The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 65 



and again he exclaims : 

 Phoen. 626-27: 



TTjv be ■dpeipaaav fxe yalav Kal d^eovs fiaprvpofiai. 



COS art/xos olKrpa ira.crx'^v k^e\a.\jvop,aL x^ovos, k. t. X. 



" I call to witness earth that nursed me, witness Gods in heaven, 

 How with shame and piteous usage from the home-land I am 

 driven, etc." 



For oath in general see vv. 1240-41 : 



" On these terms made they truce, and in mid-space 

 The chiefs took oaths whereby they should abide." 



As regards the prophecies and oracles in our play the poet's 

 usual vacillation is obvious. On the one hand he treats the sub- 

 ject in harmony with the popular belief and shows that oracles 

 are inexorably fulfilled ; on the other hand he shows his wonted 

 contempt for the prophets and their functions. So he makes 

 CEdipus profess that Phoebus' oracles inevitably come true : 



Phoen. 1595-99: 



ayovov ' AiroWuv Aa'Cco fx et?€crxto"e k. t. X. 



" Ere from my mother's womb I came to light, 

 Phoebus to Laius spake me, yet unborn, 

 My father's murderer — etc." 



and Phoen. 1703 and 05 : 



vvv xp-qafxbs, w Trai, Ao^iov TrepaLveraL. 

 iv Tols ^ A&rivais Kav'&aveZv /x' oKcoixevov. 



" Now, child, doth Loxias' oracle come to pass. 

 That I, a wanderer, should in Athens die." 



The choral ode vv. 638 ff. relates the fulfillment of the oracle 

 which enjoined Cadmus to found a city wherever a heifer driven 

 from a certain herd should throw itself upon the ground : 



Phoen. 640-42 : 



p,baxos abajiavTOV Trecrrj^ia 

 Z'lKe Te\ea(p6pov didovaa 

 XPfl^P-bv, ov naTOiKLaai, k. t. X. 



" That SO was accomplished the oracle spoken 

 When the God for the place of his rest gave token, etc." 



119 



