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De-lfe to inquire of the gods the reason for the plague and bow it can be eliminated ( 11. 12). Furth erm ore, Odewa.Ie admi ts: "I cannot help. Why? Because I, Odewale , son o f Ogundele, r am only a person . human : like you, and you. and ... you" (13). Although Odewale has done remarkable deed s in the past by sacking Ikalu and reigning as the victorio us king of KUOJje. be humbLy accepts that he is only human, just like any of his subjects . Rotimi adheres to Aristotle's cri terion that the tragic character be "one like ourse lves," By stating that he is only human , demonstrating how he is affected by the plague and interacting with the local people, Ode wale does not exhibit any form of hubris. As the drama continues however, Odewale increasingly displays what seems to be a tragic flaw after the Shakespearean model , one that worsens as the:play progresses. The tint sign of this flaw is demonstrated by Odewale on Aderopo's reluctance to repeat the oracle in public, "My people, I beg of yo u, plead with him, or I shall loose my temper soon!" (20). During the misunderstanding with Odewale. Saba Fakunle says: "00 on. touch me. Call up your raw anger .. ."(27) ; later be refers to Odewalc's anger as "your hot temper. like a disease from birth, is the curse that has brought you trouble " (29) . While BabaFakunle attests to the curse on Odewale that hasca used the plague using the metapho r of disease , he also implies that this disease is somehow related to the curse . Rotimi jux taposes , though ironically, the curse of the gods wi th Odewale's disease of anger. In Dem Say, Rotimi claims tha t "the human elemen t of Oedipus' tragic flaw in the Greek original is irascib ility - a congenital, 8S
inborn and therefore, perhaps. incurable affliction " (63). The interpretati o n leans towards two forces at work, the supematural, that is the Greek oracle, and the human. Oedipus' congen ital affliction . Rotimi injects this interpretation into his transfo rmatio n of the tragic character to makeOdewalemore human and acceptable in the contemporary Nigerian context , more fitting to the theme of tribalism . Before the end of the drama, it is obvious that Odewa.Ie has a serious problem with anger, which is called hot temper in Nigerian parlance. Odewale' s boyhood friend . Alaka , reveals that he used to call the King scorpion because of his temper (42). Beginning with the second scene in Act two, OdewaIe exhibits this terrible human trait which culminatesin the recogni tion scene. From the time Odewa.le is aware that the previous king waskilled by his own people and that he being a stranger (as be believes) is a target for assassination , his outbursts of anger occur frequently. His suspicions intensify because he is parano id that Aderopo desires the throne . is jealous of him, and therefore in alliance with the chiefs and priests to kill him. He provokes a duel with Aderopo and. when the latter does not give in to his provocation. he banishes him from the land, saying ·may my eyes not see Aderopo again till I die " (35) . He foreshadows his own blioding. Qu= Ojuola, who previo usly asks OdewaIe to cool his anger , tells the children that they should not make their father angry (3S, 36) . Odewale, who bimsc1fis aware of his anger , prays to Ogun in his household shrine. 10 the Greek.original , it is Jocasta who prays for Oedipus; but in the panilinea1 society in Africa. it is the man who approaches the gods on behalf of 86
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51. 101m'S RImlINKING GREEK TRAGEDY
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to th
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and Caribbean descen t, remain ed a
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CHAPTER 1 • INTRODUCTION Postc ol
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Postcolonial theory comprises the d
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colonial process . 3 The use of the
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Even mough postcolonial theory inte
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wickedness, that the very idea of i
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linguistic groups . The people who
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that is our nig1'i1utU •...• Fo
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Africans in Ivory Coast have beenqu
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how me West dealt with the Orien t
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presence show s. aim relentlessly t
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women by the natives. In "Caliban A
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privileged the aite above those wit
Page 50: CHAPfERl 11re Gods An Nol To BI4mr.
Page 53: hindered communication with the dif
Page 57 and 58: Banhamcites the production notes an
Page 59 and 60: he founded the on Olokun theatre gr
Page 61: In the legend, against the advice o
Page 64: also happens to be the household se
Page 67: human features and interact with me
Page 71: From the moment a child is conceive
Page 76: Having heard about their predicamen
Page 79: older brother rightfull y occupies
Page 82: two daughters are introduced on sta
Page 85 and 86: from whi ch the noun is derived is
Page 87 and 88: tragic flaw, his sin of hubris . br
Page 89 and 90: occur does leave room for the possi
Page 91 and 92: accepting it; the gods themselves c
Page 93 and 94: doing : you bl ed down andreceive i
Page 95: of the Townspeople: [The] old. and
Page 100 and 101: his household. Rotimi has a dual pu
Page 102 and 103: the place where three footpaths mee
Page 105 and 106: off against the old myths, the supe
Page 107 and 108: on Odewale that he should kill his
Page 109: in the first place••..(foreign
Page 115: communication is limited to only th
Page 121: entity under the colonial system. I
Page 126 and 127: the illusion that all would be well
Page 128 and 129: Letterario Internarionale Mondello
Page 133 and 134: imaginatively recreates the plot an
Page 135 and 136: in his thigh and sewed it up so tha
Page 137: In the prologue of Euripides ' lJac
Page 141 and 142: trim not only lhe bi- sexual nature
Page 143 and 144: forged fro m the ore of mountain-wo
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I find myself very much preoccupied
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of the old household slave who is t
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conflict betweenthe oppressed and t
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continues. transformed beyond the p
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into the realm of communal ritual .
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and drinks from the wine that spurt
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From orgas mic moans the surrogate
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"those gods . who yearly mus t be r
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By making the audience or a membero
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minute of his speech, he utters the
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which he turned water in to wine at
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itual . As Tiresias says, Dionysos
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172 44. Herodotus . History o/the G
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African mythological worldview on t
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Booth, James. "Human Sacrifice in L
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