How did Antigone's father die?

Answer 1

The how and where of the death of Antigone's father, Oedipus, was unknown to readers and viewers of the play 'Oedipus at Colonus'. The particulars were known only to King Theseus of Athens. Theseus' messenger to Oedipus' daughters, Antigone and Ismene, knew only that Oedipus was there one minute with Theseus, and gone the next. It had been foretold that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his own mother. His parents, Theban King Laius and Theban Queen Jocasta, tried to escape such a fate by leaving the newly born Oedipus exposed to the weather and the wild animals. But Oedipus survived, and ended up being raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. As an adult, he learned of the prophecy, and left Corinth in order not to kill what he thought were his biological parents. At a crossroads, Oedipus got into a right-of-way argument with Laius, whom he killed. He didn't know that he was committing the doubly heinous crime of father and king killing. He then married the widowed Queen Jocasta. Years later, the people of Thebes were suffering from a plague. It was determined that the murderer of King Laius needed to be identified. Ultimately, the true story of Oedipus and his parents came to light. Jocasta killed herself. Oedipus blinded himself, and went into exile. The Greek god Apollo had comforted Oedipus with the promise of a death on ground sacred to the fateful Furies aka the Eumenides. He also promised Oedipus that the former Theban King's grave would bless the country in which it was dug. The prophecy was carried out with the support of Athenian King Theseus, who ruled over the land and people of Colonus.