54-55


 * Summary: pgs 54-55**

This first messenger has come to tell Oedipus that he is free to come home and that his fear of the curse is empty because his "parents" are not his biological parents so therefore his fears that he will commit murder and incest are unfounded. At this time Oedipus is discovers that his mother and father are not his biological parents. He is confused and distraught. Oedipus asks the messenger why his parents called him "son" if they were not his real parents. The messenger replies by telling Oedipus that Polybus and Mereope accepted him as gift when he was a child because they were childless themselves and that his adopted parents loved him as their own. The messenger then goes on to tell Oedipus that he was found and given to the king and queen of Corinth by the messenger himself who had been a shepherd on the "Cithaeron's slopes".

The messenger then goes on to explain Oedipus' name and what it means, as well as to explain the deformity in his ankles. The messenger says that he is the one who took Oedipus and loosed him because the "tendons in his feet were pierced and fettered". Then he says that this was the reason for his name, Swollen-foot. Oedipus then asks whose fault it was that he had suffered so much pain, his mother or his father. The messenger replies by referring Oedipus to the herdsman who gave the messenger Oedipus as a baby. The messenger thinks that this herdsman can give Oedipus and Jocasta more answers. This excerpt ends with Oedipus yet again puzzled by his past and wonders who it was that found him, maimed him and left him to die.


 * Analysis**

This scene marks the beginning of the revelation that the oracle given to childhood has already been fulfilled. This passage begins with the messenger telling Oedipus and Jocasta that they are worried for nothing because the father that Oedipus thought he was destined to murder is not in fact his father at all. Two ironies are embedded in this revelation. The first ironic aspect is that the messenger is brining conflicting news that Oedipus' father is dead but in this passage he states that it is not really his father after all. The second irony is that the Messenger is telling Oedipus to not be worried, yet his explanation reveals the reason as to why Oedipus should in fact be "terrified". This ironic news is the platform from which the realization and explanation of Oedipus; birth are told.

The style of this excerpt is in short question and answer form between the messenger and Oedipus. Even though most all of the questions Oedipus asks are answered, there is much more explanation that the messenger could offer yet instead of simply answering the question to its fullest extent he seems to answer as little possible in response to the question posed to him. Each of the answers that the messenger gives seems to be in the format of a riddle. Oedipus therefore must ask more questions to solve each riddle given to him in hopes of uncovering the secrets of his birth.

The messenger in this passage offers three important revelations and explanations to woman who he thought were his parents were not, and the second was that he was found in the Theban hills and the third was about his name, Oedipus, which means, swollen-foot. The first revelation, discussed earlier, adds to the irony of the story. This revelation is the most important and it is what leads to the next part of the story with the shepherd. The second revelation about where Oedipus was found by the messenger himself is not very important to Oedipus however to Jocasta this is when she begins to realize that the baby she gave away is in fact Oedipus. In the play the stage directions show Jocasta as moving away and going pale. This action shows that she recognizes something while Oedipus has not yet fully understood. The third revelation regarding Oedipus' name is interesting because it provides information about the injury or "ancient hurt" which Oedipus has lived with throughout his life. His name means swollen-foot, this comes from the fact that Oedipus' ankles were pierced when he was a baby to keep him from crawling off of the mountain so that he could die there and the oracle would not come true.

The last line of this excerpt poses a new question about who really found Oedipus as a child. This leads Oedipus to the shepherd will finish answering all of Oedipus questions and reveal the truth of the birth and life of Oedipus.


 * Glossary**

Oedipus: Swollen-foot refering to his ankels which were pierced to keep him from crawling off the mountian as a child