Chapter SeventeenLecture One

Oedipus and the Myths of Thebes

Cadmus and the Dragon

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

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

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

Cadmus and the Dragon

• Cadmus and Harmonia retire in Illyria• Changed to snakes and live in the Elysian

fields

The Twins Amphion and Zethus

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

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

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

Amphion and Zethus

• Amphion – the musician• Zethus – the cattleman• Raising the walls of the new city• Marriages

– Zethus – Thebê– Amphion – Niobê

The Two Foundings of Thebes

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”

Oedipus the King

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

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

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

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

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

Oedipus the King

Sophocles

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

Next Plays in the Cycle

• Oedipus at Colonus• Antigonê• Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes

(Aeschylus)

End