Oedipus And Antigone Analysis

Lastly, Aristotle argues that tragic heroes come to the point where they realize their mis-takes or their fate. In the case of Oedipus and Antigone, both recognize their tragic destiny and that it is impossible to escape it. Lastly, Oedipus and Antigone represent tragic heroes by reach-ing the moment of self-recognition and facing the catastrophe of their actions. For example, after the disclosure of Oedipus’ real identity by Shepherd, Oedipus falls into despair:
“Children, the god was Apollo. He brought my sick, sick fate upon me.” (Exodos, l.117-118)
By implementing cosmic irony, the scene highlights Oedipus realization that the prophecy regard-ing his destiny was real and he himself unconsciously fulfilled it. The King calls to the gods
who predetermined his doom and guided his action in order to fulfill it. He accepts his wrongdoing and his flaws that contributed to its fulfillment. Likewise, the character of Antigone approaches the point where she realizes that her only resolution is in death.
“And my reward is death before my time!
And yet, as men’s hearts know, I have done no wrong […]” (Scene IV, l. 65-66)
While Antigone recognizes her destiny in the form of death and accepts it, she perseveres to be-lieve that all her actions such as carrying out her family duty by burying her brother were right and honorable. At the end of the play, cosmic irony in both plays demonstrates that the heroes fail to escape their inauspicious fate. Self-recognition of both characters leads to their under-standing that their misfortune was predetermined before. Oedipus puts in a lot of effort to escape his destiny that overtook him, and eventually he realizes that all his actions directed to avoid it worked on fulfilling it. He accepts his mistakes and blames himself for such a tragic completion of events. In contrast, Antigone does not accept her mistakes and believes that her death was predetermined for her long ago due to the curse Oedipus put on his children by his own wrong-doing. She is convinced that her family was destined for tragedy and now she meets her own fate in the form of death. Furthermore, for a tragic hero to be “tragic”, the character should be overthrown and meet the mournful consequences. In this case, Oedipus is exiled from Thebes, while Antigone kills herself. Moreover, the death of Antigone causes other deaths: Haimon acci-dentally kills himself and Eurydice commits suicide. When meeting the consequences of his wrongdoing, the Oedipus says: “Death will not ever come to me through sickness Or in any natural way; I have been preserved For some unthinkable fate.
But let it be” (Exodos, l. 245-247)
Being devastated by the things Oedipus has done, he is unable to bear his guilt. He is willing to meet the consequences that he once pronounced for the Laios’ murderer. By referring to the cosmic irony, the author stresses that the fate preserved Oedipus for another, non-natural death. For his misconduct and unbelief in god’s power, he will not be liberated from suffering. His guilt should be punished and therefore he must be exiled from the city. As for Antigone, the catastro-phe is her own death:
“She had made a noose of her fine linen veil
And hanged herself […]” (Exodos, l.59-60)
Antigone end her life right before Creon realizes his mistakes and aims at compromising with her. Moreover, her demise induces two other deaths of her fiancé and his mother, who are unable to cope with the loss of their dear one’s. The resolution could have been different and saved not only her, but Haimon’s and Eurydice’s life if she did not kill herself. To summarize, Oedipus re-fers to his predetermined by destiny death that will not occur in natural way. Thus, he is destined to suffer from the knowledge that he brought tragedy to his family and the city of Thebes. An-tigone, however, commits a suicide, which prevents the conflict between her and Creon (moral and legal principles) to resolve and renews a series of tragic deaths. Her
death was predetermined and fulfilled the miserable fate of Oedipus’ children.
To conclude, Oedipus and Antigone are not only related by blood, but they share com-mon heroic traits which is bravery and courage, pride and weakness such as stubbornness that lead to their ultimate catastrophe.
Destiny has predetermined for each of them their unavoidable tragic upshot. Oedipus was doomed to suffer from his wrongdoing through his life course, while Antigone was doomed to end her life before the possible solution of her conflict with the law is found. Characterization, dramatic and cosmic irony assist in demonstrating the unavoidable fate of the tragic heroes. Through the characters of Oedipus and Antigone, Sophocles suggested that our life is predetermined and we have no control over it. Ancient Greeks perceived spirituality as an important component of their traditions and strongly believed in gods’ power that can punish individuals for their mistakes or save them from suffering. These philosophic thoughts have pro-gressed through time and are still discussable in modern society. While some people argue that their course is guided by a supreme force and any resolutions are destined to happen, others be-lieve that they govern their own
life.