Chapter Seventeen Lecture One

1. Chapter SeventeenLecture One Oedipus and the Myths of Thebes

3. Cadmus and the Dragon

4. Cadmus and the Dragon • Cadmus, son of Agenor, gives up looking for Europa • Goes to Delphi • “Follow the cow with the special mark and found your city where she rests” • His men are killed by serpent near a spring of Ares • Cadmus kills the dragon

5. Cadmus and the Dragon • To replace his men, he sows half the dragons teeth (Athena’s idea) • The “seed-sown” men arise • Cadmus throws rocks among them and they fight until only five are left • They will become the ancestors of the aristocratic families in Thebes

6. Cadmus and the Dragon • Cadmus serves Ares for eight years • Marries Harmonia (daughter of Ares and Aphrodite) • Hephaestus gives her a necklace, which turns out to be cursed

7. Cadmus and the Dragon • Cadmus and Harmonia retire in Illyria • Changed to snakes and live in the Elysian fields

8. The Twins Amphion and Zethus

9. Amphion and Zethus • After a while, Nycteus rules in Thebes • Antiopê, a daughter of Nycteus, becomes pregnant by Zeus • Nycteus banishes her • Not satisfied, Nycteus kills himself after ordering his brother Lycus to punish Antiopê more

10. Amphion and Zethus • Lycus takes her from her new husband in the hills, Epopeus, and drags her to Thebes • On the way, she gives birth to twins Amphion and Zethus – raised by a shepherd

11. Amphion and Zethus • At Thebes, Antiopê is tortured daily by Dircê (wife of Lycus) • Antiopê escapes one day, and comes upon her twins • They return to Thebes and kill Dircê; throw her body into a spring • They attack Thebes and kill Lycus

12. Amphion and Zethus • Amphion – the musician • Zethus – the cattleman • Raising the walls of the new city • Marriages • Zethus – Thebê • Amphion – Niobê

13. The Two Foundings of Thebes

14. Two Foundings of Thebes • One Near Eastern, modeled after cosmic dragon combat • Brought by immigrants or original founders • The Mesopotamian cylinder seals • Phoinikia grammata or kadmeia • The other is local and more like folktale • Twins with opposing characters, wicked stepmother, “just in time”

15. Oedipus the King

16. Oedipus the King • Labdacus (another son of Polydorus) • His son Laius flees Thebes to Elis (King Pelops) • Chrysippus • “Curse on the house of Labdacus” • Jocasta

17. Oedipus the King • An oracle’s message: “Your son will kill you and marry your wife.” • His effort to avoid Jocasta failed one night • A son is born • Best known version is told by the tragedian Sophocles

18. Oedipus the King • Laius and Jocasta mutilate the feet of the child and give him to a shepherd to expose on the mountain • Shepherd instead gives it to a friend on the other side of Mt. Cithaeron • The child is adopted by Queen Meropê and King Polybus in Corinth • They name him “swollen foot” : Oedipus

19. Oedipus the King • Friends taunt him with the truth • He goes to Delphi • The Pythia recoils at his sight and tells him his fate • At Daulis, Oedipus resolves never to return to Corinth, heads toward Thebes • On the way, he kills all but one of a train of men

20. Oedipus the King • City is plagued by the Sphinx and her riddle • Oedipus solves the riddle • Becomes king and gets the queen as his wife • They have children by and by: • Polynices and Eteocles; Antigonê and Ismenê

21. Oedipus the King Sophocles

22. Oedipus the King • Begins after these events • Oedipus determined to find the cause of a new plague in Thebes • The plague is caused by the pollution of Laius’s murder; the perpetrator is still in Thebes • Oedipus discovers gradually and reluctantly that he has fulfilled the prophecy

23. Next Plays in the Cycle • Oedipus at Colonus • Antigonê • Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes (Aeschylus)

24. End