Insights of the Theban Plays
The Theban plays are extraordinarily rich in their observations on the human condition; let us consider lessons to be drawn from these.
The first tragedy, King Oedipus, begins with the city of Thebes suffering great afflictions. King Oedipus swears that he will find the cause of the evil and improve the lot of the Thebans. His uncle, Creon, found that the pestilence would be lifted when the murderer of the previous king, Laius, was brought to justice. Oedipus immediately ordered that the killer be found.
Laius, the old king, had been killed while on a trip. Oedipus came to Thebes from Corinth and married Laius' widow, Jocasta, and became king. This followed by some years a curse laid upon Laius and Jocasta, reported by an oracle of the god Apollo, in which it was said that their son would kill the father and marry the mother. To prevent this, the King and Queen had their son taken away. Instead of destroying the child, the person charged with preventing the curse from coming true gave the boy away. This child, of course, was Oedipus, who later returned to Thebes and, indeed, married Jocasta, his mother, after having unwittingly killed Laius, his father.
Not knowing these facts at the time, Oedipus railed against what he saw as Creon's lust for the throne. Oedipus gives Creon the choice of death or banishment; Creon chose the latter. As his mother/wife, Jocasta, related how his father had died, at a point in a road with three forks, it dawned upon Oedipus that he was the killer of Laius.
Oedipus blinds himself and goes into exile, to fulfill the terms that he had originally stated as the penalty for the guilty person confessing to the murder of Laius. In our modern sense, it is unfair what happened to Oedipus. He had been a good king, ruling well, loved by his people. When he killed his biological father, he was not aware of that relationship and, even more to the point from our contemporary perspective, it was very close to self-defense.
Thus, the powerful lesson--misfortune can sweep over the best of us, no matter our intentions (and Oedipus' were clearly good) or behavior. In short, we do not and cannot fully control our individual fates.
Antigone is the third of the Theban trilogy. Since Oedipus went into exile, much had happened. At the beginning of this play, Creon has become King of Thebes. Before, Oedipus' two sons had vied for power. Eteocles became the ruler of Thebes, after having pushed aside Creon. Polynices resolved to, in turn, replace his own brother. Polynices gathered together an army to seize Thebes. In the ensuing battle, both brothers died. Creon emerged as regent. He ordered that Eteocles, because he had defended the city, should be buried in an honorable fashion. Polynices, since he had tried to take the city by force, would be left in the open, unburied, where his body lay from battle. Any person, decreed Creon, who tried to bury the body in accord with the traditions of the time would be executed.
Antigone, youngest daughter of Oedipus, refused to obey the ruling; she argued that to adhere to human law violates ". . .the holiest laws of heaven." Which is higher and more compelling? Human law? The laws of the gods? Antigone chose the laws of the gods. Antigone hastens to bury her brother as well as she can. She is seized and taken before Creon.
To complicate matters, Creon's son, Haemon, is betrothed to Antigone, and he urged clemency upon his father, arguing that many Thebans felt that Antigone's adherence to traditional norms was the right position. Creon has a temper tantrum upon hearing this, whereupon Haemon argues that he is trying to save his father by urging him to consider lenience for Antigone, fearing that the people will be outraged and threaten Creon's rulership.
Finally, Creon realizes that he may lose all. But it is too late. Antigone has hung herself in the cave where she was condemned to starve to death; Haemon, upon her death, killed himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, heard the news, she committed suicide. Creon grieves and speaks of ". . .the curse of my stubborn will!"
And what is the right thing to do? To follow the sovereign's expression of law, as King Creon claims? To follow the traditional morality, as Antigone does? It is not clear. Humans may not always be able to know what is right, what the truth is, what the good is. Wisdom comes from modesty; hubris is a symptom of supreme foolishness.
The Theban plays, in the end, make us think about the extent to which people, in reality, can actually control their destiny. Or the extent to which their fates are controlled by other forces. . . . The translation is serviceable; the introduction is readable and useful.
of course it's predictable
The previous reviewers who denigrate Oedipus as "predictable" only reveal their own ignorance. Any member of an Ancient Greek audience already knew the story of Oedipus, it'd be like complaining that upon going to Easter Mass, you found the story of the Crucifixion to be predictable; the point was never to have a twist, but to create a relationship between the characters and members of the audience, placing the viewers in direct relation to the mystery of life. The language is gorgeous besides.
The pinnacle of Greek tragedy...
These three plays stand as the best of the Greek tragedies, superior to the works of Sophocles' rivals Euripides and Aeschylus, mainly because these plays hold more depth and allow for more cultural analysis.
They may seem long-winded at times, even repetitive, but I assure potential readers that there is a point to the speeches, and that many 'extraneous' phrases divulge the author's meaning or bias.
Highly recommended.
Oedipus a bit predictable
Set in ancient Greece, Oedipus the King is a classic play about the fall of a great leader. This particular type of theater can be classified as a tragedy due to the fact that the main character has a positive view by his people and leads with great pride. The story begins with a plague throughout the land and its only stopper is told through a prophecy. The prophecy describes the murder of a king from a far off land; to stop the plague the killer must be discovered and punished accordingly. Oedipus boasts his ruling ways a he vows to discover the murderer and banish him, family, and future generations from his country. King Oedipus receives opinions and assistance from his wife Jocasta, brother-in-law Creon, and the Chorus whom reacts the decision making of Oedipus and takes the place of the people. Oedipus uses his power to summon those who might know anything about the murder. Accusations are first pointed to a group of robbers who attacked and robbed the king while he was traveling. The blind prophet Tiresias from Thebes is then sent for. Tiresias points the finger at Oedipus and blames him for the murder. The tale starts to unravel as the prophecy of Oedipus's life is told. In summary the prophet tells how Oedipus is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. This very prophecy is the reason that Oedipus moved away from his alleged parents whom in actuality acquired Oedipus as a baby before he was killed in hopes to prevent the very prophecy. Oedipus discards the prophet's words and continues his search. Signs continually point towards Oedipus for an unexpected ending.
The play is full of long speeches that derive a simple point. Foreshadowing makes up a majority of the play and gives way the play far before it is over. Great detail is put into each speech and put into a quite violent ending. I personally rate the play as poor for it is far too predictable and drawn out. The only real entertaining part of the play is the ending though predictable it is quite graphic and creative.
Read it!
I absolutely loved Oedipus The King. It was exciting, even though I already knew the myth, and brought about catharsis. There is a wonderful use of imagery in it. Antigone, on the other hand, was not as moving to me. I had trouble identifying with Creon and did not pity Antigone. Still, I would recommend reading it. If anything you will at least have broadened your knowledge of Greek tragedy. Plus, the Oedipus plays will make up for Antigone's weaknesses. Also, keep in mind that most people like Antigone. What I've written is just my personal view.
