Antigone Sophocles, an Athenian Politician and Dramatist, Term Paper

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Antigone

Sophocles, an Athenian politician and dramatist, wrote Antigone and Oedipus the King, two famous works, known for the connection of tragedy between generations of the characters. Indeed, Antigone's fate is shaped not only through her own actions, but through Oedipus' sin as well. Any analysis of Antigone is therefore incomplete without first taking into account its linkages to Oedipus.

Both Antigone and Oedipus have the same theme of the hubris or arrogance of even the most powerful of men (Oedipus and Creon) ultimately having to bow down before 'the supreme will and power of the Gods', as exemplified in "But if any man comes striding, high and mighty, in all he says and does, no fear of justice, no reverence for the temples of the gods -- let a rough doom tear him down, repay his pride, breakneck, ruinous pride!" (Chorus: Oedipus) and again in Antigone:"Isn't a man's right to burial decreed by divine justice? I don't consider your pronouncements so important that they can just...overrule the unwritten laws of heaven."

The common theme gets magnified since Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Creon, his brother-in-law and the sense of continued tragedy. "For once a family is cursed by God, disasters come like earthquake tremors, worse with each succeeding generation"(Chorus: Antigone.

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In both plays, Sophocles uses the self-realizations of their characters to underscore the themes of their tragedies. Both Oedipus and Creon move from being prideful, heroic kings to self-realization through tragic fate that humbles them in the end.

In Antigone, the virtues in Creon's character are established upfront at the beginning of the play. He is shown as a valiant warrior, a patriot and loyalist to his State, who ascends the throne not by design but by an accident of fate after the deaths of Oedipus' sons in battle.

It is perhaps Creon's very virtues and strong sense of right vs. wrong that is the cause of his willfulness in insisting that Polynices not be given a proper burial. Creon's strong convictions and contempt for lesser mortals come through very clearly when he says, "Such the spirit of my dealing; and never, by deed of mine, shall the wicked stand in honour before the just; but whoso hath good will to Thebes, he shall be honoured of me, in his life and in his death."

It is the same arrogance that leads him into inviting the wrath of the Gods by going against his own religion which decreed….....

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