Summary Of Oedipus The King By Sophocles

929 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Destiny of oedipus

The majority of the works written by Sophocles show important messages, in which many of the characters do or fail to achieve, for example in Oedipus The King Sophocles, writes the tale of poor dammed Oedipus a man who desperately wishes to save his city only to discover he is the cause if its ruin. Moreover, this play relates the message of destiny and no matter how hard men try to advert a prophecy ultimately, it will happen. With the conclusion of Oedipus The King, we learn of his children’s fate in Antigone where his sons have died in war battling one another with one defending his city while the other to destroy it. His daughters now must mourn for their deaths, while one complies with Creon’s wishes to leave the traitorous brother to rot the other Antigone defies him. Although both parties hold jurisdiction in their choices it is their reasons and definition of independence, and why Sophocles chooses to write them as such. The kingdom of Thebes is now under the control of Creon uncle and …show more content…

235-239). It is some unwritten law that presents itself through out many of the Greek plays that any defiance of the gods is met with harsh punishments. For even the leader of the citizens is skeptical of Creon’s decree and his treatment to the dead, a kings power should only be held to the living, the dead answer to the Gods not to mortal men. Sophocles writes Creon as a man who has power like the gods, who is not god and yet acts like one. Sophocles puts a character who is tests his limits and who does not want to bend while writing Antigone as a character who respects these unwritten laws of burial, the gods, and

Show More
Related

  • Divine Authority In Antigone

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main conflict in the story Antigone is between the king of Thebes, also the antagonist, Creon and Antigone the Protagonist. When Antigone's brother dies in war Creon does not want to bury him, But Antigone feels its her brothers rights bestowed on him buy the gods to be able to be buried and that it would be disrespectful not to. For example in scene one page two Creon says "He’ll be left unburied, his body there for birds and dogs to eat, a clear reminder of his shameful fate.That’s my decision." As you can see here Creon thinks he has the authority and makes the laws about what is going to happen but really that is divine authority. Another example is in scene two page three when Creon is interrogating Antigone, Antigone says "Yes. Zeus did not announce those laws to me. And Justice living with the gods below sent no

    Read More

  • charant Character Changes in Sophocles' Antigone

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters' attitudes change from close-minded to open-minded. It is their close-minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who later becomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive a funeral with military honors because he fought for his country. However, Polyneices, who broke his exile to " spill the blood of his father and sell his own people into slavery", will have no burial. Antigone disagrees with Creon's unjust actions and says, " Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way." She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of the underworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brother and her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Her intent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that she will follow "the laws of the gods." Antigone knows that she is in danger of being killed for her actions and she says, "I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creon's law placed against Polyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason with Antigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refuses to listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions and the consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime is just, yet she does regret being forced to commit it.

    Read More

  • Antigone Foil To Creon

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play Antigone, created by Sophocles Antigone is a foil to Creon because their personalities contrast. This makes Creon a Tragic Hero because he thinks that he is a god but in reality he is a mortal upsetting the god's and he will eventually meet his demise. At the start of the play the reader is introduced to a character named Creon, who is the king of Thebes, the previous king, Eteocles, was killed by his brother Polyneices. There is a law arranged by Creon, so nobody could bury the body of Polyneices but Antigone, the sister of both Eteocles and Polyneices, wants to bury her brother and is willing to risk her life to bury him. She eventually gets caught and is sentenced to death by Creon.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Creon In Oedipus And Antigone

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, Creon said " I here proclaim to the city that this man shall no one honor with a grave and none shall mourn. You shall leave him without burial." (Sophocles 188). This shows that Creon feels more superior than the Gods, and creates his own law for an orderly, stable society. Another way Creon used his power was by punishing Antigone for disobeying his law of leaving Polynices unburied, and that she should starve to death in cave and isolated from society. An example, is shown when he said "Lead her away at once. Enfold her in that rocky tomb of hers- as I told you to. There leave her alone, solitary, to die if she wishes or live a buried life in such a home." (Sophocles 215). This illustrates that he has transformed from reasonable and understanding, to brutal and

    Read More

  • Antigone

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the struggle between Creon and Antigone, Sophocles' audience would have recognized a genuine conflict of duties and values. From the Greek point of view, both Creon's and Antigone's positions are flawed, because both oversimplify ethical life by recognizing only one kind of good or duty. By oversimplifying, each ignores the fact that a conflict exists at all, or that deliberation is necessary. Moreover, both Creon and Antigone display the dangerous flaw of pride in the way they justify and carry out their decisions. Antigone admits right from the beginning that she wants to carry out the burial because the action is glorious. Antigone has a savage spirit; she has spent most of her life burying her family members.

    Read More

  • Antigone: Divine Law Vs. Human Law

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is the Crux of the theme, the conflict between the law of King Creon, and the law of the gods. In fact, according to Greek belief, Creon would have been ordained by the gods to be king, and thus, should not his law be their law as well? This is the hurdle that Antigone has to face; should she abide by the law of Creon and leave her brother to rot, under penalty of death? Or should she disregard Creon's edict, follow the law of the gods and bury her brother? Creon is a brother to Jocasta, and thus next in line to become king after Etocles is killed in battle. The king is believed to be the chosen of the gods and to rule in their stead. Why then would the king attempt to punish Polyneices after death and so blatantly violate the rules of the gods? However, Creon is the king, and the penalty for disobeying this law of his is very real and very brutal, death.

    Read More

  • Religion vs. State in “Antigone"

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play Creon goes against the Gods by making it illegal to bury Polyneices, Antigone’s brother because he is deemed a traitor. The burying of a dead body is seen as a necessity by all of Greece as it is an unspoken law of the Gods. Antigone goes to bury her brother so his afterlife will be better. She does it in spite of the law that Creon has made. “It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands” (192) She tries to explain to her sister, Ismene, that they must bury Polyneices, but even that close relationship has trouble because of the law. Ismene is unwilling to suffer the consequences of the law, to save her brother’s soul “Forgive me but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority” (192) Even the two sisters who have just lost both of their brothers have different views on the matter. One will not stray from the law and what is deemed right by their king, while the other will accept any punishment, even death just to do what she believes is right.

    Read More

  • Sophocles' Use of Social Commentary in Antigone

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    The failures of Creon leadership represent the limitations of autocratic government and thereby serve to promote democracy. At the play’s opening, Creon is portrayed sympathetically. He presents his decree preventing the burial of Polynices as just retribution for his crimes against Thebes and as an effective way to prevent pollution (Sophocles 62). He feels further vindicated because the chorus, consisting of elder representatives of the populace, supports the decree. Even Antigone’s impassioned defence, which invokes the “unwritten and unfailing” (73) laws of the gods, appears to have no impact on the chorus, who states that “she does not know how to bend amidst her troubles” (74). This perception of Creon begins to shift upon Antigone’s death sentence. Although the punishment seems as cruel and excessive, Creon firmly believes it to be a necessary deed. He is “eager to display his full control of a crisis barely averted...

    Read More

  • The Philosophy of Sophocles in Oedipus the King

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Greek tragedy the natural forces are destructive. These forces might be nature, gods or fate. Man is helpless in facing these powers.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Setting and Characters in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sophocles, a Greek author and philosopher, created a magnificent work of literature, Oedipus Rex. Oedipus Rex describes the legendary tales that King Oedipus of Thebes took in order to confirm that his biological parents were King Polybus of Corinth and his wife Merope. This tragedy of fate explores the depths of modern psychoanalysis as Oedipus unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother in an attempt to avoid the very prophecy he ultimately fulfills. The play was created by Sophocles, an intellectual philosopher that was born in 495 B.C. about a mile northwest of Athens. Sophocles has become one of the most prominent playwrights of the golden age. He was a son of a wealthy merchant, therefore, he enjoyed all the benefits of a thriving Greek empire. As an accomplished actor, Sophocles performed in many of his own plays, such as Oedipus Rex. The famous Sophocles is known as one of the greatest innovators of the theatre. The Theatre of Dionysus is where the greatest playwrights performed their infamous tales, it was a major open-air theatre build in Athens, the theatre was dedicated to the god of wine and fertility, it hosted the City Dionysia festival. The Theatre of Dionysus is where Oedipus Rex is first acknowledged to the world. Oedipus Rex embodies the nature of life and society in ancient Greece.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Oedipus The King By Sophocles

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tiresias, from “Oedipus the King” by the Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, is a blind prophet and whilst he is only on the stage for a little time he plays a major role by what he does and what he represents. Tiresias enters the play after being summoned by Oedipus to tell him of the murderer of Laius, the recent King. Tiresias for the sake of Oedipus does not tell him the truth at the start saying that “what will come will come. Even if I shroud it all in silence”. In is conversation, Sophocles, uses Tiresias as a turning point in the plot as it is the beginning of Oedipus’ downfall. As well as that Sophocles uses Tiresias to represent many of the key ideas in the play. Tiresias represents the idea of fate and how

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King Research Paper

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    “You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger,” as Buddha once stated. In the play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus emphasizes many different tragic downfalls, but a specific one stands out. When Teiresias blames Oedipus for the plague, Oedipus killing his father Laius, and Oedipus gouging out his eyes, this all prevails the downfall: anger. Oedipus shows anger towards Teiresias because he blamed him for starting the plague.

    Read More

  • Sophocles´ Oedipus Rex: A Tragic Hero

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, tells the tale of Oedipus, a tragic hero. Oedipus sets out to rid his city, Thebes, of the plague by finding the murderer of Laius. However, along the way, he finds that he was the one that killed Laius and married the widowed queen Jocasta, his mother. Because of Oedipus’ high rank, high morals, flaws, recognition, and there being reversals and a catharsis within the play, Oedipus is classified as an Aristotelian tragic hero.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Oedipus the King

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.

    Read More

  • The Play And Theory In Sophocles's Oedipus The King

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the greatest playwrights in Greek history was Sophocles with his renowned play Oedipus Rex, which has been the central topic of innumerous psychological debates. Sigmund Freud, also called the father of psychology and the founder of psychoanalysis constructed a theory called the Oedipus complex, eponymous of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. These aforementioned debates largely surround whether or not the play and theory are directly related. It is fair to state that the basis of Freud’s complex can be detected in the story. However, to say that the play was deluged with the idea that the Oedipus complex represent is more than an overstatement. Within the tragedy, readers can see the narcissistic ways of Oedipus being manifested as well as his honest neglect and ignorance to the truth. Although some may argue that Oedipus’s ignorance can be equated to Freud’s ideal structure of the mind which speaks of the unconscious and conscious; it still appears to be an overstatement and more an attempt to read too deeply into the writer’s intent when fashioning

    Read More

More about Summary Of Oedipus The King By Sophocles

Open Document