Similarities Between Antigone And Odysseus

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An extraordinary power is within all of us. When the heart desires something it will push the mind to do whatever it takes to capture it. In Sophocles' Antigone and Homer's Odyssey, Antigone and Odysseus are two characters who were on a divine journey to fulfill their meaning in life. Both featured in Greek plays, Antigone and Odysseus went through a series of challenges. They both struggled in their own right, but no matter what obstacle was in front of them their will forced them to persevere and fight for what they could not live without.
Antigone finds herself in extreme agony when she hears that her ruler, King Creon will not allow the burial of her brother Polyneices. King Creon rules off his principles regarding friendship and loyalty …show more content…

Antigone senses a deeper meaning in the mist of it all and believes that the laws decreed by the gods are stronger than Creon's laws, "They are not merely now: they were, and shall be, Operative for ever, beyond man utterly" (Sophocles 14). Given this, Antigone is driven to bury Polyneices and in the process she disturbs the calm waters of King Creon's sea. When Creon catches Antigone trying to bury Polyneices he strongly rebukes her. Creon's reaction shows his expected anger, "Go join them, then; if you must have your love, Find it in hell!" (Sophocles 17) leaving Antigone feeling hopeless. Antigone becomes isolated in a cave distant from her sister, future husband, and home. To escape reality and to put fate in her own hands, Antigone decides to hang …show more content…

The Odyssey was written most likely between 750 B.C and 650 B.C. The Odyssey was set in Mycenaean Greece during the 12th century which was known as the bronze age. Antigone was written in 441 B.C. and was set in Thebes. Antigone was composed as a tragic, while the Odyssey was an epic. Having said that, the resolution in Antigone was saddening leaving readers in a sense of pity, while the Odyssey had a favorable resolution leaving readers in rejoice. The most glaring difference between the two plays are the main characters, Antigone and Odysseus. Sophocles' Antigone was the first play to feature a heroine who fights against male power. In the Odyssey it is the typical Greek male who presents himself as a warrior with admirable

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    In the play, Antigone, two brothers are killed in battle. One of them, Polyneices, is considered to be a rebel by the new ruler of Thebes, Creon. The corrupt and prideful king, Creon, created an edict that states that nobody could bury Polynices’s body because he was a traitor to Thebes and his family and denies the sanctification and burial of Polyneices's body because of his rebellion and intends to leave him to become the meal of wild animals. Polyneices's sister, Antigone, defies Creon by giving her brother a proper burial, no matter the consequences. Both King and Antigone sought to do what they thought was the right thing to do, even if it was against the law. Though King and Antigone are two completely different people from two completely different times, they were actually quite similar in that they both were minorities at a disadvantage, and lacking power and credibility among those in control. King and Antigone both fought for injustice and what they believed in, however, not necessarily in the same

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    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...

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    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.

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