Sophocles
30ἦ δεῦρο προστείχοντα κἀξωρμημένον;
καὶ δὴ μὲν οὖν παρόντα· χὤ τι σοι λέγειν εὔκαιρόν ἐστιν, ἔννεφ᾿, ὡς ἁνὴρ ὅδε.
ὦ ξεῖν᾿, ἀκούων τῆσδε τῆς ὑπέρ τ᾿ ἐμοῦ αὑτῆς θ᾿ ὁρώσης οὕνεχ᾿ ἡμὶν αἴσιος 35σκοπὸς προσήκεις ὧν ἀδηλοῦμεν φράσαι—
πρὶν νῦν τὰ πλείον᾿ ἱστορεῖν, ἐκ τῆσδ᾿ ἕδρας ἔξελθ᾿· ἔχεις γὰρ χῶρον οὐχ ἁγνὸν πατεῖν.
τίς δ᾿ ἔσθ᾿ ὁ χῶρος; τοῦ θεῶν νομίζεται;
ἄθικτος οὐδ᾿ οἰκητός. αἱ γὰρ ἔμφοβοι 40θεαί σφ᾿ ἔχουσι, Γῆς τε καὶ Σκότου κόραι.
τίνων τὸ σεμνὸν ὄνομ᾿ ἂν εὐξαίμην κλυών;
τὰς πάνθ᾿ ὁρώσας Εὐμενίδας ὅ γ᾿ ἐνθάδ᾿ ἂν εἴποι λεώς νιν· ἄλλα δ᾿ ἀλλαχοῦ καλά.
- 30κἀξωρμημένον J. F. Davies: κἀξορμώμενον codd.
- 35ὧν Elmsley: τῶν codd.
- 42ἂν Vauvilliers: ὢν codd.
Oedipus at Colonus
Is he advancing in this direction?
Enter peasant.
No, he is already here! Say whatever the moment calls for, since the man is present!
Stranger, hearing from this girl, who sees for me as well as for herself, that you have come to inquire at the right moment to resolve our doubts . . .
Before you ask me any more questions, leave this seat! The ground you occupy cannot be trodden without pollution!
But what is the place? To which of the gods is it thought to belong?
It is inviolable, and not inhabited; for it belongs to the dread goddesses, daughters of Earth and Darkness.
Who are they to whom I shall pray when I have heard their awful name?
The people here call them the all-seeing Eumenides; but different names are right in different places. a