Antigone and Oedipus have many of the same qualities; even the choragos notices this, “Like father, like daughter: both headstrong, deaf to reason!” (Sophocles 15). They are similar in the way they are both stubborn, determine, and quick to make decisions. Antigone shows these traits when she tried to bury Polyneices. Antigone made this decision quickly after hearing about Creon’s decree and refused to change her mind when Ismene tried to talk her out of it. Oedipus shows these traits several times throughout Oedipus the King. He shows his ability to make quick decisions when he is tried to solve the problem of the plague. He quickly sent Creon to Delphi to help rid the plague, and when Creon returned with information about how to rid the plague he sent for the blind Tiresias to help them. Oedipus shows his stubbornness when he refuses to believe Tiresias about him being the killer of Laius. Oedipus also shows his stubbornness and determination when he is trying to learn about his past even though Jocasta tells him to leave it …show more content…
In both Antigone and Oedipus the King, the kings committed crimes, yet only one king was punished. Oedipus was punished for his crimes; Oedipus was stripped of his crown and exiled out of Thebes. Creon committed crimes just as bad as Oedipus and was not exiled or had his authority as king taken away. The ultimate difference between the two is how one is more tragic than the other. Both stories are tragedies, but Oedipus is far more tragic. In both stories, Creon and Oedipus lose a lot, but Oedipus loses far more. Creon loses his son and wife. Oedipus also loses his family Laius and Jocasta. Oedipus loses so much more than his family with what happened to him. He lost his pride through his actions. He lost his eyesight after gouging his eye out. He lost the trust in the people of Thebes. Also, he lost the rest of his family, Antigone, Ismene, Eteocles, and Polyneices, when he was exiled from Thebes. Sophocles’s Antigone and Oedipus the King perfectly demonstrate how authors can have stories very similar even if they do not mean to. Sophocles 's intention was simply to write two tragic plays, not two tragic plays with so much similarity. It takes a talented author to create two stories that contain many similar qualities while still maintaining two completely different