Challenging authority is a main theme which emphasizes the justifications of many actions that are made in the plays "Oedipus the king" and "Antigone" and show how both make moral choices and suffer the consequences. Oedipus assumed that by moving away from his parents there would be a less of a chance of him killing his father and marrying his mother, as it turns out that it lead to a higher chance of doing so. .
"These laws-I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man's wounded pride, and face retribution of the gods. Die I must" (Antigone, page 82, lines 509-512).For Antigone her choice to bury her brother was with purposeful intentions as she was aware of the consequences in which results in her death .Her justification for her brothers burial is that only the laws that are set by god are followed, as the punishment she would receive did not matter to her for going against the laws of a man. "Do as you like, dishonor the laws the gods hold in honor" (Antigone page 63, lines 91&92;).as Creon is notified of Antigone actions he immediately commands for her to be locked away to die. Yet he doesn't notice that his continuous ignorance and that the amount of power he held meant nothing as then it becomes too late for him to recognize his wrongs before he is told that Antigone and his son lay dead. Likewise Oedipus could not fight his fate as he continued to make choices that did not work right for him .His ignorance of his actions did not require fate as it was proved that he could not go against and ignore his fate blinded as he used to. The justification to his many actions and decision firstly were to hide and ignore and finally to find out about his real identity."O god- all come true, all burst to light! O light -now let me loom my last on you! I stand revealed at last -cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands !( Oedipus the king, page 232,lines 1306-1310).
