Oedipus Rex And Antigone Analysis

Watching Netflix can be detrimental to a student’s grade. At the end of an episode, Netflix automatically starts the next one; it is simple for a student to watch the next episode, disregarding the repercussions of not doing homework, or staying up too late watching a series. Just as students keep watching Netflix without thinking of the costs, in the tragedies Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles, characters often act on their emotions instead of reason, leading to their own failures. Furthermore, in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus does not think through his decisions leading to the death of his loved ones and his own blindness. Additionally, in Antigone, Creon impulsively makes his decisions, which later makes it harder for him to attempt to rectify …show more content…
Firstly, Creon makes a decree stating that no one can bury Polynices, Antigone’s brother who almost destroyed the city, with death as the consequence. Creon expects Polynices to be “unwept, unburied” with no one able to mourn him, but Antigone believes this goes against divine law, so she decides to “bury him [her]self / [a]nd even if [she] die[s] in the act, that death will be a glory” because she has given her brother the respect he deserves (Ant. 35; 85-6). Creon does not take the gods into account while making his decision to pass the decree, therefore causing conflicts with Antigone’s moral beliefs, forcing her to right Creon’s wrongs. As another point, Antigone then buries Polynices and Creon sentences her to death, even after Tiresias warns him it will not end well. Creon believes that “when she overrode the edicts” he made, she is “laughing [at and], mocking” Creon, so she must die regardless of Tiresias’ warnings (Ant 537; 541). Creon is so egotistical that he will not listen to the clairvoyant because he is more concerned with the well being of his country than that of his family. Lastly, Creon does not listen to Haemon, his son, who tries to stop Creon from killing Antigone which leads to a fight between the two and Haemon killing himself beside Antigone. In the heat of the moment, after Haemon fights with Creon, Haemon sees his bride is dead, and he “suddenly lean[s] his full weight on the blade, / [burying] it in his body, halfway to the hilt” because he knows this is of his father’s doing (Ant 1364-5). Even though Creon knows he is upsetting his son, he will not try to repair his relationship with his son. Altogether, Creon makes a decree that goes against divine law and will not listen to the advice of others in order to fix his decision, which leads to the deaths of his family