CHOR. Thou hast said sufficient to rebut the charge, in offering the oaths by the Gods, no slight proof. THES. Is not this man then an enchanter and a juggler, who trusts that he will overcome my mind by his goodness of disposition, after he has dishonored his father? HIPP. I too very much wonder at this conduct of yours, my father; for if you were my son, and I your father, I should slay you, and not punish you by banishment, if you had dared to defile my wife. THES. How fitly hast thou said this! yet thou shalt not so die, as thou hast laid down this law for thyself; for a quick grave is easiest to the miserable man; but wandering an exile from thy country's land to foreign realms, thou shalt drag out a life of bitterness; for this is the reward for the impious man. HIPP. Ah me! what wilt thou do? wilt thou not even await time as evidence against me, but wilt thou banish me from the land? THES. Ay, beyond the ocean, and the place of Atlas,[39] if any way I could, so much do I hate thee. HIPP. Without having even examined oath, or proof, or the sayings of the seers, wilt thou cast me uncondemned from out the land? THES. This letter here, that waiteth no seer's observations,[40] accuses thee faithfully; but to the birds that flit above my head I bid a long farewell. HIPP. O Gods, wherefore then do I not ope my mouth, who am destroyed by you whom I worship?--And yet not so--for thus I should not altogether persuade those whom I ought, but should be violating to no purpose the oaths which I have sworn. THES. Alas me! how thy sanctity kills me! Wilt not thou go as quick as possible from thy country's land? HIPP. Whither then shall I unhappy turn me; what stranger's mansion shall I enter, banished on this charge? THES. His, who delights to entertain defilers of women, and those who dwell with[41] evil deeds. HIPP. Alas! alas! this goes to my heart, and almost makes me weep: if indeed I appear vile, and seem so to thee. THES. Then oughtest thou to have groaned, and owned the guilt before, when thou daredst to wrong thy father's wife. HIPP. O mansions, would that ye could utter me a voice, and bear witness whether I be a vile man! THES. Dost fly to dumb witnesses? this deed, though it speak not, clearly proves thee vile. HIPP. Alas! would that I could look upon myself standing opposite, to that degree do I weep for the evils which I suffer! THES. Thou hast accustomed thyself much more to regard thyself, than to be a just man, and to do what is righteous to thy parents. HIPP. O unhappy mother! O wretched natal hour! may none of my friends ever be illegitimate. THES. Servants, will ye not drag him out? did you not hear me long ago pronounce him banished! HIPP. Any one of them shall touch me to his cost however; but thou thyself, if it be thy desire, thrust me out from the land. THES. I will do this, unless thou wilt obey my words, for no pity for thy banishment comes over me.