University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE FOURTH.

Eteocles, Creon.
Ete.
With menaces this Polinices hopes
To bring me to submission, and degrade me?
What boldness! To my palace unattended
He comes, as if to mock me! Perhaps he deems
That all is gain'd when he appears in person?

Cre.
All this I apprehended from the day
That, in the name of Polinices, came,
Claiming the covenanted Theban throne,
The bold Tideus. The fierce menaces,
The contumelious carriage, which he join'd
To the request, sufficiently convinced me
Of Polinices' sinister designs.
He feigned pretexts whence he might snatch from thee
The common throne for ever. 'Tis now clear
He wishes for it never to restore it:
Cost what it may he wishes for it now;
E'en though the impious path that leads to it
Were with the last drop of thy blood defiled.

Ete.
Assuredly, he now will be compelled
To drink that blood e'en to the latest drop:
For my existence and my throne are one.
Shall I indeed become the willing subject,
And swear allegiance to a hated brother?
Hated indeed; but still more scorned than hated.
I, who now see none equal to myself?
I should be vile, if from that altitude
I could a moment e'en in thought descend.
From the throne's height a king should never fall
But with the throne itself. He cannot find,
Except beneath its venerable ruins,
A worthy sepulchre, a worthy death.

Cre.
I see, oh king, with exultation, see,
In thee, the lofty valour live again
Of thy magnanimous progenitors.
By thee the name of son of Œdipus,
Clear'd of all stain, will reassume its lustre.
A conquering monarch, to posterity
No other recollection shall he leave
Than that of his atchievements.

Ete.
But, alas!
I have not conquered yet.

Cre.
Thou art deceived;
Already, by not fearing, thou hast conquer'd.

Ete.
What avails flattery? I am so beset,
That, amid war's vicissitudes, to me
Nothing is left secure, except my courage;
Nothing is left to hope, except revenge.

Cre.
Thou hitherto art king: I first here swear,
For all thy subjects, for myself, to thee
Inviolable faith. Rather than serve
Thy hated brother, we will all here spend
To the last drop our life-blood. On the traitor,
Should impious fortune smile, he shall alone
Reign o'er the ashes of what once was Thebes.
But, perhaps, if pity for thy faithful subjects
Influence thy breast, thou wilt retract thy purpose
Of open war. Ah, let him only perish
Who plots against thy life! thy safety wills it,
And more than this, the safety of the state.
A brother's death may to a brother seem
Perhaps too cruel; but ferocious war,
Protracted war, can that indeed appear
Less cruel to a sovereign? less unjust?

Ete.
What do I wish for else, or what else hope,
To what do I more ardently aspire,
Than to oppose my brother man to man?
This hatred is commensurate with my life,
And its indulgence more than life I prize.

Cre.
Thy life? Dost thou not know it? That is ours.
'Tis true, that valour cannot find a seat
More noble than the bosom of a king:
But oughtest thou t'oppose to treason's wiles
An open valour? Is he not a traitor?
What brings him now to Thebes? With sword in hand,
Why should he speak of peace? Or why invoke
His mother? Perhaps he comes here to seduce her?
His impious sister is already his.
Truly great plots are hatching. Wilt thou not
Defeat such fraudulent contrivances?

Ete.
Ah, doubt it not! if long he tarry here
'Twill be to his misfortune. If he live,
To flight he'll be indebted for his life:
I would not trust his death to other hands.
To mine alone 'tis due. And say, what rage,
Like mine, will penetrate that stubborn breast?

Cre.
Ah! to secure a more consummate vengeance,
Suspend awhile thy too impatient hate.

Ete.
The means most fatal, fierce, and manifest,
Alone please me.

Cre.
Yet perhaps thou wilt be forced
T'adopt the most conceal'd ... Thy brother comes
Powerful in arms.

Ete.
Thebes also has her warriors.

Cre.
Yet has Adrastes many more: The war
Too unexpectedly comes on us. Ah!
We can but die fighting beneath thy banners.

Ete.
But why speak I of warriors? I am one,
One also is my brother.

Cre.
Dost thou hope
To defy him? His mother, sister, all, ...
Around him flocking ...

Ete.
But my trusty sword,
Cannot it clear a passage to his person?

Cre.
And with the effort thou wouldst lose thy fame.
Such an excess would be condemned in Thebes.

Ete.
And does not Thebes blame fraud?

Cre.
That fraud would be
From all concealed, or partially discovered.
And if a king appear not criminal,
It is enough ... Thy brother was th'aggressor ...
Do thou, by management, make him appear
Still to continue such ...

Ete.
What management?
I understand thee not.

Cre.
Upon myself
I take the whole affair: Repose in me:
And listen only to my counsel. Thou
In time shalt know it all. First it behoves us
To make him trust to simulated peace.
Do thou so well this stratagem confirm,
That he, without the Argives, may consent
To tarry here in Thebes. Then 'twill be easy
To make the traitor treacherously perish.

Ete.
Provided that he perish, and I reign,
A little longer I'll constrain myself
To keep my hatred and my fury pent
Within my bosom.

Cre.
I will circulate
With art the cry of peace; to peace proposed
Do thou consent with a well-feign'd reluctance:
'Twill be thy interest to-day to cheat
Both friends and foes alike. But, above all,
From the solicitous bosom of thy mother
Be e'en the shadow of suspicion banished.