The Character of Jocasta in Seneca's Oedipus

Thomas D. Kohn
University of Richmond Regardless of T.S. Eliot's ("Seneca in Elizabethan Translation," 1924) judgement that Seneca's "characters all seem to speak with the same voice, and at the top of it," the characters of Seneca's Oedipus are, in fact, developed and distinct. This paper examines Jocasta, who appears in three episodes (more than any other character besides Oedipus himself), and shows that, although she may not behave like her Sophoclean counterpart, she displays an inner consistency and contributes to the play as more than simply a plot device. A brief look at the idea of "character" in a theatrical sense in antiquity reveals that Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus , and Cicero all thought psychological character study was an important activity for an orator. The "persistent theory" (Warren Anderson, Kent, Ohio: 1970) that Theophrastus composed the Characters for the playwright Menander, indicates that the creation of believable and consistent characters was a concern for the dramatist. Aristotle acknowledges that characters are a major concern in tragedy. Horace, Quintilian, Plutarch, and Dio Chrysostom all praise playwrights, both comic and tragic, who create characters which behave consistently and appropriately for the situation, and criticize those who do not. Thus, it is not anachronistic to discuss "character" in ancient drama. Current scholarship finds fault with Seneca's handling of Jocasta. Rutenberg, in his "Freely Translated and Adapted" version of the Oedipus (Wauconda, IL: 1988), enlarges her role by importing her lines from Sophocles'Oedipus Tyrannus. Zwierlein's OCT (1986) achieves a similar effect by following Weil (Paris: 1897) in reassigning a number of lines from the Old Corinthian to Jocasta. Both actions violate Seneca's carefully crafted character. Jocasta first appears after Oedipus' opening monologue, in which he speaks despairingly and contemplates flight. She enters without any announcement in the middle of line 81, indicating impatience and urgency. She is a typical comic wife, who castigates her husband and urges him towards proper behavior. At the same time, she is an ideal Roman matron, supporting her husband and helping him achieve his political goals. After speaking 5 1/2 lines, she falls silent for the rest of the episode. Some manuscripts have her speak again, but this runs counter to Seneca's depiction of a proper Roman wife who watches, proudly and silently, having helped her husband regain his courage and determination. At the end of the episode, she exits, again without announcement. Jocasta speaks again at the beginning of the fourth episode, while Oedipus investigates the death of Laius. Although not exactly reluctant, she is not very enthusiastic

about helping her husband. All 4 1/2 lines of her dialogue in this episode are straightforward answers to Oedipus' questions. Her final response begins midline, indicating hesitancy. Afterwards, Jocasta, having fulfilled her dramatic function as well as her duty as a supportive wife, again exits without announcement. At this point, Zwierlein again follows Weil by having the queen remain on-stage and reassigning to Jocasta some lines unanimously given to the Old Corinthian by the manuscripts. This needlessly violates the Rule of Three Actors. Jocasta's presence on-stage accomplishes nothing. The lines are consistent with the Old Corinthian's characterization as one who has counseled kings. And Jocasta's abrupt exit is consistent with her previous behavior. In the sixth episode, the Chorus, uncharacteristically speaking within an episode, announces Jocasta's entrance. She again shows great emotion by beginning mid-line. Having realized that she is both Oedipus' wife and mother, she is at a loss as to how to address him, finally settling on "son" (gnatus). She refuses to let him take all the blame for their incest; like Oedipus, she imposes her own penalty, stabbing herself fatally through the womb. The Chorus then announces her "exit," from life, if not from the stage. Jocasta appears in three episodes. In the first two, her entrances and exits are unmarked, mirroring the way in which Oedipus did not notice that she was his mother when he first came to Thebes. In the third, the Chorus announces her arrival and departure, emphasizing Jocasta's changed status: she has been recognized as Oedipus' mother. In the first two episodes, she is a proper Roman wife, simply helping her husband to preserve his kingdom. In the third, she is no longer Oedipus' spouse, but a woman whose emotional nature, demonstrated in the first episode by her mid-line entrance, has gotten the better of her. Jocasta is vital to the story, being the mother Oedipus unwittingly marries. She appears in more episodes than any character but Oedipus. Yet each time, she enters, speaks briefly, and then leaves. And her third appearance is different from the first two, mirroring her changed status from wife of Oedipus to his mother. Contrary to the opinions of Eliot and other more modern scholars, the playwright, while keeping Jocasta's role to a minimum for thematic purposes, has created a developed and consistent character.
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The name ' ', 'Jocasta', 'telling star' from Indo-European 'i ek-', 'to speak' and '2. st r-', 'star'. Another similar version is ' ' 'Epicaste', 'companion star' from indo-European 'epi, opi, pi', 'at, near, epi-' and '2. st r', 'star'. These names may mean the same thing if a companion is one spoken to. But the reference to star carries the meaning of a forecast. The name seems to be like your fate that is with you.

Homer in the Odyssey 11.271 mentions Jocasta: "...the mother of Oidipus, fair Epicaste, who did a monstrous thing in the innocence of her heart; for she married her own son, and he had slain his own father first. But the gods kept it from people's knowledge for a time. So he continued to be king in his lovely Thebes, but full of misery, by the gods' cruel will; and she went down to the strong prison of Hades the warder of the gates. Her grief was too great for her, and she hung herself from a lofty roof-beam; but she left him misery enough to spare, which the avenging spirits of his mother brought to pass." Jocasta is famous in Greek myth as both the mother and wife of Oedipus. This was not her choice but rather was the result of a complicated series of events. She began her life as the daughter of Menoeceus of Thebes, and the sister of Hipponome and Creon. Young Laius was of the line of Cadmus and was in Thebes when Amphion and Zethus usurped the throne of Thebes. After some adventures in the Peloponnesus he became king of Thebes when Amphion and Zethus died. The marriage of Jocasta to Laius seemed advantageous because both Jocasta and Laius were of the line of Cadmus. But Jocasta was not able to become pregnant and carry on the line. So Laius consulted an oracle. The oracle proclaimed that the child Laius fathered would murder him. So Laius rejected Jocasta and all women and moved off by himself. Jocasta could not accept this so she conspired to get Laius drunk and slept with him. She became pregnant and Laius became very angry. When a son was born instead of honoring Jocasta he snatched up the child, pierced his feet and exposed him. This distressed Jocasta greatly. In The Seven Against Thebes Aeschylus states (line 745):
For thrice Apollo spoke this word divine, From Delphi's central shrine, To Laius--Die thou childless! thus alone Can the land's weal be won! But vainly with his wife's desire her strove, And gave himself to love, Begetting Oedipus, by whom he died, The fateful parricide!

Jocasta spent the next years in Thebes alienated from Laius and suffering. Things seem to deteriorate until finally the Sphinx arrived. The Sphinx devoured young men who could not solve its riddle, leaving Thebes in a mess. Jocasta may be related to the Sphinx. It may represent her frustrations as Queen of Thebes. It is she that holds the throne and, in those days, the responsibility of the fertility of the crops. As long as her consort ignores her she cannot carry out her duty to provide fertility. The only way for her to deal with this was to find another man who could defepat her consort. Naturally it was the young, unmarried men, who would want to try to do this. The riddle of the Sphinx represented the contest that the challenger must undertake. The odd thing was that Oedipus should be the one that should succeed. He had come to Thebes to seek his forture because he was the victim of a horrendous proclamation by an oracle. He was told that he would murder his father and marry his mother. For this reason he left the parents that he knew in Corinth and came to Thebes. But before Oedipus had gotten to Thebes he had been almost run over by slaves rushing with a litter carrying a man. When Oedipus argued with the man they got into a fight and Oedipus killed the man. When Oedipus got to Thebes it was there that he learned that the King of Thebes was dead and that the Sphinx was challenging the town. Creon had become regent and he announced that anyone who could destroy the Sphinx could marry Jocasta.

Jocasta did not seem to have any choice in the matter. This fits with the notion of the contest for the queen of fertility. The ancient Greek myths are full of contests. The purpose of the contests was to get the most beatiful queen with the most handsome consort so the fertility of the crops could be assured. Jocasta was the beautiful queen and Oedipus became her consort by being the best at the riddle contest. So Oedipus became the consort of Jocasta and they had four children, Antigone, Polyneices, Eteocles, and Ismene. Life was good for them until a plague came to Thebes. An oracle was consulted to find the source of the problem. The blind seer Teiresias finally gave the cause as revealed by his oracular skill. Oedipus was the son whose feet had been pierced and exposed. His real parents were Laius and Jocasta, and he had killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus stabbed out his eyes and Jocasta hung herself. Notice that a careful reading of the oracles suggests that Jocasta was doomed. Her life was fated to destruction and the Oracles revealed how this destruction was to take place. But there is another interpretation. It is true that large events in nature have tremendous impact on our lives and there is little we can do about them. Yet we have choices. The little choices that we make can be very important. There is the choice to go to the oracle in the first place. Then when someone else does declare an oracular truth there is always the question of whether to act on it. The very belief in an oracle is an act of hubris. This belief suggests that the believer can know the true will of the devine. The Greeks did not really believe this was possible. They believed that devine wisdom and mortal wisdom were eternally separate. In the play "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles Jocata argues for this point but she cannot convince her husband. In the end it is this failing that destroys them. Queen Jocasta As A Tragic Character In Oedipus Rex
Queen Jocasta is one of Greek mythologys most ill fated characters. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus Rex, she and her husband learn that their child is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. So,in order to save avoid this catastrophe ,they leave the child out in the wilderness to die. Little does Jocasta know that a kindly herdsman has rescued the child and Baby Oedipus has been adopted by a King and Queen from another state. Years later, when Oedipus finally hears the the prophecy that he will murder his father and marry his mother, he also tried to circumvent fate by running away from his adopted family in Corinth to avoid the possibility of killing them. Jocasta becomes a participant in the story ony after fate has taken its course. She is unaware of the fact that her present husband is her own son Oedipus who she and her husband has sent to death years ago. After accusing Creon of conspiracy and treason, Oedipus relates to Jocasta the details of his meeting with Tiresius. Jocasta proceeds to plant doubts of the Gods by telling Oedipus the story of the Delphian Oracle and the circumstances surrounding Laius' death. We sense a tinge of arrogance as she tells Oedipus about how they defied the Gods : "An oracle came to Laius on fine day ... and it declared that doom would strike him down at the hands of a son, our son, to be born of our own flesh and blood." Then she says, "There you see? Apollo brought neither to pass. My baby no more murdered his father than Laius sufferedhis worst feardeath at his own son's hands." All she sees in the past is the loss of her son, and the death of her husband by "robbers." Again, after Polybus' death, she excitedly tells Oedipus that his prophecy was obviously untrue, though it wasn't, and by doing so she attempts to hint that the oracles - and thus the Gods as false. Throughout the play, Jocasta tested the beliefs of those around her by...

The Chorus
Character Analysis The Chorus is roughly like the peanut-gallery (its even occasionally told to shut up). Sophocles uses this group of Thebans to comment on the play's action and to foreshadow future events. He also uses it to comment on the larger impact of the characters' actions

and to expound upon the play's central themes. In Oedipus the King we get choral odes on everything from tyranny to the dangers of blasphemy. Sophocles also uses the Chorus at the beginning of the play to help tell the audience the given circumstances of the play. We hear all about the terrible havoc that the plague is wreaking on Thebes. By describing the devastation in such gruesome detail, Sophocles raises the stakes for his protagonist, Oedipus. The people of Thebes are in serious trouble; Oedipus has to figure out who killed Laius fast, or he won't have any subjects left to rule. Unlike his contemporary Euripides, Sophocles was known to integrate his choruses into the action of the play. InOedipus the King we see the Chorus constantly advising Oedipus to keep his cool. Most of the time in ancient tragedies choruses do a lot of lamenting of terrible events, but do little to stop them. Amazingly, though, the Chorus in Oedipus the King manages to convince Oedipus not to banish or execute Creon. Just imagine how much worse Oedipus would have felt if he'd killed his uncle/brother-in-law on top of his other atrocities. The Chorus in Oedipus the King goes through a distinct character arc. They begin by being supportive of Oedipus, believing, based on his past successes, that he's the right man to fix their woes. As Oedipus's behavior becomes more erratic, they become uncertain and question his motives. The fact Oedipus doesn't start lopping off heads at this point is pretty good evidence that he's not a tyrant. In the end, the Chorus is on Oedipus's side again and laments his horrific fate. Like most all ancient Greek tragedians, Sophocles divides his choral odes into strophe and antistrophe. Both sections had the same number of lines and metrical pattern. In Greek, strophe means "turn," and antistrophemeans "turn back." This makes sense when you consider the fact that, during the strophe choruses danced from right to left and during the antistrophe they did the opposite. Sophocles may have split them into two groups, so that it was as if one part of the Chorus was conversing with the other. Perhaps the dualities created by strophe and antistrophe, represent the endless, irresolvable debates for which Greek tragedy is famous.

The Oedipus Trilogy: Character Analysis Jocasta

At once Oedipus' mother and his wife, Jocasta represents the most immediate victim of Oedipus' fate, after the tragic hero himself. In contrast to Oedipus, Jocasta distrusts the oracles and believes that whatever happens will happen by unforeseeable chance. Still, she is wary enough to honor Apollo with offerings in a crisis.

Intelligent and capable, but not driven to exploration as Oedipus is, Jocasta has her own philosophy about what should be known or looked into. When Jocasta realizes before Oedipus the reality of his identity, she begs him to stop his questioning to avoid grief. Later, her own panicked grief impels her to suicide.

PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS In classical Greek tradition, it was considered important to maintain the unity of time, space and action, which meant that the plot did not alter in time but followed a linear pattern. The place of action did not change with the development of the plot and neither did the action alter. If the action of the play was serious and tragic, comic interludes were excluded from the play. Plot in the Greek tragedies had a set pattern, which can be seen in Oedipus Rex. The play opens with a Prologue, which is in the form of a dialogue. In the Prologue, the protagonist lays down the statement for the rest of the play to proceed. In Oedipus Rex, in the prologue all the necessary details about Laius' murder are presented. These work as premises for the further development of the plot. The prologue ends with a choral ode called the Parodos.

The prologue is followed by the Exposition. In this act the protagonist repeats the statement from the prologue. This statement is developed and explained by him in the speech. With the introduction of a new character, the plot takes on a different turn. In Oedipus Rex, the old prophet Tiresias' arrival and his revelations about Oedipus' birth and life serve this purpose. This is where the conflict in the plot is presented. Besides, other important Themes such as the importance of prophecies and qualities of an ideal ruler are introduced in this act. The Exposition also ends with an ode called Stasimon I. The Exposition is followed by the second Act. This marks the rise of action in the play. This is the longest act and is divided into three scenes: the confrontation between Oedipus and Creon, the intervention and persuasion by Jocasta and the dialogue between Oedipus and Jocasta. This is an act of high drama as the action reaches its peak. The climax is suspended as this act ends with a choral ode, the second Stasimon. The third act or the climax follows the second act of high action. In this act all the questions raised in the previous act find a solution. The mystery of Oedipus' dreadful life is solved and the play reaches its climax and the tragedy is complete. In the fourth Stasimon, which ends the third scene, the chorus comments on Oedipus' fate. The final scene or the Exodus of the play presents the outcome of the tragedy. The queen commits suicide and the devastated Oedipus blinds himself. These acts are not performed onstage but narrated by a messenger. Finally the blind Oedipus appears on the stage and a long lyrical dialogue between the chorus and Oedipus is presented. This dialogue is a lament on the situation. After this final Lament song, a long dialogue between Oedipus and Creon marks the conclusion of the play. Oedipus leaves as a broken man. All eyes are now resting on Creon and the citizens of Thebes hope to see an ideal king in him. Thus, the entire plot of the play is divided into the prologue, exposition, the rise in action, climax and exodus.
Catherine Barkley
She is hit by the war even before she meets Henry. Her childhood fianc was blown to pieces and she carried his riding crop as a remembrance. Perhaps that is the reason why she appears overwrought, excitable, and anxiety-ridden when we first meet her. She is, of course, wounded. Unlike her friend Miss Ferguson, she is not overtly religious. For her, LOVE is religion, but its morals are not well defined. She is created by Hemingway as an ideal woman: so devoted to her man that she will die in the process of doing anything that he wants.