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Oedipus:The Inst igat or of His Fat e 俄狄浦斯：悲剧命运的始作俑者
解峥电子科技大学外国语学院四川成都611731
[中图分类号]：I106[文献标识码]：A[文章编号]：1002-2139(2011)-14-0036-02
A wi man once said“Your character is your destiny.”Can we apply this statement to Sophocles’play Oedipus the King? Is Oedipus in fact responsible for his fate,or a victim of forces he could not control?无线网卡怎么使用
姓氏源流An article on the Internet argues that fate is inescapable.The events in one’s life are predetermined by fate and there is nothing that can be done to change destiny.In the author’s eyes,Oedipus is portrayed as a puppet of fate,and he is completely powerless to do anything to change the destiny that fate has in store for him(“Fate and Oedipus”).In my opinion,although Oedipus is a victim of fate,he is not dominated by it.He is by no means merely a passive player lost in the sweep of time.His downfall follows from his very nature.His excessive pride,ignorance,blindness and unrelenting quest for the truth all play important parts in the tragedy that befalls him(“Oedipus the King and Fate”).
The article says:
As a puppet of fate,Oedipus is damned at birth by prophecies. He cannot affect the future that the oracle has predicted for him.In an attempt to change fate,Oedipus moves as far away as possible from his parents.Y et in so doing,he ts the cour of the story into action.He cannot escape fate,no matter what he does(“Fate and Oedipus”).
过渡球I disagree with this quote.I believe every man has the freedom of choice and is ultimately r esponsible for his own de cisions. Oedipus is not driven towards his fate blindly;he is in uenced by his very own fatal character aws.
Pride can be one’s own worst enemy.In the play,Oedipus is constantly guarding his pride.When a drunken man tells him that he is a bastard,his pride is so wounded that he will not let the subject rest,and he eks out the oracle of Apollo to demand the truth. The oracle tells Oedipus that he will kill his father and marry his mother.Therefore,Oedipus leaves his homeland of Corinth in order
f f f f
y W y father at an interction,and ghts him over rst right of passage and ends up slaying him.Then,his pride resulted from conquering the Sphinx leads him to the marriage with Jocasta,his mother. Fifteen years later,a plague strikes Thebes and Oedipus must nd the killer of Laius in order t
o end the pestilence.Oedipus consults an oracle of Thebes named Tiresias and is accud of killing the former king Laius.Oedipus is too proud to consider the words of the prophet Teiresias and choos to rely on his own sleuthing powers. He says:
When the Sphinx,that chanting Fury kept her deathwatch here, Why silent then,not a word to t our people free?
There was a riddle,not for some pasr-by to solve---
It cried out for a prophet.Where were you?
Did you ri to the crisis?Not a word,
you and your birds,your gods---nothing.
No,but I came by,Oedipus the ignorant,
I stopped the Sphinx!W ith no help from the birds,
the ight of my own intelligence hit the mark(445-453).
漂流瓶聊天记录Perhaps the most typical display of pride is shown at the end of the play when Oedipus has nowhere to hide and nothing to defend but his very own pride.The only thing that could be done is to cast himlf as far away as possible from the mess he has created to escape from personal humiliation.Choosing a lf impod exile is the best thing he could do to retain his pride at that moment.
Oe dipus f ur ther s his downf all t hr ough other f laws in his chara cte r,which ar e his ignora nce and blindness.Due to his ignorance,he leaves his home in Corinth without further investigation of the oracle’s words.He initially goes to the oracle to ask if he is his father’s son,but leaves without an answer to this question.Oedipus also does not conduct himlf in a very wi manner.Even though he does not know that Laius and Jocasta are his parents,he still does kill a man old enough to be his father and y
f T y“Y
摘要：本文浅析了古希腊悲剧诗人索福克勒斯的作品《俄狄浦斯王》中主角俄狄浦斯的性格特征。笔者认为，俄狄浦斯并非无辜地被命运捉弄，而是受到了其性格缺陷的影响。他的过度自负、愚昧、盲目和对真相的固执追求酿成了最终的悲剧。
关键词：俄狄浦斯；索福克勒斯；命运
to p rotect himl and his pride rom being en gul ed in the dread ul p rop hec.h ile leav in g Corinth h e un kn owing l meets his real ch oo to marr a woman old enou gh to be his mother.He is blind to the truth ab out h iml and his past.iresias sa s to him ou
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with your precious eyes/you are blind to the corruption of your life ”(470-471).Again under the in uence of his own ignorance,Oedipus decides to continue despite the prophet ’s warning.As a result,Oedipus blindly persists in eking out his past even when he is told that such actions would ruin him.He goes too far and gets caught in an awful revelation.In this way ,he is partially responsible for Jocasta's death when he ignores her plea to not continue.
Another factor that affects Oedipus ’ultimate destination in life is his inten desire to uncover the truth.After realizing that the prophecy has come true,Jacasta begs him to just let the mystery go unsolved for once:
Stop---in the name of god,if you love your own life,call off this arch!My suffering is enough.(1163-1165)
Oedipus replies,“I must know it all/must e the tr uth at last ”(1168-1169).He is unable to stop his quest for the truth,even under his wife's plea.The desire for truth,so deeply ingrained in his character,pushes Oedipus to continue his arch,ultimately leading to his downfall.
Oedipus is a hero in Thebes.He conquers the Sphinx,saves the
克劳夫：这是正宗的饼干。
纳格：（还是叹着气）这么硬！我没法吃！哈姆：把他关进去！
（克劳夫把纳格塞进垃圾桶里，重新盖上盖子。）[4]12-13
而子女所能提供的少得可怜，不过是让他们留口气、吊着命而已[3]130，也不会去考虑自己提供的到底符不符合老人的实际需要，在子女看来，此时的老人显然已经成为令人讨嫌的负担，“死”字或许只是子女们不曾说出的心里诅咒而已。在贝克特无声无息的叙述中，老人的羸弱、孤独和无助力透纸背。正是子女的冷漠和无情的对待，老人逐步陷入精神荒原。
三、孤独的精神世界
纳格和耐尔夫妇不厌其烦地重复着老旧的故事，煞有介事地接吻、挠痒（尽管十分困难），面对这些日复一日的无聊举动，耐尔反问纳格：“为什么天天开这样的玩笑？”[4]17这也是作者想要读者思考和回答的问题。面对孤寂无聊，他们除了以此消磨时间别无他法。然而就在老夫妇谈得不亦乐乎的时候，哈姆分别以“住嘴”、“够了”及“有完没完”等加以干涉，并声称要将他们这些“垃圾”扔到海里去，也让纳格“吓了一跳，止住了笑”。[4]19-24很明显，年轻人对老年人的孤独感受是无法深入理解的。但讽刺的是，哈姆却期待克劳夫了解自己的痛苦：“有那么一天，你将变成瞎子。像我一样。你将坐在某个地方，孤零零的感到空虚，永远地，陷于黑暗之中。”[4]34既然作为家庭权力中心的哈姆都是这样的感受，那么被他几乎弃于不顾的父母的境况就可想而知了。对老人而言，伴随着疾病、饥饿、伤痛的，常常是无边的寂寞甚至绝望，而这正是人类最不能承
受的。
四、结语
通过对身体严重残疾的老夫妇的身体状况、生活条件以及精神世界的描写，贝克特将读者带向了一个孤寂、阴沉的世界。有人曾说他之所以经常描写残疾人及残疾人的痛苦或许是因为童年不快乐，作者却说自己也拥有正常的童年，“只是比起快乐，我更注意身边的痛苦罢了”。[3]130作为身患残疾的老人，更应当受到悉心的照料，但迎接他们的却是子女及世人的冷漠，若是联系到当今社会仍有不少老人在孤独中等待“终局”，那么贝克特抒写的不仅是过去，也有现在。
参考文献：
[1]Draper,James P.Ed.“Endgame ”.Contemporary Literary Criticism.V ol.83.Detroit:Gale Rearch,1994.107-151.怎么灭蚊子
[2]张士民，何树.头盖骨里的咆哮：贝克特《终局》之空间分析[J].外语研究,
2009(04):106-109.
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[3]Gontarski ，S.E.,ed.“Jack Ma cGowran and Richard Toscan in an interview ”.On B eckett:Essays and Critic ism.New Y ork:Grove Press,1986.213-25.Rpt.of “Jack MacGowran with Richard Toscan (inter view da te July-September 1973)”Contemporary Literary Criticism.Ed.James P.Draper.Vol.83.Detroit:Gale Rearch,1994.107-151.
[4]萨缪尔·贝克特著.贝克特选集(4)[M].赵家鹤曾晓阳余中先译长沙湖南文艺出版社city from its harsh rule.Oedipus is highly respected.His love for his city and people,and his arch for truth are what shine through above and beyond anything el about his personality.However,as quoted in the article,“Oedipus is a tragic hero who is curd by the cruel fate of birth,murder and marriage ”(“Fate and Oedipus ”).It is this very virtue that leads to his demi.His fatal character flaws:pride,ignorance,
blindness and his unrelenting quest for the truth paved the path for Oedipus.He is ultimately in control of his own destiny and he is responsible for the conquences of his choices.All in all,Oedipus is in fact the instigator of his own fate.
W orks Cit ed ：
书信格式范文
1.Cameron,Alister.The Identity of Oedipus the King.New Y ork:New Y ork University Press,1968.
2.“Fate and Oedipus.”Enjoying Oedipus the King.</oedipus.htm>18Oct.2005
3.“Oedipus the King and Fate.”</view.asp?id=16574>19Oct.2005
4.Sophocles.Oedipus the King.Handout.Ed.W illiam Ellis.No Publisher.No date.
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