Oedipus Rex

That he is the latest descendant of a line cursed by the gods is the reason why Oedipus is cursed in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus is Laius' son, Labdacus' grandson, and Polydorus' great-grandson. Oedipus therefore inherits the divine ill will against Polydorus as well as the curse on all his descendants made by Dionysos, the wine god and Polydorus' first cousin. The gods do not back off from their anger against one individual until they ruin the entire line of descent.

Laius is Oedipus' real father in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Laius is the father of Theban King Oedipus. But Oedipus' parents leave him to die from exposure on the mountains outside Thebes because of a dreaded prophecy. Oedipus survives, is fostered into the Corinthian royal house, and has no idea that Laius is his biological father.

It is the his wife's brooches that Oedipus uses to stab his eyes out in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus finds the body of his dead wife Queen Jocasta hanging by the threads of her own robes. He puts the body down on the floor and removes the golden brooches that hold her robes in place. He then stabs both his eyes out with the brooches.

Sisters and Princesses of Thebes are the identities of Antigone and Ismene in the play "Antigone."

Specifically, the sisters are the daughters of King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta. But unbeknownst to the royal family, the monarchs are actually mother and son. Knowledge of that unintended incest results in Jocasta's suicide and in Oedipus' blinding and exile.

Despite the scandal, Antigone manages to become engaged to Haemon, her cousin and the son of Theban King Creon. Creon is Antigone's uncle and Jocasta's brother. During Antigone's childhood, Creon jointly rules Thebes with his sister and brother-in-law.

With the scandal and Oedipus' overthrow, Antigone's twin brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, inherit the throne of Thebes. But they end up fighting over their joint power-sharing arrangement. They kill each other, and as a result Creon is back on the throne.

As king, Creon allows Eteocles to be buried. He refuses to respect the same god-given rights to Polyneices. Anyone who tries to bury Polyneices according to the will of the gods and in accordance with Theban tradition will be killed.

Antigone is sentenced to death once she is discovered burying Polyneices. Her act puts additional stress on her already tense interaction with her sister Ismene. It also ends her engagement to Haemon and all chance for marriage and children.

The play gives no indication as to what happens to Ismene. But outside the confines of the play, and according to tradition, Ismene is killed by Tydeus. Ironically, Tydeus is the husband of Deipyle, Argive Princess and sister of Argea, wife of Ismene's brother Polyneices.

As is the case with Antigone, Ismene dies unmarried and childless. If she had lived, she may have been able to marry the love of her life, Theoclymenus. But as is the case with Antigone's love Haemon, Theoclymenus dies a violent death. But unlike Haemon, death comes not by his own hands, but by Tydeus' also.

That he and his city will benefit from Oedipus' death is the reason why Theseus gives sanctuary to Oedipus in "Oedipus at Colonus" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus calls to mind that his prophesied fate includes one good and two bad components. He describes the good part as relating to the place and significance of his death. He indicates that he will die a special death in a place sacred to the Furies of fate. It is to Athenian King Theseus that Oedipus confers that luck in exchange for sanctuary.

Denial and a certain arrogance are Jocasta's weaknesses in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta tries to smooth over disagreements and seems to want to avoid anything unpleasant, inconvenient or contradictory. For example, she treats the disagreement between Theban Kings Oedipus and Creon as though it is a backyard fight between schoolboys. Additionally, she does not want to look too deeply into her first husband Laius' murder or her second husband Oedipus' true identity. In pursuit of the preceding, she picks and chooses what divine will she will respect and which she will not.

It is for the unsolved murder of King Laius that Oedipus blames the chorus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus finds out that he can end the pestilence in Thebes only by identifying and punishing the guilty in King Laius' murder. He looks first to the chorus for clues and information. But he makes it clear that he is cleaning up after them for not getting their jobs done right in the first place.

Laurel and wool for supplication and then laurel and berries for good news are what make up the wreathed boughs in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban suppliants accompany the priest of Zeus to the Theban royal palace for an audience with Theban King Oedipus. They carry sticks wreathed in laurel and wool, as signs of supplication for royal action. Then Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law and royal colleague, comes back from meeting with the Delphic Oracle. He wears a bough of laurel packed with berries to let everyone know that the news is good from Delphi.

Teiresias is the person for whom Oedipus sends twice within the hour in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias is Thebes' wisest and most long-lived citizen. In fact, he operates as royal advisor to every Theban monarch since the city's founding by Theban King Oedipus' great-great-grandfather Cadmus. But he resides outside Thebes and must be escorted to and from his home since he is blind and elderly.

The crown and the throne of Corinth are what Oedipus is offered when Polybus dies in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth raise subsequent Theban King Oedipus in the belief that he is their only son and heir apparent. The childless royal couple has no one other than Oedipus to succeed in the rule of the Corinthian royal house. A Corinthian messenger therefore travels to Thebes to inform Oedipus of Polybus' death and of the job opening in Corinth.

That he will find Laius' killer is what Oedipus promises to do at the end of the prologue in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, a pestilence causes children to be stillborn, crops to fail and livestock to ail in Thebes. It can be ended with the identification and execution or exile of the guilty in the murder of Theban King Laius, King Oedipus' royal predecessor. Oedipus announces that he will apprehend the guilty or he and all Thebes will die from the pestilence in the process.

Seeking and following wise advice is what Theban Prince Haemon values in a king in the play "Antigone" by ancient Greek playwright Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, in Episode 3, Haemon identifies as sources of wise advice the expressed will of the gods and the actions and words of the king's people. He says that wisdom operates to the benefit of all and honors the gods. It therefore cannot be worked out alone on a throne.

That accessories and perpetrators will be executed or exiled even if they are members of the royal household is the vow that Oedipus makes and that eventually condemns him in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus can end the pestilence in Thebes if he finds and punishes with execution or exile the guilty in the murder of his royal predecessor, King Laius. He gets carried away with his love for his people. He makes the punishment applicable to those who know but do not share information and those who harbor or help the guilty even if such accessories are members of the royal household. He thereby removes immunity, mitigating circumstances or pardon.

No god speaks to Laius in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Laius does not appear physically in the play. He is mentioned because his murder is unsolved and causes a pestilence to descend upon his hometown of Thebes. The audience knows little about Laius other than that he receives a dreadful prophecy and is killed by his only son with his wife, Queen Jocasta.

Jocasta is Oedipus' mother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Queen Jocasta is the wife of Theban King Laius. Both she and her husband are descendants of Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king. The royal couple try to continue the Cadmeian line as the parents of subsequent Theban King Oedipus. Subsequently, Jocasta albeit unknowingly becomes the wife of her own son.

That they must try to live a happier and more fortunate life than he did is what Oedipus says to his daughters at the end of "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus lets his daughters and half-sisters, the Princesses Antigone and Ismene, know that his life is botched, due in part to his own ignorance. He warns that people will not let them forget the albeit unknowing incest of their parents and the albeit unknowing murderous act of their father. He then challenges his daughters to overcome all the emotional baggage and to lead their own lives.

The Delphi-Daulia crossroads in Phocis is the crime scene where Laius is murdered in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Laius is about to enter the intersection where three roads meet in the land of Phocis. He is coming from Thebes and heading towards Delphi. He is met by Oedipus, who is coming from Delphi and heading towards Thebes. He arrogantly takes away Oedipus' right-of-way and therefore ends up dead in a common street brawl in which he is in the wrong.

Blasphemy, incest, murder and self-mutilation are the crimes that Oedipus commits in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus carries out blasphemy when he does carry out mandatory cleansing rituals for his crimes or for King Laius' murder. He commits incest when he marries his mother, Queen Jocasta. He does murder when he kills five out of six men at a crossroads. He engages in self-mutilation when he blinds himself.

It is to emphasize the greatness of his fall, heighten dramatic tension and increase audience involvement that Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) concentrates on Oedipus' life after becoming king of Thebes in "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, Oedipus goes from the peak of personal happiness and professional success to blind prisoner in a day's time. The tension is heightened because the play is structured around a murder investigation in which clues are collected and information sources are interviewed. The attention level and emotional investment of the audience rises as revelation upon revelation shakes and shatters Oedipus' seemingly charmed life in Thebes.

That he disagrees, that he understands and that he will wait for divine indications are Creon's responses in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Creon answers his brother-in-law King Oedipus' charge of treasonous conspiracy with a spirited self-defense. He replies to Oedipus' request to see the sister Princesses Antigone and Ismene with an understanding of a father's wish to visit with his daughters. He responds to Oedipus' request to be exiled with his daughters with a reminder that such decisions are up to the gods.