Oedipus the king full text. The Oedipus Plays: Oedipus the King 2023-01-04
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Oedipus the King, also known as Oedipus Rex, is a Greek tragedy written by the playwright Sophocles in the 5th century BC. The play tells the story of Oedipus, a young man who becomes the king of Thebes after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. However, as he attempts to unravel the mystery of a plague that is afflicting the city, Oedipus discovers that he has unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy that stated he would kill his father and marry his mother.
The full text of Oedipus the King begins with a prologue in which a chorus of Theban elders speaks about the suffering that the city is experiencing due to the plague. They pray to the gods for a solution and beg Oedipus, their king, to take action. Oedipus then enters and addresses the people, declaring that he will do whatever it takes to end the plague.
As Oedipus investigates the cause of the plague, he learns that it is a punishment from the gods for the unsolved murder of the former king, Laius. Oedipus becomes determined to find the killer and bring justice to the city. He calls upon the blind prophet Tiresias, who reveals that the killer is none other than Oedipus himself.
Oedipus is shocked and refuses to believe the prophecy, but as he continues to search for the truth, he realizes that the prophecy has come true. He has indeed killed his father and married his mother, Jocasta. When Jocasta learns the truth, she kills herself and Oedipus, in a fit of grief and guilt, gouges out his own eyes.
The play ends with Oedipus being exiled from Thebes and the chorus lamenting the tragic fate of the once great king.
Oedipus the King is a timeless classic that explores the themes of fate, free will, and the consequences of actions. Its powerful portrayal of a man struggling against his own destiny and the tragic consequences that ensue have made it a beloved work of literature for centuries.
Oedipus
OEDIPUS My sire no more to me than one who is naught? I know thou mean'st me well, And yet would'st mitigate and blunt my zeal. JOCASTA Hear this man, And as thou hearest judge what has become Of all those awe-inspiring oracles. I tell you, king, this man, this murderer 525 whom you have long declared you are in search of, indicting him in threatening proclamation as murderer of Laius —he is here. CHORUS Such things were said; with what intent I know not. HERDSMAN: He speaks out of his ignorance, without meaning. Now I am godless and child of impurity, begetter in the same seed that created my wretched self.
What cause has he to trust me? For heaven's sake tell me all. O light, may I behold thee nevermore! Whom should I confide in rather than you, who is there 900 of more importance to me who have passed through such a fortune? OEDIPUS: That he would not have said that I killed Laius had he not met you first. . Ye god-sent oracles, where stand ye now! OEDIPUS: Yes, lead him off. JOCASTA What was the tale? To BYSTANDERS But shame upon you! CHORUS O thy despair well suits thy desperate case.
JOCASTA What may it be? Was his mind right when he accused me in this fashion? PRIEST Yea, Oedipus, my sovereign lord and king, Thou seest how both extremes of age besiege Thy palace altars—fledglings hardly winged, and greybeards bowed with years; priests, as am I of Zeus, and these the flower of our youth. JOCASTA That will I straightway. OEDIPUS Had he but few attendants or a train Of armed retainers with him, like a prince? If you will rule this land, as now you rule it, better to rule it full of men than empty. TEIRESIAS In reading riddles who so skilled as thou? Who then will wed you? OEDIPUS Oh speak, Withhold not, I adjure thee, if thou know'st, Thy knowledge. CHORUS: Doer of dreadful deeds, how did you dare 1515 so far to do despite to your own eyes? Will nothing loose thy tongue? This wedlock with thy mother fear not thou. OEDIPUS Here too my zeal has nothing lagged, for twice At Creon's instance have I sent to fetch him, And long I marvel why he is not here.
CREON: Suppose you do not understand? He cannot unsay it now, for every 985 one in the city heard it—not I alone. TEIRESIAS I say thou livest with thy nearest kin In infamy, unwitting in thy shame. OEDIPUS Ah, why remind me of that ancient sore? MESSENGER A childless man till then, he warmed to thee. I leave to Apollo what concerns the god. O Prince, Menoeceus' son, to thee, I turn, With the it rests to father them, for we Their natural parents, both of us, are lost. JOCASTA Well, he shall come, but may not I too claim To share the burden of thy heart, my king? I at least shall be willing to see my ancestry, though humble. Dark eyes, now in the days to come look on forbidden faces, do not recognize those whom you long for—with such imprecations 69 he struck his eyes again and yet again 1465 with the brooches.
When the dark singer, the sphinx, was in your country, did you speak 455 word of deliverance to its citizens? MESSENGER Not I; another shepherd gave thee me. O fatal wedlock, thou didst give me birth, And, having borne me, sowed again my seed, Mingling the blood of fathers, brothers, children, Brides, wives and mothers, an incestuous brood, All horrors that are wrought beneath the sun, Horrors so foul to name them were unmeet. CREON He fell; and now the god's command is plain: Punish his takers-off, whoe'er they be. Nay, had I known a way to choke the springs Of hearing, I had never shrunk to make A dungeon of this miserable frame, Cut off from sight and hearing; for 'tis bliss to bide in regions sorrow cannot reach. For if Laius had ever an honest shepherd, this was he.
PRIEST: Thanks for your gracious words. OEDIPUS Forth from thy borders thrust me with all speed; Set me within some vasty desert where No mortal voice shall greet me any more. For he who most doth know Of bliss, hath but the show; A moment, and the visions pale and fade. OEDIPUS I but half caught thy meaning; say it again. As for the child, it was but three days old, When Laius, its ankles pierced and pinned Together, gave it to be cast away By others on the trackless mountain side.
Tell me again that I may learn it better. And if thou doubt me, first to Delphi go, There ascertain if my report was true Of the god's answer; next investigate If with the seer I plotted or conspired, And if it prove so, sentence me to death, Not by thy voice alone, but mine and thine. PRIEST As I surmise, 'tis welcome; else his head Had scarce been crowned with berry-laden bays. To banish me the land? HERDSMAN Cithaeron and the neighboring alps. What I am suffering is enough. O child of Laius' ill-starred race Would I had ne'er beheld thy face; I raise for thee a dirge as o'er the dead. Nathless, as far as my poor memory serves, I will relate the unhappy lady's woe.
The man from whom I had thee may know more. OEDIPUS: Then the best counsel vexes me, and has 1221 for some while since. And for myself, if with my privity He gain admittance to my hearth, I pray The curse I laid on others fall on me. Thus sprung why should I fear to trace my birth? When such deeds are held in honor, 1020 why should I honor the Gods in the dance? When I heard this I fled, and in the days that followed I would measure from the stars the whereabouts of Corinth—yes, I fled to somewhere where I should not see fulfilled 930 the infamies53told in that dreadful oracle. And so it is with every one who has learned wisdom and self-control. Within the market place sit others crowned 20 with suppliant garlands 3 , at the double shrine of Pallas 4 and the temple where Ismenus gives oracles by fire 5.
OEDIPUS This and none other is my constant dread. Have you so much brazen faced daring that you venture in my house although you are proved manifestly41the murderer of that man, and though you tried, 615 openly, highway robbery of my crown? I never found a worse! This thou art witless seeking to possess Without a following or friends the crown, A prize that followers and wealth must win. OEDIPUS: This man here, 1285 have you had any dealings with him? JOCASTA My greetings to thee, stranger; thy fair words Deserve a like response. He meant me well, yet had he left me there, He had saved my friends and me a world of care. Then topples o'er and lies in ruin prone; No foothold on that dizzy steep. Till now the storied fortune of this house Was fortunate indeed; but from this day Woe, lamentation, ruin, death, disgrace, All ills that can be named, all, all are theirs. OEDIPUS Thou shalt rue it Twice to repeat so gross a calumny.
