Sophocles used his plays to encourage Athenians to take responsibility for their actions. In the 5th century BC, Greece was experiencing an era of military exploration, political unrest, and social revolution, including the emancipation of women. Sophocles included all of these elements in his plays, especially in Oedipus Rex and Antigone. Despite his bourgeois upbringing, Sophocles became a sort of "man of the people" who was very interested in social issues. For this reason, Sophocles created heroes different from those of previous mythology and used their flaws to emphasize the importance of personal responsibility. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Oedipus' pride is the prime example of the flawed hero. He refuses to recognize the signs of the prophecy that foretold him that he would kill his father and marry his mother; at the same time, he is eager to discover the truth. As he is presented with more and more evidence for the prophecy, he tries to find a way around it and calls another witness. Referring to a slave he wants to question, he says to Jocasta: “Perhaps there are things, my wife, which are better left unsaid, which I have said, and which make me long for him here” (Sophocles 43). Through this dialogue, we can tell that Oedipus is suppressing the awareness that the prophecy is slowly revealing itself and proving true. His lack of pride not only suppresses his acceptance of the truth, but also leads him to fulfill the prophecy. He unknowingly kills Laius, his father, for insulting him while making the passage to Thebes. Only a proud man would kill for a simple insult. Eventually he begins to realize that the man he killed might be his father: “'Laius was killed - I thought I understood the words - where do three highways meet?' «That's what they said. The story goes like this." «The place?» Where did the accident happen?'” (Sophocles 41). When he finally discovers the truth, he knows that he will have to face the sad consequences. Chorus is used extensively both as a voice of reason and to convey emotion to the audience , the chorus doubts Oedipus and notes his pride. “But what if a brazen man displayed, in word or deed, impiety and shameless contempt for principalities and canons? pay him the wages of pride for his haughty greed, his sacrilege and his folly. What shield can there be for such a man against all the arrows of heaven? antistrophe illustrates the chorus's distrust in Oedipus towards the end of the story and foreshadows his eventual downfall. The climax and falling action are probably the best examples of Oedipus taking responsibility for his actions once that Oedipus learns that his wife has hanged herself, he understands what must be done. Oedipus then performs the perfect act of symbolic punishment. Blinding himself with her pins, he cries: “'Evil, evil eyes, you will not see me nor my crime, you will not see my present shame. Become dark forever, blind to what you should never have seen, and blind to the love this heart cried out to see” (Sophocles 70). In doing so he takes ultimate responsibility for his actions and fulfills Tiresias' prophecy that he would enter the city seeing and come out blind (Sophocles 16). The opera Antigone deals with many of the same themes, but there is a striking difference between this opera and Oedipus Rex. Antigone, who we already know is unfortunate due to her father's sin, is virtuous and does not have her father's proud nature or other major flaws to speak of. There.