Antigone Iriola Analysis

In Sophocles’ piece, King Kreon prohibited the burial of Polynices, Antigone’s brother, because he was seen as a traitor to his country. Antigone blatantly disobeyed King Kreon’s proclamation because she thought that Polynices ought to be buried not only because he was blood- family, but because the gods law states that burial is a necessary ceremony. Her sister, Ismene, tried to warn her of the trouble she could find herself in, if King Kreon finds out that it was Antigone who had buried her brother, the traitor. (Blondell, 21). In addition, Antigone does not hesitate to admit to this illegal deed when the guards catch her in the act (Blondell, 37,38). While she acted out of respect for her brother and the gods, it was selfish in the fact that she was only thinking of herself. She did not hesitate to disregard King Kreon’s law and did not take any factor into consideration. Antigone accepted that her life was the price to pay for her civil disobedience, but her actions also, unintentionally, led to the death of two other people. Although, in the end, King Kreon sees that Antigone was right, the reason for which she had fought, and ultimately lost her life for, had no significant positive effect on anyone else.

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

Antigone face a potential death of being stoned to death for going against her uncle's law, which has never been brought on any woman before. When Antigone buries her brother Polyneices, she jeopardizes her life because the law of Creon goes against the laws of the gods. Her motives for her disobeying actions are religious morals, genuine love, and caution for her country.

The play Antigone revolves around Antigone and how she defies the laws Creon implemented to prevent anyone from burying Polyneices. Did Antigone actually do the right thing to justify her decisions against Creon’s laws, or was Creon’s laws perfectly fine and he was correct in the decisions he made throughout the play. Antigone made the correct choice in burying her brother, because she would rather disobey the laws of a man than rejecting the laws of the gods, and a man in charge isn't always correct especially if they just filled in the shoes of a king. Creon’s laws were very wrong and his jurisdiction over the city was terrible.

Antigone goes against the normal human being at the time who would have just listen to Kreon, but instead she decided to stand up for her family over herself. On line 26 Antigone initially starts to think about why only one of her brothers was buried, “It’s the burial. It’s our brothers: Kreon, honoring one and casting the other out.” This was the first time Antigone got to show what she wanted and how she acted. Since Kreon did not bury Polyneices that broke Antigone’s heart. Her whole family except for Ismene is dead, so she wanted to respect her family first, and respect the dead. When she was brought to Kreon she had no shame, she did not lie, and she was honest with Kreon.

Within the first few hundred lines of Antigone, Sophocles shapes the reader’s perception of Antigone and her philosophical beliefs. When speaking to her sister, Ismene, about her plan to bury their brother, Antigone states “I’ll do what’s honorable, and then I’ll die” (Sophocles, 750). Antigone’s willingness to die for a cause that she feels is honorable and right demonstrates a particular value in regards to her philosophies on right and wrong. Antigone demonstrates that the conflicting nature of her beliefs and the king’s beliefs on the right way to deal with Polyneikes’ death will not hold her back from doing what she believes is right.

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.

In Antigone, Creon’s mind is pulled in two opposite directions: His hubris, and, in contrast, his human duty to the gods. His decision to not follow the gods’ decrees and the consequences of that decision are used by Sophocles to remind the audience to stand with the gods.

Through her refusal to adhere to Creon’s law concerning the burial of her traitorous brother, despite the guaranteed harsh punishment, Antigone demonstrates her stubbornness and inflexible attitude towards her opinions. This is exemplified when Creon threatens death to Antigone, to which she responds “Sooner or later I’ll die anyhow… If I had to live and suffer in the knowledge that Polyneices was lying above ground insulted defiled, that would be worse” (Heaney 30). In this quote, Antigone shows her stubbornness in admitting wrongdoing, when she states how she would rather be dead, than to be alive and know that her opinion will not be followed through on. Although she has noble intentions, Antigone’s unwillingness to accept reality and to instead seek death demonstrates how as a human, Antigone possesses the harmful flaw of being inflexible. While some may make this same argument for Creon, and use his inability to accept Polyneices burial as an example of inflexibility, Creon’s decision is justified, while Antigone’s is irrational and solely based on impulsive feelings. As Antigone worries about a single traitorous brother, Creon must watch out for the stability of his state, and take the necessary actions to make it clear that rebellion is not tolerated. The most significant different between the two is that Creon is capable of second guessing, while Antigone is stuck in her opinion, and would prefer death to being proven wrong.

Antigone essay prompt 1 Rough draft When is it okay to break the law?, the story Antigone by Sophocles is about a girl who struggle over a king`s law to bury her dead brother to please god . King creon stated that the penalty for whom buries polyneices(dead brother) he or she will be “stoning to death in the public square” (PG 190). Ismene sister of Antigone refuses to help, due to her fear of creon law she states that by saying “But you think of the danger”(PG 191). Antigone responds was that she believes that god satisfaction is more important and creon crime is holy “The laws of the Gods mean nothing to you” (PG 192). Subsequently Antigone made her choice to leave and go to bury her dead brother and is ready to suck in the consequences “I'm not afraid of the danger, if it means death”(PG193).

Even after she has performed this deed, Antigone’s personality remains the same. She does not show any change whatsoever when she was punished. Until the end of her life, the readers have no clue on what she

Antigone demonstrates her familial loyalty when Creon puts out the law that only one of Antigone’s brothers should be buried and the other one is to be left to rot. She chose her allegiance to her brother and her family rather than loyality to King Creon. Antigone disobeys Creon's laws and buries Polynices not caring about what Creon said would happen to whoever do this. This action determines her destiny and leads her to be

Sophocles’s Antigone depiction of Creon’s enforcement of the law becomes one of fierce value to himself initially. Creon strictly believes full heartedly that the state must come before raw emotion in that one who merely crosses the figurative line between defying the state must, in turn, pay with physical torture displayed to the public to spread awareness about the dangers of disobeying decrees or laws already in force. Throughout the transpiring events of the story, however, Creon finds himself annulling his original statements of the state not offering an honorable burial due to his input from his family and through the moving delivery provided by Antigone herself saying:

The play Antigone is a tale of a conflict between a girl and a king for the burial of a corps. Creon, the new king of Thebes punishes the corpse of Polyneices to be left unburied. According to Creon, Polyneices is the killer of his own brother, an enemy to Thebes and also to its gods and to his family. Antigone, sister of Polyneices decides to bury the body though King Creon has issued the edict that who buries the corpse will be publicly stoned to death. In the final book of the Iliad, Priam begs Achilles for pity. But in the case of Antigone, she never begs the king for pity. Furthermore, Antigone resists Creon by herself alone. There is no one who helps her to pressure Creon to lighten up his edict or

Not only is Antigone courageous and highly motivated by her morals by standing up for her political and religious beliefs, she also protects her personal ones when she buries her brother. Antigone places family above her own life, and she refuses to let a man stand in her way of maintaining her ideals. She buries Polynices out of her own loyalty to her brother even after her sister, Ismene, refuses. Antigone is cruel to her for not taking part in illegally burying their brother. Instead of being caring and considerate, she becomes irate and at the end of their conversation says, "Go away Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, for your hateful words," Antigone's flaw was her headstrong behavior and her stubbornness, which ultimately brought about her downfall and the downfall of those around her. Her persistence of course, is what forces Antigone to rashly take matters in to her own hands. Creon then decides to take Antigone's life "Away with her at once, and close her up in her rock-vaulted tomb. Leave her and let her die". To everyone's surprise Antigone does not run from her death sentence suggesting a great trait of braveness, which the chorus recognizes before her exodus from life. The notion that a person has no say in the affairs of their loved ones and the fact that those laws were defied deserves