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Othello Unit Related Texts

Unit 3Shakespeare and the Origins of Tragedy

Related Texts

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The Story of Daedalus and Icarus From Ovid’s Metamorphoses

In tedious exile now too long detain'd, Daedalus languish'd for his native land: The sea foreclos'd his flight; yet thus he said: Tho' Earth and water in subjection laid, O cruel Minos, thy dominion be, We'll go thro' air; for sure the air is free. Then to new arts his cunning thought applies, And to improve the work of Nature tries. A row of quils in gradual order plac'd, Rise by degrees in length from first to last; As on a cliff th' ascending thicket grows, Or, different reeds the rural pipe compose. Along the middle runs a twine of flax, The bottom stems are joyn'd by pliant wax. Thus, well compact, a hollow bending brings The fine composure into real wings.

His boy, young Icarus, that near him stood, Unthinking of his fate, with smiles pursu'd The floating feathers, which the moving air Bore loosely from the ground, and wasted here and there. Or with the wax impertinently play'd, And with his childish tricks the great design delay'd.

The final master-stroke at last impos'd, And now, the neat machine compleatly clos'd; Fitting his pinions on, a flight he tries, And hung self-ballanc'd in the beaten skies. Then thus instructs his child: My boy, take care To wing your course along the middle air; If low, the surges wet your flagging plumes; If high, the sun the melting wax consumes: Steer between both: nor to the northern skies, Nor south Orion turn your giddy eyes; But follow me: let me before you lay

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Rules for the flight, and mark the pathless way. Then teaching, with a fond concern, his son, He took the untry'd wings, and fix'd 'em on; But fix'd with trembling hands; and as he speaks, The tears roul gently down his aged cheeks. Then kiss'd, and in his arms embrac'd him fast, But knew not this embrace must be the last. And mounting upward, as he wings his flight, Back on his charge he turns his aking sight; As parent birds, when first their callow care Leave the high nest to tempt the liquid air. Then chears him on, and oft, with fatal art, Reminds the stripling to perform his part.

These, as the angler at the silent brook, Or mountain-shepherd leaning on his crook, Or gaping plowman, from the vale descries, They stare, and view 'em with religious eyes, And strait conclude 'em Gods; since none, but they, Thro' their own azure skies cou'd find a way.

Now Delos, Paros on the left are seen, And Samos, favour'd by Jove's haughty queen; Upon the right, the isle Lebynthos nam'd, And fair Calymne for its honey fam'd. When now the boy, whose childish thoughts aspire To loftier aims, and make him ramble high'r, Grown wild, and wanton, more embolden'd flies Far from his guide, and soars among the skies. The soft'ning wax, that felt a nearer sun, Dissolv'd apace, and soon began to run. The youth in vain his melting pinions shakes, His feathers gone, no longer air he takes: Oh! Father, father, as he strove to cry, Down to the sea he tumbled from on high, And found his Fate; yet still subsists by fame, Among those waters that retain his name.

The father, now no more a father, cries, Ho Icarus! where are you? as he flies; Where shall I seek my boy? he cries again, And saw his feathers scatter'd on the main. Then curs'd his art; and fun'ral rites confer'd, Naming the country from the youth interr'd.

A partridge, from a neighb'ring stump, beheld The sire his monumental marble build; Who, with peculiar call, and flutt'ring wing,

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Chirpt joyful, and malicious seem'd to sing: The only bird of all its kind, and late Transform'd in pity to a feather'd state: From whence, O Daedalus, thy guilt we date.

His sister's son, when now twelve years were past, Was, with his uncle, as a scholar plac'd; The unsuspecting mother saw his parts, And genius fitted for the finest arts. This soon appear'd; for when the spiny bone In fishes' backs was by the stripling known, A rare invention thence he learnt to draw, Fil'd teeth in ir'n, and made the grating saw. He was the first, that from a knob of brass Made two strait arms with widening stretch to pass; That, while one stood upon the center's place, The other round it drew a circling space. Daedalus envy'd this, and from the top Of fair Minerva's temple let him drop; Feigning, that, as he lean'd upon the tow'r, Careless he stoop'd too much, and tumbled o'er.

The Goddess, who th' ingenious still befriends, On this occasion her asssistance lends; His arms with feathers, as he fell, she veils, And in the air a new made bird he sails. The quickness of his genius, once so fleet, Still in his wings remains, and in his feet: Still, tho' transform'd, his ancient name he keeps, And with low flight the new-shorn stubble sweeps, Declines the lofty trees, and thinks it best To brood in hedge-rows o'er its humble nest; And, in remembrance of the former ill, Avoids the heights, and precipices still.

At length, fatigu'd with long laborious flights, On fair Sicilia's plains the artist lights; Where Cocalus the king, that gave him aid, Was, for his kindness, with esteem repaid. Athens no more her doleful tribute sent, That hardship gallant Theseus did prevent; Their temples hung with garlands, they adore Each friendly God, but most Minerva's pow'r: To her, to Jove, to all, their altars smoak, They each with victims, and perfumes invoke.

Now talking Fame, thro' every Grecian town, Had spread, immortal Theseus, thy renown.

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From him the neighb'ring nations in distress, In suppliant terms implore a kind redress.

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Musee des Beaux Arts

W. H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong,

The old Masters: how well they understood

Its human position: how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;

How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting

For the miraculous birth, there always must be

Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating

On a pond at the edge of the wood:

They never forgot

That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course

Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot

Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse

Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away

Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may

Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,

But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone

As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green

Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen

Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,

Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

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Pieter Brueghel, The Fall of IcarusOil-tempera, 29 inches x 44 inches. Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels.

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Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

William Carlos Williams

According to Brueghelwhen Icarus fellit was spring

a farmer was ploughinghis fieldthe whole pageantry

of the year wasawake tinglingwith itself

sweating in the sunthat meltedthe wings' wax

unsignificantlyoff the coastthere was

a splash quite unnoticedthis wasIcarus drowning

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Oedipus Rex: SummarySummary

At the start of the play, the city of Thebes is suffering terribly. Citizens are dying from

plague, crops fail, women are dying in childbirth and their babies are stillborn. A group of priests

comes to the royal palace to ask for help from Oedipus, their king who once saved them from

the tyranny of the terrible Sphinx. Oedipus has already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the

oracle of the god Apollo to find out what can be done. (A little background: before Oedipus

arrived in Thebes, the previous king, Laius, was murdered under mysterious circumstances and

the murderer was never found. When Oedipus arrived in Thebes and saved the city, he was

made king and married the widowed queen, Jocasta, sister of Creon.) Now Creon returns with

the oracle's news: for the plague to be lifted from the city, the murderer of Laius must be

discovered and punished. The oracle claims that the murderer is still living in Thebes.

Oedipus curses the unknown murderer and swears he will find and punish him. He

orders the people of Thebes, under punishment of exile, to give any information they have about

the death of Laius. Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind prophet, to help with the investigation.

Tiresias comes, but refuses to tell Oedipus what he has seen in his prophetic visions. Oedipus

accuses Tiresias of playing a part in Laius's death. Tiresias grows angry and says that Oedipus

is the cause of the plague—he is the murderer of Laius. As the argument escalates, Oedipus

accuses Tiresias of plotting with Creon to overthrow him, while Tiresias hints at other terrible

things that Oedipus has done.

Convinced that Creon is plotting to overthrow him, Oedipus declares his intention to

banish or execute his brother-in-law. Jocasta and the chorus believe Creon is innocent and beg

Oedipus to let Creon go. He relents, reluctantly, still convinced of Creon's guilt. Jocasta tells

Oedipus not to put any stock in what prophets and seers say. As an example, she tells him the

prophecy she once received—that Laius, her first husband, would be killed by their own son.

And yet, Laius was killed by strangers, and her own infant son was left to die in the mountains.

But her description of where Laius was killed—a triple-crossroad—worries Oedipus. It's the

same place where Oedipus once fought with several people and killed them, one of whom fit the

description of Laius. He asks that the surviving eyewitness to Laius's murder be brought to him.

He tells Jocasta that oracles have played a big part in his life as well—he received a prophecy

that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, which is why he left Corinth, the city he

was raised in, and never returned.

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An old messenger arrives from Corinth with the news that Oedipus's father, King

Polybus, has died of old age. This encourages Oedipus. It seems his prophecy might not come

true, but he remains worried because his mother is still alive. The messenger tells him not to

worry—the king and queen of Corinth were not his real parents. The messenger himself brought

Oedipus as a baby to the royal family as a gift after ashepherd found the boy in the mountains

and gave him to the messenger. The shepherd was the same man Oedipus has already sent for

—the eyewitness to Laius's murder. Jocasta begs Oedipus to abandon his search for his

origins, but Oedipus insists he must know the story of his birth. Jocasta cries out in agony and

leaves the stage. The shepherd arrives but doesn't want to tell what he knows. Only under

threat of death does he reveal that he disobeyed the order to kill the infant son of Laius and

Jocasta, and instead gave that baby to the messenger. That baby was Oedipus, who in fact

killed his father Laius and married his mother. Oedipus realizes that he has fulfilled his awful

prophecy. Queen Jocasta kills herself and Oedipus, in a fit of grief, gouges out his own eyes.

Blind and grief-stricken, Oedipus bemoans his fate. Creon, after consulting an oracle, grants

Oedipus's request and banishes him from Thebes.

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EXCERPT:

Sophocles

Oedipus the King

_____________________________

This translation by Ian Johnston of Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, British Columbia, a revised version (2014) of an earlier translation (2007), has certain copyright restrictions.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

The translator would like to acknowledge the invaluable help provided by Sir Richard Jebb’s translation and commentary.

For an introductory lecture on Oedipus the King, please use the following link: Oedipus.

BACKGROUND NOTE

Sophocles (495 BC-405 BC) was a famous and successful Athenian writer of tragedies in his own lifetime. Of his 120 plays, only 7 have survived. Oedipus the King, also

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called Oedipus Tyrannos or Oedipus Rex, written around 420 BC, has long been regarded not only as his finest play but also as the purest and most powerful expression of Greek tragic drama.

Oedipus, a stranger to Thebes, became king of the city after the murder of king Laius, about fifteen or sixteen years before the start of the play. He was offered the throne because he was successful in saving the city from the Sphinx, an event referred to repeatedly in the text of the play. He married Laius’ widow,Jocasta, and had four children with her, two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene.

OEDIPUS THE KINGDRAMATIS PERSONAE

OEDIPUS: king of ThebesPRIEST: the high priest of ThebesCREON: Oedipus’ brother-in-lawCHORUS of Theban eldersTEIRESIAS: an old blind prophetBOY: attendant on TeiresiasJOCASTA: wife of Oedipus, sister of CreonMESSENGER: an old manSERVANT: an old shepherdSECOND MESSENGER: a servant of OedipusANTIGONE: daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, a childISMENE: daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, a childSERVANTS and ATTENDANTS on Oedipus and Jocasta

[The action takes place in Thebes in front of the royal palace. The main doors are directly facing the audience. There are altars beside the doors. A crowd of citizens carrying laurel branches garlanded with wool and led by the PRIEST has gathered in front of the altars, with some people sitting on the altar steps. OEDIPUS enters through the palace doors]

OEDIPUS My children, latest generation born from Cadmus, why are you sitting here with wreathed sticks in supplication to me, while the city fills with incense, chants, and cries of pain?1

Children, it would not be appropriate for me to learn of this from any other source, so I have come in person—I, Oedipus, whose fame all men acknowledge. But you there, old man, tell me—you seem to be the one who ought to speak for those assembled here. 10 What feeling brings you to me—fear or desire?

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You can be confident that I will help. I shall assist you willingly in every way. I would be a hard-hearted man indeed, if I did not pity suppliants like these.

PRIEST Oedipus, ruler of my native land, you see how people here of every age are crouching down around your altars, some fledglings barely strong enough to fly and others bent by age, with priests as well— 20 for I’m priest of Zeus—and these ones here, the pick of all our youth. The other groups sit in the market place with suppliant branches or else in front of Pallas’ two shrines, or where Ismenus prophesies with fire.2 For our city, as you yourself can see, is badly shaken—she cannot raise her head above the depths of so much surging death. Disease infects fruit blossoms in our land, disease infects our herds of grazing cattle, 30 makes women in labour lose their children, and deadly pestilence, that fiery god, swoops down to blast the city, emptying the House of Cadmus, and fills black Hades with groans and howls. These children and myself now sit here by your home, not because we think you’re equal to the gods. No. We judge you the first of men in what happens in this life and in our interactions with the gods. For you came here, to our Cadmeian city, 40 and freed us from the tribute we were paying to that cruel singer—and yet you knew no more than we did and had not been taught.3 In their stories, the people testify how, with gods’ help, you gave us back our lives. So now, Oedipus, our king, most powerful in all men’s eyes, we’re here as suppliants, all begging you to find some help for us, either by listening to a heavenly voice, or learning from some other human being. 50 For, in my view, men of experience provide advice that gives the best results. So now, you best of men, raise up our state. Act to consolidate your fame, for now, thanks to your eagerness in earlier days, the city celebrates you as its saviour.

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Don’t let our memory of your ruling here

declare that we were first set right again and later fell. No. Restore our city, so that it stands secure. In those times past 60 you brought us joy—and with good omens, too. Be that same man today. If you’re to rule as you are doing now, better to be king in a land of men than in a desert. An empty ship or city wall is nothing if no men share a life together there.

OEDIPUS My poor children, I know why you have come— I am not ignorant of what you yearn for. For I understand that you are ill, and yet, sick as you are, there is not one of you 70 whose illness equals mine. Your agony comes to each one of you as his alone, a special pain for him and no one else. But here in my heart, I sorrow for myself, and for the city, and for you—all together. You are not rousing me from a deep sleep. You must know I’ve been shedding many tears and, in my wandering thoughts, exploring many pathways. After a careful search I grasped the only help that I could find 80 and acted on it. So I have sent away my brother-in-law, son of Menoeceus, Creon, to Pythian Apollo’s shrine, to learn from him what I might do or say to save our city. But when I count the days— the time he’s been away—I now worry what he’s doing. For he’s been gone too long, well past the time he should have taken. But when he comes, I’ll be a wicked man if I do not act on all the god reveals. 90

PRIEST What you have said is most appropriate, for these men here have just informed me that Creon is approaching.

OEDIPUS Lord

Apollo, as he returns may fine shining fortune, bright as his countenance, attend on him.

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PRIEST It seems the news he brings is good—if not, he would not wear that wreath around his head, a laurel thickly packed with berries.4

OEDIPUS We’ll know soon enough—he’s within earshot.

[Enter CREON. OEDIPUS calls to him as he approaches]

My royal kinsman, child of Menoeceus, 100 what message do you bring us from the god?

CREONGood news, I tell you. If things work out well,then these troubles, so difficult to bear,will end up bringing us great benefits.

OEDIPUS What is the oracle? So far your words inspire in me no confidence or fear.

CREON If you wish to hear the news in public, I’m prepared to speak. Or we could step inside.

OEDIPUS Speak out to everyone. The grief I feel for these citizens is even greater 110 than any pain I feel for my own life.

CREON Then let me report what I heard from the god. Lord Phoebus clearly orders us to drive away the polluting stain this land has harboured. It will not be healed if we keep nursing it.

OEDIPUS What sort of cleansing? And this disaster— how did it happen?

CREON By banishment— or atone for murder by shedding blood again, for blood brings on the storm which blasts our state.

OEDIPUS And the one whose fate the god revealed— 120 what sort of man is he?

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CREON Before you came, my lord, to steer our ship of state, Laius ruled this land.

OEDIPUS I have heard that, but I never saw the man.

CREON Laius was killed. And now the god is clear: those murderers, he tells us, must be punished, whoever they may be.

OEDIPUS And where are they? In what country? Where am I to find a trace of this ancient crime? It will be hard to track.

CREON Here in Thebes, so said the god. What is sought is found, but what is overlooked escapes. 130

OEDIPUS When Laius fell in bloody death, where was he— at home, or in his fields, or in another land?

CREON He was abroad, on his way to Delphi— that’s what he told us. He began the trip, but did not return.

OEDIPUS Was there no messenger— no companion who made the journey with him and witnessed what took place—a person who might provide some knowledge men could use?

CREON They all died—except for one who was afraid and ran away. There was only one thing 140 he could inform us of with confidence about the things he saw.

OEDIPUS What was that? We might get somewhere if we had one fact— we could find many things, if we possessed some slender hope to get us going.

CREON He told us it was robbers who attacked them— not just a single man, a gang of them— they came on with force and killed him.

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OEDIPUS How would a thief have dared to do this, unless he had financial help from Thebes? 150

CREON That’s what we guessed. But once Laius was dead we were in trouble, so no one sought revenge.

OEDIPUS When the ruling king had fallen in this way, what bad trouble blocked your path, preventing you from looking into it?

CREON It was the Sphinx— she sang her cryptic song and so forced us to put aside something we found obscure to look into the problem we now faced.

OEDIPUS Then I will start afresh, and once again shed light on darkness. It is most fitting 160 that Apollo demonstrates his care for the dead man, and worthy of you, too. And so you’ll see how I will work with you, as is right, seeking vengeance for this land, as well as for the god. This polluting stain I will remove, not for some distant friends, but for myself. For whoever killed this man may soon enough desire to turn his hand to punish me in the same way, as well. Thus, in avenging Laius, I serve myself. 170 But now, my children, quickly as you can stand up from these altar steps and raise your suppliant branches. Someone must call the Theban people to assemble here. I’ll do everything I can. With the god’s help this will all come to light successfully, or else will prove our common ruin.

[OEDIPUS and CREON go into the palace]

PRIEST Let us get up, children. For this man has willingly declared just what we came for. And may Phoebus, who sent this oracle, 180 come as our saviour and end our sickness.

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[The PRIEST and the CITIZENS leave. Enter the CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS]

CHORUS O sweet speaking voice of Zeus, you have come to glorious Thebes from golden Pytho— but what is your intent? My fearful heart twists on the rack and shakes with fear. O Delian healer, for whom we cry aloud in holy awe, what obligation will you demand from me, a thing unknown or now renewed with the revolving years? Immortal voice, O child of golden Hope, 190 speak to me!

First I call on you, Athena the immortal, daughter of Zeus, and on your sister, too, Artemis, who guards our land and sits on her glorious round throne in our market place, and on Phoebus, who shoots from far away. O you three guardians against death, appear to me! If before now you have ever driven off a fiery plague to keep disaster 200 from the city and have banished it, then come to us this time as well!

Alas, the pains I bear are numberless— my people now all sick with plague, our minds can find no weapons to help with our defence. Now the offspring of our splendid earth no longer grow, nor do our women crying out in labour get their relief from a living new-born child. As you can see—one by one they swoop away, 210 off to the shores of the evening god, like birds faster than fire which no one can resist.

Our city dies—we’ve lost count of all the dead. Her sons lie in the dirt unpitied, unlamented. Corpses spread the pestilence, while youthful wives and grey-haired mothers on the altar steps wail everywhere and cry in supplication, seeking to relieve their agonizing pain. Their solemn chants ring out— they mingle with the voices of lament. 220 O Zeus’ golden daughter, send your support and strength, your lovely countenance!

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And that ravenous Ares, god of killing, who now consumes me as he charges on with no bronze shield but howling battle cries, let him turn his back and quickly leave this land, with a fair following wind to carry him to the great chamber of Amphitrite or inhospitable waves of Thrace.5 230 For if destruction does not come at night, then day arrives to see it does its work. O you who wield that mighty flash of fire, [200] O father Zeus, with your lighting blast let Ares be destroyed!

O Lycean lord, how I wish those arrows from the golden string of your bent bow with their all-conquering force would wing out to champion us against our enemy, and I pray for those blazing fires of Artemis 240 with which she races through the Lycian hills.6 I call the god who binds his hair with gold, the one whose name our country shares, the one to whom the Maenads shout their cries, Dionysus with his radiant face— may he come to us with his flaming torchlight, our ally against Ares, a god dishonoured among gods.7

[Enter OEDIPUS from the palace]

OEDIPUS You pray. But if you listen now to me, you’ll get your wish. Hear what I have to say 250 and treat your own disease—then you may hope to find relief from your distress. I speak as one who is a stranger to the story, a stranger to the crime. If I alone were tracking down this act, I’d not get far without a single clue. But as things stand, for it was after the event that I became a citizen of Thebes, I now proclaim the following to all of you Cadmeians: Whoever among you knows the man it was 260 who murdered Laius, son of Labdacus, I order him to reveal it all to me. And if the killer is afraid, I tell him to avoid the danger of the major charge by speaking out against himself. If so, he will be sent out from this land unhurt

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and undergo no further punishment. If someone knows the killer is a stranger, from some other state, let him not stay mute. As well as a reward, he’ll earn my thanks. 270 But if he remains quiet, if anyone, through fear, hides himself or a friend of his against my orders, here’s what I shall do— so listen to my words. For I decree that no one in this land, in which I rule as your own king, shall give that killer shelter or talk to him, whoever he may be, or act in concert with him during prayers, or sacrifice, or sharing lustral water.8 Ban him from your homes, every one of you, 280 for he is our pollution, as the Pythian god In this, I’m acting as an ally of the god and also of dead Laius. And I pray whoever the man is who did this crime, one unknown person acting on his own or with companions, the worst of agonies will wear out his wretched life. I pray, too, that, if he should become an honoured guest in my own home and with my knowledge, 290 I may suffer all those things I’ve just called down upon the killers. And I urge you now to make sure all these orders take effect, for my sake, for the sake of the god, and for our barren, godless, ruined land. For in this matter, even if a god were not urging us, it would not be right for you to simply leave things as they are and not to purify the murder of a man who was so noble and who was your king. 300 You should have looked into it. But now I possess the ruling power which Laius held in earlier days. I have his bed and wife— she would have borne his children, if his hopes to have a son had not been disappointed. Children from a common mother might have linked Laius and myself. But as it turned out, Fate swooped down onto his head. So now, I’ll fight on his behalf, as if this matter concerned my own father, and I will strive 310 to do everything I can to find him, the man who spilled his blood, and thus avenge the son of Labdacus and Polydorus, of Cadmus and Agenor from old times.9

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As for those who do not follow what I urge, I pray the gods send them no fertile land, no, nor any children in their women’s wombs— may they all perish in our present fate or one more hateful still. To you others, you Cadmeians who support my efforts, 320 may Justice, our ally, and all the gods attend on us with kindness all our days.

CHORUS LEADER My lord, since you extend your oath to me, I will say this. I am not the murderer, nor can I tell you who the killer is. As for what you’re seeking, it’s for Apollo, who launched this search, to state who did it.

OEDIPUS That is well said. But no man has power to force the gods to speak against their will.

CHORUS LEADER May I then suggest what seems to me 330 the next best course of action?

OEDIPUS You may indeed, and if there is a third course, too, don’t hesitate to let me know.

CHORUS LEADER Our lord Teiresias, I know, can see into things, like lord Apollo. From him, my king, a man investigating this might well find out clear details of the crime.

OEDIPUS I’ve taken care of that—it’s not something I could overlook. At Creon’s urging, I have dispatched two messengers to him and have been wondering for some time now 340 why he has not come.

CHORUS LEADER Apart from that, there are rumours—but inconclusive ones from a long time ago.

OEDIPUS What kind of rumours? I’m looking into every story.

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CHORUS LEADER It was said that Laius was killed by certain travellers.

OEDIPUS Yes, I heard as much. But no one has seen the one who did it.

CHORUS LEADER Well, if the killer has any fears, once he hears your curses on him, he will not hold back, for they are serious.

OEDIPUS When a man has no fear of doing the act, 350 he’s not afraid of words.

CHORUS LEADER No, not in the case where no one stands there to convict him. But at last Teiresias is being guided here, our god-like prophet, in whom truth resides more so than in all other men.

[Enter TEIRESIAS led by a small BOY]

OEDIPUS Teiresias, you who understand all things—what can be taught and what cannot be spoken of, what goes on in heaven and here on the earth—you know, although you cannot see, how sick our state is. And so we find in you alone, great seer, 360 our shield and saviour. For Phoebus Apollo, in case you have not heard the news, has sent us an answer to our question: the only cure for this infecting pestilence is to find the men who murdered Laius and kill them or else expel them from this land as exiles. So do not withhold from us your prophecies from voices of the birds or by some other means. Save this city and yourself. Rescue me. Deliver us from all pollution by the dead. 370 We are in your hands. For a mortal man the finest labour he can do is help with all his power other human beings.

TEIRESIAS Alas, alas! How dreadful it can be to have wisdom when it brings no benefit to the man possessing it. This I knew,

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but it had slipped my mind. Otherwise, I would not have journeyed here.

OEDIPUS What is wrong? You have come, but seem distressed.

TEIRESIAS Let me go home. You must bear your burden 380 to the very end, and I will carry mine, if you’ll agree with me.

OEDIPUS What you are saying is not customary and shows little love toward the city state which nurtured you, if you deny us your prophetic voice.

TEIRESIAS I see your words are also out of place. I do not speak for fear of doing the same.

OEDIPUS If you know something, then, by the gods, do not turn away. We are your suppliants— all of us—we bend our knees to you. 390

TEIRESIAS You are all ignorant. I will not reveal the troubling things inside me, nor will I state they are your griefs as well.

OEDIPUS What are you saying? Do you know and will not say? Do you intend to betray me and destroy the city?

TEIRESIAS I will cause neither me nor you distress. Why do you vainly question me like this? You will not learn a thing from me

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11 Strategies for Reading the Bard1. When reading verse, note the appropriate phrasing and intonation.

DO NOT PAUSE AT THE END OF A LINE unless there is a mark of punctuation. Shakespearean verse has a rhythm of its own, and once a reader gets used to it, the rhythm becomes very natural to speak in and read. Beginning readers often find it helpful to read a short pause at a comma and a long pause for a period, colon, semicolon, dash, or question mark.

Here's an example from The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene i:

The quality of mercy is not strain'd, (short pause)It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath: (long pause) it is twice blest; (long pause)It blesseth him that gives, (short pause) and him that takes; (long pause)‘Tis mightiest in the mighties; (long pause) it becomesThe throned monarch better than his crown; (long pause)

2. Read from punctuation mark to punctuation mark for meaning.

In addition to helping you read aloud, punctuation marks define units of thought. Try to understand each unit as you read, keeping in mind that periods, colons, semicolons, and question marks signal the end of a thought. Here's an example from The Taming of the Shrew:

LUC. Tranio, I saw her coral lips to move,And with her breath she did perfume the air;Sacred, and sweet, was all I saw in her.TRA. Nay, then, 't is time to stir him from histrance.I pray, awake, sir: if you love the maid,Bend thoughts and wits to achieve her. (I,i)The first unit of thought is from “Tranio” to “air”:He saw her lips move, and her breath perfumed the air.

The second thought (“Sacred, and sweet…”) re-emphasizes the first.

Tranio replies that Lucentio needs to awaken from his trance and try to win “the maid.” These two sentences can be considered one unit of thought.

3. In an inverted sentence, the verb comes before the subject.

Some lines will be easier to understand if you put the subject first and reword the sentence. For example, look at the line below:

“Never was seen so black a day as this:” (Romeo and Juliet, IV, v)

You can change its inverted pattern so it is more easily understood:

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“A day as black as this was never seen:”

An ellipsis occurs when a word or phrase is left out.

In Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio asks Romeo's father and mother if they know the problem that is bothering their son. Romeo's father answers:

“I neither know it nor can learn of him” (Romeo and Juliet I,i).

This sentence can easily be understood to mean,

“I neither know [the cause of] it,nor can [I] learn [about it from] him.”

4. As you read longer speeches, keep track of the subject, verb, and object: who did what to whom.

In the clauses below, note the subject, verbs, and objects.

ROSS: The king hath happily received, Macbeth,The news of thy success: and when he readsThy personal venture in the rebel's fight… (Macbeth I, iii)

1st clause: The king hath happily received, Macbeth,/The news of thy success:

SUBJECT – The kingVERB – has receivedOBJECT – the news [of Macbeth's success]

2nd clause: and when he reads/thy personal venture in the rebel's fight,

SUBJECT – he [the king]VERB – readsOBJECT – [about] your venture

5. In addition to following the subject, verb, and object of a clause, you also need to track pronoun references. In the following soliloquy Romeo, who is madly in love with Juliet, secretly observes her as she steps out on her balcony. To help you keep track of the pronoun references, we've made margin notes. (Note that the feminine pronoun sometimes refers to Juliet, but sometimes does not.)

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,Who* is already sick and pale with grief,That thou her* maid art more fair than she:*

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“Who” refers to the moon.“thou her maid” refers to Juliet, the sun.“she” and “her” refer to the moon.

6. In tracking the line of action in a passage, it is useful to identify the main thoughts that are being expressed and paraphrase them. Note the following passage in which Hamlet expresses his feelings about the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother:

O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason

Would have mourn'd longer – married with my uncle,

My father's brother, but no more like my father

Than I to Hercules. (I,ii)

Paraphrasing the three main points, we find that Hamlet is saying:

a mindless beast would have mourned the death of its mate longer than my mother did she married my uncle, my father's brother my uncle is not at all like my father

If you are having trouble understanding Shakespeare, the first rule is to read it out loud, just as an actor rehearsing would have to do. That will help you understand how one thought is connected to another.

7. Shakespeare frequently uses metaphor to illustrate an idea in a unique way.

Pay careful attention to the two dissimilar objects or ideas being compared. In Macbeth, Duncan, the king says:

I have begun to plant thee, and will labour

To make thee full of growing. (I,v)

The king compares Macbeth to a tree he can plant and watch grow.

An allusion is a reference to some event, person, place, or artistic work not directly explained or discussed by the writer.

It relies on the reader's familiarity with the item referred to. Allusion is a quick way of conveying information or presenting an image. In the following lines, Romeo alludes to Diana, goddess of the hunt and of chastity, and to Cupid's arrow (love).

ROMEO: Well, in that hit you miss: she'll not be hit

with Cupid's arrow, she hath Dian's wit;

and in strong proof of chastity well arm'd (I,i)

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Contracted words are words in which a letter has been left out.

Some that frequently appear:

be't on't wi'

do't t' 'sblood

'gainst ta'en i'

'tis e'en

'bout know'st 'twill

ne'er o' o'er

Archaic, obsolete, and familiar words with unfamiliar definitions may also cause problems.

8. Archaic Words. Some archaic words, like thee, thou, thy, and thine, are instantly understandable, while others, like betwixt, cause a momentary pause.

9. Obsolete Words. If it were not for the notes in a Shakespeare text, obsolete words could be a problem; words like “beteem” are usually not found in student dictionaries. In these situations, however, a quick glance at the book's notes will solve the problem.

10.Familiar Words with Unfamiliar Definitions. Another problem is those familiar words whose definitions have changed. Because readers think they know the word, they do not check the notes. For example, in this comment from Much Ado About Nothing, the word an means if:

Beatrice: Scratching could not make it worse, an 'twere such a face as yours were. (I,i)

For this kind of word, we have included margin notes.

Get ready for wordplay: puns, double entendres, and malapropisms.

A pun is a literary device that achieves humor or emphasis by playing on ambiguities. Two distinct meanings are suggested either by the same word or by two similar-sounding words.

A double entendre is a kind of pun in which a word or phrase has a second, usually sexual, meaning.

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A malapropism occurs when a character mistakenly uses a word that he or she has confused with another word. In Romeo and Juliet, the Nurse tells Romeo that she needs to have a “confidence” with him, when she should have said “conference.” Mockingly, Benvolio then says she probably will “indite” (rather than “invite”) Romeo to dinner.

11.Understand the purpose behind Shakespeare's language.

Our final word on Shakespeare's language is adapted by special permission from Ralph Alan Cohen's forthcoming book Shakesfear and How to Cure It—A Guide to Teaching Shakespeare.

What's so hard about Shakespeare's language? Many students come to Shakespeare's language assuming that the language of his period is substantially different from ours. In fact 98% of the words in Shakespeare are current-usage English words. So why does it sometimes seem hard to read Shakespeare? There are three main reasons:

a. Originally, Shakespeare wrote the words for an actor to illustrate them as he spoke. In short, the play you have at hand was meant for the stage, not for the page.

b. Shakespeare had the same love of reforming and rearranging words in such places as hip-hop and sportscasting today. His plays reflect an excitement about language and an inventiveness that becomes enjoyable once the reader gets into the spirit of it.

c. Since Shakespeare puts all types of people on stage, those characters will include some who are pompous, some who are devious, some who are boring, and some who are crazy, and all of these will speak in ways that are sometimes trying. Modern playwrights creating similar characters have them speak in similarly challenging ways.

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