After studying the critical excerpts following Antigone, I found two to be beneficial to the understanding Antigone. When first reading this play I found I could relate to Antigone and the way she stood up for what she believes in. Going against any King during this time, and facing death, to act upon what she believed to be right was pure admiration in my eyes. There was one part of the play, however, that I had a little trouble relating to Antigone. Before she is led to the tomb of her death, Creon and Antigone have one final conversation where Antigone is explaining her reasoning for the defiance of her king’s laws. She speaks as if speaking to her dead brother Polyneices saying, “Had I been a mother of children, and my husband been dead and rotten, I would not have taken this weary task upon me against the will of the city” (Sophocles 1587). I believed Antigone to have stood up for the rights of what was right by burying her brother with the sacred ash and water, as any blood relative would in my opinion do for another; however, if this were the case then why would she have not done for her children or her beloved husband what she fought so hard to do for her brother?
I could not understand why being her brother carries more weight than that of her immediate family, had she one. Bernard Knox, author of “From Introduction to The Three Theban Plays (1982)” states, “And her assertion that she would not have done for her children what she has done for Polyneices is a spectacular betrayal of that fanatical loyalty to blood relationship which she urged on Ismene and defended against Creon, for there is no closer relationship imaginable than that between the mother and the children of her own body” (Knox 1604). As I went ba...
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...fe as life, but only a life trapped in a corpse” (1593). Creon was once a good King to the people. He saved the city of Thebes for the people, and by doing so became King. But now we see what may have curved his mannerisms. By taking the throne, Creon had more power than ever before, and that power caused him to lose his joy for the city and the people and became the ruler we see in the beginning. This explains why he ruled against the burial of Polyneices and decreed death upon those who would go against him. I think Creon feared he would lose his power over the people if he allowed Polyneices to be buried, bringing war to a now peaceful city in part due to Creon. Reading the excerpts at the end of the play has given me a better understanding of why Sophocles wrote the play in the style he did, as well as develop a better understanding of Antigone and Creon.
Antigone is the niece of a king and goes against her uncle’s command when he says that Polyneices isn’t allowed to have a soldier’s burial and his body must be left in the desert to rot. Antigone decides to bury him anyway because she values god’s law of burial over her uncle’s rule. Antigone tells her sister “Ismene, I am going to bury him. Will you come?... He is my brother. And he is your brother, too… Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way” (Sophocles 694). Antigone values her brother over her uncle & she believes in god’s law over Creon’s decision. King values equality and common law. He dictates “It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the
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.
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.
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 her 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.
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, 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
Although Antigone has a bad reputation with Creon, and possibly Ismene, for being insubordinate, she stays true to her values throughout the entire play by following the law of gods, not so that she could appease them, but because she admired its value of honor and respect to loved ones that have passed away. This devotion and determination to give her brother a proper burial shows the true essence of her being: that loyalty to family is in fact hold above all else.
Antigone's loyalty knows no bounds, shes aware that the consequence of her actions is death and yet she commits the crime anyways. Antigone is connected to her brother through more than just simply love, they are connected through blood. Since most of her family has already perished, leaving her with little to no one, she feels that she owes it to Polyneices and to the rest of her family to give him a proper burial, so that they may be together in the afterlife. This is important because through her act of loyalty to her brother, Antigone shows readers that loyalty is good but it must stop at a certain point. Antigone is not only loyal to her brother, but she's also loyal to the Gods. While talking to Creon she says, “I did not think your edicts strong enough/To overrule the unwritten unalterable laws/Of God and heaven, you being only a man” (138). Antigone believes that the Gods law is stronger than Creon's and no matter what the consequences are she’ll always stay true to them. Throughout
Antigone holds her love of family, and respect to the dead, elevated beyond the laws of Creon, whom she believes, has no righteous justification to close his eyes to the honor of the deceased. In her determination to fulfill Polynices' rights, she runs directly into Creon's attempts to re-establish order. This leads to encounters of severe conflict between the dissimilarities of the two, creating a situation whereby both Creon and Antigone expose their stubbornness and self will.
Antigone is a strong willed character who is not afraid to defend her beliefs. After learning that Creon has denied Polyneices of a proper burial she uses her free will to decide that she must lay her brother to rest, as she strongly believes he should be honored like the other fallen soldiers. Unable to
The play “Antigone” by Sophocles, details the death of Oedipus’ two sons, Polyneices and Eteocles in a fight for the crown of Thebes. Creon, now the leader of Thebes learns of the battle and decides to give Eteocles a proper burial while Polyneices is forbidden to be buried believing he is a traitor to his city. Antigone, sister of Polyneices and Eteocles, believes her uncle is wrong and begins to challenge his rule resulting in punishment and deaths throughout the play. Creon’s impulsive actions in this play lead to the death of his family, which weighs on his conscience. In the beginning Creon brings along great ideas but is unable to fulfil them when the time comes leading to him ultimately failing at his job of being the King of Thebes
Being a part of a family forces one to have responsibilities and duties that are needed to be fulfilled. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Antigone, Antigone has the responsibility of being loyal to her brother, Polynices. Her intuition and strong will discourages her from listening to the power of the state and to disobey some of her family to respect another part of her family. Her devotion leads to the destruction of Creon and herself, but her role as a part of her family does not stand in her determination to do what she believes to be right. It is for this reason that she is willing to destroy herself and Creon to fulfill her duty to both her immediate family and the Gods above.
blindness, Creon from the play Antigone supports the theme in Sophocles’ play through indirect characterization. Primarily, the whole conflict of Antigone revolved around the decree made by Creon to stop anyone from burying Polynices. Followed by everyone, Creon made the policy with the rule that Polynices received no “grave or any mourning” (Sophocles, Antigone 7).With no burial for Polynices, Antigone set out to bury him herself, which will lead to death of her family because of Creon’s actions. As Creon made the mistake of thinking that his law surpassed the Greek gods’ law of a proper burial, which will lead to the death of his family and the suffering of Thebes. Additionally, another instance happened when Haemon entered the room and started to argue with his father Creon. Filled with emotions of disagreement and anger, Antigone would not “be the only one to die” as Haemon announced his own suicide to Creon (Sophocles, Antigone 19). Haemon said that one more would die referring to himself. However, Creon made the mistake of assuming that it meant him and angrily sent him off to his death, unaware of the rash decision of suicide. In summary, with determined citizens of Thebes that want the burial of Polynices to happen, they called Teiresias to convince Creon to bury Polynices. Prophesying the consequences, Teiresias told Creon that it would not “be long before [Creon’s] house” develop[ed] into a house filled with grief of death
Antigone comes out as the only one in Thebes that will speak up about Polynices burial. Creon has no room in his kingdom for people that put private matters above the other people of the common good. He wants no part of what Antigone is doing t her brother and thinks that what she is doing, she should be put to death for it. “(Chorus) There is a certain reverence for piety. But for him in authority, he cannot see that authority defied; it is own self-willed temper that has destroyed you.” (Sophocles 1587). Creon is used in this play as the bad guy or antagonist. He does not want Antigone’s brother to have the proper burial because he betrayed all the common people when in battle. The twos play use Creon in the same light but with different words and different
Creon had sentenced her to die for her crime of burying the traitor Polynices. Instead of being executed, Antigone makes herself a martyr by committing suicide. Because the gods place such a high value on burying and honoring the death of one’s loved ones, Creon’s order for Polynices not to be buried directly contradicts the gods’ law. Antigone, in standing against Creon, is honoring the gods and her brother. This statement is made clear when Antigone says to Creon: “These laws I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride and face the retribution of the gods.”