Oedipus Rex

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

20 years

It's very simple. Oedipus, a number of years ago was a wanderer when he saved the kingdom of Thebes from a Sphinx. As a reward, he gets to marry Jocasta, the dowager Queen of Thebes, whose husband was murdered on a highway in mysterious circumstances. Fast forward a few years, during which Oedipus and Jocasta have raised a happy family. However, Oedipus is invited to find the murderer of the late king. The play is the story of his investigation, in the course of which Oedipus discovers that he himself is the murderer, and that the late king was his father and Jocasta was his mother. Jocasta hangs herself when this revelation is made, and Oedipus blinds himself.

Apollo and the references to light are the symbolic representations of the contrast between the seeing and the blind in 'Oedipus Rex'. For example, Theban King Oedipus may be described as mentally blind to the workings of fate. He ends up being physically blinded by how he works out that fate. Teiresias, on the other hand, is physically blind. But his physical blindness never gets in the way of his mental sharpness. He never is or becomes mentally blinded by or to what's going on around him.

blind prophet who sees only the truth

Creon wants Oedipus back because he want to use Oedipus as a talisman to save the people of Thebes from any curse.....

boateng Qwasi

The year 442 B.C.E. is suggested as a publication year for the play 'Antigone'. But that's just a guesstimate. It's based on the writing style of the play and the events in the life of playwright Sophocles [c. 496 B.C.E. - c. 406 B.C.E.].

she does not care if she is put to death because she knows that she will be with her brother and she will know that after she is gone everybody in Thebes will think of her as a hero.

After leaving Corinth to save who he thought were his parents from the prophecy of his life answered the Sphinx's riddle (what walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening) and in doing so saved Thebes from the Sphinx. As a reward he was given the Queen's hand in marriage (who was actually his mother) and became King of Thebes. As he was actually the son of the royal house of Thebes this was his blood title but he only gained the title when he had killed his farther and married his mother.

Scene 2 of 'Antigone' is devoted to the conversation between Haemon and his father, Theban King Creon. The Chorus Leader, who's called 'Choragos', doesn't side with anyone. Instead, throughout the father and son interaction, the Leader rephrases the good points that each one makes. He progresses from a conviction that Creon speaks wisely to doubt as to whether there's wisdom in Creon's words. He likewise progresses from a conviction that Haemon speaks wisely to surprise over the son's anger against his own father and his own king.

The closest that the Leader gets to taking a side is at the very end of the scene. The King clearly says that Haemon won't be able to save either of his first cousins, Antigone and Ismene, from death. But the Leader goes ahead and asks if the King really intends to put both of his nieces to death. The King then backs down and specifies that Antigone, as the perpetrator of the offense against the state, will be executed, but Ismene won't.

Ismene reacts with fear. She wants Polyneices to be given an honorable burial as much as Antigone does, but she is far too terrified to do it herself because of the death penalty that Creon has imposed for anyone who attempts to bury Polyneices. Out of fear, she refuses to help Antigone bury Polyneices. However, later on, she attempts to die alongside her sister for the crime that Antigone committed by herself.

The setting of the play 'Antigone' is the city of Thebes. Most of the action takes place in and around the royal palace. But there also is the procession of Antigone from the city to a remote cave. At various times throughout the play, there are ninecharacters on stage. The main characters are Antigone; her sister Ismene; her uncle Theban King Creon, his wife Queen Eurydice, and their son Haemon; and the blind prophet Teiresias. There also are appearances by a guard and two messengers. Additionally, there's a chorus that typically numbers about 15 members.

she wasn't afraid to announce that she buried her brother, and was proud of the fact and wouldn't deny it because it was the right thing to do, and followed the God's laws

The three sins he committed were killing his father(Patricide), killing a king, marrying his mother and having children with her(Incest)

Fish do not tend to implode. Most do not change their depth very quickly and do not have compressible bits like we do. If they are brought to the surface quickly the swim badder can expand and come out of the fish's mouth. Really deep species have specially adapted physiology to cope with the extremely high pressure.

That she will disobey the King's law and that she won't hide her disobedience are two crucial decisions that Antigone makes. Specifically, she decides that she's going to give the body of her dead brother Polyneices a partial burial and complete funeral service. Both are outlawed by her uncle and sovereign, Theban King Creon. At the same time, she plans not to be at all secretive about her disobedience. This means that she'll get caught. The punishment for disobedience is death.

Antigone is the anarchist.

No, Antigone's suicide may not have been against the Greek gods' wishes. In fact, in ancient Greece, a 'forced' suicide was an acceptable choice for those ancient Greeks who found themselves on the losing end of a conflict with ancient Greek city governments. In the specific case of Antigone, she indeed found herself in compliance with divine laws only by violating man made laws. Whether she offended divine or earthly authority, she nevertheless had to pay with her life. It was considered, perhaps sorrowful, but acceptable for her to hasten her death by choosing suicide over life imprisonment in a walled up cave. Additionally, it was recognized in the play 'Antigone' that the main character of the same name suffered from the divine curse on the descendants of Cadmus, who founded the city of Thebes in around 2000 B.C. Theban King Cadmus' descendants Labdacus and Oedipus were cursed by their bloodlines and by their own clashes with the gods. In such cursed cases, the gods kept the curses going for generations. The staying power and punishing nature of divine curses tended to lead to the loss of everything dear, including one's own life. So Antigone's suicide very well may not have gone against the wishes of the Greek gods.

This line near the end of Act II represents the climax of the play, and simultaneously provides the moment of discovery (anagnorisis) for the title character.

the oracle predicts. It does not command. Oedipus runs away and does not discuss the matter with his father or the man he thinks is his father perhaps because he is afraid of himself that he is capable of doing such a thing. It is ignorance that leads to what he did. had he been able to talk about it he might have found out more - enough perhaps to change the future seen by the oracle. But the Oaracle says things in a way that confuses those who act to qickly without working thins out dramanoitallnot says : In the Story of Oedipus, the king and queen of Thebes have a son named Oedipus. But there is a prophecy which says that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. To stop this happening, the king and queen get a slave to take their baby son and tie him up on a hill, but the slave takes pity on him and gives Oedipus to his master. When Oedipus has grown up, he hears the prophecy. And so, to prevent this from happening he decides to flee from the people who he thinks are his parents. When he is fleeing Thebes, he meets a man on the road and the get into an argument and Oedipus kills them man who is actually his really father, Laius, the king of Thebes. Oedipus then reaches the sphinx who is outside Thebes guarding it. Oedipus answers the riddle, gets it right, and as his reward gets to marry the queen of Thebes and become king. But by doing this, Oedipus does not know he is marrying his real mother! They have four children together as well, Polynices, Eteocles, Ismene and Antigone. But famine returns to Thebes and through this Oedipus hears of his true identity. The queen of Thebes is so shocked and disgusted that she kills herself, and Oedipus pierces his eyes with her golden brooches. So Oedipus is not made to marry his birth mother and kill his birth father, it just happens as the prophecy predicted.

The point of view of Sophocles [496 B.C.E.* - 406 B.C.E.] may be found in the words of the Chorus Leader. At first, Sophocles therefore appears to suggest that Theban King Creon's law against the burial of Polyneices may be a good law. Creon says, 'Side not with the breakers of these commands'. The Chorus Leader replies, 'No man is so foolish that he is enamored of death'. But this response is two-edged. The Chorus Leader actually doesn't say that he approves of Creon's law. Teiresias talks to the King about the birds fighting each other. This is something that never has happened before. The Chorus Leader traces the cause of the bird fights to their beginning to eat Polyneices' body. The Chorus Leader therefore advises the King to let Polyneices be buried after all. *Before the Christian Era

because he thought that he would bring news

Laius' death is the event to which the passage refers.