What happens when pride takes control of a human being? In the plays Oedipus Rex and Antigone, Sophocles paints a sad picture of what happens, where pride is depicted as both an obstacle to sight and an obstacle to hearing. According to Sophocles, the pride of Antigone, Creon, and Oedipus prevents them from seeing their own stubborn determination and deafens them from listening to the wise advice of their advisors. The pride of these characters produces tragic consequences not only for the arrogant characters themselves, but also for those closest to them. Sophocles uses the proud determination of Antigone, Creon, and Oedipus to illustrate how ignoring wise counsel leads to fatal errors in judgment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, Antigone's pride takes the form of a stubborn desire to act of her own free will. In the opening act of the play, Antigone, in her arrogant persistence in wanting to get what she wants, does not listen to her sister's advice. This starts a chain of events that lead to his death. 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 commanded that none may bury Polyneices, Antigone's brother. . However, Antigone is determined to bury her brother, despite her sister's warnings about the risk of such reckless actions. Antigone cannot let the matter rest, because in her eyes she must protect Polyneices' honor and her own pride by burying her brother. Although Ismene speaks sense, Antigone's arrogant determination to bury Polynices makes her deaf from hearing Ismene's wisdom. He then mistakenly attributes Ismene's warning to mere fearful apologies. Ismene, seeing the futility of her advice, relents, leaving Antigone with a warning: “go, since you want it. But know this: you become truly senseless" (Ant. 98-99). Through her stubborn determination to have her way, Antigone fails to see the folly of her actions and the consequences for defying Creon. While some might argue that Antigone was right to bury her brother, there is no doubt that Antigone would benefit from proceeding more honorably rather than outright disobeying Creon's decrees. Presumably, it was more about Antigone's stubborn and misplaced pride, as opposed to true honor, in action when she buries her brother a second time, even though she fulfilled the burial rituals when she buried her brother the first time. As expected, Creon calls for a fatal punishment on Antigone. If she had listened to Ismene's warnings against acting senselessly instead of openly acting against Creon's decree, perhaps Antigone's story would not have such a tragic end. If she had allowed Ismene's warnings to pierce her stubborn pride, her errors in judgment could have been corrected by allowing Ismene to show her that it was not honor that was operating in her actions, but rather a proud and stubborn attitude. Furthermore, although Creon was the one to invoke punishment on Antigone, he also ensured death in his condescending attitude towards the lawyer. Unlike Antigone's pride, his pride takes the form of sexism, which allows him to dismiss his son Haemon's advice as mad love for a woman. As evidence of his own maturity and love for his father's well-being, Haemon reveals to Creon that he has supervised "the actions of all men, wherever it concerns you" (Ant.687-689). Out of this concern he questions his father's punishment of Antigone, as he discovers that "the whole city grieves for this girl, unjustly condemned" (Ant. 693-694). He also recommends his father to relax his firm stance towards Antigone, since, as Haemon states, "a man, even if wise, should never be ashamed to know more, and must not be too rigid" (Ant. 710-711). Even the Chorus leader notes the wisdom of Haemon's words, agreeing that Creon would have been prudent in listening to his son (Ant. 724-725). Unfortunately, Creon loses all sensitivity to Haemon's words, who is unable to look beyond his own proud sexism. Rather than considering Haemon's words, which are undoubtedly rational to the chorus leader and also to the city as a whole, he justifies Haemon's feelings as simply his feelings towards Antigone speaking. Antigone threatens Creon's male pride, and he is fixated on whether a woman had the audacity to disobey him. He pours out this anger, which has misogynistic overtones, on Haemon, calling him “weaker than a woman” (Ant. 746) and “a woman's slave” (Ant. 756). Creon's chauvinistic pride manifests itself in the way he doles out punishment. He does not punish a male guard, who is part of a group indicted for failing to double-guard Polynices' body. However, when a woman dares to cross his path, he penalizes her with the ultimate form of punishment: death. Although Antigone's crime is probably more deliberate, the vast difference in Creon's administration of justice towards those who have failed him indicates his sexist attitude. Creon's rejection of Haemon's advice 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 both his wife and son. Because if Creon had looked past his misogynistic reasoning for ignoring Haemon's words, he could have avoided his errors in judgment in punishing Antigone. Similar to Antigone and Creon, Oedipus's single-minded determination to act as he pleases prevents him from heeding the warnings of his advisors. Oedipus' pride manifests itself in his belief that he is invincible against the fate set before him by the gods. As Oedipus tries to find Laius' killer, he gets closer and closer to the tragic truth that he is, in fact, Laius' killer. Questioning the wise Tiresias, the prophet cunningly advises Oedipus not to seek the truth, because it will only bring pain. He says, “Let me go home. It will be easier for both of us to complete our different destinies if you follow my advice” (OT. 320-322). However, Oedipus refuses to let him go, saying "would you deprive us of this your gift of prophecy?" (OT.323). Furthermore, Tiresias is not the only one to warn Oedipus that he is going down a dark and dangerous path. Oedipus' proud tenacity is revealed even more when Jocasta offers her advice, which Oedipus, of course, does not heed. Jocasta recognizes that this quest will only lead to further suffering, and pleads with Oedipus “not to cast him out” (OT. 1060). Oedipus rejects her, insisting that he must find the truth, even though she continues to ask him to end this search. Jocasta proclaims that “it is because I love you that I give you this advice – and it is the best advice” (OT. 1066). However, Oedipus becomes frustrated with Jocasta, saying that her advice “annoys” him, and continues in his search for the truth (OT. 1067). Oedipus' proud persistence comes from the evidence that Oedipus believes, at least on a subconscious level, that he is greater than the gods..