And there this body, sleeping in the grave,
All cold and stiff, shall drink warm blood of men,
If Zeus be Zeus, and His son, Phœbos, true.
But, since it is ill done to speak of things
Best left unstirred, leave me where I began,
Thine own pledge keeping faithfully, and ne'er
Shalt thou have cause to say thou took'st me in,
Me, Œdipus, a guest unprofitable
To this thy land, unless the Gods deceive me.
Chor. Such words, my king, and others like to them,
Long since, this man has promised to perform.630
Thes. Who then were bold enough to cast aside
His kindly feeling for a man like this,
Who may claim, first, the ancient mutual ties,
The open hearth of men allied in arms;[1]
And next, has come a suppliant of the Gods,
And to my land and me full tribute pays?
These claims I reverence, and will not disown
My friendship for him; but will welcome him
In this our land. And if it please our guest
Here to remain, I charge thee o'er him watch;
But if to go with me shall please thee, Œdipus,640
I leave it thy choice to go or stay,
As thou think'st best, myself content with that.
Œdip. Ο Zeus! give blessings to such men as this!
Thes. What then desirest thou? To go with me?
Œdip. If it were lawful; . . . . But the place is here. . . . .
- ↑ Theseus acknowledges an old alliance between his own ancestors and the house of Labdacos, of which Œdipus, who had grown up at Corinth, naturally knows nothing.
