Great, I know. But my fear is of her who lives.MessengerAnd who is the woman about whom you fear?OedipusMerope, old man, the consort of Polybus.MessengerAnd what is it in her that moves your fear?OedipusA divine oracle of dread import, stranger.MessengerProper, or improper, for another to know?OedipusProper, surely. Loxias once said that I wasdoomed to marry my own mother, and to shed with my own hands my father’s blood. For which reasons I long shirked my home in Corinth—with a happy outcome, to be sure, but still it is sweet to see the face of one’s parents.MessengerWas it really for fear of this that you became an exile from that city?OedipusAnd because I did not wish, old man, to be the murderer of my father.MessengerWhy have I not relieved you of this second fear, my lord, since I came to give you pleasure?OedipusAnd indeed you will have worthy thanks from me.MessengerAnd indeed I came specially for this, thatI might profit from your returning home.OedipusBut by no means will I ever go near my parents again.MessengerMy son, it is crystal clear that you do not know what you are doing.OedipusHow so, old man? In the name of the gods, tell me.MessengerIf on account of this you are fleeing from returning home.OedipusFearing indeed lest Apollo’s prophecy come true in me.MessengerLest you acquire some pollution from your parents?OedipusThis very thing, old man, this constantly frightens me.MessengerDo you know, then, that your fears are wholly in vain?OedipusHow so, if I was born of those parents?MessengerBecause you had no blood in common with Polybus.OedipusWhat are you saying? Was Polybus not my father?MessengerJust as much, and no more, than he who speaks to you.OedipusAnd how can my father be equal to him who is as though nothing to me?MessengerBut he did not father you, any more than I did.OedipusHow, then, did he call me his son?MessengerLong ago he received you as a gift from my hands.