0
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
The sole survivor of the attack on Theban King Laius remembers that the event took place at a crossroads for three paths. The crossroads was in the land of Phocis. According to the lone survivor, Laius and four of his five attendants and servants were killed while en route from Thebes to Delphi. The survivor subsequently specified to Laius' wife, Theban Queen Jocasta, that the murderous deeds were committed by a band of robbers.
But the survivor remembered more than he let on. For example, he actually remembered that the killing was the act of a long perpetrator. Additionally, he remembered the perpetrator's appearance and identity. He in fact recognized Oedipus two times, during the incident and afterwards. During the struggle, he saw the resemblance between Oedipus and Laius. He long ago had saved the three day old Oedipus from death as the predicted killer of his own father. He had given the baby to another shepherd who was originally from Corinth. So the survivor knew that the Laius lookalike could only be Laius' son all grown up.
Afterward, the survivor recognized Oedipus, this time in Thebes. Oedipus had gone on to Laius' hometown, which also was his own unbeknownst to him. There, he saved the city from the murderous, tax levying Sphinx. As a reward for his good behavior, he stepped into Laius' shoes personally and professionally, by accepting the kingship as his job and the grieving widow as his wife.
How is Antigone responsible for her own actions?
Antigone is responsible for her own actions, which result from her own decisions. She is the decider of action versus inaction, disobedience versus obedience, passion versus reasoned discussion. She knows that she is disobeying her uncle Theban King Creon's law of non burial. She knows that disobedience carries a death sentence. She accepts both the responsibility for burying her brother Polyneices, and the likelihood of her execution.
Why does Antigone oppose Creon?
Antigone opposes Creon because he has decreed that the attackers from Argos are to remain un buried and unmourned. This would not be exceptional to Antigone, except that the decree means that her brother Polyneices will be left to rot in the sun and be picked by carrion birds and dogs. Additionally, the Greeks believed that being unburied caused the body's soul to wander in torment along the banks of the river Styx. Finally, it was one of the few roles that women had in Greek society to prepare the dead for funeral and mourn. In a sense, when Creon denies her this right, he is depriving her of her identity in so iety and in the family.
What punishment does Oedipus exact upon himself?
Oedipus gouges out his eyes, and asks Kreon that he be exiled to a place where no Theban will ever see him.
What does Haemon ask Creon to do and what is Creon's response?
That kings rule alone and that it is a sign of weakness and failure to do otherwise
Jocasta intends to convince him that prophets cannot tell the future.
Who was the protagonist of 'Oedipus Rex'?
The answer is debatable. But it is widely said that Oedipus was the protagonist and antagonist. Otherwise known as a 'tragic hero'.
How does Choragos feel about Creon's command?
The choragos fear that Creon will become power hungry and make up more rules that will jeopardize his future.
Who are Oedipus' adoptive parents?
King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth are subsequent Theban King Oedipus' adoptive parents. They have no children. One of their shepherds returns from Thebes with an abandoned baby boy. The childless royal couple are so pleased with their adoptive son that they raise him as their heir apparent.
Polybus, king of Corinth and his queen, Merope.
Yes. Theban King Creon and his sister Theban Queen Jocasta were the children of Menoeceus, who was the son of Pentheus. Theban King Pentheus was the son of Polydorus. Theban King Polydorus was the son of Phoenician Prince Cadmus, who was the founder of the city of Thebes. Cadmus was the son of King Agenor of Tyre and his wife Telephassa.
He is usually depicted as having the head of a bull on the body of a man.
No one is guaranteed smooth sailing through life is the meaning of 'Let every man in mankind's frailty consider his last day and let none presume on his good fortune until he find life at his death a memory without pain'. The ancient world is ruled by the gods. It's ironically symbolic that Zeus, as the king of the gods, carries a thunderbolt. In many ways, that's what life is to the ancient Greeks in such plays as 'Oedipus Rex'. Mortals are playthings of the gods. They're lucky if they aren't jumping up to avoid, or running away from, the thunderbolts that Zeus and his extended family send the way of all mortals.
Is Antigone engaged to Haemon?
Yes, Antigone is engaged to Haemon. He's her first cousin. He's the son of Theban King Creon. Antigone is the daughter of deceased Theban Queen Jocasta. Creon and Jocasta were brother and sister.
Ismene, Teiresias, and Theban King Creonsurvive in 'Antigone'. All of the other major characters die. Antigone kills herself rather than die a slow and painful death walled up in a remote cave. Haemon kills himself rather than live without his first cousin and fiancee, Antigone. Theban Queen Eurydice kills herself rather than live after the suicide of her last surviving child, and rather than live another second with her husband.
Which information does Antigone give to Ismene?
That she'll disobey a recent law denying god given rights of below ground burial and funeral services to the body of their dead brother Polyneices is the information that Antigone gives to her sister Ismene. The law is issued, and will be enforced, by the sisters' uncle and sovereign, Theban King Creon. Disobedience carries a death sentence.
How has Creon become king of Thebes?
His two older brothers (the original heirs to the throne), Eteocles and Polyneices, killed each other in battle. He was next in line to be king.
How does the dramatic irony in Oedipus lead to interrogation with Creon?
On his journey, Oedipus kills a man and his companions on the road, which turn out to be King Laius and his men. Oedipus, without knowing that the man he killed was Laius, swears to find the man that killed the old king and kill him as well. This is ironic because he is unknowingly swearing to kill himself.
Who is the sole survivor from the attack on King Laius in 'Oedipus Rex'?
A shepherd who is also a trusted servant to the Theban royal family is the sole survivor from the fight that results in Theban King Laius' death. This shepherd therefore is witness to actions that bring Theban King Oedipus closer and closer to his predicted fate.
In the first instance, the shepherd receives the three day old Oedipus from Theban Queen Jocasta. Jocasta is told by her husband, Laius, to kill the baby. But Jocasta can't bear to do the dastardly deed herself. Instead, she gives her baby over for the shepherd to kill. But the shepherd can't bring himself to be a child killer either. He ultimately hands the baby over to another shepherd who gives the child to the childless royal couple of Corinth, King Polybus and Queen Merope.
In the second instance, Oedipus is forced into a street brawl over a right-of-way at a crossroads where three paths meet. He's outnumbered in a struggle against five people. But Oedipus and the shepherd end up as the sole survivors. In the course of that battle, Oedipus lives by killing, unknowingly and in self defense, Laius, who is both his father and his king.
And so Oedipus is ready for the fourth in the series of decisions that lead him inexorably to his predicted fate. The first step is Jocasta's decision not to kill her son, but to trust that others will. The second step is Oedipus' decision to flee what he mistakenly thinks is his home in Corinth. The third step is his father's murder. And the fourth step is his marriage with his own mother.
What is Creon's attitude toward the chorus?
Theban King Creon begins with an arrogant, insensitive attitude towards the other characters and towards the chorus. He is less disdaining and obnoxious when the chorus appears to rubber stamp or reinforce his opinions and actions. He ends with a humblerattitude once he has lost his wife, his son, and his power. He becomes more placating and even begs for a quick end to his misery.
How does the Mother in 'Antigone' die?
By committing suicide is how the Mother dies in the play 'Antigone'. She's Theban Queen Eurydice. She's the mother of Haemon, Antigone's first cousin and husband to be. She's the wife of Theban King Creon. But her role as First Lady of Thebes ends when she stabs herself to death with a dagger. She can't bear to live another moment above ground with a husband she despises personally and professionally.
Why is there a tragedy in 'Antigone'?
The play 'Antigone' is considered a tragedy, because of the drastic consequences of the story's events. Excepting Teiresias, Ismene, and Theban King Creon, every single one of the main characters dies. Additionally, there's the massive destruction of enemy and native life through the battle whose end is the beginning of the play. Similarly, there's the large-scale misery of Thebans in the aftermath of their own deliberately unburied dead. And there's the individual heartbreak of King Creon who loses everything that had made his life worth living.
