English IV

The myth of Oedipus (backstory)

• Laius (King of Thebes) and Jocasta (Queen) conceive a child.

• Laius consults the Oracle at Delphi for a prediction of the future

• The Oracle predicts that a son born to Laius and Jocasta will kill his father and marry his mother.

• When the son is born, Laius and Jocasta attempt to avert their fates:• They drive a rivet into the child’s ankles• They give the child to a servant and instruct him to

abandon the baby on Mt. Cithaeron.

• The servant cannot abandon the child to die, so he gives the child to a shepherd who carries it to Corinth.

• The child is raised by the King and Queen of Corinth, who name the baby Oedipus (means “swollen foot”).

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The myth of Oedipus (backstory)

• When Oedipus is a young man, he begins to think “I need a life…” so he consults the Oracle. What did the Oracle tell him?

• Oedipus leaves Corinth to avoid his awful fate.• On the journey, he meets a man who rudely forces him

from the road.• In retaliation, Oedipus pulls the man from his chariot and

kills him. Who was this?• Thebes is under siege by the Sphinx.• Oedipus saves the day by solving a riddle.• Oedipus receives the throne of Thebes (the Queen is the

bonus). Who is she?• All goes well for 20 years, until the truth of Oedipus's past

is revealed.• Oedipus reacts by blinding himself, and Jocasta kills

herself.

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Antigone

• Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta• She has three siblings:

• Ismene, sister• Polyneices, brother• Eteocles, brother

• Antigone, Ismene live with their uncle, Creon, King of Thebes

• In a fight for control of the throne of Thebes, Eteocles and Polyneices kill each other on the field of battle.

• Because Polyneices raised an army against Thebes, Creon brands him a traitor.

• He accords Eteocles full burial honors; but not Polyneices…

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Characters of Antigone

• Antigone (daughter of Oedipus)• Ismene (her sister)• Creon (their uncle, the brother of Jocasta)• Eurydice (your-id-i-see) wife of Creon• Haimon (son of Creon & Eurydice)• Teiresias (Tie-ree-see-as) a blind prophet

• When, if at all, is it our responsibility to protest or break an unjust law? 

• What price should someone be willing to pay if s/he breaks an unjust law? 

• What is good leadership? Can a good leader show uncertainty and maintain leadership?

• How much power do we have over our fates?

English IV

Antigone – Literary Terms

• Foil – a character who serves as a contrast to another character

• Allusion – Reference to a statement, person, place, event or thing that is known from something else

• Hamartia – a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

• Metaphor –a comparison between two unlike things without a connecting word such as like, as, than or resembles

• Simile – a comparison between two unlike things WITH a connecting word such as like, as, than or resembles

• Verbal Irony – when a speaker says one thing, but means the opposite

• Dramatic Irony – when the reader or the audience knows something important that a character does not know.