Theme Of Authority In Oedipus The King And Antigone

Over the centuries, the concept of fate is constantly being changed to adapt to our current way of living. In modern times the concept of fate is usually connected to the themes of love and romance. However the ancient Greeks recognized fate as an inescapable reality that shaped their lives. The famous playwright, Sophocles, adopts the idea of fate in his plays to control the character’s actions. In both plays, “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone”, the writer uses the concept of fate to show human’s inability to conquer the will of the gods.

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

For most people family is the most important thing in their life. But what if you had to choose between honoring your family and obeying the law? What would you do? In the play Antigone by Sophocles, a woman named Antigone is faced with a very difficult decision. If she decides to honor her dead brother she may be persecuted and put to death but if she leaves her brother’s body to decay without performing a ritual he will have a terrible afterlife. Antigone decides that family always comes first and perform the forbidden ritual on her brother. She is eventually prosecuted for her actions and later on kills herself. Personally, I agree with Antigone. To a certain extent, family should come first. In my opinion, family is almost always more important than authority. But, according to the play, it depends. Based on the results of everyone's actions I think that the play believes family is more important than authority. Creon punishes Antigone for choosing family over authority and as a result the members of his family all die.

Conflict; a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one. Every person deals with conflict, whether it’s large or small, internal or external. In the ancient Greek set play, Antigone, the author Sophocles challenges his characters to choose between family or authority. The author Sophocles illustrates the two concepts of family versus authority, while proving family ties to be more important through the main character Antigone, the heroine of the story, as a symbol for family. While Creon the antagonist represents authority. Sophocles writes the play out to uphold a theme of an authoritative king who only wants to abide by the laws, no matter who it affects, only to show in the end, it is the king who loses. Throughout the play character development and symbols are used to illustrate that family is more important than authority.

In order to be an influential leader they need to inspire and the only way that will be possible is if they listen to the people around them. Furthermore, Sophocles’ purpose in writing about leadership was to convey that as a leader, they must know what their true values are, because it will help them make decisions easier, help them listen to those around them and it will help them maintain their position as an impactful leader. Creon needed to get a hold on what he truly valued. There were improvements that needed to be made but he was ignorant. His son, the leader, and Tiresias tried to advise him but Creon failed to communicate well with

    The idea of hubris is monumental in a plethora of Greek mythological works. In many ways the excessive pride of certain characters fuels their own destruction. This is certainly true with respect to the characters of Pentheus, Antigone, and Oedipus. All three of these characters demonstrate, through their actions, various degrees of arrogance that seem to undercut the traditional role of the Gods, and thus largely contribute to their downfall. However, it should be noted that while each of these characters demonstrate hubris, they way in which their arrogance manifests itself is unique to each character.

In the Greek play “Antigone” by the Sophocles, imagine how it would have been written differently if the author Sophocles was not an Athenian, but a Spartan or a Thebian. Sophocles grew up near Athens, a very democratic city-state (Taplin NP), and his ideas of different governments, especially oligarchies are shown in his play. His way of representing a different government is also similar to how some people in the U.S. see leaders and life in different areas, such as Kim Jong Un in North Korea, like B. R. Myers, the author of the book How North Koreans See Themselves. The play “Antigone” is set in Thebes with a King, Creon. The play starts with Creon making a decree, that no one should bury Polyneices, and if they did they would be sentenced to death. This decree was deeply unsettling to his people, and once Antigone buried her brother and was caught, the public had a voice in Haimon, Creon’s son. Haimon went to his father with the people’s opinion, but Creon did not listen until the very end of the play. This had major consequences, for when Antigone committed suicide heavily influenced by Creon locking her in a stone room in the woods, Haimon, Creon’s son, killed himself over his loss, then his wife killed herself over the loss of her son. To understand his political views may help to understand why he wrote Creon’s character the way he did, as well as how B. R. Myers views North Korea’s leader.

Throughout life you always have your family to share the smiles, the tantrums, the unseen moments, and tears. As we make it through to adulthood, we all secure those special bonds that we have with our family, but obeying the law has been embedded into our minds since a young age so which is more important? The book, Antigone is a greek-mythology tragedy play written by Sophocles about a curse put onto a man named Oedipus where he is destined to kill his father, marry his mother, and bring unfortunates to his city. Antigone, the main character is the result of an incest marriage between Oedipus and his mother Jocasta, the play begins with Antigone attempting to convince her sister to bury her brother, Polyneices’ body, going

In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus can be seen as the “leader” of his society. As can be compared to today’s society being a leader doesn’t make you superior or a good person. As a matter of fact a leader usually establishes more negative things than positive for their society. Being a leader can lead to fueds due to someone having too much power. Additionally, leaders can develop to show too much hubris, which is known to be a terrible characteristic. Not only that but being the head of a society also leads to major impacts between small groups such as family. This can occur by simply trying to do something for the better. The play shows numerous negative traits of a leader that can be compared to today’s society.

A curious question to consider about Socrates is "What is the value of family?" To me, it seems like it is not his first priority. Socrates did indeed leave his family behind. Instead of sacrificing his mind and body to the city for his family, which is as common today as it was then, he sacrificed himself for himself. So who is nobler? The family man, who lives for the love of his family, or Socrates, who lived for himself. Many issues come to thought. One, was Socrates a family man? No, I think not. Two, did he die for his pride or to follow the laws? Can't answer that one, but it seems to be his pride based on him living by his own laws. It may not be this blunt, but I feel like Socrates did not care for his family much. Socrates was not a politically powerful man nor did he die for some great cause that change the way things were. He died for pride. I think Socrates viewed everyone with a mind as their own individual,

Sophocles, a famous and renowned Greek dramatist, is the playwright to both the play Oedipus the King and Antigone. Along with Antigone and Oedipus Sophocles had also wrote Electra and Fete. Sophocles wrote many Greek tragedies which are plays in which the main character in the play suffers a tragedy due to some flaw of theirs. An example would be how Oedipus (thinking he is defying a prophecy) murders his father and weds his mother. His flaw was him trying to defy fate if he had not just stayed where he was he would’ve been fine. His works are referred to and taught all over the world in many schools along with colleges; this should give light to how will written his plays are and how

In the drama Antigone, Sophocles considers the source of authority and power in society. When King Creon makes a law that forbids the burial of Antigone's brother, Polynices, she ignores the king’s authority, risks her life, and buries her brother out of loyalty to the gods. The situation leads to a conflict among the people of Thebes, Antigone, and Haemon. They must decide where their loyalty lies, and whose authority should take precedence, that of the king or that of the gods. While a number of views about the role of authority and power are expressed through characters such as Creon, Antigone, and Haemon, the drama seems to support the view that authority does not rest only with one person.

In Ancient Greece, as the government turns to democracy, an important political debate arises between two crucial topics, authority and family. If a leader, for example, creates a law to restrict his or her people, but a member of the leader’s family breaks the law, he or she must decide where loyalties lie. Sophocles enters this debate in his play Antigone when Antigone, Creon’s son’s fiancée, breaks a heavily enforced but possibly immoral law. Although Sophocles emphasizes the importance of authority, Antigone illustrates that family is held in higher regard, exhibited through Creon’s tragic downfall.

During Sophocles’s time in Athens, a plethora of social and political issues were present in its society. These issues are modeled and demonstrated through a series of examples and circumstances in Oedipus the King. Sophocles uses the story of Oedipus’s downfall as an example to the Greeks and a reflection of the current affairs in his life. He goes into further interpretation when using the city of Thebes to re enact how life is in Athens to give a more relatable of easier understood outlook on the troubles his city faces. The problems Sophocles highlights are very prevalent in modern day America as well. The same social problems Sophocles writes on are the same ones we face today in our everyday lives. Our government faces many controversial problems and questioning of leadership skills just as Sophocles showed in Oedipus the King.

"Oedipus the King" is a tragic play showing a shift from the belief of fate to freedom of choice. Therefore, Oedipus the king is a great example of those who run from fate ends up fulfilling their fate