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Antigone ismene character analysis
Character of Antigone
Character of Antigone
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In the play Antigone, there are no characters that are completely admirable, however, all things considered, I believe that Antigone’s actions are more admirable than those of Kreon’s. Even though Kreon tried to make amends for his mistakes at the end of the play, it was ultimately too late for him to undo what he had done. I empathize more with Antigone because her moral beliefs followed the law ordained by the gods, the divine law, and she was willing to die to prevent her brother from eternal damnation.
When Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, fought for the throne of Thebes, both were killed in battle. Kreon rose to power and took Eteocles’ side- giving him the burial of a hero, while leaving Polynices body to rot on the battlefield.
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She is fearless and takes full responsibility for her actions by stating that “I didn't say yes. I can say no to anything I say vile, and I don't have to count the cost. But because you said yes, all that you can do, for all your crown and your trappings, and your guards—all that your can do is to have me killed.”(Lines 45-50) Antigone is honest, and when Ismene states that “I did the deed, if she agrees I did. I am accessory and share the blame” (Page 19 lines 5-7). Antigone refuses to let her sister her share the blame when she responds by saying, “Justice will not allow this. You did not wish for a part, nor did I give you one” (Page 19 lines 10-12). Antigone’s lack of remorse in what she had done, may be a factor in the harshness of her punishment from Kreon. Had Antigone shown remorse, she may have received a second chance at life. Antigone failed to realize that if she died, and Ismene did not bury Polynices, her brother’s soul would never have been at peace. In addition, it is likely that Kreon would not have allowed her body to be buried either, resulting in her soul also being tormented. However, Antigone was much too stubborn to apologize to Kreon for her actions. She proudly accepted her fate and handled her death very bravely. She did not allow Kreon to have the satisfaction of her being buried alive in a cave, and wanted to have a …show more content…
Kreon was a man who surrendered himself entirely to the throne. He is a banal man who focuses on only political and social order. When Kreon finds out about how Antigone has tried to buried Polynieces, he feels as though he has no choice other than to sentence Antigone to death. “My mind is spilt at this awful sight. I know her. I cannot deny Antigone is here. Alas, the unhappy girl, her unhappy father’s child. Oh what is the meaning of this? It cannot be you that they bring for breaking the royal law, caught in open shame.” (Page 13 lines 10-19) It is extremely apparent that the decision to sentence Antigone to death has no benefit to Kreon. He relied on Antigone to marry his son, Haemon, in order to prove that he was a legitimate heir to the throne after Oedipus’s sons passed away. However, Kreon is so adamant about following the laws and his reputation as a leader, that even after Haemon begged Kreon to spare Antigone’s life, he still refused. Kreon is so blind with stubbornness that he does not think about the result it will create. Kreon could have avoided the deaths of Antigone, Haemon and Eurydice, if he had simply listened to his son’s pleas. It was not until the blind prophet, Tiresias, told Kreon that the gods were angry with him that he had a change in heart and decided to drop the charges against Antigone. However, at this point it was too late. After the death of his wife and son
On the surface, Antigone is the classic tragic hero, it is she that Sophocles wants us to be drawn to. It is Creon against who he stacks the cards. A writer's value judgement, nothing more. So then, once more assuming Antigone is a male instead, are her or his actions noble or foolhardy, and irresponsible. While on the surface it appears noble to risk death for a principle, is it really ? Aren't relationships more important than principles ? Much is made of Creon sentencing his own son's fiance to death, did she not by her foolhardy, kneejerk reaction sentence herself. Where is her consideration for her husband to be ? And her sister, who has lost so much, and now clings to her so desparately, is rebuffed and dismissed as not worthy of the glorious Antigone.
King, being calm and using negotiation and logic, and Antigone being demanding and defiant. Antigone has some flaws about her, but she also has some good traits about her. One is being willing to do anything for her family. She represents a strong woman in a male dominant society as King represented a determined man in a society full of racists. She was willing to risk her life to give her brother a proper burial because that is what she believed in. In the same, King was willing to go to jail to stand up for what he believed in. However, if Antigone had followed King's steps of civil disobedience, there might not have been so much
This made her sound increasingly emotional and sarcastic in the way she spoke to him, which made him less inclined to show mercy. Antigone, a defiant young woman, buried her brother with the sole purpose of doing what was just and moral. However, her decision caused an upheaval of problems as Kreon condemned her to death, and her sister Ismene was suffering now because she was going to lose yet another sibling. Antigone knew death was going to be an end result as she stated that, “You be as you think best, but I shall bury him. To me it’s fine to die performing such a deed.” (Sophocles lines 70-71). Kreon was so furious at the fact that Antigone committed such an act, and that she had no regret for what she did by the attitude and arrogance Antigone portrayed. In contrast to Antigone’s emotional and defiant attitude, Dr. King was more calm and collected in the way he presented his ideas. The way a leader speaks is very crucial to the way people will come to perceive an individual. Dr. King addressed every problem raised in a calm manner with reasoning behind his claims. By speaking in a fluent and non-aggressive manner people come to understand what you are saying, and there is a better chance of compromise. Antigone bitterly argues with Kreon about her sentence and what she did, instead of trying to peacefully try to make him understand what her
Following the unlawful burial of Polynices, Antigone openly admits to Creon the knowledge of the following punishment by carrying out such a defying act. "I knew it naturally, It was plain enough." Antigone pg.138. With the intention of gratifying the laws of the gods, Antigone holds neither guilt nor regret as she feels that she has brought justice to the eternal rest of her brother.
Antigone was plainly not capable of standing by and watching her brother be condemned even after death. Why should one of brothers receive a proper funeral while the other receives humility? They were both fighting against each other for a common goal. Both wanted to take the throne and become the king of Thebes. There was no difference between the two brothers' ideas. The only thing that set them apart from each other, in Creon's view, was that Polynices was outside of the Theben gates when he was killed, whereas Eteocles was on the inside. How is it just if two brothers are fighting each other for the same reason but one receives an honorable funeral while the other is left to be eaten by vultures? Antigone had many reasons for taking the action that she did.
One could surely consider Antigone as a highly noble character as she is unwilling to compromise on her own ideals. On line 523 Antigone states, "My nature joins in friendship, not in enmity." Antigone's statement means more when considering the Greek idea of friendship as s fact of life between kin irregardless of personal sentiment. Antigone's quote highlights that she is willing to follow the rules set forth by the Gods even if she may have disagreed with Polynices' actions against Thebes. Antigone's unwillingness to compromise her beliefs toward what the gods require of her can again be seen in her statements in line 453-455 where she states, "nor did I think your proclamations had such strength that, mortal as you are, you could outrun those laws that
A socially uncomfortable topic brought up in the play due to Kreon’s decree of sentencing Antigone to death and forbidding the burial of Polyneices is the confounding concept of whether the polis should follow and accept Kreon’s edict and follow man’s law, or whether they should attest to the Gods law. It isn’t only Kreon who feels the pressure and indecisiveness of which path to choose, whether to remain respected or retract his decree in hopes of preventing a tragedy. The Polis, as Teiresias states is afraid that the Gods will punish all for Kreon’s ignorant decree. “And it’s from your bad thinking that the city is so sick. […] And this is why the gods accept our sacrificial prayers no more […]” (Blondell 62, 1015-1020).
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.
In the play Antigone, Creon, king of Thebes faces a harsh conflict with himself, involving the values of family and religion verse the civic responsibility he must maintain for the city of Thebes that comes with being the new king. In theory no decision Creon makes is going to be the rite one. Although both Antigone and Creon have justified reasons for believing in there own laws only one can be upheld by the play and how Sophocles interoperates the play himself. Creon must decide whether to punish Antigone, a princess, daughter of king Oedipus, or fail at enforcing his own law and look weak in front of the citizens of Thebes as their new leader. The law stated that anybody who touched the corpse of Polyneices, a prince, and son of Oedipus would be stoned in the town square.
If he lacked these flaws, Kreon would have been able to understand the pattern of advice he was given and understood that his actions were not the wises and needed to be changed. Due to these flaws, he lacks to ability to see anyone else’s view and refuses to take any advice that contradicts with his own view. These flaws result in his demise since he lacks the ability to overturn his actions until it is too late for him. As a result, he must live with being the cause of his family’s death. This is another element of the play that makes him a tragic character. At the end of the play, Kreon exclaims, “I killed you, my son, without intending to, you too, my wife – ah, wretch that I am!” (1340-1341). This ending reveals that for the rest of his life he must live knowing that he ultimately caused the suicide of everyone he loved. While Antigone was able to die knowing she fought her brother, Kreon must live knowing he did not fight for his family and lost them because of that. That is a far crueler reality and punishment to a tragic character than a noble death. Kreon was a new king trying to help his people transition well after a civil war and a change of
Kreon believes that Antigone’s crime is severe, and righteousness should be used to justify her crime. At this point of the play, Antigone realizes she will be put to death, but she does not regret her act of loyalty. In Antigone’s last speech before she takes her own life, she exclaims, “Land of Thebes, city of my fathers… see what I suffer at my mother’s brother’s hand for an act of loyalty and devotion” (Sophocles 57). Here, Antigone addresses the nation’s leaders and declares that they should notice th... ... middle of paper ... ...
Antigone did the right thing by defileing Creon's strict orders on burying Polynices because the unalterable laws of the gods and our morals are higher than the blasphemous laws of man. Creon gave strict orders not to bury Polynices because he lead a rebellion, which turned to rout, in Thebes against Creon, their omnipotent king. Antigone could not bare to watch her brother become consumed by vultures' talons and dogs. Creon finds out that somebody buried Polynices' body and sent people out to get the person who preformed the burial. Antigone is guilty and although she is to be wed to Creon's son, Haemon. He sentences her to be put in a cave with food and water and let the gods decide what to do with her. He was warned by a blind profit not to do this, but he chooses to anyway, leaving him with a dead son, a dead wife, and self-imposed exile.
In the play, Antigone, Antigone’s brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, killed each other over the throne of Thebes. Eteocles took the rightful throne to King after his father ran away in shame because he killed his own father and married his mother. As soon as Eteocles took the throne, he banished his brother, Polynices, so that he did not have to share the throne. Polynices went to create an army with the Argos Kings and mad Thebans. During the battle, Polynices and Eteocles fight to death and both of them die. Polynices is to rot to death and be eaten by the wild dogs and animals, while Eteocles gets the proper burial for he was the rightful king. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s...
In Antigone, her brother Polynices, turned against his own city by attacking his own brother just so he could become king. On this day, both brothers died. One, Eteocles, was given funeral honors, but the other, Polynices, was not. This decision was made by Creon, Antigone’s uncle and the current King of Thebes. Creon said “He is to have no grave, no burial, no mourning from anyone; it is forbidden.'; (Pg. 432; l. 165) He also announced that anyone who should attempt to bury him would be put to death. After hearing this decision, Antigone said that Creon couldn’t do that and that the Gods would want Polynices to have a proper burial, therefore Antigone promised to her sister Ismene that she would be the one to defy Creon and bury her brother; and she didn’t care if the whole city knew of her plans. After being caught in the act, she was taken to the palace and when asked by Creon why she did it. Knowing the punishment that would come from it, she replied by saying that she didn’t think Creon had the power to overrule the u...
Kreon settled a decree that prohibited anyone from burying Polyneices' dead body. He was proud of his decree, and he also stated that he would be a good king by listening to what people said regarding his decisions. When the decree was broken by Antigone, Kreon sentenced her to death. This angered the gods because they wanted the dead body of Polyneices buried, and they did not want a live body (that of Antigone) buried in a cave. Kreon was told by Haimon to change his mind, but Kreon rejected his request and went ahead and buried Antigone alive. Teiresias warned Kreon that the gods were angry and his actions were to be blamed. Kreon rejected both Haimon's request and Teiresias' warning, and as a result, he suffered in the end. In the beginning of the play, Antigone and Ismene were found arguing about whether Polyneices' body should be buried. Antigone wanted to bury her brother's body, but Ismene objected because she said that they should not disobey Kreon, who had absolute power and had prohibited Polyneices' burial (26-80). Ismene indicated that the citizens of Thebes did not dare to go against what Kreon decreed. They all knew that if they objected to Kreon, punishment would be the result. In the play, Kreon was first found addressing the senate as to how a ruler should rule his state. He said in his long speech, "'I believe that he who rules in a state and fails to embrace the best men's counsels, but stays locked in silence and vague fear, is the worst man there. I have long believed so'" (217-221). To impress the senate Kreon told them that he would listen to any advice they gave him because that was what a good ruler should do.