"Such ties swear me to his side as if he were my father." p. 15
In this quote, Oedipus is speaking to the chorus about why he is taking such as crime like the murder of the previous king so seriously. As the new king, he feels obligated to finding out the truth. He is committed to doing so mainly because of his pride, which we can predict will be his downfall in the story. This statement however, is very ironic because those familiar with the Oedipus myth know that he is the true person responsible for committing the crime. "As if he were my father" is what makes the quote so significant because other relatives rather than a father could have been used to represent closeness, for example, a brother. Sophocles' diction makes the audience want to see how Oedipus finds out the truth even more since he is saying such things that will come back to haunt him.
I had the same quote! Love it =]
ReplyDeletei have the same quote too ^.^ and i dont know how to make it and individual blog post so ima just comment!
ReplyDeleteThis quote is just ironic in it's entirety. Oedipus is speaking to the people at this point and basically says that he will not rest until he finds out who killed the King. Its ironic because the reader would of course know that Oedipus is the murderer. I actually found this particular quote to be really funny because as you read further into the play you see that Tiresias practically tells Oedipus to his face that the person he is looking for is himself. He even goes as far as saying that Oedipus and his wife are living in sin; "I say that you and your most dearly loved Are wrapped together in a hideous sin, blind to the horror of it"(21). the sin being that Oedipus has unknowingly married his mother, which you probably can see why its a problem. I believe that Sophocles included these words into this version of the play because it just adds to the whole irony of the play.The fact that he's hunting for himself just entertains me.