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Summary of antigone by sophocles
Characterization of sophocles` antigone
Character of creon in antigone
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“Antigone” is a play in which Sophocles, the author, explains the story of a prosperous character with a fatal flaw. Creon, the main character, saves the city of Thebes and is admired by many, but his obstinacy gets the best of him and his life starts to collapse. His actions leads to the suicide of Antigone, the protagonist, this sets off a chain reaction and his entire family ends up dead. A part of that death was Creon’s son, Haemon, whose death strikes Creon intensely. Haemon exposes Creon’s inner self, Haemon’s interaction with Creon highlights Creon’s authoritarian side, his stubbornness, and his sexist side. To start off, Creon’s autocratic side is clearly shown when he gets mad at his son for questioning him. Initially, Creon seems to love his son “Indeed, my son, that’s how your heart should always be resolved, to stand behind your father’s judgment on every issue”(Lines 745-746). Afterwards, Haemon starts opposes his father's ideas and subsequently his father is enraged “You’re the worst there is—you set your judgment up against your father.”(Lines 825-828). It is evident that Creon’s character is flawed, his strict unquestionable rule would only later lead to his demise. …show more content…
Haemon is dedicated to saving Antigone, his fiance, so he argues with his father so that he would release her, but Creon refuses to listen to Haemon and says, “You’ll never marry her while she’s alive” (Line, 878). Creon, even after Haemon leaves tells himself, “Let him dream up or carry out great deeds beyond the power of man, he’ll not save these girls— their fate is sealed.” (Lines 879-881). He has already decided on the fate of Antigone, and he speaks as though nothing could change his mind. As the play progresses we see that his intolerance to change leds to the death of his entire
Within lines 813-814, Creon says, “So, men our age, we’re to be lectured, are we?- schooled by a boy your age,” to his son. Before this Creon’s son said that he should take some good advice, temporarily angering his father, Creon. Creon does not hold back the words to his own son. He lets lose and shows no fear to his own son who is attempting to give words of wisdom. Haemon...
The play of Antigone by Sophocles depicts how both tragedy of the hero’s. How Antigone by respecting her brother and buried him with honours and not letting him not be disrespected in death. By not following Creon rules and laws he seals her up in the cave with enough food to survive long enough to die by her own hands. At the she downs commit suicide Haemon being informed about her death
Sophocles remains an amazing wordsmith that mastered an art that was almost lost to time. In his work “Antigone” from around 441BC, Sophocles develops themes of strife between family members, going against the gods and how one’s actions can carry on throughout the entire family. Two wonderfully complex characters he uses to develop these themes using literary strategies is the king of Thebes: Creon and his son, Haemon. The actions of these characters advance the plot in ways that can only be described as vital.
A psychoanalytic thought process has enlightened us on the mental processes that lead to their tragic decisions. The essays referenced also use this lens to differentiate between the reality and subconscious, and the inner tension between the novels three main characters. Creon, the king, struggles with fulfilling his role as king, while still appeasing the Gods. He confuses power with his patriarchal dominance over Antigone, hence allowing his stubborn nature to be revealed. Antigone on the other hand, moves passed gender boundaries during this time period, and has an inner conflict between her morality and civil law. Her response to Creon shows how strong of a female heroine she truly is. Finally, Haemon struggles with his position as a son, lover, and fellow citizen in the novel. He is overwhelmed by his father’s power of him, and in response, does not live up to the expectations of a stereotypical son in ancient Greece. In reference to these sources, we truly see how Sophocles developed his play Antigone to be the masterpiece it is. Being able to link it with his previous plays also helps us understand his underlying themes about the societal roles his main characters play. Antigone and its attached pieces are great plays to understand some of the internal struggles that man struggles
Creon's tragic flaw is his pride. Throughout the play, he repeatedly chooses to ignore others suggestions to let Antigone bury Polyneices. When Haimon comes to him to ask him not to kill Antigone, Creon asks him if he considers “it right for a man of my years and experience / To go to school to a boy?” (97-98). Creon’s pride is shown here because he thinks that he shouldn’t listen to Haimon because of his youth and his contradicting view point. Creon’s pride is his flaw because it makes him believe that he is the only one who is right, and therefore cannot see the flaws in his thoughts or listen to others who tell him he is wrong. It lead to him to be stubborn and unmovable in his opinion, until the point where it was too late for him to fix what he had caused.
Throughout the majority of the play, Creon proved to be a misogynistic, stubborn, and an arrogant character. “Let’s lose to a man at least! Is a women stronger than we?” (III,51-52). In this quote Creon shows his ignorance and misogynistic ways in a conversation with Haemon regarding Antigone and her impending death. Despite disagreements from several characters including Haemon on Antigone and her decision to bury Polyneices, Creon still sticks to his opinion.
Haemon informs Creon of disagreement in the city because he has “reasoned badly” (Sophocles). Creon is no authority to assume what “people say or do, or what they feel” (Sophocles), much less to take control over a life. Creon believes himself to be of ultimate power and his commands must be obeyed “in all things, great and small, just and unjust” (Sophocles 36-37). This is Creon’s major flaw, he is deaf to other voices besides his own. Creon’s stubbornness to continue disobeying the laws of the gods in fear of “[laying his] pride bare to the blows of ruin” (Sophocles 1191-1193) exposes how self-important he finds himself.
After Creon locks Antigone away, It is Antigone's suicide that makes her future husband, Haemon, commit suicide. This, in turn, is the cause behind the Creon’s wife death.
Antigone, an Ancient Greek play by Sophocles, is mainly about how excessive pride can lead to serious events. Creon, the king of Thebes, who is full of hubris, declares that Polyneices will lay unburied to become animal’s carrion. Polyneices’ sister, Antigone, wants to bury his body in defiance of Creon's rules. Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone because his actions make his power descend throughout the play. At the beginning of the play, everyone sees Creon as a significant leader. He has good reasons for his laws and punishments. However, by the end of the play Creon’s hubris has taken over him, which leads to his demise.
Being an individual of many thoughts, emotions, and entitled opinions, we come across many people in our lives who we come into possible conflict with over disparities. Just as relating to the famous play Antigone by Sophocles, it makes a clear distinction between the characters Antigone and Creon in many forceful ways that it is intended. Audience can grasp the overall comparison between the two characters. In addition, Antigone’s character proves that she holds a very broad personality that carries along throughout the play.
Sophocles’s acclaimed play, Antigone, is at its heart the tale of the events that ensue when an upstander dares to confront the conformity of society and the law itself. Antigone, a woman with a familial curse raised in a misogynistic culture, discovers her life purpose in the aftermath of the tragic double suicide of her two brothers. When Creon, her newly-appointed King and additionally her uncle, passes a decree that only one brother may be honored with traditional customs, Antigone feels it is her sisterly obligation to avenge his death. By putting her morals at a greater importance than the law, she creates a divisive conflict that centers around each character’s personal insecurities and beliefs. Haemon’s advice is offered as a wise proverb
Along with disliking others and their actions or opinions he also dislikes their feelings as well, in particular his son’s feelings. Haemon, Creon’s son is engaged to Antigone and can not wait to marry her, until he hears the news of her being put to a slow hard death, by herself, in a cave blocked off by rocks. Haemon tries and tries to make his father change his mind about killing Antigone, and letting him marry his love, but he can not change his father’s cold and evil
Antigone is an ancient Greek tragedy written by the playwright Sophocles. It is the 2nd play in the Theban trilogy documenting the legend of Oedipus and his family lineage. After the downfall of Oedipus, his sons waged a war between each other and killed each other in battle. Polynices solicited the help of a rival town’s army, so Creon, Oedipus’ brother in law and new ruler of Thebes, ruled that his burial is illegal. Antigone defies this order, citing divine law as justification. This disagreement creates the main conflict throughout the story. An integral part of Greek tragedies is the tragic hero. Developed from Aristotle’s writings, the tragic hero has impacted theater for centuries. Both Creon and Antigone could qualify as a tragic hero because both of their downfalls are a result of free will due to their tragic flaws, they are both born of noble status, and the tragedy of both helps to produce a catharsis and social revelation in the audience.
As they argue he exclaims, “How contemptible, to give way to a woman!” (729). To which his son replies, “At least I do not give way to temptation” (730). This succession of quotes, summarizes Creon’s current position. He is losing his temper, frustrated with the push-back that has come from his recent decisions, and as a ruler, he believes that what he says should in turn be followed and listened to.
Greek tragedian, Sophocles once wrote in the play, Antigone, “all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” The play Antigone is a Greek tragedy written in 442 B.C. about the tragic hero, King Creon; he is a man who commits an ‘act of injustice’ against his niece, Antigone. Directly disobeying Creon’s decree, Antigone buries her deceased brother, Polyneices; when Creon finds out, he forgets all reason and sentences her to death. Hence, Sophocles uses Creon, the power-hungry tragic hero and betrayed father, and his foil Haemon, the strong-willed son, to develop the theme that the power of reason is stronger than the desire for control.