Reading this is highly recommended before viewing.
Antigone is the third and final installation in a series of Greek tragedies written by Sophocles. This series includes the plays “Oedipus Rex” and “Oedipus at Colonus.”
Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King)
This all begins with King Laius and Queen Jocasta who ruled over the Kingdom of Thebes. The King and Queen receive a prophecy saying they will have a son who will kill Laius, sleep and have kids with Jocasta, and take control of Thebes. They decide the best way to prevent this is to not have a child. However, one night they both get drunk and Queen Jocasta becomes pregnant. They decide when the baby is born, they will get someone to put spears in its ankles and leave it to be eaten. The child is named Oedipus. When they leave him to die, a farmer stumbles upon baby Oedipus and adopts him. Later in life, Oedipus meets Laius again, but neither of them recognizes the other. To each other, they are just strangers. They are both trying to cross a path on a horse, but the path is too thin for them to cross at the same time. Neither of them budges, and Oedipus eventually snaps and kills Laius and all his guards. With the death of the King, the city goes into turmoil and a sphinx appears. The only way to lift the plague that has fallen over Thebes is to solve the sphinx’s riddle. Oedipus solves this riddle and frees Thebes. As a reward, he is offered the kingdom of Thebes and Queen Jocasta… his mother… as his bride.
Oedipus and Jocasta have no idea they are mother and son, so they marry. They have four children: twin boys, Polynices and Eteocles; and two girls, Antigone and Ismene. The kingdom prospers for a while, but eventually, it falls to another plague. Oedipus and Jocasta consult the Oracle who tells them to find the man who killed King Laius to lift the plague. Oedipus is completely unaware he is the man who killed Laius to then become the rightful King of Thebes.
Eventually, Oedipus realizes he killed his dad and has been sleeping with his mom. Queen Jocasta goes off and kills herself in disgust. Oedipus rips his eyes out because even with them, he was too blind to see the truth. He leaves the Kingdom of Thebes with his daughter Antigone to guide him. Jocasta’s brother, Creon, assumes the throne until Polynices and Eteocles are old enough to rule.
