The story of Antigone is basically a Greek mythology, which deals with how a sister deals with the politics of her country and to what limits she is willing to go to, just so that she could bury her brother with honor and dignity. Polynices is the brother of Antigone and he had died in a battle. Anyone who died in battle deserves a proper burial, but Polynices was denied of this privilege since he was viewed as a traitor to the city of Thebes and the law stated that the mourning or burial of a traitor is deemed severely punishable. Antigone, the sister of Polynices is bent on making sure that her brother gets the proper respect that he deserves, since he had fought for the Greek army and had paid a major contribution to the nation. Jocasta …show more content…
Lines, as the main theme of the legend, in her view, pertains to the fact that Antigone is the platform Sophocles took in order to inform us that ego and self-pride will almost always lead to one’s downfall. Our society is surrounded by rules and traditions and we have been following such traditions all of our lives. Seldom they are challenged, and if they even are challenged, they are only slightly altered. In a society as diverse as ours, adhering to a certain set rules will certainly lead to conflict among a few sects, so we tried to devise a strategy in order to make such protests less violent. The process was called democracy, where law-making decisions would lie in our hands. In reality, the self-centeredness of the government of every country prevents this process from being carried out perfectly. Sophocles might not have politics in mind when he wrote Antigone, but the message delivered applies to a wide audience. His primary focus was only towards family conflicts. Many believe family talks to lie outside politics, but Antigone proves them wrong. Families and clans always seem to argue over politics and as the arguments elongate, more differences seem to be created among the individuals. The stubbornness and egotistic nature of such arguments end up destroying and creating divisions among families, making our already diverse society even more segregated. Antigone decided to challenge the …show more content…
It revolves around politics and how our personal lives are so connected that they can be involved in the decision making process in the government. There are two main themes of the lore and they both lie within the two main characters, Antigone and Creon. Antigone represents the call for the moral duty of all human beings regarding the everyday decision that they make in their lives. She signifies the limits that a person can reach to fight for the right of his or her family member. She is the beacon for vengeance and a symbol of hope for young rebels who want to fight for their rights. Creon represents a different theme for this masterpiece. He represents the call for rules made by immortal beings to govern the lives of the mortals living on earth. His actions and the actions of his supporters are purely influenced by their superstitious views on politics and life in general. In the lore, to commemorate the dead, he does not reason with himself, but instead he looks to his Council and his gods to make the decision for him. He represents the authority and Antigone represents the people’s views on the authority. When these two entities collide, the moral of the story is made even clearer. Two powerful ideologies of equal magnitude must come to a general consensus with one another, otherwise they must face the consequences and perish
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. He sees Polynices as an enemy to the state because he attacked his brother. Creon's first speech, which is dominated by words such as "authority” and "law”, shows the extent to which Creon fixates on government and law as the supreme authority. Between Antigone and Creon there can be no compromise—they both find absolute validity in the respective loyalties they uphold.
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
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.
The character must decide whether or not to allow the employee’s cousin to work in their restaurant. The cousin must provide for his family through the cold winter or they will become homeless. The character also knows that the law requires him to check the citizenship of all employees and forbids him to hire anyone who is in the country illegally.
The play Antigone by Sophocles is about reason and opinion and reveals how people use their voice to be heard. Antigone uses reasoning and opinions to express their moral beliefs and state laws in the play. People manipulate each other by using these terms to get their way by speaking out and standing up for themselves.
Summing up, Antigone decides to express her discontent with what she considers to be the unethical new regime of King Creon by burying her brother's body. By taking this bold step, Antigone shows the strength that an individual’s actions hold in a democracy. Creon, with his stubborn attitude, shows how a democracy where peoples’ voices are not heard can be dysfunctional, and that laws should be made by taking other people into confidence and not on an individual basis. In the end, Antigone resolves to sacrifice her own life in the service of a greater justice. It is this kind of formidable resolve that changes the course of history, and that is something that we can respect equally in the 5th century B.C. and the 21st century A.D.
Antigone has defied the king's edict. However, the edict says that her brother, Polynices, cannot be given a proper burial. The reason given for this is that Polynices is a traitor. Antigone's uncle, Creon, the king, makes this edict after many events happen. Antigone says that she has experienced "no private shame, no public disgrace, nothing" that cannot be experienced (Antigone, p. 658).
Antigone’s first words in Antigone, “My own flesh and blood”, strongly indicates that the play’s concern with family relationships. “I admit I did it. I won’t deny that.”(line 500) Antigone is bold in her defiance, believes firmly that she is right, and at times seems eager to die for the cause of burying her brother. “I have longer to please the dead than please the living herein the kingdom down below I'll lie forever.” (line 90) Antigone believes the burial rituals are the unwritten rules of the gods, and must be obeyed regardless of a ruler's political whims.
This play is ultimately concerned with one person defying another person and paying the price. Antigone went against the law of the land, set by the newly crowned King Creon. Antigone was passionate about doing right by her brother and burying him according to her religious beliefs even though Creon deemed him a traitor and ordered him to be left for the animals to devour. Creon was passionate about being king and making his mark from his new throne. Although they differed in their views, the passion Creon and Antigone shared for those opinions was the same, they were equally passionate about their opposing views. Creon would have found it very difficult to see that he had anything in common with Antigone however as he appears to be in conflict with everyone, in his mind he has to stand alone in his views in order to set himself apart as king. Before he took to the throne Creon took advice from the prophet Tiresias who had so often had been his spiritual and moral compass, and yet in this matter concerning Antigone he will take advice from no one, not from the elders of Thebes, or even his own son Haemon.
Antigone, The Brave 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. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development is three levels consisting of two stages in each. Kohlberg’s Theory explains how a human’s mind morally develops.
In the play, Sophocles examines the nature of Antigone and Creon who have two different views about life, and use those views against one another. Antigone who is depicted as the hero represents the value of family. According to Richard Braun, translator of Sophocles Antigone, Antigone’s public heroism is domestically motivated: “never does [Antigone] give a political explanation of her deed; on the contrary, from the start [Antigone] assumes it is her hereditary duty to bury Polynices, and it is from inherited courage that [Antigone] expects to gain the strength required for the task” (8). Essentially, it is Antigone’s strong perception of family values that drive the instinct to disobey Creon’s orders and to willingly challenge the King’s authority to dictate her role in society.
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone saw her action of burying her brother as a just one. It may not have been just in the eyes of Creon and the people of Thebes, but she was not concerned with the laws that mortals had made. Antigone saw the divine laws of the gods to be much more important than those of mortals. She felt that if she died while upholding the laws of the gods, that her afterlife would be better than if she had not. Our lives on this earth are so short, that to see a good afterlife over the horizon will make people go against the laws of humans.
Antigone and Oedipus, written by Sophocles, are dramatic plays with a tragic ending. The main theme for Antigone is that people sometimes have to learn the hard way from their mistakes. This theme is expressed in the final four lines of the play. They read, There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise. These lines are an important part of the play. They symbolize Creon's bad decisions he made, his defiance to the gods, the punishment he went through because of his edict, and the wisdom he gained because of all his mistakes. "There is no happiness where there is no wisdom" demonstrates how Creon not using wisdom in his decision affected him. By declaring that Polyneices could not have a proper burial, he went against the gods and the other citizens of Thebes's beliefs. This was not a wise decision on his part, and because of it he lost his wife, his son, and his happiness. Creon also defied the laws of the gods. This is what is expressed in the line, "No wisdom but in submission to the gods." In Antigone, the edict and decisions that Creon made demonstrated that his law was more important then the gods laws. His defiance of the laws eventually made him believe, by talking to Teirisias, that something bad would happen to him, so he gave in to his decision.
The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.
The Tragedy of Antigone is not called Creon because Antigone is more important than Creon, she is more controversial, and she is more admirable. Antigone played a bigger role than Creon in that she defied the law and started the whole play’s chain of events, eventually leading to nearly everyone’s death.