Seneca: FABULAE

Oedipus Caeci parentis regimen, ac fessi unicum
Lateris leuamen, nata, quam tanti est mihi
Genuisse uel sic, desere infaustum patrem.
In recta quid deflectis errantem gradum?
Permitte labi: melius inueniam uiam, 5
Quam quaero; solus, quae me ab hac uita extrahat,
Et hoc nefandi capitis aspectu leuet
Coelum atque terras.

Oedipus Governance of your blind parent, and the sole alleviation of my weary flank, daughter, for whom it is of such worth to me to have begotten even thus, abandon your ill-fated father.
Why do you deflect my errant step into the straight?
Permit me to slip: I shall better find the way I seek, 5
alone, the way that may draw me out from this life,
and relieve heaven and earth of the sight of this nefarious head.

Quantulum hac egi manu!
Non uideo noxae conscium nostrae diem;
Sed uideor. Hinc iam solue inhaerentem manum, 10
Et patere caecum, qua uolet, ferri pedem.

How little have I done with this hand!
I do not see a day conscious of our guilt;
But I seem to. From here now, loosen the clinging hand, 10
and allow the blind foot to be borne where it will.

Ibo, ibo, qua praerupta protendit iuga
Meus Cithaeron; qua peragrato celer
Per saxa monte iacuit Actaeon, suis
Noua praeda canibus; qua per obscurum nemus, 15

I will go, I will go, where precipitous ridges are stretched forth
by my Cithaeron; where, the mountain traversed, swift
among the rocks Actaeon lay, to his own
dogs a new prey; where through the dark grove, 15

Siluamque opacae uallis instinctas deo
Egit sorores mater, et gaudens malo,
Vibrante fixum praetulit thyrso caput;
Vel qua cucurrit corpus inuisum trahens
Zethi iuuencus, qua per horrentes rubos 20
Tauri ferocis sanguis ostentat fugas;
Vel qua alta maria uertice immenso premit
Inoa rupes, qua scelus fugiens sui,
Nouumque faciens, mater insiluit freto
Mersura natum seque. Felices, quibus 20
Fortuna melior tam bonas matres dedit!

And through the forest of the opaque valley the mother drove her sisters, instigated by the god, and, rejoicing in the evil, she bore before her the head fixed on the quivering thyrsus;
Or where the steer of Zethus ran, dragging the hated body, where through bristling brambles the blood of the ferocious bull displays its flights; 20
Or where the rock of Ino with its immense summit presses the deep seas, where, fleeing her own crime and making a new one, the mother leapt into the strait, about to drown her son and herself. Happy those to whom a better Fortune has given such good mothers! 20

Est alius istis noster in siluis locus,
Qui me reposcit; hanc petam cursu incito;
Non haesitabit gressus; huc omni duce
Spoliatus ibo. Quid moror sedes meas? 30
Montem, Cithaeron, redde, et hospitium mihi
Illud meum restitue, ut exspirem senex,
Ubi debui infans. Recipe supplicium uetus
Semper cruente, saeue, crudelis, ferox,
Quum occidis, et quum parcis: olim iam tuum 35
Est hoc cadauer: perage mandatum patris,
Iam et matris: animus gestit antiqua exsequi
Supplicia.

There is another place of ours in these woods,
which demands me back; this one I shall seek at an incited run;
my step will not hesitate; hither, stripped of every guide,
I shall go. Why do I delay my seats? 30
Mountain, Cithaeron, give me back, and restore to me
that lodging of mine, that I may breathe out as an old man,
where I ought as an infant. Receive the old punishment—
ever blood-stained, savage, cruel, ferocious—
both when you kill, and when you spare: long since now yours 35
is this cadaver. Carry through the mandate of the father,
now also of the mother: my spirit longs to execute the ancient
punishments.

Quid me, nata, pestifero tenes
Amore uinctum? quid tenes? genitor uocat.

Why do you hold me, daughter, bound by pestiferous love? Why do you hold me? The genitor calls.

Sequor, sequor: iam parce - sanguineum gerens 40

I follow, I follow: now spare—bearing the bloodstained 40

Insigne regni Laius rapti furit;
Et ecce inanes manibus infestis petit
Foditque uultus. Nata, genitorem uides?
Ego uideo --. Tandem spiritum inimicum exspue,
Desertor anime, fortis in partem tui; 45
Omitte poenas languidas longae morae,
Mortemque totam recipe.

The ensign of the kingdom of Laius, ravished, rages;
and lo, with hostile hands he aims at the empty features
and digs at his face. Daughter, do you see your begetter?
I see —. At last spit out the inimical spirit,
Deserter, my soul, be brave against a part of yourself; 45
Leave off the languid penalties of long delay,
and receive death entire.

Quid segnis traho
Quod uiuo? nullum facere iam possum scelus -
Possum miser! praedico, discede a patre;
Discede, uirgo: timeo post matrem omnia. 50

Why, sluggish, do I drag on
that I live? I can now commit no crime -
I can, wretch! I forewarn, depart from your father;
Depart, virgin: after the mother I fear everything. 50

Antigone Vis nulla, genitor, a tuo nostram manum
Corpore resoluet: nemo me comitem tibi
Eripiet unquam. Labdaci claram domum,
Opulenta ferro regna germani petant;
Pars summa magni patris e regno mea est 55
Pater ipse: non hunc auferet frater mihi,
Thebana rapto sceptra qui regno tenet;
Non hunc cateruas alter Argolicas agens.
Non si reuulso Iupiter mundo tonet,
Mediumque nostros fulmen in nexus cadat, 60
Manum hanc remittam: prohibeas, genitor, licet,
Regam abnuentem; dirigam inuiti gradum.

Antigone No force, father, shall loosen our hand from your body:
no one will ever tear me, your companion, from you. Let the brothers seek
the illustrious house of Labdacus, let them seek opulent kingdoms by the sword;
the highest share from the realm of my great father is mine—
the father himself: my brother shall not take him from me, 55
he who holds the Theban scepters in a usurped kingdom;
nor shall the other, leading Argolic battalions, take him.
Not even if Jupiter thunder with the world torn asunder,
and a thunderbolt fall right into the midst of our bonds,60
will I relax this hand: though you forbid it, father,
I will guide one refusing; I will direct the reluctant step.

In plana tendis? uado: praerupta appetis?
Non obsto, sed praecedo: quouis utere
Duce me; duobus omnis eligitur uia 65

Do you make for the plains? I go; do you seek the precipices?
I do not obstruct, but I go before: use me as guide wheresoever;
for two, every way is chosen. 65

Perire sine me non potes; mecum potes.
Hic alta rupes arduo surgit iugo,
Spectatque longe spatia subiecti maris.
Vis hanc petamus?

You cannot perish without me; with me you can.
Here a lofty crag rises with a steep ridge,
and afar it beholds the spaces of the sea lying beneath.
Do you wish we make for it?

Nudus hic pendet silex;
Hic scissa tellus faucibus ruptis hiat: 70
Vis hanc petamus? Hic rapax torrens cadit,
Partesque lapsi montis exesas rotat;
In hunc ruamus. Dum prior, quo uis, eo.
Non deprecor, non hortor.

Here a bare rock hangs;
here the cleft earth gapes with rent jaws: 70
Do you wish we make for this? Here a rapacious torrent falls,
and it whirls the eaten-away parts of a slipping mountain;
into this let us rush. So long as you go first, I go where you wish.
I do not deprecate, I do not exhort.

Exstingui cupis,
Votumque, genitor, maximum mors est tibi? 75 Si moreris, antecedo: si uiuis, sequor.
Sed flecte mentem; pectus antiquum aduoca,
Victasque magno robore aerumnas doma.
Resiste: tantis in malis uinci malum est.

Do you long to be extinguished,
and is death, father, your greatest vow? 75 If you die, I go before; if you live, I follow.
But bend your mind; call upon your ancient heart,
and with great strength subdue the hardships once conquered.
Resist: amid such great ills, to be vanquished is an evil.

Oedipus Unde in nefanda specimen egregium domo? 80
Unde ista generi uirgo dissimilis suo?
Fortuna, credis? aliquis est ex me pius?

Oedipus Whence, in a nefarious house, a distinguished specimen? 80
Whence this maiden unlike her own lineage?
Fortune, do you think? Is there anyone sprung from me who is pious?

Non esset umquam, fata benenoui mea,
Nisi ut noceret. Ipsa se in leges nouas
Natura uertet, regeret in fontem citas 85
Reuolutus undas amnis, et noctem afferet
Phoebea lampas, Hesperus faciet diem.
Ut ad miserias aliquid accedat meas,
Pii quoque erimus.

She would never be, I well know my fates, except to harm. Nature herself will turn into new laws, will drive back to the fount the swift 85
waves, the river rolled back, and the Phoebean lamp will bring night; Hesperus will make day. So that something may be added to my miseries, we too shall be pious.

Unica Oedipodae est salus,
Non esse saluum. Liceat ulcisci patrem 90

The only salvation for Oedipus is not to be safe.
Let it be permitted to avenge my father 90

Adhuc inultum. Dextra quid cessas iners
Exigere poenas? quidquid exactum est adhuc,
Matri dedisti.

Still unavenged. Right hand, why do you delay, inert,
to exact penalties? Whatever has been exacted thus far,
you have given to the mother.

Mitte genitoris manum,
Animosa uirgo: funus extendis meum,
Longasque uiui ducis exsequias patris. 95
Aliquando terra corpus inuisum tege.
Peccas honesta mente: pietatem uocas,
Patrem insepultum trahere. Qui cogit mori
Nolentem, in aequo est, quique properantem impedit.

Let go the father’s hand,
high-spirited virgin: you extend my funeral,
and you conduct the long exequies of a living father. 95
At last let earth cover the hated body.
You sin with an honorable mind: you call it piety
to drag a father unburied. He who compels to die
one unwilling is on the same footing as he who impedes one hastening.

Occidere est, uetare cupientem mori. 100
Nec tamen in aequo est: alterum grauius reor:
Malo imperari, quam eripi mortem mihi.
Desiste coepto, uirgo: ius uitae ac necis
Meae penes me est. Regna deserui libens;
Regnum mei retineo.

To kill is to forbid one desiring to die. 100
Nor, however, is it on equal terms: I reckon the latter more grievous:
I prefer to be commanded, rather than that death be snatched from me.
Desist from the undertaking, maiden: the right of my life and death
rests with me. I deserted kingdoms willingly;
I retain the kingdom of myself.

Si fida es comes, 105

If you are a faithful companion, 105

Ensem parenti trade, sed notum nece
Ensem paterna. Tradis? an nati tenent
Cum regno et illum?

Hand over the sword to the parent, but the sword noted by the paternal slaying;
do you hand it over? Or do the sons hold that too along with the kingdom?

faciet, ubicunque est, scelus.
Ibi sit; relinquo: natus hunc habeat meus,
Sed uterque. Flammas potius et uastum aggerem 110
Compone: in altos ipse me immittam rogos.

He will commit, wherever he is, the crime.
Ibid let him be; I relinquish it: let my son have this,
But let both. Rather, set in order the flames and a vast agger 110
Compose it: I myself will hurl myself into the high pyres.

Erectam ad ignes funebrem escendam struem,
Pectusque soluam durum, et in cineres dabo
Hoc quidquid in me uiuit. Ubi saeuum est mare?
Duc, ubi sit altis prorutum saxis iugum, 115
Ubi torta rapidus ducat Ismenos uada:
Duc, ubi ferae sint, ubi fretum, ubi praeceps locus,
Si dux es. Illuc ire morituro placet,
Ubi sedit alta rupe semifero dolos
Sphinx ore nectens: dirige huc gressus pedum, 120

I will ascend the funeral heap erected for the fires,
and I will loosen my hard breast, and into ashes I will give
this whatever lives in me. Where is the savage sea?
Lead me where a ridge has been toppled by lofty rocks, 115
where the rapid Ismenus leads twisted shallows:
Lead me where there are wild beasts, where a strait, where a headlong place,
if you are a leader. It pleases one about to die to go there,
where the Sphinx sat on a high crag, weaving wiles
with a half‑beast mouth: direct hither the steps of my feet, 120

Hic siste patrem: dira ne sedes uacet,
Monstrum repone maius. Hoc saxum insidens
Obscura nostrae uerba fortunae loquar,
Quae nemo soluat. Quisquis Assyrio loca
Possessa regi scindis, et Cadmi nemus 125
Serpente notum, sacra quo Dirce latet,
Supplex adoras, quisquis Eurotam bibis,
Spartenque fratre nobilem gemino colis,
Quique Elin et Parnason, et Boeotios
Colonus agros uberis tondes soli, 130
Aduerte mentem: saeua Thebarum lues
Luctifica caecis uerba committens modis,
Quid simile posuit?

Here halt the father: let not the dread seat stand empty,
replace a greater Monster. Sitting upon this rock
I will speak obscure words of our fortune,
which no one will solve. Whoever cleaves the places
possessed by the Assyrian king, and the grove of Cadmus 125
famed for the Serpent, where holy Dirce lies hidden,
a suppliant you adore; whoever drinks the Eurotas,
and you tend Sparta, noble by the twin-brother,
and you who crop Elis and Parnassus, and you, Colonus,
shear the Boiotian fields of rich soil— 130
give heed: the savage bane of Thebes,
yoking mournful words in blind modes,
what like has it posed?

quid tam inextricabile?
Aui gener, patrisque riualis sui,
Frater suorum liberum, et fratrum parens; 135

what so inextricable?
Grandfather's son-in-law, and rival of his own father,
Brother of his children, and parent of his brothers; 135

Uno auia partu liberos peperit uiro,
Sibi et nepotes. Monstra quis tanta explicet?
Ego ipse, uictae spolia qui Sphingis tuli,
Haerebo, fati tardus interpres mei.

In a single childbirth a grandmother bore children to her husband,
for herself and for her grandsons. Who could explicate such great monstrosities?
I myself, who carried off the spoils of the conquered Sphinx,
shall stick fast, a tardy interpreter of my fate.

Quid perdis ultra uerba? quid pectus ferum 140
Mollire tentas precibus? hoc animo sedit,
Effundere hanc cum morte luctantem diu
Animam, et tenebras petere: nam sceleri haec meo
Parum alta nox est.

Why do you waste words further? Why do you try to mollify a fierce breast 140
with prayers? This is settled in my mind,
to pour out this soul, long wrestling with death,
and to seek the shadows: for for my crime this night
is not deep enough.

Tartaro condi iuuat,
Et si quid ultra Tartarum est. Tandem libet, 145
Quod olim oportet. Morte prohiberi haud queo.

It pleases me to be entombed in Tartarus,
and, if there is anything beyond Tartarus. At last it pleases, 145
to do what long ago behooves. I cannot be kept from death.

Ferrum negabis? noxias lapso uias
Cludes? et arctis colla laqueis inseri
Prohibebis?

Will you deny the iron? the noxious ways to the lapsed
will you close? and the necks to be inserted into tight nooses
will you prohibit?

herbas, quae feront letum, auferes?
Quid ista tandem cura proficiet tua? 150

herbs, which bear death, will you remove?
What, at last, will that care of yours profit? 150

Ubique mors est. Optime hoc cauit deus.
Eripere uitam nemo non homini potest;
At nemo mortem: mille ad hanc aditus patent.

Death is everywhere. God has most excellently provided for this.
To snatch life away, anyone can do so to a man;
But no one can take away death: a thousand approaches to this stand open.

Nil quaero: dextra noster et nuda solet
Bene animus uti. Dextra, nunc toto impetu, 155
Toto dolore, uiribus totis ueni.
Non destino unum uulneri nostro locum.

I seek nothing: our spirit, even bare, is accustomed
to use the right hand well. Right hand, now with total impetus, 155
With total dolor, with all strength, come.
I do not designate one place for our wound.

Totus nocens sum: qua uoles, mortem exige.
Effringe corpus, corque tot scelerum capax
Euelle; totos uiscerum nuda sinus. 160
Fractum incitatis ictibus guttur sonet;
Laceraeue fixis unguibus uenae fluant.
Aut dirige iras, quo soles: haec uulnera
Rescissa multo sanguine ac tabe irriga.

Wholly guilty I am: wherever you wish, exact death.
Shatter the body, and the heart capable of so many crimes
tear out; lay bare the whole recesses of the viscera. 160
Let the fractured gullet resound with incited blows;
or let lacerated veins flow, with nails fixed.
Or direct your wraths where you are wont: these wounds,
torn open, irrigate with much blood and corruption.

Hac extrahe animam, duram, inexpugnabilem. 165

With this, draw out the spirit, hard, inexpugnable. 165

Et tu, parens, ubicunque poenarum arbiter
Adstas mearum non ego hoc tantum scelus
Ulla expiari credidi poena satis
Unquam, nec ista morte contentus fui,
Nec me redemi parte: membratim tibi 170
Volui perire, debitum tandem exige:
Nunc soluo poenas; tunc tibi inferias dedi.
Ades, atque inertem dexteram introrsus preme,
Magisque merge: timida tum paruo caput
Libauit haustu, uixque cupientes sequi 175
Eduxit oculos. Haeret etiam nunc mihi
Ille animus, haeret, cum recusantem manum
pressere uultus.

And you too, parent, wherever you stand as arbiter of my punishments,
I did not believe that this so great a crime could ever be expiated enough
by any penalty, nor was I content with that death,
nor did I redeem myself in part: limb by limb for you 170
I wished to perish; exact at last the debt:
now I pay the penalties; then I gave to you funeral offerings.
Be present, and press my inert right hand inward,
and plunge it more: then, timid, with a small draught she sipped the rim,
and scarcely drew forth eyes eager to follow. 175
That spirit still clings to me, it clings, when the faces
pressed the refusing hand.

Audies uerum, Oedipe:
Minus eruisti lumina audacter tua,
Quam praestitisti. Nunc manum cerebro indue. 180

You will hear the truth, Oedipus:
Less boldly did you tear out your eyes
than you have professed. Now put your hand into your brain. 180

Hac parte mortem perage, qua coepit mori.

Complete death by this part, where it began to die.

Antigone Pauca, o parens magnanime, miserandae precor
Ut uerba natae mente placata audias.
Non te ut reducam ueteris ad specimen domus,
Habitumque regni flore pollentem inclito; 185
Peto; ast ut iras, tempore aut ipsa mora
Fractas, remisso pectore ac placido feras.
Et hoc decebat roboris tanti uirum,
Non esse sub dolore, nec uictum malis
Dare terga.

Antigone A few things, O magnanimous parent, I—pitiable—pray
that you hear the words of your daughter with a placated mind.
I do not ask to lead you back to the specimen of the ancient house,
and to the habit of the kingdom, flourishing with renowned flower; 185
I ask; but that your angers, broken by time or by the delay itself,
you may bear with a relaxed and placid breast.
And this befitted a man of such great robustness,
not to be under grief, nor, overcome by evils,
to give his back.

Non est, ut putas, uirtus, pater, 190
Timere uitam, sed malis ingentibus
Obstare, nec se uertere, ac retro dare.
Qui fata proculcauit, ac uitae bona
Proiecit, atque abcidit, et casus suos
Onerauit ipse, cui deo nullo est opus, 195

It is not, as you suppose, father, virtue, 190
to fear life, but to stand against immense evils,
and not to turn oneself, and to give ground backward.
He who has trampled the fates, and the goods of life
has cast away and cut off, and has himself heaped weight upon his own misfortunes,
for whom there is need of no god, 195

Quare ille mortem cupiat, aut quare petat?
Utrumque timidi est.: nemo contemsit mori,
Qui concupiuit. Cuius haud ultra mala
Exire possunt, in loco tuto est situs.

Why should he desire death, or why seek it?
Both are of the timid: no one has contemned dying,
Who has coveted it. He whose evils can by no means go further
Is set in a safe place.

Quis iam deorum, uelle fac, quidquam potest 200
Malis tuis adiicere? iam nec tu potes,
Nisi hoc, ut esse te putes dignum nece.
Non es; nec ulla pectus hoc culpa attigit.

Who now of the gods—suppose he were willing—can add anything to your evils? 200
And now not even you can,
except this: to think that you are worthy of death.
You are not; nor has any culpability touched this breast.

Et hoc magis te, genitor, insontem uoca,
Quod innocens es, diis quoque inuitis. Quid est 205
Quod te efferarit, quod nouos suffixerit
Stimulos dolori? quid te ad infernas agit
Sedes?

And all the more for this, call yourself, father, guiltless,
since you are innocent, even with the gods unwilling. What is it 205
that has made you wild, that has fastened new
goads to your sorrow? what drives you to the infernal
seats?

quid ex his pellit? ut careas die?
Cares; ut altis nobilem muris domum,
Patriamque fugias?

what out of these expels you? that you be without the day?
You are; that you flee your noble house with high walls,
And your fatherland?

patria tibi uiuo periit. 210

your homeland has perished for you while you live. 210

Natos fugis, matremque? ab aspectu omnium
Fortuna te submouit, et quidquid potest
Auferre cuiquam mors, tibi haec uita abstulit.
Regni tumultus, turba fortunae prior
Abscessit a te iussa.

Do you flee your children, and your mother? From the sight of all Fortune has removed you, and whatever death can carry off from anyone, this life has taken from you.
The tumult of the kingdom, the prior crowd of Fortune, has withdrawn from you, at her bidding.

Quem, genitor, fugis? 215

Whom, father, do you flee? 215

Oedipus Me fugio; fugio conscium scelerum omnium
Pectus, manumque hanc fugio, et hoc caelum, et deos:
Et dira fugio scelera, quae feci nocens.
Ego hoc solum, frugifera quo surgit Ceres,
Premo? has ego auras ore pestifero traho? 220
Ego laticis haustu satior?

Oedipus I flee myself; I flee a breast conscious of all crimes,
I flee this hand, and this heaven, and the gods:
And I flee the dire crimes which I, guilty, have done.
Do I press this soil, on which Ceres the fruit-bearing rises?
Do I draw these airs with a pestiferous mouth? 220
Am I sated by a draught of liquid?

aut ullo fruor
Almae parentis munere? ego castam manum
Nefandus, incestificus, exsecrabilis
Attrecto? ego ullos aure concipio sonos,
Per quos parentis nomen, aut nati audiam? 225
Utinam quidem rescindere has quirem uias,
Manibusque adactis omne, qua uoces meant,
Aditusque uerbis tramite angusto patet,
Eruere possem, nata: iam sensum tui,
Quae pars meorum es criminum, infelix pater 230

or do I enjoy at all
any gift of the kindly mother? Do I, unspeakable, incest-befouled, execrable,
touch a chaste hand? Do I with my ear take in any sounds
by which I may hear the name of parent, or of child? 225
Would that indeed I were able to cut off these ways,
and, with my hands driven in, all where voices pass,
and the access that lies open to words by a narrow path,
I could tear out, daughter: now the sense of you—
you who are a part of my crimes—(I), an unhappy father, 230

Fugissem. Inhaeret ac recrudescit nefas
Subinde; et aures ingerunt, quidquid mihi
Donastis, oculi. Cur caput tenebris graue
Non mitto ad umbras Ditis aeternas?

I would have fled. The abomination clings and recrudesces
again and again; and my ears thrust in whatever
you have bestowed on me, O eyes. Why do I not send my head, heavy with darkness,
to the eternal shades of Dis?

quid hic
Manes meos detineo? quid terram grauo? 235
Mixtusque superis erro? quid restat mali?

why here
do I detain my Shades? why do I burden the earth? 235
And, mingled with the supernal ones, do I wander? what of evil remains?

Regnum, parentes, liberi, uirtus quoque,
Et ingenii solertis eximium decus
Periere: cuncta sors mihi infesta abstulit.
Lacrimae supererant; has quoque eripuit mihi. 240

Kingdom, parents, children, virtue too,
and the preeminent glory of shrewd ingenuity have perished: a fate hostile to me has taken all away.
Tears remained; these too it has snatched from me. 240

Absiste: nullas animus admittit preces,
Nouamque poenam sceleribus quaerit parem.
Et esse par quae poterit? Infanti quoque
Decreta mors est.

Desist: my spirit admits no prayers,
And seeks a new penalty equal to my crimes.
And what could be equal? Even for the infant
Death has been decreed.

Fata quis tam tristia
Sortitus unquam? uideram nondum diem, 245
Uterique nondum solueram clusi moras;
Et iam timebar. Protinus quosdam editos
Nox occupauit, et nouae luci abstulit.

Who has ever drawn such sad fates?
I had not yet seen the day, 245
Nor had I yet loosed the delays of the enclosed womb;
And already I was feared. Straightway certain newborns
Night overtook, and took them away from the new light.

Mors me antecessit. Aliquis intra uiscera

Death has gone before me. Someone within the viscera

Materna letum praecoquis fati tulit: 250
Sed numquid et peccauit? Abstrusum, abditum,
Dubiumque an essem, sceleris infandi reum
Deus egit. Illo teste damnauit parens,
Calidoque teneros transuit ferro pedes,
Et in alta nemora pabulum misit feris, 255
Auibusque saeuis, quas Cithaeron noxius
Cruore saepe regio tinctas alit.

My mother bore out the death of a precocious fate: 250
But did she even sin? Hidden away, concealed,
and doubtful whether I even existed, God made me the accused
of an unspeakable crime. With him as witness my parent condemned me,
and with hot iron pierced my tender feet,
and sent me into the deep woods as fodder for wild beasts, 255
and for savage birds, which noxious Cithaeron
often nourishes, stained with royal blood.

Sed quem deus damnauit, abiecit pater,
Mors quoque refugit. Praestiti Delphis fidem
Genitorem adortus impia straui nece. 260

But him whom god condemned, the father cast away;
Death too shrank back. I kept faith with Delphi,
having assailed my begetter, I laid him low by impious slaughter. 260

Hoc alia pietas redimet: occidi patrem,
Sed matrem amaui. Proloqui hymenaeum pudet.
Taedasque nostras: has quoque inuitum pati
Te toge poenas; facinus ignotum, efferum,
Inusitatum effare, quod populi horreant, 265
Quod esse factum nulla non aetas negat,
Quod patricidam pudeat.

This other piety will redeem it: I killed my father,
but I loved my mother. It shames me to speak forth the hymenaeum,
and my marriage torches: that you too, unwilling, undergo
the penalties of the toga; speak out a crime unknown, savage,
unprecedented, at which peoples shudder, 265
which no age does not deny to have been done,
one which puts even a parricide to shame.

In patrios toros
Tuli paterno sanguine aspersas manus,
Scelerisque pretium maius accepi scelus.

Into the paternal marriage-bed
I bore hands aspersed with paternal blood,
and as the price of my crime I received a greater crime.

Leue est paternum facinus: in thalamos meos 270
Deducta mater, ne parum scelerum foret,
Foecunda. Nullum crimen hoc maius potest
Natura ferre. Si quod etiamnum est tamen,
Qui facere possent, dedimus: abieci necis
Pretium paternae sceptrum, et hoc iterum manus 275
Armauit alias.

Light is the paternal crime: into my marriage-chambers 270
my mother was led, fecund, lest there be too little of crimes;
Nature can bear no crime greater than this. If there is still any, however,
we have given it to those who could commit it: I cast away the scepter,
the price of a father’s murder, and with this in turn I armed other hands. 275

Optime regni mei
Fatum ipse noui: nemo sine sacro feret
Illud cruore. Magna praesagit mala
Paternus animus. Iacta iam sunt semina
Cladis futurae: spernitur pacti fides: 280

Best of my realm,
I myself know the fate: no one will bear that without sacred blood.
The paternal spirit presages great evils.
Already the seeds of the future calamity have been cast:
the faith of the pact is spurned. 280

Hic occupato cedere imperio negat;
Ius ille, et icti foederis testes deos
Inuocat, et Argos exsul alque urbes mouet
Graias in arma. Non leuis fessis uenit
Ruina Thebis: tela, flammae, uulnera 285
Instant, et istis si quod est maius malum,
Ut esse genitos nemo non ex me sciat.

He refuses to cede the seized dominion;
he invokes Right, and the gods, witnesses of the struck treaty,
and, an exile, he rouses Argos and the Greek cities to arms.
No light ruin comes to weary Thebes: weapons, flames, wounds 285
press hard, and, if there is any evil greater than these,
so that everyone may know that they were begotten from me.

Antigone Si nulla, genitor, causa uiuendi tibi est.
Haec una abunde est, ut pater natos regas
Grauiter furentes. Tu impii belli minas 290
Auertere unus, tuque uecordes potes
Inhibere iuuenes, ciuibus pacem dare,
Patriae quietem, foederi laeso fidem.

Antigone If, father, you have no cause for living.
This one alone suffices: that, as a father, you rule your sons
raging grievously. You the menaces of impious war 290
can avert alone, and you can the mad youths
restrain, give peace to the citizens,
quiet to the fatherland, faith to the violated treaty.

Vitam tibi ipse si negas, multis negas.

If you deny life to yourself, you deny it to many.

Oedipus Illis parentis ullus aut aequi est amor,               295
Auidis cruoris, imperii, armorum, doli,
Diris, scelestis, breuiter ut dicam, meis?
Certant in omne facinus, et pensi nihil
Ducunt, ubi illos ira praecipites agat,
Nefasque nullum, per nefas nati, putant.               300
Non patris illos tangit afflicti pudor,
Non patria; regno pectus attonitum furit.
Selo, quo ferantur, quanta moliri parent;
Ideoque leti quaero maturi uiam,
Morique propero, dam in domo nemo est mea               305

Oedipus Is there in them any love of a parent or of equity,               295
they who are avid for blood, for dominion, for arms, for guile,
dire, criminal—my sons, to say it briefly?
They vie in every crime, and they count nothing of weight
where anger drives them headlong,
and, born through nefariousness, they deem no deed nefarious.               300
The shame of an afflicted father does not touch them,
nor the fatherland; their thunder‑struck heart raves for the throne.
I know whither they are borne, what vast schemes they prepare;
and so I seek a way to a timely death,
and I hasten to die, since in my house no one is mine.               305

Nocentior me --. Nata, quid genibus meis
Fies aduoluta? quid prece indomitum domas?
Unum hoc habet fortuna, quo possim capi,
Inuictus aliis: sola tu affectus potes
Mollire duros, sola pietatem in domo 310
Docere nostra.

More guilty than I—. Daughter, why, flung at my knees?
Why do you, by prayer, tame the untamed?
This one thing Fortune has, by which I may be captured,
invincible to others: you alone can mollify
my hard affections, you alone can teach piety in our house 310
of ours.

Nil graue aut miserum est mihi,
Quod te sciam uoluisse. Tu tantum impera.
Hic Oedipus Aegaea tranabit freta,
Iubente te, flammasque, quas Siculo uomit
De monte tellus igneos uoluens globos, 315
Excipiet oue, seque serpenti offeret,
Quae saeua furto nemoris Herculeo furit;
Iubente te, praebebit alitibus iecur;
Iubente te, uel uiuet --.

Nothing grievous or miserable is for me,
so long as I know that you have willed it. Do you but command.
Here Oedipus will swim the Aegean straits,
at your bidding; and the flames which the land vomits from the Sicilian
mountain, rolling igneous globes, he will catch with his mouth, 315
and he will offer himself to the serpent,
which savagely rages over the Herculean theft of the grove;
at your bidding, he will present his liver to the birds;
at your bidding, he will even live --.

ACTUS SECUNDUS
NUNTIUS, OEDIPUS, ANTIGONE

ACT TWO
MESSENGER, OEDIPUS, ANTIGONE

Nuntius Exemplum in ingens regia stirpe edite, 320
Thebae, pauentes arma fraterna, inuocant,
Rogantque tectis arceas patriis faces.
Non sunt minae: iam propius accessit malum.
Nam regna repetens frater, et pactas uices,
In bella cunctos Graeciae populos agit; 325
Septena muros castra Thebanos premunt.

Messenger O mighty example, born of royal stock, 320
Thebes, trembling at fraternal arms, invoke you,
and ask that you ward off torches from their ancestral roofs.
These are not menaces: already the evil has drawn nearer.
For your brother, reclaiming the realm and the agreed alternations,
drives all the peoples of Greece into wars; 325
seven camps press the Theban walls.

Succurre; prohibe pariter et bellum et nefas.

Succor; prohibit alike both war and nefarious crime.

Oedipus Ego ille sum, qui scelera committi uetem
Et abstinere sanguine a caro manus
Doceam? magister iuris et amoris pii 330
Ego sum? Meorum facinorum exempla appetunt:
Me nunc sequuntur; laudo, et agnosco libens.

Oedipus Am I that man who forbids crimes to be committed
and teaches the hands to abstain from a kinsman’s blood?
The master of law and of pious love—am I? 330
They seek examples from my crimes:
now they follow me; I praise it, and I freely acknowledge it.

Exhortor, aliquid ut patre hoc dignum gerant.
Agite, o propago clara, generosam indolem
Probate factis; gloriam ac laudes meas 335
Superate, et aliquid facite; propter quod patrem
Adhuc iuuet uixisse. Facietis, scio:
Sic estis orti.

I exhort you, to do something worthy of this father.
Act, O illustrious progeny, prove by deeds your generous inborn nature
surpass my glory and my praises, 335
and do something because of which it may yet delight the father to have lived.
You will do it, I know: thus are you sprung.

Scelere defungi haud leui,
Haud usitato, tanta nobilitas potest.

Such nobility can discharge itself by a crime not light,
not customary.

Ferte arma: facibus petite penetrales deos, 340
Frugemque flamma metite natalis soli.
Miscete cuncta: rapite in exitium omnia:
Disiicite passim moenia, in planum date.
Templis deos obruite: maculatos lares
Conflate: ab imo tota considat domus: 345
Urbs concremetur: primus a thalamis meis
Incipiat ignis.

Bring weapons: with torches assail the penetral gods, 340
and reap with flame the crop of the natal soil.
Mingle all things: snatch everything into destruction:
Disject the walls everywhere, level them to the plain.
Overwhelm the gods in the temples: the stained Lares
Conflate: let the whole house sink from its base: 345
let the city be burned to ashes: let the fire begin first
from my bedchambers.

Antigone Mitte uiolentum impetum
Doloris, ac te publica exorent mala,
Auctorque placidae liberis pacis ueni.

Antigone Dismiss the violent impetus
of Grief, and let public ills implore you,
and come as the author of placid peace for your children.

Oedipus Vides modestae deditum menti senem, 350
Placidaeque amantem pacis ad partes uotas?
Tumet animus ira, feruet immensum dolor,
Maiusque, quam quod casus et iuuenum furor
Conatur, aliquid cupio. Non satis est adhuc
Ciuile bellum: frater in fratrem ruat. 355
Nec hoc sat est: quod debet, ut fiat nefas
De more nostro, quod meos deceat toros,
Date arma patri.

Oedipus Do you see an old man devoted to a modest mind, 350
and a lover of placid peace to the wished-for party?
My spirit swells with anger, grief seethes immensely,
and I desire something greater than what chance and the frenzy of youths
attempts. Not enough as yet is a civil war: let brother rush upon brother. 355
Nor is even this enough: what is owed—that a nefarious deed be done
according to our custom, what may befit my nuptial couch—
give arms to the father.

Nemo me ex his eruat
Siluis: latebo rupis exesae cauo,

Let no one extricate me from these forests:
I will lie hidden in the hollow of a gnawed-away crag,

Aut sepe densa corpus abstrusum tegam. 360
Hinc aucupabor uerba rumoris uagi,
Et saeua fratrum bella, quod possum, audiam.

Or I will often cover my concealed body with dense thickets. 360
From here I will lie in wait for the words of wandering rumor,
And the savage wars of the brothers I will hear, as much as I can.

ACTUS TERTIUS
IOCASTA, ANTIGONE, NUNTIUS

ACT THREE
IOCASTA, ANTIGONE, MESSENGER

Iocasta Felix Agaue, facinus horrendum, manu
Qua fecerat, gestauit, et spolium tulit
Cruenta nati Maenas in partes dati. 365
Fecit scelus; sed misera non ultra suum
Scelus hoc cucurrit. Hoc leue est, quod sum nocens;
Feci nocentes. Hoc quoque etiamnum leue est;
Peperi nocentes.

Iocasta Fortunate Agave, the horrendous deed, with the hand
with which she had done it, she carried, and took the spoil—
a bloody Maenad—of her son given into parts. 365
She did a crime; but the wretch did not run beyond her own
crime in this. This is light, that I am guilty;
I have made the guilty. This too is still light;
I have borne the guilty.

Deerat aerumnis meis,

There was lacking to my miseries,

Ut et hostem amarem. Bruma ter posuit niues, 370
Et tertia iam falce decubuit Ceres,
Ut exsul errat natus et patria caret,
Profugusque regum auxilia Graiorum rogat.
Gener est Adrasti, cuius imperio mare,
Quod cingit Isthmon, regitur: hic gentes suas, 375
Septemque secum regna ad auxilium trahit
Generi.

That I should even love an enemy. Midwinter has thrice laid down snows, 370
and for the third time now Ceres has fallen to the sickle,
while my son, an exile, wanders and lacks a fatherland,
and as a fugitive he begs the aid of the Graian kings.
He is the son-in-law of Adrastus, by whose command the sea
which girds the Isthmus is ruled: this man draws his own peoples, 375
and with him the seven kingdoms, to the aid
of his son-in-law.

Quid optem, quidue decernam, haud scio
Regnum reposcit: causa repetentis bona est;
Mala, sic petentis. Vota quae faciam parens?
Utrimque natum uideo: nil possum pie 380

What should I wish, or what decide, I do not know
He reclaims the kingdom: the cause of the one reclaiming is good;
bad, thus, of the one seeking it. What vows should I, a parent, make?
On both sides I see my son: I can do nothing piously 380

Pietate salua facere: quodcumque alteri
Optabo nato, fiet alterius malo.
Sed utrumque quamuis diligam affectu pari,
Quo causa melior, sorsque deterior trahit,
Inclinat animus, semper infirmo fauens. 385
Miseros magis fortuna conciliat suis.

To act with piety preserved: whatever I shall wish for one son
I wish, will be to the harm of the other.
But although I cherish both with equal affection,
toward which the better cause, and the worse lot, draws,
the mind inclines, always favoring the infirm. 385
Fortune commends the wretched more to their own.

Nuntius Regina, dum tu flebiles questus cies,
Terisque tempus, tota nudatis stetit
Acies in armis: aera iam bellum cient,
Aquilaque pugnam signifer mota uocat.               390
Septena reges bella dispositi parant:
Animo pari Cadmea progenies subit:
Cursu citato miles hinc illinc ruit.
Vide, ut atra nubes puluere abscondat diem;
Fumoque similes campus in caelum erigat               395
Nebulas, equestri fracta quas tellus pede
Submittit: et, si uera metuentes uident,
Infesta fulgent signa: subrectis adest
Frons prima telis: aurea clarum nota
Nomen ducum uexilla praescriptum ferunt.               400

Messenger Queen, while you rouse tearful laments,
and wear out time, the whole battle-line has stood with weapons laid bare: now the bronze war-trumpets stir war,
and the eagle standard, set in motion by the standard-bearer, calls to combat.               390
Seven kings, drawn up, prepare the wars:
with equal spirit the Cadmean progeny advances:
at a quickened course the soldiery rushes here and there.
See how a black cloud with dust hides the day;
and the plain raises into the sky clouds like smoke,               395
which the earth, shattered by the equestrian foot,
sends up: and, if those who fear see true,
the hostile standards gleam: the foremost front is at hand
with upraised missiles: the golden banners bear, as a bright mark,
the inscribed name of the leaders.               400

I, redde amorem fratribus, pacem omnibus,
Et impia arma mater opposita impedi.

Go, restore love to the brothers, peace to all,
and, a mother set in opposition, impede impious arms.

Antigone Perge, o parens, et concita celerem gradum;
Compesce tela, fratribus ferrum excute.
Nudum inter enses pectus infestos tene; 405
Aut solue bellum, mater, aut prima excipe.

Antigone Proceed, O mother, and quicken your swift step;
Curb the weapons, shake the steel from the brothers.
Hold your bare breast amid the hostile swords; 405
Either end the war, mother, or be the first to receive the blow.

Iocasta Ibo, ibo et armis obuium opponam caput.
Stabo inter arma: petere qui fratrem uolet,
Petat ante matrem: tela, qui fuerit plus,
Rogante ponat matre; qui non est pius, 410
Incipiat, a me. Feruidos iuuenes anus
Tenebo: nullum teste me fiet nefas;
Aut si aliquod et me teste committi potest,
Non fiet unum.

Jocasta I will go, I will go, and I will oppose my head in the way of the weapons.
I shall stand among the arms: whoever will wish to attack his brother,
let him attack his mother first: his weapons, let him who will be more moved,
at a mother begging, lay down; he who is not pious, 410
let him begin—with me. I, an old woman, will hold the fervid youths:
with me as witness no nefarious act will be done;
or if any can be committed even with me as witness,
it will not be a single one.

Antigone Signa collatis mitant
Vicina signis; clamor hostilis fremit: 415
Scelus in propinquo est; occupa, mater, preces.
Et ecce motos fletibus credas meis;
Sic agmen armis segne compositis uenit.
Procedit acies tarda, sed properant duces.

Antigone The standards, their standards now brought together, menace those near to them;
a hostile clamor roars: 415
crime is at hand; seize upon prayers, mother.
And lo, you would think them moved by my tears;
thus the column comes sluggish, with arms composed.
The battle-line proceeds slow, but the leaders hasten.

Iocasta Quis me procellae turbine insanae uehens 420
Volucer per auras uentus aetherias aget?
Quae Sphinx, uel atra nube subtexens diem
Stymphalis, auidis praepetem pennis feret?
Aut quae per altas aeris rapiet uias
Harpyia, saeui regis obseruans famem, 425
Et inter acies proiiciet raptam duas?

Iocasta What swift wind, bearing me, in the whirl of a mad tempest 420
will drive me through the ethereal airs?
What Sphinx, or Stymphalian, underweaving the day with a black cloud,
will carry me fleet with greedy pinions?
Or what Harpy, keeping the hunger of the savage king,
will snatch me through the high roads of the air, 425
and cast me, snatched, between the two battle-lines?

Nuntius. Vadit furenti similis, aut etiam furit.
Sagitta qualis Parthica uelox manu
Excussa fertur; qualis insano ratis

Messenger. He goes like one furious, or even he rages.
As a Parthian arrow, swift, discharged by the hand,
is borne; as a crazed ship

Premente uento rapitur; aut qualis cadit               430
Delapsa caelo stella, cum stringens polum
Rectam citatis ignibus rumpit uiam;
Attonita cursu fugit, et binas statim
Diduxit acies. Victa materna prece
Haesere bella, iamque in alternam necem               435
Illinc et hinc miscere cupientes manum,
Librata dextra tela suspensa tenent.
Paci fauetur: omnium ferrum latet
Cessatque tectum; uibrat in fratrum manu.
Laniata canas mater ostendit comas;               440

He is snatched away with the wind pressing; or like a star falls               430
delapsed from heaven, when, grazing the pole,
it breaks a straight course with hurrying fires;
thunderstruck at his course, it flees, and straightway
he has drawn apart the twin battle-lines. Conquered by a mother’s prayer
the wars stuck fast, and now, eager on this side and that to mix hand in mutual slaughter,               435
they hold their missiles suspended with the right hand balanced.
Favour is shown to peace: everyone’s iron lies hidden
and, sheathed, it rests; it quivers in the brothers’ hand.
The mother, with white hairs torn, displays her locks;               440

Rogat abnuentes: irrigat fletugenas.
Negare matri, qui diu dubitat, potest.

She asks those refusing: she irrigates her tear-born cheeks.
He who long doubts can deny his mother.

ACTUS QUARTUS
IOCASTA, POLYNICES, ETEOCLES

ACT FOUR
JOCASTA, POLYNICES, ETEOCLES

Iocasta In me arma et ignes uertite: in me omnis ruat
Unam iuuentus, quaeque ab Inachio uenit
Animosa muro, quaeque Thebana ferox 445
Descendit arce: ciuis atque hostis simul
Hunc petite uentrem, qui dedit fratres uiro.
Mea membra passim spargite ac diuellite:
Ego utrumque peperi. Ponitis ferrum ocius?

Iocasta Turn arms and fires upon me: upon me let all
the youth rush as one, both that which came from Inachus’s
spirited wall, and that which, Theban and fierce, 445
descends from the citadel: citizen and enemy together
aim at this womb, which gave brothers to a man.
Scatter my limbs everywhere and tear them asunder:
I bore them both. Will you lay down the steel more quickly?

An dico et ex quo? Dexteras matri date; 450
Date, dum piae sunt. Error inuitos adhuc
Fecit nocentes: omne Fortunae fuit
Peccantis in nos crimen: hoc primum nefas
Inter scientes geritur.

Or shall I speak, and from what? Give your right hands to your mother; 450
Give them, while they are still pious. Error has made the unwilling guilty until now: the whole crime of sinning against us was Fortune’s; this first nefarious deed is being done knowingly.

In uestra manu est,
Utrum uetitis. Sancta si pietas placet, 455

It is in your hands,
Whether you forbid. If holy piety pleases, 455

Donate matrem pace: si placuit scelus,
Maius paratum est: media se opponit parens.
Proinde bellum tollite, aut belli moram.
Sollicita nunc cui mater alterna prece
Verba admouebo?

Grant the mother peace:
if the crime has pleased you,
a greater crime is prepared: the mother interposes herself in the midst.
Therefore, put an end to the war, or a delay of the war.
Anxious, to whom now shall I, a mother, with alternate prayer
bring my words?

misera quem amplectar prius? 460
In utramque partem ducor affectu pari.
Hic abfuit: sed pacta si fratrum ualent,
Nunc alter aberit. Ergo iam numquam duos,
Nisi sic, uidebo?

wretched, whom shall I embrace first? 460
To each side I am drawn with equal affection.
This one has been absent: but if the pacts of the brothers prevail,
now the other will be absent. Therefore shall I now never see the two,
unless like this?

iunge complexus prior,
Qui tot labores totque perpessus mala, 465
Longo parentem fessus exsilio uides.
Accede propius: clude uagina impium
Ensem, et trementem iamque cupientem excuti
Hastam solo defige: maternum tuo
Coire pectus pectori clypeus uetat; 470

Join the embraces first,
you who, having suffered so many labors and so many evils, 465
weary from long exile, behold your parent.
Come nearer: close the impious
sword in its sheath, and the spear, trembling and now desiring to be shaken off,
plant in the ground: the shield forbids the maternal
breast to come together with your breast; 470

Hunc quoque repone. Vinculo frontem exue,
Tegimenque capitis triste belligeri leua,
Et ora matri redde. Quo uultus refers,
Acieque pauida fratris obseruas manum?

Set this down too. Unbind your brow from the band,
and lift the grim covering of your warlike head,
and give your face back to your mother. Whither do you turn your looks,
and with a fearful gaze do you observe your brother’s hand?

Affusa totum corpus amplexu tegam: 475
Tuo cruori per meum fiet uia.
Quid dubius haeres? an times matris fidem?

Poured over you, I will cover your whole body with an embrace: 475
For your blood a way will be made through my own.
Why, doubtful, do you hesitate? or do you fear a mother's faith?

Polynices Timeo: nihil iam iura naturae ualent.
Post ista fratrum exempla, ne matri quidem
Fides habenda est.

Polynices I am afraid: now the laws of nature avail nothing.
After these fraternal examples, not even a mother
is to be trusted.

Iocasta Redde iam capulo manum, 480
Adstringe galeam, laeua se clypeo ingerat;
Dum frater exarmatur, armatus mane.
Tu pone ferrum, causa qui es ferri prior.
Si pacis odium est, furere si bello placet,
Inducias te mater exiguas rogat, 485
Ferat ut reuerso post fugam nato oscula,
Vel prima, uel suprema.

Iocasta Return now your hand to the hilt, 480
Tighten the helmet, let the left hand thrust itself into the shield;
While your brother is disarmed, remain armed.
You, who are the prior cause of the iron, lay down the iron.
If there is hatred of peace, if it pleases to rage in war,
your mother asks you for a brief truce, 485
that she may bear kisses to her son returning after flight,
either the first, or the last.

Dum pacem peto,
Audite inermes: ille te, tu illum times:
Ego utrumque, sed pro utroque. Quid strictum abnuis
Recondere ensem? qualibet gaude mora; 490

While I sue for peace,
Listen unarmed: he fears you; you fear him:
I fear both, but for both. Why do you refuse
to sheathe the drawn sword? rejoice in any delay; 490

Id gerere bellum cupitis, in quo est optimum
Vinci: uereris fratris infesti dolos?
Quoties necesse est fallere, aut falli a suis;
Patiare potius ipse, quam facias, scelus.
Sed ne uerere: mater insidias et hinc, 495
Et rursus illinc abiget.

You desire to wage that war, in which it is best to be conquered.
Do you fear the deceits of a hostile brother?
How often it is necessary to deceive, or to be deceived by one’s own;
Rather suffer the crime yourself than commit it.
But do not fear: a mother will drive off the plots both from here, 495
And again from there.

Exoro, an patri
Inuideo uestro? ueni, ut arcerem nefas,
An ut uiderem propius? hic ferrum abdidit
Reclinis hastae, et arma defixa incubat.

I implore—do I envy your father? I came, to ward off the nefarious deed,
or to see it from nearer? This one has hidden the steel,
reclining upon his spear, and broods over arms fixed fast.

Ad te preces nunc, nate, maternas feram, 500
Sed ante lacrimas. Teneo longo tempore
Petita uotis ora. Te, profugum solo
Patrio, penates regis externi tegunt:
Te maria tot diuersa, tot casus uagum
Egere: non te duxit in thalamos parens 505

To you now, son, I will bear maternal prayers, 500
but first tears. I hold, after a long time,
the face sought by vows. You, an exile from your
fatherland’s soil, the Penates of a foreign king shelter:
so many different seas, so many mishaps have driven you,
a wanderer: your parent did not lead you into the bridal chambers. 505

Comitata primos, nec sua festas manu
Ornauit aedes, nec sua laetas faces
Vitta reuinxit: dona non auro graues
Gazas socer, non arua, non urbes dedit;
Dotale bellum est. Hostium es factus gener, 510
Patria remotus, hospes alieni laris, .
Externa consecutus, expulsas tuis,
Sine crimine exsul. Ne quid e fatis tibi
Deesset paternis, hoc quoque ex illis habes,
Errasse thalamis.

She did not accompany the first procession, nor with her own hand
did she adorn the festal house, nor with her own fillet did she rebind the glad
torches: the father-in-law gave no gifts, treasures heavy with gold,
not fields, not cities;
the dowry is war. You have been made the son-in-law of enemies, 510
removed from your fatherland, a guest of another’s hearth, .
Having gained external things, with your own driven out,
an exile without crime. Lest anything from your paternal fates
be lacking to you, this too from them you have:
to have erred in the bridal-chambers.

Nate, post multos mihi 515
Remisse soles, rate, sollicitae metus
Et spes parentis, cuius aspectum deos
Semper rogaui, cum tuus reditus mihi
Tantum esset erepturus aduentu tuo,
Quantum daturas, quando pro te desinam, 520

Son, after many days for me 515
you are wont to relax, O ship, the fears
and the hopes of an anxious parent, whose sight of you I always begged from the gods,
since your return was going to snatch from me, by your advent,
as much as you were going to give, when I cease to fear for you, 520

Dixi, timere? dixit irridens deus,
Ipsum timebis. Nempe, nisi bellum foret,
Ego te carerem: nempe, si tu non fores,
Bello carerem.

I said, "to fear?" said the god, mocking,
"You will fear the very one. Indeed, unless there were war,
I would lack you; indeed, if you were not,
I would lack war."

Triste conspectus datur
Pretium tui durumque; sed matri placet 525
Hinc modo recedant arma, dum nullum nefas
Mars saeuus audet. Hoc quoque est magnum nefas,
Tam prope fuisse. Stupeo, et exsanguis tremo,
Cum stare fratres hinc et hinc uideo duos
Sceleris sub ictu: membra quassantur metu. 530
Quam paene mater maius aspexi nefas,
Quam quod miser uidere non potuit pater !
Licet timore facinoris tanti uacem,
Videamque iam nil tale.

A sad spectacle is given,
the price of you, and harsh; but it pleases a mother 525
that from here for the moment let arms withdraw, so long as no nefarious wrong
savage Mars dares. This too is a great nefas,
to have been so near. I am stunned, and bloodless I tremble,
when I see the two brothers standing, on this side and that, beneath the stroke of crime:
my limbs are shaken with fear. 530
How nearly, as a mother, I beheld a greater nefas
than that which the wretched father could not bear to see!
Let me be free from fear of so great a deed,
and let me now see nothing of the kind.

sum infelix tamen,
Quod paene uidi. Per decem mensium graues 535

I am unfortunate, nevertheless,
What I almost saw. Through ten months’ grave 535

Uteri labores, perque pietate inclitas
Precor sorores, et per irati sibi
Genas parentis, scelere quas nullo nocens,
Erroris a se dira supplicia exigens,
Hausit, nefandas moenibus patriis faces               540
Auerte; signa bellici retro agminis
Flecte. Ut recedas, magna pars sceleris tamen
Vestri peracta est: uidit hostili grege
Campos repleri patria, fulgentes procul
Armis cateruas: uidit equitatu leui               545
Cadmea frangi prata, et excelsos rotis
Volitare proceres; igne flagrantes trabes
Fumare, cineri quae petunt nostras domos;
Fratresque facinus quod nouum et Thebis fuit
In se ruentes. Tutus hoc exercitus,               550

the labors of the womb, and by the sisters renowned for piety
I pray, and by the cheeks of the parent angry with himself,
which, guilty of no crime, exacting from himself the dire punishments
of an error, he drained—turn away the unspeakable torches from the fatherland’s walls;               540
Turn back the standards of the warlike column.
Even if you withdraw, a great part of your crime, nevertheless,
has been accomplished: the fatherland has seen its plains
filled by a hostile herd, has seen bands gleaming afar
with arms; has seen by light cavalry the Cadmean meadows broken,               545
and the nobles flitting on high on chariot-wheels;
beams blazing with fire smoking, which seek our homes for ash;
and brothers—a deed which was new in Thebes—
rushing against themselves. By this, the army is safe.               550

Et populus omnis, et utraque hoc uidit soror,
Genitrixque uidit: nam pater debet sibi,
Quod ista non spectauit. Occurrat tibi
Nunc Oedipus, quo iudice, erroris quoque
Poenae petuntur. Ne, precor, ferro erue 555
Patriam ac penates; neue, quas regere expetis,
Euerte Thebas.

And all the people, and both sisters saw this,
and the genitrix saw it: for the father has himself to thank,
that he did not behold those things. Let Oedipus now
come to your mind, by whose judgment, for the error as well
penalties are sought. Do not, I pray, with iron uproot 555
your fatherland and Penates; and do not overthrow Thebes,
which you seek to rule.

Quis tenet mentem furor?
Patriam petendo perdis: ut fiat tua,
Vis esse nullam? Quin tuae causae nocet
Ipsum hoc, quod armis uris infestis solum, 560
Segetesque adultas sternis, et totos fugam
Edis per agros: nemo sic uastat sua.

What madness holds your mind?
By seeking your fatherland you destroy it: that it may become yours,
do you wish it to be none? Nay, this very thing harms your cause,
this very fact, that with hostile arms you burn the soil, 560
and you lay low the ripened crops, and you spread rout
through all the fields: no one thus devastates his own.

Quae corripi igne, quae meti gladio iubes,
Aliena credis? Rex sit e uobis uter,
Manente regno, quaerite. Haec telis petes 565

The things which you order to be seized by fire, which to be reaped by the sword—do you deem them alien?
Let the king be whichever of you two,
with the realm remaining, seek it. These you will assail with weapons. 565

Flammisque tecta? poteris has Amphionis
Quassare moles? nulla quas struxit manus,
Stridente tardum machina ducens onus;
Sed conuocatus uocis et citharae sono
Per se ipse turres uenit in summas lapis. 570
Haec saxa franges uictor?

and the roofs with flames? Will you be able to shake these masses of Amphion? which no hand built, a machine, strident, drawing the slow load; but, convoked by the sound of voice and cithara, the stone came of itself onto the highest towers. 570
Will you, as victor, smash these stones?

hinc spolia auferes,
Vinctosque duces patris aequales tui?
Matres ab ipso coniugum raptas sinu
Saeuus catena miles imposita trahet?
Ut adulta uirgo mixta captiuo gregi 575
Thebana nuribus munis Argolicis eat?

From here will you carry off spoils,
and bound leaders, equals of your father?
Mothers, snatched from the very bosom of their husbands,
will a savage soldier drag with a chain set on?
That a full-grown maiden, mingled with the captive herd 575
a Theban, go as a gift to Argolic daughters-in-law?

An et ipsa palmas uincta post tergum datas
Mater triumphi praeda fraterni uehar?
Potesne ciues laetus exitio datos
Videre passim? moenibus caris potes 580

Or shall I too, with hands bound given behind my back,
be borne—the mother—the spoil of a fraternal triumph?
Can you, glad, see citizens everywhere given over to destruction
to see? at your dear walls are you able 580

Hostem admouere? sanguine et flamma potes
Implere Thebas? tam ferum et durum geris
Saeuumque in iras pectus, et nondum imperas!

Do you advance the enemy?
Can you fill Thebes with blood and flame?
You bear a heart so fierce and hard, savage in wrath—and you do not yet rule!

Quid sceptra facient? pone uesanos, precor,
Animi tumores, teque pietati refer. 585

What will scepters avail? Put away, I pray, the mad swellings of your spirit,
and restore yourself to piety. 585

Polynices Ut profugus errem semper? ut patria arcear,
Opemque gentis hospes externae sequar?
Quid paterer aliud, si fefelissem fidem,
Si peierassem?

Polynices That I should wander as a fugitive forever? that I be shut out from my fatherland,
and, as a guest, follow the help of a foreign people?
What else would I endure, if I had deceived faith,
if I had perjured myself?

fraudis alienae dabo
Poenas; at ille praemium scelerum feret? 590
Iubes abire: matris imperio obsequor;
Da, quo reuertar. Regia frater mea
Habitet superbus; parua me abscondat casa:
Hanc da repulso: liceat exiguo lare
Pensare regnum. Coniugi donum datus 595
Arbitria thalami dura felicis feram,
Humilisque socerum lixa dominantem sequar?

Shall I pay penalties for another’s fraud; while he will bear the reward of crimes? 590
You order me to depart: I obey my mother’s command;
Grant me where I may return. Let my brother, proud, inhabit the palace;
let a small cottage hide me: grant this to the one repulsed: let it be permitted with a meager hearth
to counterbalance a kingdom. Given as a gift to my spouse
shall I bear the harsh arbitrations of a fortunate bridal-chamber, 595
and, a humble camp-servant, follow a dominating father-in-law?

In seruitutem cadere de regno, graue est.

To fall into servitude from kingship is grievous.

Iocasta Si regna quaeris, nec potest sceptro manus
Vacare saeuo, multa, quae possunt peti 600

Iocasta If you seek kingdoms, nor can the hand be free from the savage scepter, there are many things that can be sought 600

In orbe toto, quaelibet tellus dabit.
Hinc nota Baccho Tmolus attollit iuga,
Qua lata terris spatia frugiferis iacent,
Et qua trahens opulenta Pactolus uada
Inundat auro rura: nec laetis minus 605

In the whole world, any land will yield.
From here Tmolus, well-known to Bacchus, lifts its ridges,
Where broad expanses lie with fruit-bearing lands,
And where opulent Pactolus, drawing along its shallows,
floods the fields with gold; nor less for the fertile 605

Maeandros aruis flectit errantes aquas,
Rapidusque campos fertiles Hebrus secat.
Hinc grata Cereri Gargara, et diues solum
Quod Xanthus ambit niuibus Idaeis tumens:

The Maeander bends its wandering waters through the fields,
and the rapid Hebrus cuts the fertile plains.
Hence Gargara, pleasing to Ceres, and the rich soil
which the Xanthus encircles, swollen with the snows of Ida:

[610] Hinc, qua relinquit nomen, Ionii maris610

[610] Hence, where it relinquishes its name, the Ionian sea610

Fauces Abydo Sestos opposita premit;
Aut, qua latus iam propius Orienti dedit,
Tutamque crebris portubus Lyciam uidet:
Haec regna ferro quaere: in hos populos ferat
Socer arma fortis: has paret sceptro tuo 615

The narrows, with Abydos set opposite, constricts Sestos;
Or, where its side has now given itself nearer to the East,
and sees Lycia safe with frequent harbors:
Seek these realms by iron: against these peoples let
your brave father-in-law bear arms: let him prepare these for your scepter 615

Tradatque gentes. Hoc adhuc regnum puta
Tenere patrem. Melius exsilium est tibi,
Quam reditus iste: crimine alieno exsulas,
Tuo redibis.

And let him hand over the nations. Up to now consider the kingdom
To be held by your father. Exile is better for you,
Than that return: by another’s crime you are exiled,
By your own you will return.

Melius istis uiribus
Noua regna nullo scelere maculata appetes. 620

Better with those forces
you will seek new realms, immaculate of any crime. 620

Quin ipse frater, arma comitatus tua,
Tibi militabit. Vade, et id bellum gere,
In quo pater materque pugnanti tibi
Fauere possint: regna cum scelere omnibus
Sunt exsiliis grauiora. Nunc belli mala 625

Indeed your brother himself, armed with your arms,
will serve as a soldier for you. Go, and wage that war,
in which your father and mother can favor you as you fight:
kingdoms with crime are graver than all exiles. Now the evils of war 625

Propone, dubias Martis incerti uices.
Licet omne tecum Graeciae robur trahas,
Licet arma longe miles ac late explicet,
Fortuna belli semper ancipiti in loco est,
Quodcumque Mars decernit: exaequat duos, 630

Set before you the doubtful vicissitudes of uncertain Mars.
Granted that you draw with you all the might of Greece,
Granted that the soldier unfolds arms far and wide,
the Fortune of war is always in a two-edged place,
whatever Mars decrees: he equalizes the two, 630

Licet impares sint, gladius; et spes et metus
Fors caeca uersat. Praemium incertum petis,
Certum scelus. Fauisse fac uotis deos
Omnes tuis: cessere, et auersi fugam
Petiere ciues: clade funesta iacent: 635

Even if they are unequal, O sword; both hope and fear
blind Fortune turns. You seek an uncertain prize,
a certain crime. Suppose that all the gods have favored
your vows: they have yielded, and, turned away, the citizens have sought flight;
they lie in deadly disaster. 635

Obtexit agros miles. Exsultes licet,
Victorque fratris spolia deiecti geras,
Frangenda palma est. Quale tu id bellum putas,
In quo exsecrandum uictor admittit nefas,
Si gaudet? Hunc, quem uincere infelix cupis, 640

The soldier has covered the fields. You may exult,
and as victor you may carry the spoils of your cast-down brother,
the palm must be broken. What kind of war do you think that is,
in which the victor, if he rejoices, admits an execrable nefarious act,
this man, whom you, unhappy one, desire to conquer, 640

Cum uiceris, lugebis. Infaustas, age,
Dimitte pugnas: libera patriam metu,
Luctu parentes. Polynices Sceleris et fraudis suae
Poenas nefandus frater ut nullas ferat?

Cum uiceris, lugebis. Infaustas, age,
Dismiss the ill-omened battles: liberate the fatherland from fear,
your parents from grief. Polynices, that the nefarious brother may bear no penalties for his Crime and his Fraud?

Iocasta Ne metue: poenas, et quidem soluet graues; 645
Regnabit. Polynices Haecne est poena? Iocasta Si dubitas, auo
Patrique crede: Cadmus hoc dicet tibi,
Cadmique proles.

Iocasta Do not fear: he will pay penalties—and indeed grievous ones; 645
He will reign. Polynices Is this the punishment? Iocasta If you doubt, trust your grandsire
and your father: Cadmus will say this to you, and the progeny of Cadmus.

Sceptra Thebarum fuit
Impune nulli gerere; nec quisquam fide
Rupta tenebat illa. Iam numeres, licet, 650
Fratrem inter istos.

No one has borne the scepters of Thebes with impunity;
nor did anyone, with faith
broken, hold them. Now you may count, if you please, 650
a brother among those.

Polynices Numero: et est tanti mihi
Cum regibus iacere.

Polynices I count him; and it is worth the price to me
to lie with kings.

Eteocles Te turbae exsulum
Adscribo.

Eteocles You among the throng of exiles
I enroll.

Polynices Regna, dummodo inuisus tuis.

Polynices Reign, provided that you are hated by your own.

Eteocles Regnare non uult, esse qui inuisus timet.
Simul ista mundi conditor posuit deus, 655
Odium atque regnum. Regis hoc magni reor,
Odia ipsa premere.

Eteocles He who fears to be hated does not wish to reign.
At the same time the god, the founder of the world, set these together, 655
odium and kingship. This I deem the part of a great king:
to press down the hatreds themselves.

Multa dominantem uetat
Amor suorum; plus in iratos licet.
Qui uult amari, languida regnat manu.

Many things forbid the one dominating
The love of his own; more is permitted against the irate.
He who wishes to be loved rules with a languid hand.

Polynices Inuisa nunquam imperia retinentur diu. 660

Polynices Hated rule is never retained for long. 660

Eteocles Praecepta melius imperii reges dabunt;
Exsilia tu dispone. Pro regno uelim
Patriam, penates, coniugem flammis dare.
Imperia pretio quolibet constant bene.

Eteocles Kings will better give the precepts of rule;
You arrange the exiles. For a kingdom I would wish
my fatherland, the Penates, my wife to give to the flames.
Empires are well bought at any price.