Similarities Between Oedipus And Antigone

In real life, tragedies are often thought of as something people try to avoid. However, in the world of the playwright, tragedies make some of the most popular stories. Tragedies always have to have one thing— a tragic hero. A tragic hero is one who usually falls from an important position because of a fatal flaw, most commonly known as hubris, or pride. The tragic heroes of Oedipus and Antigone are their namesakes and protagonists, Oedipus and Antigone. First of all, Oedipus acts in very prideful ways throughout all of Oedipus. One example is when Teiresias arrived in Thebes so that he could advise Oedipus on how to lift the curse from his city. During this scene, Oedipus repeatedly ridiculed Teiresias, because he thought he was spewing nonsense

If Antigone had actually listened to Ismene when she was told to heed Creon’s law, she may have never faced off with Creon, leading her to not be sentenced to death. This is because Ismene used logical support and evidence during the first scene, when she warned Antigone about what might happen if she breaks the law. Also, Ismene warned Antigone that women could not do anything against a man’s power, which was true at the time this was written. She tried to warn Antigone that men get furious when someone, especially a woman, threatens their manhood. Antigone’s life would have also changed if she had stopped to consider someone else’s opinion instead of just diving in headfirst with her own. Because she was sentenced to death when she didn’t accept Creon’s opinion, if she had, everything would have changed. Antigone may have been able to keep living instead of dying so early in her life. When Creon said, “And you dared defy the law,” she could have apologized to him instead of continuing to argue, which would have most likely lessened her punishment due to the fact that she was his niece by blood. Antigone would have been punished for defying the law, but she would have not died, which would have completely changed her life, and the story itself. In Oedipus’ situation, his life would have also changed had he been less prideful. If he had heeded Teiresias’ advice and not been so “courageous” in learning about his origins, he may have been able to avoid many things, such as public humiliation and immediate damnation. He would have suffered the same fate altogether, due to the fact that he was destined to live a cursed life, but he could have avoided other effects that came with this curse, such as Jocasta committing suicide. Since Thebes only had to be freed of the person harboring the curse to flourish again, he could have escaped quietly,