Child of an old blind man, Antigone,

to what regions, or to what men’s city

have we come? Who on this day shall receive Oedipus

the wanderer with scanty gifts? . . .

But come my child, if you see any seat

either near ground unconsecrated or near the

precincts of the gods, stop me and let me sit there,

so that we may find out where we are; for we have come

as strangers, and must learn from the citizens. . . .

—SOPHOCLES, Oedipus at Colonus, 1–4, 8–12 (Lloyd-Jones translation)

Griefs, at the moment when they change into ideas, lose their power to injure our heart.

—MARCEL PROUST