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Thebaid 2: Oedipus Descendants of Cadmus

Thebaid 2: Oedipus Descendants of Cadmus

Thebaid 2: Descendants of

Cadmus =

Aristaeus = Autonoe =

Pentheus (?) Autonoe = Aristaeus

Actaeon Polydorus (?)

• Aristaeus • Son of and Cyrene • Actaeon • While hunting he saw Artemis bathing • Artemis set his own hounds on him • Polydorus • Either brother or son of Autonoe • King of Cadmeia after • Jean-Baptiste-Camile Corot ca. 1850 Giuseppe Cesari, ca. 1600

House of Cadmus

Hyrieus Cadmus = Harmonia

Dirce = Autonoe = Aristaeus

Zeus = Nycteis = Polydorus

Zethus

Laius of Antiope

• Polydorus: • king of Thebes after Pentheus • m. Nycteis, sister of Antiope • Polydorus died before Labdacus was of age. • Labdacus • Child king after Polydorus • Regency of Nycteus, Lycus Thebes

• • Child king as well… second regency of Lycus • Zethus and Amphion • Sons of Antiope by • Jealousy of • Antiope imprisoned • Zethus and Amphion raised by shepherds Zethus and Amphion

• Returned to Thebes: • Killed Lycus • Tied Dirce to a wild bull • Fortified the city • Renamed it Thebes • Zethus and his family died of illness Death of Dirce

• The Farnese Bull • 2nd cent. BC • Asinius Pollio, owner • 1546: • Baths of Caracalla • Cardinal Farnese • Pope Paul III Farnese Bull Amphion

• Taught the lyre by • First to establish an altar to Hermes • Married Niobe, daughter of Tantalus • They had six sons and six daughters • Boasted she was better than Leto • Apollo and Artemis slew every child • Amphion died of a broken heart Niobe Jacques Louis David, 1775 Cadmus = Harmonia

Aristeus =Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion

Nycteis = Polydorus Pentheus

Labdacus Menoecius

Laius = Iocaste Oedipus Laius

• Laius and Iocaste • Childless, asked for advice: • “Lord of Thebes famous for horses, do not sow a furrow of children against the will of the gods; for if you beget a son, that child will kill you, [20] and all your house shall wade through blood.” ( Phoenissae) • Accidentally, they had a son anyway. Oedipus

• Laius and Iocaste expose the baby • Found by Polybus, King of Corinth • Raised as prince of Corinth • His parentage challenged: • Oedipus went to Delphi for confirmation • “You will kill your father and through with your mother you will have children” Oedipus and Laius

• Oedipus resolves never to go home • Believing that Polybus and were his real parents • On the road he meets an old man in a chariot • “stranger, make way for a king” but Oedipus “because he was proud” • Oedipus kills Laius and his charioteer Problems…

• Delphic oracles are (almost) always ‘if A then B’ formulae • If Laius has a son, then his son will kill him • Theodore Buttrey: • “if you kill your father, then you will commit incest with your mother and produce children” • 52 English translations… all wrong? Biggest Problem

• If divine pronouncements do not include choice and or interpretation, then what is left of free will? • Is life tolerable if fate is predetermined? • Is ‘god’s plan’ written and are we just going through the motions like actors on a stage? Cadmus = Harmonia

Aristeus =Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion

Antiope = Polydorus Pentheus Labdacus Menoecius

Laius = Iocaste Creon Oedipus Creon

• King (Regent?) on the death of Laius • Brother of Iocaste • When the sphinx came, Creon’s son was one of those killed • Creon offered his throne to anyone who could solve the riddle The Riddle

• Version One: • What is a being with four feet, two feet, three feet and once voice and is weakest when it has the most feet? • Version Two: • What has four feet in the morning, two feet in the afternoon, and three feet in the evening?

• Gustave Moreau • 1864 • ‘Oedipus and the Sphinx’ A man…

• Who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two feet as a man, and uses a cane in his old age Oedipus and Iocaste

• Oedipus becomes king of Thebes • Marries the queen, Iocaste • A plague descends on Thebes • Oedipus seeks divine guidance • The murder of Laius must be avenged! • Oedipus consults Teiresias The Accursed Children

Oedipus = Iocaste

Polynices Aftermath

• Iocaste hung herself • Oedipus gouged out his own eyes • and Eteocles banished Oedipus • Antigone took her father to Attica • Received by • Died at Colonus Oedipe et Antigone Charles Francois Jalabert 1842 • Sophocles • 496 – 405 BC • 120 productions… only 7 extant. • Won the Dionysia 18 times. • (Tyrannus, The King) (429) • (401 posthumous) • Antigone (441) Battle for Thebes

• Polynices and Eteocles agree to share the throne alternatively • Etoecles first year • But refused to step down • Polynices • Gains the aid of of Argos Seven Against Thebes

• Adrastus of Corinth • Polynices of Thebes • of Calydonia in Aetolia • of Argos • of Argos • Hippomedon of Argos • of Arcadia Seven Gated Thebes

• Each champion stormed one of the seven gates of Thebes • Suicide of Creon’s son, Meneoceus • All of the seven but Adrastus were killed • Etoecles and Polynices killed each other • Creon of Thebes, victorious, forbade the burial of the bodies Antigone

• Daughter of Oedipus and Iocaste • The ‘noble maiden’ • Escorted Oedipus to Colonus • After he died she returned to Thebes • Edict of Creon • Antigone buried the body of Polynices • She was buried alive as punishment Antigone and Polynices Nikoforos Lytras (1832 – 1904) Antigone

• Sohocles, Antigone • ca. 442 BC • A question for the age of heroes? • A question for the age of democracy? • Good of the individual vs. good of the state • Courage in the face of Tyranny Creon and Antigone Creon and Antigone? The

• Alcmaon, son of Amphiaraus • Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus • Aegialeus, son of Adrastus • , son of Tydeus • , son of Parthenopaeus • Sthenelus, son of Capanaeus • , son of Polynices • , son of Mecisteus War of the Epigonoi

• The Argives invaded • , son of Eteocles led the Thebans • Laodamas killed, Thebes abandoned • Epigonoi raze the city Sources

• ; • Hesiod ; Works and Days • Apollodorus Library • Pausanias Description of Greece • Seven Against Thebes • SophoclesOedipus Rex; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone • Euripides Phoenissae

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