Antigone Essay Prompts

“Make these excuses, I will heap/ The earth over my brother’s body” (63). Although no one would help her, Antigone took a stand against injustice and honored her brother by burying him, even though Creon said this act would be punishable by death if anyone committed this act of insubordination. Especially in the age that Antigone lived in, it was considered foolish to simply go against a man’s orders, let alone the Kings. Not to mention that Antigone was related to the King, making the situation even worse. She committed a supremely precarious action, especially for a woman. Not only does she bravely follow her morals, but she does a great job of justifying them in her arguments. Antigone was a civil disobedient by disobeying

Antigone’s motivation is love for her family- she puts it above all else. In fact, she is willing to sacrifice her life to defend that love. Antigone goes to great lengths to bury her deceased brother, who according to an edict issued by King Creon, died in dishonor, consequently making it illegal for anyone to bury his body. Through her actions to comply with her motivations, it is revealed that Antigone’s actions are also fueled by her strong beliefs that, first, the gods’ laws

Although he is king the law is still unfair, and that is why it was broken and why it will continue to get broken till it is fixed. Antigone understands she broke that law, and that there are consequences to be made. But she took a chance and now can die knowing that her brother is buried and has died in peace.

It takes a lot of courage to stand up and defend an action or idea that is forbidden by society. This is what Antigone does in Sophocles' story Antigone. She clearly disobeys King Creon's order that no person should bury Antigone's brother, Polynices, which is punishable by penalty of death. In this case, though, is Antigone's decision the correct one? Her actions affect many of her other countrymen negatively; they cause problems within the royal family, disagreement among the people and directly relate to the death of three people including her own.

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.

I’ll do my duty to my brother—and yours as well, if you’re not prepared to. I won’t be caught betraying him,”(pg 256 lines 56-58). Antigone’s motivation is to remain loyal to her family as well as ensure her brother’s peaceful rest in the afterlife, moreover, everything she bases her actions in this play has something to do with a higher power. Before Antigone receives her punishment, Creon questions her, asking if she knew she was breaking a law, and if so, why. She answers, “Yes. Zeus did not announce those laws to me. And Justice living with the gods below sent no such laws for men. I did not think anything which you proclaimed strong enough to let a mortal override the gods and their unwritten and unchanging laws. They’re not just for today or yesterday, but exist forever, and no one knows where they first appeared. So I did not mean to let a fear of any human will lead to my punishment among the gods,”(pgs 271-272 lines 508-518). Antigone does not care about what mortals think because the gods will determine her fate because death is only the beginning, in her eyes. She believes that if the gods wanted to punish her for her actions, they will, but she does not believe they will because she stayed loyal to their

Would you break the law knowing you could get punished for following your beliefs for someone you love, or follow the law knowing you won’t get punished. Well Antigone would follow her beliefs to do to what she think is right. And her sister Ismene would follow the law because she does not want to face the fact that she could be facing death if she gets caught. Antigone says that “But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy.” This shows that Antigone is willing to do anything for her friends and family. She also shows that she is willing to do what is right even if she knows that she will get into a lot of trouble, even if it means death.

     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

Though the choices that Antigone and Creon face in Sophocles’ Antigone differ, their decisions often end up pitted against each other’s, inviting comparison. Since I am juxtaposing the characters’ degrees of rightness, I believe that the rightness of the reasoning, not just their ultimate stances, should be examined. The entirety of his or her argument, not just the conclusion, must be taken into account. I’ll also note that my perspective of rightness could and does conflict with that of the gods in Antigone and Sophocles. Furthermore, “rightness” has an element of nuance to it because of the word’s multiple definitions and their connotations.

These issues are present when she makes the decision bury her deceased brother, Polynices, even though it was against King Creon’s ordinance. Burying her brother shows she clearly chose her own beliefs against human law. This is shown in the quotation “It is not for him to keep me from my own.” (Blondell) This quotation uncovers that Antigone would rather follow her own beliefs that King Creon’s.

Ah, the good fortune of kings, [l]icensed to say and do whatever they please!” (Sophocles 398-402). This quote illustrates how Antigone believes her moral law transcends the importance of Creon’s law. When Antigone bluntly admits her crime, she proves to Creon that her defiance was justified in that she made no error in burying her brother. Thus, she is willing to be incarcerated to prove to the people of Thebes that Creon is an ineffective ruler.

A story written in 441 BC by Sophocles questions whether or not breaking the law to stay true to your family is the right thing to do. The play involves the struggle of a princess, Antigone, trying to bury one of her two dead brothers. One was buried as a war hero while the other was demanded by the King, Creon, not to be put to peace after death because he was a traitor to the kingdom. Antigone will stop at nothing to bury her brother. Antigone makes stronger rhetorical appeals against Creon to justify why she buried her brother. She argues using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos appeals to get her point across.

Her core value of commitment of her loyalty to family is an important value for her to have. She believes that family comes first. “But I will bury him, and if I must die, I say that crime is holy.” “But as for me I will bury the brother I love.” “But I will bury him, and if I must die, I say that crime is holy.” This proves that Antigone is loyal to her family because, no matter the consequence she is determined to bury her brother. This is because to her, her brother deserves to be honored. Antigone puts her family before the law. “But as for me I will bury the brother I love.” This proves that Antigone has a

In contrast to Creon’s opinion that ultimate authority rests with the king, Antigone believes that everyone, even the king, should follow the gods’ laws first. She does not want to betray her brother or “be a traitor…to the gods” by not burying him (line 48). She follows up with this assertion saying, “He [Creon] has no right to keep me from my own” (line 50). These statements demonstrate that her priorities lie first with the gods and second with her family, both of which she places above the authority of the king.

Antigone's sister reminds her she has no power in the law and if she is to be caught burying Polynieces she will be put to death. Being bull headed she does anyway. She was so stubborn that not even her only sister could stop her. After their argument Antigone even asks her sister if she wants to come with because Antigone thinks burying Polynieces is a respectable thing to do, she can not take a hint. And when she goes to defend herself in front of Creon she is so stubborn that she wants everyone to know that she has committed this crime for the gods and does not even defend herself but says she is guilty. This makes Creon even more mad because she knew exactly what she was doing.