Oedipus the King, also known as Oedipus Rex, is a Greek tragedy written by the ancient playwright Sophocles. The play tells the story of Oedipus, a king of Thebes, who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother, fulfilling a prophecy that he had been trying to avoid his entire life.
One of the most memorable lines in Oedipus the King comes near the beginning of the play, when Oedipus declares, "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." This line, spoken by Oedipus in response to the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, demonstrates his determination to control his own destiny and not be a victim of fate.
However, as the play progresses, it becomes clear that Oedipus is not as in control of his fate as he thinks. Despite his efforts to avoid the prophecy, he ends up fulfilling it anyway, leading to his tragic downfall. This serves as a powerful reminder that, no matter how hard we try, we are ultimately at the mercy of the forces that shape our lives.
Another notable line in Oedipus the King comes near the end of the play, when Oedipus realizes the truth about his past. "I was the murderer," he exclaims, "I, the one I sought." This line underscores the irony of Oedipus's situation, as he has spent his entire life trying to avoid the prophecy, only to discover that he is the one who fulfilled it.
Overall, the lines in Oedipus the King are an integral part of the play's themes and help to convey the story's tragic nature. The lines also serve as a commentary on the human condition, reminding us of the limits of our control over our own lives and the power of fate.
5 Important Oedipus Rex Quotes Explained
MESSENGER Know that he took thee from my hands, a gift. TEIRESIAS 'Tis time I left thee. O leave them not to wander poor, unwed, Thy kin, nor let them share my low estate. JOCASTA My greetings to thee, stranger; thy fair words Deserve a like response. For, as thou seest thyself, our ship of State, Sore buffeted, can no more lift her head, Foundered beneath a weltering surge of blood.
Children, it were not meet that I should learn From others, and am hither come, myself, I Oedipus, your world-renowned king. 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. OEDIPUS With other men, but not with thee, for thou In ear, wit, eye, in everything art blind. OEDIPUS My children, latest born to Cadmus old, Why sit ye here as suppliants, in your hands Branches of olive filleted with wool? OEDIPUS Had he but few attendants or a train Of armed retainers with him, like a prince? JOCASTA He shall be brought; but wherefore summon him? Thebes is menaced rather than protected by the heavens. CREON In this land, said the god; "who seeks shall find; Who sits with folded hands or sleeps is blind.
In a rage, Oedipus declares that Tiresias and Creon must be plotting against him. The king cannot guess that as events turn, Creon will succeed him and he will have to beg his fate from Creon. Earth her gracious fruits denies; Women wail in barren throes; Life on life downstriken goes, Swifter than the wind bird's flight, Swifter than the Fire-God's might, To the westering shores of Night. But as it turned out, fate swooped down onto his head. MESSENGER All happiness attend her and the house, Blessed is her husband and her marriage-bed. And for the disobedient thus I pray: May the gods send them neither timely fruits Of earth, nor teeming increase of the womb, But may they waste and pine, as now they waste, Aye and worse stricken; but to all of you, My loyal subjects who approve my acts, May Justice, our ally, and all the gods Be gracious and attend you evermore.
While speaking to the Chorus gathered around him in Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus makes a case for self-defense in his murder of Laius. OEDIPUS Yet kings must rule. Tiresias replies with dark hints of Oedipus' corruption and his fate. At last, she lets out a wrenching scream, calls Oedipus a "man of agony," and flees through the palace. Therefore, O King, here at thy hearth we sit, I and these children; not as deeming thee A new divinity, but the first of men; First in the common accidents of life, And first in visitations of the Gods. Pure in the eyes of the law, blind, unknowing, I, I came to this! So when in time a son was born the infant's feet were riveted together and he was left to die on Mount Cithaeron.
Creon asks Oedipus to be rational, but Oedipus says that he wants Creon murdered. Then, lady,—thou shalt hear the very truth— As I drew near the triple-branching roads, A herald met me and a man who sat In a car drawn by colts—as in thy tale— The man in front and the old man himself Threatened to thrust me rudely from the path, Then jostled by the charioteer in wrath I struck him, and the old man, seeing this, Watched till I passed and from his car brought down Full on my head the double-pointed goad. If sin like this to honor can aspire, Why dance I still and lead the sacred choir? Oedipus claims that he longs to know the truth; Tiresias says that seeing the truth only brings one pain. Laius was not killed by his son, but instead by strangers, at a place where three roads meet. OEDIPUS And now old man, look up and answer all I ask thee. He truly dooms himself, even going so far as to threaten to kill the shepherd, to make him speak the very words which seal Oedipus's fate.
Sphinx a winged monster with a lion's body and the head and breasts of a woman. Jocasta now begs Oedipus to abandon his search for his origins. Step by step it is brought home to him that he is the man. OEDIPUS No, with such guiding clues I cannot fail To bring to light the secret of my birth. CREON But one escape, who flying for dear life, Could tell of all he saw but one thing sure.
Describing himself as "a stranger to the story" 248 of the king's murder, Oedipus nevertheless declares that he will fight for Laius "as if he were my father" 301. And now, O Oedipus, our peerless king, All we thy votaries beseech thee, find Some succor, whether by a voice from heaven Whispered, or haply known by human wit. As he wandered, he one day reached the place where Jocasta says King Laius was killed. OEDIPUS A vagrant shepherd journeying for hire? Father Zeus, whose hand Doth wield the lightning brand, Slay him beneath thy levin bold, we pray, Slay him, O slay! JOCASTA Were both at fault? CREON Crave not mastery in all, For the mastery that raised thee was thy bane and wrought thy fall. Oedipus continues to complain of Creon's charge through Tiresias that he himself killed Laius. They stormed calling it all the slanderous rant of a fool.
But his overly eager insistence that Creon announce the oracle's words publicly betrays a certain arrogance about his abilities. Oedipus thinks she's worried that he will discover he's the son of some slave or commoner, a fact that might shame her. But a shepherd found the babe and tended him, and delivered him to another shepherd who took him to his master, the King of Corinth. Oedipus' metaphorical blindness to the truth, intensified by his anger, provides further dramatic irony, while foreshadowing the king's literal blindness at the end of the drama. And if he shrinks, let him reflect that thus Confessing he shall 'scape the capital charge; For the worst penalty that shall befall him Is banishment—unscathed he shall depart.
