The unsolved murder of Theban King Laius is the cause of the plague in Thebes. It's actually a case of a pestilence that's wiping out the city's people, livestock and harvests. Nobody knows what the cause is until Theban King Creon comes back from a visit to the Oracle at Apollo's Shrine.
Murder is serious business. It requires proper cleansing procedures through the carrying out of purification ceremonies. It's even more serious when the victim is a king. The crime is seen as affecting all of Thebes. So all of Thebes needs to go through purification and the murderer or murderers need to be identified and punished.
The plague upon the Greek army is caused by Apollo who shoots arrows at the Greeks to punish them for not returning Chryseis to her father.
Oedipus.
The fact that Laius's murderer (Oedipus) lives unpunished.
Yes, Oedipus falls from a position of power in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Oedipus is king of Thebes. He also is revered as his city's savior for defeating the monstrous Sphinx. But within a day's time, he loses family, friends, home, job, reputation and sight.
It is to emphasize the greatness of his fall, heighten dramatic tension and increase audience involvement that Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) concentrates on Oedipus' life after becoming king of Thebes in "Oedipus Rex."Specifically, Oedipus goes from the peak of personal happiness and professional success to blind prisoner in a day's time. The tension is heightened because the play is structured around a murder investigation in which clues are collected and information sources are interviewed. The attention level and emotional investment of the audience rises as revelation upon revelation shakes and shatters Oedipus' seemingly charmed life in Thebes.
Some fifteen to twenty (15-20) years before the action of the play "Oedipus Rex" Oedipus is considered to have freed Thebes from the Sphinx.Specifically, ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) gives no dates or times for the events before and during the action of the play. But Oedipus indicates that he is not worried about what will happen to his twin sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, who are already grown up. Based upon what is known about eligibility to take over the throne, which both of his sons could and would do, the general notion is that defeating the Sphinx, marrying Theban Queen Jocasta and becoming King of Thebes happened in Oedipus' life about 15-20 years before his fall from grace as a killer and sex offender.
Ailing livestock, dying children and failing crops blight the city in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, a pestilence afflicts Thebes. It causes declining birth rates in livestock and people. It also causes failing harvests and therefore famine. Its cause needs to be found and dealt with before the pestilence ends all life in Thebes.
The fact that Laius's murderer (Oedipus) lives unpunished.
of his hamartia, or tragic flaw.
Yes, Oedipus falls from a position of power in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Oedipus is king of Thebes. He also is revered as his city's savior for defeating the monstrous Sphinx. But within a day's time, he loses family, friends, home, job, reputation and sight.
It is to emphasize the greatness of his fall, heighten dramatic tension and increase audience involvement that Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) concentrates on Oedipus' life after becoming king of Thebes in "Oedipus Rex."Specifically, Oedipus goes from the peak of personal happiness and professional success to blind prisoner in a day's time. The tension is heightened because the play is structured around a murder investigation in which clues are collected and information sources are interviewed. The attention level and emotional investment of the audience rises as revelation upon revelation shakes and shatters Oedipus' seemingly charmed life in Thebes.
Birds, bull, cattle, horse, sheep, and the Sphinx are the beasts referenced in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, birds appear in regard to ritual sacrifices. The chorus compares Laius' killer to a wild bull. Cattle fall sick from the pestilence. Laius lets his charioteer and horses jostle Oedipus at an intersection. The Corinthian and Theban shepherds pasture their sheep outside Thebes. The Sphinx terrorizes Thebes until defeated by Oedipus.
Some fifteen to twenty (15-20) years before the action of the play "Oedipus Rex" Oedipus is considered to have freed Thebes from the Sphinx.Specifically, ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) gives no dates or times for the events before and during the action of the play. But Oedipus indicates that he is not worried about what will happen to his twin sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, who are already grown up. Based upon what is known about eligibility to take over the throne, which both of his sons could and would do, the general notion is that defeating the Sphinx, marrying Theban Queen Jocasta and becoming King of Thebes happened in Oedipus' life about 15-20 years before his fall from grace as a killer and sex offender.
It is the loss of happiness, independence and successthat makes up Oedipus' fall from greatness in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, disgraced Theban King Oedipus loses his happiness when he learns that his wife Queen Jocasta is his mother. He loses his independence when he blinds himself rather than see his messy life now and in the Underworld of the afterlife. He loses his success when he must step down as king of Thebes because of criminal acts and immoral behavior.
Ailing livestock, dying children and failing crops blight the city in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, a pestilence afflicts Thebes. It causes declining birth rates in livestock and people. It also causes failing harvests and therefore famine. Its cause needs to be found and dealt with before the pestilence ends all life in Thebes.
To emphasize Oedipus' identity as the play'shero and for dramatic irony Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) begins "Oedipus Rex" with Oedipus.Specifically, Theban King Oedipus is the hero as the play's main character and as the doer of great deeds. One of the ways in which Oedipus' heroism and subsequent fall from grace are presented to the audience is through the literary device of dramatic irony. A dramatically ironic situation is not how it seems to the relevant character or does not lead to the expected outcome. In this case, it is dramatically ironic that Oedipus can solve Thebes' problems but not that of his own identity.
It is the Corinthian messenger who identifies the old shepherd as the man who spares the infant Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, the Corinthian messenger is in a position to know. At the time of Theban King Oedipus' infancy, the messenger is working as a shepherd. He gets to have his flocks graze in Thebes between spring and fall. He accepts Oedipus from the Theban shepherd who cannot bring himself to carry out royal orders to kill the three-day-old infant.
Menoeceus is the father of Theban King Creon and of Theban Queen Jocasta. So he's the father-in-law of son Creon's wife, Theban Queen Eurydice. He also is the father-in-law of daughter Jocasta's two husbands, Theban Kings Laius and Oedipus.Menoeceus doesn't appear in 'Antigone' or in 'Oedipus Rex'. He already is dead. According to 'Seven Against Thebes', which covers events before things really fall apart personally and professionally for Oedipus, Menoeceus commits suicide by throwing himself over the high walls of Thebes. He believes a prophecy that his suicide will bring victory to Thebes. Whether or not Menoeceus has to go to such lengths, Thebes does end up the victor against Theban rebels and Argive invaders.
he went to the bathroom and never came out.