Oedipus the King and Antigone Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering character roles and key events from Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Antigone based on lecture notes.

Thebes Plague

The calamity destroying Thebes because King Laius's murderer has never been punished.

Oedipus

King of Thebes and tragic hero who blinds himself and asks to be exiled after discovering he killed his father, King Laius, and married his mother, Jocasta.

Jocasta

Oedipus's wife and biological mother who reveals that Laius was killed at a crossroads and later hangs herself.

Creon (Oedipus the King)

Jocasta's brother and Oedipus's brother-in-law/uncle.

Tiresias (Oedipus the King)

A blind prophet who reveals the truth that Oedipus is King Laius's murderer.

Polybus

King of Corinth and Oedipus's adoptive father.

Merope

Oedipus's adoptive mother who, along with Polybus, is not his biological parent.

The Messenger (Oedipus the King)

The man who reveals that Polybus and Merope are not Oedipus's biological parents and that Oedipus was adopted.

The Shepherd (Oedipus the King)

The man who reveals that Oedipus is the biological son of Laius and Jocasta.

Polyneices

Antigone's brother who was killed after attacking Thebes and whom Creon considers a traitor and refuses to allow to be buried.

Antigone

Oedipus's daughter who defies Creon by secretly burying Polyneices because she believes divine law is superior; after Creon orders her sealed alive in a tomb, she hangs herself.

Ismene

Antigone's sister who is initially afraid to break Creon's law.

Creon (Antigone)

King of Thebes and Antigone's uncle who forbids Polyneices' burial, seals Antigone in a tomb, and realizes at the end that his pride and stubbornness caused the deaths of his loved ones.

Haemon

Creon's son and Antigone's fiancé who warns Creon against stubbornness and kills himself after finding Antigone dead.

Tiresias (Antigone)

The blind prophet who warns Creon that the gods are angry and that Creon's actions will bring tragedy to his family.

Eurydice

Creon's wife and Haemon's mother who kills herself after learning Haemon is dead.