GRECO-ROMAN SUMMARIES

Oedipus

Author: Sophocles

Time period: 429 BCE

Language: Ancient Greek

The Oedipus plays include 3 major parts such as the Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus. The Antigone’s main protagonists includes The Chorus, whom introduce Antigone as the girl who will rise up alone and die young. Antigone’s fiance is Haemon and her sister is Ismene. Creon is the king of Thebes and is against the burial of Antigone’s brother, Polynices. However, Antigone refuses to follow the orders of Creon and buries her brother, to which Haemon tries to plead with the king. The guards find Antigone burying Polynices and arrest her and during her imprisonment, she hangs herself. Haemon is devastated and kills himself and Eurydice, Creon’s wife, commits suicide. Creon is left to reflect on his cruelty and the tragedy caused as a result. The second part of the Oedipus plays is Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King. Oedipus the King begins with the main protagonist, Oedipus exiting the royal palace of Thebes and encountering the impoverished citizens carrying branches wrapped in wool as a gift to the Gods due to the plague that struck Thebes. Creon is Oedipus’ brother-in-law and fellow ruler of Thebes and Oedipus tries to stop the plague struck on Thebes by finding the murderer of the previous king, Laius. As Oedipus investigates, he finds that he himself killed Laius and his father and married his own mother, Jocasta. Jocasta realizes the truth and kills herself, to which Oedipus blinds himself in anguish. Earlier, there is a prophecy foretold that Oedipus kill his father and marry his mother, told to Oedipus’ parents, Jocasta and Laius. To avoid the prophecy, Jocasta and Laius left Oedipus on a mountainside, only for him to be adopted into another royal family and prove the prophecy true. After Oedipus finds that Jocasta has killed herself, he takes the pins from her gown and uses them to gouge out his eyes, succumbing to his misery and anguish. Oedipus Rex concludes with Oedipus seeking Creon’s guidance and awaiting his destiny from the oracle. The third part of the Oedipus plays is Oedipus at Colonus, which depicts the end of Oedipus’ life. The play opens with Oedipus as a blind beggar, banished from Thebes. Oedipus and his daughter, Antigone, reach Colonus, a city near Athens and find that they are on the sacred land of Eumenides. Oedipus seeks Theseus, king of Athens, promising blessings for the city if he is allowed to live and die on the land of Eumenides. Creon of Thebes seeks Oedipus but is driven off by Theseus. Oedipus then curses his sons, Eteocles and Polynices after hearing of their rivalry for the throne of Thebes, reminding him of his cursed prophecy and destructive patterns of his past. Oedipus hears thunder and prepares his own death, and his death in Eumenides brings Athens protection and Thebes a curse. The play ends with Antigone and Ismene returning to Thebes to prevent conflict.

Notes

Written by Sophocles
Main characters: Oedipus, Antigone, King Creon, Queen Jocasta
Oedipus marries his own mother and kills his father
Oedipus wants to die in the sacred land of Eumenides

The Inferno

Author: Dante Alighieri

Time period: 14th century

Language: Italian

The Inferno is the first part of Dante's epic poem, Divine Comedy, and is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. The poem begins with Dante fearful in a forest and he attempts to escape it by climbing a sun-shined mountain, only to be blocked by a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf. He then returns to the forest and meets Virgil who assures him he will lead Dante through Hell in order to enter Paradise, where Dante's lover, Beatrice, is. Entering the antechamber of Hell, Dante and Virgil see the souls of sinful people being bitten by insects and blood-sucking worms and forced to chase a blank banner. On the entrance of the antechamber an inscription writes, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." (III.7). The two then reach the banks of the river Acheron where the ferryman, Charon, agrees to take them across the river to Limbo, the first circle of Hell. Limbo is the house of pagans and there great poets and philosophers reside, such as Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Lucan, and Homer. The two then enter the second circle of Hell representing lust, where they are met by the monster Minos. Dante meets Francesca who tells him over her love affair with her husband's brother, Paolo. The third circle, the Gluttons, is guarded by the monster Cerberus. Here, the gluttonous are forced to lie in mud, filth and excrement for eternity. In the fourth circle, the Prodigal and Avaricious roll giant boulders at each other for eternity. The fifth circle contains the swampy river Styx, where the Sullen drown beneath its waters and the Wrathful fight against each other. Dante recognizes Filippo Argenti, his rival, and feels delight watching him suffer. Deeper into Styx, Dante and Virgil reach the Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood where those who were violent reside along with a Minotaur, and the Centaur, Nessus, takes the two poets into the seventh circle. Here, souls who were violent towards themselves through suicide are forced to be trees for eternity, and Dante hears the story of Pier delle Vigne. The monster Geryon then take Dante and Virgil to the eight circle, Maleboge, containing ten chasms. The chasms contain Panderers, Seducers, Flatterers, Simonists, Fortune Tellers, Diviners, sinners of Graft, and Hypocrites. Dante recognizes Pope Nicholas and is mistaken for Pope Boniface. In the sixth chasm, Hypocrites are walk endlessly in a circle wearing glitter-covered robes and forced to step on the crucified Caiaphas. In the seventh chasm, Thieves are surrounded by serpents who will turn them into serpents too when bitten, and must bite another sinner to become human again. Dante meets Ulysses in the eighth chasm, where the souls of Evil Counselors are trapped in flames. Sinners are mutilated in the ninth chasm, including the soul of Mahomet, and in the tenth chasm sinners are plagued. The ninth circle contains the Cocytus, a large lake where sinners are frozen and Dante meets Giants such as Antaeus, who places Dante and Virgil at the bottom of a well. The Coctyus includes four levels housing sinners where they are frozen closer to the tip of their heads according to the severity of their sin. Here, Dante hears the story of Count Ugolino who bites at the neck of Ruggieri, who had treated him poorly during his life. The Traitors to Guests reside at Ptolomea, where a soul begs Dante to take out the ice visors out of his eyes. The final circle of Hell is the Judecca, where traitors are completely frozen and Satan chews at the head of Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. Dante and Virgil climb over Satan to the river of Lethe, where they journey back to the upper world. They emerge on Easter Morning to stars in the night sky, just before daybreak.

Notes

Written by Dante
Dante travels through the circles of Hell with Virgil
Hell is depicted as nine circles within the Earth