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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
Antigone's mother was Jocasta, wife of Oedipus, who was Antigone's father. The play Oedipus Rex, in which Antigone is a non-speaking character, describes the relationship of Jocasta and Oedipus - unbeknownst to them, Jocasta was actually Oedipus' mother in addition to his wife. When they learn this, Jocasta kills herself and Oedipus blinds himself.
What is the prophecy placed on the baby Oedipus?
That he will grow up to kill his own father is the prophecy that Oedipus' parents receive even before the child is born. In ancient Greece, killing a child is considered far less of an offense against mortals and gods than killing an adult. It's a particularly heinous offense to kill someone who's your own parent and sovereign. So Theban King Laius and Queen Jocasta think that they can prevent such a scenario by leaving the three-day-old Oedipus to die on a hillside.
Plot summary of the first half of Oedipus Rex?
In the first part of Oedipus Rex, a plague is rampaging in the City of Thebes. Oedipus sends for an oracle. The oracle says the plague will end when the murder of the former King is killed or sent away. A search is on for the murderer. Oedipus himself is accused of the murder. As the plot unfolds, Oedipus begins to worry that he may actually be the murderer. Oedipus later learns that he is the son of the former King. He discovers that he has killed his father and married his mother (the queen).
What is Creon's relationship to Jocasta?
Creon has two main relationships to Theban Queen Jocasta. One is personal, the other professional. First, he's her brother. They're both the children of Theban King Menoeceus. Second, he's her co-ruler. He's involved in a royal power sharing arrangement with her and Theban King Oedipus, her son and second husband. So he too holds the title of royal sovereign, as Theban King.
No, Theban King Creon didn't end up being restrained in any physical prison. That was something that he subjected Antigone, his niece and intended daughter-in-law, to. But he could be said to have ended up in a sort of a emotional and mental prison of his own making. He indeed ended up losing everything that previously had given his life meaning. He lost his family, friends, home, job and possessions. He fell, long and hard, from being king to becoming an unhappy beggar.
Why does Oedipus fight with his brothers?
Theban King Oedipus has no brothers with whom to fight. He's the only, abandoned child of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. He becomes the only, adoptive son of and heir apparent to King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth.
Instead, it's Oedipus' twin sons who fight each other. Eteocles and Polyneices inherit the throne with their mother's suicide and their father's exile. They agree to a joint power sharing arrangement whereby they alternate years of rule. But at the end of the year, Eteocles refuses to give the throne up to Polyneices. He even goes so far as to exile him from Thebes.
Does Antigone have an ego and is it destroyed at the end when she commits suicide?
Yes I do think Antigone has an ego and it is what pushes her to do what she does for her late brother. In my opinion her ego is not destroyed when she dies because she is in fact standing up for what is right. Actually, her act is a bit heroic.
Was Creon or Antigone the tragic figure?
Answer #1 by Ginezumi Both Antigone and Creon were tragic figures. Antigone was tragic, because she died for having tried to respect the unchangeable, unchanging laws by which the gods expected Thebans to lead their lives and prepare for their deaths. Creon was tragic, because he lost everything that made his life worth living. For example, his son and his wife each committed suicide rather than continue living with him and under his laws. Answer #2 by Lexi3333 You can interpret it either way, but it seems more likely that Creon is the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, there are several requirements for a character to be a tragic hero, including:
-Hamartia, or flaw/mistake;
-Peripeteia, or reversal of fortunes;
-Catharsis, or release of emotion;
-Anagnorisis, or sudden realization of truth.
Creon goes through all these stages:
-His character flaw/mistake is his pride and stubborness.
-His fortunes are reversed after everyone starts to turn against him, and even his son and wife kill themselves.
-After learning of his son's and wife's deaths he goes through catharsis, and releases his feelings of grief.
-He realizes at the end of the play that he was wrong.
Antigone also has some of these characteristics. Her mistake is that she is too stubborn, and she goes through an outburst of fear and self-pity after she is condemned to death. It is debatable whether or not her fortunes are reversed, because she does not go from a high status to a low status as does Creon; her condition is miserable from the beginning of the play. Also, she does not undergo any fundamental realizations of the truth, and her beliefs remain consistent throughout the play.
Why does Oedipus send Creon to the gods?
Oedipus sends Creon, his half-brother and uncle, to consult the oracle in order to discover the cause behind a great plague that has stuck Thebes.
What is Ode Two of 'Antigone'?
The parados isn't an ode. The first ode therefore begins with 'Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man...'. The second ode begins with 'Blest are they whose days have not tasted of evil'. It takes up a total of eight paragraphs. It ends with 'But lo, Haemon, the last of thy sons; comes he grieving for the doom, of his promised bride, Antigone, and bitter for the baffled hope of his marriage?' In the second ode, the chorus discusses the staying nature and power of curses. They cite the specific example of the cursed house of the Labdacidae from which Antigone descends through her father, King Oedipus. They explain that the curse levels three of the King's four children: Antigone, Eteocles, and Polyneices. The implication is the application of the curse to the remaining child, Ismene. For the chorus warns that human error always is met with divine punishment, divine retribution.
Why does Ismene want to help Antigone?
At first, Ismene doesn't want to help her sister Antigone bury their brother Polyneices. But she changes her mind once Antigone is caught in the act. Ismene wants to support her sister, even die with her, and give honor to the dead. Additionally, she says that life without the living presence of Antigone holds no charm.
When does Creon become a tragic hero?
A hero is someone who does great deeds, and has great strength or great powers. The female equivalent is called a heroine. The title and the position description fit Antigone, who does great deeds for the dead and shows great moral strength in so doing. In contrast, Theban King Creon doesn't show himself to be the doer of great deeds. It's questionable that Sophocles [495 B.C.E.* - 406 B.C.E.] intended the King to be anything other than a villain whose villainy catches up with him. And so King Creon may be seen as a tragic figure, instead of a tragic hero, when his son Haemon commits suicide. That suicide is the first reversal that the King receives, and it's all down hill from then on. *Before the Christian Era.
Who delivers the exposition in the video 'Oedipus Rex'?
The exposition is the setting forth of the play. It comes from the Latin preposition 'ex' for 'out', and the Latin infinitive 'ponere' for 'to place'. That role is taken by one of the actors in the 1957 film version of 'Oedipus Rex' by Sir William Guthrie [July 2, 1900-May 15, 1971]. The actor holds his mask and wears blue robes while he explains the story. But nowhere within the film's credits or on the video jacket is that actor identified.
What is Oedipus' tragic flaw in 'Oedipus Rex'?
The arrogance that leads to ineffective decision making is Oedipus' tragic flaw in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).
Specifically, arrogance describes an individual who has an exaggerated sense of self and is proud. Oedipus exhibits arrogance when he leaves home, listens to the Delphic oracle, and runs away without consulting with his presumed parents. He expresses arrogance when he kills a hot-tempered senior citizen whom he resembles despite a prophesied fate of killing his father. He manifests arrogance when he neglects to carry out mandatory cleansing rituals for his crimes. He shows arrogance when he marries a beautiful older woman despite a prophesied fate of marrying his mother.
What is significant about Oedipus blinding himself with Jocasta's brooches in 'Oedipus Rex'?
That the brooches hold Theban Queen Jocasta's dress in place is the significance of Theban King Oedipus blinding himself with them.
With vision, he knows of a rumor that he is not the biological son of those he considers his parents, King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. With vision, he learns of his fate to kill his own father and marry his own mother. Yet with that very same vision, he sees and does not process that his wife's dress covers the body of a woman who is old enough to be his mother. It is only too late that he realizes he should have left the dress in place and pinned, physically and symbolically.
In antigone why does Creon say the pains that men well take to come to pain?
Men will have to endure obstacles, pain, and grief and in the end the result will be more pain .
Why does Oedipus berate his people with regard to the King?
Their failure to identify and punish the murderers of Theban King Laius is why Theban King Oedipus berates the Theban people. A killing is an offense to the victim, the perpetrator, and the environment in which the perpetrator moves. It's an especially heinous crime if the killing is of a king.
It's necessary for the perpetrator of a crime to be found and for the cleansing procedures of purification ceremonies to be carried out. Thebans disrespected their king and their gods by failing to carry out the necessary manhunt and the required rituals. It never is good to break both divine and human laws. And yet that's what the Thebans are doing. Such disobedience and such disrespect bring on a pestilence that ruins harvests, lowers the human population, and afflicts the livestock.
What is the cultural context of 'Oedipus Rex'?
Divine control over the lives, fates, and deaths of mortals is the cultural context of 'Oedipus Rex'. That culture asks readers and viewers of the play to consider that a mortal's life is foredoomed by the gods and that there's no escape from a mortal's role as a plaything for the gods. Any avoidance strategies are marred by the flawed decision making and character traits of hapless mortals. Indeed, as is the play's conclusion, mortals are unlucky throughout life, and lucky only in death.
he was made king because he solved the riddle of the sphinx: what has 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon, and 3 legs in the evening? -- a man (baby crawling on all fours, man walking, old man with a cane)
his reward for defeating the sphinx was to become king of thebes and to marry queen jocasta (who happens to be his mother)
How does oedipus react when teiresias reveals to him the truth?
When Teiresias reveals the truth of Oedipus's parentage, Oedipus is horrified. He is sickened by the fact that he killed his father and married his mother. When he finds that his mother/wife has killed herself, he gouges out his own eyes.
What does Antigone have to do with morality?
The play Antigone is all about morality, primarily concerning the conflict between divine law and human/state law. Also addressed are the topics of religion, gender rights, family beliefs, and self-concept (dignity, arrogance, and pride).
What instructions does oedipus give the priest?
Oedipus instructs the priests to remove their branches from the altar, signaling an answer to their request for deliverance from the gods' curse.
Where is the infant Oedipus supposed to die?
On the slopes of Kithairon, a mountain range in central Greece, the three-day-old Oedipus is supposed to die.
Specifically, Oedipus' parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, decide that their only child must be left on the mountainside to die from exposure to wildlife and the weather. Their motivation is preventing their child from growing up to kill his father and his sovereign. That is the prophecy that the parents are given about any son that they may have. It is far less serious in ancient Greece to kill an infant or child than to kill a parent who also happens to be one's sovereign.
But just as neither Laius nor Jocasta can bring themselves to do the deed with their own hands, neither can the faithful shepherd whom Jocasta chooses to carry out the dreadful act.
Why does Oedipus doubt what Tiresias tells him about the identity of Laius's murderer?
Because Tiresias tells him that he is the murderer, and he is not a thief, and doesn't believe that he had anything to do with it, although he finds out later that he did.
