Chor. Poor sufferer, what but that? And didst thou kill . . . ?
Œdip. What say'st thou now? What wishest thou to learn?
Chor. Thy father?
Œdip. Ah, thou strikest blow on blow.
Chor. Did'st slay him?
Œdip. Yea, I slew him; but in this . . .
Chor. What sayest thou?
Œdip. I have some plea of right.
Chor. How so?
Œdip. I'll tell thee. Not with knowledge clear
I smote and slew him; but I did the deed,
By law, not guilty, ignorant of all.
Chor. Lo, Theseus comes! great Ægeus' son, our king,
At thy request, to hear thy message to him.550
Enter Theseus.
Thes. Hearing from many, in the years gone by,
(The bloody mischief thou did'st do thine eyes,)
I know thee, son of Laios, who thou art;
And hearing, as I came, fresh news, discern
Yet more; for thee, thy weeds and suffering face
Declare too plainly; and, with pitying heart,
I wish to ask, unhappy Œdipus,
Why thou sitt'st here, a suppliant to my state,
And to me also,—thou, and that poor girl
Who still attends thee? Tell me; dread indeed
The suffering thou should'st tell, for me to hold560
Myself aloof from it. Right well I know
That I myself was reared away from home,
As thou; and, more than most men, struggled through,[1]
- ↑ Theseus, the Heracles of Attica, had been brought up, according to the
