Three Theban Plays (Oedipus Cycle)

Author: Sophocles, trans. Robert Fagles
Rating: 8/10
Last Read: December 2012

Quick Summary: One of my favorite classes in college traced the development of knowledge from ancient Greece through the middle ages. One of the books we read was Robert Fagles’s translation of the Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus. Many are nominally familiar with the character of Oedipus, but the story is much more tragic than the “oedipal” nature that most of us recall. Reading the plays firsthand was definitely enjoyable. There are wise words and challenging thoughts about implicit rules, duty, and the hand of fate.

My Highlights

I mean you well. I give you sound advice. It’s best to learn from a good adviser when he speaks for your own good: it’s pure gain. –loc 1243

Believe me, when a man has squandered his true joys, he’s good as dead, I tell you, a living corpse. Pile up riches in your house, as much as you like— live like a king with a huge show of pomp, but if real delight is missing from the lot, I wouldn’t give you a wisp of smoke for it, not compared with joy. –loc 1318

Creon shows the world that of all the ills afflicting men the worst is lack of judgment. –loc 1356

That will come when it comes; we must deal with all that lies before us. The future rests with the ones who tend the future. –loc 1404

Wisdom is by far the greatest part of joy, and reverence toward the gods must be safeguarded. The mighty words of the proud are paid in full with mighty blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom. –loc 1413

Sophocles’ play has served modern man and his haunted sense of being caught in a trap not only as a base for a psychoanalytic theory which dooms the male infant to guilt and anxiety from his mother’s breast, but also as the model for a modern drama that presents to us, using the ancient figures, our own terror of the unknown future which we fear we cannot control—our deep fear that every step we take forward on what we think is the road of progress may really be a step toward a foreordained rendezvous with disaster. –loc 1451

So far as the action is concerned, it is the most relentlessly secular of the Sophoclean tragedies. Destiny, fate and the will of the gods do indeed loom ominously behind the human action, but that action, far from suggesting primeval rituals and satanic divinities, reflects, at every point, contemporary realities familiar to the audience that first saw the play. –loc 1476

Sophocles was dealing with matters that had urgent contemporary significance; prophecy was one of the great controversial questions of the day. It was in fact the key question, for the rationalist critique of the whole archaic religious tradition had concentrated its fire on this particular sector. Far more than prophecy was involved. For if the case for divine foreknowledge could be successfully demolished, the whole traditional religious edifice went down with it. If the gods did not know the future, they did not know any more than man. –loc 1512

The priest in the opening scene appeals to Oedipus as “the man of experience”; experience is the result of constant action and this too—especially their experience in naval warfare—is a quality celebrated by Athens’ orators and feared by her enemies. –loc 1537

Oedipus is courageous, and it was characteristic of Athenian courage that it rose to its greatest heights when the situation seemed most desperate. This is exactly what we see in the play—Oedipus’ most defiant and optimistic statement comes when Jocasta, knowing the truth, has gone off to hang herself, and the audience waits for the appearance of the shepherd who, under duress, will reluctantly supply the last piece of evidence that identifies Oedipus as the son of Laius and Jocasta. –loc 1539

The riddle has sinister verbal connections with his fate (his name in Greek is Oidipous and dipous is the Greek word for “two-footed” in the riddle, not to mention the later prophecy of Tiresias that he would leave Thebes as a blind man, “a stick tapping before him step by step,” 519), but the answer he proposed to the riddle—“Man”—is appropriate for the optimistic picture of man’s achievement and potential that the figure of Oedipus represents. –loc 1550

And all these images, like the plot, like the hero, have what Aristotle called their peripeteia, their reversal. The hunter catches a dreadful prey, the seaman steers his ship into an unspeakable harbor—“one and the same wide harbor served you / son and father both” (1335-36)—the plowman sows and reaps a fearful harvest, the investigator finds the criminal and the judge convicts him—they are all the same man—the revealer turns into the thing revealed, the finder into the thing found, the calculator finds he is himself the solution of the equation and the physician discovers that he is the disease. The catastrophe of the tragic hero thus becomes the catastrophe of fifth-century man; all his furious energy and intellectual daring drive him on to this terrible discovery of his fundamental ignorance—he is not the measure of all things but the thing measured and found wanting. –loc 1606

But the negative implication of this and many similar passages is clear: that a man is responsible for those actions which are not performed under constraint, which are the expression of his free will. The question of Oedipus’ responsibility for what happens (and what has happened) is, as we shall see, posed in the play; it is also discussed much later, in Oedipus at Colonus, which deals with Oedipus’ old age and death. –loc 1634

But it is the function of great art to purge and give meaning to human suffering, and so we expect that if the hero is indeed crushed by a bulldozer in Act II there will be some reason for it, and not just some reason but a good one, one which makes sense in terms of the hero’s personality and action. In fact, we expect to be shown that he is in some way responsible for what happens to him. –loc 1710

If so, the hero obviously cannot be “fated,” predestined or determined to act as he does. And, to get back finally to the Oedipus of Sophocles, Oedipus in the play is a free agent, and he is responsible for the catastrophe. For the plot of the play consists not of the actions which Oedipus was “fated” to perform, or rather, which were predicted; the plot of the play consists of his discovery that he has already fulfilled the prediction. And this discovery is entirely due to his action. –loc 1713

The existence of human freedom, dramatically represented in the action of Oedipus in the play, seems to be a mockery. The discovery to which it led is a catastrophe out of all proportion to the situation. –loc 1733

He chose to blind himself, he tells the chorus, because he could not bear to see the faces of his children and his fellow-citizens. But his action has, in the context of this play, an impressive rightness; the man who, proud of his far-seeing intelligence, taunted Tiresias with his blindness now realizes that all his life long he has himself been blind to the dreadful realities of his identity and action. –loc 1750

For a man to help others with all his gifts and native strength: that is the noblest work. –loc 1962

How terrible—to see the truth when the truth is only pain to him who sees! –loc 1963

TIRESIAS: I pity you, flinging at me the very insults each man here will fling at you so soon. –loc 2007

You are the king no doubt, but in one respect, at least, I am your equal: the right to reply. I claim that privilege too. I am not your slave. I serve Apollo. –loc 2027

TIRESIAS: I will go, once I have said what I came here to say. I will never shrink from the anger in your eyes— you can’t destroy me. Listen to me closely: the man you’ve sought so long, proclaiming, cursing up and down, the murderer of Laius— he is here. A stranger, you may think, who lives among you, he soon will be revealed a native Theban but he will take no joy in the revelation. Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping before him step by step. OEDIPUS enters the palace. Revealed at last, brother and father both to the children he embraces, to his mother son and husband both—he sowed the loins his father sowed, he spilled his father’s blood! Go in and reflect on that, solve that. And if you find I’ve lied from this day onward call the prophet blind. TIRESIAS and the boy exit to the side. –loc 2054

CHORUS: My king, I’ve said it once, I’ll say it time and again— I’d be insane, you know it, senseless, ever to turn my back on you. You who set our beloved land-storm-tossed, shattered— straight on course. Now again, good helmsman, steer us through the storm! –loc 2206

JOCASTA: A prophet? Well then, free yourself of every charge! Listen to me and learn some peace of mind: no skill in the world, nothing human can penetrate the future. Here is proof, quick and to the point. An oracle came to Laius one fine day (I won’t say from Apollo himself but his underlings his priests) and it declared that doom would strike him down at the hands of a son, our son, to be born of our own flesh and blood. But Laius, so the report goes at least, was killed by strangers, thieves, at a place where three roads meet … my son— he wasn’t three days old and the boy’s father fastened his ankles, had a henchman fling him away on a barren, trackless mountain. There, you see? Apollo brought neither thing to pass. My baby no more murdered his father than Laius suffered— his wildest fear—death at his own son’s hands. That’s how the seers and all their revelations mapped out the future. Brush them from your mind. Whatever the god needs and seeks he’ll bring to light himself, with ease. –loc 2218

It is hard to recognize in this broken man the vigorous, confident figure of the earlier play, the man who answered the riddle of the Sphinx, who was “crowned … with honors … towering over all—/ mighty king of the seven gates of Thebes” (1329-30). But the news that he is in the grove of the Eumenides brings the old Oedipus to life in this tired old man: the same confident assertiveness—“I shall never leave my place in this new land” (53)—the same sense of his own worth—“whatever I say, there will be great vision / in every word I say” (89- 90). –loc 2840

Oh Theseus, dear friend, only the gods can never age, the gods can never die. All else in the world almighty Time obliterates, crushes all to nothing. (685-89) –loc 2927

Nothing mortal can resist the changes Time brings: not bodily strength, not friendship between man and man, still less between city and city. No man can be confident of the future; human confidence is based on total ignorance. It is the lesson Oedipus himself learned long ago in Thebes, and he reads it to Theseus now with all the authority of his empty eye sockets and dreadful name. –loc 2929

And the actions that were predicted were committed in ignorance; he killed his father “blind to whom I killed” (1115) and married his mother, both of them unwitting—“I knew nothing. she knew nothing” (1123). He places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the gods: “And the gods led me on” (1140). This defense is not contested, by Creon or anyone else; Oedipus stands cleared, in his own eyes and those of Athens, of any moral guilt. –loc 2996

the first two stanzas of the song with which they close this scene are a melancholy descant on the miseries of extreme old age. “Not to be born is best / when all is reckoned in …” (1388-89); this is a familiar Greek saying (it is found in almost this exact form in the sixth-century poet Theognis), –loc 3028

Acceptance—that is the great lesson suffering teaches, suffering and the long years, my close companions, yes, and nobility too, my royal birthright. –loc 3118

CHORUS: Fate will never punish a man for returning harm first done to him. Deceit matched by deceit, the tables turned: treachery pays you back in pain, not kindness. You—out of this place of rest, away, faster! Off and gone from the land—before you fix some greater penalty on our city. –loc 3277

Then what’s the good of glory, magnificent renown, if in its flow it streams away to nothing? –loc 3289

Tell me all. Your story, your fortunes would have to be grim indeed to make me turn my back on you. I too, I remember well, was reared in exile just like you, and in strange lands, like no man else on earth, I grappled dangers pressing for my life. Never, I tell you, I will never shrink from a stranger, lost as you are now, or fail to lend a hand and save a life. I am only a man, well I know, and I have no more power over tomorrow, Oedipus, than you. –loc 3509

Men have threatened for ages, blustered their threats to nothing in their rage. But once a man regains his self-control, all threats are gone. –loc 3587

LEADER: Nothing to fear, you have our promise. I may be old but the power of my country never ages. –loc 3616

Tell me, which of us suffers more from this tirade? Whom are you hurting more, me or you? –loc 3650

A man’s anger can never age and fade away, not until he dies. The dead alone feel no pain. –loc 3779

Come, tell me: if, by an oracle of the gods, some doom were hanging over my father’s head that he should die at the hands of his own son, how, with any justice, could you blame me? I wasn’t born yet, no father implanted me, no mother carried me in her womb— I didn’t even exist, not then! And if, once I’d come to the world of pain, as come I did, I fell to blows with my father, cut him down in blood— blind to what I was doing, blind to whom I killed— how could you condemn that involuntary act with any sense of justice? –loc 3785

It isn’t good for men with a decent cause to beg too long, or a man to receive help, then fail to treat a fellow-victim kindly. –loc 3913

Not to be born is best when all is reckoned in, but once a man has seen the light the next best thing, by far, is to go back back where he came from, quickly as he can. –loc 3925

The good leader repeats the good news, keeps the worst to himself. –loc 4024

0 light of the sun, no light to me! Once you were mine, I think… now for the last time I feel you warm my flesh, now I go to hide the last breath of life in the long house of Death. –loc 4105

Best of children, sisters arm-in-arm, we must bear what the gods give us to bear— don’t fire up your hearts with so much grief. No reason to blame the pass you’ve come to now. –loc 4176

July 23, 2016

Hagakure

Author: Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Rating: 7/10
Last Read: August 2015

Quick Summary: A collection of notes from the early 1700s meant to serve as a guide for warriors. The book summarizes the author’s view of the warrior code (in the context of bushido). The book touches on many practical and spiritual points, as well as highlights many interesting facts of life for the time period.

There are many practical things that modern man can still draw from this historic work, assuming westerners can handle the fixation with death that flows through the work. (But really, you’re going to die too!)

My Highlights

To say that dying without reaching one’s aim is to die a dog’s death is the frivolous way of sophisticates. When pressed with the choice of life or death, it is not necessary to gain one’s aim. –loc 28

We all want to live. And in large part we make our logic according to what we like. But not having attained our aim and continuing to live is cowardice. –loc 29

If by setting one’s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he pains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling. –loc 31

Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness. –loc 37

According to their nature, there are both people who have quick intelligence, and those who must withdraw and take time to think things over. Looking into this thoroughly, if one thinks selflessly and adheres to the four vows of the Nabeshima samurai, surprising wisdom will occur regardless of the high or low points of one’s nature.’ People think that they can clear up profound matters if they consider them deeply, but they exercise perverse thoughts and come to no good because they do their reflecting with only self-interest at the center. –loc 38

Men of high position, low position, deep wisdom and artfulness all feel that they are the ones who are working righteously, but when it comes to the point of throwing away one’s life for his lord, all get weak in the knees. –loc 64

To discover the good and bad points of a person is an easy thing, and to give an opinion concerning them is easy, too. For the most part, people think that they are being kind by saying the things that others find distasteful or difficult to say. But if it is not received well, they think that there is nothing more to be done. This is completely worthless. It is the same as brining shame to a person by slandering him. It is nothing more than getting it off one’s chest. –loc 72

When I observed the application of men’s treatment to men, there was no result. Thus I knew that men’s spirit had weakened and that they had become the same as women, and the end of the world had come. –loc 101

The Way is in a higher place then righteousness. This is very difficult to discover, but it is the highest wisdom. When seen from this standpoint, things like righteousness are rather shallow. If one does not understand this on his own, it cannot be known. There is a method of getting to this Way, however, even if one cannot discover it by himself. This is found in consultation with others. Even a person who has not attained this Way sees others front the side. –loc 121

Listening to the old stories and reading books are for the purpose of sloughing off one’s own discrimination and attaching oneself to that of the ancients. –loc 126

Although all things are not to be judged in this manner, I mention it in the investigation of the Way of the Samurai. When the time comes, there is no moment for reasoning. And if you have not done your inquiring beforehand , there is most often shame. Reading books and listening to people’s talk are for the purpose of prior resolution. –loc 168

Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do not know what is going to happen next, and in querying every item day and night. Victory and defeat are matters of the temporary force of circumstances. The way of avoiding shame is different. It is simply in death. –loc 171

Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams. –loc 173

It is not good to settle into a set of opinions. It is a mistake to put forth effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that. –loc 184

Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, “This is not enough.” –loc 186

How should a person respond when he is asked, “As a human being, what is essential in terms of purpose and discipline?” First, let us say, “It is to become of the mind that is right now pure and lacking complications.” People in general all seem to be dejected. When one has a pure and uncomplicated mind, his expression will be lively. When one is attending to matters, there is one thing that comes forth from his heart. That is, in terms of one’s lord, loyalty; in terms of one’s parents, filial piety; in martial affairs, bravery ; and apart from that, something that can be used by all the world. –loc 199

This is very difficult to discover. Once discovered, it is again difficult to keep in constant effect. There is nothing outside the thought of the immediate moment. –loc 203

Although it seems that taking special care of one’s appearance is similar to showiness, it is nothing akin to elegance. Even if you are aware that you may be struck down today and are firmly resolved to an inevitable death, if you are slain with an unseemly appearance, you will show your lack of previous resolve, will be despised by your enemy, and will appear unclean. For this reason it is said that both old and young should take care of their appearance. –loc 207

And if he thinks that this is not shameful, and feels that nothing else matters as long as he is comfortable, then his dissipate and discourteous actions will be repeatedly regrettable. –loc 214

What things a person should be able to accomplish if he had no haughtiness concerning his place in society! –loc 222

Look at the human condition. It is unseemly for a person to become prideful and extravagant when things are going well. Therefore, it is better to have some unhappiness while one is still young, for if a person does not experience some bitterness, his disposition will not settle down. –loc 241

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment . –loc 267

Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else. No one seems to have noticed this fact. But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience. And once one has come to this understanding he will be a different person from that point on, though he may not always bear it in mind. –loc 270

As Yasuda Ukyo said about offering up the last wine cup, only the end of things is important. One’s whole life should be like this. When guests are leaving, the mood of being reluctant to say farewell is essential. If this mood is lacking, one will appear bored and the day and evening’s conversation will disappear. In all dealings with people it is essential to have a fresh approach. One should constantly give the impression that he is doing something exceptional. It is said that this is possible with but a little understanding. –loc 291

Whether people be of high or low birth, rich or poor, old or young, enlightened or confused, they are all alike in that they will one day die. It is not that we don’t know that we are going to die, but we grasp at straws. While knowing that we will die someday, we think that all the others will die before us and that we will be the last to go. Death seems a long way oft . –loc 343

insofar as death is always at one’s door, one should make sufficient effort and act quickly. –loc 347

One should think well and then speak. This is clear and firm, and one should learn it with no doubts. It is a matter of putting forth one’s whole effort and having the correct attitude previously. –loc 368

Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like. But it is important never to tell this to young people as it is something that would be harmful if incorrectly understood. –loc 371

What is done casually and freely will not work out well. It is a matter of attitude. –loc 399

People with intelligence will use it to fashion things both true and false and will try to push through whatever they want with their clever reasoning. This is injury from intelligence . Nothing you do will have effect if you do not use truth. –loc 418

To go without knowing whether the other party is busy, or when he has some particular anxiety, is awkward. There is nothing that surpasses not going where you have not been invited. –loc 427

The late Jin’emon said that it is better not to bring up daughters. They are a blemish to the family name and a shame to the parents. The eldest daughter is special, but it is better to disregard the others. –loc 432

The late Nakano Kazuma said that the original purpose of the Tea Ceremony is to cleanse the six senses. For the eyes there are the hanging scroll and flower arrangement. For the nose there is the incense. For the ears there is the sound of the hot water. For the mouth there is the taste of the tea. And for the hands and feet there is the correctness of term. When the five senses have thus been cleansed, the mind will of itself be purified. The Tea Ceremony will cleanse the mind when the mind is clogged up. –loc 436

A person who does not set himself in just one direction will be of no value at all. –loc 498

It is fine for retired old men to learn about Buddhism as a diversion, but if a warrior makes loyalty and filial piety one load, and courage and compassion another, and carries these twenty-four hours a day until his shoulders wear out, he will be a samurai. –loc 499

A man’s whole life should be like this. To exert oneself to a great extent when one is young and then to sleep when he is old or at the point of death is the way it should be. But to first sleep and then exert oneself . . . To exert oneself to the end, and to end one’s whole life in toil is regrettable.” –loc 629

“If a retainer will just think about what he is to do for the day at hand, he will be able to do anything. If it is a single day’s work, one should be able to put up with it. Tomorrow, too, is but a single day.” –loc 700

“To be prideful about your strength while your mettle is not yet established is likely to bring you shame in the midst of people. You are weaker than you look.” –loc 860

Everyone says that no masters of the arts will appear as the world comes to an end. This is something that I cannot claim to understand. Plants such as peonies, azaleas and camellias will be able to produce beautiful flowers, end of the world or not. If men would give some thought to this fact, they would understand. –loc 928

The basic meaning of etiquette is to be quick at both the beginning and end and tranquil in the middle. Mitani Chizaemon heard this and said, “That’s just like being a kaishaku. –loc 965

There was no goodness visible to Tesshu’s eyes. It is not a good idea to praise people carelessly. When praised, both wise and foolish become prideful. To praise is to do harm.” –loc 970

When there is something to be said, it is better if it is said right away. If it is said later, it will sound like an excuse. –loc 1098

How will a man who has doubts even in his own room achieve anything on the battlefield? There is a saying that goes, “No matter what the circumstances might be, one should be of the mind to win. One should be holding the first spear to strike.” –loc 1134

To ask when you already know is politeness. To ask when you don’t know is the rule. –loc 1156

The essentials of speaking are in not speaking at all. If you think that you can finish something without speaking, finish it without saying a single word. If there is something that cannot be accomplished without speaking, one should speak with few words, in a way that will accord well with reason –loc 1206

Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one’s body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one’s master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. –loc 1226

People will become your enemies if you become eminent too quickly in life, and you will be ineffectual. Rising slowly in the world, people will be your allies and your happiness will he assured. –loc 1232

July 14, 2016

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Author: Lewis Carroll
Rating: 8/10
Last Read: August 2010

Quick Summary: Truly a book of nonsense – Alice is a little girl who falls down a rabbit hole and wanders through a fantastic world. Sometimes it feels like you’re in the middle of an acid trip, other times it just feels like weird nonsense. But there’s plenty of poetry, riddles, and interesting turns of language around.

My Highlights

‘How am I to get in?’ asked Alice again, in a louder tone. ‘Are you to get in at all?’ said the Footman. ‘That’s the first question, you know.’

And with that she began nursing her child again, singing a sort of lullaby to it as she did so, and giving it a violent shake at the end of every line: ‘Speak roughly to your little boy, And beat him when he sneezes: He only does it to annoy, Because he knows it teases.’

‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’
‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where–‘ said Alice.
‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.
‘–so long as I get somewhere,’ Alice added as an explanation.
‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.’

She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. ‘You’re thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can’t tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit.’ ‘Perhaps it hasn’t one,’ Alice ventured to remark. ‘Tut, tut, child!’ said the Duchess. ‘Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.’

“Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.”

‘That’s the reason they’re called lessons,’ the Gryphon remarked: ‘because they lessen from day to day.’

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. ‘Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?’ he asked.
‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” ~ The Queen