I. Before his birth, Oedipus was assigned to a miserable life, but his stubborn attempt to fix his destiny led to his life becoming all the worse; his exile was not destined by fate but was a product of his own actions.
A. The fact that Oedipus marries his mother and kills his father cannot be blamed on him because his fate was set before he was born.
1. Tiresias tells Oedipus that the prophecy made when he was born has come true and that he will “be detected in his very heart of home: his children’s father and their brother, son and husband to his mother, bed-rival to his father and assassin” (230).
2. It is impossible for them to have free will or responsibility for their actions because it is the fate that is written by the gods that dictates …show more content…
Of all actions of man that can be attributed to pre-written fate, going against fate itself is not one- rejecting one’s fate is the choice of man and leads to punishment by the gods.
II. Antigone, unlike Oedipus, respects the authority of fate and does not try to change the fact that she will be punished for burying Polyneices; although she meets her demise as punishment for her insubordination, she does not add to her punishment with her own actions since she did not struggle against her inevitable fate.
A. Antigone is motivated to take action because she fears the fate that the gods will assign her if she does not bury him.
1. Antigone feared fate and the gods much like the elders of Thebes, who “[fainted] with fear of what fate [Zeus would fashion] for [them].” (349)
2. Fate was a motivating factor for characters in Greek dramas to do things that they would not have otherwise done; in this case, Antigone decides to take a risk and bury her brother because she knows that her fate will be arduous if she disrespects him.
B. Antigone chooses her fate and must now face the obligatory consequence.
1. The chorus laments on the inevitable death of Antigone by saying that mankind is “Provident of all, healing all disease” and notes that man has power over “All but death, and death- death he never cures” …show more content…
Fate has the power to change and form the will of individuals such as Antigone who had the determination of a god to bury her brother.
1. Creon tells Ismene, when she has been captured, that fate has the power to “make the bravest turn, and turn the bravest will” (362)
2. The gods were known for taking control of mortals for their own intentions using fate, much like Athena taking control of Odysseus in an epic by Homer, and did so with Antigone, for Antigone and showed bravery can only be attributed to the gods.
C. Antigone’s role is to make peace, not conflict, by fulfilling her fate of burying Polyneices.
1. Creon justifies Oedipus’s banishment by saying that the gods designed his fate for the good of the people; He attests that “the gods have graciously steadied [their] ship of state, which storms have terribly tossed,” (349).
2. The purpose of the gods in is to govern the universe and create harmony by righting the wrongs of mortals- the gods restored the peace of the soul of Polyneices by having Antigone bury him and letting him rest.
D. The gods take control of Antigone to restore the peace of Polyneices’ soul and to fulfill the ancient
A. The fact that Oedipus marries his mother and kills his father cannot be blamed on him because his fate was set before he was born.
1. Tiresias tells Oedipus that the prophecy made when he was born has come true and that he will “be detected in his very heart of home: his children’s father and their brother, son and husband to his mother, bed-rival to his father and assassin” (230).
2. It is impossible for them to have free will or responsibility for their actions because it is the fate that is written by the gods that dictates …show more content…
Of all actions of man that can be attributed to pre-written fate, going against fate itself is not one- rejecting one’s fate is the choice of man and leads to punishment by the gods.
II. Antigone, unlike Oedipus, respects the authority of fate and does not try to change the fact that she will be punished for burying Polyneices; although she meets her demise as punishment for her insubordination, she does not add to her punishment with her own actions since she did not struggle against her inevitable fate.
A. Antigone is motivated to take action because she fears the fate that the gods will assign her if she does not bury him.
1. Antigone feared fate and the gods much like the elders of Thebes, who “[fainted] with fear of what fate [Zeus would fashion] for [them].” (349)
2. Fate was a motivating factor for characters in Greek dramas to do things that they would not have otherwise done; in this case, Antigone decides to take a risk and bury her brother because she knows that her fate will be arduous if she disrespects him.
B. Antigone chooses her fate and must now face the obligatory consequence.
1. The chorus laments on the inevitable death of Antigone by saying that mankind is “Provident of all, healing all disease” and notes that man has power over “All but death, and death- death he never cures” …show more content…
Fate has the power to change and form the will of individuals such as Antigone who had the determination of a god to bury her brother.
1. Creon tells Ismene, when she has been captured, that fate has the power to “make the bravest turn, and turn the bravest will” (362)
2. The gods were known for taking control of mortals for their own intentions using fate, much like Athena taking control of Odysseus in an epic by Homer, and did so with Antigone, for Antigone and showed bravery can only be attributed to the gods.
C. Antigone’s role is to make peace, not conflict, by fulfilling her fate of burying Polyneices.
1. Creon justifies Oedipus’s banishment by saying that the gods designed his fate for the good of the people; He attests that “the gods have graciously steadied [their] ship of state, which storms have terribly tossed,” (349).
2. The purpose of the gods in is to govern the universe and create harmony by righting the wrongs of mortals- the gods restored the peace of the soul of Polyneices by having Antigone bury him and letting him rest.
D. The gods take control of Antigone to restore the peace of Polyneices’ soul and to fulfill the ancient