Antigone

Yes, the unities are followed in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the dramatic ideal is the solving of a problem presented in one place during one 24-hour period. The description fits the play "Antigone." It deals with the problem of which of two conflicting laws to obey and resolves it in front of the main entrance of the Theban royal palace the day after the end of the recent civil war over the royal succession.

By being buried alive and starving is the way in which Antigone is to be killed in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone breaks a royal edict against burial of the disloyal Theban dead in the recent civil war over the Theban royal succession. She is supposed to die from a shower of stones thrown by Theban citizens. But her uncle, King Creon, makes a last-minute change in the sentence to death by being buried alive in a remote cave, in which she is left with a limited supply of food. Antigone in fact takes her life shortly after being walled up.

Pathos refers to suffering that manages to gain sympathy from a story's reading and viewing audience. It's a good word to describe the suffering that the audience finds in 'Oedipus Rex'. One example of an element of pathos in the play is Theban Queen Jocasta's committing suicide.

Life becomes unbearable when Jocasta realizes that the killer of her first husband, Theban King Laius, is her second husband, Theban King Oedipus. It becomes even more unbearable when she realizes that her second husband is none other than her only child by her first husband. She's tainted by the heinous crimes of father and king killing, through her interactions with the killer. She's tainted by the heinous crime of incest, through her wedding and bedding with her own son. These are all horrible crimes that she never wants to commit. Yet they're all on her doorstep. The only way to face such a life is to end it, according to Jocasta's tormented spirit and tortured mind.

Another example of an element of pathos is Oedipus' self mutilation. He blinds himself once he sees himself and his life for what they really are. He thinks of himself as a model sovereign, husband and father. He finds out that he's the exact opposite. He's a model king, because he's the killer of his royal predecessor. He's a model spouse and parent, because he's the wedder and bedder of his own mother.

Still another example of an element of pathos in the play is the struggle by Jocasta, Laius, and Oedipus toavoid their horrific fates. The harder they try to escape or subvert fate, the closer they embrace their horrendous destinies. Unfortunately, each one of their actions involves poor choices and poor decisions that betray their attempts at flight from, or negation of, their fates.

Bury her alive is what Creon decides to do to Antigone in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone breaks a recent royal edict by burying her brother Polyneices. The punishment calls for Antigone to die under a shower of stones thrown by the Theban people. But Antigone's uncle, King Creon, changes his mind and decides that he wants to get Antigone out of sight, out of mind of all Thebes.

That she decides upon a course of action and never strays from it is the way in which Antigone is determined in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, someone who is determined chooses and carries out a course of action. The description fits Theban Princess Antigone when she decides that she will bury her brother Polyneices and suffer the consequences for disobeying a royal edict. She knows that the penalty is death and does nothing to avoid or lessen the capital punishment.

That he is given to them as a gift from a local shepherdis how Polybus and his wife Merope adopt Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, a Corinthian shepherd is tending his flock in the mountains outside Thebes. He meets a local shepherd, who has an abandoned three-day-old infant. The Corinthian takes the infant back to his hometown and gives him to the city's childless royal couple, King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth.

Antigone suffers more than Creon in the short term, but Creon suffers more in the long term in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone suffers immediately, in this world, because she receives the death penalty and commits suicide. But she will be receive a hero's welcome in the Underworld of the afterlife. In contrast, King Creon loses not his life, but everyone and everything that gives that life meaning: family, home, job, and reputation. The suffering will not end with his earthly life, because he then will be accountable for his misdeeds for all eternity in the Underworld of the afterlife.

That they feel the way that she does but dare not contradict Creon is what Antigone says about the true feelings of the chorus in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone stands alone in her open defiance of King Creon's person and his laws. But she represents her view as that of the silent majority. She points to the chorus of Theban elders and to the Theban people as subjects who oppose the non-burial edict but hesitate to brave her uncle's fierce, swift temper.

That the death of Polybus is due to natural causes and not to murder by his own son is the reason why Jocasta finds comfort in the news of his demise in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus says that a prophecy warns that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Theban Queen Jocasta points out that prophecies do not always come true. She then points out that Oedipus is in Thebes and Polybus in Corinth when the death of the latter occurs due to illness and old age instead of at Oedipus' hands.

Oedipus heading a murder investigation and extending the applicability of punishment are examples of dramatic irony in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, dramatic irony refers to an incomplete or incorrect understanding of a situation. The description fits Theban King Oedipus' actions in looking for the guilty in the murder of his royal predecessor, King Laius. For example, Oedipus finds himself at the head of the murder investigation that ironically will prove him to be Laius' killer. Additionally, he extends the punishment of the guilty to all who have, but do not share, information and all who harbor or help the guilty even if they be members of the royal household. Oedipus does not realize when he gets so carried away with zeal that he deprives himself of any hope for pardon or mitigating circumstances once his crime becomes known and is judged.

Seven is the number of captains who march against Thebes in "Seven Against Thebes" by Aeschylus (c. 525/524 B.C.E. - c. 456 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the captains lead attackers from the combined forces of disgruntled Thebans and supportive Argives. They each receive an assignment to a particular gate to attack and overwhelm. The following lists the leaders in the order of the assigned gates, 1-7: Tydeus; Capaneus; Eteoclus; Hippomedon; Parthenopeus; Amphiaraus; and Polyneices, the legitimate heir to the Theban crown and throne.

"...or the Fire-god's pine-fed flame had seized our crown of towers" and "For seven captains at seven gates, matched against seven..." are two examples of assonance in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, assonance describes the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhymes. The above mentioned examples draw upon English translations available on the Internet. The first example is found in the first antistrophe of the parados. The second example is found in the third systema of the parados.