In Sophocles “Antigone”, “Ode to man”. The ode has two parts, one is a list of wonders sailing, Agriculture and domestication of animals. “He has a way against everything, and he faces nothing that is to come without contrivance, only against death”. (An.358.174). The second, the use of technology solves all problems expect death. To live you must be dead. What does it mean to be a human being? To have a choice or not have one at all. It appears the two sisters Antigone and Ismene are arguing about to bury their brother Polyneices. And yet both sisters would like to bury them. Ismene says:
“You ought to realize we are only women, not meant in nature to fight against men and that we are ruled, by those who are stronger, to obedience
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We must obey men in power no matter how the matter. Ismene wants to bury her brother, she is aware of that, but she is looking at the long-term goal. That long-term goal is preserving the family, she doesn’t want to make the same choices her brothers, father, and mother made. She is not wrong by honoring the family, by preserving it. Antigone says:
“If you will talk like I will loathe you, and you will adjudged an enemy justly by the deeds decision. Let me alone and folly with me, to endure this terror. No suffering of mine will be enough to make die ignobly.”
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Creon wants to rule above all and command the city of Thebes. Creon says:
“I would not count any enemy of my country as a friend because of what I know, that she it is which gives us our security. If she sails upright and we sail on her, friends will be ours for the making.” (An.184.168)
Creon wants to establish himself as the rightful new ruler of Thebes. Creon refers to himself as a captain because he wants absolute obedience. If you obey you are my friend, if you disobey you are my enemy. After the tragic that has happened to the city of Thebes Creon doesn’t want this happening again. Thebes needs a strong-minded ruler, we need security for the people to stay alive. Although this may seem like a clever idea to keep the city secure over one ruler. It will later back fire on him. Haemon, Creon’s son says:
“The man the city sets up in authority must be obeyed in small things and in just but also in their opposites.”
One of Creon’s many failures as a statesman is his prideful attitude. For example, Creon believes that gods chose him to lead the kingdom: “But see, the king comes here, /Creon, the son of Menoeceus, /Whom the gods have appointed for us/In our recent change of fortune.” (Par. 122—125).This quote explains how authoritative Creon was when he first became king. Also, Sophocles explains how Creon’s divine rights made him feel superior to everyone else, which made him more insolent. In addition, Creon believes that he is the sole leader of the kingdom: “We’ll have no woman’s law here, while I live.” (Sc 2.444). Sophocles illustrates the dangers of pride in kingship. He emphasizes more on how kings should be reasonable to the citiz...
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.
At the start of Antigone, the new king Creon has declared the law that while Antigone’s brother Eteocles will be buried with honor for his defense of Thebes, however the other brother, Polynices will be left to rot in the field of battle for helping lead the siege of the city. Antigone discusses with her sister Ismene that she shall go and pay respects to her now dead brother, and give him the burial that she feels that he deserves. Her sister tries to persuade her otherwise, but Antigone claims she is going to follow her determined fate, not the law of ...
Antigone is a strong willed character who is not afraid to defend her beliefs. After learning that Creon has denied Polyneices of a proper burial she uses her free will to decide that she must lay her brother to rest, as she strongly believes he should be honored like the other fallen soldiers. Unable to
Paralleling ¨The Allegory of the Cave,¨ Creon, the king and antagonist of this play, foolishly believes that his opinion is infallible and the people of Thebes must blindly obey. Similar to how the cave dwellers naively accept the puppeteers images, the Thebans accept Creon's law for what it is, except for Antigone. Antigone is able to recognize that the law is incorrect, because she has seen the light and therefore the truth; this is the beginning of the unraveling of Creon’s reign. Creon rules as a King over those who remain in the dark; however, because Antigone has seen the light and can now recognize the truth, she stands in the path of Creon's leadership. Plato establishes that ¨ The state in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best. . . The state in which they are most eager, the worst;¨ contrastingly, Creon is represented as a power hungry tyrant ”declaring ¨Is not the city Held to be his who rules it?¨ Ultimately, Creon’s refusal to accept the truth leads to the death of his niece, son, and wife and the undermine of his rule as predicted by
Overall, Creon’s leadership is very strict and centered on the state and his laws. But it’s not just this that makes him a bad leader; it’s his temper and his aggressive attitude that make him terrible as a leader and a person. Whenever he is angry he acts very harsh to the people around him, even if it is not their fault, and he makes rash decisions that only benefit him, going against his own moral code. Creon’s leadership was too cruel, and too strict to work, and he forced the people to stay silent and listen and not have their say. Generally, Creon’s leader ship would have never worked because of one, his temper, two, his strict and tyrannical rule, and third, his aggressive and harsh attitude.
Antigone believes that a woman should be intrepid and strong, even at the risk of challenging men’s authority. When she proposes to bury Polynices, Ismene answers, “we’re not born to contend with men”. (75) Antigone’s response, “that death will be a glory” (86), does not directly address gender issues, but it expresses her fury at Ismene’s passivity. After the burial of Polynices, Antigone defiantly states, “I did it. I don’t deny a thing,” while being interrogated by Creon (492) and later comments that she was “not ashamed for a moment, not to honor my brother”. (572-3) Antigone’s gallant speech and defiance toward traditional gender identities audaciously shows her revolutionary desire for gender equality.
as the King of Thebes. Creon poses to be a major authority figure in a patriarchal
Creon believes that his laws are absolute and must be followed above all else, even Divine Law. Therefore when Antigone, in accordance with divine law, goes against Creons edict by burying her brother she is forcefully imprisoned and sentenced to death by Creon. In Creons opening speech he says, “Of course you cannot know a man completely, his character, his principles, sense of judgment … Experience, there’s the test” (Sophocles, p. 67). How Creon handles Antigones unlawful actions serves as his first test as the new king of Thebes and ends up showing the Thebans a glimpse of his true nature, that of a tyrannical ruler. This can be seen again when Haemon comes to Creon with the hope of dissuading him from his current course of action. He does this by trying to make Creon understand that the citizens of Thebes don’t agree with his use of power and planned execution of Antigone. Again Creons authoritarian nature comes to light in his response to Haemon, “And is Thebes about to tell me how to rule… Am I to rule this land for others – or myself?” (Sophocles, p. 97). To which Haemon counters by saying that “its no city at all, owned by one man alone” (Sophocles, p. 97). Creon, being the tyrant he is, fails to heed the wisdom of his sons’ words, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Creon, like Machiavelli, believed that it was
Creon believes he is the only perfect ruler for Thebes. He believes that he can create a
The throne of the king of Thebes was passed from King Laius to Oedipus to Creon, making Creon a noble and royal figure. Being a part of the nobility is the first part of the requirement of being a tragic hero involving being a noble and having noble character. Along with having a noble title, Creon possesses the attribute of being noble and honorable. Putting aside Creon’s pride and selfishness for now, he still has the wellbeing and safety of his country, Thebes, at heart. Creon explain...
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.
Sophocles, following the Greek standard of tragedy, casts Creon as the tragic hero plagued by his own pride, inflexibility and power. Creon believes his authority to be twofold, both as the king and as the head of his family. He claims that the throne is the source of all power, saying ?whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed ? must be obeyed, in all things, great and small, just and unjust? (Sophocles 217), and he demands the utmost allegiance from his son, bidding him to ?subordinate everything else?to [his] father?s will? (Sophocles 216). Creon is filled with hubris, and he rejects any solution that might compromise his image. For instance, when the guards escort Antigone to the palace, he demands of the Choragos, ?Who is the man...
At this time, the reader begins to feel sorry for the two sisters. They have lost their father and their two brothers, all at the same time. Later in the conversation, the reader learns that Antigone has a plan to bury her brother Polynices and that she wants Ismene to help her. Ismene is scared to do this because the new king, Creon, has issued a decree that says that any person that attempts to bury the body will be sentenced to death. The fact that Antigone is going to attempt to bury the body creates fear in the reader.