«Oedipus Rex» is a tragedy built on the tragic contradiction between the moral wealth of the figure and the limited range of its possibilities—the inescapable fate of predetermination. Even before birth, Oedipus was prophesied a terrible lot—to kill his father and marry his own mother. Oedipus tries to counter the fulfillment of the commandment of destiny, but… turns out to be the involuntary killer of his father, Laius, and the husband of his mother, Jocasta. Learning the dreadful truth, Oedipus punishes himself for the wrongdoing and is found morally higher than the gods who condemned him to torment.
Antigone is the most significant of the female images in Sophocles’ troubles. The heroine of the play—Oedipus’s daughter—sacrifices her life for the sake of honor and love. Disobeying the order of the earthly ruler, she fulfilled the unwritten law of the gods above.