Oedipus Quotes Flashcards
Truth and Desire
“My curse on the murderer… let that man drag out his life in agony” - Oedipus episode 1
“I must know it all, I must see the truth at last” - Oedipus episode 3
“Respect him… he’s strong with the oath he swears to god” - Chorus episode 2
“So much for prophecy. It’s neither here nor there” - Jocasta episode 2
Action and Contemplation
“I sent Creon” - Oedipus episode 1
“Where were you?… your gods – nothing. But I came by, Oedipus the ignorant” - Oedipus episode 1
“Now again, good helmsman, steer us through the storm” - Chorus episode 2
“Hear me out, then judge me on the facts” - Creon episode 2
Pride and Humility
“You all know me, the world knows my fame” - Oedipus prologue
“You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers” - Oedipus episode 1
“Pride breeds the tyrant” - Chorus episode 2
“Oh Oedipus… our greatest power!” - Priest Prologue
Exile and Ostracism
“All come true, burst to light!… cursed in my birth, cursed in my marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!” - Oedipus episode 4
“Take me away… from Thebes, quickly, cast me away” - Oedipus exodus
Fate and Free Will
“The play [is]… a heroic example of man’s dedication to the search for truth” - Knox
“I must know it all, I must see the truth at last” - Oedipus episode 3
“My darkness, drowning, swirling around me crashing wave on wave” - Oedipus episode 4
“Great laws tower above us” - Chorus episode 2
Sight and Blindness
“You, plotting to kill me, kill the King – I see it all, the marauding thief” - Oedipus episode 1
“So much for prophecy. It’s neither here nor there” - Jocatsta episode 2
“You mock my blindness?… you’re blind to the corruption of your life” - Tiresias episode 1
Guilt and Shame
“He rose to power, a man beyond all power… Now what a black sea of terror has overwhelmed him” - Chorus Exodus (final ode)
“Kindred alone should see a kinsman’s shame” - Creon exodus
