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I believe antigone is the protagonist. It is Antigone’s actions that cause most of the conflicts in the play. She is the character who drives the action in the play Antigone. She is also the one who sets the tragedy into motion and is responsible for burying Polyneices, in defiance of Creon's strict edict. Without her, there would be no plot. When Antigone says, “ He is my brother. And your brother, too. Creon is not enough to stand in my way (Sophocles 17)”, she is initiating her rebellion against Creon, thus making her the protagonist. Creon’s soon to be niece, Antigone, is the one who allows the action of the story to stay alive. Antigone is responsible for breaking Creon’s edict, even though she knew it was not right. She admits her crime and this is where …show more content…
After Creon locks Antigone away, It is Antigone's suicide that makes her future husband, Haemon, commit suicide. This, in turn, is the cause behind the Creon’s wife death.
Both of these event crushed Creon as shown when he says, “This truth is hard to bear. Surely a god has crushed me beneath the hugest weight of heaven, and driven me headlong a barbaric way to trample out the thing I held most dear (Sophocles 995).” Creon is not the protagonist, but he is a dynamic character because of his change in heart. He realizes that his choices and actions have caused a terrible fate for him; a life of loneliness. He recognizes the law he passed was a terribly awful idea and this makes Creon regrets his pridefulness. Antigone, on the contrary, understands exactly what is going to happen to her from the start of the play and never regrets what she has done. Antigone is a static character who does not change throughout the story. Although, Antigone never fully realizes her mistakes. She is stubborn and to some extent proud of burying her brother. She does not renounce these flaws during the play. One possibility is because they do not really work as flaws in this play. Her stubbornness leads to her capture and her
Throughout the story of Antigone, particularly the end, Creon proposes the bad-boy in control personality. He acts as the ruler he is and puts his power to work. He fears nothing unless his family is involved. He has no mercy when it comes to the law. Additionally, he is greatly affected by the environment he creates around himself.
Creon in the play Antigone by Sophocles plays a major role within the play. Antigone also plays an important role, as these two character’s conflicting views led to utter disaster, which highlights Creon as a tragic figure. Within the play Creon attempted to establish decisions for the common good; however, his decisions resulted in tragedy. Creon highlighted as the tragic figure, initially created decisions he thought were for the welfare and well-being of Thebes. However, Antigone, who rebelled against Creon’s decisions, caused Creon’s rage to cloud his rational way of thinking.
A tragedy is when someone drops my chocolate milkshake from Chick-Fil-A in the parking lot, but the Greek definition of a tragedy is,”a play in which the protagonist, usually a man of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he cannot deal”(Collins). In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Creon is the most tragic character because of his hubris, hamartia, and he is the primary Antagonist.
When Creon’s wife, Eurydice, finds out that her son is dead she kills herself. Creon's downfall started when Antigone choose to hang herself. “ You will not see the sun race through its cycle many times before you lose a child of your own loins, a corpse in payment for these corpses. You’ve thrown down to those below someone from up above-in your arrogance you’ve moved a living soul into a grave, leaving here a body owned by the gods below- unburied, dispossessed, unsanctified. That's no concern of yours or gods above. In this you violate the ones below. And so destroying avengers wait for you, Furies of Hades and the gods, Who’ll see you caught up in this very wickedness (1194-1205).” This quote explains that in view of the unnecessary death of Antigone he will meet his demise. This man predicts that he would lose his
He anxiously awaits the day when he can call Antigone his wife, but because she defies King Creon, she deprives him of that opportunity. At first, Haemon tries to be loyal to his father. He tells Creon that he supports his decision to execute Antigone. However, as the conversation continues, he reveals that the community members are starting to renounce Creon’s decision. As the pain of potentially losing his fiancé becomes too much, he also renounces his father’s decision, arguing that the Gods would not condone it. In an act against his father, Haemon hurries to the cave Antigone was exiled to, in hopes to save her, but instead finds her hanging from the veil she was supposed to wear on her wedding day. Instantly overwhelmed with grief, Haemon, “[bewails] the loss of his bride” (Sophocles 152). Similarly, to Ismene’s case, Haemon cannot picture himself living on Earth without Antigone by his side, and commits suicide. In Antigone’s desire to appease the Gods, she abandons her loved ones, and causes them great suffering. This could have been avoided has she not pursued her desire to bury
She is a pious, autonomous individual who likes to take matters into her own hands. When it comes to her plan to give her brother a proper burial, “Creon is not enough to stand in [her] way,” and she is “not afraid of the danger; if it means death, it will not be the worst of deaths – death without honor,” (Antigone 15, 80-81). To Antigone, family and honor are of highest priority, and she will not let anything or anyone prevent her from carrying out her duties. From the beginning of the play until her death, she holds onto these principles. Even the way in which she dies is reflective of this self-ruling ideal; she killed herself before anyone else could, not allowing anyone other than herself to have control over her fate. And because of these principles, her misfortunes were self-inflicted. She knew what misfortunes awaited her if she were to go through with her plan; she knew “the penalty [for burying Polyneices] – stoning to death in the public square,” (Antigone 23-24). She was fully aware that she would get killed for carrying out this act, but she did not allow those consequences to stop her from doing what she believed was honorable. Because Antigone’s misfortunes occurred with her full conscious knowledge and acceptance of her consequences, she is not considered a tragic
“Look—what’s Creon doing with our two brothers? He’s honouring one with a full funeral and treating the other one disgracefully!” (Line 30) Creon and Antigone had a lot of conflicts throughout the story. Antigone had a different mindset from Creon, which created a conflict through their words, actions, and ideas. Creon is a tragic hero because he makes judgment calls that harm him in the future, he thinks they are good at the time, but they end up causing his own destruction. Other people's words influence him, such as Antigone's, to change throughout the story. The fact that Creon changes throughout the story advances the plot and makes the reader want to keep reading.
So who was meant to be the lead character of Antigone? Antigone. So who is the lead character of Antigone? Creon. Somewhere along the line, Sophocles found a more complex story in the insecure king than in the defiant noblewoman. Using Aristotle’s outline of Greek tragedy (which ironically was primarily based on Sophocles), Creon is the only character who meets the criteria. Creon started from the highest position, suffered the greatest net losses, and possessed the only inarguable flaw. Titles aside, the literary content speaks for itself.
She is the protagonist in the sense that she incites the conflict, but that is the only obvious characteristic she possesses. If it is possible for a Greek tragedy to have two protagonists, Antigone seems to do it. Antigone is the first protagonist. The plot begins with her burial of her brother, so she engages the conflict against Creon. She is stubborn and somewhat ambiguous in her family values – she will risk death in order to bury her traitorous brother, but she curses her timid sister – so she is far from perfect, but she is a sympathetic character. She is a spokesman for feminism (make that spokeswoman) and democracy ("Lucky tyrants – the perquisites of power! / Ruthless power to do and say whatever pleases them", so we see her as the "good guy," that prestigious title usually reserved for the
Antigone, which was written by Sophocles, is possibly the first written play that still exists today (www.imagi... 1). There is much controversy between who the 'tragic hero' is in the play. Some people say Antigone, some say Creon, others even say Heamon. I believe Creon displays all of the characteristics of a 'tragic hero'. He receives compassion through the audience, yet recognizes his weaknesses, and his downfalls from his own self-pride, stubbornness, and controlling demands. He is the true protagonist.
In the beginning of the play Creon is portrayed as King and a leader unwilling to bend the rules in order to protect the city. The way Creon responds to Antigone, “While I’m alive, no woman is going to lord over me”, shows he is stubborn and also his pride. (593-594) While the play continues Creon’s pride grows, and he thinks he can never be wrong and punishes Antigone by locking her up in a cave. However, things turn a different way when the Prophet tells Creon that he must free Antigone or face the wrath of Gods. After hearing this Creon changes his mind, “I shackled her, I’ll set her free myself. I am afraid it’s best to keep the established laws…” (1236-1238) But, as Creon tries to set Antigone free, he is faced with suicides of Antigone and Haemon, and followed by the suicide of his wife, Eurydice. This moment in the play serves as the downfall of Creon. But unlike Antigone, Creon reaches anagnorisis, which is the moment in the play when the tragic character realizes his hubris has led to his downfall. “And the guilt is all mine- can never be fixed…god help me, I admit all!”(1441-1445) Ultimately, Creon is more of a proper tragic character than Antigone because of he has an epiphany, a moment when he realizes his hubris has caused conflicts and deaths in the
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.
Creon, the king of Thebes, was compelled to witness the death of all his family members, simply because of his one oafish decision. The almighty king of Thebes watched the downfall of all of his beloved ones, right before he had the opportunity to prevent it. Antigone, by Sophocles, portrays the courageous deeds of the female heroine, Antigone. Throughout the play, Antigone attempts to avenge her brother, but confronts a series of difficult obstacles, laid out by her uncle, Creon, the antagonist. Antigone, feeling excessively depressed about her life, ends up committing suicide, which leads to a series of events that actually causes the downfall of Creon. Her suicide leads to the death of Creon’s beloved ones, Haemon and Eurydice. Creon ought
...o loose many members of his family. The grief he must have felt for these decisions is hard to comprehend. Whether or not Creon wanted to be king was not a circumstance that he had power over. But since he was king he know had a responsibility to lead and protect his people. This meant punishing those that opposed the state of Thebes family or not. Therefore it was a correct decision. It served to good of the whole not Creon’s own selfish desires. Antigone defied this decision putting her in the same category of her brother – a trader of the state. Therefore she must also be punished in much the same way as a criminal of the state was punished. Through looking at the history of the time period, the statements of the chorus, and the critical analysis offered, I believe it was Sophocles to portray the character of Creon as the character that acted correctly.
Antigone causes the death of three people, whether directly or indirectly. First of all, she directly causes her own death because she hangs herself, rather than starving to death inside the sealed up tomb the Creon had her put into. Second, she directly causes the death of Haemon because he loved her and truly cared for her and her did not want to live without her. Lastly, Antigone indirectly causes Eurydice, Haemon’s mother and Creon’s wife, to kill herself when Eurydice learns that Haemon killed himself. “Thy wife, [Creon,] the mother—mother of the dead—is, by a blow just fallen, haplessly slain.” This shows that Eurydice was mad enough to kill her, because many thing have happened to her, the death of her son, her husband’s excessive pride, etc. She also knew he and his pride was the cause of this mess.