Antigone

Bury Polyneices and free Antigone is what Creon decides after hearing the chorus' objections in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon issues an edict of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead and enforces the death penalty for its violation. His family and his advisor make efforts to get him to withdraw the edict. But the chorus leader alone succeeds in convincing Creon to annul the edict by burying his nephew Polyneices' body and freeing his niece Princess Antigone for violating that edict.

Burying Polyneices complies with divine law but conflicts with a royal edict is Antigone's predicament in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the term predicament describes a difficult, embarrassing or unusual situation that presents itself. Theban Princess Antigone has to decide whether to bury or not bury her brother Polyneices. A below ground burial is divinely guaranteed to all Thebans, but recently denied to King Creon's perceived enemies by way of a royal edict.

Niece to uncle is Antigone's relationship to Creon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone is the eldest daughter of disgraced Theban monarchs Oedipus and Jocasta. Queen Jocasta is Creon's sister. Antigone therefore is Creon's niece.

That Eteocles will receive a Theban-style burial and funeral rites but Polyneices will not is the decision made by Creon concerning Oedipus' sons in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the gods guarantee all Thebans, regardless of how they lead their lives, below-ground burials and funeral rites to send them properly off to the Underworld of the afterlife. But Theban King Creon decides that divine guarantees can be changed to privileges, instead of rights. Likewise, he chooses to respect the guarantees for those he considers friendly to him and to Thebes and to deny them to those whom he concludes are unfriendly to his rule and to his city.

A question over the kingship of Thebes is the reason why Polyneices and Eteocles fight each other in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, twin brothers Polyneices and Eteocles inherit the Theban crown and throne from their disgraced father, former King Oedipus. They are supposed to share royal powers by alternating years of rule. But at the end of the first year of rule, Eteocles refuses to honor Polyneices' legitimate claim to the throne and exiles him. In response, Polyneices leads an army of disgruntled Thebans and Argive invaders. In the last battle, the brothers end up in the same place at the same time and proceed to fight each other to the death.

It is by setting in motion and bringing about Creon's reversal that the characters in scene 4 contribute to the plot of "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet and the Chorus leader are the characters who interact with Theban King Creon in the fourth scene. Teiresias makes Creon's reversal possible by warning him that the mourning that goes around Thebes will come back around to Creon's own household. The chorus leader then puts the reversal in effect by successfully counseling Creon to annul the non-burial edict, bury Polyneices and free Princess Antigone.

The place that Theban King Oedipus mistakenly considers his hometown and a fleeting chance to escape an unenviable fate are what Corinth represent in the play "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, Oedipus is born the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. But according to a prophecy, Oedipus is fated to grow up to kill his father. Killing one's father and sovereign is viewed as seriously as disrespecting the gods.

So Oedipus' parents try to kill him just three days after his birth. They arrange to have him left exposed to the weather and the wildlife on the slopes of nearby Mount Kithairon. Killing one's child is viewed far, far less seriously than killing one's parent and ruler.

But Jocasta's servant instead gives Oedipus to a fellow shepherd who is returning home to Corinth. There, Oedipus is adopted into the royal household of the childless King Polybus and Queen Merope. He is raised without any knowledge of either his true identity or his biological parents.

Upon reaching adulthood, Oedipus hears a rumor that his real parents are other than the Corinthian monarchs he always has considered his mother and father. Then the Delphic oracle tells him of his fate to kill his father and marry his mother.

Oedipus' reaction is to run far, far away from Corinth. Unfortunately, Thebes is where he ends up. So the fate that Oedipus so seeks to avoid easily is carried out to the very last miserable detail.

No, Antigone and Ismene are not both afraid to bury their brother in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone does not fear death. She therefore does not fear risking the death sentence by breaking the law and burying her disgraced brother Polyneices. But her courage is not echoed by her sister, Princess Ismene, who fears being found out and punished to death.

Bury her brother, defend divine will, defy a royal edict, disdain an earthly ruler, refuse help and take her own life are what Antigone does in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone buries her brother Polyneices despite an illegal royal edict of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead. She decides to break the royal law and honor divinely sanctioned rights of all Thebans to below ground burials and Theban style funeral rites. She makes no effort to hide her crime or to avoid or lessen her punishment. She sabotages her sister Ismene's attempt at a pardon or lesser punishment by claiming to be a participant in the crime. Antigone ultimately takes her own life rather than draw out her death sentence of live burial and starvation.

It is over the information sources that Creon and Haemon disagree regarding government in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon believes the best information sources to be one strong man rule. This contrasts with the opinion of his son, Prince Haemon. Haemon declares that the best information sources are the range of opinions from those of standard traditional wise men to the fresh insights of women and youth.

King Oedipus himself is responsible for his own blindness. He's responsible for his physical blindness. He's the one who plunges his wife and mother's brooches into both eyes.

Oedipus also is responsible for his previous, symbolicblindness. He hears a rumor that he isn't the biological son of Corinthian King Polybus and Queen Merope. He doesn't like their lack of a direct answer to this piece of unsettling gossip.

So Oedipus goes off to consult with the Delphic Oracle. He likes even less what he learns there. He's told of his fate to kill his father and marry his mother.

Oedipus doesn't think to check out the rumor that the Corinthian monarchs aren't his real parents. Instead, he goes tearing off to Thebes, which happens to be his real hometown. On the way, he kills a stranger who's old enough to be his father and whom he resembles. It turns out to be his father, Theban King Laius.

Then Oedipus marries a woman who's old enough to be his mother and with whom he may or may not share similar features or personality quirks. She turns out to be his mother, Theban Queen Jocasta. The possibilities are all there for seeing with the eyes and processing with the mind. But Oedipus is figuratively blind to all.

Suicide is the way in which Antigone dies in "Antigone" by Sophocles 9495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone is sentenced to death by being walled up in a remote cave. King Creon, her uncle and intended father-in-law, does the sentencing and speculates that she may take her own life rather than drag the dying out in the scary, lonely darkness. Antigone indeed does decide to hang herself with her own halter.

That bad behavior will be punished and that good behavior will be rewarded is what Creon promises to the people in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon announces that he does not want a repeat performance of the bloody first civil war over the Theban royal succession. He feels that punishments for bad behavior and rewards for good will motivate Thebans to behave in ways most conducive to the security of society and the stability of Creon's government. Bad behavior is what is in opposition to him and his rule whereas good behavior is whatever obeys and supports Creon.

That he breaks divine and human laws that he tries not tois the reason why Oedipus suffers in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.)

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus leads an apparently charmed life until early adulthood. Then he hears a rumor that Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope are not his biological parents. He seeks the rumor's confirmation or rejection from the Delphic oracle, who says that Oedipus is fated to fill his father and marry his mother.

Oedipus therefore runs away, kills an elderly man in a street brawl, defeats a monster terrorizing Thebes, marries the beautiful widow of Thebes' murdered King Laius, and becomes a role model of domestic bliss and professional success until pestilence comes to Thebes.

But the pestilence reflects divine wrath over Laius' unsolved murder and the lack of punishment of the guilty in this offense against gods and mortals. In the course of trying to hunt down and punish the guilty, Oedipus discovers that he is not at all whom he thinks he is, and the punishment that he seeks for others needs to be carried out against himself.