Oedipus

1
Oedipus

• Laius married to Jocasta
• Prophecy that Laius son would kill him and have
  children with his own mother, Jocasta
• Laius ordered newborn son to be exposed
• Infant discovered by a shepherd OR shepherd
  didnt have heart to leave the child to die
• Shepherd gave child to Queen of Corinth, wife of
  Polybus, who raised child as their own
• Oedipus swollen foot

2
(No Transcript)
3
Oedipus

• Learned from Delphi prophecy that he would kill
  his father and marry his mother
• Thought Polybus, king of Corinth, was his father,
  so he left to avoid the prophecy
• Oedipus met an old man in the road
• Old man and his guards attacked Oedipus
• Oedipus killed the old man and his guards except
  for one

4
Oedipus and the Sphinx

• Sphinx had been killing travelers who couldnt
  answer her riddle
• What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in
  the afternoon, and 3 legs at night?
• Oedipus answered correctly Man
• because as infant would crawl on it hands and
  feet (4) in most of his life, he would walk on
  two legs but when he was old, he would have to
  rely on a walking stick (3)
• The Sphinx drowned herself

5
Amphora, 450-440 B.C.
6
Oedipus

• Creon married Oedipus to Jocasta and gave him the
  kingship as a reward
• Oedipus had just unknowingly married his mother
• Oedipus ruled happily with Jocasta until their
  sons were grown
• Had 4 kids
• Polyneices, Eteocles, Ismene, Antigone
• Then Thebes was struck with a plague that led to
  a famine . . . Things were bad

7
Oedipus

• Sends Creon to Delphi
• Oracle said murderer of Laius must be punished
• Teiresias
• Blind prophet
• Reveals that Oedipus had killed Laius
• Oedipus refuses to believe and investigates
  further

8
Oedipus

• Messenger comes to Thebes to announce that
  Polybus, king of Corinth, has died
• Oedipus believes he has beaten the prophecy
• Messenger reveals Oedipus was adopted!
• Jocasta puts together the truth and slips away
• Oedipus learns from the old shepherd that Laius
  was his father and Jocasta his mother

9
Oedipus

• Oedipus goes to find his mother/wife
• Finds she has committed suicide
• She hung herself
• Oedipus puts out his own eyes
• Doesnt want to see the shame in his new world
• Oedipus goes into exile
• His daughter Antigone went with him
• Both daughters present when he died (antigone and
  Ismene)

10
Seven Against Thebes

• While Oedipus was in exile, sons Eteocles and
  Polyneices were to alternate years as rulers
• However, Eteocles refused to give up the throne
  when Polyneices returned to Thebes for his turn
  and banished his brother from Thebes
• Polyneices went to Argos to appeal to king
  Adrastus for help
• Recruited Argives and began the war of the Seven
  Against Thebes

11
(No Transcript)
12
Antigone

• Waited in Thebes during the war for the Seven
  Against Thebes to see which brother would win
• Neither won, and Creon, Jocastas brother, became
  the ruler of Thebes
• Polyneices and the others who died fighting
  against Thebes, were to be left as bird food
  according to a decree from Creon

13
Antigone

• Ismene refused to go against Creons orders
• Antigone snuck out and performed burial rites for
  Polyneices even though it was a crime
• Ismene tried to share the blame, but Antigone
  wouldnt let her
• Creon punishes Antigone by entombing her in a
  cave

14
Antigone in front of the dead Polynices
Nikoforos Lytras - 1865
15
Antigone at her Brother's GraveRed Figure, 4th
century BCMusáe du Louvre, Paris
16
Antigone

• Her fiance, Creons son Haemon, went to rescue
  her, but she had already hung herself
• Creon came to let her out as well, at which point
  Haemon tried to kill Creon, failed and so killed
  himself in front of his father
• Creons wife, Eurydice, killed herself out of
  grief of losing all 3 of her children
• Creons pride killed his niece and destroyed his
  own family