Quiz in Oedipus the King

"CHORUS..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"In a car drawn by colts--as in thy tale-- The man in front and the old man himself Threatened to thrust me rudely from the path, Then jostled by the charioteer in wrath I struck him, and the old man, seeing this, Watched till I passed and from his car brought down Full on my head the double-pointed goad. Yet was I quits with him and more; one stroke Of my good staff sufficed to fling him clean Out of the chariot seat and laid him prone. And so I slew them every one...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"CHORUS (Ant. 2) King, I say it once again, Witless were I proved, insane, If I lightly put away Thee my country's prop and stay, Pilot who, in danger sought, To a quiet haven brought Our distracted State; and now Who can guide us right but thou?..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"CREON Thy Thebans? am not I a Theban too?..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"where Hath this been proven? Or how without sign assured, can I blame Him who saved our State when the winged songstress came, Tested and tried in the light of us all, like gold assayed? How can I now assent when a crime is on Oedipus laid?..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"For blind of seeing, clad in beggar's weeds, For purple robes, and leaning on his staff, To a strange land he soon shall grope his way. And of the children, inmates of his home, He shall be proved the brother and the sire, Of her who bare him son and husband both, Co-partner, and assassin of his sire...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"To twit me with my blindness--thou hast eyes, Yet see'st not in what misery thou art fallen, Nor where thou dwellest nor with whom for mate. Dost know thy lineage? Nay, thou know'st it not, And all unwitting art a double foe To thine own kin, the living and the dead;..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Wherein thou wast found lacking; neither birds Nor sign from heaven helped thee, but I came, The simple Oedipus; I stopped her mouth By mother wit, untaught of auguries...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"OEDIPUS Offspring of endless Night, thou hast no power O'er me or any man who sees the sun...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"OEDIPUS Teiresias, seer who comprehendest all, Lore of the wise and hidden mysteries, High things of heaven and low things of the earth, Thou knowest, though thy blinded eyes see naught, What plague infects our city; and we turn To thee, O seer, our one defense and shield...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"I summon him to make clean shrift to me. And if he shrinks, let him reflect that thus Confessing he shall 'scape the capital charge; For the worst penalty that shall befall him Is banishment--unscathed he shall depart...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"therefore I His blood-avenger will maintain his cause As though he were my sire..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"OEDIPUS Well, I will start afresh and once again Make dark things clear...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"CREON The riddling Sphinx compelled us to let slide The dim past and attend to instant needs...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"CREON He fell; and now the god's command is plain: Punish his takers-off, whoe'er they be...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Now, in what a sea of troubles sunk and overwhelmed he lies! Therefore wait to see life's ending ere thou count one mortal blest; Wait till free from pain and sorrow he has gained his final rest...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"What's done was well done. Thou canst never shake My firm belief. A truce to argument. For, had I sight, I know not with what eyes I could have met my father in the shades, Or my poor mother, since against the twain I sinned, a sin no gallows could atone...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Such was the burden of his moan, whereto, Not once but oft, he struck with his hand uplift His eyes, and at each stroke the ensanguined orbs Bedewed his beard, not oozing drop by drop, But one black gory downpour, thick as hail...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Let the storm burst, my fixed resolve still holds, To learn my lineage, be it ne'er so low. It may be she with all a woman's pride Thinks scorn of my base parentage...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Did they not point at me as doomed to slay My father? but he's dead and in his grave And here am I who ne'er unsheathed a sword;..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"O Zeus, reveal thy might, King, if thou'rt named aright Omnipotent, all-seeing, as of old; For Laius is forgot; His weird, men heed it not; Apollo is forsook and faith grows cold...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Of insolence is bred The tyrant; insolence full blown, With empty riches surfeited, Scales the precipitous height and grasps the throne. Then topples o'er and lies in ruin prone; No foothold on that dizzy steep...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"To follow still those laws ordained on high Whose birthplace is the bright ethereal sky No mortal birth they own, Olympus their progenitor alone:..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"So much for divination. Henceforth I Will look for signs neither to right nor left...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"But if he says one lonely wayfarer, The last link wanting to my guilt is forged...."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Methought I heard thee say that Laius Was murdered at the meeting of three roads. ..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"I know not, and not knowing hold my tongue. ..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"In reading riddles who so skilled as thou? ..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)

"Think'st thou for aye unscathed to wag thy tongue? ..."  See in text (Oedipus the King)