Family dynamics and relationships

Family Values in Antigone, And Oedipus, The Aeneid

Ancient literature often provides an insightful glimpse into life that gives a description about mankind. Many times that story is not far from the stories we experience today. We hear the phrase that some things never change and this might be more true than we would like to believe, especially three primordial texts that support this notion are Sophocles' plays, Antigone and Oedipus, and Virgil's The Aeneid. These three narratives illustrate how family values are a significant expression of human existence regardless of what century one lives. Antigone demonstrates an incredible fortitude as she goes up against her uncle and the accepted standards of society for what she believes in. Aeneas realizes the importance of family through a series of painful events and he makes the correct decision even when his heart speaks a different language. Jocasta represents the family member striving to keep her family safe from harm even though she knows her fight is hopeless. Family requires loyalty, and generally, when individuals commit to duty, they must realize that some form of sacrifice is involved. In addition, there is always some sort of tension involved with family members over specific occurrences. In short, these families illustrate that some things never change. Families will always be loyal to one another and they will always feel some sort of tension because of their loyalties - whether that tension is from within or without. Families and people are tow things that we can count on to rarely change. Family and duty are significant aspects of life, regardless of the century in which one lives.

Family loyalty becomes an important theme in each of these manuscripts.

Antigone provides an exceptional example of family and duty in Sophocles' play, Antigone. She becomes a powerful character because once she decides what is important to her, she does not falter. She understands the importance of family until death and goes forth with determination unmatched. We can see Antigone's commitment when she tells Ismene the she will "lie with the one I love and loved by him - an outrage sacred to the gods!" (Sophocles Antigone 86-7). She is very aware of what she is doing and what it will mean to her because she mentions the gods. However, this does cause her to rethink her position. In the Aeneid, Aeneas learns what it means to be loyal to his family through his journey to the underground. When he sees his dead father there, he helps him see Rome's future and "fired his love/Of glory in the years to come" (Virgil 191). Seeing Anchises compels Aeneas to fulfill his duty because he learns things and grows. In Oedipus, Jocasta understands the value of family more than her husband does and she is willing to do anything to keep him from pursuing something that might damage their relationship. She urges him, "Do it for me, for the sake of all your people" (Sophocles Oedipus 724), knowing that the responsible thing to do is to urge him to let things go. All of these instances provide us with an example of what it means to be devoted to your family. Duty means commitment, knowledge, and responsibility and it does not matter what century one lives in - these ideals never change.

We learn from these characters that their duty costs them something. In Antigone, Antigone learns that her beliefs will cost her nothing short of her life. When she decides that she will bury her brother by herself is she has to, she is demonstrating a rebellion that could cost her life. She tells Ismene, "I will bury him myself./And even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory" (Sophocles Antigone 85-6). Antigone is stubborn but she also realizes what the cost will be and she follows through with her plan according to her convictions. In The Aeneid, Aeneas must learn from defeat after his loss in the Trojan war, which strengthens his character. It is through this new character that Aeneas learns not to give up. Victory is in his future but it not without suffering. For example, he endures a significant amount of pain at the loss of Pallas, who is referred to as his "beloved foster son" (Virgil XI.43). In The Odyssey, Jocasta demonstrates loyalty to her family by urging Odysseus to give up his pursuit for the truth. She literally begs him to stop quarrelling with Creon but he refuses to listen to her. He becomes obsessed to Jocasta's demise. When he tells his wife, "I will not listen; the truth must be made known" (Sophocles Oedipus 825), she knows that she has lost her husband. The additional cost for Jocasta will be her marriage and, finally, her life. From these situations, we learn that duty is not something that can be had for free. Even in ancient times, individuals were confronted with choices to make for or against something they believed in. These choices involve some sort of sacrifice and it does not matter when these kinds of situations occur - sacrifice is a part of life and, more importantly, a part of human character.