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There is no curse on the house of Oedipus. Because of the many terrible things that happen to the members of Oedipus's family, a reader might be led to believe that there is such a curse. However, if that person examines the stories of Oedipus Rex and Antigone more closely, he or she will find that the reason so many tragedies happened to Oedipus's family is not because of some curse, but rather because of …

…by running away from their prophesy, but fail and wind up dead and overthrown, respectively. Antigone defies Creon's authority by breaking his edict, and as a result is put to death. Ismene defies the authority of the moral law by refusing to help her sister in her time of need as well as later lying about it. These acts of defiance, rather than a curse, are the causes of tragedy in the family of Oedipus.