Neil Young and Creon
Scene 5
(Enter blind Teiresias, led by a boy. The opening speeches of Teiresias might be in singsong contrast to the realistic lines of Creon, or perhaps there is another way to establish that Teiresias is 'weird.')
TEIRESIAS
This is the way the blind man comes, Princes, Princes, Lockstep, two heads lit by the eyes of one.
CREON
What new thing have you to tell us, old Teiresias?
TEIRESIAS
I have much to tell you: listen to the prophet, Creon.
CREON
I am not aware that I have ever failed to listen.
TEIRESIAS
Then you have done wisely, King, and ruled well.
CREON
I admit my debt to you. But what have you to say?
TEIRESIAS
This, Creon: you stand once more on the edge of fate.
CREON
What do you mean? Your words are a kind of dread.
TEIRESIAS
Listen, Creon: I was sitting in my chair of augury, at the place where the birds gather about me. They were all a-chatter, as is their habit, when suddenly I heard a strange note in their jangling, a scream a whirring fury; I knew that they were fighting, tearing each other, dying In a whirlwind of wings clashing. And I was afraid. I began the rites of burnt-offering at the altar but Hephaistos failed me: instead of bright flame, there was only the sputtering slime of the fat thigh-flesh melting: the entrails dissolved in gray smoke, the bare bone burst from the welter. And no blaze!
This was a sign from heaven. My boy described it, seeing for me as I see for others. I tell you, Creon, you yourself have brought this new calamity upon us. Our hearths and altars are stained with the corruption of dogs and carrion birds that glut themselves on the corpse of Oedipus's son. The gods are deaf when we pray to them, their fire recoils from our offering, their birds of omen have no cry of comfort, for they are gorged with the thick blood of the dead. O my son, these are no trifles! Think: all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only
(Enter blind Teiresias, led by a boy. The opening speeches of Teiresias might be in singsong contrast to the realistic lines of Creon, or perhaps there is another way to establish that Teiresias is 'weird.')
TEIRESIAS
This is the way the blind man comes, Princes, Princes, Lockstep, two heads lit by the eyes of one.
CREON
What new thing have you to tell us, old Teiresias?
TEIRESIAS
I have much to tell you: listen to the prophet, Creon.
CREON
I am not aware that I have ever failed to listen.
TEIRESIAS
Then you have done wisely, King, and ruled well.
CREON
I admit my debt to you. But what have you to say?
TEIRESIAS
This, Creon: you stand once more on the edge of fate.
CREON
What do you mean? Your words are a kind of dread.
TEIRESIAS
Listen, Creon: I was sitting in my chair of augury, at the place where the birds gather about me. They were all a-chatter, as is their habit, when suddenly I heard a strange note in their jangling, a scream a whirring fury; I knew that they were fighting, tearing each other, dying In a whirlwind of wings clashing. And I was afraid. I began the rites of burnt-offering at the altar but Hephaistos failed me: instead of bright flame, there was only the sputtering slime of the fat thigh-flesh melting: the entrails dissolved in gray smoke, the bare bone burst from the welter. And no blaze!
This was a sign from heaven. My boy described it, seeing for me as I see for others. I tell you, Creon, you yourself have brought this new calamity upon us. Our hearths and altars are stained with the corruption of dogs and carrion birds that glut themselves on the corpse of Oedipus's son. The gods are deaf when we pray to them, their fire recoils from our offering, their birds of omen have no cry of comfort, for they are gorged with the thick blood of the dead. O my son, these are no trifles! Think: all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only