The Thebans
by Sophocles
Sophocles - The Thebans
BBC Radio 3: Drama On 3
Broadcast: Sunday 10th December 2006 @ 6:30 p.m.
Sophocles's three great tragedies are brought together in the first radio production of Timberlake Wertenbaker's acclaimed translation.
His powerful versions of "Oedipus Tyrannos", "Oedipus at Colonus" and "Antigone", by Sophocles, were brought together under the
collective title of "The Thebans" and first produced to critical acclaim by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1991. The cycle follows
the fortunes of Oedipus, the mythical king of Thebes, and his daughter Antigone in three powerful dramas of bloody acts, family feuds,
justice, power and fate.
The story of Oedipus was used over and over again in Greek tragic plays, whose writers based much of their work on Greek
mythology. Most classical drama has been lost or destroyed and, consequently, we are left with only one version of the Oedipus story:
these three plays written by Sophocles in the fifth century BC.
Translated and dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker with original music composed by Gary Yershon, performed by Belinda Sykes
(singer/oboist) and Martin Allen (percussion)
Directed by Nadia Molinari in BBC's Manchester studios.
1) 'Oedipus Tyrannos'
Some twelve years before the action of the play begins, Oedipus has been made King of Thebes in gratitude for his freeing the people
from the pestilence brought on them by the presence of the riddling Sphinx. Since Laius, the former king, had shortly before been killed,
Oedipus has been further honoured by the hand of Queen Jocasta.
Now another deadly pestilence is raging and the people have come to ask Oedipus to rescue them as before. The King has
anticipated their need, however. Kreon, Jocasta's brother, returns at the very moment from Apollo's oracle with the announcement that
all will be well if Laius' murderer be found and cast from the city.
In an effort to discover the murderer, Oedipus sends for the blind seer, Tiresias. Under protest the prophet names Oedipus himself as
the criminal. Oedipus, outraged at the accusation, denounces it as a plot of Creon to gain the throne. Jocasta appears just in time to
avoid a battle between the two men. Seers, she assures Oedipus, are not infallible. In proof, she cites the old prophecy that her son
should kill his father and have children by his mother. She prevented its fulfillment, she confesses, by abandoning their infant son in the
mountains. As for Laius, he had been killed by robbers years later at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi.
This information makes Oedipus uneasy. He recalls having killed a man answering Laius' description at this very spot when he was
fleeing from his home in Corinth to avoid fulfillment of a similar prophecy. An aged messenger arrives from Corinth, at this point, to
announce the death of King Polybus, supposed father of Oedipus, and the election of Oedipus as king in his stead. On account of the
old prophecy Oedipus refuses to return to Corinth until his mother, too, is dead. To calm his fears the messenger assures him that he
is not the blood son of Polybus and Merope, but a foundling from the house of Laius deserted in the mountains. This statement is
confirmed by the old shepherd whom Jocasta had charged with the task of exposing her babe. Thus the ancient prophecy has been
fulfilled in each dreadful detail. Jocasta in her horror hangs herself and Oedipus stabs out his eyes. Then he imposes on himself the
penalty of exile which he had promised for the murderer of Laius.
Translated and dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker from "Oedipus Tyrannos" (also known as "Oedipus Rex" and "Oedipus the
King"), a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles in 428 BC. The play was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced,
but comes first in the internal chronology of the plays, followed by "Oedipus at Kolonos" and then "Antigone".
With John Lynch [Oedipus], Fiona Shaw [Jocasta], Michael Feast [Kreon], Kenneth Cranham [Teiresias], Russell Dixon [The
Messenger from Corinth], and Brigit Forsyth, Deborah McAndrew, James Nickerson, Sarah Parks, Stuart Richman, Declan Wilson
[The Chorus].
80 min.
2) 'Oedipus at Kolonos'
Blind, old Oedipus, a former king of Thebes, wanders for many years guided by his daughter, Antigone. Although once successful as
a ruler, he was exiled after the gods sent sickness to the city because Oedipus had killed his father Laius, the prior king, and he
commited incest with his mother, Iocasta, after he becoming king of Thebes. Now he and Antigone end their journey near the Greek
city-state of Athens at a place called Kolonos. There, Oedipus offends the Eumenides -- goddesses of the underworld -- and he must
make offerings later to avoid punishment. His youngest daughter, Ismene, joins them at Kolonos, bearing news from Thebes that her
brothers are fighting over the kingship and that the younger Eteocles exiled his older brother Polyneikes from the city.
Oedipus is stunned to hear this, but she also reveals the oracle's prediction that the each of the sons will soon seek Oedipus' support
to win the battle for the throne. Disgusted, he refuses to help either of them because Theban citizens had treated him so poorly before.
He asks for the help of Theseus, King of Athens, to protect him and his daughters, and the wise king agrees.
Later, Kreon, Jocasta's brother, finds Oedipus at Kolonos and kidnaps his daughters to force Oedipus to return to Thebes, so that the
younger Eteocles can win the war. Thankfully, Theseus comes to the rescue by retrieving the two girls and sending Kreon back to
Thebes empty-handed. Next, the exiled older son Polyneikes comes seeking Oedipus' support, yet the old man is angered at his
son's request and condemns both of his sons to death because they are so selfish.
After praising the Athenians for their kindness, thunder in the sky summons Oedipus into the wilderness to die. Accompanied by his
children and King Theseus, he walks off toward death, declaring that Athens will forever be protected by the gods as long as Theseus
does not reveal the location of his grave to anyone. Oedipus thus dies after a long life filled with suffering that is cured only by
forgiveness and acknowledging the supremity of the gods. Because of his return to faith, he is absolved from the crimes he committed
so many years before. After their father's death, Antigone and Ismene return to Thebes, hoping to prevent the deaths of their two
brothers that Oedipus had predicted.
Overall, the story of "Oedipus at Kolonos" is about opposites: how a good ruler should behave compared to a poor ruler, how a good
city should be compared to a bad city, and how the gods should be worshipped compared to how they should not. After leaving these
negatives behind while seeing the fine example of Athens as a model city, Oedipus finally discovers inner peace. However, the
suffering of his children shall only continue as the daughters try to stop their brothers' unsuccessful battle for the Theban throne.
Translated and dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker from "Oedipus at Kolonos" (also known as "Oedipus Kolonos"), one of the
three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written before Sophocles' death in 406 BC and produced by his
grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC.
With John Lynch [Oedipus], Nadine Marshall [Antigone], Michael Feast [Kreon], Jude Akuwudike [Theseus], William Ash [Polyneikes],
Vinette Robinson [Ismene], and Brigit Forsyth, Deborah McAndrew, James Nickerson, Sarah Parks, Stuart Richman, Declan Wilson
[The Chorus].
70 min.
3) 'Antigone'
After King Oedipus was exiled from the city of Thebes when he learned that he had committed incest and patricide, his younger son
Eteocles claimed that the kingship belonged to him, exiling his older brother Polyneikes. Polyneikes then attacked Thebes with a
massive army, but neither son won because they killed each other in battle. The new Theban king, Kreon, declares that Eteocles will
be buried and honoured as a hero while Polyneikes' body will rot away and be eaten by dogs in disgrace; the penalty for trying to bury
the body is death. Hearing this news, an angry Antigone insists that her brother's body must be buried so that his spirit can rest in
peace, in spite of the cautious advice of her younger sister, Ismene.
Antigone goes to the battlefield in front of Thebes, pouring sand over Polyneikes' body and performing burial rites. She allows herself
to be captured after coming out of hiding when some guards try to brush off the dust, and a defiant Antigone is brought to Kreon. Stunned
that a woman would dare to disobey his orders, he imprisons both Antigone and Ismene as an accomplice, declaring that they shall be
executed. Soon after, Kreon's son Haimon pleads for Antigone's release because he is engaged to marry her, although his arrogant
father mocks him, ignoring his worries.
An angry Haimon runs away, hurt that his father has treated him like this.
Then Kreon changes his mind abruptly, deciding to execute only Antigone since Ismene's innocence is clear, and the older sister is
thus sent outside of Thebes to starve to death in a cave. While Antigone is suffering this unfortunate fate, the blind prophet Teiresias
warns Kreon that the gods are very angry that he has refused burial for Polyneikes, since the very same dogs and birds that eat his
flesh are later used for sacrifices. As a result, Creon's son will die in punishment, he declares. Mocking Teiresias, Kreon does not
listen to this advice, saying that Teiresias just wants to scare him. However, he finally agrees to bury the slain man after the Chorus of
Theban citizens reminds him that Teiresias has never been wrong about anything.
Now worried about his son, Kreon washes Polyneikes' body, performs burial rites, and cremates the body's remains. Then he goes to
free Antigone from the cave where she is imprisoned, but it is too late to avoid tragedy: she has hung herself by a rope, and Haimon
stands weeping beneath her. After trying to attack Kreon, Haemon stabs himself and dies holding Antigone's body in his arms. A
broken man, Kreon returns to the palace only to learn that his wife Eurydice has also commited suicide after learning about her son's
death. Kreon is led away by his citizens, lamenting, wishing for the release from suffering that only death can give him. The story of
Antigone focuses on the role of the ruler in a city, providing a model for all of the bad qualities that a king should not have, lest he be
punished terribly as Kreon was in the end. Moreover, the gods must always be respected by everyone.
Translated and dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker from "Antigone", a tragedy written just before or in 441 BC by Sophocles. It is
chronologically the third of the three Theban plays but was written first.
With Nadine Marshall [Antigone], Michael Feast [Kreon], Vinette Robinson [Ismene], Kenneth Cranham [Teiresias], Adrian Bower
[Haimon], and Brigit Forsyth, Deborah McAndrew, James Nickerson, Sarah Parks, Stuart Richman, Declan Wilson [The Chorus].
80 min.
Jim
