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Today's reading time is 4 minutes.
Spotlight: Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
Oedipus Separating From Jocasta, sketch by Alexandre Cabanel, oil on canvas, c. 1843
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex is one of the greatest achievements of ancient Greek drama and a foundational text of the Western canon. First performed in the fifth century B.C., the tragedy tells the story of King Oedipus of Thebes, a ruler celebrated for his intelligence after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. Yet his greatest strength — his determination to uncover the truth — proves also to be his greatest weakness and will lead to his downfall.
The play opens with Thebes suffering from a devastating plague. Seeking to save his people, Oedipus learns from the Oracle of Delphi that the city will only be freed once the murderer of the former king, Laius, is discovered and punished. Determined to bring the criminal to justice, Oedipus relentlessly investigates the mystery despite repeated warnings from the blind prophet Tiresias and others to abandon his search.
Gradually, the horrifying truth emerges: Oedipus himself unknowingly killed Laius years earlier during a quarrel on the road and later married Laius' widow, Jocasta, who is in fact his own mother. His parents, having received a prophecy that their son would kill his father and marry his mother, had tried to prevent this outcome, but every attempt to avoid fate only helped bring it about. Unable to bear the revelation, Jocasta takes her own life, while Oedipus blinds himself in despair and accepts exile, recognising that he has fulfilled the prophecy he spent his life trying to escape.
Although the plot is rooted in Greek mythology, Oedipus Rex continues to resonate because it explores universal questions about fate, free will, truth, and responsibility. Sophocles does not suggest that human beings are powerless, but he demonstrates that even the wisest individuals are limited in their understanding. Oedipus is tragic not simply because fate overtakes him, but because his pride, impulsiveness, and confidence in his own judgement prevent him from recognising the truth sooner. At the same time, his determination to uncover the truth, despite its devastating consequences, makes him a noble and deeply human figure.
The play's enduring importance lies in its profound psychological insight and masterful dramatic construction. Aristotle praised it in Poetics as the ideal tragedy, citing its powerful use of reversal and recognition to evoke pity and fear. Oedipus reminds modern readers that wisdom requires humility, that truth often comes at great personal cost, and that genuine leadership demands accountability. More than two thousand years after its first performance, the play’s exploration of human limitations, moral responsibility, and the search for self-knowledge continues to shape Western thought remains as compelling as ever.
Verse: 'When Earth’s Last Picture is Painted’ by Rudyard Kipling
When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it – lie down for an æon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen Shall put us to work anew.
And those that were good shall be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comet's hair.
They shall find real saints to draw from - Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame;
And no one will work for the money, and no one will work for the fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They are!
In ‘When Earth’s Last Painting is Painted’, Kipling contends that art is a Divine duty, not merely a hobby. The poem was composed in 1892.
Pensées
Opinions vs. Beliefs – Despite each word acting as a synonym for the other, opinions and beliefs aren’t strictly the same thing. The OED defines opinion as a ‘probable view’, for example, while ‘belief’ is described as the ‘acceptance of [a] thing as true.’ Too many people today do not hold political opinions; i.e. an idea about a particular issue which they hold with open hands and invite others to challenge; instead, they hold political beliefs, which they take for granted and do not want challenged.
Q ~ How can uncontested political beliefs pose a problem for our public square?
Diversions
Watch: Apparently the Romans sewed their hair in order to style it.
These are the 5 most expensive editions of Charles Dickens’s novels sold in the last decade.
9 paintings show Montmartre through the eyes of Van Gogh.
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