Creon, you must allow me to bury my brother, Polyneices. I am obligated to bury him as it is my responsibility as his sister. Additionally, refusing a person a proper burial is immoral and against the will of the gods and of your people. Polyneices should be given a proper funeral as familial and social obligations permit his burial and because it will win you the respects of the gods and your people. Because Polyneices is my brother, I feel emotionally obligated to bury him. We come from the same family, and therefore we have a blood connection that cannot be minimized. I must be a faithful sister and carry out my duty to bury him in the name of filial responsibility. I never would have defied you in an interest to bury a husband or children, as if they were taken from me, I could be given another husband or bear more children to another man. However, because both my parents have passed away, it is impossible for me to acquire another brother. Although he has made mistakes in the past, I still love him. The very least I could do for him as his sister is to bury him, as leaving him out in the open is one of the worst atrocities I could commit against him. …show more content…
Unburied people will be unable to find rest and will wander the earth forever, which is why it was so important that I must bury my brother. For Polyneices to rest properly, there needs to be a burial. The word of the gods emphasize the necessity of a proper burial and indicate the negligence of burial rites as an abuse to a man’s rights to an afterlife. Burials are a critical municipal and religious duty, not simply because it is a valued personal concern, but also because it is a social obligation. While a respectable king is expected to be able to make wise decisions independently, he cannot be considered a perceptive ruler if he does not follow the will of the
The grandeur with which Egyptians regarded their funerary customs does not come without explanation. They delighted in tying the occurrences of the natural world with supernatural dogma, and their burial practices exemplified this deluge of religion. A special deity was even attributed to cemeteries and embalmers: Anubis (Fiero, 46). Due to this deep sense of religion, a fixation with the afterlife developed within their culture. The Egyptian afterlife, however, is not synonymous of heave, but, rather, of The Field of Reeds, a continuation of one’s life in Egypt meant “to secure and perpetuate in the afterlife the ‘good life’ enjoyed on earth” (Mark 1; “Life in Ancient Egypt” 1). The pursuit of this sacred rest-place prompted the arousal of intricate Egyptian funeral rituals.
It is very common for us to ignore a problem or refute the idea of its existence. we certainly can’t solve a problem by pretending that it isn’t there. Once the problem has been acknowledged, we can proceed to explore what the causes are. Shortly after Creon placed himself at odds with the will of the Gods with his new law that forbade burial to Polyneices, he is presented with the issue that someone has disobeyed his law. Choragos, his advisor, in an attempt to make him reason that the Gods do not favor his new establishment of the law, suggests that it may have been the will of the Gods for Polyneices to have been buried by an unknown person. We notice how Creon reacts furiously and orders Choragos to stop. “Must your doddering wrecks. Go out of your head entirely! The Gods! Intolerable! The Gods favor this corpse? Why? How had he served them?” (Sophocles Scene I 236-240). Creon has twisted Choragos’s words by interpreting that the Gods may have favored Polyneices over his rule. He feels as if questioning his final word is a sign of anarchy. He is presented with the problem and yet refuses to acknowledge it. Creon has failed to realize that he has challenged the Gods and once again his pride made him lack perception and overcomes his wisdom.
In Antigone, King Creon gives an edict against burying Polynices since he was seen as a traitor. Despite death being the punishment for breaking this edict, Antigone goes ahead and buries Polynices. She feels that, as a citizen and his sister, it is her right and responsibility to do so. Creon was undermining the principles of democracy by taking away peoples’ freedoms based on his personal opinions. In a society that was greatly renowne...
Antigone thought Polynices should have the respectful burial that he deserves because that it something one needs to be with the gods. She is very strong on her belief of this because Polynices is family to her and family is family no matter what. Family is something she valued along with the wishes of the gods. Antigone is so passionate about Polynices’ burial she goes to Ismene, her sister, for help with the burial of Polynices and their conversation states:
In the play Antigone, the conflicting characters were Antigone and Creon. The focus of the conflict is Antigone. On Creon's side, he should be obey the law and let Polynices's body "laid in the earth", But for the affection of his brother, from the religious obligations and law of God, she has the responsibility to bury her brother's body, or at least mourn him. Creon is not necessarily wrong with his decision; he is simply intoxicated with his new authority.
What Antigone did goes against Creon and this is where his difficult decision comes in. “Creon represents the regal point of view, while Antigone is just the opposite. The primary conflict arises when Creon declares that no one be allowed to bury the body of Polynices, one of Antigone's brothers who was slain in battle. Antigone, who cares for her brother very much, wants to see him properly laid to rest, so that his spirit can find peace. Unf...
Antigone is determined to bury her brother because of her loyalty to her family and to the gods. She believes that no mortal, such as Creon, has the right to keep her from her own. Even if Antigone must die during the burial, she will not disgrace the laws of the gods. She believes that she has to please the dead much longer than she has to please the living.
At the beginning of the play, Antigone is upset about a decree Creon, the king, made (190). The decree states that her brother, Polyneices, was not allowed to be buried, because Creon believes that Polyneices was a “traitor who made war on his country” (211). Antigone has a very strong love for her brother and the gods, therefore she believes Polyneices deserves a proper burial according to the laws of the gods (192). Antigone says to Ismene that she [Antigone] will go against Creon’s decree-which states that if anyone buries Polyneices they will be killed (190). Antigone is extremely angry with Creon for creating the decree, to the point where she decides to make a big deal about the burial, instead of lying low and doing it in secret (192). Antigone even tells Ismene to “Tell everyone!” that she [Antigone] buried Polyneices when everyone finds out, and not keep it a secret-although Ismene doesn’t listen (193). Antigone’s decision not to do the bur...
The crux of the play, the causal factor to all the following events is how the new King Creon deals with the dead traitor Polynices, brother of Antigone. The decree not to bury the corpse must be considered from the viewpoint of a 5th Century Athenian, watching this play. The Antigone was written during a time of great strife for the city of Athens and they were in the middle of their conflict with the Spartans. At a time such as this , concern for the city was foremost in a citizen's mind. Creon's decree not to bury him at this stage then is right. Essentially not burying a body, any body, is an offence to the gods, and the persons spirit will not be able to go down to the underworld and cross the River Styx and Archeron. However, the Greeks believed that for some the sentence was deserved. The sentence of non-burial is appropriate in this case, as the Greeks believed that "those convicted of sa...
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.
Antigone’s firm belief that her brother Polyneices should have a proper burial is established by her conviction in that the law of the gods is above all else. This law proclaims that all men be mourned and honored by family and friends through means of a suitable burial. Antigone’s need to put honor upon Polyneices’ soul is so grand that she ignores the advice of everyone around her, including her sister Ismene, who tries to pull her away from performing this criminal act because it will disobey the law set by King Creon, and lead to her demise. However, Antigone does not care about the repercussions because even though “[s...
In the play Creon goes against the Gods by making it illegal to bury Polyneices, Antigone’s brother because he is deemed a traitor. The burying of a dead body is seen as a necessity by all of Greece as it is an unspoken law of the Gods. Antigone goes to bury her brother so his afterlife will be better. She does it in spite of the law that Creon has made. “It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands” (192) She tries to explain to her sister, Ismene, that they must bury Polyneices, but even that close relationship has trouble because of the law. Ismene is unwilling to suffer the consequences of the law, to save her brother’s soul “Forgive me but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority” (192) Even the two sisters who have just lost both of their brothers have different views on the matter. One will not stray from the law and what is deemed right by their king, while the other will accept any punishment, even death just to do what she believes is right.
In times past, Polyneices and his brother Eteocles, both Antigone’s brothers, fought and killed each other in Thebes’ civil war. Against her uncle’s, the ruler of Thebes’, royal orders, and even against the gods, she declares that she will bury the brother that her uncle decrees an enemy to the state, Polyneices. In Antigone, the two main characters do not agree on the meaning of blood devotion, and the entire play is Antigone’s realization of what matters more - family or personal beliefs and pride. Antigone believes that there is no “greater glory [that she could win]/ than to give [her] own brother decent burial.” (Line 561-62), but Creon thinks that “[she] alone, of all the people in Thebes,/ see things that way” (568-69). In the historical context, it is expected of Antigone to bury her brother, an integral part of Greek society; not doing so is a terrifying prospect. Antigone is “not ashamed for a moment,… to honor [her] brother, [her] own flesh and blood,” (573), even if one brother fought as an enemy to the other and lost, an idea that is in conflict with her uncle’s ideals and honor. Yes, “Eteocles [may have] died fighting [on Thebes’] behalf,”, but “no matter - Death longs for the same rites for all” (583-84). To Creon, he is a statesman with a duty to family but even more so the city (so he claims, but he clearly questions the authority of his people with his question “And is Thebes about to tell me how to rule?” in line 821) - it would be an insult to Thebans to allow Polyneices to be buried - not only is Polyneices a traitor to the city, he killed his own brother for a cause Creon deems treacherous. She “was born to join in love, not hate -/ that is [her nature],” (590-591), and she is condemned to “serve the dead” in order to fight for her brother
... discusses the conflict between the will of the god’s versus the will of man, and what right Polynices even had to being buried. According to Greek culture, Creon had ever right to make a decree stating that Polynices need not be buried within city limits; however, he was going too far in his decree of no burial at all. The Irony is that in the end he ignores religion again, to have Polynices buried with the city limits, where the god’s would have wanted him outside of the city.
Even when Creon finds out that Antigone was the one to give Polynices a burial he was able to give in because he desires to be seen as a strong and powerful king to the people of Thebes. When Antigone brought up that the