Prologos
Creon
By banishing the man, or by paying back bloodshed with bloodshed, since it is this blood which brings the tempest on our city.
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Oedipus
And who is the man whose fate he thus reveals?
Creon
Laius, my lord, was the leader of our land before you assumed control of this state.
Oedipus
I know it well—by hearsay, for I never saw him.
105
Creon
He was slain, and the god now bids us to take vengeance on his murderers, whoever they are.
Oedipus
Where on earth are they? Where shall the dim track of this old crime be found?
Creon
In this land, the god said. What is sought for can be caught; only that which is not watched escapes.
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Oedipus
Was it in the house, or in the field, or on foreign soil that Laius met his bloody end?
Creon
He left our land, as he said, on a mission to Delphi.
And once he had set forth, he never again returned.
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Oedipus
And was there none to tell? Was there no travelling companion who saw the deed, from whom tidings might have been gained, and used?
Creon
All perished, save one who fled in fear, and he could tell with assurance only one thing of all that he saw.
Oedipus
And what was that? One thing might hold the clue to many, if we could only get a small beginning for hope.
120
Creon
He said that robbers fell upon them, not one man alone, but with a great force.
Oedipus
How then, unless some intrigue had been worked with bribes
from here in Thebes, would the robbers have been so bold?
125
Creon
Such things were surmised. But once Laius was slain no avenger arose in the midst of our troubles.
Oedipus
But when royalty had fallen in this way, what trouble prevented a full search?
Creon
The riddling Sphinx had forced us to let things that were obscure go, and to investigate the pressing trouble.
130
Oedipus
I will start afresh, and once more make dark things plain. Worthily has Phoebus Apollo—and worthily have you—bestowed this care on behalf of the dead. And so, as is fitting, you will find me allied with you
in seeking vengeance for this land, and for the god as well. I will dispel this taint not on behalf of far-off friends, but for my own benefit. For whoever killed Laius
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might wish to take vengeance on me also with a hand as fierce. Avenging Laius, therefore,
I serve myself. Come, my children, as quickly as possible rise from the
altar-steps, and lift these suppliant boughs. Let someone summon here Cadmus’
people, warning them that I will leave nothing untried.
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For with the god’s help our good fortune—or our ruin—will be made certain.
145
Priest
My children, let us rise. What we came to seek, this man promises of his own accord. And may Phoebus, who sent these oracles,
come to us as savior and deliverer from the pestilence.
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