Events Prior To Antigone

The beginning of the play Antigone actually begins with the tale of Oedipus. Born to father King Laius and mother Queen Jocasta, he was conceived in Thebes. Apollo's oracle, located at Delphi, told a prophecy of great dismay. The king and queen were told that their son would grow up to kill King Laius, and marry his mother. Appalled, they decided to rid of him and be sure he was killed. They gave him to a shepherd, with his feet bound, and told the shepherd to abandon him for death to come. The shepherd had pity on the little baby and gave him to a Corinthian shepherd. This shepherd gives the baby to the king and queen of Corinth. They name him Oedipus, and raise him up into a young man. When Oedipus is older, he discovers the prophecy. He runs away from Corinth, thinking the king and queen are his real parents.
On his journey, he comes across a haughty man who runs him off the road with his chariot. Oedipus, angered, begins to fight the man. The rude stranger is killed, along with his men. Without knowing it, Oedipus kills his father, King Laius. He carried on with his wandering into Thebes. At this time, Thebes has been being threatened by the Sphinx, a creature with the body of a lion, wings, and the face and torso of a woman. She plagues men with a riddle, and when they get it wrong, she devours them. No one has gotten the answer to the riddle. Oedipus encounters this monster, and answers the riddle. The Sphinx then kills herself and Oedipus is free to pass. The citizens of Thebes welcome Oedipus as their savior, and he is proclaimed King of Thebes and, unbeknown, marries his mother. The prophecy has come true, and he has two sons, Polynices and and Eteocles, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene with his new wife.
After a few years, a plague strikes Thebes, and the prophesied only way to end it is to punish the murderer of King Laius. Oedipus goes through many troubles to find the killer, and in the end learns it is he, the murderer of King Laius, in which he seeks. His mother is horrified, and if found dead by suicide in her chambers. Oedipus gouges out his eyes and is sentenced to wander to land, exiled from Thebes by Creon, Queen Jocasta's brother. Antigone accompanies him, and she and Ismene end up present at his death in Colonus. Eteocles becomes King of Thebes, and banishes his brother, Polynices. Polynices flees to Argos and raises an army, in which he begins battle agaisnt Thebes. Polynices and Eteocles both die, and Eteocles is given a proper burial. Creon declares Polynices a traitor, and decrees that his body shall not be buried and must be left to rot. Anyone who buries him will be put to death. This was very important back then, and a horrendous punishment because the Greeks believed that for the soul to be put to eternal rest, the dead person must have a proper burial. Antigone, being sister of Polynices, demands a proper burial for her brother. She believes that the Holy laws should be abided by. This begins the conflict between Antigone anf Creon.