The Lines I would like to discuss are 1009-1013:
“if a man walks in with haughtiness of hand or word and gives no heed to justice and the shrines of Gods despises-may an evil doom smite him for his ill-starred pride of heart!”
This line is stating that if a man is too arrogant and does not care about the justice or the Gods, he will suffer his fate.
The chorus are referring to Oedipus because he started becoming too arrogant. His pride was going to be his biggest downfall, Tiresias warned Oedipus that his pride would end up leading him to his fate. The words “Evil doom smite him for his ill-starred pride of heart” was a perfect description to state that because of Oedipus’s pride, he was ill-fated to be heartbroken in the end.
Oedipus’s fear of his fate caused him to become very worried. He began to blame Creon for the murder of Laius and accused him of trying to be king. When Oedipus met with Tiresias, he was told about his fate. This cause Oedipus to make fun of him for being blind and mock him. Despite what Oedipus had said, Tiresias warned Oedipus that in the end, his fate will be what really hurts him. Since he did not want to give into his fate, this caused Oedipus to not trust the Prophet or the Gods.
One thought on “Anjuli McNeil Discussion 2”
Anjuli, I like how you said that Oedipus’ pride was his biggest downfall. I think that in a lot of Greek tragedies, the heros often have to overcome their pride in order to have a “happy ending”. Oedipus became worried about his fate, even though the gods had already predetermined it, and tried to do everything he could to change it, but in the end it did not work. I also think that it’s interesting that the chorus says, “…gives no heed to justice and the shrines of Gods despises-may an evil doom smite him…”. Not only did Oedpius not really care about what the gods said or did, but he also didn’t care about justice. I think that this speaks to Oedipus’ character before his downfall to disgrace. Great post, Anjuli!