From the times of the Greeks, people believed that events were predetermined by a higher power. Both individuals and everything in general follow a path called fate and they cannot escape it under any circumstances. A good example of this is in the Final Destination movies but it is in some way different because the people in the movies actually cheat death. The people from in the movies escaped death because of a premonition seen by one of them. Then throughout the movies, they try to cheat death by escaping, knives flying at them, buildings exploding, and lightning strikes but eventually death catches up with them and they eventually die like fate had decided for them.

In the play Antigone two brothers suffer a horrible fate in which they end up killing each other for their father’s throne. One of the brothers gets buried and the other is left on the ground to rot and be eaten by animals as set by the new king, Creon. His pride determines his fate. Not willing to have pity for his own nephew, he is set to be punished later in the play when both his wife and his son die.

Antigone, the sister of the two brothers is unable to cope with the fact that one of her brothers is left to rot so she set out to illegally bury her brother. Her love for her brother is the force that ends up locking in her fate for the act of defying the laws set by the new king Creon. “It would be fine to die
while doing that. I’ll lie there with him, with a man I love, pure and innocent, for all my crime. My honours for the dead
must last much longer than for those up here.” She choses to bury her brother and her fate was set for her to be killed and even though, Creon was not the one to kill her, she still ends up dyeing from stabbing herself in the end.

In the end, Antigone shows us that fate is set by our actions much like karma. One who does bad will in turn pay for their wrong doings.

Fate is an important part of many tragedies. The lives of the characters have a set end and there are usually hints as to what this end will be and when it will occur. Often, the characters are able to recognize their fate and respond to it. Sometimes, characters accept their fate because it is important to them or they believe it is inevitable.

In the case of Antigone, the play begins with a discussion about burying Polyneices’ body. Antigone and Ismene talk about the consequences of this act, which has been made illegal, as well as the reasons it is necessary. This discussion lays out Antigone’s fate as she decides to bury her brother and face the consequences. She fully understands her fate and accepts it. She believes following her fate set by the gods is more important than following a law set by the king. She informs her sister, who has decided to follow the law, that she should “set [her] own fate in order.”

Throughout the play, Antigone follows her fate. She buries Polyneices and is caught by guards. She is brought to Creon and admits to her crime. The acceptance of her fate is evident when, facing a punishment of death, she says “my fate prompts no tears.” Antigone accepts what she believes is inevitable by committing suicide with her fiance. This recognition and acceptance of fate is an important part of Antigone, as well as many other tragedies.

Antigone was not the only character of the play with a fate that she lived up to. For example, Creon is destined to be alone after his decisions lead to the deaths of almost everyone around him. He ignores the consequences of his actions at first and attempts to correct his mistakes but not until it is too late. By the time he decides to accept that this is his fate and attempt to avoid it by conceding, Antigone and Haemon have already killed themselves. His reluctance to listen to others about his fate throughout most of the play resulted in it becoming his reality.

For the characters of Antigone, their fates turn out to be inevitable, whether it is because they accepted this fate and allowed it to come true or refused to acknowledge it until it was too late.

Fate is a major theme in Sophocles plays. It is the actions of each character that bring about their inevitable fate. Oedipus Rex gives the perfect example that you cannot avoid or hide from the life that is destined for you. Oedipus was predicted to marry his mother and kill his father. His continuous effort to avoid his fate by leaving his parents at birth only aids the ending result.

The inevitability of fate is prevalent throughout Antigone. Antigone is fated to die from the beginning of the play. The proper burial of her brother, Polynices, brings forth her death and she does not avoid it. Creons incentive to decide the fate of Polynices body and his own stubbornness brings about his own tragic fate. Tiresias serves as a foreshadowing of the predestined fate of Creon. Tiresias tells Creon that Thebes will be cursed by the gods because Creon didn’t allow a human body the proper burial. His refusal to obey the prophet and gods and his attempt to avoid it is what ultimately leads him to suffer the death of his son Haemon and his queen Eurydice.

Fate is always an ongoing theme in tragedies, with the main character always following fate’s path. Fate is a force that is always present and nothing the character does will be able to change it. It is meant to be fulfilled, no matter how dark or morbid the prophecy is.

The Chorus tells us that Antigone will die young and that a pair of brothers will fight each other and die a “common death” and one will not be buried. As this tragedy plays out, we see how each action and each scene will eventually lead to the fulfillment of the Chorus predictions. Oedipus’ death results in his two sons having to alternate being King, which will not work out. Power can make a man hungry for more and it seemed to make no sense that this alternation of power would continue for long. Eventually, the two brothers DO kill each other and a part of the Chorus predictions have been fulfilled. Creon then orders that Polynices will not be buried but we know of Antigone’s love for her family and we know that she will definitely disobey the King’s orders. Creon does not want to imprison Antigone but she herself requests to be imprisoned. Antigone is young and does not understand the circumstances surrounding the death of her brothers. Her own misunderstanding and stubbornness causes her to fulfill her own fate.

Fate is an important theme in tragedies. We see from tragedies that fate is inevitable and that destiny is meant to be fulfilled.

People have different opinions on things such as fate. Some believe that what we do every day is destined and predetermined for us. Others believe that we are the masters of our fate. However, in the play Antigone, by Sophocles, fate plays an important role. The main characters of the play are all subjects to fate and having a determined life.

Antigone’s life has already been written for her. She in fact does not have a choice in any of the actions she makes. In the begininning, Antigone decides to bury her brother Polyneices’ body despite Creon’s orders. Her sister Ismene refuses to help her because she fears death. Antigone knew that death would befall her. She disregarded it nonetheless and didn’t try to avoid her fate.

Antigone knew that her death was inescapable. Yet she continued to do the right thing for her brother. There are many things in life that give a false image of having a choice. However, in reality, sometimes things are just already decided for you.

Set in the past where values then differ from values today, Antigone sheds light upon conflicts with morality. She is faced with Creon’s decision of how her two brother’s deaths will be memorialized. Is it fair that one brother receives a proper burial and the other one does not?

One of her brothers, Eteocles, receives a lavish funeral, with “customary rites,/ to win him honor with the dead below,” (29-30) while the other brother, Polyneices, is left unburied and left as food for the birds. (35-37) These two brothers had fought against each other to death for the throne left behind by their father, Oedipus. With both successors dead, that leaves Creon, their uncle, to take the throne.

From Creon’s point of view, he sees Polyneices as the villain because he attempts to overthrow Eteocles from power and marches into Thebes with a battle intent. Creon believes that ‘anyone who threatens the state is an enemy.’ (212-214) It is understandable that Polyneices seems to play the role of the villain as he is reeking havoc on the country he grew up in and is to rule upon. However, Eteocles was at fault for breaking Oedipus’ wish that the brothers share the throne by having one rule for one year and the other rule the next year. I believe that if Eteocles followed his father’s wishes, then the whole battle between the brothers would not have happened. Creon’s decision is not fair, in my perspective, and is unethical because he puts all the blame on Polyneices who was aggressively seeking out justice for himself. “He’ll be left unburied,/ his body there for birds and dogs to eat,/ a clear reminder of his shameful fate.” (234-236) From this quote, Creon does not seem to have fully evaluated the situation, such as the underlying cause, and just automatically points an accusatory finger at Polyneices based on his actions. Also, as an uncle, I believe that Creon should give  Polyneices some respect, not just leave his corpse in the open as food for animals.

Antigone, on the other hand, believes that family is more important, as she secretly sets out to hold a proper burial for Polyneices even if it means risking her life and going against the law. “I’ll still bury him. It would be fine to die while doing that…you can show contempt to those laws the gods hold in honour.” (89-96) By giving Polyneices a proper funeral, Antigone is obeying the morals set by the gods the Greeks honor and follow; in this case is that the dead should be given proper burial. Although Polyneices may have caused harm to Thebes, as a relative of a family who cares about him, Antigone’s decision to have a proper funeral for him is the right and respectful thing to do.

Oriental culture worships a higher Being who dictates the course of our life. Each person follows a path that is called Fate and encountered different events that is predetermined. Often people practice fortune-telling and foresee a rough patch ahead and try to perform rituals or conjure up spirits to smooth out the future. No one knows or is able to confirm the effectiveness of those rituals, which in turn put us in a state of confusion, uncertainty, and sometimes impotence to prevent what is to come. Ancient greek plays were written under the same impression that the fate of the characters are predetermined by the Gods, who played them as if on a chess board. Sophocles’ “Antigone” is an exemple of such belief.

“Antigone” is the sequel of the play “Oedipus Rex,” that was written with a twist away from the Oedipus Rex’s storyline. The idea of Fate was prevalent in “Oedipus Rex” as the King Oedipus was predicted to kill his father and marry his mother. Indeed he did, but he only finds out the truth because he had tried to espace his Fate. This shows that the more you run away from Fate, the sooner you fulfilled your Destiny. In “Antigone,” The Chorus seems like a representative of Fate, narrating the characters’ thoughts: their roles, already predestined, should be self-evident, even if the reason they come to doom is ultimately not. Thus the Chorus traces each character’s fate. Antigone cannot help but to bury her perished brother and die because of her own actions; Creon is the unwilling king after the death of the brothers; Eurydice’s role is but to die in her room. Yet Creon tries to resist Polynices’ fate to be buried properly not only to fail miserably but also to lose his own son Haemon.

In short, “Antigone” is a representation of the ultimacy of Fate. The Gods are not to be defied and when they are, the consequences are predetermined and unfathomable. The fall of the characters are partly brought by their own attempts to resist Fate but in fact their fall had been determined even before the beginning of the play.

“Things and actions are what they are, and the consequences of them will be what they will be; why then should we desire to be deceived?” (Joseph Butler). In Sophocles’s tragedy, Antigone, the meaning and recognition of fate heavily weighs down Creon’s pride and Antigone’s love.

With a sense of lawful righteousness and tyranny, Creon believes burying Polynices is truly unlawful and seeks obedience in his resolution. “That’s my decision. For I’ll never act to respect an evil man with honours in preference to a man who’s acted well,” (237-239). His consistent stubbornness and character predetermines his fate in the tragedy, as he demands to arrest the individual who refused to follow the law of the land. Creon allows his pride to mark his decisions and influence his destiny, refusing to have mercy on his own nephew.

While Creon’s pride determines his fate, Antigone’s deep love and passion sets the pieces of her life together. She loves her brother Polynices infinitely and refuses to abide by the law, believing he deserves the proper burial despite his actions. “I’ll lie there with him, with a man I love, pure and innocent, for all my crime. My honours for the dead must last much longer than for those up here,” (90-93). At this point during the tragedy, Antigone recognizes that such a deed, in Creon’s eyes, will forever seal her fate. She would rather sacrifice her own life in order to show respect for her deceased brother. Love predetermines the alignment of her actions and the consequences that follow. Driven by the heart instead of the mind, Antigone openly accepts death and denies nothing.

The power of love sets a dark overtone on the city of Thebes, as every character, except for Creon, is deeply affected by Antigone’s decision to bury her disloyal brother. After hearing that Antigone had hanged herself, Haemon and Eurydice decide to take their own lives in the acceptance of fate and utter grief. In the end, Creon’s fate led him to walk in this world alone, knowing that he influenced the fate of his family members. “I don’t know where to look or find support. Everything I touch goes wrong, and on my head fate climbs up with its overwhelming load,” (1487-1490). Creon is the only one without love and left alone in his own misery when the tragedy comes to an end. His fate is marked by the wrongdoings and decisions of his family. It is not until the very end that he recognizes and accepts his own destiny with a wounded heart.

While love and pride influenced the lives of Creon and Antigone, the greatest power and benefactor was fate itself. As Sy Montgomery once stated, “fate is the promise that life is not a random string of tragedy and comedy without meaning. Fate proclaims that our lives are in fact so meaningful, so necessary, that our stories are written by the gods and goddesses, by the heavens themselves.”

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.

Fate is one of the main ideas that drive the Thebian plays by Sophocles, but fate is not the main theme. Fate is merely a device that moves the play forward – sort of a deus ex machinima device. In Antigone, it is clear that fate plays a role in the outcome of the play, but it serves as a platform to express the themes of religion(gods) and the role of catharsis in Greek society.

The most apparent role of fate is the ominous prediction that Creon will be left with nothing. Of course, fate prevails and his whole family, his son Haemon, his wife, and his other relatives, die. This was only due to Creon’s reluctance to listen to Teiresias. Fate only occurred due to his absurd actions that displeased the gods.

In Greek tragedies, the gods were the bringers of justice, and if you disobeyed the gods, you were cursed with a horrid fate. This wasn’t the case in Oedipus Rex where Oedipus was unlucky enough to be granted a cruel “fate” by the gods, however, the idea of a god’s wrath is more defined in Antigone. In the end, Creon suffered for his actions and Polynices was eventually buried. The fate that the gods bestow can never be avoided.  This idea of fate subtly, yet strongly introduces catharsis to the audience. Sophocles wanted people to experience pity for the main character, and fear of the gods/fate. This was the common goal of Greek tragedies, thus fate’s role in Antigone was important to the play-writer’s intent.