580 but amongst men there is no distinct judgment, between the prophetand me—which of us is right. One man may pass another in wisdom but I would never agree 585 with those that find fault with the king till I should see the word proved right beyond doubt. For once in visible form the Sphinx came on him and all of us 590 saw his wisdom and in that test he saved the city. So he will not be condemned by my mind. I chose this passage because it shows how they praised the king and I feel like they see him as this great man. You can see that also in the beginning the priest along with the children came to beg him for help. They are suffering and say he is their savior as he saved the city once. The old men said that “One man may pass another in wisdom”, but they will never defy and doubt the king. They need to actually see evidence of the faults in the king before condemning him. It is like Innocent until proven guilty. They are united and will stand by the king. I think we can see the old men are very loyal to the king Oedipus. It shows that they are tight knit, and they are supportive of the King Oeidupus. I think that is what is needed to have someone that has your back.
Daily Archives: September 30, 2022
“25 out of the depths, out of the bloody surf. A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth. A blight is on the cattle in the fields, a blight is on our women that no children are born to them; a God that carries fire, ” This whole passage speaks of death and the toll that the city’s citizens are facing. They had come to Oedipus hoping for help. The belief in their gods that they would be saved was something that they had sincerely believed in because everyone loved Oedipue so much that they had no doubts about him and they saw him as a great leader. A focal point in the play is finding out who killed the king before Oedipus his late father. When he comes and finds out that he was the one that had killed his own father and married his mother he is appalled. As the plague that is affecting his entire kingdom is caused by himself. I chose this passage because it exemplifies exactly what he is causing to his own people. Blight is a rapid spread of disease. That word alone tells me that the people of Oedipus is suffering and they are looking for his help, showing their undying loyalty to him.
those children that are born lie dead on the naked earth unpitied, spreading contagion of death; and gray-haired mothers and wives everywhere stand at the altar’s edge, suppliant, moaning; the hymn to the healing God15 rings out but with it the wailing voices are blended. From these our sufferings grant us, O golden Daughter of Zeus,16 210 glad-faced deliverance. In the play, it speaks of a disaster that they face with many babies dying and everything is just kind of dead, “spreading contagion of death…” everyone is just kind of sick and they are praying and giving offerings to the gods to help them through this time. I chose this quote because it shows what the people are going through and it paints a picture of how bad it was that they were turning towards the gods for help. It shows that through the suffering they all gathered at the altar to ask for blessings from Athena, “golden daughter of Zeus” to help stop the god of war, Ares as they think it is him that “…burns us” They attributed their suffering to Ares and want the other gods such as Zeus and Athena to help them.
Oedipus cared about power and dominance, not the people or Thebes. To kill the previous king for his own benefit of becoming king is one thing, but to then scout for the kings killer whilst knowing it is him who had done it is treacherous. The chorus was blinded by Oedipus’s hero image, that he conquered the Sphinx’s riddle. When Oedipus seeks for the priests and prophet’s help, he is boastful, but still seeking for an answer he already knows. He speaks of his own power he has gained, but praising the knowledge and profession the priest and prophet has. The prophet, Teiresias, and Oedipus had an intense conversation. Teiresias tried his best to keep quiet and not speak of what Oedipus already knows, but Oedipus started to put the blame on Teiresias and belittling his profession. That made Teiresias speak his truth, more than he had to, revealing that he knows Oedipus killed the previous king, Laius, and that his marriage to Jocasta is of sin. Oedipus and Creon are now rivals, Oedipus thinks Creon spoke ill of him to the Teiresias to make him say the things he said. He wants Creon dead and out of sight. He doesn’t want Creon to have an ounce of power or leadership in Thebes. Oedipus is focused on ruling that he would lose the friendship of the man that handed over his wife, he is willing to belittle and gaslight the higher entities that he asks for help, just so he can cover his tracks.
“195 Our sorrows defy number; all the ship’s timbers are rotten; taking of thought is no spear for the driving away of the plague. There are no growing children in this famous land; there are no women bearing the pangs of childbirth. 200 You may see them one with another, like birds swift on the wing, quicker than fire unmastered, speeding away to the coast of the Western God.” In this passage the chorus is crying for help and expressing the devastating condition the city is in. They are saying: “all the ship’s timbers are rotten, taking of thought is no spear for the driving away of the plague.” This is a very powerful visualization where we can imagine how things are deteriorating while no actions are being taking to get the justice the citizens are seeking. The mood is very dark and hopeless, there is no new life and aspiration. The chorus is comparing the women of the land to birds who are swift on the wing: ”speeding away to the coast of the Western God.” They are not bearing children and are being taken by the god of death.
I felt that this play was very interesting because of the Monarchy and how the citizens loved Oedipus. This is because, from my past reading and history in general, people have always wanted to overthrow the King, and they did everything in their power to do so. Oedipus was a king that was loved by the people in Thebes. They wanted him to find the Laisos’ murderer. It seemed that the people trusted him dearly with huge actions and they believed in what he said. He was very defensive and stood his ground with Teiresias. He was being taunted and started to get angry. I feel that he was worried about how he looked during this encounter. I wonder if there is a real reason behind Creon using Oedipus’ weakness against that. I found that very disrespectful and today I feel that people use a person’s weakness and insecurity to power over them. I think that he was jealous and envious of what he had. I felt that Oedipus was kind and always willing to help the people in the city but I felt that he looked into Social Validation too much and he had a very boosted ego. In Lines 255-264, he takes initiative in what he thinks will help the people in the city.
In Oedipus the King, the Chorus functions as the collective voice of the citizens of Thebes. The chorus’s role is also to reflect the feelings of the audience and the citizens of Thebes and to interpret what is happening on the stage. In this week’s reading part, we see that the chorus is also serves as the king’s adviser when they suggest he call Teiresias. Oedipus is trying to find out who murdered the last king, Laius, and the chorus tells him that Teiresias sees things similar to the way Lord Apollo used to see and that he could help him find who killed the king; “I know that what the Lord Teiresias sees, is most often what Lord Apollo sees. If you should inquire of this from him you might find out most clearly” (Line 305). We can also see how the chorus is loyal to their king and won’t say anything bad about him, after he saved them. “Truly Zeus and Apollo are wise and in human things all knowing; but amongst men there is no distinct judgment, between the prophetand me—which of us is right. One man may pass another in wisdom but I would never agree with those that find fault with the king till I should see the word proved right beyond doubt. For once in visible form the Sphinx came on him and all of us saw his wisdom and in that test he saved the city. So he will not be condemned by my mind” (Line 578). Teiresias blames Oedipus for killing king Laius, and although the chorus said before that he sees things clearly, in other words – that they trust his prophecies, they stand by Oedipus, their current king, until a clear proof would say else.
“580 Amongst men there is no distinct judgement, between the prophetand me—which of us is right. One man may pass another in wisdom but I would never agree 585 with those that find fault with the king till I should see the word proved right beyond doubt.” I choose this passage because it really demonstrates the chorus loyalty to the king even though they realize teiresias has more wisdom than him. It also exhibits how their rationality far exceeds their loyalty which is impressive because you would expect more bias towards a king, however at the same time that strong loyalty for the king makes them slightly indecisive not because he’s simply the king but owing to the fact that they experienced first hand how the king wisdom has saved the city in the past as shown in line 588-590 “For once in visible form the Sphinx came on him and all of us 590 saw his wisdom and in that test he saved the city. So he will not be condemned by my mind”.
In Oedipus the King, the Chorus sang an ode between 181-230. The ode was about seeking help from other gods. They were seeking help because the God of War Ares had a plague against them, that the plague was spreading contagion death to their city. Children were born dead and laid naked on the earth. Having their people suffer just because a savage god wanting to burn them. The only one to blame was the God of War Ares. They were asking the gods Zeus, Apollo, Athena, and Artemis to go against any god that wants to burn them which would be Ares. They were asking to dishonor the god of war due to his actions against the city. The reason for asking these specific gods for help because as the chorus said in lines 193 and 194 that the gods once drove the flames of destruction away from their land.
