OEDIPUS.
So I heard,
But none has seen the man who saw him fall.
CHORUS.
Well, if he knows what fear is, he will quail
And flee before the terror of thy curse.
OEDIPUS.
Words scare not him who blenches not at deeds.
CHORUS.
But here is one to arraign him. Lo, at length
They bring the god-inspired seer in whom
Above all other men is truth inborn.
[Enter TEIRESIAS, led by a boy.]
OEDIPUS.
Teiresias, seer who comprehendest all,
Lore of the wise and hidden mysteries,
High things of heaven and low things of the earth,
Thou knowest, though thy blinded eyes see naught,
What plague infects our city; and we turn
To thee, O seer, our one defense and shield.
The purport of the answer that the God
Returned to us who sought his oracle,
The messengers have doubtless told thee—how
One course alone could rid us of the pest,
To find the murderers of Laius,
And slay them or expel them from the land.
Therefore begrudging neither augury
Nor other divination that is thine,
O save thyself, thy country, and thy king,
Save all from this defilement of blood shed.
On thee we rest. This is man’s highest end,
To others’ service all his powers to lend.
TEIRESIAS.
Alas, alas, what misery to be wise
When wisdom profits nothing! This old lore
I had forgotten; else I were not here.
OEDIPUS.
What ails thee? Why this melancholy mood?
TEIRESIAS.
Let me go home; prevent me not; ’twere best
That thou shouldst bear thy burden and I mine.
OEDIPUS.
For shame! no true-born Theban patriot
Would thus withhold the word of prophecy.
TEIRESIAS.
Thy words, O king, are wide of the mark, and I
For fear lest I too trip like thee...