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Antigone
The play 'Antigone' is at least 2,440 years old. Still timely nevertheless are its main concerns over what to do about a bad law and how far to go for the sake of love or justice. Contributors typically ask and answer questions about the play's author, characters, imagery, literary devices, plot, and relationship to other plays of the same themes or time period.
3,361 Questions
What does Oedipus do to discover the cause of Thebes' plague?
Theban King Oedipus tries to uncover the cause of pestilence in Thebes, by sending his brother-in-law and uncle, Theban King Creon, to Apollo's shrine. It's the correct choice to make. Creon comes back with the information that the killer[s] of Oedipus' royal predecessor, Theban King Laius, must be identified and punished with execution or exile.
How does the meaning of the name Oedipus foreshadow the discovery of Oedipus' identity?
Oedipus' name means 'lame or swollen footed'. The name that's based on injury to the feet therefore foreshadows Theban King Oedipus' true nature as the discarded son of his true biological parents, Theban King Laius and Theban Queen Jocasta. An early injury to the feet has permanent effects on the appearance and the gait.
Laius had been warned of his future death at the hands of his own son. He therefore told Jocasta to kill the three day old Oedipus. A rod was run through the infant's ankles to make it easier to throw him onto a hillside and die from exposure to the weather, the dogs, and the birds.
But Jocasta couldn't bear to kill her own son. She instead hoped to save both her husband and her son. So she handed Oedipus over to a shepherd to raise far away from Thebes. The shepherd removed the rod. But damage to the Achilles' tendon left Oedipus with swollen ankles. It also gave him an abnormalgait.
What are you first impressions of the play Antigone?
This is a question one must answer on one's own. It is asking for your personal opinion, not that of a third party.
Who was the King of Thebes and the father of Oedipus?
Laius is the King of Thebes and the father of Oedipus. By his death, his son Oedipus takes his place, literally, both personally and professionally. Specifically, Oedipus becomes the successor King of Thebes and the husband of Laius' grieving widow, Theban Queen Jocasta.
The problem is that on the way, albeit unknowingly, Oedipus kills his father and sovereign and marries, and has children with, his own mother.
How many captains march against Thebes in 'Antigone'?
No captains march in 'Antigone'. The action of the marching captains instead is the subject of 'Seven against Thebes' by Aeschylus [525/524 B.C.E.-465/464 B.C.E.]. In that earlier play, seven captains lead a combined army of Argive invaders and Theban rebels against the royal throne that Theban King Eteocles refuses to share with his twin brother, Polyneices.
The seven captains are King Adrastus of Argos; Amphiaraus; Capaneus; Hippomedon; Parthenopeus; Polyneices; and Tydeus. All but the Argive King die during the unsuccessful attempt to breach the seven gates of Thebes. After the death of Antigone and the exile of Theban King Creon, Adrastus manages to get Athenian King Theseus' help in launching a second invasion. The purpose of that invasion is the recovery of the disrespectfully unburied, exposed bodies of the five dead non Theban captains from the first invasion. Ten years after the second invasion, a third invasion is launched by the sons of the original seven captains. This time, the invasion topples Eteocles' descendants from the throne. The Theban crown is taken over by the descendants of Polyneices.
What are antigone reasons for defying Creon?
She doesnt think it it right to honor only one brother so in being that case she in fact does go against his will to bury him .
What does Antigone say when Creon confronts her about covering Polynices?
She says that she has no clue who really buried the body, but that whoever did it, shall be punished.
What is Oedipus' crime called nowadays?
Theban King Oedipus kills his own father. Nowadays, that crime officially is called unpremeditated patricide. His father, Theban King Laius, is also his sovereign. Nowadays, that crime officially is called accidental manslaughter and treason. Oedipus then marries his father's widow, Theban Queen Jocasta. Jocasta is also his mother. So nowadays that crime officially is called incest. In one fell swoop, Oedipus therefore becomes a killer, a sex offender, and a traitor.
Who embodies the internal conflict of self versus state in 'Antigone'?
Antigone embodies the internal conflict between the self and the state in the play of the same name. She initially appears to do easy battle with the struggle between being obedient to the laws of her city, and being true to her own sense of right and wrong. Her moral convictions win that battle, because of Antigone's humanitarianism, respect for the gods, and sense of justice. It's only when Antigone takes her last steps to her place of death that readers and viewers learn how much her struggle costs her emotionally and romantically. The reading and viewing audience indeed learn that Antigone is losing out on her dream of marriage to her beloved first cousin and fiance, Haemon. They therefore realize that the apparently easily won moral battle isn't so easy after all, even for such a passionate activist as Antigone.
What worldview does Oedipus's anagnorisis in Oedipus Rex present?
Oedipus's recognition of the role he played in his own downfall reflects the worldview that our actions play a role in controlling our destinies.
Yes, Haimon does die. He stabs himself after Antigone hangs herself. He is found in a pool of his own blood in Antigone's tomb.
What kind of sibling rivalry is portrayed in Antigone?
The is very few sibling rivalry present in Antigone, however, the first seen I suppose could be some type of sibling rivalry. When Antigone tells her sister, Ismene, that she is going to bury their brother, Polyneices, despite the law against it, the sisters get in an argument. Later on, when Antigone is convicted, Ismene tries to take credit for the crime along with her sister, and another argument ensues.
Why does Creon change his mind in 'Antigone?
In the play 'Antigone', Theban King Creon changes his mind because of the prophecies of Teiresias the blind prophet. The King doesn't want to hear the truths that Teiresias tells him. He becomes insulting and threatening. So Teiresias tells him the woeful consequences of cruelty, pride, and stubbornness. Once he realizes the doom and gloom in store for him and his family, the King quickly changes his mind about crime and punishment. For example, he decides that his non-burial decree for the disloyal Theban dead indeed is wrong. He tries to make things right by having his nephew Polyneices buried and by trying to get his niece Antigone out of the remote, walled up cave to which he sentences her to death.
Because he decided too...
Why is Oedipus blinding himself dramatically appropriate?
Because Oedipus was figuratively blind in his complete ignorance of the truth about the death of Laius. In blinding himself, he becomes literally blind to parallel that. I think this is an example of Homeric justice.
Which event did the chorus in 'Antigone' give an account of?
The chorus provided an account of Polyneices' expeditionto Thebes, the resulting battle, and the outcome of that battle. Polyneices was the twin brother of Eteocles, the older brother of Antigone and Ismene, and the nephew of Theban King Creon. His expedition was supported by his father-in-law, the King of Argos. It was an attempt by Polyneices to regain control over the Theban throne. He and his brother Eteocles were supposed to govern jointly, with each one alternating years of rule. But Eteocles refused to give up the throne, and had Polyneices banished. He wouldn't listen to reason or work things out diplomatically. So Polyneices felt forced into a military solution for getting his rights respected.
Is there a plague in 'Oedipus Rex'?
Yes, there's a plague in 'Oedipus Rex'. It actually is called a 'pestilence'. It's ravaging the city's population, livestock and crops. Everyone is at wits' end as to how to end or at least soften the effects.
What is an example of assonance in 'Antigone'?
Assonance refers to rhymed vowels that come fairly close to each other. But the rhyme doesn't extend to the following consonants. An example from the English language version of 'Antigone' may be found just before the Sentry brings the arrested Antigone before Theban King Creon. The chorus states, 'When he honors the laws of the land, and that justice which he hath sworn by the gods to uphold...'.
Who is Polyneices in 'Antigone'?
In the play 'Antigone', Polyneices is the twin brother of Eteocles, with whom he's supposed to power share the Theban throne. The two men are the royal successors of their parents, King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. Within this immediate family, he also is the brother of his two sisters, Antigone and Ismene. Through both his father's and mother's famly lines, he's the great great great grandson of Cadmus, the founder and first king of the city of Thebes in about 2000 B.C.E. On his father's side, he's the great great great great great grandson of Poseidon, the sea god. And again on both sides, he's the great great great great great great great grandsonof Gaia, the original mother of the gods and of mortals.
Eteocles and Polyneices quarrel over their throne sharing arrangement. Eteocles banishes his brother. Consequently, Polyneices tries to take back the throne by gathering an opposition force from Argos. In the ensuing battle, Eteocles and Polyneices end up being each other's killers. Their uncle Creon then takes the throne. He approves the burial of Eteocles as loyal to Thebes. But he disapproves the same god given rights to Polyneices as a disloyal traitor to Thebes.
But Polyneices' descendants ultimately triumph. Polyneices is the husband of Argive Princess Argeia and the son-in-law of King Adrastus of Argos. He thereby becomes the father of Thersander, who becomes King of Thebes. Through Thersander's descendants, Polyneices becomes the great great great great grandfather of Eurysthenes and Procles, the founders of the respective Eurypontid and Agiad dynasties of the Kings of Sparta, in around 930 B.C.E.
How are The Hunger Games and the Minotaur alike?
According to Greek mythology, seven girls and seven boys were sacrificed to the bull-headed Minotaur monster to keep him from going out on a rampage. This is similar to The Hunger Games, in which twelve girls and twelve boys are sacrificed to be in a game where they have to fight to the death until one remains. This happens to remind the common people that the state controls every aspect of their lives.
