Corruption In Oedipus The King And Antigone - 988 Words

In Sophocles’ Oedipus The King and Antigone, Sophocles used two tragic stories to explore issues and themes involving that can be interpreted in several ways depending on the readers understanding of the play and the main theme in focus. From a personal view point, themes such as corruption, injustice, civil disobedience and power drunkenness were explored rampantly by Sophocles to further dramatize a story that conveys so much messages. The ancient Greeks are well recognized for gifting the modern world with democracy, yet the system of government merely as perfect as their leaders. In both Oedipus The King and Antigone, Sophocles demonstrates a few flaws in their governing system. The theme of corruption in Oedipus the king come in a†¦show more content†¦It also so showed how far he was willing to go to display and exert his power upon his people and Antigone in particular. Considering the fact that Oedipus displayed a similar abuse of power, it would have been a wi se move by making an attempt to be just ruler, instead he decided to sink lower. Just like his predecessor, Creon did not make heed to any advice from anyone, including his only son, because he internalized any advice from his son as a lecture from a boy, and men of his age has no business being lectured by a boy; after all he was so power drunk that he asked Haemon â€Å"Am I to rule this land for others—or myself?† (Fag. 29). While Sophocles maintained male dominance throughout both plays, his characterization of women in both plays is admirable at times, but for the most part, the women seem to take on a subordinate role as did most women in ancient Greek society. Antigone’s character certainly is the only standout female character in both plays. Antigone’s defiance of Creon’s edict, and he outspoken personality project an overview of Sophocles view of women. In a perfect contradicting clash of character, both Creon and Antigone’s charact er open a door into the thought process of Sophocles. On one hand, Sophocles introduces his readers to King Creon, a power drunken man who creates edicts against the laws of the gods to prove himself king, on the other you have a strong-willed woman, not easily swayed by the voiceShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Arrogance and Hubris of Oedipus and Creon724 Words   |  3 PagesIn ‘Antigone†, Ismene says, â€Å"To them that walk in power; to exceed is madness, and not wisdom†. Her statement makes it clear, those who â€Å"walk in power†, allow it to corrupt them. Throughout the history of humanity there has been a correlation between those who have excessive power and corruption. Webster’s Dictionary defines corruption as, â€Å"impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle†. In the story of Antigone the tragic hero Creon, shows all of the common characteristics of corruption. 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