Colonus

Themes THE POWER OF UNWRITTEN LAW After defeating Polynices and taking the throne of Thebes, Creoncommands that Polynices be left to rot unburied, his flesh eaten by dogs and birds, creating an “obscenity” for everyone to see (Antigone, 231). Creon thinks that he is justified in his treatment of Polynices because the latter was a traitor, an enemy of the state, and the security of the state makes all of human life—including family life and religion—possible. Therefore, to Creon’s way of thinking

that Greek tragedies do. In Sophocles’s first Theban play, King Oedipus, the Creon’s character makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with being king because he already has all of the benefits without any of the responsibilities. In Oedipus at Colonus, Creon is in a struggle for power, and the audience sees that his previously carefree and rational approach towards being king changes slightly when he goes as far as taking Oedipus’s daughters hostage for his own personal gain. Finally, in Sophocles’s

coming centuries. His entire life, ruled by arrogant autonomy, was defined by pain and suffering. However, his death, guided by the will of the gods, was defined by self-sacrifice, generosity, and religious piety (Oedipus and Colonus 1884). Sophocles uses Oedipus at Colonus as an example illustrating the foolishness of freewill, how it is a deterrent from honor rather than a means to

and pretty face lies the courageous, fearless, unselfish and morally righteous Antigone. Although only seen fleetingly in Oedipus the King when she says goodbye to her father, Antigone shows her true colors in the play, Antigone. Even in Oedipus at Colonus, we see how faithful and supportive Antigone is as she and Oedipus, who is blind, old and exiled from his land, travel and wander until they rest around the outskirts of Athens. Antigone was faithful to her family and the gods, but she makes morally

When Oedipus realizes what the gods had in store for him, Creon benevolently grants him all of his wishes—to oversee his daughters ' safety and to exile him from Thebes. This character is markedly different from the Creon in Oedipus at Colonus. In the second play of the cycle Creon comes to Oedipus, "…generous in words, but in reality evil." Creon attempts to attain the throne by gaining Oedipus ' favor and he cunningly tries to manipulate the chorus ' emotions so that he can avoid conflict

Tiresias, the seer, is another great symbol in the story. Though he is blind, he is proved in the story to have seen things more clearly than the stubborn Oedipus would have. The irony of it is that Oedipus himself later became that seer in the story of Colonus, with Antigone as his own hand-girl. The plays of Oedipus also use a great range of picturesque speech to make a point. We see it in the very first lines of Oedipus the king when Oedipus asks his beloved people, “what is the meaning of this

The Oresteia and Oedipus Trilogy have characters that either emotionally engage you to feel sympathy or sorrow for them while they go through troubles. There are also characters in these works that make you want to detest them on the basis of their character, actions, or behavior. The character that tugs at my heart strings the most between the works of Aeschylus and Sophocles is Antigone. The character between the Oresteia and the Oedipus trilogy that evokes contempt or anger is Clytemnestra. Antigone

Jessie Romelus English I Mrs. Joseph March 14,2011 Antigone: the Most Tragic Hero Sophocles Playwright, The Three Plebian Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus written by Sophocles, is one of the many plays that shows the audience heroic figures and the outcome of being exposed to fate. Creon and Anitgone both show nobility throughout the play showing that they are both admirable and human. Antigone copes with the situation she has fallen in. She rebels the governments decree

conceived in Colunus, Greece. He passed on a mid 406 B.C. Sophocles is the child of Sophilus, an affluent part of a little group. He had a noticeably anxious life. Sophocles experienced childhood in the town of Colonus, just outside Athens, which was the setting of his disaster Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles was a minister of Halon and helped present the faction of Asclepius, lord of medication, to Athens. He was regarded post mortem as a saint. His father, Sophillus, thought to have been an affluent

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. Sophocles’ play “Oedipus Tyrannus” is about how Athenians view their gods and their fate. Athenians believed that