Antigone

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 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 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.

The divine curse on the royal house of Thebes is the base of the prophecy concerning Oedipus' birth in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the gods become angry with Cadmus, founder and first king of Thebes and grandson of the sea god Poseidon. They give his wife Harmonia as a wedding present an unlucky necklace that brings misfortune to Thebes in general and the royal family in particular. Additionally, the wine god Dionysos, who is Cadmus' nephew, becomes angry with Cadmus' son Polydorus and grandson Labdacus, both of whom die young and violently. So it is not unexpected that the gods choose an unenviable fate, as revealed by prophecy, to Cadmus' great-grandson Laius.

Another base that is identified by psychology is a stage in a boy's development in which he is drawn less to the father and more to the mother as the source of information and emotional support.

No, Antigone does not have a dignified character, but she does have a superior one, in the play "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone always is described in terms of her emotions and her hard-headedness. For example, the chorus speaks of her stubborn passion. Her sister Ismene fears her refusal to do things quietly and her insistence upon speaking honestly about what she thinks is right and wrong. Her uncle Theban King Creon characterizes her as letting her emotions run wild and acting foolishly her entire life. So Antigone definitely is more passionate than dignified in her behavior and less conciliatory than superior in her communications and expressions.

No, Teiresias isn't an oracle. The word 'oracle' refers to both the medium by which the future is learned and to the specific place where the medium is to be consulted. For example, the oracle that's mentioned in 'Oedipus Rex' is the Delphic oracle. In other words, the oracle is found at Delphos.

Teiresias is blessed with the gift of and skill at seeing the future. But he isn't a medium and doesn't live apart from Thebans. Instead, he lives in Thebes as a prophet.

That it starts up Creon's reversal process and that it foreshadows Creon's downfall is the significance of Teiresias' prophecy against Creon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet sets in motion what no one else can. He prophesies that what goes around in Thebes will come back around to Creon and his family. Creon is so upset that he reverses his policy of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead and Antigone's death sentence.

The non-expression of divine will and the spreading of a pestilence are the signs from heaven that tell Teiresias that Creon is to blame for the tragedy in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet announces that divine will is not being expressed. He cautions that the altars are polluted with foul liquids and odors as well as with the mixed animal and human body parts found inside ritually sacrificed birds. He identifies the cause as birds and dogs consuming the blood and flesh of the unburied bodies of the disloyal Theban dead.