Oedipus Rex and Antigone
Both Antigone and Oedipus Rex have central themes that are still relevant today. For Oedipus, it is the search to find who you truly are despite the consequences–if you are thinking collective unconscious, you are right Dear Watson–while Antigone, questions of loyalty and standing up for what you believe are central issues. What issues and central themes did you notice upon the completion of your play? Feel free to comment on the ones I mentioned…or see if you can find other core, relevant themes that I failed to mention. Please post by 8:00 pm on 2/6/13. Make sure you refer to the rubric I distributed in class so that you are clear on my expectations. Also feel free to peruse older posts; you may glean some insights from those old posts. Please make sure you proofread closely before you click post!
One of the themes I noticed when reading Oedipus Rex was the Willingness to Ignore The Truth. When Oedipus and Jocasta begin to get close to the truth about Laius’s murder,Oedipus fastens onto a detail in the hope of exonerating himself. Oedipus and Jocasta are both told that King Laius was murdered by strangers, whereas Oedipus knows that he acted alone when he killed a man in similar circumstances. It seems as if no matter what Jocasta and Oedipus are told, they keep trying to avoid the fact that the prophecy told to Oedipus is true. It seems as if towards the end of the story, specifically when Oedipus demands the audience of a shepherd who knows the truth of the murder, the truth can’t be avoided anymore(Jocasta being the first to realize this). But being as that is, the entire story seems to revolve around the theme of The Willingness to Ignore The Truth based on how long it takes for the truth to be realized by Oedipus with all the information right in front of him.
After I finished Oedipus Rex, I noticed a few themes that kept happening throughout the play. One sentence in particular stands out to me. At the very end, Creon’s last line, the last thing Creon says to Oedipus is that, and I’m paraphrasing here, Oedipus shouldn’t keep commanding like he is still in charge, for when he was in charge, he brought about his own destruction. That seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the play. For instance, when Jocasta and Laius sent away Oedipus to die in order to prevent Laius’ death, they didn’t make sure he was dead. Over time Oedipus found out his prophecy to kill his father and ran away to escape his plight, only to end up killing his real father and eventually marrying his mother. If Laius and Jocasta never sent Oedipus away or just killed him right then and there, then the prophecy would never had come true, so in that respect they caused their own demise.
Another thing I noticed while reading the play is that, in trying to avoid the prophecy, they caused it. This reminds me so much of a scene from the movie The Matrix when Neo goes to see The Oracle, she tells Neo not to worry about the vase. Neo looks to avoid a vase and in turn ends up knocking it over. She then says, “What’s really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn’t said anything?” The point to this quote is what if Jocasta, Laius or Oedipus never went to the oracle for a prophecy? Would they still have ended up like they did? If you know your fate then no matter what you do, you are going to end up making it come true by trying to avoid it. When Oedipus ran away to avoid his fate, he ended up running right into it by killing his real father. Avoidance played a key part in this play by leading them to cause their fate at their own hands.
I feel that destiny is a core idea of Oedipus Rex. It is the layout for the whole story. Oedipus was destin to kill his father and marry his mother, which eventually happened because the shepherd didn’t let Oedipus die. Choice is another core idea. Oedipus chose to be stubborn, and not to listen to what Teiresias said. This ultimatly led to his downfall. I also feel deception was a major part to this play. Jocasta was deceived that her son was dead and that she had not married him. Oedipus even deceived himself. He thought he was safe when he had moved away from his (adoptive) parents so that the prophecy would not come true. Little to his knowledge the prophecy did come true.
The Ancient Greeks could have seen several different central themes and issues in the play Oedipus Rex. The first is destiny as opposed to free will, as in our “locus of control” activity. Oedipus does everything he possibly can to avoid the oracle from the oracle at the oracle (ha), but inadvertently fulfills it by doing so. A violent, hair-trigger temper which leads him to kill Laius in the first place is the very thing which gets people talking in Oedipus’ quest for the truth. Subsequently, the next theme is the pursuit of truth no matter the cost. Oedipus refuses to take “no” for an answer while on his goose chase for Laius’ killer. When he finds the truth, he is appalled at himself, but still knows what must be done. The best course of action is to rid his father’s Thebes of his “pollution.” Another theme in Oedipus is that of sight and blindness. Until the bitter end, the blind Tiresias is the only person who can truly see. When Oedipus finally begins to comprehend his own actions, he feels that he wasted his gift of sight, and confiscates it himself. His sight which saved Thebes from the Sphinx, his intellect, could not save him from himself, or from the prophecy.
One of the central ideas I noticed within Antigone was fate versus free will. Within the first scene we discover Antigone believes her fate has been determined by her father, Oedipus, for marrying his mother and having children with her. She blames her father for “cursing” her life, when in reality it was her choice to bury Polynices and take her own life. Another central idea I saw within Antigone was moral law versus civil law. Creon decides that Polynices should not be buried since he attacked Thebes. Antigone believes that since he is her brother, it is her responsibility to bury him. In the end, Antigone follows through with her beliefs and buries him.
Another central idea I found within Antigone was pride versus humility. When Creon creates a law because he believes it is supporting civil law, and he believes that he can not make a law that is greater than “divine right” (meaning his rule comes directy from the gods and can’t be changed by his people). Within the end, Tiresias comes with a prophecy that Creon will suffer greatly, Creon eventually understands he’s made a horrible mistake, but he still refuses to admit it. In return he changes the prophet’s message so he can save his life, and he never takes his own family into consideration before it’s too late.
Antigone, questions of loyalty and standing up for what you believe are central issues. What issues and central themes did you notice upon the completion of your play?
I think that standing up for what you believe in is a major issue in this play because it has consequences that don’t only affect one person, but many characters in the play. After Antigone tries to cover up Polyneices, she is taken in and Creon is ready to kill her then, but after hearing what everyone has to say he changes his heart and realizes she really didn’t commit a crime. When Creon goes to fix what he had done, he finds not only Antigone dead, but his son Haemon, and his wife, are also dead. So when one person follows their heart, it can lead to consequences foe not only themselves but for the people around them, weather its good or bad.
After reading this play I have realized the following themes: Searching for who you truly are, the true power of seeing, and the denying of fate. With each theme there is a connection to the behavior of modern day people. We subconsciously revert back to these themes and suffer from the irony that they may provide.
Oedipus searches earnestly to find out who he truly is. Despite everyone telling him to pay no heed to his past, he pushes forward in order to better take hold of his own fate and overcome the so called “prophecies” that have been laid about him his entire life. The quest that he goes on is not an easy one, nor can we expect to have an easy time at sorting out our own lives. As more things come out of the darkness and are revealed to us we find ourselves even more lost and in despair. Oedipus is afraid that the prophecies will come true so much so that he leaves his home with his foster parents in order to prevent them. Jocasta, similarly, sent Oedipus away in order to thwart the misgivings presented to them. Their attempts to deny their fate are, in the end, the cause of their downfall. You cannot fight what has been given to you and set for your life. If you do try to fight it, it will bounce back at you harder than you would expect.
The true power of sight is an interesting theme. SPOILER: “I walk by faith, not by sight.” This quote was stated by Eli, portrayed by Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli. Although Eli was blind, he had the overpowering insight that faith provides, he let faith and fate guide him, allowing him to become more equipped to handle life than the living could. This is much like Tiresias, the blind prophet; he did not need to rely on his sight to be able to know what was, is, and will be. Similarly, as Oedipus blinded himself, he began to finally “see” his life clearly. We all learn to take things for their face value as opposed to thinking about things and looking deeper into life and its meanings.
Through my readings of Oedipus Rex, I noticed how Sophocles put much emphasis upon religion and fate. I understand that these were apart of religious ceremonies, but the emphasis put upon fate is quite interesting. This theme of fate is quite different to our society today, where many are told that “you can be whatever you want to be” (Hopefully inside of legal parameters). Their belief in Oracles that could tell the future is quite astonishing because it appears impossible to escape. There is no way of changing what is going to happen, according to the Greeks. For example, Laius’ Oracle said he would be murdered by his son’s hands. Even though he makes all these efforts to stop this, Fate still manages to have that happen. I believe fate was a central theme to the tragedy Oedipus Rex. Even though it may be “the gods will” of what happens to humans, Humans are still fated to have whatever will happen to them, happen.
I noticed that Antigone was centralized around moral law vs. legal law. Antigone decided to follow the moral law rather than the legal law. Which honestly I would too if I were her. I wouldn’t want to live the rest of my life living with regrets just so I wouldn’t get in trouble.
In Antigone, standing up for what you believe in and loyalty are two big central issues and/or central issues. Another theme my group discussed a lot was moral law versus legal law, which may go along with standing up for what you believe in. In the beginning of the play, Antigone believes in moral law over legal law; which is why she was executed. Also in the beginning of the play, Ismene believes in legal law more than moral law; but later in the story Ismene believes in moral law. Creon definitely believed in legal law over moral law. However, by the end, he believed in moral law. Another issue I believe is a main part of Antigone is taking the consequences for your wrong doing. Antigone was willing to take the consequences for what she did wrong because she was standing up for what she believed in. Ismene wanted to help her sister bury their brother, but she wasn’t ready to take the consequences for it.
The central theme in Oedipus Rex is clear that Oedipus tries to find his true identity. Although the consequence of finding that his mom is really his wife. The irony of this is Oedipus is seen as a very intelligent man yet he could not figure out what was right in front of him. Oedipus makes such an effort to make sure the prophecy placed on him does not come true which is also ironic because it already has happened to him. Oedipus being adopted plays a huge role as well because he has this arrogance of a king from his adoptive parents although he still would have had a royal thrown with his birth parents. His arrogance and pride lead to him killing his father. At the three road split Oedipus was thrown off the road by King Laius he becomes angry and kills King Laius and his men. Oedipus’s anger comes from the power he had and how he felt he had been disrespected not realizing not only did he kill the King of Thebes but he had killed his father. These are instances of irony in Oedipus Rex.
I think one theme in Oedipus Rex is that the characters are willing to ignore the truth. When Oedipus is presented with the idea that the murder was commited by a group rather than a single person, he clings to it like irrefutable information. This also occurs when Jocasta tells the story of how she bound her son’s ankles and Oedipus doesn’t connect this with his own ankles.
I noticed many themes in Antigone. I personally believe that Antigone’s main theme was about man’s law versus moral law and which is more important. What I mean by that is Antigone’s morals, for her, come before Creon’s new law. The promise she made to her brother about burying him was more important than King Creon’s law. She believed that the gods would be on her side and make Creon understand. I think she thought that, as her uncle, Creon would understand why she buried Polyneices because it was her family bonds that made her want to do so. However, Creon was blind to the fact that he could’ve been wrong about his proclamation. His pride took total control of his judgement. He then punished Antigone to an ironic fate. The entire play surrounds this theme and plays on it throughout the story.
In Oedipus Rex, the central theme of the collective unconscious is played out in several different scenarios. Oedipus goes through his journey to find out who he really is, and when he finally does, he tries to make himself believe it isn’t true, that he really isn’t the person he is finding himself to be. The idea of Oedipus dancing around the truth and denying his true identity is also a main theme in the play. The death of his loved ones brings him into a large pit of despair, however he still cannot deal with all the things he has done, blinding and banishing himself. At the beginning of his quest for his identity, Oedipus knew what he would be getting himself into. He knew he would find out things about himself he probably shouldn’t know, but he went along anyway, in denial and angry the entire story. When he found out all the bad things that Tieresias and the shepherd had been telling him were really true, he was sorry for himself and drowning in self-pity until he realized he had brought this despair upon himself. The lessons learned by Oedipus can still be used today, in smaller scale, so we can all figure out our true selves and our collective unconscious, laughing in the face of danger as Simba did.
In Oedipus Rex,Oedipus is determined to find himself and the murderer of King Liaus. Oedipus realizes that he was the murderer. Oedipus becomes angry with himself when he realizes the horror he has caused upon the city of Thebes. Oedipus can’t bare to see the citizens and the city. Oedipus then blinds himself and asks Creon to take him somewhere far away from Corinth and Thebes. Oedipus has a difficulty finding himself. I think that it was harsh of Oedipus to blind himself. I also think that it was rude of Oedipus because he left his people to see the chaos and perfidy he created. I agree that the search for who Oedipus is is a central theme.
In the play Antigone, Antigone has to choose whether to bury her brother and accept the consequences or to listen to Creon, the new ruler of Thebes. Antigone chooses to bury her beloved brother. I would have done the same thing. I believe that it is wrong to leave a loved one dead and laying on the ground for all to see. Antigone has to choose between moral law and legal law. In Antigone, I agree that the central theme is loyalty and standing up for what you believe in.
An issue in both Oedipus Rex and Antigone is death. Antigone, Jocasta, Haemon, and Eurydice all kill themselves. Also in both Oedipus Rex and Antigone, the city is angry with the rulers. In Oedipus Rex a theme or issue could be blindness to the world. In both plays, Oedipus and Antigone both have a tragic flaw. I think that Antigone’s tragic flaw is determination. She is determined to bury her brother and this leaves to her downfall. I think that Oedipus’ tragic flaw is trying to find the murderer. When Oedipus finds the murderer, this also leads to his downfall.
I feel that fate is one of the central themes in Oedipus Rex. Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius are tied into one horrible fate. Laius and Jocasta will give birth to a son who will kill Laius and marry Jocasta. Oedipus is stuck with this and even if he doesn’t realize that he killed his father and then married his mom he goes along with live like everything is normal. Then when Thebes is in a depression because their former king Laius died in vain and Oedipus takes the role has the hero to save the city-state, Thebes. Oedipus is like a detective and he slowly finds clues that help him put his life story together. When Oedipus is close to solving the riddle, people involved with fate will try to steer Oedipus in the wrong direction. When Jocasta realized that Oedipus is her son she ends up committing suicide. This is why fate is a central theme in this play because it involves three of the most important characters in the play and they all have the same fate.
I believe that both of the themes in Oedipus Rex and Antigone are relatable to life. In reality its the idea that you are on one big search for who you are and what you stand for. How you grow up has a lot to contribute to both of these. Not everyone agrees with what your moral values are. When that is the case you may feel the pressure to form your morals to what others feel is the “right way” to think. When you are on the search to find who you are you will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it. Antigone and Oedipus Rex although they aren’t stories you can relate to, they have themes that are very relatable to life.
Mark, very interesting points about sight and the connection with The Book of Eli. You have hit onto something important here. Truth and sight are related….
While reading Antigone, I did notice the central themes of loyalty and standing up for what you believe. They became very apparent through Antigone’s brave actions. She showed loyalty to her brother, Polyneices, by giving him a proper burial, even though it was prohibited by law. Antigone was not the only one who showed loyalty, though- Her sister Ismene and fiancé Haemon also conveyed their loyalty. They both stood up for Antigone after Creon found out about her unlawful actions. The central theme of standing up for what you believe was portrayed very well in the play, too, through Antigone. She went against the law because of her beliefs, despite the inevitable consequences that awaited her. I admire Antigone for this, and I think everyone should look to her as a fearless role model who stands firm in her beliefs.
Katie, I love the connections you make with the collective unconscious; it brings up a terrible catch-22—is it better to know who you are truly, even if it means your doom? Wouldn’t it be better to be ignorant and blissful? Normally, when we think of finding the collective unconscious we think that we find the green valley and the sun shines in the background and yes now we know all, but in the end of OR it is not this way at all…is it the same with Antigone?
I think one central theme in Oedipus Rex is the struggle of destiny and choice. Oedipus knows his destiny is to kill his father so he runs away from who he believes his father is . On his journey he kills a group of travelers, one who is his real father and doesn’t know yet. Even though he believes he had escaped his destiny he makes a choice and kills them anyway. It is his complete faith in destiny that leads to his lapse in judgement and eventually his downfall. Later in the book it is also his choice to not believe Terisias. He doesn’t believe him not out of good judgement or true belief, but out of arrogance, which I believe is his tragic flaw.
In Oedipus Rex there are multiple themes, but a theme I have noticed that pervades through out the play is blindness. Blindness is represented in multiple ways during the play. There is the obvious sensual blindness that Teiresias has, but then there is the irony behind Teiresias’s blindness. Which is that he may be blind to Oedipus, but in truth Teiresias is the only one with true sight because he knows that Oedipus is Laius’s murderer and Oedipus is blind to his past and due to his blindness of knowledge this would lead to Oedipus’s downfall and blindness.
Thomas, you say that Oedipus’ blindness to the truth leads to his downfall. Do you think that this connection to his downfall could be taken a step further to, perhaps, some underlying character trait of his? Could this then be related to his tragic flaw?
Sara, I never even thought of involving the other characters to my examples. I agree with your connections,and I would’ve never thought to incorporate Ismene and Haemon.
While reading Oedipus the obvious theme is finding yourself, but for Oedipus accepting the fact is what is difficult for him. Denial is something that also appears a lot. Jocasta does not neccessarily come out and deny anything but she doesn’t want Oedipus to find out the truth about who he is. This story also reminds me of how cowardly people can be. Everyone takes the easy way out so they don’t have to face reality anymore by killing themselves. I also think Oedipus takes the cowardly way out of his situation. He stabs his eyes out because he doesn’t want to see the destruction he has caused, if anything I think he should be the only one to have to see. None of the citizens want to see a murderer or anything like he is. I Antigone the majority of the characters kill themselves except for Creon. Creon and Oedipus have things in common but the major difference is that Creon is a much stricter ruler and his citizens don’t always agree with him and Oedipus was a good ruler and his citizens liked him. I don’t know if Oedipus could control his actions but if Jocasta didn’t want her son to be in such trouble with himself she should’ve told him earlier. I’m sure she loved Laius but you usually try to protect your kids which she didn’t neccessarily do. I really liked the way the theme was portrayed.
One of the central themes I noticed within the pages of Antigone is the power of unwritten law (Moral law versus Man’s law). After Creon had taken the throne of Thebes and defeated Polynices, he then sentenced Polynices to not be be buried or to be left to rot without a proper burial. King Creon believed that this was the proper thing to do because of Polynices “Benedict Arnold” actions. He concluded that Polynices was an enemy of the state and the power of the state is the most crucial aspect of human life – like making religion and family life feasible. This explains that King Creon believes in the role of the state over any morals or values. Although throughout the play this central theme is distributed, there are many cases where some tasks are more axiomatic than the state. This is why Polynices rotting body is seen as a sort of vulgarism rather than an actual federal crime. The concept of burying another person is a human quality, not part of what it means to be a citizen. Moral laws, like the duties that we owe to the dead, are what make up unwritten law. These are what main character Antigone follows throughout her journey in this absolutely wonderful Theban play.
Another central theme I had found in the Theban play Antigone, was morality. Self-harm and injury were very common concept portrayed among the main characters in The Oedipus Trilogy, but particularly in Antigone. The frequency of suicide and self-harm broadly suggests that a person’s individual life is delicate and that it is okay to one’s own life, if it is a tragic way of dying. It kind of seems like suicide and self-harm are the only ways in which the character’s can experience destiny.
One of the main issues in Antigone that stood out to me the most is Creon’s use and outlook of his power. This concept reminded me of a set up line of dominoes. Creon’s first decision to leave Polyneices unburied and unable to cross over to find peace symbolizes the first dominoe falling. This causes Antigone to follow Heaven’s law and burry her brother with the respect he deserved. From then on the chain of events spirals downward until everyone is dead except Creon symbolizing all of the dominoes knocking each other down. When all of the dominoes are knocked down, the only thing left is a mess of dominoes with no importance. Creon is now left with a disaster of events that prospered from the first decision Creon made. I think this shows that man and law are flawed. I dont think Creon had the intention of causing these occurences. I feel the power blinded him and caused an over dose of pride which is what would happen to any human being because we are flawed. Now Creon stands alone and the only thing he has left is his power.
In our lit circles we discussed different themes that show up throughout the play “Oedipus Rex” such as fate versus freewill, blindness/ignorance, finding yourself and possibly death. The one that really caught my eye the most was the fate versus freewill theme. I believe freewill determines your fate or destiny. When King Laius and Queen Jocasta decided to have their child and knew of the prophecy they sent him to die where the Shepherd found him and gave Oedipus to the messenger who then gave to the king and queen of Corinth as a gift since they could not have a child of their own. Through this it was the Shepherds freewill that kept Oedipus alive initially. Next, it was Oedipus who went off to defeat the Sphinx in order to get away from the prophecy he had found out about and feared. What he doesn’t know is what he is going to put himself though during and after his journey. Through his fear his journey lead him actually killing his father, King Laius, out of pride, defeat the Sphinx, and marry his mother, Jocasta. In result of all of this it was his choice to go out which also in return determined his fate that led to his downfall as the tragic hero.
Blindness and finding yourself are also a really big part of “Oedipus Rex.” In the play there are several characters who seem to be blind to the prophecy or truth tied to Oedipus such as Oedipus himself, Jocasta, and Creon. One of the only people who was not blind to the truth was Tiresias who was chastised for giving them the truth in which they didn’t want to believe and stayed in denial until Jocasta committed suicide in her bedroom. In the last scene of the play Oedipus blinds himself hoping to push away the truth which in my opinion was also an act of shame and guilt.
We also discussed how death is a reoccurring theme in the play. The death of King Laius marked the beginning of the prophecy becoming reality. The death of the King of Corinth marked the end of the facade of lies that developed as Oedipus grew as a person and realized the collective unconscious in the end. The last death, the death of Jocasta signifies the end of Oedipus’ hope and struggle to push away what already was determined when he was a child. It clarified he was the one who brought harm about Thebes even when he had initially come to save the people.
A central theme in Antigone was the theme of morals. Every character, in some way, asks the question “moral law or the law of the land.” Antigone was one who believed that moral law was above and beyond any law man could make. She believed the right thing to do was to bury her brother, Polyneices, though it was against the law Creon had made because “the law of the Gods is greater than of man’s.” Her sister, Ismene had to ask herself the same question. Should I die for what I know is right? Or should I abandon my morals and save my life? Ismene, I believe, is like many of us today. She knows right from wrong in more respects than one but does only what is comfortable, not always what is right. Antigone may not have been fearless of dying for doing what was right but she did it and would not deny it or cower from her punishment. In the end of the play, it was revealed that, even though you do what is right, you still have to pay the consequences.
Two very important central themes appeared throughout the entire play. One central theme was loyalty. Antigone had to make a choice of staying loyal to the promise she made to Polyneices and giving him a proper burial or to stay loyal to Creon who made a law forbidding anyone to bury Polyneices. Another theme that went along with loyalty was standing up in what you believe in. Antigone stayed loyal to her brother, Polyneices, and buried him. Antigone stood up for what she believed was the right thing to do. Antigone stood up for Polyneices even though there was serious consequences if anybody found out she buried her brother. Ismene stayed loyal to Creon at first, but later had chosen to stay loyal to her brother and sister. Haemon stood up for Antigone and went against Creon, his dad. When Haemon went against his father, it made me question if I would have stayed loyal to my father or my fiancé. I agree with what Antigone did. She stood up in what she believed in. If I was her, I would have done the same thing. I would not want my brother laying out on the ground dead for everyone to see. This play also shows moral law versus legal law (the moral law being the promise to bury Polyneices and the legal law being staying loyal to Creon and obeying his law). In some situations, moral law is the better choice than legal law. Both these themes play an important role in the play.
One of the themes that I noticed in Antigone was standing up for what is right or what you believe in. Antigone knew about the consequences before she buried her brother. However, she buried him anyway because it was what should have been done. Antigone made the promise of burying her brother and she was going to live up to that. She was loyal to him and did what was right. Another theme that I noticed was moral law vs legal law. Antigone’s beliefs and what she ended up doing is what got her in trouble with Creon and his legal laws. Antigone follows through with her beliefs and what she believes is right. This is when Creon steps in and punishes her for what she had done. Despite Antigone getting punished she does not give in to Creon. She knows that giving her brother a proper burial was the right thing to do and no matter what any of the other characters told her, her beliefs did not change.
In the play, “Oedipus Rex” there are many reoccurring themes. One of these themes is blindness. Tiresias is aware of the truth of Oedipus’s birth, but he is blind to the world around him. Oedipus was blind to the truth and all he sees is the world of lies around him. You can ask who of the two is truly blind. When Oedipus discovers the truth he blinds himself to the world.
Another important theme, in “Oedipus Rex” is free will vs. fate. It is up to the reader to decide whether they believe what cause what happened to Oedipus in the end. His parents used their free will in creating Oedipus, even though they were warned not to. This caused Oedipus’s fate to be his. Thus, it is always a battle between the two to see which one is most influential.
Finding out who you really are is a theme that I believe occurs in most everyone’s lives, as well as Oedipus’. Most people want to know who they are and why they are that way. This may come with some consequences, like finding out some parts about yourself (or your family) that you may not particularly like, and aren’t able to change. The other theme of standing up for what you believe in is big as well. I know for me, I always try to stand up for what I believe is the right thing to do, even if I may sway from that sometimes.. But this can be a hard concept for someone who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong. There are some differences between what is right morally and legally, and that can cause some problems throughout life. For Antigone, this occurs in her conflict of burying her brother or following King Creon’s law telling her not to. Laws about abortion, gay marriage, the right to bear arms and more can come into conflict with someone’s moral beliefs just like Creon’s law. The two themes are not only relevant to the Greek plays we read, but to our lives today as well.
When I read Oedipus Rex, one of the central themes most prominent was understanding the collective unconscious. Oedipus struggles throughout the entire play with finding out his true identity. As the clues start lining up, his arrogance prevents him from seeing whats right in front of him. It ‘blinded him’ At the end of the story, he blinds himself. It is almost as if since he wont have to see what happened because of him. He will not have to face the mess he left in his wake; a dead wife at her own hand, the murder of his father, children he fathered with his own mother, and the loss of the respect from the kingdom. He will no longer see any of the destruction. It goes along with the saying “seeing is believing”. He wont have to believe all of this if he doesnt see it.
The theme that I noticed when I finished Oedipus Rex was the theme of fate vs. destiny. Throughout the play Oedipus is trying to find his destiny because of the prophecy. Even though Jocasta and Creon told him not to pay attention to the prophecy, Oedipus still tries to push on and change his fate. Another theme in the play is being blind to the truth. When Oedipus is accused of murder he denies it even though he just killed a man matching the description of how King Lauis died. At first, Jocasta ignores the truth that she is Oedipus’ mother and it makes her breaking down, which ultimately ends with her committing suicide. Jocasta wanted to escape the truth and thought that there was only one way to do it.
A theme that i noticed in Oedipus Rex is free will. Many characters in Oedipus Rex have only a small amount of free will because they rely so heavily on the Oracle Of Delphi. When the prophecy was issued to King Laius and he thought his son was going to kill him, King Laius got rid of Oedipus as quickly as he could. He tried to go against the prophecy and use his own free will but his actions ended up getting him killed in the end anyways. When Oedipus starts to track down King Laius’ killer, he was acting to complete one prophecy and ended up finding out the truth of another prophecy.
However in Antigone, Antigone actually uses her own free will and goes against her uncle, Creon. She chose to defy his orders and as a result, she was sentenced to death. Antigone also exhibits free will when she chose to kill herself in an attempt to shorten her suffering. This leads to a chain reaction of suicides. Haemon finds Antigone’s body first and when he fails to strike down Creon, he chose to kill himself. His death then pushed Eurydice too far and she too killed herself, leaving Creon alone and with no family left.
Our group discussed lots of themes that we noticed in Oedipus Rex but my favorite theme to talk about was blindness. I noticed the irony in the beginning of the play that Tiresias is blind but can see the truth and Oedipus has sight but cannot see the truth. This leads to Oedipus experiencing a fall of innocence (seeing the truth behind the mystery and the mystery behind the truth). Like Thomas said “Oedipus is blind to his past and due to his blindness of knowledge this would lead to Oedipus’s downfall and blindness” and that’s almost exactly whats in my journal. Oedipus is the tragic hero. Knowledge causes his downfall. They say it was an act of god that Oedipus couldn’t remember killing his father, Laius, but to my group and I, it was ignorance. I also like the irony at the end when Oedipus starts to see the truth but makes himself blind by stabbing his eyes out.
I think a major issue in Antigone is whether you should do what’s morally right or follow the commands of authority. It’s pretty obvious that Antigone chose to follow her morals when she buried Polyneices rather than listen to the commands of Creon. Even when Antigone tried to reason with Creon, his pride would not allow him to go back on his decision. It’s rather obvious that Creon’s pride is his tragic downfall because it ultimately leads to the death of his family.
I think that Mrs. Shuja brought up an interesting question in class. Would you follow the path of Antigone or Ismene? In other words, would you choose to bury Polyneices or would you listen to what Creon says and leave the body. After asking a few people, most guys chose Ismene and most girls chose Antigone. I find it very interesting how guys more often choose to be cautious and “law-abiding” compared to girls who would rather be more loyal and take more of a risk.
I believe that fate is the central theme in Oedipus Rex. Oedipus tries to find out his true identity throughout the story and he has to balance his fate with his own decisions he makes. Oedipus understands his destiny about how he has to kill his own father and he tries to avoid doing that. But it is ironic that Oedipus kills his father without even realizing it when he got angry and killed the group of travelers. I believe that is purely caused by the fact that killing his father was simply in Oedipus’s fate. In my opinion, Oedipus’s fate makes him be stubborn. Even though he knows the truth a lot of times he doesn’t accept it. For example, Oedipus is too stubborn to accept the fact he killed Laius. Most of the events in the story trace back to the fate placed upon Oedipus.
One of the themes that i noticed when reading Antigone was moral law versus legal law. Antigone is going against legal law to follow moral law. The moral laws were believed to be made by the Gods. While the legal laws were made by man. She feels that what she doesn’t deserve the punishment as she is getting because she is obeying the gods and who is man to go against the gods. On the other hand, Creon believes that Antigone deserves her punishment because she went against the law that was made.
In Antigone a major theme I noticed along with Miranda was the issue of moral law vs. legal law. In the first scene you see this come out when Isthmene and Antigone are talking about whether or not to bury their brother. Antigone chose the moral law of doing what she could do to help him achieve the goal of getting to the Underworld. While Isthmene chose more of a legal law standpoint in following the law set by Creon. So that she would not be imprisoned.
Unlike Miranda though I would like to say follow Isthmene’s path of following the legal law. But I might be saying that because I have not been put in that situation. The Heinz theory gives the example of a man’s wife dying and him debating whether or not to steal the medicine. Like in the movie John Q. His son goes into cardiac arrest and needs a heart transplant. He then holds up a hospital when he realizes that their are no other options. Which in this case he identifies with Antigone. I feel like if I was put in a life or death situation I also would do the same. I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that she would do that for an already deceased person. Which I can understand why being that their beliefs say that in order to be at rest you have to be buried and with the heavy sense of family bond portrayed in the play. But it might be that I have never been faced with that kind of decision, you never really know what you would do until you are already neck deep in it.
Mrs. Shuja , I feel like in the Antigone their is the same blindness with Creon. Not seeing that what he is doing is wrong. Until it’s too late. When he finally realizes he immediately finds out his son, wife, and daughter in law are all dead because of what he does. Also on a side note the irony of the blind prophet showing the characters how to see I found funny.
In the play “oedipus Rex,” there are many themes such as: blindness, death, fate vs. freewill, and finding yourself. Many times it is mentioned that if you fix your eyes on the lies you think ill make you truly happy, you will never fully allow yourself to see the truth. Death represents the ending of many major events. The death of King Laius symbolized the end of an enormous facade, the lies that made up Oedipus’s life. Jocasta’s death represents the ending of Oedipus’s happiness. Fate vs. freewill is a theme solely based on your own opinion. My opinion is that Laius and Jocasta’s freewill decided Oedipus’s fate. Therefore, it was their decisions that ultimately led to Oedipus going to find himself. The journey of finding yourself is most commonly known as “receiving the collective unconscious.
Erin, I agree with what you said about it all being Oedipus’s destiny! In a way I think it was partly his decisions, but the gods made it clear that he was going to do it. Too bad his parents didn’t take the hint before.
While reading Oedipus Rex and Antigone, I thought a recurring theme was that there was both a mixture of loyalty and disloyalty. I believe that it was Antigone being loyal to her brother in wanting him buried, but she was disloyal by disobeying the commands of her uncle, the king. Oedipus was loya by simply being the king of Thebes. Yet, he was disloyal by killing Laius and by banishing himself and leaving his people to fend for themselves.
I think an outstanding theme in Oedipus Rex is fate. From the day that Jocasta and Laius visited the oracle Oedipus’ fate was determined. In the end, Oedipus was going to kill his father and marry his mother. I think what Jocasta and Laius should’ve sent Oedipus away. Far away, to another country instead of just letting him chill at the top of a hill. Or Jocasta and Laius could’ve just killed their son, because obviously if Jocasta is cursed she’s gonna have a bunch of unlucky kids. I bet there was a sort of orphanage back then that she could get a normal child from. Geeze Jocasta, save an orphan or something.
An obvious central theme in Oedipus Rex would be trying to find yourself, and I believe that is something everyone can relate to. Everyone tries to figure out who they are, and what exactly their purpose is in life. In the end of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus ends up finding himself, but he also found out that life was really not as grand as he had thought. Once Oedipus found out that his life had been full of sin from the very beginning, he tried to make it all go away. He got so low that he blinded himself because he “[couldn’t] bear to see when all [his] sight was horror everywhere” and asked to be taken to Cithaeron, where he was meant to die when he was an infant. Some may say that Oedipus is just trying to save his people from the plague, to keep anyone else from getting hurt, but i see this as a cowardly act. I think Oedipus blinding himself and requesting to be sent into exile was meant not only so that he won’t be able to see the sin he has already done, but to avoid the potential hate from his people and the pain that was furthermore to come – his literal escape from reality.
Many people may say they can’t relate to Oedipus Rex. I mean, how many of us have killed our dad and married our mom and later had children with her? Looking at the big picture, though, we really do all relate. We all try to find ourselves, and somewhere in that process we lose our innocence. Once our innocence is lost, we try to escape from reality whether its’s physically like Oedipus, or mentally through our daydreams.
After reading Antigone I noticed two major conflicts throughout the play. First, the concept of moral laws vs. legal laws was very important. Second, destiny and choice played a major role. In Antigone, Creon created a law banning the burial of Polyneices. Antigone deliberately disobeys this law. She then goes on to blame this event on the horrible actions of her father and the curse he has placed upon the family. However, it can also be said that her fate is due to her own free will where she has made her choice and therefore must accept the consequences that come along with that choice. The chorus even questions Antigone’s “blame game” by asking what role her father’s death plays in this. This conflict also questions whether moral law or legal law is more important. Antigone also defends her actions by claiming she is only following the laws of the gods because they surpass man’s laws. Creon then punishes Antigone for disobeying his orders, only to find out later that in doing this he has disobeyed the gods laws. All these events and stances on these issues lead to a tragic yet ironic ending.
One theme I found most common in Oedipus Rex is irony. The irony in this play occurs often through Oedipus’s actions. Oedipus learns of a prophecy placed on him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. As any sane man would he left the situation trying to keep from this horrible fate. On his trip from Corinth where his adoptive parents raised him he is run off the road by King Laius (his birth father) who he later kills. This is very ironic because this was exactly what Oedipus was running from. Once he arrives in Thebes (his birthplace) he marries the widow Queen Jocasta his mother. Once he is announced the new King of Thebes he is told a man has plagued Thebes with a curse because of King Laius’s death. Oedipus swears he will exile and get rid of the man causing this curse when it is himself to blame. Oedipus learns of a story from Jocasta about her son. She tells Oedipus that a horrible fate was going to happen to her family if her child would live. To solve this problem Jocasta has her son’s ankles bound and has him left in the mountains. The irony in this is Oedipus could not tie together that his ankles were also bound from his childhood so it could have been him. So to bring in more evidence of this murder they bring in a wise blind man. The man blames Oedipus of Laius’s death and this makes Oedipus furious. Oedipus calls him a “sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man.” the irony of this is this blind man could see the answer to this riddle of who killed Laius before the wise and intelligent Oedipus. The most ironic part of the whole drama to me is with all of Oedipus’s intelligence and wisdom and the hints laying right in front of him he still could not figure out who he was. Oedipus Rex is very ironic.
After reading Oedipus Rex I found that there were many central themes, ideas, and issues in the text. I feel what really stuck out to me was the core theme of what I read: Fate cannot be avoided.
When I found out that this book is based upon dramatic irony, I knew that what the main characters wanted was not going to happen. What I did not expect was that characters such as Jocasta, Laius, and Oedipus would go to such great lengths of trying to avoid the prophecies that they actually hastened the fate that was given. Each one of these characters makes an effort to sabotage or divert the prophecy into free will. I feel that this play really “hits the nail on the head” when using the fate vs. free will arguement in the play.