Oedipus rex lines. LUOA English 10: Oedipus Rex Lines 612 2022-10-19
Oedipus rex lines
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Oedipus Rex, also known as Oedipus the King, is a classic play written by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles. The play is a tragic story that follows the life of Oedipus, a man who becomes the king of Thebes after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. However, Oedipus's story takes a tragic turn when he discovers that he has unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. The lines in Oedipus Rex are central to the play's themes of fate, free will, and the consequences of our actions.
One of the most famous lines in Oedipus Rex is, "I was the first to say it: I, Oedipus, who knew nothing, found it out" (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, Lines 41-42). This line is spoken by Oedipus as he is trying to solve the mystery of who killed his predecessor, King Laius. Oedipus is proud of his ability to solve the riddle of the Sphinx and has a strong belief in his own intelligence and ability to solve problems. However, this line also foreshadows the tragic revelation that Oedipus will later make about his own identity and the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Another significant line in Oedipus Rex is, "But I, who thought I was of no kin to Laius, I who thought I was not his son" (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, Lines 953-954). This line is spoken by Oedipus as he realizes the truth about his parentage and the fulfillment of the prophecy. Oedipus is devastated by this revelation and struggles to come to terms with the fact that he has unknowingly killed his own father and married his mother. The line highlights the theme of fate versus free will in the play, as Oedipus had no control over the events that led to the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Another important line in Oedipus Rex is, "I see it now: a voice that speaks to me of all my misery" (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, Lines 1083-1084). This line is spoken by Oedipus as he is confronted with the evidence of his own guilt. Oedipus realizes that he cannot escape his fate and that the consequences of his actions will be severe. The line also highlights the theme of the tragic hero, as Oedipus is a man who is destined for greatness but ultimately meets a tragic end due to a flaw in his character.
Overall, the lines in Oedipus Rex are central to the play's themes of fate, free will, and the consequences of our actions. The play is a timeless classic that continues to be studied and performed to this day, and its lines remain powerful and thought-provoking.
Sophocles
Not such as these we need, but this to see, How best to do the bidding of the God. Is it dread Of ill that moves you or a boon ye crave? CHORUS I recognize him; one of Laius' house; A simple hind, but true as any man. OEDIPUS What sayest thou—"parents"? Dance and song shall hymn thy praises, lover of our royal race. It's also interesting that he mentions the oracle revealing something to him, since it was an oracle early in his life who warned him about killing King Laius. OEDIPUS Rob me not of these my children! O ye Three, Shine on us, and deliver us from ill! The city is beset with a plague and many of Oedipus's citizens are sick and dying. And on the murderer this curse I lay On him and all the partners in his guilt :— Wretch, may he pine in utter wretchedness! Our voice can reach him now. OEDIPUS Tell them, I would fain know all.
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What do the last 4 lines of Oedipus Rex mean?
And it has come to this? The man from whom I had thee may know more. Art thou so shameless as to vent such words, 372 And thinkest to escape thy righteous doom? II Yea, numberless are they who perish thus, And on the soil, plague-breeding, lie Infants unpitied, cast out ruthlessly; 188 And wives and mothers, gray with hoary age, Some here, some there, by every altar mourn, With woe and sorrow crushed, And chant their wailing plaint. Give them no heed, I say; what God discovers need of, easily he shows to us himself. This is man's highest end, To others' service all his powers to lend. Thou methinks thou art he, Who planned the crime, aye, and performed it too, All save the assassination; and if thou Hadst not been blind, I had been sworn to boot That thou alone didst do the bloody deed. To them enter OEDIPUS. In 467 BC, Sophocles's fellow tragedian Laius, Oedipus and Oedipus Rex focuses on the titular character while hinting at the larger myth obliquely, which was already known to the audience in Athens at the time.
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3.9.
CHORUS To us it seems that both the seer and thou, O Oedipus, have spoken angry words. OEDIPUS I grant her freely all her heart desires. Polybus, king of Corinth—the man Oedipus believes to be his father—has died. OEDIPUS So I heard, But none has seen the man who saw him fall. Summary Jocasta tells him that Laius was killed at a three-way crossroads, just before Oedipus arrived in Thebes.
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Oedipus Rex Lines 998
Of that I doubt not, if truth holds her own. For the quest, 'twere well, methinks That Phoebus, who proposed the riddle, himself Should give the answer—who the murderer was. Many years ago, at a banquet in Corinth, a man drunkenly accused Oedipus of not being his father's son. TEIRESIAS In reading riddles who so skilled as thou? No fear of thee compels me. These sequences are the exposition, the rising action, the climax, the falling action and finally, the catastrophe.
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Lines 573
So much for divination. CHORUS Here is the palace and he bides within; This is his queen the mother of his children. Jocasta enters and makes an offering to Apollo to appease Oedipus's mind. OEDIPUS Whom can he mean, the miscreant thus denounced? He reminds them that Tiresias did nothing to release the city from the curse of the Sphinx and that it was he, Oedipus, who saved them by solving its riddle. CHORUSOne man I know, a prince, whose insight deep 300 Sees clear as princely Phœbus, and from him, Teiresias, one might learn, O king, the truth. The Three Theban Plays.
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Lines 954
The messenger tells Oedipus he never had anything to fear. If the shepherd confirms that Laius was attacked by many men, then Oedipus will be in the clear. The strength of truth is mine. When Jocasta hears that the charge comes from a prophet, she dismisses it immediately. JOCASTA Tell me first how rose the fray. Why didst thou harbor me, Cithaeron, why Didst thou not take and slay me? Up, children, haste ye, quit these altar stairs, T ake hence your suppliant wands, go summon hither The Theban commons. If in the days of old when we nigh had perished, ye drave From our land the fiery plague, be near us now and defend us! In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the peripeteia is when king Oedipus realizes the hidden truth: that he has killed his father and married his mother.
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Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Plot Summary
Corpses spread infection round; None to tend or mourn is found. HERDSMAN 'Tis so, my king. Like Oedipus, she dooms herself. CHORUS To one who walketh warily his words Commend themselves; swift counsels are not sure. TEIRESIAS This day shall be thy birth-day, and thy grave. I seemed forsooth too simple to perceive The serpent stealing on me in the dark, Or else too weak to scotch it when I saw. OEDIPUS No matter if I saved the commonwealth.
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Oedipus Rex Lines 338
And now that I am lord, Successor to his throne, his bed, his wife, And had he not been frustrate in the hope Of issue, common children of one womb Had forced a closer bond twixt him and me, But Fate swooped down upon him , therefore I His blood-avenger will maintain his cause As though he were my sire , and leave no stone Unturned to track the assassin or avenge The son of Labdacus, of Polydore, Of Cadmus, and Agenor first of the race. According to the oracle, the killer lives in Thebes. Healer of Delos, hear! In this quote, Oedipus is referring to the murderer; he declares that once found, the murderer must be banished. Oedipus realizes that he has fulfilled his awful prophecy. Laius was not killed by his son, but instead by strangers, at a place where three roads meet.
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Oedipus Rex Lines 709
The messenger asks what Oedipus is afraid of. If for the sake of kingship, which the state Hath given, unasked for, freely in mine hands, Creon the faithful, found mine earliest friend, 408 Now seeks with masked attack to drive me forth, And hires this wizard, plotter of foul schemes, A vagrant mountebank, whose sight is clear For pay alone, but in his art stone-blind. Oedipus curses the unknown murderer and swears he will find and punish him. CHORUS O thy despair well suits thy desperate case. JOCASTA Then thou mayest ease thy conscience on that score. Speaking as one, they question what could bring bloodshed between the house of Laius and Oedipus, whom they still assume to be the son of Polybus.
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