OEDIPUS.
Laius and Jocasta, King and Queen of Thebes, in Boeotia, were greatly
delighted at the birth of a little son. In their joy they sent for the
priests of Apollo, and bade them foretell the glorious deeds their
heir would perform; but all their joy was turned to grief when told
that the child was destined to kill his father, marry his mother, and
bring great misfortunes upon his native city.
"Laius once,
Not from Apollo, but his priests, receiv'd
An oracle, which said, it was decreed
He should be slain by his own son."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
To prevent the fulfillment of this dreadful prophecy, Laius bade a
servant carry the new-born child out of the city, and end its feeble
little life. The king's mandate was obeyed only in part; for the
servant, instead of killing the child, hung it up by its ankles to a
tree in a remote place, and left it there to perish from hunger and
exposure if it were spared by the wild beasts.
When he returned, none questioned how he had performed the appointed
task, but all sighed with relief to think that the prophecy could
never be accomplished. The child, however, was not dead, as all
supposed. A shepherd in quest of a stray lamb had heard his cries,
delivered him from his painful position, and carried him to Polybus,
King of Corinth, who, lacking an heir of his own, gladly adopted the
little stranger. The Queen of Corinth and her handmaidens hastened
with tender concern to bathe the swollen ankles, and called the babe
Oedipus (swollen-footed).
Years passed by. The young prince grew up in total ignorance of the
unfortunate circumstances under which he had made his first appearance
at court, until one day at a banquet one of his companions, heated by
drink, began to quarrel with him, and taunted him about his origin,
declaring that those whom he had been accustomed to call parents were
in no way related to him.
"A drunken rev'ler at a feast proclaim'd
That I was only the supposed son
Of Corinth's king."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
[Sidenote: Oedipus consults the oracle.]
These words, coupled with a few meaning glances hastily exchanged by
the guests, excited Oedipus' suspicions, and made him question the
queen, who, afraid lest he might do himself an injury in the first
moment of his despair if the truth were revealed to him, had recourse
to prevarication, and quieted him by the assurance that he was her
beloved son.
Something in her manner, however, left a lingering doubt in Oedipus'
mind, and made him resolve to consult the oracle of Delphi, whose
words he knew would reveal the exact truth. He therefore went to this
shrine; but, as usual, the oracle answered somewhat ambiguously, and
merely warned him that fate had decreed he should kill his father,
marry his mother, and cause great woes to his native city.
"I felt
A secret anguish, and unknown to them
Sought out the Pythian oracle; in vain;
Touching my parents, nothing could I learn;
But dreadful were the mis'ries it denounc'd
Against me; 'twas my fate, Apollo said,
To wed my mother, to produce a race
Accursed and abhorr'd; and last, to slay
My father."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
[Sidenote: Oedipus leaves Corinth.]
What! kill Polybus, who had ever been such an indulgent father, and
marry the queen, whom he revered as his mother! Never! Rather than
perpetrate these awful crimes, and bring destruction upon the people
of Corinth, whom he loved, he would wander away over the face of the
earth, and never see city or parents again.
"Lest I should e'er fulfill the dire prediction,
Instant I fled from Corinth, by the stars
Guiding my hapless journey."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
But his heart was filled with intense bitterness, and as he journeyed
he did not cease to curse the fate which drove him away from home.
After some time, he came to three crossroads; and while he stood
there, deliberating which direction to take, a chariot, wherein an
aged man was seated, came rapidly toward him.
[Sidenote: Death of Laius.]
The herald who preceded it haughtily called to the youth to stand
aside and make way for his master; but Oedipus, who, as Polybus' heir,
was accustomed to be treated with deference, resented the commanding
tone, and refused to obey. Incensed at what seemed unparalleled
impudence, the herald struck the youth, who, retaliating, stretched
his assailant lifeless at his feet.
This affray attracted the attention of the master and other servants.
They immediately attacked the murderer, who slew them all, thus
unconsciously accomplishing the first part of the prophecy; for the
aged man was Laius, his father, journeying _incognito_ from Thebes to
Delphi, where he wished to consult the oracle.
Oedipus then leisurely pursued his way until he came to the gates of
Thebes, where he found the whole city in an uproar, "because the king
had been found lifeless by the roadside, with all his attendants slain
beside him, presumably the work of a band of highway robbers or
assassins."
"He fell
By strangers, murdered, for so fame reports,
By robbers in the place where three ways meet."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
Of course, Oedipus did not connect the murder of such a great
personage as the King of Thebes by an unknown band of robbers, with
the death he had dealt to an arrogant old man, and he therefore
composedly inquired what the second calamity alluded to might be.
[Sidenote: The Sphinx.]
With lowered voices, as if afraid of being overheard, the Thebans
described the woman's head, bird's wings and claws, and lion's body,
which were the outward presentment of a terrible monster called the
Sphinx, which had taken up its station without the city gates beside
the highway, and would allow none to pass in or out without
propounding a difficult riddle. Then, if any hesitated to give the
required answer, or failed to give it correctly, they were mercilessly
devoured by the terrible Sphinx, which no one dared attack or could
drive away.
While listening to these tidings, Oedipus saw a herald pass along the
street, proclaiming that the throne and the queen's hand would be the
reward of any man who dared encounter the Sphinx, and was fortunate
enough to free the country of its terrible presence.
[Sidenote: The riddle.]
As Oedipus attached no special value to the life made desolate by the
oracle's predictions, he resolved to slay the dreaded monster, and,
with that purpose in view, advanced slowly, sword in hand, along the
road where lurked the Sphinx. He soon found the monster, which from
afar propounded the following enigma, warning him, at the same time,
that he forfeited his life if he failed to give the right answer:--
"Tell me, what animal is that
Which has four feet at morning bright,
Has two at noon, and three at night?"
Prior.
[Illustration: OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX.--Ingres. (Louvre, Paris.)]
Oedipus was not devoid of intelligence, by any manner of means, and
soon concluded that the animal could only be man, who in infancy, when
too weak to stand, creeps along on hands and knees, in manhood walks
erect, and in old age supports his tottering steps with a staff.
[Sidenote: Oedipus marries his mother.]
This reply, evidently as correct as unexpected, was received by the
Sphinx with a hoarse cry of disappointment and rage as it turned to
fly; but ere it could effect its purpose, it was stayed by Oedipus,
who drove it at his sword's point over the edge of a neighboring
precipice, where it was killed. On his return to the city, Oedipus was
received with cries of joy, placed on a chariot, crowned King of
Thebes, and married to his own mother, Jocasta, unwittingly fulfilling
the second fearful clause of the prophecy.
[Sidenote: The plague.]
A number of happy and moderately uneventful years now passed by, and
Oedipus became the father of two manly sons, Eteocles and Polynices,
and two beautiful daughters, Ismene and Antigone; but prosperity was
not doomed to favor him long.
Just when he fancied himself most happy, and looked forward to a
peaceful old age, a terrible scourge visited Thebes, causing the death
of many faithful subjects, and filling the hearts of all with great
terror. The people now turned to him, beseeching him to aid them, as
he had done once before when threatened by the Sphinx; and Oedipus
sent messengers to consult the Delphic oracle, who declared the plague
would cease only when the former king's murderers had been found and
punished.
"The plague, he said, should cease,
When those who murder'd Laius were discover'd,
And paid the forfeit of their crime by death,
Or banishment."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
Messengers were sent in every direction to collect all possible
information about the murder committed so long ago, and after a short
time they brought unmistakable proofs which convicted Oedipus of the
crime. At the same time the guilty servant confessed that he had not
killed the child, but had exposed it on a mountain, whence it was
carried to Corinth's king.
[Sidenote: Death of Jocasta.]
The chain of evidence was complete, and now Oedipus discovered that he
had involuntarily been guilty of the three crimes to avoid which he
had fled from Corinth. The rumor of these dreadful discoveries soon
reached Jocasta, who, in her despair at finding herself an accomplice,
committed suicide.
Oedipus, apprised of her intention, rushed into her apartment too late
to prevent its being carried out, and found her lifeless. This sight
was more than the poor monarch could bear, and in his despair he
blinded himself with one of her ornaments.
"He pluck'd from off the robe she wore
A golden buckle that adorn'd her side,
And buried in his eyes the sharpen'd point,
Crying, he ne'er again would look on her,
Never would see his crimes or mis'ries more,
Or those whom guiltless he could ne'er behold,
Or those to whom he now must sue for aid."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
[Sidenote: Death of Oedipus.]
Penniless, blind, and on foot, he then left the scene of his awful
crimes, accompanied by his daughter Antigone, the only one who loved
him still, and who was ready to guide his uncertain footsteps wherever
he wished to go. After many days of weary wandering, father and
daughter reached Colonus, where grew a mighty forest sacred to the
avenging deities, the Furies, or Eumenides.
Here Oedipus expressed his desire to remain, and, after bidding his
faithful daughter an affectionate farewell, he groped his way into the
dark forest alone. The wind rose, the lightning flashed, the thunder
pealed; but although, as soon as the storm was over, a search was made
for Oedipus, no trace of him was ever found, and the ancients fancied
that the Furies had dragged him down to Hades to receive the
punishment of all his crimes.
[Sidenote: Eteocles and Polynices.]
Antigone, no longer needed by her unhappy father, slowly wended her
way back to Thebes, where she found that the plague had ceased, but
that her brothers had quarreled about the succession to the throne. A
compromise was finally decided upon, whereby it was decreed that
Eteocles, the elder son, should reign one year, and at the end of that
period resign the throne to Polynices for an equal space of time, both
brothers thus exercising the royal authority in turn. This arrangement
seemed satisfactory to Eteocles; but when, at the end of the first
year, Polynices returned from his travels in foreign lands to claim
the scepter, Eteocles refused to relinquish it, and, making use of his
power, drove the claimant away.
"Thou seest me banish'd from my native land,
Unjustly banish'd, for no other crime
But that I strove to keep the throne of Thebes,
By birthright mine, from him who drove me thence,
The young Eteocles: not his the claim
By justice, nor to me his fame in arms
Superior; but by soft, persuasive arts
He won the rebel city to his love."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
[Sidenote: The seven chiefs before Thebes.]
Polynices' nature was not one to endure such a slight patiently; and
he hastened off to Argos, where he persuaded Adrastus, the king, to
give him his daughter in marriage, and aid him to recover his
inheritance. True to his promise, Adrastus soon equipped a large army,
which was led by seven determined and renowned chiefs, ready to risk
all in the attempt, and either win or perish.
"Seven valiant leaders march
To Thebes, resolved to conquer or to die."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
Their bravery was of no avail, however, for Thebes was well fortified
and defended; and after a seven-years' siege they found themselves no
nearer their goal than at the beginning of the war. Weary of the
monotony of this quarrel, the conflicting armies finally decreed that
the difference should be settled by a duel between the inimical
brothers, who no sooner found themselves face to face, than they
rushed upon each other with such animosity that both fell.
By order of Jocasta's father, Creon, the corpse of Eteocles received
all the honors of a Greek burial, while that of Polynices was left on
the plain, a prey to the birds and wild beasts.
"Polynices' wretched carcass lies
Unburied, unlamented, left expos'd
A feast for hungry vultures on the plain."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
[Sidenote: Antigone's devotion.]
Then a proclamation was issued, that, if any dared bury the body of
the fallen prince, he would incur the penalty of being buried alive.
Heedless of this injunction and Ismene's prayers to refrain from
endangering her own life, Antigone dug a grave for her brother's
remains, and, unaided, fulfilled the various customary funeral rites.
Her task was almost completed, when the guards discovered her, and
dragged her into the presence of Creon, who, although she was a
relative and the promised wife of his son Hæmon, condemned her to
death.
"Let her be carried instant to the cave,
And leave her there alone, to live, or die;
Her blood rests not on us: but she no longer
Shall breathe on earth."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
[Sidenote: Antigone and Hæmon.]
Hæmon pleaded passionately for her life; but, when he saw his prayers
were vain, he ran to the place where Antigone was confined, sprang
into her narrow cell, wound his arms closely around her, and refused
to leave her. There they were walled in; Antigone's sufferings were
cut mercifully short by asphyxiation; and, when Hæmon saw she was no
more, he, in utter despair, thrust his dagger into his side, and
perished too.
[Illustration: ANTIGONE AND ISMENE.--Teschendorf.]
"On himself bent all his wrath,
Full in his side the weapon fix'd, but still,
Whilst life remain'd, on the soft bosom hung
Of the dear maid, and his last spirit breath'd
O'er her pale cheek, discolor'd with his blood.
Thus lay the wretched pair in death united,
And celebrate their nuptials in the tomb."
Sophocles (Francklin's tr.).
Ismene, the last of Oedipus' unfortunate race, died of grief, and thus
the prophecy was fully accomplished. The Theban war was not, however,
entirely ended, for, when both brothers fell, the two armies flew to
attack each other; and such was their courage, that many fell, and
only one of the seven chiefs returned to Argos. There he patiently
waited until the children of these brave captains were old enough to
bear arms, and then proposed to them to attack Thebes and avenge their
fathers' death.
The Epigoni (or those who come after), as these youths are
collectively designated, received this proposal with rapture; and
Thebes, again besieged, fell into their hands, and was duly sacked,
burned, and destroyed, as the Delphic oracle had foretold so many
years before.