1 Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus Introduced and Translated by ...
1 Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus Introduced and Translated by ...
1 Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus Introduced and Translated by ...
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PRIEST<br />
The news must be good; otherwise, he wouldn’t wear a laurel wreath.<br />
We’ll know soon enough. Here he is.<br />
Enter CREON.<br />
OEDIPUS<br />
Creon, what news do you bring us from the god 2<br />
CREON<br />
Good news. Even misery, if it is cured, can lead to happiness.<br />
OEDIPUS<br />
What do you mean<br />
What you say brings me neither joy nor fear. 90<br />
CREON<br />
Do you want me to speak in public Or should we go inside<br />
OEDIPUS<br />
Speak in front of everyone.<br />
I am concerned more for these people than for my own life.<br />
CREON<br />
I shall tell you what the god told me.<br />
We must drive out of our city some evil presence<br />
that has settled in our midst <strong>and</strong> is now thriving. 3<br />
We must stop feeding it until it becomes incurable.<br />
How do we get rid of it Tell me about it.<br />
OEDIPUS<br />
2 The Greeks believed in many gods, <strong>and</strong> Apollo is simply one of them. It is misleading to speak of God, as<br />
if there were a single god.<br />
3 The word for evil presence is miasma, something that is polluting the country. Miasma is often used to<br />
describe some pollution that is unholy <strong>and</strong> defiles the gods. The gods will punish people who keep such an<br />
evil presence in their community.<br />
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