Antigone by Sophocles picks up almost exactly where Oedipus leaves off. After Oedipus passes away, his daughters, Antigone and Ismene, return to Thebes to try and help their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, avoid fulfilling a prophecy that predicts they will kill each other in a battle to be the new King of Thebes. However, upon Anitgone’s arrival, she learns that both of her brothers have died, and that her uncle, Creon, has inherited the throne. She also learns the one of her brothers, Eteocles, has been given a proper burial, but Creon issued a law, banning the burial of Polyneices because Creon believed he was a traitor. Antigone decides to defy the law and gives Polyneices a proper burial, and is caught. Creon decides to lock her away in prison, and she kills herself. Meanwhile, Teiresias, a blind prophet, Antigone’s fiancé, Haemon, and Creon’s son, plead with Creon to release Antigone. Creon finally gives in but found out that it is too late, and they find her dead in the jail cell. In mist of despair, Creon’s wife and Haemon also committed suicide, and Creon is left in distress and sorrow. Believe it or not, I think that Antigone is more tragic than Oedipus was, however, I did enjoy and prefer reading Oedipus. Much like Oedipus, Anitgone fit Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, nearly perfectly. Aristotle defines tragedy as, “the imitation of an action that is serious and also, a s having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language... in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.” This play fits nearly every aspect of Aristotle’s definition, and is truly tragic in nature.
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