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Antigone As A Literary Genius Analysis

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Sophocles is truly a literary genius. Time and time again in his plays he is able to use the groundwork of a plot to convey true meaning in powerful messages and lessons. This ability to embed deeper meaning between the lines of a simple story is what turns his seemingly basic plays to a masterful works of craft, so profound that they’re still studied today. A prime example of this master at work is in his play, Antigone. This tragedy takes place in the aftermath of Oedipus’ disastrous rule in Thebes, and follows his successor Creon as he struggles to take over his new role as king. While the play follows a classic tragic structure full of pride and suffering, the true genius of it lies in the conflict between the tragic hero, Creon, and his niece Antigone.
The two disagree over the Machiavellian style of ruling Creon had adopted in the wake of Oedipus’ disgrace, with Antigone arguing that the intense laws he had put in place were not to be taken as seriously as those of the gods. Sophocles uses their dispute to make a point about justice and law. The message intended for the reader is that a conflict isn’t always dictated by right or wrong. Separate ideologies all have the potential to be correct, and just because they may disagree or lack similar qualities does not mean that one is more true than the other.

Critical to understanding this lesson-teaching conflict is a grasp of the characters it concerns: Antigone and Creon. Starting with the namesake of the play,

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