IB English A Literature

To answer the question of who is the tragic hero, you must define the two words. A hero is admired or idealized for courage, A tragedy in an event causing great suffering and destruction. I believe the person who fits these definitions best is Antigone. She is admired by the population of Thebes and idolized for upholding the gods’ rule.” Cities grieving for sons unburied(l.853)” She causes a great tragedy as she kills herself and causes Euripides and Haemon to do the same. Although what she did, I don’t think, was very heroic, the people of Thebes did, and in the end, she pleased them and death, but death took her anyway. That may have even been her plan or that of the gods. “And even if I die in the act, that death will be the glory.” & “I have longer to please the dead than the living. (l.86-89)” In the end, Creon was seen as horrible, and Antigone was the woman who defied the law of man to do what she thought was right. Creon did what he thought was correct as punishment for his unruly nephew who brought war to Thebes; whether his cause was just is a matter of perspective. Polyneices bringing the armies of other city-states to the door of Thebes was an unforgivable crime. That deserved punishment beyond life and into death. This deed was not heroic. It was not perceived as a heroic deed by the public. Yet he did it nonetheless. What he did was tragic, to cause great suffering to his nephew in death. The people saw a tragedy: a man who died in service to what he thought was right was punished for it after he had been proven wrong by the will of the gods and lost in battle. To that end, Antione is the closest match to a tragic hero, although Creon certainly suffered for his actions.

In my opinion the chapter was not as good as the last one we read. The story wasn’t good, and it was way too much trouble and to much happened in that time period. Also, some characters had again only a small introduction.

The most important and iconic part for me was the ‘burial’ of Polynices body. The conversation Antigone and Ismene had and all the consequences they must deal with. I love the act of respect they do to the body of her brother.

Something the author did well was the the scene etching with most of the characters. The way you can fell the emotions of Creon and you can understand the decisions they made.

One time I was a bit confused, at the end where Creon wants to exile himself, I can’t understand why. I mean exile yourself wouldn’t solve the problems. If I could step into the story, I would change his decision.

In my opinion the most interesting character was Antigone, because I could understand her reactions and her feelings. As I mentioned my favourite part is the burial of Polynices, there u can see what kind of a person Antigone is. Unlike her sister she didn’t fear the consequences and knew the price she must pay for that what she did.

What I learned from this reading was, that everything you do has consequences and can affect others. You should be careful what you say. Not every hero where’s a cape and not every person with a cape is a hero.

Antigone proved itself to be true to the genre of tragedy, far more than I could have expected it to be. Full of fortuitous twists, the emotions this play evoked ranged from surprise to remorse as well as the many unexpected feelings in between. One page led to the next and soon enough I was engrossed in a Greek masterpiece, full of love, hate, vengeance and death. Sophocles managed to engage and enthrall me in countless ways. Perhaps it was the stubborn and strong-willed protagonist or the incredulity of the plot, yet either way this play had me intrigued.

Death, the underlying theme of many tragedies was undeniably present in Antigone. Humanity has always been fascinated with death, it has been feared, studied respected and questioned. Antigone is no exception to humanity. Sophocles’ play exploits the realm of embracing death and fearing it, to wish for death and to dread it. This fascinated me. What happens after we die? I am sure that I am not alone when I say that this question has haunted and intrigued me for many years. The play does not answer that one big question, however it discusses our relationship with the thought of dying. The two main characters Antigone and Creon have opposing views. Antigone, a character that I admire, says, “Die I must, I’ve known it all my life” (p. 81, l.513).  Throughout the play she bluntly states that she does not care about death overpowering her, she embraces death, if it means that her brother will receive the burial he deserves. This demonstrates both her view of death and why I admire her as a character. Even if she is put to death as a result of her actions, she is ready to accept responsibility and ready to die. She has a strong sense of self and is willing to risk her life for what she believes in. On the opposing side there is Creon, the man that fears death. In my opinion Creon is a coward, a man who will do anything to avoid pain and loss of power. This fear is subtle and is harder to discern from the text, however it can be seen on page 125 when Creon says, “harbor of death, so choked, so hard to cleanse!-/Why me? Why are you killing me?” (pg. 125). This passage shows the fear in a man who believes his time is up, giving Creon opposite qualities of that of a hero, and illustrating his opposing view to those of Antigone. To me, both of these cases are absolute extremes. Does anyone really want to die? And does anyone really fear death? The answer to these questions, I am sure, would differ dramatically depending on age, health status, mental health, race, religion and culture. But the one thing I cannot help reflecting upon is how these crucial questions are still very much themes in today’s society, and how an author wrote about these timeless topics thousands of years ago?

As previously mentioned, I really admire and respect the character Antigone and all she portrayed. As the elder of two siblings and a observative in nature, I’ve noted obvious differences in family dynamics based on the line up. Oldest is typically the well-behaved golden child, middle is the more spontaneous, and the last is the do-no- wrong baby. As the oldest daughter, Antigone not only stepped out of this stereotype, but strayed as far away from it as she could. Suffering death in the eyes of everyone except her, who believed in something so much she invited it in. She also earned my respect when looking at societal norms of this time, between male and female. In the eyes of the majority, including the ruler Creon, Eteocle’s fought back for what he believed in, dying with respect and chivalry. However when Antigone does something she believes in she dies the dishonorable one, why is that? She as a woman, was not expected to lay her life down for anything. Antigone was supposed to be just another obedient, pretty face, such as her younger but more compliant and favored sister Ismene. Only men were respected for dying for their beliefs, and that was shown in this scenario, being viewed as a stupid girl for doing the very same thing as her male peers. To me, Antigone died an honorable death, just as honorable as Eteocles. It may be argued that the protagonist and the tragic hero of the story is Creon, but to me Antigone took the main role.

Antigone was a play filled with issues and topics that are still relevant today, this is why I enjoyed it so much. Every good piece of writing should raise questions. Antigone certainly did. Questions about death and humans relationship with it, questions regarding the position of a women as a gender and questions about fate and its inescapability. Was Antigone really the one making the decisions or was it all the work of the gods?

I enjoyed reading this play, it was well written, suspenseful, and had a very good climax and ending. Although, I still prefer Oedipus : The King over this story, simply because the story was so bizarre and uncanny, and very unpredictable, unlike it’s predecessor (when I first read it) I could not guess the events that were going to take place at all. But I will say, this story seemed much more realistic and had a classic moral of the story (Don’t be full of yourself) which I appreciate. I liked the characters in this story much better too, they all varied heavily and had their own different  motivations and struggles.

The characters in the story were well bred and I found myself rooting for too many people. My favorite characters were Haemon and Creon. Haemon was introduced after the conflict had been introduced, he attempted to sway his father to not kill Antigone and Ismene. His reasons were logical and true, he claimed to not be in the favor of Antigone (his soon wife to be) but Creon didn’t believe him but I did. He completely fooled me, the way he presented his points were in an organized manner, he  listened to what his father had to say and then countered everything he said with ease , that impressed me. I love characters that are able to put up a fake front and beneath all that, have them working out a good plan. Although, I hated that he killed himself after Antigone died, it reminded me of the play Romeo and Juliet, I disliked Romeo and Haemon because I found it childish and annoyingly stubborn for them to do that. Anyway, the reason I liked Creon was because of his character development. He begins the story as probably the most hated character. Selfish, self-centered and obsessed with his power. He made decisions that he wanted to, ones that would not benefit the country but ones that would show the people he was powerful.

“Am I rule this land for others-or myself? (pg,97).

This was brought to our attention and to Creon’s but he denies it and claims that ruling is only for the king and not for the people. He decided he was going to rule with an iron fist and anyone who defies him will be punished, until the arrival of Tiresias.

“They know this too, learn this by heart! The chariot of the sun will not race through so many circuits more, before you have surrendered one born of your own loins, your own flesh and blood, a corpse for corpses given in return, since you have thrust to the world below a child sprung for the world above…” (pg,115).

Tiresias tells him what was going to happen because of his actions and what he has to do to avoid it. At first, he’s stubborn and doesn’t want to cooperate with his advice, fully embodying Oedipus in this scene. Perhaps he got reminded of Oedipus’s case with his own actions, but he changed after Tiresias spoke with him, and he tried to fix his mistakes. Sure it probably wasn’t because he regretted his actions but at the very least he still acted, he went against his own desires and headstrong will to attempt to fix things, and for that I grant him the title of “My favorite character”, in this play.

Antigone is another tragic story written by Sophocles. I found the plot of Antigone is similar to Oedipus the King to some extent. They are both Greek plays surrounding the theme – of fate and free will. Antigone is a commendable person that deserves to be learned by all of us. First, she is particularly not fear of death and loyal to herself. 

Die I must, I’ve known it all my life —

how could I keep from knowing? —

even without your death-sentence ringing in my ears.

And if I am to die before my time

I consider that a gain. (p.82, 511-516)

From the quote above, which is said by Antigone, shows her determination and audacity to act right and meaningful. She is not fear and is daring to face death. People should not be loyal to the death, instead, should be loyal to themselves. Antigone is loyal to herself and her family; she insists on buying her brother, Polyneices’s dead body whom she loves and is loved by him. She knows that she will have the death penalty but she persists. This makes her life significant.

The characteristics of Oedipus and Creon are different, yet their outcomes are identical. They both experienced the loss of their relatives and the people they loved the most in their life as a result. However, Oedipus is stubborn when Creon is only slow on the uptake. Oedipus refuses to admit the things he does till the last minute, till he finds out the events collaborate with the things he does. On another hand, Creon notices right after Tiresias tells him the prophecies. He is worried and he decides to free Antigone. Unfortunately, by the time he decides to free Antigone, it is already too late and she already hangs herself. This is Creon’s fate. Fate dominates everyone. I realized Ancient Greek is a place where they believed in fate and Gods’ will. I would not like to like to live in Ancient Greek as I do not want to be “cursed” and dominant by the Gods. 

Loyal to the state vs loyal to family describes Antigone the best. Antigone is loyal to her family while Creon is loyal to the state. Antigone has gone through the loss of her family since she was still a child. Her mother commits suicide, her brother/dad, Oedipus is exiled, and her two older brothers are dead from fighting each other. After her parents’ death, I believe that Antigone cherishes her siblings greatly. She wants to bury Polyneice’s body as she wants him to be memorized. On another hand, Creon is loyal to the states and he claims that Polyneices is a traitor and he deserves to be left for the dogs and vultures to eat. In my opinion, there is no absolute right or wrong. One of them shows his loyalty to the state and one shows her loyalty to her family. They are both behaving ethically from their perspectives which affects by different backgrounds and personal experiences. Thus, they have contrasting actions on Polyneices’s death.

I could relate to Ismene when I was reading Antigone. Hong Kong was in an ambiguous situation in which people were protesting whether it was a part of China. Even though I believed that Hong Kong is not a part of China, I did not participate in any of the protests as I was fear of the “death”, and penalty. I respected Antigone when I was reading the play. I found she was courageous to face death and the penalty. she is not remotely scared and she persists in doing things that she thinks are ethical. This is a trait that everyone should learn from Antigone. People should be loyal to themselves instead of the other people or death. Therefore, I should also loyal to what I think is conscientious. 

Antigone was quite the shift for me from Oedipus. This change in tone and the sudden air of seriousness caught me slightly off-guard while reading Antigone. I caught myself approaching it differently, which I thought to be quite interesting. Even with this personal response, I oddly find it much more difficult to write. I truly think that the content of Antigone is much richer and requires lots of thought before you can fully understand it. What made me enjoy Antigone was the powerful lines and stanzas scattered throughout the play, and the two major points I thought were the most important within these lines were the social commentary on the patriarchy and the criticism of power.

Throughout Antigone, various characters make comments on women, about how they are inferior, and other misogynistic views from its time. Ismene comments to her sister, “Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men.” (pg. 62). The theme in this quote, which is presented very early, really shows off Antigone’s position in this world. It tells us just the start of what she’ll need to face in the story. This continues later when Creon refuses to succumb to Antigone, “Better to fall from power, if fall we must, at the hands of man–never be rated inferior to a woman, never” (pg. 94). This quote is certainly for the audience, as we come to understand Creon’s character better. We also sympathize with Antigone, as the question is raised; If Antigone was born a man, would Creon ignore her crime, and in turn prevent the tragedies that ensue? The answer is unclear, but the question is fair.

More questions can be raised on other impactful lines, despite the different topics. One of the big themes I picked up on in Antigone was the discussion of power. Antigone’s two brothers fought for it, Antigone herself refused to acknowledge the king’s authority and laws, and we just covered the power of men over women. The power of money was very directly called out in Antigone in the following stanza.

Money! Nothing worse in our lives, so current, rampant, so corrupting. Money– you demolish cities, root men from their homes, you train and twist good minds and set them on to the most atrocious schemes. No limit, you make them adept at every kind of outrage, every godless crime– money! (pg.73)

While reading this, it was instantly put in my notes to look at again during class discussion. It was so shockingly relevant to me that I almost didn’t want to believe it was written so long ago. It goes along with another quote which follows it soon after, “Lucky tyrants–the perquisites of power! Ruthless power to do and say whatever pleases them.” (pg. 84). Once again, we see this view of power being given to humanity and becoming corruptive. We see it all around us today, and even then, in Ancient Greece. Despite the thousands of years that have passed, power remains a constantly corruptive element to humans. And that amazed me.

We like to think that we’ve grown since “ancient times”, that we’re more mature, better than then, but we’re not (at least not as much as we like to think we are). This has been a lesson I’ve been learning while reading Oedipus and Antigone. While we’ve mostly moved past blatant sexism, you start to realize how much personal bias people have against women, and since they can’t be loud about these misogynistic feelings they act out in microaggressions against the female sex, which I’m sure most girls in this class have experienced, including me. In terms of greater history, women’s rights are still incredibly new and continue to be fought for today, take the current situation in Iran as an example. And this same concept still applies to power. Power and money still create unethical people, we still have those same “Lucky tyrants” that Antigone calls out. It’s a pattern that makes us wonder, will it ever get better? I guess we’ll have to see.

Antigone, written by Sophocles and a successor to Oedipus the King, our second assigned “book”. Once again, Sophocles was able to envelop me in the story and gave an enjoyable impression. Although I may have also enjoyed Antigone, it was not for the reasons that allowed me to enjoy Oedipus the King. In Oedipus, I enjoyed the irony that fell upon him. As for Antigone, I enjoyed reading the aftermath of the irony that fell upon Oedipus and the character development throughout the royal family of Thebes.

Antigone is the sequel to the tragic irony that fell upon Oedipus. When Oedipus the King concluded, we learn Oedipus is sent to exile, but did not learn the consequences that followed the tragedy until we were given the “summary” of Antigone. Antigone, the play happens years after the exile of Oedipus where we briefly told who sat on the throne and the events that followed up. I had read books where there was a time skip into the future and felt incomplete. However, the transition in Antigone felt very smooth and made it easy to understand what caused the upcoming event. After the death of her brothers in a duel, the “traitor,” Polynices was left outside to die as a reminder of what happens if you commit treason, Antigone became unpleased and planned to give his brother a proper burial despite it being a crime punishable by death. 

My own flesh and blood-deer sister, dear Ismene, how many griefs our father Oedipus handed down (p.59)

Here, we can see how the tragedy that falls upon Oedipus affects his daughter, Antigone. Later on, we also see Creon argue with Tiresias giving us a flashback of what happened to Oedipus when he tried to revolt against his prophecies. However, unlike Oedipus, Creon learned from him and agreed to listen to him after the Leader joined in.

my king-terrible prophecies. Well I know, since the hair on this old head went gray, he’s never lied to Thebes.

Creon: I know it myself-I’m shaken, torn. It’s a dreadful thing to yield (p.116).

Creon listens to the Leader and agreed to go against his will after the lesson given to Oedipus (p.117). In this sequel, we can see hints of how the tragedy that fell upon Oedipus affected the people of Thebes and the character development of two characters.

Ismene began as the “voice of reason” where she tries to convince Antigone to think properly about the consequences as she states she will give Polynices a proper burial (pp.59-64). After Antigone is placed on a “trail” for burying Polynices, Creon rushed into conclusion that her sister, Ismene must also be involved and summoned her (p.83). However, we get a surprising reaction from Ismene once she arrives (p. 86).

I did it, yes-if only she consents-I share the guilt, the consequences too (p.86).

Although Ismene began by being the “voice of reason” and attempted to convince Antigone that burying Polynices is worth the consequences, she immediately asks to share the consequences with Antigone despite not being part of the burying. This can be seen as Ismene sharing Antigone’s view. Although she did not act upon it. We also see a similar development with Creon. At first, we see Creon as a stone-willed man who places the city, Thebes above everything else, including his own family. Creon initially sentenced Antigone to death by stoning. However, later on, Creon had her sent into a cave far away from the city and pinned with a small ration. Creon mentions that this way, it will not dirty the city of Thebes with any possible sin and will allow the gods to rescue her if they wish. After the prophecy from Tiresias, Creon went against his will and gave the “traitor,” Polynices a proper burial before attempting to release Antigone from the cave. However, Creon messed up and did his task in a reverse order leading to Antigone’s suicide, and Haemon, his son, stabbed himself after a failed attempt to kill his father. Here, Creon cried a loud cry before returning to his castle, showing that he is still human and cares for his family. Once he arrives back, he receives the news of his wife, Eurydice has ended her own life. Creon became mortified and broke down revealing the human side of Creon.

Antigone written by Sophocles was a very intriguing book. As opposed to Oedipus I found the book more complex which made it more enjoyable to read. This is particularly because I found Antigone’s character fascinating. Her character is now someone that I admire and aspire to be like. A reason that I admire her is because of her close resemblance to a feminist and her ability to stand up against Creon. Finally making these connections the question of  “Who are we” in relation to Antigone arouse. 

Antigone is a character that I admired while reading this Greek tragedy. The qualities that I admire in Antigone are her bravery and loyalty to her own values. Her bravery is shown when she breaks Creon’s law to bury her brother; Polynices. Antigone does this because she believes that she is honoring her family and the law of the gods. I like that instead of conforming to the state law she boldly stood up for her family and her values. Even after Antigone is caught she does not ask for sympathy but says some courageous words to Creon;

“And if my present actions strike you as foolish, let’s just say I’ve been accused of folly by a fool” (p.82).

I commend Antigone for having the confidence to stand up to a tyrant even if it means sacrificing her life. Creon’s perspective however is that Antigone has a death wish and worships death;

“There let her pray to the one god she worships – death” (p.100).

He thinks this because he doesn’t understand Antigone’s perspective. Contrary to Creon I sympathize with Antigone and understand her motives. I believe that Antigone is willing to die fighting for a better world than the one she lives in and this is very admirable. Antigone’s traits and actions also make her an early example of a feminist. 

In Antigone one theme that connects to our world is sexism. Throughout the play, there are many examples of gender inequality, specifically men vs women. In our world, it is a common view that women are seen as inferior to men and that a woman should not challenge this. This is portrayed in Antigone when Antigone challenges Creon and his laws.  Due to Antigone’s actions, she can be viewed and compared to a modern-day feminist. Through bravery, she stands up against Creon who is an example of a misogynist. He does not like the fact that a girl is trying to overrule him, he states that

“ While I’m alive no woman is going to lord it over me” (p. 86).

This is very patriarchal of Creon but it is similar to the ideologies of today’s world. Ismene, Antigone’s sister however has a different perspective on how to act under Creon’s ruling. She would rather conform to Creon’s views because she is too scared to stand up for herself. An example of this is when she is asked to help bury Polynices, Ismene says

“Remember we are women we’re not born to contend with men” (p. 62).

She chooses to adhere to Creon’s rules out of fear and accept her place in society. Making this connection between the world of Antigone and our own world brought up the big question: who are we? As well as who should we be? By this, I mean comparing ourselves to the two sisters in this story. Antigone is a strong-minded, courageous feminist who is willing to die for a bigger cause. Or Ismene who puts her beliefs aside and conforms to other people out of fear. Moving forward, I am going to strive to be more like Antigone. 

Antigone by Sophocles was an enjoyable read for me. This story was dispersed with deep emotional losses that made me feel sorry and sad but also engaged within the story. The main reason for my sentimental sadness was because of how Antigone never had the chance to marry her fiancé Haemon, and how she must face death alone. I realized her whole family has lived for generations with a curse in their lineage and the fate of her whole family had to destroy everything for them. Sympathy goes to Antigone however, I really liked Antigone as the tragic hero of this story because she remains true both to the Gods and her brother. Although, she is faced with death, she refuses to go against either one, choosing to end her own life. Thus, she seals her testimony with her own blood and dies a tragic hero. I really respect and admire her bravery with her acts and how she faced her punishment with courage.

Antigone does not place herself in society. Rather than compromise her religious beliefs, she remains true to herself. Antigone is portrayed as a brave independent woman when nobody else supports her decision to bury Polynices. When it comes to burying Polynices herself, Antigone goes against Creon. The fact that the people of Thebes did not unite with Antigone could be seen as a factor to her downfall, even though they agreed with her. Despite this, Antigone does, and she willingly disobeyed Creon the King. This really makes me connect to the world and how it is different. Antigone believes in herself, her culture and the gods. She fought for what she believed, even if it may have costed her life. This motivates my courage in doing what I believe is right and how we all should too. Of course, not in the extreme measurement of possibly losing your life, but if we need a change and believe in it, we should act.

Antigone isn’t the only one in the play who stands alone. Creon also stands alone but in a different way. Even though the people of Thebes, except for Antigone, followed his law, they did not agree with it. The prophet Tiresias, who is never wrong, tells Creon that it is not a good idea to not bury Polynices and that it will anger the gods. Despite the wise advice from Tiresias, Creon still passes the law that states no one shall bury Polynices or mourn his death. He stands alone in this decision and is not willing to listen to the opinions of others. Not only is this a factor in Creon’s downfall but is also one in Antigone’s. Creon is portrayed as misogynistic, someone who thinks less of women. I can see why Crean is not praised like other characters in this book and that is largely based off what he says about women. Crean orders his slaves to take Antigone and Ismene inside: “[they] must be women now. / No more free running” (578-579), suggesting that freedom is absent from his definition of women.

Gender inequality with comparison to their specific expected roles in society were how men looked at women. I really would not want to live in the setting of this story based on the problems in the setting with femininity and sexism but also because of how I could get unlucky and also live in a prophecy. Despite the setting of this story, we can see many imageries when reading Antigone. An example would be when Antigone said; “She wailed out loud that sharp sound of bitterness a bird makes when she looks in her nest and it’s empty, it’s a widow’s bed in the baby chicks are gone” (515-518) Sophocles uses a metaphor and imagery to compare Antigone to a bird as well as to emphasize Antigone’s devotion to her brother.

Reading Antigone helped me think about things in a different way. Life finding the struggle of balance between being strong alone and being strong in a crowd. Both Antigone and Creon stand alone, but their intentions are different. Antigone has a strong grasp on her morals and is able to do what is right even when no one supports her. The theme of this story is Fate and Free will and to see Antigone’s bravery and courage to do what she truly believed in was right. Antigone symbolizes her free will of doing what is right even if it may cost her life. Antigone’s courageous acts raises one question. Why are we scared of death?

I really did love this book, and I especially loved Antigone’s character, her sheer boldness and unwavering confidence are traits that make her so easily likeable and even admirable. For a woman of her time to stand up to man of Creon’s status and fight for her right to bury her brother and honour her family name is truly inspiring. Comparing the story of Antigone to that of Oedipus, I found that I preferred Antigone far more. I found it much more exciting and empowering than Oedipus, it was also much more relevant, covering concepts such as feminism, misogyny, religion, justice, and morality.

It very clearly explores the topic of femininity and sexism, and compares women’s expected roles in society, and their actual behaviour. The thing that makes Antigone so powerful is her inherent teenage behaviour. From what we can assume, Antigone is probably around 15 or 16, and anything bad that could happen to her, has already happened, so she really has nothing to lose. This sense of youth and almost immaturity is really what makes her such a politically strong character. And especially at that age, she doesn’t see any other options other than essentially dying for her family’s honour and for what she feels is right, since Creon also expects men to take on a dominant role in society, and women to take more of a submissive role. With this in mind, I strongly believe that had the offender rather been a man that Antigone, he would not have been sentenced to death.

Another major theme in Antigone that I found quite interesting was that of morality. Was Antigone right in defying Creon and burying her brother, even if he betrayed the citizens of Thebes? Or should she have listened to Ismene and let Creon leave his body to decompose? It is also a matter of fate and free choice. While free choice plays a major part in the story, such as her decision to give Polynices a proper burial. However, fate plays an even bigger role. Antigone was not limited by her fate, but rather the knowledge of it.

And finally, Antigone also covers the topic of divine law, meaning law of the gods, and law of man and state. Due to religion being such a prominent part in our main characters lives, religious rules and traditions were promoted to a law status, meaning everyone must follow them. One of these laws stated that all citizens require a proper burial. Creon obviously defies said law which results in our major conflict between Antigone and Creon over each individuals standards of divine law. The only time these two argue over divine law is when it serves their best interests and benefits them.

This book is filled with despair, loss and agony. Comparing it to Oedipus the King, I didn’t find that play as emotional as this one. Antigone manages to bring up many important subjects that are still relevant.  Like feminism; and how the chase for money may blind you. I like to note how valid these things are today.

Despite the fact that this play was a bit hard to read due to the rich language and a few confusing analogies, I enjoyed it. It was interesting to see Creon in such a miserable state at the end. This was one of those characters that I found unpleasant from the start, and seeing his character unwrap one page at a time was quite great.

Creon is left to suffer the rest of his life alone, mourning at his family’s tombs. Ismene lives as well, but the memories of her sister and her family-tree will remain with her. The best thing she can do is learn to cope with these things and live a happy life. No matter how horrible your past is, you can always choose to start living your best today.

I enjoyed Antigone a lot, and same as last time, I’d say more than I expected. It had the same mysterious effect that Oedipus had but apart from that, it was a very different story from the it for me at least because of the way that Antigone is fundamentally more realistic than Oedipus The King. It’s realism is mainly due to the characters’ normal disposition and the whole idea being more plausible.

Immediately when I think of the way characters are shown in Antigone I think of how were constantly reminded that Creon is human, a great example is on page 116 when after hearing the prophet and sending him away telling him he’s wrong, he realizes the wrongs he’s done and struggles to figure out how to go about it. This really contrasts from the laughably unrealistic story of Oedipus. We also see Antigone, who is like her father with her hastiness and outspokenness but at the same time her reasonings for saying and doing things are all realistically justified. For example, her unstoppable want for her brothers body to be buried is understandable to an extent since Greek culture believes and values the gods so much. making the idea of defying them sound like maybe not the best idea. And then finally Ismene and Haemon. They both have pretty normal personalities. Ismene, not wanting to anger the king and get killed tries to just stay quiet and live her life, and Haemon, sympathizing with the one he loves. Both ideas are understandable and relatable to people thousands of years later.

As well as these characters, the story in which they’re set in has greatly calmed down and cleared up for Antigone. In Oedipus your sat there often thinking what why or how because of the constant crazy events that kept occurring. Entertaining, but not that realistic. Whereas the premise of Antigone is not only more clear but also generally more likely that it could actually happen. From the brothers fighting over the thrown, to Ismene and Antigone’s worries about whether the kings or the gods rule is more important, they all resemble realistic issues. Who should be in power has been a question from before the Greek times until now, and who or what to believe is another good question that everyone asks themselves at some point.

The questions this book raises had me thinking in a very modern way which I found super interesting. People had this thought from Oedipus The King but I personally didn’t all that much since I was so overwhelmed with all the unrealistic questions like why marry your mother, how did Oedipus become king so incredibly easily and what in the world is a sphynx.

Oedipus the King was an eventful story. Full of twists and turns that left me engaged and puzzled. This tragedy was as tragic as a play can get, with the main character marrying his mother and killing his father. Every second of the book was eventful with either arguments or injuries’ and in some cases, death. There were several main reasons I enjoyed this text for one the way it is written, as a play, and for another dramatic irony and emotional writing that is found on every single page.

Naturally, this was not the first time I had come across the unfortunate story of Oedipus. I had stumbled over it many years ago when I visited Greece, it was a popular bed time story. However this was the first time I had read Sophocles and the play titled Oedipus the King. My first thought when I opened the book was: it’s a play? I had never imagined that the story I read as a child was in fact a Greek play, but let me say this, I am so glad that it was. Without all the “extra” words on the page, the plot and characters were far easier to follow, the arguments felt more real and most importantly it kept you wanting to read the next line, then the next one and the one after that.

Oedipus:                                                                                                        You think you can keep this up and never suffer?

Tiresias:                                                                                                          Indeed, if the truth has any power.

Oedipus:                                                                                                        It does but not for you, old man. You’ve lost your power, stone blind, stone-deaf senses, eyes blind as stone! (l. 420-423)

These few lines illustrate the moreish effect of a play. You want to read the next line. You want to know what Tiresias said next. On top of that there is also a certain freedom when reading a play, your mind can wonder, allowing you to picture the scenes in your head without the author attempting to describe them for you. I struggle to read books, I find it a long and argues task. That however, was not the case for a Sophocles play.

I also enjoyed the emotional writing, dramatic irony and the beautiful poetry, woven throughout the story. Where you least expected it one of the characters would burst out in a big speech, always in well written lines of poetry. These speeches, to me, added an emotional value to the play. One line in particular spoken by Tiresias to Oedipus, “Blind who now has eyes” (l. 516). These five words carry the answer to everything, these five words have such value in the play. As we know Oedipus is blind, not physically but metaphorically, as he can not see what is literally right in front of him. In other words he can not see himself. He is the murder. Tiresias also goes as far as to say “now”, blind who “now” has eyes, foreshadowing and predicting what is to come. Dramatic irony added some comedy to a tragedy and can be seen on almost every page. It is this irony that made me love the play even more. It gets the reader thinking, how could he possible say that? For example “Now my curse on the murder…let that man drag out his life in agony” (l. 280-284). Oedipus places a curse on himself, yet he does not yet know what he has done. Everyone in the audience would be laughing or incredulous at this little speech because they all know how dumb the protagonist looks. But maybe it is exactly this to which people relate? In the end I view Oedipus as a hero, a hero who happened to have an unlucky fate, whos life was out of his hands, and who did nothing wrong but pursue an unfortunate truth. I greatly enjoyed Oedipus the King and look forward to reading more of Sophocles’ works in the future.

Oedipus the King was the first Greek play I’ve ever read and there was a lot to get through. It felt quite long probably because the chorus went on for ages every time Oedipus shut up for a second. I had to learn about a lot of cultural stuff too since a lot of the Greek references were foreign to me. But despite the gibberish lost in bad translation and my limited knowledge of older English, I really enjoyed Oedipus the King. I enjoyed it because of the funny banter and the big dramatic images it drew in my mind.

The parts that made me most engaged while reading the play was definitely when Oedipus argued with the prophet or Creon. First off I found the language much easier. There was less poetic nonsense and more straight up yelling, which happens to be more understandable in this situation. It was also not as daunting to read small sections of text rather than a big block, and the content was usually more descriptive as well, unlike the chorus or Oedipus’s speeches which would question a lot of who’s what’s where’s why’s and how’s of every situation.

When I wasn’t engaged through what I read directly, but through how what I had read made me feel or think of. I wrote an essay on emotion directly and indirectly through Poetry last year and I think this story is a perfect example of the indirect way we can feel emotion from the writing. Although we don’t relate with the text directly since killing fathers and marrying mothers isn’t the most familiar topic, a lot of the emotion we get from the story comes from the compelling ideas of mystery and tragedy. Key moments in the book that relate to this are when Oedipus meets the Sphynx, when he tries to figure out who the murderer is and when he finds out its him. All of these awesome scenarios really paint a picture of a great story in my mind.

I really enjoyed the play for the smile it put on my face at the pointless arguing of two old Greek guys and the want to keep reading when something crazy happened. I’m definitely anticipating the next play.

The story of Oedipus the King was a fairly short story which draws you in the few first pages. I enjoyed viewing the rich language and seeing the style of speech that was presented, it all seemed to have a twist and turn. I also noticed a lot of irony throughout the book and double meanings which can be interpreted very differently depending on what intent you put into the phrase.

There is no “bad guy” in this story. There is just the outcome of the situation; the consequence(s). We are only humans, but humans aren’t perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, and it touches me because none of this is really his fault. He admits all his errors, and I believe that this is what’s important, the hardest part is to admit. But he also knows there is no way he can fix this mess now. So he makes yet another hard decision, he wants to be gone; not dead, but gone far away from his children and people, where no man can see him, he wants to suffer the rest of his life to atone for all his sins. 

As you get to the end of the book, you can feel the agony of Oedipus through the pages as he mourns for the things he has done. It is what life/ gods have prepared for him. It definitely impacted the way I view the concept of “destiny”in this book. 

Oedipus was not a book I expected to enjoy. There, I said it. Shocking, isn’t it? A 16-year-old in the 21st century did not think that they’d be moved by some tragedy written sometime in Ancient Greece. At most, I thought I’d enjoy hearing references to the Greek Gods. Now here I am, surprisingly moved by the writing and the humor presented in Oedipus.

As I said before in class, the humor of Oedipus was quite entertaining. I found myself laughing at many parts of the text, which I certainly did not anticipate from a tragedy. One of the many jokes that I appreciated was following Oedipus ranting about how Creon was going to attempt to overthrow him, and Creon responded with a simple, “Are you quite finished?” (pg. 189). Such a hilarious set of dialogue that is still enjoyed in our modern day. Before this, Oedipus proclaims,

Now my curse on the murderer. Whoever he is, a lone man unknown in his crime or one among many, let that man drag out his life in agony, step by painful step– I curse myself as well . . . if by any chance he proves to be an intimate of our house, here at my hearth, with my full knowledge, may the curse I just called down on him strike me! (pg. 172)

This excerpt of pure irony makes us as readers completely facepalm, as with the knowledge we have, we understand the ideocracy of this curse Oedipus puts upon the murderer of Laius, which is himself. Both examples of the humor within what we know as a Ancient Greek tragedy certainly caught me off guard yet amused me.

Another aspect of Oedipus that was very pleasing was the emotional writing. Charged lines within this play whether you are or aren’t expecting them hit you quite hard, no matter what. These lines of dialogue truly remind you that this is a tragedy, lines like,

Apollo, friends, Apollo– he ordained my agonies– these, my pains on pains! But the hand that struck my eyes was mine, mine alone– no one else– I did it all myself! What good were eyes to me? Nothing I could see could bring me joy. (pg. 241)

These few lines truly show the weight of living Oedipus’ life to me, his true intentions and feelings towards what’s happened to him. Here, we can see the trauma he’s endured truly showing through. It is lines like theses that really help immerse me into a book and make me enjoy the material I’m reading.

Overall, this book has caused the impression I’ve had of other ancient Greek tragedies to become less intimidating. Whereas before, the thought of reading them almost frightened me, now I feel as thought I could read through another book of similar type of Oedipus without worry, but instead excitement.

Before reading this book, I had previously read an adaptation of it, called “The Gods Are Not to Blame” by Ola Rotimi, and despite knowing the events that took place I still enjoyed reading the Greek version of the story. The main difference between the two books were names and cultural differences (example; names of gods, names of cutlery, geography). Although, I will say that the Greek version was more violent and brass, this of course includes the violent nature of the people in the story and the normality of bloodshed in their daily lives.

I liked all the characters and especially loved their dynamics. My favorite duo would be Oedipus and Jocasta because even though they’re in a romantic relationship, you still catch small whiffs of Jocasta’s motherly love seeping out onto Oedipus, which I feel adds to the irony of the story. “What, Oedipus? What haunts you so?” (pg, 202) Although this quote can be said to be mainly out of respect and her duty as a queen to her king, I interpreted it as both motherly and respectful. My favorite character is easily Tiresias for simple reasons, he solved the mystery in an instant (technically) and is the wisest character. We see that a few pages after Tiresias have been introduced, he tells Oedipus who the perpetrator is, and I feel that the fact that he prophesized exactly what was going to happen to Oedipus while reading him like a picture was most impressive.” You mock my blindness? Let me tell you this. You with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life, to the house you live in, those you live with- who are your parents…”(pg, 183)

I found the structure of the story/play interesting and enjoyable. The dialogue varied from short one to two sentence responses to over a page long rant. The imagery used were quite good too, much easier to understand compared to a traditional poem. “Soon, soon you’ll scream aloud- what haven won’t reverberate? What rock of Cithaeron won’t scream back in echo?” Lastly, the language that was used. The language used were modern and we still make use of most of these words till date. This was probably a big factor in the comprehension of the multiple use of imagery and the overall plot and dialogue. Although, the way some words were used were different from the way most people would expect them to be used in a sentence. ” I will never shrink from the anger in your eyes”(pg,185). In a modern way of restating that statement it would be, I would never retreat (or back down) from the anger in your eyes.

Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, our first assigned novel for the year. After reading a “summary” of the play, we began reading on page 159. Our first reading assignment was up to page 198. I found myself confused during the first half but quickly catch on during the second half where it was basically two grown man arguing. As for reading assignments were given, I found myself gaining interest towards the play and began enjoying it. As the story develops, we follow the protagonist, Oedipus reveals more about himself in a hilarious fashion through the many ironic situations. I believe this development is the cause of why I found myself enjoy the play and even participated plentifully in class discussions (possibly more then the entirety of MYP 5.)

When we first read the “summary,” I was drawn into the fact that Oedipus killed his father and married his mother and gave birth to many children. However, when we began reading the play, my view on Oedipus regressed. When Oedipus came to Thebes and crowned king of the fight with the sphinx, Oedipus went on, to find the truth behind the killing of Laius, the former king of Thebes. After receiving no luck when giving out the order of finding the culprit, Oedipus summoned Tiresias (a blind prophet), who was believe to “share the eyes” of Apollo (pp. 174-175). After Tiresias is summoned, Oedipus began questioning the blind prophet. However, even after exclaiming “if any one of you know the murderer / Nothing to fear, even if he must denounce himself / he will suffer no unbearable punishment” (p. 171), Tiresias refuses to give the answer. Oedipus continues to pressure Tiresias in giving him a answer for the next 15ish pages despite Tiresias being “equal in a sense.” Although I understand and admire Oedipus’s determination to find the truth, he went to far as Tiresias proclaimed that he is refusing for his own good. After finally making Tiresias speak, he himself was not pleased with the answer and lashes out on Tiresias. However, after sending Tiresias off, Creon came in and talk some sense into Oedipus. Only then do I start finding the charms of Oedipus as the protagonist of a fictional play.

As Oedipus begins learning the truth behind the killing of Laius, his reaction to the irony placed upon him is beautiful. Watching Oedipus slowly descend into madness as he discovers more information then he wanted, was beautiful and made me enjoy reading the play. Oedipus first curses himself by proclaiming “Whoever he is / let that man drag out his life in agony / by any chance he proves to be an intimate of our house / may the curse I just called down on him strike me!” (pp. 172). As he continues to learn more about the killing of Laius and his connection to the former royal family of Thebes, he became insane and “cursed” the gods (Apollo). In spite, Oedipus pulled out his eyes and proclaimed it was his doing. After going insane and proclaiming his sins and the curses he laid upon himself, Oedipus became calm. He yearned for his children before his leave and prayed to the god. This made Oedipus a man who you just can’t really hate as many of the things he has done were purely his fate. However, you can’t help but laugh at Oedipus as well.

Oedipus the king written by Sophocales was an enjoyable read for me. Reading the story always had me excited for the next scene. I liked reading Oedipus the king mainly because of Oedipus the main characters personality development, and how it changed over the story. When the truth is being revealed Oedipus makes it his responsibility to keep on looking for the truth, and I really admire this respectable act of his. I also disliked Jocasta as she was the one to give off her son to die. Another thing which I found a bit difficult to understand was the old-fashioned language.

At the beginning of the story, I did not like Oedipus because of his bad temper and how hubris he was. When Oedipus comes across Laius at the narrow bridge his self-confidence from his egotistical ambitions kicks in, he kills Laius and his people over Laius telling him to get out the way. At this point of the story, I strongly disliked Oedipus as he killed for no reason and how he did not think before committing this act. This act made him unlikeable for me as I saw him to be a very cocky king that thought of himself so highly. When the King of Thebes Oedipus, comes to Corinth, he is praised to be king and marry the Queen Jocasta who is Oedipus’s mother. Later in the story, the truth slowly starts to come to light from the Soothsayer and Oedipus completely denies the accusation of him killing his father. Although, this was also something I disliked about Oedipus as he did not even think about the possibilities, we later discover that Oedipus is determined to find out the truth especially when everything is pointed at him. This changes the way I look at Oedipus, I respect him and admire him so much after his bravery and loyalty to being The King of Thebes of finding out the truth, when he easily could have ignored it. I sympathize for how Oedipus was the puppet of the Gods and how the prophecy ruled his life. However, I commend how Oedipus stabbed his eyes out for control over his own life and to end being the puppet to the Gods. I also disliked Jocasta as she tried hiding the truth.

During the story I did not think much of Jocasta as she did not have any qualities I disliked. However, when the truth is slowly coming to light instead of being loyal to her position of the Queen, she tries brushing off the accusations as she does not want to truth to be revealed. Her motive on trying to avoid grief when the identity of Oedipus is coming to light is something I do not admire. Jocasta was a character I did not like because she tried to alter the fate but then she also denies it at various points. Jocasta is selfish to me because she tried to change her fate multiple times to protect her reputation. Jocasta’s motive was to make herself prosper and successful as a noble queen. All things considered, she did not want anything interfering with her reputation and she attempts to repute Tiresias’s allegation. She tried stopping Oedipus from seeking the truth when she realized the prophecy came true. I also found the Ancient Greek old-fashioned language a bit difficult, especially when reading the chorus.

The old-fashioned language was something that was a bit difficult to follow. Certain times of reading the play I was lost and had no clue on what was being said.  There are also a few instances of rhyme, appearing only in the beginning and final scenes, and usually only by Oedipus and the chorus.

Oedipus the King, an Ancient Greek playwright written by Sophocles, is a successful tragedy. The main character in the play, Oedipus, who I feel great sympathy for, has a coarse life in which he has gone through the pinnacle and the most tragic that could have happened to him. First of all, I admire his smartness. He solves the Sphinx’s riddle and saves the citizen of Thebes from her. Nevertheless, it turns out he is the cause of the plague in his city as he is cursed by the gods since he was born. I empathize with Oedipus since he loses everything he had after he finds out about the misery of his life and the reason for the plague, so as everything he does. He loses his mother/wife; he loses his daughters and indeed the city. I can feel the pain of losing all his properties and his love in his life. I respect Oedipus for giving up everything he had to save the city of Thebes. I also commiserate with the Queen, Jocasta, who finds out his husband was killed by his son whom she abandoned years ago. She also finds out that she has slept with her son which is unholy. I understand that she committed suicide afterward since this must be a tragedy for her. I think it is unfair for Oedipus that he does not deserve to be cursed, hated, and treated as a “toy” by all the Gods as he saved the citizens of Thebes.

The plot of Oedipus the King mostly makes sense to me, apart from the chorus part. The Chorus is written from the citizens’ perspective, who do not know what happened to Oedipus. As a reader of the play, I know the plot of the story in advance, before I read the play. Therefore, it was difficult to immerse me into the crowd’s perspective, which requires me to bypass all the advanced knowledge. While I was reading, I was also confused by the formatting of how the play was written. I noticed that some lines are indented. I sometimes skipped those lines unconsciously and accidentally. After Mr. Macknight’s explanation in class, I understood that this play is translated from Greek, also in poem format. Lines were not aligned after translation. Therefore, some lines are indented to match the poem format and lines of the original version.

The main theme of Oedipus the King is fate. Oedipus is cursed since he was born. Although he tries his best to escape the prophet, he fails, kills his father, and marries his mother eventually. The play’s theme is established, “fate guides a person’s life”. However, I personally disagree fate dominates our lives. I believe that we have the authority to be in charge of our lives. After reading, an open-ended question was raised: “What would happen if Oedipus was extremely in charge and mindful of his actions, is the prophet still be accomplished?” The answer is yet to be found.

Oedipus the King written by Sophocles was something that I enjoyed reading. I found myself wanting to pick the book up and read past the assigned pages. The reasons for this were the characters and the tone. The main character Oedipus had many layers to his personality which made him more intriguing. The humorous tone of this book was also something that kept me interested. This book also raised a few questions and caused me to reflect.

I found Oedipus’s character to be complicated. This is because he was a tragic hero who was neither totally good nor evil. At the beginning of the book, I did not like Oedipus because I found him to be conceited and have a bad temper. An example of these traits is when Tiresias calls Oedipus the murderer. At this point, Oedipus is very quick to lash out without thinking which makes him unlikeable. As the book progresses, we can see his determination to find out the truth and his loyalty to Thebes. This changed how I viewed Oedipus; I now admired these qualities. The ending to this story had me feeling sorry for Oedipus because of how he felt like a puppet to the Gods. At first, I was confused about why he decided to stab his eyes but then I realized he wanted to have control over his own life. I realize now that portraying Oedipus with both flaws and strengths made Oedipus more transparent. This is because it makes him more human and more relatable instead of a hero with no flaws. Now I wonder if in some way or another we are all similar to Oedipus’s character. Another thing that made me want to continue reading this book was the tone. 

 Although the plot of the play was tragic there was a comical and ironic tone which added to my enjoyment. There were many puns and ironic lines that conveyed this tone such as Oedipus’s line when talking about Laius “I will fight for him as if he were my father.” (p.173). This is ironic because little did, he know Laius was his father. One more line delivered by Oedipus that made me laugh was “I have a terrible fear that the blind seer can see” (p. 203). Passages such as these made the book more entertaining. Another character that is quite humorous is the Messenger. The Messenger delivers many important facts which are crucial to the story but with a comical tone. For example, when the Messenger learns why Oedipus was scared to go back to Corinth he says; “Don’t you know? You’ve really nothing to fear. Polybus was nothing to you, that is why, not in blood” (p. 218). This line is funny because Oedipus has feared going back to Corinth his whole life, but the messenger delivers this news like it is no big deal. Something to consider about the tone of this play is that it was originally performed on a stage with an audience so that is why humour might be a prominent part of the tone. Regardless I appreciated the comical characters and puns throughout the book.  

As I read the book, I realized that Oedipus isn’t a real god. He makes mistakes like humans and I think thats the reason why I like him. I like the book even if it is a bit confusing to read. The whole story with Oedipus and the riddle showed me that the future is inevitable.

I also liked how drastic Oedipus reacts, as he found out that he killed his father and married his mother. The whole book is on one clearly threat. U can barely feel the anger and the emotions from Oedipus.

All the dialogues are a bit confusing and the actions of some characters are a bit strange. My big Question is, why the mother of Oedipus reacting this dramatic, after she found out?. I mean she knew the riddle and didn’t even thought about it as she married him.

if I could change One thing it would be the role/character of the mother. She just doesn’t fit right. in the book. I would change her behavior, her actions and her appear.

But all in one, I think this is a good book with a good story.