This eschews any type of actual governing ability and focuses on the fact that he accomplished a great deed for the city (Kousoulis 155). For example, in Oedipus Rex, we see Oedipus solving the riddle of the Sphinx and then being subsequently given the leadership of a city (Mahony 290).
The second theme of leadership in the case of the Greek stories is based on leadership being attained through great deeds. This shows the concept of absolute authority in action wherein the leader’s status grants them the capacity to issue orders which normally sound criminal yet are followed anyway. In Antigone, we see Creon imprisoning Antigone in a tomb for burying a body. In the story, we see Oedipus threaten a Shepard to get information and inform that if he is not given what he wants, there will be torture and execution (Diski 49).
The first theme in the Greek stories is the absolute nature of the authority of leaders and how they are apparently not subject to the same restraints as their followers. In fact, her treatment at the hands of Creon and Haemon shows that she is considered as an item to be owned and disposed of rather than an actual person who has rights. The opinions of Antigone when it came to the burial of Polynices were surreptitiously ignored due to the fact that she was a woman. On the other end of the spectrum, the issue of Antigone can also be traced to the problem of inequality in Greek society at the time. The same can be seen in the case of Antigone, wherein the female protagonist (i.e., Antigone) places religious belief over the laws established by the state. The mere fact that he was willing to believe in something that “might” come true on the basis that an oracle stated shows that the problem is a mistaken belief in a cultural tradition that is far from what can be stated as being logical.
For instance, in the case of Oedipus Rex, the origin behind the tragedy can be traced to the belief of King Laius in the words of an oracle. Inequality and adherence to outdated cultural traditions are two of the main sources behind the tragedies that were seen in the case of Oedipus Rex and Antigone.
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