Light and Darkness in Antigone and the Gospel of John of the Holy Bible

Light and Darkness Found in Antigone and the Gospel of John

As a child, my world was enraptured by the wonderful Fisher-Price toy

known as the Lite-Brite. By inserting multicolored little pegs into their

corresponding slots on a detailed guide, I could transform drab, dull, and dark

pieces of paper into wondrous works of brilliant art. The light that filled and

transformed the plastic pegs closely parallel concepts of light and darkness

found within the Gospel of John and in Sophocles' drama Antigone. The Gospel of

John focuses on the profound meaning of the life of Jesus, whom he saw as the

manifestation of God's Word (logos). Teiresias, of Sophocles' play Antigone, is

a blind prophet whose lack of vision does not prevent him from recognizing the

truth. The words of John and the characterization of Sophocles, although

similar in many aspects, differ in the extent to which their concepts of light

and darkness affect humanity. Sophocles' light, in the form of Teiresias,

allows truth to permeate throughout one's lifetime. John's light, as the

manifesta tion ofthe logos, presents truth and enlightenment to humanity, but

also ensures a glorified and joyous afterlife through Christ's salvation.

Teiresias, the voice of fate and harbinger of truth in Sophocles' play

Antigone, humbly enters the drama by addressing the malevolent Creon and stating

that he "must walk by another's steps and see with another's eyes" (Antigone,

102). The wise prophet was metaphorically declaring that he delivered the

message of a higher truth. This truth existed as Natural Law. Teiresias advised

his m...

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...light, only the Gospel of John carries the

secret to eternal salvation.

In a way similar to a child playing with a Lite-

Brite, the Gospel of John and Sophocles' character Teiresias allow rainbows of

light to exist in a world devoid of color. While both allow the existence of a

form of the truth, it is only the Gospel of John that provides a detailed guide

that will allow a person to find order in their truth. Through such truth and

enlightenment, an abstract world of chaos and ignorance can be engulfed by a

world full of order and wisdom. Realms of beauty and glory can manifest

themselves to individuals who accept the truth and the essence of light as a

message from a higher existence. Great joy and pleasure shall come to the child

who can find beauty and order in a bleak world full of ignorance and emptiness.