Oedipus BEST QUOTES

Episode 1 Oedipus' hubris - believes himself to be on the level of the gods

"Huddling at my altar, praying before me, your branches wound in wool"

Episode 1 Generational loss and disaster in Thebes

"The women die in labour, children stillborn"

Episode 1 Priest potential over-emphasis on Oedipus' former greatness

"Defend yourself, your former glory!"

Episode 1 Oedipus' sight dramatic irony - believes himself to be aware of the situation when in reality he is not

"I see - how could I fail to see"

Episode 1 Oedipus' desire to put his city before himself - in a twisted way this is what he does

"I grieve for these, my people, far more than I fear my own life"

Episode 1 Creon increasingly reveals the oracle - audience knows this is Oedipus

"Banish the man, or pay back blood with blood"

Episode 1 Creon's words of wisdom - once Oedipus starts his search for the truth there is no doubt he will succeed, but at what cost?

"Whatever is sought for can be caught, you know. Whatever is neglected slips away"

Episode 1 Oedipus' above and beyond condemnation of the murder of Laius - ironic

"Trouble? Your king was murdered - royal blood!"

Episode 1 Oedipus is a man of action and makes a (seemingly needless) self-sacrifice that will come back to haunt him

"Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too, with the same violent hand"

Episode 1 The chorus are in support of religion but acknowledge the cruelty/ transactions of the gods

"Apollo, Healer of Delos, I worship you in dread... what now, what is your price?"

Episode 1 Chorus acknowledge religious horror of the plague

"Generations strewn on the ground unburied"

Episode 1 Chorus connect the plague to war - context relevant

"Drive him back! - the fever, the god of death, the raging god of war"

Episode 1 Oedipus is not as removed from the situation as he thinks

"I will speak out now as a stranger to the story, a stranger to the crime"

Episode 1 Oedipus is almost cursing himself twice - dramatic irony

"If by any chance he proves to be an intimate of our house, here at my hearth, with my full knowledge, may the curse I just called down on him strike me!"

Episode 1 Oedipus creates a biological connection to Laius where there is already one - irony

"Why, our seed might be the same"

Episode 1 Oedipus acknowledges the indelible power of fate - ironic

"But to force the gods to act against their will - no one has that power"

Episode 1 Chorus leader unknowingly misleads Oedipus

"Laius was killed, they say, by certain travelers"

Episode 1 Tiresias' first introduction is a foreboding and cryptic reference to Oedipus

"How terrible - to see the truth when the truth is only pain to him who sees!"

Episode 1 Oedipus' patience with Tiresias arguably beginning to wear thin - supplication - will forgo status for the well-being of his people

"For the love of god, don't turn away, not if you know something. We beg you, all of us on our knees"

Episode 1 Tiresias acknowledges the truth will come out but does not want to be the bearer of bad news

"What will come will come, even if I shroud it all in silence"

Episode 1 Tiresias finally reluctantly admits the truth

"You are the curse, the corruption of the land!"

Episode 1 Tiresias foreshadows the incest revelation

"You and your loved ones live together in infamy"

Episode 1 Oedipus' insults to Tiresias foreshadow his own fate

"Blind, lost in the night, endless night that nursed you!"

Episode 1 (Agon) Oedipus is so convinced of his own innocence he throws the blame on Creon

"You think you'll stand by Creon when he's king?"

Episode 1 (Agon) Tiresias alludes again to the incest with a euphemism

"The lusty voyage home to the fatal harbour"

Episode 1 (Agon) Oedipus' doubt begins to creep in

"Wait... who is my father?"

Episode 1 (Agon) Tiresias spells out Oedipus' fate + Solon philosophy

"Blind who now has eyes, beggar who is now rich, he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping before him step by step"

Episode 1 (Choral Ode) Chorus questions & condemns the identity of the killer

"The horror too dark to tell, whose ruthless bloody hands have done the work?"

Episoe 1 (Choral Ode) Chorus show uncertainty on who to believe

"I can't accept him, can't deny him, don't know what to say"

Episode 2 Creon accepts he currently stands as an outcast - worst possible fate

"There's nothing worse: branded a traitor in the city, a traitor to all of you and my good friends"

Episode 2 Oedipus highly condemns treason - ironic

"You, plotting to kill me, kill the king"

Episode 2 Creon accuses Oedipus' conviction of being ignorant

"If you think crude, mindless stubborness such a gift, you've lost your sense of balance"

Episode 2 Creon insults Oedipus for losing his temper - we possibly sympathise we Oedipus though for at least trying to solve Laius' murder and not giving up

"I don't know. And when I don't, I keep quiet"

Episode 2 Oedipus staunchly refuses having murdered Laius in front of Creon

"You will never convict me of the murder"

Episode 2 (Creon's Apologia) Creon notes the hardships of being king - foreshadows whats to come

"If I wore the crown... there'd be too many painful duties to perform"

Episode 2 Creon hints that the killer will be revealed shortly - reference to Greek plays taking place over the course of a day

"Time alone can bring the man to light - the criminal you can spot in just one short day"

Episode 2 Creon accuses Oedipus of being TOO involved in Thebes

"My city too, not yours alone!"

Episode 2 Jocasta takes on a maternal role instructing Oedipus to trust oaths - importance of religion

"Oh god, believe it Oedipus, honor the solemn oath he swears to heaven"

Episode 2 (Kommos) Chorus emphasises importance of family & trusting family - ironic

"That man's your friend, your kin, he's under oath"

Episode 2 (Kommos) Creon acknowkedges that Oedipus' nature will cause his downfall

"Natures like yours are hardest on themselves"

Episode 2 (Kommos) the chorus still support Oedipus even if their faith is wavering

"I'd be insane, you know it, senseless, to ever turn my back on you"

Episode 2 Jocasta highlights Oedipus' fatal flaws - maternal in the way she 'tells him off' for it

"Why this rage? You're so unbending"

Episode 2 Jocasta dismisses prophecies

"Nothing human can penetrate the future"

Episode 2 Oedipus begins to remember his own past after Jocasta describes her own experience with prophecies (which she believes to be proof that they are false)

"Strange, hearing you just now... my mind wandered, my thoughts racing back and forth"

Episode 2 Amidst Oedipus' questioning of Jocasta of the circumstances of Laius' death, he begins to see the truth

"My god, my god - what have you planned to do to me?"

Episode 2 Oedipus is realising the truth more and realises the consequences this holds for him

"Oh no no, I think I've just called down a dreadful curse upon myself"

Episode 2 Jocasta still has not figured out the truth

"But even I have a right, I'd like to think, to know what's torturing you, my lord"

Episode 2 Oedipus has not yet seen the whole truth - failure to relate his own prophecy to Jocasta's

"Running, always running, toward some place where I would never see the shame of all those oracles come true"

Episode 2 Oedipus sight punishments foreshadowing

"Wasn't I born for torment? Look me in the eyes"

Episode 2 Oedipus' naive hope that the worst is already over

"If it turns out that his story matches yours, I've escaped the worst"

Episode 2 Jocasta is assertive that her prophecy didn't come true - disbelief in religion

"Impossible. Trust me"

Episode 2 (Second Stasimon/ Choral ode) Chorus asserts belief in religion contrasting both Jocasta (as she has shown disbelief in religion) and Oedipus (as his fate is horrible)

"Destiny guide me always"

Episode 2 (Second Stasimon/ Choral Ode) Chorus condemn Oedipus' potential future actions/ unknowing (up till this point actions) of not being held accountable

"No fear of justice, no reverence for the temples of the gods - let a rough doom tear him down"

Episode 3 Jocasta acknowledges Oedipus' downfall of character at this (minor) discovery

"Racked with anguish, no longer a man of sense"

Episode 3 Messenger brings news of a possible change of fortune for Thebes that Oedipus will never claim out of guilt and impending exile

"The want to make your Oedipus king of Corinth"

Episode 3 News of Polybius' death causes Jocasta to even more harshly condemn prophecies

"You prophecies of the gods, where are you now?"

Episode 3 News of Polybius' death now causes even Oedipus to condemn prophecies

"They're nothing, worthless"

Episode 3 Jocasta's advice to Oedipus will tragically ring true for her

"Live, Oedipus, as if there's no tomorrow!"

Episode 3 Oedipus' arrogance in believing that he can avoid fate mirrors that of his father

"For years I've given Corinth a wide berth"

Episode 3 The messenger bluntly reveals that all of Oedipus' attempts to avoid fate have been misplaced

"My boy, it's clear, you don't know what you're doing"

Episode 3 When Oedipus' parentage is half revealed, his primary concern is that of status

"How can my father equal nothing?"

Episode 3 The messenger's discovery of Oedipus as a baby seems almost fated

"I stumbled on you"

Episode 3 The truth was in plain sight all along (Oedipus' name)

"Your ankles... they tell the story. Look at them"

Episode 3 Revelation of who took the baby from Laius links the two narratives

"He called himself a servant of... if I remember rightly - Laius"

Episode 3 Jocasta implores Oedipus to give up the search for his parents - implies she knows

"Stop - in the name of god, if you love your own life, call off this search!"

Episode 3 The Chorus Leader's words foreshdow both Jocasta's death but also the horrifying revelation of Oedipus' parentage

"I'm afraid that from this silence, something monstruous may come bursting forth"

Episode 3 (Third Stasimon/ Strophe) Oedipus' myopia - misreads Jocasta's behaviour

"She perhaps, with her woman's pride, may well be mortified by my birth"

Episode 4 Oedipus is dictatorial, no xenia shown to the shepherd just an immedite investigation - man of action?

"You, old man, come over here - look at me. Answer all my questions. Did you ever serve King Laius?"

Episode 4 The Shepherd's background highlights his intimate knowledge of Laius and loyalty to him

"A slave, not bought on the block though, born and reared in the palace"

Episode 4 The Shepherd's reluctance to speak or poor memory drag out the revelation and create tension

"Yes, I suppose... it's all so long ago"

Episode 4 We see Oedipus at his most evil & tyrannical as he threatens to torture the shepherd/ slave that refuses to speak

"So you won't talk willingly - then you'll talk with pain"

Episode 4 The Shepherd is increasingly hesitant to tell the truth - something is amiss

"I wish to god I'd died that day"

Episode 4 The revelation

"Then- the child came from the house... of Laius"

Episode 4 THE revelation

"All right! His son, they said it was - his son! But the one inside, your wife, she'd tell it best"

Episode 4 Oedipus finally recognises what he has done

"I stand revealed at last - cursed in my birth, cursed in my marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!"

Episode 4 (Fourth Stasimon) The Chorus acknowledge the horror of Oedipus' actions but still seem to regard him as a great leader

"Oedipus, man of misery - I count no man blest"

Episode 4 (Fourth Stasimon) Chorus show empathy but also concern for Oedipus

"Now I weep like a man who wails the dead"

Episode 5 Messenger brutal revelation - nothing is suger-coated anymore

"The queen is dead"

Episode 5 Jocasta almost mourning her own life before death

"Ripping her hair out with both hands"

Episode 5 Moment of grief amidst chaos

"When he saw her, giving a low wrenching sob that broke our hearts"

Episode 5 Oedipus exclamation during blinding

"You, you'll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused!"

Episode 5 Visceral description of Oedipus blinding himself

"At each stroke blood spurts from the roots"

Episode 5 The messenger warns the audience of the horrors to be seen soon

"You are about to see a sight, a horror even his mortal enemy would pity"

Episode 5 Oedipus embodies physical torment

"The agony! I am agony-"

Episode 5 Oedipus' gratitude to citizens/ city

"Dear friend, still here?"

Episode 5 Chorus acknowledge the danger of knowledge/ the truth

"I wish you had never known"

Episode 5 Oedipus curses being saved as a baby

"Die, die - whoever he was that day in the wilds who cut my ankles free"

Episode 5 Oedipus remorse to his father

"How could I look my father in the eyes when I go down to death"

Episode 5 Oedipus begging/ assuring the chorus to feel safe in his presence

"Closer, its alright"

Episode 5 Creon's eusabia - needs to gods to validate his decisions as a leader contrasting Oedipus

"First I wanted the god to clarify my duties"

Episode 5 Oedipus longs for death

"Let me die there where they tried to kill me"

Episode 5 Oedipus making sure his daughters are looked after

"Take care of them, I beg you"

Episode 5 Oedipus acknowledges that his curse will extend to his daughters

"Your doom is clear: you'll wither away to nothing, single, without a child"

Episode 5 Oedipus advises his daughters on the role of fate in his downfall

"Pray god you find a better life than mine"

Episode 5 Oedipus' desire for a just punishment

"Drive me out of Thebes, in exile"

Episode 5 Solon's dictum

"Count no man happy till he dies"