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Antigone

Antigone

] There were two women named Antigone ("like her ancestors") in Greek mythology.

Daughter of Oedipus

The best known Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and Iocaste (Jocasta), or, according to the older story, of Euryganeia. When Oedipus, on discovering that Iocaste, the mother of his children, was also his own mother, put his eyes out and stepped down as King of Thebes, Antigone accompanied him into exile at Colonus. After his death she returned to Thebes, where Haemon, the son of Creon, king of Thebes, became enamoured of her. Oedipus had given the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, the sons showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and an angered Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the Seven Against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle, "each slain by the other's hand." King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices "who came back from exile, and sought to consume utterly with fire the city of his fathers," was not to be buried: "touching this man, it hath been proclaimed to our people that none shall grace him with sepulture or lament, but leave him unburied, a corpse for birds and dogs to eat, a ghastly sight of shame." Antigone, sister of Polynices, defied the order, explaining, "I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever", but was caught. Creon decreed that she was to be locked in a cave to die (this in spite of her betrothal to King Creon's son Haemon). Antigone's sister, Ismene, then declared she had aided Antigone and wanted the same fate, although she was innocent. The gods, through the blind prophet Tiresias, expressed their disapproval of Antigone's fate, causing Creon to rescind his order. Creon then went to bury Polynices himself. However, Antigone had already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrived at the tomb where she was to be interred, his son Haemon unsuccessfully attempted to murder him and then killed himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, was informed of Haemon's death, she too took her own life. Antigone's character and these incidents of her life presented an attractive subject to the Greek tragic poets, especially Sophocles in the Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus, and Euripides, whose Antigone, though now lost, is partly known from extracts incidentally preserved in later writers, and from passages in his Phoenissae. In the order of the events, at least, Sophocles departed from the original legend, according to which the burial of Polyneices took place while Oedipus was yet in Thebes, not after he had died at Colonus. Again, in regard to Antigone's tragic end Sophocles differs from Euripides, according to whom the calamity was averted by the intercession of Dionysus and was followed by the marriage of Antigone and Haemon. In Hyginus's version of the legend, founded apparently on a tragedy by some follower of Euripides, Antigone, on being handed over by Creon to her lover Haemon to be slain, was secretly carried off by him, and concealed in a shepherd's hut, where she bore him a son Maeon. When the boy grew up, he went to some funeral games at Thebes, and was recognized by the mark of a dragon on his body. This led to the discovery that Antigone was still alive. Heracles pleaded in vain with Creon for Haemon, who slew both Antigone and himself, to escape his father's vengeance. On a painted vase the scene of the intercession of Heracles is represented (Heydermann, Über eine nacheuripideische Antigone, 1868). Antigone placing the body of Polyneices on the funeral pile occurs on a sarcophagus in the villa Pamfili in Rome, and is mentioned in the description of an ancient painting by Philostratus (Imag. ii. 29), who states that the flames consuming the two brothers burnt apart, indicating their unalterable hatred, even in death. The story of Antigone has been a popular subject for books, plays and other works, including:
- Antigone, one of the three Theban plays by Sophocles
- Antigone, opera by Carl Orff
- Antigone, play by Jean Anouilh

Daughter of Eurytion

A different Antigone was the daughter of Eurytion and wife of Peleus. Peleus and Telamon, his brother, killed their half-brother Phocus and fled Aegina to escape punishment. In Phthia, Peleus was purified by Eurytion and married Antigone, Eurytion's daughter. Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion during the hunt for the Calydonian Boar and fled Phthia. Peleus was purifed of the murder of Eurytion in Iolcus by Acastus. Also in Iolcus, Peleus lost a wrestling match in the funeral games of Pelias, Acastus' father, to Atalanta. Astydameia, Acastus' wife, fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her. Bitter, she sent a messenger to Antigone to falsely tell her that Peleus was to marry Acastus' daughter; Antigone hanged herself. (Apollodorus, iii. 13). Astydameia then told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her. Acastus took Peleus on a hunting trip and hid his sword, then abandoned him right before a group of centaurs attacked. Chiron, the wise centaur, returned Peleus' sword and Peleus managed to escape. He pillaged Iolcus and dismembered Astydameia, then marched his army between the pieces.

References

- Category:Greek mythological people ja:アンティゴネ

Oedipus

Oedipus (Greek , Oidipous, "swollen-foot"; rarely ; Latin Oedipus) or Œdipus was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus' father, Laius, kidnapped and raped the young boy Chrysippus, and was in turn cursed by Chrysippus' father, Pelops. The weight of this curse bore down onto Oedipus himself. At his birth, it was prophesized that he would kill his father. Seeking to avoid such a fate, Laius had the infant's ankles pierced with nails (whence the Greek name oidipous, "swollen-foot") and had him exposed (placed in the wilderness to die). His servant, however, betrayed him, handing the boy instead to a shepherd who presented the child to King Polybus and Queen Merope (or Periboea) of Corinth, who raised him as their own son. When an oracle prophesized that he would kill his father and marry his mother, he fled the kingdom. During his travels, he came to the area around Thebes, where he killed a stranger in a roadside argument, not knowing the man was his real father and the king. Oedipus then saved Thebes by answering the riddle of the Sphinx and was rewarded with the now-vacant throne of Thebes and the widowed queen's hand in marriage, with whom he had four children. Divine signs of misfortune and pollution began to appear in Thebes, which caused the king to seek out their cause. Finally, the seer Teiresias revealed to Oedipus that he himself was the source of the pollution. Oedipus discovered he was really the son of Laius and Jocasta and that all of the prophecies had indeed come to pass. Jocasta committed suicide and Oedipus blinded himself by forcing her brooch pins into his eyes. When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, they showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the Seven Against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle. King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices was not to be buried. Antigone, his sister, defied the order, but was caught. Creon decreed that she was to be buried alive, this in spite of her betrothal to his son Haemon. Antigone's sister, Ismene, then declared she had aided Antigone and wanted the same fate. The gods, through the blind prophet Teiresias, expressed their disapproval of Creon's decision, which convinced him to rescind his order, and he went to bury Polynices himself. However, Antigone had already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrived at the tomb where she was to be interred, Haemon attacked him and then killed himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, was informed of their deaths, she too took her own life. This legend has inspired several works of art, such as Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy, the so called Three Theban plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone), and Stravinsky's opera Oedipus Rex, The story gave Sigmund Freud the name for the Oedipus complex, a primal desire on the part of a young child to completely possess the mother and kill the father (despite the fact that Oedipus actually tries to avoid this). There is a comic song by Tom Lehrer with the same name (which rhymes "Oedipus Rex" with "complex"). The Doors also reference the Freudian version in the song "The End." The legend also inspired Black Adder Production Studio's film "Complex," about a boy who falls in love with his mother due to trauma caused by his father's death.

Eteocles

being carried away, dead, after the Battle of Thebes, in an 1897 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church]] In Greek mythology, Eteocles was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta, the father of Laodamas. When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, they showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polyneices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the Seven Against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle. See also: Epigoni Category:Greek mythological people

Seven Against Thebes

"Seven Against Thebes" is a play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between Eteocles and the army of Thebes and Polynices and his supporters, traditional Theban enemies. When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the eponymous seven against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle. Their maternal uncle, King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes decreed that Polynices, "who came back from exile, and sought to consume utterly with fire the city of his fathers," is not to be buried: "touching this man, it hath been proclaimed to our people that none shall grace him with sepulture or lament, but leave him unburied, a corpse for birds and dogs to eat, a ghastly sight of shame." Antigone, their sister, defied the order, (explaining that "I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever") but was caught. Creon decreed that she was to be buried alive, that in spite of the fact that she was betrothed to his son, Haemon. He declares "'Tis Death that shall stay these bridals for me." The gods, through the blind prophet Tiresias, expressed their disapproval of Creon's decision ("one begotten of thine own loins shall have been given by thee, a corpse for corpses; because thou hast thrust children of the sunlight to the shades, and ruthlessly lodged a living soul in the grave"), which convinced him to rescind his order, and he went to bury Polynices. However, Antigone had already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrived at the tomb where she was to be interred, his son, Haemon, attacked him and then killed himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, was informed of their death she, too, takes her own life. Also during this battle, Capaneus was killed by a lightning bolt from Zeus as punishment for his arrogance. His wife, Evadne, threw herself on his funeral pyre. Also, Megareus killed himself because Tiresias prophesied that a voluntarily death from a Theban would save Thebes. Tiresias being carried away, dead, after the Battle of Thebes, from the same source]] The Seven Against Thebes were #Adrastus #Amphiaraus #Capaneus #Hippomedon #Parthenopeus #Polynices #Tydeus Allies: #Adrastus The defenders of Thebes included #Creon #Megareus #Poriclymenus #Melanippus #Polyphontes #Hyperbius #Actor #Lasthenes See also Epigoni Category:Ancient Greek plays

Creon

In Greek mythology, Creon, or Kreon ("ruler"), son of Menoeceus, was the father of Haemon and husband of Eurydice. Also occasionally the uncle of Amphitryon. When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, they showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the Seven Against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle. King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices was not to be buried. Antigone, Polynices' sister, defied the order, but was caught. Creon decreed that she was to be buried alive, this in spite of her betrothal to his son Haemon. Antigone's sister, Ismene, then declared she had aided Antigone and wanted the same fate. The gods, through the blind prophet Tiresias, expressed their disapproval of Creon's decision, which convinced him to rescind his order, and he went to bury Polynices himself. However, Antigone had already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrived at the tomb where she was to be interred, Haemon attacked him and then killed himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, was informed of her son's death she too took her own life, her last words cursing Creon. See also Epigonoi. ---- There was another person in Greek mythology named Creon. He was a King of Corinth and father of Creusa or Glauce, Jason's second wife whom Medea murdered, and Megara, Hercules' wife. His wife sold Tisiphone into slavery. ---- Creon was also the first Archon of Athens after the position was limited to a term of one year, in 683 BC. Category:Greek mythological people

Ismene

:for the plant genus see Ismene, and for the asteroid, see 190 Ismene. In Greek mythology, Ismene was a daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta and sister to Antigone. She appears in several plays of Sophocles, at the end of Oedipus the King and to a limited extent in Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, they showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the Seven Against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle. King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices was not to be buried. However, the sister of Polynices, Antigone, defied the order and was caught. In spite of her betrothal to his son Haemon, Creon decreed that she was to be buried alive. Antigone's sister Ismene then declared she had aided Antigone and wanted the same fate, though she did not participate in the crime. Antigone refuses to let her be martyred for a cause she did not stand up for. The gods, through the blind prophet Tiresias, expressed their disapproval of Creon's decision, which convinced him to rescind his order. He then went to bury Polynices himself. Unaware of Creon's change of heart, Antigone had already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrived at the tomb where she was to be interred, Haemon attacked him and then killed himself. When Creon's wife Eurydice was informed of their deaths, she too took her own life. Category:Greek mythological people

Tiresias

In Greek mythology, Tiresias (also transliterated as Teiresias) was a blind prophet, the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias' daughter Manto was also gifted with prophecy.

Overview

Tiresias was a priest of Zeus, and as a young man he encountered two snakes mating and hit them with a stick. He was then transformed into a woman. As a woman, Tiresias became a priestess of Hera, married and had children, including Manto. According to some versions of the tale, Lady Tiresias was a prostitute of great renown. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again found mating snakes, struck them with her staff, and became a man once more. As a result of his experiences, Zeus and Hera asked him to settle the question of which sex, male or female, experienced more pleasure during intercourse. Zeus claimed it was women; Hera claimed it was men. When Tiresias sided with Zeus, Hera struck him blind. Since Zeus could not undo what she had done, he gave him the gift of prophecy. An alternative story in Callimachus' poem "The Bathing of Pallas" has it that Tiresias was blinded by Athena after he stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother, Chariclo, begged her to undo her curse, but Athena couldn't; she took the serpent from her aegis and commanded it to lick his ears, giving him prophecy instead. Stripped of its narrative and anecdotal and causal connections, the mythic figure of Tireisias combines several archaic elements: the blind seer; the impious interruption of a natural rite (whether of a bathing goddess or coupling serpents); serpents and staff (Caduceus); a holy man's double gender (shaman); and competition between deities. Tiresias's background was important, both for his prophecy and his experiences. Greek mythology contained many hermaphroditic figures (including Hermaphroditus), but Tiresias was fully male and then fully female. Also, prophecy was a gift given only to the priests and priestesses. Therefore, Tiresias offered Zeus and Hera evidence and gained the gift of male and female priestly prophecy. As a seer, Tiresias was "a common title for soothsayers throughout Greek legendary history" (Graves 1960, 105.5). In Greek literature, Tiresias's pronouncements are always gnomic but never wrong. He is generally extremely reluctant to offer his visions like most oracles. Often when his name is attached to a mythic prophecy, it is introduced simply to supply a personality to the generic example of a seer, not by any inherent connection of Tiresias with the myth: thus it is Tiresias who warns the mother of Narcissus that the boy will thrive as long as he never knows himself. This is his emblemmatic role in tragedy (see below).

Tiresias and Thebes

During the Seven Against Thebes, Megareus killed himself because Tiresias prophesied that a voluntary death from a Theban would save Thebes. Afterwards Tiresias appears in the tales associated with Oedipus. In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, Oedipus calls upon Tiresias to aid in the investigation of the killing of Laius. Tiresias refuses to give a direct answer and instead hints that the killer is someone Oedipus really does not wish to find. After Oedipus blinds himself and wanders, Tiresias appears in Antigone, also by Sophocles. King Creon of Thebes refuses to allow Polynices to be buried. His sister, Antigone, defies the order and is caught; Creon decrees that she is to be buried alive. The gods express their disapproval of Creon's decision through Tiresias. However, Antigone has already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrives at the tomb where she is to be interred, his son, Haemon, attacks him and then kills himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, is informed of their death she, too, takes her own life. He and his prophesy are also involved in the story of the Epigoni.

Death

Tiresias died after drinking the water from the spring Tilphussa, struck by an arrow of Apollo. After his death he was visited in the underworld by Odysseus, to whom he gave valuable advice concerning the rest of his voyage, specifically concerning the cattle of Apollo, which Odysseus' men did not follow.

In post-classical literature

The figure of Tiresias has been much-invoked by fiction writers and poets. Since Tiresias is both the greatest seer of the Classical mythos, a figure cursed by the gods, and both man and woman, he has been very useful to authors. In The Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto XX), Dante sees Tiresias in the fourth pit of the eighth circle of Hell (the circle is for perpetrators of fraud and the fourth pit being the location for soothsayers or diviners.) He was condemned to walk for eternity with his head twisted toward his back for in life: while in life he strove to look forward to the future, in Hell he must only look backward. Tiresias' daughter Manto is also assigned her punishment here. More recently, "Tiresias" was the title of a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. T. S. Eliot used Tiresias as the primary speaker in his landmark modernist poem, "The Waste Land". The French composer Francis Poulenc also wrote an opera called Les Mamelles de Tirésias ("The Breasts of Tiresias") based on Guillaume Apollinaire's surrealist text. Frank Herbert also uses the mythic characteristics of Tiresias in his second Dune novel, Dune Messiah, where the protagonist Paul Atreides loses his sight but has prophetic powers to counter this stemming from insights into both the male and female part of the psyche. Amy Seham, drama professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, wrote a musical entitled "Tiresias" in 1999, with music by Chanda Walker and Kira Theimer. Tiresias as a motif of doubleness (male/female) also occurs in the writing of Rohinton Mistry. There it serves as a comparison to the protagonist of the short story "Lend me your Light", who is torn between his childhood home in Bombay and his new existence in Toronto: "I, Tiresias,/ Blind and throbbing between two lives..." (Tales from Firozha Baag: 180). Tiresias also shows up in Jefferey Eugenides' Middlesex (novel). Cal references and compares himself to the seer, and even played him in a production of Antigone.

Sources

Tiresias appears in the following classical works:
- Oedipus the King, Sophocles
- Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles
- Antigone, Sophocles
- Bacchants, Euripides
- Iphigenia at Aulis, Euripides
- Phoenician Women, Euripides
- The Odyssey, Homer
- Metamorphoses, Ovid
- Seven Against Thebes, Aeschylus
- Fifth Hymn ("The Bath of Pallas"), Callimachus
- Paradise Lost, John Milton

References

- Robert Graves 1960 (revised edition). The Greek Myths Category:Classical oracles

Haemon

In Greek mythology, Haemon ("bloody") (or Haimon) was the son of Creon and Eurydice. When Oedipus stepped down as King of Thebes, he gave the kingdom to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who both agreed to alternate the throne every year. However, they showed no concern for their father, who cursed them for their negligence. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down and Polynices attacked Thebes with his supporters (the Seven Against Thebes). Both brothers died in the battle. King Creon, who ascended to the throne of Thebes, decreed that Polynices was not to be buried. Antigone, his sister, defied the order, but was caught. Creon decreed that she was to be buried alive – in spite of the fact that she was betrothed to his son, Haemon. The gods, through the blind prophet Tiresias, expressed their disapproval of Creon's decision, which convinced him to rescind his order, and he went to bury Polynices. However, Antigone had already hung herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrived at the tomb where she was to be interred, his son, Haemon, attacked him and then killed himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, was informed of their death she too took her own life.

Eurydice

In Greek mythology, there were two characters named Eurydice, or Eurydíkê. The more famous was a woman - or a nymph - named Eurydice who was the wife of Orpheus. While fleeing from Aristaeus, she was bitten by a serpent and died. Distraught, Orpheus played such sad songs and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept and gave him advice. Orpheus went down to the lower world and by his music softened the heart of Hades and Persephone (the only person to ever do so), who allowed Eurydice to return with him to earth. But the condition was attached that he should walk in front of her and not look back until he had reached the upper world. In his anxiety he broke his promise, and Eurydice vanished again from his sight. The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil, who first introduces the name of Aristaeus. Other ancient writers, however, speak of Orpheus' visit to the underworld; according to Plato, the infernal gods only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him.

Connections with Other Mythologies

The story of Eurydice and Orpheus has strong similarities with the Japanese myth of Izanami and Izanagi and the Maya myth of Ix Chel and Itzamna. There may be connections going back to Paleolithic times. The other myths seem to be more violent and horrifying than the Greek version. This may be due at least in part to Virgil, Plato and the other classical writers softening down the story, which in its older versions (now lost) may have also been very violent.

Drama

Paleolithic Eurydice (also Erudice or Euridice) is an opera written in Florence by Jacopo Peri and Ottavio Rinuccini in 1600. It was created for the marriage of Henry IV and Maria de Medici. This is considered by some to be the second work of modern opera, and the first such musical drama to survive to the present day. (The first, Dafne, was written by the same authors in 1597.) For many of the other stage and screen reinterpretations of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, see the article on Orpheus. Eurydice is also a play which retells the myth of Orpheus from Eurydice's point of view.

Wife of Creon

Another woman in Greek mythology named Eurydice was the wife of Creon, who killed herself after learning that her son Haemon and his betrothed, Antigone, had both committed suicide.

Music

Song by Darkwave band The Cruxshadows with an interesting twist in perspective to the classic tale.

External links

- [http://www.naxos.com/NewDesign/fintro.files/bintro.files/operas/Euridice(Jacopo_Peri).htm Synopsis of the opera Eurydice] Category:Greek mythological people

Antigone (Sophocles)

Antigone is a tragedy written in 442 BC by Sophocles. It is chronologically the third of the three Theban plays but was written first. After Oedipus is exiled, he leaves the ruling rights of Thebes to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices who must take it in turns to rule. Eteocles rules first but the two becomes enemies after Eteocles refues to give up the throne, and Polynieces is exiled. He returns to attack in the Seven Against Thebes campaign. At the beginning of the play, both brothers are dead, apparently slain by the other's hand. The current ruler, Creon, has made a decree: Since Polynices fought against Thebes, he shall not be buried. Meanwhile, Eteocles is to be buried with full military honors. Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and the sister of the dead brothers, believes this proclamation to be against the gods' orders. She confides her plan to bury Polynices herself to her sister Ismene. The more timid of the two, Ismene refuses to take part out of fear, but agrees with her motive. When Creon is informed that someone is trying to bury Polynices, he makes terrible threats. Antigone is caught the next time she goes to her brother, and brought before the furious king. Defiantly, she accepts her death. However, Ismene tries to claim that she also took part in the crime. Antigone's fiancée and Creon's son Haemon arrives, talking about how the whole city thinks Antigone innocent. He claims to be 'neutral', always telling his father that he is on his side. Creon, however, keeps yelling, going as far as to claim that Haemon has sold out to a woman. Finally, Haemon makes a threat that Antigone's death will cause another. When Creon scoffs, his son tells him it is not Creon who will die! Enraged, Creon decides to leave Antigone to starve in sealed cave. The chorus persuades him to let Ismene go, as she is innocent. The blind prophet Tiresias then tells Creon that his actions are not right. Creon sneers, mocking Tiresias with how prophets have always loved gold. His object of ridicule tells him that soon his own flesh and blood will die, and his actions are causing a miasma (pollution). Faced with this terrible prophecy, Creon is torn but comes to the conclusion that Polynices must be buried and Antigone must not be killed. He is too late: Antigone has already hanged herself in her cave, just as her mother Jocasta hanged herself (in Oedipus the King). Haemon makes his way to save Antigone, but finds her dead body in the cave. Creon also makes his way to Antigone to clear up the mess but is confronted by Haemon who is leaning over Antigone's body. The two fight and Haemon ends up taking his own life. Haemon's mother and Creon's wife, Eurydice, also kills herself in grief over the death of both of her sons. (The other one died in the war against Polynices). Creon, having lost all of his family, loses his will and lets himself be taken away. His own decisions have come back with a vengeance, taking all that he cared about. The play is also notable as one of the only plays in which the inside of the palace setting is shown. Usually in Greek tragedy all action took place outside of the house or palace depicted on the skene (the backdrop of the stage); deaths took place "inside," unseen by the audience. In this play, however, the skene was opened to show Creon finding the body of Eurydice. The character of the sentry is also unusual, as he speaks like a lower-class person, in more natural language, rather than the stylized poetry of the other characters. He has been compared to similar characters in the works of Shakespeare.

External links

- [http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/sophocles/antigone.htm Translation by Ian Johnston]
- [http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html Translation by R. C. Jebb] Category:Ancient Greek plays

Oedipus at Colonus

Oedipus at Colonus (also Oidipous at Kolonos) is one of the three Theban plays of Sophocles. It was written ca. 407 BC and was Sophocles' last play. In the timeline of the plays, the events of Oedipus at Colonus occur after Oedipus the King and before Antigone. The play describes the end of Oedipus' tragic life. Legends differ as to the site of Oedipus' death; Sophocles set the place at Colonus, a village near Athens and also Sophocles' own birthplace, where the blinded Oedipus has come with his daughters Antigone and Ismene as suppliants of the Eumenides and of Theseus, the king of Athens. Creon, Oedipus' uncle (and brother-in-law) who has replaced him as king of Thebes, follows him to Colonus to claim Antigone and Ismene, whom Oedipus entrusted to him after his exile. Creon and his men seize them but they are rescued by Theseus. Theseus then informs Oedipus that a suppliant has come to the temple of Poseidon and wishes to speak with him; it is Oedipus' son Polyneices, who has been banished from Thebes by his brother Eteocles. Oedipus does not want to talk to him, feeling that his sons have abandoned him, but is convinced to do so by Antigone. These events are contemporary with the Seven Against Thebes, and Antigone foresees Polyneices' death. Following their conversation there is a fierce thunderstorm, which Oedipus interprets as a sign from Zeus of his impending death. His death is not shown on stage but the events are recounted by a messenger. Oedipus appears to be taken away by Zeus himself, rather than dying a natural death. There is less action in this play than in Oedipus the King, and more philosophical discussion. Here, Oedipus discusses his fate as related by the oracle, and claims that he is not fully guilty because his crimes of murder and incest were committed in ignorance. Despite being blinded and exiled and facing violence from Creon and his sons, in the end Oedipus is accepted and absolved by Zeus.

Characters

- Oedipus
- Antigone, the elder daughter of Oedipus
- Man of Colonus
- Ismene, the younger daughter of Oedipus
- Theseus, King of Athens
- Creon, King of Thebes, uncle and brother-in-law of Oedipus
- Polyneices, son of Oedipus
- Messenger
- Chorus: elders of Attica

External link

- [http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/colonus.html Oedipus at Colonus, at the Internet Classics Archive] Category:Ancient Greek plays ja:コロノスのオイディプス

Euripides

Euripides (c. 480 B.C.) was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles. He is believed to have written over ninety plays, eighteen of which have survived. It is now widely believed that a nineteenth, Rhesus, was probably not by Euripides ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-euripides.html Ancient History Sourcebook]). Fragments, some of them substantial, of most of the other plays also survive. More of his plays have survived than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles together, partly because of the chance preservation of a manuscript that was probably part of a complete collection of his works. Euripides is known primarily for having reshaped the formal structure of traditional Attic tragedy by showing strong women characters and smart slaves, and by satirizing many heroes of Greek mythology.

Life

Greek mythology]] According to legend Euripides was born in Salamís on September 23 (480 BC); the day of the Persian War's greatest naval battle. His mother's name was Cleito, and his father's either Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides. Evidence suggests that Euripides' family was financially well off, and very influential. Due to this he was exposed to the great thinkers and philosophies of the day--including Protagoras Socrates, and Anaxagoras, who maintained that the sun was not a golden chariot steered across the sky by some elusive god, but rather a fiery mass of earth or stone. This exposure lead to his questioning of the religion he grew up with (It is recorded that he served as a cup-bearer for Apollo's dancers). He had a wife named Melito, and together they had three sons. It is rumored that he also had a daughter, but she was killed after a rabid dog attacked her. Some call this rumor a joke made by Aristophanes, a comic writer who often poked fun at Euripides. However, many historians fail to see the humor in it, and believe that the story is indeed true. The record of Euripides' public life, other than his involvement in dramatic competitions, is almost non-existent. It has been said that he travelled to Syracuse, Sicily, that he engaged in various public or political activities during his lifetime, and that he left Athens at the invitation of king Archelaus II and stayed with him in Macedonia after 408 BC; there is, however, no historical evidence for any of these claims.

His plays

Euripides first competed in the famous Athenian dramatic festival (the Dionysia) in 455 BC, one year after the death of Aeschylus. He came in third, because he refused to cater to the fancies of the Judges. It was not until 441 BC that he won first place, and over the course of his lifetime, Euripides claimed a mere four victories. He was a frequent target of Aristophanes' humor. He appears as a character in The Acharnians, Thesmophoriazousae, and most memorably in The Frogs, where Dionysus travels to Hades to bring Euripides back from the dead. After a competition of poetry, Dionysus opts to bring Aeschylus instead. Euripides' final competition in Athens was in 408 BC. Although there is a story that he left Athens embittered because of his defeats, there is no real evidence to support it. He died in 406 BC, probably in Athens or nearby, and not in Macedon, as some biographers repeatedly state. The Bacchae was performed after his death in 405 BC. When compared with Aeschylus, who won thirteen times, and Sophocles, with eighteen victories, Euripides was the least honored, though not necessarily the least popular, of the three — at least in his lifetime. Later, in the 4th century BC, the dramas of Euripides became more popular than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles. His works influenced New Comedy and Roman drama, and were later idolized by the French classicists; his influence on drama reaches modern times. Euripides' greatest works are considered to be Alcestis, Medea, Electra, and The Bacchae. In June 2005, classicists at Oxford University employed infrared technology – previously used for satellite imaging – to detect previously unknown material by Euripides in fragments of the Oxyrhynchus papyri, [http://www.papyrology.ox.ac.uk/] a collection of ancient manuscripts held by the university. [http://www.ox.ac.uk/blueprint/2004-05/3006/25.shtml]

Works

Tragedies of Euripides

# Alcestis (438 BC, second prize) # Medea (431 BC, third prize) # Heracleidae (c. 430 BC) # Hippolytus (428 BC, first prize) # Andromache (c. 425 BC) # Hecuba (c. 424 BC) # The Suppliants (c. 423 BC) # Electra (c. 420 BC) # Heracles (c. 416 BC) # Trojan Women (415 BC, second prize) # Iphigeneia in Tauris (c. 414 BC) # Ion (c. 413 BC) # Helen (412 BC) # Phoenician Women (c. 410 BC, second prize) # Orestes (408 BC) # Bacchae and Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BC, posthumous, first prize)

Fragmentary tragedies of Euripides

The following plays have come down to us today only in fragmentary form; some consist of only a handful of lines, but with some the fragments are extensive enough to allow tentative reconstruction: see Euripides: Selected Fragmentary Plays (Aris and Phillips 1995) ed. C. Collard, M.J. Cropp and K.H. Lee. # Telephus (438 BC) # Cretans (c. 435 BC) # Stheneboea (before 429 BC) # Bellerophon (c. 430 BC) # Cresphontes (ca. 425 BC) # Erechtheus (422 BC) # Phaethon (c. 420 BC) # Wise Melanippe (c. 420 BC) # Alexandros (415 BC) # Palamedes (415 BC) # Sisyphus (415 BC) # Captive Melanippe (412 BC) # Andromeda (c. 410 BC) # Antiope (c. 410 BC) # Archelaus (c. 410 BC) # Hypsipyle (c. 410 BC) # Oedipus (c. 410 BC) # Philoctetes (c. 410 BC)

Satyr play

# Cyclopss (unknown)

Spurious plays

# Rhesus (mid 4th century BC, probably not by Euripides, as maintained today by most scholars)

References

- Croally, N.T. Euripidean Polemic: The Trojan Women and the Function of Tragedy. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
- Ippolito, P. La vita di Euripide. N�poles: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica dell'Universit'a degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 1999.
- Kovacs, D. Euripidea. Leiden: Brill, 1994.
- Lefkowitz, M.R. The Lives of the Greek Poets. London: Duckworth, 1981.
- Scullion, S. Euripides and Macedon, or the silence of the Frogs. The Classical Quarterly, Oxford, v. 53, n. 2, p. 389-400, 2003.
- Webster, T.B.L., The Tragedies of Euripides, Methuen, 1967.

External links

-
- http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761567264/Euripides.html
- http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup=encyclopedia+Euripides
- http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/euripides001.html
- http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/eb11-euripides.html
- http://www.ac-strasbourg.fr/pedago/lettres/Victor%20Hugo/Notes/Euripide.htm
- http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/~amahoney/tragedy_dates.html
- [http://www.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/literature/world_literature/euripides.html http://www.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/literature/world_literature/euripides.html]
- [http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc4.htm http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc4.htm] Category:480 BC births Category:406 BC deaths Category:Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Category:Ancient Athenians Category:Ancient Greek poets ko:?????? ja:??????

Antigone (Sophocles)

External links

- [http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/sophocles/antigone.htm Translation by Ian Johnston]
- [http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html Translation by R. C. Jebb] Category:Ancient Greek plays

Sophocles

Sophocles (early 5th century BC–406 BC; Greek: Σοφοκλης) was an ancient Greek playwright, dramatist, priest, and politician of Athens. He was also a general for the Athenian Empire in the Peloponnesian Wars, and during his service he led the battle against the Peloponnesian Island of Samos. He is sometimes known as the Attic Bee for the "sweetness of his productions." Sophocles is the second, chronologically, of the three great Greek tragedians; he was several decades younger than Aeschylus and a decade or so older than Euripides, and was often in competition with both in dramatic contests. The year of his birth is contested, with 488 BC, 495 BC, and 496 BC each having advocates. 495 BC however is preferred by most eminent historians. He is most noted for his prolific playwriting. He wrote 123 plays; in the dramatic competitions of the Festival of Dionysus (where each submission by one author consisted of four plays), he won more first prizes (around 20) than any other playwright, and there is no record of his ever having ranked below second place. Many scholars, including Aristotle, considered Sophocles to be the greatest playwright in ancient Greek theatre. However, of the hundreds of works he produced in his lifetime, only seven tragedies have survived in their complete forms, along with around half of a satire play. (Sixty to 90 others exist in fragments). The most famous of his surviving works are his famous three Theban plays, the tragedies surrounding Oedipus and Antigone. Sophocles was born about a mile northwest of Athens in the rural deme (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica. His birth took place five years before the Battle of Marathon, and fifteen years before the Battle of Salamis. His father, Sophilos (sometimes "Sophillus"), was a wealthy merchant. Some historians speculate that Sophilos was a carpenter, smith, or swordmaker; the majority believe he ran some kind of armaments business or factory that employed people of many occupations. As a boy, Sophocles was educated in the arts and at a palaestra. He won awards in wrestling and music, and was said to be graceful and handsome. At the age of sixteen, he was chosen to lead the chorus of naked boys (paean) at the Athenian celebration of the victory against the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. Twelve years later, Sophocles first entered the Festival of Dionysus with his play The Triptolemos. He took first prize, defeating even Aeschylus. Surprisingly, Sophocles's most famous play, Oedipus the King, only won second place. In 440, Sophocles was elected as one of the ten strategoi (military commanders) of Athens.

Surviving works

Years are approximate

The Theban plays

- 442 BC Antigone
- 427 BC Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannos)
- 407 BC Oedipus at Colonus

Other plays

- 445 BC Ajax
- 413 BC The Trachiniae
- 410 BC Electra
- 410 BC Philoctetes

Fragmentary plays

- 5th century BC The Tracking Satyrs
- 5th century BC The Progeny Fragments of The Tracking Satyrs (Ichneutae) were discovered in Egypt in 1907. It is one of only two recovered satyr plays. Fragments of The Progeny (Epigonoi) were discovered in April 2005 by classicists at Oxford University with the help of infrared technology previously used for satellite imaging. The tragedy tells the story of the siege of Thebes. The fragment translates to the following: :Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron. :Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle's songs, that wakes up those who are asleep. :Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot's rail. [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=630165]

Trivia

An asteroid, 2921 Sophocles, was named after him.

External links

-
- [http://www.quote-fox.com/QuoteFox/plBrowse.php/?browse_cmd=browse_source&author_name=Sophocles Sophocles Quotes] Category:406 BC deaths Category:Ancient Athenians Category:Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Category:Ancient Greek poets Category:Asteroid eponyms ko:소포클레스 ja:ソポクレス

Antigone (opera)

Antigone (Antigonae in German), written by Carl Orff, was first presented in 1949 in Salzburg, Austria. Antigone is in Orff's words a "musical setting" for the Greek tragedy by Sophocles of the same name. However, it looks and feels like an opera.

The play / the words

Orff used the German translation of Sophocles' play by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843). The original play was written in 442 BC and the German translation copies faithfully the mood and movement of Greek Tragedy. The opera begins in the early morning following a battle in Thebes between the armies of the two sons of Oedipus: Eteocles and Polynices. King Creon, who ascended the throne of Thebes after both brothers are killed in battle, decrees that Polynices is not to be buried. Antigone, his sister, defies the order, but is caught. Creon decrees that she to be buried alive, that in spite of the fact that is she betrothed to his son, Haemon. The gods, through the blind prophet Tiresias, express their disapproval of Creon's decision, which convinces him to rescind his order, and he goes to bury Polynices. However, Antigone has already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrives at the tomb where she was to be interred, his son, Haemon, attacks him and then kills himself. Now, when Creon's wife, Eurydice, is informed of their death she, too, takes her own life. At the end of the play, and the opera, Creon is the only principal left alive.

The music

With this work Orff drew a line in his musical output, setting up a demarcation between pre-Antigone and post-Antigone style. Hölderlin's translation into lines of ecstatic German inspired the declamatory technique Orff uses for the first time in much of Antigone. It pre-dates a similar style of the minimalist school by about 50 years. In this way Orff creates unusual sound effects that captures both the dramatic and psychological setting of the original Greek tragedy with emotional color ranging from the ecstatic to the orgiastic. Frequently an ostinato in the orchestra builds up an almost unbearable tension which is resolved only in the final bars of the piece. Orff frequently uses the technique called Singstimmen, which is half way between singing and speaking, somewhat like Schönberg's Sprechgesang, but still within the tonal language of work. The sense of antiquity is often enhanced when the text is treated psalmodically in a manner resembling Gregorian Chant. Another early device found in Antigone is the melisma, where many notes are assigned to a single syllable, which is found as well in the music of other ancient and modern cultures. The structure of the work, its heavy emotional content, its novel fabrics of sound, all demand more of the listener than required in the usual opera performance. While Antigone has never been as popular as, say, Rigoletto, it has set new standards for the orchestra, the singers and the committed listener.

Instrumentation

Antigone is scored for 6 pianos (also played with drumstick and plectrum), 4 harps, 9 double basses, 6 flutes, 6 oboes, 6 trumpets with mutes, 7-8 timpani, and percussion (steinspiel [lithophone], xylophone, wood drum [i.e. log drum], 2 bells, 3 glockenspiels, 4 pairs of cymbals, 3 Turkish cymbals, 3 pairs Turkish cymbals [i.e. crash cymbals], small anvil, 3 triangles, 2 bass drums, 6 tambourines, 6 pairs of castanets, and 10 large Javanese gongs). Category:Operas by Carl Orff Category:German-language operas Category:Tragedy Category:Compositions by Carl Orff Category:Operas

Carl Orff

Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 – March 29, 1982) was a German composer born in Munich. While being one of the most seminal composers of the 20th century, his greatest success and influence has been in the field of music education.

Life

Orff refused to publicly speak about his past. What is known, however, is that Orff came from a Bavarian family that was very active in the German military. His father's regiment band supposedly had often played the compositions of young Orff. Moser's Musik Lexicon states that Orff studied at the Munich Academy of Music until 1914. He then served in the military during World War I. Afterwards, he held various positions at opera houses in Mannheim and Darmstadt, later to return to Munich to further pursue music studies. As of 1925, and for the rest of his life, Orff was the head of a department and co-founder of the Guenther School for gymnastics, music, and dance in Munich, where he worked with musical beginners. Having constant contact with children, this is where he developed his theories in music education. While Orff's association, or lack thereof, with the Nazi party has never been conclusively established, his Carmina Burana was hugely popular in Nazi Germany after its premiere in Frankfurt in 1937, receiving numerous performances (although one Nazi critic reviewed it savagely as "degenerate" — entartet — implying a connection with the contemporaneous, and infamous, exhibit of Entartete Kunst). Orff was a personal friend of Kurt Huber, one of the founders of the resistance movement Die Weiße Rose (the White Rose), and who was condemned to death by the Volksgerichtshof and executed by the Nazis in 1943. After World War II, Orff claimed that he was a member of the group, and was himself involved in the resistance, but there was no evidence for this other than his own word, and other sources dispute his claim (for example [http://www.h-net.org/~german/articles/dennis1.html]). Orff is buried in the Baroque church of the beer-brewing Benedictine priory of Andechs, south of Munich.

Musical work

Orff is most known for Carmina Burana (1937), a "scenic cantata". It is the first of a trilogy that also includes Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. These compositions reflected his interest in medieval German poetry. Together the trilogy is called Trionfi, meaning "triumph". It is described by the composer as the celebration of the triumph of the human spirit through sexual and holistic balance. The work was based on a 13th-century erotic verse found in a manuscript dubbed the Codex latinus monacensis found in a Bavarian monastery in 1803 written by the Goliards. The Goliards were often used to describe students who wrote secular verse in the Middle Ages. While "modern" in some of his compositional techniques, Orff was able to capture the spirit of the medieval period in this trilogy, with infectious rhythms and easy tonalities. The medieval poems, written in an early form of German and Latin, are often racy, but without descending into smut. With the success of Carmina Burana, Orff orphaned all of his previous works except for Catulli Carmina and the En trata, which were rewritten until acceptable by Orff. As a historical aside, Carmina Burana is probably the most famous piece of music composed and premiered in Nazi Germany. Carmina Burana was in fact so popular that Orff received a commission in Vienna to compose music for Midsummer Night's Dream, which was supposed to replace the banned music by Mendelssohn. Orff began working on the new incidental music, but he did not complete it until 1964. Orff was reluctant to call any of his works simply operas. For example, he called Der Mond ("The Moon") (1939) a "Märchenoper" or Fairytale Opera. He placed Die Kluge ("The Wise Woman") (1943) into the same category. In both compositions there is that same medieval or timeless sound, without actually copying the musical idioms of the period. Their melodies, rhythms and, with them, text appear in a union of words and music. About his Antigone (1949), Orff said specifically that it was not an opera, rather a Vertonung, a "musical setting" of the ancient tragedy. The text is an excellent German translation, by Friedrich Hölderlin, of the Sophocles play of the same name. The orchestration relies heavily on the percussion section, and is otherwise fairly simple. It has been labelled by some as minimalistic, which is most adequate in terms of the melodic line. The story of Antigone has a haunting similarity to the history of Sophie Scholl, heroine of the White Rose, and Orff may have been memorializing her in his opera. Orff's last work, De Temporum Fine Comoedia ("A Play of the End of Time"), had its premiere at the Salzburg music festival on August 20, 1973, performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In this highly personal work, Orff presented a mystery play, in which he summarized his view on the end of time, sung in Greek, German, and Latin.

Pedagogical work

In pedagogical circles he is probably best remembered for his Schulwerk (1930-35), translated into English as Music for Children. Its simple musical instrumentation allowed even untutored child musicians to perform the piece with relative ease. Much of his life Orff worked with children, using music as an educational tool - both melody and rhythm are often determined by the words. Orff's ideas were developed, together with Gunild Keetman, into a very innovative approach to music education for children, known as the Orff Schulwerk. The term Schulwerk is German for schooling or school work.

References and further reading

- Alberto Fassone: "Carl Orff", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 27 November 2004), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)]

External links

- [http://www.orff.de/ Carl Orff home page] Orff, Carl Orff, Carl Orff, Carl Orff, Carl Orff, Carl ja:カール・オルフ th:คาร์ล ออร์ฟ

Antigone (modern play)

Jean Anouilh's play Antigone is a tragedy inspired by Greek mythology and the play of the same name (Antigone, by Sophocles) from the fifth century B.C. It is often distinguished from its antecedent by being pronounced in its original French form, approximately "Ante-GŌN." The play was first performed in Paris on February 6 1944, not insignificantly during the Nazi occupation thereof. It is widely understood that the character of Antigone represents courageous members of the French resistance, while her uncle Créon represents the collaborators to the German occupiers. Just as in the myth and original play, the action follows the battle for Thèbes in which both of Antigone's brothers have been killed. Créon, now king, has decreed that while Antigone's brother Etéocle should be given the usual respectful burial, Polynice must be left as carrion for scavengers. Antigone chooses to attempt to bury Polynice, and is brought before Créon as a prisoner. Créon attempts to overlook the offense, perhaps because Antigone is betrothed to his son Hémon, but Antigone refuses to be denied the responsibility for her actions, whether they be viewed as guilt or credit. The crux of the play is the lengthy dialogue between Créon and Antigone concerning the nature of power, fate, and choice. Aside from the two major speaking roles, also appearing are:
- Ismène, Antigone's sister
- La Nourrice, Antigone's nursemaid
- Hémon, Antigone's betrothed
- Les gardes, Theban royal guards
- Le chœur, a Greek-style chorus
- Le messager, a messanger Créon's wife Eurydice is spoken of but does not appear onstage. Category:French plays

Jean Anouilh

Jean Anouilh (June 23, 1910 – October 3, 1987) was a French dramatist. He was born in Bordeaux and had Basque ancestry. He started his career as a jobbing writer in the film industry. In 1931, his first play, L'Hermine, flopped, but he followed it up with a string of others. Jean Anouilh died in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Works include

- L'Hermine (1931)
- Mandarine (1933)
- Y avait un prisonnier (1935)
- Le voyageur sans bagage (1937)
- La sauvage (1938)
- Le Bal des Voleurs (Thieves' Carnival) (1938)
- Léocadia (1940)
- Eurydice (1941)
- Le rendez-vous de Senlis (1941)
- Antigone (1942)
- Roméo et Jeannette (1946)
- L'Invitation au Chateau (Ring Round the Moon) (1947)
- Ardèle ou la Marguerite (1948)
- La répétition ou l'amour puni (1950)
- Colombe (1951)
- La valse des toréadors (1952)
- L'Alouette (The Lark) (1952)
- Ornifle ou le courant d'air (1955)
- Pauvre Bitos ou le dîner de têtes (1956)
- Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu (1959)
- L'hurluberlu ou le réactionnaire amoureux (1959)
- La petite Molière (1959)
- Becket (1960)
- La Grotte (1961)
- Le boulanger, la boulangère et le petit mitron (1968)
- Cher Antoine (1969)
- Chers zoizeaux (1976)
- Le nombril (1981) Anouilh, Jean Anouilh, Jean Anouilh, Jean

Peleus

In Greek mythology, Pēleús (Greek: Πηλεύς) was the son of Aeacus, King of Aegina. Peleus and Telamon, his brother, killed their half-brother, Phocus and fled Aegina to escape punishment. In Phthia, Peleus was purified by Eurytion and married Antigone, Eurytion's daughter. Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion during the hunt for the Calydonian Boar and fled Phthia. Peleus was purifed of the murder of Eurytion in Iolcus by Acastus. In Iolcus, Peleus lost a wrestling match in the funeral games of Pelias, Acastus' father, to Atalanta. Astydameia, Acastus' wife, fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her. Bitter, she sent a messenger to Antigone to tell her that Peleus was to marry Acastus' daughter; Antigone hanged herself. Astydameia then told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her. Acastus took Peleus on a hunting trip and hid his sword, then abandoned him right before a group of centaurs attacked. Chiron, the wise centaur, returned Peleus' sword and Peleus managed to escape. He pillaged Iolcus and dismembered Astydameia, then marched his army between the pieces. After Antigone's death, Peleus married the sea-nymph Thetis and fathered Achilles by her. As a wedding present, Poseidon gave Peleus two immortal horses: Balius and Xanthus. Their wedding, however, was also the beginning of the quarrel that led to the judgement of Paris. According to legend, Thetis had tried to make Achilles invincible by dipping him in the river Styx, but forgot to wet the heel she held him by, leaving him vulnerable so he could be killed by a blow to that heel. Homer, however, deliberately makes no mention of this; Achilles can not be a hero if he is not at risk. In an earlier and less popular version of the story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage (a nearly identical story is told by Plutarch, in his On Isis and Osiris, of the goddess Isis burning away the mortality of Prince Maneros of Byblos, son of Queen Astarte, and being likewise interrupted before completing the process). Peleus gave him to Chiron, on Mt. Pelion (which took its name from Peleus), to raise. There are two versions of Peleus' fate: #The sons of Acastus exiled him from Phthia and he died #He was reunited with Thetis and made immortal. Apollodorus. Bibliotheke I, ix, 16 and III, ix,2 and xii, 6- xiii,7; Apollodorus. Epitome vi, 13; Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica IV,805- 879; Ovid. Metamorphoses VIII, 299-381; Homer. Iliad XVIII, 78-87; Euripides. Andromache. Category:Argonauts Category:Greek_mythological_people

Peleus

Telamon

In Greek mythology, Telamon, son of Aeacus, King of Aegina and Endeis and brother of Peleus, accompanied Jason as one his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. He also participated in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks, along with his son, Ajax. After killing their half-brother, Phocus, Telamon and Peleus had to leave Aegina. King Cychreus of Salamis welcomed Telamon and befriended him. Telamon married Periboea, who gave birth to Ajax. Later, Cychreus gave Telamon his kingdom. Telamon also figures into both versions of Heracles' sacking of Troy, which was ruled by King Laomedon or Tros in the alternate versions. Before the Trojan War, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. In the King Tros version, Heracles (along with Telamon and Oicles) agreed to kill the monster if Tros would give him the horses he received from Zeus as compensation for Zeus' kidnapping Ganymede, Tros' son. Tros agreed; Heracles succeeded and Telamon married Hesione, Tros' daughter, giving birth to Teucer by him. In the King Laomedon version, Laomedon planned on sacrificing his daughter Hesione to Poseidon in the hope of appeasing him. Heracles rescued her at the last minute and killed both the monster and Laomedon and Laomedon's sons, save Ganymede, who was on Mt. Olympus, and Podarge, who saved his own life by giving Heracles a golden veil Hesione had made. Telamon took Hesione as a war prize and married her, and she gave birth to Teucer by him. Apollodorus. Bibliotheke I, viii, 2 and ix 16; II, vi, 4; III, xii,6-7; Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica I, 90-94; Ovid. Metamorphoses VIII, 309. Category:Argonauts Category:People who fought in the Trojan War

Phthia

:For the asteroid, see 189 Phthia. Phthia (Greek: Φθίη transliterations:, modern: Fthii, ancient: Phthiē) is an ancient region of Greece, at the southern part of Magnesia, on the both sides of Othrys mountain. It was the homeland of the Myrmidones tribe, who took part in the Trojan War under Achilles. Founded by Aiakos, grandfather of Achilles, it was the home of his father Peleus and his sea-nymph mother Thetis. In Crito, one of the dialogues written by Plato, while Socrates was condemned to death and awaiting his execution, he had a dream where a woman told him that he would go to Phthia in three days--he interpreted it as a sign that his sentence would be carried out in three days. Source: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html translated by Benjamin Jowett on the MIT website.

Eurytion

In Greek mythology, Eurytion (or, alternatively, Eurythion) referred to three different people. #One was the King of Phthia and father of Antigone. In Phthia, Peleus was purified by Eurytion for the murder of Phocus and married Antigone, Eurytion's daughter. Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion during the hunt for the Calydonian Boar and fled Phthia. #Son of Ares and the Hesperid Erytheia, who bore him "beside the silver-rooted boundless waters of the river Tartessus, in the hollow of a rock. He was the guardian of the cattle of Geryon and was killed by Heracles. #A Trojan archer during the Trojan War. (Virgil V, 514). #An Argonaut, son of Kenethos and Cerion.

Iolcus

Iolcos (also known as Iolkos or Iolcus, Greek: Ιώλκος) was an ancient city in Thessaly, central-eastern Greece (near the modern city of Volos). Aeson was the rightful king of Iolcos, but his brother Pelias usurped the throne. It was Pelias who sent Aeson's son Jason and his Argonauts to look for the Golden Fleece. Anakassia has a school, a lyceum, a gymnasium, banks, a post office and a square (plateia). Iolkos has a school and a small square (plateia).

Historical population

Geographic position

	North: Makrinitsa
West: Nea Ionia	Iolkos	East: Portaria
	South: Volos

Acastus

In Greek Mythology, Acastus was one of the men who sailed with Jason and the Argonauts. His father was Pelias, then king of Ioklos who was later killed thanks to a trick by Medea. In revenge, Acastus drove Jason and Medea into exile, and so became king of the country himself. Acastus purifed Peleus of the murder of King Eurytion of Phthia Then, Peleus lost a wrestling match in the funeral games of Pelias to Atalanta. Astydameia, Acastus' wife, fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her. Bitter, she sent a messenger to Antigone, Peleus' wife and daughter of Eurytion, to tell her that Peleus was to marry Acastus' daughter, Steropes; Antigone hanged herself. Astydameia then told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her. Acastus took Peleus on a hunting trip and hid his sword, then abandoned him right before a group of centaurs attacked. Chiron, the wise centaur, returned Peleus' sword and Peleus managed to escape. He pillaged Ioklos, sometimes said to have been helped by Jason and the Dioscuri, and dismembered Astydameia, then marched his army between the pieces. Acastus and Astydameia were dead, and the kingdom fell to Jason's son Thessalus. Acastus and Astydameia had one daughter besides Sterope: Laodamia. Another daughter Stenele is given by Apollodorus of Athens as the wife of Menoetius and mother of Patroclus. Category:Argonauts

Atalanta

Atalanta ("balanced") is a character from ancient Greek mythology. She was from the Arcadia region of Greece, a daughter of Iasus or Schoeneus and of Clymene. Her father (Iasus or Schoeneus) wanted a son, so after Atalanta's birth he left her exposed on a mountaintop. Artemis sent a female bear to suckle her and eventually a group of hunters raised her. Years later a beast called the Calydonian Boar was stalking the land. King Oeneus sent his son Meleager to gather up heroes to hunt the Boar. Among many others, Meleager chose Atalanta, who by now was a young woman and a fierce huntress, with whom he fell in love and who returned his love. Atalanta participated in the hunt and struck the first wound, though Meleager killed the boar. Since she had caused the first drop of blood to be shed, Meleager awarded her the hide. According to one account of the hunt, the two centaurs Hylaeus and Rhaecus tried to rape Atalanta, but Meleager killed them. Also during the hunt, Eurypylus and Iphicles insulted her, and Meleager killed them. Toxeus and Plexippus (Meleager's maternal uncles) grew enraged that the prize was given to a woman. Meleager killed them in the ensuing argument. Since Meleager had killed her two brothers, Althaea Meleager's mother placed the magic log upon which his life depended on a fire, killing him. The grief-strickened Atalant