Endnotes explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Fate and Free Will

  The oracle concerning Oedipus's grave and its future impact on battle underscores the inescapable fate tied to his remains.

• Justice and Divine Law

  Creon's concern with proper burial rites and avoiding pollution reflects the tension between human law and divine justice.

Characters to notice

• Creon

  Creon desires to bury Oedipus on the confines of Thebes to avoid pollution while still offering due rites.

• Ismene

  Ismene tells Oedipus of the latest oracle and interprets its purport regarding the Theban invaders.

• Oedipus

  Oedipus is the subject of the oracle concerning his grave and the future battle.

Key passages

• “To avoid the blessing (see line ), still a secret, he resorts to a commonplace; literally, “For what generous man is not (in befriending others) a friend to himself?””

  To sidestep revealing a hidden blessing, he falls back on a cliché: 'What generous person is not, by helping others, also helping himself?'

  The note explains the rhetorical evasion used in the original text.

• “Creon desires to bury Oedipus on the confines of Thebes so as to avoid the pollution and yet offer due rites at his tomb.”

  Creon wants to bury Oedipus at Thebes' border to prevent ritual defilement while still performing proper funeral honors.

  This clarifies Creon's strategic and religious motives.

• “Ismene tells him of the latest oracle and interprets to him its purport, that some day the Theban invaders of Athens will be routed in a battle near the grave of Oedipus.”

  Ismene reports a new oracle and explains its meaning: future Theban attackers of Athens will be defeated in a battle near Oedipus's tomb.

  The oracle ties Oedipus's burial site to Athens' future protection.