About Antigone
The Setting of Antigone
Once in the city of Thebes, Queen Jocasta and King Laius had a beautiful baby boy. But they received a terrible prophecy that the boy, Oedipus, would kill his father and marry his mother. In horror, they ordered the baby Oedipus to be abandoned on a mountainside. However, a Corinthian shepard discovered the baby and took him to the Queen and King of Corinith who raised him as their own.
When Oedipus had grown up, he received a terrible prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. In order to prevent this terrible prophecy, Oedipus fled Corinth. One day, while on the road, he got into an argument with a stranger. The two ended up fighting and Oedipus killed the stranger. Oedipus then made his way to the city of Thebes. After Oedipus slayed the monster that terrorized Thebes, he married the recently widowed Queen Jocasta.
For many years, they were happy together. They had two sons, Eteoclyes and Polynices; and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone. However, Oedipus’s true origins were discovered one day. Jocasta was Oedipus’s birth mother! Not only that, the stranger he had killed on the road so many years ago had been Laius, his father! In despair, Queen Jocasta killed herself and Oedipus blinded himself and fled.
Prince Eteoclyles took the throne with the support of Creon, Jocasta’s brother. However, Prince Polynices revolted against his brother and sought to take the throne. To prevent bloodshed, the two princes decided to duel to the death. They killed each other. As the closest living male relative, Creon took the throne and forbid anyone from burying Prince Polynices’s body…