Antig. Yet woes oppress.
Chor. Long since they crushed thee.
Antig. Desperate then; now worse.
Chor. A sea of troubles, then, has been your lot.
Antig. Yea, yea.
Chor. I own it too!
Antig. Ah me! ah me!
Whither to turn, Ο Zeus?
For still, e'en now, the God
Leads me to bodings strange.1750
Enter Theseus.
Thes. Cease from your weeping, maidens. Over those
For whom the night of death as blessing comes,
We may not mourn. Such grief the Gods chastise.
Antig. Ο son of Ægeus, at thy feet we fall.
Thes. What boon then seek ye, maidens?
Antig. We would see
With our own eyes our father's sepulchre.
Thes. It may not be: ye may not thither go.
Antig. How say'st thou, prince, of Athens lord and king?
Thes. Ο maidens, he forbade that mortal foot1760
Should e'er draw nigh this spot, or mortal voice
Invoke in prayer the holy burial-place
Where now he lies. And, doing this, he said
That I should rule a land unvexed by ills;
These things our God has heard, and that dread Power,
The Oath of Zeus, that ever heareth all.
Antig. This shall suffice, if this was what he willed.
But send thou us to Thebes of old renown,1770
That so, if it may be, we stop the death
That comes upon our brothers.
