FATE? OR FREE WILL?
It is close to, if not entirely impossible for a man, or woman, to have complete and utter control over the way their entire life is going to unfold. Factors like one’s own free will, along with every other being’s free will have the ability to change the outcome of one’s life. If this is true, then wouldn’t that be the perfect introduction of destiny to the world? The idea of free will butting against predetermined destiny plays an imperative role in the classic Greek tragedy, Antigone, which was written by Sophocles around 441 BC. Antigone, the titular character, and her family of royalty appears to be foreordained before the play even begins. It is introduced by the Chorus, a group of characters used as a method for which the play itself to speak to the audience and give context, both the ideas that Antigone is doomed both by her own predetermined circumstance, and also by her own foolish decisions. The play leans more towards the idea of fate being the main controlling factor, rather than the free will of the characters.
Before writing Antigone, Sophocles also wrote the tale of Oedipus Rex, which details the unfortunate prophecy of the former king of Thebes. When Oedipus was born, an oracle warned his parents, Laius and Jocasta, who were then the king and queen, that he would grow up to kill them, so they pin his ankles together and leave him in the wilderness for dead, where he is taken in by a shepherd, and later presented to the king of a neighboring city. In short, he grows up and travels to Thebes, and, unaware of the prophecy himself, kills Laius, and goes on to marry Jocasta. The two have four children together, two boys, Eteocles and Polynices, and two girls, Antigone and Ismene. When Oedipus, and Jocasta, finds out who he truly is, they both kill themselves, leaving the throne to be rotated between their two sons. When Eteocles refuses to give the throne up to his brother, Polynices goes to a neighboring city and utilizes their army to attack Thebes. This feud causes the two brothers to die at the hands of each other, and for their uncle, Jocasta’s brother, Creon, to take over as king. Just by looking at the context established before the play, Antigone, begins, there is a common thread of fate being the predominant force in the story.
Looking into Antigone only furthers this point. Sophocles writes, as the Chorus, “No generation frees another, some god strikes them down; there is no deliverance" (lines 647-48). This directly references the prophecy of doom for the whole family. No matter how they hope for events in their lives to go their way, it never does, and ends in their own demise. When being sentenced to death, Antigone makes it apparent that she is aware of this by stating “[T]he fate of all our race, the famous Labdacids; the doomed self-destruction of my mother’s bed when she slept with her own son, my father” (lines 908-911). The idea of this fate lays like a fog over the entire play, as each of the characters actions perform a role in the path of others, and the entire situation escalates and ends only in more death.
In a bit of a reach, the tragedy of Antigone’s character, and the role fate and prophecy played for her, can be related to the story of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. While the two are not exactly alike, they share the common thread of their lives being predetermined. Anakin was born as the chosen one, and had been conceived through the Force alone. When he was a child, the Jedi discovered him, and they took him in because he had incredible potential to become the greatest Jedi. Over the course of the three, arguably mediocre, films, he is shown to grow up and become amazingly powerful, and to fall in love with the queen, Padme. After the murder of his mother, he becomes paranoid of losing Padme, and ends up turning to the Dark Side in order to, as he believes, keep her safe from harm. His love for his family drove him to madness and villainy, and it was all premeditated. None of his actions were able to save himself or those he loved from their ultimate demise. (Demise of Anakin of course meaning his transition into Darth Vader.) Antigone’s whole life was set on its permanent course by the gods, as Anakin’s was by the prophecy.
Before writing Antigone, Sophocles also wrote the tale of Oedipus Rex, which details the unfortunate prophecy of the former king of Thebes. When Oedipus was born, an oracle warned his parents, Laius and Jocasta, who were then the king and queen, that he would grow up to kill them, so they pin his ankles together and leave him in the wilderness for dead, where he is taken in by a shepherd, and later presented to the king of a neighboring city. In short, he grows up and travels to Thebes, and, unaware of the prophecy himself, kills Laius, and goes on to marry Jocasta. The two have four children together, two boys, Eteocles and Polynices, and two girls, Antigone and Ismene. When Oedipus, and Jocasta, finds out who he truly is, they both kill themselves, leaving the throne to be rotated between their two sons. When Eteocles refuses to give the throne up to his brother, Polynices goes to a neighboring city and utilizes their army to attack Thebes. This feud causes the two brothers to die at the hands of each other, and for their uncle, Jocasta’s brother, Creon, to take over as king. Just by looking at the context established before the play, Antigone, begins, there is a common thread of fate being the predominant force in the story.
Looking into Antigone only furthers this point. Sophocles writes, as the Chorus, “No generation frees another, some god strikes them down; there is no deliverance" (lines 647-48). This directly references the prophecy of doom for the whole family. No matter how they hope for events in their lives to go their way, it never does, and ends in their own demise. When being sentenced to death, Antigone makes it apparent that she is aware of this by stating “[T]he fate of all our race, the famous Labdacids; the doomed self-destruction of my mother’s bed when she slept with her own son, my father” (lines 908-911). The idea of this fate lays like a fog over the entire play, as each of the characters actions perform a role in the path of others, and the entire situation escalates and ends only in more death.
In a bit of a reach, the tragedy of Antigone’s character, and the role fate and prophecy played for her, can be related to the story of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. While the two are not exactly alike, they share the common thread of their lives being predetermined. Anakin was born as the chosen one, and had been conceived through the Force alone. When he was a child, the Jedi discovered him, and they took him in because he had incredible potential to become the greatest Jedi. Over the course of the three, arguably mediocre, films, he is shown to grow up and become amazingly powerful, and to fall in love with the queen, Padme. After the murder of his mother, he becomes paranoid of losing Padme, and ends up turning to the Dark Side in order to, as he believes, keep her safe from harm. His love for his family drove him to madness and villainy, and it was all premeditated. None of his actions were able to save himself or those he loved from their ultimate demise. (Demise of Anakin of course meaning his transition into Darth Vader.) Antigone’s whole life was set on its permanent course by the gods, as Anakin’s was by the prophecy.
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