University of Virginia Library

ACT THE SECOND.

SCENE THE FIRST.

Creon, Hæmon.
Cre.
But what? Thou only in my joy, oh son,
Takest no part? Thy father thou beholdest
Upon the throne of Thebes; he has secured
The sceptre as thy firm inheritance.
Whence then these lamentations? Dost thou grieve
For Œdipus, or his devoted race?

Hæm.
Does my compassion, then, for Œdipus,
And his descendants, seem to thee a crime?
Oh father, from the throne there issued not,
On the dire day on which thou didst ascend it,
Such an auspicious and absorbing radiance,
At least to my dimm'd eyes, as to dispel
The boding images that flitted round it.
Thou, perhaps, one day may'st bitterly repent
The acquisition of the Theban sceptre.

Cre.
I rather should repent, if need there were
Of penitence, that, for so long a time,
I had submissive been to guilty nephews,
Flagitious children of incestuous parents.
But if they have, for their atrocious birth,
By a still more atrocious death atoned,
Let everlasting silence be their doom.
Scarce is their destiny fulfill'd, when, lo!
O'er Thebes the day-star more benignly rises,
The air is more serene, the gods themselves
Regard us more propitiously: ah, yes,
I feel exulting hope of better days.

Hæm.
All expectation, but of wretchedness,
Is baffled by th'event, amid the ruin
And death of those, to whom, by ties of blood,
We are most closely join'd. A king of Thebes,
(For King of Thebes he still must be accounted)
Œdipus, exiled, blind, and fugitive,
To universal and astonished Greece,
Presents a spectacle ne'er seen before:
Two brothers, murderers of each other; brothers
Of their own sire; sons of incestuous mother,
Sister to thee, and by her own hands slain:
Thou seest a horrid mixture of all names;
A horrid chaos of distress and slaughter.
Behold the auspices, behold the track,
By which thou hast ascended to the throne.
Ah, father! canst thou possibly be joyful?

Cre.
Œdipus, only, with his longer tarriance
On this contaminated spot, had given
A signal to the vengeance of the gods;
It was our duty to get rid of him.
But thou hast not, without omission, stated
All our afflictions. Impious Œdipus!
What hast thou not cost me? I also shed
Tears for a son beloved; thy elder brother,
Menæceus, he, in whom the foolish frauds,
The lying, and pernicious prophecies,
Of a Tiresias, credence did obtain:
Menæceus, to self-sacrifice devoted,
To save his country; by self-murder slain;
While Œdipus yet lives? Perpetual exile
Is a light vengeance for his many crimes.
But let him bear with him to other shores,
That which will follow him where'er he goes,
The malediction of the angry gods.
Our tears will not undo what has been done;
'Tis now our duty to forget the past,
And to grasp fortune, while we may, by force.

Hæm.
Unstable goddess, to secure her smiles
I'll not compel my heart! Oh, father, fear,
For there is cause, the anger of the gods!
Thy cruel prohibition, that prevents
The haughty and unburied shades of Greece
From passing Acheron, will wake their vengeance.
What art thou doing? With prosperity,
And with a throne, elated, know'st thou not
That Polinices boasts a royal birth,
Sprung from a mother who to thee was sister?
And shall he lie dishonour'd on the plain?
At least permit, that the unburied corse
Of him, who is thy nephew, may be burnt.
Ah, to the sad Antigone, who sees
Of all her family the timeless end,
The body yield of her beloved brother.

Cre.
As were her impious brothers, is not she
Of Œdipus the offspring?

Hæm.
As 'twas theirs,
The throne of Thebes by inheritance is hers.
Thou surely wouldst not scruple for a kingdom,
To barter a dead body?

Cre.
She is my foe ...

Hæm.
Believe it not.

Cre.
Loves she not Polinices?
Her father too? Creon she then abhors.

Hæm.
Wouldst thou, oh heavens! that she should not feel,
Or for her father, or her brothers, pity?
Perhaps, if she were inhuman, she might gain
A more distinguished place in thy esteem.

Cre.
No; not esteem her more, but hate her less.
A monarch should forestall another's hate,
And deem each man a foe that he's offended.
I have from fierce Antigone removed
Every pretext, in banishing her father.
Had they together both in exile gone,
They might have found, as wanderers, a king,
Who, under the affected veil of pity,
Conceal'd a wish his empire to augment;
And who, in their defence, might come to Thebes
As did Adrastes, arm'd. I hear thee blame
My prohibition, son, to which by motives
Deep, yet unfit for thy partaking in them,
I was impell'd. They will be known to thee;
And thou wilt see, that, though it may appear
A cruel law, 'tis indispensable.

Hæm.
The cause unknown to me! dost thou say so?
I fear that thou art ignorant of the effects.
Yes, for her exiled father, for her throne
Usurp'd unjustly, for th'unburied corse
Of Polinices, without seeking it,
Antigone in Thebes may find revenge.
The people, by thy prohibition stung,
Murmur, and rail at it without disguise;
They long for its evasion; and, at length,
Will openly infringe it.

Cre.
Be it so.
It is my wish; that I may have the life
Of him who first may venture to infringe it.

Hæm.
Ah! what fierce enemy can counsel thee
Thus to contribute to thy own destruction?

Cre.
My love for thee is my sole counsellor:
Of what thou blamest thou shalt reap the fruit.
Long have the citizens in Thebes been wont
To witness crimes of darker hue than these;
What can they now intend, but to submit
And to be silent?

Hæm.
Oft beneath such silence
Vengeance lies couch'd ...

Cre.
The silence of the few;
But in the silence of an entire people
Lie hidden fear, and abject servitude.
Ah cease, oh son, to oppose thy father's views!
No object of solicitude have I
More dear, or more important, than thyself:
Thou only now remain'st to me; alone
Shall reap the fruits of my anxieties.
Perhaps thou intendest, ere his days are spent,
To prove thyself ungrateful to thy father!
But whence this clank of fetters and of arms?

Hæm.
Ah, who advances? ... In hard fetters bound
Two ladies dragg'd along? ... Antigone! ...

Cre.
Th'incautious virgin in my snares hath fallen;
And ill can she escape.

SCENE THE SECOND.

Guards, with Torches.
Antigone, Argia, Creon, Hæmon.
Cre.
What is the crime these virgins have committed?

Ant.
I will declare it.

Cre.
Let them be conducted
A little further.

Ant.
In thy sight behold me
Mine own accuser. I have defied thy laws:
On the funereal pyre I have burn'd my brother.

Cre.
And thou shalt have the threaten'd recompense;
From me, without delay, thou shalt receive it.—
But thou, whose face I do not recognise,
Thou, whose attire bespeaks thee here a stranger,
Who art thou? Speak ...

Ar.
The rival of her virtue.

Hæm.
Ah, father, calm thy anger! female boldness
Deserves not the resentment of a king.

Cre.
Resentment? What sayst thou, misdeeming youth!
An unperturbed judge I listen to them:
Death is already theirs: let this strange lady
First tell her name, and then they both shall have
The challenged retribution.

Ant.
I alone
Will have that retribution. On the plain
I found this lady; it was I that shewed
To her my brother's corse; by Heaven conducted,
Thy satellites' unwary vigilance
I baffled; and invited her to aid me
In such a holy office: she complied:
And with her hand gave me a little help.
I know not who she is; in Thebes ne'er saw her;
Perchance she is from Argos, and intended
T'embrace, but not to burn, some of her friends,
Who in the battle fell ...

Ar.
Now, now, indeed,
Should I be guilty, and should well deserve
The direst punishment, if, urged by fear,
I dared to disavow a deed so sacred.
Flagitious king! learn then my name; exult,
And triumph, when thou hear'st it ...

Ant.
Ah! be silent ...

Ar.
Adrastes' daughter; Polinices' spouse;
I am Argia.

Hæm.
What is it I hear?

Cre.
Oh, worthy pair! ye are by Heaven delivered
Into my hands: of its just punishment
The heavens have chosen me the minister.
But, gentle lady, hast thou not brought with thee
The tender pledge of thy too transient love?
For thou art mother of a little heir
Of Thebes; where is he? he can also boast
The blood of Œdipus: Thebes longs to see him.

Hæm.
Oh! I am horror-stricken ... to hear thee, shudder ...
Thou, who hast lost a son, dar'st thou with jeers
To exacerbate a wretched mother's woe?
One mourns a husband; one a brother mourns;
And thou canst mock them? 'tis too horrible! ...

Ant.
Oh thou too worthy son for such a father!
Do not degrade us with thy intercession:
Where Creon reigns to be adjudged to death,
Is a sure proof of lofty innocence.

Cre.
Pour out, pour out, thy impotent upbraidings;
For they offend not me: thou art most welcome,
So as thou hast it, to make light of death.

Ar.
On me turn all thy rage; on me alone!
Hither I came alone, unknown to all,
By stealth; an entrance in these thresholds gain'd
By night, on purpose to defy thy laws.
The bosom of Antigone, 'tis true,
Swell'd with suppress'd resentment; she revolved
A thousand schemes; but silently she bore
The horrid prohibition; and had never,
Had I not hither come, incurr'd its penance.
He is the criminal that plans the crime:
On the contriver falls the penalty.

Ant.
Ah, trust her not: inopportune compassion,
Vain generosity, her words inspire.
That she, by stealth, these thresholds past is true,
But then she knew not thy despotic law:
She sought me here; trembling and apprehensive;
And, at my hand, required the fatal urn
Of her beloved lord. Hence, 'tis apparent
The fame of thy inhuman prohibition
Had not reach'd Argos. I do not pretend
That she did hate thee not as well as me,
(Who does not hate thee?) but she feared thee more;
She hoped to be invisible to thee,
(Too credulous, alas!) and fly from hence
With the possession of the sacred ashes,
To bear them back to Argos, and enshrine them
There in a consecrated monument.
Not these my hopes, who, from the first conception
Of this design, aspired to be thy victim,
And to be summon'd thus to brave thy presence:
To be there I exult; and to thee swear,
That much as she, nay more than she, I hate thee;
That I, the unextinguishable flame
Of hatred and revenge, with which I burn,
Into her breast transfused: mine is the pride,
Mine is the hardihood, and all the rage
With which she now invests herself, is mine.

Cre.
Perfidious pair! in vain each strives to prove
Herself proficient most in infamy.
I shall soon shew to you, betwixt you two,
Which is the vilest. Death, most infamous,
Such as is fitting, waits you both; ah! then
Another rivalship of tears, and prayers,
Of groans, will ye exhibit.

Hæm.
Oh, my father!
To death most infamous? That cannot be:
Thou wilt not do it, no; to mitigate
Thy bitter vengeance, if compassion may not,
Reflection may constrain thee. Of Adrastes,
A potent king, Argia is the daughter;
Thou hast had proof Adrastes knows the way
To Thebes, and he may visit us once more.

Cre.
Then, ere Adrastes visit us once more,
Argia shall be immolated. What?
Dost think by fear to make me pity feel?

Ar.
Adrastes cannot now return to Thebes;
The heavens, the time, to him are unpropitious;
His troops, his treasures, and his arms, exhausted,
He cannot now avenge me. Fear not, Creon!
Slay me, ah, slay me, and it will not be
That now Adrastes can chastise thee for it.
Yes, be Argia slain; since to her murderer
No consequence of evil can ensue;
But spare, ah, spare Antigone; for her,
And in her cause, by thousands and by thousands,
Desperate avengers will arise in Thebes.

Ant.
Ah cease, oh sister! do not thus misjudge
The tyrant thou accostest: he is cruel:
But not by chance, or to no purpose, cruel.
I now have hopes for thee; I see already
That I suffice for him, and I exult.
He wills to have the throne, thou hast it not:
But, by a misadventurous right, that throne,
Which he desires, which he usurps, is mine.
Ambition points me out, and me alone,
To be his victim.

Cre.
Thine, sayst thou, this throne?
Infamous progeny of incest, death,
And not a kingdom, is your heritage.
Did not thy impious brothers prove this truth,
The murderers of each other?

Ant.
Impious thou,
Impious and vile! who to the deed of death
Didst goad them on by fraudulent contrivance.
If 'twas our crime to be our brother's children,
It was our punishment to be thy nephews.
Thou wast the author of the guilty war;
Thou the fomenter of fraternal hate;
Thou artfully didst fan the angry flame;
One thou didst instigate, the other flatter,
And both thou didst betray. And by such arts
Thou clear'dst the way to infamy and the throne.

Hæm.
Art thou determined on thine own destruction?

Ant.
I am determined, that, for once at least,
The tyrant shall hear truth. Do I see one
Around him that dare speak it to him? Oh!
If thou the agonies of thy remorse,
As thou the tongues of all mankind couldst silence,
How perfect then, oh Creon, were thy joy!
But even more so than thou art to others,
To thyself hateful, in thy restless eye,
Thy restless and thy circumspective eye,
Both crime and punishment are legible.

Cre.
There was no need of fraudulent contrivance
To goad to death the abominable brothers
Of their own father: all the angry gods
Were emulous t'accelerate that death.

Ant.
Why dost thou name the gods? What god hast thou
Except the expedient for thyself alone?
To this omnivorous deity, thy friends,
Thy son, thy fame itself, if these thou hadst,
Thou holdst thyself in readiness to immolate.

Cre.
Hast thou aught else to say to me? Thou know'st
That different offsprings different gods appease.
Thou art a victim to the infernal destined,
The last, and worthy of thy impious race,
Thou shalt be offered as a fierce atonement.

Hæm.
Father, suspend a little the fulfilment
Of the dread sentence. I first ask of thee
A transient audience, to communicate
To thee some matters of the last importance.

Cre.
Some unmolested hours they yet may pass
Of the unfinished night. I have determined,
Within myself, the moment of her doom.
Soon as the sun arises I will hear thee.

Ar.
Alas! thou speakest only of my sister?
Now, indeed, I do tremble. Wilt thou not
Condemn me with Antigone to death?

Cre.
No more delay: let them be both confined
Within the horrors of the darkest dungeon.

Ar.
Together we shall go.

Ant.
Ah, sister, yes.

Cre.
They shall be separated. I myself
Will be the keeper of Antigone.
Let us depart. Guards, to another dungeon
Consign Argia.

Hæm.
Oh, 'tis too horrible!

Ant.
Ah, come ...

Ar.
Sister, farewell.

Hæm.
I will, at least,
Pursue their steps.