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Irony in Greek culture exposed by Oedipus
Irony in Greek culture exposed by Oedipus
Verbal irony in antigone
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Captain Jack Sparrow once said, “Me? I am dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it’s the honest ones you want to watch out for…” Her character acts as a literary device through her intense need to argue against the truth of the situation in several separate scenes, including the argument between Creon and Oedipus, her refusal to believe the oracle’s first prophecy, and her soothing Oedipus against the true words of the herds master. With her almost exclusive use of verbal irony, truth and foreshadowing come forth through the lie. Jocasta’s first appearance and lines in the play are to interrupt an argument between her husband and Creon. She begs Oedipus to let the matter be, “Believe his words, for gods’ sake, Oedipus, in deference above all to his oath to the gods…” (Sophocles 1485). Her words drip in verbal Irony because the sequel to this play Antigone wherein Creon takes over the kingdom. Although this is only one small instance of verbal irony, the author continues to use Jocasta’s lines in this context, revealing truth to us through lie. In this instance, the reader can infer to Creon’s guilty nature despite not reading Antigone. …show more content…
She does this on more than one account and even more foolishly, advises Oedipus to ignore the oracle because of her wise decision-making earlier in the story. “Ah then, absolve yourself of what he charges! Listen to this and you’ll agree, no mortal is ever given skill in prophecy…” (Sophocles 1487) Any attentive audience already knows this to be rather humorous verbal irony. This happens to be the third time Jocasta makes an appearance and again, the third time to be written as an envoy for verbal
The hubris resonating throughout the play, ‘Antigone’ is seen in the characters of Creon and Antigone. Their pride causes them to act impulsively, resulting in their individual downfalls. In his opening speech, Creon makes his motives clear, that “no man who is his country’s enemy shall call himself my friend.” This part of his declaration was kept to the letter, as he refused burial for his nephew, Polynices. However, when the situation arises where it is crucial that Creon takes advice, he neglects the part of the speech where he says “a king... unwilling to seek advice is damned.” This results in Creon’s tragic undoing.
Not understanding or listening to the opinion of others can frequently have unfortunate consequences and even lead to tragedy. In the play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, the two main characters, Antigone and Creon, both failed to listen which led to the death of several people. It was exhibited how important it is to acknowledge the truth and this was the central theme of the play. The conflict between Antigone and Creon started because they had opposing viewpoints of whether or not Antigone’s brother, Polyneices, should have been buried after he died in battle. Antigone strongly believed that Polyneices should have because it was the law of the gods and they are eternal, while man’s laws are not. However, Creon, on the other hand,
" This indicates Creon’s decision to punish Antigone was not taken kindly by the gods, but his ego wouldn't allow him to solve that as shown by Haemon, which, again, contribute to his nemesis. This proves by how Creon’s stubbornness isn't liked by the gods establishing him as a tragic
In the awe-inspiring play of Antigone, Sophocles introduces two remarkable characters, Antigone and Creon. A conflict between these two obstinate characters leads to fatal consequences for themselves and their kindred. The firm stances of Creon and Antigone stem from two great imperatives: his loyalty to the state and her dedication to her family, her religion but most of all her conscience. The identity of the tragic hero of this play is still heavily debated. This tragedy could have been prevented if it had not been for Creon's pitiful mistakes.
Creon showed dramatic irony when he said, “only a crazy man is in love with death” (scene 1 line 60). This shows irony because Creon keeps saying any man who defies him will be punished, but Antigone is the one who goes against him. This shows how Creon is ignorant and how he rushes to conclusions believing that only a man could do this when it was Antigone. This shows Creon as sexist and that he is an ignorant man. Creon showed dramatic irony when he said, “As long as I am king…” (Scene 1 line 49). This shows irony because he was prideful and we knew he would not be king for long. Creon was being prideful and cocky even though he will not be king for much longer. This shows that Creon as a character was very
In the Antigone, unlike the Oedipus Tyrannus, paradoxically, the hero who is left in agony at the end of the play is not the title role. Instead King Creon, the newly appointed and tyrannical ruler, is left all alone in his empty palace with his wife's corpse in his hands, having just seen the suicide of his son. However, despite this pitiable fate for the character, his actions and behavior earlier in the play leave the final scene evoking more satisfaction than pity at his torment. The way the martyr Antigone went against the King and the city of Thebes was not entirely honorable or without ulterior motives of fulfilling pious concerns but it is difficult to lose sight of the fact that this passionate and pious young woman was condemned to living imprisonment.
...e next king, however, he offers the crown to whoever can solve the riddle instead. When Oedipus solves the riddle, Creon willingly hands over the throne and Jocasta’s hand in marriage. This shows that Creon is not power hungry and truly wants what is best for the city. The reader can see that Creon is trustworthy and doesn’t go back on his word, which also supports why he needed to punish Polynices, even after he was given reason not to.
Antigone and Oedipus, written by Sophocles, are dramatic plays with a tragic ending. The main theme for Antigone is that people sometimes have to learn the hard way from their mistakes. This theme is expressed in the final four lines of the play. They read, There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise. These lines are an important part of the play. They symbolize Creon's bad decisions he made, his defiance to the gods, the punishment he went through because of his edict, and the wisdom he gained because of all his mistakes. "There is no happiness where there is no wisdom" demonstrates how Creon not using wisdom in his decision affected him. By declaring that Polyneices could not have a proper burial, he went against the gods and the other citizens of Thebes's beliefs. This was not a wise decision on his part, and because of it he lost his wife, his son, and his happiness. Creon also defied the laws of the gods. This is what is expressed in the line, "No wisdom but in submission to the gods." In Antigone, the edict and decisions that Creon made demonstrated that his law was more important then the gods laws. His defiance of the laws eventually made him believe, by talking to Teirisias, that something bad would happen to him, so he gave in to his decision.
Creon does not learn a lesson from Oedipus' accusatory behavior. Instead he adapts this bad personality trait. Throughout Antigone, he accuses everyone who tries to give him advice of betraying him. Whereas, in Oedipus, he is falsely accused by Oedipus of trying to take over the throne. This paper will compare and contrast his behavior and evaluate if he learned anything from one play to the next.
Jocasta’s blindness to the truth ruins her relationship with Oedipus unlike Gertrude’s blindness which merely taints her relationship with Hamlet. Primarily, as Oedipus comes closer to discovering the truth, Jocasta begs him to stop searching. She pleads with him yelling “No! In God’s name – if you want to live, this/ must not go on. Have I not suffered enough?/... I know I am right. I’m warning you for your own good.” (Sophocles 55). It is clear that Jocasta knows the truth and all along yet she refuses to tell Oedipus .She tries very hard to ignore the fact that Oedipus is her son because she knows once he discovers the truth, he will not even be able to look her in the eyes. It terrifies Jocasta to know that once Oedipus realizes that she is aware of the truth all along he will loathe her. Nothing hurts her more than knowing that the one she loves despises her. Jocasta can evade these unfortunate events if she did not ignore the obvious truth before her. Moreover, Jocasta desperately hopes that Oedipus dies before he u...
Antigone’s two purposes for giving this speech are centered on her two main audiences, Creon and the citizens of Thebes. In reference to Creon, Antigone’s purpose is to convey that even after being caught, she does not fear his power, or her punishment. She desires to show him that she stands by the justness of her actions and the injustice of her conviction. To display this, she refers to her ...
This play, Antigone, was titled after one of the play’s main characters; however, the title could have been “Creon”, due to Creon’s influence throughout the play. Creon was a major influence to the play’s plot as it involves Creon within a majority of the scenes, from beginning to end. Throughout the play Creon’s tragic countdown is expressed, beginning with him as king of Thebes to the death of his beloved family. Antigone is merely portrayed as a rebellious nephew, as she consistently defies Creon. Antigone is expressed within the play consistently; however, the play portrays decisions proclaimed by Creon, which displays Creon’s tragic flow. Being titled “Antigone”, does not accurately express the play’s content as Creon’s tragic fate is actually being described and represented.
Loyalty plays a big part in the play with the characters. Antigone’s words, actions, and ideas contrast with Creon’s character to the point of these two characters having conflicting
Teiresias finally tells Oedipus the horrible truth, but Oedipus calls him a liar and fails to recognize the truth again. When Oedipus finally figures that the oracle, drunk, and Teiresias was all true, he cannot handle it and blinds himself while Jocasta kills herself. Oedipus believes he can surpass that of what any man has ever achieved.
Other than the obvious roles Creon plays in this story (Jocasta’s brother and Oedipus’ brother-in-law), Creon plays a very big role and is a part of the most significant points in this drama.