Antigone Antigone a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, which expresses how fate and free will can overcome any obstacle, but it also can lead to a catastrophe, as Antigone broke Creon's commandments burying her brother Polynices, which the king Creon had forbidden it as he accused him to be a traitor for turning his army against Thebes. As Creon found out of Antigone’s actions he later locked her into a cave, leading to her death and also Haemon’s and Eurydice’s too both being part of Creon's family. After the death of Eteocles and Polynices, both killed by each other in a battle, Antigone was left with one of them unburied, Polynices had been accused as a traitor by Creon sentencing anyone to death if daring to bury him as his fate was viewed differently “To say that guardian deities would care for this dead body, is intolerable...Or do you see Gods honoring the bad?” ( Sophocles 17). In the other hand Antigone’s beliefs differentiated from Creon’s as she believed in fate and destiny“ Nor justice, dweller with the Nether Gods, gave such law to men; nor did I deem your ordinance of so much binding force, as that mortal man could overbear the unchangeable written code of heavens” (Sophocles 27). …show more content…
These all of them would utter one approval, did not fear seal up their lips” (Sophocles 28) . She believed that the God’s laws were more significant than Creon’s laws , making her act upon her free will which dominated her discarding the consequences she acts and what these would lead to. After Creon finds out about her act he locked her in a cave, later on she committed suicide as she believed that in order to be live in peace and be with her loved ones she needed to ascend to the
The opening events of the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, quickly establish the central conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices, who tried to burn down the temple of gods in Thebes, must not be given proper burial. Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insists on the sacredness of family and a symbolic burial for her brother. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon's point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices.
When Creon decided to forbid the burial of Polynices, as he believed Polynices was a traitor to Thebes, Antigone was outraged. This decision, viewed through the eyes of Creon, was just and fair; on the other hand, Antigone viewed his decision as cruel and selfish, which resulted into a major conflict between these two characters. When Antigone disobeyed his proclamation, Creon became infuriated towards this rebellious act. Those small events within the play expressed Creon as a ruler doing what he believes is right; on the other hand, Antigone’s rebellion expressed otherwise. Antigone was soon shown to cause an evil spark within Creon.
In the play Antigone, created by Sophocles Antigone is a foil to Creon because their personalities contrast. This makes Creon a Tragic Hero because he thinks that he is a god but in reality he is a mortal upsetting the god's and he will eventually meet his demise. At the start of the play the reader is introduced to a character named Creon, who is the king of Thebes, the previous king, Eteocles, was killed by his brother Polyneices. There is a law arranged by Creon, so nobody could bury the body of Polyneices but Antigone, the sister of both Eteocles and Polyneices, wants to bury her brother and is willing to risk her life to bury him. She eventually gets caught and is sentenced to death by Creon.
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 ...
Antigone’s views of divine justice conflict with Creon’s will as head of the state. Two brothers fighting against one another in Thebes’ civil war died while fighting one another for the throne. Creon, who had become the new ruler of Thebes, decided that one brother Eteocles would be honored, while Polyneices would be put through public shame. The body of Polyneices was to not be sanctified by holy rites, but was planned to be left unburied on the battlefield for animals to prey on it. Antigone, the sister of the two brothers wants to properly bury Polyneices’ body, but in doing so she would by defying king Creon’s edict. When Creon’s orders the Sentry to find out who had buried the body of Polyneices, Antigone is found to have buried the body of her dead brother. Since she disobeyed authority, her and her sister are temporarily imprisoned. He then wishes to spare Antigone’s sister Ismene and bury Antigone alive in a cave. To some up the foregoing, in honoring her brother she is performing the role of woman and warrior...
Of the tragic figures in Antigone, Creon is the most obviously evil because his motives are self-serving and his fate the worst. As the play begins, we learn that Antigone has defied Creon's royal decree by performing sacred burial rites for her exiled brother, Polyneices. Polyneices has been declared an enemy of the state by Creon. The sentence for anyone attempting to bury him is death by stoning.
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
His pride and anger becomes an obstacle and he is unable to see things for what they truly are. In an excerpt from the play Creon says, “You say – why it is intolerable – say the gods could have the slightest concern for that corpse… The hero who came to burn their temples ringed with pillars… Exactly when did you last see the gods celebrating traitors (Sophocles 319-327)?” As the uncle of Polynices, Creon is ashamed and hurt that his own nephew dared to raise an army against his own birthplace. This betrayal devastates Creon, which leads to the reader’s revelation of his many flaws and his growing disgust toward others. Joseph Tomain explores whether positive law, embodied by Creon’s policies, is subject to be overridden by some form of higher law, or the God’s will that Antigone tries to obey. In this, he states that there is not a clear answer to which one supersedes the other (Tomain). However it is clear that in the midst of Creon’s hatred, he establishes a law that goes against the will of the gods and leads to the demise of the virtuous Antigone which causes the downfall of other
Antigone, a story written by Sophocles, is about a young woman, Antigone, choosing whether she will not bury her brother, Polyneices, to not break the law or disobey Creon’s law and bury him; however choosing to bury her brother does not derail her moral development.
Polyneices was to be untouched because after ruling Thebes side by side with his brother Etocles, the two brothers fought in war for the thrown. Polyneices gather his own army and fought against his own city. After that he was deemed the title of a traitor and Creon announced his rule about Polyneices, Antigone was caught burying her brother and denied nothing because she believed traitor or not he was still a soldier for Thebes and he was her own blood so she could not sit around and let this happen to her brother.
Antigone did the right thing by defileing Creon's strict orders on burying Polynices because the unalterable laws of the gods and our morals are higher than the blasphemous laws of man. Creon gave strict orders not to bury Polynices because he lead a rebellion, which turned to rout, in Thebes against Creon, their omnipotent king. Antigone could not bare to watch her brother become consumed by vultures' talons and dogs. Creon finds out that somebody buried Polynices' body and sent people out to get the person who preformed the burial. Antigone is guilty and although she is to be wed to Creon's son, Haemon. He sentences her to be put in a cave with food and water and let the gods decide what to do with her. He was warned by a blind profit not to do this, but he chooses to anyway, leaving him with a dead son, a dead wife, and self-imposed exile.
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.
In Antigone, her brother Polynices, turned against his own city by attacking his own brother just so he could become king. On this day, both brothers died. One, Eteocles, was given funeral honors, but the other, Polynices, was not. This decision was made by Creon, Antigone’s uncle and the current King of Thebes. Creon said “He is to have no grave, no burial, no mourning from anyone; it is forbidden.'; (Pg. 432; l. 165) He also announced that anyone who should attempt to bury him would be put to death. After hearing this decision, Antigone said that Creon couldn’t do that and that the Gods would want Polynices to have a proper burial, therefore Antigone promised to her sister Ismene that she would be the one to defy Creon and bury her brother; and she didn’t care if the whole city knew of her plans. After being caught in the act, she was taken to the palace and when asked by Creon why she did it. Knowing the punishment that would come from it, she replied by saying that she didn’t think Creon had the power to overrule the u...
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.
Under Creon’s law, Eteocles will have a proper burial while Polyneices shall remain out on the battlefield due to him siding as a traitor to Thebes. Antigone and her sister Ismene discuss what to do about their brother’s body; Antigone wants to bury Polyneices while Ismene wants to avoid getting into trouble. Eventually, Antigone goes through with her plan, gets caught by a guard, and is taken to Creon and under trial. Through many warnings and pleads from the chorus, his son Haemon, and blind prophet Tiresias, Creon finally decides to release his niece but discovers that she, along with his son, have both killed themselves. Soon his wife Eurydice takes her life too.