Sophocles The Theban Plays
Cadmus = Harmonia Aristeus =Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion Nycteis = Polydorus Labdacus Pentheus Menoecius Laius = Oedipus Iocaste Creon
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.
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 incest with your mother you will have children
Oedipus and Laius Oedipus resolves never to go home Believing that Polybus and Merope 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 Labdacus Pentheus Menoecius Laius = Oedipus Iocaste Creon
Creon King (Regent?) on the death of Laius Brother of Iocaste When the sphinx came, Creon s son Haemon was one of those killed Creon offered his throne, and his sister, 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?
Oedipus and the Sphinx
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 (his mother), Iocaste A plague descends on Thebes The city is polluted with the miasma of murder and incest. Oedipus seeks divine guidance The murder of Laius must be avenged! Oedipus consults Teiresias
The Accursed Children Oedipus = Iocaste Polynices Eteocles Ismene Antigone
Aftermath Iocaste hanged herself Oedipus gouged out his own eyes Polynices and Eteocles banished Oedipus Antigone took her father to Attica Received by Theseus Died at Colonus
Oedipe et Antigone Charles Francois Jalabert 1842
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 Adrastus of Argos
Seven Against Thebes Adrastus of Corinth Polynices of Thebes Tydeus of Calydonia in Aetolia Amphiaraus of Argos Capaneus of Argos Hippomedon of Argos Parthenopaeus of Arcadia
Seven Against Thebes
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)
Sophocles Sophocles 496 405 BC 120 productions only 7 extant. Won the Dionysia 18 times. Oedipus Rex (Tyrannus, The King) (429) Oedipus at Colonus (401 posthumous) Antigone (441)
Theatre as Politics 480/ 79 Greek coalition defeats a Persian invasion force Battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataea and Mycale 479 432 The Pentecontaetia: Athenian hegemony Brutal suppression of Delian League member states. 431 404 The Peloponnesian War: A war for Greek freedom from Athens.
The Peloponnesian War
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 See Thucydides, The Melian Dialogue
Creon and Antigone
Creon and Antigone?