Essays on Sophocles

Fifth century ancient Greece, a time when society was dominated by men and women hidden away in the shadows of men. Publicly, women had no life.  Women were given restricted rules in society under the rule of men, such as listen to their husbands and...

Nature, a component of life that overlooks the action of every living thing, has both a supportive and reliant side as well as a fierce and relentless character. Throughout the story of Antigone, the motif of nature is effectively used to create an emphasis on...

Sophocles’ Antigone, written in 441 B.C.E., is over 2000 years old and is still a common element in an average English class reading list. It is a story about a woman who wants to cause no trouble, but will also stop at nothing to honor...

Women are housewives; men are the breadwinners. Even though these ideas are not relevant today, they existed during the time of the play “Antigone.” In ancient Greece, women were seen as property. Men were seen as the head of the house. The roles of men...

What is human nature? According to the dictionary, human nature is “the general psychological characteristics, feelings, and behavioral traits of humankind, regarded as shared by all humans.” It is the total of our species identity, all the characteristics that make humans uniquely human. Throughout the...

Many people balance the individual, community, and divine differently according to their values. In the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, Creon is the King of Thebes. Creon balances individualism his own way based on his own morals instead of what others may consider as right or...

In literature, it is very common that the hero faces victory or defeat. In Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, Oedipus experiences defeat due to a tragic flaw and not his fate. The fate he was worried he would fulfill, being the murderer of his father and...

There have been debates about the role of gods in human societies ever since the establishment of the first religions. Ancient Greek playwrights often explored the ideas of divinity, predestination, and fate in their works, which were performed in theatres. Sophocles’ works, including Oedipus Rex,...

The main theme of the play Antigone is the conflict between Antigone and Creon pertaining to where power lies, divine law or the king’s law. Antigone believes that her dead brother is no longer under the authority of Creon but the Gods, so it is...

Most people view a tragic hero as “the bad guy.” Has anyone ever thought about why a tragic hero is called a tragic hero? According to Aristotle, “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall” (Tragic Hero...