§1259γέρων γέροντι συγκατῴκηκεν πίνος §1260πλευρὰν μαραίνων, κρατὶ δʼ ὀμματοστερεῖ §1261κόμη διʼ αὔρας ἀκτένιστος ᾄσσεται· §1262ἀδελφὰ δʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, τούτοισιν φορεῖ §1263τὰ τῆς ταλαίνης νηδύος θρεπτήρια.
An ancient squalor has come to dwell with you, an old man, wasting your ribs, and on your sightless head the uncombed hair flutters through the breeze; and in keeping with these, as it seems, you carry the sustenance for your wretched belly.
§1264ἁγὼ πανώλης ὄψʼ ἄγαν ἐκμανθάνω· §1265καὶ μαρτυρῶ κάκιστος ἀνθρώπων τροφαῖς §1266ταῖς σαῖσιν ἥκειν· τἀμὰ μὴ ʼξ ἄλλων πύθῃ.
These things I, utterly ruined, learn all too late; and I bear witness that I have come as the worst of men regarding your sustenance; do not learn of my wrongs from others.
§1267ἀλλʼ ἔστι γὰρ καὶ Ζηνὶ σύνθακος θρόνων §1268Αἰδὼς ἐπʼ ἔργοις πᾶσι, καὶ πρὸς σοί, πάτερ, §1269παρασταθήτω· τῶν γὰρ ἡμαρτημένων §1270ἄκη μέν ἐστι, προσφορὰ δʼ οὐκ ἔστʼ ἔτι.
But since Mercy sits beside the throne of Zeus for all deeds, let her stand by you too, father; for while there are remedies for my errors, there is no longer any adding to them.
§1271τί σιγᾷς;
Why are you silent?
§1272φώνησον, ὦ πάτερ, τι· μή μʼ ἀποστραφῇς.
Speak, father, some word; do not turn away from me.
Do you not even answer me at all, but will you send me away in dishonor, speechless, not even declaring what you are angry about?
§1275ὦ σπέρματʼ ἀνδρὸς τοῦδʼ, ἐμαὶ δʼ ὁμαίμονες, §1276πειράσατʼ ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς γε κινῆσαι πατρὸς §1277τὸ δυσπρόσοιστον κἀπροσήγορον στόμα, §1278ὡς μή μʼ ἄτιμον, τοῦ θεοῦ γε προστάτην, §1279οὕτως ἀφῇ με μηδὲν ἀντειπὼν ἔπος.
O offspring of this man, and my own sisters, do you at least try to move our father’s mouth, so difficult to approach and address, so that he may not send me away in dishonor, a suppliant of the god, with not a single word in reply.
§1280λέγʼ, ὦ ταλαίπωρʼ, αὐτὸς ὧν χρείᾳ πάρει· §1281τὰ πολλὰ γάρ τοι ῥήματʼ ἢ τέρψαντά τι, §1282ἢ δυσχεράναντʼ ἢ κατοικτίσαντά πως, §1283παρέσχε φωνὴν τοῖς ἀφωνήτοις τινά.
Antigone: Speak, unhappy one, yourself, what you have come in need of; for many words, either pleasing in some way, or causing displeasure, or somehow moves to pity, give some voice to the speechless.
§1284ἀλλʼ ἐξερῶ· καλῶς γὰρ ἐξηγεῖ σύ μοι·
Polyneices: Well, I will speak; for you guide me well.
§1285πρῶτον μὲν αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν ποιούμενος §1286ἀρωγόν, ἔνθεν μʼ ὧδʼ ἀνέστησεν μολεῖν §1287ὁ τῆσδε τῆς γῆς κοίρανος, διδοὺς ἐμοὶ §1288λέξαι τʼ ἀκοῦσαί τʼ ἀσφαλεῖ σὺν ἐξόδῳ.
First, making the god himself my helper, from whose altar the ruler of this land raised me up to come here, granting me both to speak and to hear with a safe return.
And these things, strangers, I shall wish to obtain for myself from you, and from these two sisters, and from my father.
§1291ἃ δʼ ἦλθον, ἤδη σοι θέλω λέξαι, πάτερ.
And what I came for, I wish now to tell you, father.
§1292γῆς ἐκ πατρῴας ἐξελήλαμαι φυγάς, §1293τοῖς σοῖς πανάρχοις οὕνεκʼ ἐνθακεῖν θρόνοις §1294γονῇ πεφυκὼς ἠξίουν γεραίτερος.
I have been driven out of my fatherland as an exile, because, being by birth the elder, I claimed to sit on your all-ruling throne.
§1295ἀνθʼ ὧν μʼ Ἐτεοκλῆς, ὢν φύσει νεώτερος, §1296γῆς ἐξέωσεν, οὔτε νικήσας λόγῳ §1297οὔτʼ εἰς ἔλεγχον χειρὸς οὐδʼ ἔργου μολών, §1298πόλιν δὲ πείσας.
For which reasons Eteocles, being by nature younger, cast me out of the land, neither defeating me in argument nor coming to a trial of hand or deed, but having persuaded the city.
Of these things, I say that your Fury is the chief cause; and then from prophets too I hear it in this way.
§1301ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἦλθον Ἄργος ἐς τὸ Δωρικόν, §1302λαβὼν Ἄδραστον πενθερόν, ξυνωμότας §1303ἔστησʼ ἐμαυτῷ γῆς ὅσοιπερ Ἀπίας §1304πρῶτοι καλοῦνται καὶ τετίμηνται δόρει, §1305ὅπως τὸν ἑπτάλογχον ἐς Θήβας στόλον §1306ξὺν τοῖσδʼ ἀγείρας ἢ θάνοιμι πανδίκως §1307ἢ τοὺς τάδʼ ἐκπράξαντας ἐκβάλοιμι γῆς.
For when I came to Doric Argos, taking Adrastus as my father-in-law, I established as oath-bound allies for myself all who are called first of the Apian land and are honored for their spear, so that gathering against Thebes the seven-fold host with these men, I might either die with full justice or cast out from the land those who did these things.
§1308εἶεν· τί δῆτα νῦν ἀφιγμένος κυρῶ;
Well, then; why on earth am I now arrived?
§1309σοὶ προστροπαίους, ὦ πάτερ, λιτὰς ἔχων §1310αὐτός τʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ξυμμάχων τε τῶν ἐμῶν, §1311οἳ νῦν σὺν ἑπτὰ τάξεσιν σὺν ἑπτά τε §1312λόγχαις τὸ Θήβης πέδιον ἀμφεστᾶσι πᾶν· §1313οἷος δορυσσοῦς Ἀμφιάρεως, τὰ πρῶτα μὲν §1314δόρει κρατύνων, πρῶτα δʼ οἰωνῶν ὁδοῖς· §1315ὁ δεύτερος δʼ Αἰτωλὸς Οἰνέως τόκος §1316Τυδεύς. τρίτος δʼ Ἐτέοκλος, Ἀργεῖος γεγώς· §1317τέταρτον Ἱππομέδοντʼ ἀπέστειλεν πατὴρ §1318Ταλαός· ὁ πέμπτος δʼ εὔχεται κατασκαφῇ §1319Καπανεὺς τὸ Θήβης ἄστυ δῃώσειν πυρί· §1320ἕκτος δὲ Παρθενοπαῖος Ἀρκὰς ὄρνυται, §1321ἐπώνυμος τῆς πρόσθεν ἀδμήτης χρόνῳ §1322μητρὸς λοχευθείς, πιστὸς Ἀταλάντης γόνος· §1323ἐγὼ δὲ σός, κεἰ μὴ σός, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κακοῦ §1324πότμου φυτευθείς, σός γέ τοι καλούμενος, §1325ἄγω τὸν Ἄργους ἄφοβον ἐς Θήβας στρατόν.
I have come bearing suppliant prayers to you, father, both for myself and for my allies, who now with seven divisions and seven spears encompass the whole plain of Thebes; such as the spear-brandishing Amphiaraus, holding the first rank in war-craft and first in the paths of birds; and the second is the Aetolian, Tydeus, son of Oeneus; the third is Eteoclus, born an Argive; the fourth, Hippomedon, was sent by his father Talaus; and the fifth, Capaneus, boasts that he will utterly destroy and lay waste the city of Thebes with fire; and the sixth, Arcadian Parthenopaeus, rushes forth, named after his mother who was for a long time previously unmarried, the faithful son of Atalanta; and I, your son—even if not yours, but begotten by an evil fate, yet at least called yours—lead the fearless army of Argos against Thebes.
§1326οἵ σʼ ἀντὶ παίδων τῶνδε καὶ ψυχῆς, πάτερ, §1327ἱκετεύομεν ξύμπαντες ἐξαιτούμενοι §1328μῆνιν βαρεῖαν εἰκαθεῖν ὁρμωμένῳ §1329τῷδʼ ἀνδρὶ τοὐμοῦ πρὸς κασιγνήτου τίσιν, §1330ὅς μʼ ἐξέωσε κἀπεσύλησεν πάτρας.
We, all of us, father, entreat you by these children and by your own life, asking you to yield in your heavy anger to this man (myself) who is rushing to take vengeance on my brother, who cast me out and plundered me of my fatherland.
For if there is any trust in oracles, they declared that victory belongs to those to whom you attach yourself.
§1333πρὸς νῦν σε κρηνῶν καὶ θεῶν ὁμογνίων §1334αἰτῶ πιθέσθαι καὶ παρεικαθεῖν, ἐπεὶ §1335πτωχοὶ μὲν ἡμεῖς καὶ ξένοι, ξένος δὲ σύ.
Therefore, now, by the springs and the gods of our race, I ask you to obey and yield, since we are beggars and strangers, and you too are a stranger.
And we live by flattering others, both you and I, having drawn by lot the self-same destiny.