DOCSLIB.ORG

Oedipus: Main Character Who Is the King of Thebes Priest

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Oedipus: Main Character Who Is the King of Thebes Priest Oedipus Rex Brief Summaries of Plot Characters: Oedipus: main character who is the king of Thebes Priest: character who speaks for community Creon: Oedipus’ brother-in-law Chorus: group of citizens from Thebes Leader: main speaker for the chorus Tiresias: blind prophet Jocasta: Oedipus’ wife; queen of Thebes Messengers: minor characters who report to Oedipus Antigone and Ismene: Oedipus’ daughters Action before the play starts: - Oedipus is told by an oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother - Oedipus leaves his city because he does not want this to come true - Oedipus gets into an argument with an old man on the road and kills him - The Sphinx is making life horrible for Thebes, and will not stop until someone solves her riddle. - Oedipus solves it and becomes the king of Thebes. He marries Jocasta, who was a widow. Pages 253-265: - Many years have passed since Oedipus became king. - There is a plague in Thebes. - People make offerings to the gods to stop the plague. - Oedipus is willing to help end the plague however he can. He is a good and caring leader. - The people of Thebes trust that Oedipus will be able to help end the plague. They trust him because he solved the riddle of the Sphinx. - Oedipus has sent Creon to talk to an oracle about how to end the plague. - Creon returns from the oracle. The oracle has told Creon that in order to end the plague, the city of Thebes must take revenge on the person who murdered their previous king, Laius. - The people of Thebes tell Oedipus how Laius was murdered (Laius was attacked by thieves. The thieves killed everyone with Laius except one man. This man is the only person who can verify that they were attacked by thieves). - Oedipus vows to take revenge on this murderer. He curses the person who did it. - Oedipus calls in Tiresias to help him figure out who the murderer is. - Tiresias does not want to tell Oedipus what he knows about the murder. He says it is too awful to tell. Pages 266-286: - Oedipus gets mad at Tiresias because Tiresias will not tell Oedipus who killed King Laius. - Tiresias finally tells Oedipus who killed the king. Tiresias says Oedipus killed King Laius. - Oedipus cannot believe Tiresias. Oedipus thinks that Creon is making this up to frame him. Here is why…Oedipus thinks Creon wants to be king. Oedipus believes Creon asks Tiresias to lie about Oedipus killing King Laius. Oedipus thinks Creon wants to take over as king once Oedipus is banished from the land. - Oedipus kicks Tiresias out of the palace because Oedipus is so upset with Tiresias. - The chorus will not believe what Tiresias has said about Oedipus killing Laius until the chorus has proof. The chorus loves Oedipus. - Creon and Oedipus fight. Oedipus accuses Creon of framing him, and Creon swears he did not frame Oedipus. - Creon has a good argument about why HE IS NOT trying to frame Oedipus. Creon likes that he gets to enjoy the power that comes with being royalty. Creon does not want to be king because being king means he would have extra responsibility. Creon likes to be powerful without responsibility. - Jocasta comes into the room to settle the argument. - Creon leaves. - Oedipus and Jocasta begin talking about what Tiresias has said about Oedipus being King Laius’ murderer. - Jocasta tells Oedipus a story to prove that prophets are not always right. However, she actually proves the opposite. Here is her story: When Jocasta was married to Laius, Laius received a prophesy that he was going to be murdered by his own son. When Laius and Jocasta had their first son, they tied his ankles together and had someone throw the son off a mountain to die. Jocasta and Laius did not want their son to kill Laius. - Jocasta also tells Oedipus that Laius was murdered where three roads meet. Oedipus realizes that this was the exact place that he had murdered a man years ago. Oedipus realizes that he did kill King Laius, even though Oedipus did not know it was King Laius at the time. - Oedipus explains his own prophesy to Jocasta. When Oedipus was younger, a man accused Oedipus of being adopted. Oedipus could not believe this man, so Oedipus went to the oracle to find out if he was adopted. The oracle told Oedipus that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus did not want to do this, so Oedipus left Corinth (his hometown) to escape his fate. On the way to Thebes, he meets a man on the road, gets into an argument, and kills the man (who turns out to be Laius). P. 287-298: See “What We’re Missing…” document What We’re Missing… Jocasta tells Oedipus that Laius was killed at a three-way crossroads, just before Oedipus arrived in Thebes. Oedipus, stunned, tells his wife that he may be the one who murdered Laius. He tells Jocasta that, long ago, when he was the prince of Corinth, he heard at a banquet that he was not really the son of the king and queen, and so went to the oracle of Delphi, which did not answer him but did tell him he would murder his father and sleep with his mother. Hearing this, Oedipus fled from home, never to return. It was then, on the journey that would take him to Thebes, that Oedipus was confronted and harassed by a group of travelers, whom he killed in self-defense, at the very crossroads where Laius was killed. Hoping that he will not be identified as Laius’s murderer, Oedipus sends for the shepherd who was the only man to survive the attack. Oedipus and Jocasta leave the stage, and the Chorus enters, announcing that the world is ruled by destiny and denouncing prideful men who would defy the gods. At the same time, the Chorus worries that if all the prophecies and oracles are wrong—if a proud man can, in fact, triumph—then the gods may not rule the world after all. Jocasta enters from the palace to offer a branch wrapped in wool to Apollo. A messenger enters, looking for Oedipus. He tells Jocasta that he has come from Corinth to tell Oedipus that his father, Polybus, is dead, and that Corinth wants Oedipus to come and rule there. Jocasta rejoices, convinced that since Polybus is dead from natural causes, the prophecy that Oedipus will murder his father is false. Oedipus arrives, hears the messenger’s news, and rejoices with Jocasta; king and queen concur that prophecies are worthless and the world is ruled by chance. However, Oedipus still fears the part of the prophecy that said he would sleep with his mother. The messenger says he can rid himself of that worry, because Polybus and his wife, Merope, are not really Oedipus’s natural parents. The messenger explains that he used to be a shepherd years ago. One day, he found a baby on Mount Cithaeron, near Thebes. The baby had its ankles pinned together, and the former shepherd set them free. That baby was Oedipus, who still walks with a limp because of the injury to his ankles so long ago. When Oedipus inquires who left him in the woods on the mountain, the messenger replies that another shepherd, Laius’s servant, gave him baby Oedipus. At this, Jocasta turns sharply, seeming to sense some horrible revelation on the horizon. Oedipus wants to find this shepherd, so he can find out who his natural parents are. Jocasta begs him to abandon his search immediately, but Oedipus is insistent. After screaming and pleading some more to no avail, Jocasta finally flees back into the palace. P. 299-end: - Oedipus does not worry about Jocasta’s concerns. - Oedipus and the Chorus are excited that they may soon know who Oedipus’ parents are. - The shepherd who saw Laius’ murder comes onto the stage. - The messenger identifies the shepherd as the man who gave him young Oedipus. - Oedipus questions the shepherd, asking who gave shepherd the baby, but the shepherd refuses to talk. - After Oedipus threatens the shepherd with torture, the shepherd answers that the baby came from the house of Laius. - The shepherd said that the baby was Laius’s child, and that Jocasta gave the baby to him to destroy because of a prophecy that the child would kill his parents. - The shepherd decided to give the baby to the messenger instead, so that the baby might be raised as a prince in Corinth. - Realizing who he is and who his parents are, Oedipus screams that he sees the truth, and flees back into the palace. The shepherd and the messenger slowly exit the stage. - The messenger enters again to tell the Chorus what has happened in the palace. o Jocasta is dead, by suicide. She hanged herself. o Oedipus enters the bedroom where Jocasta hanged herself. Seeing her dead, Oedipus cries and hugs Jocasta. o He then takes the gold pins that held her robes and, with the pins, stabs out his eyes. He cannot bear to see the world now that he has learned the truth. - As the messenger finishes the story, Oedipus comes out of the palace. Oedipus is disgusted with himself. Oedipus asks that he be banished from Thebes. - Creon enters. - Creon forgives Oedipus for what he’s done. Creon agrees to exile Oedipus from the city. - Oedipus asks that Creon take care of Oedipus’ girls. Oedipus wants to see his girls one more time.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sophocles' Oedipus Rex: a Deconstructive Study
    Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 6 No. 5; October 2015 Flourishing Creativity & Literacy Australian International Academic Centre, Australia Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex: A Deconstructive Study Javed Akhter (Corresponding author) Department of English Literature and Linguistics University of Balochistan Quetta Balochistan Pakistan E-mail: [email protected] Khair Muhammad Department of English Literature and Linguistics University of Balochistan Quetta Balochistan Pakistan E-mail: [email protected] Naila Naz Department of English Literature and Linguistics University of Balochistan Quetta Balochistan Pakistan E-mail: [email protected] Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.5p.9 Received: 19/04/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.5p.9 Accepted: 04/07/2015 Abstract Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) is the most prominent figure in contemporary philosophical and literary debate. He originates a trend-breaking theory of deconstruction. He opines the persistence in west European philosophical tradition of what he labels is logocentric metaphysics of presence. He argues that the different theories of philosophy, from Plato until structuralism are versions of a single or authoritative system. Though we cannot hope to escape this system we can at least identify the conditions of thought it imposes by attending to that which it seek to impress. Derridean deconstruction may present a new perspective to Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex”, which has always been a research target for world researchers. The researchers studied it from different angles, but the present study tries to reveal different facets of the play on Derridean deconstructive bedrock. Applying Derrida’s deconstruction to the text of the play, the study tries to present it in a new and innovative way.
    [Show full text]
  • Oedipus Rex Crossword Puzzle
    L I T ERARY CROSSWO RD PUZZ LE Oedipus Rex 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Across Down Across 2. Animals useful in prophecy Down1. The wife of Oedipus 2. Animals4. useful Tiresias in prophecy says Oedipus is “the unholy ________ 1. 3.The How wife Jocasta of Oedipus died of this land.” 5. Laius was killed at the intersection of ________ 4. Tiresias 7.says The Oedipus famous is “the Oracle unholy dwells ________ here. of this land.” 3. How________. Jocasta died (2 words) 7. The famous9. What Oracle has dwells killed here. Polybus? (2 words) 5. 6.Laius The was shepherd killed at claimsthe intersection that Oedipus of ________ was born________. this (2 11. Who has killed Laius? words)way. 9. What has15. killedThe entirePolybus? play (2 words)takes place outside of here. 8. Oedipus is revealed to have married his 11. Who has16. killed Adoptive Laius? mother of Oedipus 6. The_________. shepherd claims that Oedipus was born this way. 15. The entire17. playMeaning takes placeof “Rex” outside of here. 8.10. Oedipus The baby is revealed Oedipus to have was married to be killed his _________. before he 19. What Oedipus decrees will happen to Laius’ could ________ ________ ________. (3 16. Adoptive mothermurderer of Oedipus 10. Thewords) baby Oedipus was to be killed before he could ________ ________ ________. (3 words) 17. Meaning20. of King “Rex” of the Greek gods 12. Oedipus hopes the herdsman will say ________ 24.
    [Show full text]
  • Llt 121 Classical Mythology Lecture 32 Good Morning
    LLT 121 CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY LECTURE 32 GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME TO LLT 121 CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY IN WHICH WE RESUME OUR ADVENTURES IN THE CITY OF THEBES. THE CITY THAT THE GODS SEEM TO LOVE TO HATE. THE ORIGINAL FOUNDER TURNS INTO A SNAKE. WE'VE GOT THAT AT THEBES. A YOUNG MAN IS TURNED INTO A STAG FOR SEEING ARTEMIS BATHING IN THE NUDE. YES, WE HAVE THAT AT THEBES. THE SON KILLS THE FATHER. WE HAVE GOT THAT. WE DO THAT AT THEBES. THE SON MARRIES MOTHER. WE DO THAT TOO. BROTHER KILLS BROTHER, YEP. IF IT'S BAD AND IT HAPPENED IN ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY YOU CAN BET IT HAPPENED AT ANCIENT THEBES. I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU WHY THAT IS. IT HAPPENS TO BE RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO ATHENS. WHERE I WANT TO START TODAY IS WITH ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CHARACTERS IN ALL WESTERN CIVILIZATION, ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX PEOPLE YOU'LL EVER WANT TO MEET. THIS GUY IS BY THE NAME OF OEDIPUS. OEDIPUS STARTS OFF AS A LITTLE BABY. HE IS A CUTE LITTLE BABY. HE USED TO BE A LITTLE BOY. THEN HE WINDS UP AS THIS SAD, MULING, PUKING, UNHAPPY MAN WHO HAS POKED HIS OWN EYES OUT WITH A BROOCH. THIS IS THE GORE DRIPPING OUT OF HIS EYES AND ALL OF THAT BECAUSE HE SUFFERS FROM CLASSICAL GREEK MYTHOLOGY'S WORST DOCUMENTED CASE OF ARTIMONTHONO. NOW I GET IT. I PAUSE FOR YOUR QUESTIONS UP TO THIS POINT. WHEN LAST WE LEFT OFF LAIUS HAD BECOME KING AFTER A LONG WAIT WITH SOME INTERESTING MATHEMATICS BEHIND IT IF YOU'LL RECALL.
    [Show full text]
  • Oedipus and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex: a Comparative Study مسرحية توفيق الحكيم الملك أوديب ومسرحية سوفكليس أوديب ملكا: دراسة مقارنة
    I Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s King Oedipus and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex: A Comparative Study مسرحية توفيق الحكيم الملك أوديب ومسرحية سوفكليس أوديب ملكا: دراسة مقارنة Prepared by: Israa Jamil Mohammed Supervised by: Professor Tawfiq Yousef A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master’s Degree in English Language and Literature Faculty of Arts and Science Department of English Language and Literature Middle East University August 2015 II III IV Acknowledgment My deepest thanks and gratitude are to Allah, the Greatest, who gave me the patience and strength to do this research. My special appreciation and thanks are to my supervisor Professor Tawfiq Yousef who has been a tremendous mentor for me. I would like to thank him for supervising my research and for allowing me to grow as a researcher. His comments, guidance, and advice on my research have been very helpful. Special thanks also are given to my parents. Words cannot express how grateful I am to my father and my mother for all of the sacrifices that have made on my behalf. Their prayers and their support for me were what sustained me thus far. Finally, I would like to thank my brothers and sisters who stood by my side during the period of preparing the thesis. V Dedication I would like to dedicate this research to my parents, who were my strongest supporters throughout this whole experience. I also would like to dedicate it to my brothers and sisters who also supported me. Finally, I dedicate it to my uncles, aunts and friends.
    [Show full text]
  • Jocasta and the Sin of Thebes Bernadette Waterman Ward
    Jocasta and the Sin of Thebes Bernadette Waterman Ward ABSTRACT: The tragic victim of Oedipus the King is not Oedipus, who after his sufferings shall be raised to divinity; it is his mother Jocasta. She attempted the death by her torture of her own son. When she discovers that he has survived and is her husband, she seeks even to continue her mother-son incest so as to conceal her misdeeds. Cowardly silence among the citizens of doomed Thebes seals their collusion in evil. An examina- tion of the culture of the fatal city can bring the play more vitally into the world that our students actually inhabit, and serve as a warning against the moral collapse that encourages the killing of children. EDIPUS THE KING, the most famous drama of Sophocles, invites many approaches in the classroom. One can delve into such Oquestions as the proper limits of human knowledge, the relation of fate and freewill, responsibility for inadvertent crime, the proper understanding of piety and the power of the gods, and the relation of kingship and self-sacrifice. One can address hubris – pride, overreaching – and hamartia – the mistake or tragic flaw. One can trace dramatic irony in the images of vision and deliberate blindness, or perhaps, with Freud leering in the background, contemplate sexual taboos. Many scholars investigate the guilt of Oedipus, but rarely does the focus shift from the polluted scapegoat to the deep corruption in the scapegoating city of Thebes. The Thebans cast out Oedipus as impure, but in fact they cause their own destruction. By considering the fate of the city, rather than that of Oedipus, our students can make this play vital in the world that we actually inhabit.
    [Show full text]
  • MDC 2020 Full Syllabus
    MDC -- Literature Humanities Fall Semester 2020 Professor Christia Mercer Columbia University Welcome to Columbia University! This is Literature Humanities, a course that all Columbia College students are required to take. If you keep up with the requirements, you will receive Columbia University credit for the course. I'm looking forward to working with you! I wish I could be there in person, but we'll have to make do with paper and DVDs. Fingers crossed that this will all work!!! Course Description In this course, we’ll analyze two famous plays from roughly 2500 years ago. As you'll see, although this literature is very weird in some ways, it also speaks to us now. Since the plays were written and performed 2500 years ago, they have been performed, discussed, and deBated. The plays that we'll discuss explore love, desire, fear, family, revenge, courage, justice, power, and gender. The questions we will ask aBout the works include: How do these ancient works of literature create imagined worlds that still resonate with us, despite their historical distance, and what do they tell us aBout the challenges of human existence? Besides examining the themes and ideas in these dramas, we’ll pay attention to the theatrical elements they employ. We’ll do close readings of passages and scenes, and sometimes explore their complications by performing or acting out parts of them. Our Main Questions/Themes Our classroom discussions will focus on the following questions: As human beings, what should we seek or love? How do our goals and loves relate to those of our family, friends, and community? Why is fulfilling our loves so hard? What gets in the way? What do we fear and how can we overcome those fears? How can we know what's right? Are we fated to do what we do? Is suffering a means to insight and knowledge? In the end, what do the answers offered to these questions by this ancient literature tell us about ourselves as human beings? Pedagogical Goals Improve writing skills.
    [Show full text]
  • Stravinsky Oedipus
    London Symphony Orchestra LSO Live LSO Live captures exceptional performances from the finest musicians using the latest high-density recording technology. The result? Sensational sound quality and definitive interpretations combined with the energy and emotion that you can only experience live in the concert hall. LSO Live lets everyone, everywhere, feel the excitement in the world’s greatest music. For more information visit lso.co.uk LSO Live témoigne de concerts d’exception, donnés par les musiciens les plus remarquables et restitués grâce aux techniques les plus modernes de Stravinsky l’enregistrement haute-définition. La qualité sonore impressionnante entourant ces interprétations d’anthologie se double de l’énergie et de l’émotion que seuls les concerts en direct peuvent offrit. LSO Live permet à chacun, en toute Oedipus Rex circonstance, de vivre cette passion intense au travers des plus grandes oeuvres du répertoire. Pour plus d’informations, rendez vous sur le site lso.co.uk Apollon musagète LSO Live fängt unter Einsatz der neuesten High-Density Aufnahmetechnik außerordentliche Darbietungen der besten Musiker ein. Das Ergebnis? Sir John Eliot Gardiner Sensationelle Klangqualität und maßgebliche Interpretationen, gepaart mit der Energie und Gefühlstiefe, die man nur live im Konzertsaal erleben kann. LSO Live lässt jedermann an der aufregendsten, herrlichsten Musik dieser Welt teilhaben. Wenn Sie mehr erfahren möchten, schauen Sie bei uns Jennifer Johnston herein: lso.co.uk Stuart Skelton Gidon Saks Fanny Ardant LSO0751 Monteverdi Choir London Symphony Orchestra Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) The music is linked by a Speaker, who pretends to explain Oedipus Rex: an opera-oratorio in two acts the plot in the language of the audience, though in fact Oedipus Rex (1927, rev 1948) (1927, rev 1948) Cocteau’s text obscures nearly as much as it clarifies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of Oedipus
    The Story of Oedipus There are many versions of this tragedy, dating from the 5th century BC. This one is ©Jason Buckley 2010, www.thephilosophyman.com The story is set in Ancient Greece Laius & Jocasta were the King and Queen of Thebes Laius & Jocasta, They had a son, which would Thebes normally be a time for great rejoicing. Laius & Jocasta, A son! ...but the king had visited Thebes the Oracle, a priestess who made a terrible prophecy. Laius & Jocasta, A son! The prophecy Thebes of the Oracle “The boy will grow up to kill his father and marry his mother!” “He will kill his father and marry Laius & his mother.” Jocasta, A son! Oracle Thebes So the king had a metal pin hammered through the feet of his own child. He will kill his father and marry Laius & his mother. Jocasta, A son! Oracle Thebes Then he gave the boy to a shepherd. He told the shepherd to A metal pin take him up into the through his mountains and leave him feet to die. He will kill his father and marry Laius & his mother. Jocasta, A son! Oracle Thebes But the shepherd took pity on the boy. He gave him to another shepherd, from A metal pin Corinth on the through his other side of feet the mountains. He will kill his father and marry Laius & his mother. Jocasta, A son! Oracle Thebes Who gave him to the King of Corinth, who was childless. A metal pin through his feet The king named the boy “Oedipus” which means “club foot”.
    [Show full text]
  • Antigone Introductory Lecture Notes Greek Drama and the Elements of Tragedy
    Antigone Introductory Lecture Notes Greek Drama and the Elements of Tragedy Understanding Greek Theatre I. The Festival of Dionysus Dionysus - Festival of Dionysus - II. Conventions of Greek Drama Actors - Chorus - o Functions Costuming Scenery and Action Composition and Structure o Composition . o Structure . Prologue - . Parados - III. Tragedy Tragedy: Aristotle o Aristotle’s Unity of Time, Place, and Action . Time: . Place: . Action: o Action of the play arouses extreme pity and fear in the audience – pity for the protagonist and a sympathetic fear. (Tragedy cont.) o Purpose of tragedy: o Catharsis - Tragic Hero o Hamartia: o Paripateia: The Fall Revelation IV. Sophocles and the Oedipus Myth Sophocles Notes on Greek Burial Traditions: The Oedipus Myth o King Laius rules Thebes with his queen, Jocasta. An oracle prophesies that his son will grow to kill him, so Laius pierces his infant son’s ankles and feet and orders Jocasta to kill him. She cannot, so she sends a servant to do it, who leaves him for dead in the mountains. o The infant is found by a servant of the King of Corinth and is then raised by the King and Queen of Corinth, who name him Oedipus (meaning “swollen foot”). o When Oedipus is a young man, an oracle tells him that he will kill his father and marry his mother so, to try to escape his fate, he flees Corinth. Along the road, he gets into an argument with a stranger and kills him. That stranger is Laius. Part 1 of the prophecy is fulfilled. o Oedipus reaches Thebes, where a sphinx is plaguing the city, but will stop if someone answers a riddle.
    [Show full text]
  • Languages of Mourning: Between Page and (Modern) Stage
    Philosophy Study, ISSN 2159-5313 June 2014, Vol. 4, No. 6, 416-422 D DAVID PUBLISHING Languages of Mourning: Between Page and (Modern) Stage Justyna Biernat Jagiellonian University The aim of this essay is to provide an analysis of the Euripides’ “Phoenician Women” in terms of mourning. The author intends to set a parallel between the ancient tragedy and its modern adaptation staged by one of the most prominent Polish directors Krzysztof Warlikowski. In the essay, the author will discuss how suffering is depicted in the ancient drama and what changes of mourning motif are introduced into its modern performance. The author will examine the literary as well as the (modern) theatrical topos of grief by analyzing the poetics of tragedy (dramatic structure, metaphors of death, dramatis personae, funeral vocabularium, function of laments) and the poetics of performance (stage design, costumes and props, funerary symbolism, acting, directing solutions). The purpose of the paper is to argue against the insignificance of Euripides’ drama and the marginalization of Warlikowski’s “Phoenician Women.” Finally, the author will attempt to indicate the mourning motif as one of the essential and attractive for the ancient tragic plot and the modern performance as well. Keywords: Euripides, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Greek tragedy, mourning 1. Introduction In one of the central scenes of the Euripides’ “Phoenician Women,” the future king of Thebes Creon enters to expose and mourn the death of his younger son. He begins his lament with the characteristic, mourning question: Ah, ah, what shall I do? Shall I weep and groan for myself or my city1 and continues his weeping for the heroic self-sacrifice of Menoeceus and the ongoing war on the tainted Theban land.
    [Show full text]
  • Thebaid 2: Oedipus Descendants of Cadmus
    Thebaid 2: Oedipus Descendants of Cadmus Cadmus = Harmonia Aristaeus = Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion Pentheus Actaeon Polydorus (?) Autonoe = Aristaeus Actaeon Polydorus (?) • Aristaeus • Son of Apollo 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 Pentheus • Jean-Baptiste-Camile Corot ca. 1850 Giuseppe Cesari, ca. 1600 House of Cadmus Hyrieus Cadmus = Harmonia Dirce = Lycus Nycteus Autonoe = Aristaeus Zeus = Antiope Nycteis = Polydorus Zethus Amphion Labdacus Laius Tragedy 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 • Laius • Child king as well… second regency of Lycus • Zethus and Amphion • Sons of Antiope by Zeus • Jealousy of Dirce • 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 Hermes • 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 Creon Oedipus Laius • Laius and Iocaste • Childless, asked Delphi 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.” (Euripides Phoenissae) • Accidentally, they had a son anyway.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of Oedipus: Prequel to Antigone
    The Story of Oedipus: Prequel to Antigone • LAIUS is left an orphaned minor by his father Labdacus • AMPHION AND ZETHUS rule Thebes (Build the Cadmeia) and exile Laius • Laius goes to live in Elis (PISA) with King Pelops (son of Tantalus son of Zeus) • Laius becomes very good friends with young Chrysippus, youngest child of King Pelops • Laius and Chrysippus run away together (or Laius rapes Chrysippus). Pelops curses Laius. • Laius returns to Thebes and becomes King • Laius marries his cousin Jocasta, but they are childless • Laius goes to Delphi and intends to ask Apollo's advice; Apollo announces that Laius will have a child who will kill him • Laius and Jocasta have a baby son (Oedipus) whom they plan to kill. The royal shepherd is ordered to dispose of the child on Mt. Cithaeron. Instead he gives Oedipus to the royal Corinthian shepherd. • The Royal Corinthian Shepherd takes the child back to the childless king and queen of Corinth (Polybus and Merope), who adopt him. • At about the age of 18, at a dinner party, one of Oedipus' friends makes a rude remark about his not being a real Corinthian but only adopted. Oedipus is shocked and shamed, and goes off to Delphi to ask Apollo about the truth. • Apollo tells Oedipus he is doomed to kill his father and sleep with his mother. • Oedipus unknowingly kills his father Laius (within hours, at The Three Ways) • Oedipus kills the SPHINX on the way from the Three Ways to Thebes • Oedipus is received at Thebes as a national hero, and invited to marry the recently widowed queen Jocasta.
    [Show full text]