Examples Of Free Will In Antigone

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A tale fated by the Gods or at the fault for one's choices. In Antigone, written by Sophocles. Antigone, the sister of Polynices, breaks Creon’s law and buries her brother, who was previously declared a traitor by the new ruler Creon, out of love. As a result, she goes to prison and her life falls into the hands of Creon. Creon is fated by the Gods to be alone and after his decisions, he proves this fate right leading to the deaths of almost everyone around him. Although the people had free will and their decisions led to the ending outcome of the play. Ultimately their free will was limited by the power and the fate that the gods decided. This story was written by and for the Greeks. In Greek culture, religion had a strong influence and …show more content…

Antigone was destined by the gods to die. This is in order to prove Creon a point of how the gods are above him. She uses her limited free will when she takes her own life. She was able to determine how and when she dies. However, her fate continued to be death no matter what path she could have chosen. This is because the gods had already fated her to die.The chorus says,. Similarly, Haemon and his mother also were fated to die. Haemon decided to do so after he begged Croen to not kill Antigone, seeing that his begging could not change the mind of the stubborn Creon, Haemon decided not to take the side of men and stay with Creon, but kill himself as an act of devotion and to be with Antigone, in turn, choosing the side of the gods. Despite Antioge’s choice and her use of free will to commit suicide; Haemon, who was destined for death, died. The limited free will of Antigone was not and did not change the outcome of Haemon’s death which led to Haemons Mother dying. Regardless of their free will, the gods already destined Creon to be alone. The chorus explains, “Even the pure immortals cannot escape you, and mortal man, in his one day’s dusk, Trembles before your glory.” This fate brought about the people around him having few limited choices ultimately leading to one outcome