Antigone

That they will not rule harmoniously and that they will kill each other is the curse that Oedipus places on his sons in "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, disgraced Theban King Oedipus has hurt feelings regarding his shunning by his twin sons Eteocles and Polyneices. The twin brothers inherit the throne on the basis of a joint power sharing arrangement whereby they alternate years of rule. Oedipus insists that the two must get along so poorly that they end up killing each other in battle.

For defeating the Sphinx at her own game is what Theban King Oedipus is famous for. That event happens well before the action of the play. But everyone still remembers and talks about it.

What happens is that the Sphinx terrorizes Thebes into paying heavy taxes to her. Additionally, she terrorizes all who try to enter and leave Thebes. She asks a riddle whose correct answer must be given. An incorrect answer means the loss of life of the answerer.

Oedipus alone knows that it's a human life form that gets around on threes in the morning of life, on twos in the afternoon, and on fours in the evening.

That it is foolish to go against the gods is the lesson that Creon learns by the end of "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon does not want his role challenged by another civil war over the Theban royal succession. He feels that Thebans will be discouraged from opposing him if they see their rights turned into arbitrary privileges. He issues a non-burial edict that contradicts divine will. It will end up costing him his family, his home and his job.

That all four children die violent deaths is the way in which the curse impacts Antigone's family in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone and her siblings Eteocles, Ismene and Polyneices are cursed as the children of a father who kills their paternal grandfather and of a mother who marries her own son. Antigone ends up hanging herself rather than die by the live burial and starvation to which she is sentenced for breaking her uncle King Creon's edict of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead. Twin brothers Eteocles and Polyneices find it impossible to share royal powers as they are supposed to and kill each during the final battle of the civil war over the Theban royal succession. Ismene gets slaughtered during the subsequent victory by Polyneices' descendants over those of Eteocles in the re-opening of the civil war by the legitimate royal claimants.

That he can atone for offenses of which he previously is unaware is what makes of Oedipus from his experience a better though less fortunate man at the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus has no idea that he is not the role model husband, parent and ruler that he and everyone else in Thebes considers him to be. Instead, he is his father's killer, his mother's husband and his children's half brother. These are all offenses against gods and mortals. His true identity and the reality of his existence render Oedipus blind, homeless, jobless and shunned. But his offenses and his suffering in this life lead to a happy death and an acceptable place for all time in the afterlife.

Very is the degree to which Creon is responsible for Antigone's death and just a bit less so in those of Eurydice and Haemon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon issues an unjust, unpopular law that forces his niece, Princess Antigone, to choose between a life spent haunted by seeing her brother's body desecrated and dismembered and an early death by burying his body. Creon makes the penalty death and sentences his young niece to a live burial and slow starvation. Antigone opts to commit suicide, which sets in motion the suicides of her betrothed, Prince Haemon, and of her intended mother-in-law, Queen Eurydice.

Yes, the play "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.) indicates that fate, not choice controls life.

Specifically, Antigone chooses to disobey a human law and honor a divine law. Either way, she will be punished for disrespect: through a death sentence in this world by breaking the human law or through consequences in the afterlife for all time by breaking the divine law. In reaching her decision, Antigone brings up the divine curse that directs and ruins the lives of all her ancestors and of her and her siblings.

No one knows why Sophocles wrote "Antigone."

Specifically, only seven of the 120+ plays written by the ancient Greek dramatist (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) survive. There is no surviving commentary by the author on any of his works and neither is there a surviving body of letters, biographies or autobiographies. But one can guesstimate that Sophocles felt a personal commitment since he was born in Colonus, the death place of Theban Princess Antigone's father, King Oedipus. Additionally, tragedy in ancient Greek royal houses was a hot topic for the cultivated, theater-going Athenian audience for which the competitive, cultured Sophocles wrote.

That Polybus is dead is the news that the Messenger brings from Oedipus' homeland and that the death is from natural causes is the reason why Jocasta is relived in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus fears his fate as his father's killer. But the Corinthian messenger lets Oedipus' wife Queen Jocasta know that Oedipus' presumed father, King Polybus, is dead from illness and old age. Jocasta welcomes the news since Oedipus is far away in Thebes and therefore cannot be said to bring about his father's death in Corinth.

Drawing lots is the way in which the sentries decide which one brings the news about Polyneices to Creon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the sentries find Polyneices' body partially buried under a layer of dust. A partial burial is still a burial. This violates Theban King Creon's edict of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead, and the sentries are terrified about what happens to the messenger who brings bad news to the stubborn monarch of Thebes.