Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
How would you describe the tone of Chorus' first speech and what linguistic techniques does the writer use to encourage this tone?
Uses the following edition and translation of Oedipus Rex: Sophocles (Robert Fagles translation). "Oedipus the King" in The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. New York, Penguin Books, 1984
Awarded: Grade 6
Chorus' speech can be divided into different parts where the tones are very different. The first twenty- two lines of the monologue (lines 168-189) is a welcome part for the gods, full of devotion and respect, praising the gods for all their greatness. Since Chorus does not yet know the message Creon brings back from Delphi, the speech starts with a tone of anticipation, questioning what the gods want them to do in order to get rid of the plague. In the anticipation, there is also terror of what the sentence of the god might be - "racked with terror - terror shakes my heart." The two expressions "racked with terror" and "terror shakes my heart" basically mean the same thing, but by repeating these two synonymous expressions, the author is emphasising Chorus' fear and anticipation of the gods' sentence and "I worship you in dread" clearly express Chorus' anxiety.
This part of the speech is devoted to the gods and emphasising the contrast between the pure, golden gods and the mortals, and the line "I cry [Apollo's] wild cries" is used to demonstrate this contrast. The "cry" in "I cry" is the cry with tears, the cry of anguish, while Apollo's "wild cries" are cries of aggression, almost war-like cries to Thebes' raging war with the plague. The use of the two meanings
of "cry" in the same sentence enable the two words to echo each other and give the contrasting effect.
Next Chorus calls on three gods - Athena, Artemis and Apollo, all three times, the author used the words "I call" - "You are the first I call," "I call you sister," "I call Apollo," - when it is perfectly acceptable to use another synonym of "call". This repetition of "I call" creates a tone of plea in Chorus' message to the gods. The tone of plea is even more evidence when Chorus said, "If ever, once in ...
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of "cry" in the same sentence enable the two words to echo each other and give the contrasting effect.
Next Chorus calls on three gods - Athena, Artemis and Apollo, all three times, the author used the words "I call" - "You are the first I call," "I call you sister," "I call Apollo," - when it is perfectly acceptable to use another synonym of "call". This repetition of "I call" creates a tone of plea in Chorus' message to the gods. The tone of plea is even more evidence when Chorus said, "If ever, once in the past, you stopped some ruin." The use of "if ever" suggests some scepticism in Chorus about the power of gods, but since Thebes is in a desperate situation, Chorus is willing to accept that there are gods who map out life, and call on the gods to "come now, come down once more."
Though the Chorus represent all citizens of Thebes, thus more than one person, in these first twenty- two lines, the pronoun "I" is used, where really, "we" should be used. This use of "I" suggest unity within the people of Thebes and that they are altogether in the grief of the plague.
The next section of this monologue (lines 190-203) starts with two words that determine the tone of the whole sections - "No, no." These two words imply that the tone of the next section of this speech is a very negative tone, taking into account the negative start. In fact, the word no is repeated six times in these thirteen lines. There is a definite tone of hopelessness in this sections: "miseries numberless...no end - too much to bear, we are all dying." The subject hear is changed from "I" to "we", emphasising the fact that this is not just one person dying, not just Thebes dying, but Thebes and all its people as well.
A metaphor comparing Thebes to a "great army" is used next in line 194, as if Thebes was an army that lacked a commander to make a cutting decision to stop the plague (thus "not sword of thought to save us"). "No and the fruits...will not ripen/no and the women cannot scream their pangs to birth..." This "no" is repeated to emphasise the hopelessness of the situation in Thebes at the moment.
In regards to the life that Thebes was losing, the author wrote: "you can watch then go...streaking on to the shores of Evening Death." Here, what would be the last word of this sentence, "Death," instead of being on the same line as "shores of Evening," is put into the next line to be an one-word-line on its own, and this end of the sentence then become the beginning to the next sentence: "Death/so many deaths." This use of enjambment puts emphasis on the sole word "Death" and makes readers pause at that word before proceeding to the next part of the speech, and emphasise the deathly tone of this
part of the speech.
In lines 203 - 211, the word "death" is repeated five times, again, emphasising the deathly situation that the plague had caused Thebes. It is also interesting that there is a linked contrast between "life on life goes down" in line 199 and "numberless death on death" in line 204. These two phrases imply the same thing - that there are many people dying in Thebes, but the use of two contrasting words, life
and death, create an interesting contrast in two phrases that mean the same.
"Wails for mercy rise and the wild hymn of the Healer blazes out clashing with...our cries of mourning." This sentence echoes the helpless cry of the people of Thebes and Apollo's - the Healer's - "wild cries" in line 173 and the pleading tone of the people in lines 179-184, where the verb "call" is repeated
three times. The helpless tone in this sentence ("Wails for mercy...cries of mourning") is placed in the
word "wails." To wail is to make a particularly mournful cry and accurate describe how the situation is in Thebes, so dire, do bleak that it renders the people to "[wail] for mercy." And then in lines 216 -
217, the speech goes back to worshipping the gods' (or rather, the goddess, as she is referred to as
"golden daughter of god" - presumably Athena) powers and pleading for "rescue radiant as the kindness in [the god's] eyes!"
The last part of the speech is more passionate; there is a certain enthusiasm in the tone. There is a
use of strong words and exclamation marks to encourage this tone - "Drive him back!" "O rout [the god of death] from our borders!" "...blast him...to all where the Thracian surf comes crashing." This
part also calls on the individual gods and asks them to use their respective powers to "burn that god of
death that all gods hate!" It calls on Zeus, the "lord of the storm cloud" to "twirl the lightning...thunder Death to nothing!" The use of powerful words such as "twirl" and "thunder" lays emphasis on the fiery tone of this part of the speech. Chorus begs Apollo to "whip [his] longbow...showering arrows on our enemies...champion strong before us rushing on!" Again, the use of intense words such as "whip," "showering," "champion strong," and "rushing" puts energy to the tone of the speech. This is tone is then repeated when Chorus calls on Artemis with her "torches flaring...ride Death down in pain!" and with Dionysus with his "raving women's cries come with torches blazing, eyes ablaze with glory!"
The tones of Chorus' speech may vary in parts, but the overall theme of it is to call on the gods with their powers to come down and stop the plague that is turning Thebes into a "city of death." Shaken with terror for this plague, in Chorus' speech, there is a tone of desperation in present in all parts of the speech.
