ANTIGONE
BACKGROUND
Greek Theatre and
The Myth of Oedpius
GREEK THEATRE (BEGINNINGS)
⦿ First
developed in 1200 BC when a group of
people began celebrating the god Dionysus (God
of wine and fertility)
⦿ The Cult of Dionysus used dancing, singing, &
poetry as a way of honoring him
⦿ Later, Greek playwrights used these
celebrations to tell stories using a chorus (up to
30 men)
GREEK THEATRE (DETAILS)
⦿Only
men were allowed to “act”
in the chorus
⦿The “plays” were comical at
first to please the gods
⦿In the 5th Century BC, Thespis
added an actor to the chorus,
Aeschylus then added another
THE GREEK THEATRE SPACE
SOPHOCLES (496-406 B.C.)
⦿ Sophocles
added a 3rd main character to
create triangles for plot
⦿ During Sophocles’s time, the plays took on a
tragic theme
⦿ Sophocles is considered to be the father of
the Greek Tragedy
⦿ Tragedy comes from the Greek word
“tragoidia” which means “goat-song”
because the cult sacrificed a goat before the
“play”
SOPHOCLES . . .
⦿We
know he wrote 123-125 plays
⦿But only 7 have been found to this
day
⦿Born to a wealthy family in Athens
⦿Was an athlete, scholar,
businessman, and poet before he
wrote his first play
⦿He won at the Festival of Athens 24
times (96 plays in all)
SOPHOCLES’S CONTRIBUTION
⦿He
changed the way trilogies were
written
• Before they were dependent upon
each other for completion
• Sophocles wrote plays that went
together, but had separate story
lines
⦿Developed the tragic heroine
(women in dominant role)
THE OEDIPUS TRILOGY
❖ Sophocles
wrote the plays for this trilogy
out of order
❖ Wrote Antigone in 442 BC
❖ Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the Tyrant) in 407
BC
❖ Oedipus at Colonus in 406 BC
❖ Plays are performed in this order:
• Oedipus Rex
• Oedipus at Colonus
• Antigone
THE OEDIPUS MYTH
⦿ In
order to understand Antigone, you
must understand the myth of Oedipus
⦿ Oedipus (unnamed baby) was born in
Thebes to Laius and Jocasta, the King and
Queen
⦿ Because the Delphi Oracle said the baby
would marry his mother and murder his
father, his parents sent him with a
shepherd to be left for dead
⦿ The shepherd pierced and tied his ankles
and then felt pity and gave the baby to a
neighboring shepherd
⦿ The
shepherd gave the baby to the king and
queen of Corinth, who were unable to have
children
⦿ They named him Oedipus (means swollen
feet) and raise him as their own son
⦿ After a happy childhood, Oedipus goes to the
Oracle, and it tells him his fate
⦿ He leaves Corinth not wanting to fulfill his
fate and harm his parents
⦿ On
his journey to Thebes, a caravan drives
him off of the road
⦿ His anger gets the better of him and he kills
all but one of the members of the caravan
⦿ When he reaches Thebes, he beats the
Sphinx guarding over the city gates in a logic
game and is proclaimed a hero
⦿ Since the King of Thebes had been killed,
Oedipus was permitted to marry the queen
⦿They
have four kids together…
• Polynieces (son)
• Eteocles (son)
• Antigone (daughter)
• Ismene (daughter)
⦿The woman he married….
◼Jocasta
⦿The man he killed….
◼Laius
⦿ Oedipus,
now ruler of Thebes, lives a good
life. Until…
⦿ The servant turns up to tell Oedipus that his
parents in Corinth are not his true parents
⦿ He calls for the shepherd and hears the truth
⦿ Jocasta, upon learning she had married her
son, commits suicide (by hanging) before
Oedipus can go to her
⦿ Oedipus returns to find Jocasta hanging in
their room, and he scratches out his eyes
with the pins from her dress
⦿ Creon,
Jocasta’s brother, takes over the
ruling of Thebes and claims that Oedipus is a
disgrace
⦿ Oedipus is cast out of Thebes and wanders
Greece for penance to the Gods (Antigone
joins him later)
⦿ During that time, Oedipus’s sons came of age
and shared rule of Thebes (one year for
Polynieces, one year for Eteocles)
⦿ Oedipus’s sons, getting tired of sharing rule,
come to Oedipus near his death and argue
over who should permanently rule Thebes
⦿ Oedipus
curses them both for being greedy
and asks the Gods to “take him” (allow him
to die)
⦿ The gods allow him to throw himself off of
the sacred cliff at Colonus
⦿ Antigone and her brothers (Oedipus’s sons)
go back to Thebes
⦿ Polynieces goes to Argon to raise an Army
and attack Thebes
⦿ The Argon army attacks Thebes’s seven gates
and Eteocles rushes into the battle…
⦿ This is where Antigone begins