Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
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 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.
Question IIV
Antigone acts as she 'ought' thus she wins some klaos or merit for her actions in burying her brother. However, because of the fact that she must defy mortal law, she also cannot, in her imperfect circumstances, achieve the ultimate degree of Ar te, or obedience, given that she must be defiant of the will of other mortals whom she should show respect to, like the king. Although this is not her fault, achieving a state of Ar te is dependent upon circumstances as well as the moral character of the individual. She is pure and true, but not always honorable, as evidenced in her actions towards her sister (perhaps the one time in which she seems to do 'wrong' in terms of her harshness, although she cannot lie and allow her sister to suffer -- this would not show Ar te either). Poor Antigone is placed in an inherently dishonorable and intolerable situation.
Both literally and figuratively of noble character, Oedipus is the epitome of tragedy, moving from hubris to his downfall to ultimately tragic hero. In a mental sense, Oedipus realizes his flaw and finds this completely unacceptable. He punishes himself by means of self-mutilation and his removal from kingship. Antigone also suffers from a sense of hubris. She is completely self-sufficient. She fails to rely on others, or indeed to submit
Greek tragedy strikes the contemporary audiences with the same strength it had over two and a half millennia ago. Sophocles, along with Aeschylus and Euripides are among the most famous playwrights of the Greek ancient world whose works have survived. Their plays are testimonies of the creative genius of the human mind regardless of the time, as well as of the universality of the human nature. In his dealings with
For Oedipus to be considered successful, then, he would have had to challenge his own fate and succeed, rather than enact it entirely according to what was set out for him. In Hamlet, on the other hand, the enemy is tangible and human in the form of Hamlet's uncle, and thus Hamlet is able to confront and vanquish him. Thus, Oedipus represents a kind of ignorant struggle against the
In Oedipus this may be defined as the powerlessness of human beings against preordained fate. Diction refers to the expression of meaning through words. Stylistic elements of tragedy for example may include a character's use of metaphor. Oedipus does this very eloquently throughout the play and particularly during the climax, at the end of which he blinds himself. He uses this act as a self-punishment for his foolishness, which
Iago notices this flaw at once and plots to exploit it almost immediately. This is evident when he tells Roderigo: The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, And will as tenderly be led by th' nose As asses are. (Shakespeare I.iii.393-6) Here we see that Iago intends on using Othello's open nature against him by allowing him to believe that Desdemona is
In this passage, Shakespeare brings into lucidity Hamlet's tragic flaw: as he delayed his plan to avenge his father against Claudius, Hamlet opens an opportunity for the murderer of his father (Claudius) to plan ahead and instead, turn the tables against Hamlet, which eventually results to his death. It was only at the end of the play that Hamlet redeems himself from his mistakes in life. This is when he