Sophocles’ play Antigone, and Martin Luther king Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail analyze the underlying truth concerning their moral situations tied in with the legal systems of their times. Antigone was faced with whether to follow her heart and go against her very own uncle, while King himself did not face any personal dilemmas but was providing the intended audience a choice, either to side with his methods or fall in to the power of their faulty legal system. In this paper, I will argue how both pieces face different moral and legal dilemmas in their own unique way which ultimately questions the jurisdictions set forth by those in power. Does law reflect morality? In this short play, Antigone is faced with the choice to either bury Polynecies
Andrew Wurts oedipus was the son of his Laius and Jocasta. When Oedipus was born his parents felt a need to kill him on behalf of what an oracle tells them. oedipus the king, written by sophocles is the story of the fate of oedipus being attempted to be killed at birth, ruling his parents kingdom and marrying his mother, Jocasta, and killing his father, Laius. despite surviving contacted murder when he was a meer baby. Hubris is displayed throughout the story at different times.
The another reason of why Sophocles did not enter public life is “ Do you think I would have survived all these years if I were engaged in public affairs, and acting as a good man must, came to the help of justice…” (Grube 37). Sophocles acted as a good man for his society. He taught people without any concern of receiving compensation. He taught both the rich and the poor.
In Antigone, they were four siblings, they were the children or Oedipus and Jocasta. Eteocles and Polyneices that was strong and brave but Eteocles was so stubborn and the things he wanted will happen either you like it or not and Polyneices was fair. Antigone that was kind, helpful,strong,confident and loyal. Lastly Ismene she was the one that was scared she cared about the law and respected the king. In Antigone the two brothers fought against the law Polyneices was supposed to have his turn to have the throne, playing by the rules of Eteocles having the throne for a year,displaying fairness.
Sophocles was born near Athens, Greece in 496 BC he was the son of Sophilus and Jocasta. Because his father was a wealthy member of their small community Sophocles had a educated and nice childhood. From a young age Sophocles's began to win awards for his many academic accomplishments. In his prime Sophocles entered competitions and his plays were brought to the attention of Athens where his playwriting career really took off. Some of his most popular plays and books include: Antigone (441 BC), Electra, Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (429 BC), Oedipus at Colonus, Ajax, Epigoni, and Philoctetes.
In the novel Oedipus the king,what Sophocles strives to reveal to us about his society is that although the truth can often hurt, knowledge to the greeks was very important to them because they were a people who needed to be informed about everything. In Sophocles time gods were revered more than anything, and because of how powerful these divine beings were it was not in any human's control to question them since they could not confront these all divine beings who controlled their fate and actions. Throughout the novel Sophocles intentions are to show the readers the concept of sight and blindness as well as the idea of fate and freewill, greek plays in these ancient times were designed to incorporate throughout the story dramatic irony which a theme that revolves around the story..
They talked about how he grew up in a prestigious family that never received diatribe. Once the man found the boy, he discovered the boy had nominal bulwark. When ever he would talk, it was just diatribe toward everyone. At first he was mad and the woman thought she might need bulwark but then there was a nominal change.
Out of the three pre-socratic scholars, my beliefs most align with Heraclitus. Heraclitus believed that the arche of reality was time, because it was a universal aspect that affects all beings. This argument was the most logical to me, because Heraclitus’ argues that no object or moment is the same as it was in a previous point of time. Even though the changes might be small, everything is evolving gradually, whether it’s mentally or physically. The particular example that Heraclitus uses is stepping into a river, which he explains that “those who step into the same river have different waters flowing ever upon them”, and that “It is not possible to step twice into the same river”.
Oedipus, holding Creon by the collar, begging Creon to promise him to take care of his children while he would be gone; but little did Oedipus know, Creon would go against Oedipus’s promise and try to kill his own daughter to uphold his image as king. Creon continuously lies to Oedipus and the people of Thebes throughout the course of Antigone and Oedipus Rex. He claims he isn’t killing her and says he isn’t a liar, but in truth, he knows the he is disregarding his friend Oedipus’s wishes for his own purposes. In Sophocles' Theban Plays, Creon is not fulfilling his promise to Oedipus by protecting his two daughters because he is about to kill one of them which shows that he is not trustworthy or reliable. When Creon makes his command to kill Antigone, who had been locked in a chamber in his basement, he claims that “his hands are clean” meaning he should not be accused for her murder and that she brought it upon herself (pages 104 ll. 975).
In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and agency are very strong throughout the play. Both sides of the argument can be greatly supported. The attributes of a person have either a positive or negative affect on the choices that they make. For Oedipus, his main attribute was the desire for knowledge and understanding about his own life. Because of this strong will and desire, this was Oedipus’ driving force in the play to lead him to the truth of his beginnings.
Leaders are powerful people who prove their ability to assist others. Throughout the years, humanity attempts to have an upright, yet rigorous, rule. Great leaders have induced goals that represent the needs of both the leader and their people. In Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, the examination of the legitimacy of Creon’s rule, shows that Creon is not an effective leader through his inability to listen to his people, his rule through fear, and incapacity to support his family or people.
“Can we find a better than the traditional sort?---and this has two divisions, gymnastic for the body, and music for the soul” (119). Here Sophocles states that the teaching of the arts to the guardians is essential for a perfect society. As Diognetus, I am delighted to discover that there is another Greek who agrees with me, but, as Sophocles starts to say that some writers should be censored, God cannot change forms, music may not tell lies, and the style of speaking should be kept simple, my choice of plays are restricted and I start to question Sophocles’ ideas. First of all, Sophocles says, “the first thing will be to establish a censorship of the writers of fiction and let the censors receive any tale of fiction which is good, and reject
In Ancient Greek mythology, fate is the focal point of many plays and is significant in establishing the catharsis that Greek tragedies provide for the audience. The playwrights use the catharsis to allude to the general theme that people cannot escape their fate, and using symbolism is an effective way to emphasize the theme. Sophocles, the Ancient Greek playwright of Oedipus Rex, uses the symbolism of blindness to develop the play’s theme and teach the audience a lesson about fate. Sophocles uses blindness to symbolize to ability to see truth and accept fate.
Sophocles had an enormous impact on Greek theater due to three theatrical innovations he made: the addition of a third actor, ending the custom of presenting tragedies as linked trilogies, and the increase of the chorus from twelve to fifteen. The three greatest classical tragedians are Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides, but Sophocles is known as the greatest dramatist in Western literature. Due to innovations he made to Greek theater and the plays he wrote, Sophocles is a more successful dramatist than Aeschylus and Euripides. He wrote 123 plays during his lifetime and of those, seven survive to this day. Sophocles surviving tragedies are still known to this day because of “Sophocles' technical skill as a dramatist, unforgettable characters,
The theme of ignorance versus knowledge is greatly portrayed in this extremely impactful Greek tragedy written centuries ago, discovering and acknowledging great defeat and one’s destiny. The author of this Greek tragedy is a man named Sophocles. He has written a play that involves Oedipus, the King of Thebes, his wife and queen Jocasta, Tiresias, the blind prophet, and Creon, his brother-in-law. The play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles explores ignorance versus knowledge to truly understand that one cannot control their destiny. This theme is illustrated through point of view, imagery, and symbolism.
