PARTISAN REVIEW
tunes, and through them have drawn nearer to what you call the divine
world. I can well believe, too, that a sort of benediction now attaches to
your person, and that it will presently be laid, as the oracles have said,
upon the land in which you will take your everlasting rest."
I did not add that what mattered to me was that this blessing should
be laid upon Attica; and I congratulated myself that the god had made
Thebes abut on to my country.
If
I compare my lot with that of Oedipus, I am content. I have
fulfilled my destiny. Behind me I leave the city of Athens. It has been
dearer to me even than my wife and son. My city stands. After I am
gone, my thoughts will live on there for ever. Lonely and consenting, I
draw near to death. I have enjoyed the good things of the earth, and I
am happy to think that after me, and thanks to me, men will recognize
themselves as being happier, better and more free. I have worked always
for the good of those who are to come. I have lived.
(Translated from the French by John Russell)
(This translation of
Theseus
is published in
PARTISAN REVIEW
by
arrangement with New Directions, who will bring out soon, a deluxe,
limited edition of the book, set and printed by hand o.n hand paper, for
sale in America. It will be limited to two-hundred copies, and will con–
tain twelve original lithographs bJI the Italian artist, Massimo Campigli.)
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