In the end, only five men, Oudaios, Chthonios, Echion, Pelor, and Hyperenor, survived and became the ancestors of the aristocratic families of Thebes. However, the dragon had been sacred to Ares, and, as punishment, Cadmus had to serve Ares for one year or eight years. At the end of his servitude, he married Harmonia, the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite.
The wedding was a grand spectacle, with the gods, the Muses, and the Charites "Graces" attending, among others. Aphrodite or Athena gave Harmonia a divine necklace made by Hephaestus. This family heirloom brought great misfortune to their descendants. Semele, mother of Dionysus, was destroyed when Zeus came to her in all his glory with lightning and thunder. Ino killed her children and then threw herself off a cliff. Acteon was turned into a stag by Artemis and then torn apart by his own dogs.
Agave killed her son, Pentheus, ruler of Thebes at the time, while under the influence of Dionysus. After Pentheus died, Cadmus' final child, Polydorus, ascended to the throne of Thebes and married Nycteis. At this point, the legend of Thebes branches off in many directions and has many variants. Most important for us, Polydorus and Nycteis had a son named Labdacus, whose son, Laius, fled Thebes to take refuge with Pelops at Elis in the northwest Peloponnese.
There, Laius fell in love with Pelops' son, Chrysippus. He lured Chrysippus out of town and raped him, then fled back to Thebes as Pelops cursed him for his transgression. When he returned, his father's successors to the throne of Thebes were dead, and the Thebans had Laius ascend to the vacant throne, where he married Jocasta. An oracle informed him that he would be killed by his own son, and, as a result, Laius refrained from intercourse with his wife, until one night, in a drunken rage, he had intercourse with her anyway.
When Jocasta bore a son, Laius had his feet pinned together to keep his ghost from walking and ordered a shepherd to abandon the baby on Mount Cithaeron near Thebes.
Instead, the shepherd gave the baby to a friend from Corinth. This friend delivered the baby to Polybus, king of Corinth, and he and his wife, Meriope, adopted the child, giving him the name "Oedipus", which seems to mean "swollen foot" or "sore foot". When he was older, a drunken man questioned Oedipus' parentage, though his mother would not speak to him about the matter. Instead, he went to Delphi to learn about his background, where the oracle instead told him that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
Horrified, he abandoned Corinth, and headed towards Thebes where he decided to try his luck as an exile. On the way, a chariot ran him off the road and grazed his foot.
In anger, Oedipus killed the driver, the passenger, and all of his retainers except one, who escaped. Upon arriving at Thebes, he encountered the monstrous Sphinx, possibly sent by Hera as punishment against the Thebans for failure to atone for the crimes of Laius.
The Sphinx was eating Thebans. Before killing them, the monster posed a riddle: "What goes on four legs in the morning, two at midday, and three in the evening? Laius had gone to Delphi to learn how to rid Thebes of the Sphinx, but reports of his demise by bandits came back to Creon, brother-in-law of Laius and acting ruler of Thebes. Creon decreed that whoever could solve the riddle would become the next king. Oedipus encountered the Sphinx and quickly realized that the answer was "man".
The Sphinx, in her anger, threw herself off a cliff. Oedipus became king of Thebes and married Jocasta. She bore two sons, Polynices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene. A plague followed and the stage was set for the action of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Following Oedipus' exile, his sons agreed to share the rule of Thebes, alternating in rule every year. However, Eteocles refused to give up his power after the first year and drove out Polynices.
He fled to Argos, taking with him the gifts which the gods had given Harmonia at her wedding, including the necklace. Meanwhile, in Argos, Adrastus, king of Argos, had learned from an oracle that he must "yoke his daughters to a boar and a lion. He saw Polynices and Tydeus, an exile from Calydon, fighting. One of them had a boar painted on his shield, the other a lion. Adrastus immediately recognized the true meaning of the oracle, stopped the fight, and married his daughters to them.
He further agreed to restore them to their homelands, starting with Thebes. Adrastus summoned heroes from Argos to lead the campaign against Thebes. Meanwhile, the exiled Oedipus, accompanied only by Antigone, made his way to the Grove of the Furies at Colonus, territory under the control of Athens. The inhabitants demanded that he leave before he defiled the grove, and they summoned Theseus, ruler of Athens.
Oedipus was banished from Thebes, when the prophecy of patricide and incest was proven true. Oedipus left Thebes a blind and broken man. As time passed, and the two sons aged, Eteocles claimed the throne for himself, exiling his older brother Polyneices. Polyneices then gathered a giant army and attacked Eteocles for the throne. Neither of the two sons won because they both ended up killing each other in battle.
Her sister, Ismene, warns her against the dangers and consequences and states that she will not have any part in helping her sister with her scheme. As guards brush the dirt off the body, she reveals herself willingly. Creon is enraged and imprisons both Antigone and Ismene, who he believes to be an accomplice. Creon ridicules Haemon for his ridiculous thoughts of freeing Antigone.
Haemon then runs off, crushed that his father would treat his so badly. Creon mocks Teiresias, but the chorus reminds Creon that the prophet has never been wrong.
Creon then rushes to free Antigone, but it is too late, she is dead, and Haemon has killed himself for her. Creon is then lead away by the chorus, lamenting in his own self misery. BookRags, Antigone. Structure of Antigone. They claim that the gods rightfully punished such arrogant boasts and hatred between the two men, and that they really got what was genuinely coming to them. Pages , Lines He then states that any person who tries to give the body a burial will be punished by death.
He assigns men to guard the body to make sure no one touches it. However, a sandstorm blows dust around and Antigone performs the proper burial rights for her brother.
A watchman then goes and tells Creon, who is enraged. They sing about how man is cunning and deceitful, and how justice will prevail among those who do wrong. Ismene then shows up and states that she helped Antigone, but Antigone states that her sister did not help at all and that it was all her fault. Creon tells his men to lock the girls up and make sure they do not get away. Pages 28, Lines They sing about how such punishment will arise from such a little thing, the spreading of a thin layer of dust over the body of Polyneices.
The chorus then declares that there is no escape from imminent disaster. Creon claims that Haemon is blinded by love and must see that the law is more powerful. Creon then states that he is going to take Antigone to a cave and bury her alive so she can starve.
Haemon then states the he is not going to be around Antigone when she is killed and runs off. How love conquers all battles and how it prevails over everything. Then they weep over the fate of Antigone and how she will never be the bride of Haemon.
Creon then states that he has no mercy, and leads her to her doom. They then reflect upon how her brothers too, were of noble blood and how their deaths were so miserable. He tells Creon that his punishment for not giving a proper burial will be the life of his son. Creon believes that the prophet is mocking him and disregards his warning. Such as Creon, he should wisely listen to the blind prophet because he has never been wrong before. Creon is devastated and returns to the kingdom only to learn that his wife has also killed herself because of the loss of her son.
The state that wisdom is a very powerful tool and should be used wisely otherwise the gods will punish you for your actions. Pages 60, Lines Sophocles, Antigone. Themes in Antigone. A major theme evident within this tragedy is pride. As a result, it led to both of their self-destructions, as they killed each other in a battle for power. As a result, she goes against the very strict law that Creon placed within Thebes. By the time Creon finally realized that it was the gods who held the highest power, it was too late.
Creon also states that his son is like a slave to Antigone and mocks his son for not respecting his power.
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