Iocasta
In the name of the gods, tell me, king, the reason that you have conceived this steadfast wrath.
Oedipus That I will do, for I honor you, lady, above these men. Creon is the cause, and the plots he has laid against me.
Iocasta Come, tell me how the argument began.
Oedipus He says that I stand guilty of Laius’ blood.
Iocasta On his own knowledge or on hearsay from another?
Oedipus He has made a rascal seer his mouth piece: as for himself, he keeps his lips wholly pure.
Iocasta Then absolve yourself of the things about which you are speaking. Listen to me, and take comfort in learning that nothing of mortal birth shares in the science of the seer. I will give you a pithy proof of this. An oracle came to Laius once—I will not say from Phoebus himself, but from his ministers—saying that he would suffer his doom at the hands of the child to be born to him and me. And Laius—as, at least, the rumor goes—was murdered one day by foreign robbers at a place where the three highways meet. And the child’s birth was not yet three days past, when Laius pinned his ankles together and had him thrown, by others’ hands, on a remote mountain. So, in that case, Apollo did not bring it to pass that the child should become the slayer of his father, or that Laius should suffer that which he feared, death at the hands of his child: thus the messages of the seer’s art had mapped out the future. Pay them no regard. Whatever necessary event the god seeks, he himself will easily bring to light.
Oedipus What restlessness of soul, lady, what tumult has come upon me since I heard you speak!
Iocasta What anxiety has startled you, that you say this?
Oedipus I thought that I heard this from you—that Laius was slain where the three roads meet.
Iocasta Yes, that was the report, and so it is still thought.
Oedipus And where is the place where this occurred?
Iocasta The land is called Phocis; the branching forks lead to the same spot from Delphi and from Daulia.
Oedipus And how much time has passed since these events took place?
Iocasta The news was announced to the town shortly before you first attained power over this land.
Oedipus O Zeus, what have you decreed for me?
Iocasta Why, Oedipus, does this matter weigh upon your heart?
Oedipus Do not ask me yet. Tell me rather what stature Laius had, and how ripe his manhood was.
Iocasta He was tall—the silver just lightly strewn among his hair—and his form was not greatly unlike your own.
Oedipus Unhappy that I am! I think that I have laid myself under a terrible curse without realizing it.
Iocasta How do you mean? I tremble when I look at you, my lord.
Oedipus I have dread fears that the seer can see. But you will reveal the matter better if you tell me one thing more.
Iocasta Indeed, though I tremble, I will hear and answer all that you ask.
Oedipus Did he go with a small force, or like a chieftain, with many armed followers?
Iocasta Five they were in all—a herald among them—and there was one carriage which bore Laius.
Oedipus Alas! It is all clear now! Who gave you this information, lady?
Iocasta A servant, the only survivor who returned home.
Oedipus Is he by any chance in the house now?
Iocasta No. Soon after he returned and found you ruling in Laius’ stead, he pled with me, with hand laid on mine, to send him to the fields, to the pastures of the flocks, that he might be far from the sight of this town. And I sent him; he was worthy, for a slave, to win even a larger favor than that.
Oedipus Would, then, that he return to us without delay!
Iocasta That is easy. But why do you enjoin this?
Oedipus I fear, lady, that my words have been rash, and therefore I wish to see him.
Iocasta He will come. But I think that I too have a claim to learn what lies heavy on your heart, my king.
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