Take these things to heart, my son, I warn you. All men make mistakes, it’s only human. but once the evil has been committed, a man. can turn his back on madness, on misfortune too, if he tries to be forgiven, however minimal it may be, Antigone explores several themes. These themes include pride, emotion versus reason, destiny versus self-determination, and the corrupting nature of power. This lesson contains references to. Set in the ancient Greek city of Thebes, Sophocles' play tells the story of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, who defies the law of the king of Thebes, Creon, to bury her brother Polyneices, killed in fight against his own city. The tragedy, written by Sophocles in the 18th century BCE, explores the tension between the two.