Free Will In Antigone And Oedipus The King

Tragedies written by Ancient Greeks touch on sensitive moral and societal issues that raise a question about whether or not the course of one’s life is predetermined by the gods and the individual has no self-will to guide it. Spirituality was a significant part of Ancient Greek cul-ture which is displayed as unpreventable fate accompanying tragic heroes in plays. The plays Oe-dipus Rex and Antigone written by Ancient Greek author Sophocles explore the theme in ancient Greek tragedy of destiny versus free will. The main protagonists are tragic heroes who are des-tined to share a common strength, such as courage and common weaknesses such as stubbornness as well as to face their tragic doom. First, Oedipus and Antigone are both of a high standing, which distinguishes them from other characters in the plays. Oedipus is a King of Thebes and Antigone is his daughter, and therefore a princess of Thebes. Both of them show bravery and courage in fighting for what they believe is right. While

Both characters, Oedipus and Antigone, demonstrate that they correspond to Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero by being noble belonging to a hereditary class and by being brave. For instance, at the very beginning of the play Oedipus Rex, the main character states about himself: “I, Oedipus, who bear the famous name” (Prologue, l. 10). By dint of characterization, the author suggests that Oedipus has a “famous name” which distinguishes him from other citizens of Thebes. Oedi-pus draws the attention of the audience by referring to his “famous name”, because he is not only a King of Thebes, but he is well known for his strong leadership and previous actions that liberat-ed the city from Sphinx. As for Antigone, she refers to the tragic events of her ancestry in order to justify her royal