The Power of Fate
Throughout history, society has pondered the existence of a universal reality, in which the order of things is predetermined and inevitable; furthermore, people cogitate the influence of such a diabolical power in our decision-making process. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines fate as the will, principle, or determining cause by which things, in general, are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do. However, over the decades, people have endeavored to alter their fate, and thus change their destiny. While many have succeeded, such as Martin Luther King Jr., the inspirational leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, others have sacrificed their lives for a cause that ultimately failed. Sophocles’
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In addition, he has four children with Jocasta, Antigone, Polyneices, Eteocles, and Ismene. When they discover their predicament, Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus flees the city after he pierces his eyes out. Thus, the citizens of Thebes, along with Antigone and Creon, deduce that there must be a curse placed upon Oedipus' family. Allusions to the Oedipus' family curse are prevalent throughout the play. In scene four, Antigone essentially condemns Oedipus for her impending death, saying, "O Oedipus, father and brother! Your marriage strikes from the grave to murder mine” (scene 4, 40-41). Antigone alludes to the alleged scourge, originating from the marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta. The family curse is yet again mentioned in Ode 2, when the chorus sings, “I have seen this gathering sorrow from time long past loom upon Oedipus’ children; generation from generation takes the compulsive rage of the enemy god. So lately, this last flower of Oedipus’ line drank the sunlight! But now a passionate word and a handful of dust have closed up all its beauty” (ode 2, 7-12). In the beginning, she appeared to be an anomaly to the curse, always abiding by the laws and never doing anything to offend the gods. However, she nullified the feasibility of being an exception …show more content…
Teiresias, a trusted prophet renowned for his prophecies’ veracity, advises Creon that “the time is not far off when you shall pay back corpse for corpse, flesh of your own flesh. You have thrust the child of this world into living night: you have kept from the gods below the child that is theirs: the one in a grave before her death, the other, dead, denied the grave. This crime: and the Furies and the dark gods of hell are swift with terrible punishment for you” (scene 5, 70-75). Although Teiresias augers Creon that he “stand[s] once more on the edge of fate” (scene 5, 8), he continues to persecute the innocent and rule Thebes with obstinacy. Moreover, his struggle to conduct Thebes in consonance with absolute power not only afflicts Antigone and her family but all of society and nature as well; hence, nature is reacting to the tension between laws and morals. In other words, Antigone and Creon’s conflicting values are calamitous. Paradoxically, Creon, who fears anarchy so profoundly, is the one creating it, along with destruction and rebellion. According to Aristotle, tragedy is the imitation of an action with incidents arousing pity and fear, and to accomplish its catharsis of such emotion. Moreover, the audience should be imbued with sorrow and anguish after the tragedy concludes. Despite
Antigone is a play about the tension caused when two individuals have conflicting claims regarding law. In this case, the moral superiority of the laws of the city, represented by Creon, and the laws of the gods, represented bt Antigone. In contrast, Oedipus The King is driven by the tensions within Oedipus himself. That play both begins and concludes within the public domain, the plot being driven by the plague that troubles the city, and which is so graphically brought to life by the Priest. In both Antigone (ll179-82) and Oedipus The King (ll29-31) the city is likened to a storm tossed ship, and it cannot be merely coincidence that Oedipus The King was written at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, a time when Athens itself was suffering the effects of plague. Oedipus The King reaches its climax with a now blinded Oedipus daring to show himself to the people of Thebes, forgetting that he is no longer the leader of the state. In Antigone, it is Creons abuse of absolute power that leads to his tragic downfall. Whilst Oedipus determinedly tried to get to the root of his peoples ills, ultimately discovering that he was in fact the cause of them, Creon morphs from a supposedly caring leader into a tyrannical despot, eager to take the law into his own hands. It is the actions of Antigone that helps to bring about Creons fall from grace, as her steadfast refusal to accept th...
Antigone and her family have suffered many things. It all began with her father, Oedipus. Oedipus has a very confused life. He ends up killing his father, the king of Thebes, while he believes his father is someone else. He ends up as the king of Thebes and married to his mother, Jocasta.
Antigone is not a tragic play. Rather it is a theological debate spawned by Sophocles, a debate that is still raging today, the debate of who holds the higher law, the Gods or the State. While this debate has slowly twisted into Church versus State, which is a very different argument, the highest questions still remain the same: Which one is held higher in men’s (and women’s) hearts? Antigone answers this question with shocking clarity in her admission of guilt to Creon, “ I should have praise and honor for what I have
that their son would kill his father and marry his mother (page 56). A son was
Creon, in his paranoia was plagued with the feeling of incompetence and need to establish dominance. His decree that no one would bury Polyneices only provoked the people of Thebes into thinking of him as insensitive to their culture. When his ruling was disobeyed, only led him to him to believe that conspiracy was about and that no matter, family or not, he would punish Antigone, causing a chain reaction of events causing the loss of his entire family, except Ismene. Leaving the audience experiencing pity and fear for both characters.
Some people say that there is no way to control your own life, that your life has been planned out for you ahead of time and there is nothing you can do to escape this fate. Others believe that your life is a matter of choice, and what happens to you during your life is a result of your actions. The story of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles seems to prove truth in both of these statements, that there is a life predetermined for you yet you can alter your life, but you can not escape your prophecy. The quote "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul," by William Henley states just the opposite of what seems to be proven in Oedipus Rex. Because of the references in the story of Oedipus, I disagree with the quote made by William Henley.
In the ancient plays, Oedipus the King and Antigonê, produced by Sophocles. One is introduced to the rulers of a large community of people in the land of Thebes— Oedipus and Creon. Oedipus is a noble character whose fate was cursed by the Greek God, Apollo. Creon, Oedipus' successor, is also a noble leader to the land of Thebes. Both Oedipus and Creon have been through a tremendous amount of hardships in their lives and during their times as rulers. Oedipus found out he had been married to his mother for years and even had children from her. Creon was faced with a hard decision after the death of both of Oedipus' sons— Polyneices and Eteocles. Both Creon and Oedipus are quite similar characters. Oedipus and Creon show both similarities and
In the awe-inspiring play of Antigone, Sophocles introduces two remarkable characters, Antigone and Creon. A conflict between these two obstinate characters leads to fatal consequences for themselves and their kindred. The firm stances of Creon and Antigone stem from two great imperatives: his loyalty to the state and her dedication to her family, her religion but most of all her conscience. The identity of the tragic hero of this play is still heavily debated. This tragedy could have been prevented if it had not been for Creon's pitiful mistakes.
In the Antigone, unlike the Oedipus Tyrannus, paradoxically, the hero who is left in agony at the end of the play is not the title role. Instead King Creon, the newly appointed and tyrannical ruler, is left all alone in his empty palace with his wife's corpse in his hands, having just seen the suicide of his son. However, despite this pitiable fate for the character, his actions and behavior earlier in the play leave the final scene evoking more satisfaction than pity at his torment. The way the martyr Antigone went against the King and the city of Thebes was not entirely honorable or without ulterior motives of fulfilling pious concerns but it is difficult to lose sight of the fact that this passionate and pious young woman was condemned to living imprisonment.
The Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, was written to show the common people of Greece how powerful the gods are and that your fate is pre-determined and nothing you do can change that. He does this by showing how people in this story try to escape their fate and how it is no use because in the end, what the oracles predict comes true. In the story there are many occasions in which people try to escape their fate.
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus ' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King.
A vital subject in the play Oedipus the King is the relation between the characters action and fate. Oedipus had the choice to either let destiny play its course, but as seen in the play Oedipus’s chooses his own downfall, he choose free will. His persistence to uncover the truth about his past and his identity are substantial. Fate on the other hand is accountable for many other important and disturbing events in the play one being responsible for Oedipus marring his own mother. Sophocles clearly suggests that both fate and one’s action works hand on hand, it is clear and becomes difficult to judge Oedipus for incest given his unawareness.
In order for a play to be considered a tragedy, it must achieve the purgation of fear and pity. In the play “Antigone”, Sophocles does a great job of bringing out these two emotions in the reader. At the beginning of the play, there is a conversation between Antigone and her sister Ismene. During the conversation, the reader learns the two girls lost their father in battle and both of their brothers at the hands of one another. Then the reader learns that one of the brothers, Polynices, has been left to die without a proper burial.
Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.
In Oedipus Rex, fate is something that unavoidably befalls two characters. The gods decide Oedipus and Jocasta’s fate even before they know it. Trying to avoid destiny is pointless because no matter what, it will catch up to you where ever you are. It is often thought that you can change your destiny, but in reality our fate was put into action the day we were born.