oedipus and antigone

A detailed Summary of oedipus and antigone

Jay Freedman Mr. Doyle

Greek drama is about human nature and the human condition. Both Antigone and Oedipus the King by Sophocles are two of the most distinguished pieces of theatrical work that reflects upon Greek mythology and culture. In both of these works they are comparable because in both plays reasonable choices are made from the best possible motivation but are come back to haunt one day and both plays have a tragic hero.

In the play Oedipus the King, when Oedipus grows up and finds out he is a threat to his mother and father, he leaves who he believes are his parents in order to prevent his performing the horrible deeds predicted of him. When he meets Laius, his biological father, on the road, he kills him in what he considers self-defense. He then saves Thebes from the Sphinx and is rewarded with the hand in marriage of the recently widowed queen, with whom he conceives four children, who happen to also be his brothers and sisters, and his wife's grandchildren. Each of the above actions lead to, and actually make possible, the terrible fate that befalls Oedipus.

In Antigone, the play starts after the day of a

about this, she commits suicide. Oedipus, gouges out his eyes because, he no longer wants to see if he cannot see his love and is exiled from Thebes for killing Laius. In Antigone, Creon does not believe in fate and his stubbornness' makes him disobey Tiresias' orders.

"Fate" is the word often used in conjunction with classic Greek literature and drama, but fate in the sense of pre-determined outcomes is not a perspective held by many Americans today. It is not that one is fated before one makes a choice to have certain consequences occur, but that certain consequences will eventually result from certain choices and actions. In both these plays fate determines both of the leader's results.

Both charcaters tried to do something noble for their land but fate has is set for them that their lives will end in a disaster.

Both of these plays discuss how people can not escape fate, no matter how good or bad they are in life and that fate is something that is pre-determined and cannot be changed. Also they both have a tragic hero, one of then is Oedipus while the other is Antigone. They both die for the something that they thought was right.

In both plays, there is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone who dies or who's life is destroyed for something that they have done that they believe is right and for the good of the land.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Antigone Creon, Antigone Antigone, King Oedipus, Polyneices Creon, Thebes Sphinx, King Sophocles, Creon Apollo, Creon's Polyneices, Oedipus Antigone, Creon Polyneices', tragic hero, oedipus king, own life, disobeying creon's law, creon's law, plays tragic, quote means, play oedipus, oedipus antigone, hero dies, tragic hero dies, plays tragic hero, death antigone,

Approximate Word count = 925
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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