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Oedipus Rex
More than 2,420 years old but still studied today, the play ‘Oedipus Rex’ tells a tragic tale of mistaken identities, inescapable fates, and horrific human misdeeds. Contributors typically compare and contrast the play’s characters, storytelling techniques, and subject matter with similar pieces of literature from the same and different settings and time periods.
3,240 Questions
How does Choragos feel about Creon's command?
The choragos fear that Creon will become power hungry and make up more rules that will jeopardize his future.
Yes. Theban King Creon and his sister Theban Queen Jocasta were the children of Menoeceus, who was the son of Pentheus. Theban King Pentheus was the son of Polydorus. Theban King Polydorus was the son of Phoenician Prince Cadmus, who was the founder of the city of Thebes. Cadmus was the son of King Agenor of Tyre and his wife Telephassa.
No one is guaranteed smooth sailing through life is the meaning of 'Let every man in mankind's frailty consider his last day and let none presume on his good fortune until he find life at his death a memory without pain'. The ancient world is ruled by the gods. It's ironically symbolic that Zeus, as the king of the gods, carries a thunderbolt. In many ways, that's what life is to the ancient Greeks in such plays as 'Oedipus Rex'. Mortals are playthings of the gods. They're lucky if they aren't jumping up to avoid, or running away from, the thunderbolts that Zeus and his extended family send the way of all mortals.
What was unlucky about laius' fatherhood?
His son Oedipus would kill him and marry Laius's wife and Oedipus's mother Jocasta.
Is Antigone engaged to Haemon?
Yes, Antigone is engaged to Haemon. He's her first cousin. He's the son of Theban King Creon. Antigone is the daughter of deceased Theban Queen Jocasta. Creon and Jocasta were brother and sister.
Which information does Antigone give to Ismene?
That she'll disobey a recent law denying god given rights of below ground burial and funeral services to the body of their dead brother Polyneices is the information that Antigone gives to her sister Ismene. The law is issued, and will be enforced, by the sisters' uncle and sovereign, Theban King Creon. Disobedience carries a death sentence.
What does Tiresias say will happen to Oedipus?
He will become blind and learn the truth of the prophecy.
Ismene, Teiresias, and Theban King Creonsurvive in 'Antigone'. All of the other major characters die. Antigone kills herself rather than die a slow and painful death walled up in a remote cave. Haemon kills himself rather than live without his first cousin and fiancee, Antigone. Theban Queen Eurydice kills herself rather than live after the suicide of her last surviving child, and rather than live another second with her husband.
How does the dramatic irony in Oedipus lead to interrogation with Creon?
On his journey, Oedipus kills a man and his companions on the road, which turn out to be King Laius and his men. Oedipus, without knowing that the man he killed was Laius, swears to find the man that killed the old king and kill him as well. This is ironic because he is unknowingly swearing to kill himself.
Who is the sole survivor from the attack on King Laius in 'Oedipus Rex'?
A shepherd who is also a trusted servant to the Theban royal family is the sole survivor from the fight that results in Theban King Laius' death. This shepherd therefore is witness to actions that bring Theban King Oedipus closer and closer to his predicted fate.
In the first instance, the shepherd receives the three day old Oedipus from Theban Queen Jocasta. Jocasta is told by her husband, Laius, to kill the baby. But Jocasta can't bear to do the dastardly deed herself. Instead, she gives her baby over for the shepherd to kill. But the shepherd can't bring himself to be a child killer either. He ultimately hands the baby over to another shepherd who gives the child to the childless royal couple of Corinth, King Polybus and Queen Merope.
In the second instance, Oedipus is forced into a street brawl over a right-of-way at a crossroads where three paths meet. He's outnumbered in a struggle against five people. But Oedipus and the shepherd end up as the sole survivors. In the course of that battle, Oedipus lives by killing, unknowingly and in self defense, Laius, who is both his father and his king.
And so Oedipus is ready for the fourth in the series of decisions that lead him inexorably to his predicted fate. The first step is Jocasta's decision not to kill her son, but to trust that others will. The second step is Oedipus' decision to flee what he mistakenly thinks is his home in Corinth. The third step is his father's murder. And the fourth step is his marriage with his own mother.
What is Creon's attitude toward the chorus?
Theban King Creon begins with an arrogant, insensitive attitude towards the other characters and towards the chorus. He is less disdaining and obnoxious when the chorus appears to rubber stamp or reinforce his opinions and actions. He ends with a humblerattitude once he has lost his wife, his son, and his power. He becomes more placating and even begs for a quick end to his misery.
How does the Mother in 'Antigone' die?
By committing suicide is how the Mother dies in the play 'Antigone'. She's Theban Queen Eurydice. She's the mother of Haemon, Antigone's first cousin and husband to be. She's the wife of Theban King Creon. But her role as First Lady of Thebes ends when she stabs herself to death with a dagger. She can't bear to live another moment above ground with a husband she despises personally and professionally.
Why is there a tragedy in 'Antigone'?
The play 'Antigone' is considered a tragedy, because of the drastic consequences of the story's events. Excepting Teiresias, Ismene, and Theban King Creon, every single one of the main characters dies. Additionally, there's the massive destruction of enemy and native life through the battle whose end is the beginning of the play. Similarly, there's the large-scale misery of Thebans in the aftermath of their own deliberately unburied dead. And there's the individual heartbreak of King Creon who loses everything that had made his life worth living.
What role did the spectators play?
In ancient Greece at the annual festival playwrights competed to determine whose tragedy was the best. Audience participation was regarded as a civic duty. In ancient Rome jeering was common at the gladiator games. Audience participation often determined if a competitor lived or died.
Is Creon in 'Medea' the same as Creon in 'Antigone'?
No, Creon in 'Medea' wasn't the same as Creon in 'Antigone'. In the first case, Creon was the King of Corinth and the father of Princess Creusa. Both father and daughter were killed by Medea, who didn't want to let go of her husband Jason. In the second case, Creon was the King of Thebes. He also was the father of Megara and thereby father-in-law to Heracles. He was killed by Lycus, who was Nycteus' brother. Nycteus was the father of Nycteis, who married Theban King Polydorus. Their son, Theban King Labdacus, was the father of Theban King Laius, who married Creon's sister Jocasta.
What is Ismene's quote in 'Antigone'?
In her first appearance, Ismene tells her sister Antigone that she has no idea what is being done or said since the sorrowful news of the deaths of their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices. She says that it's clear that Antigone has the advantage in knowing of further bad news.
So Ismene refuses to help Antigone bury their brother Polyneices since to do so is against the recent law of their uncle, Theban King Creon. She reasons that their parents, Theban King Oedipus and Theban Queen Jocasta, unknowingly broke the laws of the gods and of mortals. Their fate was brutal. So her fate and that of her sister are sure to be even more humiliating and miserable. She makes clear that her role in life is not to go against the traditions of men as dominant and women as dominated. She cautions Antigone to proceed carefully and quietly in any civil disobedience. She indicates that her affection is unwavering despite her sister's foolish, hopeless decisions.
Antigone subsequently goes through with a partial burial of Polyneices. She gets caught, arrested, and brought before her uncle. Ismene tries to support her sister by claiming to have helped out in the illegal act. She reveals a lack of shame in regard to Antigone's civil disobedience and a willingness to share Antigone's capital punishment. Once she realizes that she can't get through to her sister, Ismene makes a futile attempt to get Creon not to sentence Antigone to death. She indicates that the unhappy often aren't logical or rational in their thoughts. She goes so far as to remind Creon of the great love between his son Haemon and his niece Antigone.
But Ismene is dealing with two passionate, proud individuals. Her manner and her speech are respectful. But neither her sister nor her uncle wants to hear anything of reconciliation. Antigone is as committed to dying for a cause as her uncle is to punishing those who dare to walk an independent talk.
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Killed his father and slept w/ his mom
The noun 'arete' is Greek for 'excellence, goodness, virtue'. Its application to life is seen in one's living up to one's full potential. It also is seen in one's handling adversity with courage and strength.
Antigone's arete is shown by her giving Polyneices a decent burial in defiance of Theban King Creon's non burial order. She shows it again, after her arrest, when she says that Creon's order doesn't come from Zeus, the supreme god of Thebes. So she recognizes, and never backs down from, life's guiding principle of obeying god given laws.
Sophocles [c. 496 B.C.E.* - 406 B.C.E.] offers no specific explanation for the moral correctness or incorrectness of his characters in the play 'Antigone'. But he has the chorus warn that once the gods become angry with a mortal, they take their revenge out on all of that mortal's family and succeeding generations. No matter what the offending mortal, mortal's family and mortal's descendants do, they sooner or later find themselves on the gods' hit list. The chorus even may be said to see mortals as the prey, toy, and victim of the gods. The gods lure mortals to mischief and then to punishment. And there's nothing that the mortal, the mortal's family, or the mortal's descendants can do to stop the cycle of mischief and punishment. But those mortals who manage to do great deeds, to show special power or strength, in the face of the cursed cycle are heroes. Antigone is such a hero. Some of her heroism comes from within herself. But it undoubtedly comes also from her parents. Her parents are morally correct people and good sovereigns. But they unknowingly commit heinous offenses against their fellow Thebans and their gods. Theban King Oedipus unknowingly kills Laius, his father and his King. He unknowingly marries his own mother, Queen Jocasta. But like their daughter, they're good people who are put in harm's way because of the divine curse on Oedipus' ancestor, Labdacus. *Before the Christian Era
