Background: Queen, Jocasta left the conversation with Oedipus and the messenger when Oedipus’s birth is being explored among them, Jocasta feared that the shepherd will reveal to Oedipus that he is the son of Laius. After that, an old man form Thebes came into the plot. The messenger disclosed to Oedipus that the baby (Oedipus) was taken from the old man in Laius’s house. The old man was the shepherd of King Laius in Thebes. The old herdsman was reluctant to answer questions of Oedipus and the messenger, when Oedipus probed facts about his birth and parents. The herdsman did not want to reveal the truth to Oedipus, because it’s too painful. Under Oedipus king’s power, authority and duress, the herdsman then revealed that the baby that came from the house of Laius was Jocasta and Laius’ child.
I choose the chorus’s ode from line 1370-1405
“What man, What man on earth wins more of happiness than a seeming and after that turning away? Oedipus, you are my pattern of this, Oedipus, you and your fate! Luckless Oedipus, whom of all men I envy not at all. In as much as he shot his bolt 1380 beyond the others and won the prize of happiness complete— O Zeus—and killed and reduced to nought the hooked taloned maid of the riddling speech, standing a tower against death for my land; hence he was called my king and hence was honored the highest of all honors; and hence he ruled in the great city of Thebes.”
The chorus’s ode comments that happiness is just a dream and a vision. They mention it, because Oedipus has everything anyone would want in life as a king, and now he realizes that everything in his life is suddenly messed up. Then, the chorus continues to comment,“But now whose tale is more miserable? Who is there lives with a savager fate? Whose troubles so reverse his life as his? O child of Laius, would I had never seen you. I weep for you and cry a dirge of lamentation. “
The chorus in a pity laments for Oedipus’s tragedy at the end, though he attempts to reverse his doom in any way.
One thought on “Nicole Tseng Discussion 2”
Hello Nicole
The author uses chorus again to foreshadow and comment on the actions that occur. They also critique characters’ actions and add detail on the themes such as fate, confronting the past, and the dangers of brashness.
I agree with you Chorus, suffers from the fact that the king and the city are in big trouble, and also they are worried about the future. Throughout the story, they often tell Oedipus to keep calm and to be more rational, a result of one of his tragic flaws.