Oedipus The King And Antigone: Play Analysis

In a letter dated January 31, 2018 my friend Alisson Sanchez said that humans are a collection of "repressed anger, abuse, and agony from our parents, their parents, and their parent's parents. It's a fucked up inheritance that we don't address or merely cannot see because our heads are so far up our asses." In plays, Oedipus the King and Antigone, Sophocles tells the story of the prophesized Oedipus, who is to commit atrocious acts and his attempts to escape his destiny. Regardless of his efforts, Oedipus falls from power and in death continues to cause torment for his kin. In dramatizing his plays at the Great Dionysia, attended by the positions of authority to the slaves of the Ancient Greek Empire, Sophocles demonstrates that acting with

Creon is a recurring character in the Trilogy whose demeanor changes with the gain of the throne. In Oedipus the King, Creon's actions are noble and show that he is wise. He is the man sent to seek the help of the oracle at Delphi; however, this makes him a target for Oedipus' cruel judgement. Despite being ridiculed by Oedipus in the beginning of the play; Creon tells Oedipus that he has "not come to mock" him but rather to take him into the royal palace to avoid being seen by the Thebians by the end of the play. (Sophocles, Oedipus 192; Exodus) Yet, in Antigone Creon receives the throne to Thebes and quickly grows corrupt. From the opening lines the audience learns that Creon has enacted a law that intends to reign supreme to the gods' law. This is already a character flaw because Creon is aware that acting out against the gods' will can lead to destruction. Regardless, he sentences Antigone to be killed for properly burying her brother as the gods command. Creons’ son tells him that the his "temper terrifies" the people of Thebes (Sophocles, Antigone 7; Ode 2). That they will do anything the king ask out of fear which is not a good quality to possess, especially in Greece where democracy was discovered. Perhaps Sophocles created Creon to mimic those in power in Greece at the time, to warn them about their power as

For example, in Oedipus the King, Jocasta the Queen of Thebes kills herself by method of hanging after learning that Oedipus was her son who she married and laid in bed with. Sophocles perhaps wanted to warn women who attended his plays to avoid following Jocasta's actions. Another example of Sophocles' idea of proper behavior for females is Antigone. While Antigone does kill herself by hanging at the end of the play, she does so for a different reason than Jocasta. Antigone was standing up for what she believed in—the gods' law. Some people would argue that Antigone's downfall was not her fault; that Creon forced her to illegally bury her brother and commit suicide. However, Antigone showed that her pride was her fatal flaw. For instance, after being caught as the person illegally burying the fallen soldier, the speaker for the chorus states that Antigone is much like her father Oedipus, "headstrong, [and] deaf to reason" (Sophocles, Antigone; Scene 2, 6). Ultimately, Antigone's pride killed her. Perhaps Sophocles wrote the female characters to demonstrate that women were not free from the societal shackles. In Sophocles view, women must behave such as the men do for they are both judged by the gods