Week 6- Melissa Cordero

“O generations of men, how I 1370 count you as equal with those who live not at all! What man, What man on earth wins more of happiness than a seeming and after that turning away? 1375 Oedipus, you are my pattern of this, Oedipus, you and your fate! Luckless Oedipus, whom of all men I envy not at all.” –

What I gathered from this reading is Oedipus, the king of Thebes, was watching his people suffer from some kind of curse or plague brought upon by the murder of a King.  Oedipus discovered that not only was it him who murdered the king but, the king was his biological father and Oedipus’ wife was his mother and this misdeed was the cause of the curse in Thebes.  In the beginning of the play, Oedipus arrogantly proclaimed his status among his people as ” Great” he spoke of his people almost like beggers and he seemed to pity them.  After being made aware of all the unfortunate events that were surrounding him and how he made it to be king, he stated that had he not survived in the wild after being abandoned, all of the humiliation and punishment of his people could have been avoided.  Although seemingly inexorable, the chrous describes him as luckless and even the only man they could not envy.  Oedipus couldn’t see the truth and his blindness was what plagued them.