Whatever your religion there is usually one thing in common, the laws of the religion must be upheld in all situations. With this in mind there could be many situations; it could mean to stand your ground under peer pressure, it could be if one is faced by tragedy, or even if one must stand against the laws of man. This theme is shown in the courageous acts of Antigone in the Greek drama "Antigone" where she stands against a law made by her uncle, Creon, and gives her brother, Polyneices, a burial as the law of religion requires. In the end of the Greek drama Creon is punished by the gods. The only person of his family still alive is Ismene, his niece. All this came from Creon's pride and all could have been spared if Creon had pardoned Antigone for burying her brother. Antigone should not have been sentenced to death for a deed done out of love and religious righteousness.
Antigone was wrongly sentenced to death for an act of love. Oedipus and here brothers all faced a tragic demise that spiraled down once Oedipus found he killed his father and married his mother. After his death ...
Both characters were born into a very noble family. They were at the top of society, and had a perfect life, or so it seemed. Their flaws led them to experience tragic downfalls. With Antigone, her stubbornness, led her to be sentenced to death by Creon. Oedipus was too arrogant to believe in the prophecy against him, and he ended up fulfilling it. Then these tragic downfalls lead to the death, or serious injuries. Antigone committed suicide to avoid being killed by Creon. Oedipus blinded himself by stabbing out his own eyes because he was so angry with himself for fulfilling the prophecy. Therefore, both Antigone and Oedipus lived their lives as tragic heroes. The plays Antigone and Oedipus Rex have some major differences, but they have one similarity that ties their main characters together, which is them both being born tragic heroes. The differences between the characters is their flaws, and good characteristics. Though Antigone and Oedipus lived completely different lives, both their lives ended in a very tragic
Antigone's death greatly affected the lives of many other people. The King's son kills himself after seeing Antigone, his soon-to-be bride. In addition to his son‘s suicide, the King's wife learned the news about her son and ended her own life. The King is directly responsible for all the lost lives and heartbroken people, when he put his royal word above the word of the gods.
Antigone’s pride caused her to go against Creon’s will and break the law to bury her brother, Polyneicês’s body. Antigone tells her sister Ismene of Creon’s decisions about the burial of their brothers. She asks Ismene to help her bury Polyneicês’s body. When Ismene refuses Antigone tells her sister “But I will bury him; and if I must die, 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,” (193). Antigone believes what she is doing is the right thing, that her actions of deciding to bury her brother’s body are worth even though it means she is going against Creon’s law. Antigone’s pride also lead to her death because it caused her to be stubborn. When Antigone is speaking with Creon and the chorus she says “What things I suffer, and at what men’s hands, because I would not transgress the laws of heaven,” (228). She is saying that her punishment is due to her actions of not breaking heaven’s laws. She believes that her actions are the right thing to do, that the gods agree with her actions. Her stubbornness due to her pride leads her to be unwilling to see that what she has done was wrong in any way. She was stubborn and her prideful thinking that her decision to go against the law and bury Polyneicês’s boy was right brought about her death. Antigone’s pride lead her to cause her own
In the play Antigone, Creon, king of Thebes faces a harsh conflict with himself, involving the values of family and religion verse the civic responsibility he must maintain for the city of Thebes that comes with being the new king. In theory no decision Creon makes is going to be the rite one. Although both Antigone and Creon have justified reasons for believing in there own laws only one can be upheld by the play and how Sophocles interoperates the play himself. Creon must decide whether to punish Antigone, a princess, daughter of king Oedipus, or fail at enforcing his own law and look weak in front of the citizens of Thebes as their new leader. The law stated that anybody who touched the corpse of Polyneices, a prince, and son of Oedipus would be stoned in the town square.
Antigone says to Ismene “We have only a little time to please the living But all eternity to love the dead. There I shall lie forever. Live, if you will; Live, and defy the holiest laws of heaven.” Antigone is not concerned about her own life, and is more worried about pleasing the holiest laws of heaven. Creon’s law dictates that Antigone will be punished if she chooses to bury her brother. Antigone disobeys Creon’s law because she is following the law of the gods, and by not following the law of the government due to moral objections to it Antigone is in the process of committing civil disobedience. The only thing left for Antigone to do is for her to accept her punishment for disobeying the law of the government and Antigone will have committed civil
In Antigone’s case she was going against the law of her King by burying his brother but for her not doing so would bring dishonour to her in eyes of the gods and as she said “I would not risk the punishment of the gods in fear of any man.” Antigone was doing what she knew was morally correct and as we witnessed in the end she was right and
When Antigone learns that no one is to bury her brother, she immediately knows what she must do. She doesn’t even hesitate to her decision and she is fully willing to face the consequences to do what is right. She believes that what she is doing is just a humane right and she’s willing to die for what she believes in. She even tells Creon that what he’s doing is against what the gods wanted and that his laws were worthless. She states: “Not through dread of any human pride could I answer to the gods for breaking these.” It seems that gods are almost speaking to Creon through Antigone and warning him of his decision.
The story of Antigone deals with Antigone’s brother who’s body has been left unburied because of crimes against the state. The sight of her brother being unburied drives Antigone to take action against the state and bury her brother regardless of the consequences. The concept of the Greek afterlife was far more important and sacred than living life itself. Everything they did while they were alive was to please the many gods they worshipped. They built temples for their Gods, made statues to symbolize their Gods, and had a different God to explain things that we now say are an act of mother nature. Antigone percieved her actions to be courageous and valid, and Kreone, the King, percieved them as blasphemous. The entire story focuses on deciding who’s right. The question arises, "Did Antigone take proper action?" Was it right to go against her Uncle Kreon’s wishes and go ahead and bury her brother that was to be left out for the vultures? Would it have been better just to leave the situation how it was? The fact is, Antigone did the right thing. She was acting out of divine influence so to speak. Since divinity and humanity are shown to be colliding forces where divinity out weighs humanity in ancient Greece. Antigone was justified in her actions.
This is the Crux of the theme, the conflict between the law of King Creon, and the law of the gods. In fact, according to Greek belief, Creon would have been ordained by the gods to be king, and thus, should not his law be their law as well? This is the hurdle that Antigone has to face; should she abide by the law of Creon and leave her brother to rot, under penalty of death? Or should she disregard Creon's edict, follow the law of the gods and bury her brother? Creon is a brother to Jocasta, and thus next in line to become king after Etocles is killed in battle. The king is believed to be the chosen of the gods and to rule in their stead. Why then would the king attempt to punish Polyneices after death and so blatantly violate the rules of the gods? However, Creon is the king, and the penalty for disobeying this law of his is very real and very brutal, death.
Antigone welcomed death at the time of burying her brother; she was not concerned with the consequences. She saw her actions as being true to the gods and religion. “I myself will bury him. It will be good to die, so doing. I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me; I shall be a criminal but – a religious one.” (Antigone, lines 81-85) To Antigone, the honor of her brother, and her family was all that was important. She may be going against Creon, but if her actions were true in her heart then the gods would see her in a good light.
You shall leave him without burial...” (222). Opposing the king, she neglects the decree and is now to die at the orders of the law for being disobedient; yet 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 Antigone faces comes when she realizes she is alone. Antigone confides in her sister Ismene with her plans to disobey Creon; but Ismene, a clear example of how a lady was obliged to be in this time, urges Antigone not to commit the act. Antigone rejects her advice and declares that Ismene is an enemy to her now (41): “If you talk like this I will loathe you, and you will be adjudged an enemy…” (109-10). Antigone must fight on her own. Thirdly, per Bobrick, Antigone
We come to know of Antigone's plan to bury her brother in the prologue. She confides to Ismene that she knows of Creon's edict, but that she intends to defy it. At Ismene's protests of not defying the king's orders, Antigone states that there are higher obligations to the dead and the gods. She points out (lines 85 - 91): "I will bury him myself, and even if I die in the act the death will be a glory. I will lie with the one I love and loved by him - an outrage sacred to the gods! I have longer to please the dead than please the living here: in the kingdom down below I will lie forever. Do as you like, dishonor the laws the gods hold in honor." Antigone feels it is her duty to bury her brother and is in her view fulfilling a higher law. She believes that she is acting according to her religious duty and that she cannot dishonor the laws the gods have established. Here Antigone appears to be a selfless and compassionate individual, willin...
The gods' laws come before mortal laws in Antigone's point-of-view, which is how I believe also. In death, you will answer to your god and no man will have control of your fate in the world that lies hereafter. Therefore by obeying the gods, hopefully, will result in a happy afterlife, which are what most people strive for in ancient times and now. If man does not honor you for noble efforts, your gods' will. Antigone's act was honorable. She stood up to the highest of powers so she could honor her brother, knowing the consequence would be death. Most likely she figured there is only a certain amount man can do to you, so she might as well stand up for not only her family and beliefs, but her gods as well (lines 377-389).
Oedipus, ruler of Thebes, murdered his father and married his mother. Such acts are almost always deemed unnatural and criminal; they are not tolerated within traditional society. A person who has committed these acts of murder and incest would be considered an outcast, yet Sophocles’s character, Oedipus, is not guilty of either.
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.