Oedipus Rex

Widowing, blinding, unemployment, and house arrest are what happens to Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus' wife Jocasta hangs herself after finding out that her husband is also her son. Oedipus blinds himself for not having seen the facts before his very eyes: The man who looks an older version of himself and whom he kills is his father, the beautiful woman who is old enough to be his mother and whom he marries is indeed is mother. As a criminal and immoralist, Oedipus must give up the throne of Thebes. He loses his royal residence and his professional reputation. He ends up isolated and under house arrest until Creon, his brother-in-law and successor, can determine whether the gods seek exile or execution as fitting punishment for crimes against the gods and mortals.

That the choices made by his daughters and by his brother-in-law may make a difference in the course of their lives is what Oedipus says in the monologue at the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, former Theban King Oedipus says that his killing his father and marrying his mother will make life difficult for his daughters, who also are his half-sisters. Because of Oedipus' criminal actions and immoral behavior, Princesses Antigone and Ismene may expect a miserable life of cruelty, isolation, poverty and spinsterhood. But with a protector such as their uncle, King Creon, and with the appropriate attitude and supportive behavior, they just may end up far happier and more fortunate than may be expected of the children of murder and incest.

When Theban King Creon orders that a proper burial be given to the body of Polyneices and that Antigone be released from her cave is the point at which the reversal occurs in the play "Antigone" by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the reversal in a play refers to the point at which the course of events are changed by the action being stopped in one direction and taking up in a completely opposite sense. In the play's final scene (exodus), Creon changes his mind about the edict that he issues at the play's beginning and that he insists upon enforcing through much of the play. Previously, Creon says that his nephew Polyneices, for having betrayed Thebes, must be left to the ravages of inclement weather and hungry birds and dogs and that his niece Antigone, for having buried her brother Polyneices, must be punished.

Once Creon realizes that a tragedy has been set in motion and that it will affect even his own wife and son, he moves from single-minded enforcement to abandonment of the provisions and consequences of his own edict. This reversal changes the course of events by ending the pollution that afflicts all Thebes and by respecting the will of the gods in terms of according burial to all Thebans, whether they die loyal or disloyal to their city.

What the reversal does not stop is the death of Antigone.

Theban King Laius is the true, biological father of the son, Theban King Oedipus, who ends up killing him.

Specifically, as a young man, Oedipus hears a rumor that King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth are his foster or adoptive parents instead of the biological parents that he believes them to be. The Delphic Oracle depresses and scares Oedipus even further by predicting his fate to kill his father and marry his mother.

In reponse, Oedipus decides not to return home to Corinth. Instead, he decides to flee to Thebes, his real hometown. On the way there, Oedipus kills a man who is old enough to be his father and whom he somewhat resembles. Once in Thebes, Oedipus soon marries the beautiful, recently widowed Theban Queen Jocasta, who is old enough to be his mother.

Ironically, the stranger that Oedipus kills and the stranger that Oedipus marries indeed are his respective father and mother.

It is by onstage reporting of offstage or past eventsthat the deaths of family members are dealt with in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, one of the rules of ancient Greek drama disallows the portrayal of death or violence onstage. But the telling of Theban King Oedipus' story involves three deaths and one act of violence. The information therefore is given through the conversations of the characters or by the information of messengers. For example, Queen Jocasta reveals the details of her husband King Laius' death. The Corinthian messenger shares information about the death of Corinthian King Polybus, King Oedipus' presumed father. A palace messenger tells of Jocasta's suicide and Oedipus' self-blinding.

It is after asking Jocasta about Laius' death that Oedipus learns that Polybus is not his father in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta and her second husband Oedipus compare notes about her first husband's death. While they await the arrival of the eyewitness to Theban King Laius' murder, the royal couple receive the news that Corinthian King Polybus is dead. The Corinthian messenger subsequently reveals that Polybus and Oedipus are not biologically father and son.

Antigone goes with Oedipus when he is exiled from Thebes in "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone accompanies her father, King Oedipus, into exile from Thebes. Many of the ancient stories have variant versions. According to other versions, Ismeneaccompanies her father and sister.

The three day old infant Oedipus has a rod run through both ankles. The reason is the ease with which a baby can then be left or tossed onto a hillside to die from exposure to the weather and the wildlife. The rod through the ankles tells any passersby that the infant is being abandoned deliberately, not accidentally.

In this case, Oedipus is left to die because of a prophecy. His parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, are warned that their son will grow up to be a father killer. They hope to save the one by killing the other. In their ancient city of Thebes, and in fact throughout all ancient Greece, the killing of a father and of a sovereign are considered among the most dastardly and heinous of crimes. The killing of a child is viewed less seriously.

Polyneices' burial is not mentioned in "Oedipus Rex"because he still lives. But a below-ground burial with proper funerary rite is mentioned as to how Polyneices eventually is buried in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Polyneices as Theban born and bred is supposed to receive a proper Theban-style burial and funeral service once he dies no matter how he lives his life. Theban King Creon initially denies that right to Thebans such as Polyneices who die fighting against their own hometown. But he ends up having Polyneices' scattered body parts gathered together and given a proper below-ground burial and appropriate funeral services.