Antigone Essay

Antigone is an honorable character in this story of love and rebellion. The only thing that she does is disobey an order that is unjust and bury the remains of her

The first specification for the tragic hero is one of the few that both Antigone and Creon exhibit; both characters are between the extremes of perfect morality and pure villainy. Antigone’s moral neutrality is illustrated through her noble intentions and the unorthodox way she acts upon them. When she is confronted by Creon and demanded to give an explanation for her disobedience, Antigone says, “For me it was not Zeus who made that order. Nor did that Justice who lives with the gods below mark out such laws to hold among mankind” (Sophocles 207 ll. 450-2). Along with love and loyalty to her brother, Antigone is largely motivated by her desire for justice and appeasement of the gods. While her intentions are noble, Antigone’s actions in the

Full of drama and tragedy, Antigone can be used to relate to current conflicts. One such conflict is that between Haemon and his father Creon. Haemon looks up to Creon with honor and pride, but as conflict arises, that relation is disassociated and new feelings grow. The first conversation between them is what initiates the downfall of their bond. While it seems that Creon is the most important person in Haemon’s life, Antigone is in fact the one that has won Haemon over.

Antigone ignores the idea of civic responsibility and puts her family first. Her family is more important to her than the law because she finds religion more powerful than Creon. “The ancient Greeks were polytheistic, they believed in many different gods and goddesses. The Greeks believed that these gods and goddesses controlled everything, from the waves in the ocean to the winner of a race.” (Richmond)

Antigone too was a hero, however, in a different way. While displayed a message, she did good, and had purpose, it was all slightly different than Gilgamesh. Antigone stood against the King, Creon, her uncle, who ruled tyrannically. With this, her message shared some parallel to Gilgamesh, suggesting that if a Tyrant is in power, change is needed. She criticized her uncle for not being a king of the people, as he made it illegal to bury one of her brothers. Despite Creon being king, she expressed, “But he’s no right to keep me from what’s mine” (Antigone line 60). Antigone actively expresses that being a king does not give one absolute right over every person. Through this, she is able to send the a message that, there are humanly rights one can not

Moreover, Antigone’s ability to follow her own beliefs results into the heroicness and tragic death of Antigone. Antigone is from a royal family and has the power to do what she believes in. She believes in following traditions and exercises that power when she says, “I will bury him, and if I must die, I say that the crime is holy: I shall lie down With him in death, and I shall be as dear To him as he to me” (694). Antigone follows her beliefs in following tradition and by doing what she feels is best. Antigone does this because she knows she is doing the right thing and knows that she will be repaid in some way. Furthermore, Antigone justifies her actions by telling the reasons that motivated her to do it to King Creon. She refuses to give in to the beliefs of King Creon and continues to think her own separate way. Antigone takes a stand to Creon when she says, “ Think Death less than a friend? This death of mine Is of no importance, but if I had left my brother Lying in death unburied, I should have suffered. Now I do not. You smile at me. Ah Creon , Think me a fool, if you like, but it may well be That a fool convicts me of folly” (709). Antigone believes what she is doing is correct and proves that to Creon , but he is still not convinced. It is important for Antigone to do what she believes is so that she will be pleased and satisfied with the outcome. Antigone’s ability to pursue her goals and to what she wants

Her intent was not to cause chaos. Her intent was not to disrespect Creon. She knew the only way her brother could receive respectful passage to an afterlife was if he received proper burial. Her religious beliefs and strong love did not allow her to remain passive and not act to help her brother. Antigone’s moral standards obligated her to betray her country in order to help her brother. For these reasons, Antigone was justified in breaking the law and betraying her country.

Sometimes the law is not on our side and we have to choose whether to abide by the government’s rules, our religious beliefs or our personal morals. In Antigone, Antigone decides to disregard the law and do what she, and the vast majority of the people in the city, believe to be right. From the onset of the play, we are shown that Antigone does not fear authority and is wholeheartedly willing to die for her brother. Antigone says, “At least he is my

Antigone’s determination did not allow her be afraid to face Creon, instead she was courageous when he asked her “I am here to say no to you and die.” (A. 50). Also, Antigone’s determination is what is allowing her to believe that she has done the correct action even if others do not think so or think of her as a foolish woman as she states “think me a fool if you like; but it may well be that a fool convicts me of folly.” (A.49). Although Antigone did not obey Creon’s decree, she was very positive that she would not be called guilty as a traitor since she firmly stated that “no one will ever convict me for a traitor.” (A. 47). Throughout all of this, she remained courageous and determined so in the end she successfully reaches her goal in burying her brother’s body.

The story of Antigone deals with Antigone’s brother who’s body has been left unburied because of crimes against the state. The sight of her brother being unburied drives Antigone to take action against the state and bury her brother regardless of the consequences. The concept of the Greek afterlife was far more important and sacred than living life itself. Everything they did while they were alive was to please the many gods they worshipped. They built temples for their Gods, made statues to symbolize their Gods, and had a different God to explain things that we now say are an act of mother nature. Antigone percieved her actions to be courageous and valid, and Kreone, the King, percieved them as blasphemous. The entire story focuses on

The tragic hero of a story has to have his/her tragic flaw. Creon and Antigone both shared the beliefs of freedom and the protection of personal dignity; those must be their tragic flaws. Creon believed that if he made a direct command he would carry it out all the way and not bend the rules for anyone. That shows how stubborn he was and how heartless and vile he was. Those are the traits of his tragic flaw. Antigone believed that everyone has their equal rights no matter whom they are fighting for, especially if they are part of her family. She would be stubborn and would not bend her ideals for anyone like Creon. She would go as far as it would take for her to get her point across. A tragic hero must realize that he/she has a tragic flaw and must then try to change themselves.

Like Creon, Antigone also never falters in standing up for what she believes in. Although Creon fights for stubborn pride, Antigone is trying to promote what is right and shows her higher reverence for God’s law rather than for Creon’s laws. In the eyes of the townspeople, Chorus, Choragos, and Haimon, Antigone is sacrificing herself to give her brother Polyneices the rightful honors due to the dead. Many side with this brave, honorable girl because she would rather suffer persecution and even death rather than give into Creon’s illogical demands. In the play, the chorus says about her, “You have made your choice, Your death is the doing of your conscious hand”. Antigone knew of the consequences before she acted and in doing so she chose her fate. At the time, she pleaded her sister Ismene to help her bury Polyneices but was rejected. Despite being alone in trying to rebel and perhaps she may have been afraid, Antigone goes out of her way and puts her life on the line to bring her brother respect.

     Antigone's decision to bury her brother caused harm to many people. First, she tried to convince her sister Ismene to help her. She did this by trying to make Ismene feel guilty if she did not; stating it was Ismene's brother too. She says after Ismene tells her she is on a hopeless quest "If you say so, you will make me hate you and the hatred of the dead, by all rights, will haunt you day and night."(Act I: Scene I: Line 57) This threat brings Antigone farther apart from the only living family member that she has left. She has her mind set so much on burying her brother that she will stop at nothing, not even threatening her opposing sister to do it. Since Ismene has been through the same

Antigone wants to be redeemed in the afterlife through her act of burying Polyneices. This is especially clear when she decides that she will bury him and die before she has even appealed to Creon. The only route she can see is one that results in her death. Not until she is directly confronted by her uncle does she attempt to dissuade him from dishonoring Polyneices. Even then, she seems to be simply defending her own actions rather than accusing him of being wrong, as she so adamantly has done with Ismene. He needs to implore her to “Speak!” (166, 442), and when she does, she is flippant and prideful. Antigone only engages in real dialogue with him when he forces her to. This could be interpreted as her simply understanding his position and accepting it, but I find that unlikely. She clearly fundamentally disagrees with him and his interpretation of the gods, but instead of trying to persuade him to recant his decree and bury her brother, she capitalizes on the position she’s in and thrusts herself into martyrdom. Even by the gods’ standards, this does not seem to be justice or “rightness”. Her surface level loyalty to her family may initially appeal, but I find it insincere and not right when I explore it more closely.

Antigone has a possible flaw in that she is too stubborn and persistent to obey Creon’s order; “I know my duty, where true duty lies” (Antigone, 128). Her punishment then encourages feelings of pity from the audience because her deed was honorable and respectful towards her brother Polynices. The chorus supports this view by bidding her a respectful farewell when she is taken away, “But glory and praise go with you lady” (Antigone, 148). Antigone is also very proud, and this may have contributed to her death. Even when she is caught she remains strong and defends herself by claiming that the chorus thinks that her act was honorable, “All these would say that what I did was honorable” (Antigone, 139). This causes Creon to remain angry with Antigone, “you are wrong, none of my subjects think as you do” (Antigone, 140). If she had been more patient and less defensive, Creon may not have been as harsh in the punishment he set for her.