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In act I, scene 1, of The Two Noble Kinsmen, the first queen says:

1. Queen. We are 3. Queenes, whose Soveraignes fel before
The wrath of cruell Creon; who endured
The Beakes of Ravens, Tallents of the Kights,
And pecks of Crowes, in the fowle feilds of Thebs.
He will not suffer us to burne their bones,
To urne their ashes, nor to take th' offence
Of mortall loathsomenes from the blest eye
Of holy Phaebus, but infects the windes
With stench of our slaine Lords.

I tried to decode to take the offence but to no avail. Methinks it does not mean the same as to take offence. What does to take th' offence mean here? What is the role of the definite article in imparting the meaning?

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    We wouldn't include the article today anyway, but it looks to me like "cruel Creon" wouldn't let the Queen ("regal we"?) properly mourn her fallen warriors (with funeral rites, etc.). So much so that their dead bodies are left to rot in open view, but the Queen and her followers aren't even allowed to be disgusted / take offense at such a sight - they have to treat it as "just one of those things" that they're not allowed to do anything about.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 17, 2023 at 16:59

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I think 'the offence of mortal loathsomeness' is the dead bodies of the three kings after they have been pecked at by the ravens and crows - which the widows want to 'take from the eye of Phoebus (the sun)', that is, remove from the battlefield.

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  • I don't know this text, and because three was transcribed as 3, I didn't realize the speaker is one of three widowed queens denied their "right" of due ceremony in respect of their dead husbands. But it seems we both agree on the broad substance of the text.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 17, 2023 at 17:06

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