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  • Essay / Contrast between Oedipus the King and Antigone by...

    Contrast between Oedipus the King and AntigoneSophocles, a famous and renowned Greek playwright, is the playwright of the play Oedipus the King and Antigone. Along with Antigone and Oedipus, Sophocles also wrote Electra and Feast. Sophocles wrote many Greek tragedies which are plays in which the main character of the play suffers tragedy due to one of his faults. An example would be how Oedipus (thinking he is defying a prophecy) murders his father and marries his mother. His flaw was that he tried to defy fate. If he hadn't stayed where he was, everything would have been fine. His works are cited and taught all over the world in many schools and colleges; this should shed light on how his plays are written and how compelling the themes can be. Oedipus the King and Antigone are both Greek tragedies written by the same person and have very significant differences in the literary conflict, the way the characters are rendered, and the plot. The literary conflict in Oedipus is defined as man against himself. This conflict is defined as a character in conflict with himself. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is destined to murder his father Laios and marry his mother Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes. He begins the conflict with himself when he leaves Polybus and Merope (his adoptive parents who he believes to be his biological parents) to prevent the prophecy from coming true. He heads towards the city of Thebes, on the way he kills a man at a crossroads for getting in his way without knowing that he is Laios, his biological father. When he arrives, he marries Jocasta, without knowing that she is his mother, and sets out to assassinate the murderer of the previous kings; who, as the audience knows, is himself. It is the purpose of indirectly killing his...... middle of paper...... gods and holds such power that he prevents his brother from his deserved ceremony. It is for this reason that she commits suicide; to be with his fallen brother. In summary, Sophocles wrote Antigone and Oedipus the King and is a renowned playwright. Although the two plays mentioned above share the same playwright and are both classified as tragedies, they are very different from each other. The reasons why the two plays differ so greatly lie in the different types of conflicts in the two plays. One being Man against Man and the other being Man against Himself. The second is the contrasting way in which the characters are rendered. One is very impetuous and defiant towards the gods; the other is level-headed and respectful towards the gods. The final difference between the two plays lies in the plot or story of the plays. They both focus completely on different topics and themes..