1 Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus Introduced and Translated by ...

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Introduction There have never been greater plays written than those by the ancient Greeks of the fifth century BC. They helped teach the Athenian audience what it was to be a good citizen, and they are still teaching us what it is to be a good human being. There were three major playwrights of tragedy in ancient Greece: Aeschylus ca. 525-456 BC; Sophocles ca. 496-406 BC; and Euripides ca. 485-406 BC. In his plays, Aeschylus shows god confronting god; Sophocles, man confronting god and his fate; and Euripides shows man confronting him or herself. Sophocles was a great humanist and one who celebrated the hero. Oedipus is a perfect example. The first performance of drama is said to have been given by Thespis in Athens around 534 BC. Groups of people formed choruses, and when the choral leader spoke to the chorus, dialogue was born. Gradually single actors were added, two, then three, and possibly even four, but never more than four. The roles were all played by men wearing masks, at first only citizens, including the playwright. By the end of the 5 th century, the chorus was made up of fifteen men who sang and danced. Opera which arose in 17 th century Italy was said to be based on ancient Greek tragedy. The main festival, at which plays were performed in fifth-century BC Athens, was called the Greater Dionysia. It took place in the springtime, after the winter storms, so that people from other countries could attend. At first these ancient plays were connected ones. Aeschylus wrote a trilogy containing Laius, Oedipus, and Seven Against Thebes, followed by the satyr play The Sphinx. These were all on the theme of Oedipus and his family and date to about 467 BC. Only Seven Against Thebes survives. The Satyr play was a comic play that used the language of tragedy and often made fun of tragic themes. Comedies, such as those of Aristophanes, were more free, and often followed the Satyr play. The plays, which were performed outdoors, began in the morning and continued throughout the day. Zeus, the god of rain, became a critic. Usually the program for one day would be three tragedies, one Satyr play and one comedy. The government and wealthy citizens subsidized the performances. Maintaining a good drama festival at this time was considered as important as maintaining an army or navy. 2
Sophocles was born at Colonus near Athens in about 496 BC and died in 406 BC. He was a model citizen. He acted as Hellenotamias (a treasurer, 443/2 BC) in the league Athens organized after the Peace of Callias with Persia. He was said to have led a chorus and to have danced around the trophy after the battle of Salamis. He also served as a general dealing with the Samian revolt in 441. Some say that the Antigone earned him this position. Others suggest that Sophocles' disgust at the exposure of the enemies' corpses might have led him to write this play. After the Sicilian defeat in 413 BC, he was one of the Probouloi (special Athenian officials). Sophocles followed in Aeschylus' footsteps by serving his city when he could. He lived to about 90, and it is said that he was sued by a son, who claimed he was no longer capable of managing his own affairs. His defense was to read lines from a chorus praising Athens from Oedipus at Colonus, which he was writing at the time. Needless to say, he was acquitted. The ancients regarded Sophocles as a man at ease with himself and contented with life. In Plato's Republic (329C), he is reported to have claimed that he was happy that he was finally free from that wild taskmaster, love. After his death, he was said to have become a sacred hero like Oedipus, and was worshipped as Dexion, roughly translated as "he who receives," because of his association with the cult of Asclepius, which he had helped to introduce into Athens after the plague. He also was a priest of the healing spirit Halon. Sophocles is the playwright of heroism. Oedipus is truly a hero, from his first victory in overcoming the Sphinx - the monster who was killing citizens from Thebes. He was also a hero in solving the riddle of his own existence, and accepting full responsibility for his actions. He is offered opportunities to escape in the course of the play, but he refuses them all. Even at his or her best, it is difficult to feel empathy towards a Sophoclean hero, who is both alienated and alienating; nevertheless, one has to admire the single-minded pursuit of goals which so often entail self-destruction, along with the destruction of others. As Bernard Knox says, "Sophocles creates a tragic universe in which man's heroic action, free and responsible, brings him sometimes through suffering to victory but more 3
Page 1: Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus Intro
Page 5 and 6: his own destruction. There is the s
Page 7 and 8: First Performance: 6 th at Penn The
Page 9 and 10: A crowd led by Zeus’ PRIEST gathe
Page 11 and 12: PRIEST The news must be good; other
Page 13 and 14: CREON All those with the king died,
Page 15 and 16: And protect me from all harm. Just
Page 17 and 18: I forbid any citizen of this land o
Page 19 and 20: A man who’s not afraid to commit
Page 21 and 22: OEDIPUS But shouldn’t you tell me
Page 23 and 24: OEDIPUS You live in perpetual night
Page 25 and 26: TIRESIAS Nonsense Your parents thou
Page 27 and 28: I have nothing to say, Either to ag
Page 29 and 30: OEDIPUS It’s not wise to think yo
Page 31 and 32: OEDIPUS I don’t deny it. CREON Yo
Page 33 and 34: OEDIPUS All the same, I have to rul
Page 35 and 36: Anger hurts the angry man most of a
Page 37 and 38: death at his son’s hands. So much
Page 39 and 40: OEDIPUS Is he here now In the palac
Page 41 and 42: and killing my father Polybus, who
Page 43 and 44: Or touches what must not be touched
Page 45 and 46: JOCASTA What are you saying Oedipus
Page 47 and 48: OEDIPUS That would all be fine, if
Page 49 and 50: Yes. That’s what frightens me. ME
Page 51 and 52: That’s how you got your name, Oed
Page 53 and 54:
Please. Listen to me. I beg you. Do
Page 55 and 56:
CHORUS Yes. I recognize the man. Al
Page 57 and 58:
OEDIPUS Don’t hit him! He doesn
Page 59 and 60:
OEDIPUS And I, to hear it. But it m
Page 61 and 62:
Time, the all-seeing, Has found you
Page 63 and 64:
Terrible horror for both husband an
Page 65 and 66:
OEDIPUS What is left for me to see,
Page 67 and 68:
yes, you engendered the most shamef
Page 69 and 70:
from sickness or anything else: I w
Page 71 and 72:
CREON Tell me. I’ll listen. OEDIP
Page 73 and 74:
GLOSSARY Abae (A, as in add, -bee),
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