The play Antigone, is only one of a series of plays that link up with the other ones in a kind of consecutive order. The last one of this play series is called Antigone. The story is set in Thebes during ancient Greece and has great ties into Greek Mythology. In the play, Antigone is the daughter or King Oedipus, who if remembered correctly was told that he would murder his father by a soothsayer which led him on a journey away from his family, but little did he know that he was adopted and would run right into the path of his father whom he was to murder. The deed being done he marries his mother and has wonderful children. One of these children is the aforementioned Antigone and her and her sister Ismene. They are the last two left carrying the burden of the family curse that has been passed down for a few generations. At the beginning of this story Antigone has been caught giving her brother Polynices a proper burial by sprinkling dirt on his body even though this has been strictly forbidden by the king of Thebes, Creon, has made known that if anybody goes against his orders, they shall die immediately. The interesting aspect about the story is the moral high ground that Antigone decides to take by making a …show more content…
The fact that Antigone is willing to stand up to the rulers knowing that the wages of her crime is death, speaks to the character and integrity of passion that she has for not only her family but the God’s laws as well. On the other hand Creon has his stance as well that Polynices must not be buried and should be eaten by birds and animals of the land due to his traitorous attack on thebes and eteocles. This is the position Creon takes against the city and his own son, Haemon, who states to him that “the people and all Thebes together, deny it.” () Speaking of course about the actions of Polynices and his role in the attack on
The opening events of the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, quickly establish the central conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices, who tried to burn down the temple of gods in Thebes, must not be given proper burial. Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insists on the sacredness of family and a symbolic burial for her brother. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon's point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices. He sees Polynices as an enemy to the state because he attacked his brother. Creon's first speech, which is dominated by words such as "authority” and "law”, shows the extent to which Creon fixates on government and law as the supreme authority. Between Antigone and Creon there can be no compromise—they both find absolute validity in the respective loyalties they uphold.
When Creon decided to forbid the burial of Polynices, as he believed Polynices was a traitor to Thebes, Antigone was outraged. This decision, viewed through the eyes of Creon, was just and fair; on the other hand, Antigone viewed his decision as cruel and selfish, which resulted into a major conflict between these two characters. When Antigone disobeyed his proclamation, Creon became infuriated towards this rebellious act. Those small events within the play expressed Creon as a ruler doing what he believes is right; on the other hand, Antigone’s rebellion expressed otherwise. Antigone was soon shown to cause an evil spark within Creon.
Antigone is a young woman whose moral background leads her to go against the wishes of the king to bury her brother, Polyneices. Sophocles uses Antigone as a character who undergoes an irreversible change in judgment and as a result, ends up dying. Antigone is hero, and she stands for honor, and divinity. Because Antigone's parents were Oedipus and Iacaste, she was born into a family of power; something that she could not change. At times, Sophocles leads the reader into thinking Antigone wishes she was not who she was. Ismene, Antigone's sister, refuses to help Antigone because (as she states) "I have no strength to break laws that wer...
The character Antigone has been in conflict against Creon ever since he became the king of Thebes. Antigone would never let Creon's law about burying the body of Polyneices override her moral beliefs and her beliefs in the gods. “Zeus did not announce those laws to me, And justice
Antigone is a powerful character, strong-willed, determined and at times self-righteous. She is contrasted by her sister Ismene, who is weak and powerless. Though Antigone is a powerful character, she has no real political power and is dominated by one man, Creon. Creon is both the ruler of the state as well as the patriarch of her family. Antigone was raised by Creon’s house after her own father went in to exile. Antigone is betrothed to Creon’s son, Haemon, further cementing Creon’s power over her. There is one aspect of life that Antigone does have legitimate power in and that is her family, especially her blood line. In ancient-Greek culture the women’s place was in the home, she was responsible for household things and often wasn’t even allowed to leave the house. It is because of this responsibility that Antigone needed to bury her brother Polynices even though it went against the decree of Creon. Antigone also had the gods on her side. It was an unwritten rule of ancient Greek society that the dead must be buried, otherwise bad things may happen. This rule, because it was unwritten and therefore innate, was protected by the gods, specifically Hades, the god of the underworld and family.
Antigone, as a character, is extremely strong-willed and loyal to her faith. Creon is similarly loyal, but rather to his homeland, the city of Thebes, instead of the gods. Both characters are dedicated to a fault, a certain stubbornness that effectively blinds them from the repercussions of their actions. Preceding the story, Antigone has been left to deal with the burden of her parents’ and both her brothers’ deaths. Merely a young child, intense grief is to be expected; however, Antigone’s emotional state is portrayed as frivolous when it leads her to directly disobey Creon’s orders. She buries her brother Polynices because of her obedience to family and to the gods, claiming to follow “the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (Sophocles 456-457). CONTINUE
To begin with, an in depth analysis and understanding of Creon's intents and actions must be established in order to evaluate the reactions of Antigone and Ismene. The central conflict of Antigone derives from Polyneices' betrayal to the city of Thebes. As the ruler, Creon naturally feels compelled to exert his authority by refusing Polyneices a proper burial "for the birds that see him, for their feast's delight" (162). The grotesque imagery evoked not only illustrates Creon's endeavor to discourage further rebellion, but also portrays a personal defense to protect his pride; this need to reassert his pride significantly heightens with Antigone's involvement. From Creon's perspective, leniency represents vulnerability within a leader "if he does not reach for the best counsel for [Thebes], but through some fear, keeps his tongue under lock and key"(167). Throughout the play, the symbol of "tongue" frequently recurs, illustrating how society cond...
Creon, in his paranoia was plagued with the feeling of incompetence and need to establish dominance. His decree that no one would bury Polyneices only provoked the people of Thebes into thinking of him as insensitive to their culture. When his ruling was disobeyed, only led him to him to believe that conspiracy was about and that no matter, family or not, he would punish Antigone, causing a chain reaction of events causing the loss of his entire family, except Ismene. Leaving the audience experiencing pity and fear for both characters.
Antigone, a story written by Sophocles, is about a young woman, Antigone, choosing whether she will not bury her brother, Polyneices, to not break the law or disobey Creon’s law and bury him; however choosing to bury her brother does not derail her moral development.
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.
One theme of the story is the focus on sibling rivalry. The competition between brothers is what starts the sibling rivalry. Clearly the fight between brothers ending in both their deaths would be a clear example of sibling rivalry, but it is what happens after their deaths that shows a different kind or rivalry. At the beginning of the story, Antigone and Ismene are discussing the recent deaths of their brothers, and how their uncle Creon has created a law banning the burial of Polynices. Antigone disagrees and wants to do something about it while Ismene believes they should stay out of it. Toward the end of their dispute, Antigone decides what she is going to do, “If you say this you will be hateful to me, and the dead will hate you always- justly. But let me and my foolish plans suffer this terrible thing, for I shall succumb to nothing so awful as a shameful
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.
In Antigone, Creon becomes king of Thebes after Polynices and Eteocles commit fratricide in battle. Antigone commits her ‘crime of reverence(74)' by burying Polynices after a direct order from Creon dictating that everyone leave him on the ground, unburied. Creon first accuses the council of elders of being stupid and old (281) when they suggest that the gods were behind Polynices' burial. After this, he goes on a tirade against men who supposedly were not happy with his leadership and therefore paid off the watchmen to bury the body. Creon blames the watchman of burying the body for money and the watchman tells him that, "It's terrible when false judgment guides the judge (323)."
Creon was warned about a plan to bury Polynices and later found the culprit, Antigone. He issued a death sentence for her defying action. Creon informed his son, Haemon, of his fiancee’s deceit. Haemon, however, defended his beloved fiancée. He told his father that the whole city was on her side, but everybody was afraid to speak out against him.
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 the 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 to die without a proper burial.