Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles Page B
Authors: Sophocles, Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles
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. . It stalked me A single ambiguous phrase in the Greek. It could mean either that the rumor "crept abroad" or that "the memory recurred." I have translated the phrase to include both possibilities. without telling my parents Had Oedipus informed his parents of the mission to Delphi, they presumably would have intervened. By the act of seeking assurance of his birth beyond his parents' word, Oedipus places himself in the hands of the god Apollo. It was both a conventional and a rational act, because Delphi could
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serve as a locator of lost kin, and because Oedipus had no reason to suspect the god held any enmity toward him.
918 Apollo would not honor me What was the question Oedipus put to the Pythonness? ''Who are my true parents?" or "Is Polybos my true father?" For the oracle not to answer such a question, directly or indirectly, seems to Oedipus a violation of the normal treatment a pilgrim could expect from the god at Delphi.
921 22 his words flashed . . . horror and disgust The phrase is so vivid some scholars have questioned its authenticity. It does fit both Oedipus' present mental condition, which makes him see himself as a target for strange malice, and the verbs of leaping and striking, which Sophocles uses for actions attributable to Apollo. The oracle given Oedipus is not an answer to his question, but an attack on Oedipus; not a clarification, but a condemnation. Its impact was a shock or flash to Oedipus. His reaction, to flee Corinth and his parents, is entirely comprehensible and in no way morally flawed. An oracle might be fulfilled in a metaphorical or oblique manner; in real life some oracles were never fulfilled, a frequent event in the experience of Sophocles' audience. In tragedy, however, the audience would expect all oracles to be completed. The speed with which Sophocles shows us the oracle accomplished fits the consistent image of the god as leaping or striking Oedipus. It has occurred to many readers that Oedipus ought eventually to have seen a wider range of possible interpretations in his attempt to understand the oracle. (Could the oracle be telling me that Polybos is not my father? Had I better avoid killing anyone old enough to be my father? Or marrying a woman old enough to be my mother?) Against such worries are (1) the lack of opportunity Sophocles gives his audience, in the course of the play's swift action, to ponder such questions; and (2) the fact that many years later Sophocles wrote a play in which the aged Oedipus defends himself vigorously against such charges. In Oedipus at Colonus (ll. 960 ff.) Oedipus says, for instance, that he did not marry his mother of his free will, and of the murder of his father says this: "If, here and now, someone should attack and try to kill youyou, the righteouswould you ask this killer if he was your father? Or would you deal with him first?" Whatever doubts some may have about Oedipus' intelligence were not shared by Sophocles.
938 man out front Presumably the same as the herald.
947 48 staff/this hand held The actor might have raised his hand at this point, as he might elsewhere when his hand is named; the hand was the instrument that retained the pollution of its acts. In Athenian law, even an involuntary act done by the agent's own
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hand was treated with special gravity not required of acts done even with malice aforethought which were not done by the agent's own hand.
950 killed them all Said in pride perhaps, but not in boastfulness. Laius' men would have attacked him; only by killing all would he have survived. In fact, Oedipus killed only four; the fifth escaped, or perhaps recovered from a wound after being left for dead.
951 stranger and Laius . . . were the same blood In Greek the word translated ''stranger" could apply to Oedipus himself.
963 poisoning my whole being The Greek word translated "poisoning" is anagnos, "unclean," or "unholy" and is usually translated "polluted," which I avoid to
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serve as a locator of lost kin, and because Oedipus had no reason to suspect the god held any enmity toward him.
918 Apollo would not honor me What was the question Oedipus put to the Pythonness? ''Who are my true parents?" or "Is Polybos my true father?" For the oracle not to answer such a question, directly or indirectly, seems to Oedipus a violation of the normal treatment a pilgrim could expect from the god at Delphi.
921 22 his words flashed . . . horror and disgust The phrase is so vivid some scholars have questioned its authenticity. It does fit both Oedipus' present mental condition, which makes him see himself as a target for strange malice, and the verbs of leaping and striking, which Sophocles uses for actions attributable to Apollo. The oracle given Oedipus is not an answer to his question, but an attack on Oedipus; not a clarification, but a condemnation. Its impact was a shock or flash to Oedipus. His reaction, to flee Corinth and his parents, is entirely comprehensible and in no way morally flawed. An oracle might be fulfilled in a metaphorical or oblique manner; in real life some oracles were never fulfilled, a frequent event in the experience of Sophocles' audience. In tragedy, however, the audience would expect all oracles to be completed. The speed with which Sophocles shows us the oracle accomplished fits the consistent image of the god as leaping or striking Oedipus. It has occurred to many readers that Oedipus ought eventually to have seen a wider range of possible interpretations in his attempt to understand the oracle. (Could the oracle be telling me that Polybos is not my father? Had I better avoid killing anyone old enough to be my father? Or marrying a woman old enough to be my mother?) Against such worries are (1) the lack of opportunity Sophocles gives his audience, in the course of the play's swift action, to ponder such questions; and (2) the fact that many years later Sophocles wrote a play in which the aged Oedipus defends himself vigorously against such charges. In Oedipus at Colonus (ll. 960 ff.) Oedipus says, for instance, that he did not marry his mother of his free will, and of the murder of his father says this: "If, here and now, someone should attack and try to kill youyou, the righteouswould you ask this killer if he was your father? Or would you deal with him first?" Whatever doubts some may have about Oedipus' intelligence were not shared by Sophocles.
938 man out front Presumably the same as the herald.
947 48 staff/this hand held The actor might have raised his hand at this point, as he might elsewhere when his hand is named; the hand was the instrument that retained the pollution of its acts. In Athenian law, even an involuntary act done by the agent's own
page_82
Page 82
hand was treated with special gravity not required of acts done even with malice aforethought which were not done by the agent's own hand.
950 killed them all Said in pride perhaps, but not in boastfulness. Laius' men would have attacked him; only by killing all would he have survived. In fact, Oedipus killed only four; the fifth escaped, or perhaps recovered from a wound after being left for dead.
951 stranger and Laius . . . were the same blood In Greek the word translated ''stranger" could apply to Oedipus himself.
963 poisoning my whole being The Greek word translated "poisoning" is anagnos, "unclean," or "unholy" and is usually translated "polluted," which I avoid to
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