§1ὦ τὴν ἐν ἄστροις οὐρανοῦ τέμνων ὁδὸν §2καὶ χρυσοκολλήτοισιν ἐμβεβὼς δίφροις §3Ἥλιε, θοαῖς ἵπποισιν εἱλίσσων φλόγα, §4ὡς δυστυχῆ Θήβαισι τῇ τόθʼ ἡμέρᾳ §5ἀκτῖνʼ ἐφῆκας, Κάδμος ἡνίκʼ ἦλθε γῆν §6τήνδʼ, ἐκλιπὼν Φοίνισσαν ἐναλίαν χθόνα· §7ὃς παῖδα γήμας Κύπριδος Ἁρμονίαν ποτὲ §8Πολύδωρον ἐξέφυσε, τοῦ δὲ Λάβδακον §9φῦναι λέγουσιν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦδε Λάιον.
O you who cut your path through the stars of heaven, and ride upon your gold-adorned chariot, Helios, wheeling your flame with swift horses, how unhappy a ray did you send to Thebes on that day, when Cadmus came to this land, leaving the Phoenician maritime country; who, having once married Harmonia, daughter of Cypris, begot Polydorus, from whom they say Labdacus was born, and from him Laius.
§10ἐγὼ δὲ παῖς μὲν κλῄζομαι Μενοικέως, §11— Κρέων τʼ ἀδελφὸς μητρὸς ἐκ μιᾶς ἔφυ — §12καλοῦσι δʼ Ἰοκάστην με·
And I am called the daughter of Menoeceus, —and Creon is my brother, born of the same mother— and they call me Jocasta; for this name my father gave me.
τοῦτο γὰρ πατὴρ §13ἔθετο. γαμεῖ δὲ Λάιός μʼ· ἐπεὶ δʼ ἄπαις §14ἦν χρόνια λέκτρα τἄμʼ ἔχων ἐν δώμασιν, §15ἐλθὼν ἐρωτᾷ Φοῖβον ἐξαιτεῖ θʼ ἅμα
Laius married me; but when he was childless, having shared my bed for a long time in his house, he went and questioned Phoebus, and at the same time asked for a share of male children for his house.
§16παίδων ἐς οἴκους ἀρσένων κοινωνίαν. §17ὃ δʼ εἶπεν· ὦ Θήβαισιν εὐίπποις ἄναξ, §18μὴ σπεῖρε τέκνων ἄλοκα δαιμόνων βίᾳ· §19εἰ γὰρ τεκνώσεις παῖδʼ, ἀποκτενεῖ σʼ ὁ φύς, §20καὶ πᾶς σὸς οἶκος βήσεται διʼ αἵματος.
But the god said: O king of horse-famed Thebes, do not sow the furrow of children against the will of the gods; for if you beget a child, the one who is born will kill you, and all your house shall go through blood.
§21ὃ δʼ ἡδονῇ δοὺς ἔς τε βακχείαν πεσὼν §22ἔσπειρεν ἡμῖν παῖδα· καὶ σπείρας, βρέφος §23γνοὺς τἀμπλάκημα τοῦ θεοῦ τε τὴν φάτιν, §24λειμῶνʼ ἐς Ἥρας καὶ Κιθαιρῶνος λέπας §25δίδωσι βουκόλοισιν ἐκθεῖναι βρέφος, §26σφυρῶν σιδηρᾶ κέντρα διαπείρας μέσον· §27ὅθεν νιν Ἑλλὰς ὠνόμαζεν Οἰδίπουν.
But he, giving in to pleasure and falling into a drunken revelry, begot a child for us; and having begotten him, realizing his offense and the oracle of the god, to the meadow of Hera and the ridge of Cithaeron he gave the infant to herdsmen to expose, having pierced the middle of his ankles with iron pins; from which Greece named him Oedipus.
But the horse-herdsmen of Polybus, taking him, carried him to their house and placed him into the hands of their mistress.
ἣ δὲ τὸν ἐμὸν ὠδίνων πόνον §31μαστοῖς ὑφεῖτο καὶ πόσιν πείθει τεκεῖν.
She applied my labor-pains to her own breasts and persuaded her husband to rear him.
§32ἤδη δὲ πυρσαῖς γένυσιν ἐξανδρούμενος §33παῖς οὑμὸς ἢ γνοὺς ἤ τινος μαθὼν πάρα §34ἔστειχε τοὺς φύσαντας ἐκμαθεῖν θέλων §35πρὸς δῶμα Φοίβου, Λάιός θʼ, οὑμὸς πόσις, §36τὸν ἐκτεθέντα παῖδα μαστεύων μαθεῖν §37εἰ μηκέτʼ εἴη.
And now, growing into manhood with a ruddy beard, my son, either having realized it or having learned from someone, set out, wishing to find out his parents, to the house of Phoebus; and Laius, my husband, seeking to find out about the exposed child, whether he was no longer alive.
καὶ ξυνάπτετον πόδα §38ἐς ταὐτὸν ἄμφω Φωκίδος σχιστῆς ὁδοῦ.
And they both met at the same spot of the cleft road of Phocis.
And the charioteer of Laius commanded him: O stranger, get out of the way of princes.
§41ὃ δʼ εἷρπʼ ἄναυδος, μέγα φρονῶν.
But he walked on in silence, with high pride.
πῶλοι δέ νιν §42χηλαῖς τένοντας ἐξεφοίνισσον ποδῶν.
And the fillies with their hoofs bloodied the tendons of his feet.
§43ὅθεν — τί τἀκτὸς τῶν κακῶν με δεῖ λέγειν; — §44παῖς πατέρα καίνει καὶ λαβὼν ὀχήματα §45Πολύβῳ τροφεῖ δίδωσιν.
Whence—why must I speak of what is outside of these evils?— the son killed the father, and taking the chariot, gave it to Polybus, his foster-father.
ὡς δʼ ἐπεζάρει §46Σφὶγξ ἁρπαγαῖσι πόλιν ἐμός τʼ οὐκ ἦν πόσις, §47Κρέων ἀδελφὸς τἀμὰ κηρύσσει λέχη, §48ὅστις σοφῆς αἴνιγμα παρθένου μάθοι, §49τούτῳ ξυνάψειν λέκτρα.
And when the Sphinx oppressed the city with her plunderings, and my husband was no more, Creon, my brother, proclaimed my marriage-bed, that whoever should understand the riddle of the wise maiden, to him he would join my bed.
τυγχάνει δέ πως §50μούσας ἐμὸς παῖς Οἰδίπους Σφιγγὸς μαθών· §52καὶ σκῆπτρʼ ἔπαθλα τῆσδε λαμβάνει χθονός.
And by some chance, my son Oedipus, having understood the song of the Sphinx, also received the scepter of this land as a prize.
And he married her who bore him, wretched man, without knowing it, nor did she who bore him know she was sleeping with her child.
§55τίκτω δὲ παῖδας παιδὶ δύο μὲν ἄρσενας, §56Ἐτεοκλέα κλεινήν τε Πολυνείκους βίαν, §57κόρας τε δισσάς· τὴν μὲν Ἰσμήνην πατὴρ §58ὠνόμασε, τὴν δὲ πρόσθεν Ἀντιγόνην ἐγώ.
And I bore children to my child: two sons, Eteocles and the famous might of Polyneices, and two daughters; the one her father named Ismene, and the older one, Antigone, I named.
§59μαθὼν δὲ τἀμὰ λέκτρα μητρῴων γάμων §60ὁ πάντʼ ἀνατλὰς Οἰδίπους παθήματα §61ἐς ὄμμαθʼ αὑτοῦ δεινὸν ἐμβάλλει φόνον, §62χρυσηλάτοις πόρπαισιν αἱμάξας κόρας.
But when he learned the truth of my bed and his mother's marriage, Oedipus, who had endured all sufferings, inflicted a terrible slaughter upon his own eyes, bloodying his pupils with gold-wrought brooches.
§63ἐπεὶ δὲ τέκνων γένυς ἐμῶν σκιάζεται, §64κλῄθροις ἔκρυψαν πατέρʼ, ἵνʼ ἀμνήμων τύχη §65γένοιτο πολλῶν δεομένη σοφισμάτων· §66ζῶν δʼ ἔστʼ ἐν οἴκοις.
And when the beard of my children began to shade their cheeks, they hid their father behind bolts, so that his misfortune, which required much cunning to hide, might be forgotten; he is alive in the house.
But being sick against his fortune, he prayed most unholy curses upon his children, that they should divide this house with whetted iron.
§69τὼ δʼ ἐς φόβον πεσόντε, μὴ τελεσφόρους §70εὐχὰς θεοὶ κραίνωσιν οἰκούντων ὁμοῦ, §71ξυμβάντʼ ἔταξαν τὸν νεώτερον πάρος §72φεύγειν ἑκόντα τήνδε Πολυνείκη χθόνα, §73Ἐτεοκλέα δὲ σκῆπτρʼ ἔχειν μένοντα γῆς, §74ἐνιαυτὸν ἀλλάσσοντε.
And they, falling into fear lest the gods should fulfill the curses of those living together, agreed and ordered that the younger, Polyneices, first should go willingly into exile from this land of Thebes, and Eteocles should hold the scepter, remaining in the land, exchanging year by year.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐπὶ ζυγοῖς §75καθέζετʼ ἀρχῆς, οὐ μεθίσταται θρόνων, §76φυγάδα δʼ ἀπωθεῖ τῆσδε Πολυνείκη χθονός.
But when he sat upon the yoke of rule, he did not step down from the throne, but drove Polyneices into exile from this land.
§77ὃ δʼ Ἄργος ἐλθών, κῆδος Ἀδράστου λαβών, §78πολλὴν ἀθροίσας ἀσπίδʼ Ἀργείων ἄγει· §79ἐπʼ αὐτὰ δʼ ἐλθὼν ἑπτάπυλα τείχη τάδε, §80πατρῷʼ ἀπαιτεῖ σκῆπτρα καὶ μέρη χθονός.
And he, going to Argos and contracting a marriage-alliance with Adrastus, leads a great gathering of Argive shields; and coming to these very seven-gated walls, he demands his ancestral scepter and his share of the land.
And I, wishing to dissolve the strife, persuaded my child to meet his brother under a truce before touching the spear.
§83ἥξειν δʼ ὁ πεμφθείς φησιν αὐτὸν ἄγγελος.
And the messenger who was sent says that he will come.