Antigone and Oedipus Rex are both tragic plays by Sophocles. In many ways, these plays are similar to one another as tragedies. For one, they are part of the same set of texts by Sophocles. Antigone is the first installment in the series of three plays. Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) is the second of the trilogy. Second, the title characters in the plays are related, as Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus. Therefore, they share the same fate due to their common blood. The outcome of the Antigone play has an influence on Oedipus and vice-versa. In addition to the continuity of characters and events between Antigone and Oedipus the King, there are thematic similarities between the two plays. One of the themes that is shared in common between Antigone and Oedipux Rex is that of fate vs. free will. In both these plays, fate strangles the main characters…...

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Works Cited

McManus, Barbara F. "Antigone." Retrieved online: http://www2.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/antigonebg.html

"Oedipus Plays: Antigone, Themes." Retrieved online:  http://www.litcharts.com/lit/antigone/themes 

"Oedipus Plays: Oedipus Rex Themes." Retrieved online:  http://www.litcharts.com/lit/oedipusrex/themes 

Sophocles. Antigone. Translated by R.C. Jebb. Retrieved online:  http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html

Antigone is the last play in the Oedipus cycle written by Sophocles. In the play, Antigone, the Oedipus's sister-daughter challenges her uncle, Creon, who has ascended the Theban throne after he brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, are killed in battle. In the play, Antigone defies Creon's mandate that Polyneices should not be granted a proper burial because he is an traitor and an enemy of the state. Because of her opposing views, Antigone can be considered to be a social and political outcast.
hile Antigone can trace her roots back several generations, her opposition to Creon's mandate causes her to be considered a traitor by her uncle and those that follow him. Furthermore, because she is her father's daughter, as the chorus comments "Like father, like daughter: both headstrong, deaf to reason! She has never learned to yield. She has much to learn," she cannot allow herself to defy divine law in…...

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Works Cited

Sophocles. Antigone. Web. 8 July 2012.

Antigone: A clash of state and personal values
Sophocles' drama Antigone unfolds the tale of the tragic daughter of Oedipus Rex. At the beginning of the play Antigone is the bereft sister of two dead brothers who died fighting in the Theban civil war. Creon gives the brother (Eteocles) who defended the city's current leadership a hero's burial while leaves the other brother (Polyneices) to rot in the streets, exposed to the elements. For Antigone, her Parmenidean or eternal worldview transcends the immediate needs of the senses and politics. Harmony must be maintained through obedience to the gods. This is contrasted with Creon's Heraclitean view which stresses that strife is the natural state of order and this must be accepted as part of life. Antigone's refusal to accept Creon's dictate results in her death, but her moral belief system ultimately triumphs even though Creon lives on at the end of the…...

As a character, Creon is almost and inverse of Antigone, because his concern for his own authority trumps his love for his own family, as he all but disowns his son Haemon for the latter's support of Antigone. As these flaws are the most important elements of characterization in terms of the plot, they essentially define the characters even in spite of the interior emotional lives hinted at within the play.
As speech is the primary way in which the plot is conveyed to the audience, Aristotle argues that a tragedy must contain effective language and metaphors in order to both relay direct information about the plot as well as shape the reception of that plot through the use of a particular style. Aristotle favors metaphor above all else, as he claims that "to coin metaphors with skill means ability to see the likeness in things," and thus reveal something…...

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Works Cited

Aristotle. Poetics. London: Hodder & Staughton, 1911.

Sophocles, . "Antigone." Vancouver Island University. Vancouver Island University, May 2005.

Web. 1 Feb 2012. .

Thus, the nobility of Antigone's character lies in her reluctance to condemn her sister, whereas her tragic flaw lies in her fanatical devotion to the men in her family, to the point that she wishes to lie with her brother's corpse.
Antigone's fall comes when she is caught burying Polyneices' corpse, and the fact that her subservience to patriarchy is the precise reason for this fall is revealed in Creon's response. hen Creon condemns Antigone to her early grave, but before Ismene enters in her attempt to claim responsibility, Creon tell Antigone that she should "Then go down to the dead. If you must love, / love them. No woman's going to govern me" (599-600). Thus, it is Antigone's devotion to honoring men which gets her arrested, and it is the cultural patriarchy of her society which condemns her to being buried alive, perfectly illustrating how Antigone's own tragic flaw…...

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Work Cited

Sophocles. Antigone. Vancouver Island University, May 2005. Web. 4 Aug 2011.

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Antigone
hat is fate, and what is free will? In Sophocles' play Antigone, both fate and free will are important in determining the outcome of the play. Fate is presented as something that the gods determine. It is the destiny of human beings, and something that people have no control over. No matter how hard a person like Antigone or Creon tries to fight fate, their lives are not entirely our own to live. Free will exists, but with limitations. Human beings can make choices and decisions, and those decisions sometimes do alter one's fate. For example, Creon's decision to not bury Polyneices is the central decision that leads to the tragic ending of the play Antigone. Antigone knows that King Creon is going against the will of the gods by refusing to give Polyneices, her brother, a proper burial. This is the central issue of Antigone. hereas Ismeme is resigned…...

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Works Cited

Adams, S.M. "The Antigone of Sophocles." Phoenix 9(2): 1955.

"Antigone: Fate and Free Will." Retrieved online:  http://www.shmoop.com/antigone-sophocles/fate-free-will-theme.html 

Hartouni, Valerie A. Antigone's Dilemma: A Problem in Political Membership. Hypatia 1(1). 1986.

Jacobs, Carol. "Dusting Antigone." MLN 111(5).

Antigone
Sophocles' Antigone is a story that has several strong characters, each set up cleverly in order to demonstrate the role that personality traits and the strength of conviction in ideals plays in determining individual decisions. Thus, if Creon's son Haemon serves as a contrast of wisdom to his own display of pride and arrogance, Antigone's sister Ismene acts as a foil in defining Antigone's character and strength of conviction in her ideals.

One of the best ways to demonstrate the sharp contrast in personalities is to place two people; both with equal interests, in an identical situation where life challenges must be faced. Sophocles does exactly this in the opening scene of Antigone when he shows the different reactions of the sisters Antigone and Ismene to Creon's proclamation that their brother, Polynices' body should be left unburied for the birds and dogs to devour.

Antigone's reaction is one where her love for…...

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Works Cited

Sophocles. "Antigone." Ed. Appelbaum, Stanley. Dover, New York.

Antigone
Literature has the ability to reflect the society in which the piece was created and the cultural beliefs of that community. This cultural perspective also has to do with the religion of the community in which the piece of literature was written. The discrepancy between religious belief and the demands and order of the governmental system is a particularly common theme in literature. Perhaps one of the best examples of a piece of literature representing this dichotomy is Antigone which is the second play in Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy. Although the story of Antigone may be less well-known than that of her father Oedipus, it is no less compelling and tragic. Antigone desires to bury her brother properly, according the religious beliefs of Ancient Greece but is thwarted because he is regarded by the people of Thebes as a traitor. Polynices, her brother, has engaged in warfare with his brother over…...

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Works Cited

Anouilh, Jean, Barbara Bray, and E. Freeman. Antigone. London: Methuen, 2000. Print.

Fogerty, Elsie, and Isabel Bonus. The Antigone of Sophocles: Adapted and Arranged for Amateur Performance in Girls' Schools. London: Swan Sonnenschein &, Lim., 1903. Print.

The Norton Anthology of World Literature. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.

Robert, William. Trials: of Antigone and Jesus. New York: Fordham UP, 2010. Print.

Antigone
Sophocles' Antigone has been widely interpreted as a play about a young woman's admirable courage of conviction. This rather straightforward interpretation is largely the result of a plot that revolves around Antigone's determination to honor her dead brother by giving him a proper burial, in spite of the King's edict that his corpse should be left to rot. Thus, Antigone's tragic fate is seen as the result of her laudable defiance of an unjust ruling rather than the result of a flaw in her own character. However, on closer analysis, there is ground to argue that Sophocles' purpose was not to create a play on praiseworthy virtues but to highlight the fact that actions motivated by a lack of temperance and hubris inevitably lead to tragic consequences.

The interpretation that Antigone is a morality play that focuses on the ideals of religion, honor and courage is perfectly understandable if viewed from…...

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Works Cited

Sophocles. Sophocles' Oedipus Trilogy. Encyclopedia of the Self.

Zimmerman, Mark. Available:  http://emotionalliteracyeducation.com/classic_books_online/oedip10.htm

Both Antigone and Creon are determined and obstinate. Both exhibit the tragic flaw of hubris, because neither one is willing to surrender his or her will. However, Creon was in the position to avert the tragic ending of the play without sacrificing much more than his pride. Antigone, on the other hand, would have lost everything she believed in and her self-respect if she humbly accepted the marriage and did not raise a voice to Creon. Like Ismene, Antigone would have been another docile woman willing to accept the status quo and as such, she would not have been the play's heroine, tragic or not. Antigone's actions actually show her to be a remarkable hero who cared more for existential peace than for false security or meaningless laws. The tragedy at the end of the play testifies to Antigone's courage and strength.
Determination and stubbornness do not necessarily equal hubris.…...

However, there are a number of similarities in the two writings, ranging from the dominance of men over women to the determination of women to do as they please, with no care whatsoever of the consequences that their actions have on themselves.
"My Duchess" does not actually bring proof to support the concept that the duchess is actually dead, thus leading one to believe that she did not receive the same treatment as Antigone did. Even with that, it is difficult to ignore how the Duke prides himself when talking about how he managed to suppress his wife. To a certain extent, both the Duke and Creon are satisfied knowing that they imposed their authority, but at the same time they seem to feel sorry that they had to resort to such an act.

6. Evilness of Creon

Creon's behavior across the play certainly influences most individuals in the audience to despise…...

Antigone
Sophocles, an Athenian politician and dramatist, wrote Antigone and Oedipus the King, two famous works, known for the connection of tragedy between generations of the characters. Indeed, Antigone's fate is shaped not only through her own actions, but through Oedipus' sin as well. Any analysis of Antigone is therefore incomplete without first taking into account its linkages to Oedipus.

Both Antigone and Oedipus have the same theme of the hubris or arrogance of even the most powerful of men (Oedipus and Creon) ultimately having to bow down before 'the supreme will and power of the Gods', as exemplified in "But if any man comes striding, high and mighty, in all he says and does, no fear of justice, no reverence for the temples of the gods -- let a rough doom tear him down, repay his pride, breakneck, ruinous pride!" (Chorus: Oedipus) and again in Antigone:"Isn't a man's right to burial…...

Hot-button topics like abortion and related women's rights are commonly addressed by feminists and non-traditional women. That is not to say that traditional women do not believe they should have reproductive rights, but only that non-traditional women are much more likely to speak out on the issue and make their voices heard. Through that, change is often made that benefits both the non-traditional and traditional women in society. This causes society to advance, and what was non-traditional becomes more traditional over time.
As can be seen from an examination of Antigone and her sister, and from an examination of what non-traditional women of today are doing with their lives and the causes they support, being non-traditional has its benefits and value, both to the women and to society as a whole. Not all women are comfortable with that role, of course, but there are a number of women who feel…...

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References

Jordan, C. (2012). 'Ice Road Trucker's star Lisa Kelly talks danger and earning respect. Huffpost TV. Retrieved from  http://www.aoltv.com/2010/09/29/ice-road-truckers-lisa-kelly-interview/ 

McDonald, M. (trans.). (2004). Sophocles. Drama Classics: Antigone. London: Nick Hern Books.

Soderback, F. (ed.). (2010). Feminist readings of Antigone. New York: SUNY Press.

Wilmer, S.E., & Zukauskaite, A. (eds.). (2010). Interrogating Antigone. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

But her loyalty is not to her father or brother, but to her husband, thus it is viewed more charitably in the ancient Greek system of values. Also, her actions protect the state, as she prevents a wrongful king coming to power by refusing to remarry immediately, after her husband is suspected to be dead. Interestingly enough, Penelope manifests her supreme value of loyalty through her use of mendacity, as she unweaves her web every night. Penelope, at the beginning of the epic poem the "Odyssey," has promised the suitors demanding her hand in marriage and leadership over her husband's kingdom, that she will chose one of them only after she finishes weaving her piecework -- hence her nightly undoing of her weaving. Eventually, this ruse is discovered, but the cleverness that Penelope's lies demonstrate, as well as the lies her husband frequently tells to extricate himself from many…...

Thus, it is evident that Antigone's capacity for devotion and love has different hues and is, therefore, kaleidoscopic in nature. Unfortunately, it is perhaps this very mercurial quality that results in her actions leading to tragedy. for, had Antigone been willing to honor her love for Haimon and Ismene, she may have well succeeded in enlisting their co-operation in persuading Kreon to reverse his decision.
Antigone: A tragedy that is based on Aristotle's formula

Antigone has often left scholars and students puzzled as to whether Antigone is an ideal tragic heroine, and whether the play conforms to Aristotelian principles (Berlin, p. 11). By analyzing Sophocles's characterization of Antigone as a kaleidoscopic woman of different hues, it is easy to see how Antigone's hamartia leads to a tragedy of virtually epic proportions. Therefore, there is a case to argue that not only is she the ideal tragic heroine (or hero) but very…...

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Works Cited

Berlin, N. The Secret Cause: A Discussion of Tragedy. University of Massachusetts

Press, Amherst, MA, 1981.

Hook, R.H. "The Retreat from Omnipotence in Sophokles' Antigone." Contents.

Issue# 1, June 2001. Accessed April 18, 2005 from Psychoanalysis Downunder: http://www.psychoanalysisdownunder.com/PADPapers/antigone_retreat_rhh.htm

Feminist Transformations of Ancient Myths in Contemporary Poetry Titles
Introduction
Ancient myths have served as a rich source of inspiration for poets throughout history. However, in recent decades, feminist perspectives have challenged the traditional interpretations and representations of these myths, leading to transformative reimaginings in contemporary poetry titles. By subverting, recontextualizing, and reclaiming these mythological narratives, feminist poets empower women and critique patriarchal structures.
Subverting Traditional Interpretations
Traditionally, ancient myths have often perpetuated patriarchal values and depicted women as passive objects or victims. Feminist poets challenge this by inverting power dynamics and giving marginalized characters a voice. For example, in the title of her....

Outline of Women's Portrayal in Ancient Literature
I. Female Archetypes
a. Goddesses and Divine Figures
b. Mothers and Nurturers
c. Wives and Daughters
d. Oracles and Seers
e. Warriors and Amazons
II. Symbolic Roles
a. Symbols of Nature and Fertility
b. Objects of Exchange and Conquest
c. Sources of Knowledge and Prophecy
d. Guardians of Family Values
e. Embodiments of Chaos and Disorder
III. Specific Roles in Key Works
A. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
Helen of Troy: Symbol of beauty and destruction
Penelope: Loyal and enduring wife
Circe: Enchantress and mistress of the unknown
B. Sophocles' Antigone
Antigone: Defiant and courageous heroine
Ismene: Compliant and subservient sister
Creon: Arrogant and authoritarian male ruler
C. Aristophanes' Lysistrata
....