Free Will In Oedipus The King And Antigone

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Free will is an illusion, as nobody can escape their destiny. Despite attempts to avoid a certain fate, humanity revolves around it. This theory is highlighted throughout Sophocles’ work, including in “Oedipus the King” and in “Antigone”. Oedipus, Creon, Antigone, and Tiresias played major roles in the battle of truth and wisdom. Oedipus tried to escape the prophecy of him killing his father and marrying his mother. Despite attempts, the prophecy became true as he hastily discovered his past, while trying to cure his city. Antigone was his daughter and wanted revenge, after Oedipus died, because Creon would not bury her brother. She did it herself and allowed Creon to punish her by enclosing her in a tomb. She believed in the powers of a family instead of laws of a city. Throughout both plays, Oedipus and Antigone followed their true fates in …show more content…

Like Oedipus, he did not listen to Tiresias and it created harsh consequences. Tiresias told Creon that he needs to bury Polynices and safe Antigone, or else Thebes will suffer. Furiously, Creon called him a false prophet with poor predictions. He said,” no human has the power to pollute the gods.” Creon believes the unburied Polynices will not cause vast difficulties because it is one man who did not deserve an honorable exit. Only after communicating with the Chorus, he realized the full situation. This is similar to Oedipus because he also did not originally follow Tiresias by continuing to seek answers. The inability to accept the demands led to the downfall and death of their family. Creon’s incompetence was at his own will, as he made that choice to postpone saving Antigone. This was the irony, as his selfish personality formulated his fate. While the Gods already had his fate set, he used his free will of choice to support that fate. Creon’s actions were ironic because he watched Oedipus fell, yet he did the same thing and promised Oedipus to watch after the

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