THEBES
and Oedipus
Two foundation Stories
Cadmus= “man from
the East”
Cadmus brought
from the east “phoinikeia grammata”
“scratchings”—Kadmeia
Greek alphabet
indeed based on Phoenician
Oedipus
Thebes being
hassled by Sphinx
(a “monster”
ultimately borrowed from Egypt
[2500 BC])
—eat, but first riddle
Sphinx’s Riddle:
“Goes on four
in the morning, two
at midday, three
at evening”
Sphinx kills herself
Already in Homer, he knows
Oedipus married his mom
Book 6
Oedipus the King (c. 430 BC)
Oedipus declares an oath and a curse:
dramatic
irony
Messenger reports scene of
Oedipus finding Jocasta
SEVEN against THEBES
Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus (406BC)
Oedipus curses his sons,
praises his daughters
Aeschylus—Seven against Thebes(467 BC)
Sophocles, Antigone (442 BC
–first of trilogy written)
Old English
Bonus:
Riddle 46:
A man sat a wine
with his two wives
and
his two sons and his two daughters,
dear
sisters, and their two sons,
noble
and firstborn children, with each of them
uncle
and nephew. In all there were five
men
and women sitting within.
More Old English Riddles
