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InsightHorizon Digest

Who put the curse on Thebes

Author

Isabella Harris

Updated on April 09, 2026

Oedipus refused his self-serving sons and chose to remain?and die?in Athens. King Theseus of Athens granted Oedipus the refuge that every other city had denied him. So though he had spent his life as a curse to the city of Thebes, Oedipus ended his life as a blessing to the city of Athens.

What caused the curse on Thebes?

After the rape of Chrysippus, Laius married Jocasta, the daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi. … Laius was buried where he died by Damasistratus, the king of Plataea. Later, Thebes is cursed with a disease because his murderer has not been punished.

Who is to blame for the trouble in Thebes?

In Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus is responsible for the tragedy of his downfall. Oedipus is presented with a series of choices throughout the play, and his arrogant and stubborn nature push him to impulsively make the wrong decisions, the decisions that ultimately lead him to his downfall.

Who put the curse on Oedipus?

After much prodding from Oedipus, Tiresias claims that Oedipus is the source of the curse. Oedipus alleges that Creon and Tiresias are conspiring against him. Tiresias tells Oedipus to learn the truth about his parents and then forecasts Oedipus’ downfall.

What is the first curse on Thebes?

He lured Chrysippus out of town and raped him, then fled back to Thebes as Pelops cursed him for his transgression. When he returned, his father’s successors to the throne of Thebes were dead, and the Thebans had Laius ascend to the vacant throne, where he married Jocasta.

How did Laius curse his house?

What woman was abducted by Zeus in the guise of a bull? How did Laius bring a curse upon his house? a. “He killed Lycus, the legitimate king, and tied his wife to the horns of a bull.”

Who is cursed in Antigone?

Some sources say that Laius abducted and raped Chrysippus, son of King Pelops. For this transgression, Pelops set a curse on Laius. This was the curse that his son (Oedipus) would kill him and marry his wife. It is also thought that Oedipus cursed his two sons Eteocles and Polyneices.

What will end the curse on Thebes?

What feat did Oedipus complete that led him to become King of Thebes? He solved the Sphinx’s riddles. According to Creon, to truly end the curse on Thebes, what must the people do? … He says that his information will bring Oedipus pain.

What was the curse put on Oedipus?

Polynices, who had expelled his blind father from Thebes and left him to live as a beggar, has come to ask his father’s support in overthrowing his brother. Oedipus, enraged at his son’s request, stretches out his accusing arms and levies his dreadful curse, by which each son would die at the hands of the other.

Who is haemon what is his relationship to Creon to Antigone?

The character Haemon in the play Antigone is King Creon’s son. He is also Antigone’s love interest and was supposed to be her husband. These two obligations are conflicting for Haemon, friends or family.

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Why is Oedipus mad at Tiresias?

In this scene, Oedipus gets angry at Teiresias because the prophet won’t reveal the identity of Laius’ murderer. It’s clever of Sophocles to use this scene to show Oedipus’ temper. Up until now the king has behaved rationally. He allows the Chorus to speak their mind and is doing his best to save his people.

Why does Tiresias refuse to help Oedipus?

why does Tiresias refuse to speak to Oedipus initially (when Oedipus hears truth he blames it on Creon, then Tiresias tells him that the murderer of Laius will turn out to be both father and brother to his own children, and the son of his own wife.)

What is the problem in Thebes?

Some problems in Thebes in Oedipus Rex are that their king was killed, they have a Sphinx terrorizing the town and the plague. The protagonist of Oedi…

Who founded Thebes?

Europa was carried off by Zeus, king of the gods, and Cadmus was sent out to find her. Unsuccessful, he consulted the Delphic oracle, which ordered him to give up his quest, follow a cow, and build a town on the spot where she lay down. The cow guided him to Boeotia (Cow Land), where he founded the city of Thebes.

What happened to the Seven Against Thebes?

During their assault on the city’s seven gates, Capaneus was struck by Zeus’s lightning bolt; Amphiaraus was swallowed up by the earth; Polyneices and Eteocles killed each other, fulfilling Oedipus’s curse; and the others were killed by the guards at Thebes.

What is Creon's curse?

A boy leads in Tiresias, the blind soothsayer of Thebes. Creon swears that he will obey whatever advice Tiresias gives him, since he owes so much to his past advice. Tiresias tells him that his refusal to bury Polynices and his punishment of Antigone for the burial will bring the curses of the gods down on Thebes.

Who is the cause of the family curse in Antigone?

Terms in this set (72) Who is Oedipus? King of Thebes, son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta, Father of Antigone and is the reason the curse is on his family.

How did Oedipus become king of Thebes?

A pitiless, profound and influential Greek myth. Oedipus, King of Thebes, is supported by his daughter (and half-sister) Antigone, as they walk though the plague-ravaged city. Oedipus became ruler after defeating the Sphinx, a creature with the head of a woman, the body of a lioness and the wings of an eagle.

Who helps the wife of Agamemnon when she kills Agamemnon?

She took Aegisthus as her lover while Agamemnon was away at war. Upon his return, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon. Clytemnestra was then killed by her son, Orestes, with the help of his sister Electra, in revenge for his father’s murder.

Who wrote Oedipus Rex?

Oedipus Rex is an opera-oratorio in two acts composed by Stravinsky in 1926–27 after Sophocles’s tragedy Oedipus Tyrannus and is scored for a speaker, soloists, male chorus and orchestra.

What happened to Thebes after Antigone?

After Antigone is captured by Creon, Ismene states that she helped because she wants to be executed with her sister. … Creon exiled Oedipus from Thebes after Oedipus killed his father and married his mother.

What curse did Oedipus place on his son's Eteocles and Polynices and how does this curse come to fruition?

What curse did Oedipus place on his sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and how does this curse come to fruition? They were cursed to die. Who is Creon? Creon is King of Thebes and the uncle of Antigone.

What prevented the citizens of Thebes from investigating King Laius death?

Thebes is in horrible condition because it is cursed. The sphinx prevented them from investigating. Thinking that Laius’ murderer will come after him, Oedipus thinks that avenging Laius will benefit himself. This is dramatic irony because Oedipus is Laius’ murderer.

Does Oedipus curse son?

As he left, Oedipus cursed his own two grown sons/brothers, Eteocles and Polynices had been left to rule Thebes, but Oedipus doomed them to kill each other. The 17th-century painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo shows the fulfillment of that curse, their deaths at each other’s hand.

Who is rumored to have killed Laius?

When the plague hit Thebes and Teiresias was called in to give counsel, there was a new rumor or accusation, namely that, Oedipus killed Laius. Hence, from this perspective, the word was that Oedipus was guilty. Oedipus, of course, thinks what Teiresias is saying is crazy and far fetched.

Who is haemon engaged?

Haemon is betrothed to Antigone. He must choose between his father (whom he has always followed) and his lover Antigone.

Who was the king of Thebes?

Oedipus, in Greek mythology, the king of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.

Does haemon actually love Antigone?

Haemon and Antigone were cousins, they were also enganged. Although most marriages were arranged at those times; he really loved her. We know Haemon was truly in love with Antigone because he defend her until the end against his father Creon. Even more we see he was in love when he suicides because of Antigone´s death.

Does Oedipus threaten Tiresias?

A boy leads in the blind prophet Tiresias. Oedipus begs him to reveal who Laius’s murderer is, but Tiresias answers only that he knows the truth but wishes he did not. Finally, when Oedipus furiously accuses Tiresias of the murder, Tiresias tells Oedipus that Oedipus himself is the curse. …

What was Tiresias prophecy to Oedipus?

In Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, Tiresias is a blind prophet who accuses Oedipus of being King Laius’s murderer. He also foresees that one day King Oedipus will be dressed in rags, blind, and wandering in exile.

Why does Tiresias tell Oedipus the truth?

Tiresias sees the burden of guilt on Oedipus and how angry he gets. Tiresias tells Oedipus that he knows the truth and will not be troubled by his conscience. Also, he tells Oedipus that he will have to live with his shame and guilt.