Oedipus Quotes

Oedipus: "The world knows my fame…"

I am Oedipus.

Oedipus: "I am ready to…"

I'll do anything.

Oedipus: "I would be blind…"

to misery not to pity my people kneeling at my feet.

Priest: "The red waves…"

of death . . . Thebes is dying.

Creon (Apollo): "Drive the…"

corruption from the land.

Creon (Apollo): "Pay the killers…"

back - whoever is responsible.

Oedipus: "I'll bring it all…"

to light myself.

Oedipus: "I am the land's…"

avenger by all rights, and Apollo's champion too.

Oedipus: "For my own sake…"

I'll rid us of this corruption.

Oedipus: "By avenging Laius…"

I defend myself.

Priest: "Come down, Apollo…"

save us, stop the plague.

Chorus: "Great welcome voice…"

of Zeus.

Chorus: "Terror shakes…"

my heart.

Chorus: "I worship you in dread…"

what now, what is your price?

Chorus: "O triple shield…"

against death, shine before me now!

Chorus: "You gods, come now…"

come down once more!

Chorus: "The miseries numberless…"

grief on grief… we are all dying.

Chorus: "So many deaths…"

numberless deaths on deaths.

Chorus: "Thebes is…"

dying.

Chorus: "Thebes, city of…"

death.

Chorus: "Thracian surf…"

comes crashing.

Chorus: "Ride Death…"

down in pain!

Oedipus: "Let me grant…"

your prayers.

Oedipus: "I order him…"

to reveal the whole truth to me.

Oedipus: "Banish this man…"

never shelter him, never speak a word to him, never make him partner to your prayers, your victims burned to the gods.

Oedipus: "He is the…"

plague, the heart of our corruption.

Oedipus: "I fight for the god…"

and for the murdered man.

Oedipus: "How could you leave…"

the crime uncleansed so long?

Oedipus: "So I will fight…"

for him as if he were my father.

Leader: "I swear I'm not…"

the murderer; I cannot point him out.

Leader: "Lord Tiresias sees…"

with the eyes of Lord Apollo.

Leader (on Tiresias): "The truth lives…"

inside him, him alone.

Oedipus: "For a man to help…"

to help others with all his gifts and native strength: that is the noblest work.

Tiresias: "How terrible…"

to see the truth when the truth is only pain to him who sees!

Tiresias: "I'd rather not…"

cause pain for you or me… you'll get nothing from me.

Oedipus: "You scum of…"

the earth, you'd enrage a heart of stone.

Tiresias: "What will…"

come will come.

Tiresias: "You are the curse…"

the corruption of the land!

Tiresias: "You are the murder…"

you hunt.

Oedipus (on Creon): "So hungry to…"

overthrow me… eyes peeled for his own profit.

Tiresias: "You with your precious…"

you're blind to the corruption of your life.

Tiresias: "The day you learn…"

the truth about your marriage…the lusty voyage home to the fatal harbor!

Tiresias: "No man will ever…"

be rooted from the earth as brutally as you.

Tiresias: "The murderer of Laius…"

he is here.

Tiresias: "Brother and father…"

both to the children he embraces, to his mother son and husband both.

Chorus: "I know of nothing…"

not in the past and not now, no charge to bring against our king, no cause to attack his fame that rings throughout Thebes.

Chorus: "He was the…"

joy of Thebes!

Chorus: "Never will I…"

convict my king, never in my heart.

Creon: "I've no desire…"

to linger out this life, my reputation in ruins.

Creon: "There's nothing worse…"

branded a traitor in the city, a traitor to all of you and my good friends.

Creon: "Was his glance…"

steady, his mind right when the charge was brought against me?

Leader: "I never look…"

to judge the ones in power.

Oedipus: "You, plotting…"

to kill me, kill the king.

Oedipus: "Scheming to…"

steal my crown and power!

Oedipus: "Creeping against…"

me in the dark?

Creon: "If you think crude…"

mindless stubbornness such a gift, you've lost your sense of balance.

Creon: "Skilled as he is…"

today, and just as honoured.

Creon: "I don't know…"

And when I don't, I keep quiet.

Oedipus: "You betray…"

a kinsman.

Creon: "Not if you see…"

things calmly, rationally, as I do.

Creon: "Time alone can…"

bring the just man to light – the criminal you can spot in one short day.

Leader: "Those who jump…"

to conclusions may go wrong.

Creon: "I think you're…"

insane.

Leader: "You must put…"

this fighting of yours to rest.

Jocasta: "Have you no sense?…"

Poor misguided men… aren't you ashamed, with the land so sick, to stir up private quarrels?

Chorus: "Respect him…"

he's been no fool in the past and now he's strong with the oath he swears to god.

Jocasta: "His build…"

wasn't far from yours.

Oedipus: "I am not…"

my father's son.

Oedipus (Apollo): "You are fated…"

to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see – you will kill your father, the one who gave you life.

Oedipus: "I am the…"

man.

Oedipus: "I am abomination…"

heart and soul!

Oedipus: "I see myself…"

stained with such corruption, stained to the heart.

Oedipus: "I am…"

guilty.

Chorus: "Brilliant vault…"

of heaven.

Chorus: "The god does not…"

grow old.

Chorus: "Pride breeds…"

the tyrant, violent pride.

Chorus: "Never again will…"

go reverent to Delphi.

Jocasta: "Oedipus is…"

beside himself.

Jocasta: "Set us free of defilement…"

passengers in the grip of fear, watching the pilot of the vessel go to pieces.

Oedipus: "I must make love…"

with my own mother, shed my father's blood with my own hands.

Messenger: "Polybus was…"

nothing to you, that's why, not in blood.

Jocasta: "Stop – in the name…"

of god, if you love your own life, call off this search! My suffering is enough.

Oedipus: "I must know…"

it all, must see the truth at last.

Jocasta: "Man of…"

agony.

Oedipus: "I will never…"

betray it, never fail to search and learn my birth!

Shepherd: "The more I tell…"

the worse the death I'll die.

Oedipus: "You're a dead man…"

if I have to ask again.

Shepherd: "His son, they said…"

it was – his son!

Shepherd: "You were born…"

for pain.

Oedipus: "I stand revealed…"

at last – cursed in my birth, cursed in my marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands.

Chorus: "Oedipus, man of misery…"

I count no man blest.

Chorus: "You rose and…"

saved our land.

Chorus: "Oedipus, towering…"

over all.

Chorus: "Is there a man…"

more agonised?

Chorus: "Son and father…"

came to rest in the same bridal chamber.

Chorus: "Now you bring down…"

night upon my eyes.

Messenger: "Men of Thebes…"

always first in honor, what horrors you will hear, what you will see.

Messenger: "I tell you neither…"

the waters of the Danube nor the Nile can wash this palace clean.

Leader: "God knows…"

we have pains enough already.

Messenger: "The queen is…"

dead…. By her own hand.