Matheson Collection > Togail na Tebe

THE THEBAID
sair], after that vengeful wound was inflicted on him : "False
brother," said he, "long hast thou remembered thy wiles and
thine anger — seeing thou art in the bosom of death — till I have
fallen by thee." And when he had said that, he fell, a litter of
gore, against his brother ; and both met death and fate in that
same bed.
Now when the blind old man, to wit, Oedipus, father of those
twain, heard that they had died by the hand of each other,
great was his wailing and distress to hear that tale. And he
arose suddenly, taking by the hand his daughter, to wit, Antigone,
and he said to her : " Well, daughter," said he, " lead me to the
place where my sons lie slain." Then the maiden came forward
through the slaughter to the place where those two lay, to wit,
Eteocles and Polynices. And when they reached the bodies, they
began to make an exceeding great cry of sorrow, and this is
what Oedipus then said : " Sorrowful is my heart over you now,
my sons," said he ; " though ye were hated till to-day, ye are
beloved now. And separate, O daughter, the bodies of the men,"
said he, " till I be laid in the midst between them." And even
as he said that, he stretched forth his hand, searching for the
arms of the soldiers in order to kill himself.
But when his daughter saw that, she stole the arms from
him, and hid them from him ; and since he did not get the
arms, impatience and madness seized him, and he continued in
heavy and sad weeping over the men.
Now as to Jocasta, to wit, the mother of the boys, she came
forth intho midat uf those very sad cries, with the family heir-
loom of those men in her hand, to wit, the broadsword of Laius,
father of Oedipus; and she came therewith upon the wall of
Thebes, and she fell fair upon that sword, and forthwith died
there of grief for her sons. Moreover her daughter, to wit,
Antigone, came and continued wailing and complaining greatly
" over thy head (Jocasta)." Sad indeed was the turn of fortune
which took place there, to wit, the people that had fought
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