The way the mind makes connections...
"OEDIPUS: The man over here-
this one. Have you ever run into him? [1130]
SERVANT: Right now I can’t say I remember him.
MESSENGER: My lord, that’s surely not surprising.
Let me refresh his failing memory.
I think he will remember all too well
the time we spent around Cithaeron.
He had two flocks of sheep and I had one. 1360
I was with him there for six months at a stretch,
from early spring until the autumn season.
In winter I’d drive my sheep down to my folds,
and he’d take his to pens that Laius owned.
Isn’t that what happened-what I’ve just said? [1140]
SERVANT: You spoke the truth. But it was long ago."
Now see, I read this and my thoughts were "If Jake Gyllenhal's character in Brokeback Mountain had lived, this is what would have happened."
and then it gets better.
"MESSENGER: All right, then. Now, tell me if you recall
how you gave me a child, an infant boy,
for me to raise as my own foster son.
SERVANT: What? Why ask about that?
MESSENGER: This man here, my friend, 1370
was that young child back then.
SERVANT: Damn you!
Can’t you keep quiet about it!
OEDIPUS: Hold on, old man.
Don’t criticize him. What you have said
is more objectionable than his account."
...
"OEDIPUS: If you won’t tell us of your own free will,
once we start to hurt you, you will talk. 1380
SERVANT: By all the gods, don’t torture an old man!
OEDIPUS: One of you there, tie up this fellow’s hands."
Grace. I have to say that this is your fault.
this one. Have you ever run into him? [1130]
SERVANT: Right now I can’t say I remember him.
MESSENGER: My lord, that’s surely not surprising.
Let me refresh his failing memory.
I think he will remember all too well
the time we spent around Cithaeron.
He had two flocks of sheep and I had one. 1360
I was with him there for six months at a stretch,
from early spring until the autumn season.
In winter I’d drive my sheep down to my folds,
and he’d take his to pens that Laius owned.
Isn’t that what happened-what I’ve just said? [1140]
SERVANT: You spoke the truth. But it was long ago."
Now see, I read this and my thoughts were "If Jake Gyllenhal's character in Brokeback Mountain had lived, this is what would have happened."
and then it gets better.
"MESSENGER: All right, then. Now, tell me if you recall
how you gave me a child, an infant boy,
for me to raise as my own foster son.
SERVANT: What? Why ask about that?
MESSENGER: This man here, my friend, 1370
was that young child back then.
SERVANT: Damn you!
Can’t you keep quiet about it!
OEDIPUS: Hold on, old man.
Don’t criticize him. What you have said
is more objectionable than his account."
...
"OEDIPUS: If you won’t tell us of your own free will,
once we start to hurt you, you will talk. 1380
SERVANT: By all the gods, don’t torture an old man!
OEDIPUS: One of you there, tie up this fellow’s hands."
Grace. I have to say that this is your fault.