“560 He is sad and lonely, his feet that carry him far from the navel of earth;39 but its prophecies, ever living, flutter around his head. Strophe The augur40 has spread confusion, 565 terrible confusion; I do not approve what was said nor can I deny it. I do not know what to say; I am in a flutter of foreboding; 570 I never heard in the present nor past of a quarrel between the sons of Labdacus and Polybus, that I might bring as proof in attacking the popular fame 575 of Oedipus, seeking to take vengeance for undiscovered death in the line of Labdacus.” I selected this passage from Odeipus the King because you truly feel the Chorus’ shock to the situation. The elders are confused and perplexed by the information Teiresias delivers. They don’t know what to believe. “The augur40 has spread confusion, 565 terrible confusion; I do not approve what was said nor can I deny it.” The Chorus want to remain loyal to their King but they are able to remain logical because they want to see the proof if it’s actually true. They handle the situation in such a logical way. They want vengeance to whoever is responsible for the killing of Laius. Oedpius is just as angry and confused about the information. In the passages just before this Odepius is getting angry with Teiresias but the prophet is just there to deliver the news, he means no harm but only wants for Odepius to see the irony of how he is blind to his actions. And although the prophet is blind he can see the truth. I was just as perplexed while reading the beginning of Odepius the King and can appreciate the art of Greek tragedies.
Daily Archives: September 29, 2022
LINES 813-836 JOCASTA: Do not concern yourself about this matter; listen to me and learn that human beings 815 have no part in the craft of prophecy. Of that I’ll show you a short proof. There was an oracle once that came to Laius, — I will not say that it was Phoebus’ own, but it was from his servants— and it told him 820 that it was fate that he should die a victim at the hands of his own son, a son to be born of Laius and me. But, see now, he, the king, was killed by foreign highway robbers at a place where three roads meet—so goes the story; 825 and for the son—before three days were out after his birth King Laius pierced his ankles and by the hands of others cast him forth upon a pathless hillside. So Apollo failed to fulfill his oracle to the son, 830 that he should kill his father, and to Laius also proved false in that the thing he feared, death at his son’s hands, never came to pass. So clear in this case were the oracles, so clear and false. Give them no heed, I say; 835 what God discovers need of, easily he shows to us himself. In this passage, Jocasta informs the new king, Oedipus, about an oracle who told the old king Laius that it was “Fate” that he would die by his own son. But this Oracle was not true because the king’s death was by highway robbers. He informs the new King Oedipus to show him an example and to not be feared because he had his own beliefs. He believed that whatever God has planned, “he shows to us himself”(836). Furthermore, he tells this story to him because he and King […]
