The chorus of elders

The chorus enters from the village, searching for the man on holy ground. Oedipus, hearing them, comes out of the grove, leaning on Antigone, and tells them he is the man. He asks them not to look at him with horror. He is no outlaw. He is a man not favored by fortune.

The elders, gradually approaching, begin a careful interrogation in song. Were you blind from birth? Why are you here on this ground? They guide him, step by step, to a safe ledge of rock just outside the sacred precinct, with Antigone holding his hand. Then they press him to give his name and family. Oedipus tries to deflect. Don't ask, he says. My birth is a thing of horror. They press anyway. He gives in. He names himself: son of Laius, of the line of Labdacus, the luckless Oedipus. The chorus recoils audibly. Begone, they say. Out of our borders, both of you, quickly.

Antigone steps in. She is young, she has no claim on them, but she pleads. They had received her father; they had brought him to the ledge themselves. They cannot now drive him away because the name turns out to be the one they feared. Look at me, she says. I plead for him alone. The chorus is moved but afraid. They will not, they say, decide a thing like this themselves. They will wait for Theseus. As they wait, Antigone catches sight of a rider on the road. A woman alone, on a Thessalian colt, wearing a sun-hat. She is sure for a moment she is dreaming, then sure she is not. It is her sister Ismene, alone, come from Thebes.