A young girl named Paikea once said: “In the old days, the earth felt a great void. He was waiting. Waiting to be filled. Waiting for someone to love him. Waiting for a leader” (Whale Rider). As seen in the eyes of Paikea, from the movie Whale Rider, a leader is a guide, someone who leads his people in the right direction, someone who does everything he can do to improve his land. In the eyes of Antigone, from the play Antigone, Princess of Thebes, the leader's rules seem right only when he feels that they do not contradict the rules of the gods. As he states in this quote: “It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands: we die forever. . . .You can do whatever you want, for evidently the laws of the gods mean nothing to you” (Sophocles 58-60). In contrast, Paikea believes that she is different and that the rule of the gods is different for her. Although these characters show similarities by being figures of defiance, the Greek tradition that Antigone believes in, and the New Zealand tradition that Paikea follows, differ significantly in terms of beliefs. However, their culture's discrimination against women appears to be comparable. Although the views on tradition, gender, and challenge are similar for Paikea and Antigone, the differences between them are striking. Tradition is the transmission of statements, beliefs, legends, customs and information from generation to generation, especially through stories or practices. As culture and religion differ among people, their traditions also differ with them. In the movie Whale Rider, the New Zealand tradition is to worship whales. Paikea was the first son of Porourangi, son of their leader, Koro. It says, in their tradition, that the... center of the card... y, influences everything indirectly. I can never be what I should be. This is the interconnected structure of reality.”(Martin Luther King, Jr.)Works CitedFunke, Conelia. http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3897683-ttented. Goodreads. Goodreads Inc and Web. 11.Martin Luther King, Jr..BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2013. November 13, 2013. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth403521.html.Martin, Jose. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/556146-i-don-t-see-why-i-should-bow-my-head-when. Goodreads Inc and Web. November 11, 2013.Sophocles. “Antigone.” McDougal Small literature: American literature. Evanston: McDougal Little, 2008.Whale Rider. Dir. Niki Caro. Perf. Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis. South Pacific Pictures/ApolloMedia GmbH & Co. 5/Filmproduktion KG, 2002. DVD. Newmarket Movies, 2003.