Antigone

That she chooses divine over royal law and therefore does not separate church and state is the way in which Antigone relates to the observance of religious law in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the recent non-burial edict conflicts with divine will and Theban tradition. Theban Princess Antigone chooses to comply with divine provisions. She believes that gods rule the world and the Underworld and that the state must take a back seat to divine authority.

That whoever killed Laius must be found and punished is what must be done to cure the plague in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the killing of a king is an offense against gods and mortals. It cannot go unsolved, and the perpetrators cannot go unpunished. That Theban King Laius' death is not looked into and that the guilty are not brought to justice contaminates the Theban environment and opens the city up to all sorts of horrors, such as plague and pestilence.

That their father leaves a legacy of dishonor, pain, rumor and shame is the information that Antigone gives about Oedipus to Ismene at the beginning of "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone gives unspecified information about disgraced King Oedipus. Antigone indicates that she and her sister Ismene have experience with woe. She traces it back to unnamed problems in her father's life.

That he fears for his own family is the reason why Creon relents in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon insists upon denying to disloyal Thebans the god-given rights of all Thebans to below ground burials. He does not care about the desecration and dismemberment of the exposed bodies of the disloyal Theban dead or about the pain and suffering of the survivors. He backs down only when the chorus leader convinces him that Teiresias the blind prophet knows all things and therefore needs to be heeded when he says that what goes around comes back around to Creon's own family.

The statement by each sister that the consequences will be death is the way in which Antigone's fate is foreshadowed during her opening scene with Ismene in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.)

Specifically, Theban Princess Ismene tries to talk her sister Antigone out of burying their brother Polyneices in volation of King Creon's edict of non-burial. She mentions that the consequence of breaking Creon's law is a death even more miserable and painful than that of their parents, disgraced Theban monarchs Oedipus and Jocasta. Antigone makes about the same kind of prediction when she says that the consequences of her civil disobedience will be no more than an ignoble death.

That it complicates situations is the way in which the chorus views love in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the choral discussion of love comes at the end of Theban Prince Haemon's interaction with Creon in the third scene. The chorus members criticize love for its passionate lack of control. It also disdains the way in which love wreaks havoc with reason.

Verbal and dramatic are the types of irony evidenced in Oedipus' curse on the household of Laius' murderer in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus can end the pestilence in Thebes only by identifying and punishing the guilty in the unsolved mysterious death of Laius, his royal predecessor and his wife's first husband. He is not getting help from Thebans. So he extends the punishment to whomsoever knows but does not share information and to whomsoever helps or harbors the guilty. To show that he means business, Oedipus concludes that he will carry this out regardless of the identities of the guilty and any accessories. Ironically, he is the guilty, and it is his royal household that therefore is so cursed.

No, Antigone does not use a shovel to bury her brother in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone uses just her hands to bury her brother Polyneices. She says that with her sister Ismene's help she can give their brother a below-ground burial. Without her help, Antigone just has enough strength for a partial burial, whereby the body is left above ground and covered with a layer of dust.

Death, pollution, sickness and suffering are what Creon's counsel does to Thebes in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon counsels Thebans upon pain of death not to bury the bodies of those who fight against Thebes in the recent civil war over the royal succession. Consequently, the decay takes place above ground, pollutes the environment and spreads disease and sickness. Additionally, Thebans suffer in seeing the flesh and the blood of those bodies consumed by dogs and birds. The birds in turn pollute the city's altars with the contents of their stomachs and the smell of their body parts and prevent the interpretation of divine will.

No, Antigone is not ambivalent about her sacrifice in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone accepts her punishment when she decides to comply with divine law and disobey a royal edict. She does not consider any other action acceptable. Beyond the information given in the play, she is carrying out her promise to Polyneices in "Oedipus at Colonus" that she will see to it that he gets buried since Polyneices fears that he will not survive the attack in defense of his legitimate claim to the Theban throne.

Haemon is the name of Antigone's fiancé in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Prince Haemon is the only surviving child and heir apparent of Theban monarchs Creon and Eurydice. He becomes engaged to his first cousin, Princess Antigone. It appears to be a love match, according to observations by Ismene, Antigone's younger sister.

No, the Sphynx doesn't terrorize Thebes in the beginning of 'Oedipus Rex'. This is an event that's referenced well after the fact. But it's being played out is never part of the play's action.

The terror of the Sphinx most likely takes place some 20 years before the action of the play. The young Oedipus comes to Thebes in search of what he hopes will be a fresh start on life. Good fortune at first seems headed his way what with his outsmarting the Sphinx, and ending her tyranny. But as it turns out, outsmarting a Sphynx is far easier than outsmarting a horrendous fate.

That she believes that the gods rule is why Antigone accepts her fate in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone accepts the gods as the ultimate authority in life and death. She believes in the divine will that guarantees to all Thebans rights to below ground burials. When she chooses to break a royal edict in order to obey a divine law, she therefore chooses to accept the death sentence for her civil disobedience.

It is Polyneices' burial and Antigone's release that Creon and the chorus leader finally agree upon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon denies to his nephew Polyneices the god-given rights of all Thebans to below ground burials. He gives the death sentence to his niece Antigone for burying her brother. But advised by the chorus leader, Creon finally gives in when he hears Teiresias' prediction that the mourning that goes around Thebes for disloyal and loyal Theban dead will come back around to the royal household.

That she belongs with the dead is the reason why Antigone does not fight Creon's death sentence in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone accepts responsibility for her actions. She chooses to break her uncle King Creon's edict of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead. She knows that the mandatory punishment is execution. She prefers to jump into the Underworld of the afterlife than continue life in Thebes under a sovereign who cares nothing for the suffering of his people, contradicts divine will and denies her brother and his Theban supporters of their god-given rights as Thebans to below ground burials.

It is the climax when Oedipus realizes that he is his father's killer and his mother's husband in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the term climax describes the turning point of highest drama and tension. The description fits Theban King Oedipus realizing that all the prophecies are true in regard to his predicted fate.

That it threatens the stability of his rule is the reason why Creon views disobedience as the greatest evil in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon emerges as the victor in the recent bloody civil war over the Theban royal succession. He is defensive because quite frankly the war's origins lie in his tyrannical denial of his nephew Polyneices' legitimate claims to the Theban crown and throne. Creon wants to discourage any other challenges to his rule so he demands absolute obedience to his absolute rule.

To give a hint of future happenings is the way in which foreshadowing is used in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, foreshadowing is a literary technique by which the author hints at what may happen to a main character. For example, in the beginning of the play, Theban Princess Antigone foreshadows her own fate. She declares that the worst that will happen to her for breaking the law is an ignoble death. Death by live burial becomes her punishment, but hanging by her own hands becomes her actual fate.