Greek Theatre Exam: Oedipus Quotes

"The world knows my fame: I am Oedipus"... ""it's mine alone, my destiny - I am Oedipus!"

The way that Oedipus introduces himself to the audience - very arrogant and narcissistic - dramatic irony - he is right but not for the reasons he thinks - contrast to moment at the very end when he realises what he has done and why he will actually be famous

"Our ship pitches wildly", "the red waves of death"

First naval metaphor - delivered by the priest at the beginning - comparing Thebes to a storm at sea / boat - Athenians could relate because theirs was a naval emipire = they relied on ships

"You cannot equal the gods... but we do rate you first of men", "now we pray to you"

His subjects have complete faith in Oedipus to begin with - they rate his power as almost equalling the gods - bordering on impious?

"I have wept through the nights", "I acted at once"

Oedipus good leadership qualities - he is decisive and feels the pain of his subjects deeply

"I am the land's avenger by all rights, and Apollo's champion too"

Oedipus allows himself to be hyped up - far too arrogant - assuming the role of the symbol of a god - ironic (he is once again wrong - you cannot be both avenger and perpetrator or can you?)

"For my own sake I rid us of this corruption"

Oedipus has very selfish reasons for finding the murderer of Laius - he is worried that the same thing might happen to himself and not about stopping the plague or protecting his citizens

"Where?", "what's that?", "someone to cross examine?"

Oedipus' curiosity is present from the beginning - he asks many questions to Creon concerning the murderer of Laius - also connects it to a modern detective novel making it more interesting for a modern audience (Garvie)

"The miseries are numberless, grief on grief, no end", "Thebes is dying" (x3)

Numerous difficulties that the Thebens are facing - the chorus emphasise their strife - reflects Athens? The plague, death of Pericles

"You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers"

Oedipus fundamentally hubristic nature - playing the part of the divine himself - too arrogant

"He is the plague, the heart of our corruption", "my curse on the murderer" (x3)

Big moment of dramatic irony - Oedipus damning himself

"Possess his bed and a wife who shares our seed", "blood-bonds"

Height of dramatic irony - Oedipus listing all of the reasons he and Laius are similar, including the fact that they both slept with his mother - gross

"You are the one saviour we can find"... "you scum of the earth", "pious fraud", "if you didn't look so senile, the lash would teach you"

Oedipus becomes enraged by Tiresias lack of answers very quickly - begins threatening him - very disrespectful of elders - shows a more unpleasant side - compare to Pentheus

"You are the curse, the corruption of the land!"... "your words are nothing - futile"... "you cannot see"

Tiresias reveals who the murderer is and Oedipus STILL refuses to believe him - at this point, he should definitely know - ironic (the blind man can see the truth better than the one who can see)

"Creon... steals against me"

Oedipus is quick to come to false conclusions - his decisiveness is quickly becoming his hamartia

"In one respect, I am your equal"

Tiresias evoking the democratic principle - he has a right to speak as a citizen - this would have put Athenians on his side and firmly against the autocratic Oedipus

"Those who jump to conclusions may go wrong"

The leader pointing out Oedipus hamartia after his argument with Creon (agon) where he accuses him of murder before stating his wish to kill him - very unsavory

"I am not the man to yearn for kingship... who would?"

Creon pointing out why he cannot be the murderer of Laius - he has the same amount of power as Oedipus without the responsibility

"Into the palace now. And Creon, you go home"

Jocasta = very motherly - she appears to break up the fight between Oedipus and Creon (agon) - ironic

"I'd be insane... senseless... ever to turn my back on you"

Chorus saying what it would take for them to desert Oedipus - ironic because it is not them who go mad but Oedipus - forshadowing the thing that will eventually drive them apart

"Nothing human can penetrate the future", "So much for prophecy. It's neither here nor there"

Jocasta denying the power of prophecy - impious, leads to her demise? - at the time, many people were questioning religion, so this reflects their fears - makes the audience think as they are put on the same side as a foreign queen

"His build wasn't far from yours"

Jocasta describing Laius - very ironic - he looks like Oedipus because he is his dad

"I killed them all, every mother's son"

Oedipus confessing to murdering Laius and his escort / guards

"I must be exiled"

When Oedipus realises that he is Laius's murderer, he immediately seems willing to face the consequences - brings back some sympathy for him - good leader

"The gods, the gods go down"

Message of the second choral ode - reflects growing lack of faith in the gods in Athens at the time - basically saying that if the prophecy does not come true at this point, then the gods are definitely not real - making them question their views

"Pride breeds the tyrant"

The chorus have completely turned against Oedipus at this point - his prideful actions when he dismissed the prophet, let Laius provoke him and cursed himself

"I turn to you, Apollo"

Ironic - just after Jocasta denounced the gods, she appears and begins to pray - in her time of uncertainty, she turned to religion - reflects how the people of Athens are meant to react?

"Here is his queen, his wife and mother / of his children"

Sophocles making a joke - seems like Jocasta almost spoke the truth without knowing it - that she is both his wife and mother

"Your father's death is a great blessing!"

Jocasta reaction to Polybus death - happy, celebrating - she and Oedipus are not nice people

"Give up now? Not for all the world!", "i must see the truth at last"

Oedipus hamartia - refuses to listen to good advice from people who know better in order to carry on his quest for the truth - too stubborn and curious to know what is good for him

“Servent of Laius… (Jocasta turns sharply)”

Jocasta moment of anagnorisis

"I count myself the son of Chance, the great goddess"

Height of Oedipus hubris - literally saying that he is the son of a god in his own mind

"I'm right at the edge of hearing horrors, but I must hear!"

Oedipus hamartia when talking to the shepherd - just before he hears the truth - he cannot stop himself

"All come true, all burst to light!"

Oedipus moment of anagnorisis - light and dark, sight and blindness imagery

"The same wide harbour served you and your father both", "the furrows that your father ploughed bear you"

Unpleasent imagery of incest in the forth choral ode - ship imagery and farming imagery - grim

"Mighty king of the seven gates of Thebes", "is there a man more agonised?"

Forth choral ode summarising Oedipus peripeteia - he went from mighty king to disgraces noone

"Broken in", "dashing", "frantic", "whipped to a fury", "ripping her hair out", "flinging"

Verbs emphasising Jocasta's deteriorating mental state

"Raging", "hurled", "crashed through the chamber"

Oedipus losing his mind when he knows the truth - strong, violent, dangerous - he wants a sword to kill Jocasta - not sympathetic?

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

Oedipus reaction to Jocasta suicide - very, very sad - he reclaims some pathos

"Wailing, madness and doom, death, disgrace, all the greifs in the world you can name... theirs forever"

The consequences that Oedipus and Jocasta now face - does the punishment outweigh the crime? Seems a lot - makes the audience feel pity but also fear as it shows the punishment for impiety - Sophocles is influencing them - his message = worship the gods

(Oedipus, blinded… stands on the palace steps as if surveying his people again”

Ring compesition - Oedipus is in the same position as he was at the beginning of the play, but in a completely different state - sympathy - shows how far he has fallen

"Loyal to the last"

The chorus stand by him until the end - shows how the audience is meant to react - still supposed to feel sympathy for him

"I did it all myself"

Oedipus brought his own fate down upon him, noone else - unlike Pentheus in the Bacchae

"Get him into the halls... piety demands no less", "i wanted the god to clarify my duties... in such a crisis, it is better to ask precisely what to do"

Creon in contrast to Oedipus - he is a pious and just man - he is waiting for instructin from the gods rather than just jumping in like Oedipus

"I weep for you", "my dear ones", "take care of them I beg you", "don't take them away from me! No, no, no!"

Oedipus interacting with his children at the end. - sympathetic - willing to beg in order to secure them a future - contrast to arrogence at the beginning - angushed when they have to leave

"Count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last"

Last line of the play - very morbid, not an uplifting message - nothing is everlasting and we are all subject to suffering and misfortune - not even true because when Oedipus dies, he will have to confront his mistakes / parents - his suffering is eternal - Sophocles saying that the audience should be grateful that they can have respite in death