Throughout the course of a person’s lifetime he may encounter certain situations that force him to raise the question, “Why me?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” He may wonder how he ended up in the situation and if it was predestined for him to end up in the predicament. Throughout Sophocles’ Antigone we can see the central theme of fate and destiny. Fate is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control. It is seem as regulated by some supernatural powers. In Antigone, almost all of the characters would meet their destiny and their inevitable fate.
From the very beginning of the play we can see the predetermination of Antigone’s life. As soon as she is born she is confronted with fate and cannot escape her destiny. She is born to a family which includes an incestuous relationship between her parents and her brothers would end up killing each other. We can see the extent to which fate dictates her life. Antigone believed that Polynices was a proper burial and she goes out of her way to make sure that he will receive it. She knew that doing so she is violating the kings order that no one shall bury Polynices and that death is the consequence of doing so, however, she believed that this was her destiny and that eventually it would come no matter what. She is the vehicle in which her own predetermined fate is carried out. By rebelling and causing her death she has carried out the will of the supernatural powers and of the gods. Creon too was confronted with fate. Creon tried to prohibit Polynices from receiving a proper burial and believed that it was Polynices fate to be left without a burial. At the end he would be left with nothing- no wife and no son- except the crown on top of his head. He believed that it was Polynices’ destiny to die without a proper burial, but he would soon realize that he was totally wrong.
Both Antigone and Creon were victims to their fate and couldn’t escape it no matter how much they tried. Fate was just too powerful and we see that eventually their actions would lead to the destiny that was predetermined for them.
