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    of 29
    Oedipus the King Sophocles by Robert Fags oT FOCUS A toile plague has struck the city of Thebes. Pants, annals, ‘and people are dying in great numbers, The priests a the cty sock nlp from Oedipus their king. AS you read, ook ordeals that help you fxm impressions of Oedipus as leader. “Time and Scene: The royal house of Thebes. Double doors domi nate the facade; a stone altar stands atthe center of the stage. Many years have passed since Oedipus solved the Viddle ofthe Sphins and ascended the throne of Thebes, and now a plague bas struck the city. A procession of priests enters; suppliants, broken and despondent, they cary branches wound ix wool and lay them on the altar The doors oper. Guards assemble. Oedipus comes forward, ‘majestic but fora telltale limp, and slowly views the condition of his people. Cedipus. Oh my children, the new blood of ancient Thebes, why are you here? Huddling at my altar, praying before me, your branches wound in wool 2 branches wounain wort Our city reeks withthe smoke of burning incense, fined omaha by poopie 5 rings with eres for the Healer and wailing forthe dead, som the gods T thought i¢ wrong, my children ro hear she cruth 5 the Hele the god Aol from others, messengers. Here ram myscli— aaa eg youall know me, the world knows my fame: Tam Oedipus. (helping a Priest 20 his feet) 202 espondent (span of 8 depres Speak up, old man. Your years © your dignity—you should speak forthe others, Why here and kneeling, what preys upon you so? Some sudden fear? some strong desire? You ean trust me. Lam ready to help, Pil do anything. {would be blind eo misery 1s not co pity aay people knecling at my fet. Pest. Oh Oedipus, king of the land, our greatest power! You sce us before you now, men ofall ages clinging ro your altars. Here are boys still 190 weak to fy from the nest, 2» and here the olg, howed down with the yeas, the holy ones—a priest of Zeus myself—and here the picked, unmarried mea, the young hope of Thebes ‘And all the vest, your great family gathers now, branches weeathed, massing in the squares, 1s kneeling before the wo temples of queen Athena or the sivershrine where the embers glow and die and Apollo sees the future inthe ashes, Our cig look around you, se with your own eyes— ‘ou ship pitches wildly, cannot lift hee head from the depths, che red waves of death Thebes is dying, A blight on the feesh crops and the rich pastures, cate sicken and die, land the women die in labor, cildeen stillboen, and the plague, the fiery god of fever hurls down som the city his lightning slashing ehrough us— raging plague in ll its vengeance, devastating the house of Cadmus! And black Death luxuriates inthe raw wailing miseries of Thebes. Now we pray you. You cannot equal the gods, 4 your children know that, bending at your altar But we do rate you first of men, both in the common crises of our lives and face-to-face encounters with the gods You freed us from the Sphinx, you came to Thebes +5 and cut us loos from the bloody tribute we had paid ‘thar harsh, bral singer. We taught you nothing, no skill, no extra knowledge, still you triumphed, A god was with you, so they say, and we believe it— you lifted up oat lives (oxo. ART 1 LITERATURE OF ANCIENT GREECE tines nares teeen bythe si So now again, Oedipus, king, we bend to you, your power— we implore you, all of us on our knees find us strength, zescue! Pechaps you've heacd the voice of a god or something from other men, Oedipus... what do you know? The man of experience—you see it every day— his plans will work in a crisis, his Best of all. ‘Act now—we beg you, best of men, raise up our city! Act, defend yourself, your former glory! Your country calls you savior now for your zeal your action years ago. [Never let us femember of your reign: you helped us stand, only to fall once moe, Ob raise up our city, set us on our fet. ‘The omens were good that day you brought us joy— he the same man today! Rule out land, you know you have the power, but re a land of the living, not a wasteland. Ship and towered city are nothing, stripped of men alive within i, living all ax one, pus. My childeen, 1 pity you. I see—how could I fal to see what longings bring you here? Well know you are sick to death, all of you, but sick as you ae, not one is sick a Your pain strikes exch of you alone, each in the confines of himself, no other. But my spice reves for the city, for myself and all of you "wasnt asleep, dreaming. You haven't wakened me— Thave wepe through the nights, you must know that, ‘stoping, laboring over many’ paths of though, After a painful search I found one cure: acted at once. I sent Creon, "ny wife's own brother, to Delphi— 52 alps: he se of & Apollo the Prophet's oracle—t0 earn temple where posheis ware what I might do or say to save ovr city fen a anime Nl Today's the day. When I count the days gone by ‘torments me... what is he doing? Strange, he's late, he's gone too long. ouowus mK 265 But once he returns, then, then I'l be a eeitor if T do not do all the god makes cleat. 9 Priest. Timely words. The men over there ate signaling-—Creon’s just arriving PAUSE & REFLECT What are your impressions of Oedipus as leader? "FOCUS Crean i¢retunig from Delphi with now: fom the god Apo, Ried to find out about the cause cfthe Plague in Thebes, Cocdipus (sighting Creon, them turning to te alta) Lord Apollo, let him come witha lucky word of reseue, shining like his eyes! Priest. Welcome news, I think—be's crowned, look, ss and the laurel wreath is bright with bere. Teer orn by the ec Ftp the ntl at . _ Cedipus, Well soon se. He's close enough to hear— (Enter Creon from the side; bis face is shaded with a wreath.) ‘Crew prince my kinsman, whae do you bring ws? ‘What message from the pod? ceeon Good news Trel you even the hardest chings ro bea, if they should torn out wel, all would be well ‘Oedipus. Of course, but what were the god's worde? There's no hope and nothing to feat in what you've said so fa. ‘rvon, Ifyou want my eepore in che presence ofthese people (pointing tothe priest while drawing Oedipus toward the palace) ‘Ym ready now, of we might go inside eps Speak out, ‘speak to us all. I grieve for these, my people, far more than {fear for my own life cron. Very well, Twill ell you what I heard from the god. Apollo commands use was quite clear— “Drive the corruption from the land, don't harbor it any longer, past al cure, don’t muss iin your soil-root it out!” eatipus. How can we cleanse ourselves—what rites? ‘Whar’ the source ofthe trouble? ‘eon. Banish the man, or pay back blood with blood. Murder sets the plague-storm on the city Seatpus ‘whose murder? ‘Whore fate does Apollo bring to light? Croom Our leader ‘ny lord, was once a man named Laius, 117 Las 0: tng of before you came and put us staight on couse Thebes below es Ceeipus, Teno — 9 30 Te heard I never saw the man mysel ‘eon, Wel, he was killed, and Apollo commands us now— he could not be more cea, ay the killers back—whoeve is responsible.” ‘Oedipus. Where on earth are they? Where to find it now, the crail ofthe ancient guile so hard to tace? ‘reon. “Here in Thebes," he sid ‘Whatever is sought for can be caught, you know, whatever is neglected slips away. Oedipus. But where, in the palace, the fields or foreign soi, ‘where did Laius meet his bloody death? ‘creon, He went to consult an oracle, Apollo said, ‘and he set out and never came home agai, ‘edipus. No messenge, no fellow-traveler saw what happened? Someone to cross-examine? creon, No, they were all killed ur one. He escaped, tervfied, he could tll us nothing clearly, nothing of what he saw—just one thing. Oedipus What's char? ‘One thing could hold the key to ie all, a small beginning give us grounds for hope. ‘reon. He said thieves attacked them—a whole band, not single-handed, ext King Laius down, Oedipus. A thie, 30 daring, so wild, e'd kill a king? Impossible, unless conspieators paid him off in Thebes. ‘reon. We suspected as much. But with Laius dead ‘no leader appeared to help usin our eeoubles Oedipus. Trouble? You: king was murdered—royal blood! ‘What stopped you fom tracking down the killer then and there? reon, ‘The singing, siding Sphin. She ... persuaded us co let the mystery go and concentrate on what lay at our fet Oedipus No, PII sare again bring i al to lighe myself Apollo is right, and so are you, Creon, to tun our attention back to the murdered man, Now you have me to fight for you, you'll ce: am the land's avenger by all rights, 154 avengar one ho puri and Apollo's champon too, renga. [OMT TWO. PART LITERATURE OF ANCIENT GREECE But not to assist some distant kinsman, no, for my own sake I'll id us ofthis corruption. 157 compton: potion ‘Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too, contains withthe same violent hand—by avenging Lain T defend myselt. (io the priests) Quickly, my children, Up from the steps, cake up your branches now lio the guards) ‘One of you summon the city here before us, tell them Fl do everything. God help us, sve will see our tiumph—or our fal (Oedipus and Creon enter the palace, followed by the guards.) 14s Pest Rise, my sons. The kindness we came for Oedipus volunteers himself. Apollo has sent his word, his oracle— Come down, Apollo, save us, stop the plague. (The priests rise, remove their branches and exit to the side.) PAUSE & REFLECT Whats the cause of th plague in Trebes? [ Focus The chor enters nd chants ple to he sos, Sern te poses stern Ae youre kr is tt lp yu vie thee of he pe Thebes, Enter a Chorus, the citizens of Thebes, who have not ‘beard the news that Creon brings. They march around the star, chanting.) Grorus Zeust Great welcome voice of Zeus, what do you bring? What word from the gold vals of Delphi comes to brilliant Thebes? Racked with terror terror shakes my heart and Iery your wild cries, Apollo, Healer of Delos | worship you in dread... what now, what is your price? ‘some new sacrifice? some ancient rte from the past «come round again each spring?— 173 aie 8 te and here pal wos bom omnes HENS 269 what wil you bring to bisth? Tell me, child of golden Hope ‘warm voice that never dies! You are the fist Teal, daughter of Zeus dleathlss Athena—Teall your sister Artemis, heart of the marke place enthroned in glory, spuardian of our earth— Tall Apollo, Archer astride the thunderheads of heaves © triple shield against death shine before me now! If eer, once inthe pas, you stopped some ruin launched ageinse ur walls you hurled the fame of pain ar from Thebes—you gods come now come dawn once more! No, no the miseries numberlss, grief on grief, no end: too much to bear we are all dying © my people Thebes lke a reat army dying and tere is no sword of thought to save ws, n0 28d efits of ou famous earth hey wl no sipen aad the women cannot scream dst pangs to ith— Grams forthe Healer children dead inthe womb neon ie ows don You can watch them g0 tke seabirds winging west, outacng the day re dows the horizon, iesisbly Steakingon tothe shores of Evening Death so many deaths, numberlss deaths on deaths, no end— ‘Thekes i dying, look, her cilren Suinged of pity rections sicwn on the ground unburied nwept the dead spreading death Sl the young wives and ray aied mothers with them dlingto the altar, tli in fom all vee the ety Thales, ety of death one long cortege 211 coupe rsa a tnd the suffering nes tren ras for mercy rie and she wild hymn forthe Healer blazes oot clashing with ou sobs on res of mourning ‘Opolden daughter of go snd rescue 28 glam dug ot 0 tadantas the kindness in your eyes! ihe Dain him back~the fever he god of death har raging god of war nor armored in bronzes nt shied now be burns, tarde eis in he onslaught burning on O tet hum fam ou borders Sal hin las him out the Sea

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