OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
I dare not whisper it to my allies
Or turn them back, but mute must meet my doom
My sisters, ye his daughters, ye have heard
The prayers of our stern father, if his curse
Should come to pass and ye some day return
To Thebes, O then disown me not, I pray,
But grant me burial and due funeral rites.
So shall the praise your filial care now wins
Be doubled for the service wrought for me.
Antigone
One boon, O Polyneices, let me crave.
Polyneices
What would’st thou, sweet Antigone? Say on.
Antigone
Turn back thy host to Argos with all speed,
And ruin not thyself and Thebes as well.
Polyneices
That cannot be. How could I lead again
An army that had seen their leader quail?
Antigone
But, brother, why shouldst thou be wroth again?
What profit from thy country’s ruin comes?
Polyneices
’Tis shame to live in exile, and shall I
The elder bear a younger brother’s flouts?
Antigone
Wilt thou then bring to pass his prophecies
Who threatens mutual slaughter to you both?
