Antigone

The sole survivor of the events that lead to the death of Theban King Laius asks to be released from palace service. He wants to go back to the field to tend to his crops and his sheep. He prefers to be as far away as possible from Theban city life once he learns that Oedipus is now the King of Thebes and the husband of Theban Queen Jocasta.

That servant also is the shepherd who long ago is given the three day old baby Oedipus by Jocasta. Instead of killing the baby as ordered, he gives him to another shepherd who takes him home to Corinth, to be raised by the childless King Polybus and Queen Merope. Oedipus resembles his father, Laius. So the servant recognizes Oedipus as Laius' son and subsequent killer at the time of their fateful meeting at the crossroads of three paths.

The themes of Antigone

The Nature of Tragedy

The Sisters' Rivalry
There is no one theme to 'Antigone' as most literary works have more than one theme. I will list some of the major themes in 'Antigone.'

1) Respect for the dead

2) Sibling Rivalry

3) pride

4) man made law vs divine law

5) individual vs state or society

6) the nature of tragedy

As future daughter-in-law to future father-in-law, as niece and great niece to uncle and great uncle, and as subject to sovereign are the ways in which Antigone is related to Theban King Creon.

Specifically, Antigone is the fiancée of her first cousin Haemon, who is Creon's only surviving child. She is the daughter of her father, Theban King Oedipus. But she is both the daughter and the granddaughter of her mother, Theban Queen Jocasta. The double relationship is due to the albeit unknowing incestuous marriage of Oedipus to his own mother, Jocasta. Jocasta is Creon's sister. Finally, Antigone is a Theban citizen who is expected to obey the gods and her king.

The Sphinx throws herself over a cliff once her riddle is solved by Oedipus. Her livelihood is gone, with the riddle's solution. The Sphinx is in the habit of terrorizing all who try to pass her by on the way in or out of Thebes. She terrifies Thebans into paying her heavy taxes. She agrees to let into Thebes only those who solve her riddle.

But no one gets into Thebes, because no one knows what the Sphinx looks for as an answer. Until Oedipus, no one guesses that man is the living being that gets about on all fours in the morning, twos in the afternoon, and threes in the evening. No one realizes that the morning represents the crawling of an infant, the afternoon the steady stride of the adult, and the evening the need of an elder for a walking stick.

Theban Queen Jocasta is first to realize that her husband, Theban King Oedipus, is her son. That's why she begs him to stop the search for the killer of Theban King Laius. She walks away when she doesn't succeed in this attempt. She goes off to her room, and kills herself.

Jocasta's first marriage had begun on a sour note because of a dreadful prophecy. It was predicted that she and her husband would have a son who'd kill his father and marry his mother. She and Laius tried to keep the prophecy from coming true. But their plans and efforts only ensured the carrying out of the horrible warnings.

Theban King Oedipus may or may not have been a historical king. He was descended from Cadmus, who was the founder and first king of Thebes. Cadmus established his city around 2000 B.C.E.* Cadmus in turn was the son of King Agenor of Tyre, in Phoenicia. In the ancient literature of the Greek speaking world, the family lines ascending from Oedipus to Cadmus, and descending from Oedipus, were preserved in such pieces of literature as plays by Aeschylus [525/524 B.C.E. - 456/455 B.C.E.] and Sophocles [496 B.C.E.-406 B.C.E.].

But were those plays based on fact? Or were their characters and their story lines made up to prove a point? Or was it a working out of the two?

*Before the Christian Era

A paean* is a hymn of praise. Antigone's paean occurs with her procession to her tomb. Antigone indicates that she's ready to go to her death. She looks forward to meeting all of her family in the underworld realms of the afterlife. She regrets not experiencing marriage with her beloved first cousin and fiance, Haemon. She likewise regrets not undergoing the joys of raising children and continuing her parents' bloodline.

But the regret isn't enough to stop her death march. Indeed, she doesn't regret her respect for the will of the gods and the god given traditions of Thebes. So she doesn't ask her death to be stopped. Instead, she asks that her wrongdoers meet the same fate.

It's with this last, passionately willful statement that the chorus steps in, but not with a paean's song and dance. Instead, the leader chides Antigone for her uncontrolled passion. Indeed, Antigone respects the gods in terms of death, but disrespects them in presuming to influence their decisions on the fate of mortals.

*Technically, Antigone's paean isn't a paean. During a paean, there's music to which the chorus dances and sings. But Antigone's paean consists of her dialogue to a chorus that basically stands still and doesn't react.

Yes, Theban King Oedipus is a tragic hero. Someone who is 'tragic' meets with an unhappy end. Someone who is a 'hero' does great deeds and also may have great powers. Oedipus answers to the position description on both counts.

Oedipus is tragic, because he loses almost everything that has any meaning to him in the end. All that remains, ultlimately, are his life and the love of his daughter Antigone. Specifically, Oedipus loses his wife, his sight, his reputation, his possessions, his job, and his home.

But at the same time, the King also is a hero. He does great deeds. He alone figures out how to save Thebes from the Sphinx that overtaxes Thebans and kills Theban residents and visitors.