The passage by the chorus that I have selected to analyze was when Oedipus and the chorus shared a brief back and forth conversation regarding the best way to go about finding out who the murderer is. In lines 319 & 320 the chorus states “Yet if he has a share of fear at all, his courage will not stand firm hearing your curse”. Throughout the passage, I found it very troubling to debrief the lengthy and complex language used. This passage was less difficult to comprehend than others. It states that Oedipus should question Tieresias as even though he is a man of great power, scolding him may cause him to fold under pressure, aka, “his courage will not stand firm” especially because there is motive. This is proven in the next few passages when Oedipus starts to question Tieresias as stated in lines 392-396 “For I would have you know I think you were complotter of the deed and doer of the deed save in so far 395 as for the actual killing. Had you had eyes I would have said alone you murdered him.”.
4 thoughts on “Daniel Machover – Discussion 6”
Hello Daniel, I agree with your point of view. Also, the tragedy Oedipus the King is highly esteemed partly due to its use of dramatic irony, in the popular Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, the plot shows how a single bad trait can lead to the fall of a once-great man. The tragedy Oedipus the King is highly esteemed partly due to its use of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony means that facts or events, which are not known to the characters on stage or in a fictional work, are known to the audience or reader. As a result, the author uses dramatic irony to demonstrate Oedipus’s lack of knowledge and resulting quest to seek the truth reveals many flaws within his character.
Hello Daniel, I understand what you trying to say, and I agree you because the chorus would agree with Oedipus to question Tiresias. Though Tiresias has laid the truth out plainly before Oedipus, the only way Oedipus can interpret the prophet’s words is as an attack, and his quest for information only seeks to confirm what he already believes. After all the questions, the chorus are starting to feel terrified and anxiety. Therefore, they did not find who the murder was.
Daniel, thanks for getting things started this week. You point out some interesting dynamics between the Chorus and Oedipus. However, the prompt is looking for examples of language “enhanced by varying beauties,” Tone of Aristotle’s requirements for excellent tragic drama. To respond to this, you’d have to interpret another, longer section of poetic speech by the Chorus, such as the stophes and antistrophes from lines 180-230 or lines 540-591. The Chorus speaks in poetic language much more than the regular dialogue between characters.
I agree with you in that the chorus ends up questioning the “all knowing” fortune teller, even though they all deep down know there is some truth to his words. They end up mentioning how whoever is the responsible party that his courage will not stand in the way of the “curse” that Oedipus places upon him to find the responsible culprit. I like how Oedipus tries to call Tieresias a complotter thinking as any paranoid king would do that someone is plotting against them.