Antigone and Oedipus.

Sophocles ' Antigone , Oedipus the King

Introduction

The most famous tragedies of Sophocles Antigone ' and Oedipus the King ' have a great value in the world literature . A compositional unity of these tragedies , the means of characterization , and the dialogues of the heroes are the reasons of this value

They are a source of inspiration of artists , musicians during all the times . The conflicts of the plays are filled with passions and sufferings of the main characters that embody an ideal of personality They live their lives in constant struggle and at the

end of the tragedies they remain victors because they realize their deeds . In spite of the unlimited power of gods Sophocles values a man who acts consciously and who are ready to give a response to his actions most of all . He describes a person with dignity , a person that everyone should be

Oedipus and Creon

At the beginning of the play Oedipus is described as a clever and generous ruler who takes care of his nation and is loved by it . Creon is another person . He has tyrannical qualities . He is convinced that the state is his ownership and he can do all possible and impossible deeds

The development of these characters ' fates and changes of their personalities can 't but impress . Oedipus wants to know who killed the king and he doesn 't stop even when he begins to guess the truth . He lost the battle with gods but he is not defeated

Oedipus finds his way to justice by making himself blind . This self-punishment happens because he blames himself that he was not able to see the truth . He also thinks that he is not deserving of seeing his parents , who were profaned by his crime

How could my eyes , when I went down into that black , sightless place beneath the earth , the place where the dead go down , how , how could I have looked at anything , with what human eyes could I have gazed on my father , on my mother-oh gods , my mother ! What I did against those two not even strangling could punish (Sophocles 1988

By this action he remains a majestic and a fundamental character

Creon 's nature is developing in another way . He was also blind ' but only because of his own decision to neglect the laws . He understands that the punishment he obtained resulted from his conscious activity . In spite of the fact that Creon remains alive he seems to be spiritually dead . His guilt caused the hardest suffering

Take me away , a poor fool

I killed you both , son and wife

No , nowhere to look , not to lean , but slides from my hands

It leaps on me , it crushes (Sophocles , 1989

The functions of chorus

The songs of chorus play a significant role at these tragedies . With the help of chorus the dialogue between the character and the reader or the audience occurs . The author reveals his own thoughts and makes a conclusion by the songs

Happiness and peace , they...