that's seneca's oedipus (r. scott smith translation) finished babyyy
i think what most stood out to me were the characterizations and especially the inter-character dynamics? creon is more like a devoted younger brother to oedipus -- in fact there's a scene that establishes that creon does NOT want the throne for himself and that he is very happy not bearing the burden of kingship (which makes me feel quite sorry for him knowing how the story traditionally will unfold from here). i also get the impression of some real affection and love between oedipus and jocasta. it seems theirs was (tragically) a very happy marriage. i'm so haunted by the melancholy of their final scene together, where as horrified as they are, they are still very gentle with each other
the very active fear and shame oedipus carries at the start of the play as he imagines that his prophesied patricide and incest WILL happen (when it already has...) definitely gels with seneca's oedipus in his phoenissae. this oedipus is constantly ashamed of, and worried about, his own perverted potential, i really dig that as a character beat. "This is the fear that drove me from my father's kingdom; this is why I left my father's home for exile. I have so little faith in myself that I had to ensure that Nature's laws could not be broken. [...] I tremble at everything, and I cannot trust even myself." the difference is that in oedipus he slowly convinces himself that he HAS escaped his fate.
the devastation of the ongoing theban plague is extensively described, but i think the image that struck me the most was "A single torch cremates both husband and wife". ahh i'm such a sucker for perverted wedding torch imagery. ESPECIALLY with this particular myth amiright
i didn't know/have never absorbed why boeotia is named boeotia before, but smith translates it as "Cow Country" and suddenly everybody in this play started wearing dungarees and chewing a straw in my mind.
tiresias with a truth bomb i feel i should embroider on a pillow or something: "You will come to envy these misfortunes for which you seek relief." ain't that always the way
bacchus feels VERY present, which i always dig in a theban story. the chorus delivers a lengthy hymn to him, putting special emphasis on his femininity and growing influence. i just love when thebans are proud to be the god of madness' people, might as well own it
AAAAH THERE'S A BIG KATABASIS TOLD IN A MESSENGER SPEECH. and it has what is already my new favourite "hey guess who we saw in the underworld" moment with the ghost of niobe described as proudly counting her ghost children. SCREAM.
i already mentioned this in a tag but i LOVE that we get a speech from the ghost of laius. he is still so INCENSED. i've read that shakespeare was directly influenced by seneca, i wonder how much of hamlet father's dna stems from laius 🤔
also it's implied that it's laius who somehow influences oedipus to blind himself?? ooh. "He will want to quit this land with swift steps, but I will slow his departure and hinder him on his journey. [...] You, deny him the earth. I, his father, will take away the skies." oh what a line!
interesting that this is the first time i've gotten the distinct impression that seneca's trying to be outright didactic in a scene, with oedipus and creon's discussion of how a ruler should wield his authority in regards to his subjects' continued loyalty. like i never do this but IFFFFF this play was written late in seneca's life, ie while he was nero's primary tutor, it's so tempting to imagine it as a direct attempt at instructing his (theater obsessed) pupil in regards to leadership.
obviously oedipus is horrified beyond words when he realizes the perversion he feared in himself has already happened, but i still really appreciate how systematic he is in this version when he considers at length what punishment he deserves for his outrageous wrongdoings
he tells himself "Use your ingenuity, you miserable fool!" which i love. he is AWARE of his intelligence, his sense of self is the same oedipus who figured out the sphinx' riddle. i love oedipus as a sort of proto-odysseus -- he is SO SMART, only this was a man utterly defeated by destiny.
roman gore alert: the slow-motion description of oedipus tearing out his eyes is one of the grossest things i've read, and i have an immensely high tolerance for gore. i've assisted in countless eyeball surgeries and yet, hoo boy
there is a strange innocence to how oedipus and jocasta awkwardly start addressing each other as mother and son in the final scene. they've both been so completely broken down that at that moment they're almost childlike, and it really stuck with me. they don't blame each other, they're not howling in panic and agony, they're just so very very tired and despondent. jocasta carefully considers the most appropriate way to commit suicide, and proceeds, and there's a fascinating rationality about it. you can't fight destiny, you can't fight the gods.
YAY COOL PLAY
