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Subject Area: Literature
Debate: Cato and Caesar

ACT III. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates). [1901]

Edition used:

The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version. A Critique and Biography by John Morley, notes by Tobias Smollett, trans. William F. Fleming (New York: E.R. DuMont, 1901). In 21 vols. Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Part of: The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version, in 21 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


ACT III.

SCENE I.

jocaste, ægina.

jocaste.

  • Yes, my Ægina, I expect him here;
  • ’Tis the last time these eyes shall e’er behold
  • The wretched Philoctetes.

ægina.

  • Thou hast heard,
  • My royal mistress, to what desperate height
  • The clamorous people carry their resentment;
  • Our dying Thebans from his punishment
  • Expect their safety. Old men, women, children,
  • United by misfortunes, breathe forth vengeance;
  • Pronounce him guilty, and cry out that heaven
  • Demands his blood: canst thou resist the torrent,
  • Defend, or save him?

jocaste.

  • Yes: I will defend him;
  • Even though Thebes should lift the murderous hand
  • Against her queen, beneath her smoking walls
  • To crush Jocaste, ne’er would I betray
  • Such injured innocence; but still I fear
  • The tongue of slander: well thou knowest my heart
  • Once sighed for Philoctetes; now, Ægina,
  • Will they not say I sacrifice to him
  • My fame, my gods, my country, and my husband?
  • Will they not say Jocaste loves him still?

ægina.

  • Calm thy vain fears; thy passion had no witness
  • But me, and never—

jocaste.

  • Thinkest thou that a princess
  • Can e’er conceal her hatred or her love?
  • O no! on every side the eager eyes
  • Of courtiers look upon us: through the veil
  • Of feigned respect, with subtle treachery
  • They search our hearts, and trace out every weakness.
  • Naught can escape their sharp malignant sight;
  • A little word, a sigh, or glance betrays us;
  • Our very silence shall be made to speak
  • Our thoughts; and when their busy artifice,
  • Spite of ourselves, hath drawn the secret from us,
  • Then their loud censures cast invidious light
  • O’er all our actions, and the instructed world
  • Is quickly taught to echo every weakness.

ægina.

  • But what hast thou to fear from calumny?
  • What piercing eye can wound Jocaste’s fame?
  • Who knows thy love, will know thy conquest o’er it;
  • Will know thy virtue still supported thee.

jocaste.

  • It is that virtue which distresses me;
  • I look, perhaps, with too severe an eye
  • On my own weakness, and accuse myself
  • Unjustly; but the image still remains
  • Of Philoctetes, engraved within my heart
  • Too deep for time or virtue to efface it;
  • And much I doubt, if when I strive to save him.
  • I act not less from justice than from love:
  • My pity hath too much of tenderness;
  • I tremble oft, and oft reproach myself
  • For my fond care; I could be more his friend,
  • If he had been less dear to me.

ægina.

  • But say,
  • Is it your will that he depart?

jocaste.

  • It is:
  • And O! if he would listen to Jocaste,
  • Never return, never behold me more;
  • Fly from this fatal, this distressful scene,
  • And save my life and fame. But what detains him?
  • Why hastes he not? Ægina, fly—

SCENE II.

philoctetes, ægina, jocaste.

jocaste.

  • He’s here.
  • O prince, my soul is on the rack; I blush
  • To see the man whom duty bids me shun,
  • Which says I should forget and not betray thee.
  • Doubtless thou knowest the dreadful fate that hangs
  • O’er thy devoted head.

philoctetes.

  • The clamorous people
  • Demand my life; but they have suffered much,
  • And therefore, though unjust, I pity them.

jocaste.

  • Yield not thyself a victim to their rage:
  • Away, begone; as yet thou art thyself
  • The master of thy fate; but this perhaps
  • Is the last minute that can give me power
  • To save thee: far, O fly far from Jocaste;
  • And, in return for added life, I beg thee
  • But to forget ’twas I who thus preserved it.

philoctetes.

  • I could have wished, Jocaste, thou hadst shown
  • More strength of mind, and less compassion for me;
  • Preferred with me my honor to my life,
  • And rather bade me die than meanly quit
  • My station here: I yet am innocent,
  • But in obeying thee I should be guilty.
  • Of all the blessings heaven bestowed upon me,
  • My honor and my fame alone remain
  • Untouched. O! do not rob me of a treasure
  • So precious to me; do not make me thus
  • Unworthy of Jocaste. I have lived,
  • Lived to fulfil the fate allotted to me;
  • Have passed my sacred word to Œdipus,
  • And whatsoever suspicions he may cherish,
  • I am a stranger to the breach of honor.

jocaste.

  • O Philoctetes, let me here entreat thee,
  • By the just gods, by that ill-fated passion,
  • Which once inspired thy breast, if aught remains
  • Of tender friendship, if thou still rememberest
  • How much my happiness on thine depended,
  • Deign to prolong a glorious life, and days
  • That should have been united with Jocaste.

philoctetes.

  • To thee devoted I would have them still
  • In equal tenor flow, and worthy of thee;
  • I’ve lived far from thee, and shall die content,
  • If thy regard attends me to the tomb
  • Who knows but heaven may yet refuse to see
  • This bloody sacrifice; perhaps, in mercy
  • It guided me to Thebes to save Jocaste;
  • Shortened my days, perhaps, to lengthen thine.
  • Happy event! the blood of innocence
  • May be accepted; mine is not unworthy.

SCENE III.

œdipus, jocaste, philoctetes, ægina, araspes,with Attendants.

œdipus.

  • Fear not the clamors of an idle crowd,
  • That rage tumultuous, and demand thy death:
  • Know, Philoctetes, I have calmed their rage
  • And will myself, if needful, be thy guard.
  • I judge not with the hasty multitude,
  • But wish to see thy innocence appear:
  • My doubtful mind, uncertain where to fix,
  • Nor dares or to condemn, or to acquit thee:
  • Heaven can alone determine all, which hears
  • My ardent prayer; at length it seems appeased,
  • And by its priest shall soon point out the victim.
  • The gods shall soon decide ’twixt Thebes and thee.

philoctetes.

  • Great is thy love of truth, O king, but know
  • Justice extreme is height of injury;
  • We must not always hearken to the voice
  • Of rigor: honor is the first of laws,
  • Let us observe it. But thou seest me sunk
  • Beneath myself, answering the slandrous tongues
  • Of base defamers, whom I should despise.
  • O let not Œdipus unite with such
  • To ruin my fair fame! it is enough
  • That I deny it; ’tis enough to call
  • My life before thee. Let Alcides come,
  • And bring with him the monsters I destroyed,
  • The tyrants I subdued; let these stand forth
  • My witnesses, and let my enemies confute them.
  • But ask your priest whether his gods condemn me;
  • I’ll wait their sentence; not because I fear it,
  • But to preserve thy persecuted people.

SCENE IV.

œdipus, jocaste, high priest, araspes, philoctetes, ægina,Attendants,chorus.

œdipus.

  • Will heaven at last indulgent to our prayers
  • Withdraw its vengeance? By what murderous hand
  • Was it offended?

philoctetes.

  • Speak, whose blood must flow
  • For expiation?

high priest.

  • Fatal gift of heaven!
  • Unhappy knowledge! to what dangers oft
  • Dost thou betray the heart of curious man!
  • O would that fate, thus open to my view,
  • Had o’er its secrets drawn the eternal veil
  • To hide them from my sight!

philoctetes.

  • What evil bringest thou?

œdipus.

  • Comest thou the minister of wrath divine?

philoctetes.

  • Fear nothing.

œdipus.

  • Do the gods demand my life?

high priest.

  • If thou givest credit to me, ask me not.

œdipus.

  • Whatever be the fate which heaven decrees,
  • The safety of my country is concerned,
  • And I will know it.

philoctetes.

  • Speak.

œdipus.

  • Have pity on us,
  • Pity the afflicted, pity—

high priest.

  • Œdipus
  • Deserves more, much more, pity than his people.

leader of the chorus.

  • Œdipus loves them with paternal fondness;
  • To his we join our prayers. O! hear us thou
  • Interpreter of heaven; now hear, and save!

second person of the chorus.

  • We die, O save us! turn aside the wrath
  • Of the angry gods; name the perfidious monster!

leader of the chorus.

  • Name him, and soon the parricide shall die

high priest.

  • Unhappy men! why will ye press me thus?

leader of the chorus.

  • Speak but the word, he dies, and we are saved.

high priest.

  • O! ye will tremble but to hear his name,
  • When ye shall know what pangs he must endure.
  • The God, who speaks by me, in pity dooms him
  • To banishment alone; but dreadful ills
  • Await the murderer: driven to fell despair
  • His own rash hand shall to the wrath of heaven
  • Add woes more deep and heavier punishment:
  • Even you shall shudder at his fate, and own
  • Your safety purchased at a rate too dear.

œdipus.

  • Obey then.

philoctetes.

  • Speak.

œdipus.

  • Still obstinate!

high priest.

  • Remember,
  • If I must speak, that thou didst force me to it.

œdipus.

  • Insufferable delay! I’ll bear no more.

high priest.

  • Since thou wilt hear it then, ’tis—

œdipus.

  • Ha! speak, who?

high priest.

  • ’Tis—Œdipus.

œdipus.

  • I?

high priest.

  • Thou, unhappy Prince,
  • Thou art the man.

second person of the chorus.

  • Alas! what do I hear!

jocaste.

  • Say, can it be, interpreter of heaven?
  • [To Œdipus.
  • Thou, Œdipus, the murderer of my husband!
  • To whom Jocaste yielded with herself
  • The throne of Thebes: the oracle is false;
  • I know it is; thy virtues must confute it.

leader of the chorus.

  • O! heaven, whose power decrees the fate of mortals,
  • O! name another, or to death devote us!

philoctetes.

  • [Turning to Œdipus.
  • Think not I mean to render ill for ill;
  • Or from this strange reverse of fortune take
  • A mean advantage, to return the wrongs
  • I suffered from thy people and from thee:
  • No, Œdipus, I’ll do thee noble justice,
  • That justice thou deniest to Philoctetes.
  • Spite of the gods, I think thee innocent,
  • And here I offer thee my willing hand
  • Against thy foes: I cannot hesitate
  • Which I should serve, a pontiff or a king.
  • ’Tis a priest’s business, whosoever he be,
  • By whatsoever deity inspired,
  • To pray for, not to curse, his royal master.

œdipus.

  • Transcendent virtue! execrable traitor!
  • Here I behold a demi-god, and there
  • A base impostor: see the glorious privilege
  • Of altars; thanks to their protecting veil,
  • With lips profane thou hast abused the power
  • Given thee by heaven, to arraign thy king;
  • And yet thou thinkest the sacred ministry
  • Thou hast disgraced shall withhold my wrath:
  • Traitor, thou shouldst have perished at the altar
  • Before those gods whose voice thou hast usurped.

high priest.

  • My life is in thy hands, and thou art now
  • The master of my fate: seize then the time
  • Whilst yet thou art so, for to-day thy doom
  • Will be pronounced. Tremble, unhappy Prince,
  • Thy reign is past; a hand unseen suspends
  • The fatal sword that glitters o’er thy head:
  • Soon shall thy conscious soul with horror feel
  • The weight of guilt; soon shalt thou quit the throne,
  • Where now thou sittest secure, to wander forth
  • A wretched exile in a distant land;
  • Of wholesome water and of sacred fire
  • Deprived, shalt take thy solitary way,
  • And to the caves and hollow rocks complain.
  • Where’er thou goest, a vengeful God shall still
  • Pursue thy steps; still shalt thou call on death,
  • But call in vain: heaven, that beholds thy fate,
  • Shall hide itself in darkness from thy sight;
  • To guilt and sorrow doomed, thou shall regret
  • Thy life, and wish that thou hadst ne’er been born.

œdipus.

  • Thus far I have constrained my wrath, and heard thee.
  • Priest, if thy blood were worthy of my sword,
  • Thy life should answer for this insolence:
  • But hence, begone, nor urge my temper further,
  • Thou author of abominable falsehood.

high priest.

  • Thou callest me hypocrite, and base impostor;
  • Thy father thought not so.

œdipus.

  • Who? Polybus?
  • My father, saidst thou?

high priest.

  • Thou wilt know too soon
  • Thy wretched fate: to-day shall give thee birth;
  • To-day shall give thee death: unhappy man,
  • Tell me who gave thee birth, or say with whom
  • Thou livest, beset with sorrows and with crimes
  • For thee alone reserved. O Corinth! Phocis!
  • Detested nuptials! impious wretched race,
  • Too like its parent stem! whose deadly rage
  • Shall fill the world with horror and amaze.
  • Farewell.

SCENE V.

œdipus, philoctetes, jocaste.

œdipus.

  • His last words fix me to the earth
  • Immovable; my passion is subsided;
  • I know not where I am: methinks some god
  • Descended from above to calm my rage;
  • Who to his priest imparted power divine,
  • And by his sacred voice pronounced my ruin.

philoctetes.

  • If thou hadst naught to oppose but king to king,
  • I would have fought for Œdipus; but know
  • That Priests are here more formidable foes,
  • Because respected, feared and honored more.
  • Supported by his oracles, the priest
  • Shall often make his sovereign crouch beneath him;
  • Whilst his weak people, dragged in holy chains,
  • Embrace the idol, tread on sacred laws
  • With pious zeal, and think they honor heaven
  • When they betray their master and their king,
  • But above all, when interest, fruitful parent
  • Of riot and licentiousness, increase
  • Their impious rage, and back their insolence.

œdipus.

  • Alas! thy virtue doubles all my woes,
  • For great as my misfortunes is thy soul;
  • Beneath the weight of care that hangs upon me;
  • Who strives to comfort can but more oppress.
  • What voice is this which from my inmost soul
  • Pours forth complaints? What crime have I committed?
  • Say, vengeful gods, is Œdipus so guilty?

jocaste.

  • Talk not of guilt, my lord, your dying people
  • Demand a victim; we must save our country;
  • Delay it not: I was the wife of Laius,
  • And I alone should perish: let me seek
  • The wandering spirit of my murdered lord
  • On the infernal shore, and calm his rage:
  • Yes, I will go: may the kind gods accept
  • My life and ask no other sacrifice!
  • May thy Jocaste save her Œdipus!

œdipus.

  • And wouldest thou die! are there not woes enough
  • Heaped on this head? O cease, my loved Jocaste,
  • This mournful language, I am sunk already
  • Too deep in grief without new miseries,
  • Without thy death to fill my cup of sorrow.
  • Let us go in: I must clear up a doubt
  • Too justly formed, I fear: but follow me.

jocaste.

  • How couldst thou ever, my lord—

œdipus.

  • No more: come in,
  • And there confirm my terrors, or remove them.

The End of the Third Act.