Oedipus Rex And Antigone Essay

Three Ancient Greek plays (Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles, and Medea by Euripides) share some common similarities including prophecy, tragic flaws, and death. These three similarities occur in all the plays, and they are closely related to each other, meaning, one leading into the next. All these similarities are motifs and can be seen throughout the plays. The first similarity the plays have in common is their use of prophecies. Prophecies foreshadow events that will happen later in the play, and almost one hundred percent of the time, prophecies come true, even if the characters try to prevent them. In Oedipus Rex, there was a prophecy that said, “...death would come to him [Laius] from his child [Oedipus]…” (Sophocles Oedipus Rex 35), and he would marry his mother; as fate would have it, it came true. In Antigone, an oracle prophesied that King Creon will lose his family, “From thy own loins in payment, dead for dead…” (Sophocles Antigone 40), furthermore, the prophecy came true and Creon’s son commits suicide; additionally, his wife commits suicide too. Medea’s prophecy claims that Jason will die unknown and unloved by …show more content…
A particular death in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus kills his unknown father Laius. A prophecy told he would kill his father and marry his mother, and the prophecy mistakenly came true. Oedipus is curious and determined to find the plague that has infected his city, and it turns out he is the plague. Death occurs in Antigone when the two brothers of Antigone kill each other. They kill each other because they are fighting for rule over the city. There is a lot of death in Medea. Medea is a murderer and somehow gets away with killing people. First, Medea tricks two daughters into cutting up their own father, additionally, she kills her own children. Death is presented to the audience by a messenger, and it can be viewed throughout the