Blog HW #2: Oedipus

Quote from Roche: "The lady is his wife and mother. . . of his children." (49)

Quote from Fagles: "But there is his queen, his wife and mother of his children." (Ln.1016-1017)

I found this quote from Roche's translation to be very significant and ironic. Since Roche uses the ellipsis it creates more of an ironic significance because Jocasta is in fact Oedipus's wife and his mother. When I noticed that Fagles had changed that part in his translation it upset me. By taking away the ellipsis it also takes away from the irony when it is read. In Fagles's translation that quote now just stands almost as a fact or statement while in Roche's translation it creates irony and a sense of foreshadowing for what is to come in the next few pages of the play. It completely changes the meaning of the statement and I prefer Roche's translation.