| Antigone | [an-TIG-oh-nee] Daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, she was her blinded father's guide in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus and the heroine of Antigone.
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| Cadmus | Founder and king of Thebes, husband of Harmonia, and father of Agave, Autonoe, Ino, and Semele. As a young man, he slew a dragon and (by Athene's direction) planted its teeth, from which warriors sprang up. These fought among themselves until only five remained alive; the surviving five built Thebes and were the ancestors of the Theban aristocracy.
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| Creon | [KREE-on] (1) Greek word for ruler. (2) In Sophocles' Theban plays, Jocasta's brother, (3) In Euripides' Medea, king of Corinth.
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| Eteocles | [e-TEE-oh-kleez] Son of Oedipus and Jocasta, he was killed in a duel with his brother Polyneices.
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| Haemon | Son of Creon, and fiancé to Antigone, he committed suicide when his father condemned his bride-to-be to death.
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| Jocasta | [joh-KAS-ta] Widow of Laius, mother and wife of Oedipus, sister of Creon, and mother of Ismene, Antigone, Eteocles, and Polyneices.
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| Laius | [LAY-uhs] Father of Oedipus and first husband of Jocasta, he brought a curse on his family by eloping with Chrysippus, the son of his host, Pelops.
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| Oedipus | [E-dih-puhs] Son of Laius and Jocasta; father (by Jocasta) of Ismene, Antigone, Eteocles, and Polyneices; and king of Thebes; his myth demonstrates human inability to circumvent the gods' will.
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| Pericles | [PER-ik-leez] Leader of the Athenian democracy (c. 460 – 429 B.C.) and sponsor of the rebuilding of the Acropolis, whose temples included the Parthenon.
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| peripeteia | [per-ih-pe-TEE-uh] In tragedy, the sudden reversal or unexpected change of the hero's fortunes, as when the conquering hero Agamemnon was brought down by his wife.
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| Polyneices | [pol-ih-NYE-seez] Son of Oedipus and Jocasta, he was killed in a battle for the throne of Thebes by his brother Eteocles.
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| Sphinx | Enigmatic creature with the head of a woman, body of a lion, and wings of an eagle, infamous for killing anyone who tried but failed to solve its riddles.
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| Thebes | Leading city of Boeotia, founded by Cadmus and home of Oedipus and his family.
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| Tiresias | [tih-REE-sih-as] Blind Theban prophet who had temporarily been changed into a woman, giving him the experience to settle a quarrel between Hera and Zeus over which sex has the greater capacity for sexual pleasure. Hera blinded him for his candid answer, while Zeus gave him long life and insight.
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