Sophocles Oedipus Rex Quotes & Sayings

Give me a life wherever there is an opportunity to live, and better life than was my father's. — Sophocles

Long, long ago; her thought was of that child
By him begot, the son by whom the sire
Was murdered and the mother left to breed
With her own seed, a monstrous progeny.
Then she bewailed the marriage bed whereon
Poor wretch, she had conceived a double brood,
Husband by husband, children by her child. — Sophocles

Thou lov'st to speak in riddles and dark words. — Sophocles

Time alone can bring the just man to light - the criminal you can spot in just one short day. — Sophocles

Whose tale more sad than thine, whose lot more dire? O Oedipus, discrowned head, Thy cradle was thy marriage bed. — Sophocles

Listen, Kafka. What you're experiencing now is the motif of many Greek tragedies. Man doesn't choose fate. Fate chooses man. That's the basic worldview of Greek drama. And the sense of tragedy - according to Aristotle - comes, ironically enough, not from the protagonist's weak points but from his good qualities. Do you know what I'm getting at? People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virtues. Sophocles' Oedipus Rex being a great example. Oedipus is drawn into tragedy not because of laziness or stupidity, but because of his courage and honesty. So an inevitable irony results. — Haruki Murakami

How dreadful the knowledge of the truth can be
When there's no help in truth. — Sophocles

Closer,
it's all right. Touch the man of grief.
Do. Don't be afraid. My troubles are mine
and I am the only man alive who can sustain them. — Sophocles

King as thou art, free speech at least is mine. To make reply; in this I am thy peer. — Sophocles

Weep not, everything must have its day. — Sophocles