Widow, whom he had Marry'd. He punishes himself severely for it, and by this means restores the Health of his Country.
You see then this Famous Fable, and in truth the most just, and the best invented, as to the Moral, and the Theatral part, of any Antiquity can boast of.
The [1]Grecians, for whom it was compos'd, were extremely pleas'd to see the Crimes and the Misfortunes of Kings: And the Moral instruction, that was most in Vogue at that time, was such a one as did beget in Men an Aversion to Monarchy, and a love to Democracy, which they call'd liberty. What the Poets feign'd of Oedipus contain'd all these things; and was very proper to prevent the Grandees from Aspiring to Tyranny, and to inspire others with a Resolution never to endure it.
This Fable being thus conceiv'd has very naturally these five parts. The first comprehends the Misfortunes of the People. The second is the Enquiry into the Cause and the Remedy of these Misfortunes. The third is the Discovery thereof. The fourth is the Effect of this Discovery, and the performance of what the Gods requir'd, namely the punishing those Crimes, that had been the Cause of the Ills which the People suffer'd. And the fifth is the Cure and Joy that ought to be the Consequence of the Repentance and Punishment of Oedipus.
But this last part was very improper for the Theatre. The Calm and Languishing Passions, of which the spectators upon this occasion were hardly capable, would have enervated and spoil'd the Beauty of those violent Passions so proper to Tragedy, and with which the Audience were to be inspir'd. The Poet then was not to make an exact Episode of this last part. On the other hand, he has divided the second part into two, and has supply'd his five Acts in the following Method.
1. The Plague rag'd in the City of Thebes, and brought so many Miseries and dreadful Deaths upon them, that King Oedipus, touch'd with the Misfortune of his Subjects, would freely have left the Kingdom: But he hopes for some Relief from the Oracle he has sent to consult, and attends its Answer.
2. Creon brings him the Answer, and informs him, That the Cause of the Thebans Misfortunes, is the Murder committed upon the person of his Predecessor King Laïus: And that the Remedy is the punishing of the Murderer. Oedipus sets himself upon his duty of punishing the Offence: And to discover who this Murderer was, whom no body as yet knew, he orders Tiresias to be sent for. This Priest began by a Sacrifice, but that made no discovery of the thing in question.
3. He then had recourse to more powerful means. He calls up from the shades below the Ghost of Laïus, who discovers to him
- ↑ Reges & exactos Tyrannos Densum humeris bibit aure Vulgus. Hor.
that
