OEDIPUS REX BY SOPHOCLES, REFERENCE TO CONTEXT

OEDIPUS REX BY SOPHOCLES

At a feast, a drunken man maundering his cups
Cries out that I am not my father's son!
I contained myself that night, though I felt anger
And a sinking heart. The next day I visited
My father and mother, and questioned them. They stormed,
Calling it all the slanderous rant of a fool;
And this relieved me.

At a feast, this relieved me.

REFERENCE
(i) Drama: Oedipus Rex
(ii) Dramatist: Sophocles
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: Scene II (Lines 251-257)
(ii) Content:
Thebes is struck by a plague and the oracle of
Apollo says the sickness is the result of
injustice: the old king's murderer still walks
free. The blind seer Tiresias tells Oedipus
that he is the murderer and is living
incestuously. Jocasta says an oracle said her
husband, the old king, would be killed by his
child, but that never happened since they
abandoned the baby and her husband was
killed by robbers. Oedipus begins to suspect
that he was the abandoned baby. A
messenger and a servant confirm the tale.
Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus stabs out
his own eyes.
EXPLANATION
In these lines Oedipus is conversing with his
wife, Jocasta, and telling her a strange event
of his youth in Corinth. He tells her that
Polybos of Corinth is his father and his
mother, Merope, is a Dorian. He was brought
up to be the chief of Corinth. But a strange
event turned the tables. A drunken man at a
public feast proclaimed that he was not his
father's biological son; he is an adaptation. He
got furious at his maundering. However, he
suppressed his anger that night though with
a sinking heart. The very next day he went to
his parents and questioned about the
drunken man's allegations. They were
offended, and said it was a foolish allegation.
He was no longer feeling distressed or
anxious; he was reassured by their words.
However, he was not fully satisfied. In short,
this particular event is the main cause that
Oedipus left Corinth.
O holy majesty of heavenly powers!
My I never see that day! Never!
Rather let me vanish from the race of men
Than know the abomination destined me!
O holy majesty ......... abomination destined
me!
REFERENCE
(i) Drama: Oedipus Rex
(ii) Dramatist: Sophocles
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: Scene II (Lines 304-307)
(ii) Content:
Thebes is struck by a plague and the oracle of
Apollo says the sickness is the result of
injustice: the old king's murderer still walks
free. The blind seer Tiresias tells Oedipus
that he is the murderer and is living
incestuously. Jocasta says an oracle said her
husband, the old king, would be killed by his
child, but that never happened since they
abandoned the baby and her husband was
killed by robbers. Oedipus begins to suspect
that he was the abandoned baby. A
messenger and a servant confirm the tale.
Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus stabs out
his own eyes.
EXPLANATION
In these lines Oedipus is praying to holy God
to save him from seeing the day when he will
be declared the murderer of his father and
the husband of his mother. He wishes to
vanish from the midst of human beings
before such an abomination devolves on his
shoulders. He has just told his wife Jocasta
when he passed Phokis, a place where the
Theban road bifurcates into Delphi road and
Daulia road, he came across a herald and a
royal chariot whose driver when ordered by
his lord to force him off the road leaned out
towards him to beat him but he himself hit
him with his stick. The old man sitting in the
chariot could not tolerate it and flogged him
at his head. In exasperation, he pulled the old
man down from the chariot and killed him on
the spot. Now if the old man was his father,
then he unknowingly perpetrated parricide.
In that case, he is the man hated most by the
gods. So Oedipus fears that this cruel fate has
created him for all his misfortunes emerging
him from unintentional parricide and incest.
If his fate is cruel, none would deny the
savagery of gods. To remove all these fears,
Oedipus is in these lines praying to God to
keep him safe from such misfortune.
OEDIPUS REX BY SOPHOCLES
How dreadful knowledge of the truth can
be
When there's no help in truth! I knew this
well.
But did not act on it! Else I should not
have come.
REFERENCE
(i) Drama: Oedipus Rex
(ii) Dramatist: Sophocles
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: Scene I (Lines 101-103)
(ii) Content:
Thebes is struck by a plague and the oracle of
Apollo says the sickness is the result of
injustice: the old king's murderer still walks
free. The blind seer Tiresias tells Oedipus
that he is the murderer and is living
incestuously. Jocasta says an oracle said her
husband, the old king, would be killed by his
child, but that never happened since they
abandoned the baby and her husband was
killed by robbers. Oedipus begins to suspect
that he was the abandoned baby. A
messenger and a servant confirm the tale.
Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus stabs out
his own eyes.
EXPLANATION
These are the very first words spoken by
blind Tiresias before Oedipus in which he
confesses that he must not have come to
Oedipus' palace when he knew that the
disclosure of the secret concerning Oedipus'
parentage would shatter the whole palace.
When this blind seer entered the palace,
Oedipus was happy to notice that his visitor
was a prophet who knew the secrets of
heaven and earth and could as such tell him
who the murderer was. He told the Tiresias
that Apollo had sent back his messenger with
the word that the catastrophe of pestilence
would not be lifted from Thebes until and
unless the identity of those who murdered
Laius was established clearly and unless they
were killed or banished. Oedipus then
requested Tiresias to use bird-flight or any
other sleight of hand to purify Thebes from
the devastating contagion. Tiresias' reply in
these lines shows that he knew the secret of
the murder but he realized it as well as that
his disclosure of truth would prove ruinous
than the plague infecting Thebes.


What is chorus?
A group of people assembled to sing together

.A large organized group of singers. One that

performs together with an orchestra oropera
company
.A Chorus is produced when several musicians
are playing simultaneously, but inevitably with
small changes in the amplitudes and timings
between each individual sound.
In music the word "chorus" has three
meanings: a group of performers, music for a
group of singers and the part of a song that is
repeated after a verse.
Explanation of chorus:
The Chorus is a group of actors that together
speak, sing, and dance in one body. The
Chorus is part ritual part thematic device that
play a much larger role in Greek Tragedy than
in the other genres.

A classic Greek chorus consisted of a number of

identically dressed men who served as
observers and commentators during the course
of a play. They fulfilled several vital functions
which helped influence the development of
Greek drama. A Greek chorus could number as
many as 50 people, but Sophocles set its
number at 15.Therewere originally 12 chorus
members all male but Sophocles added 3 more
to make it 15. One of the primary functions of
the chorus is to provide atmosphere and, in
some ways, underscore the tragic action. When
the hero is treading upon major conflict or
leading us into the rising action of the plot, the
chorus, in a way, is her alders of inevitable
disaster and instills a sense of fear or suspense
in the audience. In some ways the Chorus can
represent the audience's ideal response to the
play. Chorus, and its chants and songs, helped
the audience better connect with the character,
revealing the essence of the tragedy. Greek
choruses served to provide the viewers with
plot exposition, essentially acting as narrators
for many parts of the drama.
What are the functions of chorus in 'Oedipus Rex'?
1) To entertain the audience.
2) To enhance the workings of the plot.
3) To explain the characters and events. These
are the functions of chorus in "Oedipus Rex" by
Sophocles
Detail about chorus: Like most all ancient Greek
tragedians, Sophocles divides his choral odes
into strophe and antistrophe. Both sections had
the same number of lines and metrical pattern.
In Greek, strophe means "turn," and
antistrophe means "turn back." This makes
sense when you consider the fact that, during
the strophe choruses danced from right to left
and during the antistrophe they did the
opposite. Sophocles may have split them into
two groups, so that it was as if one part of the
Chorus was conversing with the other. Perhaps
the dualities created by strophe and
antistrophe, represent the endless, irresolvable
debates for which Greek tragedy is famous.
Specifically, the chorus in a Greek play is made
up of dancers and singers. These dancers and
singers represent a chorus of Theban elders. As
dancers and singers, they signal the end of one
episode or scene and the beginning of another.
That signaled interlude between episodes or
scenes is called the station.
Contribution of chorus to Oedipus Rex:
The contribution of the Chorus in Oedipus Rex
is considerable. They link the play with
common humanity. In some sense they are
often in the position of the ideal spectator.
They fill in the gaps in the action when no other
character is there on the stage. They add to it
the element of melody which must have been
one of the attractions of Greek tragedy. They
provide inappropriate shift between the titanic,
heroic figure of Oedipus and the mass of
common humanity represented by the two
shepherds in Oedipus Res. The tragedy of
Oedipus and its relevance to common life is
very well stressed by the Chorus in its exit ode
or exode.The Chorus takes part in the dialogues
also. When Oedipus consults them about
ending the plague in the city, they express
disappointment that the oracle had not guided
them about the
Identity of Laius’ murderer. They also tell him
what they know about the murder of their
previous king and its circumstances. When
Creon, learning that the king has accused him
of treason, comes on the stage he talks to the
Chorus,
Who tell him that the king’s accusation was?
Probably made in the heat of anger. Creon
asked if the king looked absolutely serious
while making the charge and they rightly say
that it is not for them to look into the eyes of
his master when he speaks. When Oedipus has
almost passed a sentence upon Creon, Jocasta
arrives on the scene and first talks to the
Chorus. They request her to settle the
difference between the two men. They are
worried when they see Jocasta going into the
palace in a very dejected mood, and they give
expression to their apprehension. Oedipus asks
them about the shepherd who gave the infant
to the Corinthian, they answer that his queen
would be able to answer the question better.
They sympathize with Oedipus when they see
him after he has blinded himself.It is clear, thus,
that the Chorus never takes a direct hand in the
action. It does not consist only of spectators
but influences the action in various subtle ways.
Chorus with reference to OEDIPUS REX:
Sophocles also uses the Chorus at the
beginning of the play to help tell the audience
the given circumstances of the play. We hear all
about the terrible havoc that the plague is
wreaking on Thebes. By describing the
devastation in such gruesome detail, Sophocles
raises the stakes for his protagonist, Oedipus.
The people of Thebes are in serious trouble;
Oedipus has to figure out who killed Laius fast,
or he won't have any subjects left to rule.
Unlike his contemporary Euripides, Sophocles
was known to integrate his choruses into
theaction of the play. In Oedipus the King we
see the Chorus constantly advising Oedipus to
keep