Oedipus complex. Little-known aspects of the myth. Oedipus. his childhood. youth and return to Thebes Who is Oedipus in Greek mythology

The Curse of King Laius. Once upon a time there ruled in the city of Thebes a king named Laius. Once he was visiting his friend, King Pelops, but he repaid his hospitality with black ingratitude: he kidnapped Pelops’ son and took him to Thebes. Angry and saddened, Pelops cursed Laius: “May the gods punish the kidnapper and destroy his own son.”

Years passed. Laius ruled peacefully in Thebes, but he had no children. Once he went to Delphi to ask the oracle about the reasons for his childlessness, and heard in response the following words: “Do not desire a son for yourself against the will of the gods. If he is born, you will die by his hand, his own mother will become his wife, and your entire family will be drenched in blood.”

Oedipus remains alive. Lai returned home with a heavy heart; when his son was born, he tied his legs with belts, called a slave and ordered him to throw the child in the forest so that wild animals would tear him to pieces. The slave took the child and carried him into the forest, but he felt sorry for the boy and did not fulfill his master’s order: he took the child to the neighboring city of Corinth. There he handed the boy over to one of the slaves of the Corinthian king Polybus, who was tending herds on the slopes of the mountains. King Polybus was childless. Hearing about the child, he decided to take him into his home and raise him as an heir. He carried out his decision, took the boy from the shepherd and, since the child’s legs were tied with a belt for a long time and were very swollen, he named him Oedipus, that is, “The Man with Swollen Legs.”

"Foundling". So Oedipus grew up in the palace of Polybus, considering him his father and knowing nothing about his origin. One day there was a merry feast in the palace; A lot of wine was drunk, the guests were completely tipsy. And then, in a drunken quarrel, Oedipus heard the offensive words: “Foundling! You are not the son of our king at all!” The insult hit Oedipus's heart painfully; He asked Polybus if the guests were telling the truth, but he advised him not to pay attention to the empty chatter. Oedipus did not calm down. He went to the oracle for an answer. Apollo answered him through the mouth of the Pythia: “Your fate is terrible, Oedipus! You will kill your father, marry your mother, and from your marriage children will be born, cursed by the gods!”

Oedipus kills his father. Hearing such a terrible prediction, Oedipus decided to leave Corinth forever. He took the first road he came across, not knowing that it led to Thebes. His path led him into a narrow gorge. The road here was narrow, it was difficult to pass on it. Lost in his thoughts, Oedipus almost collided with a chariot on which a gray-haired, majestic-looking old man was riding. “Get off the road, tramp! - he heard the rough voice of the driver. “Don’t you see that the road is only big enough for a chariot?”

Oedipus was quick-tempered by nature. He was angry with the driver for his rudeness and hit him with his staff, so much so that he fell dead to the ground. The servants accompanying the chariot and its owner rushed at the young man, but Oedipus killed everyone with his staff. Only one of the slaves managed to escape. And Oedipus went further along the road. He did not know that the first part of the prediction had come true: the old man he killed was Laius, his father.

Oedipus finally arrived in Thebes. He found the city in great despondency. Not only did the king die, but the gods also sent another attack: the Sphinx monster appeared near the city. It had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, lion paws with sharp claws and huge wings. The Sphinx posed a riddle to all travelers and, if they did not guess it, threw people down from a high cliff. Many brave souls tried to find the answer to the riddle, and not one of them survived. Oedipus also decided to try his luck. “Rather than live in a foreign land as a rootless exile, it’s better to die!” - he thought.

He reached the rock where the Sphinx lived. “Make a riddle! I'm ready!" - he said to the monster. “Tell me, if so brave, what kind of creature walks in the morning on four legs, in the afternoon on two, and in the evening on three, and the more legs it has, the less strength it has?” - asked the Sphinx. Oedipus laughed: “Your riddle is very simple. This is a man. In the morning of his life, when he is still small and weak, he slowly crawls on all fours; during the day, that is, in adulthood, he walks on two legs; in old age, in the evening of his life, he becomes decrepit and, in need of support, takes a crutch, which serves as his third leg.”

Oedipus marries Jocasta. When the Sphinx heard the answer to her riddle, in despair she threw herself down the cliff and fell to her death. Oedipus returned to Thebes, and the citizens, admiring his resourcefulness, proclaimed him king. Oedipus took Queen Jocasta, the wife of the murdered Laius, as his wife, and began to rule Thebes. Soon his children were born: two daughters, Antigone and Ismene, and two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. This is how the second half of the prediction was fulfilled: after all, Oedipus married his own mother.

Curse over Thebes. Oedipus ruled wisely, and the Theban citizens could not get enough of him. But a curse weighed heavily on him, and so the gods sent a terrible disease to the city. The Thebans did not have time to bury the dead, and unburied corpses lay on the streets of the city. Screams and groans were heard everywhere.

Following the epidemic, another misfortune came: famine struck Thebes; The fields did not yield crops, a terrible pestilence raged in the herds. In vain the citizens made sacrifices to the gods - they did not listen to those prayers, and the troubles became more and more unbearable.

Then Oedipus sent his wife’s brother, Creon, to Delphi to the oracle, and brought that answer: “The gods will have mercy if the citizens expel the one who by his crime brought this disaster upon them; let him pay for the shed blood of Laius.” But how to find the killer?

Tiresias reveals the truth. And so Oedipus invited the blind fortuneteller Tiresias to his place. The goddess Athena gave him a wonderful gift: he knew the past and saw the future. For a long time Tiresias refused to answer Oedipus’s question, but finally said: “You yourself, Oedipus, are the criminal you are looking for! Without knowing your father, you killed him, without knowing your mother, you married her!” Oedipus was terribly angry with Tiresias, called him a liar, believing that he was bribed by his enemies, and threatened him with death.

Oedipus drove the soothsayer away from him, but a heavy premonition sank into his soul. Gradually the terrible truth was revealed to him. The decree of fate has come true! In despair, Oedipus rushed to his palace, but then a new grief awaited him: Jocasta could not bear the horror of what had happened and committed suicide. Oedipus no longer wanted to see the light of the sun, he did not want to see his native Thebes, his children, he did not want to live. Oedipus deprived himself of his sight and left Thebes. Only Antigone was with him until his death.

In Greek mythology, the son of the Theban king Laius. Since Laius was predicted by Apollo to die at the hands of his own son, he ordered his wife to abandon the newborn on Mount Cithaeron. However, the shepherd, who received the child from Queen Jocasta and did not know the true reason for this decision, took pity on the newborn and gave him to the Corinthian shepherd, whom he met in the mountain pastures. He took the child to his childless king Polybus, who raised him as his own son.

Having matured and accidentally learned that he was a foundling, Oedipus went to Delphi to ask the oracle of Apollo about his origin. Instead of answering, the oracle prophesied that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Not daring to return to Corinth, which he considered his homeland, Oedipus went to seek happiness in a foreign land. On the way from Delphi, he met a noble man in a chariot, accompanied by servants. In the ensuing road quarrel, the stranger hit Oedipus on the head with a heavy scepter, and the enraged young man killed the attacker, his driver and all, as it seemed to him, servants with a road staff. However, one person from Laius’s retinue (for it was the king of Thebes) escaped, returned to Thebes and said that the king had died at the hands of robbers. Oedipus, continuing his journey, approached Thebes and guessed the riddle of the monstrous Sphinx who had settled near the city walls. In gratitude for delivering Thebes from a prolonged disaster, the Theban citizens made Oedipus their king and gave the widow of Laius as a wife.

For about 20 years, Oedipus and Jocasta lived in a happy marriage. After a long period of time, when Thebes was struck by a pestilence and the Delphic oracle demanded the expulsion of the unknown murderer Laius from Thebes, Oedipus, finding out all the circumstances of the murder, was able to establish whose son he was, whom he killed and with whom he was married. He gouged out his eyes with a gold clasp taken from the dress of the hanged Jocasta and was eventually expelled from Thebes.

His devoted daughter Antigone volunteered to accompany the blind father. After long wanderings, Oedipus reached the sacred grove of the Eumenides in the Attic settlement of Colon, where, according to a long-standing prediction, he was destined to say goodbye to life. Guided by a force from above, Oedipus found his way to his place of peace and was swallowed up by the opening of the earth.

Based on the tragedy of Sophocles "Oedipus the King" The king of Thebes, the son of Cadmus, Polydorus, and his wife Nyctida had a son Labdacus, who inherited power over Thebes. Labdak's son and successor was Laius. One day Laius visited King Pelops and stayed with him for a long time in Pis. Laius repaid Pelops with black ingratitude for his hospitality. Laius kidnapped the young son of Pelops, Chrysippus, and took him to Thebes. The angry and saddened father cursed Laius, and in his curse he wished that the gods would punish the kidnapper of his son by destroying his own son. This is how Chrysippus’s father cursed Laius, and this father’s curse had to be fulfilled. Returning to the seven gates of Thebes, Laius married the daughter of Menoeceus, Jocasta. Laius lived quietly in Thebes for a long time, and only one thing worried him: he had no children. Finally, Laius decided to go to Delphi and there ask the god Apollo about the reason for childlessness. The priestess of Apollo, the Pythia Laius, gave a formidable answer. She said: “Son of Labdacus, the gods will fulfill your wish, you will have a son, but know this: you will die by the hand of your son.” The curse of Pelops will be fulfilled! Lai was horrified. He thought for a long time how to avoid the dictates of inexorable fate; finally, he decided that he would kill his son as soon as he was born. Soon, Lai actually had a son. The cruel father tied the legs of his newborn son with belts, pierced his feet with a sharp iron, called a slave and ordered him to throw the baby in the forest on the slopes of Cithaeron *1 so that wild animals would tear him to pieces. But the slave did not carry out Lai’s orders. He took pity on the child and secretly handed over the little boy to the slave of the Corinthian king Polybus. This slave was just at that time tending his master’s flock on the slopes of Cithaeron. The slave took the boy to King Polybus, and he, being childless, decided to raise him as his heir. King Polybus named the boy Oedipus because his legs were swollen from wounds. ___________ *1 Mountains in Central Greece, between Attica and Boeotia. ___________ So Oedipus grew up with Polybus and his wife Merope, who called him their son, and Oedipus himself considered them his parents. But one day, when Oedipus had already grown up and matured, at a feast one of his friends, drunk, called him a foster child, which amazed Oedipus. Doubts crept into his soul. He went to Polybus and Merope and for a long time persuaded them to reveal to him the secret of his birth. But neither Polybus nor Merope told him anything. Then Oedipus decided to go to Delphi and there find out the secret of his birth. As a simple wanderer, Oedipus went to Delphi. Arriving there, he asked the oracle. The radiant Apollo answered him through the lips of the soothsayer Pythia: “Oedipus, your fate is terrible!” You will kill your father, marry your own mother, and from this marriage will be born children cursed by the gods and hated by all people. Oedipus was horrified. How can he avoid an evil fate, how can he avoid parricide and marriage to his mother? After all, the oracle did not name his parents. Oedipus decided not to return to Corinth again. What if Polybus and Merope are his parents? Will he really become the murderer of Polybus and the husband of Merope? Oedipus decided to remain an eternal wanderer without a family, without a tribe, without a homeland. But is it possible to escape the dictates of fate? Oedipus did not know that the more he tried to avoid his fate, the more faithfully he would follow the path that fate had assigned him. Oedipus left Delphi as a homeless wanderer. He did not know where to go, and chose the first road he came across. This was the road that led to Thebes. On this road, at the foot of Parnassus, where three paths converged, in a narrow gorge Oedipus met a chariot in which a gray-haired, majestic-looking old man was riding, a herald drove the chariot, and servants followed. The herald rudely called out to Oedipus, ordered him to get out of the way and swung his whip at him. The angry Oedipus hit the herald and was about to pass by the chariot, when suddenly the old man waved his staff and hit Oedipus on the head. Oedipus became enraged, and in anger he hit the old man with his staff so hard that he fell dead on his back to the ground. Oedipus rushed at the escorts and killed them all; only one slave managed to escape unnoticed. Thus the command of fate was fulfilled: Oedipus killed, without knowing, his father Laius. After all, this old man was Laius, he was traveling to Delphi to ask Apollo how to save Thebes from the bloodthirsty Sphinx. Oedipus calmly walked on. He considered himself innocent of murder: after all, he was not the one who attacked first, because he defended himself. Oedipus walked further and further along his chosen path and finally came to Thebes. Great despondency reigned in Thebes. Two disasters struck the city of Kadmus. The terrible Sphinx, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, settled near Thebes on Mount Sphingione and demanded more and more victims, and then a slave brought the news that King Laius had been killed by some unknown person. Seeing the grief of the citizens, Oedipus decided to save them from trouble; he decided to go to the Sphinx himself. The Sphinx was a terrible monster with the head of a woman, the body of a huge lion, with paws armed with sharp lion claws, and with huge wings. The gods decided that the Sphinx would remain with Thebes until someone solved its riddle. The muses told this riddle to the Sphinx. All travelers passing by were forced by the Sphinx to solve this riddle, but no one could solve it, and everyone died a painful death in the iron embrace of the Sphinx’s clawed paws. Many valiant Thebans tried to save Thebes from the Sphinx, but they all died. Oedipus came to the Sphinx, who offered him his riddle: “Tell me, who walks in the morning on four legs, in the afternoon on two, and in the evening on three?” None of all the creatures living on earth changes as much as he does. When he walks on four legs, then he has less strength and moves more slowly than at other times. Oedipus didn’t think for a single moment and immediately answered: “This is a man!” When he is small, when it is only the morning of his life, he is weak and slowly crawls on all fours. During the day, that is, in adulthood, he walks on two legs, and in the evening, that is, in old age, he becomes decrepit, and, needing support, takes a crutch; then he walks on three legs. This is how Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx. And the Sphinx, flapping its wings, rushed from the cliff into the sea. It was decided by the gods that the Sphinx should die if anyone solved its riddle. Thus Oedipus freed Thebes from disaster. When Oedipus returned to Thebes, the Thebans proclaimed him king, since even earlier it had been decreed by Creon, who ruled in place of the murdered Laius, that the king of Thebes should be the one who would save them from the Sphinx. Having reigned in Thebes, Oedipus married Laius's widow Jocasta and had from her two daughters, Antigone and Ismene, and two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. Thus the second command of fate was fulfilled: Oedipus became the husband of his own mother, and his children were born from her. OEDIPUS IN THEBES*1 ___________ *1 The way Sophocles, who wrote his tragedies in the 5th century BC, interprets the myth of Oedipus. e., clearly shows that in his time faith in the gods had already begun to waver. And Sophocles himself believed that fate is more powerful than the gods. Therefore, we see that Oedipus, no matter how hard he tries, cannot avoid what fate has promised him. Nothing can save the long-suffering Oedipus; he himself goes towards his death; against his will, he himself helps to fulfill the dictates of fate. Oedipus dies, although he always zealously revered the gods. The myth of Oedipus, as interpreted by Sophocles, can serve as a striking example of how myths acquired new features and how they changed in accordance with the cultural growth of the society of ancient Greece. ___________ Based on the tragedy of Sophocles “Oedipus the King” Proclaimed king by the people, Oedipus wisely reigned in Thebes. For a long time nothing disturbed the peace of Thebes and the royal family. But fate promised misfortune for Oedipus. And then a great disaster befell Thebes; the Arrow God Apollo sent a terrible disease to Thebes. It destroyed citizens both old and small. Thebes became like a huge cemetery. The corpses of the unburied lay in the streets and squares. Screams and groans were heard everywhere. The crying of wives and mothers was heard everywhere. Not only was a terrible disease raging in Thebes, but famine also reigned there, since the fields did not produce crops, and a terrible pestilence raged among the herds. It seemed that the last days of the city of the great Cadmus had come. In vain the citizens made sacrifices to the gods and prayed to them for salvation. The gods did not hear the prayers; The disaster was getting worse. A crowd of citizens came to their king Oedipus to ask him to help them, to teach them how to get rid of the disasters that threatened death. After all, Oedipus once helped the citizens get rid of the Sphinx. Oedipus himself suffered for Thebes and his family; he had already sent Jocasta’s brother Creon to Delphi to ask Apollo how to get rid of disasters. Creon was due to return soon. Oedipus was waiting impatiently for him. Now Creon has returned. He brought the oracle's answer. Apollo ordered the expulsion of the one who, by his crime, brought this disaster to Thebes. Citizens must pay for the shed blood of King Laius by expelling or even executing the murderer. But how to find Laius' killer? After all, he was killed on the way, and all his companions were killed, with the exception of only one slave. At all costs, Oedipus decided to find the killer, whoever he was, wherever he was hiding, even in his own palace, even if the killer was a person close to him. Oedipus calls all the people to a meeting to consult on how to find the murderer. The people point to the soothsayer Tiresias, who alone can help. The blind soothsayer Tiresias is brought. Oedipus asks him to name the murderer of Laius. What can the soothsayer answer him? Yes, he knows the killer, but he cannot name him. “Oh, let me go home, it will be easier for both of us to bear the burden that fate has placed on us,” says Tiresias. But Oedipus demands an answer. - Despicable, you don’t want to answer! - exclaimed Oedipus. - With your persistence you can anger even a stone. Tiresias persists for a long time; for a long time he does not want to name the murderer. But, finally, yielding to the angry words of Oedipus, he says: “You yourself, Oedipus, have desecrated this country by ruling it.” You are the killer you are looking for! Without knowing, you married someone who is dearer to each of us, you married your mother. Oedipus was terribly angry with Tiresias when he heard these words. He calls the soothsayer a liar, he threatens him with execution, and says that Creon inspired him to say this in order to take possession of his kingdom. Calmly, with full consciousness that he told the truth, Tiresias listens to the angry speeches of King. He knows that Oedipus, although sighted, still does not see all the evil that he, unwillingly, creates. Oedipus does not see where he lives, does not see that he is his own enemy and the enemy of his family. Tiresias is not afraid of any threats; he boldly tells Oedipus that the murderer is here, before him. Although the killer came to Thebes as a foreigner, in fact he was a born Theban. An evil fate will befall the killer; from a sighted man he will become blind, from a rich man to a poor man, he will leave Thebes into exile, having lost everything. The citizens listened to Tiresias with horror; they knew that a lie had never desecrated his lips. Oedipus, full of anger, blames Creon for teaching Tiresias to speak like that. He sees Creon in a desire to seize power over Thebes. Jocasta also comes; Oedipus tells her everything that Tiresias said and accuses her brother of evil intent. He asks Jocasta about how Laius was killed, and about how Laius’s only son was abandoned in the forest on the slopes of Cithaeron. Jocasta tells him everything. The first doubts creep into Oedipus's soul. A heavy premonition of something terrible squeezes his heart. “Oh, Zeus,” Oedipus exclaimed, “what have you decided to do to me!” 0, was it really not I who was sighted, but blind Tiresias! Oedipus also asks about the escaped slave, where he is, whether he is alive, and learns that this slave is grazing flocks on the slope of Kiethaeron. Oedipus immediately sends for him. He wants to know the whole truth, no matter how terrible it is. As soon as they sent for the slave, a messenger arrived from Corinth. He brings news of the death of King Polybus, who died of illness. This means that Polybus was not struck down by his son’s hand. If Oedipus is the son of Polybus, it means that the dictates of fate have been fulfilled, because Oedipus is destined to kill his father. Or maybe Oedipus is not the son of Polybus? Oedipus hopes that he escaped what fate promised him. But the messenger destroys this hope. He tells Oedipus that Polybus is not his father, that he himself brought it to the king of Corinth as a small child, and it was given to him by the shepherd of king Laius. Oedipus listens to the messenger with horror; the terrible truth becomes clearer and clearer. But here comes the shepherd. At first he doesn’t want to say anything, he wants to hide everything. But Oedipus threatens the shepherd with terrible punishment if he hides the truth. The shepherd confesses in fear that the boy whom he once gave to the messenger was the son of Laius, whom his father doomed to death; he took pity on the unfortunate child. How Oedipus would have wanted to die then as an innocent child, how he complained about the shepherd for not letting him die as a baby! After all, now everything is clear to Oedipus. He already knows from Jocasta’s stories about the death of Laius, he knows that he himself killed his father, and from the words of the shepherd it became clear to him that he is the son of Laius and Jocasta. The order of the judge was fulfilled, no matter how hard Oedipus tried to avoid it. In despair, Oedipus goes to the palace. He is the murderer of his father, the husband of his mother, his children at the same time and his children and brothers on their mother’s side. In the palace, a new blow awaits Oedipus. Jocasta could not bear all the horror that opened before her; she committed suicide by hanging herself in the bedroom. Mad with grief, Oedipus tore the buckles from Jocasta's clothes and gouged out his eyes with their points. He didn’t want to see the light of the sun anymore, he didn’t want to see his children, he didn’t want to see his native Thebes. Now everything has perished for him, there can be no more joy in his life. Oedipus begs Creon to drive him away from Thebes and asks only for one thing - to take care of his children. DEATH OF OEDIPUS Based on Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus at Colonus" Creon did not immediately expel Oedipus from Thebes. For some time he lived in the palace, withdrawing from everyone, surrendering entirely to his grief. But the Thebans were afraid that Oedipus's stay in Thebes would bring the wrath of the gods on the entire country. They demanded the immediate expulsion of blind Oedipus. The sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, did not oppose this decision. They themselves wanted to rule in Thebes. The Thebans expelled Oedipus, and his sons shared power with Creon. Blind, decrepit Oedipus went into exile in a foreign land. Inevitable death would have befallen him, helpless, if his daughter, the noble, strong-willed Antigone, had not decided to devote herself entirely to her father. She followed Oedipus into exile. Led by Antigone, the unfortunate old man moved from country to country. Antigone carefully led him through the mountains and dark forests, sharing with him all the hardships and dangers of the difficult path. After long wanderings, Oedipus finally came to Attica, to the city of Athens. Antigonus did not know where she had brought her father. Not far away one could see the walls and towers of the city, illuminated by the rays of the just risen sun. Next to him was a green laurel grove, all entwined with ivy and grapes. Here and there in the grove olive trees shone with silvery greenery. From the grove came the sweet singing of nightingales. Streams flowed loudly through the green valley, the stars of daffodils were whitening everywhere and the fragrant saffron was turning yellow. In a green grove, under the shadow of a laurel, the long-suffering Oedipus sat down on a stone, and Antigone wanted to go find out what this place was. A villager passed by; he told Oedipus that this is Colonus, a place near Athens *1, that the grove in which Oedipus sits is dedicated to the Eumenides, and the whole area around is dedicated to Poseidon and the titan Prometheus, and the city that is visible from the grove is Athens, where ruled by the great hero Theseus, son of Aegeus. Hearing this, Oedipus began to ask the villager to send someone to King Theseus, since he wants to provide him with great help if Theseus agrees to give him shelter for a while. It was difficult for the villager to believe that a weak and, moreover, blind old man could help the mighty king of Athens. Full of doubts, the villager went to Colonus to tell about a blind old man sitting in the sacred grove of the Eumenides and promising great help to Theseus himself. ___________ *1 Colon was located approximately 7 kilometers from Athens. ___________ Oedipus, having learned that he was in the sacred grove of the Eumenides, realized that his last hour, the end of all his suffering, was not far off. Long ago Apollo predicted to him that after long wanderings full of hardships, he would die in the sacred grove of the great goddesses and that the one who would give him shelter would receive a great reward, and those who expel him would be severely punished by the gods. Oedipus now understood that the great goddesses were the Eumenides, who had pursued him so inexorably all his life. Oedipus believes that now peace will come for him too. Meanwhile, the citizens of Colonus rush to the grove of the Eumenides to find out who decided to enter it, when the citizens themselves do not even dare to pronounce the name of the formidable goddesses, do not dare to glance at their sanctuary. Oedipus only heard the voices of the Colonians when he asked Antigone to take him into the depths of the grove, but when the Colonians began to call him a desecrator of the grove, he came out and, when asked by the Colonians, identified himself. They were horrified. Oedipus is in front of them! Who in Greece did not know his terrible fate, who did not know those crimes, the unwitting culprit of which was the unfortunate son of Laius! No, the Colonians cannot allow Oedipus to remain here, they are afraid of the wrath of the gods. They do not listen to either the requests of Oedipus or the requests of Antigone and demand that the blind old man immediately leave the vicinity of Colon. Will Oedipus really not find refuge in Athens, in those Athens that are famous throughout Greece as a holy city that gives protection to everyone who prays for protection? After all, Oedipus did not come here of his own free will, because his arrival should bring benefit to the citizens. Finally, Oedipus asks the citizens to wait at least until Theseus arrives. Let the king of Athens decide whether Oedipus can stay here or whether he should be expelled from here too. The citizens agreed to wait for the arrival of Theseus. At this time, a chariot appears in the distance, riding on it is a woman wearing a wide-brimmed Thessalian hat covering her face. Antigone peers, and it seems to her that this woman is her sister Ismene. The chariot is getting closer, Antigone peers even more closely and really recognizes Ismene. “Father,” says Antigone, “I see your daughter Ismene is coming here, now you will hear her voice.” Having approached Oedipus, Ismene got off the chariot and threw herself into her father’s arms. - Father, my unfortunate father! - Ismene exclaimed, - finally I hug you and Antigone again. Oedipus is glad that Ismene has arrived, now his daughters are with him; his faithful companion and assistant Antigone and Ismene, who never forgot her father and constantly sent him news from Thebes. Ismene was looking for Oedipus to convey to him the saddest news: the sons of Oedipus first ruled together in Thebes. But the youngest son, Eteocles, seized power alone and expelled his elder brother, Polyneices, from Thebes. Then Polyneices went to Argos and found help there. Now he is marching with an army against Thebes, to either seize power or fall in battle. Ismene also says that the oracle at Delphi predicted victory for the one on whose side Oedipus would be. Ismene is sure that Creon, who rules together with Eteocles, should soon appear here in order to seize the power of Oedipus. Oedipus does not want to be on the side of either son; he is angry with his sons for placing the desire for power higher than the children’s duty to their father. He does not want to help his sons, who did not utter a word against his expulsion from Thebes. No, they will not gain power over Thebes with the help of their father. Oedipus will remain here, he will be the defender of Athens! The citizens of Colonus advise Oedipus to make propitiatory sacrifices to the Eumenides if he decides to stay forever in Athens. Oedipus asks someone to make these sacrifices, since he himself, decrepit and blind, is not able to do this. Ismene volunteers to make sacrifices and goes to the Eumenides grove. As soon as Ismene left, Theseus came to the grove of the Eumenides with her retinue. He warmly welcomes Oedipus and promises him protection. Theseus knows how difficult the fate of a stranger is, he knows how many hardships befall him. He himself experienced the whole hardship of life in a foreign land and therefore cannot refuse protection to the unfortunate wanderer Oedipus. Oedipus thanks Theseus and promises him his protection. He says that his grave will always be the true protection of the Athenians. But Oedipus was not destined to find peace for himself immediately. When Theseus left, Creon arrived from Thebes with a small detachment. He wants to take possession of Oedipus in order to ensure victory for himself and Eteocles over Polyneices and his allies. Creon tries to persuade Oedipus to go with him; he convinces him to go to Thebes and promises him that he will live there calmly in the circle of his relatives, surrounded by their cares. But Oedipus's decision is unshakable. Yes, he doesn’t believe Creon. Oedipus knows what makes Creon persuade him to return to Thebes. No, he will not go with them, he will not give victory into the hands of those who doomed him to so many troubles. Seeing Oedipus' inflexibility, Creon begins to threaten him that he will force Oedipus to go with him to Thebes. Oedipus is not afraid of violence, because he is under the protection of Theseus and all the Athenians. But Creon gloatingly informs the blind, helpless old man that one of his daughters, Ismene, has already been captured; Creon threatens to take possession of Oedipus’s only support - his selfless daughter Antigone. Creon immediately carries out his threat; he orders Antigone to be captured. In vain she calls for help from the Athenians, in vain she stretches out her hands to her father - she is taken away. Now Oedipus is helpless, those eyes that looked for him have been taken away from him; he calls the Eumenides as a witness, he curses Creon and wishes him to experience the same fate that he himself experienced, and wishes him to lose his children. Creon, having already used violence, decides to use violence further. He grabs Oedipus and wants to take him away. The inhabitants of Colon stand up for Oedipus, but there are few of them, and they are not strong enough to fight Creon’s detachment. The Kolonians loudly call for help. Theseus and his retinue rush to their cry. Theseus is outraged by Creon's violence. How dare he seize Oedipus and his daughters here, at the grove of the Eumenides, does he really think that there are few people in Athens, does he really not consider Theseus at all if he dares to take away by force those who stand under the protection of Athens? Did Thebes really teach him to act so illegally? No! Theseus knows that lawlessness will not be tolerated in Thebes. Creon himself disgraces his city and his homeland; Although he is an old man in years, he acts like a crazy youth. Theseus demands that the daughters of Oedipus be returned immediately. Creon tries to justify his action to Theseus by the fact that, according to him, he was sure that Athens would not give shelter to a parricide and someone who married his own mother. However, Theseus stands firm in his decision; he demands that Creon return his daughters to Oedipus, and says that he will not leave until his daughters are with Oedipus again. Creon obeyed Theseus’ demand, and soon Elder Oedipus was hugging his daughters and thanking the magnanimous king of Athens, calling upon him the blessing of the gods. Theseus says to Oedipus: - Listen to me, Oedipus; here, at the altar of Poseidon, where I made a sacrifice before the arrival of Creon, a young man sits, he wants to talk to you. - But who is this young man? - asks Oedipus. - Don't know. The young man came from Argos. “Think if you have anyone close to you in Argos,” Theseus answers. Hearing this, Oedipus exclaimed: “Don’t ask, Theseus, that I speak to this young man!” From your words I understood that this is my hated son, Polyneices. His words will only cause me suffering. “But he came as a suppliant,” says Theseus, “you cannot refuse him without angering the gods.” Hearing that Polyneices is here, Antigone also asks her father to listen to him, although he has seriously offended his father. Oedipus agrees to listen to his son, and Theseus leaves after him. Polynices arrives. There are tears in his eyes. He cries when he sees his father - blind, dressed as a beggar, with gray hair flying in the wind, with traces of constant hunger and deprivation on his face. Now Polynices only realized how cruelly he had treated his own father. Stretching out his hands to his father, he says: “Father, tell me just one word, don’t turn away from me!” Answer me, don't leave me without an answer! Sisters! At least convince my father not to let me go without telling me a word. Antigone asks her brother to tell his father why he came; she is sure that Oedipus will not leave her son without an answer. Polyneices tells how he was expelled from Thebes by his younger brother, how he went to Argos, married the daughter of Adrastus there and found help for himself to take away from his brother the power that belongs to him by right, as the eldest. - Oh, father! - thus continued Polynices, - all of us who are going against Thebes, we conjure you with your life, with your children to go with us; We pray, forget your anger and help us take revenge on Eteocles, who expelled me and took my homeland from me. After all, if only the oracles speak the truth, then victory will accompany those with whom you are. Oh, listen to me favorably! I conjure you by the gods - come with me. I will return you to your home, but here, in a foreign land, you are a beggar, the same beggar as I am. Oedipus does not listen to his son. Requests don't move him. His son Polyneices now needs him in order to take possession of Thebes. Wasn’t it he who expelled him from Thebes before? Was it not he who made him a wanderer? Is it not thanks to him that Oedipus wears this rags? Both sons forgot their duty to their father, only the daughters remained faithful to him and always took care of him and honored him. - No, I won’t help you throw Thebes into the dust. Before you take Thebes, you yourself will fall covered in blood, and your brother Eteocles will fall with you! - Oedipus exclaims. “Again I call a curse on your head, so that you remember how you should honor your own father.” Run away from here, rejected, no longer having a father! Carry my curses with you! Die in a duel with your brother. Kill the one who expelled you! I call upon the Eumenides and the god Ares, who aroused a fratricidal feud between you, so that they may punish you! Go and tell all your companions what gifts Oedipus divided equally among his sons. - 0, woe is me! Oh, I'm miserable! - Polyneices exclaims, - how can I convey my father’s answer to my companions! No, I must silently go towards my destiny! Polyneices left without begging forgiveness and protection from his father, he left without listening to Antigone’s requests to return to Argos and not start a war that threatened the death of him, his brother and Thebes. The last hour of Oedipus was already close. Thunder rolled across the clear sky and lightning flashed. All those who were at the Eumenides grove stood amazed by this formidable sign of Zeus. Here's another clap of thunder. Again, bright lightning flashed like fire. Everyone shuddered with fear. Oedipus called his daughters to him and said to them: - Oh, children! Summon Theseus quickly! These thunders of Zeus foretell to me that I will soon descend into the kingdom of gloomy Hades. Don't hesitate! Send quickly for Theseus! My end is near! As soon as Oedipus said this, as if confirming his words, peals of thunder were heard again. Theseus hastily came to the grove of the Eumenides. Hearing his voice, Oedipus said: “Lord of Athens!” My end has come, the thunder and lightning of Zeus foretell my death, and I want to die, having fulfilled what I promised you. I myself will take you to the place where I will die, but you do not reveal to anyone where my grave is, it will protect your city better than many shields and spears. You will hear for yourself what I cannot say here. Keep this secret and reveal it to your eldest son at your death, and let him pass it on to his nas-glacier. Let's go, Theseus, let's go, children. Now I, a blind man, will be your guide, and Hermes and Persephone will lead me. Theseus, Antigone and Ismene followed Oedipus, and he led them as if he were seeing. He came to the place where there was a descent into the darkness-filled kingdom of the shadows of the dead, and sat down there on a stone. Preparing for death, Oedipus hugged his daughters and told them: “Children, from this day on you will no longer have a father.” The god of death, Tanat, has already taken possession of me. You will no longer bear the heavy duty of caring for me. With loud crying, Antigonus and Ismene hugged their father. Suddenly a mysterious voice was heard from the depths: “Hurry, hurry, Oedipus! Why are you delaying going? You have been delaying too long!” Oedipus, hearing a mysterious voice, called Theseus, placed the hands of his daughters in his hand and begged Theseus to be their protector. Theseus vowed to fulfill Oedipus' request. Oedipus ordered his daughters to leave; they should not have seen what would happen, and should not have heard the secret that Oedipus wanted to tell Theseus. Antigone and Ismene left. Having gone far, they turned around to look at their father for the last time, but he was no longer there, only Theseus stood, covering his eyes with his hands, as if a terrible vision had appeared to him. Then Antigonus and Ismene saw Theseus kneel down and begin to pray. This is how Oedipus ended his long-suffering life, and none of the mortals knew how he died and where his grave was located. Without a groan, without pain, he went to the kingdom of Hades, he went into it in a way that no other person goes. SEVEN AGAINST FIV Based on the tragedies of Aeschylus “Seven Against Thebes” and Euripides “The Phoenician Woman” When blind Oedipus was expelled from Thebes, his sons and Creon divided power among themselves. Each of them was to rule in turn for a year. Eteocles did not want to share power with his older brother Polyneices; he expelled his brother from the seven gates of Thebes and alone seized power over Thebes. Polynices retired to Argos, where King Adrastus ruled. King Adrastus came from the Amyphaonid family. Once upon a time, two heroes, the great soothsayer Melampodes and Biant, the sons of the hero Amiphaon, married the daughters of King Proytes. It happened like this: the daughters of Proetus angered the gods and were punished by the fact that the gods sent madness to them. In a fit of madness, the daughters of Proyt imagined that they were cows, and ran mooing through the surrounding fields and forests. Melampod, who knew the secret of how to heal the daughters of Proytes, volunteered to heal them, but for this he demanded that Proytes give him a third of his possessions. Proyt did not agree to this. The disaster intensified even more, and other women became infected with madness. Proytes turned to Melampod again. Melampod demanded not one third, but two thirds, one for himself and the other for his brother Biant. Proyt had to agree. Melampodes with a detachment of young men went to the mountains, captured, after a long pursuit, all the mad women and daughters of Proytes and healed them. Protes gave his daughters as wives to Melampod and Biant. Melampodus had a son Antiphatus, Antiphatus had Oicles, and Oicles had Amphiaraus. Biant had a son, Tal, and his children were Adrastus and Erifil. When the descendants of Melampod and Biant, Adrastus and Amphiaraus, matured, a feud flared up between them. Adrastus had to flee to Sicyon*1 to King Polybus. There he married the king's daughter and received power over Sikyon. But a little time later, Adrastus returned to his native Argos, reconciled with Amphiaraus and married his sister Eriphyle to him. Adrastus and Amphiaraus swore an oath to each other that Eriphyle would always be the judge in their disputes and that they would have to unquestioningly follow her decisions. Amphiaraus did not think that this decision would cause the death of him and his family. ___________ *1 A city in the north of the Peloponnese, on the coast of the Gulf of Corinth. ___________ Polynices came to the palace of King Adrastus late at night, hoping to find protection and help from him. At the palace, Polyneices met the son of Oeneus, the hero Tydeus, who, having killed his uncle and cousins ​​in his homeland, also fled to Argos. A fierce dispute broke out between both heroes. The indomitable Tydeus, who could not tolerate anyone’s objections, grabbed his weapon. Polyneices, too, covered himself with a shield, and drew his sword. The heroes rushed at each other. Their swords thundered loudly against their copper-clad shields. Like two angry lions, the heroes fought in the darkness. Adrast heard the noise of the duel and left the palace. How surprised he was to see two young men fiercely fighting each other. One of them, Polyneices, was covered on top of his weapons with the skin of a lion, while the other, Tydeus, was covered with the skin of a huge boar. Adrastus remembered the prophecy given to him by the oracle that he should marry his daughters to a lion and a boar. He hastily separated the heroes and brought them into his palace as guests. Soon King Adrastus gave his daughters away - one, Deipila, for Polyneices, the other, Argeia, for Tydeus. Having become Adrastus's sons-in-law, Polynices and Tydeus began to ask him to return power to them in their homeland. Adrastus agreed to help them; he only set the condition that Amphiaraus, a mighty warrior and a great soothsayer, also take part in the campaign. It was decided to move first of all against the seven gates of Thebes. Amphiaraus refused to take part in this campaign, since he knew that the heroes were undertaking this campaign against the will of the gods. He, the favorite of Zeus and Apollo, did not want to anger the gods by violating their will. No matter how Tydeus tried to persuade Amphiaraus, he stood firm on his decision. Tydeus flared up with indomitable anger; the heroes would have become enemies forever if Adrastus had not reconciled them. In order to force Amphiaraus to take part in the campaign, Polyneices decided to resort to cunning. He decided to win over Eriphyle to his side, so that by her decision she would force Amphiaraus to go against Thebes. Knowing the greed of Eriphile, Polyneices promised to give her the precious necklace of Harmonia, the wife of the first king of Thebes, Cadmus. She was seduced by Erifil's precious gift and decided that her husband should participate in the campaign. Amphiaraus could not refuse, because he himself had once sworn an oath that he would obey all the decisions of Erifila. So she sent Eriphilus to the certain death of her husband, tempted by a precious necklace; She did not know that the necklace brings great troubles to the one who owns it. Many heroes agreed to take part in this campaign. It was attended by the mighty descendants of Proetus, strong as a god, Capaneus and Eteocles, the son of the famous Arcadian huntress Atalanta, the young and beautiful Parthenopaeus, the glorious Hippomedont and many other heroes. Polynices also turned to Mycenae for help; The ruler of Mycenae had already agreed to take part in the campaign, but the great thunderer Zeus kept him from doing so with his formidable signs. Nevertheless, a large army gathered. Seven leaders led the army against Thebes, and Adrastus was at the head of them all. Heroes went to their deaths. They did not listen to the admonitions of the soothsayer Amphiaraus, who asked them not to start this campaign. All of them burned with only one desire - to fight under the walls of Thebes. The army set out on a campaign. Amphiaraus also said goodbye to his family, he hugged his daughters, hugged his sons, very young Alcmaeon and little Amphilochus, who was still in the arms of the nurse. Before leaving, Amphiaraus conjured his son Alcmaeon to take revenge on his mother, who sent his father to death. Amphiaraus ascended, full of sorrow, onto his chariot: he knew that this was the last time he would see his children. Standing on a chariot, Amphiaraus, turning to his wife Eriphyle, threatened her with a naked sword and cursed her for dooming him to death. The army reached Nemea safely *1. There the thirsty soldiers began to look for water. They could not find a single source anywhere, since they were filled up with nymphs at the behest of Zeus, who was angry at the heroes who had undertaken a campaign against his will. Finally, they met the former queen of Lemnos Hypsipyle with the little son of the king of Nemea Lycurgus, Ophelt, in her arms. Hypsipyle was sold into slavery by the women of Lemnos because she saved her father Phaontas when they killed all their men. Now the queen of Lemnos was a slave to Lycurgus and nursed his son. Hypsipyle sat little Ophelt on the grass and went to show the warriors a source hidden in the forest. As soon as Hypsipyle and the warriors left Ophelt, a huge snake crawled out of the bushes and wrapped itself in its coils around the child. The soldiers and Hypsipyle came running to his cry, Lycurgus and his wife Eurydice rushed to the rescue, but the snake had already strangled Ofelta. Lycurgus rushed to Hypsipyle with his sword drawn. He would have killed her, but Tydeus protected her. He was ready to engage in battle with Lycurgus, but Adrastus and Amphiaraus held him back. They did not allow blood to be shed. The heroes buried Ophelt and at his funeral they organized war games, which laid the foundation for the Nemean games*2. Amphiaraus understood that the death of Ophelt was a terrible sign for the entire army, that this death foreshadowed the death of all the heroes. He called Ophelt Amphiaraus Archemorus (leading to death) and began to advise all heroes to stop the campaign against Thebes; but, as before, they did not listen - they stubbornly walked towards their death. ___________ *1 City in Argolis, in the north of the Peloponnese. *2 According to another legend, the Nemean games were established by Hercules after he killed the Nemean lion. See Part 1, "Hercules." ___________ Having passed through the gorges of elk-covered Cithaeron, the army arrived to the shores of Asopus, to the walls of the seven-gate Thebes. The leaders did not immediately begin the siege. They decided to send Tydeus to Thebes to negotiate with the besieged. Arriving in Thebes, Tydeus found the most noble Thebans at a feast with Eteocles. The Thebans did not listen to Tydeus; they laughingly invited him to take part in the feast. Tydeus was angry, and, despite the fact that he was alone in the circle of enemies, he challenged them to single combat and defeated them all one by one, since Pallas Athena helped her favorite. Anger took possession of the Thebans, they decided to destroy the great hero. They sent fifty young men under the leadership of Meontes and Lycophon to ambush Tydeus when he returned to the besiegers’ camp. And here Tydeus did not die, he killed all the young men, only he released Meont at the command of the gods, so that Meont could inform the Thebans about the feat of Tydeus. After this, the enmity between the heroes who came from Argos and the Thebans flared up even more fiercely. All seven leaders made sacrifices to the god Ares, all the gods of battle and the god Thanat. Having dipped their hands in sacrificial blood, they vowed either to destroy the walls of Thebes, or to water the Theban land with their blood, having fallen in battle. The Argive army prepared for the assault. Adrastus distributed the troops; each of the seven leaders had to attack one of the seven gates. The mighty Tydeus, thirsting for blood, like a ferocious dragon, stood opposite the Protis Gate with his detachment. Three crests fluttered on his helmet, on his shield was depicted the night sky covered with stars, and in the middle of the eyes of the night was a full moon. Opposite the gates of Electra, Capaneus placed his huge detachment, like a giant. He threatened the Thebans that he would take the city, even if the gods opposed it; he said that even the all-crushing anger of the thunderer Zeus would not stop him. Capaneus’s shield depicted a naked hero holding a torch. Eteocles, a descendant of Proetus, stood with a detachment against the Neisk gate; and on his shield was an emblem: a man climbing a ladder to the tower of a besieged city, and below was written: “The god Ares himself will not overthrow me.” Hippomedon stood opposite the gates of Athena; on his shield, sparkling like the sun, Typhon was depicted spewing flame. The war cry of Hippomedon sounded with rage, the look of his eyes threatened death to everyone. The young and beautiful Parthenopai led his detachment against the Boread Gate. On his shield was depicted the Sphinx with a dying Theban in her claws. The soothsayer Amphiaraus was besieging the Homoloid Gate. He was angry with Tydeus, the instigator of the war, he scolded him, the murderer, the destroyer of cities, the messenger of rage, the servant of murder, the adviser of all evils. He hated this campaign, he reproached Polyneices for bringing an army of foreigners to destroy his native Thebes. Amphiaraus knew that the descendants would curse the participants in this campaign. Amphiaraus also knew that he himself would fall in battle and that the land of Thebes would swallow his corpse. There was no emblem on Amphiaraus's shield - its appearance alone was more impressive than any emblem. The last, seventh gate was besieged by Polynices. His shield depicted a goddess leading an armed hero, and the inscription on the shield read: “I will bring this man as a conqueror back to his city and to the house of his fathers.” Everything was ready for the assault on the indestructible walls of Thebes. The Thebans also prepared for battle: Eteocles stationed a detachment of warriors led by a famous hero at each gate. He himself took upon himself the defense of the gate against which his brother Polynices was. Tydeus was opposed by the mighty son of Astach Melanippus, a descendant of one of the warriors who grew from the teeth of the serpent killed by Cadmus. Eteocles sent Polyphont against Capaneus, who was defended by Artemis herself. Creon's son Megareus stood with a detachment at the gate, which was to be attacked by Protida Eteocles; Oinor's son Hyperbius was sent against Hippomedont, against Parthenopaeus - the hero Actor, and against Amphiaraus - Leisthenes, a youth in strength and an old man in intelligence. Among the Theban heroes was the mighty son of Poseidon, the invincible Periclymenes. Before the battle began, Eteocles asked the soothsayer Tiresias about the outcome of the battle. Tiresias promised victory only if Creon's son Menoikeus was sacrificed to Ares (who was still angry over Cadmus' murder of the serpent dedicated to him). The young man Menoike, having learned about this prophecy, climbed the wall of Thebes and, standing opposite the cave where the serpent dedicated to Ares once lived, pierced his chest with a sword. Thus died the son of Creon; He voluntarily sacrificed himself to save his native Thebes. Everything promised victory for the Thebans. The angry Ares is appeased; the gods are on the side of the Thebans, who observe the will and signs of the gods. But the Thebans did not immediately achieve victory. When, emerging from under the protection of the walls, they entered into battle with the Argive army at the sanctuary of Apollo, they had to retreat under the onslaught of enemies and again take cover behind the walls. The Argives rushed to pursue the retreating Thebans and began to storm the walls. The arrogant Capaneus, proud of his superhuman strength, placed the ladder against the wall and was about to burst into the city, but Zeus did not tolerate anyone entering Thebes against his will. He threw his sparkling lightning at Capaneus, when he was already standing on the wall. Zeus struck Capaneus to death; he was completely engulfed in fire, and his smoking corpse fell from the wall at the feet of the Argives standing below. Young Parthenopaus also fell while besieging Thebes; the mighty Periklymen threw a huge stone the size of a rock from the wall onto his head. This stone crushed Parthenopai's head, and he fell dead to the ground. The Argives retreated from the walls - they were convinced that they could not take Thebes by storm. Now the Thebans could rejoice: the walls of Thebes stood unshakable. The enemies then decided that the brothers Polynices and Eteocles should decide by single combat which of them would have power over Thebes. The sons of Oedipus prepared for the duel. Eteocles came out of the gates of Thebes, shining with weapons; Polyneices came out of the Argive camp to meet him. Now the fratricidal battle was supposed to begin. The brothers burned with hatred for each other. One of them was bound to fall. But the great, inexorable goddesses of fate Moira promised something else. The Eumenides did not forget the curses of Oedipus, nor did they forget the crimes of Laius or the curses of Pelops *1. ___________ *1 See the myth of Pelops, part 1. ___________ Like two furious lions who fight over prey, so the brothers collided in a fierce duel. Covered with shields, they fight, vigilantly watching each other’s movements with eyes full of hatred. So Eteocles retreated, immediately threw Polynices’ spear at his brother and wounded him in the thigh. Blood flowed from the wound, but upon impact Polynices opened his shoulder, and Eteocles immediately struck him in the shoulder with a spear. The spear bent, hitting Polynices’ armor, and its shaft broke. Eteocles was left with one sword. He quickly bent down, picked up a huge stone and threw it at his brother; the stone hit Polyneices' spear and broke it. Now both brothers were left with only swords. Having closed their shields, the brothers fight; both of them were wounded, blood stained their armor. Eteocles quickly took a step back; Polyneices did not expect this, raised his shield, and at that moment his brother thrust a sword into his stomach. Polyneices fell to the ground, blood gushed like a river from a terrible wound, his eyes were clouded with the darkness of death. Eteocles triumphed in victory; he ran up to the brother he had killed and wanted to take off his armor. Polynices gathered his last strength, stood up and struck his brother in the chest with his sword; with this blow his soul flew off to the dark kingdom of Hades. Like a felled oak tree, Eteocles fell dead on the corpse of his brother, and their blood mixed, staining the earth all around. The Thebans and Argives looked with horror at the terrible outcome of the duel between the brothers. The truce between the besieged and the besieged did not last long. A bloody battle broke out between them again. In this battle, the gods patronized the Thebans. Pali Hippomedont and Protida Eteocles, the invincible Tydeus was wounded to death by the mighty Melanippus. Although Tydeus was mortally wounded, he still found the strength to take revenge on Melanippus and defeat him with a spear. Seeing Tydeus dying, covered in blood, Pallas Athena begged Zeus to allow her to save her pet and even grant him immortality. Athena hurried to Tydeus. But at this time Amphiaraus cut off the head of Melanippus and threw it to the dying Tydeus. In a mad rage, Tydeus grabbed her, smashed her skull, and like a wild beast, began to drink the brain of his enemy. Athena shuddered when she saw the rage and bloodthirstiness of Tydeus; she left him, and the dying Tydeus only managed to whisper after Athena his last prayer - to grant his son, Diomedes, the immortality that he himself did not receive. The Thebans defeated the Argives, and their entire army was killed near Thebes. Amphiaraus also died. He fled in a hurry to escape on his chariot, driven by Baton. He was pursued by the mighty Periclymenes. Periclymenes was already overtaking the great soothsayer, he had already swung his spear to hit him, when suddenly lightning flashed. Zeus, and thunder struck, the earth parted and swallowed Amphiaraus with his war chariot. Of all the heroes, only Adrastus was saved. He rushed off on his horse, Areion, as fast as the wind, and took refuge in Athens, from where he returned to Argos. The Thebans rejoiced; Thebes was saved. They gave a solemn burial to their fallen heroes, but they left the heroes and all the warriors who came from Argos with Polyneices without burial. Polyneices, who had raised his hand against his homeland, also lay unburied on the battlefield. They learned that the heroes of Argos, their wives and mothers remained unburied. Full of sadness, they came with Adrastus to Attica to beg King Theseus to help their grief and force the Thebans to give them the bodies of the dead. In Eleusis, at the temple of Demeter, they met Theseus’s mother and begged her to beg her son to demand the release of the bodies of the Argive warriors. Theseus hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to help the Argive women and Adrastus. Just at this time an ambassador came from the king of Thebes, Creon. He demanded from Theseus that he not provide assistance to the women of Argos and expelled Adrastus from Attica. Theseus was angry. How dare Creon demand his submission? Isn’t he in control of his own decisions? Theseus marched with an army against Thebes, defeated the Thebans and forced them to hand over the corpses of all their fallen soldiers. Eleuther had seven fires built, and the corpses of the soldiers were burned on them. The corpses of the leaders were transferred to Eleusis and burned there, and the ashes of their mother and wife were taken to their homeland, to Argos. Only the ashes of Capaneus, killed by the lightning of Zeus, remained in Eleusis. The corpse of Capaneus was sacred, since he was killed by the Thunderer himself. The Athenians built a huge fire and placed Capaneus' corpse on it. When the fire was already beginning to flare up and the tongues of fire were already touching the corpse of the hero, the wife of Capaneus, the beautiful daughter of Iphitus, Evadne, came to Eleusis. She could not bear the death of her beloved husband. Having put on luxurious funeral clothes, she climbed onto a rock that hung right above the fire, and threw herself from there into the flames. Thus Evadne died, and her shadow descended along with the shadow of her husband into the dark kingdom of Hades. ANTIGONE Based on the tragedy of Sophocles “Antigone” After the victory over the Argives, the Thebans arranged a luxurious funeral for Eteocles and all the fallen soldiers, and Polyneices decided to deprive Creon and the Thebans of burial as he had led a foreign army against Thebes. His corpse lay near the city walls in a field, left to be torn to pieces by predatory animals and birds. The soul of Polyneices was doomed to eternal wandering; she could not find peace in the kingdom of the souls of the dead. The noble daughter of Oedipus, Antigone, ready for any self-sacrifice, suffered, seeing the dishonor to which her brother was doomed. Despite everything, she decided to bury Polynices’ body herself. The death that Creon threatened anyone who dared to bury Polyneices after performing all the funeral rites did not frighten her. Antigone called her sister Ismene to go with her, but the timid sister did not dare to help her sister, fearing the wrath of Creon. She even tried to persuade Antigone not to go against the will of the king of Thebes; she reminded her of the fate that befell their mother and brothers. Does Antigone really want to destroy herself and her? Antigone did not listen to Ismene: she is ready to fulfill her duty to her brother alone, she is ready to endure everything without complaint, so long as Polyneices does not remain unburied. And Antigone fulfilled her decision. Creon soon learned that his command had been violated. One of the guards told him that someone secretly came to the corpse of Polyneices and, covering it with earth, performed the funeral rite. Creon flew into a terrible rage; he threatened the guard with terrible torture if he and his comrades did not find the one who performed the funeral rites over the corpse of Polyneices; he swore by Zeus himself to fulfill his threat. The guard went to where Polyneices' corpse lay. The guards threw the earth off the corpse and sat down on a hill nearby so that the stench from the decomposing corpse would not reach them. Suddenly at noon a storm arose, a whirlwind swirled clouds of dust across the entire field; when the storm passed, the guard saw a girl bending over the corpse, who was mourning Polyneices, and her mournful voice sounded like the mournful cry of a bird that saw that someone’s evil hand had stolen its chicks. The girl was already pouring libations in honor of the underground gods when the guards grabbed her and led her to Creon. This girl was Antigone. Creon met Antigone with angry words and demanded that she confess to the crime. Antigone did not even think of denying her guilt. She violated Creon's command, but fulfilled the law and the will of the gods. Antigone fulfilled her duty to her brother by burying his corpse. Death does not frighten her; she longs for death, since her life is full of only sorrow. In terrible anger, Creon threatens to execute not only Antigone, but also Ismene, who, as he is sure, was Antigone’s assistant. Hearing that Creon also wanted to put Ismene to death, Antigone shuddered with horror. Will she really have to be the culprit in her sister's death? The servants followed Ismene. Here she appeared on the threshold of the palace. Tears of grief for her sister roll from Ismene’s eyes. To Creon’s question, the always timid Ismene, having learned that death threatened her sister, found the courage to share her fate with Antigone. She firmly answers Creon that she also took part in performing funeral rites over the corpse of Polyneices. Antigone does not want the innocent Ismene to suffer along with her. In vain Ismene begs her: “0, sister, don’t reject me, don’t say that I’m not worthy to die with you!” Does life without you make sense to me? Do not insult me! But Antigone answers her sister: “No, you shouldn’t die with me!” You shouldn’t call something your own that you didn’t commit! My death alone will be enough! You chose life, and I chose death! Ismene begs Creon to spare Antigone; she begs him to think about the fact that he is dooming his son’s bride to death. But Creon is not moved by Ismene’s pleas. He replies that he will not allow his son Gemon to marry a criminal. No, Antigone must die, death will separate her from Haemon. Creon orders his servants to take Antigone and Ismene to the palace and guard them there so that they do not try to escape. The servants took Oedipus's daughters away. The citizens stood silently. They sympathized with Antigone, they realized that she had accomplished a feat. Antigone was right when she told Creon that she would not have blamed her people for the burial of Polyneices if fear of the power-hungry Creon had not bound his lips. Creon's son, young Haemon, having learned what fate threatens his bride, comes to his father and asks to have mercy on Antigone. Haemon knows that all the people feel sorry for the innocent Antigone, that he grumbles that she is threatened with death for her pious deed. Gemon asks his father not to persist and admit his error. - Everyone in Thebes considers Antigone innocent! - Haemon boldly says to Creon. - Father, I see that you are prone to lies! You have broken the very law of the gods! Creon is increasingly inflamed with anger; he thinks that only love for Antigone makes Haemon protect her so much. In anger, he shouts at his son: “Oh, you think like a despicable slave of women!” “No,” Haemon answers, “but you will never see me sympathize with an evil cause.” I stood up for you! But Creon no longer hears Haemon’s words; he says that he has firmly decided to execute Antigone. Hearing such a decision from his father, Gemon says: “If she dies, she will entail the death of another.” But Creon no longer knows the limits of his anger. He orders the soldiers to bring Antigone and kill her here, in front of Haemon. - No, she won’t die before my eyes! - Gemon exclaims. - You will never see me again, father! You can go crazy alone among your flattering friends! With these words Gemon left. In vain did the citizens warn Creon that the anger in which Haemon left him would only bring disaster - Creon was adamant. Now Antigone is being led to a terrible execution. Creon decided to bury her alive in the tomb of the Labdacids. Antigone goes on her last journey, goes to the shores of Acheron. She will be walled up alive in a tomb; She will not be among people, but among the dead; she will belong neither to life nor to death. Her friends are not accompanying her; Without mourning, they take her away to her death. She will no longer see the clear light. Antigone had just been taken away when, led by a boy, the blind soothsayer Tiresias came to Creon. Ominous signs were given to him by the gods during the sacrifices. The gods are angry that the corpse of the murdered man is not buried, that birds and dogs carry pieces of the decomposing corpse everywhere. Creon, in his insane stubbornness, does not even listen to Tiresias, who advises him to bury the corpse of Polyneices. He says that even if the eagle of Zeus himself carries a piece of the body to the very throne of the Thunderer, then even then the corpse of Polyneices will remain unburied. Creon accuses Tiresias of being bribed, of giving him advice out of self-interest. The angry Tiresias menacingly tells Creon that only he himself is to blame for everything: he insulted the gods by imprisoning Antigone alive in a tomb, dishonoring the corpse of Polyneices, and violating the laws of the gods. The gods will punish him for this. Creon's whole house will be plunged into sadness, punishment will befall the one who is dearest to Creon. The Erinyes, who know no mercy, will take revenge on Creon. Nothing will save him from terrible vengeance. Creon was frightened by the words of the prophetic Tiresias. He canceled his order not to bury the corpse of Polyneices. Creon himself hurries into the field and performs funeral rites and prays to Hades and Hecate not to be angry with him and Thebes. Having completed the burial, Creon and his retinue go to the tomb of the Labdacids to bring Antigone out of there. Late! Antigone made a noose from her clothes and hanged herself. Creon finds Haemon in the tomb crying over the corpse of his bride. In vain Creon begs his son to come out of the tomb. Haemon, in front of his father, pierces his chest with a sword; he falls dead on the corpse of the bride. Creon is in despair - he has lost his last son. He weeps bitterly over his corpse. Meanwhile, the messenger brought Creon’s wife, Eurydice, the news of Haemon’s death. Eurydice listened to him silently and went into the inner chambers of the palace. There she killed herself, piercing her chest with a sword, like Gemon. As soon as Eurydice committed suicide, Creon came to the palace. In his arms is the corpse of his son. Here, at the palace, a new terrible grief awaits him - he learns about the death of his wife. The proud, power-hungry spirit of Creon is broken. In desperation, he calls for death, so that at least it will stop his suffering. Creon lost everyone he loved. CAMPAIGN OF THE EPIGONS *1 ___________ *1 Epigones means descendants in Greek. ___________ Explained from various works Ten years have passed since the campaign of the seven against Thebes. During this time, the sons of the heroes who fell at Thebes grew to maturity. They decided to take revenge on the Thebans for the defeat of their fathers and undertook a new campaign. Taking part in this campaign were: Aigialeus, son of Adrastus, Alcmaeon, son of Amphiaraus, Diomedes, son of Tydeus, Thersander, son of Polynices, Promachus, son of Parthenopaus, Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, Polydorus, son of Hippomedon, and Euryalus, son of Menestheus. This campaign was carried out under different conditions. The gods patronized the epigones (this was the name given to the leaders who undertook a new campaign against Thebes). The Delphic oracle predicted victory for the epigones if Alcmaeon, the son of Amphiaraus, took part in this campaign. Thersander, the son of Polyneices, volunteered to persuade Alcmaeon not to refuse to participate in the campaign. Alcmaeon hesitated for a long time. He did not dare to go against Thebes until he fulfilled the last will of his father and took revenge on his mother for sending her husband to certain death. Like his father Polyneices, Thersander decided to seek the assistance of Eriphile, Alcmaeon’s mother. He bribed her by giving her the precious clothing of Cadmus's wife, Harmonia, which Pallas Athena herself had woven for her. Eriphyle was seduced by her clothes, as she had once been seduced by the necklace of Harmony, and insisted that Alcmaeon and his brother Amphilochus take part in the campaign. An army of epigones set out from Argos. This army was small, but victory should have accompanied it. Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, equal to his father in strength and courage, was chosen as the leader of the army. Joyful heroes went on a campaign, burning with the desire to avenge their fathers. In Potnia, they asked the oracle of Amphiaraus at Thebes about the outcome of the campaign. The oracle answered them that he saw Alcmaeon, the heir to the glory of Amphiaraus, entering the gates of Thebes in victory. The epigones will win. Only Aigialei, the son of Adrastus, who escaped during the first campaign, must fall. Finally, the army of the epigones reached the seven-gate Thebes. Having devastated all the surrounding areas, the epigones began a siege. The Thebans went out into the field under the leadership of their king Laodamant, the frantic son of Eteocles, to repel the besiegers from the walls. A bloody battle ensued. In this battle, Aigialei fell, struck by the spear of Laodamant, but Laodamant was also killed by Alcmaeon. The Thebans were defeated and took refuge behind the indestructible walls of Thebes. The defeated Thebans began negotiations with the besiegers, and at night, on the advice of Tiresias, secretly from the besiegers, they moved out of Thebes with all their wives and children. They moved north to Thessaly. On the way there, the prophetic Tiresias, who had helped the Thebans for so long and saved them more than once from death, died at the spring of the nymph Telpuza. After a long journey, the Thebans reached Hestiotis in Thessaly and settled there. Thebes, taken by the epigones, were destroyed. The rich booty that they got was divided among themselves by the epigones. They presented the best part of the spoils, and among them the daughter of Tiresias, the soothsayer Manto, to the Delphic oracle. The epigones returned happily to their homeland. Thersander, the son of Polynices, began to rule in Thebes, restoring it. ALKMEON Based on Homer's poem "The Odyssey" Returning from the campaign against Thebes, Alcmaeon fulfilled the will of his father Amphiaraus and took revenge on his mother for the death of his father. Alcmaeon killed his mother with his own hand. Dying, the mother cursed her son-killer and cursed the country that would give him shelter. The avenging goddesses Erinyes were angry with Alcmaeon and pursued him everywhere he tried to hide. The unfortunate Alcmaeon wandered for a long time, trying everywhere to find shelter and cleansing from the filth of the spilled blood. Finally, he came to the city of Psofida, in Arcadia *1. There King Phegei cleansed him from the taint of murder. Alcmaeon married Phegeus's daughter Arsinoe and thought of living peacefully in Psofida. But fate did not promise him this. His mother's curse haunted him. A terrible famine and pestilence spread in Psofida. Death reigned everywhere. Alcmaeon turned to the Delphic oracle, and the soothsayer Pythia answered him that he should leave Psophida and go to the river god, Achelous; only there will he be cleared of the murder of his mother and find peace in a country that did not yet exist when his mother cursed him. Leaving the house of Phegeus, his wife Arsinoe and his son Clytius, Alcmaeon went to Achelous. On the way, he visited Oeneus in Calydon, who hospitably received him. ___________ *1 Region in the central part of the Peloponnese. ___________ Alcmaeon was also among the Thesprotians*1, but they expelled him from their country, fearing the wrath of the gods. Finally, Alcmeon came to the descendants of Achelous*2. There the river god Ahelous cleansed him from the filth of his mother’s shed blood and gave him his daughter Callirhoe in marriage. Alcmeon settled at the mouth of the Aheloy River on an island formed from deposited sand and silt. This was a country that did not yet exist when Alcmaeon’s mother cursed him. ___________ *1 A people who lived in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. *2 The river separating Acarnania and Aetolia, regions in the west of central Greece. ___________ And here Alcmaeon’s fate pursued him. Callirhoe learned about a precious necklace and clothes woven by Pallas Athena herself, which were given to Polynices and his son Thersander Eriphyle, and demanded that her husband bring these treasures to her. Callirhoe did not know that these treasures brought death to those who owned them. Alcmaeon went to Psofida and demanded from Phegeus that he give him the necklace and clothes. Alcmaeon told Phegeus that he wanted to dedicate these treasures to the Delphic oracle in order to receive a petition from the arrow god. Phegei gave the treasure to Alcmaeon, believing his words. But Alcmaeon’s servant told Phegeus who the necklace and clothes were intended for. Phegeus became angry, called his sons, Pronous and Agenor, and ordered them to ambush Alcmaeon when he returned to the mouths of Achelous. They fulfilled their father’s command and killed Alcmaeon. Arsinoe, Alcmaeon's first wife, learned of the death of her husband; she still loved him. She cursed her brothers in grief. The brothers took her to King Agapenor in Arcadia and, accusing her of having killed Alcmaeon, they put her to death. Callirhoe also learned about the death of Alcmaeon. She decided to take revenge on the sons of Phegei and himself for the murder of her husband. But who could be the avenger? Callirhoe's sons, Akarnan and Amphoteres, were still babies and lay in the cradle. She prayed to Zeus Callirhoe to make her sons immediately powerful young men. Zeus heeded Callirhoe's pleas. One night her sons grew up and matured. They went to Tegea to King Agapenor and killed the sons of Phegeus there. Then in Psofida they killed Phegeus himself. Thus, the gifts Eriphile once received from Polyneices and Thersander brought death upon Phegeus and the entire family. Akarnan and Amphoteres took the precious necklace and clothes woven by Athena and dedicated them, with the consent of their mother, to the Delphic Apollo. Akarnan and Amfoter did not stay in their homeland. They moved to the country, which was named after Akarnana Akarnania, and founded a new kingdom there.

THEBAN CYCLE

OEDIPUS. HIS CHILDHOOD. YOUTH AND RETURN TO THEBES

Based on Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus the King".

The king of Thebes, the son of Cadmus, Polydorus, and his wife Nyctida had a son, Labdacus, who inherited power over Thebes. Labdak's son and successor was Laius. One day Laius visited King Pelops and stayed with him for a long time in Pis. Laius repaid Pelops with black ingratitude for his hospitality. Laius kidnapped the young son of Pelops, Chrysippus, and took him to Thebes. The angry and saddened father cursed Laius, and in his curse he wished that the gods would punish the kidnapper of his son by destroying his own son. This is how Chrysippus’s father cursed Laius, and this father’s curse had to be fulfilled.
Returning to the seven gates of Thebes, Laius married the daughter of Menoeceus, Jocasta. Laius lived quietly in Thebes for a long time, and only one thing worried him: he had no children. Finally, Laius decided to go to Delphi and there ask the god Apollo about the reason for childlessness. The priestess of Apollo, the Pythia Laius, gave a formidable answer. She said:
- Son of Labdak, the gods will fulfill your wish, you will have a son, but know this: you will die at the hand of your son. The curse of Pelops will be fulfilled!
Lai was horrified. He thought for a long time how to avoid the dictates of inexorable fate; finally he decided that he would kill his son as soon as he was born.
Soon, Lai actually had a son. The cruel father tied the legs of his newborn son with belts, pierced his feet with a sharp iron, called a slave and ordered him to throw the baby in the forest on the slopes of Cithaeron1 so that wild animals would tear him to pieces. But the slave did not carry out Lai’s orders. He took pity on the child and secretly handed over the little boy to the slave of the Corinthian king Polybus. This slave was just at that time tending his master’s flock on the slopes of Kiferon. The slave took the boy to King Polybus, and he, being without

1 Mountains in Central Greece, between Attica and Boeotia.

419

childhood, decided to raise him as his heir. King Polybus named the boy Oedipus because his legs were swollen from wounds.
This is how Oedipus grew up with Polybus and his wife Merope, who called him their son, and Oedipus himself considered them his parents. But one day, when Oedipus had already grown up and matured, at a feast one of his friends, drunk, called him a foster child, which amazed Oedipus. Doubts crept into his soul. He went to Polybus and Merope and for a long time persuaded them to reveal to him the secret of his birth. But neither Polybus nor Merope said anything to him. Then Oedipus decided to go to Delphi and there find out the secret of his birth.
As a simple wanderer, Oedipus went to Delphi. Arriving there, he asked the oracle. The radiant Apollo answered him through the lips of the soothsayer Pythia:
- Oedipus, your fate is terrible! You will kill your father, marry your own mother, and from this marriage will be born children cursed by the gods and hated by all people.
Oedipus was horrified. How can he avoid an evil fate, how can he avoid parricide and marriage to his mother? After all, the oracle did not name his parents. Oedipus decided not to return to Corinth again. What if Polybus and Merope are his parents? Will he really become the murderer of Polybus and the husband of Merope? Oedipus decided to remain an eternal wanderer without a family, without a tribe, without a homeland.

But is it possible to escape the dictates of fate? Oedipus did not know that the more he tried to avoid his fate, the more faithfully he would follow the path that fate had assigned him.
Oedipus left Delphi as a homeless wanderer. He did not know where to go, and chose the first road he came across. This was the road that led to Thebes. On this road, at the foot of Parnassus, where three paths converged, in a narrow gorge Oedipus met a chariot in which a gray-haired, majestic-looking old man was riding; the herald drove the chariot, and the servants followed. The herald rudely called out to Oedipus, ordered him to get out of the way and swung his whip at him. The angry Oedipus hit the herald and was about to pass by the chariot, when suddenly the old man waved his staff and hit Oedipus on the head.
Oedipus became enraged, and in anger he hit the old man with his staff so hard that he fell dead on his back to the ground. Oedipus rushed at the escorts and killed them all, only one slave

420

managed to escape unnoticed. Thus the command of fate was fulfilled: Oedipus killed, without knowing, his father Laius. After all, this old man was Laius, he was traveling to Delphi to ask Apollo how to save Thebes from the bloodthirsty Sphinx.
Oedipus calmly walked on. He considered himself innocent of murder: after all, he was not the one who attacked first, because he defended himself. Oedipus walked further and further along his chosen path and finally came to Thebes.
Great despondency reigned in Thebes. Two disasters struck the city of Cadmus. The terrible Sphinx, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, settled near Thebes on Mount Sphingione and demanded more and more victims, and then a slave brought the news that King Laius had been killed by some unknown person. Seeing the grief of the citizens, Oedipus decided to save them from trouble; he decided to go to the Sphinx himself.
The Sphinx was a terrible monster with the head of a woman, the body of a huge lion, with paws armed with sharp lion claws, and with huge wings. The gods decided that the Sphinx would remain with Thebes until someone solved its riddle. The muses told this riddle to the Sphinx. All travelers passing by were forced by the Sphinx to solve this riddle, but no one could solve it, and everyone died a painful death in the iron embrace of the Sphinx's clawed paws. Many valiant Thebans tried to save Thebes from the Sphinx, but they all died.
Oedipus came to the Sphinx, who offered him his riddle:
- Tell me, who walks in the morning on four legs, in the afternoon on two, and in the evening on three? None of all the creatures living on earth changes as much as he does. When he walks on four legs, then he has less strength and moves more slowly than at other times.
Oedipus did not think for a single moment and immediately answered:
- This is a man! When he is small, when it is only the morning of his life, he is weak and slowly crawls on all fours. During the day, that is, in adulthood, he walks on two legs, and in the evening, that is, in old age, he becomes decrepit and, needing support, takes a crutch; then he walks on three legs.
This is how Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx. And the Sphinx, flapping its wings, rushed from the cliff into the sea. It was decided by the gods that the Sphinx should die if anyone solved its riddle. Thus Oedipus freed Thebes from disaster.
When Oedipus returned to Thebes, the Thebans proclaimed him king, since even earlier it had been decided by Creon, who ruled in place of the murdered Laius, that the king of Thebes should be the one who would save them from the Sphinx. Having reigned in Thebes, Oedipus married Laius' widow Jocasta and had two daughters from her, Antigone and Ismene, and two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. Thus the second command of fate was fulfilled: Oedipus became the husband of his own mother, and his children were born from her.

421

Prepared according to the edition: