§977inventa thalamis digna nox tandem meis.
At last, a night worthy of my bridal chamber has been found.
A foul shower wets his face, and his torn head vomits copious blood from the torn veins.
We are driven by the Fates: yield to the Fates; anxious cares cannot change the threads of the established spindle.
§983quicquid patimur mortale genus, §984quicquid facimus venit ex alto, §985servatque suae decreta colus. §986Lachesis nulla revoluta manu.
Whatever we suffer, we mortal race, whatever we do comes from on high, and Lachesis keeps the decrees of her spindle, spun back by no hand of Lachesis.
§987omnia secto tramite vadunt §988primusque dies dedit extremum: §989non illa deo vertisse licet §990quae nexa suis currunt causis.
All things go along a cut path, and the first day gave the last: not even to a god is it permitted to overturn those things which run connected with their own causes.
§991it cuique ratus prece non ulla §992mobilis ordo: multis ipsum §993metuisse nocet, multi ad fatum §994venere suum dum fata timent.
To each goes an established order, by no prayer movable: to many, to have feared fate itself has been harmful; many have come to their own fate while they fear their fates.
The doors resounded, and he himself, with no guide, makes his way, deprived of light.
§998Bene habet, peractum est: iusta persolvi patri,
It is well, it is accomplished: I have paid the due penalties to my father, darkness pleases me.
What god at last, placated, has covered my head with a dark cloud?
§1001quis scelera donat? conscium evasi diem.
Who pardons my crimes? I have escaped the witness of day.
You owe nothing, parricide, to your right hand: light has fled from you; this face becomes Oedipus.
§1004En ecce, rapido saeva prosiluit gradu §1005Iocasta vaecors, qualis attonita et furens §1006Cadmea mater abstulit gnato caput §1007sensitque raptum, dubitat afflictum alioqui, §1008cupit pavetque.
But look, with rapid step has rushed forward mad Jocasta, just as astonished and raging the Cadmean mother tore off her son's head and realized her plunder; she hesitates, though utterly afflicted, she desires and fears.
iam malis cessit pudor, §1009set haeret ore prima vox.
Now shame has yielded to her misfortunes, but her first word clings in her mouth.
ioc. Quid te vocem?
Jocasta: What should I call you?
§1010gnatumue? dubitas? gnatus es: gnatum pudet?
Son? Do you doubt? You are my son. Is a son ashamed?
Speak, though unwilling, son—whither do you turn away your head and your empty face?
§1012bQuis frui tenebris vetat?
Oedipus: Who forbids me to enjoy the darkness?
§1013quis reddit oculos? matris, en matris sonus!
Who restores my eyes? Lo, the sound of my mother, of my mother!
We have lost our labor; it is no longer lawful at all.
nefandos dividat vastum mare §1016dirimatque tellus abdita et quisquis sub hoc §1017in alia versus sidera ac solem avium §1018dependet orbis alterum ex nobis ferat.
Let the vast sea divide the unspeakable ones, and let the hidden earth separate us, and if any other world turned toward other stars and a remote sun hangs down, let it bear one of us.
§1019Fati ista culpa est: nemo fit fato nocens.
Jocasta: That is the fault of Fate: no one becomes guilty by Fate.
§1020Iam parce verbis, mater, et parce auribus: §1021per has reliquias corporis trunci peto, §1022per inauspicatum sanguinis pignus mei, §1023per omne nostri nominis fas ac nefas.
Oedipus: Now spare your words, mother, and spare my ears: I beg by these remains of my mutilated body, by the ill-omened pledge of my blood, by all that is lawful and unlawful in our name.
§1024Quid, anime, torpes? socia cur scelerum dare §1025poenas recusas? omne confusum' perit, §1026, incesta, per te iuris humani decus: §1027morere et nefastum spiritum ferro exige.
Jocasta: Why, my soul, do you grow numb? Why, companion of crimes, do you refuse to pay the penalties? All the beauty of human law has perished, confounded through you, incestuous woman: die, and drive out your unholy breath with iron.
§1028non si ipse mundum concitans divum sator §1029corusca saeva tela iaculetur manu, §1030umquam rependam sceleribus poenas pares
Not if the father of the gods himself, shaking the world, should hurl flashing weapons with his fierce hand, could I ever pay penalties equal to my crimes, unspeakable mother.
§1031mater nefanda, mors placet: mortis via
Death pleases me: let a way of death be sought.
Come now, lend your hand to your mother, if you are a parricide.
restat hoc operae ultimum: §1034rapiatur ensis; hoc iacet ferro meus §1035coniunx— quid illum nomine haud vero vocas?
This last of tasks remains: let the sword be snatched; by this iron lies my husband—why do you call him by a name not true?
§1036socer est.
He is your father-in-law.
utrumne pectori infigam meo §1037telum an patenti conditum iugulo inprimam?
Shall I drive this weapon into my breast or press it deep into my open throat?
§1038eligere nescis vulnus: hunc, dextra, hunc pete §1039. uterum capacem, qui virum et gnatos tulit.
You know not how to choose a wound: seek this, right hand, seek this capacious womb, which bore both husband and sons.
§1040Iacet perempta.
She lies slain.
vulneri immoritur manus §1041ferrumque secum nimius eiecit cruor.
Her hand dies upon the wound, and excessive blood cast out the iron with itself.
§1042Fatidice te, te praesidem et veri deum §1043compello: solum debui fatis patrem; §1044bis parricida plusque quam timui nocens §1045matrem peremi: scelere confecta est meo.
Oedipus: Fate-revealing one, you, you the protector and god of truth I address: I owed only my father to the fates; twice a parricide and more guilty than I feared, I have slain my mother: she is destroyed by my crime.
§10460 Phoebe mendax, fata superavi impia.
O lying Phoebus, I have surpassed my impious fates.
§1047Pavitante gressu sequere pallentes vias; §1048suspensa plantis efferens vestigia §1049caecam tremente dextera noctem rege.
Follow with trembling step the pale paths; lifting up suspended footsteps on your soles, guide the blind night with a trembling right hand.
Go headlong, placing slippery steps, flee, begone—stay, lest you stumble on your mother.
§1052quicumque fessi corpore et morbo graves §1053semanima trahitis pectora, en fugio exeo: §1054relevate colla, mitior caeli status §1055posterga sequitur: quisquis exilem iacens, §1056animam retentat, vividos haustus levis §1057concipiat.
Whoever you are, weary of body and heavy with disease, dragging half-dead breasts, behold, I flee, I depart: lift up your necks; a milder state of heaven follows behind: whoever lying down retains a faint breath, let him gently take in lively draughts.
ite, ferte depositis opem: §1058mortifera mecum vitia terrarum extraho.
Go, bring aid to the fallen: I draw out with myself the deadly plagues of the land.