Oedipus Tyrannus Monologue
| Oedipus Tyrannus Monologue by Sophocles | |
| Character: | Priest |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age (range): | ? |
| Style: | Classical |
| Length: | < 3 minutes |
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- PRIEST: O king! thou seest what numbers throng thy altars;
- Here, bending sad beneath the weight of years,
- The hoary priests, here crowd the chosen youth
- Of Thebes, with these a weak and suppliant train
- Of helpless infants, last in me behold
- The minister of Jove: far off thou seest
- Assembled multitudes, with laurel crowned,
- To where Minerva's hallowed temples rise
- Frequent repair, or where Ismenus laves
- Apollo's sacred shrine: too well thou knowst
- Thy wretched Thebes, with dreadful storms oppressed,
- Scarce lifts her head above the whelming flood;
- The teeming earth her blasted harvest mourns,
- And on the barren plain the flocks and herds
- Unnumbered perish; dire abortion thwarts
- The mother's hopes, and painful she brings forth
- The half-formed infant; baleful pestilence
- Hath laid our city waste, the fiery god
- Stalks o'er deserted Thebes; while with our groans
- Enriched, the gloomy god of Erebus
- Triumphant smiles. O Oedipus! to thee
- We bend; behold these youths, with me they kneel,
- And suppliant at they altars sue for aid,
- To thee the first of men, and only less
- Than them whose favour thou alone canst gain,
- The gods above; thy wisdom yet may heal
- The deep-felt wounds, and make the powers divine
- Propitous to us. Thebes long since to thee
- Her safety owed, when from the Sphinx delivered
- Thy grateful people saw thee, not by man
- But by the gods instructed, save the land:
- Now then, thou best of kings, assist us now.
- Oh! by some mortal or immortal aid
- Now succour the distress! On wisdom oft,
- And prudent counsels in the hour of ill,
- Success awaits. O dearest prince! support,
- Relieve thy Thebes; on thee, its saviour once,
- Again it calls. Now, if thou wouldst not see
- The mem'ry perish of thy former deeds,
- Let it not call in vain, but rise and save!
- With happiest omens once and fair success
- We saw thee crowned: oh, be thyself again,
- And may thy will and fortune be the same!
- If thou art yet to reign, O king! remember
- A sovereign's riches is a peopled realm;
- For what will ships or lofty towers avail
- Unarmed with men to guard and to defend them?
Credits: Reprinted from Greek Dramas. Ed. Bernadotte Perrin. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1904.
