Translated by F. Storr. From the Loeb Library Edition, Originally published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and William Heinemann Ltd, London. First published in 1912.
Second Messenger:
Most grave and reverend senators of Thebes,
What Deeds ye soon must hear, what sights behold
How will ye mourn, if, true-born patriots,
Ye reverence still the race of Labdacus!
Not Ister nor all Phasis' flood, I ween,
Could wash away the blood-stains from this house,
The ills it shrouds or soon will bring to light,
Ills wrought of malice, not unwittingly.
The worst to bear are self-inflicted wounds.
Chorus:
Grievous enough for all our tears and groans
Our past calamities; what canst thou add?
Second Messenger:
My tale is quickly told and quickly heard.
Our sovereign lady queen Jocasta's dead.
Chorus:
Alas, poor queen! how came she by her death?
Second Messenger:
By her own hand. And all the horror of it,
Not having seen, yet cannot comprehend.
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