In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, it is greatly apparent just within the first few exchanges between Ismene and Antigone that there are various social issues surrounding the women in ancient Greece. The play raises many gender and socially related issues especially when looking at the contextual background of the playwright and the representation of the women within the play. When the characters of the first scene begin their analog, it is important to note what they are actually saying about each other and what their knowledge of their own social status is. The audience is first introduced to Antigone who we later learn is the antagonist of the play as she rebels against the protagonist, Creon. Her sister, Ismene, is the second character the audience is introduced to, hears of Antigone's plan to bury their brother's body in the first scene. Ismene’s actions and words give the reader the hint that her sister’s behavior is not usual, "so fiery" and "so desperate" are the words used to describe Antigone's frame of mind. At this very early point in the play the reader discovers that Antigone is determined to carry out her mission to bury her beloved brother. However, she is in no position that gives her the rights as a woman, sister, or even future queen to make her own decisions and rebel. Instead, her decision to bury her brother demonstrates her loyalty to her family, the gods, and to all women. Her motivation for those decisions will end up driving her far more than that of what the laws set by Creon have implemented. She shows no fear over disobeying the king and later says about the punishment of death "I will lie with the one I love and loved by him"(Sophocles, 2). Throughout the play the reader can see the viewpoint of an obedient woman, a rebellious woman, and the social norms required for both of them.
In meeting Ismene, the reader is introduced to a wiser and obedient woman in terms of her understanding where she stands socially and realizing the consequences of rebellious actions. Ismene, throughout the play, serves as a tool by helping Antigone to become more resolute in her actions. Ismene has suffered just as much as Antigone, "no joy or pain has come my way" (16) Ismene says. Yet although she concedes that the sisters "were robbed of our two brothers" (17), she still accepts the will of the King "I must obey the ones who stand in power"(18).
Antigone is a powerful character, strong-willed, determined and at times self-righteous. She is contrasted by her sister Ismene, who is weak and powerless. Though Antigone is a powerful character, she has no real political power and is dominated by one man, Creon. Creon is both the ruler of the state as well as the patriarch of her family. Antigone was raised by Creon’s house after her own father went in to exile. Antigone is betrothed to Creon’s son, Haemon, further cementing Creon’s power over her. There is one aspect of life that Antigone does have legitimate power in and that is her family, especially her blood line. In ancient-Greek culture the women’s place was in the home, she was responsible for household things and often wasn’t even allowed to leave the house. It is because of this responsibility that Antigone needed to bury her brother Polynices even though it went against the decree of Creon. Antigone also had the gods on her side. It was an unwritten rule of ancient Greek society that the dead must be buried, otherwise bad things may happen. This rule, because it was unwritten and therefore innate, was protected by the gods, specifically Hades, the god of the underworld and family.
After her mother committed suicide, her father died and her brothers fought until they killed each other, Antigone projects her strong character with interesting ways of showing it. As the main character with strong values and a stubborn way, she follows the laws of god, without minding the consequences. Antigone is a strong willed woman who wins the respect of the audience by the inner strength and resistance of manipulation she has, showing the potential of human kind. She becomes a heroine with noble qualities of mind, heart and soul because she is willing to sacrifice her life, doing what she believes it is right. With a sense of family ties, she is an ideal for humanity, the issue is that she must burry her brother Polynices with an appropriate ceremony since she believes it is the last right for every human being.
In the book Antigone, Creon and Antigone can be considered as the tragic heroes of the play. Antigone is considered the tragic hero because of the characteristics she shows such as her ambition to defeat Creon, Creon shows more of the characteristics clearly. Creon is the king of Thebes. He is also Antigone's uncle. Creon became king after a fight between Eteocles and Polyneices. One may see Creon as a harsh and controlling ruler, but he is not good nor bad because he shows signs of both like when he wanted to give Eteocles a proper burial . Creon is the tragic hero of the Antigone, because of his dominance in society, high rank, tragic flaw; and self-pride.
In Antigone, by Sophocles, which centers around themes such as bravery in the face of death, civil unrest, and unyielding dedication to divine justice, it is easy to understand why Ismene’s character is often called cowardly, docile, and indecisive. However, this view of her undercuts the most basic facet of her personality, the one which is absent in Antigone — a will to live. With this in mind, Ismene’s personality is far one-dimensional, as there are certain traits she needs to embody in order to survive. She endured her tragic upbringing through rational thought and an optimism that others will do the same, all the while keeping her love for her unfortunate family intact. Though not fearless in the face of death, Ismene is a sympathetic character whose rationality, optimism, and loyalty are not to be underrated.
In a democracy, people choose representatives to lead and govern them. However, these representatives might take unpopular steps. In such instances the people may show their disapproval of a policy and vent their grievances through acts of civil disobedience. Henry Thoreau said, “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.” It is both the right and responsibility of a person to fight an unjust law, and civil disobedience allows one to convey his thoughts and ideas in a passive, nonviolent way. In Sophocles’ Antigone, written in 442 B.C., we find one of the earliest examples of civil disobedience. The play emphasizes the right of the individual to reject his government’s infringement on his freedom to perform a personal obligation and highlights the struggle that one faces in doing so. More importantly, it shows how such actions help further the cause of democracy. It strengthens the belief that each individual’s opinion is important in a democracy and makes a difference. Eventually, we see Creon realize his mistake – his stubbornness – which teaches him that he should have room for more than one opinion. Also, women at that time were not considered equal citizens, but Antigone’s actions left people to rethink the extent of the equality in Athenian democracy.
Ismene believes that women are “underlings” (76) and not “contend[ing] with men” (76) because she knows that men will always control society. This viewpoint of men’s domination of women depicts Ismene to be submissive to males while being fearful of men’s authority. Ismene is unable to have control over her destiny and decisions because she is fearful of men’s power over women, which leads to her refusing to bury Polynices. Later in the play, Ismene questions Creon’s judgment by saying “you’d kill your own son’s bride?” (641) which indicates that she is now aware that woman should have a voice and power in society. Her new understanding of Antigone’s message gives her the strength to query Creon, while additionally highlighting his cruelty. Ismene’s original belief of “submit[ing] to this” (77) and being a proper Greek girl, eventually transforms into becoming an advocate for Antigone. Her transformation defies men’s authority, the opposite of what she used to believe in.
Although Antigone is present throughout the play, characters do not turn to her unless they intend to use her. She, and Ismene in a lesser sense, is used as a means to an end all through the play: first she is a guide for Oedipus, then a pawn for Creon, then someone to bury Polynices. Everything she does in the play is because of a male character’s will. Oedipus continually treats Antigone as a means to an end. He refers to Antigone and Ismene as “props of my frame” (Sophocles 94). Even when Oedipus is not verbally objectifying his daughters, he treats them as things, only turning to them when he needs some kind of assistance. Creon uses Antigone and Ismene in his attempts to draw Oedipus back to Thebes, making them pawns and having his men capture them. Polynices, too, wants something from Antigone when he comes to see her. Instead of listening to her advice, he asks her to ensure that he receives a proper burial (Sophocles 59+). When Antigone and Ismene are saved from Creon’s men by Theseus, he is presented as “the deliverer of the girls… the agent of the action” (Markantonatos 111). Time and time again, Antigone and Ismene are portrayed as having no agency in their lives. They are at the mercy of the decisions of the men in the play, and do not appear to have any personal desires or wishes that are not related to male characters like Oedipus and
Elizabeth Bobrick’s Sophocles’ Antigone and the Self-Isolation of the Tragic Hero declares “the heroic code may be summarized as follows: I protect my philoi—a term that includes family, kin, loved ones, and loyal community members—and they honor me. To hate my friend is to hate me. To help my enemy is to harm me. Being dishonored by my philoi is the equivalent of death. I will either kill them, or myself, or both.” This can explain Antigone’s excessive desire to bury her brother and even further be supported in lines 25-28 when Antigone challenges her sister’s loyalty. Aristotle himself said that a tragic hero should be neither better nor worse normally than a normal person. With that being said Antigone’s sister, Ismene, was in the same position as her. Originally invoking a sense of naturalism this changes with Ismene’s refusal to help bury their brother. The lack of support for Antigone’s plan leaves her no choice, but distances herself from her sister who obviously doesn’t share the same family loyalty beliefs as her (Lines 77-81). Ismene later in the play tries to claim some guilt in order to help Antigone’s cause. Yet again, Antigone refused to allow her sister to assume any punishment for her crime. Sophocles, Peter Meineck, Paul Woodruff’s Theban plays acknowledges Antigone would rather be dead with her brother than alive with a husband (Line 55-58). This is
These two examples alone give us the impression, which degrades women and the power they had. On the contrary, Antigone goes against society view and a norm to do what she considers is morally proper. Ismene, Antigone’s sister and foil of the story, is compared with her throughout the story since Ismene believes that adhering to the law is more important over family loyalty. Ismene says: “I shall obey those who are in authority, for deeds that are excessive make no sense at all” (Antigone, Page 22, Line 67-68).
A Greek drama is a serious of actions within a literary presentation in which the chief character has a disastrous fate. Many Greek dramas fall under theatrical category of a tragedy due to the tragic events and unhappy ending that cause the downfall of the main character. During the famous play “Antigone” the Greek author Sophocles incorporated several features of a tragedy. These features include a morally significant dilemma and the presence of a tragic hero. Grand debate over which character can hold the title of the tragic hero has discussed in the literally world for ages. A tragic hero can be defined as someone with a substantial personality flaw that causes them to endure great suffering with a reversal of character near the end. Antigone possesses certain traits that could potentially render her the tragic hero but Creon truly embodies all characteristics. Creon is the tragic hero in “Antigone” due to several qualities he displays throughout the play; he can’t accept a diminished view of himself, he endures great suffering and he is enlightened in the end.
Although both sisters have lost their brothers, Antigone is the only one who will go against her king to do what she knows is right. When Antigone asks her sister if she will help her bury their brother Polyneices, Ismene responds with, “We are only women; we cannot fight with men, Antigone! The law is strong; we must give into the law…” (Ismene 774). Naturally, Ismene should be afraid for herself, as well for the safety of her sister because what Antigone is asking of her will mostly likely cause them both to be killed. However, she should be braver like Antigone, and realize that she must do what is morally right for their family, and give her brother the proper burial that he deserves. Afterward, when Antigone has already been captured, Ismene then comes forth to try and share the punishment that has been given to Antigone, but Antigone tells King Creon that she has done nothing. In addition, when Creon asks Ismene if she had anything to do with the crime, and Antigone denies it, Ismene then replies, “But now I know what you meant; and I am here to join you, to take my share of punishment” (Ismene 785). Although now Ismene feels like she needs to stand up to the King and do what is right for her
Antigone’s own excessive pride drives her to her defeat. Her arrogance and strive for self-importance blinds her to the consequences of her actions. Ismene, Antigone’s sister, rejects to take part in the crime leaving Antigone all on her own. Ismeme declares “why rush to extremes? Its madness, madness” (Sophocles 80). Ismene fails to comprehend the logic behind her siste...
In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, the main character uses rhetoric to effectively persuade her audiences to sympathize with her. In the play, Antigone’s brother, Polyneices, dies a traitor to the Theban people. The king, Creon, decrees that no one is to bury the traitor despite the necessity of burial for proper passing into the afterlife. Believing that Creon’s decree is unjust, Antigone buries her brother. When she is brought to the king, Antigone uses this speech in defense of her actions. In the speech, she uses allusion, diction, and particular sentence structure to increase the effectiveness of her argument.
Although Antigone has a bad reputation with Creon, and possibly Ismene, for being insubordinate, she stays true to her values throughout the entire play by following the law of gods, not so that she could appease them, but because she admired its value of honor and respect to loved ones that have passed away. This devotion and determination to give her brother a proper burial shows the true essence of her being: that loyalty to family is in fact hold above all else.
Ismene is a coward and refuses to help her sister because she feared men. This fear propels her to turn her head to the disrespect that is been shown to her brother, Polyneices. Her character is a close representation of the viewpoints of the male gender regarding women. She is subordinate and weak-willed. She refuses to stand up to Creon even though in her heart she knows that his laws are morally wrong.