Loyalty In Sophocles Antigone

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

In Antigone, Sophocles introduces the struggle between loyalty to civil law versus familial loyalty and divine law, which is a central conflict in the play. Antigone has a firm belief in upholding family values and honoring the gods and deceased by burying her brother. In contrast, Creon wants to do what is best for the city which is, in his opinion, forbidding the burial of Polynices. Both Antigone and Creon believe that their point of view is more important, and neither is willing to change perspective, causing the chain of destructive events in the plot. Loyalty causes the deadly dispute between Antigone and Creon because of their conflicting perspectives about precedence.

“The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.” - Mario Puzo. The play “Antigone” by Sophocles demonstrates the paramount significance of unconditional love and loyalty to family, including keeping one’s promises. It also implies the lesson of never taking the loved ones in our lives for granted. “Antigone” takes place in Ancient Greece, and is so well told that I felt as if I were experiencing this tale for myself in the city of Thebes. The tragedy focuses on a young girl named Antigone, who has heard the news of her two brothers killing one another in a battle for control of Thebes. Her younger sister, Ismene, however, is a fascinating individual who refuses to help her older sibling give one of

This Sophocles tragedy seemed to touch many readers. This tragedy has made many people in present and antiquity rethink their purpose in life. This story also intended to raise many questions. One question that I will discus is what means more to you, social acceptance or staying true to your beliefs? This classic tragedy that I am referring to is called Antigone. This fascinating story touches many subject of social and religious matter. I will discuss the tragic turmoil of Antigone, her surrounding family, and the social and religious dilemma that Antigone faces that will ultimately decide her fate.

Antigone's tragedy was a story that is unbearable, and horrific when it is fully understood in the sense of the magnitude of all of the factors that came together to form a fragile, problematic situation. The joint murder of her brothers that was committed against each other, they turned against each other, driven by the lust for power and control. An opinion about how and why the conflict began, is that megalomania was an overwhelming aspect of the provocateur. Creon’s choice between honoring one brother and leaving the other to decompose shamefully with no honor at all. The way these enabling events led to the formation of a partially self-detrimental plan by Antigone, who was appalled that a decision such as that could've even been considered, much less imposed. For her to deal with the turn of events in such a quick succession can be seen as cruel and unbearable, which is one of the aspects

Sophocles symbolizes family over authority by using Antigone and Creon to conflict each other's core beliefs, showing that Antigone is willing to die to honor the love for her family, while Creon is willing to kill to honor and enforce his own authority at any cost. As we see in the story, when Antigone's brothers die, she chooses to bury Polyneices even though she knows this will cost her her life. In the play when Antigone tells her sister what she’s going to do, ismene says, ”But think of the danger! Think what Creon will do! ANTIGONE: Creon is not enough to stand in my way” This shows Antigone represents family for the great lengths she will go to to honor her brother. By contrast, Sophocles paints Creon to symbolize authority through murder of his own bloodline. In the play he plans to kill Antigone for choosing her love for her brother over his rule, and so he plans out her execution although she is family to Creon. The Choragos asks Creon “Do you really intend to steal this girl from your son?,” which then he responds by saying “No; Death will do that for me.” Which shows the reader that Creon is unsympathetic to who Antigone is in relation to him. He disregards the importance of family to uphold his authoritative values. By the end of the play the author has shown us Creon has come to realize his ways have cost him his family, and he regrets his decisions.

In the story, Antigone by Sophocle is a Greek tragedy whose characters misfortunes lead to their final deaths. This play is about a royal family’s cured and King Creon’s selfish ways. Antigone is a young royal lady who fights for her beliefs and defies the king’s ruling by burying her dead brother. In the end, to the king’s dismay, finds that all his loved ones, dead. Creon and Antigone differ from each other by how Antigone is loyal, beliefs, and consideration.

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.

Caley 1William CaleyBarnes Dramatic Literature12 January 2018Antigone vs. CreonIn the play “Antigone”, Antigone and Creon can be thought of as a tragic hero. Antigone can be thought of as a tragic hero because she always thought of others before herself. She allowed herself to die because she buried her brother. They both did things they wanted to do and they didn't let anyone stop them. The first thing Creon did in Antigone was declare a harsh law. He declared that Polyneices body will not be buried and left out to rot and anyone who buries it will be stoned to death. First, Creon is the tragic hero in the play “Antigone” because he is a leader and has good reason for his laws and punishments. By the end of

Antigone presents a number of universals in the role of a female, family loyalty vs state loyalty, and man’s laws vs gods’ laws. Ismene’s change of heart is undependable because of her previous stance on the decree created by Creon. Ismene’s original stance on Antigone’s plan of action shows her justifiable fear towards Creon and the power of the man. Ismene’s sisterhood with Antigone is clearly caring and loving when the two first interact in private Ismene states her concern for her sister “ What’s the matter?/Trouble, clearly.

During the time of Ancient Greece, tragic plays were commonly used to deliver a moral message to their audience. Sophocles’ “Antigone” demonstrates the dangers of hubris and the disaster it can cause using the conflict between the two central characters, Antigone and Creon, as the basis of the tragedy. Although they are honourable in their own different ways, Antigone and Creon’s excessive pride contributes as a major factor to the tragedy of the play. This, as well as other factors like the impact of religious and moral beliefs and state laws, and fate, are to blame for the tragic end of the

The Greek tragedy, Antigone, explores a dramatic conflict between the individual and the state. The epicenter of this tragedy revolves around the juxtaposition of Antigone and Creon—symbols of the moral law and the human law. They embody moral arguments that converge in opposition to one another, but since both parties failed to accept each other’s opinion, both were defeated at the end. This ensures no explicit answer on which side should take precedence over the other, making the play ambiguous and open to debate. With this, the Greek playwright Sophocles conveys the message that although people’s ideologies clash, a conflict will remain unresolved when both parties are intolerant of each other’s views.

Even though Antigone has familial love toward her brother, she expresses sympathy toward him. Antigone does this by telling her sister that Creon “Promotes one of them and shames the other” by denying his burial rights (22). In this part of her speech, Antigone chooses her words carefully to describe the situation to her sister and express the sympathy she has for Polyneices, especially when she uses the phrase “shames the other” and “miserable corpse” (22-26). Antigone is sympathetic of her brother Polyneices because he is not given a proper burial and is left to the “vultures, unwept, unburied” like he is forgotten (29). It is also intriguing to see how Antigone’s sympathetic response to the lack of her brother’s burial is actually the familial love she has for him. Because she loves and considers him a part of her family, she is emotionally sorrowful for the way he has been treated.

Sophocles presents Antigone as a strong woman who is both dedicated to her family and her community. Much conflict arises between these two dedications. In this paper, I will give examples of Antigone’s different individual responsibilities and her philosophies and explain how they conflict with the commitment that she is to have to her community and indirectly, her king. Ultimately, I will argue that Sophocles demonstrated his ideas as to what values the Greek community should hold at the most profound level through Antigone’s internal conflicts regarding family, the way of the gods, and doing what is right versus the commitment towards her community.

Sophocles’ Antigone is a Greek tragedy concerning the nature of fraternal and sororal bonds, and to what extent one is bound by them. After Creon declares that Antigone’s late brother Polyneices cannot be buried, Antigone usurps Creon’s authority and buries her brother of her own accord. Ismene attempts to dissuade Antigone, but to no avail. The sisters both mourn for their brother, but the distinction of their actions is drawn along the lines of what each of them holds to be more valuable- the decrees of the living, or the honor of the dead. As the play unfolds, the contrast between the sisters continually grows more and more apparent. Antigone’s loyalty is clearly to her brother; Ismene’s loyalty to her sister is easily drowned out by the