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.
History reflects many instances of the insecurity kings face in keeping their throne and preserving it for their descendants. Creon feels his throne and right to rule are threatened b...
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...
Brad Moore, a famous athlete once said, “Pride would be a lot easier to swallow if it didn’t taste so bad.” In Sophocles’ well known Greek tragedy, Antigone, the main character undergoes immense character development. Antigone transforms from being stubborn and underestimated to courageous and open-minded. In reality, it is Antigone’s insular persistence that leads to her ultimate decline in the play as well as others around her. After the death of her two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, Creon becomes the new ruler of Thebes. With this, he grants Eteocles an honorable funeral service for his brave fighting. Claiming that Polynices was a traitor, he shows complete refusal to grant Polynices a respectable and worthy service. Clearly disagreeing with Creon’s inexcusable demands, Antigone declares she will bury Polynices herself so that his soul can be at peace. Entirely aware of the consequences and dangers of this action, which include death, she goes forward vowing her love for her family. Antigone shows strength and determination towards her brother. However, her growing sense of pride leads to her downfall as she sacrifices everything for her family. Antigone develops into an admirable character in which she portrays her defiance and courage, pride and open mindedness, and sense of moral righteousness to show vital character growth as the play progresses.
...se Creon was not yet the king of Thebes during the period of Oedipus’s ruling, and Antigone who was not yet a renowned figure acting independently in her own will without any dilemmas. It is until the story of Antigone when Antoine’s rights are desecrated by the might of Creon’s rule and that it led Antigone to bail and revolt against it. This is the dynamic that Sophocles sees in Antigone within the society of Thebes, and through the perception of Antigone’s heroic deeds, equal to that against the behavior of Creon, Sophocles exemplify to the audience the unbalance nature in society.
In the Antigone, unlike the Oedipus Tyrannus, paradoxically, the hero who is left in agony at the end of the play is not the title role. Instead King Creon, the newly appointed and tyrannical ruler, is left all alone in his empty palace with his wife's corpse in his hands, having just seen the suicide of his son. However, despite this pitiable fate for the character, his actions and behavior earlier in the play leave the final scene evoking more satisfaction than pity at his torment. The way the martyr Antigone went against the King and the city of Thebes was not entirely honorable or without ulterior motives of fulfilling pious concerns but it is difficult to lose sight of the fact that this passionate and pious young woman was condemned to living imprisonment.
“Antigone,” is a wonderfully crafted play by Sophocles, which manifests various psychological aspects of humankind like anger, bravery, jealousy, ignorance, arrogance, deceit, and sacrifice to a greater degree. Out of the many characters that represent these human frailties, Antigone is portrayed as the strongest of all. Antigone, despite being a woman in the era, when the gender of women was considered below the status of men, shows great defiance against the cruelty of the reigning monarchy. People secretly approve the generous act of Antigone burying her brother, Polyneices. But, Haimon is the only other character that shows some courage and fight against Creon. His eloquently put together words are, as compelling as, it could get in his failed attempt to defend Antigone. Antigone’s action becomes more heroic, when she buries her brother, knowing the inevitable death that follows and nobody, not even her fiancé, Hamon, could defend her.
"I would not count any enemy of my country as a friend." In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, Antigone finds herself torn apart between divine law and state law. The play opens up at the end of a war between Eteocles and Polyneices, sons of Oedipus and brothers of Antigone and Ismene. These brothers, fighting for control of Thebes, kill each other, making Creon king of Thebes. Creon, as king, gives an important speech to the citizens of Thebes, announcing that Eteocles, who defended Thebes, will receive a proper burial, unlike his brother Polyneices, who brought a foreign army against Thebes. This speech introduces the major conflict of divine law versus state law. Furthermore, Creon cherishes order and loyalty above all else. He cannot bear to be disobeyed or watch the laws of the state be broken by anyone, especially by a woman. However, Antigone places her individual conscience and love for her brother Polyneices above and against the power and authority of the state, which costs her life.
Creon and Antigone, main characters in the Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles share some of the same characteristics that make up a tragic hero, but to varying degrees. Antigone, daughter of her mother/grandmother, Jocasta, and father, Oedipus is head strong, proud, and stubborn. She had three siblings, Ismene her sister, and two brothers Eteocles and Polyneices who found there deaths at the end of each others sword in battle over which would become king of Thebes. Antigone's pride fullness and loyalty is revealed when Polyneices is denied proper burial by her uncle and king Creon. The two buttheads in the political for Creon and personal for Antigone situation and bring about the downfall of the royal family.
Antigone, by Sophocles, is a story about the struggle between Antigone, who represents the laws of the gods and Creon, who represents the laws of the state. The play takes place circa 442 B.C. in the city-state of Thebes. The story revolves around the burial of Polyneices. Polyneices led an army against his brother, Etocles, the King of Thebes. They killed each other in battle and the new king, Creon, made a decree that only Etocles was to be buried because Polyneices was his rival. Antigone, sister of Polyneices and Etocles, feels that she needs to bury Polyneices in accordance to Zeus’ law, but this went against Creon’s decree. Also, Antigone has to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister Ismene. Since Antigone decided to follow Zeus’ law, which states that all bodies must be buried, she defied Creon’s decree and buried Polyneices anyway. Caught by the guards, while burying her brother, Antigone was sent to a rocky chamber as punishment by Creon. Creon’s son, Haemon, was engaged to marry Antigone, but he along with the rest of the city thought Antigone’s death was unjust. Even after Teirsias, the blind prophet, warned Creon to release Antigone and bury Polyneices, Creon remained reluctant. Finally, Teirsias told Creon that the gods were going to punish him and Creon became worried. By the time he got to the rocky chamber, it was too late: Antigone already hung herself. Creon found his son sobbing next to her and when he told Ha...
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.
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.
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
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
The play “Antigone” by Sophocles, details the death of Oedipus’ two sons, Polyneices and Eteocles in a fight for the crown of Thebes. Creon, now the leader of Thebes learns of the battle and decides to give Eteocles a proper burial while Polyneices is forbidden to be buried believing he is a traitor to his city. Antigone, sister of Polyneices and Eteocles, believes her uncle is wrong and begins to challenge his rule resulting in punishment and deaths throughout the play. Creon’s impulsive actions in this play lead to the death of his family, which weighs on his conscience. In the beginning Creon brings along great ideas but is unable to fulfil them when the time comes leading to him ultimately failing at his job of being the King of Thebes
This play, Antigone, was titled after one of the play’s main characters; however, the title could have been “Creon”, due to Creon’s influence throughout the play. Creon was a major influence to the play’s plot as it involves Creon within a majority of the scenes, from beginning to end. Throughout the play Creon’s tragic countdown is expressed, beginning with him as king of Thebes to the death of his beloved family. Antigone is merely portrayed as a rebellious nephew, as she consistently defies Creon. Antigone is expressed within the play consistently; however, the play portrays decisions proclaimed by Creon, which displays Creon’s tragic flow. Being titled “Antigone”, does not accurately express the play’s content as Creon’s tragic fate is actually being described and represented.
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.