Messenger: Ho there! who is at the palace-gates? Open the door, summon
Jocasta forth. Ho there! once again I call; spite of this long delay
come forth; hearken, noble wife of Oedipus; cease thy lamentation
and thy tears of woe. (Jocasta enters from the palace in answer to
his call.)
Jocasta: Surely thou art not come, my friend, with the sad news of
Eteocles' death, beside whose shield thou hast ever marched, warding
from him the foeman's darts? What tidings art thou here to bring me?
Is my son alive or dead? Declare that to me.
Messenger: To rid thee of thy fear at once, he lives; that terror
banish.
Jocasta: Next, how is it with the seven towers that wall us in?
Messenger: They stand unshattered still; the city is not yet a prey.
Jocasta: Have they been in jeopardy of the Argive spear?
Studies
