M.R. de Groof
English Literature
31/10/2014

Jean AN IEP Gr. 12 #17
The purpose of creating literature, whether it is a novel, a biography or a play, has always been to send a message to the readers. Authors from all around the world and throughout history have always tried to express their personal opinions by hiding them in their works. Sophocles, one of the three greatest ancient Greek tragedians to ever live, is naturally one of these mind-changing authors. In his play Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles wrote about his personal view on life, saying that it is better to never live; meanwhile, in Antigone, he expresses his perspective on the correct way of living. These two ideas, though seemingly contradicting, are in fact strongly interrelated, and together tell us the true idea that Sophocles is trying to express.
In the Third Choral Ode of Oedipus at Colonus, the elders of Colonus discuss the negative side of life and the hopelessness of old age. In Antistrophe
I, it says that “[n]ot to be born has no compare,” meaning that it is better to never be born. This is a message from Sophocles telling us life isn’t all that good. Then, he goes on to say that if one is unfortunately born, “[t]hen hurry hence,” meaning that one should quickly die. Sophocles gives his reason stating that “[w]hen one has watched gay youth…vexations crowd without and
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Jean AN IEP Gr. 12 #17 worries crowd within.” The alliterations in the second half of Antistrophe I emphasizes of the hopelessness of the “[d]isaffected and deserted [old] age.”
All in all, Sophocles is telling us that life is miserable and it only get worse, so one should never try to live it.
However, in the First Choral Ode of Antigone, Sophocles gives us a different piece of information. As the citizens of Thebes discuss humankind,
Sophocles is covertly teaching us the proper way of living. After describing the three greatest basics of life—agriculture, hunt-gathering and law and medicine—humans have depended on, Sophocles tells us that there is a line that men should never cross. He believes that men should follow both state laws and divine laws in order to live a good life, as he claims in Antistrophe II that “[d]istinguished in his city when law-abiding, pious but when he promulgates unsavory ambition. Citiless and lost.” Sophocles tells us that if man do not abide to both of these laws, just like how Creon and Antigone both did not, he will eventually lead to his downfall.
Yet, isn’t it strange for Sophocles to tell us the key to living when he wants us not to? The key to the problem is to combine the two messages. Simply put,
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Jean AN IEP Gr. 12 #17 life is not fun, so don’t live, but if you do you must live well. By saying “hurry hence” Sophocles does not mean that all men should kill themselves in order to avoid the miseries of life: he is suggesting that those who cannot abide to both state law and divine law deserve to die, just like Creon and Antigone. In his perspective, following both laws is the basis of living, and only men who do so have the right to live on this planet, cultivate the land, conquer the sea and dominate the world. It is not only that men should not live or that men should live a certain way: the two pieces of words must be put together in order to be fully comprehended.
In conclusion, in his text, Sophocles is expressing his personal psychology of life. He wants the people of Athens to understand the correct way of living and the true reason of their downfall. Sophocles wishes that his words can truly affect the lives of all Athenians and that by making these changes, the gods would give these people a chance to start again and re-live their lives just like how they were supposed to in the very beginning. By writing these plays,
Sophocles is not only trying to entertain people, but also to spread his ideas and to firmly change to society of Athens.
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