The Downfall of Oedipus Essay

Antigone is a novel where the protagonist of the novel, Antigone, passes the standard in society to do what she believes is right, disregarding the King’s command. Antigone defying the law is the start of the tragic ending of many of the characters of the novel. By looking at this through a psychoanalytic sense, we see the tension between the conscious and subconscious thought, which is important to understand the “why” of the tragedy and how it really unfolds. Conscious is defined as the awake…

characterised as being the perfect hero except for his/her flaws, they are in conflict with at least one person around them, they are trapped in situations that they cannot get out of, they seem to be doomed from the start and they bring about their own downfall. Because the play has a tragic ending the audience usually ends up feeling pity for one or more…

was written by Sophocles, one of the three great writers of tragedies in ancient Greece. Antigone is one of Sophocles’ Theban plays. Theban Plays consist of three plays which are Oedipus the king, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone (Russello). These three plays represent the history and faith of Thebes during king Oedipus’ and king Creon’s Kingdom. The play starts with Antigone talking to her sister, Ismene to help her bury one of their brothers, Polynices. Burying Polynices was forbidden law with…

In Ancient Greece, the epitome of the tragic theater was Sophocles’ Oedipus plays, according to Aristotle, and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet defined the Elizabethan revenge tragedy. Playwrights today still take ideas from Greek and Elizabethan theater and modernize them in their own plays, such as Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and The Crucible and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. Undoubtedly, the focus, themes, conflict, and structure of a tragedy has changed and evolved from…

that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” This ideology creates something that is known as a tragic hero. Aristotle has created a set of characteristics that define a tragic hero. One prime example of a tragic hero is Antigone. She fulfills every characteristic required to be one. To provide context, Antigone’s story starts with her brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles. Since their father, Oedipus, had left the throne, they had been sharing it. It didn’t take…

fate took the lives of Polynices and Eteocles, Creon later makes a law that forbids anyone from buring the traitor Eteocles because he had killed his own people. He later sees himself doing wrong after a seer names Teresius enters and prophesies his downfall. Creon sees that his stubbornness has gotten the better of him and orders his guards to bury Eteocles and to see his son, Haemon. His son later commits suicide after Creon ordered…

both of the characters Antigone and Creon can be considered the tragic hero of the play. Although Antigone may demonstrate some characteristics of a tragic hero, it is Creon who displays the traits more clearly. When Antigone opens, the sons of Oedipus lie dead at each other's hands. Both men considered themselves to be rightful heirs to the throne, but Eteocles alone had the support of the citizens of Thebes. Creon, Antigone's uncle, inherits the throne and buries Eteocles as a king who died…

Sophocles, the main character, Antigone, has to make difficult choices pertaining to life or death throughout the course of the story. This play takes place in the glorious city of Thebes, which has seen many deaths in the royal family. Starting with Oedipus, the father of Antigone, Eteocles and Polyneices, the brothers of Antigone, who fought each other for the throne, and Jocasta, the mother of Antigone. Eteoclês was honored at death by proper burial, but Polyneices was not. Because of his…

She is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta who were the former king and queen of Thebes and the niece of Creon who is now the king. Creon calls Antigone as a princess even though she is no longer a princess. She has earned a lot of reputation and respect to lose, only because of her high status. People who consider Creon as a tragic hero state that Antigone no longer has a high status in Thebes after her father’s death, so she is not eligible to have a high social position. Although she does not…

From Hamlet to Peter Pan or Oedipus to Darth Vadar, follow the characteristics of Aristotle's tragic hero. Humans are fascinated by tragedies, and we will continue to produce successful tragic heroes and tragedies using Aristotle's research. Sophocles's ancient drama Antigone is an…