Oedipus Rex

That they kill each other in battle over the throne of Thebes is what happens to Polyneices and Eteocles, Antigone's and Ismene's two brothers.

Specifically, the twins inherit the throne when their father, Theban King Oedipus, is forced into exile for having - albeit unknowingly - killed his royal predecessor and own father, Theban King Laius. The twins are to alternate years of rule in a joint power-sharing arrangement. But Eteocles refuses to give up the throne and forces Polyneices into exile. Polyneices comes back with an army of invading Argives and disgruntled Thebans. The two brothers end up fighting and killing each other.

It is unknown why Teiresias delays when summoned by Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon announces that Teiresias the blind prophet is late. Teiresias arrives, but gives no explanation. It is possible that Oedipus just is being impatient. It may be that Teiresias really is late because of being blind and old and needing an escort. Teiresias regrets being there immediately upon arrival. He says that his wisdom will not benefit him and that if he had remembered that he would not have come.

Compassionate and proactive is the first impression given by Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus demonstrates compassion in the way he interacts with the priest of Zeus and with the Theban suppliants. He exhibits proactiveness in keeping current of the situation in the city that he rules. He already knows about the problem. He already launches a recovery effort by getting second and third opinions from the Delphic oracle and Teiresias the blind prophet.

To check out a disturbing rumor that he isn't his parents' biological son is the reason why subsequent Theban King Oedipus visits the Delphic Oracle. Specifically, he hears that he's the adopted heir apparent of King Polybus and Queen Merope of Thebes. He isn't satisfied with the hedging reactions of his parents. So he thinks that he'll learn the truth from the Oracle at Delphi.

But the Delphic Oracle doesn't answer Oedipus' question as to the identity of his parents. Instead, the Oracle describes Oedipus as fated to marry his mother after having killed his father. Oedipus is horrified at the prospect of becoming a murderer and a sex offender.

In his horror, Oedipus forgets that there are questions as to whom or where his parents really are. All he can think about is getting as far away from what he thinks is his hometown of Corinth as possible.

The irony lies in the fact that every step he takes, every choice he makes, and every action he engages in just lead him ever closer to his ultimate disgrace.

That they treat him badly as an infant, that neither one recognizes a family resemblance and that both lack caution are Jocasta's and Laius' responsibility in Oedipus' tragedy in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban monarchs Laius and Jocasta receive a frightening prophecy that their son will grow up to kill his father, a serious offense in ancient Greece. So they make arrangements to have the three-day-old infant killed, but neglect to check if that indeed happens. Oedipus survives and is raised as the heir apparent to Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope until he hears rumors to the contrary.

Oedipus then receives the unenviable prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He therefore runs off to the childless Theban royal house. On the way, an older version of himself starts a fight that ends in his own death. Once there, Oedipus marries Thebes' widowed queen, who is beautiful but old enough to be his mother.

Not once do Laius and Jocasta act on the family resemblance between father and son. Not once do Laius and Jocasta exert caution in events that may relate to the prophecy. For example, Laius needs to consider that a strong, young man who looks like him well may be his son about to kill in self-defense. Additionally, Jocasta needs to investigate her husband's death since it is brought about in the very way that the prophecy says that it will: unnaturally, as the result of violence. She also needs to think twice about why her second husband-to-be looks so much a younger version of her first husband and indeed is young enough to be her son.

Completely alienated from, disappointed in and disenchanted with her husband is how Eurydice feels about Theban King Creon before she dies in the play "Antigone" by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Eurydice learns that her son, Theban Prince Haemon, is dead by his own sword in the cave where his first cousin and bride-to-be, Theban Princess Antigone, hangs herself with threads from her own clothing. Eurydice blames the suicides on Antigone being sentenced to death within a walled-up cave and on Haemon thereby being separated from the love of his life. Eurydice lets everyone in the palace know that she blames Creon for these two recent deaths and for the tragic deaths of the couple's other children. She stabs herself to death rather than spend one minute more in her husband's company.

The statement "It is for the gods to decide" paraphrases how Creon responds to Oedipus' request to be accompanied by his children in exile in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon allows Oedipus, his brother-in-law and former royal colleague, to meet outside the palace with his two young daughters, Princesses Antigone and Ismene. But it is considered polluting for Thebans to see the killer of his father, husband of his mother, and father and half-sibling of his own children that Oedipus turns out to be. In response to Creon's trying to get him inside and out of public view, Oedipus says that he will go quietly only if he is promised exile over execution for his above-mentioned offenses and if he is not separated from his daughters.
You are no longer able to have things your own way; the children will remain in Thebes.

Save the life of the infant Oedipus is what the shepherd of Thebes and the shepherd of Corinth do in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the three-day-old Oedipus is supposed to die by exposure on the mountains outside Thebes. His parents, Theban monarchs Laius and Jocasta, prefer their son to die rather than grow up and fulfill a prophecy that he will kill his own father. Knowing nothing of the prophecy, the Theban shepherd cannot bring himself to kill the infant, and the Corinthian shepherd thinks only of the joy of his Corinthian monarchs, Polybus and Merope, in fostering a son and heir in their childless household.

Creon issues the decree that concerns and angers Antigone in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon issues an edict that makes funeral services and below-ground burials a privilege instead of a god-given right to all Thebans. He then allows his nephew Eteocles to be buried, but leaves the body of his nephew Polyneices above ground and exposed to the ravages of weather and wildlife. Antigone is happy over the respect shown to Eteocles and angry about its lack to Polyneices.

That they hold her robes in place is the reason why Jocasta's brooches become instruments of self-mutilation in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is King Oedipus' wife. But the royal couple painfully learns that the blood relationship of mother to son backs up that marital commitment. Oedipus puts out his eyes with the brooches that should have kept the robes in place against an incestuous relationship.

That they contribute to Oedipus' downfall is the relevance of hamartia and hubris to "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, hamartia describes an error in judgment, and hubris refers to an exaggerated sense of self, arrogance, pride. Theban King Oedipus evidences hamartiawhen he abandons his family, consults the oracle, kills a man old enough to be his father and marries a woman old enough to be his mother. He exhibits hubris when he believes himself capable of defying divinely ordained fate and neglects mandatory purification procedures.

From a bureaucrat who curries favor with the gods, dislikes conflict and prefers being part of a team, to a dictator who insults the gods, dividesand rules, and bows to none is the way in which Creon changes between "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Creon shuns the limelight, likes team work, and follows proper procedure in "Oedipus Rex." In contrast, he lets everyone know that he rules, plays his cards close to his chest, and brooks no opposition from divine promises or human traditions in "Antigone." He becomes a completely different person between Theban King Oedipus' overthrow just before the end of "Oedipus Rex" and the fatal duel between twin brothers Eteocles and Polyneices just before the beginning of "Antigone."

Happily married man to blind widower, King of Thebes to beggar, resident of the royal palace to refugee, and savior of his people to ostracized criminal and sex offender are the reversals of fate suffered by Oedipus in the play "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, a reversal of fate involves the circumstances of life making a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction of the original course. The term describes what happens to Theban King Oedipus once the mistaken sense that he and others have of his identity is corrected. All it takes is finding out that albeit unknowingly he is his father's killer, his mother's husband, and his children's half-brother.

That he is accessible, anticipatory,results-orientedand straightforward are reasons why Oedipus is a good king in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus allows open access to himself and to information by the priest of Zeus and the suppliants. He anticipates problems and problem-solving by arranging for a visit with the Delphic oracle. He says that Teiresias the blind prophet needs to be consulted and the Theban shepherd needs to be interrogated and does both. He says what he means and means what he says.

The end of Oedipus' interaction with the Corinthian messenger and the Theban shepherd is the climax of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Corinthian messenger admits that Theban King Oedipus is not the biological son of his presumed parents, Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope. The reluctant information from the Theban shepherd backs up and elaborates on the information about Oedipus' parentage. It is the worst point in the course of events when Oedipus learns that his true parents are Theban monarchs Laius and Jocasta and that the prophecies are true of him as his father's killer and his mother's husband.

That Teiresias and Creon are conspiring against him is the false conclusion that Theban King Oedipus reaches after quarreling with Teiresias in the play "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, Teiresias is a long-lived, blind prophet. As advisor to the kings of Thebes since the city's founding by Cadmus, Teiresias is the authority on Theban history, the councillor on current Theban events, and the seer of the Theban future. But Oedipus does not like Teiresias' historical references, the contemporary assessment or the predicted outcome. So he rashly and mistakenly decides that the blind prophet must be planning a royal overthrow with Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law, co-ruler and uncle.

The Sphinx and Oedipus ruin Thebes in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Sphinx ruins Thebes with her great appetite for freshly killed Thebans. Oedipus ruins Thebes with his two-time neglect of mandatory cleansing rituals. He spreads pollution by not purifying his murders or that of King Laius.

Yes, Oedipus blames the gods for all his actions - except blindness - in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus learns to his horror that he is his father's killer, his mother's husband, and his children's half-brother. The horror happens because Oedipus makes decisions based on a mistaken self-identity and image. He therefore blames the gods for a dreadful fate being fulfilled despite all his efforts to the contrary. He nevertheless accepts blame for one thing: his own self-blinding.

That they will be alone, picked on and poor is what Oedipus fears will happen to his daughters in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, disgraced Theban King Oedipus anguishes over the innocent youth of his two small daughters, the sister Princesses Antigone and Ismene. He fears that they will suffer cruelly for his criminal acts and immoral behavior. He worries that without a guardian such as their uncle King Creon, the girls will experience cruelty and poverty and that they will not be allowed to marry eligible men and have children to care for them in their old age.

It is a negative attitude that the audience takes away about the gods in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the gods are not on their best behavior. As background and beyond the play's action, Dionysus the wine god becomes angry with his first cousin, Theban King Polydorus and therefore with Polydorus' descendants. For example, Labdacus' son Laius and grandson Oedipus get fates that they understandably try to subvert. The gods leave not even the slightest or most understandable commission or omission unpunished.

That the very person whom she expects to soothe Oedipus with information on the identity of Laius' killer confirms Oedipus' fear that he is Laius' killer is the way in which Jocasta's attempt to soothe Oedipus backfires in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta says that her first husband, King Laius, is killed at the Delphi-Daulia crossroads in Phocis. The crime happens at the very spot where her second husband, King Oedipus, commits murder at about the same time and to a similar person. Jocasta arranges for the lone survivor and eyewitness to the crime to come to the Theban royal palace. But the Theban shepherd ultimately accuses Oedipus of being Laius' killer and therefore his own father's murderer and his own mother's husband.

Polytheistic belief in Olympic gods is Creon's religion in the plays "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the term polytheism describes the belief in many gods. The description fits the religious beliefs that Creon is assumed to hold regarding the ancient Greek gods of Mount Olympus. Creon seems more religious in "Oedipus Rex" and less so in "Antigone."