Sophocles I: Questions Sophocles\' Royal

Sophocles I: Questions

Sophocles' royal protagonists of Creon and Oedipus both embody the principle that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The position of kingship mimics that of a god, in the eyes of a man, even though the gods themselves are quite aware of the fact that they are more powerful than mortal men. The status of a king and commoner in the eyes of Zeus, the king of the gods, is equally petty. The danger of a mortal man assuming power, and receiving esteem and fame is that he becomes hubristic, or prideful, and forgets that human beings are the playthings of the gods regardless of their social status.

This is certainly true of Oedipus, who is foretold he will have a horrible fate from birth. Arrogantly, he defies his fate and tries to run away from it, but he runs straight into the arms of fate, and acts even more arrogantly as a king, condemning the man who brings upon the plague of the city he rules, even while he is living in sin and incest. But this hubris also afflicts Creon, who does not labor under such a curse. Creon still meets a horrific end when he refuses to let a man be buried, until he is told, too late, that this is wrong. Creon shows even more pride than his predecessor, as he should have never ordered that a man ought not to be buried.

Question

The limited understanding of human beings is reflected in the attribution of earthly motivations of power or profit to the true prophesies of the evidently gifted Tiersias. Oedipus and Creon think in concrete, final, mortal terms and their speeches reflect their own personal self-interests. However Tiersias has endured the wrath of the gods, as is embodied in his blindness, as well as enjoyed their gifts in terms of his prophesy. What is to come cannot be interfered with by moral desires and punishment. The gods cannot be bribed with offers of money anymore than Oedipus can run away from his fate, but mortal kings do not seem to understand this in "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone," even if the prophet does.

Question

In a more conventional, Hollywood economy of revenge and punishment, Antigone would live happily ever afterward. Even a conventional Christian morality play would show the martyred Antigone and Haemon being happily rewarded for her faith and his love in heaven, while the evildoers like Creon were punished. But the point of "Antigone" is not that the good are happy and are given an earthly or heavenly reward, but that it is necessary to obey the will of the gods, even if this brings sorrow as well as joy. Haemon is punished with death, even though he does not disobey mortal, divine, or familial laws (suicide was not a sin in ancient Greece or Rome).

Greek mythology is full of examples of characters who are 'damned if they do, damned if they don't.' After all, if Oedipus had remained with his birth father, he would have been committing a sin of filial disrespect. His inaction would indicate that he expected to kill his father and marry his mother and he did not care. Orestes, in another tragic example, is forced in the "Orestia" to kill his own mother to avenge the death of his father. He is condemned to bring the Furies upon himself whether he kills or does nothing.

Question

Ismene is afraid to act, but she wants the honor of showing that she has done her pious, filial duty in honor of her dead brother's memory. However, for Antigone, merely desiring to do good deeds is not the same thing as actually acting in a morally upright fashion. For Antigone, suffering punishment is part of her reward -- although she defies the laws of mortals, she obeys the holy will of the gods.

Question

Haemon is in an impossible position. Although it could be argued that Antigone is in an impossible position as well, forced to choose between obeying the will of the gods or the will of man, Haemon must choose between loyalty to his proposed wife and his father as the king of the state. His temperament is such that he is an innate compromiser. He is forced to negotiate between two people who do not believe in compromise, upon any terms.

Creon has begun a horrible chain of events. The Theban king has attempted to supplant the will of the gods, refusing to let Polynices' soul enter the underworld and be judged by the gods, thus taking on the role of the gods as judgers of men's souls as well as a judge of his citizen's actions on earth. By refusing to obey the king's orders and defy the gods, Antigone cannot act other than how she does as a pious sister.

Unless Haemon can persuade his father to go back on his word (which will make Creon look weak as a king) he is also in a 'damned' situation, with no choices at all. Haemon does the best that he can, attempting to persuade Creon of the error of his ways, but given that his unreasonable father is head of the state there is only so much he can do to alter the law of the land. Haemon is hardly a 'cry baby' but is full of grief over Antigone's inevitable death and her impossible situation and her connection to her condemned family. Haemon is also grieved to see the moral folly of his father as king, a man he can never show respect to again, after Creon has effectively murdered Haemon's betrothed. Haemon also becomes an unwitting instrument of revenge of the gods upon Creon, even though Haemon has done nothing wrong, as his suicide grieves Creon and prompts Creon's wife to commit suicide.

Question IV

Prophesy was an integral part of the Greek religion and belief in fate. To some extent, to ask if the events and the fates of the protagonists in "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" would have unraveled as they did, had there been no prophesies, is an impossible question, because Greek notions of fate, prophesy, hubris, and the need to bend to the will of the gods are all interconnected. A Greek would respond to this question that it does not matter if the prophesy would have come true as it did, had no one consulted the oracle. Regardless of what occurred, what was determined to happen would happen, according to the will of the gods, and the fate of Oedipus indicates that this is the case under all foreseeable circumstances. Clearly, the gods understood that Oedipus and his father would act as they did.