Antigone
... human race. Humans are one of the only beings of life that have this great freedom. While freewill makes small decisions in one’s life, fate ultimately controls it by making the biggest, or most major, choices in one’s life. By saying this, fate is ultimately a bigger factor in a person’s life. Sophocles states this by showing that the characters’ deaths occurred by not only freewill, but by the choice of the gods. The characters in Oedipus the King and Antigone would not have died if the gods did not choose for each character to die, in the stories. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus says, “…but to force the gods to act against their own will—no man has the power” (Sophocles 317-319). He states this very firmly and directly not just to Choragos, but to everyone experiencing his play. Sophocles is showing this by the way he words the quote. The quote sounds stern, meaning Oedipus is trying to get the message out. Sophocles wants the reader to think about his writings, not just watch or read them without thought. Sophocle’s writings are very thought provoking when one looks into them. The statement above Oedipus says a person is worthless in trying to stop something the gods want the person to do, especially in Oedipus’s case. The statement Oedipus makes is a very strong sentence and could easily be overlooked. Another point Sophocles is getting across is Teiresias symbolizes wisdom and “holder of all knowledge”. In Oedipus the King, Teiresias states, “…it is not your fate to fall at my hands. Apollo is quite enough, and he will take some pains to work this out.” (Sophocles 428 - 430). Which means, one and one’s fate belongs to Apollo. Considering the idea that Teiresias knows all, Teiresias’s claim that Apollo holds one’s fate implies that this is true. This shows that fate controls one’s life. Sophocles puts Teiresias in this scene for two particular reasons. Reason one being that he tells the main clue that Oedipus is the murderer. The second reason is because Sophocles wants this “holder of all knowledge” to state something that “is not wrong”. Sophocles wants his views on fate and freewill to be expressed in an easily understandable way. Sophocles places his view on fate and freewill very blatantly with Teiresias saying this. In a way, Sophocles was promoting himself with hidden messages. He was showing his views in the most admirable character, saying that his views were the “right” ones. Sophocles cleverly does this in the most effective, but innocent way possible. Basically with the Teiresias character, Sophocles states that he believes that fate truly control’s one’s life. In Antigone, Antigone and Creon hold on to their beliefs leading to Antigone’s death and Creon’s breakdown. Antigone’s belie...