Oedipus at Colonus

Before the many genres we know today in literature, there used to be only two: tragedy and comedy. With tragedy comes the tragic hero, the character that ultimately defines the ending of the story. In Antigone, that person is Creon. He is a troubled king living in the same time as Antigone, who may have contributed to his downfall. Creon’s fate was determined from the start to be less than desirable, and the audience knew this from the odes following each scene. Creon fits the archetype of a…

Antigone Essay Sophocles’ perplexing play illustrates a heroic journey of the leading protagonist, Antigone. In the play, Antigone suffered through a heartache after she lost her brother Polyneices in war. The ruler, Creon passed a decree that whoever buries Polyneices will die. Family and authority are common themes and misconceptions in the play Antigone. When comparing the essential themes of family and authority, Creon and Ismene characterize the theme of authority, while Antigone and…

Different Point of Views in Sophocles’ Oedipus Trilogy Sophocles has written several engaging plays and is considered one of the greatest Greek tragedians. His most important plays include ‘Oedipus the King’, ‘Oedipus at Colonus’, and ‘Antigone’. These plays follow the tragic tale of a great king named Oedipus and the tragic incidents that arise his children. Many aspects of academic work are related to the Oedipus trilogy in an interesting way. These articles include authors like Jeffery L.…

Santirocco, author of “Justice in Sophocles’ Antigone,” states, “ [Antigone and Creon are a lot alike] both are isolated, both are stubborn, both respond to others, including those who love them, in the same imperious way, and both doom themself and others by their actions. The greatest similarity, though, lies in their pursuit of justice” (186). Antigone knows from the beginning what her morals are, which are steering her actions. She felt she was on the side of justice for what she did, and…

A helicopter is flying over the Amazon rainforest, and the most spectacular bird’s eye view can be observed; this is the luscious, natural production of the planet Earth. From above, only a field of rich green treetops can be seen. However, the simple blanket is covering a most extraordinary and complex ecosystem underneath, filled with thousands of species of flora and fauna. The rainforest has four main layers: the emergent layer, canopy, understory, and the forest floor. The multiple layers…

has the difficulty of deciding whether burying her brother is worth the risk of death. It all started when Oedipus and Jocasta both committed suicide because they realized that Jocasta was Oedipus’ mom. Since Oedipus was the leader of Thebes, they had to appoint a new leader. Usually, the father’s son would be the one to take over the city according to the Greek culture. However, Oedipus has two sons: Polynices and Eteocles. They decided that they would split off leading the town. Eteocles…

The view of women has been adapting for the most part, with the times. The patriarchal society we once knew we can see slowly diminishing. Today, women, in a legal standpoint, have just about the same rights as men. Of course, it wasn’t always like this. Women weren’t allowed to receive an education, vote, play sports, have access to contraception, and they were expected to marry at young ages as well as raise a family. Historically, ancient Greece is known for the separation of men and women…

Gender Bias in Antigone In Sophocles ' Antigone, gender biases are quite prevalently used to portray the inequality between men and women in a misogynistic society. Sophocles used the major conflict between Kreon and Antigone to demonstrate this ideology. Kreon, who was Antigone’s uncle and the ruler of Thebes, would not listen to her reasoning simply because she was a woman. To this effect, the community viewed Antigone as a rebellious, headstrong woman for the same reasons. However if she…

The play Antigone is intended to portray that morality is more important than the law. In order to demonstrate this, Sophocles presents a situation in which a woman is willing to go to the extremes, even facing death, in order to fight for what she believes is right. The play struggles with the idea of right versus wrong, the characters are forced to make decisions based on their conscience even if it does not coincide with the law. The purpose of laws is to set a standard of conduct for the…

The Potential Leader of Theban Antigone is a Greek trilogy tragedy, written by Sophocles with a theme of moral; conflict in state law and divine law. Polynices and Eteocles were two brothers in war for the right to rule Theban, but both slain by each other’s hands. The death of Polynices and Eteocles lead to their uncle to be next in line to the throne. One of his first decisions is for Eteocles receive an honorable burial and Polynices is to be left for the dogs. Creon’s hubris leads to his…