quotes fineall

Oedipus Actions and Prophecy (like overviews):

“Oedipus solved the riddle of the sphinx”

“Appolo commands us, he was quite clear” “Banish the man, or pay back blood with blood”

“You are the murderer you hunt!”

“Brother and father both…son and husband both”

“He spilled his fathers blood!”

“Horrors too dark to tell”

_{^{Laius + Jocasta’s received prophecy: “Doom would strike him down at the hands of a son.”}}

_{^{Oedipus’ Prophecy: “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children that no man can bear to see. You will kill your father, the one who gave you life!”}}

Oedipus’ Care for his people:

“my children”

“You can trust me. I am ready to help, I’ll do anything.”

“I would be blind to misery not to pity the people kneeling at my feet”

“But sick as you are, not one is sick as I.”

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

Oedipus's Initial Hubris (pride in his power, equating himself to Gods):

“The world knows my fame: I am Oedipus”

“I am the land’s avenger.. I’ll rid us of this corruption.”

“You pray to the Gods? Let me answer your prayers”

“I stopped the sphinx! The flight of my own intelligence hit the mark.”

“What if you are wholly wrong? → No matter - I must rule.”

Suffering of Thebes:

“Broken and despondent”

“Raw wailing misery of Thebes”

“Raging plague in all its vengeance”

“Numberless deaths on deaths, no end.”

“Thebes, city of death.”

Suffering of Thebes - Sea Quotes: (Motif)

“Our ship pitched wildly” 

“The red waves of death”

“Now again good helmsman - steer us through the storm!”

Chorus’ Pride/Loyalty of Oedipus:

“We pray to you”

“You cannot equal the gods..but we do rate you first of men.”

“We taught you nothing, still you triumphed”

“Never will I convict my king” “He was the joy of Thebes!”

“I never look to judge the ones in power.” - LEADER

Divine Power:

“Apollo sees the future in the ashes.”

“The truth lives inside him”

“Master of all the mysteries of our life”

“The truth with all its power lives inside of me”

Divine Power - Specifically Articulated by the Chorus:

“The plague the fiery god of fever hurls down on the city”

“He cannot outtrace the dread voices of Delphi”

“Zeus and Apollo..the great masters of all the dark and depth of human life.”

Human Limited Agency:

“To force the Gods to act against their will - no man has the power”

Chorus’ faith in the Gods - Lack of Agency towards Gods:

“Come down apollo, save us, stop the plague” 

“Ride death down in pain.”

“I worship you in dread .. what is your price?”

“May our dancing please you!”

“Does there exist, is there a man on earth who seizes more joy than just a dream, a vision?”

Chorus Questioning Faith in Gods:

“Never again will I go reverent to Delphi, unless the prophecies come true.”

“Whether a seer can fathom more than I - there is no test”

Oedipus’ Action - Search for an answer:

“I’ll bring it all to light myself!”

“Stop at nothing” 

“Oedipus is beside himself, racked with anguish, no longer a man of sense."

“Give up now, with a clue like this? Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Not for the world!”

“Let it burst! I must know my  birth no matter how common it may be.”

Quotes about the Shepard - By others:

“He could tell us nothing clearly, nothing of what he saw.”

“He said thieves attacked them - a whole band..cut Laius down”

“Soon as he returned from the scene… he knelt and clutched my hand, pleading with me to send him ..as far as possible, out of sight of Thebes.”

Quotes about the Sphinx:

“Singing riddling sphinx - she persuaded us to let the mystery go”

“Your king was murdered - royal blood!”

“you should have searched”

Curse on the Murderer:

“I will speak now as a stranger to the story”

“If any one knows who murdered Laius, I order him to reveal the whole truth to me”

“A handsome reward”

“Banish this man”

“He is the plague, the heart of our corruption”

“Curse on the murderer.. Let the man drag out his life in agony”

“May the curses I just called down on him strike me!”

The Burden of Truth:

“How terrible to see the truth when the truth is only pain to him who sees!”

“You bear your burdens, I'll bear mine. It's better that way.”

“I’ll never reveal my dreadful secrets”

“You’ll get nothing from me”

“This day will bring your birth and your destruction.”

Intentional Blindness (Truth):

“I knew it well but I put it from my mind”

“But the great ser never accused me then - why not?”

Oedipus: “not my fathers son.” → Polybus + Meropezz: “They were enraged at the accusation.”

Oedipus’ Change of Tone: 

“Creon … my kinsman”

“Your’e bent on betraying us, destroying Thebes?”

“You scum of the earth”

“Seer blind in his craft!”

“What envy lurks inside you…so hungry to overthrow me.”

“My mortal enemy?”

Oedipus’ Temper:

“You criticise my temper..unaware of the one you live with.”

“I have such fury in me”

“The marauding thief himself…scheming to steal my crown and power!”

"Those who jump to conclusions may go wrong” - Leader

“Natures like yours are hardest on themselves”

Oedipus’ Cruelty (Temper):

“Be sensible, give way, my king, I beg you.”

“Don’t cast him out .. on the strength of hearsay only.”

*Crossroads scene.

*Shepherd scene

Oedipus’ Blindness:

“Blind to the corruption of your life”

“You cannot see how far you’ve gone in guilt.”
“Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping before him step by step.”

Creon’s Rationality:

“Hear me out, then judge me on the facts.”

“When I don’t know I keep quite” 

“See things calmly and rationally” 

Jocasta’s Dismissal of Prophecy and actions against it:

“A prophet? Free yourself of every charge!”

“My son wasn’t three days old when [Laius] fastened his ankles… fling him away on a barren, trackless mountain.”

“My son, poor defenseless thing, he never had a chance.”

“So much for prophecy. It’s neither here nor there.”

“The latest prophecies are hollow and old.”

“It occurred to me to visit the temples of the gods.. I come with prayers and offerings.”

“Chance rules our lives.”

Incremental Relisations: 

“I think I've called down a dreadful curse upon myself - I simply didn’t know!” - Kill Laius

“Jocasta turns sharply.”

Running from Corinth:

“Flashed before my eyes a future great with pain, terror, disaster"
“I abandoned Corinth from that day on.”

“Always running toward some place where I would never see those oracles come ture”

Triple Crossroad:

“I strike him in anger  - I paid him back with interest!”

“I killed them all - every mother’s son!”

Oedipus, inflictor of pain:

“Wasn’t I born for tournament? I am abomination - heart and soul!” (laius’ death)

“What man alive more miserable than I.” (laius’ death)

“All these curses I - no one but I - brought down these piling curses on myself!” (laius’ death)

“Call off this search! My suffering is enough.”

“You’re doomed - may you never fathom who you are!”

“Man of agony, that is the only name I have for you.”

Messenger Quotes:

“Wonderful news”

“Polybus is dead and gone”

“You’ve really nothing to fear..Polybus was nothing to you..not in blood.”

“You were a gift years ago.”

“Your ankles were pinned together - I set you free” 

Oedipus’ Dismissal of Prophecy - News about Polybus (remains fearful):

“But now, all those prophecies I feared - Polybius packs them off to sleep with him in hell!”

“They’re nothing, worthless!”

“But my mother’s bed - I must fear.”

Month Cithaeron:

“Mount Cithaeron..how Oedipus glories in you”

“His birthplace, nurse, his Mountain-mother!”

Shepherd and Oedipus Interaction:

“Shepherd enters slowly, reluctant to approach the king.”

“So, you won’t talk willingly - then you’ll talk with pain”

“The more I tell, the worse the death I’ll die.”

“Motioning to his men for torture.”

“I’m right at the edge, the horrible truth - I’ve got to say it.”

“Im at the edge of hearing the horrors but I must hear!”

“I pitied the little baby”

“All come true! All burst to light!”

“Cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!”

Death and Blinding:

“Hanging by the neck.. Swinging back and forth”

“Rips off her brooches.. digs them down the sockets of his eyes”

“Black hail of blood pulsing, gushing down.”

“Now, in this one day, wailing, madness, doom, death, disgrace, all the grief in the world ..all are theirs forever.”

“A voice within, in torment.”

Chorus’ Sympathy:

“The pains we inflict upon ourselves hurt most of all”

“The sickness is more than he can bear.

“I pity you, but I cannot bear to look.. I shudder at your sight.”

“Dear friends, still here? Such compassion, loyal to the last.”

Oedipus’ Episode 5:

“Youll see no more the pain I've suffered”

“The hand that struck my eyes was mine, mine alone”

“What grief can crown this grief. It's mine alone - I am Oedipus”

“Crimes too huge for hanging.. I am misery!”

“The blackest things a man can do, I have done them all”

“Drive me out of Thebes in exile”

Creon’s Leadership - Remaining rational:

“He’ll have a plan, he’ll act.” - Leader about Creon.

“I haven’t come to mock you, or criticise your failings”

“I wanted the god to clarify my duties.” 

“In such a crisis it’s better to ask precisely what to do.”

“Creon you’ve pitied me”

“No more: Here your power ends.”

Oedipus’ final wishes:

“The woman inside, bury her..It’s the only decent thing to do.”

“Let me die there, where they tried to kill me.”

“My poor helpless girl..Take care of them”

“Never bring them down to the level of my pains.”

“Pray god you find a better life than mine.”

Catharsis:

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

“Now a black sea of terror has overwhelmed him.”

Pride Overall:

“Pride breeds the tyrant” 

“Headlong pride crashes down the abyss - sheer doom”