ; but Avith 
 me. who am in all things bent on vengeance for my father, 
 thou not otily dost not co-operate, but also dissuadest me in 
 action, llaili not this cowardice to add to misery? For 
 instruct me, or learn of me, what advantage could accrue to 
 me having desisted from these wailings. Do not I live? but 
 ill. 1 know, yet well enough for me. And I annoy them, so 
 as to attach lionor to the dead, if in the other world there 
 be any pleasure : while thou, our hater, hatest them in word, 
 but in deed consort est with thy father's murderers. I then 
 would never, not even if any one were purposing to bring 
 me these thy gifts, wherein thou now wantonest, submit my- 
 self to these : no, to thee be the wealthy board set out, and 
 plenty flow around thee : to me the only nourishment be not 
 to pain myself ;- thine honor I covet not to obtain : nor 
 
 ^ This -whole scene between the two sisters closely resembles 
 the first between Antigone and Ismeue; as well in the dispo- 
 sitions of the parties concerned, as in the subject of their dis- 
 cussion, the necessary respect to be paid to the dead. And 
 when we see some of the finest productions of the Greek lan- 
 guage depending for their catastrophe on this point, we shall 
 perhaps the less wonder that an idea so constantly implanted 
 in the multitude as the connection of the dead with the Itv- 
 iutr. should have taken root, even in so vigorous a mind as 
 Aristotle's. 
 
 - See Brunck's note, ^Musgrave. who retains the common 
 reading, thus remarks: "Scholiastes et hoe iu MSS. invenisse 
 videtur. et pra?terea Ai-fTi.quod hunc sensum etiiceret : Mihi
 
 365-384.] ELECTRA. 81 
 
 woulfJ.-t tliou, at least wert thou wise : hut now when thou 
 hast in thy power to be called the cliild of a sire the noblest 
 of all, be called thy mother's : for thus to most men wilt 
 tliou show thyself base, deserting thy murdered father and 
 thy friends. 
 
 Ch, Xouj^ht v.-rathfully, I pray you by the gods : since 
 there is profit in the words of both, wouldst thou but learn 
 to make use of hers, and she in turn of thine. 
 
 ChPw. I, ladies, am in some sort accustomed to her words : 
 nor had I ever recalled it to her mind, had I not heard of a 
 most grievous affliction coming upon her, which will with- 
 hold her from these protracted lamentations. 
 
 Kl. Come, tell me then the hardship : for shouldst thou 
 tell me aught greater than these present. I would no longer 
 contradict thee. 
 
 Chr. Nay, I will tell thee all, as much as I know. For 
 they purpose, if thou wilt not desist from these wailings, to 
 send thee thither, where never shalt thou V>ehold the light 
 of the sun ; but living in a confined vault, without this 
 country, shalt thou chant thy wc^es. Wherefore bethink 
 thee, and never hereafter when thou hast suffered blame 
 me. For now it is thine to be wise in good time.^ 
 
 satis non deficere alimentn. Sed omnino retinendum Xv-rrcTv. Mihi 
 instar puhula sit, non me dnntaxat, sed alios angered — Confer, v. 
 357. Hertijann retains the common readinj; rov^^t jin 'KvTrelv, 
 which he rendere mihi non dolorem creare {mihi hoc tantum esto 
 pabulum) and understands Electra to allude to the remorse she 
 iijust experience, if she paid an impious respect to iEgisthus 
 and her mother. — Tk. I have adopted Hermann's interpreta- 
 tion, as being best suited to the sense, although I am per- 
 suaded all is not right in the text. — B. 
 
 1 It has been before remarked that this scene resembled one 
 in Antigone: the coincidence of the two plays is here made 
 still more striking by the punishment with which Electra is 
 threatened. 
 
 " If mournful cries and wailings before death 
 Availed, there is not one, be well assured, 
 That ere would cease them. In.stant take her hence. 
 Inclose her in the rock's sepulchral cave, 
 As I commanded ; leave her there alone, 
 Either to die, or there to live entombed." 
 
 —Potter, Ant. p. 168.
 
 82 ELECTRA. [385-406. 
 
 El. "What, then, and have they resolved thus to treat me? 
 
 Chr. Most surely; when, in fact, -^Egisthus shall come 
 home. 
 
 El. Nay, then, may he quickly arrive for this at least. 
 
 Chr. What words are these thou cursest thyself withal, 
 unhappy? 
 
 El. That he may come, if he purposes to do aught of this. 
 
 Chr. That thou mayest feel what suffering? Where can 
 thy senses be ? 
 
 El. That I may escape as far as possible from you. 
 
 Chr. But hast thou no regard to thy present life? 
 
 El. Ay, a line life is mine, Avorth admiring ! 
 
 Chr. xsay, it might be, and thou knewest how to be wise. 
 
 El. Teach me not to be a traitress to my friends. 
 
 Chr. I teach thee not so, but to give way to those in 
 power. 
 
 El. Do thou thus flatter ; thou speakest not my wont. 
 
 Chr. Yet surely it is honorable at least not to have fallen 
 from imprudence. 
 
 El. I will fall, if needs I must, in avenging my father. 
 
 Chr. Our father, I am sure, grants indulgence in this.^ 
 
 El. These words it is the coward's part to praise. 
 
 Chr. But wilt not thou be persuaded and consent to me ? 
 
 El. Ko, trulv. Mav I not vet be so void of understand- 
 ing?"^ 
 
 Chr. Then will I too begone on my way, whither I Avas 
 sent. 
 
 El. But AA-hither art thou Avending? to whom carriest 
 thou these offerings ? 
 
 Chr. My mother sends me to make libations at my father's 
 tomb. 
 
 1 Thus Ismene to her sister: 
 
 " I then (of those beneath the earth reA^ered 
 Imploring pardon, since by force constrained) 
 Will yield obedience to one potent lord. 
 Attempts bevond our strength no prudence show." 
 
 Potter, Ant. v. 69. 
 
 2 Mfj-co, per y^irorrira for /i '/-ore, since -w, as Buttmann has ob- 
 served in his Greek Grammar, includes always a reference to 
 past time. On this \ir6rris- see Porson ad hec. 1260.
 
 407-427-] ELECTRA. 83 
 
 El. How sayest thou ? to the deadliest of her human ene- 
 mies? 
 
 Chr. Whom herself slew :^ for this wouldst thou say. 
 
 El. At the persuasion of whom of her friends? Whose 
 'pleasure is this? 
 
 Chr. From some nocturnal fright, to my thinking. 
 • El. O gods of my fathers ! aid me even now. 
 
 Chr. Hast thou any cheering hope respecting this terror ? 
 
 El. Wouldst thou relate to me the vision, I then could 
 tell thee. 
 
 Chr. I know not, save a little, to tell thee. 
 
 El. Nay, tell me that. Many a trifling word, believe 
 me, hath ere now both overtlirown and established mortals. 
 
 Chr. There was a report that she witnessed a second time 
 the presence of my and thy father having returned to life, 
 and then that he, having taken the staff which once he bore, 
 but now ^gisthus, fixed it in the earth, and from it sprouted 
 up a vigorous scion, wherewith the whole land of Mycense 
 was overshadowed.^ This I heard from one who related it, 
 who was present while she reveals her dream to the sun."* 
 But more than this I know not, save that she sends me in 
 
 1 Homer's account is different : vid. Od. IV. 529 : 
 
 AvriKU 6' AlyiodoS" SoXiTjv c^pdcaaro teX^^^ 
 
 KpivdfiEvoT Kara Snp.ov ieiKOai Oo'traT dpicrrov^^ 
 
 Yiics Xoxov, eripcoOr} 6' avcoyei Saira TvtvecOai. 
 
 Avrdp h j8>7 koXcmv, \\yajicnvova, Troijxtva \awv, 
 
 ''jTrnoKjiv Koi ox£(r'pit', neiKea pepfxrfpi'^cov. 
 
 Tdv 6' ovK ciSor oXeOpov dvfjYays kul KaTeire<pv£ 
 
 AenrviaaaT. 
 He farther adds, that J^^gisthus alone escaped, both his own 
 and Agamemnon's followers being slain. 
 
 2 Compare theCboephorfeof ^schylus, from which Sophocles 
 has borrowed the idea of the dream. 
 
 ^ Under an idea that the god who dispelled the shades of 
 night from the earth was also capable of averting the evils 
 which had been threatened during that night, the ancients, 
 having been alarmed by dreams, used to tell them to the sun ; 
 and hence, says Franklin, Apollo was termed 'ATrorpon-aior, 
 " Senserat ut pulsas tandem Medea tenebras, 
 Eapta toris, primi jubar ad placabile Phoebi. 
 Ibat." Val. Flacc. v. 330.
 
 84 ELECTRA. [42S-450. 
 
 consequence of this alarm. Xow by our country's gods I 
 implore thee, yield to me, nor fall by imprudence ; for if 
 thou shalt repulse me, hereafter thou wilt send for me in 
 trouble.^ 
 
 El. But, my beloved, of all this that thou carriest in 
 thine hands, attach nothing to the tomb : for it is not law- 
 ful for thee, nor pious, from that hated woman to place 
 funeral gifts, or to carry expiatory libations to my father. 
 But aAvay with them secretly, either to the winds, or to 
 deep-sunk dust, where never any of them shall approach 
 my father's place of rest: but when she shall be dead, 
 lie they in earth a deposit for herself ; for had she not 
 been naturally the most daring of women, slie in the 
 first place had never at any time crowned these hateful 
 libations for him, whom at least she slew. For consider, 
 whether the entombed dead in thy opinion receives these 
 honors in mood friendly to her ; by whom perishing unlion- 
 ored, like a foe, he was mangled, and for a purification she 
 wiped off her spots upon his head.^ What, thinkest thou 
 to bear these atonements of the murder for her? It can not 
 be. But leave these alone, and do thou, having cut from 
 the ringlets on thine head the extreme hairs, ^ and from me 
 unhappy, a paltry gift indeed, but still such as I have, give 
 
 1 Hermann has here ably pointed out the skill of the poet in 
 connecting Chrysothemis' warning to her sister with tlie ac- 
 count of Clytemnestra's alarm, who would be made doubly 
 vindictive in her purposes toward Electra by fear. 
 
 ■^ Those among the ancients who had murdered any person 
 believed that the wiping their swords, or any other weapon 
 they had used, on the head of the deceased, would prevent his 
 aveugiug spirit from having power upon them. The cutting 
 ofi" and wearing under their arms a piece of flesh taken from 
 the dead body was also thought a spell of like influence. 
 
 ^ " It hath been observed that the ceremony of cuttino: off 
 the hair, while it was obviously expressive of violent emotion, 
 had a latent meaning couched under it. As the hair was cut 
 off from the head, never more to be united to it, so were the 
 dead cut ofi" from the living, nevermore to return. This usage 
 was not confined to the heathen world. It is taken notice of 
 in Scripture: Ezekiel, describing a great lementation, says, 
 'Thev shall make themselves utterlv bald for thee:' c. xxvii. 
 31." "^ Notes to Trans. Miu. Poet. Q. 191.
 
 451-50S.] ELECTRA. 85 
 
 him this squalid^ [hair], and my girdle, not garnished with 
 fineries. And falling down, beseech him from the earth to 
 come a kindly aid to us against our enemies, and that his son 
 Orestes with mightier hand may alive ti'ample under foot 
 his foes, that henceforth we may crown him with wealthier 
 hands than wherewith we now offer our gifts. I think in- 
 deed, I think that he hath some plan in sending to her these 
 dreams of horrid aspect. But, however, my sister, perform 
 this service for both thyself and me an aid, and for the most 
 beloved of all mankind, now lying in Hades, our common 
 sire. 
 
 Ch. With piety the damsel speaks : but thou, my friend, 
 if thou be wise, wilt do this. 
 
 Che.. I will do it ; for that which is right has no good 
 reason for one to strive with two, but to hasten its perform- 
 ance. But, upon my attempting these deeds, let there be 
 silence on your part, for the gods' sake, my friends, since if 
 my mother shall hear of this, a bitter attempt, methinks, I 
 shall yet hazard in this. 
 
 Ch. If I be not born a foolish prophet, and wanting in 
 wise judgment, there will come Justice the prophetic, bear- 
 ing in her hands righteous mastery : she will pursue them, 
 my child, at no distant period. Confidence rises within me, 
 just now hearing the sweetly-breathing dreams.^ For never 
 is thy parent the king of Greeks forgetful at least, nor the 
 ancient brazen two-edged axe, which slew him with most 
 shameful insults. Also shall come the many-footed and 
 many-handed Erinnys of brazen tread, that is concealed in 
 dreadful ambush. For an incestuous unhallowed rivalry of 
 blood-defiled nuptials has come upon those to whom it was 
 unlawful. For these deeds, of a truth, it holds by me that 
 no portent can ever, ever be come upon us without harm to 
 either the doers or the accomplices. In good truth, there 
 are no auguries to mortals in alarming dreams, nor in ora- 
 cles, unless this apparition of the night shall anchor at last 
 
 1 " defend! potest dXnrapri, modo ea vox significare putetur 
 comam non accommodatam supplication i, ut quiB non satis 
 compta atque uitide habita sit." — Herm. 
 
 2 That is, to the party of Agamemnon, in proportion as they 
 came unwelcome and alarming to Clvtemuestra.
 
 86 ELECTRA. [509-527, 
 
 in good. ^ O toilsome horsemanship of Pelops in old time, 
 how woeful earnest thou to this country ! For since the 
 drowned Myrtilus^ was sent to [his last] sleep, hurled head- 
 long forth in dire insult from his all-golden car, no calamity 
 of many troubles hath ever yet been wanting to this house. 
 
 Clytemnestra. Let loose, it seems, again thou roamest ; 
 for iEgisthus is not here, who ever checked thee lest, being 
 abroad, thou shouldst dishonor thy friends. But now, as he 
 is absent, thou heedest not me at least. Kay, more, thou 
 hast actually denounced me at large and to many, as that I 
 am impudent, and, contrary to justice, am the aggressor in 
 insolence to thee and thine. ^ Yet have I no insolence ; but 
 bespeak thee evil by being so often slandered by thee. For 
 that thy father, no other pretense hast thou constantly, fell 
 by my liand. My hand : I know it well, I have no denial to 
 make of this. For Justice took him not I only, which thou 
 oughtest to aid, wert thou haply in thy senses. Since this 
 
 1 Musgrave considers the latter part of this chorus as out of 
 place after the promise of a prosperous fortune to the house of 
 Agamemnon. Yet as this could not be without a crime; since 
 "sanguine quserendi reditus;" Hermann defends the transi- 
 tion made to the primal curse of the ill-starred royal family 
 of Argos. 
 
 2 Myrtilns, son of Mercury and Plifetusa, was charioteer to 
 CEnomaus, king of Pisa, the father of Hippodamia, whose horses 
 he rendered the most famous for their swiftness in all Greece. 
 This it was which produced the confidence of CEuomaus in 
 challenging his daughter's suitors to the chariot race, and had 
 already been the destruction of thirteen chiefs, when Pelops 
 bribed Myrtilus with a promise of sharing the favors of Hip- 
 podamia. Thus allured, he gave an old chariot to CEnomaus, 
 which hroke down in the course, and killed him. When, how- 
 ever, Myrtilus demanded the reward of his perfidy, Pelops 
 threw him into the sea, thus exemplifying the words of Shake- 
 speare's Henry ; 
 
 "They love not poison, that do poison need ; 
 Nor do I thee, though I did wish him dead. 
 I hate the murderer, love him murdered." 
 
 3 Hermann places a comma after apx^, not, he says, because 
 the reading adopted by Brunck and others is incorrect (v. 
 Matth. Gr. Gr. ^ 549), but because Tre^pa Slkiis- lipxu) is a better 
 sequel to the preceding dpaceXa ei^n.
 
 528-562.] ELECTRA. 87 
 
 tliy father, whom thou art ever wailing, alone of Greeks 
 could bear^ to sacrifice to the gods thine own sister, though 
 he suffered not from pain, when he begat her, equally with 
 me that bare her. Enough : teach me now for whose sake 
 he sacrificed her.^ Wilt thou say, for the Greeks? But 
 they had no claim to kill my daughter at least. But if for- 
 sooth then for his brother Menelaus he murdered what was 
 mine, was he not bound to give me due satisfaction ? Had 
 not he two children,^ for whom to die was more reasonable 
 than for her, they being of the father and mother for whose 
 sake was the voyage? What, had Hades a desire of my 
 children, rather than hers, to glut herself with them ? Or 
 was affection for his children by me, neglected by their aban- 
 doned father, yet remained in Menelaus? W^ere not these 
 the acts of a witless sire, a villain in purpose? I indeed 
 think so, even though I speak contrary to thy sentiments. 
 But the deceased at least would say so, could she resume her 
 voice. I then am not disheartened at what I have done ; 
 but if I seem to thee to judge amiss, do thou, preserving 
 righteous judgment, reproach those near of kin.* 
 
 El. Thou wilt not now at least assert that I, having com- 
 menced with some offensive words, have then heard this 
 from thee ; but, wouldst thou permit me, I would rightly 
 argue at once in behalf of the deceased and my sister. 
 
 Cly. Nay, then, I do permit ; but hadst thou always thus 
 begun thine address to me, thou hadst not been offensive to 
 listen to. 
 
 El. Well, then, to thee I speak. Thou ownest thou killed 
 my father. Than this, what confession could be yet more 
 base, whether in fine with justice or without? But I will 
 prove to thee that thou didst not slay him with justice at 
 least; but persuasion from a villain, with whom thou now 
 
 ^ Cf. ^SCh. Ag. 224: sVXa S' ovv dvrrip yeveadai QvyarpoS'. — B. 
 
 2 Herm. tov, \apiv rivo^ edv. ai>. " In return for what, in favor 
 to whom." Thus in the Nubes, dfrl before tov is omitted, t. 
 22. 
 
 3 This, says the scholiast, thouj^ch it militates against Homer's 
 account, is in union with Hesiod's : 
 
 "H teksO' 'Vjpfjiiorjv Sox'ptK'KsiTM M^J'sXaw, 
 
 ' Otr'XoTOrov 6' ctekc l^iKOarparoi', opov "Apr]0~. 
 
 ^ I.e., thy father.
 
 S8 ELECTRA. [563-5S7. 
 
 companiest, allured thee to it. Xay, ask the huntress Diana, 
 in revenge for Avhat those many wind's detained them at Au- 
 lis ; or I will tell thee, for from her it is not allowed thee to 
 learn. My father once, as I hear, sporting in the groves of 
 the goddess, roused on foot a dappled, antlered stag, in whose 
 slaughter exulting, he chanced to utter some [haughty] 
 word.^ And, thenceforth angered, the maiden daughter of 
 Latona detained the Greeks, that my father, as satisfaction 
 for the beast, should offer up his daughter. Thus was her sac- 
 rifice ; since no other release was there to the host, homeward 
 or to Troy. On whose behalf, having been forcefully con- 
 strained, and having resisted much, he reluctantly sacrificed 
 her, not for Menelaus's sake. If, however, for I Avill state even 
 thy plea, wishing to profit him, he acted thus, ought he for 
 this to have died by thy hands ? By what right ? Beware, lest 
 in ordaining to mankind this rule, thou ordain thyself woe 
 and repentance. For if we shall slay one for another, thou, 
 mark me, shouldst die the first, at least hadst thou thy due. 
 But look to it, lest thou set up a plea that does not exist. 
 For tell me, an thou wilt, in requital of what thou happenest 
 at present to be committing deeds the most infamous possible ; 
 thou that couchest with the assassin, with whom thou erst 
 
 1 The business of the ancient poets, and, till very lately, of 
 our own, has constantly been to inculcate submission to the 
 will of Heaven, and respect for all things move immediately 
 connected with it. In conformity to this proposed object, in- 
 solence to Minerva is stated by Calcbas to be the cause of 
 Ajax's madness; and the wound inflicted on Venus by Diomed 
 leads to bis expulsion from bis home by an unfaithful wife; 
 while the still more audacious, because the more personal, in- 
 sults to the deities offered by Laomedon, lay the towers of Il- 
 ium, the work of more than human hands, in the dust. 'Not 
 was the prince of lyric poets less religious than the tragedians: 
 vid. 01. 9, 56. 
 
 Xoi^opfjaai 
 BeovS'j £X9pa (rotpia' Kal 
 TO KavXaaOai -apa Kaipov 
 
 Mai'iaJCd' V~OKp£K£l, 
 
 Hence we see that it wanted but little supernatural iufluence 
 to drive Ajax to the frenzy with which be was afterward pos-
 
 588-611.] ELECTRA. 89 
 
 didst destroy my father, and hast children by him ;^ while 
 thy former lawful progeny, from lawful lineage sprung, 
 thou castest out. How could I approve of this? What, 
 wilt thou say that this too is vengeance thou takest for thy 
 daughter?"^ Basely, even shouldst thou say so ; for it is not 
 honorable to marry with enemies for the sake of a daughter. 
 But it is not allowed even to advise thee, thee, that ventest 
 thy whole talk of how I slander my mother. Nay, I at least 
 account tliee a mistress rather than a mother to us, I that 
 live a wearisome life, ever treated with evil from thee and thy 
 paramour ; while the other far away, having hardly escaped 
 thy hand, hapless Orestes, wears out a melancholy existence, 
 wdiom thou hast often accused me of bringing up as an aven- 
 ger of thy pollution ; and this, had I had power, I had done, 
 of this be well assured. For this at least proclaim me to all, 
 whether thou wilt as wicked, or abusive, or full of impu- 
 dence ; for if I am naturally an adept in these practices, I 
 am almost no disgrace whatever to thy nature. 
 
 Ch. I see her breathing rage ; but whether or no it exist 
 with justice,'^ of this I see no farther thought. 
 
 ^ Pausanias mentions Eri^one. a daughter of iEgisthus, of 
 whom Tzetzes ad Lycoph. 1374, plainly calls Clytemnestra the 
 m oth er . — Her m . 
 
 2 Euripides strengthens this plea by the addition of another, 
 which the ladies will think more forcible, viz., that Agamem- 
 non kept another woman, and even brought her into the house 
 with his wife. This fact is thus alluded to by Ovid ; 
 " Dura fuit Atrides una coutentus, et ilia 
 Casta fuit: vitio est improba facta viri." — Franklin. 
 iEschylus also mentions the arrival of Cassandra at Argos, and 
 her prophecies of her own and Agamemnon's fate. Indeed, the 
 Grecian chiefs in general appear to have so little observed 
 conjugal fidelity, that their wives' treachery hardly need be 
 referred to the wrath of Venus, or any other deity. Ulysses 
 alone (his loves with the goddesses must be excused on the 
 score of influence beyond human power to counteract) appears 
 to have had a just sense (vid, Od. I. 433) of decorum in this 
 particular, and accordingly his wife continues faithful to him 
 throughout. , 
 
 ^ Hermann corrects the scholiast's interpretation thus: "but 
 whether Electra justly harbors anger," ivvean, scil. rcf fihei.
 
 90 ELECTRA. [612-633. 
 
 Cly. "SVhy, what thought should I have about her at 
 least, who in such terms hath insulted her mother, and that 
 too at such an age ?^ What, does she not seem to thee likely 
 to proceed to any crime without shame ? 
 
 El. Be now well assured that I feel shame at all this, 
 even though I seem not to thee so to do ; and I am conscious 
 that I act as disbecomes both my age and myself — but alas ! 
 for thy enmity and thy crimes compel me to act thus per- 
 force, since by the base are base deeds taught, 
 
 Cly. O shameless creature ! doubtless I, and my words, 
 and my deeds cause thee to speak a great deal too much. 
 
 El. Thou speakest them, not I ; for thou doest the deed, 
 and deeds find themselves words. 
 
 Cly. But never, no, by Queen Diana, ^ shalt thou go un- 
 punished for this insolence, when ^Egisthus shall return.^ 
 
 El. Seest thou? thou art hurried off into rage, though 
 having given me leave to say whatever I might wish ; nor 
 knowest how to listen. 
 
 Cly. Wilt thou not then suffer me even to sacrifice amid 
 sounds of good omen,* now that I have allowed thee at least 
 to say thy all ? 
 
 El. I suffer, I bid thee, sacrifice ; nor blame my lips, 
 since I will speak no farther. 
 
 ^ It is hard to say whether this is meant as a reproach to 
 Electra's youth or maturer age. The context seems to inti- 
 mate the former, but the probable age of Orestes the latter. 
 
 ■^ Electra having in a former passage declared that her 
 mother, as a murderess and adulteress, was unfit to inquire 
 aught of the goddess of chastity, by this oath Clytemnestra 
 means to contradict her. 
 
 ^ Take ovk aXv^ets here as equivalent to ovk li^eig a\v^tv, and 
 understand uArftj, not in a passive but an active sense; not 
 "etfugium ejus qui efi'ugitur," but "eflugium ejus qui eftugit." 
 — Herm. 
 
 * Tliis is well known to have been a point of great impor- 
 tance among the Greeks. Ulysses, relating the cause of Philoc- 
 tetes' expulsion from the army, says, 
 
 or' ovTS Xo(j8>7s ^Atf^", ovrs 6vndTCi)i> 
 Traprji' SKTJXoig irpoaQiysiv, dXX' dypiaig 
 , Kareix dei rd^' arparonsSop 6va<pr!fxtaig. — Phil. V. 8. 
 
 Hermann, however, takes EV(pri[iov /Sorlf to mean merely silenca 
 as in the CEdipus Coloneus, v. 132.
 
 634-667.] ELECTRA. 91 
 
 Cly. Then do thou, that art here with me, take up the 
 offerings of various fruits, that to this king 1 may offer up 
 vows for deliverance from the terrors which now I feel. Now 
 mayest thou hear, Apollo our protector, my concealed ad- 
 dress. For my speech is not before friends, nor suits it to 
 unfold all to light, while she is close beside me, lest with 
 malice and babbling clamor she circulate an idle tale through- 
 out the town. ^ But hear me thus, for thus will I address 
 thee. The apparitions of a twofold dream that I have this 
 night beheld,^ these grant me accomplished, O Lycsean king, 
 if propitious to me they have appeared, but if hostile, let 
 them recoil on my foes. And if any by treachery are plot- 
 ting to expel me from my present good fortune, permit it 
 not ; but grant that I, ever living a life thus unharmed, may 
 sway the Atrida's palace and this sceptre, in happy hour 
 consorting with those of my friends Avith whom I now con- 
 sort, and as many of my children, as from whom no ill-will 
 attaches to me, nor bitter annoyance. This, O Lyc^ean 
 Apollo, favorably hearing, grant to all of us, even as we ask ; 
 but all the rest, though I be silent, I deem thou knowest, as 
 being a god.^ For it is meet that the race of Jove sees all 
 things. 
 
 Att. Stranger females, how might I surely know if this 
 be the palace of the king J^gisthus? 
 
 Ch. This is, O stranger. Thyself hast rightly conjec- 
 tured. 
 
 Att. And am I right in guessing also that this is his wife ? 
 For she is dignified as a sovereign to look on. 
 
 Ch. Most certainly of all. This is she, here before thee. 
 
 Att. Hail, O queen. I come bringing to thee pleasant 
 tidings, and to ^Egisthus alike, from a friend. 
 
 ^ Thus Virgil : " Hinc spargers voces 
 
 In vulgum ambiguas." — ^Eueid II. 
 
 2 " AEaacJv, duplicium id est ambiguorum. Sic Lucianus in Alex- 
 andre, p. 218: oiTTOvT TivaT Kai ayLipiSoXovT Kal Xo^ovS" xP^f^f^ovT 
 <7vyyaij)wvy — Bruuck, It may, however, be an allusion to the 
 vision which iEschylus has related. 
 
 2 Similarly the Chorus in (Edipus Tyrannns : 
 
 'AAX' h fiev oov ZfiVS", o r ' ArrdWcJv 
 
 H-ii/erof, Kal ra ^porwv 
 
 Et(5o7-£S-. V. 498.
 
 92 ELECTRA. [668-691. 
 
 Cly. I accept the uttered omen. But first of all I vrish to 
 know of thee, who of mankind dispatched thee. 
 
 Att. Phanoteus the Phocian; forwarding an important 
 matter. 
 
 Cly. Of what kind, stranger? sav ; for being from a 
 friend, I am well assured thou wilt speak friendly words. 
 
 Att. Orestes is dead : I speak compressing it in brief. 
 
 El. Unhappy me ! this day am I undone. 
 
 Cly. What sayest thou, what sayest thou, stranger ? heed 
 not her. 
 
 Att. Now, as before, I declare that Orestes is dead. 
 
 El. Wretched I am lost. I am no longer aught. 
 
 Cly. Look thou to thine own affairs ; but do thou, 
 stranger, tell me the truth ; in what way perishes he? 
 
 Att. And for this I was sent, and I will tell the whole. 
 For he having come to the glorious pageant of games of 
 Greece,^ for the sake of Delphian prizes, wlien he heard the 
 loud announcements of the herald proclaiming previously 
 the race, the decision of which comes first, entered [the 
 lists] illustrious, the admiration of all there present And 
 having made the goals of the course even with the starting- 
 place,^ he went forth, carrying the all-honored prize 
 of victory. And that I may tell thee sparingly amid 
 abundance, I have not known the deeds and might of a 
 
 1 The Pythian games were instituted in honor of Apollo's 
 victorj- over the serpent Python, and are thought to have been 
 at first confined to a contest of musical and poetical skill in 
 hymning the praises of the victor god. The 6iavXo~ here men- 
 tioned was when the competitors in the foot-race doubled the 
 goal, and returned to the starting-place. The TrevraeXov is 
 usually supposed to be comprised in the celebrated verse — 
 
 The prizes were sacred apples, to which some add wreaths of 
 laurel, or, according to Ovid, of beech. As Pausanias has 
 stated, X. 7, 3, that most of the Pythian rules were adopted from 
 the Olympic games, we find " the order of the course," StavXo-, 
 first here. 
 
 2 See Brunck's note. Hermann's better taste has rejected so 
 epigrammatic a prettiness as that of Antipater; and he justly 
 observes that Sophocles, in saying that Orestes made his start- 
 ing-place his goal, exactly describes the 6iav\o~.
 
 692-708.] ELECTRA. 93 
 
 man like him. But know at once ;^ of as many double 
 courses as the umpires proclaimed the five prizes which 
 are customary, of these obtaining all the meeds of vic- 
 tory, he was hailed happy, announced as an Arrive, by 
 name Orestes, son of Agamemnon, that once assembled 
 the famous armament of Greece. And such were these 
 events. But Avhen any god shall afflict him, not even 
 the strong man could escape. For he on the following day,^ 
 when at sunrise there was a swift contest of horsemanship, 
 came in with many a charioteer. One was an Achaean, one 
 from Sparta, two were Libyans drivers of yoked chariots ; 
 and he among them the fifth, guiding Thessalian steeds, the 
 sixth from JEtolia with chestnut fillies, the seventh a Mag- 
 nesian, the eighth, with white horses, an ^nian by race, the 
 ninth from the god-erected Athens, the other a Boeotian, 
 filling up the tale of ten chariots.^ But having taken their 
 
 1 Hermann has a comma between Spofxcov and SiavXcoi', and 
 considers what follows as equivalent to TrevTiieXwv li vofxi^eTai. — 
 Tr. Dindorf has rightly followed Porson. — B. 
 
 2 Translators and commentators agree in considering liWoT 
 here as synonymous with Sevrepo- (The Latins have the same 
 idiom, as in Cicero; unus, alter, tertius); but as it is not certain 
 how long the Pythian games lasted, this appears a gratuitous 
 assumption. Certainly Poppo, in his note on Thucyd. III. 59, 
 
 denies the converse: " provocat enira ad Pind. 
 
 Olymp. I. 69, ubi postquam Pelops dictus est a Neptuno raptus 
 atque in Jovis domum traductus esse, subjicitur; 
 
 'FjV0a Sevrcpco xpovco 
 'HXOe Kai TavvfifiSri?; 
 Quo in loco quum scholiastfe multas turbas movissent, Gany- 
 medeni Pelope priorem fuisse dicentes, Heynius SEVTepoy xpovM 
 positum esse voluit pro aWw xpovM, quod satis refutavit Boeek- 
 ius, quern vide in Notis Criticis, p. 346. ■\evTepo~ enim nonuisi 
 ibi usurpari potest, ubi de duobus sermo est, ideoque non cum 
 uXXor sed cum irtpos- cohseret; a quo tamen ita difFert, ut trEpos- 
 unum ex duobus significet sine ulla vel temporis vel ordinis 
 sive dignitatis notatione, unde unus ille et prior et posterior 
 esse potest, SevTcpos- autem nonnisi de posteriore plerumque 
 dicatur:" p. 63. — Tr. See Liddell and Scott, s. v. aXXos", no. 
 7.— B. 
 
 ^ Hence we learn the number allowed to run the Pythian 
 games at one time.
 
 94 ELECTRA. [708-737. 
 
 stand where the appointed umpires had thrown for them with 
 lots, and ranged their chariots, at the sound of the brazen 
 trumpet they started, and all at once in concert cheering on 
 their horses shook the reins in their hands : the whole course 
 within was tilled with the noise of rattling chariots ;^ the 
 dust was tossed on high ; while all together in confusion were 
 sparing nought of the lash, that each might get beyond the 
 other's wheels,- and snortings of their steeds, for the breath- 
 ings of their horses were at once falling upon and covering 
 with foam their backs and the circles of their Avheels. But 
 he keeping under the very last column,^ continually was 
 wheeling in his axle's nave, and giving rein to the right steed, 
 held in the near horse. And hitherto all the chariots con- 
 tinued upright ; but then the hard-mouthed steeds of the 
 ^nian run away with him, and in turning at the completion 
 of the sixth, and now on the seventh course,* they dash their 
 fronts on the Barcsean car.^ And thenceforth, from a single 
 mishap, one was crushing and tumbling on another, and the 
 whole Crisssean plain was being tilled with the wrecks of 
 shattered chariots. But the skilful charioteer from Athens, 
 aware of this, drives by outside them, and slackens speed, 
 having suffered to pass him the tossing tide of horses con- 
 founded in the centre. But Orestes was driving the hind- 
 most,^ indeed, but keeping back his coursers, placing his 
 trust in the i?sue. But the other, when he sees him left 
 
 ^ Qiiadrijuges currus. — Bruuck. "The harnessed car." — Pot- 
 ter. " ZevYwrcov. — Hesychius. ^vyc^a-co — /cAfto-w." — Musgrave. 
 
 2 Xvoai are properly the sockets into which the axle-trees 
 are put. 
 
 3 iaxaTT] irrfiXri is the last in order of several coluraus or obe- 
 lisks erected in the Hippodrome, and does not, as soDie have 
 supposed, allude to the last turn round the goal. See Her- 
 mann's dissertation on the words used by the Greeks to express 
 the niovemeuts of horses, Beckii Comm. Soc. Phil. vol. i. part 
 i. p. 49, and Bulenger de Circo Eom. c. 29, in Grsevius, The- 
 saur. Ant. Eom. t. 9. 
 
 * Hermann understands 'iTrn-oi here, agreeing with the mascu- 
 line rc\ovi'r£~. 
 
 5 This is an anachronism. V. Herod, iv. 160. 
 
 *> Monk translates this, "Now Orestes drove the last to be 
 sure, but keeping his horses back, as he placed his confidence 
 in the end of the race."
 
 738-766.] ELECTRA. 95 
 
 alone, ^ having cracked in the ears of his swift mares the 
 shrill sound of his whip, pursues him ; and having brought 
 their poles in line, they were driving, now one, and then 
 the other, pushing forward the heads of their chariot 
 horses. And all the other courses in safety the hapless 
 youth drove erect in his car upright ; but then, slacken- 
 ing tlie left rein of his wlieeling horse, he unawares strikes 
 the pillar's edge,^ and breaks the middle axle-nave, is 
 tumbled from his chariot, and entangled in his reins, 
 while on his falling to the ground his steeds were dispersed 
 over the middle of the course. But the assembly, when it 
 perceives him thrown out of his seat, shrieked aloud over 
 the youth, that, after having done such deeds, he meets 
 with such a disaster, Avhirled along on the ground, and then 
 again tossing up his limbs to heaven : until the charioteers 
 having with difficulty stopped the horses' speed, released 
 him, all bloody, so that none of his friends by looking on 
 him could have recognized his hapless person. And having 
 forthwith burned him on the pyre, in a little brazen urn a 
 huge body of melancholy ashes^ are appointed men of 
 Phocis bringing, that he may inherit a tomb in his father's 
 land. Such, look you, are these tidings, as in story told,^ 
 piteous, but to us eye-witnesses that saw it, the greatest of 
 all misfortunes that I ever beheld. 
 
 Ch. Alas ! alas ! It seems then the whole race of our for- 
 mer lords from its very roots has perished. 
 
 Cly. O Jove, whether shall I call these news fortunate? 
 
 ^ ''The scholiasts do not state whom they understand to be 
 meant by 6' dk and viv respectively. Later interpreters refer the 
 former to Orestes, the latter to the Athenian ; but in that case 
 one would have expected eksTvov rather than viv, which last 
 must apply to the principal subject of discourse; and that sub- 
 ject is Orestes." — Herni. 
 
 - As his other instructions agree with the plan pursued by 
 Orestes, so this is the accident against which Nestor particu- 
 larly warns Autilochus, II. xxiii. v. 334. 
 
 ^ Thus Hermann, rejecting both Brunck's idea of antiptosis 
 and Schaefer's construction of va>fw otzoSov. 
 
 * Similarly the messenger in CEdipus Tyranuus, v. 1237: 
 TMV 6i TrpaxOsvTCJv ra [jlev 
 aXyicyT aireaTiv' ff yap oxpi^ ov irapa.
 
 96 ELECTRA. [767-796. 
 
 or terrible, yet gainful ? yet 'tis a painful case, if by mine 
 own ills I save my life. 
 
 Att. But "Nvliy, lady, art thou so dispirited at my present 
 words ? 
 
 Cly. 'Tis a dreadful thing to be a mother ; for not even 
 to the ill-treated does hatred to those she has born attach. 
 
 Att. It seems then we are come in vain. 
 
 Cly. Xo, believe me, not in vain at least ; for how couldst 
 thou tell me in vain? if thou camest possessing sure proofs 
 of his death, who born of my life, an alien from my breast 
 and nurture, estranged himself in exile, and since he quitted 
 this land never beheld me, but laying to my charge his 
 father's murder, Avas ever threatening to perform dreadful 
 deeds, so that neither by night nor by day did sweet sleep 
 overshadow me ; but progressing time ever led me on as 
 doomed to die. Xow, however (for on this day am I re- 
 leased from alarm at her hands and his, since she the greater 
 pest was living with me, ever drinking up my pure life's 
 blood), now haply shall we pass our days in quiet, as far as 
 relates to her threats.^ 
 
 El. Ah me, unhappy ! for now 'tis mine to Avail, Orestes, 
 thy misfortune, that thus conditioned thou art insulted by 
 this thy mother : is this well ? 
 
 Cly. Not with thee, be sure ; but he, as he is, is well. 
 
 El. Hear, avenging spirit of the lately dead.^ 
 
 Cly. It hath heard Avhom it ought, and well fulfilled the 
 prayer. 
 
 El. Be insolent ; for now thy lot is prosperity. 
 
 Cly. So shall not Orestes and thou repress it. 
 
 El. We have been put down ourselves, on fear that we 
 shall put thee down. 
 
 1 "Male Bruckius (^' post vdv delevit, quod repeti post paren- 
 thesiu notavi ad Vigerum, p. 847. Compare ^Esch. Choeph. 
 621-629."— Herm. 
 
 - Nemesis, daughter of Nox, and by some supposed to be the 
 same with Leda, was intrusted with the care of avenging all 
 manner of impieties, but especially those committed against 
 the dead. It was in this latter character that Adrastus, in his 
 second expedition to Thebes, to avenge the refu^^al of burial to 
 his son-in-law Polynices, erected a temple to her. The Greeks 
 also celebrated a feast in her honor, called Xemesia.
 
 797-826.] ELECTRA. 97 
 
 Cly. Thoii wonldst become deserving of many things, 
 stranger, liadst thou checked her babbling clamor.^' 
 
 Att. I would be gone then, if this be well. 
 
 Ci.Y. By no means ; since thou wouldst be about to act in 
 a manner worthy neither me nor the friend that sent thee. 
 But go ye within, and leave her to lament from without 
 both her own and her friend's calamities. 
 
 El. And does the wretched woman seem to you, as griev- 
 ing and in pain, bitterly to weep and wail over her son thus 
 perished? No, in derision is she gone. O unhappy me ! 
 Dearest Orestes, how by thy death hast thou undone me ! for 
 thou art gone, and hast torn from my heart the only hopes 
 that yet remained to me, that thou wouldst one day come a 
 living avenger of my father and of me ill-fated. But now 
 whither must I go? for I am lonely, bereft of both thee and 
 my father. Now must I again be a slave to those among 
 men most hateful to me, the murderers of my sire. And is 
 this well with me ? But no, never again hereafter will I be 
 their co-mate,^ but at this gate having thrown myself along, 
 friendless will I wither away life. Wherefore, let any of 
 those within slay me, if he be offended, since 'tis j)leasure if 
 I die, pain if I live, and for life I have no wish. 
 
 Ch. Where can be the thunderbolts of Jove,"^ or where 
 the beaming sun, if looking on these things they silently 
 hide ?* 
 
 ^ Hermann refers to Matth. Gr Gr. § 524, for the construc- 
 tion of this passage, defending the common reading against 
 Monk's remarks in Mus. Grit. 
 
 '^ Brunck's reading IWo/^' is an elision unknown to the tragic 
 dialogue IvfoiKos- eaofxai may be read, according to Hermann, 
 with a hiatus : he himself reads el'ffei^i' ; Monk and others, 
 eaofiai ^vpoikos-. " Sed transponendi ratio, hodie est instar acidi 
 cultri in manibus j^iceronim." — Herm. — Tk. But Dindorf retains 
 
 iaaoi.C. — B. 
 
 3 " These four lines must be restored to the Chorus, whose 
 claim to theiu is irrefragable. They insinuate a ground of hope 
 for Electra, to which she alludes in v. 833. The exclamations 
 in V. 827 are Electra's."— Mus. Grit. i. 204. 
 
 * This word is with peculiar fitness applied to the sun ; 
 Aeivov yap dsov a'lSs /3o£r Kal lipia /*»7Aa, 
 'HeXtou, 5r TTOLVT E(popd Kal iravr inaKovEi. 
 
 Od. xii. 322.
 
 98 ELECTRA. [827-852. 
 
 El. O ! O ! alas ! alas ! 
 
 Ch. My child, why weepest tlioii ? 
 
 El,. Alas ! 
 
 Ch. Sob not thus violently. 
 
 El. Thou wilt kill me. 
 
 Ch. How? 
 
 El. If thou shalt suggest a hope for those who have man:-«, 
 festly sunk into the grave, thou wilt the rather trample oi\> 
 me wasting away. 
 
 Ch. I did it, for that I know that royal Amphiaraus was 
 ensnared by stealth in the golden-wreathed fetters of a wo- 
 man,^ and now beneath the earth — 
 
 El. O ! alas ! alas !^ 
 
 Ch. Immortal he reigns. 
 
 El. Alas ! 
 
 Ch, Alas, indeed ! for she deathful — 
 
 El. Was over-mastered ? 
 
 Ch. Yes. 
 
 El. I know it ; I know it ; for a careful friend arose to him 
 in sorrow ; but to me there is no longer any, for he who yet 
 existed is torn away and gone. 
 
 Ch. Wretched, thou hast a wretched fate. 
 
 El. I too am conscious, too conscious of this by a life 
 which every month sweeps in a mass of many things griev- 
 ous and detestable.^ 
 
 1 The story of Amphiaraus bears a resemblance to that of 
 Agamemnon. He was the son of Oiclens, and the greatest 
 soothsayer of his time. Foreseeing the fatal issue of the The- 
 bau war, he would have declined assisting Polynices, and hid 
 himself for some time, but was betrayed by his wife Eripliyle, 
 whom Polynices had bribed with a golden necklace, and who, 
 like Clytemuestra, fell by her sou's hand. Although Homer 
 has assigned the chief place among deceased prophets to Tire- 
 sias, it is certain that high honors were paid to Amphiaraus 
 after death, at Oropus in Attica, where he had a temple. — Tr. 
 So 'iiaf is applied to Tiresias in (Ed. Tyr. 304. On Ampliiaraus 
 cf. Pindar 01. VI. 21. Apollodor. III. 6,2. His oracle is men- " 
 tioued by Cicero de Div. I. 40. Minutius Felix, Oct. i^ 26. 
 Athenagoras, legat. p. 139. — B. 
 
 ■^ If Hermann's reading, aicjiu, be here adopted for axhou (as 
 rzannnvto -avavprw can uot well stand for substantives, if without 
 the article), the reader may compare Hermann's explanation,
 
 S53-887.] ELECTRA. 99 
 
 Ch. We know all that thou bewailest. 
 
 El. Jso more, no more now mislead me, where no more^ — 
 
 Ch. What sayest thou ? 
 
 El. Are present the aids of hopes of kindred blood and 
 high ancestry.''^ 
 
 Ch. Death is natural to all mankind. 
 
 El. What, and in the rivalry of swift steeds thus to be en- 
 tangled in the reins, like him wretched ? 
 
 Ch. The misfortune is inconceivable. ^ 
 
 El. How should it not ? if in a foreign land without my 
 hands — 
 
 Ch. O heavens ! 
 
 El. He was inured, having met with neither sepulture 
 nor dirge from us. 
 
 Chr. With joy, my best beloved, I speed me hither,^ dis- 
 missing decorum, to hasten witli alacrity ; for I bring both 
 joys and respite from the ills which before now thou didst 
 cherish and sigh over. 
 
 El. But hence couldst thou discover a consolation of my 
 troubles, a remedy whereof it is impossible to find ? 
 
 Che,. Our Orestes is at hand, be sure of this, hearing it of 
 me, as certainly as thou lookest on me. 
 
 El. What ! art thou frantic, wretch, and mockest thine 
 own woes and mine ? 
 
 Chr. No, by my father's hearth, I speak not this in insult, 
 but that he is at hand to us. 
 
 El. Ah me ! unhappy ! and from whom of men hearing 
 this tale, believest thou this fondly ? 
 
 Chr. From myself and none else, having seen sure proofs, 
 I believe this tale. 
 
 El. What proof having beheld, unhappy girl ! looking on 
 
 Trdpai'pTO~ TTiwi nrjai, with Thucyd. 2, 44, €v£v6aii.iovfj(Tai re Kal ivre- 
 Xevrfja-aL tov fiiov. 
 
 1 Johnson, and after him Brunck, unaccountably translates 
 the word irapaYdyijr by soleris, to which Mnsgrave with reason 
 objects, and renders it demulceas verbis, decipias. 
 
 2 dpcoyai, Hermann, from the scholiast. 
 
 3 Much of the beauty of this scene is lost to us in the closet; 
 on the stage its effect must have been wonderful.
 
 loo ELECTRA. [888-906, 
 
 what, say, art thou heated with this fever of the soul past 
 cure ?^ 
 
 Chr. Now, by the gods, listen, that, having learned of 
 me, thou mayest call me henceforth either sensible or 
 senseless. 
 
 El. Nay, then, do thou say on, if thou in speaking hast 
 any pleasure. 
 
 Chr. Well then, I tell thee all that I behold. For when 
 I came to my father's ancient tomb, I see from the top of the 
 mound fresh-running streams of milk, and my sire's grave 
 garlanded all around Avith every flower that grows. But 
 having seen this I began to feel wonder, and gaze around, 
 lest haply any mortal be stealing close upon me. But when 
 I saw the whole spot tranquil, I crept nearer the tomb, and 
 at the edge of the pile I discern a fresh-cropped lock of 
 hair.^ And the instant I hapless discovered it, an accus- 
 tomed fancy strikes upon my soul, that I was looking on this 
 a memorial of Orestes, the dearest of mankind, and raising 
 it in my hands, I speak not words of ill omen, but for joy 
 have mine eyes filled instantly with tears. ^ And now, too, 
 equally as then, I am sure that this ornament could come 
 
 1 The same epithet is applied to the madness of Ajax: 
 
 " 'Eyoj (T(p 'd~sipyco, ^vatpopovg ctt o^iiaaL 
 Tviojiag ^aXovaa, rrig avriKEarov X^P^sJ^ — V. 51. 
 
 2 Scbaefer conjectured ~^^pa. Retain the genitive and join it 
 with op'o, a snmmo tuinulo conspicio cincinnum, according to the 
 Greek fashion of measurement, not from the spectator to the 
 object seen, but the reverse. See also v. 8S2. — Herm. 
 
 ^ Briiuck translates this, rocem quidem compressi, evidently 
 considering oo ^vapnp'-^ as equivalent to £1"/>??a«w in its second 
 sense. Bat Potter, with greater reason gives it thus : 
 
 " And from mine eyes gushed tears ; account not these 
 Omens of ill, for they were tears of joy.*' 
 Chrysothemis, with the natural anxiety of a Greek bringing 
 good tidings, explains away a circumstance which might change 
 their nature, even before she states what that circumstance 
 was. But that it was considered in general of ill omen, we 
 learn from Homer. Od. B. XX.— Tr. Apuleius Met. p. 107, ed. 
 Elm.: " ut lacrymse ssepicnle de gaudio prodeunt, ita et in illo 
 nimio pavore risum nequivi continere." — B.
 
 907-94I-] ELECTRA. loi 
 
 from none but him. For to whom is this a natural duty, 
 save at least to thee and me ? And I did it not, this I well 
 know, nor again didst thou. For liow shouldst thou, to whom 
 at least it is not permitted with impunity to quit this roof 
 even to [worship] the gods? But of my mother, too, neither 
 is the spirit wont to act thus, nor had she done it unobserved : 
 no, these marks of respect are from Orestes. Come, my dear 
 sister, take courage. To the same persons the selfsame 
 genius is not always present. But ours was ere now detest- 
 able, yet haply the present day will be the confirmation of 
 many good things. 
 
 El. Alas ! how do I long since pity thee for thy infatua- 
 tion ! 
 
 Chr. But what is it? do I not speak this to thy delight? 
 
 El. Thou knowest neither whither on earth nor whither 
 in thought thou art hurried. 
 
 Chr. But how know I not that at least which I saw 
 plainly ? 
 
 El.' He is dead, miserable woman ; and all protection to 
 thee from him is vanished ; look not to him at least. 
 
 Chr. Unhappy me ! from whom of men hast thou heard 
 this? 
 
 El. From one who was near at hand when he perished. 
 
 Chr. And where is this man? amazement comes over me. 
 
 El. Within, acceptable, and not displeasing to my mother. 
 
 Chr. Unhappy me ! and from whom among men could 
 have been the many funeral offerings at my father's tomb? 
 
 El. I am most led to believe that some one placed them 
 there as memorials of the deceased Orestes. 
 
 Chr. Ah ill-fortuned ! while with joy I bringing such a 
 tale was hastening, not knowing, I am sure, in what woe we 
 were plunged !^ But now, when I have come, I find the 
 previously-existing evils, and fresh ones also. 
 
 El. Thus it is with thee ; but if thou wilt be persuaded 
 by me, thou slialt lighten the weight of thy present affliction. 
 
 Chr. What, shall I ever raise the dead ? 
 
 El. That at least is not what I said, for I was not born 
 so senseless. 
 
 1 Aprt est ergo, quod hie in media oratione cum dolore addi- 
 tum. — Herm. ad Aj. 1005.
 
 102 ELECTRA. [942-969. 
 
 Chr. "What then dost thou require, to which I can pledge 
 myself ? 
 
 El. That thou take heart to execute what I shall advise. 
 
 Chr. Nay, if there be any profit in it at least, I will not 
 reject it from me. 
 
 El. Observe, without trouble, be sure, nothing is success- 
 ful. 
 
 Chr. I do observe. I will lend aid in all whereunto I 
 have strength. 
 
 El. Hear then now, in what way I have planned to efPect 
 it. Thou too art surely aware that present countenance of 
 friends there is none to us, but Hades has taken and deprived 
 us of them, and we are left alone. ^ I at least, while I heard 
 that my brother was flourishing in life, maintained hopes that 
 he would one day come as avenger of my father's murder;''' 
 but now, since he is no more, I therefore turn to thee, that 
 with me thy sister thou wilt not be reluctant to slay the per- 
 petrator of our father's murder, ^gisthus. Fori must con- 
 ceal nought from thee any longer. Since how long wilt thou 
 continue slothful? with a view to what farther rational hope? 
 who hast cause to sigh being deprived of the possessing of 
 thy sire's wealth, and cause to sorrow, so long a time growing 
 old unwedded and unbetrothed. And do not any longer 
 hope that you will ever obtain these things. For ^Egisthus 
 is not so imprudent a man as ever to suffer thy progeny or 
 mine to spring up, an evident annoyance to himself.'^ But if 
 thou be induced by my counsels, first thou wilt reap the 
 praise of piety from thy father in the grave, and also from 
 
 1 Hermann here defends the first person dual against Elms- 
 ley and Monk ; it is found once only in Homer, II. "*. 485, where 
 Elmsley proposed to read -a-epiS'^ixsae', once besides this place in 
 Sophocles, at Phil. 1079, where also Hermann has retained the 
 dual; 
 
 " Observa, ^Egistho, non etiam matri, necem parare Elec- 
 tram." — H. 
 
 ^ np«f~wp is properly the exacterof retribution. 
 
 ^ ThuC. III. 40. MdXiffra St ol jxf] ^vv Tzpo(pd(j£i riva KaKa~ -oiovv- 
 TC~ e-£^LpxovTai Kal SioWvvrai, roi/ k'ivSvvov vtpopto^ei'Oi tov v-oXEiTrope- 
 
 10' exdpov, "Non putem respexisse Sophoclem versum par«- 
 miacum vn-io~ or Trarkpa ktclvu- -alcas" KaraXei-oi, ut Schaefero 
 videbatur in Melet. Crit. p. 123." — Herm.
 
 970-IOOO.] ELECTRA. 103 
 
 thy brother, and then as thou wast born, thou wilt be called 
 hereafter free, and wilt gain thyself a worthy marriage. For 
 every one is wont to have regard to what is virtuous. But 
 in the report at least seest thou not what high renown thou 
 wilt attach to thyself and to me by being persuaded by me? 
 For who of townsmen or strangers beholding us will not 
 welcome us with applauses such as these ? "Behold, friends, 
 these two sisters, that saved their father's house, that of their 
 lives unsparing, took the lead in slaying their foes who once 
 were high in station ; these ought we to love, these ought all 
 to venerate, these all to honor, both at the festivals and in 
 the states' popular assemblies, in reward of their courage."^ 
 Thus, be sure, will every man proclaim of us, that glory shall 
 fail us not, alive or dead. But, my beloved, be persuaded, 
 join in toiling for thy father's sake, in laboring for thy 
 brother's, respite me from misery, respite thyself, being 
 assured of this, that "basely to live is base for the nobly 
 born. ' ' 
 
 Ch. In words like these precaution is a help both to the 
 speaker and hearer. 
 
 Che,. Yet before she spake, ladies, had she chanced to be 
 other than perverse of thought, she had preserved that cau- 
 tion, even as she doth not preserve it. For whither possibly 
 turning thine eyes, art thou at once arming thyself with such 
 daring, and callest on me to support thee? Seest thou not? 
 thou wert born a woman, and no man, and art in power less 
 strong than thine opponents. But to them is destiny daily 
 propitious, while to us it is retrograde, and comes to nought.'^ 
 
 1 " Notwithstanding the decent reserveduess of female man- 
 ners in ancient Greece, the virgins were not only allowed to be 
 present at certain religious solemnities, but their attendance was 
 necessary; they formed a distinguished part in the sacred pro- 
 cessions, and were led ])y some virgin of the highest rank." — 
 Potter. In Spain, where the strictness of female confinement 
 outdoes even that of ancient Greece, the same license is al- 
 lowed on the festivals of particular saints. 
 
 '^ The dsemou, which in Socrates supplied the office of com- 
 mon sense, was considered by the ancients as a beiuii of an in- 
 termediate order between God and man; being synonymous 
 with the genii (perhaps originally with the giants), and there- 
 fore sprung from earth (y>)) previously to the creation of man;
 
 104 ELECTRA. [1001-1028. 
 
 Who then, plotting to ensnare such a man, shall be let off 
 nnpained by calamity ? Beware lest faring badly we work 
 ourselves weightier evils, if any one shall hear these words. 
 For it neither profits nor assists us aught, having gained an 
 honorable fame, to perish with infamy ; for 'tis not death 
 that is most hateful, but when one longing to die then have 
 not power to obtain it. But I conjure thee, ere we perish 
 utterly in complete destruction, and desolate our race, re- 
 press thy passion. And what has been said I Avill preserve 
 for thee, undivulged as ineffectual ; but do thou thyself at 
 least after so long a time take thought, since thou hast no 
 power to submit to thy superiors.^ 
 
 Ch. Be persuaded. There exists not to man a profit more 
 desirable to gain than forethought and wisdom of mind. 
 
 El. Thou hast said nothing unlooked for ; nay, I well 
 knew thou wouldst reject what I proposed. But by me alone 
 and single-handed must this deed be done ; for positively I 
 will not leave it unassayed at least. 
 
 Chr. Alas ! would thou had been such in spirit when our 
 father fell ; for thou wouldst have accomplished all. 
 
 El. Nay, I was naturally at least such, but at that time 
 of weaker judgment. 
 
 Chr. Practice to continue such in mind throughout life. 
 
 El. As not purposing to co-operate with me thou advisest 
 thus. 
 
 Chr. Yes, for it is likely that one who takes in hand to 
 work ill will fare ill. 
 
 El. I envy thee thy prudence, but abhor thy cowardice. 
 
 Chr. I fain must hear you, even when thou shalt com- 
 mend me.^ 
 
 they were supposed to control by their influence the fortunes 
 of the human race, each of which had his particular guardian 
 power, who knew {^.a)inMv) all his actions, and furthered or pre- 
 vented his purposes. From this probably was modified the 
 Eosicrucian system. — Tr. These remarks are misapplied. Xo 
 allusion to guardian genii is intended, and Sai^uov, as almost 
 every where in the Tragedians, means fortune. — B. 
 
 1 'AAX' evvoeXv XP^ tovto fitv, yvvalx on 
 ^''E(Pvi_iei>, cor Trpdr livSpaS' ov ftaxovfiiva' 
 
 'Fj-rretTa (5' ovvek' apxoiiCaO' Ik KpeiaaovMv. — Ant. V. 61. 
 
 2 Schol. '^(Trai. Kaipds- ore /t£ eviprinnaeiT. Potter makes the sen-
 
 1029-1045.] ELECTRA, 105 
 
 El. But think not from me at least tlion shalt ever meet 
 with this. 
 
 Chr. Nay, future time is long enough to decide on this. 
 
 El. Away, for there is in thee no help. 
 
 Chr. There is, but thou hast not docility to learn it. 
 
 El. Go and disclose all this to thy mother. 
 
 Chr. Nay, I hate thee not with so great hatred. 
 
 El. Well, then, think at least to what infamy thou art 
 leading me.^ 
 
 Chr. Not infamy, but forethought for thyself. 
 
 El. What ! must I then follow thine idea of justice ? 
 
 Chr. Yes ; for when thou art in thy right mind, then 
 shalt thou lead me. 
 
 El. Truly 'tis hard, that one who speaks so well should 
 err. 
 
 Chr. Thou hast rightly stated the evil in which thou art 
 implicated. 
 
 El. But how? do I not seem to thee to say this with jus- 
 tice? 
 
 Chr. Yet there are cases where justice causes injury. 
 
 El. By these rules I choose not to live. 
 
 Chr. Yet if thou shalt so act, thou wilt commend me.^ 
 
 El. Yet will I do it at all events, no ways frightened by 
 thee. 
 
 tence break off abruptly, which seems contrary to the practice 
 of the Greek poets, the conuection being nowhere afterward 
 resumed. Hermann translates it thus: "Oportebit me audire 
 te etiam laudantem mores meos." Monk, " Sustinebote audire, 
 etiamsi mutas ovationem et probas mores meos." 
 > But Hermann, "Eeferuntur bsec ad prsecedentia ut plena 
 
 oratio sit, «AX' ovv ETrt'oro) y' kxOaipovaa oi jx' dTiixia~ ayeiT ; at sane 
 
 te scias me ocUsse pro eo gradn contemtxis, ad quern usque usque me 
 despicis.''^ Brunck's explanation be terms all but unin- 
 telligible. — Tr. Bruuck seems right. Electra complains 
 that her sister, by not aiding in her plans of revenging 
 her father's death, exposed her to tbe disgrace of seeming back- 
 ward in such a cause. — B. 
 
 '^ That is, ''Having made the attempt you intend, in the 
 hour of punishment (or failure) you will too late commend my 
 prudence in declining to aid you." That this meaning must 
 be given to tbe sentence is evident from Electra's answer. — See 
 also V. 1056. 
 
 5*
 
 lo6 ELECTRA. [1046-1076. 
 
 Chr. And is this certain, and wilt thou not re-deliberate ? 
 
 El, Xo, for nothing is more detestable than base delib- 
 eration. 
 
 Chr. Methinks thou givest not a thought to aught I say. 
 
 El. Long since, and not lately, hath this been resolved 
 on by me. 
 
 Chr. Then I will be gone, for neither canst thou endure 
 to approve of my words, nor I of thy conduct. 
 
 El. But go in ; for think not I shall ever follow thee, 
 not even if thou chancedst to be very desirous, since even 
 the pursuit of shadows is the part of great folly. 
 
 Chr. But if haply thou seemest to thyself to possess any 
 sense, show your sense thus ; for when now thou shalt have 
 set thy foot into troubles, thou wilt approve of my words. 
 
 Ch. Why, beholding the birds of air, most feeling, busied 
 in providing support for both those from whom they have 
 sprung, and those from Avhom they have derived benefit, do 
 we not equally practice this?^ But no, by Jove's lightning 
 and iieavenly Themis, long will they not be unpunished.'^ O 
 rumor of mankind that piercest earth, echo for me downward 
 a lamentable cry to the A tridje beneath, fraught with joyless 
 disgrace : that now their domestic affairs are distempered, 
 and that as concerns their children, a discordant strife no 
 longer suffers them to meet in affectionate intercourse ; but 
 abandoned, alone, sad Electra is agitated, ever sighing for a 
 
 1 Alluding to the filial affection of the stork, and that bird 
 only, as is evident from the Birds of Aristophanes; 
 
 AAX £(TTiv r^iiip roiaiv opviaiv v6^o~ 
 TraAatd", iv rolsr ruiv TzeXapycov Kvp(ii<nv' 
 ETrfjv b -arrip b TrsXapydr eKTrErrjaifiovT 
 —di'Ta~ Troiijar] rov~ TTeXapyibetT Tpecpcov, 
 Sel rov~ vsorrov?' rov Tvartpa rraXiv rptBtiv. 
 
 Aw. V. 1353. 
 The rest of the feathered race are represented as killing their 
 parents, which circurustance indeed brings the parricide to 
 cloudcuckooburgh. 
 
 2 " Quod Moukio placet, hoc dici scilicet at punientur Uberi qui 
 hoc officium negligioit, id quum propter graven illam Jovis et 
 Themidis obtestationem, quse frigida foret in tali sententia, non 
 est verisimile, tum etiam propter (^apof, quod nisi ad (Egisthum 
 et Clytemnestram spectaret, plane esset supervacaueum." — 
 Herm.
 
 1077-1105.] ELECTRA. 107 
 
 father, like the all-sorrowing nightingale, now utterly care- 
 less of death, nay, ready to quit the light, when she has de- 
 stroyed the twin Fury. Who ever so noble could have 
 arisen 7^ No one of noble state, in adversity, is willing 
 nameless to debase its high renown, my child, my child, even 
 as thou hast adopted a vile life of utter misery, warring 
 down the dishonorable, to reap two benefits in one word, 
 the reputation of being both wise and the best of children.^ 
 I pray thou mayest live in might and opulence as much supe- 
 rior to thy foes as now thou dwellest beneath their hands ; 
 since I have found tliee not indeed moving in a prosperous 
 station, but observing the most excellent of those laws which 
 flourish the highest, by thy piety to Jove. 
 
 Or. Have we, ladies, been rightly informed, and are we 
 rightly journeying whither we desire? 
 
 Ch. But what dost thou inquire of us, and with wdiat wish 
 art thou here ? 
 
 Or. Long since am I asking for yEgisthus, where he 
 dwells. 
 
 Ch. Nay, then, both rightly art thou come, and thy in- 
 formant is blameless. 
 
 Or. AVho of you then would announce to those within the 
 wished-for presence of our common feet.^ 
 
 Ch. She will, if at least it befits the nearest relative to 
 herald this. 
 
 1 " Caraerarius sic vertit. In talhie fortnua florere queat ulla 
 paternx nobUUatis conscia ? Pari fere sensu Johnsonus : Quis 
 bonis prognatus sic vivere sustineat? Mihi versus entbusiastice 
 a Choro proterri videtur, maguanimitatem Electrae mirauti: 
 Quis nnqnam adeo generosa exiitit." — JMusgrave. "When shall 
 such hero live again ?" — Giaour. — Tk. " Devoted to her father." 
 
 — Liddell, S. v. evnarpiT. — B. 
 
 ^ "ifa tu quoque illsctahile commune fatnm prseinJisti, scelus ar- 
 mans, ut dupdcem ferres laiidem, simvlque et sapiens et optima filia 
 dicerere. Armare euim quuu) dicitur Electra scelus, id patet 
 idem esse ac provocare ad dimicationem, cujus iucertus est 
 eventus, unde mortem ilia prseoptasse dicitur." — Herm. 
 
 ^ See V. 1358, upon which Franklin has the following note: 
 *'The expression in the origiual is remarkable, hc^ia-rov cxwv ttocmv 
 VTzr)ptrr)jxa, dulcissimuui habens pedum ministerium ; not unlike 
 that of the prophet Isaiah : ' How beautiful upon the mountains 
 are the feet of him that bringeth glad tidings !' "
 
 io8 ELECTRA. [1106-1140. 
 
 Or. Go, lady, within, und signify tliat certain men from 
 Pliocis are in quest of jEgisthus. 
 
 El. Ah unhappy me ! surely they can never be bringing 
 evident proofs of the report which we have heard ? 
 
 Or. I know not the rumor thou hintest at, but the aged 
 Strophius bade me bring tidings concerning Orestes. 
 
 El. But what is it, stranger ? How fear steals upon me ! 
 
 Or. Bringing them in a narrow urn, we, as thou seest, con- 
 vey the poor remains of him dead. 
 
 El. Unhappy me ! this then is that now certain : it seems, 
 I see my sorrow manifested. 
 
 Or. If at all thou weepest for Orestes' ill, know that this 
 vase incloses his remains. 
 
 El. O stranger, give it me now, if truly this vessel en- 
 shrines him, to hold in my hands, that I may weep and la- 
 ment myself and my whole race at once together with these 
 ashes. 
 
 Or. Bring it forward and give it her, whoever she is ; for 
 not as in enmity at least to him she requests this, but being 
 either some friend or by birth akin. 
 
 El. O monument of him among mankind dearest to me,^ 
 relic of the living Orestes, with hopes hoAv changed from 
 those wherewith I once sent thee forth, do I receive thee 
 back ! For now I bear thee in my hands, a nothing ; but 
 from thy home, my boy, I sent thee blooming forth. How 
 would I that had quitted life, ere with these hands having 
 stolen, I dismissed thee to a foreign land, and rescued thee 
 from murder, that thou on that day hadst lain a corpse, and 
 shared a common portion of his tomb with thy father ! But 
 now, far from thine home, and in a foreign land an exile, 
 miserable hast thou perished, away from thy sister ; nor 
 with affectionate hands have I prepared the bath for thee,^ 
 
 1 Auhis Gellius. 7, 5, relates to Polus, a distinguished Athe- 
 nian actor, already mentioned in a note at the beginning of the 
 OEdipus Tyraimus, that not I0U2: before the acting of this play 
 he had lost a much-loved and only son. Having to perform in 
 the character of Electra, he brought his son's urn and ashes 
 from their sepulchre on the stage, and thus turned a counterfeit 
 into a real passion. — Herm. 
 
 2 '' The custom of washing the bodies of the dead is very an- 
 cient. This office was always performed by the nearest rela-
 
 Ii4i-ii6r.] ELECTRA. 109 
 
 nor from the all-consuming pyre borne away, as fitting, the 
 hapless burden. No, but by stranger hands thou, hapless, 
 cared for, art come a little freight in a little urn. Woe is 
 me unhappy for my nurture of yore, unprofitable ! wherein 
 I oft engaged for thee with pleasing toil ! for never wert 
 thou dearer to thy mother than to me ; nor were they within, 
 but I, thy nurse, yes, I as a sister was ever accosted by thee. 
 But now hath all this vanished in a single day with thee, no 
 more ; yes, all hast thou with thee swept, and like a hurri- 
 cane art passed away. My father is departed, I with thee 
 am dead — thyself art dead and gone ; but our foes laugh ; 
 and our unmothered^ motlier is frantic with delight ; on whom 
 thou oftentimes wouldst send me word in secret that thou 
 wert on the point thyself to come an avenger. But this 
 thine and my luckless destiny hath wrested from us, which 
 hath sent thee to me thus, in place of a form most dear, ashes 
 and unavailing shadow. Ah me, ah me ! O piteous corpse ! 
 alas ! alas ! O best beloved, brought on thy way most dread- 
 
 tions: Socrates, as we are informed "hy Plato, washed himself 
 before his execution, probably to prevent its being done by 
 strangers : Alcestis likewise, in Euripides, after she had deter- 
 mined to die for her husband, washes herself. The Eomans 
 adopted this custom from the Greeks; and we find the mother 
 of Euryalus making the same complaint as Electra, 
 
 " Nee te tua fuuera mater 
 
 Produxi, pressive oculos, aut vulnera lavi. 
 
 Virg. ^n, IX "—Franklin.— Tr. 
 Cf. Tibullus, I. 3, 3. " Me tenet ignotis fegrum Phaeacia terris. 
 Abstineas avidas mors modo nigra manus. Abstineas. mors 
 atra, precor ; non hie mihi mater, Quse legat in moestos ossa 
 perusta sinus. Non soror. Assyrios ciueri qufB dedat odores, 
 Et fleat eifusis ante sepulchra comis." See also Lucan. vii. 
 739.— B. 
 
 1 The general analogy of language, and the use of similar 
 words by the best authors fas of " unfathered, unkinged," by 
 Shakespeare, and " unchilded," iu a sense corresponding to that 
 of the Greek word here, by Bishop Hall), will, it is hoped, ex- 
 cuse this expression, though the translator is not prepared to 
 adduce any passage in its support. To those who think this too 
 great a liberty, the translation of Savage in his first poem, " O 
 mother, yet no mother!" will be an acceptable refuge from 
 Franklin's or Potter's.
 
 lio ELECTRA. [1162-1183. 
 
 fill, ah me ! me ! how hast thou undone me, indeed undone 
 me, mine own brother ! Wherefore admit thou me into this 
 thy mansion, me a notliing, to a nothing, that with thee in 
 the grave I may henceforward dwell ; for as, Avhen thou 
 wert on earth, with thee I shared an equal fortune, so now 
 in death I long not to fail of [sharing] thy tomb ; for I see 
 not that the dead are pained.^ 
 
 Ch. Thou art begotten of a mortal father, Electra, reflect ; 
 and mortal is Orestes, wherefore sigh not too deeply, for to 
 all to suffer this is owing. 
 
 Or. Alas ! alas ! what shall I say I whither, at a loss for 
 words, shall I betake me \'^ For control my tongue can I no 
 longer. 
 
 El. But what grief didst thou feel ! wherefore happens it 
 thou say est this? 
 
 Or. Is this of thine the illustrious form of Electra ? 
 
 El. This is that person, and in most woeful plight. 
 
 Or. Then woe is me for this sad mischance. 
 
 El. Wherefore, stranger, can it be, that thou thus sighest 
 over me? 
 
 Or. O form, in disgraceful and miholy sort impaired ! 
 
 El. It can be none else but me, surely, O stranger, that 
 thou deplorest. 
 
 Or. Alas for thy marriageless and ill-fated life I 
 
 ^ Bruuck translates this " wo>-/»os enim dolore conflictari non 
 video." Franklin, " the dead are free from sorrows." Potter, 
 
 '' The dead are free 
 
 From all the various woes of mortal life." 
 The two latter did not, it appears, consider it as any thing more 
 than a general sentiment. The translator is rather iucliued 
 to suppose it a reproach, though "clerkly couched," to the 
 shade of Agamemnon, the ebullition of despair at the neglect 
 of all her prayers and the frustration of all her hopes.— Tk. 
 With the preceding -words compare Autig. S97, sqq. — B. 
 
 '^ " 'Ajxrixai'wv. Malim sic, ut sit participium, vulgo d/.trixaviov 
 ab dfifixavos-.'^ — Musgrave. Which Brunck confirms (see his 
 note) on authority. "Bene, mea senteutia, modo ue pravam In- 
 terpunctionem adjecisset. Xam, ut recte mouet Monkius, 
 7T01 yoycov jun.oenda sunt, qui tamen addere debebatad eumdeni 
 geuitivum etiam participium a/^/?xa»'wj/ referendum esse." — 
 Herm.
 
 1 184-1205.] ELECTRA. Ill 
 
 El. For what possible reason, stranger, canst thou thus 
 gazing on me be mourning ? 
 
 Or. How truly nothing had I known of my miseries ! 
 
 El. In what that has been spoken hast thou discerned 
 this? 
 
 Or. Beholding thee conspicuous for thy many griefs. 
 
 El. And yet thou seest at least but few of mine ills. 
 
 Or. And how could there ever exist more hateful than 
 these to look on ? 
 
 El. For that I am an inmate with the assassins. 
 
 Or. With whose? Whence this evil thou didst mention? 
 
 El. My father's. Nay, more, to them perforce I slave. 
 
 Or. Why, who of mankind impels thee forward to this 
 necessity ?^ 
 
 El. My mother she is called ; but with a mother hath 
 nought in common. 
 
 Or. Perpetrating what ? with violence, or with penury 
 of living? 
 
 El. With violence, with penury, with every ill. 
 
 Or. And is there none at hand who will aid thee, and 
 prevent her ? 
 
 El. None indeed ; for him I had, hast thou brought 
 hither in ashes. 
 
 Or. Ah hapless ! how long since beholding do I pity thee ! 
 
 El. Know that of mankind thou alone hast compassion- 
 ated me now at last. 
 
 Or. Yes, for I alone come in pain for thy woes. 
 
 El. Thou surelv art not come from some quarter akin to 
 me? 
 
 Or. I would tell thee, if the presence of these be friendly. 
 
 El. It is friendly, so that thou wilt speak before the trusty. 
 
 Or. Give up this urn now, that thou mayest learn the 
 whole. 
 
 1 Hermann somewhat differently: " dvdyKT] rijh non est dati- 
 vus, idem significans quod eiiavayKriv rfivSe, sed ablativus: Quis 
 te mortalium hac serviendi necessitate cogit ? Quod exquisitus dic- 
 tum pro, quis tibi hanc necessitatem imponitf 'AvdyKri TrpOTptirei 
 idem est quod dvayKd^ei: et quum ravra dicere deberet, pro- 
 nomen ad nomen dvayKrj accommodavit, ut solent.'' — Tr. Her- 
 mann is right. Translate ; " what man rules thee under this 
 slave's lot ?"—B.
 
 112 ELECTRA. [1206-1223. 
 
 El. Nay truly, by the gods, deal not thus with me, 
 stranger. 
 
 Or. Be persuaded as I say, and then never wilt thou err. 
 
 El. Not, by thy beard^ I pray thee, bereave me not of what 
 I hold most dear. 
 
 Or. I can not consent to let thee. 
 
 El. Ah me unhappy for thee, Orestes, if I am to be de- 
 prived of thy tomb ! 
 
 Or. Speak auspiciously, for not with reason dost thou 
 mourn. 
 
 El. How mourn I not with reason my dead brother ? 
 
 Or. It suits thee not with these words to accost him.'^ 
 
 El. Am 1 thus unworthy of the dead? 
 
 Or. Unworthy of no one. But this is not thy part. 
 
 El. At least, if this that I bear is the body of Orestes. 
 
 Or. It is not Orestes', except in tale at least worked up. 
 
 El. But where is the tomb of him unliappy ? 
 
 Or. It is not ; for the living has no tomb. 
 
 El. How hast thou said, young man? 
 
 Or. Nought that I say is falsehood. 
 
 El. What, lives the man ? 
 
 Or. If at least I am alive. 
 
 El. How, art thou he ? 
 
 Or. Having inspected this my father's seal,^ ascertain if I 
 speak truth. 
 
 ^ " By thy beard." This was a frequent adjuration among 
 the ancients, as the beard was an object of great care, and the 
 loss of it esteemed a great disgrace, as in the case of David's 
 messengers to Hanun. In the Arabian Nights there is a procla- 
 mation in which the loss of the beard is a threatened penalty 
 for failing to expound certain difficulties. 
 
 2 Potter translates this, "Thy state it suits not thus to 
 speak." Brunck, '^ Non te decet ista loqui.'' But the word 
 npoa'pcovE v seems to require that its preposition be more fully 
 marked, besides that it makes the discovery more gradual, 
 which is clearly Orestes' aim. 
 
 3 " What this mark was, has greatly puzzled the commenta- 
 tors. The scholiasts, whose conjectures are generally whimsi- 
 cal, will needs have it to be some remains of the ivory shoulder 
 (vid. Bind, Olymp. I.) of Pelops which was visible in all his 
 descendants, as those of Cadmus were marked with a lance, 
 and the Seleucidse with an anchor. Camerarius, and after him
 
 I224-I254.] ELECTRA. 113 
 
 El. O day most welcome ! 
 
 Or. Most welcome, I join to witness. 
 
 El. O voice, art thou come ? 
 
 Or. No more inquire elsewhere. 
 
 El. Hold I thee in my hands? 
 
 Or. So mayest thou ever henceforth hold me. ^ 
 
 El. O dearest women, O my countrywomen, you see Orestes 
 here, in artifice deceased, but now by artifice preserved. 
 
 Ch. We see, my child, and at thy fortune the tear of glad- 
 ness steals from mine eyes. 
 
 El. O offspring, offspring of persons to me most dear, at 
 length art thou come ! thou hast found, thou hast come, thou 
 hast looked on those thou didst desire. 
 
 Or. We are here; but tarry, keeping silence. 
 
 El. But wherefore this ? 
 
 Or. Better be silent, lest one from within hear us. 
 
 El. But no, by the ever virgin Diana, this will I never 
 deign, to dread the useless load of women that ever abides 
 within.^ 
 
 Or. Yet see now at least how even in women warlike dar- 
 ing exists : thou surelv having experienced this, knowest it 
 full well. 
 
 El. Alas ! alas ! thou hast introduced unclouded a calamity 
 never to be remedied, never to be forgotten, such as was ours.^ 
 
 Or. I know this also ; but when occasion shall prompt, 
 then must we call to mind these deeds. 
 
 El. All times,* all times were to me fitting as they passed 
 
 Brumoy, call it a ring or seal, which indeed is the most natural 
 interpretation of the Greek word aippayig: though it may be 
 said, in support of the other opinion, that the natural or bodily 
 mark was more certain, and therefore a better proof of identity 
 in regai'd to the person of Orestes." — Franklin. 
 
 1 Hermann, however, for w? reads wj. — Tr. And so Dind. — B. 
 
 2 "Sensus est, hanc quidem non dignam habebo quam metiiam 
 Clytemnestree nimiam semper severitatem." — Herm. Let the 
 reader choose. 
 
 3 dvicps'Xoi' int^aXes are to be construed together ; 'Xtjctojxevov pas- 
 sively. 
 
 4 Thus in Philoctetes, when Neoptolemus says he will sail 
 on the first favorable breeze, but that the wind is then adverse 
 to them, Philoctetes replies, 
 
 act KaAdf rrXoiij eaB^ orav (pcvyris KUKa.
 
 114 ELECTRA. [1255-12S5. 
 
 to denounce with justice this ; for scarcely now have I free- 
 dom of speecli. 
 
 Or, I too agree with thee, wherefore keep this in mind. 
 
 El. By doing what ? 
 
 Or. Where it is unseasonable, wish not to speak at length. 
 
 El. Who, then, when thou hast appeared, would thus 
 change their words for silence, at least of any worth? since 
 now I have beheld thee, unpromised, as unhoped for. 
 
 Or. Then didst thou behold me, when the gods urged me 
 to return.^ 
 
 El. Tliou hast told me a joy yet higher than my former, 
 if heaven hath impelled thee to our abodes : I count this a 
 thing of heaven's sending. 
 
 Or. In part, I am reluctant to repress thy joy ; in part, I 
 fear thy being too much overcome by rapture. 
 
 El. O thou that thus hast deigned in length of time to 
 show thyself with welcome approach to me, do not, I pray, 
 having seen me thus deep in misery — 
 
 Or. What must I not do? 
 
 El. Eob me not of my joy at thy countenance, that I give 
 it up.^ 
 
 Or. Nay, I Avere enraged to see it even in others.'^ 
 
 El. Dost thou consent? 
 
 Or. How should I not ? 
 
 El. My friends, I have heard the voice I never could 
 have hoped to hear. I was cherishing a voiceless passion, 
 wretched as I was, not even hearing the news with a shriek,* 
 
 1 Hermann supposes some such verse as the following to have 
 been lost from this place: 
 
 aVToi Y^y^'^'^'^S rfJsSe rfj; o^ov /3pa/3»7f. 
 
 2 Construe ri^ovdv with a-oo-repricrTig. "GrsBcl, cum verba duo, 
 diversos casus regentia, ad idem nomen seque referantur, ne 
 nomen proprium aut pronoraen minus suaviter repetatur, in 
 utrovis regimiue semel ponuut. altero omisso." — Pors. ad Med, 
 734. Hermann justly, therefore, wonders that Porson should 
 have altered the accusative here into acovSv, Of d-oa-epeZv with 
 a double accus. see Matt. Gr, Gr. ^ 412. 
 
 ■^ That is, ''Were I to see any other attempting to rob thee 
 of that joy." 
 
 ^ This beautifully expresses the depth of Electra's misery at
 
 1286-1305.] ELECTRA. 115 
 
 But now I have thee ; and thou hast dawned upon me with 
 most dear aspect, which I never could have forgotten even 
 in misery. 
 
 Or. This overflow of words dismiss, and tell me neither 
 how wicked is my mother, nor how ^Egisthus drains the 
 riches of my father's house,^ and part he wastes, and part 
 he idly squanders ; for this thy tale would obstruct the 
 timely occasion ; but what will suit me best at the present 
 season, instruct, wliere showing, or concealing ourselves, we 
 may by this our journey quell our insulting foes. But so 
 [beware] that thy mother shall not find thee out by thy 
 cheerful countenance, as we enter the palace, but, as for the 
 calamity falsely announced, lament ; for when we shall have 
 succeeded, then will be our time to rejoice, and freely 
 laugh. ■'^ 
 
 El. But, O my brother, since thus it pleases thee, so shall 
 my pleasure also be ; since the joys I have received, I have 
 so, deriving them from thee, and not mine own. And not 
 by paining thee even a little would I choose myself to obtain 
 a great advantage ; for thus I were not duly obedient to our 
 present good genius. But thou knowest all from hence ; 
 
 the tidings of her brother's death ; for as Malcolm observes to 
 Macduff; 
 
 " The grief that does not speak, 
 
 Whispers the o'erfraught heart, and bids it break." 
 Hence Sophocles with the same idea makes Jocasta in Oedipus, 
 and the queen in Antigone, quit the stage in silence ; upon 
 which latter occasion the Chorus says, on being asked by the 
 messenger what Eurydice's sorrow may mean, 
 
 " I know not, but a silence so reserved 
 Imports some dread event : such are my thoughts; 
 A clamorous sorrow wastes itself in sound." 
 Hermann understands the passage very differently : " Neque 
 dubitari potest, quin avaviiov ovSi ovv pod KXvovaa ad vocem banc 
 referendum sit, quam obticuisse mortuo Oreste acceperat Elec- 
 
 tra Facile conjicias a~ eVxoi/ dpya2', vel lU' Id non 
 
 cum opydv sed cum avSdp conjungi deberet, hac constructione 
 
 Sv OLfavSov ov6s ovv ^oa KXvovaa caxov avidv.''^ 
 
 ' Homer mentions the seduction of Clytemnestra, and luxu- 
 rious indolence of yEgisthus, at large in his Odyssey, B. III. 
 ^ Exactly the old saw : " Let them laugh that win." — B.
 
 Ii6 ELECTRA. [1306-1338. 
 
 how shouldst thou not ? hearing that .^gisthus is not within, 
 but my mother is at home, whom never dread thou, that she 
 shall see my countenance glowing with a smile ; for both 
 mine ancient hatred hath sunk deep into me,^ and since I 
 have looked on thee I shall never cease shedding tears of 
 joy. For how should I cease, who in a single journey have 
 beheld thee both dead and alive? Yes, thou hast dealt un- 
 expectedly with me ; so that Avere my father to come to me 
 alive, no longer should I account it a prodigy, but believe I 
 saw him. When then in such a -way thou comest to me, 
 lead thou, as thou art minded ; since I alone had not failed 
 of two things, for either I had nobly delivered myself, or 
 nobly perished. 
 
 Or. I recommend thee to be silent, since I hear some one 
 of those within proceeding as on his way out. 
 
 El. Enter ye, strangers, especially as bringing what none 
 might reject from his house, nor be glad to receive with- 
 in it. 2 
 
 Att. O utterly senseless and blasted in understanding ! 
 "What, have ye not longer any care for your life ? or have ye 
 no inborn prudence in you, that, although no longer on the 
 verge, but in the very midst of the greatest dangers, ye know 
 it not ? But had not I chanced long since to be watching at 
 this portal, your schemes had been within the house before 
 your persons ; but now I have exerted precaution against 
 this. And now having bid adieu to protracted converse, and 
 this insatiate clamor of delight, get ye privately within, since 
 to delay is in such cases harm, but the crisis requires one to 
 have done with it.^ 
 
 1 Literally, " hatli melted like wax into me." 
 
 2 This speech of Electra, as several of those she afterward 
 addresses to ^gisthus, is craftily ambiguous, in obedience to 
 Orestes' instructions at v. 129*i. 
 
 ^ Brunck translates this, ^^urgetautem occasio rei gerendx;" 
 and Johnson " tempus autem ipsum jam instat exseqiiendi ;" but as 
 the verb a-a\\aa(Toiiai occurs just above, there seems no reason 
 to alter its sense immediately afterward. Of course the expres- 
 sion may be considered as relating either to their '"ridding 
 themselves of the business by executing it," or to their bid- 
 ding a temporary adieu to each other: on these the reader 
 must decide for himself. — Tr. I think the phrase I have
 
 1339-1361.] ELECTRA. 117 
 
 Or. How then are matters from thence with me if I 
 enter ? 
 
 Att. Well ; for it chances that no one knows thee. 
 
 Or. Thou hast reported, I suppose, that I am dead ? 
 
 Att. Know now, that, here a man, thou art one of those 
 in Hades. ^ 
 
 Or. Are they then glad at this ? or what are their senti- 
 ments? 
 
 Att. When all these things are finished, I would tell thee ; 
 but as things now go all is well with them, even what is not 
 well. 2 
 
 El. Who is this, my brother ? tell me, by the gods. 
 
 Or. Knowest thou not? 
 
 El. At least I bring him not to mind. 
 
 Or. Knowest thou not into whose hands thou once didst 
 deliver me ? 
 
 El. To whom ? How sayest thou ? 
 
 Or. By whose hands I Avas privately conveyed to the Pho- 
 cian's land, by thy forethought. 
 
 El. What? is this he, whom once alone of many I found 
 faithful at the time of my father's murder ?-' 
 
 Or. This is he ; question me with no more words. 
 
 El. O dearest light ! O sole preserver of Agamemnon's 
 house, how hast thou come? what, art thou he who saved him 
 and me from many a woe? O dearest hands ! O thou that 
 hast the most welcome service of the feet !^ How thus long 
 present to me didst thou elude, nor disclose thyself to me, 
 but didst destroy me in words, bearing deeds most pleasant 
 to me? Hail, my father, for a father I seem to behold ; O 
 
 adopted the most literal, and also the most correct to the sense. 
 The same thing is expressed in v. 21 : wr ivrave'' "iva Ovk ear 
 er OKvsiv KaipoT, dXA' Epywv aKfxrt. — B. 
 
 1 I have some doubts whether greater stress should not be 
 laid upon tvoUe, and the words construed thus: jxavQav elr wv 
 fivrip TMv £v"AiSov evOaSe, "know, that thou art an inhabitant of 
 Hades, as far as those here are a whit the wiser,'' i.e., you're 
 dead, for all they know. B. 
 
 2 I.e. the conduct of Clytemnestra and ^gisthus. 
 
 3 "Faithful found, 
 Among the faithless, faithful only he." 
 
 * See note on v. 1104.
 
 ii8 ELECTRA. [1362-1395, 
 
 hail I But know that thee of all men. I most abhorred, most 
 loved, in a single day. 
 
 Att. Methinks it is enough ; since for the tale^ that in- 
 tervenes, many a night and day as long revolves, which 
 shall explain all this clearly to thee, Electra. But I advise 
 you at least that stand here, that now is the season for action ; 
 now Clytemnestra is alone ; now there is not a man within ; 
 but if ye shall delay, bethink you that ye Avill have to battle 
 with both these and other foes, more crafty and more numer- 
 ous than these. 
 
 Or. No more of lengthened discourse to us, O Pylades, 
 doth this work admit of, but with all speed to haste within, 
 having saluted the paternal abodes of the deities, as many as 
 dwell in his vestibule.^ 
 
 El. O King Apollo, favorably hear them, and with them 
 me, who many a time indeed with suppliant hand, and such 
 store as I possessed, have stood before thee. But now, Ly- 
 ca^an Apollo, with such as I have, I beg, I fall before thee, I 
 implore thee ; be thou a willing abettor to us in these de- 
 signs, and show mankind what reward, the price of impiety, 
 the gods bestow. 
 
 Ch. Behold where Mars spreads forth, breathing the blood 
 of sad strife. Even now are entering beneath the palace roof 
 the hounds that follow after evil villanies, from whom is no 
 escape f wherefore not much longer will the presage of my 
 soul continue in suspense. For the stealthy-footed avenger 
 of the dead is brought within the house, to the dwelling of 
 his father teeming with ancient wealth, having upon his 
 hands blood newly shed ;* and the son of Maia^ Mercury 
 
 1 Cf. " Two Gentlemen of Verona, ' Act 2, sc. 4: 
 
 " Please you I'll tell you as we pass aloug, 
 That you will wonder what hath fortuned." — B. 
 
 2 Thus Philoctetes, by the desire of Neoptolemus, salutes the 
 tutelary guardians of his dreary abode when on the point of^ 
 quitting Lemnos. 
 
 ^ Hermann understands this of Orestes and Pylades. 
 
 * Hermann has dissipated the clouds of the grammarians re- 
 specting aljxa in the sense of sword, by showing that the metre 
 requires veoKovnrov, from KCfcj. Cf. Eu. El. 1172. The verse is a 
 double dochmaic. 
 
 ^ " Mercury was the god of fraud and treachery, and called
 
 1396-1410.] ELECTRA. 119 
 
 conducts liim, in darkness burying his guile, to the very- 
 boundary, nor longer tarries. 
 
 El. O ladies, most beloved, the men will forthwith ac- 
 complish the deed ; but wait it in silence. 
 
 Ch. How then? What do they now? 
 
 El. She is preparing a cauldron for the burial, but they 
 are standing close by her. 
 
 Ch. And wherefore hast thou hurried out? 
 
 El. To watch that ^Egisthus may not escape us on re- 
 turning within. 
 
 [Clytemnestra from within.l Oh! oh! alas i alas ! Oh dwell- 
 ings, destitute of friends, but full of the destroyers ! 
 
 El. Some one shrieks within. Hear ye not, my friends?^ 
 
 Ch. I unhappy heard what was not fit to be heard, so 
 that I shuddered. 
 
 Cly. Unhappy me ! ^Egisthus, where canst thou be ? 
 
 El. Hark ! again some one cries aloud. 
 
 Cly. My son, my son, pity her that bore thee. 
 
 SoXioT, or the deceiver; to him therefore were attributed all 
 secret schemes and expeditious, good or bad. The propriety of 
 Mercury's peculiar assistance in this place may likewise be ac- 
 counted for from his relation to Myrtilus, who was slain by Pe- 
 lops." — Franklin. To which he might have added the personal 
 slight that Mercury had received from ^gisthus. See Homer, 
 Od. 1: 
 
 " Hermes I sent, while yet his soul remaiu'd 
 Sincere from royal blood, aud faith profaned ; 
 To warn the wretch that youug Oi*estes, grown 
 To manly years, should reassert the throne: 
 Yet impotent of mind, aud uncontroll'd, 
 He plunged into the gulf which heaven foretold." 
 
 Pope's Trans. 1. 49. 
 1 " Dacier puts these w^ords into the mouth of one of the wo- 
 men that compose the Chorus; because (says he) Electra would 
 never have said 'some one cries out,' as she knew it must be 
 Clytemnestra. The reader may take his choice in regard to 
 this alteration. I have left it as it stands in the original, being 
 a matter of no great consequence." Tlius Franklin ; neither 
 he nor the French critic seeming aware that nr in this passage 
 no more implies ignorance of the person, than it does in many 
 passages of Aristophanes ; for instance, in Eanse, vv. 552, 601, 
 628, or than in St. Luke, c. viii. v. 46.
 
 I20 ELECTRA. [1411-1433. 
 
 El,. But not by thee was he pitied, nor the father that be- 
 gat him. 
 
 Ch. O city, O race ill-fated I now destiny day after day 
 wastes thee, wastes thee ! 
 
 CiiY. Ah me, I am stricken ! 
 
 El. Strike, if thou hast strength, a double stroke. 
 
 Cly. Woe is me again and again ! 
 
 El. Would it were likewise woe to ^Egisthus. 
 
 Cn. The curses are fulfilled ; they that lie beneath the 
 earth are alive ; for the long since dead are secretly shed- 
 ding the copious-streaming: blood of those that slew them. 
 And now indeed they are here, and their gory hand is drip- 
 ping with tlie first sacrifice to Mars ; yet can I not speak !^ 
 
 El. Orestes, how is it ? 
 
 Or. For what is within the palace, Avell, if well Apollo 
 hath predicted. 
 
 El. Is the wretched woman dead ? 
 
 Or. No longer fear that thy mother's spirit will ever in- 
 sult tliee. 
 
 Ch. Have done, for I plainly perceive ^Egisthus. 
 
 El. Youths, will ye not retire hastily ? 
 
 Or. Perhaps ye discern the man [coming] toward us?-^ 
 
 El. He from the suburb a^dvances rejoicing. 
 
 Ch. Go through the opposite doorway with all possible 
 speed :'^ now, having well-disposed of all before, so [do] this 
 again in turn.* 
 
 1 Hermann reads 'djiyciv, putting these lines into the mouth 
 of the Chorus, and the following half verse, which he gives to 
 Electra thus: 'Opkara, tw- KvpeX ^e; but to understand these 
 words, o()J' I'yw xpeyeiv, of the murder of Clytemuestra, would 
 suit neither the character of the Chorus nor the time. Her- 
 mann lias therefore referred them to "Apeor, after which he puts 
 a comma, and compares II. A. 539. — Tk. I have followed Diu- 
 dorf.— B. 
 
 2 Orestes, elaopSrs reov rdv livcp' ; and then Electra, £</»' finiv, k. 
 T. X. So Hermann, who excepts the verb from the interroga- 
 tion thus: " Ye see the' man : where ?" 
 
 3 " Est avrievpov locus in ffidibus interior oppositus foribus. 
 Y. Lucian Alexandro 16 ; Hermsterh. App. Anim. p. 15." — 
 Herinatin. 
 
 * 0.V0£ is to be understood. — Herm.
 
 1434-1460.] ELECTRA. 121 
 
 Or. Courage ; we will effect it. 
 
 El. Hasten now, whither thou purposest. 
 
 Or, Well, then, I am gone. 
 
 El. The rest should be my care. 
 
 Ch. It would be useful to whisper a few words at least as 
 mildly as possible to this man in his ear, that headlong he 
 may rush into the covert strife of vengeance. 
 
 JEgisthus. Who of you knows where the Phocian stran- 
 gers can be, who, they say, bring us news that Orestes has 
 lost his life amid the wrecks of the chariots ? Thee, yes, thee, 
 even thee I question, in time past so audacious, since I think 
 thou hast most care for it, and best knowest so as to tell me. 
 
 El. I do know it ; for how should I not ? for else had I 
 been stranger to a casualty of dearest import of all to me. 
 
 JEg. Where then may be the strangers? instruct me. 
 
 El. Within ; for a friendly hostess have they encoun- 
 tered.^ 
 
 ^G. What, and reported they of his death as certain ? 
 
 El. Nay, but they have also shown it to sight, not in 
 words only. 
 
 iEG. And is it for us to ascertain it as evident also ? 
 
 El. It is indeed at hand, and a most unenviable spectacle. 
 
 ^G. Verily thou hast bidden me rejoice much, not in thy 
 wonted manner. 
 
 El. Joy thou, if such as this is joy to thee. 
 
 ^G. I bid you to keep silence, and to throw open the 
 gates for all My cense and Argos to behold,^ that if any among 
 
 1 There is an intentional ambiguity in all Electra's language 
 here : KUTfiwaav, upon which depends the genitive, has a double 
 meaning of the preposition Kara; confecerunt [viam vel rem] 
 Kara. — Herm. 
 
 '^ It was a common practice among the Greeks to set the 
 corpse out to view. See Adam's Eoman Antiquities on the word 
 depositus, where he observes that this custom was probably de- 
 rived from that of exposing sick persons before the doors of 
 their liouses, that the passers-by might suggest any medicine 
 they had known to be of service in such cases, as mentioned by 
 Herodotus, b. i. 197. "^gisthus, imagining tbatthese Phocian 
 strangers had brought the dead body of Orestes, expected to 
 find it laid at the entrance of the house, ad limeu, such being 
 the general usage of antiquity." — Potter. 
 6
 
 122 ELECTRA. [1461-1486. 
 
 them was heretofore buoyed up with empty hopes of this 
 man, now seeing him dead he may receive my curb, nor to 
 his cost beget him after-wisdom, meeting with me his chas- 
 tiser. 
 
 El. And now is my part fulfilled, for at length I have got 
 the sense to suit my betters. 
 
 ^Eg. O Jove, I behold a sight that hath not fallen without 
 the ill-will of the gods ; but if Nemesis attend, I recall my 
 W'Ords.^ Remove all covering from mine eyes, that my kin- 
 dred, look you, may meet with lamentation from me too. 
 
 Ok. Do thou thyself lift it : this is not my part, but thine, 
 both to look on this, and accost it as a friend. 
 
 JEg. Nay, thou advisest well, and I will obey ; but do thou, 
 if haply Clytemnestra be within, call her. 
 
 Or. She is close by thee, look not elsewhere. 
 
 ^kj. Ah me ! what do I behold ? 
 
 Or. Whom fearest thou ? Avhom knowest thou not? 
 
 -3^G. Into what men's surrounding trammels can I wretched 
 have fallen ? 
 
 Or. What, preceivest thou not long ago, that thou parley- 
 est with the living Just as dead ? 
 
 ^Eg. a h me ! I comprehend thy words ; for it can not be 
 but this that speaketh to me must be Orestes. 
 
 Or. Ay, and tliough so good a prophet, wert thou deceived 
 thus long I- 
 
 ^Eg. Then wretched I am undone : but permit me to say, 
 though but a little. 
 
 El. Let him speak no farther, in heaven's name, my 
 brother, nor lengthen out his words. For what profit should 
 he among mortals involved in evils, that is about to die, gain 
 by time ? No, slay him with utmost speed ; and having 
 
 ^ See note on v. 792. Potter remarks on the peculiar inde- 
 cency of which yEijisthus was here guilty (and in which he 
 checks himself), he being a near relation to Orestes. But Her- 
 mann retains in the former line the old reading oi'i, and com- 
 pares iEsch. Agam. 913, with this meaning: '' cecidit ille via et 
 insidta deorum si fas est hoc dicere. Sentit enim ipse impuden- 
 tur se hanc mortem justitia? deorum adscribere ; unde addit, si 
 hoc nefas est indlctum volo." 
 
 2 Orestes means that Jilgisthus. who could now foresee his fate 
 so clearly, might have anticipated it long ago.
 
 1487-1510-] ELECTRA. 123 
 
 slain, expose him to buriers, such as 'tis reason he should 
 have, unseen of us.^ Since this could be the only atone- 
 ment to me of my former wrongs. 
 
 Or. Thou must go speedily within ; for the strife is not 
 now of words, but for thy life. 
 
 JEa. Why takest thou me in-doors ? how, if this deed be 
 honorable, needs it darkness, and why art not thou ready with 
 thine hand to slay me ? 
 
 Or. Order not, but go thither, where thou slewest my 
 father, that on that very spot thou mayest die. 
 
 JEg. What ! is it absolutely doomed that this roof witness 
 both the present and future ills of the Pelopidje ? 
 
 Or. Thine at all events. I am in this a capital soothsayer 
 to thee. 
 
 ^G. But no paternal art is this thou hast vaunted. 
 
 Or. Thou answerest much, while thy departure is retarded ; 
 but begone. 
 
 JEg. Lead the way. 
 
 Or. Thou must go first. 
 
 ^G. Is it that I escape thee not ? 
 
 Or. Nay, lest thou die then with pleasure :^ it is my duty 
 to keep this bitter to thee ; but good were it that this ven- 
 geance were immediate on all, at least, whoever wishes to 
 transgress the laws to slay them. For then were not vil- 
 lany abundant. 
 
 Ch. O seed of Atreus, how much having suffered hast 
 thou hardly worked out thy way to freedom,^ brought to 
 completion by the present attempt ! 
 
 1 Potter observes, on the authority of Pausanias, that ^gis- 
 thus aud Clytemnestra, being held unworthy of a tomb in the 
 same place in which Agamemnon lay, were buried just outside 
 the city walls. 
 
 2 Compare this sentiment of Orestes with that of Hamlet, 
 where he hesitates to kill his uncle while praying. We must 
 hope, for the sake of the authors, that they considered both 
 their heroes as madmen. 
 
 ^ Or, "come by freedom."
 
 ANTIGONE. 
 
 Ckeox, having cast out Polyuices (who had fallen in single 
 combat with his brother) without burial. Antigone, his sister, 
 despite the proclamation of the king, buries him herself. She 
 is at length discovered by the guards, and, despite the inter- 
 cession of Hfemon, is ordered to be entombed alive: Creon's 
 cruelty is visited by the death of his son and wife, as Tiresias 
 has predicted, and his repentance and wish to save Antigone 
 come too late. — B. 
 
 DRAMATIS PERSOX.E. 
 
 AxTiGONE. I Messenger, 
 
 ismene. h.emon. 
 
 Chorus. Tiresias. 
 
 Creon. I Eurydice. 
 
 Antiooxe. O kindred form of my own sister Ismene,^ 
 knowest thou whaf^ of the ills which spring from (Edipus — 
 
 1 The curses of (Edipus have now been fulfilled : Polyuices 
 and Eteocles have fallen by each otlier's hands, and the army 
 of the Argives has been routed before the walls of Thebes. An- 
 tigone is not forgetful of the request of Polyuices at their last 
 interview, and determines, in spite of the edict to the con- 
 trary, to bestow the rights of sepulture on her unhappy brother. 
 As the play mainly turns on this circumstance, it is necessary 
 to bear in mind how much importance the ancients attached 
 to the burial of the dead. The constancy of Antigone's reso- 
 lution will thus be explained, the violence of her sisterly atfec- 
 tion justified, and even the merit of her generous conduct en- 
 hanced. — Tr. '■ Ismene, dear in very sisterhood," Donaldson, 
 who has a somewhat ingenious note upon the periphrase Kiipa 
 ']afn]i'n~. He compares the English "poll" in "polling," 
 "catch-poll." etc. — B. 
 
 '^ I have rendered this passage literally, but the interveniuj^ 
 
 (124)
 
 3-25.] ANTIGONE. 125 
 
 what not — cloth Jove yet accomplish to us in life? for there 
 is nothinj,', either wretched or ruinous/ or base and degrad- 
 ing, which I have not beheld in your evils and mine. And 
 now again, what is this proclamation which they say the 
 ruler lias just proi)Ounded to all the people of the city? 
 Knowest thou? and hast thou heard aught? or do the inju- 
 ries of enemies advancing against friends escape thee? 
 
 IsMENE. To me indeed, Antigone, no tidings of friends, 
 either sweet or sorrowful, have come from the time that we 
 two were bereft of two brothers, dying on the same day by a 
 twin slaughter ; and since the army of the Argives has dis- 
 appeared during this night, I know nothing farther, whether 
 I fare better or am more afllicted. 
 
 Ant. I knew it well ; and therefore have I brought thee^ 
 without the gates of the courts, that you might hear alone. 
 
 Ism. But what is it? for you appear stirred at some tidings.^ 
 
 Ant. For has not Creon distinguished one of our brothers 
 with burial rites, but deprived the other of tiiis lionor? 
 Eteocles, indeed, as they say,^ acting upon the rights of jus- 
 tice and law, he has intombed beneath the earth, honorable 
 
 interrogation b-oiov ovxl causes much difficulty. If we read on, 
 the construction will be simpler. — B. 
 
 1 The reader must choose between ayr]^ arsp (the common, 
 but apparently corrupt reading), ayn'; aT€p=^unenviable, of Coray, 
 which Wander follows; arriT sxov of Person ; or iimv ayoi/, of 
 Donaldson, The common reading is thus explained by Her- 
 mann; oiSiv roil' cixcof KaKoHi' ovk aXyeivov onioTra ovt bzwira (this 
 being the leading part of the sentence) arr)~ arep, ovS' 'e<TTiv hnoiov 
 OVK aixpov ovS' aTifiov oVwrra. An Attic audience must have had 
 little relish for plain speaking, who could bear a sentence that 
 might be negative or affirmative at pleasure ! — B. 
 
 - On £^£7re[nroi', see Donaldsuu. — B. 
 
 ^ I am again indebted to Donaldson, who has clearly shown 
 that KaXxa'ii'ovcya is intransitive, and that cVoj refers to what 
 Antigone had to communicate. This is confirmed by the pre- 
 ceding words of Antigone, to which the answer now seems a 
 natural one. — B. 
 
 ■^ There is much difficulty about this passage. Hermann 
 would read xp^O^h in the sense "rogatus justa," alluding to 
 the request of Eteocles to Creon. See Scholia. Donaldson 
 reads vpoaesl^-. The explanations of the common reading are 
 quite unsatisfactory. — B.
 
 126 ANTIGONE. [26-46. 
 
 to the gods below ; but tlie corpse of Polynices, which wretch- 
 edly fell, they say it has been proclaimed to the citizens that 
 no one shall inclose in the tomb, nor wail over, but leave it 
 unlamented and unburied,^ a sweet store for birds greedily 
 eyeing the delight of the banquet. Such things they say 
 that the good Creon has proclaimed to you and me, for I 
 say even me, and that he is coming hither to herald them 
 clearly forth to those who do not know them, and to bid 
 them consider the matter not as a thing of nought, but who- 
 soever shall do one of those things, that a death by the 
 stoning of the people is decreed him in the city. Thus rests 
 this case to you, and you will quickly show whether you 
 have been born of generous spirit, or degenerate from the 
 good. 
 
 Ism. But what, oh wretched Avoman ! if these things are 
 in this state, what could I avail, loosing or binding?^ 
 
 Ant. Consider if thou wilt labor along with me, and assist 
 me in the work. 
 
 Ism. In what sort of hazard ? Where possibly are you in 
 thought? 
 
 Ant. If you will raise up along with this hand the dead 
 body. 
 
 Ism. For do you design to bury him, a thing forbidden 
 by the state ? 
 
 Ant. Yes, him who is at all events my brother ; and 
 yours, though you wish it not f for I will not be caught 
 betraying him. 
 
 1 This was the judgment which God denounced against 
 Jehoiakim, king of Judah : " They shall not lament for him, 
 saying, Ah, my brother ! or, Ah, sister! they shall not lament 
 for him, saying, Ah, lord! or, Ah, his glory! He shall be 
 buried with the burial of au ass," etc. — Jer. xxii. 18, 19. The 
 customs and manners of the Greeks were originally drawn from 
 the Eastern nations, which accounts for the similitude so ob- 
 servable in Sophocles, and other heathen writers, with some 
 parts of Holy Writ. — Franklin. 
 
 ■-■ Donaldson rejects Boeck's view, and renders it generally, 
 "by doing or undoing." But see Wunder's note. — B. 
 
 ^ That is, " Though you, an unnatairal sister, would disown 
 him;" or it may be, more simply, "I will bury him, though 
 you do not wish it."
 
 47-74.] ANTIGONE. 127 
 
 Ism. Oh daring woman ! when Creon has forbidden ? 
 
 Ant. But he has no business to put a barrier betwixt me 
 and mine.^ 
 
 Ism. Ah me ! consider, oh sister ! how our father perished 
 in odium and infamy, having, upon his self-detected guilt, 
 himself torn out both his eyes with self-destroying hand ; then 
 his mother and wife, a double title, mars her life by the sus- 
 pended cords ; and third, the two wretched brothers, slaying 
 themselves on the same day, Avrought their mutual death each 
 by a brother's hand. And now we too, being left alone, 
 consider by how much the worst of all we shall perish, if, in 
 violation of the law, we transgress the decree or power of 
 superiors. But it behooves us, indeed, to reflect, in the first 
 place, that we are by nature women, so as not able to con- 
 tend against men ; and then, since we are ruled by those 
 most powerful, to submit to these things, and things still 
 more painful than these. I then, indeed, asking those below 
 the earth to forgive me, since I am constrained to this, will 
 obey those who walk in office f for to attempt those things 
 beyond our power implies no wisdom. 
 
 Ant. Neither will I request you, nor though you now wish 
 to do it, should you act along with me, at least with my good- 
 will. But be^ of such a character as seems good to you ; but 
 I will bury him : it were glorious to me, doing this, to die. 
 I beloved will lie with him — with him I love, having auda- 
 ciously done what is holy \^ since the time is longer which 
 
 1 This dialogue between Antigone and Ismene exceedingly 
 resembles that between the sisters in the tragedy of Electra, 
 by the same author. The sentiments and the characters en- 
 tirely correspond. Antigone and Electra are generous and 
 bokl ; Ismene and Chrysothemis selfish and pitiful. 
 
 2 This is a principle of conduct with a great many people 
 besides Ismene, though they may not always be quite so candid 
 as the young lady in confessing it. 
 
 ^ Bruuck has here made a mistake in deriving to-0( from io-^?/*! 
 scio, iusted oi djxi sum. 
 
 ^ " Wickedly " were perhaps a better word, did it not make 
 the expression rather too contradictory. Antigone confesses 
 her violation of the law, but justifies the means by the end. 
 This is what is implied in baia ■Kavovpynaacra, to which we have 
 something similar in the phrase of " a pious fraud."
 
 128 ANTIGONE. [75-ioo, 
 
 it behooves me to please those below than those here ; for 
 there I shall ever lie. But if it seems good to you, do you 
 hold in dishonor those things which are honored of the gods. 
 
 Ism. I indeed do not hold them in dishonor ; but to act 
 against the will of the citizens I am by nature incapable. 
 
 Ant. You indeed may make this pretext, but I will go to 
 raise a tomb for my dearest brother. 
 
 Ism. AVoe is me ! for you unhappy ! how exceedingly I 
 fear for you.^ 
 
 AxT. Fear not for me ; direct aright your own fate. 
 
 Ism. But do not then, at any rate, previously disclose this 
 deed to any one, but conceal it in secret, and in like manner 
 will I conceal it. 
 
 AxT. Ah me ! speak it out. You will be much more hate- 
 ful silent, if you do not proclaim these things to all. 
 
 IsM. You have a warm spirit in a chilling enterprise. 
 
 AxT. But I know that I please those wliom it most befits 
 me to please. 
 
 Ism. Ay, that is if you shall be able ; but you long for 
 things impossible. 
 
 AxT. Therefore when I have not power I shall cease. 
 
 Ism. But it is not fitting to pursue at all what is impossible. 
 
 Ant. If you will speak thus, you will be hated indeed by 
 me, and will justly be hated, in addition, by him that is dead. 
 But suffer me and my rash counsels to endure this danger ; 
 for I shall not suffer any thing so great, so as not to die glo- 
 riously. 
 
 Is3[. But, if it thus seem good to you, go ; and know this, 
 that you go indeed unwise, but to your friends in truth a 
 friend. 
 
 Chorus. Beam of the sun,- that hath shone the fairest 
 
 1 0('/(ot raXaiPT)?- dlcit lioc sensu, Hei mihi propter tiiam uudaciam. 
 — Herm. 
 
 - Musgrave suggests that the poetry of this beautiful pas- 
 sage will be heiffhteued by supposing the Chorus to deliver 
 their address to the sun immediately after his rise. The prob- 
 ability of it is confirmed by the splendor and abruptness of the 
 apostrophe, and still more by the moment being marked when 
 the rays of the luminary begin to stream over the fountains of 
 Dirce. — Te. But see Donaldson. — B.
 
 IOI-I32.] ANTIGONE. 129 
 
 light of all before to seven-gated Thebes, thou hast at length 
 gleamed forth, oh eye of golden day ! coming above the 
 channels of Dirce's streams, having driven a liasty onward 
 fugitive with keener-urged rein the chief of the silver sliield,^ 
 'who came from Argos with all his panoply — Avhoni,^ shrilly 
 clamoring against our land, uproused by a doubtful contest, 
 Polynices, like an eagle hovered over the earth covered with 
 the wing of white snow, with many a shield, and with plumed 
 helms. And having taken his stand above our palaces, raven- 
 ing all around with bloody spears the outlets of the seven gates, 
 he departed before that he had gorged his jaws with our 
 blood, and pitchy flame had seized the coronet of our towers : 
 such a martial clatter was raised in his rear by the dragon 
 his match, as could not be overcome.^ For Jove beyond 
 measure liates the vaunts of a haughty tongue ; and seeing 
 them rushing on in a mighty stream, with the clangor of 
 gold, and in the pride of armor,"* he dashes down with bran- 
 dished flame, him, who was already hastening to shout forth 
 
 1 Adrastus, the king of Argos, and leader of the vanquished 
 army on this occasion. 
 
 '^ The explanation of this passage is due to Mr. Jelf, in his 
 Greek Grammar. He takes Sf d^Ja kX^umv together, treating 
 d^Ea adverbially. The advantage of this is, that we need not 
 alter HoXwsiKrisr to the genitive, as Wunder and others have 
 done. The only awkwardness is in the hyperbaton. KXassiv 
 is used in the same sense in ^sch. Ag. 48, nsyav Ik dvjxov kXu^ov- 
 T£^"Aprjj TpoTTOv aiYVTricdv. — B. 
 
 2 Verte; talis circa tergum {nquilaei) infendebatur Martis strepifus, 
 Iwstili draconi (Thebanis) tradatu difficilis, miuime, ut Bruuck- 
 ius a.cGe\)it,i7ifmperab}lis. — Erf. Hoc dicit: tantiis a tergo con- 
 citatuH est strepitm Martis, insiqjerabHis propter adversarium dra- 
 co«em.— Herra. — Tk. I have translated according to Donald- 
 son's view of the construction: toXoT irar, ' Ap. d. vcora [roS 
 
 aicoij] dvT. SpaK. 6vax. EraOri. Since the pursuing host had proved 
 a match (ai/riTraXo?) for the conquered Argives, so their pursuit 
 was ^"(TX£pto}na, a thing hard to be overcome. — B. 
 
 * The readings here are so uncertain, that I have preferred 
 not attempting any alteration. Donaldson's idea of joining 
 
 Xpi'o-ov with pevfxari, and reading Kamx^ 0' irrepoTrXo^'Sr ("iu 
 
 a swollen torrent of gold advancing, and proud in the 
 rattle of armor," is his translation), seems more plausible than 
 the other elucidations hitherto attempted. — B. 
 6*
 
 I30 ANTIGONE. [133-159. 
 
 the strain of victory on the summits of the battlements.^ And 
 the bearer of the fire^ fell shattered with rebound on earth, 
 he Avho then raging -with frantic spirit, blew upon us with 
 the blasts of most hateful winds. And in one quarter a dif- 
 ferent fortune indeed prevailed, but mighty Mars leading 
 the right wing^ and thickening the fray, directed other evils 
 against others. For seven leaders, marshaled against seven 
 gates, equal against equal foes, left to Jove, the god of tro- 
 phies,* their all-brazen arms, except the accursed two who 
 sprung from one father and one mother, having raised against 
 themselves tlieir equally victorious spears, both shared the 
 lot of a mutual death. But since high-renowned Victory 
 hath come with joys to compensate Tliebe, the mistress of 
 many a car, now indeed let us forget these wars,^ and let us 
 approach all the temples of the gods with dances that last 
 through the livelong night ; and let Bacchus, shaker of the 
 Theban land, begin the revelry. But [cease], for Creon, 
 son of Menoeceus, the new king of this land, comes hither, 
 upon these new casualties of heaven, revolving doubtless 
 
 ^ I should prefer "at the very edge of the battlements,'' i.e. 
 as soon as he had set his foot upon them.— B. 
 
 2 Capaueus, who threatened to give Thebes to the flames, 
 and who was struck down by a thunderbolt while he attempted 
 to scale the walls. There are masuificent descriptions of his 
 fate in the Seven Chiefs against Thebes of ^schylus, and of 
 that most beautiful of plays, the Phcenissse of Euripides, 
 
 3 A£f((io-£(po-, literally the right trace horse. The Greek 
 chariots were drawn by four horses abreast, two harnessed to 
 the pole and two in traces. As the turn in the race-course was 
 usually to the left (v. II. 23, 335), the strongest horse was gen- 
 erally placed farthest to the right. Hermann has therefore 
 justly observed: "Sic appellavit Martem Sophocles, ut impet- 
 uosum, dextri equimore, significaret. Pariter ^schylus, quum 
 fortem et validum vellet indicare, asipaipopov Kpidvdra -toKov dixit 
 Agam. 1651. 2." 
 
 * Or, " Jove that turns the battle." 
 
 ^ I am not sure but the construction of this passage pro- 
 posed by Erfurdt is better than Brunck's : " -wi/ vvv non videtur 
 ad TznXe^iwv pertiuere: nam et languidum foret, nee dicitur 
 tKBeuBai XTjanaavvrji', sed Qtcdai. Quare jugeuda censeo verba sic: 
 
 £K TToAificov. post bellum, deaOe Xrjc-jxoavvav rtJov vvv, obliviscaminl 
 
 praeseutia, i.e., funera fratrum."
 
 160-197.] ANTIGONE. 131 
 
 some anxious thought, since he hath announced this assem- 
 bled conference of senators, sending for them by common 
 proclamation. 
 
 Creon, Ye men, the gods have again established the 
 safety of the city, after having shaken it with many a wave ; 
 but I have sent for you by messengers to come apart from 
 all, both knowing well that you ever reverenced the might 
 of the throne of Laius, and again, when (Edipus directed 
 the state, and when he perished, that ye remained with con- 
 stant spirits toward his sons. Since, therefore, they have 
 perished on the same day by a mutual death, striking and 
 stricken in suicidal blood-guiltiness, I hold all the power 
 and the throne by afiinity of race with the dead. But it is 
 impossible to ascertain the soul, and spirit, and judgment 
 of every man, before he shall be seen tried by office,^ and 
 the administration of the laws. For whosoever, ruling a 
 whole state, applies not to the best counsels, but from some 
 fear restrains his tongue, appears to me, both now and for- 
 merly, to be the basest of men ; and whosoever esteems his 
 friend more than his country, him I hold in no account. 
 For I — let Jupiter, who beholds all things, know it — 
 would neither be silent, seeing ruin in place of safety 
 coming upon the citizens, nor would I ever make a man 
 who was hostile to my country a friend to myself, knowing 
 this, that it is our country which preserves us, and that, 
 sailing in her unfoundered, we make friends.^ By such laws 
 as these I will exalt this city, and now I have proclaimed to 
 the citizens things akin to these concerning the sons of (Edi- 
 pus. Eteocles indeed, who fell fighting for this city, bear- 
 ing the palm in every thing with his spear, I have com- 
 manded them both to enshroud in the tomb, and to conse- 
 crate to him all the honors that fall to the lot of the gallant 
 
 1 'Apxh avSpa Sei^ci, from which Creon borrows his maxim, 
 was an old proverbial saying, attributed originally to Bias of 
 Priene, one of the seven sages of Greece. 
 
 '^ Creon, though an absolute mouarch, dreaded the unpopu- 
 larity of his sacrilegious edict. He therefore endeavors, by a 
 great mauy plausible expressions of patriotism and integrity, 
 to do away with unfavorable impressions in the minds of the 
 citizens, and to extort from their fear an approbation of his 
 conduct.
 
 132 ANTIGONE. [198-220. 
 
 dead below. But him again, the brother of this man, I 
 mean Polynices, who, on his return from exile, wished to 
 consume utterly with flames the country of his fathers, and 
 gods of that country, and wished to glut himself with kin- 
 dred blood, and having enslaved the citizens, to lead them 
 away — him it has been proclaimed to this city, that neither 
 any one shall lay with rites in the tomb, nor wail over him, 
 but leave him unburied, and behold his body devoured and 
 mangled by birds and dogs. Such is my Avill ; and never 
 from me at least shall the wicked have honor in preference 
 to the just ; but whosoever displays good will to this city, 
 shall, both in life and death, be equally honored by me. 
 
 Ch. The same things please me as please thee,^ Creon, son 
 of Menoeceus, concerning the one who was an enemy, and 
 the other, who was a friend to the city ; but it resides^ in 
 you to use any law, both concerning the dead, and concern- 
 ing us, as many as live.^ 
 
 Ce. See that ye be now guardians of the edict.* 
 
 Ch. Impose this on some younger one to bear. 
 
 Cr. But there are watchers of the corpse, at least, prepared. 
 
 Ch. What farther than this in truth would you yet enjoin ?^ 
 
 Cr. Not to give way to those that disobey this mandate. 
 
 Ch. There is no one so foolish as to desire to die. 
 
 1 Yoi uon ad dptaKti, sed ad ra avrd refertur. subaiidito alio 
 prouomine /u£. Constructio est, dpiuKei jxe rd avrd a-oi. — Brunck. 
 
 2 Diudorf reads Troirt ttou TzapsaTi aoi, which Wunder follows. 
 
 Donaldson -avraxov Trdpeari aoi. — B. 
 
 3 The Chorus are as complying and servile as Creon could 
 desire. Later in the play they rather change their tone; but 
 it is a pity that they, whose office it was to deliver the lessons 
 of morality and virtue, should have at all been represented 
 out of their natural character. It has been suggested by some 
 that the poet meant to gratify his countrymen by placing their 
 enemies, the Thebans, in the contemptible light of slaves. 
 If this reason be true, we can only regret that he was induced, 
 by such an unworthy motive, to deform one of his finest pro- 
 ductions by a disagreeable incousistency, 
 
 4 TTwj liv for wj dv is the emendation of Dindorf. 
 
 5 Hermann defends «AX(;:^ rendering it " cur ergo etiam alii 
 hoc maudatura cupias?" "Nempe," respondit ille, " ne quis 
 negligi imperia mea siuat," according to the old scholiast. — B.
 
 221-238.] ANTIGONE. 133 
 
 Cr. And in trnth this at least is the reward ; but gain has 
 oft, by means of hope, destroyed men. 
 
 Messenger.^ O king, I will not indeed say that I come 
 panting with speed, having lifted up a nimble foot, for I had 
 many lialtings of thought, wheeling myself round in the way 
 with the view of returning, and my mind holding a dialogue 
 with me, said many things. '' Wretch, why goest thou where 
 coming you shall suffer punishment ? Yet, wretch, do you 
 stop? And if Creon shall learn these things from some other 
 man, how in truth shall you not smart for it?" Kevolving 
 sucli thoughts, I made out my journey tardy with delay,'* 
 and thus a short way is made long. In the end, however, 
 the resolution prevailed to come hither ; and to you, though 
 I say nothing agreeable, I Avill nevertheless speak, for I come 
 clinging fast to the expectation that I shall suffernothing else 
 except what is fated. ^ 
 
 Cr. But what is it from which you feel this faint-hearted- 
 ness ?* 
 
 Mess. I wish first to tell what regards myself ; for I neither 
 
 1 This "A yyfXof or ^v\a^ (for editors disagree about his desig- 
 nation) is a very prating and impertinent sort of person. Few 
 tyrants would have contented themselves with saying w? 
 X<iXi7/<a ^n^ov EKirefpvKdi el, but would have been much more likely 
 to have chopped off his head for his pains. — Tr. I can not 
 help thinking that Mitchell, Donaldson, and others, have 
 much exaggerated the comic powers of this messenger-guard. 
 Donaldson's paraphrase (for translation is out of the question) 
 introduces so many modern conceits, that Sophocles is utterly 
 forgotten. — B. 
 
 2 Diudorf and others adopt the reading o-,\X;7 raxvg, a frigid 
 antithesis, condemned by Wuuder. — B. 
 
 2 Some commentators, especially Mitchell, find something 
 very witty in this " touch of fatalism, coming from such a 
 presence." Supposing it were so, there would be nothing very- 
 remarkable or entertaining in the guard talking like every 
 one else in every extant Greek drama! But the fact is, to 
 ixopaifxai/ simply means "death," expressed by an euphemism, 
 for that the witty (si Diis placet !) guard had made up his 
 mind to the worst is evident from vs. 223. Cf. Homer II. xv. 
 613; xxii. 13. Pindar 01. II. 18. Msch. Suppl. 47; Sept. c. 
 Th. 263.— B. 
 
 * Cf. (Ed. Tyr. 31Q : ri 6' eanv ; oTr lievfio?- £i<T£\fi\veaS-. — B.
 
 134 ANTIGONE. [239-265. 
 
 did the deed, nor did I see who was the perpetrator, nor 
 ought I justly to fall into any mischief. 
 
 Cr. You feel your way carefully, at all events, and fence 
 it all round ; but you seem about to signify some news. 
 
 Mess. For dangers in good truth create much fear. 
 
 Cr. Will YOU never speak, then, and then take yourself 
 off? 
 
 Mess. And now, indeed, I tell you. Some one has gone, 
 having just buried the dead body, and having sprinkled tlie 
 dry dust over the skin, and having performed the proper 
 rites. 
 
 Cr. What say you ? what mortal dared this ? 
 
 Mess. I know not ; for there was neither stroke of axe, 
 nor aught cast up by the spade, but the earth was firm and 
 the soil unbroken, nor tracked by ruts of wheels, but the 
 worker was one who left no trace. ^ And when the first 
 watchman of the day discovers it to us, painful wonder was 
 felt by all. For he indeed had disappeared, yet not inclosed 
 in a tomb, but a slight covering of dust was over him, as if 
 bestowed by some one avoiding the pollution f and there ap- 
 peared no marks of a wild beast or dog coming and tearing 
 him. Then revilings were uttered against each other, watch- 
 man charging his fellow, and it would have ended in blows, 
 nor was there any one to prevent them ; for each individual 
 was the perpetrator, and no one was convicted, but put in a 
 plea of ignorance."^ And we were ready to lift masses of red- 
 hot iron in our hands,^ and to pass through fire, and to ap- 
 
 1 The messenger wishes to clear himself by insinuating that 
 it was not any mortal power that had performed these opera- 
 tions. The Chorus, when he conchides, expresses the same 
 opinion ; But Creou was not to be so easily deceived. 
 
 2 The person who passed a dead body without bestowing a 
 handful of dust on it, was held by the ancient superstition to be 
 (ivayiis-) polluted. Archytas, in the well-known ode of Horace, 
 enjoins the mariner to observe the pious rite : 
 
 Quanquam festiuas, non est mora louga, licebit 
 Injecto ter pulvere curras. 
 
 3 This is Donaldson's explanation, taking (pevyew in its legal 
 sense, of being defendant. Dindorf and Wunder read aAA' £0£- 
 vye Tta- -d //jj, soil. t^sipYaa-f.ievoS' Eivai. — B. 
 
 ^ This is an earlv allusion to the use of the ordeals, after-
 
 266-306.] ANTIGONE. 135 
 
 peal to the gods by oath that we neither did it, nor were 
 conscious to any one who devised or executed the deed. In 
 the end, when there was nothing gained by our inquiries, 
 some one speaks, who made us all bend our heads to earth 
 through fear; for we knew not how to object, nor how doing 
 it we should prosper; and his words were, that the deed 
 should be reported to you, and not concealed. This propo- 
 sal prevailed ; and the lot seizes on me, unhappy, to gain this 
 prize ; and I am present, I know, unwilling and unwelcome, 
 for no one loves the bearer of evil tidings. 
 
 Ch. My mind, O king, is from long since deliberating 
 whether this deed be wrought by heaven. 
 
 Cr. Cease ! before you till me with anger, lest you be 
 discovered at the same time a fool and a dotard ; for you say 
 what is intolerable, saying that the gods have provident care 
 concerning this corpse. Whether, highly honoring him as 
 a benefactor, have tliey buried him who came to set on fire 
 their pillared temples, and to destroy the consecrated gifts, 
 their land and laws ? or do you see the gods honoring the 
 wicked? It is not so ; but the citizens bearing these things 
 ill, even formerly murmured against me, secretly shaking 
 the head, nor did they stoop the mane, as they ought, beneath 
 the yoke, so as to submit to me. I well know that these 
 men, corrupted by bribes from them, have done this. For 
 no such evil institution as money has arisen to men. It lays 
 Avaste cities ;^ it drives away men from their homes ; it se- 
 duces and perverts the honest inclinations of mortals to turn 
 to base actions ; and it has taught men to learn villanies, 
 and to know the impiety of every deed. But as many as for 
 hire have done this, have in time wrought out their fate, so 
 as to suffer punishment ; and if Jove still has reverence from 
 me,^ know this well, and under an oath I say it to you, if 
 you do not, discovering him who with his own hand made 
 
 ward so prevalent in Europe during the Dark Ages. There are 
 many miraculous escapes from both fire and water detailed in 
 the monkish histories of Europe. 
 
 1 " Diffiditurbium 
 Portas vir Macedo, et subruit semulos 
 Reges muneribus." — Hor. III. 16. 
 
 2 The scholiast explains this, .ei nixco Kai ak^m rdv ^.la, xal nfj 
 emopKcj avTOv.
 
 136 ANTIGONE. [307-335- 
 
 the tomb, produce him to mv eves, death alone shall not 
 suffice for you, before that, hung up alive, ye make manifest 
 this insult, in order that, knoAving whence gain is to be 
 drawn, you may for the future seize it, and may learn that 
 it is not fitting to wish to make profit from every thing ; for 
 by unjust gains you will see more ruined than preserved. 
 
 Mess. Will you grant me to say something, or, turning, 
 shall I thus depart? 
 
 Cr. Do you not know even now how disagreeably you 
 speak ? 
 
 Mess. Are you pained in the ears or in the mind? 
 
 Cr. Why ? do you explore my grief where it lies ? 
 
 Mess. He who did it pains thy mind, and I thine ears. 
 
 Cr. Alas me ! how plainly you are by nature a babbler.^ 
 
 Mess. I, at all events, am not the man who did this deed. 
 
 Cr. Yes, and that for money too betraying your life. 
 
 Mess. Alas ! it is hard that to Avhom at least there are 
 suspicions, his suspicions should be false. 
 
 Cr. Talk big now about suspicion ; but if ye do not show 
 to me those who did this, ye will confess that wicked gains 
 work ruin. 
 
 Mess. But may he by all means indeed be discovered ; 
 but be he taken or not, for fortune will decide this, it is not 
 likely you shall see me coming hither again. And now, 
 preserved beyond my expectation and opinion, I owe many 
 thanks to the gods.^ 
 
 Chorus. Many are the mighty^ things, and nought is more 
 mighty than man. He even sails beyond the sea, when whit- 
 ened into foam with the wintry south wind's blasts, passing 
 amid* the billows that roar around ; and the supreme of di- 
 
 ^ I see no reason for changing XdXrina to a\rina. The former 
 word is somewhat like the KpowoxvrpoXrjpaior of Aristoph. Eq. 
 89.— B. 
 
 2 Mitchell observes, " The Phylax retires, it is to be presumed, 
 amid much laughter on the part of the audience.'' If so, their 
 risible powers must have been below the standard of the New 
 Cut. An audience so easily excited to risibility would be in- 
 valuable to many a modern farce-writer. — B. 
 
 ^ Thus Danaldson. A late translator has "awful!" — B. 
 
 * This seems the easiest way of translating v-o, which is used 
 of the vessel cleaving its way through the waves, so as to be 
 partly hidden beneath them. — B.
 
 336-355-] ANTIGONE. 137 
 
 vinities immortal, undecaying Earth, he furrows, his plows 
 circling^ from year to year, turning up her soil with the off- 
 spring of the steed. ^ And ensnaring the brood of light- 
 minded birds,^ he bears them away as his prey, and the 
 tribes of the monsters of the wild, and the marine race of the 
 deep in the inwoven meshes of his nets, he, all-inventive 
 man ; and he masters by his devices the tenant of the fields, 
 the mountain-ranging beast, and he will bring under* the 
 neck-encircling yoke, the shaggy-maned horse, and the un- 
 tamable mountain bull. And he hath taught himself lan- 
 
 ^ Although i\\onti>h)v may refer to the ^ovffrpocprjSdv movement 
 in plowing, I still have strong suspicion that we should read 
 dpOTcop, or, as others accent it, dpoTuip, " as seed-times return year 
 by year." So Hesiod. spy. 448. Gaisf. !i t aporold re aiiixa ^ipei, 
 
 Kal X£('/i(zroS" o)pr]v AeiKvvEi 6jx^pr]pov, Soph. Trach. 69, tov irapi^dovr 
 
 apoTov, and 825, ^to^tKaro- apoTos-. See also Comm. on Virgil, Eel, 
 I, 70, "Post aliquot .... aristas." That the verb may be 
 rightly thus used is easily seen from the interpretations given 
 by some of the ancients to tlie celebrated passage of Plato's 
 Timseus, p. 530, E. Lfem. cf. Euhnk. on Tim. Lex., p. 69 sqq., 
 and more particularly Simplicius on Arist. de Coel. F. 125. — B. 
 The sense will thus correspond to the Homeric nepiTsWonivwv 
 tviavTCOv, II. II. 551, VIII. 404.— B. 
 
 2 I can not resist giving my readers this sentence from the 
 translation of Adams : " He traverses the hoary main in stormy 
 winds, by the rattling tumors of swollen sails, and pierces the 
 supreme incorruptible laud of the immortal gods, year after 
 year returning to plow it with horsekiud." — P. 189. 
 
 3 KO"<poi'6u}i'. Libri omnes Kovcpovhov, meudose. — Bruuck. In 
 spite of this authoritative judgment, we are inclined to think 
 the " libri omnes " are correct. Wakefield approves of Koixpopecov 
 in his notes to Lucretius, VI. 743, and renders it "celeriter 
 navigantium," a meaning much more applicable to the passage 
 and consistent with the general spirit of the Chorus. An epi- 
 thet indicative of the speed of the birds, heightens the diffi- 
 culty which man's power has to overcome; and we find in the 
 other instances that the poet has made a most judicious choice 
 of expressions with a view to this efi'ect.— Tr. The gloss of the 
 schol. K6vipu)T Kal raxsioT cpspopiviov, evidently can not belong but 
 to Ko^HpovUov, which Wunder has not perceived. — B. 
 
 4 I have translated vTrdferat, but the conjecture of Franz, 
 oxpalerai, is Well supported by Doualdson, though I do not see 
 the necessity for reading <,vy(X)v. — B.
 
 138 ANTIGONE. [356-388. 
 
 giiage and lofty wisdom,^ and the customs of civic law, and 
 to avoid the cold and stormy arrows of uncomfortable frosts. 
 Finding a way through every thing without a resource, he 
 comes upon nothing in respect to the future.^ Of the grave 
 alone he shall not introduce escape ; but yet he hath devised 
 remedies against baffling disease. Having beyond belief a 
 certain inventive skill of art, he at one time advances to evil 
 and at another time to good. Observing^ the laws of the 
 land, and the plighted justice of heaven, he is high in the 
 state ; but an outcast from the state is he, with whomsoever 
 that which is not honorable resides by reason of audacity ; 
 neither may he dwell with me, nor have sentiments like 
 mine, Avho acts thus — 
 
 I am in doubt at this strange prodigy I How knowing her 
 shall I deny this to be the maiden Antigone ? O wretched 
 woman, and sprung from a wretched father, OEdipus, what 
 at all means this? Sure they do not lead you, at least, dis- 
 obeying the mandates of the king, and liaving seized you in 
 the frantic attempt ? 
 
 Mess. This is she that have wrought the deed. Her we 
 found employed in the burial — but where is Creon? 
 
 Ch. Eeturning from his palace ; he is passing out to meet 
 the opportunity. 
 
 Ck.. What is it ? AVhat chance thus coinciding has hap- 
 pened ?* 
 
 Mess. O king, nothing is to be disavowed by mortals, for 
 
 ' I have followed Hesychius in the explanation of nvzf^Lozv, as 
 simply meaning riiyjAdi/ fxerewpov, Brnnck has it, "Sublimium 
 rerum scientiam," which he copies from the -epl t'.ov f^isre-^pcov 
 ciiXoo-^tai/ of the scholiast. Erfurdt and Hermann understand 
 it as expressive of the speed of thought; but Benedict disagrees 
 with them for the following reason ; " Seusus sublimes doceudo 
 quidem instillari possunt humante meuti, non autem cogita- 
 tionum celeritas, quee major sive minor ex indole cujusque 
 natural! dependet." 
 
 '^ This is Donaldson's interpretation: '"with plans for all 
 things, planless is nothing, meets he the future I" — B. 
 
 3 yepahojv is the ingenious conjecture of Musgrave, approved 
 by Donaldson. Wunder's -epaivMv is absurd. — B. 
 
 ^ Donaldson, " what hap holds sortance with my coming 
 forth •?"— B.
 
 389-424.] ANTIGONE. 139 
 
 later opinion gives the lie to the judgment ; since I would 
 confidently have maintained, that I would have heen slow of 
 ever returning hither, on account of your threats,^ in whose 
 storm I was formerly endangered. But, for the joy which 
 is without and beyond the hopes resembles in magnitude no 
 other pleasure, I come, though pledged to the contrary by 
 oaths, bringing this virgin, who was detected adorning the 
 tomb. The lot here was not shaken, but this is my prize, ^ 
 none other's. And now, O king, taking her as you please, 
 yourself question and convict her ; but I freed am justly en- 
 titled to get rid of these evils. 
 
 Cr. In what way do you bring her ? whence taking lier ? 
 
 Mess. She was burying the man : you know all. 
 
 Cr. Do you both understand and correctly deliver what 
 you tell ? 
 
 Mess. Having at least seen her in the act of burying the 
 dead body which you interdicted. Do I relate these things 
 clearly and plainly ? 
 
 Cr. And how was she seen and found taken in the act ? 
 
 Mess. The circumstances were of this nature : For when 
 we came, threatened with those dreadful torments by you, 
 having swept away all the dust which covered the corpse, and 
 having well stripped the clammy body, we took our seat to 
 the windward of the top of the hill, having avoided the stench 
 from the body least it should reach us,^ each keenly rousing 
 his fellow with bitter reproaches if any one should be sparing 
 of this toil. These things continued for so long a time, until 
 the brilliant orb of the sun took its place in the middle of the 
 firmament, and the heat was burning, and then suddenly a 
 storm having raised a Avhirl wind from the ground, a heaven- 
 sent pest, fills the plain, watering all the tresses of the wood- 
 lands ; and the mighty air was filled ; and having closed our 
 eyes Ave endured the heaven-sent plague. And this having 
 departed in length of time, the maiden is seen in view, and 
 
 1 rarr o-ais- aireiXais- propter minas tuas. Vide ad (Ed. Col. 
 1280. — Musgrave. 
 
 2 All lucky and unexpected gain was ascribed to the kind- 
 ness of the god Hermes; and the word efj/iatov refers to this at- 
 tribute, and is derived from his name. 
 
 •^ Constructio est : TrecpevyoTE^ dajxr^v an' avrov, jxh /3aAo(, fugieutes 
 
 odorem ejus, ne nos feriret. — Musgrave.
 
 I40 ANTIGONE. [425-450. 
 
 she is wailing forth the bitter note of the plaintive bird, like 
 ■when it beholds the bed of its empty nest deprived of its 
 young. Thus also she, when she beholds the dead body bare, 
 burst forth into strains of grief, and baneful curses did she 
 imprecate on those who wrought the deed, and straightway 
 she brings the dry dust in her hands, and from the well- 
 fashioned brazen urn high-raised aloft with thrice-poured 
 libations she crowns the dead. And we seeing it rushed 
 and immediately seized her, not in the least appalled ; and 
 we accused her both of the former and the present doings, 
 and denial of none of them Avas attempted. But this to me 
 at least is at the same time pleasing and painful ; for to es- 
 cape from evils myself is most pleasing, but to bring friends 
 into misfortune is painful. But it appertains to me by na- 
 ture to consider all tliese things less important than my own 
 safety. 
 
 Cr. You, you bending your head to the ground, do you 
 confess or do you deny having done this? 
 
 Ant. I both confess I did it, and I do not deny that I did 
 not. 
 
 Cr. You may take yourself off where you please,^ free 
 from the heavy charge. But do you tell me not at 
 length, but briefly, did you know the proclamation forbid- 
 ding this?- 
 
 Ant. I knew it. And why should I not ? for it was 
 plain. 
 
 Cr. And have you dared then to transgress these laws ? 
 
 Ant. For it was not Jove who heralded these commands,^ 
 
 1 Addressing the Messenger. 
 
 2 Addressing Antigone. 
 
 ^ Tliis speech of Antigone contains a fine expression of high- 
 toned feeling and virtuous resolution. Nothing can surpass 
 the sublimity with which she alludes to the power of princi- 
 ple, and eternity of duration in the laws of heaven; and the 
 touching manner in which she consoles herself for her un- 
 timely doom, is the noblest picture of devoted heroism triumph- 
 ing over nature and the weakness of woman. — Tr. This pas- 
 sage has been frequently quoted and applied by other authors: 
 thus Philostratus, de vita ApoUou. N. 38, -pdr ydp ra Xtpcjj/or 
 
 Kripvyfiara ci cjv e^eipyoi iji\o(to 'jiav^ tariv ftjiTv to tov 'Zo(pOK\£0\'?' lap- 
 /3aof, " ov yap ri poi Z£v~ ;> o Krjpv^aS' race," ovce yiovaai, Kal ' A-oWcjv
 
 451-487-] ANTIGONE. 141 
 
 nor Justice, that dwells with the gods below the earth, who 
 established these laws among men ; nor did I think your proc- 
 lamations had so much power so as being a mortal to trans- 
 gress the unwritten and immovable laws of the gods.^ For 
 not now, at least, or of yesterday, but eternally they live, and 
 no one knows from what time they had their being. I was 
 not going through fear of the spirit of any man to pay the 
 penalty of their violation to the gods. For I knew I must 
 die (and why not?), even though you had not proclaimed it, 
 and if I die before my day I account it gain ; for whosoever 
 lives like me in many sorrows, how does not he by death 
 obtain advantage?"^ Thus to me, at least, to meet with this 
 fate, the sorrow is nothing ; but if I had suffered him who 
 was born of my mother to lie in death an unburied corpse, 
 in that case I would have sorrowed : in this I sorrow not. 
 But if I seem to you now to happen to do what is foolish, I 
 merely incur the imputation of folly from a fool. 
 
 Ch. The spirit of the daughter shows itself stern from a 
 stern father, and she knows not to yield to misfortune. 
 
 Cr. But know in truth that too stern spirits bend the 
 most ; and you will most frequently see the hardest steel, 
 forged in the fire till brittle, shivered and broken ; and I 
 have known high-mettled horses disciplined by a small bit ; 
 for it is not right for him to have proud thoughts whosoever 
 is the slave of others. She indeed then first learned to be 
 guilty of insolence, transgressing the ordained laws ; and 
 this, wlien she had done it, is the second insult, to glory in 
 such deeds, and to laugh having done them. In sooth, 
 then, I am no man, but she a man, if this victory shall ac- 
 crue to her without hurt. But whether she be sprung from 
 my sister, or one more near of blood than all beneath the 
 
 XiSyior. On laws as sprung from the gods, cf. (Ed. Tyr. 867; 
 Plato Legg. I. 1. ; and Minos, p. 46. Dion Chrys. Or. i. p. 56. 
 Cicero Tusc. Q. 11. 13, on the aypacpoi vo^oi^ cf. Aristot. Ehet. I. 
 10 and 13.— B. 
 
 1 This may either refer, as I have taken it, to Creon, or to 
 Antigone herself: "so as being a mortal I should venture to 
 transgress these laws." There is this objection, however, to 
 the latter mode, that vTzEprpix^iv does not so properly mean 
 violare, as superare, vincere. Vide Benedict. Obs. 117, 
 
 2 Toy ^7/£ 0£ XuTrpaJr Kpslaaov earl KarBaveXv. Eurip. Troad. V. 632.
 
 142 ANTIGONE. [488-510. 
 
 protection of our household god,^ she and her sister shall 
 not escape the most wretched fate ; for I charge her 
 equally with having planned the measures respecting 
 this burial. And summon her ; for Just now I saw her 
 within raving, not possessed of her senses ; and the mind 
 of those who unjustly devise anything in the dark, is wont 
 to be prematurely detected in its fraud. ^ I indeed at least 
 hate when any one, discovered in guilt, may then wish to 
 gloss it over. 
 
 Ant. Do you wish any thing more than taking me to put 
 me to death ? 
 
 Cr. I indeed wish nothing more. Having this I have all. 
 
 Ant. 'Why in truth do you delay? since to me none of 
 your words are pleasing, nor may they ever be pleasing ; 
 and in like manner also, to you mine are naturally dis- 
 pleasing. And yet whence could I have gained a glory of 
 higher renown than by laying my own brother in the tomb? 
 It would be said that this was approve 3 of by all these, did 
 not fear seal their tongues. But regal power is fortunate in 
 many other things, and in this, that it is allowed to say and 
 to do what it pleases. 
 
 Cr. You alone of these Cadmeans view it in this light. 
 
 Ant. These also view it in the same light, but for you 
 they close the lips. 
 
 Cr. And are you not ashamed if you have sentiments 
 different from theirs ? 
 
 ^ The meaning of the phrase rov Travrd- Zrivdr 'F.pKclov can 
 only be expressed, as the reader will easily perceive, by a peri- 
 phrasis. Tlie altar of Heresean Jove stood in the court of 
 every house; and he was worshiped, as his name imports, in 
 the light of its guardian and defender. — Tr. But surely Zrivos 
 £fjK€iov means nothing more than " our whole house," as *'pe- 
 uates" would be used in Latin. — B. 
 
 '^ K^oTrevs. Coujungocum npoaeev ijpr]aeai, ut constructiosit : ce 
 
 6"fidg Toiv ev ckotm ur)6iv opOcog T£Xv(>iptvMv^ (piXsT -pocBsv K\oTrevg TJpiiaOai. 
 
 "Mens autem eorum, qui in tenebris pravi aliquid nioliuntiir, 
 solet prius malefica convinci, ^'.e , maleficii conviuci." — Mus- 
 grave. "Mens eorum, qui aliquid sceleris clam moliuntur, 
 quum alioqui sit illius occultatrix, solet tameu prius deprehen- 
 di." H. Stephauus. This latter explauatioii is obscurum per 
 obscurius with a vengeance.
 
 5II-530.] ANTIGONE. 143 
 
 Ant, No, for it is nothing shameful to revere those who 
 sprung from the same womb. 
 
 Cr. Was not he also your brother who fell on the oppo- 
 site side ? 
 
 Ant. He was my brother from one mother and the same 
 father. ^ 
 
 Cr. How then do vou award an honor that is impious to 
 him? 
 
 Ant. The dead below the earth will not testify this. 
 
 Cr. He will, if you honor him equally with the impious. 
 
 Ant. For not in aught a slave, but my brother he fell. 
 
 Cr. Laying waste at least this land, but the other resist- 
 ing in its defense. 
 
 Ant. Still the grave at least desires equal laws. 
 
 Cr. But not the good to obtain an equal share with the bad. 
 
 Ant. Who knows if these things are held holy below? 
 
 Cr. Never at all is the enemy, not even in death, a friend.^ 
 
 Ant. I have been formed by nature not to join in hatred, 
 but to join in love. 
 
 Cr. Going now below, if you must love, love them ; but 
 while I live, a woman shall not rule. 
 
 Ch. And in truth before the gates here comes Ismene, 
 letting fall the tears of a sister's love, and the cloud on her 
 brow bedewing her beauteous face, mars the glow of her 
 cheek. 
 
 ^ "He was. The original is, 'He was my brother by the 
 same father, and by the same mother.' The Greek writers, 
 though generally concise, are sometimes very prolix, as in the 
 passage before us, where the sentiment takes up a whole line 
 in the original, and is better expressed in these two words of 
 the translation." — Franklin. This notable person, since he had 
 not the taste to perceive the elegance of the original, may 
 make himself as happy as he pleases with his two mono- 
 syllables. After having the presumption to think himself 
 qualified to improve upon Sophocles, we can not help sug- 
 gesting that he might have devised something much more 
 sublime than the subject of his self-congratulatory comment, 
 the boasted he ivas. 
 
 2 Euripides, following a much more natural and amiable sen- 
 timent than this expressed by Creon, makes Polynices with 
 his last breath speak kindly of his brother : 
 
 4>iXof yap exOpds iyher^ dW '6jxi>)g (piXo^. — Phoenissse, 1445.
 
 144 ANTIGONE. [531-561. 
 
 Cr. But YOU, who in my house, like a. viper, stealing on 
 without mv notice, sucked my blood, and I was not aware 
 that I nursed two fiends and traitors to subvert my throne, 
 come, tell me, do you too confess that you shared in this 
 burial, or do you deny the knowledge of it ? 
 
 IsMEXE. I did the deed, if she also says so, and I partici- 
 pate in and bear the blame. ^ 
 
 AxT. But justice will not permit you to do this, since you 
 neither were willing, nor did I make you my partner. 
 
 Ism, But in your evils I am not ashamed to make myself 
 a fellow-voyager of your sufferings. 
 
 Ant. Whose deed it is. Hades and those below the earth 
 are conscious ; but I do not love a friend that loves with words. 
 
 Is^r. Do not, sister, deprive me of the honor of dying with 
 you, and of paying the rites to the dead. 
 
 Ant. Do not you die along with me, nor make yours what 
 you did not touch. I will suffice to die. 
 
 Ism. And what life is dear to me bereft of you ? 
 
 Ant. Ask Creon ; for you court him. 
 
 Ism. Why do you pain me with this, being yourself noth- 
 ing benefited by it ? 
 
 Ant. Yet I am grieved, in truth, though I deride you. 
 
 Ism. In what else could I now benefit you ? 
 
 Ant. Preserve yourself : I do not grudge your escape. 
 
 Ism. Woe is me unhappv ! And do I fail to share vour 
 fate? 
 
 Ant. For you indeed choose to live, but I to die. 
 
 Ism. But not at least without my warning being addressed. 
 
 Ant. You seemed wise indeed to some, but I to others.^ 
 
 Ism. And, in truth, the guilt is equal to us. 
 
 Ant. Be confident ; you indeed live, but my soul has long 
 since died, so as to aid the dead. 
 
 Cr. I say, as to these two virgins, that the one has just 
 
 ^ Ismene, whose conduct and sentiments we have always 
 hitherto found disgusting, continues to appear here in a still 
 more unfavorable light. She would fain take the seeming 
 credit of generosity, and yet at the very first moment she in- 
 sinuates her innocence, or at least extorts from Antigone, by 
 her saving clause, an acknowledgment to this effect. 
 
 - I prefer taking roT; ^h', rpTj c£ of persons, not things, not 
 with Aoyo(f understood. — B.
 
 562-584.] ANTIGONE. 145 
 
 appeared mad, and the other from the time she was first 
 born. 
 
 Ism. For never, O king, does the mind which may have 
 originally sprung remain the same to those in misfortune, 
 but is changed. 
 
 Cr. To you, at any rate, it did, when you chose to work 
 evil with the evil. 
 
 Ism. For how is life to be endured by me alone without 
 her? 
 
 Cr. But do not say her, for she is no longer. 
 
 Ism. But will you kill the bride of your own son ? 
 
 Cr. For the furrows of other women may be plowed. 
 
 Ism. Not so, at least, as troth was plighted 'twixt him and 
 her. 
 
 Cr. I hate bad wives for my sons. 
 
 Ism. O dearest Haemon, how your father disallows thee !^ 
 
 Cr. You at least give me too much trouble, both you and 
 the marriage you talk of. 
 
 Ism. What ! Avill you deprive your own son of her? 
 
 Cr. The grave was destined to put a stop to this marriage. 
 
 Ism. 'Tis destined, as it seems, that she shall die. 
 
 Cr. E'en as thou thinkest, so I.^ Make no more delay,^ 
 but conduct her, ye slaves, within ; and from this time it is 
 fitting that these women should not be left at liberty, for 
 even the bold fly, when they already see the close of life 
 near. 
 
 Ch.* Blessed are they to whom ther6 is a life that tastes 
 not of misfortune ; for to w' homsoever their house shall have 
 
 1 This verse is by Boeck, Wunder, and others, rightly assigned 
 to Antigoue. But Schlegel, p. 105, and Bulwer, Athens, V. 4, 7, 
 prefer giving it to Ismene. — B. 
 
 '^ So Wuuder; "Ut tibi quidem videtur a me decretum esse, 
 ita mihi videtur.'' — B. 
 
 3 Tp(/3as is governed by -ouXte or aysre, or some such word un- 
 derstood. Musgrave very well remarks that there is no more 
 fitting occasion for an ellipsis than when the haste of an angry 
 man is to be painted. 
 
 * This Chorus is enriched with some of the most sublime 
 imagery and conception to be met with iu any poet. The lines, 
 in particular, which celebrate the power of Jupiter are grand 
 beyond expression, 
 
 7
 
 146 ANTIGONE. [585-634. 
 
 been shaken by heaven, nought of mischief is wanting, lurking 
 through the fulness of their race ; like as when beneath the 
 sea-traversing malignant Thracian blasts a billow runs over 
 the marine darkness, it stirs up from the deep the black and 
 storm-tossed shingle, and the wave-lashed shores moan with 
 the roar. I see the ancient sufferings of the house of Labdacus 
 following on the sufferings of the dead ; nor does one genera- 
 tion quit the race,^ but some one of the gods keeps felling it, 
 nor has it a moment's release. For now what light was spread 
 above the last root in the house of (Edipus, again the death- 
 ful dust^ of the infernal powers sweeps it away, and frenzy 
 of words, and the mad fury of the mind. O Jove ! what dar- 
 ing pride of mortals can control thy power, which neither 
 the sleep which leads the universe to old ftge^ ever sei.zes, nor 
 the unwearied months of the gods? Through unwasting 
 time, enthroned in might, thou dwellest in the glittering blaze 
 of heaven ! For the future, and the instant, and the past, this 
 law will suffice : nothini? comes to the life of mortals far re- 
 moved at least from calamity."^ For much deceitful hope is 
 a gratification to many, and to many tlie beguilements of 
 light-minded love ; but ruin advances on man, all-ignorant, 
 before that he touch his foot with the warm fire. In wisdom 
 hath an illustrious saying been by some one set forth : That 
 evil on a time appears good to him whose mind the god hur- 
 ries on to judgment, and that lie lives for a brief space apart 
 from its visitation. 
 
 But here is Ha?mon, the youngest by birth of your chil- 
 dren. Does he come, lamenting the fate of his betrothed 
 bride Antigone, grieving at being defrauded of the nuptials ? 
 
 Cr. We shall soon know better than prophets. O my son ! 
 having then heard the ratified decree against your bride, do 
 you come, raging against your father ? or are we, in what- 
 ever way acting, dear to you ? 
 
 1 " Atone for, or pay the reckoning of the race." 
 
 2 See Donaldson.— B. 
 
 3 In Liddell's Lexicon, the conjecture of Eeimer, TravTayrjpw;, 
 " never growing old," is approved. It certainly seems simpler 
 than the riayKparhg of Donaldson. — B. 
 
 * This is very corrupt. Donaldson would read, vof.iog SS' avSpdr 
 
 alaav. " QvarCiv ^loroi -rrafiTroXiT eJaiv nra ; " In all the life of mor- 
 tals mischief in every state her franchise claims." — B.
 
 635-671] ANTIGONE. 147 
 
 HiEMON. Father, I am thine ; and you, having good 
 counsels for me, which I will follow, direct me aright. For 
 no marriage will justly be considered greater with me than 
 you, while guiding me well. 
 
 Cr. For thus, O my son, it is fitting to feel in your breast 
 that every thing takes its place behind the judgment of a 
 father; for on account of this men pray that begetting chil- 
 dren, they may have them obedient in their house, in order 
 that they may both repay an enemy with evil,^ and honor a 
 friend equally with their father. But whosoever begets 
 useless children, what would you say that he did else than 
 engender toils to himself, and much laughter to his enemies? 
 Do not you now, my son, for the sake of a woman, ever drive 
 away your senses by pleasure, knowing that this is a chilling 
 embrace, a bad wife, the partner of your bed at home. For 
 what worse ulcer could there be than a false friend? But, 
 spurning her as an enemy, suffer this virgin to marry some 
 one in the shades. For since I have clearly discovered her 
 alone of all the city acting with disobedience, I will not 
 prove myself false to my country, but will put her to death. 
 Let her, therefore, invoke Jove, the god of kindred ; for if 
 I rear those who are my natural kin disorderly, much more 
 shall I thus rear those who are not connected with me : for 
 whosoever is a good man in his own family, will also be 
 shown to be just in the state; but whosoever acts with vio- 
 lence in transgressing the laws, or thinks to command those 
 in power, it is impossible that he should meet with praise 
 from me. But whom the city may appoint, him it is proper 
 to obey in small things or in great, just or unjust ;^ and this 
 man I am confident would rule well, and would be willing 
 to be well ruled, and in the tempest of the spear would re- 
 
 1 There is a strong resemblance in this to the sentiments, 
 not to say the language of the Psalmist: " Like as arrows in 
 the hand of the giant, even so are young children ; happy is 
 the man that hath his quiver full of them ; they shall not be 
 ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate." — 
 Ps. cxxvii. 5, 6. 
 
 2 On this modest idea of sovereignty cf. ^sch. Choeph. 78, 
 
 SiKaia Kal fii) SiKaia, ixh irpknovr'' npxaig fSiov, jSuz (pepojitvwy aivea-at, ttik- 
 
 pov cppsvnv arvyog Kparovar). — Seneca Med. 195. " ^(luum atque 
 iniquum regis imperium feras." — Plant. Amphit. I. 1, 19. — B.
 
 148 ANTIGONE. [672-708. 
 
 main at his post a just and brave companion in arms. There 
 is no greater bane than anarchy : it destroys cities, lays 
 houses low, and in the combat with the spear scatters to the 
 rout ;^ but discipline preserves the most of those who are 
 under rule. There must thus be aid given to those that 
 govern, and we must by no means yield to a woman ; for it 
 were better, if necessary, to be vanquished by a man, and 
 we would not be called inferior to women. 
 
 Ch. To us indeed, if we are not misled by old age, you 
 seem to speak wisely concerning what you speak. 
 
 H^. Father, the gods implant wisdom in man, the 
 highest of all possessions as many as exist. But I should 
 neither be able nor know to express that you do not say these 
 things aright. For another indeed it might be proper.^ For 
 your interest, then, I have been accustomed to consider every 
 thing that any one says or does, or has to blame ; for your 
 eye terrifies a common citizen from using those Avords which 
 you would not be pleased to hear; but I, in the shade, can 
 hear them, in what way the city mourns for this virgin ; 
 how she, the most undeservedly of all women, perishes by 
 the most wretched death, after most glorious deeds ; she 
 who did not suffer lier own brother, having fallen in the 
 slaughter unburied, to be destroyed by ravening dogs, nor 
 by any bird. Is not she worthy of gaining golden honor? 
 Such a liidden report makes its way on in silence. To me, 
 father, there is no possession more honorable than your pros- 
 perity ; for what is a greater ornament of glory to children 
 than a father flourishing? or what to a father than his chil- 
 dren? Do not now bear this one disposition of mind only 
 in yourself, that what you say, and nothing else, is right ; 
 for whosoever thinks that he himself alone has wisdom, or 
 a tongue, or a soul, such as no other, these men, when laid 
 open, have been seen to be empty. But it is no disgrace to 
 
 1 Karaf'p. rpoTza^j i.e., Kar. ioare rpo-ag eTvai. See Wunder. — B. 
 
 2 Such is the interpretation of Heath : '* Fieri quidem id 
 possit ab alio (qui filius non sit tuus) et quidem nou iudecore." 
 Hsemon delicately insinuates that the conduct of his father is 
 objectionable, but will not allow himself, from filial respect, to 
 Kive vent to unbecoming censure. Brunck's translation bears 
 about as much relation to the original as it does to sense and 
 intelligibility : " Est tameu ut alius etiam vera dicere queat."
 
 709-736.] ANTIGONE. 149 
 
 a man, even though he be wise, to learn many things, and 
 not to strive too much against others. You see by the chan- 
 nels of winter streams how as many trees as yield preserve 
 their boughs, but those that resist perish with the very root. 
 And in like manner, whoever managing a ship, having drawn 
 firm the sail-rope, gives no way ; he upsetting her, navigates 
 for the future with benches turned upside down. But yield 
 from your anger, ^ and grant a change. For if there is any 
 judgment with me too, thougli a younger man, I say that it 
 is far the best for a man to be by nature full of knowledge ; 
 but if not, for it is not wont to incline in this way, it is also 
 honorable to learn from those that advise well.^ 
 
 Ch. O king ! it is meet, if he speak to the purpose, that 
 you should learn from him ; and you, Hsemon, again from 
 your father ; for it has been well spoken on both sides. 
 
 Cr. Shall we, of such an age, be taught wisdom by one 
 of his time of life? 
 
 H^. Nothing which is not just ; but if I am a young man, 
 it is not fitting to retard years more than works. 
 
 Cr. For it is a good work to pay regard to those who are 
 guilty of disobedience ? 
 
 Hje. No, nor would I desire you to observe reverence 
 toward the bad. 
 
 Cr. For has not she been seized with such a disease? 
 
 H.E. The people that dwell together in this city of Thebe 
 deny it. 
 
 Cr. Shall the city dictate to me what it is proper for me 
 to ordain ? 
 
 H^. Do you see how you have spoken this like a very 
 young man ? 
 
 Cr. For does it become any other one than me to rule 
 this land ? 
 
 1 Dindorf strangely retains 6' ix(o. — B. 
 
 '^ There is a passage very similar to this in Hesiod, whicli 
 the readers of Aristotle will remember quoted in the first book 
 of the Ethics : 
 
 Keivog jxlv -rravapia-TOi, Sg avrdg navra vorjcrci 
 ^patrcromevog ra k eneira kuI eg ri^og riaiv afjieivoj' 
 ^Ea-Oxdg ^' ai) KUKeTvog, Sg ev eindvTi friOrjrai, 
 "Of (5i K£ jxriT 'avTOg vokr)^ jjLr)r] aXyov olkovwv 
 'Ej/ dvjXM pa\\riTai, 06' avr' d^^pfi'iog dvrip. 
 
 Hesiod, 'Epy. 290. 
 7*
 
 150 ANTIGONE. [737-757- 
 
 Hje. Nay, that is not the state which is dependent on one 
 man. 
 
 Cr. Is not the state deemed the possession of its ruler ? 
 
 H^. No douht ; in an uninhabited land at least you might 
 rule alone. 
 
 Cr. He, as it appears, fights in alliance with a woman. 
 
 ILe. If you are a woman ; for my care is for you. 
 
 Cr. Oh, utterly basest of wretches ! quarreling with your 
 father. 
 
 H^, For I see you committing the sin of injustice. 
 
 Cr. Do I sin in paying reverence to my own dominion ? 
 
 H.E. You do not pay reverence when trampling under 
 foot at least the honors of the gods. 
 
 Cr. Oh, accursed disposition, and enslaved to a woman ! 
 
 II.E. You will not, at all events, ever find me the slave 
 of what is base. 
 
 Cr. All your speech at least is for her. 
 
 H^. And for you too, and for me, and for the gods below 
 the earth. 
 
 Cr. It may not be that vou should ever now marrv her in 
 life. 
 
 HiE. She then will die, and, dying, will destroy some one.^ 
 
 Cr. Do you also, threatening, thus advance in audacity? 
 
 H.E. And what threat is it to argue against foolish opin- 
 
 ions 
 
 Cr. To your cost you shall school me, being yourself void 
 of understanding. 
 
 JIje. If you were not my father, I would have said that 
 you were simple. 
 
 Cr. Being the slave of a woman, do not revile me.^ 
 
 H.E. Do you wish to speak, and speaking, to hear nothing 
 in return ? 
 
 1 Creon evidently supposes that Hsemon threatens his life, 
 mistaking what is au ambiguous intimation of his purpose 
 of destroying himself. — Tr. The Covent Garden adapter well 
 rendered it, " She'll die — perchance not only she.'" — B. 
 
 2 KwriXxw generally means ndulor, but here it is necessarily 
 taken in an opposite sense. This mode of using the same word 
 in a directly contrary signification is not uncommon. "QveiSo- 
 is a marked instance of it : Qfi^ai?- kclWigtov vveiSos. Eur. Phoen. 
 821.
 
 758-782.] ANTIGONE. 151 
 
 Cr. Can this be true? but know, by Olympus, that you 
 shall not with impunity insult me with your upbraidings. 
 Bring the hateful thing, that she may immediately die in the 
 presence of her bridegroom, near him, and in his sight. 
 
 H^, Never, near me at least, think it not, shall she per- 
 ish ; and you shall no longer, beholding it with your eyes, 
 see my face, wherefore thou mayest be mad in company with 
 such friends as are willing [to abide it]. 
 
 Ch. The man, O king! has departed abruptly in anger; 
 and the mind, when pained at his years, is dreadful. 
 
 Ch. Let him do what he pleases ; let him, going, feel 
 prouder thoughts than become a mortal ; but he shall not 
 release these virgins from their fate. 
 
 Ch. For do you intend to kill both of them? 
 
 Cr. Not her at least who did not touch the body, for you 
 certainly suggest this well. 
 
 Ch. And by what sort of death do vou meditate to destroy 
 her? 
 
 Cr. Conducting her where the way is untrodden by mor- 
 tals, I will bury her alive in the cavern of the rock,i only set- 
 ting forth so much food as will suffice for expiation,^ in order 
 that all the city may avoid the pollution. There, imploring 
 Pluto, whom alone of gods she reveres, she will obtain a 
 respite from death, or will know at least then that it is lost 
 trouble to pay reverence to those 'in the shades. 
 
 Chorus. O Love ! unconquerable in the fight. Love ! 
 who lightest on wealth,^ who makest thy couch in the soft 
 
 ^ " In arcam inclusos tradnnt non dissimili genere pcBnse 
 Danaen: Cycni liberos (Lycophr. 239), Comatam (Theocrit. vii. 
 78), denique Sotadem poetam (Athen. xiv. cap. 4)." — Musgrave. 
 
 ^ It is singular that in all cases of this live-burial, either an- 
 cient or modern, we find the custom prevail of leaving a cer- 
 tain quantity of food with the victim. In Greece it was held 
 impious to suffer any one to die of famine, and this was a kind 
 of juggling way of satisfying the conscience that the pollution 
 was avoided. In modern times the practice seems to have been 
 continued with the cruel object of prolonging the torments of 
 such a horrible existence. — Tr. For Oriental illustrations, see 
 Lane, Arabian Nights, vol. iii. p. 102, note 35. — B. 
 
 ^ Donaldson, partly after Reisig, would take KTnuaai, accord- 
 ing to Plato's dictum, that men are the KTrinara of the gods, and
 
 152 ANTIGONE. [7S3-814. 
 
 cheeks^ of the youthful damsel, and roamest beyond the sea, 
 and mid the rural cots, thee shall neither any of the immor- 
 tals escape, nor of men the creatures of a day ;- but he that 
 feels thee is that instant maddened. Thou for their ruin 
 seducest the minds of the just to injustice ; thou hast stirred 
 up this strife of kindred men, and desire revealed from the 
 eyes^ of the beauteous bride wins the victory, desire that 
 holds its seat* beside the mighty laws in rule ; for the god- 
 dess Venus wantons unconquerable among all. But now 
 already I too am borne without the pale of laws, beholding 
 this spectacle ; and I am no longer able to restrain the foun- 
 tains of tears, when I here see Antigone passing on her way 
 to the chamber where all repose. 
 
 Ant. Behold me, ye citizens of my father-land, advanc- 
 ing on this last journey, and beholding the light of the sun 
 for the last time and never again ; but Hades, whose cham- 
 ber receives all, conducts me, living, to the shore of Ache- 
 ron, neither blessed with the lot of wedlock,^ nor hath the 
 
 that the poet means that Love, by his attacks, enslaves men at 
 once, rendering them K-fmara. — B 
 
 1 Chife 
 
 Pulchris excubat in genis. — Horace. 
 ^ We may safely put in contrast with this Chorus, though 
 highly beautiful, the following lines on the same subject from 
 one of the first of modern poets: 
 
 In peace. Love tunes the shepherd's reed; 
 In war he mounts the warrior's steed ; 
 In halls, in gay attire is seen ; 
 In hamlets, dances on the green. 
 Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, 
 And men below, and saints above; 
 For love is heaven, and heaven is love. 
 
 Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto iii. 2. 
 ^ 1 Cf. Eurip. Hipp. 525. '"Epojj '"Epwj, 6 kut' dmxa-coi' 'Era^eig 
 noOov. Achilles Tatius vi. p. 375. s-ciSri elg ra omiara -u>v Kakwv 
 TO KtiXAof Kadrjrat^ psov SKeiQev l-\ rov; 6 bQaXixov; tmv opovTMv. — B. 
 
 * But see Donaldson. Whence the translator got " in heaven's 
 rule," I can not tell. — B. 
 
 5 Antigone, in these beautiful and swan-like dirges, more 
 than once expresses her regret for never having experienced 
 the marriage joys. There is nothing indelicate, except to the 
 eye of false refinement, in this candid declaration of natural
 
 8i 5-857-] ANTIGONE. 153 
 
 bridal lay yet hymned me, but I shall be the bride of Ache- 
 ron. 
 
 Ch. Nay, but renowned and enjoying praise you descend 
 to this recess of the dead, neither struck by wasting disease, 
 nor having received the award of the sword ; but in freedom 
 and in life you alone of mortals shall descend to Hades. 
 
 Ant. I have heard that, by a most mournful fate, perished, 
 on tlie promontory of Sipylus, the Phrygian stranger,^ 
 daughter of Tantalus. Her, like the clinging ivy, did the 
 shoots of rock subdue ; and lier, dissolving away in showers, 
 as the legends of mortals tell, the snow never leaves ; and 
 from her eyes, that ever flow with tears, she bedews the cliffs. 
 Most like her, the god lulls me to sleep. 
 
 Ch. But she was a goddess, and of heavenly birth ; and 
 we are mortals, and of mortals born. And yet to you a per- 
 ishable creature, it is high fame to meet with a fate like the 
 peers of the gods. 
 
 Ant. Woe is me ! I am derided. Why, by the gods of 
 my fathers, do you insult me, not yet dead, but still beheld 
 in sight? O my country ! O my countrymen, of rich es- 
 tate ! O ye fountains of Dirce, and grove of Thebe, the re- 
 nowned for the car ! I take you withal jointly to witness, 
 how anlamented by my friends, and by what laws I go to 
 the sepulchral dungeon of my untimely tomb. O, woe is 
 me ! who am neither a dweller among men nor shades, the 
 living nor the dead. 
 
 Ch. Having advanced to the extreme of audacity, thou 
 hast violently dashed, my child, against the lofty throne of 
 justice. Thou payest some penalty of thy father. 
 
 Ant. Thou hast touched on a thought most painful to me, 
 
 feeling. We find an equally pure illustration of the same sen- 
 timent in the case of Jephtha's daughter, who went "and be- 
 wailed her virginity upon the mountains." Her example was 
 even admired; for "it was a custom in Israel, that the daugh- 
 ters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephtha 
 the Gileadite four days in a year." — Judges xi. 
 
 ^ Niobe, who was changed into stone for having bragged La- 
 tona with her children. Agathias, an old quaint fool, has the 
 following lines on this hnrd punishment: 
 
 '() rvfjilio^ OVTOT e.ii6ov ovk exct v^kvv^ 
 
 'O VCKpoS" OVTOT £KrO~ OVK I'YEf TO-ipOV.
 
 154 ANTIGONE. [858-907. 
 
 the thrice-renowned griefs of my father, and the fate of all 
 our race, the illustrious children of Labdacus. Woe ! for 
 the curses that attended my mother's bed, the incestuous 
 connection of my wretched mother with my father, from 
 which I, unhappy, formerly sprung ! and now accurst, un- 
 blessed by nuptials, I go to sojourn with my parents. O my 
 brother! having met with an ill fated marriage,^ dying, 
 thou hast destroyed me, yet in life. 
 
 Ch. To act reverently is an act of piety ; but power, to 
 whomsoever power is intrusted, must not in any way be 
 transgressed. Thy self-willed temper has destroyed thee. 
 
 Ant. Unwept, and friendless, and uuwedded, I, wretched, 
 am conducted on this destined way. It is no longer allowed 
 me, unhappy, to look on this luminary's sacred eye ; and no 
 friend mourns mine unwept doom. 
 
 Cr. Know ye not that no one would cease from dirges and 
 wailings before death, if it were of avail to utter them? Will 
 ye not lead her as quickly as possible, having inclosed her, 
 as I directed, in the caverned tomb, leave her by herself 
 alone, whether it is fated she shall die or lead a life entombed 
 in such a dwelling. For we are free from pollution as 
 respects this virgin, but, at all events, she shall be deprived 
 of abode above. 
 
 AxT. O tomb! O bridal chamber! O excavated, ever- 
 guarded dwelling ! where I go to mine own, of whom now 
 perished Proserpine has received the greatest number among 
 the dead, and of whom I descend the last, and by a fate far 
 the most wretched, before having fnltilled my term of life ! 
 Departing, however, I strongly cherish in my hope that I shall 
 come dear to my father, and dear to thee, my mother, and dear 
 to thee, O brother dear; since I, with my own hand, washed 
 you when dead, and decked you out, and poured the libations 
 over your tomb : and now, Polynices, having buried your 
 body, I gain such a reward. And yet, in the opinion of those 
 who have just sentiments, I honored you aright. For nei- 
 ther, though I had been the mother of children, nor though 
 
 ^ Polynices wedded the daughter of Adrastus, king of Argos: 
 and being, from this powerful alliance, induced to undertake 
 the expedition against Thebes, he met with his own death, and 
 entailed a still more wretched fate on his sister.
 
 908-936.] ANTIGONE. 155 
 
 my liusband dying, had mouldered away, would I have un- 
 dertaken this toil against the will of the citizens. On account 
 of what law do I say this? There would have been another 
 husband for me if the first died, and if I lost my child 
 there would have been another from another man ! but my 
 father and my mother being laid in the grave, it is impos- 
 sible a brother should ever be born to me. ^ On the princi- 
 ple of such a law, having preferred you, my brother, to all 
 other considerations, I seemed to Creon to conmiit a sin, and 
 to dare what was dreadful. And now, seizing me by force, 
 he thus leads me away, having never enjoyed the nuptial 
 bed, nor heard the nuptial lay, nor having gained the lot 
 of marriage, nor of rearing my children ; but thus I, an un- 
 happy woman, deserted by my friends, go, while alive, to 
 the cavern of the dead. Having transgressed — what justice 
 of the gods ? what need is there for me, a miserable wretch, 
 to look any longer to the gods? What ally can I invoke, 
 since at least by observing piety I have obtained the reward 
 of impiety? But if these things are good among the gods, 
 suffering, we may be made conscious of our error ; but if 
 my enemies be guilty, may they not suffer more evils than 
 they unjustly inflict on me. 
 
 Ch. The same blasts of the same storms of the soul still 
 possess her. 
 
 Cr. Tears, therefore, shall arise upon those who conduct 
 her, for their slowness. 
 
 Ant. Woe is me ! this command has come close upon 
 death. 
 
 Cr. I give you no hope to console you that these things 
 shall not be consummated in this way. 
 
 1 There is a story in Herodotus, of this very principle hav- 
 ing been acted upon. The whole family of Intaphernes being 
 coudemned to death, his wife prevailed on Darius, by her la- 
 mentations, to grant her the life of one of her kindred. She 
 chose to save her brother, and gave the same reasons as Antig- 
 one for neglecting her husband and children. The two ladies 
 may reason very subtilely on the point, but the principle they 
 go upon is evidently false. The original institution that ''a 
 man should leave his father and his mother, and should cleave 
 unto his wife," is no less agreeable to nature than to reason and 
 revelation. The example of Alcestis will always be more ad- 
 mired than that of the wife of Intaphernes.
 
 156 ANTIGONE. [937-982. 
 
 Ant. O native city of the land of Thebe, and gods of my 
 father's race, I am hurried along, and have no more respite. 
 Behold, ye rulers of Thebes, the last remaining of the royal 
 race, Avhat deeds I suJGfer at the hands of what men for hav- 
 ing revered religion. 
 
 Ch. The form of Danae,^ too, endured to change the light 
 of heaven ; in dungeons secured with brass, and concealed in a 
 sepulchral chamber, she was bound. And yet she was hon- 
 ored in her race, my child, my child, and cherished the 
 seed of Jove, that flowed in golden shower. But the power 
 of fate is a marvellous one. jSTeither tempest, nor war, nor 
 tower, nor black sea-beaten ships, escape its control. To 
 that yoke, too, was bowed the keen-wratlied son of Dryas,'^ 
 king of the Edonians, being prisoned by Bacchus for his 
 virulent temper in the bonds of rock ; and thus he distils 
 the dreadful venom of madness, ever bursting up afresh. 
 He knew, when too late, that^ it was a god he had glanced 
 at in his frenzy with reviling words. For he would have put 
 a stop to the inspired maids and the Bacchic flame ; and he 
 chafed the Muses, the lovers of song. By the Cyanean 
 deeps of the double sea, the shores of the Bosphorus, and 
 the Thracian Salmydessus (wliere Mars dwells near their 
 cities), saw the accursed wound, inflicted with blindness, on 
 the two sons of Pliineus, by a fell stepmother,* a darkening 
 wound, imprinted on the wretched balls of their eyes, with 
 bloody hands, by the spear, and the points of the shuttle; 
 and pining away in misery, they wept the wretched suffer- 
 ings of their mother, who bore the children of an ill- 
 fated marriage. But she owned the seed of the sons of 
 
 1 The Chorus, in this wild and beautiful strain, console An- 
 tigone with the enumeration of other fates as wretched as her 
 own. It has been well enough observed that the examples 
 they quote of Danae and Lycurgus are not compared to her 
 in their crimes, but their suiierings. 
 
 2 The son of Dryas was Lycurgus, who. having routed the 
 Bacchanalians from his territory, was punished by their god 
 with some severe doom, here described as imprisonment, but 
 variously related by various authors. 
 
 •^ Donaldson reads Keii'o~ ETzeyvw ct cvai~. — B. 
 * Idaia, who barbarously put out the eyes of Plexippus and 
 Pandion, the sons of Phineus, by his first wife Cleopatra.
 
 983-1013.] ANTIGONE. 157 
 
 Erecthens,^ of ancient lineage ; and in far distant caves was 
 nursed, amid the storms of her father, a daughter of Boreas,"^ 
 rivaling the steed in swiftness, as she bounded over the lofty 
 mountains, child of heaven ; but even over her, my daughter, 
 the eternal Fates prevailed. 
 
 TiRESiAS. Ye princes of Thebes, we come on this common 
 way, two seeing by one, for the journey of the blind is made 
 by a guide. 
 
 Cr. But what new event, O aged Tiresias, lia^; happened ? 
 
 TiR. I will teach you, and do you obey the prophet. 
 
 Cr. I was not formerly wont to depart from your advice. 
 
 TiR. Wherefore you direct aright the helm of this state. 
 
 Cr. I testify the advantages I have experienced. 
 
 TiR. Consider that you now again stand on the very edge 
 of fate. 
 
 Cr. What is it? How I shudder at your words ! 
 
 TiR. You shall know, hearing the signs of my art. For, 
 sitting down on my ancient augural seat, where was my 
 station for all augury, I hear an unknown sound of birds, 
 beating the air with ill-omened and unwonted fury, and I 
 perceived that they were tearing each other with bloody 
 talons ; for the clashing of their wings gave clear indication. 
 Being alarmed, I straiglitway essayed the divination by fire 
 on the blazing altars ; and from the sacrifice the flame burst 
 not forth, but on the ashes a clammy vapor kept oozing from 
 the thighs, and burned up, and sputtered, and the entrails 
 were scattered in air, and the thighs,^ melting away, fell out 
 from the involving caul. Such expiring* omens of mysterious 
 
 1 Her mother Orithyia was tlie daughter of Erectheus, and 
 wife of Boreas. It was on this claim of kindred that the Athe- 
 nians, in obedience to the oracle, asked the aid of their sou-in- 
 law Boreas during tlie Persian invasion. 
 
 2 Bopeag, dSog^ a patronymic appellation for a nymph descended 
 from Boreas. 
 
 3 The thighs were the part of the sacrifice appropriated to 
 the gods, because, says Eustathius, they are useful to men for 
 walking and generation. It is clear enough that the thighs 
 are considerably useful in these important functions, but why 
 for this reason they should be peculiarly acceptable to the gods 
 is by no means so obvious. 
 
 * <i>eivovT\ evanescentia. Mali ominis erat in ignispiciis quic- 
 quid debile et evanidum erat. — Musgrave.
 
 158 ANTIGONE. [1014-1057. 
 
 rites I learned from this boy ; for he is a guide to me, and I 
 to others. And the city is atflicted with this from your deter- 
 mination ; for our altars, and all our hearths, are full of 
 birds and dogs, feeding on the body of the wretched son of 
 CEdipus; and the gods no longer accept from us tlie sacri- 
 ficial prayer, nor the flame of the thighs ; nor does bird send 
 forth the notes of propitious omen, being gorged with the fat 
 of human gore. These things, therefore, my son, consider; 
 for it is common to all men to err, but when one may err, 
 he is no longer an unwise nor an infatuated man, who, hav- 
 ing fallen into evil, is cured, nor remains immovable. Ob- 
 stinacy incurs the imputation of folly. War not with the 
 fallen, nor wound the dead. What prowess is it to slay the 
 slain? Being well-disposed toward you, I advise you well ; 
 and it is most pleasing to learn from a good adviser, if his 
 advice bring advantage. 
 
 Cr. Old man, ye all, like archers at a mark, discharge 
 your shafts at me ; and I am not unacquainted with the arts 
 of prophets, by the race of whom I have long since been 
 made the subject of barter and traffic. Pursue your gain, 
 make your purchase, if you choose, of the amber of Sardis 
 and the gold of India ; but him ye shall never inclose in the 
 tomb; not even though the eagles of Jove, seizing him as 
 their prey, should bear him to the throne of the god ; not 
 even thus, dreading the pollution, would I permit his burial. 
 For I well know that no mortal is able to pollute the gods. 
 But, O aged Tiresias, even those men who are clever in many 
 things meet with disgraceful falls, when, for the sake of gain, 
 they plead speciously a base argument. 
 
 TiR. Ha ! does any man know, does he consider — 
 
 Cr. What is the matter? What trite saying is this? 
 
 TiR. By how much wisdom is the best of possessions? 
 
 Cr. By so much, methinks, as folly is the greatest bane. 
 
 TiR. You, however, are by nature full of this malady. 
 
 Cr. I do not wish to bandy reproach with a prophet. 
 
 TiR. And yet you do, saying that I prophesy what is 
 false. 
 
 Cr. For all the race of prophets are lovers of gain. 
 
 TiR. But that of kings loves base gain. 
 
 Cr. Do you know that you address what you say to your 
 rulers ?
 
 1058-1091.] ANTIGONE. 159 
 
 _ TiR. I know it ; for, having preserved by my means this 
 city, you sway it. 
 
 Cr. You are a skilful prophet, but given to injustice. 
 
 TiR. You will force me to utter the secrets that lie un- 
 moved in my breast. 
 
 Cr. Move them, only do not speak for gain. 
 
 TiR. For thus do I already seem to have spoken, as far as 
 regards your part ? 
 
 Cr. Know that you shall not sell my resolution. 
 
 TiR. But do you too know well that you shall not any 
 longer see to their end many courses of the sun in rival speed, 
 before that yourself repay one sprung from your own 
 bowels, dead, a recompense fortlie dead, in return for having 
 sent one who was in upper air below the earth, and dishon- 
 orably made a living being to dwell in the tomb, and for 
 having, on the other hand, detained here one debarred from 
 intercourse with the infernal deities, and deprived of funeral 
 obsequies an unhallowed corpse ; in which things neither any 
 concern appertains to you, nor to the gods above. But these 
 things are done with violent injustice by you ; for this, the 
 Furies of Hades, and of the gods, avenging with penal con- 
 sequence, lie in ambush for you, that you may be enthralled 
 by the same misfortunes. See if, induced by money, I proph- 
 esy this; for the lapse of no long time shall exhibit the 
 mourning of men and women in your palace ; and all the 
 states shall be stirred up together in enmity, Hhe mangled 
 bodies of whose citizens or dogs have polluted, or wild beasts, 
 or some winged bird, bearing an unhallowed stench to the 
 altars of the city. Such unerring arrows, since you pain me, 
 I have discharged, like an archer, in anger from my soul, 
 and their warm smart you shall not eacape. But do you, boy, 
 conduct me home, that he may vent his passion upon younger 
 men, and may know to nurse a more temperate tongue, and 
 feelings better than the mind he now bears. 
 
 Ch. The man, O king, has departed, having predicted 
 
 1 Those states that had joined in the expedition, and whose 
 dead were all left unburied. Their being stirred up in enmity 
 is a prophetic allusion to the expedition of the Epigoni, who 
 conquered Thebes to revenge the misfortunes of their fathers 
 before its walls.
 
 i6o ANTIGONE. [1092-1129. 
 
 dreadful events ; and I know, from the time that I changed 
 this hair into white from black, that he never once declared 
 to the city what was false. 
 
 Cr. I also have known it, and I am disturbed in my 
 thoughts ; but to yield were cowardly ; and there is danger 
 that, by resisting, I afflict my mind witli calamity. 
 
 Ch. There is need, O Creon, son of Menoeceus, of prudent 
 counsel. 
 
 Cr. AVhat, in truth, is it requisite to do ? Tell me, and I 
 will obey. 
 
 Ch. Going, release tlie virgin from her subterraneous 
 abode, and j)repare a tomb for the body that lies exposed. 
 
 Cr. And do vou approve of this, and think I ought to 
 yield ? 
 
 Ch. Ay, and as quickly too, O king, as possible, for the 
 swift -footed vengeance of Heaven cuts short those who are of 
 wicked minds. 
 
 Cr. Ah me ! it is with difficulty indeed, but still I am 
 changed from my purpose to do it. We must not maintain 
 an unequal combat with necessity. 
 
 Ch. Going, now, do these things ; do not intrust them to 
 others. 
 
 Cr. Thus, as I am, I will go. But ye attendants, both 
 present and absent, taking axes in your hands, rush to the 
 conspicuous spot ; and since my opinion has been converted 
 in this way, as I myself bound her, so, being present, I will 
 set her at liberty ; for I fear lest it be not best, preserving 
 the established laws, to close life. 
 
 CnoRrs. O thou, who art hailed by many a name,^ glory 
 of the Theban nymph, and son of deeply-thundering Jove, 
 who swayest renowned Italia, and president o'er the rites of 
 Ceres, in the vales of Eleusis, open to all ! O Bacchus, who 
 dwellest in Thebe, the mother city of Bacchanals, by the 
 flowing streams of Ismenus, and the fields where the teeth 
 of the fell dragon were sown ; thee, the smoke beheld as it 
 burst into flame above the double-crested rock,-^ where roam 
 
 ^ Bacchus was rich in names, chiefly derived from his attri- 
 butes. They were Lyseus, Leufeus, Bassareus, Bromius, Euius, 
 Eleleus, Dithyrambus, and fifty others. 
 
 '^ aripoT^ — Xiyvvs-, lucldus, vel candens, fulgidus vapor. — Mus-
 
 1130-1158.] ANTIGONE. i6r 
 
 the Corvcian nymphs/ the votaries of Bacchus, and the fount 
 of Castalia flows ; and thee the ivy-crowned steeps of the 
 Nysian mourftains,^ and the green shore, with its many clus- 
 ters, triumphant send along, -^ amid the immortal words, that 
 hymn thy " Evoe !" to reign the guardian of the streets of 
 Thebe, whom you honor highest of all cities, along with your 
 mother that perished by the thunder. And now, since the 
 city with all its people is enthralled by a violent disease, 
 come Avith healing steps, over the slopes of Parnassus, or the 
 resounding gulf of the sea.* O leader of the choir of flame- 
 breathing stars,^ director of the voices that sound by night, 
 youthful god, son of Jove, reveal thyself along with thy 
 ministering Moenads, the Naxian maids, who maddening 
 through this livelong night, celebrate thee with the dance, 
 thee their lord lacchus, 
 
 Messengee, Ye inhabitants of the abodes of Cadmus and 
 Amphion, it is impossible that I should ever praise or blame 
 the life of man in whatever condition it may be ; for For- 
 tune always raises, and Fortune casts down the prosperous 
 
 grave. This smoke or flame, or both, which denoted the pres- 
 ence or approach of the god on the summits of Parnassus, is 
 frequently celebrated by the poets : 
 
 to) X.a[jinov(ra nerpa Trupor 
 
 6iK6pv(pov (Texas', virip oLKpwv 
 
 BaKX£iMv. Eurip. Phcenissse, 237. 
 
 Cfffa TTvp Trrjod 6eov 
 
 BaKxelcov. Eurip. Ion. 1125 — Tr. 
 
 On the light which was supposed to shine at the approach of 
 a god, see Virg. iEn. I. 406 ; II. 590. Ovid. Fast. I. 94.— B. 
 
 ^ So called from the Cyprian grotto, their consecrated abode 
 at the foot of Mount Parnassus. 
 
 ^ There were various mountains of this name. Nysa, in Eu- 
 bwa, is supposed to be the one alluded to here. 
 
 ■^ ''Triumphant lead." Such is the force of Tri^nreiv, when 
 speaking of a god led in procession. ^Esch. Eum. 12, niinrovcri 
 6' avrou Kal (re/JUovaii' jxiya. Sedulius Paschal. 18, uses a semi- 
 barbarous word, "pompare:" " Grandisonis compare niodis.'^ 
 With the whole description compare Aristoph. Thesmoph. 988, 
 sqq. ; Ean. 325, sqq. — B. 
 
 * Crossing from Eubcea to Boeotia. 
 
 ^ Some take these words literally, others regard them as fig- 
 urative of the torches borne by the Bacchanals. 
 8*
 
 l62 ANTIGONE. [1159-1183. 
 
 and the unprosperous, and no one is prescient of what is de- 
 creed for mortals. For Creon once, as appeared to me, was 
 enviable, having preserved this land of CadnTns from the 
 enemy, and receiving the complete dominion of the country, 
 he directed it, happily flourishing with a noble race of chil- 
 dren ; and now all is gone. For when a person loses the 
 pleasures of life, I do not consider him to live, but look upon 
 him as the living dead. Let him have great wealth, if you 
 choose, in his house, and live with the outward splendor of 
 a king ; but if joy be wanting to these, I Avould not jiurchase 
 the rest with the shadow of smoke compared with the real 
 pleasures. 
 
 Ch. What burden of sorrow on our princes is this again, 
 that you come to tell ? 
 
 Mess. They ai-e dead ; and the living are guilty of their 
 death. 
 
 Ch. And who was the slayer? and who is the slain? 
 Speak. 
 
 Mess. Hfemon has perished, and by a suicidal hand he is 
 dyed with blood. 
 
 Ch. Whetber by his fathers hand, or his own?^ 
 
 Mess. Himself, by his own hand, being angry with his 
 father on account of the murder. 
 
 Ch. O prophet ! how correctly have you declared this 
 prediction ! 
 
 Mess. As these things being so, you may deliberate on the 
 rest. 
 
 Ch. And in truth I see near at hand the wretched Eu- 
 rydice, M'ife of Creon ; and having neither heard of her son, 
 or by chance, she is passing from the palace. 
 
 EuRYDiCE. O all ye citizens, I heard the rumor, at least, 
 
 1 The ignorance of fat-brained commentators has led them 
 to make a row about this question being put by the Chorus, 
 after the Messenger had announced the death of Htemon by 
 his own hand. The scholiast, simple soul, will have it that 
 the Chorus, in their agitation, heard no more than the words, 
 " Hfemon has perished." Musgrave and Heath blunder in an 
 equally pitiahle manner. Any one who had read ten lines of 
 Greek poetry ought to have known that the dying by a kindred 
 hand was considered and spoken of as suicide. — Tr. Cf. Lid- 
 dell, s. v.— B.
 
 II84-I222.] ANTIGONE. 163 
 
 as I Avas going out in order that I might repair to the temple 
 of the goddess Pallas, lier suppliant in prayer ; and I chance 
 to be undoing the bars of the fastened gate, and the voice of 
 domestic affliction strikes my ears. Moved by terror, I fall 
 prostrate in the arms of my attendants and faint away. But 
 Avhatever was the tale, repeat it ; for not untried by misfor- 
 tune, I shall hear it. 
 
 Mess. I, my dear mistress, being present, will tell it, and 
 I will not omit a word of the truth. For why should 1 alle- 
 viate that to you in which I should afterward be detected 
 of falsehood? The truth is always right. I followed your 
 husband an attendant on foot to the extremity of the plain, 
 where still lay the unpitied body of Polynices, mangled by 
 dogs ; and him, indeed, having implored the goddess that is 
 placed in the highways,^ and Pluto to have a gracious will, 
 we bathed with holy lavations, and having consumed what 
 remained of the body, with fresh-plucked boughs, and piled 
 up a lofty barrow of his native soil, we again repair to the 
 rocky cavern, the bridal chamber of the grave's betrothed. 
 And some one hears at a distance the voice of loud lament 
 beside that unconsecrated chamber, and hastening he tells it 
 to our master, Creon ; but round him, as he approached 
 nearer, there float the indistinct notes of wretched wailing, 
 and shrieking, he utters these mournful words: "O un- 
 happy me ! am I then a true prophet? Do I now advance 
 on the most ill fated Avay of all that I have gone before ? 
 The voice of my son greets^ me. Go with speed, ye attend- 
 ants, nearer, and standing by the tomb, ascertain, having 
 penetrated the cleft made by drawing away the stone close 
 to the mouth, whether I hear the voice of H<3emon, or am 
 deceived by the gods." On the command of our despond- 
 ing master we examined the place, and we see in the extrem- 
 ity of the tomb the virgin, hanging by the neck, suspended 
 in the woven noose of her linen robe, and the youth lying 
 beside her, with his arms around her waist, deploring the 
 
 1 Trivia, Hecate, or Proserpine. 
 
 2 (raivei. There is some difficulty in this word. Perhaps if 
 we consider the provincialism by which "greeting" is used 
 for " weeping," the word will appear less inapposite than other- 
 wise. — B.
 
 l64 ANTIGONE. [i 223-1 248. 
 
 destruction of his bride below the earth, and the deeds of 
 his father, and his ill-starred nuptials. But Creon, when 
 he sees him, having uttered a dismal groan, goes in toward 
 him, and in the loud tone of grief calls on him: "O 
 Avretched man, what sort of deed have you done? What 
 mind had you? In what circumstances of calamity 
 are you ruined ? Come forth, my son, suppliant I beseech 
 you." But his son, ghiring on him with savage eyes, spit- 
 ting on liis face,^ and replying nothing, draws his double- 
 edged sword ;- but his father rushing aAvay in flight, he 
 missed him ; then the ill-fated man, enraged with himself, 
 immediately stretching out"* the sword, drove it to the mid- 
 dle in his side, and still in possession of his senses, with his 
 enfeebled arm he embraces the virgin,* and gasping, he casts 
 a swift gush of gory drops on her pallid cheek. And dead 
 by the dead the hapless youth lies, having obtained his nup- 
 tial rites in the mansions of Pluto, a proof to the world of 
 rashness, how it attaclies to man the greatest of his ills. 
 
 Ch. What can you conjecture this to mean? The woman 
 has some time since disappeared before uttering word, good 
 or bad.^ 
 
 Mess. I myself am also astonished ; but I live in the hope 
 that, hearing the calamities of her son, she does not deign 
 to make her lamentations public, but within, beneath the 
 
 1 I prefer " spurning him with his glance."' Bulwer adheres 
 to the other interpretation. — B. 
 
 ■^ Aristotle very justly finds fault with this incident. There 
 is something horrible and unnatural in the attempt of a son 
 to slay his own father; and since he fails to execute his pur- 
 pose, there is no tragical effect produced. The spectator ought 
 not to be shocked unnecessarily. 
 
 3 c-EVTaOsts- pro tTreireivdf^iei'or. Sic, ut erat, eusem intentans. 
 — Musojrave. 
 
 ■* This description of the two ill-fated lovers, the dying and 
 the dead, contains the very essence of poetry and tragic beauty. 
 A finer subject for a picture cannot well be imagined. 
 
 ^ There is something very striking and fearful in the moody 
 silence of deep passion and despair. 
 
 SeSotx^ OTTwr 
 
 fi!) \ rfjsr (Tiwn-fiT rfjao' dvapprjiei KaKti. — CEdip. Tvran. 1074. 
 
 A few lines below, the Chorus also expresses this same feeling 
 of apprehension from the same cause.
 
 I249-I280.] ANTIGONE. 165 
 
 roof of the palace, will appoint her maids to mourn a domes- 
 tic sorrow ; for she is not devoid of judgment, so as to com- 
 mit what is im]3roper. 
 
 Ch. I know not ; for to me, at least, a deep silence seems 
 to portend something grievous, and an excess of clamorous 
 grief to be without consequence. 
 
 Mess. But going within the palace, we will inform our- 
 selves whether she secretly conceals in her enraged heart 
 any unlawful purpose; for your suggestion is good, and 
 there is something grievous in too deep silence. 
 
 Ch. And in truth here comes the king himself, having a 
 memorable token in his hand,^ if we may lawfully so say — 
 no calamity from a foreign source, but he himself its guilty 
 author. 
 
 \_Enter Creon, leaning upon the body of his son, borne on 
 a litter. ] 
 
 Cr. Alas ! the irreparable and deadly errors of a per- 
 verted mind ! O ye, who look on the kindred slayers and 
 the slain ! Oh me ! for the infatuation of my counsels ! O 
 my son ! my son ! in your youth by an untimely fate [woe, 
 woe, woe, woe !], thou hast died, thou hast departed by mine, 
 not thy rashness ! 
 
 Ch. Ah me ! how you seem too late to perceive justice ! 
 
 Cr. Ah me ! I wretched gain it by experience ; and on 
 my head the god then dashed with heavy impulse, and 
 drove me on to furious ways ; having, alas ! overturned to 
 be trampled beneath foot my former joy. Alas ! alas ! O the 
 toils of mortals ! hapless toils ! 
 
 Messenger. O master, how, both having the possessing, 
 you bear these evils in your hands, and you seem coming 
 soon about to behold other evils in your palace. 
 
 1 Creou, it would appear from this, comes in, carrying the 
 dead body of Hsemou. Shakespeare, in a similar way, intro- 
 duces Lear with Cordelia iu his arms. This iucideut is well 
 calculated for stage effect; but the Goths who have mangled 
 Lear for representation, have now left out the scene of "that 
 fair dead daughter." — Tr. Macready, however, has shown his 
 wonted judgment by its restoration. In the present scene, 
 Vaudenhoff's action and declamation merited the highest com- 
 mendation. — B.
 
 i66 ANTIGONE. [1281-1325. 
 
 Cr. And what, after these calamities, is there still more 
 calamitous ? 
 
 Mess. Your wife is dead, the fall mother of this corpse, 
 in an mihappy fate by wounds just fresh inflicted. 
 
 Cr. O port of the grave, that no expiation may soothe, 
 why, why do you destroy me ? O thou that hast conveyed 
 to me the evil tidings of sorrow, what a tale dost thou tell? 
 Alas ! alas ! thou hast a second time dispatched a dead man. 
 What, O man, dost thou say? What new intelligence dost 
 thou deliver? Woe, woe, woe, Avoe ! that the death of my 
 wife by murder is added to the destruction of my son ? 
 
 Mess. You may behold it ; for the body is no longer in 
 the inner recesses. 
 
 [By a movement of the eKKVK'Xru.ia the scene opens and discovers' 
 the body of Eurydice, surrounded by her cdtendants.'\ 
 
 Cr. Woe is me ! this other succeeding evil I wretched 
 behold. What then, what fate yet awaits me? I, an un- 
 happy wretch, am already bearing in my arms my son, and 
 I see opposite that other dead body. Alas I alas, O wretched 
 mother ! alas, my son I 
 
 Mess. She, in keen anger, falling down beside the altar, 
 closes her darkening eyes, having lirst, indeed, bewailed the 
 illustrious bed of Megareus, who formerly died, and again of 
 him before us ; and last, having imprecated a baneful fortune 
 on you, the murderer of your children. 
 
 Cr. Woe, woe, woe, woe ! I am fluttered with fear. Why 
 does not some one wound me through Avith a two-edged 
 sword? A wretched man am I, alas ! alas ! and in a wretched 
 fate am I involved. 
 
 Mess. As being guilty at least of both the one fate and the 
 other, you were denounced by her as she died. 
 
 Cr. But in what way did she depart from life in the 
 slaughter ? 
 
 Mess. Having with her own hand pierced herself below 
 the liver, when she heard the deeply-mournful sufferings 
 of her son. 
 
 Cr. Woe is me ; this guilt will never apply to any other 
 but me ; for I, a miserable wretch, I have slain thee ; I say 
 the truth. O ye attendants, conduct me, with all speed con- 
 duct me without ; me, who am no more than nothingness.
 
 1326-1353-] ANTIGONE. 167 
 
 Ch. You bid what profits, if there be any aught that profits 
 in misfortunes; for present evils, when shortest are best. 
 
 Cr. I^et it come, let it come, let the last of my fates appear, 
 bringing most happily to me the close of my days : let it 
 come, let it come, so that I may never behold another day. 
 
 Mess. Those things are future ; of these things present 
 command what we ought to do; for otliers are a care to 
 those whom it behooves to have this care. 
 
 Cr. But I prayed for those things I desire. 
 
 Mess. Pray now for nothing ; since there is no escape to 
 mortals from predestined calamity. 
 
 [Creon is led off. ] 
 
 Cr. Lead away now without this shadow of a man, who, 
 O my son, unwillingly slew thee, and thee, too, my wife. 
 O wretched man that I am ! I neither know whither nor 
 to whom I should look ; for every thing misguided, both in 
 my hands and over my head, has an intolerable fate made 
 to burst upon me. 
 
 Ch. To be wise is the first part of happiness ; and it be- 
 hooves us not to be guilty of irreverence in those things at 
 least that concern the gods ; for the haughty words of the 
 vaunting, paying the penalty of severe aflliction, have taught 
 wisdom to old age.
 
 The Hamilton, Locke i^^ Clark 
 
 SERIES OF 
 
 Interlinear Translations 
 
 Have long been the Standard and are now the Best 
 Translated and Most Complete Series of Interlinears 
 published. 
 
 i2mo., well bound in Half Leather. 
 Price reduced to $1.50 each. Postpaid to any address. 
 
 Latin Interlinear Translations : 
 VIRGIL— By Hart and Osborne. 
 C^SAR — By Hamilton and Clark. 
 HORACE— By Stirling, Nuttall and Clark. 
 CICERO — By Hamilton and Clark. 
 SALLUST — By Hamilton and Clark. 
 OVID— By George W. Heilig. 
 JUVENAL — By Hamilton and Clark. 
 LIVY — By Hamilton and Clark. 
 CORNELIUS NEPOS— 
 
 By Hamilton and Underwood. 
 
 Greek Interlinear Translatio7is : 
 HOMER'S ILIAD— By Thomas Clark. 
 XENOPHON'S ANABASIS— By Hamilton and Clark. 
 GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN— By George W. Heilig. 
 
 S. Austin Allibone, the distinguished author, writes : 
 
 " There is a growing disapprobation, both in Great Britain and America, 
 of the disproportionate length of time devoted by the youthful student to 
 the acquisition of the dead languages : and therefore nothing will tend so 
 effectually to the preservation of the Greek and Latin grammars as their 
 judicious union (the fruit of an intelligent compromise) with the Interlinear 
 Classics." 
 
 DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia. 
 
 Formerly published by Charles De Silver & Sons.
 
 '■F?^'^<=^^^^. ^Ti -V^ <) e%^^ Iw-r^^ v^ 
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
 REC'OMUS-LIB 
 
 APR 1 5 1996
 
 
 IllllilllllllllllililllllllllillllllllllU 
 B 000 002 389 5 
 
 MM.^
 
 iilii:i|3iiiiiilSiiiip 
 
 i |5 
 
 
 A 
 
 II 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 Sifiiiia^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 
 • I: ^/-.'..it 
 
 'M.^mm^-'^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 
 mmMSSMmmimmmmi'B:m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 A^ 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 <"^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ =" ^ 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 M? 
 
 
 "5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1