ACT II

[_Enter_ Creon.]

_Oedipus_: I quake with horror, and I fear to know The tendency of fate. My trembling soul Strives 'neath a double load; for joy and grief Lie mingled still in dark obscurity. I shrink from knowing what I long to know. Wherefore, O brother of my consort, speak; 210 And if to weary hearts thou bring'st relief, With quickened utterance thy news proclaim.

_Creon_: In dark obscurity the answer lies.

_Oedipus_: Who gives me doubtful succor grants me none.

_Creon_: It is the custom of the Delphic god In dark enigmas to conceal the fates. 215

_Oedipus_: Yet speak; however dark the riddle be 'Tis given to Oedipus alone to solve.

_Creon_: Apollo doth ordain that banishment Be meted out to him who slew our king, And so our murdered Laius be avenged; For only thus shall we again behold The day's clear light, and drink safe draughts of air. 220

_Oedipus_: Who was the slayer of the noble king? Tell who is designated by the god, That he th' allotted punishment may pay.

_Creon_: May it be granted me to tell the things To sight and hearing dreadful. At the thought, Numb horror holds my limbs, my blood runs cold. When to Apollo's hallowed shrine I came 225 With reverent feet, and pious hands upraised, Parnassus' double-crested, snowy peak Gave forth a fearful crash, the laurels shook, And fair Castalia's waters ceased to flow. The priestess of the son of Lato then 230 Began to spread her bristling locks abroad, And felt the inspiration of the god. Scarce had she reached the sacred inner shrine, When with a roar, beyond the voice of man, There sounded forth this doubtful oracle: "Kind shall the stars return to the Theban city of Cadmus, If, O fugitive guest, Ismenian Dirce thou leavest, Stained with the blood of a king, from infancy known to Apollo. 235 Brief shall be thy joys, the impious joys of slaughter. With thee war thou bringest, and war to thy children thou leavest, Foul returned once more to the impious arms of thy mother."

_Oedipus_: What I at heaven's command now meditate, Long since should have been rendered to the king, 240 That none by craft might violate the throne. And most doth it become a sceptered king To guard the life of kings; for none lament The death of him whose safety breedeth fear.

_Creon_: Our care for him a greater fear removed.

_Oedipus_: What fear so great that duty to prevent? 245

_Creon_: The Sphinx and her accurséd riddle's threats.

_Oedipus_: Then now at heaven's command shall be atoned That impious deed. Whoever of the gods Dost look with kindly eye upon our realm; And thou, whose hand doth guide the rolling sphere; And thou, O glory of the smiling sky, 250 Who in thy wandering course dost rule the stars, And with thy flying wheels dost measure out The slow procession of the centuries; Thou sister of the sun, night-wanderer, Who ever dost reflect thy brother's fires; And thou, great ruler of the boisterous winds, Who o'er the level deep dost drive thy car; 255 And thou, who dost allot the sunless homes: May he, by whose right hand king Laius fell, No peaceful home, no trusty lares find; And may no land in hospitality Receive his cheerless, exiled wanderings. O'er shameful marriage may he live to grieve, 260 And monstrous progeny. May he his sire By his own hand destroy; and may he do (What doom more dreadful can I imprecate?) The deed which by my flight I did not do. No room for pardon shall be given him; By this my regal scepter do I swear, Both by the sway which I as stranger hold, And that I left behind; by my household gods, 265 And thee, O Neptune, who with shorter waves And twofold current dost disport thyself Upon my native Corinth's double shores. And thou thyself be witness to my words, Who dost inspire the fate-revealing lips Of Cirrha's priestess: so may Polybus, 270 My royal father, spend a quiet age, And end his days in peace upon the throne; And so may Merope, my mother, know The marriage of her Polybus alone, As from my grasp no favoring power shall snatch That guilty one, who basely slew the king. But tell me, where was that foul murder done? In open fight, or was he basely snared? 275

_Creon_: In quest of cool Castalia's sacred fount And leafy woods, along the way he fared, On either side with tangled thickets hedged. 'Twas where the road, three-forked, spreads to the plain. One leads through Phocian land, to Bacchus dear, Where high Parnassus, by a gentle slope 280 The lowlands leaving, lifts his double peak Into the heavens; and one leads off to where Two oceans bathe the land of Sisyphus; A third path, passing through Olenian fields, Along a hollow valley's winding way, Attains the vagrant waters and divides The chilling current of the Elean stream. 285 'Twas here he journeyed, safe 'mid general peace, When on a sudden, lo, a robber band Fell on him with the sword and slew him there. [Tiresias _is seen approaching_.] But in the nick of time, by Phoebus roused, Tiresias, agéd and with trembling limbs, Hastes to our presence with what speed he may; And, as his faithful comrade, Manto comes, 290 Her sightless father leading by the hand.

[_Enter_ Tiresias, _led by his daughter_ Manto.]

_Oedipus_: O priest of heaven, thou next to Phoebus' self, Explain the oracle which he hath sent, And tell on whom the penalty is laid.

_Tiresias_: Because my tongue is slow and seeks delay, Thou shouldst not wonder, great-souled Oedipus; Much truth is hidden when the eye is dimmed. 295 But when my country, when Apollo calls, I will obey. Then let me search the fates. If in my veins still flowed the blood of youth, I would myself sustain the god and speak. Now to the altar drive a pure-white bull, A heifer, too, upon whose tender neck 300 The curvéd yoke of toil hath never pressed. And thou, my child, who guid'st my darkened steps, Describe the omens which Apollo sends.

[_The victims are stationed before the altar as directed._]

_Manto_: A perfect victim at the altar stands.

_Tiresias_: With prayer invoke the presence of the gods, And heap the altar high with frankincense. 305

_Manto_: Lo, on the sacred fire the spice is heaped.

_Tiresias_: What of the flame? Did it with vigor seize The generous feast?

_Manto_: With sudden gleam it leaped Into the air, and quickly fell again.

_Tiresias_: And did the sacred fire burn bright and clear, And point its gleaming summit straight to heaven, 310 And, spreading outward, to the breeze unfold; Or crawl, with course uncertain, near the ground, And, flickering, die away in gloomy smoke?

_Manto_: Not one appearance only had the flame. As when the tempest-bringing Iris spreads Her varying colors on the vault of heaven, 315 And with her painted bow adorns the sky; So to the sacred fire thou wouldst not tell What hue is wanting there and what prevails. Dark blue it flickered first, with yellow spots; Then bloody red, and then it vanished quite. 320 But see! the flame is rent in rival parts, And the glowing embers of one sacred pile Are cleft in double heaps and fall apart! O father, horror fills me as I gaze; For, as I pour the sacred liquid forth, It changes straight to blood--Oh, horrible! 325 And stifling smoke surrounds the royal head. And now in denser gloom it settles down Upon his face, and, with its veiling cloud, It shuts away from him the fading light. Oh, speak, and tell us what it doth portend.

_Tiresias_: How can I speak, who halting stand amazed Amid conflicting voices of the soul? What shall I say? Dire ills are here, indeed, But hidden yet in deepest mystery. 330 With signs well known the wrath of heaven is wont To be made manifest: but what is that Which now they would disclose, and then, again, With changing and destructive purpose hide? Some deed so vile, it shameth heaven to tell. But quickly set the chosen victims here, And sprinkle salted meal upon their heads. 335 With peaceful face do they endure the rites, And hands outstretched to smite?

_Manto_: His lofty head The bull uplifted to the eastern sky, Then shunned the light of day, and quickly turned In terror from the newly risen sun.

_Tiresias_: With one blow, smitten, do they fall to earth? 340

_Manto_: The heifer threw herself upon the steel, And with one blow has fallen; but the bull, Though smitten by a double deadly blow, Distracted wanders here and there in pain, And scarce can force his struggling life away.

_Tiresias_: Driven through a narrow opening spurts the blood, 345 Or, sluggish, does it water deeper wounds?

_Manto_: The blood of one, through that same welcome thrust, Doth flow in generous streams; but of the bull, Those yawning wounds are stained with scanty drops, While, turning backward, through his eyes and mouth The plenteous current flows. 350

_Tiresias_: These unblest rites Some dreadful ills portend. But come, describe The trusty markings of the viscera.

_Manto_: Oh, what is this? For not, as is their wont, With gentle motion do the entrails quake, But, rather, strongly throb beneath the touch, While from the veins the blood leaps forth anew. 355 The sickly heart is shriveled up and lies Deep hidden in the breast; the veins appear Of livid hue. The entrails suffer lack; And from the wasting liver oozes slow A stream of black corruption. Nay, behold (A sign of dark foreboding to a king Who holdeth single sway), two swelling points Of equal elevation rise to view; 360 But both are lopped and covered with a veil. Refusing lurking-place to things unseen, The hostile side uprears itself with strength And shows seven swelling veins; but these, again, An intersecting line cuts straight across, Preventing their return. The natural law 365 And order of the parts has been reversed, And nothing lies within its proper place. All on the right the blood-filled lungs appear, Incapable of air; the heart no more Is found upon the left, its 'customed place. The fatty walls, with their soft covering, No longer richly fold the entrails in. 370 The ways of nature are in all things changed; The womb itself is most unnatural. Look close, and see what impious thing is this: Oh, monstrous! 'tis the unborn progeny Of a heifer still unmated! stranger still, It lies not in the wonted place, assigned By nature's laws, but fills its mother's side. 375 It moves its members with a feeble groan; Its unformed limbs with trembling rigors twitch. Black blood has stained the darkened entrails all; The mangled bodies strive e'en yet to move, Make show to rise, and menace with their horns The priestly hands. The entrails shun the touch. 380 Nor is that lowing which has frightened thee The deep-voiced roar of bulls, nor do the calls Of frightened cattle sound upon our ears: It is the lowing of the altar fires, It is the frightened muttering of the shrine!

_Oedipus_: What meaning have these monstrous signs? Declare; And with no timid ears will I attend. 385 For he who has the dregs of fortune drained Fears nothing more.

_Tiresias_: The time will come to thee, When these thy ills, for which thou seekest aid, Will blessings seem.

_Oedipus_: But tell me then, I pray, The one thing which the gods would have me know: Whose hands are stained with murder of the king?

_Tiresias_: Neither the birds can summon up the name, 390 Who cleave the depths of heaven on fleeting wing, Nor yet the vitals plucked from living breasts. But we must seek it in another way: The murdered king himself must be recalled From realms of everlasting night, that thus, Released from Erebus, he may declare His murderer. The earth must be unsealed; 395 The pitiless divinity of Dis Must be implored, and hither brought the shades Who live beyond the Styx. Now do thou tell To whom thou giv'st the sacred embassy; For 'tis not right for thee who hold'st the reins Of government to seek the gloomy shades.

_Oedipus_: O Creon, thee this task demands, to whom, As next in power, my kingdom looks for aid. 400

_Tiresias_: And while we loose the bars of deepest hell, Do ye the praises of our Bacchus tell.

[_Exeunt_ Creon, Tiresias, _and_ Manto.]

_The Chorus_ [_in dithyrambic strain sings in praise of_ Bacchus]: Bind ye now your flowing locks with the swaying ivy, Brandish aloft with your languishing arms the Nysaean thyrsus! O glorious light of heaven, attend the prayers 405 Which noble Thebes, thy Thebes, O beautiful Bacchus, With suppliant hands outstretched here offers thee. Turn hither thy smiling virgin face, Dispel the clouds with thy starry glance, 410 The gloomy threats of Erebus, And ravenous fate. Thee it becomes to crown thy locks with flowers of the springtime, Thee to bind thy head with the Tyrian fillet; Or with the clinging ivy, gleaming with berries, Softly to wreathe thy brow; 415 Now thy hair to unbind and spread in confusion, Now in close-drawn knot to collect and confine it; Just as when thou, fearing the wrath of Juno, Didst conceal thyself in the guise of maidens. Virgin, too, thou seemedst with golden ringlets, 420 Binding up thy robe with a saffron girdle. So the softer graces of living please thee, Robes ungirt and flowing in long profusion. When in thy golden car thou wast drawn by lions, Clad in flowing garments, the East beheld thee, 425 All the vast expanse of the Indian country, They who drink the Ganges and cleave the surface Of snowy Araxes. Seated on humble beast the old Silenus attends thee, Binding his throbbing brows with a waving garland of ivy; 430 While the wanton priests lead on the mysterious revels. And then a troop of Bassarids With dancing step conducted thee, Now ranging o'er Pangaeus' foot, And now on Thracian Pindus' top. 435 Soon, 'mid the noble dames of Thebes, A furious Maenad, the comrade of Bacchus, In garment of fawn-skin, conducted the god. The Theban dames, by Bacchus excited, With streaming locks and thyrsus uplifted 440 In high-waving hands, now join in the revels, And wild in their madness they rend Pentheus Limb from limb. Their fury spent, with weary frame, They look upon their impious deed, And know it not. Into the sea realms holds, the foster-mother of Bacchus; 445 Round her the daughters of Nereus dance, Leucothoë singing; Over the mighty deep, though new to its waves, Palaemon, Brother of Bacchus, rules, a mortal changed to a sea-god. When in childhood a band of robbers assailing Bore thee away in their flying vessel a captive, Nereus quickly calmed the billowy ocean; 450 When lo! to rolling meadows the dark sea changes; Here stands in vernal green the flourishing plane-tree, There the groves of laurel dear to Apollo; While resounds the chatter of birds in the branches. Now are the oars enwreathed with the living ivy, While at the masthead hang the clustering grape vines; 455 There on the prow loud roars a lion of Ida, At the stern appears a terrible tiger of Ganges. Filled with terror the pirates leap in the ocean. Straight in their plunging forms new changes appear; 460 For first their arms are seen to shrink and fall, Their bodies' length to shorten; and on their sides The hands appear as fins; with curving back They skim the waves, and, lashing their crescent tails, They dash through the water. 465 Changed to a school of dolphins now, they follow the vessel. Soon did the Lydian stream with its precious waters receive thee, Pouring down its golden waves in a billowy current. Loosed was the vanquished bow and Scythian darts of the savage Massagetan who mingles blood in his milky goblets. 470 The realm of Lycurgus, bearer of axes, submitted to Bacchus; The land of the Dacians[2] untamable felt his dominion, The wandering tribes of the north by Boreas smitten, And whom the Maeotis bathes with its frozen waters. 475 Where the Arcadian star looks down from the zenith, Even there the power of Bacchus extended; Conquered too the scattered Gelonian peoples. From the warlike maidens their arms he wrested; Down to the earth they fell in desperate conflict, 480 The hardy bands of Amazonian maidens. Now, at last, their arrows swift are abandoned, And Maenads have they become. Holy Cithaeron too has streamed with slaughter, Where was spilt the noble blood of Ophion. 485 Proetus' daughters the forests sought; and Argos, Juno at last consenting, paid homage to Bacchus. The island of Naxos, girt by the broad Aegean, Gave to Bacchus the maid whom Theseus abandoned, Compensating her loss by a better husband. 490 Out of the rock there gushed Nyctelian liquor; Babbling streams at his word clove the grassy meadows; Deep the earth drank in the nectarean juices; Streams of snowy milk burst forth from the fountains, 495 Mingled with Lesbian wine all fragrant with spices. Now is the bride to her place in the heavens conducted; Phoebus, with flowing locks, sings a stately anthem; Love, in honor of both, bears the wedding torches; 500 Jove lays down the deadly darts of his lightning, Halting his bolts of flame at the coming of Bacchus. While the gleaming stars in their boundless pasturage wander, While the sea shall gird th' imprisoned earth with its waters, 505 While the full-orb'd moon shall gather her lost refulgence, While the morning star shall herald the coming of Phoebus, While in the north the Bear shall fear the cerulean ocean, Still shall we worship the shining face of the beautiful Bacchus.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Reading, _te Dacûm_.