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Death plays a prominent role in antigone
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Demetrios Drew
Fate in Antigone
Like many other Greek epics and poems, Sophocles ' Antigone follows the theme that fate is a predestined series of events and consequences that are outside the control of mortals and are instead controlled by the Gods. The consequences of the battle between Eteocles and Polyneices serve as the precursor to the conflict between the principled views of Antigone and Creon. After the death of Eteocles and Polyneices at each other 's hand, Eteocles was given a ceremonial burial but the body of Polyneices, who was labeled a traitor as a result of Creon 's edict, was left unburied and rotting. In this story, fate is fulfilled because of the beliefs and characteristics of the characters. Antigone 's two main characters each follow two separate rules of law; Antigone follows religious law, or law of the Gods, and Creon follows, and creates, civic law, and these characters fates have been
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The qualities Creon and Antigone express in the beginning of the play condemn them to their fates at the end. Antigone 's conviction in her religious beliefs and understanding of the punishments from Creon 's edict leads her to see that her actions have no other consequences than death, but yet, she must bury Polyneices ' body, and her quote to Ismene, "but that man shall I / bury. For me, the doer, death is best," represents that (71-72). Another exchange between Antigone and Ismene shows Antigone 's knowledge of her fate with Ismene stating, "Alas for me. Am I outside your fate?" and Antigone replying, "Yes. For you chose to live when I chose death" (554-555). Antigone maintains her agency throughout the play including her suicide, choosing death. Although this death was in a different way than what Creon was assuming would happen, Antigone fulfilled the fate she always knew was
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 ...
In complete disregard to Creon’s threatening laws, Antigone knowingly risks capital punishment and seals her fate by choosing to bury Polynices out of respect for Theban tradition. Antigone declares her independence by stating that “[she] will bury him [herself]. And even if [she] die[s] in the act, that death will be a glory,” (85–86). She takes full responsibility for her own actions, and recognizes that her inevitable death may come sooner than planned due to this deed. Antigone’s self-governing demeanor and ability to make her own decisions allows her to establish the course of her future. She self-determines her destiny by not sitting idle and working hard to honor her family. Antigone’s bluntness towards Ismene while trying to convince
Although undenialably couragous, determined, and brave. She has an achilles heel that makes her arrogant. She is unwilling to back off her quest, in burying her beloved brother. No matter if she must work alone and alienate herself in order to do so. To ensure she buries her kin with honor. “I will not press you any more. I would not want you as a partner if you asked. Go to what you please. I go to bury him. How beautiful to die in such pursuit! To rest loved by him whom I have loved, sinner of a holy sin, With longer time to charm the dead than those who live, for I shall abide forever there. So go. And please your fantasy and call it wicked what the gods call good”(Antigone 194). /she goes as far as breaking the law, presenting herself as a uncompromising person, similar to that of King Creon. Sadly her achilles heel is not from her doing. Other characters have influenced her into rushed decisions. For example Creon’s cruel punishments and brutality causes Antigone to want to bury her brother. Ismene’s refusal to help bury their beloved brother makes Antigone more determined and persistent to bury him. Eventually leading to Antigone’s suicide. She had hung herself, when Haemon (her love) saw her he stabbed himself and lied next to her in her pool of blood. Then when Eurydice(Haemon’s mother) found out she cut her throat in her bedroom. Creon was now alone. The chorus notes that if it were not
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
Antigone holds her love of family, and respect to the dead, elevated beyond the laws of Creon, whom she believes, has no righteous justification to close his eyes to the honor of the deceased. In her determination to fulfill Polynices' rights, she runs directly into Creon's attempts to re-establish order. This leads to encounters of severe conflict between the dissimilarities of the two, creating a situation whereby both Creon and Antigone expose their stubbornness and self will.
Fate is the will of the gods, and as is apparent in Antigone, the gods' will is not to be questioned. Much of Sophocles' work focuses on the struggle between human law and what is believed to be the god’s law. Fate was an unstoppable force and it was assumed that any efforts to change one's future were unrealistic. In Sophocles' Antigone, fate plays a crucial role in the choices that the characters make. Most people believe that Creon and Antigone were under the influence of forces that they could not control, in the decisions they made and the actions that they took.
One decisions changes your entire life and the lives of others. One decision can create a major difference, but one decision can create major conflict. One decision affects all other decisions. The effects of one decision are present in Antigone by the greek author, Sophocles. The setting of Antigone is the ancient city of Thebes after a battle between Polyneices and Eteocles. During the battle, a great tragedy occurs when Eteocles and Polyneices kill each other. The battle is a result of one decision by Polyneices to conquer Thebes, and his attempt is a utter failure. Polyneices' decision to attack Thebes dramatically alters the future course of Thebes. Polyneices's attack removes Eteocles from power and promotes Creon to power. Creon believes he is acting in the best interest of the state by establishing his power as king of Thebes. Creon's decree preventing any citizen from mourning or burying Polyneices is establishing his authority. Creon creates this edict because of Polyneices' traitorous acts against Thebes. Creon feels this action helps Thebes work to become a better city. The citizens of Thebes are not entirely content with Creon's ruling. One brave person dares to do the right thing, and this person is Antigone, brother of Polyneices. Antigone valiantly acts to see morality prevails over what Creon considers right for the state with the looming possibility of death. Antigone acts courageously, but Creon murders Antigone for her deeds. Antigone puts others and her beliefs above herself. Antigone experiences true tragedy. In Antigone, Antigone garners more sympathy and fear than Creon because of her devotion to divine law, loyalty to family, and defiance of Creon in the face of death.
Antigone risks her own life to bury her brother, therefore, she goes against Kreon’s edict that Polyneices should be left unburied; she believes Polyneices deserves to reach the afterlife. Antigone tells Ismene, “I will bury him myself. If I die for doing that, good: I will stay with him, my brother; and my crime will be devotion” (Sophocles 23). Antigone is willing to risk her own life by disobeying the king’s authority; She stands up for her religious belief that Polyneices should be buried. Kreon tells Antigone before she takes her own life, “I won’t encourage you. You’ve been condemned” (Sophocles 57). Kreon believes that Antigone’s crime is severe, and righteousness should be used to justify her crime. At this point of the play, Antigone realizes she will be put to death, but she does not regret her act of loyalty. In Antigone’s last speech before she takes her own life, she exclaims, “Land of Thebes, city of my fathers… see what I suffer at my mother’s brother’s hand for an act of loyalty and devotion” (Sophocles 57). Here, Antigone addresses the nation’s leaders and declares that they should notice th...
One commentator has argued in "Antigone" that Antigone's "view of what is right is as twisted as that of Creon." Although I do not believe that either Antigone's or Creon's view is "twisted," I do believe that their fate is a direct result of their extreme pride and stubbornness. In "Antigone," Sophocles examines the conflict between the requirements of human and divine law that is centered on the burial of Polynices, Antigone's brother and Creon's nephew. On the issue of the burial, their views are opposed and they each believe that one is right and the other is wrong.
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
Creon a new king of Thebes, demanded that Antigone shall not bury her brother Polyneices and yet she buried him anyway. Creon thinks that Polyneices is a betrayer and he did not deserve to be buried and should be fed to the animals. Antigone follows orders from the gods, but she does not seem to listen to Creon's laws. This causes Antigone to hang herself and her husband after that, hangs himself too. The only one left of her family is her sister who escapes the curse, but she has to deal with the suffering of her family. After hearing about her son’s death, Eurydice(Creon’s wife) kills herself too. In the end the chorus learned that Creon made a mistake not letting Antigone bury her brother. On page 55 it says, “Future is in greater hands.” This is saying your fate can not be changed and your fate is chosen before you are even
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’s firm belief that her brother Polyneices should have a proper burial is established by her conviction in that the law of the gods is above all else. This law proclaims that all men be mourned and honored by family and friends through means of a suitable burial. Antigone’s need to put honor upon Polyneices’ soul is so grand that she ignores the advice of everyone around her, including her sister Ismene, who tries to pull her away from performing this criminal act because it will disobey the law set by King Creon, and lead to her demise. However, Antigone does not care about the repercussions because even though “[s...
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon and Antigone, through their free-willed actions establish their own unavoidable fate. By striving to rule in fairness of judgment, Creon defies the laws guiding the burial of the dead when he declares death to anyone who dared to bury Polynices (Lines 25-43). On the other hand, Antigone, with respect to the laws of the gods, and family honor, defies Creon’s orders and buries her brother Polynices (lines 451-492). In this context, we see that both characters are aware of the consequences of their actions: Creon, with knowledge of how the gods doomed Oedipus’ due to defiance, and Antigone Knowing the price that came with laying her brother to rest. Regardless of knowing these consequences, both characters exercised their desires of free-will, and for that, they paid the price of a tragic hero with Antigone’s death, and the death of Creon’s son. Again, just as in Oedipus Rex, we witness fate being the results of free will, but this time around we also see fate as an outcome generally accepted by the characters when they choose free will in opposition to abiding to the
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