What happens when pride takes control of a human? In the plays Oedipus the King and Antigone, Sophocles paints a bleak picture of what is happening, where pride is depicted as both an obstruction to sight and an obstruction to hearing. According to Sophocles, the pride of Antigone, Creon, and Oedipus prevents them from seeing their own stubborn determination and prevents them from hearing the wise counsel of their advisors. The pride of these characters produces tragic consequences not only for the arrogant characters themselves, but also for those close to them. Sophocles uses the prideful determination of Antigone, Creon, and Oedipus to illustrate how ignoring wise counsel leads to fatal errors of judgment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayFirst, Antigone's pride takes the form of a stubborn desire to act of her own free will. In the first act of the play, Antigone, in her arrogant stubbornness to get what she wants, does not listen to her sister's advice. This sets off a chain of events that lead to his demise. Insightfully recognizing Antigone's fiery determination, her sister declares, "You have a hot mind for cold things" (Ant. 88) and warns her of the dangers of acting against their powerful uncle Creon, who has ordered that no one could bury Polyneices, Antigone's brother. . However, Antigone is determined to bury her brother, despite her sister's warnings about the risk of such rash actions. Antigone cannot leave the matter unresolved, because in her eyes she must protect Polyneices' honor and her own pride by burying her brother. Although Ismene speaks reasonably, Antigone's arrogant determination to bury Polyneices prevents her from hearing Ismene's wisdom. Therefore, she wrongly attributes Ismene's warning to mere creepy excuses. Ismene, seeing the futility of his advice, gives in, leaving Antigone with a warning: “Go, since you want to. But know this: you are truly becoming foolish” (Ant. 98-99). Through her stubborn determination to follow her own path, Antigone cannot see the folly of her actions or the consequences of her defiance of Creon. Although some may argue that Antigone was right to bury her brother, there is no doubt that Antigone would benefit from proceeding in a more honorable manner rather than openly disobeying Creon's decrees. It is conceivable that this is more about Antigone's stubborn and misplaced pride, as opposed to true honor, at work when she buries her brother a second time, even though she performed the burial rituals when she buried his brother the first time. As expected, Creon invokes deadly punishment against Antigone. If she had listened to Ismene's warnings against stupid actions instead of openly acting against Creon's decree, perhaps Antigone's story would not have had such a tragic end. If she had let Ismene's warnings pierce her stubborn pride, her errors in judgment could have been rectified by allowing Ismene to show her that it was not honor that was at work in her actions, but rather a proud and stubborn attitude. The one who invoked punishment against Antigone, he also ensured his own demise through his condescending attitude towards the lawyers. Unlike Antigone's pride, her pride takes the form of sexism, which allows her to view her son Haemon's advice as foolish love for a woman. As a testament to his own maturity and love for his father's well-being, Haemon reveals to Creon that he "watches the actions of all men where theytouch you” (Ant. 687-689). It is with this concern that he questions the way his father punished Antigone, as he discovers that “the whole city mourns for this unjustly condemned girl” (Ant. 693-694). Furthermore, he recommends that his father relax his firm stance against Antigone, because, as Haemon says, "a man, even if he is wise, must never be ashamed to learn more and must not be too rigid » (Ant. 710-711). Even the choirmaster notes the wisdom of Haemon's words, agreeing that Creon would be prudent to pay attention to his son (Ant. 724-725). Unfortunately, the full sensitivity of Haemon's words is lost on Creon, who cannot ignore his own prideful sexism. Rather than considering Haemon's words, which are undoubtedly rational for the choirmaster and even the city as a whole, he excuses Haemon's feelings as simply his feeling towards Antigone speaking. Antigone threatens Creon's masculine pride, and he obsesses over the fact that a woman had the audacity to disobey him. He vents this anger, which has misogynistic overtones, on Haemon, calling him “weaker than a woman” (Ant. 746) and “a slave of woman” (Ant. 756). Creon's chauvinistic pride manifests itself in the way he distributes punishments. He does not punish a male guard, who is part of a group incriminated for having twice failed to watch over the body of Polyneices. However, when a female dares to cross his path, he punishes her with the ultimate form of punishment: death. Although Antigone's crime was arguably more deliberate, the vast difference in Creon's administration of justice compared to those who betrayed him speaks to his sexist attitude. Creon's dismissal of Haemon's council ultimately leads to the deaths of Haemon and Creon's wife, Eurydice. If Creon had listened to Haemon's wise advice, he would not have experienced the tragedy of the death of his wife and son. For if Creon had overcome his misogynistic reasoning to ignore Haemon's words, he could avoid his errors of judgment by punishing Antigone. Similar to Antigone and Creon, Oedipus's single-minded determination to do as he pleases prevents him from heeding the warnings of his advisors. Oedipus' pride manifests itself in his conviction of being invincible in the face of the fate proposed to him by the gods. As Oedipus searches for Laius's murderer, he comes closer and closer to the tragic truth that he is, in fact, Laius's murderer. When he questions the wise Tiresias, the prophet astutely advises Oedipus not to seek the truth, because it would only bring him pain. He said, “Let me go home.” It will be easier for both of us to carry our various destinies to the end if you follow my advice” (OT. 320-322). However, Oedipus refuses to let him go, saying: "You would deprive us of your gift of prophecy?" (OT. 323). Furthermore, Tiresias is not the only one to warn Oedipus that he is heading down a dark and dangerous path. Oedipus' prideful tenacity is further revealed when Jocasta offers her advice, which Oedipus, unsurprisingly, disregards. Jocasta recognizes that this search will only lead to more suffering, and she implores Oedipus to “seek not this” (OT. 1060). Oedipus pushes her away, insisting that he must find the truth, despite the fact that she continues to ask him to end this search. Jocasta proclaims that “it is because I wish you well that I give you this advice – and it is the best advice” (OT. 1066). However, Oedipus becomes frustrated with Jocasta, claiming that her advice "vexes" him, and he continues in his quest for the truth (OT. 1067). Oedipus' prideful tenacity arises from the evidence that Oedipus believes, at least on a subconscious level, that he is.