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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
Who was Capaneus in 'Antigone'?
Capaneus wasn't a character in the play 'Antigone' by Sophocles [496 B.C.E.-406 B.C.E.]. Instead, he was a character in the play 'Seven Against Thebes' by Aeschylus [525/524 B.C.E.-456/455 B.C.E.]. He was one of six captains who supported Polyneices' attempt to regain his rightful control over the throne of Thebes.
Capaneus was famous for his great strength, size and pride. For example, in the invasion of Thebes, he stood before the gate that he was supposed to invade and insulted Zeus, the chief god. As a result, he was struck dead by one of Zeus' thunderbolts.
Capaneus' wife Evadne was so distraught over his death that she joined him on the funeral pyre. They left behind their son Sthenelus, who avenged his parents with the subsequently successful invasion of Thebes by the Epigoni. The Epigoni were the seven descendants of the captains who had tried to invade Thebes under Polyneices and had died.*
*The only survivor of the original seven captains was Polyneices' father-in-law, Argive King Adrastus.
What is the chorus' reference in saying disaster never leaves a house once shaken by heaven?
The chorus refers to the cursed house of Labdacus in saying disaster never leaves a house once shaken by heaven. Specifically, the descendants of cursed Theban King Labdacus are cursed for his having offended Dionysus the wine god. A divine curse upon an individual affects not only that individual but also all of that individual's descendants.
Labdacus is the father of cursed Theban King Laius, who is killed by his own son, subsequent Theban King Oedipus. Oedipus also is cursed by wedding and bedding his own mother, Theban Queen Jocasta. Oedipus' and Jocasta's children additionally are cursed by their twin sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, killing each other off. Their daughter Antigone is cursed by disobeying a Theban law that's punishable by death.
Oedipus' and Jocasta's daughter Ismene may be their only child to escape the curse, depending upon her ultimate fate. According to some sources, she survives the deadly fight between her sister Antigone and her uncle Creon. According to the one dissenting source of Mimnermus [flourished 630-600 B.C.E.], she doesn't escape the curse, because of her death during the siege of the Seven Captains against Thebes.
What enrages Creon when the chorus asks why the gods buried Polyneices?
Theban King Creon becomes enraged at the thought of the gods having a role in the burial of his nephew Polyneices. That burial actually is legal in terms of the will of the gods and god given Theban traditions. But it's illegal in terms of the decree that Creon previously issues against burial of the traitorous Theban dead. So Creon doesn't want to admit that the gods are holding to their traditional stance of proper below ground burial and funerary rites for all Thebans be they loyal or treacherous. Such an admission points to the illegality of his law and the disrespect of that law to the gods.
What does Creon discover in Antigone's tomb at the end of Sophocles' play?
That he can't correct his error regarding Antigone and that he thereby is punished as predicted is what Theban King Creon discovers at his niece's tomb, at the end of the play 'Antigone' by Sophocles [496 B.C.E. - 406 B.C.E.].
Specifically, Creon sentences his niece and future daughter-in-law to death for defying a law of no burial for perceived traitors to Thebes. But then Teiresias the blind prophet tells Creon to bury Antigone's brother Polyneices and to release Antigone from her death sentence for having tried to bury her brother. Teiresias warns that otherwise Creon stands to lose the life of his last child, Haemon. Creon lets Polyneices be buried in the Theban way. But he doesn't get to the remote cave where he has Antigone walled up in time to stop her suicide and the immediately subsequent suicide of Haemon.
Why does Creon want the guards to hurry Antigone to her tomb?
Creon wants the guards to hurry to Antigone in the cave because Teiresias (the blind prophet) told him that two family members would die is Antigone did. So at that, Creon needed to save her.
What does Creon decide to do with Antigone?
Wall up his niece and intended daughter-in-law in a secluded cave is what Theban King Creon decides to do with Princess Antigone of Thebes.
Specifically, Antigone breaks a law that her uncle and intended father-in-law issues. According to the punishment specified by the law, Antigone is supposed to be struck by heavy rocks until dead. But Creon decides to give her a slower, less public death in the hopes of quelling growing opposition by his subjects to his rule.
Antigone, Teiresias the blind prophet, and Theban King Creon don't talk all together about profit and loss in monetary terms. They aren't all on the stage at the same time in 'Antigone'. In fact, playwright Sophocles [496 B.C.E.* - 406 B.C.E.] doesn't give Antigone and Teiresias any opportunity in which to interact. Creon is the only character of the three who gets to interact with everyone else.
What is the relationship between Creon's spoken lines and Oedipus' hamartia in 'Oedipus Rex'?
It helps establish Creon as a foil for Oedipus, thus highlighting Oedipus's tendency not to think before he speaks.
What transcends Antigone's fear of death?
Concern over her reception in the afterlife is what transcends Antigone's fear of death. She says that she'll spend a far, far longer part of her existence dead than alive. She needs to behave in such a way during her life that she will be welcomed by the gods and by her family and friends in the underworld.
Theban King Creon appears to symbolize the unassuming nature of modesty. He actually rules jointly with the married couple that his sister, Theban Queen Jocasta, forms with Theban King Oedipus, who is both her son and her husband. Creon indeed states that he has no interest in ruling alone and that he's content with the power sharing arrangement.
What is the theme of 'Oedipus Rex'?
The play has many themes. One example is the unavoidability of fate. Another is the price that is paid in knowing one's fate.
Which brother of Antigone died?
Eteocles and Polyneices were both brothers of Antigone and of Ismene. They were the twins who succeeded their father, disgraced Theban King Oedipus, as rulers of Thebes. They were supposed to alternate years of rule in a joint power-sharing arrangement.
But Eteocles refused to give up the throne once his year was over. Being denied his legal rights of succession and being exiled forced Polyneices to assert his rights to home and work by gathering together disgruntled Thebans and invading Argives. The invasion was unsuccessful, and the brothers fought each other literally to the death.
How does Creon treat Oedipus during the final scene of Oedipus Rex?
Creon exerts authority over Oedipus.
Old rumours are there also dark and dumb Twas said he died by some chance traveler hand 306-08?
Laius' death is the event to which this passage refers.
Is the aesthetic style of 'Antigone' epic or formal or theatrical?
The aesthetic style of 'Antigone' is theatrical. An epic style tells the story of the feats and genealogies of heroic figures. A formal style is recognized by its controls and restraints in dealing with emotion charged issues. A theatrical style is characterized by drama. An absence of heroic recountings and comprehensive bloodlines, an abundance of emotion, and the presence of drama describe 'Antigone'. So the play is neither epic nor formal, but indeed theatrical.
What does Oedipus accuse Creon of and why?
Theban King Oedipus accuses Theban King Creon of trying to overthrow him. The reason lies in what Creon and Teiresias the blind prophet previously tell him. Creon says that Thebes is suffering from a pestilence that only go away with the identification and punishment by execution or exile of the killer or killers of Theban King Laius. Then Teiresias identifies Oedipus as the killer. Oedipus doesn't know that Teiresias is correct in his identification. So he thinks that he's being framed.
What does poetics have to do with 'Antigone'?
Poetics refers to treatises, theories, practices, or feelings and utterances that relate to verse. The term applies to 'Antigone', because the play is a tragedy. One of the ancient Greek requirements of a tragedy is its being written in verse.
The tragic hero of Antigone is Creon. Creon is a well-intentioned king, that comes from royal blood, but he brings his death upon himself with his tragic flaw. His flaw was that he paid more attention to the laws of man and easily forgot about the power of the gods. After everyone that he loves dies, Antigone (his niece), Haimon (his son), and Eurydice (his wife), he becomes a better person and changes his views. However, it is too late for Creon by the end of the tragedy, and he is too weighed-down by his own guilt. He chooses to die.
Theban King Creon has a wife, Queen Eurydice. They're the parents of Haemon, who is the first cousin and fiance of Antigone. After the star-crossed couple's suicides, the Queen likewise kills herself. King Creon is left alone to bemoan the lonely, sorrowful consequences.
Does the Sphinx prevail over Thebes?
No, the Sphinx doesn't prevail over Thebes. For a terrifying amount of time, she demands and receives heavy taxes from the people of Thebes. During that same time period, she kills residents of and visitors to Thebes. She eats them alive if they can't answer her riddle.
Then along comes subsequent Theban King Oedipus. He alone knows which life form crawls on all fours in the morning, walks on two steady feet in the afternoon, and gets around on threes in the evening of life. The Sphinx is so caught up in her future meal that she can't handle Oedipus having the correct answer. She throws herself over a cliff, to her death.
Who is Artemis in Oedipus Rex?
Artemis is the Goddess of the hunt. In Oedipus Rex, she is the second Goddess called for to save Thebes from the plague it is suffering because of the murder of Laius, who was Oedipus' father.
What King of Thebes in Greek mythology was killed by his son Oedipus?
Oedipus encountered a chariot that was driven by his birth father, King Laius. After a fight over who had the right to proceed ahead of the road, tragedy occurred. In self defense, Oedipus slay Laius after the king tried to deliberately run him over with his chariot. The only witness to the event was a slave, who ran away to another caravan.
Did Creon and Antigone control their fates?
No. According to the play 'Antigone', neither Antigone nor Theban King Creon controlled their fates. Antigone was saddled with the staying nature and power of the curse on the house of the Labdacidae. She and her uncle Creon both were descended from Cadmus, the founder of Thebes in about 2000 B.C.E.* But Antigone descended by way of Cadmus' grandson Labdacus, who was the ancestor of the Labdacidae. The King descended by way of Cadmus' grandson Pentheus. So he wasn't a member of the Labdacidae branch of the family. But mortals may have been the toys of the gods. For the chorus explained that gods led mortals to believe that evil was good, and that wrong was right, just to cause mischief, and to exact punishment. Such a situation was the kind in which the King found himself. He wanted to protect his city, and consolidate his rule. So he issued a law that gave him law and order, but contradicted the god-given rights by which Thebans lived and died. *Before the Christian Era.
What is Creon's most important conflict in 'Antigone'?
In the play 'Antigone', the most important conflict for Theban King Creon is the reaction of his niece Antigone to one of his laws. The King issues a decree that allows the burial of the loyal Theban dead in the recent armed struggle against the Argive invaders. At the same time, he insists upon the disloyal Theban dead being left above ground and exposed to the elements, dogs, and birds. This decree contradicts the god-given justice, morality, rites, rituals and traditions by which Thebans live their lives. The loved ones that the disloyal Theban dead leave behind suffer great pain over the desecration of the corpses. But it only is Antigone who decides to take action against the law. She carries out proper funerary procedures for her brother Polyneices, who is among the disloyal Theban dead. The King must decide whether and how to punish his niece.
