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...
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In the play, Sophocles examines the nature of Antigone and Creon who have two different views about life, and use those views against one another. Antigone who is depicted as the hero represents the value of family. According to Richard Braun, translator of Sophocles Antigone, Antigone’s public heroism is domestically motivated: “never does [Antigone] give a political explanation of her deed; on the contrary, from the start [Antigone] assumes it is her hereditary duty to bury Polynices, and it is from inherited courage that [Antigone] expects to gain the strength required for the task” (8). Essentially, it is Antigone’s strong perception of family values that drive the instinct to disobey Creon’s orders and to willingly challenge the King’s authority to dictate her role in society.
In Antigone, translated by Elizabeth Wyckoff, the struggle between Creon and Antigone’s wills lead to their eventual downfalls. Croen believes that his decision to not have a proper burial for Polyneices is defended by the Gods, among other things. However, Antigone believes that her decision to bury Polyneices is also justified. A compromise is unable to be reached because of their inelastic viewpoints, not necessarily the views themselves. These extreme views are shaped by Antigone and Creon’s personalities, families, and social statuses. The rigidity of their viewpoints leads us to wonder about the principles that these characters hold, and why they hold them.
In the play Antigone Sophocles presents the tragic consequence of a bloated ego. The play is set in Thebes, Greece before the Common Era. King Oedipus renounces his throne after discovering that he has unknowingly married his mother and inadvertently killed his father leaving the thrown to his wife’s brother, Creon (725). Oedipus’s two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, die in war. The newly crowned King Creon, buries Eteocles with full honors for his support of Thebes and refuses the burial of Polyneices as punishment for fighting against Thebes. The play’s name sake and daughter of Oedipus, Antigone, is forced to go against the command of her uncle to bury her brother and is sentenced to imprisonment until death for defying his command. Haimon, Creon’s son, hears of his future bride’s sentence and attempts to reason with his father. However, blinded by rage and ego Creon will not listen to reason.
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.
His pride and anger becomes an obstacle and he is unable to see things for what they truly are. In an excerpt from the play Creon says, “You say – why it is intolerable – say the gods could have the slightest concern for that corpse… The hero who came to burn their temples ringed with pillars… Exactly when did you last see the gods celebrating traitors (Sophocles 319-327)?” As the uncle of Polynices, Creon is ashamed and hurt that his own nephew dared to raise an army against his own birthplace. This betrayal devastates Creon, which leads to the reader’s revelation of his many flaws and his growing disgust toward others. Joseph Tomain explores whether positive law, embodied by Creon’s policies, is subject to be overridden by some form of higher law, or the God’s will that Antigone tries to obey. In this, he states that there is not a clear answer to which one supersedes the other (Tomain). However it is clear that in the midst of Creon’s hatred, he establishes a law that goes against the will of the gods and leads to the demise of the virtuous Antigone which causes the downfall of other
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...
Possibly the most prominent theme in Sophocles' "Antigone" is the concept of divine law vs. human law. In the story the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices have slain each other in battle. The new King Creon, who assumed the throne after Eteocles' death, decrees that because Polyneices committed treason against the king, he shall not be buried, but instead "He shall be left unburied for all to watch
In the awe-inspiring play of Antigone, Sophocles introduces two remarkable characters, Antigone and Creon. A conflict between these two obstinate characters leads to fatal consequences for themselves and their kindred. The firm stances of Creon and Antigone stem from two great imperatives: his loyalty to the state and her dedication to her family, her religion but most of all her conscience. The identity of the tragic hero of this play is still heavily debated. This tragedy could have been prevented if it had not been for Creon's pitiful mistakes.
The failures of Creon leadership represent the limitations of autocratic government and thereby serve to promote democracy. At the play’s opening, Creon is portrayed sympathetically. He presents his decree preventing the burial of Polynices as just retribution for his crimes against Thebes and as an effective way to prevent pollution (Sophocles 62). He feels further vindicated because the chorus, consisting of elder representatives of the populace, supports the decree. Even Antigone’s impassioned defence, which invokes the “unwritten and unfailing” (73) laws of the gods, appears to have no impact on the chorus, who states that “she does not know how to bend amidst her troubles” (74). This perception of Creon begins to shift upon Antigone’s death sentence. Although the punishment seems as cruel and excessive, Creon firmly believes it to be a necessary deed. He is “eager to display his full control of a crisis barely averted...
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.
The plot revolves around a story of Antigone’s struggle to give Polynices, her brother, his final rights by giving him a proper burial, despite the fact that Creon has forbid for anyone to do so as Polynices was a traitor to Thebes and its people. One major struggle throughout the play is the apparent conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon and Antigone have temperaments that clash with each other. Antigone values passion while Creon values the state. Although they have very different values, Antigone and Creon have very similar personalities. They are both stubborn, independent people who are so similar that they can never see eye to eye on issues. Both Antigone and Creon are filled with pride and passion in their beliefs. These traits can be considered both very advantageous and moral as well as being a negative trait that represents the stubbornness in human beings. Antigone and Creon are incredibly proud, making it impossible for either one to concede defeat once they have taken a stand for what they believe in. As stated by Tiresias “stubbornness brand...
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
The Tragic Play Antigone by Sophocles has a Conflict between religious morals and loyalty to the state and its laws. This struggle is displayed through the characters Antigone and Creon. Antigone’s life meets a tragic end in the play, but her death makes her a martyr leading to the citizens to follow her view of religion.
The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.
Sophocles formulates a believable plot through Antigone’s social conflict. The conflict in Antigone centers in Antigone needing to bury her brother because of her belief that natural law is higher than the governing law, and does not want to have the god’s fury pointed at her. It also revolves around the fact, that family is significantly greater to Antigone than that of the justice system. Polyneices, her brother, was a traitor and died going to war with his own blood brother. Creon, her uncle and king, has made a decree stating: “I here proclaim to the city that this man shall no one honor with a grave and none shall mourn. You shall leave him without burial...” (222). Opposing the king, she neglects the decree. Since she broke the king’s decree, she is sentenced to die for being disobedient; moreover, Antigone proudly states her crime. There is no sign of remorse shown by Creon as he states, “No, though she were my sister’s child, or closer in blood than all that my hearth god acknowledges as mine. Neither she, nor her sister, should escape the utmost sentence-death” (530-33). Bobrick explains that Creon values the love for his land more than he values family, and this becomes a struggle for Antigone as it becomes a fight between obeying the laws of man, and the laws of the god’s. The second struggle that Antigone faces, comes when she realizes she is alone.