Despair

What is the meaning of "Despair" and how does this theme manifest itself in both plays?

Despair means to to lose hope of give up. In King Oedipus, Oedipus first feels despair when he has to leave his foster parents he is sad that he has to leave what he has always know. He then becomes a very well off king in Thebes until everything comes back to haunt him. He feels despair when he learns that he has killed Laius. He feels despair when he finds out the parents he thought were his are really not his birth parents. He feels despair when he learns that Laius is his birth father and he has killed him. Again when he realizes he has fulfilled the prophecy and married his mother. He feels it once more when he sees his mother has hung herself. He has felt too much despair recently and decides he is finished. He banishes himself after he blinds himself.

In Antigone I don't think you see as much despair until the very end when everyone starts killing themselves. Antigone feels despair because she feels she needs to make sure her brother has the proper burial. When she can't give him what she thinks he needs she kills herself. When Haemon sees her dead he feels despair and kills himself because he loved her. When Haemon's mom hears that her son killed himself she feels despair because she cannot bear to lose a son so she kills herself. In the end Creon feels despair because everyone he loved has just killed themselves. He has not only let the town down but has lost everything.