Act 2: Communities

Listening for Leadership

Possible Group Activity

Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus, Lines 511-1086, Translated by Sir Richard Jebb

Creon
Fellow citizens, having learned that Oedipus the king lays dire charges against me, I have come in indignation. [515] If he thinks that in the present troubles he has suffered from me, by word or by deed, anything harmful, truly I do not desire my full term of years, when I must bear such blame as this. The wrong of this rumor [520] touches me not in one point alone, but has the largest scope, if I am to be called a traitor in the city, a traitor by you and by my friends.

Chorus
But perhaps this taunt came under the stress of anger, rather than from the purpose of his heart.

Creon
[525] Was the opinion given that my counsels had brought the seer to utter his falsehoods?

Chorus
Such things were said—I do not know with what meaning.

Creon
And was this charge laid against me with steady eyes and steady mind?

Chorus
[530] I do not know. I see not what my masters do. But here comes our lord from the house.

Oedipus enters.

Oedipus
You, how did you get here? Are you so boldfaced that you have come to my house, you who are manifestly the murderer of its master, [535] the palpable thief of its crown? Come, tell me, in the name of the gods, was it cowardice or folly which you saw in me and which led you to plot this thing? Did you think that I would not notice this deed of yours creeping upon me by stealth, or that if I became aware of it I would not ward it off? [540] Is your attempt not foolish, to seek the throne without followers or friends—a prize which followers and wealth must win?

Creon
Mark me now: hear a fair reply in answer to your words, and then judge for yourself on the basis of knowledge.

Oedipus
[545] You are apt in speech, but I have a poor wit for lessons, since I have found you a malignant foe.

Creon
Now hear first how I will explain this very thing.

Oedipus
One thing—that you are not false—do not bother to explain to me.

Creon
If you think that stubbornness [550] without sense is a virtue, you are not wise.

Oedipus
If you think you can wrong a kinsman and escape the penalty, you are not sane.

Creon
Justly said, I grant you: but tell me what the wrong is that you say you are suffering at my hands.

Oedipus
[555] Did you, or did you not, advise me to send for that reverend seer?

Creon
Even now I am of the same mind.

Oedipus
How long is it, then, since Laius . . .

Creon
Did what? I do not understand.

Oedipus
[560] was swept out of sight by deadly violence?

Creon
The count of years would run far into the past.

Oedipus
Did this seer possess this skill in those days?

Creon
He was wise as now, and held in equal honor.

Oedipus
Did he make mention of me at that time?

Creon
[565] Never, certainly, when I was within hearing.

Oedipus
Did you never investigate the murder?

Creon
Due search we made, of course, though we learned nothing.

Oedipus
And how was it that this sage did not tell this story then.

Creon
I do not know: where I lack insight it is my custom to be silent.

Oedipus
[570] This much, at least, you know, and could declare with insight enough.

Creon
What is that? If I know it, I will not deny it.

Oedipus
That, if he had not conferred with you, he would not have named me as Laius' slayer.

Creon
If he says this, you know best: but I deem it just [575] to learn from you as much as you have from me now.

Oedipus
Learn your fill. I will never be found guilty of the bloodshed.

Creon
Say, then—have you married my sister?

Oedipus
The question allows no denial.

Creon
And you rule the land as she does, with equal sway.

Oedipus
[580] She obtains from me all that she wishes.

Creon
And do I not rank as a third peer of you two?

Oedipus
It is just in this that you are seen to be a false friend.

Creon
Not so, if you would reason with your heart as I do with mine. Weigh this first—whether you think that anyone would [585] choose to rule amid terrors rather than in unruffled peace, granted that he is to have the same powers. Now I, for one, have by nature no yearning to rule as a king rather than to do kingly deeds, and neither does any man I know who has a sound mind. [590] For now I attain all everything from you without fear, but, if I were ruler myself, I would have to do much that went against my own pleasure.

How, then, could royalty be sweeter to me to have than painless rule and influence? I am not yet so misguided [595] that I desire other honors than those which bring profit. Now, every man has a greeting for me; now, all that have a request of you crave to speak with me, since in me lies all their hope of success. Why then should I give up these things and take those others? [600] No mind will become false while it is wise. No, I am no lover of such a policy, and if another put it into action, I could never bear to go along with him. And, in proof of this, first go to Pytho, and ask whether I brought a true report of the oracle. [605] Then next, if you have found that I have planned anything in concert with the soothsayer, take and slay me, by the sentence not of one mouth, but of two—by my own no less than yours. But do not assume my guilt on unproven inference. It is not just to judge bad men good at random, [610] or good men bad. I think that casting off a true friend is for a man like casting away the life in his own bosom, which he most loves. You will surely learn about these affairs in time, since time alone reveals a just man. [615] But you can discern a bad man even in one day alone.

Chorus
He has spoken well, my king, for one who is taking care not to fall: those who are quick in counsel are not sure.

Oedipus
When the stealthy plotter is moving on me quickly, I, too, must be quick in my counterplot. [620] If I await him in repose, his ends will have been gained, and mine lost.

Creon
What do you want then? To banish me from the land?

Oedipus
Hardly. I desire your death, not your exile, so that I might show what a thing envy is.

Creon
[625] Are you resolved not to yield or believe?

Oedipus
<No, for you persuade me that you are unworthy of trust.>

Creon
No, for I see you are not sane.

Oedipus
Sane, at least, in my own interest.

Creon
But you should be so in mine also.

Oedipus
You are false.

Creon
But if you understand nothing?

Oedipus
Still I must rule.

Creon
Not if you rule badly.

Oedipus
Hear him, city of Thebes!

Creon
[630] The city is mine too, not yours alone.

Chorus
Cease, lords. In good time I see Iocasta coming from the house, with whose help you should resolve your present feud.

Iocasta enters.

Iocasta
Misguided men, why have you raised [635] such a foolish argument? Are you not ashamed, while the land is so sick, to stir up troubles of your own? Come, go into the house—and you, Creon, go to yours—and stop making so much of a petty grief.

Creon
Kinswoman, Oedipus, your husband, [640] wants to do one of two terrible things to me, either to thrust me from the land of my fathers or to arrest and slay me.

Oedipus
Yes indeed, for I have caught him, lady, working evil against my person with his wicked craft.

Creon
May I derive no benefit, [645] but perish accursed, if I have done any of the things of which you charge me.

Iocasta
In the name of the gods, believe it, Oedipus, first for the sake of this awful oath to the gods, then for my sake and for the sake of those who stand before you.

Chorus
Consent, reflect, listen, my king, I beg you.

Oedipus
[650] What would you have me grant you?

Chorus
Respect him who was in the past not foolish, and who now is strong in his oath.

Oedipus
Do you understand what you crave?

Chorus
I do.

Oedipus
[655] Tell me, then, what you mean.

Chorus
That you should never use an unproved rumor to cast a dishonoring charge on the friend who has bound himself with a curse.

Oedipus
Then be quite aware that when you seek this you are seeking death or exile from this land for me.

Chorus
[660] No, by the god that stands at the head of all the host of the gods, no, by the sun. Unblest, unbefriended, may I die the worst possible death, if I have this thought! [665] But my unhappy soul is worn by the withering of the land, as well as by the thought that our old sorrows should be crowned by new ones arising from the two of you.

Oedipus
Then let him go, though I am surely doomed to be killed [670] or thrust dishonored from the land. Your words, not his, move me to compassion.

Chorus
You are truly sullen in yielding, as you are vehement in the excesses of your wrath. But such natures are [675] justly most difficult for themselves to bear.

Oedipus
Will you not be gone and leave me in peace?

Creon
I will go on my way. I have found you undiscerning, but in the view of these men I am just.He exits.

Chorus
Lady, why do you hesitate to take this man into the house?

Iocasta
[680] I will, when I have learned what has happened.

Chorus
Blind suspicion, bred of talk, arose, and injustice inflicts wounds.

Iocasta
On both sides?

Chorus
Yes.

Iocasta
And what was the story?

Chorus
[685] It is enough, I think, enough, when our land is already vexed, that the matter should rest where it stopped.

Oedipus
Do you see to what you have come, for all your noble intent, in seeking to slacken and blunt my zeal?

Chorus
King, I have said it more than once— [690] be sure that I would have proved myself a madman, bankrupt in sane counsel, if I forsook you—you, who gave a true course to my beloved country when it was [695] distraught with troubles, and who now are likely to prove our prospering guide.

Iocasta
In the name of the gods, tell me, king, the reason that you have conceived this steadfast wrath.

Oedipus
[700] That I will do, for I honor you, lady, above these men. Creon is the cause, and the plots he has laid against me.

Iocasta
Come, tell me how the argument began.

Oedipus
He says that I stand guilty of Laius' blood.

Iocasta
On his own knowledge or on hearsay from another?

Oedipus
[705] He has made a rascal seer his mouth piece: as for himself, he keeps his lips wholly pure.

Iocasta
Then absolve yourself of the things about which you are speaking. Listen to me, and take comfort in learning that nothing of mortal birth shares in the science of the seer. [710] I will give you a pithy proof of this. An oracle came to Laius once—I will not say from Phoebus himself, but from his ministers—saying that he would suffer his doom at the hands of the child to be born to him and me. [715] And Laius—as, at least, the rumor goes—was murdered one day by foreign robbers at a place where the three highways meet. And the child's birth was not yet three days past, when Laius pinned his ankles together and had him thrown, by others' hands, on a remote mountain. [720] So, in that case, Apollo did not bring it to pass that the child should become the slayer of his father, or that Laius should suffer that which he feared, death at the hands of his child: thus the messages of the seer's art had mapped out the future. Pay them no regard. Whatever necessary event [725] the god seeks, he himself will easily bring to light.

Oedipus
What restlessness of soul, lady, what tumult has come upon me since I heard you speak!

Iocasta
What anxiety has startled you, that you say this?

Oedipus
I thought that I heard this from you—that Laius [730] was slain where the three roads meet.

Iocasta
Yes, that was the report, and so it is still thought.

Oedipus
And where is the place where this occurred?

Iocasta
The land is called Phocis; the branching forks lead to the same spot from Delphi and from Daulia.

Oedipus
[735] And how much time has passed since these events took place?

Iocasta
The news was announced to the town shortly before you first attained power over this land.

Oedipus
O Zeus, what have you decreed for me?

Iocasta
Why, Oedipus, does this matter weigh upon your heart?

Oedipus
[740] Do not ask me yet. Tell me rather what stature Laius had, and how ripe his manhood was.

Iocasta
He was tall—the silver just lightly strewn among his hair—and his form was not greatly unlike your own.

Oedipus
Unhappy that I am! I think that I have [745] laid myself under a terrible curse without realizing it.

Iocasta
How do you mean? I tremble when I look at you, my lord.

Oedipus
I have dread fears that the seer can see. But you will reveal the matter better if you tell me one thing more.

Iocasta
Indeed, though I tremble, I will hear and answer all that you ask.

Oedipus
[750] Did he go with a small force, or like a chieftain, with many armed followers?

Iocasta
Five they were in all—a herald among them—and there was one carriage which bore Laius.

Oedipus
[755] Alas! It is all clear now! Who gave you this information, lady?

Iocasta
A servant, the only survivor who returned home.

Oedipus
Is he by any chance in the house now?

Iocasta
No. Soon after he returned and found you ruling in Laius' stead, [760] he pled with me, with hand laid on mine, to send him to the fields, to the pastures of the flocks, that he might be far from the sight of this town. And I sent him; he was worthy, for a slave, to win even a larger favor than that.

Oedipus
[765] Would, then, that he return to us without delay!

Iocasta
That is easy. But why do you enjoin this?

Oedipus
I fear, lady, that my words have been rash, and therefore I wish to see him.

Iocasta
He will come. But I think that [770] I too have a claim to learn what lies heavy on your heart, my king.

Oedipus
It will not be kept from you, now that my forebodings have advanced so far. To whom more than to you would I speak in suffering such a fortune as this? My father was Polybus of Corinth, [775] my mother the Dorian Merope. I was considered the greatest of the folk in that town, until a chance event befell me, worthy, indeed, of wonder, though not of my overreaction regarding it. At a banquet, a man drunk with wine [780] cast it at me that I was not the true son of my father. And I, vexed, restrained myself for that day as best as I could, but on the next went to my mother and father and questioned them. They were angry at the one who had let this taunt fly. [785] So I had comfort about them, but the matter rankled in my heart, for such a rumor still spread widely. I went to Delphi without my parents' knowledge, and Phoebus sent me forth disappointed of the knowledge for which I had come, [790] but in his response set forth other things, full of sorrow and terror and woe: that I was fated to defile my mother's bed, that I would reveal to men a brood which they could not endure to behold, and that I would slay the father that sired me. When I heard this, I turned in flight from the land of Corinth, [795] from then on thinking of it only by its position under the stars, to some spot where I should never see fulfillment of the infamies foretold in my evil fate. And on my way I came to the land in which you say that this prince perished.

[800] Now, lady, I will tell you the truth. When on my journey I was near those three roads, there I met a herald, and a man in a carriage drawn by colts, as you have described. The leader and the old man [805] himself tried to thrust me rudely from the path. Then, in anger, I struck the one pushing me aside, the driver, and the old man, when he saw this, watched for the moment I was passing, and from his carriage, brought his double goad straight down on my head. [810] Yet he was paid back with interest: with one swift blow from the staff in this hand he rolled right out of the carriage onto his back. I slew every one of them. But if this stranger had any tie of kinship to Laius, [815] who is now more wretched than this man before you? What mortal could be proved more hateful to the gods? No stranger, no citizen, is allowed to receive him at home, it is unlawful for anyone to accost him, and all must push him from their homes. And this—this curse— [820] was laid on me by no other mouth than my own. And I pollute the bed of the slain man with the hands by which he perished. Am I now vile? Oh, am I not utterly unclean, seeing that I must be banished, and in banishment neither see my own people, [825] nor set foot in my own land, or else be joined in wedlock to my mother, and slay my father Polybus, who sired and reared me? Then would he who judged these things to be sent down by some cruel divinity not be right about Oedipus? [830] Prevent, prevent, you pure and awful gods, me from ever seeing that day! No, may I be swept away from all men, before I see myself visited with that brand of doom.

Chorus
To us, king, these things are fraught with fear. Yet have hope, until at least you have gained full knowledge [835] from the one who saw the deed.

Oedipus
I have, in truth, this much hope alone: I await the man summoned from the pastures.

Iocasta
And what do you want from him when he appears?

Oedipus
I will tell you. If his story is found [840] to match with yours, I at least, will stand clear of disaster.

Iocasta
And what special note did you hear from me?

Oedipus
You said that he spoke of Laius as slain by robbers. If, then, he still speaks of several as before, I was not the slayer: [845] a solitary man could not be considered the same as that band. But if he names one lonely wayfarer, then beyond doubt this guilt rests upon me.

Iocasta
Be assured that thus, at least, the tale was first told. He cannot revoke that, [850] for the city heard it, not I alone. But even if he should diverge somewhat from his former story, never, king, can he show that the murder of Laius, at least, is truly square with the prophecy, for Loxias plainly said that he was to die at the hand of my child. [855] How was it then that that poor innocent never slew him, but perished first? From now on then, as far as divination goes, I would not look to my right hand or my left.

Oedipus
You are right. But nevertheless send someone to fetch the peasant, [860] and do not neglect this matter.

Iocasta
I will send for him without delay. But let us go into the house: I will do nothing which does not please you.Exeunt Oedipus and Iocasta.

Chorus
May destiny still find me winning the praise of reverent purity in all words and [865] deeds sanctioned by those laws of sublime range, called into life through the high clear aether, whose father is Olympus alone. Their parent was no race of mortal men, [870] no, nor shall oblivion ever lay them to sleep: the god is mighty in them, and he does not grow old.

Chorus
Insolence breeds the tyrant. Insolence, once vainly stuffed with wealth [875] that is not proper or good for it, when it has scaled the topmost ramparts, is hurled to a dire doom, where one's feet cannot serve to good advantage. But I pray that the god never [880] quell such rivalry as benefits the state. I will always hold the god as our protector.

Chorus
But if any man walks haughtily in deed or word, [885] with no fear of Justice, no reverence for the images of gods, may an evil doom seize him for his ill-starred pride, if he does not gain his advantage fairly, [890] or avoid unholy deeds, but seeks to lay profaning hands on sanctities. Where such things occur, what mortal shall boast any more that he can ward off the arrow of the gods from his life? [895] No. For if such deeds are held in honor, why should we join in the sacred dance?

Chorus
No longer will I go reverently to the earth's central and inviolate shrine, no more to Abae's temple or to Olympia, [900] if these oracles do not fit the outcome, so that all mortals shall point at them with their fingers. [905] No, King—if this you are rightly called—Zeus all ruling, may it not escape you and your deathless power! The old prophecies concerning Laius are fading; already men give them no value, and nowhere is Apollo glorified with honors; [910] the worship of the gods is perishing.

Iocasta
Princes of the land, I am planning to visit the shrines of the gods, with this wreathed branch and these gifts of incense in my hands. For Oedipus excites his soul excessively with all sorts of grief, [915] as he does not judge the new things from the old, like a man of sense, but is under the control of the speaker, if he speaks of frightful things. Since, then, I can do no good by counsel, to you, Lycean Apollo—for you are nearest— [920] I have come as a suppliant with these symbols of prayer, that you may find us some escape from uncleanliness. For now we are all afraid, like those who see fear in the helmsman of their ship.

Enter a messenger.

Messenger
Can you tell me, strangers, where [925] the house of King Oedipus is? Or better still, tell me where he himself is, if you know.

Chorus
This is his dwelling, and he himself, stranger, is within. This lady here is the mother of his children.

Messenger
Then may she be ever happy in a happy home, [930] since she is his blessed queen.

Iocasta
Happiness to you also, stranger! Your fair greeting deserves this. But say what you have come to seek or to tell.

Messenger
Good tidings, lady, for your house and your husband.

Iocasta
[935] What are they? From whom have you come?

Messenger
From Corinth, and at the message I will give now you will doubtless rejoice, though you may perhaps grieve too.

Iocasta
What is it? Why has it this double potency?

Messenger
The people will make him king of the [940] Isthmian land, as it was said there.

Iocasta
How then? Is the aged Polybus no longer in power?

Messenger
No. For death holds him in the tomb.

Iocasta
What do you mean? Is Polybus dead, old man?

Messenger
If I do not speak the truth, I am content to die.

Iocasta
[945] Handmaid, away with all speed, and tell this to your master! Oracles of the gods, where do you stand now? It is this man that Oedipus long feared he would slay. And now this man has died in the course of destiny, not by his hand.

Enter Oedipus.

Oedipus
[950] Iocasta, dearest wife, why have you summoned me forth from these doors?

Iocasta
Hear this man, and judge, as you listen, what the awful oracles have come to.

Oedipus
Who is he and what news does he have for me?

Iocasta
[955] He comes from Corinth to tell you that your father Polybus lives no longer, but has perished.

Oedipus
How, stranger? Let me have it from your own mouth.

Messenger
If I must first make these tidings plain, know indeed that he is dead and gone.

Oedipus
[960] By treachery, or from illness?

Messenger
A light tilt of the scale brings the aged to their rest.

Oedipus
Ah, he died, it seems, of sickness?

Messenger
Yes, and of the long years that he had lived.

Oedipus
Alas, alas! Why indeed, my wife, should one look to the [965] hearth of the Pythian seer, or to the birds that scream above our heads, who declared that I was doomed to slay my father? But he is dead, and lies beneath the earth, and here I am, not having put my hand to any spear—unless, perhaps, he died out of longing for me: [970] thus, indeed, I would be the cause of his death. But as the oracles stand, at least, Polybus has swept them with him to his rest in Hades. They are worth nothing.

Iocasta
Did I not long ago foretell this to you?

Oedipus
You did, but I was mislead by my fear.

Iocasta
[975] Now no longer take any of those things to heart.

Oedipus
But surely I must fear my mother's bed.

Iocasta
What should a mortal man fear, for whom the decrees of Fortune are supreme, and who has clear foresight of nothing? It is best to live at random, as one may. [980] But fear not that you will wed your mother. Many men before now have slept with their mothers in dreams. But he to whom these things are as though nothing bears his life most easily.

Oedipus
All these words of yours would have been well said, [985] were my mother not alive. But as it is, since she lives, I must necessarily fear, though you do speak well.

Iocasta
Your father's death is a great sign for us to take cheer.

Oedipus
Great, I know. But my fear is of her who lives.

Messenger
And who is the woman about whom you fear?

Oedipus
[990] Merope, old man, the consort of Polybus.

Messenger
And what is it in her that moves your fear?

Oedipus
A divine oracle of dread import, stranger.

Messenger
Proper, or improper, for another to know?

Oedipus
Proper, surely. Loxias once said that I was [995] doomed to marry my own mother, and to shed with my own hands my father's blood. For which reasons I long shirked my home in Corinth—with a happy outcome, to be sure, but still it is sweet to see the face of one's parents.

Messenger
Was it really for fear of this that you became an exile from that city?

Oedipus
[1000] And because I did not wish, old man, to be the murderer of my father.

Messenger
Why have I not relieved you of this second fear, my lord, since I came to give you pleasure?

Oedipus
And indeed you will have worthy thanks from me.

Messenger
And indeed I came specially for this, that [1005] I might profit from your returning home.

Oedipus
But by no means will I ever go near my parents again.

Messenger
My son, it is crystal clear that you do not know what you are doing.

Oedipus
How so, old man? In the name of the gods, tell me.

Messenger
[1010] If on account of this you are fleeing from returning home.

Oedipus
Fearing indeed lest Apollo's prophecy come true in me.

Messenger
Lest you acquire some pollution from your parents?

Oedipus
This very thing, old man, this constantly frightens me.

Messenger
Do you know, then, that your fears are wholly in vain?

Oedipus
[1015] How so, if I was born of those parents?

Messenger
Because you had no blood in common with Polybus.

Oedipus
What are you saying? Was Polybus not my father?

Messenger
Just as much, and no more, than he who speaks to you.

Oedipus
And how can my father be equal to him who is as though nothing to me?

Messenger
[1020] But he did not father you, any more than I did.

Oedipus
How, then, did he call me his son?

Messenger
Long ago he received you as a gift from my hands.

Oedipus
And yet he loved me so dearly, who came from another's hand?

Messenger
His former childlessness won him over.

Oedipus
[1025] And had you bought me or found me by chance, when you gave me to him?

Messenger
I found you in Cithaeron's winding glens.

Oedipus
And why were you roaming those regions?

Messenger
I was in charge of mountain flocks.

Oedipus
What, you were a shepherd—a vagrant hireling?

Messenger
[1030] But your savior, my son, in that hour.

Oedipus
And what was my pain when you took me in your arms?

Messenger
The ankles of your feet might bear witness.

Oedipus
Ah me, why do you speak of that old trouble?

Messenger
I freed you when you had your ankles pinned together.

Oedipus
[1035] It was a dread brand of shame that I took from my cradle.

Messenger
So much so that from that fortune you were called by that name which you still bear.

Oedipus
Oh, in the name of the gods, was the deed my mother's or father's? Speak!

Messenger
I know not. He who gave you to me knows better of that than I.

Oedipus
What, you got me from another? You did not find me yourself?

Messenger
[1040] No. Another shepherd gave you to me.

Oedipus
Who was he? Can you tell clearly?

Messenger
I think he was said to be one of the household of Laius.

Oedipus
The king who ruled this country long ago?

Messenger
The same. The man was a herdsman in his service.

Oedipus
[1045] Is he still alive, that I might see him?

Messenger
You natives of this country should know best.

Oedipus
Is there any of you here present that knows the herdsman of whom he speaks, having seen him either in the pastures or here in town? Answer! [1050] The hour has come for these things to be revealed finally.

Chorus
I think he speaks of no other than the peasant you already wanted to see. But our lady Iocasta might best tell you that.

Oedipus
Lady, do you know the one whom we summoned just now? [1055] Is it of him that this man speaks?

Iocasta
Why ask of whom he spoke? Regard it not; waste not a thought on what he said; it would be vain.

Oedipus
It must not happen that, with such clues in my grasp, I fail to bring my birth to light.

Iocasta
[1060] For the gods' sake, if you have any care for your own life, do not continue this search! My anguish is enough.

Oedipus
Be of good courage. Even if I should be found the son of a servile mother—a slave by three descents—you will not be proven baseborn.

Iocasta
Hear me, I implore you: do not do this.

Oedipus
[1065] I will not hear of not discovering the whole truth.

Iocasta
Yet I wish you well—I counsel you for the best.

Oedipus
These best counsels, then, vex my patience.

Iocasta
Oh ill-fated man, may you never know who you are!

Oedipus
Go, some one, fetch me the herdsman. [1070] Leave this woman to glory in her princely stock.

Iocasta
Alas, alas, miserable man—that word alone can I say to you—and no other word ever again.She rushes into the palace.

Chorus
Why has this woman gone, Oedipus, rushing off in wild grief? I fear [1075] a storm of sorrow will soon break forth from this silence.