§792οὐδʼ ὑπὸ θυρσομανεῖ νεβρίδων μέτα δίνᾳ, §793ἅρμασι καὶ ψαλίων τετραβάμοσι μωνυχοπώλων §793aἱππείαις ἐπὶ χεύμασι βαίνων §794Ἰσμηνοῖο θοάζεις, Ἀργείοις ἐπιπνεύσας §795Σπαρτῶν γένναν, §796ἀσπιδοφέρμονα θίασον ἐνόπλιον, §797ἀντίπαλον κατὰ λάινα τείχεα §798χαλκῷ κοσμήσας.
Nor under the influence of thyrsus-madness, amid the whirling of fawn-skins, with chariots and the four-legged bits of single-hooved colts, going upon the horse-riding streams of Ismenus, you hasten, having breathed upon the Argives the race of the Sown-men, the race of the Sown-men, an shield-bearing armed band, as an opponent against the stone walls, having adorned them with bronze.
Truly, a terrible goddess is Strife, who devised these woes for the kings of this land, for the sore-tried Labdacids.
§801ὦ ζαθέων πετάλων πολυθηρότα- §802τον νάπος, Ἀρτέμιδος χιονοτρόφον ὄμμα Κιθαιρών, §803μήποτε τὸν θανάτῳ προτεθέντα, λόχευμʼ Ἰοκάστας, §804ὤφελες Οἰδιπόδαν θρέψαι, βρέφος ἔκβολον οἴκων, §805χρυσοδέτοις περόναις ἐπίσαμον·
O most beast-fostering glen of holy leaves, snow-nourished eye of Artemis, Cithaeron, would that you had never nurtured Oedipus, the child exposed to death, the offspring of Jocasta, the infant cast out of the house, marked with gold-bound pins.
§806μηδὲ τὸ παρθένιον πτερόν, οὔρειον τέρας, ἐλθεῖν §807πένθεα γαίας §807aΣφιγγὸς ἀμουσοτάταισι σὺν ᾠδαῖς, §808ἅ ποτε Καδμογενῆ τετραβάμοσι χαλαῖς §809τείχεσι χριμπτομένα φέρεν αἰθέρος εἰς ἄβατον φῶς §810γένναν, ἃν ὁ κατὰ χθονὸς Ἅιδας §811Καδμείοις ἐπιπέμπει· δυσδαίμων δʼ ἔρις ἄλλα §812θάλλει παίδων §813Οἰδιπόδα κατὰ δώματα καὶ πόλιν.
Nor would that the winged maiden, the mountain monster, had come as grief to the land, with the most unmusical songs of the Sphinx, she who once with four-legged claws, approaching the walls, carried the Cadmean race into the inaccessible light of the upper air, which Hades under the earth sends upon the Cadmeans; but another ill-fated strife flourishes among the children of Oedipus, in their house and the city.
§814οὐ γὰρ ὃ μὴ καλὸν οὔποτʼ ἔφυ καλόν, §815οὐδʼ οἱ μὴ νόμιμοι §816παῖδες ματρὶ λόχευμα, μίασμα πατρός· §817ἣ δὲ συναίμονος ἐς λέχος ἦλθεν.
For what is not noble never becomes noble, nor are unlawful children a proper birth for a mother, but a pollution of the father; she who entered into the bed of her own kinsman.
§818ἔτεκες, ὦ Γαῖʼ, ἔτεκές ποτε, §819βάρβαρον ὡς ἀκοὰν ἐδάην ἐδάην ποτʼ ἐν οἴκοις, §820τὰν ἀπὸ θηροτρόφου φοινικολόφοιο δράκοντος §821γένναν ὀδοντοφυῆ, Θήβαις κάλλιστον ὄνειδος· §822Ἁρμονίας δέ ποτʼ εἰς ὑμεναίους §823ἤλυθον οὐρανίδαι, φόρμιγγί τε τείχεα Θήβας §824τᾶς Ἀμφιονίας τε λύρας ὕπο πύργος ἀνέστα §825διδύμων ποταμῶν πόρον ἀμφὶ μέσον, §826Δίρκα χλοεροτρόφον ᾇ πεδίον §827πρόπαρ Ἰσμηνοῦ καταδεύει· §828Ἰώ θʼ, ἁ κερόεσσα προμάτωρ, §829Καδμείων βασιλῆας ἐγείνατο, §830μυριάδας δʼ ἀγαθῶν ἑτέροις ἑτέ- §831ρας μεταμειβομένα πόλις ἅδʼ ἐπʼ ἄκροις ἕστακʼ §832Ἀρηΐοις στεφάνοισιν.
You brought forth, O Earth, you once brought forth, as I once learned in the house as a foreign legend, the teeth-born race from the beast-nurturing, red-crested dragon, a teeth-grown progeny, a most beautiful reproach to Thebes; And once for the marriage of Harmonia the gods of heaven came, and the walls of Thebes arose to the lyre, and under the lyre of Amphion the tower arose around the middle stream of the double rivers, where Dirce waters the green-nourishing plain before Ismenus; and Io, the horned ancestress, brought forth the kings of the Cadmeans, and this city, exchanging ten thousand blessings one after another, has stood at the summit of martial crowns.
§834ἡγοῦ πάροιθε, θύγατερ· ὡς τυφλῷ ποδὶ §835ὀφθαλμὸς εἶ σύ, ναυβάταισιν ἄστρον ὥς· §836δεῦρʼ ἐς τὸ λευρὸν πέδον ἴχνος τιθεῖσʼ ἐμόν, §837πρόβαινε, μὴ σφαλῶμεν· ἀσθενὴς πατήρ· §838κλήρους τέ μοι φύλασσε παρθένῳ χερί, §839οὓς ἔλαβον οἰωνίσματʼ ὀρνίθων μαθὼν §840θάκοισιν ἐν ἱεροῖσιν, οὗ μαντεύομαι.
Teiresias: Lead onward, daughter; since to a blind foot you are an eye, as a star is to sailors; guiding my step hither onto the level path, advance, lest we stumble; your father is weak; and guard for me in your maiden hand the lots, which I took having learned the bird-omens at the sacred seats where I prophesy.
§841τέκνον Μενοικεῦ, παῖ Κρέοντος, εἰπέ μοι §842πόση τις ἡ ʼπίλοιπος ἄστεως ὁδὸς §843πρὸς πατέρα τὸν σόν· ὡς ἐμὸν κάμνει γόνυ, §844πυκνὴν δὲ βαίνων ἤλυσιν μόλις περῶ.
Teiresias: Child Menoeceus, son of Creon, tell me, how much of the remaining way of the city to your father is left; for my knee is weary, and though making frequent steps, I scarcely advance.
§845θάρσει· πέλας γάρ, Τειρεσία, φίλοισι σοῖς §846ἐξώρμισαι σὸν πόδα· λαβοῦ δʼ αὐτοῦ, τέκνον· §847ὡς πᾶσʼ ἀπήνη πούς τε πρεσβύτου φιλεῖ §848χειρὸς θυραίας ἀναμένειν κουφίσματα.
Menoeceus: Take heart; for you have brought your foot to harbor, Teiresias, near your friends; take hold of him, child; since every chariot and aged foot is wont to await the relief of a foreign hand.
§849εἶἑν, πάρεσμεν· τί με καλεῖς σπουδῇ, Κρέον;
Teiresias: Well, we are here; why do you call me in haste, Creon?
Creon: We have not forgotten yet; but gather your strength and collect your breath, having cast off the steepness of the road.
§852κόπῳ παρεῖμαι γοῦν Ἐρεχθειδῶν ἄπο §853δεῦρʼ ἐκκομισθεὶς τῆς πάροιθεν ἡμέρας· §854κἀκεῖ γὰρ ἦν τις πόλεμος Εὐμόλπου δορός, §855οὗ καλλινίκους Κεκροπίδας ἔθηκʼ ἐγώ· §856καὶ τόνδε χρυσοῦν στέφανον, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἔχω §857λαβὼν ἀπαρχὰς πολεμίων σκυλευμάτων.
Teiresias: I am indeed relaxed with weariness, having been brought hither from the Erechtheids on the previous day; for there too was a certain war of Eumolpus' spear, where I made the sons of Cecrops victoriously triumphant; and I have this golden crown, as you see, having received it as the first-fruits of the enemy's spoils.
§858οἰωνὸν ἐθέμην καλλίνικα σὰ στέφη· §859ἐν γὰρ κλύδωνι κείμεθʼ, ὥσπερ οἶσθα σύ, §860δορὸς Δαναϊδῶν, καὶ μέγας Θήβαις ἀγών.
Creon: I take your victorious crowns as a favorable omen; for we lie in a tempest, as you know, of the spear of the Danaids, and there is a great contest for Thebes.
§861βασιλεὺς μὲν οὖν βέβηκε κοσμηθεὶς ὅπλοις §862ἤδη πρὸς ἀλκὴν Ἐτεοκλῆς Μυκηνίδα· §863ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐπέσταλκʼ ἐκμαθεῖν σέθεν πάρα, §864τί δρῶντες ἂν μάλιστα σώσαιμεν πόλιν.
The king indeed, Eteocles, has already gone, adorned with arms, to meet the Mycenaean strength; but he has charged me to learn from you by doing what we might best save the city.
§865Ἐτεοκλέους μὲν οὕνεκʼ ἂν κλῄσας στόμα §866χρησμοὺς ἐπέσχον· σοὶ δʼ, ἐπεὶ χρῄζεις μαθεῖν, §867λέξω.
Teiresias: For Eteocles' sake indeed, I would have kept my mouth closed and withheld the oracles; but since you desire to learn, I will speak.
νοσεῖ γὰρ ἥδε γῆ πάλαι, Κρέον, §868ἐξ οὗ ʼτεκνώθη Λάιος βίᾳ θεῶν §869πόσιν τʼ ἔφυσε μητρὶ μέλεον Οἰδίπουν· §870αἵ θʼ αἱματωποὶ δεργμάτων διαφθοραὶ §871θεῶν σόφισμα κἀπίδειξις Ἑλλάδι.
For this land has been sick for a long time, Creon, ever since Laius, in defiance of the gods, begot a son, and fathered Oedipus, a miserable husband to his mother; and the bloody destruction of his eyes was a contrivance of the gods and a demonstration to Greece.
§872ἃ συγκαλύψαι παῖδες Οἰδίπου χρόνῳ §873χρῄζοντες, ὡς δὴ θεοὺς ὑπεκδραμούμενοι, §874ἥμαρτον ἀμαθῶς· οὔτε γὰρ γέρα πατρὶ §875οὔτʼ ἔξοδον διδόντες, ἄνδρα δυστυχῆ §876ἐξηγρίωσαν· ἐκ δʼ ἔπνευσʼ αὐτοῖς ἀρὰς §877δεινάς, νοσῶν τε καὶ πρὸς ἠτιμασμένος.
Which things the children of Oedipus, wishing to conceal in time, as if indeed to escape the gods, erred foolishly; for neither giving honors to their father nor allowing him to go out, they made the unfortunate man grow wild; and he breathed out against them dreadful curses, being sick and moreover dishonored.
And I, what did I not do, and what words did I not say, and so came into hatred with the children of Oedipus?