ENG
4U
September
6, 2012
Oedipus Rex: Ode І
In Oedipus Rex, Ode I appears
after Oedipus had been arguing with Teiresias, the blind seer, after being
asked by the priest of the city to find the reason for the plagues occurrence
in Thebes. There are three cases where the Ode provides us with extra
information regarding, the plague, the murder of Laïos and Oedipus’s rule.
Kreon, after visiting the Temple of Apollo tells Oedipus that the plague
occurrence is connected with the murder of Laïos. The Ode interprets the
situation that occurred in Scene І:
The Delphic stone of
prophecies
Remembers ancient
regicide
And a still bloody
hand (451-454)
This
interprets the Oracle’s prophesy to mean that the plague would stop if the
murderer of Laïos would be found and prosecuted. In Scene 2, Teiresias was
arguing with Oedipus and he accuses him of murdering Laïos. The Chorus reflects
the thought of the elders of the city in this Ode: “Shall I believe my great
lord criminal/ At the raging word of a blind old man let fall?”(484-485). This
clarifies the thoughts of the characters in the play as they are thinking
whether they should believe Teiresias to be a blind seer and fool, or that
their king, Oedipus, killed Laïos. Before Oedipus becomes king of Thebes, he
arrives at the city shortly after Laïos had been murdered. The Ode also
provides commentary of Laïos being related to Oedipus: “And never until now has
any man brought word/ Of Laïos dark death staining Oedipus the King” (478-479).
This is explaining for the first time in the play that the murder of Laïos had
been connected with Oedipus, which could ruin his reputation in the land.
Throughout the play, the Odes and the Parodos come to fill in commentary and
inner workings, as well as missing information in the play which the audience
has not yet understood or heard.
Work Cited
Sophocles. “Oedipus Rex.” The
Heath Introduction to Literature. Ed. Alice S. Landy & Dave Martin.
Canada: D.C. Heath Canada Limited.1982.363-406.
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