Why is violence such a strong theme in both of these ancient works? Both Sophocles and the various writers of the Bible lived in more primitive times when there were weakly enforced written laws concerning justice and fair play. The common solution to most problems were along the lines of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" which is a violent but sure method of justice. When Antigone buries her dead brother in the story of Sophocles's Antigone, Creon's immediate response is to have her killed and buried in response to the burial and her defiance to his decree.
However, when Cain murders his only brother, Abel, " The Lord answered him, No: if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold vengeance will be exacted from him.' The Lord put a mark on Cain, so that anyone happening to meet him should not kill him" (Genesis, 4:15). The character of God isn't exactly loving or caring throughout the entire book of Genesis but he does, for some reason, save Cain from certain death for killing his own brother. Is this to teach Cain a lesson and have him live forever with his sin or is God saying it's morally just to murder