The play Antigone by Sophocles displays many qualities that make it a great tragedy. A tragedy is defined as a dramatic or literary work in which the principal character engages in a morally significant struggle ending in ruin or profound disappointment. In creating his tragedy Antigone, Sophocles uses many techniques to create the feelings of fear and pity in his readers. This in turn creates an excellent tragedy. In order for a play to be considered a tragedy it must achieve the purgation of fear and pity. In the play Antigone, Sophocles does a great job of bringing out these two emotions in a reader. At the beginning of the play there is a conversation between Antigone and her sister Ismene. During the conversation the reader learns the two girls lost their father in battle and both of their brothers at the hands of one another. Then the reader learns that one of the brothers, Polynices, has been left out to die without a proper burial. At this time the reader begins to feel pity for the two sisters. They have lost their father and their two brothers all at the same time. Later in the conversation the reader learns that Antigone has a plan to bury here brother Polynices and that she wants Ismene to help her. Ismene is scared to do this because the new king, Creon, has issued a decree that says that any person that attempts to bury the body will be sentenced to death. The fact that Antigone is going to attempt to bury the body creates fear in the reader. They are fearful as to what will happen to Antigone if she is caught. As the play moves on there is a building of this fear and pity that is felt for many of the characters that finally is resolved at the catastrophe. At that point the reader learns that Creon, the king, has lost his wife, his son, and his niece Antigone, all because he was too stubborn to give in as well as to afraid that if he did give in that he would be judged as an easy king. In a way this ending brings the two emotions together. The reader feels pity for Creon because of his great loss, but at the same time he feels a bit of fear because he wouldnt want this type of tragedy to ever occur in his life. During the play the reader learns that one of the many themes of this play is stubbornness sometimes blinds you to the effects of your actions. The fact that Antigone was stubborn and wanted to bury her brother no matter the cost teaches us this lesson. It can also be seen in Creons unwillingness to give in to Antigone no because he didnt want to be looked at in a certain way. Instead, he lost everything that he had and was left at the end of the play in great pain and alone. This theme has great relevance in the modern day. Many times you hear in the news of a particular reader or country that refuses to give in or give up their pursuit of something because they dont want the rest of the world to think that they were a weaker nation. It is a common theme in todays society. The play Antigone by Sophocles is a great play. In it Sophocles uses many features that would classify the play as a Greek tragedy. The reason why this tragedy sticks out is because Sophocles uses various techniques to get his readers to feel the emotions of fear and pity while reading. That is what makes it such a great Greek tragedy.
Antigone is a great Greek tragedy by Sophocles. The story is about a young woman who has buried her brother by breaking king’s decree, and now she is punished for obeying God’s law. There are many arguments about who is the tragic hero in Sophocles’ Antigone. Some believe that it is Creon because he also has the characteristics of a tragic hero. Others believe that it is Antigone because the play bears her name. Antigone is the perfect hero, to exemplify the meaning of a tragic hero. In order to determine whether Antigone is the tragic hero, one will have to answer the question, what is a tragic hero? According to Aristotle, “The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness, he/she is not perfect, the hero's downfall and it is partially his/her own fault, and the hero's misfortunate is not wholly deserved.” (Aristotle) Antigone is a tragic hero because she has a high social standing in Thebes, she neither good nor bad, and her suffering appears to be unjust and unfair to the audience.
In the beginning of the play Creon is portrayed as King and a leader unwilling to bend the rules in order to protect the city. The way Creon responds to Antigone, “While I’m alive, no woman is going to lord over me”, shows he is stubborn and also his pride. (593-594) While the play continues Creon’s pride grows, and he thinks he can never be wrong and punishes Antigone by locking her up in a cave. However, things turn a different way when the Prophet tells Creon that he must free Antigone or face the wrath of Gods. After hearing this Creon changes his mind, “I shackled her, I’ll set her free myself. I am afraid it’s best to keep the established laws…” (1236-1238) But, as Creon tries to set Antigone free, he is faced with suicides of Antigone and Haemon, and followed by the suicide of his wife, Eurydice. This moment in the play serves as the downfall of Creon. But unlike Antigone, Creon reaches anagnorisis, which is the moment in the play when the tragic character realizes his hubris has led to his downfall. “And the guilt is all mine- can never be fixed…god help me, I admit all!”(1441-1445) Ultimately, Creon is more of a proper tragic character than Antigone because of he has an epiphany, a moment when he realizes his hubris has caused conflicts and deaths in the
In the Antigone, unlike the Oedipus Tyrannus, paradoxically, the hero who is left in agony at the end of the play is not the title role. Instead King Creon, the newly appointed and tyrannical ruler, is left all alone in his empty palace with his wife's corpse in his hands, having just seen the suicide of his son. However, despite this pitiable fate for the character, his actions and behavior earlier in the play leave the final scene evoking more satisfaction than pity at his torment. The way the martyr Antigone went against the King and the city of Thebes was not entirely honorable or without ulterior motives of fulfilling pious concerns but it is difficult to lose sight of the fact that this passionate and pious young woman was condemned to living imprisonment.
A Greek drama is a serious of actions within a literary presentation in which the chief character has a disastrous fate. Many Greek dramas fall under theatrical category of a tragedy due to the tragic events and unhappy ending that cause the downfall of the main character. During the famous play “Antigone” the Greek author Sophocles incorporated several features of a tragedy. These features include a morally significant dilemma and the presence of a tragic hero. Grand debate over which character can hold the title of the tragic hero has discussed in the literally world for ages. A tragic hero can be defined as someone with a substantial personality flaw that causes them to endure great suffering with a reversal of character near the end. Antigone possesses certain traits that could potentially render her the tragic hero but Creon truly embodies all characteristics. Creon is the tragic hero in “Antigone” due to several qualities he displays throughout the play; he can’t accept a diminished view of himself, he endures great suffering and he is enlightened in the end.
This play is ultimately concerned with one person defying another person and paying the price. Antigone went against the law of the land, set by the newly crowned King Creon. Antigone was passionate about doing right by her brother and burying him according to her religious beliefs even though Creon deemed him a traitor and ordered him to be left for the animals to devour. Creon was passionate about being king and making his mark from his new throne. Although they differed in their views, the passion Creon and Antigone shared for those opinions was the same, they were equally passionate about their opposing views. Creon would have found it very difficult to see that he had anything in common with Antigone however as he appears to be in conflict with everyone, in his mind he has to stand alone in his views in order to set himself apart as king. Before he took to the throne Creon took advice from the prophet Tiresias who had so often had been his spiritual and moral compass, and yet in this matter concerning Antigone he will take advice from no one, not from the elders of Thebes, or even his own son Haemon.
Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, became a classic due to its timeless subject matter. In this play, the Greek dramatist reflected mainly on civil disobedience. Antigone believes in individual rights over state rights. Creon, however, strongly believes in putting state over religion. The play not only revolves on these two political and religious issues, but it also deals with the battle of the sexes.
One of the most famous tragic heroines from Greek times is Antigone from the play “Antigone”. This play was written by Sophocles, who was a famous Greek writer of his time. The play was written The setting for the play is a city-state known as Thebes. This city alone, had a lot of tragedy so was a good place for a Greek tragedy to take place. Although Sophocles and most of the greek writers were from Athens, the settings of the plays they wrote are most likely somewhere else. The play is about loyalty and love between family, and the moral conflict of law vs. religious fundamentalism. Sophocles was known for being in several cults and was a religious conservative. During his time, there were a group of men known as Sophists. They were men that valued rationality over what they thought as superstition. A lot of the plays in the times of the Greeks turned out to be tragic plays. In the Greek times a tragic heroine had the following characteristics: she must be of noble birth, she is genuinely virtuous, she has the desire to do good deeds, and unfortunately she dies at the end of the play.
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.
This play, Antigone, was titled after one of the play’s main characters; however, the title could have been “Creon”, due to Creon’s influence throughout the play. Creon was a major influence to the play’s plot as it involves Creon within a majority of the scenes, from beginning to end. Throughout the play Creon’s tragic countdown is expressed, beginning with him as king of Thebes to the death of his beloved family. Antigone is merely portrayed as a rebellious nephew, as she consistently defies Creon. Antigone is expressed within the play consistently; however, the play portrays decisions proclaimed by Creon, which displays Creon’s tragic flow. Being titled “Antigone”, does not accurately express the play’s content as Creon’s tragic fate is actually being described and represented.
The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.
In conclusion, the gods and the love of her family rule Antigone’s life. Creon’s life is ruled by what he thinks is good for his country and pride. Creon did not change his mind to free Antigone until a prophet told him he would suffer horribly for his actions. However, because Creon was so stubborn for so long and did not take heed to anyone’s advice sooner, he ultimately suffers in the end, as does everyone else in the play. This was all due to a man’s lack of good judgment, his selfish pride and his stubbornness.
Antigone’s fixation with death is clearly presented throughout the play. In Antigone, Sophocles describes as the reverse of a typical tragic heroine. This opposition to classically-feminine roles in tragedy especially presents itself most prominently in her morbid fascination with death. Through Antigone’s death-obsessed suffering, Sophocles explains that dwelling on the past is harmful to one’s growth into a well-functioning adult.
Shakespearian definition describes a tragedy as a series of work, with the downfall of an otherwise heroic figure. Many of the tragedies that we are familiar with, describes the evolution of a conflict between the protagonist of the play and a superior force such as fate or society. These characters usually reach a sorrowful or a disastrous conclusion. Written by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragedy based in the state of Thebes. The title character Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, the former king of Thebes. The play illustrates her fight to bury her brother polyneices against the edict of her uncle, Creon, the current king of Thebes. The story explains the struggle of a God fearing protagonist, at the hands of human law. Where her love for family was chosen over her civic duty and gender differences.
First session of the day was in the gym at the school and I was doing
Tragedy is a description of an event that evokes a sympathetic feeling of emotion by the audience. The events involve people emotionally who were not involved in the situation physically. In the story of Antigone, Sophecles forces the audience to take pity on the poor girl’s situation. This story impacts the audience in such a way that the audience becomes emotionally enthralled in the plot of the story. All of Steiner’s, “Principle constants of conflict in the condition of man,” (360) were present in the tragic tale of Antigone. The conflicts confirm a tragic sense about the story. In a tragedy drama is experienced and the characters typically suffer extremely. Consequently, this can happen because of a tragic mistake.