...Oedipus Rex and Antigone- Sophocles “Oedipus Rex” and “Antigone”, plays by the Greek playwright Sophocles take place in the land of Thebes and have their central ideas as the question of justice. The two plays have several attributes in common and also have some differences. Both plays fall under the tragedy genre where the respective kings, King Oedipus in “Oedipus Rex” and King Creon in “Antigone”, display lack of justice and get punished as a result. In “Oedipus Rex”, King Oedipus displays lack of justice by killing the former king (Laius) and all his servants, except one, mercilessly. He also committed a sin by marrying his own mother. Similarly, King Creon displays lack of justice in the play “Antigone”, by denying the burial of Polenysis and he displays cruelty by being the immediate cause for the death of Antigone, the death of his son and the queen as well. In both plays, the curses on the land of Theses came out of the sins of the respective kings. Fate has a critical role in both plays. In “Oedipus Rex”, King Oedipus knew that he would kill his father and breed children from his own mother. That made him leave Corenth to get rid of his supposedly parents. But the return of Oedipus to Thebes paved the way for the prophecy to occur. In “Antigone”, King Creon couldn’t listen to the words of the blind prophet and paid the price for his ignorance. In the two plays, justice was realized in a similar way; which is through the punishment of the kings who disrespected...
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... Extract 4 (Sophocles, Oedipus the King) In Greek Tragedy the medium, as in all forms of poetry is language, to convey a story through an imitation of an action, or as Aristotle defines in S.H. Butcher’s translation of Poetics “Tragedy is a mimesis of a praxis.” (Jones, 2000). This translates to an imitation/ representation of an action. Oedipus the King is structured into five episodes with a prologue to begin, each scene is introduced by the Chorus (the citizens of Thebes) who depict the state of affairs within Thebes. The city is plagued, as a Priest describes to Oedipus “look around you, see with your own eyes- our ship pitches wildly, cannot lift her head from the depths, the red waves of death… Thebes is dying. A blight on the fresh crops and rich pastures, cattle sicken and die, and the women die in labor, children stillborn, and the plague, the fiery god of fever hurls down on the city.” (L 28 – 34) This shows us that Thebes is being punished, and Oedipus, as the King of Thebes is begged by his subjects to put an end to the curse. This shows a good use of dramatic irony, as in fact it was Oedipus who is responsible for the actions of the gods. Oedipus has two conflicts going on within him, the first is that he does not want to kill who he believes is his father, “the man who reared me” (L 916) and the second is he does not want to lay with his mother. These conflicts have followed Oedipus and his father Laius throughout the play, although we do not...
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...Antigone is a play written by Sophocles in or before 441 BC. Sophocles is a greek poet and a tragic dramatist, who wrote three great tragedies about the Theban mythology. Antigone is known as the first of these plays. The play Antigone shows conflict between the king and a woman. The play was written in Athens, a Greek city The ancient Greeks developed Democracy which gave people to have power on making decisions based on their own beliefs. Antigone, daughter of Oedipus is visualized as a tragic heroine. Since women were unable to hold power during those times after the death of Oedipus, the throne was left to his two sons Polyneices and Eteocles. The two brothers were to take teir turns on sharing the throne but Antigone soon lears that the brothers have killed each other in a was over the throne. Due to the death of her brothers Creon, who is Antigon’s uncles becomes the next ruler. Creon’s first order as a King decrees that anyone who buried Polyneices body should be stones to death. even with this order Antigone declares that she will bury Polyneices body. She choses to sacrifices her own life for the devotion to her family and the belief that she wants to ensure that her brother’s soul would make it to the underworld. Back in the times woman’s role were subjected to obey the men, and their rights were limited. Antigone risks her life to bury her brother, because she believed that without a proper burial that the soul will never be able to move on to the next life. When...
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...Demonstrations of Family Loyalty In ancient Greek societies where a woman’s most important role is that of caring for the home and family, the extent of a woman’s loyalty to her family is worthy of exploration. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, whose long absence from home tests her loyalty to him. In comparison to Penelope, Antigone from Sophocles’ Antigone is tested in family loyalty when a law forbids her to bury her brother. Jocasta from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, similarly to Penelope, is tested when her husband’s innocence in a murder case is called into question. While Antigone displays more action in her demonstration of family loyalty, Penelope exhibits the ideal way of showing loyalty to one’s family as her willpower and careful strategies are more successful than that of Antigone and Jocasta. Women in most ancient Greek societies had few rights compared to men, and were submissive to their male superiors, but both Penelope and Antigone’s actions in defense of the loved ones contradict this custom. Penelope is more passive in her actions, telling her eager suitors, “‘Young men, my suitors… go slowly… until I can finish off this web… This is a shroud for old lord Laertes, for that day when the deadly fate… will take him down’”...
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...State control A well established theme in Antigone is the right of the individual to reject society's infringement on her freedom to perform a personal obligation,[14] obvious in Antigone's refusal to let Creon dictate what she is allowed to do with her family members. She says to Ismene about Creon's edict, "He has no right to keep me from my own."[15] Related to this theme is the question whether Antigone's will to bury her brother is based on rational thought or instinct, a debate whose contributors include greats like Goethe.[14] [edit] Natural law and contemporary legal institutions In Antigone, Sophocles asks the question, which law is greater: the gods' or man's. Sophocles votes for the law of the gods. He does this in order to save Athens from the moral destruction which seems imminent. Sophocles wants to warn his countrymen about hubris, or arrogance, because he knows this will be their downfall. In Antigone, the hubris of Creon is revealed. [edit] Civil disobedience The contrasting views of Creon and Antigone with regard to laws higher than those of state inform their different conclusions about civil disobedience. Creon demands obedience to the law above all else, right or wrong. He says that "there is nothing worse than disobedience to authority" (An. 671). Antigone responds with the idea that state law is not absolute, and that it can be broken in civil disobedience in extreme cases, such as honoring the gods, whose rule and authority outweigh Creon's. [edit]...
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...Quran Norris English 102 AC106 Mrs. Stephenson 0Antigone Paper Being a part of a family forces one to have responsibilities and duties that are needed to be fulfilled. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, Antigone has the responsibility of being loyal to her brother, Polynices. Her intuition and strong will discourages her from listening to the power of the state, thus disobeying part of her family, to respect her immediate family. Her devotion leads to the destruction of Creon and herself. Proving that Antigone’s role as a part of a family, does not stand in her determination to do what she believes to be right. It is for this reason that she is willing to destroy herself and Creon to fulfill her duty to both her immediate family and the Gods above. In order to understand Antigone’s actions and motivation, it is important to understand the importance of what a proper burial is to the people of ancient Greece. Unlike most religions, the Greek did not believe in the reward and punishment concept after death. They did not believe that good people went to heaven, while the evil suffered in hell. They believed that life after death was a sad and miserable affair, and the dead deserved to rest in peace. They believed in the importance of a proper burial, as proposed and supported by the gods. The gods mandated the way people lived their everyday life, and how they lived their life after death. The general belief of the people, was that those who did not get a proper burial...
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...A true ruler is a partner and an ally of the people. The title of an effective leader is only rewarded when there is an obvious effort shown to understand and communicate with the people. A leader must take in regards the outward suggestions of his rule to govern a place in a way that is beneficial to its’ residents. In Sophocles’ play Antigone, which is a continuation of Oedipus Rex and the last play in the Oedipus Cycle, this standard is ignored. In the play, the current king of Thebes, by default is Creon. This supposed righteous king is the source of the problems that arise in his country, mainly because he displays ignorance to the Thebans. His shortly fused temper and defensive nature proves to get the best of him. Additionally, he is...
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...How much must a person endure in the face of pain? Loss? Suffering? Loss of a father? Death of both of the brothers at each other's hands? This enormity of death deeply influences the characters' rationales and actions in the play Antigone by Sophocles. Each character behaves in extremes due to his or her unfathomable anguish. Neither Antigone, Haimon, nor Creon act with reason because of their intense personal losses and grief. Unfortunately, both extreme passion and radical reasoning manifest serious tragedy. Antigone, the protagonist of the play, lives with her father’s banishment and the death of her two brothers in a civil war. To add to the torment of the death of her brother, Polynieces, a decree passed by Antigone's uncle, Creon,...
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...a particular person, country, institution, etc. (…).’ Consequently, this term is opposed to free will, defined as ‘the power of an individual to make free choices, not determined by divine predestination, the laws of physical causality, fate, etc. (…).’ Human beings have thought of these antithetic concepts as something to worry about since the beginning of civilization. Because of that, playwrights have taken them into consideration when writing different plays all over the years. This essay seeks to explore the tension existing between the concepts of destiny and free will in the world of drama through the study of language as well as the analysis of character and situation development. In order to carry this research out, I will take Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (429 BC) and Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (1604) as the basis for the analysis. Although the plays were written in different eras and consequently were inspired by very different social and historical backgrounds, the limits between destiny and free will play a very important role in both of them. But how does drama manage to explore this tension? How do playwrights convey the paradox that exists between destiny and free will? Over the course of...
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...On his journey, he is with his daughter Antigone, and the two stop to rest in the grove of the Furies at Colonus, near Athens. Colonus is a suburb of Athens and is ruled by Theseus. Oedipus is now blind and dressed in rags, and is being led by his daughter. A citizen of Colonus passes by the two strangers and tells them they need to move because they are on the sacred ground of the Furies. However, Oedipus believes that was prophesied that the grove is where he will find rest. As more citizens come, Oedipus asks them to send for Theseus because he is on a sacred mission and bears a great gift for the people. After the citizens learn who Oedipus is, they believe that he will ruin to their city and tell him to leave. Oedipus pleads his case to the people of Colonus by explaining that his famous, yet terrible acts were committed unknowingly and he isn’t morally responsible. When Theseus arrives to the grove, he is kind to Oedipus. Oedipus explains to Theseus that if he allows him to stay under the protection of Athens and be buried at Colonus, that his tomb will bless and protect Athens. Oedipus tells Theseus, "oh Theseus, dear friend, only the gods can never age, the gods can never die. All else in the world almighty Time obliterates, crushes all to nothing.” Theseus welcomes Oedipus as a citizen and promises to protect...
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...Introduction The story behind Antigone is well-known. Antigone’s father was Oedipus. When he was born, it was prophesied that he would kill his own father and marry his mother. To avoid this, his parents had him sent out to be killed. The servant tasked with this, however, could not kill him and left him on a hillside to die of natural causes. He was discovered and raised by a poor family, and then later he returned and unknowingly fulfilled the prophesy, becoming in the process the king of Thebes. When the truth of this became known to him, he blinded himself. This story is the subject of the first two plays by Sophocles in the Oedipus cycle, Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. Four children were born of that incestuous marriage–two boys, Eteocles and Polynices, and two girls, Antigone and Ismene. When we join the action here, Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, have died at each other’s hands, Eteocles while defending Thebes and its new king Creon, Polynices in the forces attacking Thebes to remove Creon. Creon issues a decree that Polynices’ body cannot be buried or mourned. Both Antigone and Creon act in headstrong ways, and each rejects any suggestion that the other side may have some validity to its argument. The Greeks had a concept known as hubris. Hubris is overweaning or excessive pride. As you read the selections provided here, please consider the following questions: Questions: 1. Is Antigone right to respect the established religious...
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...Sophocles Oedipus the King Translated by Ian Johnston Malaspina University-College Nanaimo, British Columbia Canada Richer Resources Publications Arlington, Virginia USA Sophocles Oedipus the King copyright 2007 by Richer Resources Publications All rights reserved Cover Art by Ian Crowe. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without express permission from the publisher except for brief excerpts in review. Reprint requests and requests for additional copies of this book should be addressed to Richer Resources Publications 1926 N. Woodrow Street Arlington, Virginia 22207 or via our web site at www.RicherResourcesPublications.com ISBN 978-0-9797571-1-2 Library of Congress Control Number 2007931684 Published by Richer Resources Publications Arlington, Virginia Printed in the United States of America 3 Translator's Note In the following text the numbers in square brackets refer to the Greek text; the numbers without brackets refer to the English text. In the line numbering for the translated text a short indented line is normally included with the short line above it. The translator would like to acknowledge the valuable help provided by Sir Richard Jebb’s translation and commentary. Background Note Sophocles (495 BC-405 BC) was a famous and successful Athenian writer of tragedies in his own lifetime. Of his 120 plays, only 7 have survived. Oedipus the King, also called Oedipus Tyrannos or Oedipus Rex, written around 420 BC, has long been...
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...Antigone vs Otheelo: women In the plays “Antigone” by Sophocles and the Shakespearean tragedy “Othello” written by William Shakespeare, the themes that’s being portrayed are honour and gender, through the play the audience if captivated by the characters choices and motives through the play. With the characters choices they help to make the play more understandable as the audience can recognise the tragic hero in both the plays. The relationships between men and women in Othello are remarked as lesser then men. Iago often refers to his wife as a prostitute - "A house wife that by selling her desires, Buys herself bread and clothes (iv.i.95)” showing what type of relationship women and men had during the late 16th century. Women were generally considered obedient, respectful, kind and warm. They were never outspoken nor were they meant to, for it could be seen as a lack of loyalty. When Othello accused Desdemona of cheating on him, he found himself in a position that he didn't want to face with. Othello was emasculated with the thought of a woman disobeying him. Men were easily manipulated into thinking the worst of woman because they were certain it would never happen. However, when the slightest things start to be pointed out the characters start to over analyse. Woman were not on the same level as men; men talked down to woman, they didn’t see them as equals nor think that they should be treated like one. This relates to Othello and Desdemona’s relationship – she “betrayed”...
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...ARTS TEACHERS’ GUIDE Grade 9 ARTS Teacher’s Guide Unit I WESTERN CLASSICAL ART TRADITIONS GRADE 9 Unit 1 ARTS TEACHERS’ GUIDE GRADE 9 Unit 1 WESTERN CLASSICAL ART TRADITIONS LEARNING AREA STANDARD The learner demonstrates an understanding of basic concepts and processes in music and art through appreciation, analysis and performance for his/her self-development, celebration of his/her Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and expansion of his/her world vision. key - stage STANDARD The learner demonstrates understanding of salient features of music and arts of the Philippines and the world, through appreciation, analysis, and performance, for self-development, the celebration of Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and the expansion of one’s world vision. grade level STANDARD The learner demonstrates understanding of salient features of Western music and the arts from different historical periods, through appreciation, analysis, and performance for self-development, the celebration of Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and the expansion of one’s world vision. CONTENT STANDARDs The Learner: demonstrates understanding of art elements and processes by synthesizing and applying prior knowledge and skills demonstrates understanding that the arts are integral to the development of organizations, spiritual belief, historical events, scientific discoveries, natural disasters/ occurrences and other external phenomenon ...
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...Ancient Greece The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, located on the Acropolis in Athens, is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks. Part of a series on the | Modern Greece.Septinsular Republic.War of Independence.First Hellenic Republic.Kingdom of Greece.National Schism.Second Hellenic Republic.4th of August Regime.Axis occupation (collaborationist regime).Civil War.Military Junta.Third Hellenic Republic | History by topic.Art.Constitution.Economy.Military.Names | History of Greece | | Neolithic Greece.Neolithic Greece | Greek Bronze Age.Helladic.Cycladic.Minoan.Mycenaean | Ancient Greece.Homeric Greece.Archaic Greece.Classical Greece.Hellenistic Greece.Roman Greece | Medieval Greece.Byzantine Greece.Frankish and Latin states.Ottoman Greece | | Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BCto the end ofantiquity (c. 600 AD). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in ancient Greece is the period ofClassical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Classical Greece began with the repelling of a Persian invasion by Athenian leadership. Because of conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished fromCentral Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture...
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