Free Sophocles by Oedipus Trilogy Page B

meddle not with him, but her who is mine.
    OEDIPUS
O princes of the land!
    CHORUS
Sir, thou dost wrong.
    CREON
Nay, right.
    CHORUS
How right?
    CREON
I take but what is mine.
    OEDIPUS
Help, Athens!
    CHORUS
What means this, sirrah? quick unhand her, or
We'll fight it out.
    CREON
Back!
    CHORUS
Not till thou forbear.
    CREON
'Tis war with Thebes if I am touched or harmed.
    OEDIPUS
Did I not warn thee?
    CHORUS
Quick, unhand the maid!
    CREON
Command your minions; I am not your slave.
    CHORUS
Desist, I bid thee.
    CREON (to the guard)
And O bid thee march!
    CHORUS
To the rescue, one and all!
Rally, neighbors to my call!
See, the foe is at the gate!
Rally to defend the State.
    ANTIGONE
Ah, woe is me, they drag me hence, O friends.
    OEDIPUS
Where art thou, daughter?
    ANTIGONE
Haled along by force.
    OEDIPUS
Thy hands, my child!
    ANTIGONE
They will not let me, father.
    CREON
Away with her!
    OEDIPUS
Ah, woe is me, ah woe!
    CREON
So those two crutches shall no longer serve thee
For further roaming. Since it pleaseth thee
To triumph o'er thy country and thy friends
Who mandate, though a prince, I here discharge,
Enjoy thy triumph; soon or late thou'lt find
Thou art an enemy to thyself, both now
And in time past, when in despite of friends
Thou gav'st the rein to passion, still thy bane.
    CHORUS
Hold there, sir stranger!
    CREON
Hands off, have a care.
    CHORUS
Restore the maidens, else thou goest not.
    CREON
Then Thebes will take a dearer surety soon;
I will lay hands on more than these two maids.
    CHORUS
What canst thou further?
    CREON
Carry off this man.
    CHORUS
Brave words!
    CREON
And deeds forthwith shall make them good.
    CHORUS
Unless perchance our sovereign intervene.
    OEDIPUS
O shameless voice! Would'st lay an hand on me?
    CREON
Silence, I bid thee!
    OEDIPUS
Goddesses, allow
Thy suppliant to utter yet one curse!
Wretch, now my eyes are gone thou hast torn away
The helpless maiden who was eyes to me;
For these to thee and all thy cursed race
May the great Sun, whose eye is everywhere,
Grant length of days and old age like to mine.
    CREON
Listen, O men of Athens, mark ye this?
    OEDIPUS
They mark us both and understand that I
Wronged by the deeds defend myself with words.
    CREON
Nothing shall curb my will; though I be old
And single-handed, I will have this man.
    OEDIPUS
O woe is me!
    CHORUS
Thou art a bold man, stranger, if thou think'st
To execute thy purpose.
    CREON
So I do.
    CHORUS
Then shall I deem this State no more a State.
    CREON
With a just quarrel weakness conquers might.
    OEDIPUS
Ye hear his words?
    CHORUS
Aye words, but not yet deeds,
Zeus knoweth!
    CREON
Zeus may haply know, not thou.
    CHORUS
Insolence!
    CREON
Insolence that thou must bear.
    CHORUS
Haste ye princes, sound the alarm!
Men of Athens, arm ye, arm!
Quickly to the rescue come
Ere the robbers get them home.
(Enter THESEUS)
    THESEUS
Why this outcry? What is forward? wherefore was I called away
From the altar of Poseidon, lord of your Colonus? Say!
On what errand have I hurried hither without stop or stay.
    OEDIPUS
Dear friend—those accents tell me who thou art—
Yon man but now hath done me a foul wrong.
    THESEUS
What is this wrong and who hath wrought it? Speak.
    OEDIPUS
Creon who stands before thee. He it is
Hath robbed me of my all, my daughters twain.
    THESEUS
What means this?
    OEDIPUS
Thou hast heard my tale of wrongs.
    THESEUS
Ho! hasten to the altars, one of you.
Command my liegemen leave the sacrifice
And hurry, foot and horse, with rein unchecked,
To where the paths that packmen use diverge,
Lest the two maidens slip away, and I
Become a mockery to this my guest,
As one despoiled by force. Quick, as I bid.
As for this stranger, had I let my rage,
Justly provoked, have play, he had not 'scaped
Scathless and uncorrected at my hands.
But now the laws to which himself appealed,
These and none others shall adjudicate.
Thou shalt not quit this land, till thou hast fetched
The maidens and produced them in my sight.
Thou hast offended both against myself
And thine