ANTIGONE NOTES
THE FAMILY TREE:
Kingdom of Thebes
THE PEOPLE:
King Laius: King of Thebes; married to Queen Jocasta; is unknowingly murdered by his own
son (Oedipus)
Queen Jocasta: Queen of Thebes; has a son (Oedipus); after her husband (King Laius) is
murdered, she unknowingly marries her own son; after learning of her mistake, she commits
suicide
Oedipus: son of King Laius & Queen Jocasta; is left to die on the side of mountain due to a
prophet’s tale that Oedipus would one day kill his father; is found and raised by a shepherd and
his wife; leaves them to go out on his own and ends up fighting with a stranger on the road,
eventually killing that stranger (King Laius); goes to Thebes and marries the widowed Queen
Jocasta (not knowing she is his mother) and has four children with her; learns that she was really
his mother and gouges out his own eyes; flees to Athens as a disgraced king and eventually dies
Polyneices: Son of King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta who fights with his brother, Etocles, to
seize control of the kingdom of Thebes after Oedipus flees as a disgraced king; goes to a
neighboring town to gather an army to come back and defeat his brother; both brothers end up
killing each other at the start of the battle
Etocles: Son of King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta who fights with his brother, Polyneices, to
seize control of the kingdom of Thebes after Oedipus flees as a disgraced king; along with his
uncle, Creon, he rouses the army in Thebes to defeat his brother; both brothers end up killing
each other at the start of the battle
Antigone: daughter of King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta; she leaves Thebes with her father,
Oedipus, after he blinds himself so she can care for him until he dies; after his death she returns
to Thebes and becomes engaged to her cousin, Haemon; the plan is that later after King Creon
dies and Haemon becomes King of Thebes, she will become Queen of Thebes, so once again her
family line will rule Thebes.
Ismene: daughter of King Oedipus and Queen Jocasta; she leaves Thebes with her father,
Oedipus, after he blinds himself so she can care for him until he dies; after his death she returns
to Thebes
Creon: Queen Jocasta’s brother who sides with Etocles to defeat Polyneices. Once Etocles and
Polyneices kill each other in battle, Creon is the only living male relative, so he becomes King of
Thebes; he and his wife, Queen Eurydice, have a son, Haemon.
Haemon: son of King Creon and Queen Eurydice; he is engaged to his cousin, Antigone; once
his father dies he will become King of Thebes
Eurydice: wife of King Creon so she was Queen of Thebes once her husband became the king;
has a son, Haemon.
THE STORY:
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King Laius and Queen Jocasta rule Thebes.
Queen Jocasta is pregnant.
King Laius is visited by a prophet (fortune-teller) who tells him that he is destined to be
killed by his son.
Jocasta gives birth to a son, Oedipus, so King Laius sees him as a threat. King Laius can’t
kill Oedipus outright for fear of angering the Gods; instead he leaves Oedipus on the side
of a mountain (binding his feet so he can’t crawl away)
As a result of this binding, the name “Oedipus” has come to mean “swollen foot”
Oedipus is discovered by a shepherd who takes him in and raises him as his own with his
wife. They never tell Oedipus the story of his birth.
Years go by and Oedipus is age 17 now. He is visited by a prophet who tells him he’s
destined to kill his father and marry your mother.
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Oedipus is disgusted by this, so he decides to leave the shepherd and wife in order to
defeat the prophecy and save the shepherd and his wife (who Oedipus believes are his
parents)
One day Oedipus meets a man on horseback and they get into a verbal and physical fight.
During the fight the man stumbles, hits his head, and dies.
Months later, Oedipus makes his way down into Thebes. He begins to make a name for
himself and the people of Thebes start to respect him as an honorable man (and because
he’s attractive).
Meanwhile in Thebes, they’re looking for a new king since the king died on the side of
the road.
The young widowed queen decides to marry Oedipus (neither know the background story
to know that they are actually mother and son)
Jocasta and Oedipus have four children together: Polyneices, Etocles, Antigone, and
Ismene
Everything is good for years, but then drought, famine, and disease hit Thebes harshly for
several years.
People begin to wonder why Thebes is cursed this way. They believe it is because they
never learned who murdered/killed the former king.
Oedipus decides that as the new king it is his job to find out who killed the former king.
A prophet warns Oedipus not do this because he will not like the outcome, but Oedipus
ignores the warning and eventually finds out that HE is the one that killed the king and
married his own mother.
Jocasta is so disgusted by this news that she kills herself.
Oedipus is so disgusted by this turn of events that he gouges out his own eyes, leaving
him a blind, disgraced king
Of the children, the two daughters (Antigone and Ismene) go with Oedipus to support
him until he finally dies in Athens.
After his death, the girls return to Thebes because their brothers (Etocles and Polyneices)
have been fighting for the throne.
Polyneices goes to a neighboring town and rounds up an army to fight against his own
brother and town, thereby appearing to be a traitor.
Etocles and his Uncle Creon (brother of the late Queen Jocasta) stay and fight for Thebes.
Creon has a wife, Eurydice, and together they have a son Haemon.
Eventually, Haemon becomes engaged to Antigone.
The brothers, Etocles and Polyneices, meet on the battlefield at the beginning of the war
and end up killing each other.
The only living male in the family to take the throne now is Creon. So, Creon becomes
King of Thebes.
The plan is that once King Creon dies, Haemon will become King of Thebes and once
again the family line of Antigone’s will rule Thebes.