How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
OEDIPUS. When He pronounced those many evils to me,
He also said that, after a long time, this should be a resting place;
That I would come to a final country, where I should find
A seat of the solemn gods and a refuge for strangers (87-90)
Apollo “pronounced” Oedipus’ fate to him, explaining that he would suffer a whole bunch of evils but that he would also arrive to a resting place that would make the end of his life a little more comfortable. Oedipus accepts this because he believes it’s his fate, and the hope of the refuge gives him strength through the evils; it's like his light at the end of the tunnel.
Quote #2
ANTIGONE. Oh strangers, you whose minds are full of reverence,
You cannot abide
My old father, because you have heard
Of his involuntary deeds! (237-40)
Antigone defends Oedipus against the Chorus, who think he’s pretty awful because he murdered his father and married his mother. She brings up the subtle point that he didn’t know that his father was his father and that his mother was his mother, questioning the role free will should (or shouldn't) play when it comes to holding people responsible for their crimes.
Quote #3
OEDIPUS. [. . .] And yet how am I evil in my nature,
I who suffered and then retaliated? Even had I acted
Wittingly, even so I would not have been evil!
But I, knowing nothing, came where I came,
Yet those from whom I suffered were knowingly trying to wreak destruction! (270-74)
Oedipus joins in Antigone’s defense, pointing out that when he killed his father he was acting in self-defense and he didn’t know it was his dad. So he’s double justified. It’s hard to understand why he is so accepting of his fate when he had absolutely no free will when it came to committing his so-called crimes.
Quote #4
OEDIPUS. Do you still have hope that the gods will have
Some regard for me, so that I will someday be saved?
ISMENE. I do, father, from the current prophecies. (385-87)
Oedipus finds all of his hope in what is fated to happen. He doesn’t really believe that he can change his future, but if it has been prophesied that he will be getting some relief, he’s very willing to hold onto that hope. Ismene shares his belief in fate, reporting the latest prophesies to him like an ancient Greek Twitter feed.
Quote #5
OEDIPUS. I bore most evil things, strangers! I bore
Them involuntarily, let the god know!
None of these things was chosen by myself. (521-23)
Oedipus tries one last time to convince the Chorus that even though he was destined to commit evil deeds, it was “involuntarily.” He even brings up the idea of free will explicitly: he didn’t choose any of it by himself. So he has the concept of free will, but really just wants human beings to recognize it, not the gods. Some lawyers out there might see this as an early use of the "not guilty by reason of insanity" defense.
Quote #6
OEDIPUS. To an evil marriage bed the city bound me—I who did not know
--To a disaster that came from a marriage.
CHORUS. With your mother, as I hear,
Did you fill your infamous bed?
OEDIPUS. Alas, it is death to hear these things [. . .]. (525-29)
Oedipus blames the city for his marriage, because after he solved the riddle of the Sphinx, the city of Thebes “gave” him Jocasta as a wife, thus making him king. So it’s not like he went after his mother, knowingly and of his own free will. Nope, it was just a matter of fate. What a terrible coincidence.
Quote #7
OEDIPUS. I killed. But for me it has…
CHORUS. What is this?
OEDIPUS. . . . Something of justice.
CHORUS. How so?
OEDIPUS. [. . .] But by law I am pure and I came to this in ignorance. (546-48)
Oedipus also points out that when he killed his father he was acting in self-defense. It would be a totally justified killing by law; the only problem was that the guy who attacked him and that he killed in self-defense happened to be his father. This is a crime against the gods, whether human law permits it or not.
Quote #8
OEDIPUS. Your mouth broadcasts against me murders and
Marriage and misfortunes—things which I, in my misery,
Bore involuntarily! For thus was it dear to the gods.
Perhaps They nursed an ancient wrath against my family. (962-65)
Oedipus finally arrives to the cause of his troubles. He believes that the gods must have a problem with his family, which caused them to force him to commit his awful crimes without his knowledge. Fate is a punishment in this case, and it’s not against Oedipus personally, but rather against his whole family.
Quote #9
OEDIPUS. For—instruct me—if some divine utterance came through oracles
To my father, that he would die at the hands of his children,
How would you justly reproach me for this—
I who was not yet sired by my father nor
Conceived by my mother, but was then unbegotten? (969-73)
Oedipus explains his theory a little further. He believes the gods are mad at his family, and his proof is that the prophesy that said he would kill his father came before he was ever even conceived. So if anything the fate was meant for his parents, but Oedipus was just a pawn in the gods’ evil plan.
Quote #10
OEDIPUS. And if again, I, in my ill fortune, was revealed
--As I was revealed—to have come to blows with my father and killed him—
Comprehending nothing of what I was doing or to whom I was doing it—
How would you properly blame an involuntary act? (974-77)
This is like Oedipus’ informal day in court. He lays out the whole case, proving that he was never acting intentionally in all of the crimes that he unwittingly committed. He was fated to kill his father, fated to kills his mother, and also, unfortunately, fated to suffer the consequences of his actions.