Thursday, November 15, 2012

Blog #12



Using strategic (and symbolic) syntax, make this paragraph DANCE!!! Yes, you need to rewrite the entire paragraph.

Despite the connections between the ideas of life and pain in Oedipus the King, the manifestation of fate represents the basic function of pain. Fate descends from the gods: irreproachable forces dealing inescapable destinies. Pain symbolizes and simultaneously constitutes the unavoidable and omnipotent power; pain is ubiquitous and humbling, a force outside mortal control. Oedipus, since his youth, knew of his fate and its vehicle of pain: “the god Apollo spurned me, sent me away/ denied the fact I came for,/ but first he flashed before my eyes a future/ great with pain, terror, disaster-“ (Oedipus the King, 869-872). The “greatness” of the “pain, terror, disaster” carries too much weight to be included in the previous line. The potency of their thematic role necessitates their linear singularity in order to highlight the magnitude of their significance. Oedipus, in his arrogance, believes he could outwit his fate, lending layer upon layer of ironies to his righteous lambast, “Now my curse on the murderer…let that man drag out/ his life in agony, step by painful step-/ I curse myself as well… if by any chance/ he proves to be an intimate of our house,/… may the curse I just called down on him strike me!” (Oedipus the King, 279-286). Oedipus, represented by the words “my”, “I” and “me,” attempts to spatially flee upon the page from the murderer, his fate. The distance between Oedipus and the murderer, “That man”, “he” and “him”, stays large until the final line where Oedipus is inevitably cornered by fate: “him” and “me” are as close as possible in proximity. Yet his tantrums availed him little, leaving him helpless in the face of fate and its harbinger of pain: “Apollo, friends, Apollo-/ he ordained my agonies- these, my pains on pains!” (Oedipus the King, 1467-1468). The repetition of “Apollo” and “pain” mirrors each other, further emphasized by the parallel structure of the words: the repeated words are both separated by only one word. These correlations illustrate the intertwined nature of fate and pain . The chorus dictates the inextricable nature of pain when lamenting Oedipus’ fate, “But now to hear your story- is there a man more agonized?/ More wed to pain and frenzy? Not a man on earth,/ the joy of your life ground down to nothing” (Oedipus the King, 1331-1333). The word “wed” carries the connotations of a lifelong and binding relationship, parallel to the inescapable nature of Mr. Fate and his muscle: pain. Yet this relationship does not apply to Oedipus alone; every prophesy, every divine dictum, places agonizing shackles upon mortal agency leading to the clear conclusion of the role of pain as the symbol and constitution of fate.

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