Determination In Oedipus Rex, Antigone, And Medea

Greek theater encompassed many aspects that reflected the moral values and ideals of society. Their customs were tightly woven into the scripts of plays. Antigone and Oedipus the King, two renowned works of the Greek playwright Sophocles, explore these values through a plot thick with corruption, virtue, and determination. These plays reveal the burdens two Theban kings, Oedipus and Creon, as their lies and poor judgment corrode the integrity of their city, their families and themselves. Possessing a strong faith in their respective gods, the characters of these Greek plays are often led astray as they try to escape the twisted hand of fate, further warping their perception of reality. As their vain

Daniel Nierenberg Comparative Essay 11-20-01 "Oedipus Rex" & "Antigone" It is only natural that an author use similar vessels of literature, such as figurative language, literary devices, and elements in his/her work. It is even more apparent between works that are connected by character, time, and theme. Sophocles did this when he wrote "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone". When comparing the two pieces, it becomes evident that very similar vessels connected these very different plays.

Euripides’s play Medea and Sophocles’ play Antigone both describe a woman who faces many hardships throughout the play. The arguments between the characters in both of the plays justify their actions regarding what they did in response to what happens. In the play Antigone, the main character faces hardships because she broke the king’s law regarding the burial of her brother Polyneices, which eventually led to multiple deaths of because Antigone’s. On the other hand, in the Play Medea, the character Medea was a powerful sorceress who was tricked into loving Jason with the help of Aphrodite, and used her just to get power.

It can be assume that violence is one of the main themes in Greek literatures. It is portray in different forms through executions, suicides, murders, and self-mutilation. Although violence is mainly intertwine together with wars in Greek literature and is shown in a positive light, it can be tie in with punishment and suffering. Violence is necessary because it helps to explain the characters’ situations and problems through their defiance of the authority of the gods or the king in Sophocles’ plays, Oedipus the King and Antigone. Oedipus and Jocasta have try to escape their prophecy in which they are blinded by the truth of their situations and in order to resolve them Oedipus physically blinds himself and Jocasta commits suicide. Antigone

In the plays, Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles and Medea by Euripides (written in Ancient Greece during the 5th century B.C.), motifs; suicide, suffering, and revenge are present. The number of suicides throughout Greek plays is tremendous, being seen as a brave, heroic way to die; and, one suicide often leads to more killing or, at the least, great suffering. Many of the characters suffer a great deal from situations that could have been avoided, simply if other characters did not seek revenge. Those characters looking for revenge get set on fulfilling their thoughts, eventually, they succeed. This combination of motifs make the plays unique and leave the readers with a gloomy mood.

In this play, Oedipus decides to pursue the knowledge of his identity. However, fate determines Oedipus’s incest and other critical events in the play. Sophocles highlights the importance of fate to express to the audience that the characters cannot be responsible for their actions. Antigone

exercising his free choice by making bad decisions . Oedipus certainly meets these portrayals of a tragic hero. The dialect of tragedy consists of two circles: one is a relative point and the other is impacted and the effect on its audience. Sophocles and Aristotle’s achieve that task with absolute clearness. The modern reader, coming to the classic drama not entirely to the enjoyment, will not always surrender himself to the emotional effect. He is apt to worry about Greek ‘fatalism’ and the justice of the downfall of Oedipus, and, finding no satisfactory solution for these intellectual difficulties, loses half the pleasure that the drama was intended to produce . In dramatizing stories, there will dependably blends of passionate sentiments, suspense, and fervor to discover what’s

Sophocles ' play “Oedipus Tyrannus” is an enigma. His play includes incest, murder and self-enlightenment all leading into the main theme of fate. Athenians believed that fate is not left up to man, but that is provided solely on the whims of the gods. Because of his dramatic approach to his plays Sophocles was considered one of the most brilliant and creative writers of his time.

Hundreds of years ago Greek plays were very popular. People would plan to go to these plays for entertainment and to have fun with their friends. These plays would also help to teach the audience all about Greek mythology. The main character in these plays often had something tragic occur at the end, such as death. This character was the referred to as the “tragic hero.” A couple hundred years later a Greek philosopher named Aristotle described tragedy with 4 simple elements, nobility of the character, the flaws of the tragic hero, the start of the tragic hero’s downfall, and his/her punishment. In Things Fall Apart, Oedipus, and Antigone there is a character that shows this definition of tragedy by the end of the book and or play. This is usually caused by something called hubris, excessive pride. Things Fall Apart, Oedipus, and Antigone all fulfill Aristotle 's definition of tragedy.

One of the main themes in Greek tragedies is that through suffering there is knowledge to be gained. Greek tragedies focused on popular myths and beliefs, especially in relation to the mythical powers of the gods. The plays read in class show how knowledge is gained through suffering in relation to: the hubris and stubbornness seen by Creon in Antigone, the attempt of trying to change fate seen through Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, and the consequences of disastrous flaws demonstrated by the character Pentheus in the Bacchae.

Sophocles Oedipus the King is a tragic play which discusses the tragic discovery of Oedipus that he has killed his father and married his mother. The story of Oedipus was well-known to the Athenian's. Oedipus is the embodiment of the perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the 3 phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic man. The Sphinx posed the following riddle to all who came to obtain the rule of Thebes: “What is it that walks on 4 feet and 2 feet and 3 feet and has only one voice, when it walks on most feet it is the weakest?” Oedipus correctly answered “Man” and became the king of Thebes. This riddle is a metaphor for the life of Oedipus. As a child man crawls on his hands and knees this is the four feet to which the Sphinx refers. Also, man is at his weakest as a small child. He depends solely on others for his nourishment and well-being. Oedipus was the child of Jocasta and King Laius who was taken to the mountain by a Shepard to be killed so the omen of the god Apollo that Laius' son would kill him and lay with Jocasta would not come true. Oedipus was the weakest of his life at this point.

The three Ancient Greek dramas, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, (both written by the playwright Sophocles), and Medea (written by the playwright Euripides) can all be connected by relating them to the three motifs— suffering, revenge and determination. Although the characters go through various forms of suffering throughout the play, they all undergo pain, distress, and hardship: physically, mentally, and emotionally. These feelings could result in a thirst for sweet revenge. They want to take vengeance upon who ever inflicted the pain and heartache upon them. Thus, this strong craving for revenge results in the unwavering determination needed to accomplish their main objective: these three themes are all connected within each of the three dramas: Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Medea.

The Greeks considered tragedy the greatest form for literature.  However, the tragic ends for the characters were not ordained or set by fate, but rather caused by certain characteristics belonging to that person.  Such is the case with the characters of Sophocles' plays Oedipus the King and Antigone.  Oedipus from King Oedipus, and Antigone and Creon from Antigone posses characteristics, especially pride, that caused their tragic ends.  As the play progress, other characteristics appear and further add to the problem to such a point that it is inevitable that it will end in tragedy.  Therefore the tragedies were not a result of a plot by the fates, but rather a result of the

Throughout Poetics, Aristotle describes what traits a tragedy must have to be successful. To support these choices, he makes use of a small analysis of many tragedies, including many of Sophocles’ plays; Oedipus Rex is one of the plays mentioned in Aristotle’s Poetics. Some of these traits include a successful plot structure, recognition scenes, and a correct choice for its hero. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles fulfills all of these requirements.

The answer to the question of whether personal desires affect people’s actions more than the influence of others may seem like a one sided answer. However, upon closer inspection, it is acceptable to say that although some would argue that people’s own desires dictate their actions, the influences of others play a more prominent role in how an individual acts. The Greek tragedies “Medea” and “Oedipus Rex” are both stories that explore this controversial topic. “Oedipus Rex” follows the story of a king named Oedipus. His land is plagued, and the only way to get rid of this plague is to exile the one who killed the previous ruler of Thebes. Oedipus begins his search, along the way communicating with people that help him learn