Gods and Humans Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gods and Humans - Assignment Example Part of the reason both Oedipus and Antigone are considered to be classic works is that they feature characters who are larger than life and whose deeds are truly remarkable. Even centuries and millennium later the human and divine figures featured in these stories astonish us with their extreme and powerful qualities. We can marvel at these classical figures but we can also examine the different ways they interact with one another and the sorts of relationships they have with one another, plus the different ways Sophocles portrays them. Surely this interplay is one of the reasons these figures continue to resonate in our modern days and continue to excite us so much. The conflict between the world and laws of humans and those of gods is one that is truly timeless.In both quoted passages, the laws of the gods and the laws of human beings are examined and discussed. There are two clearly different principles at play. In both works the human heroes are at odds with the political system which is trying to subjugate them. In both cases, the heroes stand up for what they believe. They are willing to obey a higher law, a higher order which is in conflict with the human law before them. They do not recognize the arbitrarily exercised power of the regent. They operate under a different, more powerful law which they think is more objective, or more fair. Oedipus serves Apollo. Although he is blind he is capable of seeing that real life, full of human laws, is corrupt and false. The higher world of gods and forms is truer and more just. His blindness is perhaps something of an asset as it separates him somewhat from the human world and allows him to imagine or perceive of a more just world where the law of gods such as Apollo dominate. In Antigone much the same idea is presented. Antigone also must deal with Creon and the law of the human system. â€Å"[M]y reverence only brands me for irreverence!† she exclaims, weeping at the injustice of it. She has obeyed the religious ritual of burying her dead brother at the expense of the human law forbidding her to do so. That is why she is being punished. For her, obeying the gods is more important than obeying the king. And that is why she is willing to endure her punishment even if it is unjust in the human world.