Oedipus The King, 1

The people of Thebes are beseeching their king, Oedipus, to help them.  The priest explains that they want to be rid of the plague that holds them.  They know that once before Oedipus rid them of one terrible trouble-- the Sphinx.  They hope that Oedipus can again be the savior for the people.  Oedipus: "Yes, of course.  I knew all that already.  In fact, I've already sent my brother-in-law [actually his uncle] to learn from the oracle of Apollo what might be done."

Creon arrives and announces that, per Apollo, the solution is simple.  The city suffers because the death of its previous king, Laius, went wholly unpunished.  Oedipus asks the circumstances of his death, and Creon relates the story of how Laius was killed, along with his band of travellers, during a pilgrimage outside the city.  Oedipus: "Sons of bitches."

The Chorus pray to the gods for their aid to Oedipus in finally righting the wrong.  They pray to a number of gods in turn, especially Athena, Artemis, and Apollo.

Oedipus gathers the people and asks that anyone with any knowledge of Laius's death to come forward, but is only met with silence.  He tries to cajole their confession with flattery and rewards.  When that doesn't work, he threatens them with punishment.  Nobody comes forward [because no one actually knows anything].  At last the Chorus suggests that Oedipus consult with the blind prophet Tiresias.  Oedipus: "Of course.  I've already sent for him."  The Chorus also hints at stories of the murder of Laius by other travellers, but there are no witnesses.

Tiresias enters, and Oedipus grandly asks him to proclaim what he knows, so that he might get on with the saving of the city.

Shit's about to get real.

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Translation by Paul Roche again, and it's a breath of fresh air after The Women of Trachis.  Here I can actually feel the rhythm of the translated poetry.  The structure of the Chorus sections is also quite pleasing, as he delineates the call-and-response pattern of the two halves of the Chorus.  The translation really makes a huge difference.

I'm starting to get pissed off that all of the cool action is in the back stories of these plays.  Oedipus's step-parents already heard the original prophecy and sent him away in a panic, Oedipus already killed his father and married his mother, and Oedipus already solved the riddle of the Sphinx.  Okay..... but when do I actually get to read any of this stuff?  I don't, apparently.

It occurs to me, then, that there's no such thing as a twist in any of these plays.  The stories are so well known that they make up the background knowledge in the Greek cultural awareness.  Nothing in the plot of the play is ever surprising.  But I wonder if they told the stories to children in such a way as to surprise them with the plot twists?  Hmmm.

To make up for the lack of tension in the plot, the lines themselves are packed with irony-- highly entertaining for the all-knowing audience.  The characterization is crucial as well.  In this case, Sophocles has made Oediups a self-aggrandizing buffoon-- and it's hilarious.  "Yes, of course, I'm one step ahead of you."  And some of the ironic lines are particularly well-placed:

For who knows, tomorrow this selfsame murderer
may turn his bloody hands on me.
The cause of Laius therefore is my own.
....
And if I myself should prove myself
to have him in my halls an intimate,
Then on myself I call down every curse I've just invoked.

Is this a drama or a comedy? The audience must have been roaring with laughter.