Thurs 13 Jan (8th period)

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Finish Oedipus the King by Sophocles and write/post a journal: Choose an important quote from the reading and explain why it is important.

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2005

Answers

“And I’m at the edge of hearing horrors, yes, but I must hear!”’ Oedipus wanted to know what his origins were. Though Jocasta knew what was coming and pleaded that he, Oedipus stop asking about it. Oedipus wanted to know his origins, even though he knew that he would receive bad news. He wanted to find out so bad that even if he would receive bad news he welcomed it. Oedipus put himself in this position and well; no one can be blamed for it. Oedipus asked for the information and he got it, yet he freaked when he found out about it. How ironic.

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2005

My quotation that I feel is one of the more important from this drama is the following exchange between Oedipus and Jocasta around line 1067ish, "'But my mother's bed, surely I must fear-' 'Fear? What should a man fear? It's all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can . . . Live, Oedipus, as if there's no tomorrow!'" Look for this quotation on page 418 in our book.

I feel this to be one of the more important quotations from the play because it is Jocasta's vain attempt to try to cover up her past mistakes (or maybe the mistakes belong to Oedipus) of trying to eliminate her child that became her husband (ewww). Queen Jocasta attempts to eliminate their troubles by telling Oedipus to "Live as if there's no tomorrow", meaning that she would like him to hurry up and finish his investigation of their deeply personal lives and get back to where they were prior to Creon and Tiresia's visit. This inquiry has done more than damage both their lives: it ends Jocasta's.

This quotation also begs the question of the role of fate in Greek philosophy, an idea which plagues Greek literature, with no real definite conclusion being reached. I believe, however, that Sophocles makes his argument about the role of fate in any and everyone's life. Jocasta in effect says that there is no such thing as fate, and life is governed by Chance and that the Powers At Be have little to nothing to do with her life nor the lives of her people. She is denouncing the gods, and the story sees her hanging from a rope tied by her own hands at the end of the play. I think it would be a fair judgement that, basing this conclusion on my stated quotation, that Sophocles believes that fate does exist. It is for us the readers and audience to decide for ourselves.

Could it be that I'm second? Third? Oh, phooey . . .

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005


"If I'd dided then, I'd never have dragged myself, my loved ones through such hell." This is lines 1489-90 when Oedipus is speaking. I think that this is an important quotation because it summarizes how most of the characters in the other stories we have read feel. These people are all trying to escape their fates and only end up fulfilling them by trying to run away. When Jocasta gave away her child to avoid the prophecy it only ended up that she would meet him later and not know who he is. Then when Oedipus ran from Corinth he only ran to his fate. This quote is saying that you cannot avoid your fate and in trying to avoid it you will end up making it come true.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005


Go Ben you were second!!! YEAH!!!! Quote time: The ending to Oedipus was slightly long winded. The climax was ten pages before the end of the story. Any way the quote "O god-all come true, all burst to light! I stand revaled at last- cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives cut down with these great hands." This is important because it is the last time Oedipus speaks while he is still blind and when he finally finds out the truth. He knows this is what he wanted was to find out who killed the king and this is the second time he has heard this. This is also the time he finds out that he married his mother. It was a very emotional time.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005

An important quote i saw was the response Oedipus had to the Chorus questioning his action of goiuging his eyes. He says, "Apollo, friends, Apollo- he ordained my agonies-these, my pains on pains! But the hand that struck my eyes was mine, mine alone-no one else-I did it all myself! What good were eyes to me? Nothing I could see could bring me joy."

It seems to me that Oedipus is almost saying that his whole life and everything he did had been controlled by Apollo because of what he had told Oedipus. I think Oedipus had been living his life in fear of Apollo and now that the truth has been revealed he dosn't have to be afraid anymore and in this quote he releases all his built up anger that he had.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005



My quote was taken from the last six lines of the story and said by the chorus:

"People of Thebes, my countrymen, look on Oedipus. He solved the famous riddle with his brilliance, he rose to power, a man beyond all power. Who could behold his greatness without envy? Now what a black sea of terror has overwhelmed him. Now as we keep our watch and wait the final day, count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last."

This quote shows importance to this story for a couple of reasons. One of which would be that it shows the truth about Oedipus and the basic idea that went around while he was in Thebes. The second reason would be that this quote deals with the people of Thebes and how they saw Oedipus and his leadership in Thebes. They saw how his power rose and then slowly started to drop after Iokaste died.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005

"[Oedipus speaking to Jocasta]: Great, I know...but I fear her-she's still alive."

This is an important quote because neither Oedipus nor Jocasta know that Jocasta is indeed his mother. Oedipus is speaking to Jocasta about his mother he fears, for he wishes to avoid the fulfillment of the prophecy. However, little does he know, the prophecy has already been fulfilled.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005


Jocasta speaking to Oedipus "No more, sweep it from your mind forever. What should a man fear? It's all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can. And as for this marriage with your mother- have no fear. Many a man before you, in his dreams, has shared his mother's bed. Take such things for shadows, nothing at all- Live Oedipus, as if there's no tomorrow"

I think that this quote is important because it shows that Jocasta knew the truth behind what Appolo told Oedipus, and she was trying to get him to disregard it and live his life one day at a time.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005


CHORUS: "People of Thebes, my countrymen, look on Oedipus. He solved the famous riddle with his brilliance, he rose to power, a man beyond all power. Who could behold his greatness without envy? Now what a black sea of terror has overwhelmed him. Now as we keep our watch and wiat the final day, count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last." (lines 1679-1685)

I believe that this quote is important because it summarizes the tragic life of Oedipus in one paragraph. He brilliantly solved the riddle of the sphinx, became the king of Thebes, and married the queen. Several years later, he discovers that he was married to his mother and had killed his father. His agony was so great that he blinded himself, wishing only to live his remaining days in solitude and peace.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005


"Let it burst! Whatever will, whatever must! I must know my birth, no matter how common it may be- I must see my origions face to face. " - Oedipus

I think everyones quote will probably be on this subject, but I think it gives new meaning to "curiosity killed the cat". If he had just stopped looking for answers then none of those terrible things would have had to happen. He brings his prophecy upon himself, which in my mind makes him look stupid.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005



On page 420, line 1143. "He called himself a servant of...if i remember rightly-- Laius." In this quote, the messenger is speaking to Oedipus about who gave him the baby. This quote is very important because it gives Oedipus a big clue about who he is. The quote is the beginning of Oedipus finding out who he really is. It sort of gets the "wheels in his head" turning.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005

Well, I’ve been beaten to it, but it’s just too good to pass up…

“What should a man fear? It’s all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can.”

This quote is by far my favorite of the play due to the deep irony in it that simply permeates the entirety of the story. Jocasta makes her case that humans do not know what the future will bring; every day something new and unexpected happens. Contrary to the attitude of the typical Greek, she takes a very “Carpe Diem” outlook towards life and does her best to determine her own fate, attributing everything to chance.

This is deeply ironical because it is indeed her attempt to escape Apollo’s fate for her and her family- her conviction that man is control of his own destiny- that in the end causes her husband’s murder by and her marriage to her son. If she had never abandoned Oedipus, then he probably would never have had a reason to kill his father, and let us all hope that even if he did, he would have no desire whatsoever to marry his mother and indeed actively avoid such a situation with Jocasta.

In the context of the play, Jocasta’s little bit of advice, whether or not she meant it as reassurance or a diversionary tactic to prevent the truth from being exposed, could not have been more wrong.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005


CREON: "Still the king, the master of all things? No more: here your power ends. None of your power follows you through life."

I think this is an important quote. Creon explains to the reader that because Oedipus was only a man, even if he was powerful at some time, his power must end and could not follow him. Also, it seems that Creon is mocking Oedipus, by saying "still the king?" So, this quote could also show Creon's feelings towards Oedipus near the end of the story, and that is that he does not like him very much.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005


“Stop, my children, weep no more. Here where the dark forces store up kindness both for living and the dead, there is no room for grieving here for it might bring down the anger of the gods.” This, said by Theseus, is talking about how the daughters and other people of Thebes need to stop grieving for their own sake but also so that they do nut disturb the gods into causing them more grief. It is important because it’s showing that Theseus, although proving his compassion to Oedipus before, is going to just keep Oedipus’ incest children in the dark of his tomb bye just forcing them out of their grief.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2005

(Jocasta to Oedipus)- "You're doomed- may you never fathom who you are!" This quote was quite important in that it showed that Jocasta now new of the origins of Oedipus and did not want him to be struck with the fact that he did indeed marry his mother and kill his father.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2005


"No more, sweep it from your mind forever. What should a man fear? It's all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark.”

This is how Joctasa sees fate. Not as a preordained thing set in stone from birth. Joctasa thinks that chance day by day shapes the fate of men. This may be here attempt to blow off her son’s fate (to kill dad and marry mom). This is important because it show Joctasa’s view on fate and what form it takes. She will soon learn then this is not they way it is.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2005


"Leave her to glory in her royal birth."-Oedipus

I think this quote is important because it illustrates how desperate Oedipus is that he find out whose son he was, that he is spiteful to his wife. Thinking that the reason she wishes him not to know was because she could not stand being married to the son of a slave. Not only does he say that mean thing to her, but he also doesn't honour her request to just leave it be and goes ahead and finds out anyways which results in her killing herself.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2005


creon- "Still the king, the master of all things? No more: here your power ends. None of your power follows you through life."

i thought that this quote was pretty important becuase it explained just how messed up Oedipus's life had become. His mom/wife had just killed herself, he just gouged his eyes out, got banished, and now he gets stripped of all respect and power. It kind of like the cherry to top his little icecream sundae of badnews.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2005


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