 | the plea with which Oedipus greets Tiresias. The manuscripts contain a possible variant of this line, which Gould translates, ''I see your understanding comes to you inopportunely. So that won't happen to me . . . ." This version makes sense in the larger context of Oedipus' discovery of his true past. I have, however, translated the version that seems to make the most sense in the immediate context.
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| 404
Then you know
Tiresias' scornful refusal to respond must seem not only inexplicable to Oedipus, but unacceptable. Tiresias must be made to tell what the city needs to know for its salvation. Oedipus' fury is fully justified as necessary to force the truth from him.
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| 412
Rage
A cunning double meaning. Tiresias speaks of "rage" (which is a feminine noun in Greek) as something Oedipus "co-habits" or "dwells with" and of which he is ignorant. Oedipus thinks he is being accused of possessing a violent nature. But because this "rage" is also spoken of as a sexual partner, Tiresias' words could mean as well that Oedipus is ignorant of the identity of his wife. The idea that Oedipus' whole family was characterized by
orge
*,
rage, was prominent in Aeschylus and even earlier writers. Sophocles has the messenger characterize the last frantic actions of Jocasta, after she knows Oedipus is her son, as
orge
(l. 1241/1422).
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| 431
32
Charge . . . flushed out
The metaphor is from hunting and suggests first that the accusation is like an animal driven from its cover, and second that Tiresias himself has become an animal fleeing Oedipus' wrath.
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| 435
put this truth . . . mouth
According to other interpretations of this line, Oedipus is asking Tiresias who
taught
him this truth. A scholiast of the twelfth century suggested the interpretation I have adopted, which better fits Tiresias' response.
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| 439
provoking me to use . . . word
The word in question is "killer," which Tiresias is provoked to use in his next speech, although he has shied from speaking it until now.
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| 446
47
living . . . intimacy
This phrase normally means "to live under the same roof," but it also frequently means "to have sexual intercourse with."
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| 448
nearest and most loving kin
The most frequent reference of this phrase (
philatoi
) is to one's blood kin; less often it refers to those whom one loves, regardless of blood relationship. Tiresias' lines seem to Oedipus an astonishing insult because their true import, that his wife is his closest blood relative, is so unthinkable it does not cross his mind.
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