I added this to my reading list when I first decided to make this a universal human knowledge project, and not simply a human literature project. Philosophy selections will be thrown in for the same reason.
It's also important for me to read this because I want to better understand Picture This by Joseph Heller when I finally get back to it. That book was amazing, and it would probably be even more amazing if I knew exactly what went on between the Athenians and the Spartans.
Thucydides was also prominently mentioned in the discussions of Grand Strategies: Literature, Statecraft, and World Order by Charles Hill, interviewed on several of my favorite podcasts last year. It seemed a worthwhile commentary on the things I've been reading, and the Peloponnesian War is the basis of the rest of the historical comparisons in that book.
I purchased my copy at the same time I purchased Hill's book in early 2011-- at the time, I thought it was a pressing purchase. I chose the translation by Steven Lattimore, son of Richmond Lattimore, who I used for Homer.
But I was so impressed with the Landmark Herodotus, that I've also borrowed the Landmark Thucydides from the Mount Prospect Library. If nothing else, it's maps should be helpful as I orient my mental space toward the battle action. And I started by reading its appendices, which give a nice background to the political and cultural, and military life in which Thucidydes lived and wrote and in which the war was fought.
I don't know if I'll be keeping detailed notes or if it will follow the patterns of the Herodotus. I've got a little more time to finish this, so we shall see.
And it only took just under a year. This whole thing is going to take much longer than I thought if I don't get a move on.
I'll be doing some re-reads of some of the non-Thebian Sophocles from a collection of Roche translations I picked up-- just once through to get the flavor of the plays from language I've come to appreciate.
But in the meantime, I need a break from Greek tragedy. So on to the Peloponnesian War!
A storm rises, and Oedipus recognizes that the end of his life is at hand. He calls for Theseus to fulfill one last task. The Chorus is terrified that the wrath of the gods might befall them at last.
Instead, Oedipus grants protection to Theseus and his city if his instructions are carried out. Theseus must follow Oedipus to his final resting place, but keep its location a secret. They leave with Antigone and Ismene for the final journey, with Oedipus leading the way.
The Chorus sing a song of requiem, and of praise to Hades and Persephone, gods of the underworld.
A messenger arrives to describe the final actions. They walked to the very entrance of the underworld itself. Oedipus said his final goodbyes and granted his daughters to the protection of the city of Colonus. Then the gods called him home, a final step witnessed only by Theseus. It was a peaceful passing.
The girls arrive, devastated. Antigone, especially, does not wish to go on with her life, and wishes instead to follow her father to death itself. Ismene reminds her that it is impossible. Theseus will not budge and will keep the secret as instructed. Antigone resolves, then, to return to Thebes and do what she can to protect her brothers, an act of Love that flows from her father's own love for her.
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Oedipus has said what needed to be said in his life, and goes truly at peace. So it is with Sophocles.
Oedipus clamors for the protection of Theseus, who denounces Creon for flouting the laws and customs of the city he has entered. Creon throws it back at him, denouncing Theseus for harboring such an awful, twisted man as Oedipus-- simultaneously gladhanding Theseus for his city's stellar reputation, now at risk. Oedipus can't take it, and once again protests his innocence. He cannot be guilty of wrongdoing if all the events were fated, if he was unaware that it was his father who he killed and his mother who he married, and if anyone in his position, knowing what he knew, would have been justified in doing the same. Theseus sends Creon away, along with a party to retrieve Antigone and Ismene, and threatens Creon with further reprisal if he interferes, or if his co-conspirators don't cooperate.
The Chorus describe the hunt in song, praising the gods of Athens who aid the effort.
The girls are returned to their father, and Oedipus praises Theseus again, almost embarrassed at his devotion. Theseus tells him he is welcome again, then leaves to take care of urgent but mysterious business. A stranger from Thebes has arrived to speak with Oedipus, who recognizes immediately that his son is here to draw him back to the family conflict, again in fulfillment of the prophecy. He greatly desires not to have that conversation, but Antigone convinces him to give his estranged son another chance.
Polynieces enters, bemoaning his father's reduced state. But down to business. Polynieces was driven from the city by his younger brother Eteocles. He then raised an army to take the city back. He is asking Oedipus to join him to ensure that justice-- the rights of the older brother-- may be established. Oedipus finally gets to respond to his son, an opportunity he has been waiting for for many years, and he takes full advantage [and it's awesome]:
You trustees of this realm,
since Theseus sent him here
and asked me to reply, I will.
Nothing less would let him hear my voice.
But now he shall be graced with it
in accents that will bring him little joy.
Liar!
When you held hte scepter and the throne
which your brother at the moment holds in Thebes,
you drove me out,
drove this your father out,
displaced me from my city.
You are the reason for these rage--
rages that make you cry to see,
now that you have reached rock bottom too.
The season for condolences is past.
What I must bear must last as long as life,
last in my thoughts of you as my destroyer.
Oh yes, it's you that dragged me down!
You expelled me, you arranged
that I should beg my daily bread.
But for my two girls
I should not even be alive if left to you.
It's they who tend me, they preserve me.
They are the ones who play a man's and not a woman's part.
But you, you and your brother-- bastards--
are no sons of mine.
The eye of Fate is on you now.
Her glance is mild to what it soon shall be
if once your armies march on Thebes.
Never shall you topple down that city.
Instead, you'll trip up headlong into blood,
your brother too,
spattering each other.
Long ago I cursed you both,
and now once more I summon up those curses,
let them battle for me.
Let them teach you reverence
for those that gave you birth.
Let them teach you what contempt is worth
of an eyeless Father
who had such worthless sons.
My daughters did not treat me so.
Therefore, if Justice is still seated
side by side with Zeus
in ancient and eternal sway,
I consign to perdition
your sanctimonious supplications
and your precious throne.
So, leave my sight. Get gone and die:
you trash-- no son of mine.
Die,
with these my curses
ringing in your ears:
Never to flatten your motherland beneath your spear,
Never to set foot again in Arvgive's vales,
Instead you die,
die by a brother's blow
and make him dead by yours
who drove you out.
That's my prayer for you.
I summon the pitchy gloom of Tartarus
to gulp you down
to a new paternal home.
I summon the holy spirits of this place.
I summon Ares the Destroyer,
who whirled you into hatred and collision.
With these imprecations in your ears, get out.
Go publish them in Thebes.
Go tell your bellicose and trusty champions
the will and testament
That Oedipus bequeaths to his two sons.
The Chorus suggests that Polynieces leave.
Polynieces is devastated. He'll be destroyed by his own army if they learn the truth. He begs his sisters to take care of his grave when he inevitably loses his life. Antigone asks that he not return to the war at all, but his sense of honor demands that he go back. He makes her promise again to take care of his grave. Polynieces exits.
Ismene remains silent.
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The plot is an interesting retrospective on Oedipus's life. Characters enter, say their peace, and leave. It allows Oedipus to say what must to said to each. The structure, actually, calls to mind The Dark Knight Returns, in that individual villains enter, are dealt with, and then Batman moves on to the next.
Tried to find a good performance of Oedipus cursing out Polynieces. It doesn't appear to have been a part of The Gospel of Oedipus. There was one made-for-TV version from the '80s that didn't seem to capture the moment very well. But there was also this:
But I was so impressed with the Landmark Herodotus, that I've also borrowed the Landmark Thucydides from the Mount Prospect Library. If nothing else, it's maps should be helpful as I orient my mental space toward the battle action. And I started by reading its appendices, which give a nice background to the political and cultural, and military life in which Thucidydes lived and wrote and in which the war was fought.