In both plays the sentiments of pity were much more prevalent than feelings of fear. In Oedipus Rex, it was not only the reader that felt pity for Oedipus but even the chorus and other characters in the play. Shortly before he left Thebes, the Chorus addressed Oedipus and admitted, “godforsaken, cursed by the gods! I pity you but I can’t bear to look” (1438-1439, 239). It is not only what he has done to himself (the blinding) but what he’s done/ been victim to that has caused widespread pity. In Antigone, pity could be easily felt for more than one character (Creon, Antigone and Haemon). While it is not unique to Antigone for so many characters to die in such a short time, it is the emotional toll each character felt that causes this widespread feeling of pity. The ending choral piece encompasses a shared sense of pity as it reads, “the mighty words of the proud are paid in full of might blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom” (1437-1440, 128). It is this sentence that summarizes not only message of the play, but the pitied advice the reader wishes they could give to the
In both plays the sentiments of pity were much more prevalent than feelings of fear. In Oedipus Rex, it was not only the reader that felt pity for Oedipus but even the chorus and other characters in the play. Shortly before he left Thebes, the Chorus addressed Oedipus and admitted, “godforsaken, cursed by the gods! I pity you but I can’t bear to look” (1438-1439, 239). It is not only what he has done to himself (the blinding) but what he’s done/ been victim to that has caused widespread pity. In Antigone, pity could be easily felt for more than one character (Creon, Antigone and Haemon). While it is not unique to Antigone for so many characters to die in such a short time, it is the emotional toll each character felt that causes this widespread feeling of pity. The ending choral piece encompasses a shared sense of pity as it reads, “the mighty words of the proud are paid in full of might blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom” (1437-1440, 128). It is this sentence that summarizes not only message of the play, but the pitied advice the reader wishes they could give to the