the impetuous and somewhat tyrannical nature of Oedipus, and to prepare
the magnificent entrance of Jocasta.

P. 36, l. 630, Thebes is my country.]--It must be remembered that to the
Chorus Creon is a real Theban, Oedipus a stranger from Corinth.

P. 41, Conversation of Oedipus and Jocasta.]--The technique of this
wonderful scene, an intimate self-revealing conversation between husband
and wife about the past, forming the pivot of the play, will remind a
modern reader of Ibsen.

P. 42, l. 718.]--Observe that Jocasta does not tell the whole truth. It
was she herself who gave the child to be killed (p. 70, l. 1173).

P. 42, l. 730, Crossing of Three Ways.]--Cross roads always had dark
associations. This particular spot was well known to tradition and is
still pointed out. "A bare isolated hillock of grey stone stands at the
point where our road from Daulia meets the road to Delphi and a third
road that stretches to the south.... The road runs up a frowning pass
between Parnassus on the right hand and the spurs of the Helicon range
on the left. Away to the south a wild and desolate valley opens, running
up among the waste places of Helicon, a scene of inexpressible grandeur
and desolation" (Jebb, abridged).

P. 44, l. 754, Who could bring, &c.]--Oedipus of course thought he had
killed them all. See his next speech.

P. 51.]--Observe the tragic effect of this prayer. Apollo means to
destroy Jocasta, not to save her; her prayer is broken across by the
entry of the Corinthian Stranger, which seems like a deliverance but is
really a link in the chain of destruction. There is a very similar
effect in Sophocles' _Electra_, 636-659, Clytaemnestra's prayer; compare
also the prayers to Cypris in Euripides' _Hippolytus_.

P. 51, l. 899.]--Abae was an ancient oracular shrine in Boeotia; Olympia
in Elis was the seat of the Olympian Games and of a great Temple of
Zeus.

P. 52, l. 918, O Slayer of the Wolf, O Lord of Light.]--The names
Lykeios, Lykios, &c., seem to have two roots, one meaning "Wolf" and the
other "Light."

P. 56, l. 987, Thy father's tomb Like light across our darkness.]--This
ghastly line does not show hardness of heart, it shows only the terrible
position in which Oedipus and Jocasta are. Naturally Oedipus would give
thanks if his father was dead. Compare his question above, p. 54, l.
960, "Not murdered?"--He cannot get the thought of the fated murder out
of his mind.

P. 57, l. 994.]--Why does Oedipus tel