V- Tragedy
Readings: Sophocles, Oedipus Rex and Antigone
1- Oedipus
Oedipus (swollen foot) was the son of king Laius and queen Jocasta. He was king of Thebes. Sophocles wrote three tragedies about him: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. At the beginning, king Laius and queen Jocasta were childless. They consulted the oracle to know whether they will have a child or no. The oracle told them that they will have a child and this child will kill his father and marry his mother. In order to prevent this happening, when the child was born his father ordered to pin his ankles tight together and abandon him in the mountains. Instead of abandoning him, the man gave him to a shepherd who took him to Polybos, king of Corinth, and queen Merope. Polybus and Merope had no children and adopted Oedipus. When Oedipus grew up, a drunk man told him that he was not the son of king Polybos. On this matter, Oedipus consulted the oracle but the oracle only told him about his fate that he would kill his father. So he left Corinth trying to avoid this sad fate.
On the road between Delphi and Thebes, on a crossroad, he came across a chariot driven by his father king Laius. They quarreled over who should cross first. Laius tried to force the way and his son killed him. A slave of Laius saw what happened but he fled away. Oedipus continued his journey to Thebes and met the Sphynx who used to stop all travelers to Thebes and ask them a riddle. If they answer correctly, it would let them continue their journey. If not, it would kill them. She asked him: "What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?" and he replied: "Man", and explained that as a baby, he crawls; as an adult, he walks and as an aged man, he walks using a walking stick. This was a correct answer and the Sphynx allowed him to go to Thebes. The Sphinx, not bearing that its riddle had been answered correctly, killed itself by falling off the rock it was sitting on. At Thebes, Creon, the brother of Queen Jocasta claimed that any brave man who kills the Sphinx would marry the Queen and become king. Oedipus had already done this quest and became king. He married his mother fulfilling the Oracle. Oedipus and Jocasta had four children: two sons Eteocles and Polynices and two daughters Antigone and Ismene.
Later, Oedipus discovered that he was his father's killer and became blind. He left Thebes with his daughter Antigone. Eteocles and Polynices decided to share the kingdom, each taking an alternating one-year reign. Eteocles was the first to reign. At the end of the first year, he refused to give the throne to Polynices. This latter brought an army to the seven gates Thebes and fought his brother (Seven Against Thebes). Eteocles and Polynices both died and Creon their uncle became king. He judged that Polynices was a traitor and should not be buried. Antigone wanted to bury her brother disobeying the new king order. Thus, she started a conflict with her uncle Creon which is the main theme of Sophocles' tragedy Antigone.
Oedipus depicted on containers (amphora, kylix, kraters, etc.)
Museum Collection: Louvre, Paris; Shape: Amphora
Painter: Unkwown; Date: ca 440 B.C.