Antigone

Bury Polyneices is what Creon does just before finding Antigone dead in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon decides to reverse his actions. He first has the body of his nephew Polyneices buried. He then goes to free Antigone, whom he finds hanging dead from the halter of her own dress.

It is in the male dominated authority that patriarchy plays a role in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon appears to rule alone. He has a wife, Queen Eurydice. But it is clear that she has no influence or input. In fact, Creon makes it clear that he disdains women as good for nothing but having children.

It is after asking Jocasta about Laius' death that Oedipus learns that Polybus is not his father in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta and her second husband Oedipus compare notes about her first husband's death. While they await the arrival of the eyewitness to Theban King Laius' murder, the royal couple receive the news that Corinthian King Polybus is dead. The Corinthian messenger subsequently reveals that Polybus and Oedipus are not biologically father and son.

Weakness is Creon's greatest fear in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon is new in his role as solely ruling monarch over all Thebes. He remembers all too well the stresses of the recent bloody civil war over the Theban royal succession. He shudders at the thought of being overthrown and therefore seeks to show no sign of weakness to all of the enemies that he imagines within the confines of his city.

Antigone goes with Oedipus when he is exiled from Thebes in "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone accompanies her father, King Oedipus, into exile from Thebes. Many of the ancient stories have variant versions. According to other versions, Ismeneaccompanies her father and sister.

Capture the law breaker is what the sentry plans to do in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the sentry fears Theban King Creon's temper. He knows that he will be tortured and killed if the real law breaker is not caught. He plans to stake out the area where the bodies of the disloyal Theban dead are exposed until he witnesses the perpetrator in the act.

That they are polluted, that they in turn pollute the environment and that they offend the gods are the reasons that Teiresias identifies for why the gods refuse the sacrifices in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, it is accepted practice for the enemy dead to be left unburied in ancient Greece. But it is not accepted practice for Thebans to leave unburied fellow Thebans regardless of whether the latter die in defense of or offense against their hometown. The unburied bodies pollute all Thebes with their decay and are being consumed by birds destined to become ritual sacrifices to the gods. Polluted sacrificial offerings represent supreme blasphemies against the gods, who therefore refuse the sacrifices and turn their backs on Theban suffering.

That her mother and she each commit suicide, her father dies a special death and her brothers kill each other is what happens to Antigone's family.

Specifically, ancient Greek dramatist Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) explains that Theban Queen Jocasta, Princess Antigone's mother and grandmother, hangs herself during the course of the play "Oedipus Rex." Disgraced King Oedipus, Antigone's father and half-brother, is there one minute and gone the next in a secret place of death outside the ancient Greek city of Athens in Sophocles' play "Oedipus at Colonus." Antigone's twin brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, kill each other in the final battle of a civil war over the Theban royal succession just before the opening scene of Sophocles' play "Antigone." It is unknown what happens to Princess Ismene, but other sources suggest that she dies during the civil war that ends with her brothers' deaths.

That she does great deeds, has great powers and is the main character are reasons why Antigone is the hero in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone does the great deed of burying her brother Polyneices. She has great powers of faith in her gods, love for her family and loyalty to her people and their most cherished traditions. She is the main character who affects the course of events and around whom all action centers.

The three day old infant Oedipus has a rod run through both ankles. The reason is the ease with which a baby can then be left or tossed onto a hillside to die from exposure to the weather and the wildlife. The rod through the ankles tells any passersby that the infant is being abandoned deliberately, not accidentally.

In this case, Oedipus is left to die because of a prophecy. His parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, are warned that their son will grow up to be a father killer. They hope to save the one by killing the other. In their ancient city of Thebes, and in fact throughout all ancient Greece, the killing of a father and of a sovereign are considered among the most dastardly and heinous of crimes. The killing of a child is viewed less seriously.

It is to a mother bird that the sentry compares Antigone in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the sentry describes Theban Princess Antigone's pain on finding her brother's body exposed once more. He explains that the removal of the layer of dust from Polyneices' body distresses Antigone. He likens her plight to that of a mother bird returning to the nest and finding all her chicks gone.

Polyneices' burial is not mentioned in "Oedipus Rex"because he still lives. But a below-ground burial with proper funerary rite is mentioned as to how Polyneices eventually is buried in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Polyneices as Theban born and bred is supposed to receive a proper Theban-style burial and funeral service once he dies no matter how he lives his life. Theban King Creon initially denies that right to Thebans such as Polyneices who die fighting against their own hometown. But he ends up having Polyneices' scattered body parts gathered together and given a proper below-ground burial and appropriate funeral services.

That she lets her sister know what is going on and that she risks her life for a dead family member are the ways in which Antigone is family oriented in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone cares about her very different sister Princess Ismene. She lets her know that she is welcome within the family circle ... as long as she behaves courageously instead of cowardly. Additionally, she risks her life for her unburied brother Polyneices.