Antigone

One day is the duration of the events in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the play respects the three unities of time, place and action in ancient Greek drama. The action needs to relate to the problem-solving in regard to the play's hero. The place must involve just one onstage location. The time can be no more than one 24-hour period.

No, Creon does not let Antigone go free because she dies before he can do so in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon has his niece, Princess Antigone, buried alive in a remote cave for burying her brother Polyneices despite a royal edict forbidding burial of the disloyal Theban dead. Creon remains firm on the non-burial and the death sentence until he is warned that the royal household will suffer. He therefore reverses the non-burial order and, too late, approves Antigone's release.

That Creon's son loves and will marry her is the final plea that Ismene makes to spare Antigone in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon expects to execute his niece Princess Antigone for breaking his law and burying her brother Polyneices. Antigone makes no attempt to change Creon's opinion. But Princess Ismene tries to save her sister's life by reminding Creon of the great love and marriage plans between his niece Antigone and his son Prince Haemon.

Teiresias is the blind seer in the play "Oedipus Rex."

The blind prophet is in the uncomfortable position of being one of possibly only two mortals who know the true identity and nature of Theban King Oedipus. Specifically, the people of Thebes see Oedipus as a much respected and loved role model personally and professionally. Teiresias and Theban Queen Jocasta's loyal servant alone know that Oedipus may be described as a mass murderer, a traitor, a sex offender and a blasphemer.

Although these offenses are committed unknowingly, Oedipus is indeed guilty of the following most serious of crimes against his fellow mortals and against the gods:

1. Mass murder: Oedipus not only kills an elderly stranger who strikes the first angry blow, but also all except one in the victim's escort.

2. Treachery: The stranger whom Oedipus kills is his sovereign, Theban King Laius.

3. Sex crime: Oedipus marries, and has children by, his own mother, Jocasta.

4. Blasphemy: The stranger whom Oedipus kills is his own father, Laius, and the woman with whom he becomes intimate is his own mother, Jocasta.

In ancient Greece, killing one's father and being incestuous with one's mother are viewed as tantamount to trying to be gods. For example, mother-son incest is allowed in order for Gaia to get divine and mortal lives started on Planet Earth. But neither this divine transgression nor parent/ancestor killing is to be carried out by any copycat mortal.

That he is supposed to be put to death but that he survives are important circumstances surrounding Oedipus' birth in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban monarchs Laius and Jocasta receive the disturbing prophecy that their infant son Oedipus will grow up to kill his father. Killing a father and a sovereign is a serious offense in ancient Greece. But killing a child is not. Oedipus' parents therefore decide to have the three-day-old infant killed by exposure to weather and wildlife on the mountains outside Thebes. But neither one can do the deed and pass the killing on to Jocasta's most trusted servant. The servant bestows the baby upon a Corinthian shepherd who is going home to the childless royal court of Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope.

In that it attempts to explain Antigone's personality the curse is important in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the descendants of Theban Kings Polydorus and Labdacus are cursed by their own cousin, Bacchus the wine god. Princess Antigone is a direct paternal descendant. The chorus mentions that she is cursed with the same lack of control as her father, disgraced Theban King Oedipus.

Antigone's death inside a remote, walled up cave and the end of the curse on the House of Labdacus are what the Chorus anticipates in saying 'Look now at the last sunlight that sustains the one surviving root of Oedipus' tree. The sword of death is drawn to hack it down'.

Being walled up is anticipated by the reference to the last possibility of seeing the sun. Antigone indeed ends up, all alone, in darkness and isolation behind a walled up entrance to a cave.

Dying inside the cave is anticipated by the reference to being hacked down. Antigone indeed decides to take her life once inside her dark, lonely prison cell.

Ending the curse that passes from Labdacus down to Oedipus is anticipated by Antigone being described as the 'one surviving root of Oedipus' tree'. The chorus may or may not be correct here in their assessment. Antigone may or may not be Oedipus' only surviving child. The fate of her sister Ismene isn't known.

But the fates of Antigone's nephews, and Oedipus' grandchildren, are known. Oedipus' twin sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, have sons. If the curse on the House of Labadacus ends with Antigone, then Oedipus revives it or starts up another. He curses his sons, who end up killing each other. Whatever the source of the curse, be it from Oedipus or the gods, the curse ultimately ends with Eteocles' son Laodamas losing his life and his job as King of Thebes. In contrast, Polyneices' son Thersander takes over the Theban throne, and gains a good name for himself and his descendants.

That his life is full of contradictions is what is so memorable about Antigone's father in the play "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus is not among the cast of characters. But his influence is felt and his name referenced by the main characters and the chorus. His life is contradictory because he initially is presented as a devoted father, loving husband, moral person and respectedruler. He subsequently is viewed as an incestuous, immoral criminal unworthy of any political position or socio-economic role other than that of blind beggar.

That one is older and unwilling to share and that the other is younger and willing to stand up for what is right is the difference between Eteocles and Polyneices in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Eteocles is the older of the twin brothers. He therefore gets the Theban crown and throne first in the power sharing arrangement whereby the twins alternate years of rule. But he does not like to share and refuses to honor Polyneices' legitimate claim when the first year is up. Polyneices becomes an exile, but manages to marry into the Argive royal house. With Argive support, he asserts his legitimate claim, but dies killing his brother during the final battle of the civil war over the Theban royal succession.

It is Creon that the chorus supports in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the chorus draws its members from the most accomplished, respected and senior of Theban citizens. It therefore has a tendency to support the reigning king. The chorus indeed refrains from criticizing Theban King Creon despite his violation of divine will and Theban traditions. At the same time, it tends to be highly critical of Princess Antigone's personality.

It is by his own son and his royal advisor that Creon is proven wrong in saying that none of his subjects thinks as Antigone does in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon contradicts Princess Antigone's claim that Thebans believe her correct in obeying divine will and their king wrong in contradicting divine will. But his own son, Prince Haemon, indicates that Antigone has the support of the Theban people. Then Creon's royal advisor, Teiresias the blind prophet, insists that Thebans are suffering and unhappy under Creon's cruel law of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead.

Yes, the chorus takes a position in the argument between Antigone and Creon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the chorus draws its membership from Thebes' accomplished, respected, wise elders. The members therefore have closer ties to the reigning monarch than to any other character in Thebes. They indeed find nothing good to say about Theban Princess Antigone, whom they characterize as emotionally out of control as her father, disgraced Theban King Oedipus.

An image of drunken dancing is the only element of comedy in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the play is a serious tragedy about the misfortunes of Theban Princess Antigone and of the disloyal Theban dead such as her brother Polyneices. Antigone is presented with the unenviable choice of witnessing, or doing something about, her brother's body desecrated and dismembered by birds and dogs. She therefore must choose between letting his disfigured, incomplete body seek entrance into the Underworld of the afterlife or burying him and being herself sentenced to death in the process. Nothing comical therefore touches such a tragic subject other than the chorus' reference to Thebans drunkenly shaking the land with their dances celebrating the end of the civil war over the Theban royal succession.

"Oedipus at Colonus" is the sequel to "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, the story of Theban King Oedipus and his family is told in the course of three plays by Sophocles (496 B.C.E. - 406 B.C.E.). The first play is "Oedipus Rex," which explains why Oedipus loses his sight and his claim to the Theban throne. The second play is "Oedipus of Colonus," which tells of Oedipus' life in exile from Thebes and his death at Colonus, which was where the playwright Sophocles was from. The third play is "Antigone," which tells of what happens to three out of Oedipus' four children with his wife and mother, Theban Queen Jocasta.

That Creon suffer as much as she suffers is Antigone's final request in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone exits from the royal to climb up to the remote cave in which she is to be buried alive. She makes the request that her death not be spoken of while she still lives. She then requests that her judge suffer exactly as she suffers.

Arrogance is a meaning of hubris in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, hubris describes a personality that is arrogant and proud and has an exaggerated sense of self. The description fits Theban Princess Antigone as well as King Creon. For example, Creon thinks that he can issue an edict that contradicts divine will and Theban traditions. Antigone thinks that she can respect the gods but disrespect their earthly royal representative.

Proper, Theban-style funeral rites are the rites performed by Antigone for her dead brother in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone gives the body of her dead brother Polyneices a Theban burial. The burial is supposed to be below-ground. But Antigone lacks the strength for anything other than a partial burial, by which the body remains above ground, but covered with a layer of dust. Whether complete or partial, the burial must be accompanied by anointing with sacred liquid from a special ewer. Then the body will be considered as having received a proper, Theban-style burial and funeral rites.

Power is what Antigone holds that Creon values in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone dislikes the way in which her uncle King Creon rules Thebes. She feels that he disrespects the tried and true ways of the importance of family, gods and traditions. She says that Creon has the power to do what he wills but that royal will needs to harmonize with divine will.

To entertain and to instruct are the purposes of the odes in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the chorus entertain with the dancing that accompanies the singing of the odes. The members instruct the audience in cultural parallels that relate to and shed light on the play's characters and events. In particular, they use the odes to justify the albeit oftentimes mysterious workings of divine will and fate on human lives.

That he seeks to be the ultimate authority in Thebes is a way in which Creon is controlling in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon does not want any questions in anybody's mind as to who runs the government in Thebes. For example, on a citywide level, he makes rights privileges to be denied to his perceived enemies and granted to his supporters. On a personal level, he talks at advisors and family members, without any interest in diversity of approaches and outlooks.