Antigone's Character

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Recommended: Tragedy in Antigone

Steeped in family drama, death, politics, and religion, Sophocles’ Antigone is a complex tragedy to say the least. The basic plot of the tragedy is the conflict between Antigone’s family principles and religious tradition and Creon’s embodiment of state and its authority (Scodel). It is on of three tragedies written by Sophocles that chronicle the life of Oedipus. It was written before Oedipus the King, but is a culmination of the events that occurred after Oedipus’ death (Norton 610). Antigone’s brothers, Eteocles and Polynices had battled over the throne of Thebes, resulting in the death of both (Lawall). To show his disdain for the treasonous acts of Polynices, Creon passes a decree against his burial:
…a proclamation has forbidden the city to dignify him with burial, mourn him at all.
No, he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs to tear, an obscenity for the citizens to behold! (227-231)
He wants to make an example of Polynices, not only to show the fate of traitors but also to show his power. The central conflict of the play is based on Creon’s refusal to bury Polynices and Antigone’s refusal to follow his orders (Scodel). He goes against tradition with this decision, he is driven by the power of his position and does not want to appear weak to the people. This cruel judgment against burial rights for Polynices and the blatant disrespect for tradition tends to gain sympathy for Antigone, girl who has been through so much in her young life already. The resulting events of Creon’s judgment and the Antigone’s actions that follow become the source of one of literatures most well known Greek tragedies, Sophocles’ Antigone.
There are many stories throughout time that have sad endings, but few compare...

... middle of paper ...

...: Penguin Classics, 1984. Print.
Lawall, Sarah, gen.ed. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1.
New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.
Robert, William. "Antigone's Nature." Hypatia 25.2 (2010): 412-436. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Schwartz, Cynthia. “Antigone: Just Interpretation.” Ancient Paths. META. An
Interdisciplinary Journal. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Scodel, Ruth. “The Causes of Ruin: Antigone.” Sophocles. Boston: Twayne Publishers,
1984. 43-57. Twayne’s World Author Series 731. Twayne’s Authors on GVRL. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Sophocles. Antigone. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Ed.
Sarah Lawall. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. 653-688.
"tragedy, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2014. Web. 26 April 2014.

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