§622geminat sacerdos, donec in apertum efferat §623vultus opertos) Laius— fari horreo: §624stetit per artus sanguine effuso horridus, §625paedore foedo squalidam obtectus comam, §626et ore rabido fatur: 'O Cadmi effera, §627cruore semper laeta cognato domus, §628vibrate thyrsos, enthea gnatos manu §629lacerate potius— maximum Thebis scelus §630maternus amor est.
Creon: The priest repeats (the prayers), until he brings into the open his covered face.) Laius—I shudder to speak: he stood with his limbs stiffened, dreadful with shed blood, his squalid hair covered with foul filth, and with a rabid mouth he speaks: 'O fierce house of Cadmus, always rejoicing in kindred blood, shake the thyrsi, with frenzied hand your sons tear apart rather—the greatest crime in Thebes is a mother's love.
patria, non ira deum §631sed scelere raperis: non gravi flatu tibi §632luctificus Auster nec parum pluvio aethere §633satiata tellus halitu sicco nocet, §634sed rex cruentus, pretia qui saevae necis §635sceptra et nefandos occupat thalamos patris §638egitque in ortus semet et matri impios §639fetus regessit, quique, vix mos est feris, §640fratres sibi ipse genuit— implicitum malum §641magisque monstrum Sphinge perplexum sua.
O fatherland, not by the anger of the gods but by crime are you being destroyed: no heavy blast of the mournful Auster, nor the earth unsatisfied with a sky too little rainy, harms you with dry breath, but a bloody king, who as the reward of a savage death occupies the sceptre and the shameful bridal chamber of his father, and drove himself back into his origins and returned to his mother impious offspring, and who—which is scarcely the custom of wild beasts— begot brothers for himself—an entangled evil, and a monster more complex than his own Sphinx.
An odious offspring: but yet a parent worse than the son, heavy again with an ill-fated womb.
§642te, te cruenta sceptra qui dextra geris, §643te pater inultus urbe cum tota petam §644et mecum Erinyn pronubam thalami traham, §645traham sonantis verbera, incestam domum §646vertam et penates impio Marte obteram.
You, you who bear the bloody sceptre in your right hand, you will I, an unavenged father, attack with the whole city, and with me I will drag the Erinys as the bride-woman of your chamber, I will drag the lashes of her sounding whip, your incestuous house I will overturn, and your household gods with impious war I will crush.
§647proinde pulsum finibus regem ocius §648agite exulem quocumque funesto gradu; §649solum relinquat: vere florifero virens §650reparabit herbas, spiritus puros dabit §651vitalis aura, veniet et silvis decor; §652Letum Luesque, Mors Labor Tabes Dolor, §653comitatus illo dignus, excedent simul; §654et ipse rapidis gressibus sedes volet §655effugere nostras, sed graves pedibus moras §656addam et tenebo: reptet incertus viae, §657baculo senili triste praetemptans iter: §658eripite terras, auferam caelum pater. ' §659Et ossa et artus gelidus invasit tremor; §660quicquid timebam facere fecisse arguor— §661tori iugalis abnuit Merope nefas, §662sociata Polybo; sospes absolvit manus §663Polybus meas: uterque defendit parens §664caedem stuprumque.
Therefore, the king driven from the borders more swiftly drive as an exile with whatever deadly step; let him leave the soil: green in the flowery spring it will restore its grasses, the vital air will give pure breaths, and beauty will return to the woods; Destruction and Pestilence, Death, Hardship, Decay, Pain, a company worthy of him, will depart at the same time; and he himself with rapid steps will wish to flee our dwellings, but heavy delays to his feet I will add and I will hold him back: let him crawl uncertain of his way, with an old man's staff feeling out his sad journey: snatch away the lands, I, his father, will take away the sky.' Oedipus: A cold tremor invaded both my bones and limbs; whatever I was fearing to do, I am accused of having done— Merope denies the crime of the bridal bed, joined with Polybus; safe Polybus absolves my hands: each parent defends me from murder and disgrace.
quis locus culpae est super?
What room for guilt is left?
Long before does Thebes mourn lost Laius, than I touched the Boeotian lands with my step.
§667falsusne senior an deus Thebis gravis?— §668iam iam tenemus callidi socios doli: §669mentitur ista praeferens fraudi deos §670vates, tibique sceptra despondet mea.
Is the old man false, or is a god heavy on Thebes?— Now, now I hold the partners of the cunning plot: that prophet lies, putting forward the gods as a cover for his fraud, and promises my sceptre to you.
§671Egone ut sororem regia expelli velim?
Creon: Would I wish my sister to be expelled from the royal palace?
§672si me fides sacrata cognati laris §673non contineret in meo certum statu: §674tamen ipsa me fortuna terreret nimis §675sollicita semper, liceat hoc tuto tibi §676exuere pondus nec recedentem opprimat: §677iam te minore tutior pones loco.
If the sacred faith of the kindred hearth did not keep me fixed in my state: yet fortune itself would terrify me too much, always anxious; may it be allowed to you safely to strip off this weight, and may it not crush you as you retire: now you will place yourself safer in a smaller position.
Oedipus: Do you even exhort me, that of my own accord I should lay down so heavy a kingdom?
§679bSuadeam hoc illis ego, §680in utrumque quis. , est liber etiamnum status: §681tibi iam necesse est ferre fortunam tuam.
Creon: I would persuade this to those, for whom the state of each side is still free: for you it is now necessary to bear your fortune.
§682Certissima est regnare cupienti via §683laudare modica et otium ac somnum loqui; §684ab inquieto saepe simulatur quies.
Oedipus: The most certain way for one desiring to reign is to praise modest things and speak of leisure and sleep; by the restless, quiet is often simulated.
§685Parumne me tam longa defendit fides?
Creon: Does my so long-standing faith protect me too little?
§686Aditum nocendi perfido praestat fides.
Oedipus: Faith provides an entrance for doing harm to the treacherous.
§687Solutus onere regio regni bonis §688fruor domusque civium coetu viget, §689nec ulla vicibus surgit alternis dies §690qua non propinqui munera ad nostros lares §691sceptri redundent; cultus, opulentae dapes, §692donata multis gratia nostra salus: §693quid tam beatae desse fortunae rear?
Creon: Freed from the royal burden, I enjoy the goods of the kingdom, and my house thrives with a crowd of citizens, nor does any day rise in alternating turns on which the gifts of the sceptre do not overflow to our household hearths; respect, rich banquets, grace granted to many is our safety: what should I think is lacking to so blessed a fortune?
§694Quod dest: secunda non habent umquam modum.
Oedipus: That which is lacking: prosperous things never have moderation.
§695Incognita igitur ut nocens causa cadam?
Creon: Shall I then, without my cause being known, fall as a guilty man?
§696Num ratio vobis reddita est vitae meae?
Has an account of my life been rendered to you?
has our cause been heard by Tiresias? yet we seem guilty, you make an example: I follow.
§699Quid si innocens sum?
Creon: What if I am innocent?
Oedipus: Kings are accustomed to fear doubtful things instead of certain ones.
Creon: He who dreads vain fears, should expect real ones.
Oedipus: Whoever has been in fault, hates when dismissed: let everything that is doubtful fall.
§703Sic odia fiunt.
Creon: Thus hatreds are made.