Transcript Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology
The Oedipus Story
Background to understanding
“ANTIGONE”
According to Greek mythology:
• The king of Thebes,
Laius, was told by an
oracle that there was
danger to his throne
and his life if his
newborn son was
allowed to live and
grow up.
• King Laius
gave the child
to a herdsman
with orders to
kill the child.
The shepherd couldn’t do it.
• He tied the
child by the
feet and left
him hanging
from the
branch of a
tree.
He was found by a peasant
• who took the baby
to his master and
mistress. They
adopted him and
called him Oedipus
which means
“swollen foot”
Many years later: (dum, dum, dum)
• King Laius (Oedipus’s
birth father) was on
his way to Delphi one
day when he met a
young man in a
chariot. When the
young man refused to
yield the road, a fight
ensued.
The young man was Oedipus!
• He killed King
Laius never
realizing it was
actually his
birth father he
was killing!
Shortly after this: Thebes is in
danger!
• A monster with the
body of a lion and the
upper part of a
woman called a
sphinx lay in wait just
outside the city of
Thebes accosting
travelers.
Riddle me this:
• The sphinx would
propose a riddle to all
travelers with the
understanding that
those who answered
correctly could pass,
and those who
answered incorrectly
would be killed.
When Oedipus arrived at the road
the Sphinx asked him, “What
animal is it that which in the
morning goes on four feet, at
noon on two, and in the evening
upon three?”
And Oedipus answered:
• MAN, who in
childhood creeps
on hands and
knees, in
manhood walks
erect, and in old
age with the help
of a staff…
• The Sphinx was so mortified at
the solving of her riddle that
she cast herself down from the
rock and perished.
The people of Thebes were so
happy!
• They made Oedipus the king of
Thebes and had him marry the
queen.
Jocasta and Oedipus marry!
• Not knowing who his
real parents were,
Oedipus fulfilled the
oracle’s prophesy:
• He killed his birth
father and married his
birth mother!
Thebes became afflicted with
famine and pestilence
• The oracle was
consulted and
the incest was
revealed.
Jocasta, the
queen, was so
devastated she
took her own life.
Oedipus was seized with madness
• He gouged out his
own eyes and left
Thebes in disgrace.
He spent the rest of
his days wandering
abandoned by all
except his daughters.
Oh yeah!
• Did I mention Jocasta (queen of Thebes,
Oedipus’s mom, and Oedipus’s wife) had
children with Oedipus?
– Eteokles (male)
– Polyneices (male)
– Antigone (female)
– Ismene (female)
Once Oedipus dies:
• Antigone and Ismene,
Oedipus’s daughters,
return to Thebes.
Their brothers,
Eteokles and
Polyneices agree to
rule Thebes. Eteokles
will rule for one year,
Polyneices the next
and so on.
WAR!
• When his year is up
Eteokles refuses to
give the throne to
Polyneices.
Polyneices goes to
Argos (Greece) and
gathers an army to
take Thebes.
WAR!
• During the battle, the
two brothers engage
in a single combat
where they kill each
other.
• The armies kept
fighting until the
invaders (Argos) were
defeated.
This sets up:
• The background for our plays…
• Oedipus
• Antigone