h, that he harm her not."

So the guards led Antigone away to shut her up alive in the sepulchre.
But scarcely had they departed when there came an old prophet Tiresias,
seeking the king. Blind he was, so that a boy led him by the hand; but
the gods had given him to see things to come.

And when the king saw him he asked:

"What seekest thou, wisest of men?"

Then the prophet answered:

"Hearken, O King, and I will tell thee. I sat in my seat, after my
custom, in the place whither all manner of birds resort. And as I sat I
heard a cry of birds that I knew not, very strange and full of wrath.
And I knew that they tare and slew each other, for I heard the fierce
flapping of their wings. And being afraid, I made inquiry about the
fire, how it burned upon the altars. And this boy, for as I am a guide
to others so he guideth me, told me that it shone not at all, but
smouldered and was dull, and that the flesh which was burnt upon the
altar spluttered in the flame and wasted away into corruption and
filthiness. And now I tell thee, O King, that the city is troubled by
thy ill counsels. For the dogs and the birds of the air tear the flesh
of this dead son of Oedipus, whom thou sufferest not to have due
burial, and carry it to the altars, polluting them therewith. Wherefore
the gods receive not from us prayer or sacrifice, and the cry of the
birds hath an evil sound, for they are full of the flesh of a man.
Therefore I bid thee be wise in time. For all men may err; but he that
keepeth not his folly, but repenteth, doeth well; but stubbornness
cometh to great trouble."

Then the king answered:

"Old man, I know the race of prophets full well, how ye sell your art
for gold. But make thy trade as thou wilt, this man shall not have
burial; yea, though the eagles of Zeus carry his flesh to their master's
throne in heaven, he shall not have it."

And when the prophet spake again, entreating him and warning, the king
answered him after the same fashion, that he spake not honestly, but had
sold his art for money.

But at the last the prophet spake in great wrath, saying:

"Know, O King, that before many days shall pass thou shalt pay a life
for a life, even one of thine own children, for them with whom thou hast
dealt unrighteously, shutting up the living with the dead and keeping
the dead from them to whom they belong. Therefore the Furies lie in wait
for thee and thou shalt see whether or no I speak these things for
mone