Antigone, by Sophocles

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

Antigone’s words, actions, and ideas contrast with Creon’s character by his downfall because of Antigone braying her brother, Polyneices. Antigone said, “Let that be your excuse. I’m going now to make a burial mound for my dear brother.”(Line’s 99-100) Antigone is the type of person who thinks if one can get buried than the other deserves to be buried right along

Power That Both Corrupts And Metaphorically Blinds The Characters In Antigone. (Themes Of Antigone) (Power). His Knowledge About What He Is Going To Do With Antigone.

To be able to examine Creon and whether or not he has a high or low ethos in Sophocles’ famous play “Antigone”,we must first consider the effectiveness of his or her use of rhetorical devices. Aristotle’s definition of ethos is: “Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible.” In most cases, the play may have begun with Creon having high ethos since he is the king of Thebes and is very mature. For example, when the Chorus quotes, “Such is your pleasure, Creon son of Menoeceus, touching this city’s foes and its friends; and you have power….”(128).

Family is very important and is shown through the many ways in society. That family will often be more important than the authority or law. The tragic Greek play, Antigone written by Sophocles. Within Antigone, Sophocles presents many situations where characters are forced to face their feelings of law or family. Throughout Antigone, Sophocles proves his strong devotion to family, even more. Sophocles presents these through the actions of Antigone, Creon, and Haemon with the choices that they make throughout the play. For instance, Antigone had many chances to obey the law or her own familial bonds. Antigone chooses to obey family, and bury Polynices even though burying breaks Creon's law. Antigone pleads with her sister to help, but when she says no, Antigone responds, “But as for me/ I will bury the brother I love” (Prologue. 192). Antigone was willing to break Creon's authority as a family means much more to her, this presents her as selfless. Along with breaking the law, Antigone also risks execution for that crime. When Antigone learns of her punishment, after Creon discovers, Antigone decides if entombing her brother was worth it. Following Creon's warning, she says, “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” (Scene II. 208). Antigone shows the courage that even death won't scare her from her goals. Antigone chooses family, when in the face of the capital punishment.

The play Antigone by Sophocles shows the events that happens after the Battle Of Thebes and shows the events after Antigone makes the decision to bury her condemned brother. Sophocles presents the main character as a stubborn, rebellious, loyal and family oriented girl who stands for pride, honor and the upkeep of her family. She is faced with an unfair situation when only one of her brothers is buried after a twin death, with a law preventing the burial of another. Her morals influence her decision to go ahead despite of the given predicament that she faces and bury her condemned brother. This shows apart of her character that is very family oriented and loyal to her family and what she believes is right to do. This can be further demonstrated

The play opens with Antigone trying to convince her sister Ismene, during a secret meeting, to help her bury Polyneices ' body, abusing the king’s law as an act of morality and respect for her sibling. In other words, the text depicts Antigone as the rebellious sister making Ismene appear to be more in favor with the kings ruling. Therefore, Ismene, fearful of the death penalty by King Creon, refuses to help her sister and fails at convincing Antigone of abandoning her rebellious plan as well. As Ismene refuses to carryout out the crime, Antigone replies with “Let that be your excuse. I’m going now to make a burial mound for my dear brother” (Johnston 99-100). This is where morals are being portrayed as one would want a proper burial for the loss of a loved one. Antigone has that of a men’s physique despising her self-image and is stubborn towards accepting her girlhood. However, it is understood by the reader that Antigone had always been complex, terrorizing Ismene as a child, always insisting that her sister was beautiful and had a place in acceptance, as for her, she wasn’t destine for such pleasures. By these accusations, the author

“But if I’d allow my mother’s dead son to just lie there, an unburied corpse, then I’d feel distress.” (line 527-530) Antigone feels like her brother deserves to be buried whether Creon agrees or not. Creon does not care that Antigone’s actions were influenced by her want to do the right thing, or the love for her brother. “Who was destroying this country- the other one went down to his death defending it.” Creon blatantly shows that he has picked a brother that did the right thing and a brother that did the wrong thing. The arguing between Creon and Antigone not only advances the plot, but also shows Creon’s unthoughtfulness and unwillingness to try to understand someone else’s point of view.

Antigone’s blinding loyalty to her family and to the gods launches her into Creon’s deathly punishment because she goes against his order—meanwhile upholding the law of the gods—and buries Polynices, emphasizing that, although loyalty is crucial, it can, at times, cloud one’s logical judgement. Her rashness and thoughtlessness comes from her undiscerning loyalty to her family and the divinities, and rage toward Creon for disrespecting the dead, which relates back to the rule of heaven. Upon being questioned by Creon, Antigone replies fearlessly, “That order did not come from God…. / I knew that I should have to die, of course, / With or without your order…. / Only if I had let my mother’s son / Lie there unburied, then I could not have borne it.” (Sophocles 138, 139).

The opening events of the play quickly establish the central conflict. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices must not be given proper burial, and Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insist on the sacredness of family. Whereas Antigone sees no validity in a law that disregards the duty family members owe one another, Creon’s point of view is exactly opposite. He has no use for anyone who places private ties above the common good, as he proclaims firmly to the Chorus and the audience as he revels in his victory over Polynices. Creon’s first speech, which is dominated by words such as “principle,” “law,” “policy,” and “decree,” shows the extent to which Creon fixates on government and law as the

Antigone is placed in a tough situation when her uncle, creates a law that bans the burial of traitors of the state, which is directed towards her brother Polyneices. Antigone, trying to demonstrate her disapproval of the law, decides to bury her brother and tries to convince Ismene, her sister, to help her honor their brother by explaining that “He (Polyneices) is [her] brother and [Creon] has no right to keep her from [burying her brother]” (Antigone 55-59). Shocked that she would break the law, Ismene wonders why “[Antigone would] bury him...when a law forbids the city?” (Antigone 52-53) and reminds her that she “must obey the ones in power” (Antigone 79-80). Antigone justifies defying the law by stating that “even if [she] dies in the act, the death will be a glory” (Antigone 86). Here, Antigone displays nobility when she attempts to give praise to a loved one, despite the fact that her actions will get her in trouble. She believes that it is important to revere all members of her family and isn’t willing to let an unjust law intrude on

Antigone asserts herself to not be perceivably judged for being a woman. The focal point of this play is vigorously highlighted amongst the conflict between masculine and feminine. Creon illustrates as a man of his own power and says, “Whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed--- must be obeyed, in all things, great and small, just and unjust!” (8). Creon shows that he is the king of who is the one in charge who gives orders and expects one to do them immediately. He is inferring this to how Antigone disapproves of any

Antigone is an extremely courageous woman who sticks up for her beliefs. Throughout the whole story, she is fighting for her brother to have a proper burial. She is not afraid of breaking creon’s law. She is more concerned about religious law and the burial of her brother. Her sister Ismene is more worried about following the state law. She doesn’t fight for her brother to be buried. Therefore Antigone steps up on her own to defend her brothers' honor. Creon is very strongly held with his law for polyneices not to be buried. Antigone’s actions make creon infuriated. Antigone recognizes Creons frustration, but does not hesitate to bury her brother. She portrays her determination all throughout the play: “It’s not for him to keep me

When examining the audience’s interpretation of Antigone’s defiance of Creon’s decree, it is first important to understand how the two time periods -modern and ancient Greek- view the role of women in society. Firstly, women in a modern, western society have agency and autonomy over their decisions; whereas in the past women would generally be encouraged to stay at home and become a mother, today they are encouraged to pursue a career, go onto post-secondary education, or run a business,

The story of Antigone and her quest to bury her dead brother involves her, and her king uncle Creon, facing a family flaw that eventually causes both of their downfalls. Antigone consists of a hard-headed niece Antigone, facing her uncle Creon's law to give her brother a proper burial, even though it may risk death. Antigone’s tragic flaw in this play is being stubborn and full of pride, which causes her to be killed in the end. The key aspect of Creon’s tragic flaw is much the same. He refuses to see reason because he is too full of pride to realize what is right and wrong. Sophocles uses Creon and Antigone’s tragic ending to explain how overwhelming pride causes even the strongest of leaders to become blind to any and all reason.