Hæm. I would say
Thou wast unwise, if thou wert not my father.
Creon. Thou woman's slave, I say, prate on no more.
Hæm. Wilt thou then speak, and, speaking, listen not?
Creon. Nay, by Olympos! Thou shalt not go free
To flout me with reproaches. Lead her out
Whom my soul hates, that she may die forthwith760
Before mine eyes, and near her bridegroom here.
Hæm. No! Think it not! Near me she shall not die,
And thou shalt never see my face alive,
That thou may'st storm at those who like to yield. [Exit.
Chor. The man has gone, Ο king, in hasty mood.
A mind distressed in youth is hard to bear.
Creon. Let him do what he will, and bear himself
As more than man, he shall not save those girls.
Chor. What! Dost thou mean to slay them both alike?770
Creon. Not her who touched it not; there thou say'st well.
Chor. What form of death mean'st thou to slay her with?
Creon. Leading her on to where the desert path
Is loneliest, there alive, in rocky cave
Will I immure her, just so much of food
Before her set as may avert pollution,[1]
And save the city from the guilt of blood;
And there, invoking Hades, whom alone
Of all the Gods she worships, she, perchance,
Shall gain escape from death, or then shall know
That Hades-worship is but labour lost. [Exit.780
- ↑ Creon's words point to the popular feeling that if some food, however little, were given to those thus buried alive, the guilt of starving them to death was averted. The same rule was observed at Rome in the punishment of the Vestal Virgins.
