Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus. Antigone lives in a village named Thebes. The play Antigone displays Sophocles dramatic skills. Sophocles is a famous Greek writer who defines the golden age of classical Greek drama in the fifth century B.C. In the prologue of Antigone, Antigone pleads with her sister for her life. Antigone asks for Ismene’s help to bury their brother Polyneices (“Antigone”).
After Oedipus dies Polyneices and Eteocles is supposed to share the throne. Eteocles never let Polyneices on the throne. So therefore, Eteocles gets mad and attacks Thebes (Sophocles). In the after math of all of the chaos, both brothers end up dying. Antigone’s uncle, Creon, announces that Polyneices not to be allowed proper burial services. Not caring what her uncle says, Antigone proceeds to bury her brother (“Antigone”).
Antigone asks her sister Ismene for help with the burial of her brother. Ismene then refuses to support her sister with her action and talks to Antigone about such reckless act of disobedience. With Ismene’s conversation, Antigone argues that the exposure of Polyneices’s corpse is not only a ludicrous affront to society, but a sin in the eyes of the gods. Therefore, she continues to bury her dead brother in open defiance of Creon’s orders. This is showing an act she views as her absolute moral right.
Upon Creon’s learning of Antigone’s attempt of burying Polyneices, he states that his sanction of punishment be put into effect. Tiresias, the blind prophet, warns Creon of the path he is taking. He continues to confront his niece. Both Antigone and Creon are adamant. Instead of Creon sentencing her to death right away, Creon decides to apprehend Antigone for a time. Antigone is then shackled up and thrown in a cave ...
... middle of paper ...
...desaver.com/antigone/study-guide/section6/>.
"Antigone." Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 80. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Jan. 2012.
.
Bain, David M. "Sophocles: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature. Ed. Lesley Henderson. 2nd ed. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
Cropp, Martin. "Antigone's final speech (Sophocles, 'Antigone' 891-928)." Greece & Rome 44.2 (1997): 137+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
Lines, Patricia. "Antigone's Flaw." www.nhinet.org. National Humanities Institute, 29 July 2010. Web. 14 Mar 2012. .
Sophocles . "Antigone." eNotes. eNotes.com, 2012. Web. 17 Jan 2012. .
Like her parents, Antigone defies a powerful authority. Unlike her parents though, that authority is not of the gods, but rather of a person who thinks he is a god: Creon, Antigone's uncle, great-uncle, and king. He proclaims that the body of Polyneices, Antigone's brother who fought against Thebes in war, would be left to rot unburied on the field, “He must be left unwept, unsepulchered, a vulture's prize....” (ANTIGONE, Antigone, 192). Antigone, enraged by the injustice done to her family, defies Creon's direct order and buries her brother.
In the play Antigone, created by Sophocles Antigone is a foil to Creon because their personalities contrast. This makes Creon a Tragic Hero because he thinks that he is a god but in reality he is a mortal upsetting the god's and he will eventually meet his demise. At the start of the play the reader is introduced to a character named Creon, who is the king of Thebes, the previous king, Eteocles, was killed by his brother Polyneices. There is a law arranged by Creon, so nobody could bury the body of Polyneices but Antigone, the sister of both Eteocles and Polyneices, wants to bury her brother and is willing to risk her life to bury him. She eventually gets caught and is sentenced to death by Creon.
Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Prentice Hall Literature, Platinum. Eds. Eileen Thompson, et al. Englewood Cliffs: Simon and Schuster, 1991.
In the play, Antigone, two brothers are killed in battle. One of them, Polyneices, is considered to be a rebel by the new ruler of Thebes, Creon. The corrupt and prideful king, Creon, created an edict that states that nobody could bury Polynices’s body because he was a traitor to Thebes and his family and denies the sanctification and burial of Polyneices's body because of his rebellion and intends to leave him to become the meal of wild animals. Polyneices's sister, Antigone, defies Creon by giving her brother a proper burial, no matter the consequences. Both King and Antigone sought to do what they thought was the right thing to do, even if it was against the law. Though King and Antigone are two completely different people from two completely different times, they were actually quite similar in that they both were minorities at a disadvantage, and lacking power and credibility among those in control. King and Antigone both fought for injustice and what they believed in, however, not necessarily in the same
Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, who was a major figure of ancient Greek myth.
At the start of Antigone, the new king Creon has declared the law that while Antigone’s brother Eteocles will be buried with honor for his defense of Thebes, however the other brother, Polynices will be left to rot in the field of battle for helping lead the siege of the city. Antigone discusses with her sister Ismene that she shall go and pay respects to her now dead brother, and give him the burial that she feels that he deserves. Her sister tries to persuade her otherwise, but Antigone claims she is going to follow her determined fate, not the law of ...
Antigone holds her love of family, and respect to the dead, elevated beyond the laws of Creon, whom she believes, has no righteous justification to close his eyes to the honor of the deceased. In her determination to fulfill Polynices' rights, she runs directly into Creon's attempts to re-establish order. This leads to encounters of severe conflict between the dissimilarities of the two, creating a situation whereby both Creon and Antigone expose their stubbornness and self will.
Antigone and her family have suffered many things. It all began with her father, Oedipus. Oedipus has a very confused life. He ends up killing his father, the king of Thebes, while he believes his father is someone else. He ends up as the king of Thebes and married to his mother, Jocasta.
Thebes was invaded by Oedipus’ son, Polynices, and his followers. As Oedipus predicted in the previous play, Polynices and his brother, Eteocles, killed each other during battle. Creon, the king of Thebes, ruled that Eteocles should have a proper burial with honors and Polynices, the invader, be left unburied to rot.
Segal, Charles Paul. "Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone." In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Brad Moore, a famous athlete once said, “Pride would be a lot easier to swallow if it didn’t taste so bad.” In Sophocles’ well known Greek tragedy, Antigone, the main character undergoes immense character development. Antigone transforms from being stubborn and underestimated to courageous and open-minded. In reality, it is Antigone’s insular persistence that leads to her ultimate decline in the play as well as others around her. After the death of her two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, Creon becomes the new ruler of Thebes. With this, he grants Eteocles an honorable funeral service for his brave fighting. Claiming that Polynices was a traitor, he shows complete refusal to grant Polynices a respectable and worthy service. Clearly disagreeing with Creon’s inexcusable demands, Antigone declares she will bury Polynices herself so that his soul can be at peace. Entirely aware of the consequences and dangers of this action, which include death, she goes forward vowing her love for her family. Antigone shows strength and determination towards her brother. However, her growing sense of pride leads to her downfall as she sacrifices everything for her family. Antigone develops into an admirable character in which she portrays her defiance and courage, pride and open mindedness, and sense of moral righteousness to show vital character growth as the play progresses.
In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters' attitudes change from close-minded to open-minded. It is their close-minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who later becomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive a funeral with military honors because he fought for his country. However, Polyneices, who broke his exile to " spill the blood of his father and sell his own people into slavery", will have no burial. Antigone disagrees with Creon's unjust actions and says, " Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way." She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of the underworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brother and her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Her intent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that she will follow "the laws of the gods." Antigone knows that she is in danger of being killed for her actions and she says, "I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creon's law placed against Polyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason with Antigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refuses to listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions and the consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime is just, yet she does regret being forced to commit it.
Segal, Charles Paul. "Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone." In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Antigone believes that Polyneices deserves a proper burial, rather than to be left unburied as an example for others to not betray the city of Thebes. Polyneices was Antigone’s brother, and she felt that as a result of divine law, he should have a burial in order for his soul to leave the Earth. As the king, Creon had decreed it against the law for anyone to bury Polyneices as a result of his deep treason against Thebes. For punishment, anyone who were to bury Polyneices would be killed. In respect to her brother, Antigone deeply