Fate And Free Will In Sophocles Antigone

In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, the main character Antigone goes against the rules of the government by burying the body of her brother when she was not supposed to. Through allusion and metaphors, Sophocles proves that actions dictates one’s life rather than fate. During the play, Antigone pleads that she has been cursed by her parents and that is why she is being punished. Antigone claims that her fate is similar to Niobe’s, a greek myth, saying, “How often I have heard the story of Niobe… I feel the loneliness of her death in mine” (15-20). In the myth, Niobe brags about her fourteen children to a woman named Leto, who only has two children. This enrages her and she kills all of Niobe’s sons proving how it was Niobe’s pride that led to her death, not her fate. Later in the play, a messenger talks to the Choragos

This paradox demonstrates how Creon has lost everything because of his pride. Even though he is still alive on the earth, he has lost everything important to him because he chose to do what he knew was wrong. Another example of this can be seen through A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Charles Darnay was born to a rich and successful family while everyone else in France starved and suffered. Darnay’s uncle remarks that, “The dark deference of fear and slavery...will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof...shuts out the sky.” The evils of Darnay’s family is characterized here as his uncle compares people to dogs. Despite this, Darnay chooses to renounce his family and give up his land, even though his life would have been easier in the family. Darnay proves how actions dictate one’s life, and not