INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
The Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi.[1] An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, the story centres on Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events by the gods of the land.[2]
The novel is set in an indeterminate period of a Yoruba kingdom. This reworking of Oedipus Rex was part of the African Arts (Arts d’Afrique) playwriting contest in 1969. Rotimi’s play has been celebrated on two counts: at first scintillating as theatre and later accruing a significant literary aura.[3] This article focuses specifically on the 1968 play. You should have a read!
