In Antigone we enter the final part of a trilogy collectively referred to as the Theban Plays. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, the unfortunate namesake of the complex (supposedly issuing from the repression of urges that he so infamously, if unwittingly, acted out). Oedipus transgressed some of the most universal taboos; he committed patricide and committed incest by sleeping with his own mother. Antigone is the product of that “unholy” union. Just before the action of Antigone, in Oedipus at Colonus, after the death of Oedipus, a conflict had broken out between his sons Eteocles and Polyneices (“The Internet Classics Archive | Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles.").
This conflict turned deadly and Eteocles proved victorious. The recently
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Burying a living person and leaving the dead unburied was a frightening inversion that can to some extend be resurrected by etymology: Many words for “human” are etymologically related to “the earth” (the etymon of human is humus, or earth in Latin – just as “adam” is derived from “adamah” meaning ground in Hebrew) ("Human" | Online Etymology Dictionary.). It should be remembered that the earliest known civilizations distinguished themselves by creating religious sites related to burial – these sites are often the earliest evidence of civilized architecture, close to the root of civilization. To these cultures, ritualized burial (honoring the dead) was of evident importance. The living were considered “sons of the earth” - i.e. progeny of the dead. Reversing the relation between the living and the dead thus represented an act so contrary to civilization that it threatened to overthrow it at its foundation. Thus Creon’s actions were an intimation of absolute chaos, to the Ancient Greeks, perhaps even surpassing the transgressions of Oedipus. While Creon’s behavior might be abhorrent today, the significance of his actions could be lost on a modern audience that has largely forgotten the terrors that loomed so large in the Greek …show more content…
Web. 7 Dec. 2014. <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=human>.
"The Internet Classics Archive | Antigone by Sophocles." The Internet Classics Archive | Antigone by Sophocles. Web. 7 Dec. 2014. <http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html>.
"The Internet Classics Archive | Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles." The Internet Classics Archive | Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles. Web. 7 Dec. 2014. <http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/colonus.html>.
"The Internet Classics Archive | The Iliad by Homer." The Internet Classics Archive | The Iliad by Homer. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Antigone’s two contradictory roles, as a sister to Polynices and as a female of Thebes, gives rise to her problem. It can be argued that it is not Antigone that enforced this impact. Antigone not unfairly declares that ruler has no right to keep her distant from her own brother and she was simply satisfying her ordinary responsibility by providing Polynices some resemblance of
Sophocles. Antigone. Taken from Abcarian and Koltz, "Literature: Reading and Writing the Human Experience." St. Martins Press. 1998.
Oedipus accidentally killed his father and married his mother. Because of that act, Oedipus ended up cursing his family and died a horrible death. After his death, his sons inherited his kingdom and in a power struggle ended up killing each other. One of the sons, Polynices attacked the city to try and claim power from his brother. But since both of the brothers died and the city was not taken Polynices was labeled as a traitor whereas the other brother who died defending the city was celebrated as a hero. Creon decreed at the beginning of the play Antigone that no one was to bury the body of traitorous Polynices. Antigone felt that it was here responsibility to bury the body because he was still a member of her family. This led to a huge argument with Creon who felt he shouldn’t be crossed because he was the leader of the state. Eventually both Creon and Antigone are destroyed by the gods (and by each other) through their own actions.
Segal, Charles Paul. "Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone." In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Sophocles. "Antigone." The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Knox and Mack. New York: Norton, 1995.
Sophocles. Antigone. The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1984
Antigone and her family have suffered many things. It all began with her father, Oedipus. Oedipus has a very confused life. He ends up killing his father, the king of Thebes, while he believes his father is someone else. He ends up as the king of Thebes and married to his mother, Jocasta.
In the following paper, I plan to discuss the source of conflict between the title characters of Antigone and Creon in Sophocles’ “Antigone”. I also plan to discuss how each character justifies his or her actions and what arguments they give for their justifications. I will also write about the strengths and weaknesses of these arguments. The final points I try to make are about who Sophocles thinks is right and who I think is right.
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 1902.
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.
Sophocles. The Oedipus Cycle. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Harvest/HBJ-Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1939.
Oedipus at Colonus In the short story Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles, we see our once valiant and heroic antagonist Oedipus reverse his entire character. At the end of Oedipus the King and the beginning of this story, we learn that Oedipus has been reduced to a lowly, blind peasant who has been exiled from Thebes and lives his life wandering the grounds of Greece. As he came to the city of Colonus, he ended his journey and realized he was meant to find his death there. Accompanied by his daughters, Antigone and Ismene, he reaches out to Theseus (King of Colonus) for assistance regarding his inevitable fate.
Another role this conflict plays in tragedy is one that creates tension in the oikos, as Creon is Antigone’s uncle he is the ruler of the household so he has control over Antigone. Antigone is a very extreme believer of her oikos which was a role given to women in the Athenian age as she gives loyalty to her family and nothing else. She will do anything for her family, which makes her ignore laws of state, values of the city; she is not simply rebellious to Thebes but she is also a member of the family. “These laws-i was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride, and face the retribution of gods. Die I must, I’ve known it all my life-…But if I had allowed my own mother’s son to rot, an unburied corpse-that would have
In Sophocles’ Greek Tragedy, Oedipus at Colonus Oedipus wanders around cities outside of Thebes in hopes of eventually finding a place to die. Since he is blind from stabbing out his eyes in Oedipus the King his daughter Antigone acts as his eyes and guide. They find a grove in in the outskirts of Athens where Oedipus decides he wants to be buried. Ismene, Oedipus’ other daughter, comes bringing news saying that Creon and Oedipus’ son Eteocles, want Oedipus to come back to Thebes because a prophecy says that wherever Oedipus is buried, the city will have good fortune. After Oedipus refuses and he and Creon argue, Creon kidnaps his daughters and leaves. King Theseus finds Antigone and Ismene and brings them back to Colonus. Oedipus’ other