Beneath the heavy stroke of my stout staff.
But first the elder strove with haughty words770
To drive the younger traveler from the path.
But that was far from Thebes, in Phocis' realm,
Where the forkéd road in three directions leads.
But thou, my faithful wife, dispel my care:
What span of life had Laius at his death?
Fell he in manhood's bloom, or spent with age?775
Jocasta: Midway 'twixt youth and age, but nearer age.
Oedipus: Did courtiers, thronging round, protect his course?