Oe. King, they would fain convey me to Thebes.
Th. But if to thy content, then for thee exile is not seemly.590
Oe. Nay, when I was willing, they refused.
Th. But, foolish man, temper in misfortune is not meet.
Oe. When thou hast heard my story, chide; till then, forbear.
Th. Say on: I must not pronounce without knowledge.
Oe. I have suffered, Theseus, cruel wrong on wrong.
Th. Wilt thou speak of the ancient trouble of thy race?
Oe. No, verily: that is noised throughout Hellas.
Th. What, then, is thy grief that passeth the griefs of man?
Oe. Thus it is with me. From my country I have been driven by mine own offspring;600 and my doom is to return no more, as guilty of a father's blood.
Th. How, then, should they fetch thee to them, if ye must dwell apart?
Oe. The mouth of the god will constrain them.
Th. In fear of what woe foreshown?
Oe. That they must be smitten in this land.
Th. And how should bitterness come between them and me?
Oe. Kind son of Aegeus, to the gods alone comes never old age or death, but all else is confounded by all-mastering time. Earth's strength decays,610 and the strength of the body; faith dies, distrust is born; and the same spirit is never steadfast among friends, or