Antigone

The threat of experiencing misery first-hand, in his own house and with his own family, explains why Theban King Creon finally agrees to free his niece and intended daughter-in-law, Antigone, and to bury his nephew, Polyneices.

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet tells Creon that the wrenching grief that everyone in Thebes but Creon is experiencing soon will strike him, his house and his family. Creon has only one of four children left. The other three died miserable deaths. Creon realizes that his fate may be as inglorious as his royal predecessor, Theban King Oedipus, who lost throne, home and family in one fell sweep.

Teiresias identifies the source of Thebes' current plague as wildlife eating the unburied bodies of Polyneices and his army of disgruntled Thebans and invading Argives. According to the prophet, the plague will end with the proper burial of the disloyal Theban dead. Creon is going against divine will by refusing dead Theban traitors their god-given rights. Such disrespect and arrogance is being paid for by the suffering of Creon's subjects. The price is going up, with Creon's job and the life of Haemon, his only surviving child and heir apparent, at stake.

The sobering news from Teiresias finally gets Creon's attention.

It is her attitude, her persistence and her words that infuriate Creon in addition to Antigone's violation of his edict in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone keeps her attitude consistently contradictory, defiant, disrespectful, hostile and insulting. She never lets go of her plan to defy her uncle and force him into executing her for violating an unjust law. She maintains a steady stream of angry, disdainful, uncompromising verbiage that discourages any compromise or reconciliation.

Breaking the law and bragging about it is Antigone's double insolence in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon interrogates Princess Antigone about the forbidden burial of her brother Polyneices. He is offended by Antigone's responses. He objects not only to her misdeed but also to her shameless confession of wrongdoing.

It is the chorus leader that gives advice at a critical moment in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon dislikes what Teiresias the blind prophet has to say about divine wrath, environmental pollution and the royal household. But he does not back down regarding the non-burial edict that Teiresias says needs to be withdrawn. Creon keeps up his anger until Teiresias leaves and the chorus leader shows up. The chorus leader notes that Creon must do what Teiresias says: Bury Polyneices and free Princess Antigone.

Bury him and give him proper funeral rites is what Antigone wants to do with Polyneices in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Polyneices' body is being denied its rights as a Theban's corpse to a below-ground burial and Theban-style funeral rights. With help, Theban Princess Antigone, Polyneices' sister, can give him a below-ground burial. Without it, she can cover him with a layer of dust and anoint him with liquid from a special ewer.

In running toward the precise carrying out of a horrible, miserable fate when he thinks that he's running away lies the tragedy of fate for Oedipus in the play 'Oedipus Rex'.

Specifically, as a young man, subsequent Theban King Oedipus discovers that he's fated to kill his father and marry his mother. Those whom he thinks to be his parents, King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth, are actually his foster parents. He runs away from Corinth, kills a man whom he resembles and who's old enough to be his father, and marries a Theban woman whom he may resemble in some gesture or turn of speech and who's old enough to be his mother. In fact, his victim is his father, Theban King Laius. His wife, Theban Queen Jocasta, really is his mother.

The decision or non decision about the differential treatment of her brothers is the effect that Theban King Creon's decision has on Antigone. Creon says that only those who die loyal to Thebes may be granted complete and proper burials. Those who die disloyal to their hometown may not have their god given rights honored.

Antigone's brother Eteocles dies loyal to Thebes. But her other brother, Polyneices, dies on the losing, treacherous side. Creon plans to have Eteocles buried. He plans to leave Polyneices' corpse above ground, to the workings of the weather and wildlife.

That they both have experiences with the unburied dead is the reason why Antigone refers to Niobe in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone confronts the pain of her brother Polyneices' unburied body. Niobe faces a similar pain when her children die. The bodies of Niobe's children remain unburied until divine intervention.

Yes, Theban King Creon is a strong ruler in the play "Antigone" by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the adjective "strong" may describe a ruler who shows physical stamina and mental alertness. Creon shows mental alertness in recognizing a problem of discontent within his realm and coming up with a solution. He shows physical stamina in enforcing an unpopular law and in holding steady upon a difficult course until Teiresias the blind prophet and the Chorus leader advise him to do otherwise.

But a strong ruler is not necessarily a good, effective or beloved leader of people.

A dust storm happens immediately before Theban Princess Antigone is detected alongside the body of Polyneices in the play "Antigone" by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the guards remove the dust of a previous partial burial to the body of Polyneices, in Episode 2. They then sit down on the brow of a nearby hill. AT midday a dust storm arises, and the guards see nothing until the whirlwind passes. At that point, Antigone is seen heading towards her brother's corpse, which she re-buries with dust and which she anoints with ritual liquid from a bronze ewer.