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Summary of antigone by sophocles
The antigone compare sophocles
Philosophy of sophocles' antigone
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Antigone Dilemma The play Antigone, written by Sophocles in 442 B.C.E, follows the protagonist Antigone as she defies her king’s rules to bury her dead brother. Antigone’s two brothers had struggled over who should rule the kingdom and sit on the throne. The two could not agree with one another on who should rule the kingdom. This feud leads to the two brothers attacking one another with their armies and killing one another. Because one of the brothers went to a neighboring city and recruited foreign soldiers to attack the kingdom he was labeled a traitor. Since the two brothers had died the crown fell to their uncle Creon. Once made King the uncle named one of his nephews a traitor and decided that he would not be allowed a proper burial. …show more content…
She was caught burying her brother and the King sentenced her and her sister to death. This action is what had started the main dilemma in the play. The dilemma is a question of morality versus legality between Antigone and Creon’s viewpoints. Antigone believed that her brother deserved a proper burial and must do whatever she can to make this happen. Although she directly defied the King’s rules she did what she had to anyway, despite the consequences that she knew would follow. The king on the other hand, believed he must be strict and stick to his rules. In order to gain the citizen’s respect and obedience he believes that he must punish his niece for defying him. Antigone believed in the importance of moral responsibilities while Creon believed in the significance of authority. The two truly believed that they each were correct in their thinking. Neither side wanted to even consider the other. This dilemma between the two varying ideas of what is right and what is wrong causes a grey area between right and wrong. How can one decide who is more “right” if they both believe that they are doing the correct thing? This can be a very difficult concept to decide on who has the “right” idea on what …show more content…
Antigone just wanted her brother to be respected and to receive a good afterlife. She believed that her moral responsibilities outweigh the consequences that may arise from her actions. King Creon saw things differently than Antigone. He believed that he should be very strict towards people he views as traitors that defy his rules. He believed that in order to be a good ruler he must enforce rules and make just punishments to keep his subjects respecting him. Creon thought that having strong authority and leadership were more important than showing understanding and compassion. These two ideas clash and both characters have difficulties seeing one another’s perspectives. I believe that in order to solve this dilemma involving these diverse ideas that King Creon should have listened to other viewpoints than just his own. Antigone had told him that she believed that what she did was morally correct in her eyes. The two should have respected one another’s viewpoints and come to an agreement on a punishment that would have been more fair. Creon should have also listened to his son’s judgement instead of just his own. His son wanted Antigone to be respected and treated more fairly. King Creon was so blinded by his power and his own ideas that he had forgotten how to listen to others and value outside opinions. If he would have listened to other ideas this whole tragedy
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.
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.
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...
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
Within these lines, Antigone reveals that she holds herself sanctimonious over her king by admitting his punishment is “nothing” compared to the “agony” she will face if she leaves her brother unburied. She also conveys a nonchalant attitude towards the repercussions of her action when she mocks Creon accusing him of being a “fool.” Although Antigone is aware that others such as her sister, Ismene and her fiancée, Haemon—the son of Creon, may suffer because of her act of civil disobedience, she is unwilling to abandon her protest to negotiate in a peaceful manner. This conduct implies that she does not completely comprehend the seriousness of her action or understand the weight of her crime rendering her approach inconsistent with King’s theory.
Antigone’s strength allows her to defend her brother’s honor against Creon, who wants to make a statement about traitors. However, both Antigone and King Creon commit faults while trying to protect the things they love. Antigone should not have died for her beliefs as it puts her loved ones and community in danger, and Creon should not have forbidden the burial of Polyneices as it angers the Gods and causes him great suffering in the end.
The main source of conflict between Antigone and Creon is the issue of the burial of Antigone’s dead brother. Both of her brothers were killed in battle, however one brother fought against their home city and was considered a traitor. Creon issued a law that whoever tries to bury this man will be put to death. Antigone is very upset because her one brother is graced with all the rites of a hero while the other is disgraced.
Personally I partially agree with Hegel a German philosopher’s view that Antigone is a battle between right and right. Antigone is fighting to be able to properly bury her brother, and Creon is trying to make sure traitors like Polynices are not rewarded for their behaviour. Both Creon and Antigone’s arguments come from justified ideas. With Antigone’s parents both “lost in the halls of Death” (1003), she could never have another brother and she felt it was necessary to be able to mourn one of her only brothers and to “honour [him]” (993) like she had the rest of her family. Her choice is justified if the fact that she believes that “Death longs for the same rites for all”; as well she followed the ultimate will of the Gods who are extremely
Antigone had good reasons for her actions. She did obey the rules of her gods, which were that any dead body must be given a proper burial, with libatations. This would prevent the soul from being lost between worlds forever, along with wine as an offering to the gods (page 518- side note). Nor could Antigone let Creon's edicts go against her morals (lines 392-394). She chooses to share her love, not her hate (line 443). She couldn't bare to see one family member be chosen over the other because of what a king had decided was right, which she contravened. Why condemn somebody who stood up for what they believed in and is now dead for it anyway? Bringing homage to the family was very important to Antigone (line 422-423).
Antigone thought at first that her actions were justified and righteous when it came to the question of morals and ethics. Creon was not at all different, believing that his way was the "right" way, or the way the "Gods" would have chosen. Both realized the mistake they made, and regretted it later, when it was too late.
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
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 is a Greek tragedy about a young lady named Antigone who tries to save the justice of her died brother by giving him a proper funeral after he passes away. Antigone’s uncle, Creon, also known as the new king of Thebes, writes a new law stating anyone who dishonors the city of Thebes will no longer be allowed a burial in his honor. Antigone does not believe it is fair for her brother Eteocles to have a burial in his honor while Polyneices is left for the birds and other wild animals to eat his dead body. Through motivation, love, and determination Antigone fights against Creon and buries her brother Polyneices. We see a few minor themes throughout Antigone such as determination, power, and mortality; however we also see one main theme, human law versus divine law. While Antigone believes it is the god’s
Antigone firmly believed that Divine law was far more superior to Civil Law in all respects. To her, the gods determined her fate completely. Obeying the gods was more crucial to obeying the government. "I know I am pleasing those I should please most." (Line 103) She chose to bury her brother Polynieces, though she knew that in doing so she would face her own certain death because King Creon forbid it. According to the Divine law, the dead need to have a proper burial in order to make the journey to the underworld. Antigone would not let her brother go without it. Antigone said of Creon, "It is not for him to keep me from my own." (Line 54) Antigone is proud of her acti...
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