{219}
In the depth of his anguish he deprived himself of sight, as unworthy ever
more to behold the light, and banished himself from Thebes for the good of
his country; or as many assert, he was banished from thence by his sons.
He retired towards Attica, led by his daughter Antigone, and came to a
place sacred to the Furies. Here the remembrance flashed across his mind,
that he was to die in a place like this, that such had been the decree of
the oracle, and that he was to become the great source of prosperity to the
country in which his bones should be laid. He sent therefore to Theseus,
king of the place, to inform him, that on his arrival he would make known
to him the resolution which he had made. Theseus came, and found Oedipus
with his face covered by a black veil, a knife in one hand, and a vessel
containing the blood of a sacrifice in the other. With a prophetic voice he
exclaimed:--
[Illustration]
"Lo! the immortal gods have called--the ground on which we stand, shall be
my grave!"
As he spoke, he walked without a guide to the appointed spot of earth,
which in token of approval, opened, and received the victim to its bosom.
The tomb of Oedipus was near the Areopagus in the age of {220} Pausanias,
and some of the ancient poets have represented him in hell, as the place,
which crimes like his, would seem to deserve.
[Illustration]
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