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For my second post, since I was absent for that the first day (so really, it's more like the first post??), I believe we talked about anything we wanted, right? Well, just like everyone talked about, the language was hard to get used to at first, but luckily I love languages and learning them so I used my resources a lot to help me understand - similar to what I did with A Clockwork Orange.  Without looking some things up, I probably wouldn't understand it that well, but that's okay. Definitely not the worst thing we've ever had to read.

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So, I (or should I say... EYE//someone hit me) see we talked about the dramatic stabbing of eyes scene today. Well, I definitely find that to have been rather interesting, but to be honest, I wouldn't expect anything less from a Greek tragedy. Or any tragedy. One main thing with tragedies are that they ARE dramatic, right? So it's expected to me. I really like what Alyssa said about him being ignorant so he was already "blind" in a sense, so I agree with that and thought it was a good point.

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I mean, that's a pretty interesting that he'd stab his eyes out. I don't think it was necessary a bit of a shocker but it just doesn't really add up or make any sense to me why he had to be that extreme with it.

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I definitely think the stabbing out of his eyes was for dramatic effect more than anything, and to express his literal failure and refusal to "see the truth". I can see why some people think that it was unnecessary when he kills himself anyways, but the point of a play is to be dramatic and entertaining.

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I'm confused as to why he chose to stab his eyes out and then proceed to kill himself. If he had planned on killing himself, then what was the purpose of of the whole "stabbing the eyes out" bit. I sort of understand that maybe it wasn't used to make the ending more dramatic, but honestly I feel as though it wasn't unnecessary. I mean the both of them already are killing themselves, so I feel that the stabbing the eyes out wasn't really needed.

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W had realized, as an audience, from the beginning knew that something tragic was going to take place. Yet, some things just don't make sense in my mind. Just as some of my peers say, the stabbing out of his eyes is just so - 'worthless."
He is clearly oblivious on his actions, but why was that needed?

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The whole eye stabbing thing just doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. Like Brooke said, the whole situation that was going on was just insane and clearly Oedipus acted out without thinking to clearly about the repercussions of his actions. It seemed like he was going to kill himself in the end anyways, but now he doesn't have any eyes instead. Just really doesn't add up.

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After reading the first part a lot of isn't felt that Jocasta did not have a correct reaction to Oedipus' suspicions. Now after reading the second part I feel as if Jocasta may have overreacted. The information she was faced with was intense and probably greatly disturbing but her children weren't of significant age and she had been married to Oedipus for what we assume is a long time. So I feel that her reaction while understandable was a little bit too much

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I just don't get why he stabbed out his eyes. He planned on killing himself in the end anyway. Why didn't he just do that instead of poking his eyes out? Just seems counterproductive. Also, why doesn't anyone ever listen to what women have to say in these stories? They usually turn out bring right.

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Oedipus vowed he would either kill or exile the murderer of his father, so does he follow through with it at the end? I was a little confused with his dialogue with Creon and it seemed like he was pretty much banishing himself, but I couldn't tell. I am a little curious if the play was to go on, would Oedipus eventually commit suicide?

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I find it interesting that Oedipus's first decision after finding out Jocasta committed suicide was to stab his eyes out. He didn't hesitate or think about the consequences. On the "bright" side of the issue, the prophecy was already fulfilled so nothing worse could've happen and in a sense, Oedipus was arrogant and ignorant which made him already "blind". But at the same time, I feel like he made his situation worse out of haste and self-pity by stabbing his eyes out.  There had to be a least one good reason to keep his eye sight because for every negative, there's always a positive.

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There is dramatic irony in the fact that Oedipus' "father' dies. They believe he is safe from the prophesy, denounce prophesies overall and declare that life is ruled by fate. this is ironic because in reality, the prophesy is correct and Oedipus doesn't know what is actually going on. It makes a statement about human beliefs. they are what they are, but they're usually incorrect or at least subjective, and don't really matter.
SOS, i'm still not understanding why/how Oedipus didn't know he killed Laius??

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After finding out about what he and Jocasta had done, Oedipus continues to search for more information on the situation. Seeking out answers is only making it worse, but he cannot just let it be. I find our need for closure and how we feel the need to figure everything out really interesting.

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I was confused reading the end, the dialogue was hard to follow. though I did find it interesting that they still thought Oedipus was such a great after the incestrial relationship and the death of his mother.

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There is both fate and freewill in this play. Oedipus' fate is that he will fall in love with his mother and kill his father. He tries to go against it, but he can't get around it. However, he does have the freewill to look for the truth. Jocasta told him not to look deeper, but Oedipus did. He had the freewill to search to what he was looking even though it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

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For this second half of the reading, I found it interesting how Jocasta's death was foreshadowed (not that we didn't already know that given the picture on the right). Upon entering the stage, she says she is going to the temples with incense and flowers as an offering for Oedipus. In the beginning however, Oedipus declared that none should pray for the soul of the killer or else they shall suffer the same punishment as the killer. Her offering clearly showcases that she is going to die. In this way, Oedipus fulfills the prophesy that he is to commit parricide.

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Loxias = Apollo (the god of prophesies....)
Don't forget to consult the family tree in your tank, so you know who everyone is
:) Mrs G

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I, like most people, was confused on the dialogue of the play. The language was hard to follow at times. If I did not have a summary before hand, I would be completely lost. Putting the writing aside, I wonder what the message of the play is. Is our fate inevitable? Is there evil in all of us? Are we our own worst enemy?

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I had a hard time getting into this play because of the language. It took me a lot longer than I thought to read it because I had to keep going back to re read certain parts because I just wasn't understanding it.

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I struggled with both the language and the chorus. I found that reading it more than once helped a little bit, but it was hard to make connections and "see" the plot in my head. I think that it was a much different style than we've read so far. I'm interested to hear our in-class conversations on this one.

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I don't really understand why Oedipus just wasn't killed on the spot. I mean if he was not killed then we wouldn't have a story but it is logical in a sense. Is his fatal flaw slowly discerned? Are his characteristics leading him to more and more dark times? *evident it's a tragedy* I don't really understand how he didn't really realize that he did not kill Laius. Of course, the dialogue is difficult so I may have missed something.

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I just don't understand how he avoided all information on the king's murder until then.  Does he not communicate with anyone in the castle or is he just that ignorant of anyone but himself?  Is his ignorance and his arrogance his downfall?  His fatal flaw?  Will this characteristic lead him to even more despair?

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I'm confused as to why they didn't just kill Oedipus right when they found out. I don't understand why they would think it would be a better idea to just leave him chained up in the woods and expect him to die. Grant it, he was a baby and it would be kind of a first thought to assume that if you leave a baby in the woods chained up by itself, it's probably going to die. The problem there is the "probably" part. He didn't die. If they were so worried about the prophecy, I would have thought that they would have at least made sure the baby was dead and just have done the deed instead expecting luck to be on their side.

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What I don't understand is this: if they were so convinced that this prophecy would come true and Oedipus would some day kill his father, then why wouldn't they see it through that he would actually die? Is killing a baby in thought somehow better than seeing it actually done? Does this count as a testimony against the prophet?

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The language used was confusing me a little. If I went back and took it slow a few more times, then I could understand it better. Since it was written so long ago (ancient Greek times), I guess this only makes sense for it to be a little hard to understand at first.

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One part I really don't understand is how Oedipus doesn't know he was the one who killed Laius? He seems so set on finding out who this person is but how can he just not know it's him? I'm not sure how you could forget something like that, unless I'm missing some part of the story?

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I noticed the presence of birds in they story and think they might be symbolic for death or doom like a crow is symbolic to death. I read that in greek mythology, birds are a way to tell the future and bring certain omens.

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I believe that Oedipus is a great King. When his people are nervous about the plague, Oedipus is already ahead of them by sending Creon to Delphic oracle to find the cure. Oedipus truly cares about his people.

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There are several displays of irony through the first part alone.  For one, even through the prophet is physically blind, she is the one who knows the truth.  Rather, it is Oedipus who cannot "see" or accept the truth.  Also, it is ironic that Oedipus is so determined to rid the land of Laius' killer when it is in fact himself.

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I just do not get why Jocasta is so confident her child died when she didn't witness it his death With this in mind, she should be a bit more worried about Oedipus being the killer. Also, why does everyone dismiss the prophet when they are suppose to be all knowing.

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I think my favorite character so far is Tiresias. He seems like a grandfatherly man. I admire that he doesn't want to cause Oedipus or the city pain over the truth about the kings death. At the same time, however, I like how, once Oedipus starts being an arrogant jerk, Tiresias calls him out for it. When Oedipus calls him a traitor, Tiresias throws it back into his face reveling that Oedipus is the killer. Tiresias, although blind and old, demands respect.

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1) is it common for people to go to the Delphic oracle or any oracle just to hear their fate/prophecy or do they have to have a reason to go? For instance, oedipus sent creon to the Oracle to find out how to cure the plague. Hence, he had a reason to go

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I'm confused as to why Jocasta is not more worried that she possibly married her husband's killer/son? Like I feel like she should have been freaking out and told the story about her and Laius leaving him on the mountain. Maybe she does and it's the next part that we haven't read. I don't know she just seems way to calm about the whole situation to me.

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I'm a little confused by what is happening. I have used spark notes I just don't see that that's what's happening in the book. I did miss two days of class but I did get the notes and looked things up online and I'm still confused.

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I'm a little confused with the purpose of the chorus. I guess I understand why they're there, but whenever they make a comment, it doesn't make sense what they're saying. It seems a little random and, to me, like it doesn't connect to the action that just took place.