The Tragedy of the Royal House of Thebes Outline Notes

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The Tragedy of the Royal House of ThebesOutline
Notes

• Sophocles Greek Playwright
• Circa 495 406 BC

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The Three Plays of the Oedipus Cycle

• Oedipus the King
• Oedipus at Colonus
• Antigone
• Written circa 411 BC
• Antigone is the third play in the trilogy, but
  Sophocles wrote it
• before he wrote the other two plays.

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Important Cities

• Pay attention to the next two maps.
• Look for the following cities
• Thebes
• Delphi
• Corinth
• Argos
• Region of Boeotia

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The Origin of The Royal House of Thebes

• The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi
• Apollo was the god of Truth and Prophecy
• The Oracle was the priestess Pythia.
• She could communicate with Apollo and provide
  humans with a prediction of their fates.
• Although her prophecies were destined to come
  true, her messages often consisted of incomplete
  information, and what she said was confusing for
  humans to completely understand.

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Apollo and The Temple at Delphi
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Temple of Apollo at Didyma
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Treasury of the Athenians at Delphi

• An Example of Greek Architecture

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CadmusThe First King of Thebes

• Cadmus and his sister Europa were the children of
  Agenor I, the king of Phoenicia.
• Cadmus and Europa were descendants of the god
  Zeus (his great-great grandchildren).

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Zeus and Zeus Fighting a Titan
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Background The Founding of Thebes

• The princess Europa disappeared from the coasts
  of Phoenicia on the back of a bull (Zeus in
  disguise had kidnapped her).
• Agenor I, sent Cadmus in search of Europa,
  telling him not to return until he had found his
  sister.
• However, nothing was ever found of her, except
  for the name of the land called Europa. (She had
  been left by Zeus (the bull) upon the shore by
  Mount Dicte in Crete.)

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The Abduction of Europa
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What Cadmus Did

• Cadmus searched for Europa but could not find
  her.
• Cadmus in his wanderings came to Delphi. There
  the oracle told him to buy an ox which had a
  moon-shaped mark on its side, and to drive it
  before him. Where it lay down, it was fated that
  Cadmus would found a city and rule as its king.
• He settled in Boeotia (named for the ox), and
  founded in this new land the city of Cadmea,
  later called Thebes.
• These events took place approximately 200 years
  before the Trojan War.

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Ares Serpent

• When the place for the new city was determined,
  Cadmus decided to sacrifice the ox to the goddess
  Athena.
• He sent some of his men to draw water from a
  spring (later called Dirce) belonging to Ares
  (the god of war).
• The spring was guarded by a serpent or dragon
  which was the sacred offspring of Ares.
• Ares dragon had a golden crest, flashed fire
  from its eyes, had a triple tongue, teeth ranged
  in triple rows, and its body was swollen with
  poison.
• It devoured Cadmus' men.
• Cadmus confronted the dragon and killed it.
• Athena told him to plant the dragons teeth in
  the earth.

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Cadmus and the Serpent
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AthenaGoddess of wisdom, war strategies, the
defense of cities, heroic endeavor, weaving,
pottery and other crafts, domestic arts,
agriculture, the olive tree, and Athens. She was
depicted as crowned with a crested helm, armed
with shield and spear, and wearing the
snake-trimmed Aegis cloak wrapped around her
breast and arm, adorned with the head of the
Gorgon. She was born fully grown from the head
of Zeus.
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The Sparti

• From the sown teeth sprang forth armed men
  (Sparti) who began fighting and killing each
  other.
• Five of them survived the massacre.
• The five Sparti had supernatural powers with
  which they helped Cadmus build the new city.
• The Sparti were the progenitors of the following
  generations of citizens of Thebes.
• Cadmus married Harmonia. Together they ruled
  Thebes as its first King and Queen
• The Fate of Cadmus and Harmonia
• Cadmus and Harmonia were turned into serpents
  because he had killed the dragon of Ares.

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Cadmus and Harmonia are turned into Snakes
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Time to skip a few generations to focus on the
important part of the story.

• Cadmus founded the city of Thebes
• The throne of a city was passed on the eldest
  male heir.
• Women could not be rulers in Greek society.
• Cadmus son was Polydorus.
• Polydorus son was Labdacus.
• Labdacus son was Laius.

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House of Thebes Family Tree (edited) Yes,
write this in your notes.

• Zeus Io
• Epaphus
• Poseidon Lybia
• Agenor
• Cadmus Harmonia
  Europa ( Zeus)
• Polydorus (son of Cadmus)
• Labdacus (son of Polydorus)
• Laius (son of Labdacus)

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House of Thebes Family Tree(continued)

• Labdacus Menoeceus I (Great-Grandchild
• of Cadmus)
• Laius Jocasta Creon Eurydice
• Oedipus Haemon Menoeceus II

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King LaiusA Curse on the House of Thebes

• Prior to becoming the King of Thebes, Laius
  lived in exile in Peloponnesus, hosted by King
  Pelops I.
• Laius fell in love with Pelops' illegitimate son
  Chryssipus II.
• Laius abducted Chryssipus and was eventually
  arrested by Chryssipus half brothers.
• However, Pelops did not wish to punish a man on
  account of his love.
• The gods took exception to the abduction (not to
  Laius love for Chryssipus) and set a curse on
  Laius that would last for three generations.
• Chryssipus was eventually murdered by the queen,
  who wanted her own sons to inherit the throne.

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Laius Abduction of Chryssipus
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Laius Return to Thebes

• Laius returned to Thebes as its rightful king
  with Jocasta (a distant cousin), daughter of
  Menoeceus I as his queen.
• Laius wanted to know if he would have an heir to
  the throne.
• The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi warned him not to
  have a son because that son was fated to kill his
  own father.
• But Laius disregarded the oracle (further grounds
  for him to be punished by the gods) and
  eventually he and Jocasta conceived a son.

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Laius Attempts to Change his Fate

• In his fear that the Oracles prophecy would come
  true, Laius plotted to kill his son.
• Laius ordered a shepherd to take the baby and
  bind (or bolt) the babys feet so he could not
  walk, and then take the child to the mountains
  and abandon it.
• In this plot, Laius thought that he could not be
  accused of killing the child because he did not
  directly do it himself.
• The shepherd did as he was told,
• except . . .

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Oedipus is Rescued

• Instead of abandoning the baby, Laius shepherd
  gave it to another shepherd, who in turn took the
  child to the city of Corinth.
• There, King Polybus adopted the child as his own
  son.
• The child was named Oedipus.
• Oedipus means swollen foot. His feet had
  swollen because they had been so tightly bound
  together. (Another version of the story
  indicates that his ankles had been riveted
  together with a bolt.)

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Oedipus Becomes and Adult

• He encountered a drunkard on the street who told
  him that Oedipus was not the true son of the
  king, and that he could not inherit the throne of
  Corinth.
• Oedipus went to the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi
  and learned bad news and worse news
• 1. You are going to kill your father.
• 2. You are going to marry your mother.

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Banished from Corinth

• Continuing to believe that Polybus was his real
  father, Oedipus attempted to change his fate by
  vowing to banish himself from Corinth, never to
  return, so that he could not harm his father or
  mother.
• He was man without a homeland. He wandered
  Greece as he tried to determine what he should
  do.
• But as fate would have it . . .

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Battle at the Crossroad

• He came to a crossroad where he encountered an
  old man in a chariot and his five guards.
• A conflict ensued between Oedipus and the old man
  regarding who had the right to pass.
• Neither would relinquish, swords were drawn, and
  a battle ensued.
• Oedipus killed the old man and four of his
  guards.
• The fifth guard escaped and fled.

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Meanwhile, Back in Thebes

• The guard returned to the Palace of Thebes to
  reveal the news that King Laius had been murdered
  by a band of robbers.
• As Laius had no heir to the throne because he had
  disposed of his only son, Creon, the brother of
  Jocasta, the Queen, became the acting regent.
  (Women were not allowed to be in positions of
  power.)
• The first part of Oedipus fate had been
  fulfilled. He has unknowingly killed his father.

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The Sphinx Asks a Riddle

• As if the death of the king were not bad enough,
  Thebes had another problem to deal with. A
  Sphinx had begun to terrorize the city.
• The Sphinx is creature that has the body of a
  lion, the upper torso of a woman, and it has
  wings.
• The Sphinx asked all passersby a riddle. If the
  person could not answer the riddle, the Sphinx
  strangled the victim, and then ate the body.
• Sphinx means the strangler.

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Oedipus and the Sphinx
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Creons Proclamation

• Creon had to save the city, so he proclaimed that
  anyone who could save Thebes from the Sphinx
  would be rewarded
• 1. The hero would become the king of
  Thebes.
• 2. He would marry Queen Jocasta.
• Along came Oedipus, who had heard of the offer.
  Being a man without a country, he had nothing to
  lose, so he accepted the challenge and approached
  the Sphinx.

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The Riddle and the Prize

• What goes on four feet in the morning, on two at
  noon, and on three in the evening?
• Oedipus answered the question
• The answer is man At birth, he crawls, as an
  adult he walks upright on two feet, and as an old
  man he walks with a cane.
• The Sphinx threw itself from a cliff and died.
• Oedipus became the King of Thebes.
• Oedipus married his mother, Jocasta, and
  unknowingly fulfilled the second part of his fate.

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Happy Family

• Oedipus and Jocasta successfully ruled Thebes for
  many years.
• They had four children
• Twin sons,
• Eteocles and Polyneices
• and
• Two daughters,
• Antigone and Ismene

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House of Thebes Family Tree(completed)

• Laius Jocasta Creon Eurydice
• Oedipus Jocasta Haemon Menoeceus
  II
• Eteocles Polyneices Ismene Antigone
• 
  Haemon and Antigone
• 
  are engaged to be
  married.

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More Bad News

• Thebes began to suffer from a Plague and a Famine
• Oedipus had to save the city, so he sent Creon to
  the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi to find out what
  had to be done.
• The Oracle told Creon that Thebes could only be
  saved by revealing the killer of King Laius.
• Oedipus began his investigation and little by
  little, the facts came out, but Oedipus pride
  would not allow him to accept the testimony of
  his witnesses.

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The Truth and its Consequences

• Ultimately, the two shepherds who had been
  involved in Laius plot to kill his son came
  forth and revealed their roles, and the truth
  that Oedipus was, in fact, the son of Laius, and
  that Jocasta was his mother.
• Jocasta, in her shame, hanged herself.
• Oedipus, in his shame, took the two brooches from
  Jocastas gown and plunged the pins into his
  eyes, thus blinding himself from the vision of
  what he had done.

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Oedipus
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The Final Curse

• Oedipus promised to banish himself from Thebes,
  never to return.
• Antigone accompanied him on his journey Ismene
  stayed in Thebes to look after his affairs.
• Polyneices and Eteocles despised their father for
  what he had done, even though it was not his
  fault. They cursed their father and kicked him
  out of the city.
• As Oedipus left Thebes, he cursed his sons and
  told them that their inheritance would be divided
  by the sword.

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A Kingdom Divided

• Creon once again served as Regent of Thebes until
  Oedipus died and Eteocles and Polyneices were old
  enough to rule.
• Because they were twins, Eteocles and Polyneices
  agreed to share the throne by ruling in alternate
  years.
• Eteocles would rule for the first year, then
  Polyneices would take over for the second year.
• At the end of the first year, Eteocles refused to
  give up the throne to his brother, and banished
  Polyneices from Thebes.

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Polyneices Retaliates

• Polyneices went to the city of Argos and acquired
  the aid of the Argive armies.
• Seven armies with seven chieftains returned to
  Thebes and attacked its gates.
• Because the ancestors of Thebes were related to
  Zeus, he assisted in the defense of Thebes by
  hurling thunderbolts at the Argives.
• The Argive armies were defeated and Thebes was
  victorious.

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During the Battle

• Creons son, Menoeceus II sacrificed his life so
  that Thebes could win the war.
• Eteocles and Polyneices met face-to-face on the
  battlefield and mortally wounded each other.
• Because there were no more male heirs to the
  throne, Creon was once again in charge of Thebes
  as regent.
• His wife, Eurydice, became the queen.

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Creons Edicts

• Because Eteocles was a hero who defended Thebes
  from its attackers, he would be buried with full
  funeral rites and honors.
• Because Polyneices was a traitor to Thebes, his
  body would be left on the battlefield to be eaten
  by dogs and vultures. Also, all of the bodies of
  the dead Argives would be left on the battlefield
  to rot.
• Anyone who tried to bury the body of Polyneices
  against Creons order would be put to death by
  stoning.

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The Burial of the Dead

• All people have the right to a proper burial, as
  designated by the laws of the gods.
• The souls of the unburied are not allowed to
  enter Hades, and are destined to walk the earth
  in torment.
• Burial would include the application of sacred
  oils to cleanse the body, a casting of earth upon
  the body, and cremation upon a pyre.
• One of the worst disgraces a person could suffer
  would be to remain unburied.

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And so the play Antigone begins

• The Characters
• Creon acting King of Thebes
• Eurydice his wife
• Haemon their son, and fiancé of Antigone
• Antigone and Ismene the daughters of Oedipus
• The Chorus and Leader represent the voices of
  the citizens of Thebes and serve as advisors to
  Creon
• A Sentry charged with guarding the body of
  Polyneices
• A Messenger
• Tiresias the blind prophet of Thebes who can
  predict the future and interpret signs sent by
  the gods

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Greek Tragedy

• Performed during festivals worshipping Dionysus,
  the god of wine, fertility, rebirth
• Actors and playwrights competed
• Choral -- singing seems to have been an important
  part
• a chorus of men (varied in size form 3 to 50) --
  many think the choral song -- dithyramb-- was the
  beginnings of Greek drama (but origins are
  unclear)
• Closely associated with religion - stories based
  on myth or history

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• Some believe the chorus sang, moved, danced
• Most believe the chorus underscored the ideas of
  the play, provided point-of-view, and focused on
  issues of the play and implications of the
  action, established the play's ethical system,
  and participated in the action
• Violence and death offstage
• Frequent use of messengers to relate information
• Usually continuous time of action
• Usually single place
• Stories based on myth or history, but varied
  interpretations of events
• Focus is on psychological and ethical attributes
  of characters, rather than physical and
  sociological.

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Greek Masks

• A Greek mask is a kind of mask used to conceal an
  actor's or actress' face during a Greek theater
  performance. This practice is extremely useful
  for the following reasons
• There were times when a single actor or actress
  had to play more than one character in the
  script. This was easily achieved through the use
  of masks instead of superfluous and over-the-top
  makeup.
• During those times, women were forbidden from
  participating in theater roles. Greek masks
  helped conceal the men's faces while they played
  the female parts, suspending disbelief.
• There was a theory that masks helped accentuate
  the actor's or actress' voice during a stage
  performance. This is yet to be proven though.

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Examples of Tragic Masks
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The Elements of Greek Tragedy

• Tragedy is meant to reaffirm the fact that life
  is worth living, regardless of the suffering or
  pain that is part of human existence.
• Tragedies are about people in conflict with the
  universe.
• Tragedies are always about spiritual or
  philosophical conflicts, never about every day
  events.
• Tragic actions arise from a character's inner
  conflict.
• Do not confuse the concept of Greek Tragedy with
  the modern use of the word tragic, which is
  often used to describe events that we think of as
  being sad or unfortunate. Although characters
  may die in Greek Tragedies, the tragedy arises
  from the protagonists poor choices which result
  from his tragic flaw.

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Catharsis

• The protagonist's actions should arouse feelings
  of both pity and fear in the audience.
• Pity because the protagonist is better than we
  are, so we place ourselves into his position
  (empathy)
• Fear because we too do not know our future or
  fate.
• By the end of the play, the audience should be
  purged of pity and fear, so they go through a
  catharsis.
• Catharsis purgation of pity and fear
•    

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The Greek Tragic Hero

• Is an uncommon man who possesses the greatness to
  battle his own destiny. A tragic protagonist must
  have magnitude his struggles are great because
  he is important to society.
• Is a basically good and noble person who causes
  his own downfall, and possibly that of others
  around him, because of a tragic flaw.
• He usually suffers from hubris (Pride) as shown
  through hamartia (character flaw or error in
  judgment).
• He suffers from a reversal of fortune or fall
  from high to low. He suffers a loss of dignity,
  as well as suffering caused by the loss of loved
  ones.
• He can never escape his fate, but he will insist
  upon accepting fate on his own terms. He must
  face the world alone.

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Hubris

• The predominant type of tragic flaw.
• An exaggerated sense of pride or self-confidence,
  often accompanied by stubbornness and the refusal
  to listen to the reason of others.
• Placing oneself in a position of superiority over
  other.
• Hubris results in a tragic end or punishment.

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Predetermined Fate

• Each individual is born with a fate that is
  determined by the gods at birth.
• Ones fate cannot be changed or avoided.
• Each person is given a personal allotment of
  unavoidable suffering.
• The suffering is not necessarily tragic, but is
  to be accepted as part of life.

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Freedom of Will and Action

• Each person is expected to accept his fate and
  fulfill it with dignity.
• Those who accept their fates should suffer no
  more than their allotted amount of suffering.
• The misuse of freedom to try to change ones
  fate may result in additional suffering.