Antigone, The Universal And Most Heavily On A Hostile Government

Throughout history, scholars, poets, and socialites cite and argue multiple aspects within Sophocles’ plays, which all contain a deluge of sentiments that permeate global society and culture. Riddled with disparate interpretations and theories, Antigone sparks acrimonious debate regarding a plethora of its details, such as characterization, theme, and undertone. Antigone, written by the Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, recounts the events of Oedipus’ daughter, Antigone, following her brothers’ deaths. Sophocles manipulates Antigone’s character to model the loyal, dutiful individual the Greeks idolized in their religion and culture rather than formulating a realistic character who serves herself.

One has the capability to determine from right and wrong and having the determination to stand up for what one believes in, no matter what the price is. In Sophocles’ Antigone, a written dramatic play, Sophocles portrays the theme that at times of one’s life, it is necessary to follow moral law and ignore political law. In the play, a determined and courageous woman named Antigone is loyal to her beloved brother by granting him a proper burial and having to suffer the consequences for revolting. Throughout Antigone, several incidents occurred where the political law was of no importance to the individual. Conflicts between Antigone and Ismene and then with Creon and Antigone are examples of the theme. The theme also ties with the

In the Greek play Antigone writer Sophocles illustrates the clash between the story’s main character Antigone and her powerful uncle, Creon. King Creon of Thebes is an ignorant and oppressive ruler. In the text, there is a prevailing theme of rules and order in which Antigone’s standards of divine justice conflict with Creon’s will as the king. Antigone was not wrong in disobeying Creon, because he was evil and tyrannical. The authors of “Antigone: Kinship, Justice, and the Polis,” and “Assumptions and the Creation of Meaning: Reading Sophocles’ Antigone.” agree with the notion that Antigone performs the role of woman and warrior at once. She does not only what a kinswoman would, but also what a warrior would do.

The play “Antigone” by Sophocles, and translated by Paul Roche, is set in Thebes where Antigone’s uncle, Creon takes control of the throne and leads the fall of Antigone’s family. In battle for the throne, both of Antigone’s brothers die, and while Eteocles is given a burial, burial for Polyneices is refused under the assumption that he was a traitor. The tragic hero demonstrates hamartia and hubris which lead to their downfall. Throughout the play Sophocles proves that Creon is the tragic hero which lets his distrustful and stubborn attitude leave him in sorrow.

Antigone is a play by Sophocles which embellishes the rivalry between Creon who stands for the state values and Antigone who stands for family values, the start at the end of a battle between Polyneices and Eteocles, brothers of Antigone and Ismene. The two siblings kill each other, and this makes Creon new king of Thebes. Moreover, Creon gladdens trueness above anything else, and he cannot stand disloyalty or watch at the state rules being broken mainly by a woman. Contrarily, Antigone cherishes personal conscience and love for her brother which transcends state laws irrespective of any situation that befall her. Antigone’s incredible brevity makes her deserve our admiration for her resolve and determination, (Goheen, Robert F page 45).

Creon is brazenly pompous, informing the Chorus that `I now posses the throne and all its powers' (193), believing that `the ship of state is safe' in his hands if he keeps it protected from traitors, such as Antigone's brother, Polynices. Creon's claim that `whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing' (204-5) is uncompromisingly maintained throughout the play, steadfastly refusing to give in to Antigone's pleas to bury Polynices, believing him a `traitor' (585) of the state, who cannot be given the same funeral rites as his brother, Eteocles, the `patriot' ( 585). Wilkins and Macleod acknowledge that the conflict between a friend/loved and the state was a live issue in the fifth century (31) but Sophocles presents Creon as having no qualms in placing the state over his blood-relatives, inflexibly refusing the burial of his nephew and insisting on sentencing his niece, Antigone. Creon is also clearly power mad, as he unashamedly and autocratically informed his son, Haemon, that `that man the city places in authority, his orders must be obeyed, large and small, right and wrong' (748-751), showing no remorse for wanting all the citizens to obey his law forbidding burial for Polynices. Indeed, Mark Griffith in his book Sophocles Antigone states that `Many have found Kreon to be wholly at fault, his authority illegitimate, his edict impious and foolish, his behaviour and language intemperate and vindictive' (28).

Society is a dynamic force in modern life and civilization. Through collective decisions, society shapes the livelihoods of those who live within it, by those who live within it. This self-sustaining and dynamic exchange is the main focus of the drama Antigone, written c. 440 BC by Sophocles. The play focuses on a what is left of a very dysfunctional royal family who rules over the city-state of Thebes, which is basically the sequel to the story of Oedipus, the famous hero who was cursed to kill his father and marry his mother. In the interactions between these family members, Creon, the now assumed king, Antigone, Haemon, and Ismene and the prophet Teiresias, divisions become clear how each believes society should be run, whether by the institution of the state, the gods themselves, or by reason and democracy. All three arguments give insight into the mechanics of society and eventually convey the thematic convictions of the playwright Sophocles.

Antigone is one of the most revered tragic plays written by Sophocles which revolves around Antigone, the protagonist, who strives to have a proper burial for her brother Polynices despite the king’s strict orders. The play powerfully portrays moral conflicts between the individual, the society, and the divine, subverting the gender norms of its times. Analyzing the portrayal of these conflicts, characters, and the role of the Chorus shaped our

Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone conveys the importance of morality over the rulings of the state through its setting of Ancient Thebes and Antigone’s moral conflict with King Creon’s law. Creon, orders the body

Sophocles’ play Antigone is a story of choices. The story of the play itself takes place in a very short period of time, making the actions or lack thereof increasingly more important. The tragedy from Oedipus and his fateful tale is leaves Thebes with two dead princes and a new king, Creon. Creon’s decision to issue the controversial decree of non burial for Antigone’s brother Polyneices is the spark that sets the entire plot in motion.

Sophocles’ stress on family is exemplified by Antigone’s determination to bury Polyneices according to the laws of the gods and respect for her brother, regardless of what Creon commanded. Antigone balks at Ismene’s lack of enthusiasm

As one of the most famous tragedies ever written, Antigone, by the Greek playwright Sophocles, has received much notoriety as well as much speculation. Set in the city of Thebes after a devastating civil war between the brothers Polyneices and Eteocles, the play begins after the brothers’ deadly struggle for the throne. Polyneices and Eteocles have already caused the undue deaths of one another, and without another man in their immediate family available, their uncle Creon travels to Thebes to seize the ruling position. The conflict occurs when Creon declares that Eteocles, who bravely fought for his city against the invading army, is to have a proper burial afforded all of the rites his noble death deserved, while Polyneices, who led the invading army, is to remain unburied in order to avoid dishonoring his brother’s sacrifice. Their sisters Ismene and Antigone are left to tackle the difficult situation that remains. While Ismene meekly accepts the law that Creon has ordained, Antigone stubbornly defies her uncle by burying Polyneices out of loyalty to her family and respect for divine law. Her actions result in a whole host of sorrowful deaths, her own amongst them, as well as an overwhelming despair from Creon who realized the depth of his unwise decisions far too late. However, despite the numerous amount of years this play has been present in literature, a tragic hero has yet to be determined. In the play Antigone, Antigone and Creon are endowed with a tragic flaw,

The period that Athens’ Sophocles lived in was a time of important changes to the traditional Greek ways of life. The most significant catalyst of change and concern of the period was democracy. From here stems ideas such as the nature, role and respect of and for the gods, and the individual. The drama of Antigone reflects these concerns in the context it was written through various ways.

In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone there are many major political conflicts present. Some of these include the role of women in politics, claims of justice versus claims of the family, individualism versus patriotism, the state versus religion, and obligation to the versus the obligation to ones conscience among others. But the conflict I have chosen to examine is that of the law of the gods or natural law versus the law of humans or the political law. In order to do this I will be focusing on three sections of argument: what occurs in Antigone to prompt this conflict, how Plato would react to and resolve this conflict, and finally how I would evaluate this conflict and work to decipher which

Sophocles’ play, Antigone, presents conflicts such as Antigone vs. Creon and Antigone vs. Ismene. However, there is an overlooked conflict between Creon and his son, Haemon. This father-son conflict stems from the view that a son should be submissive to his father. However, Haemon does not abide his role of being submissive to his father and tries to entangle himself with his father role, which indirectly results in his death. As well through analysis of Creon’s and Haemon’s relationship gives an insight to their fates; and furthermore, sheds light on the underlying issue between democracy and dictatorship in the Greek society.