Are Antigone and Creon the Converse of Each Other? Antigone is the antithesis of Creon. The play, Antigone, by Sophocles translated by Paul Roche is a tragedy. It starts off with Antigone telling her sister, Ismene, that Creon, the king and their uncle, has made an edict that their brother, Polyneces, will not receive a proper burial and will be left to be eaten by carrion birds and dogs because he is a traitor. Their other brother Eteocles, will be given a proper burial, as he fought for Thebes. Antigone also tells her sister that she is going to bury him anyway, but Ismene decides not to help, for fear of their place as women. Antigone is caught and sent to a stone tomb to starve to death. Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s betrothed, …show more content…
“But he is my brother still, and yours, though you would have it otherwise, but I shall not abandon him.”(Sophocles 193). Antogone is very dedicated to her brother. Creon however finds Polyneces’s deed unacceptable and that his punishment should stand. “And I find it intolerable the man who puts his country second his friends.”(199). Creon believes patriotism is stronger than friendship or bonds. Creon expresses his disregard of the impact of friendship and bonds many times throughout the play. “Now naturally there is no way to tell the mettle of a man until you’ve seen him govern.”(198). Creon believes that a persons true personality is not revealed until they have ruled over something. Antigone and Creon are both strong willed and will risk their lives and positions to fight for what they feel is right. Both characters also express hubris. Even so Antigone and Creon are completely different because they are fighting for completely different things. Antigone attacks Creon by accusing him of hubris. “I never thought your moral edicts had such force they nullified the laws of heaven.” (210). Antigone strongly disagrees with Creon. Creon is fighting for law and order, and heavily believes that Polyneces should not be buried because he is a traitor. Antigone is fighting for Polyneces to have a proper burial, and for justice and understanding. These two characters conflict in almost everyway imaginable. Antigone thinks death is a
Antigone is a play written by Sophocles and is about a young girl named Antigone who struggles with written laws of her city, Thebes. Her uncle is King Creon and sentences her to death because she decided to bury her brother, Polynices, after it was declared that he deserved no burial. Antigone's sister, Ismene, was too afraid to go along with her. Antigone's fiancé, (who is also
Instead of considering the people's interests, he seeks vengeance towards those who have wounded his pride. In fact, he accuses Teiresias, the most insightful messenger in Sophocles' plays, of yielding to greed for material wealth when Teiresias warns Creon of the consequences of his actions. Creon's decision "to use any legal means...both about the dead and [living]" (168) demonstrates how his appetite for revenge ultimately transforms any of his noble intents to protect Thebes into a mere conflict for power, particularly worsened by Antigone's rebellious actions; instead of trusting the gods to punish Polyneices, he uses his authority to indulge in his vengeance.
When a messenger comes to Creon, bringing the news that Antigone has buried her brother, he begins his arguments why Antigone has broken the law. He begins by stating that a man shows what he is made of by his "skill in rule and law." In other words, the law is everything and as a ruler, he must do everything for his country. He considers Polyneices an enemy of the city and a threat to the security of the city as well. Thus Polyneices will be called a traitor in life and in death and dishonored. The scene when Antigone and Creon face each other is the opportunity for both to defend themselves. Creon questions Antigone. She bases her responses on that the city laws proclaiming her as illegal are not the laws of Zeus or laws proclaimed by gods, but rather, laws made by a man that one day will also die. She will honor her brother's death because this is what the gods have proclaimed for all mankind. (lines 460-463)
Antigone takes place just after a war between Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices. Eteocles fought on the side of Thebes whereas Polynices resembled an invader. Afterwards, Eteocles is buried and seen as honorable. However, Polynices is denied a proper burial because he is considered a traitor to Thebes. In this play, Sophocles uses Antigone and Creon as foils by characterizing Antigone as a martyr and Creon as a tyrant to urge the reader to realize that one’s own morals are more significant than the decrees of any government.
Creon and Antigone also demonstrated a similarity in their loyalty to their own views. They both had different views, but they both remained loyal to them throughout the entire play. Creon and Antigone did not give in to others’ views, but relied on their own for survival. Creon was extremely loyal to his laws that he had made, and Antigone was loyal to her beliefs. Nothing was going to change either of them. When Antigone was brought in by the sentry, Creon was disturbed to find out Antigone was the person burying Polynices. He was extremely upset
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
The first article I read was “Sophocles’ Antigone and the Self-Isolation of the Tragic Hero” by Elizabeth Bobrick. After reading this article I have gained more information on how Antigone and Creon were similar. For example, in the article the author talks about how Antigone and Creon both isolate themselves from their family. It is also mentioned in the article how both Creon and Antigone accuse each other of being wrong which I find ironic because both characters always believed to be right due to their high egos. It is also mentioned that Antigone immediately identifies herself as a hero girl giving more reasons to why she is so egocentric. Creon tries to destroy his Philoi meaning family because he felt dishonored by Antigone who was wanting
Written by the Greek writer Sophocles, the play Antigone continues to touch audiences around the world with themes that are relevant to this day. In the play, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, and his wife Jocasta, is confronted with conflict as both of her brothers had slain each other after Polynices was exiled from Thebes, then marched back to regain his throne. Creon, the now ruler of Thebes, put forth a declaration stating that only Eteocles was to be buried, while Polynices had been barred from burial as he was considered a traitor. During the play, Antigone fights back and forth on her decision of putting the unwritten law of the gods before the law posted Creon. Two important themes that are showcased throughout the story
Even though Antigone exhibits a blamable pride and a hunger for glory, her disobedience is less serious than those of Creon. It is evident that Antigone’s actions are driven by a love for her brother, and a desire to please the gods. While Creon’s actions are
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.
The play,”Antigone”,written by Sophocles and translated by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, is a tragic fictional play about Antigone arguing with Creon about burying Polyneices.However,Creon argues that Polyneices should not be buried because of the acts he did to the city of Thebes.This eventually leads a disunity between Creon and his family and many of them murdered themselves.Both actors bring up good points as to why they should or should not bury Polyneices.Even though Antigone brought up good reasons why to bury Polyneices,I believe Creon’s argument is more convincing that Antigone.Creon, ruler of Thebes, may have been wrong in the beginning, however he argued reasonably unlike Antigone.Antigone argued by using her emotions and morals
Creon meant to clarify to his son that anyone who commits a crime should be punished - even if the criminal is a member of one's family. Creon's doctrine says that once the state decides something, the law applies to everybody. Therefore, he sees no alternative other than to leave the body unburied for the state. Creon would do anything for the sake of the community whereas Antigone is devoted to her family. The situations mentioned above create tensions in the play because Antigone and Creon are bi-polar in their beliefs.
The play Antigone, written by Sophocles is the last book of his trilogy called The Oedipus Play of Sophocle. Antigone take places in the city of Thebes, the play open “some days later” there have been an edict by King Creon regarding the burials of Eteocles and Polyneices; Eteocles, will get a proper burial for defending the senate, Polyneices will not. The King Creon had declared Polyneice is a traitor and forbid anyone in the city to bury him. Here where we are being presented with the main characters of this story Antigone and Ismene; the two
In the beginning of the play, Antigone was angry at Creon for not giving her brother Polyneices a proper burial like her other brother, Eteocles had. Creon’s reason to not wanting to give Polyneices a proper burial was because Polyneices had attacked and brought enemies to the city of Thebes. Creon believed that it was his duty to protect his people and city. He believed he must be loyal to his people. When Polyneices decided to attack Thebes, Creon felt betrayed. He didn’t like that Polyneices went against him which is why he didn’t think Polyneices should have been buried. However, Antigone decided to bury Polyneices herself knowing the risks and consequences that could happen after. She was very stubborn and knew that her punishment would be death. She accepted the fact that what she was doing was wrong. Creon later found out that Polyneices was buried by Antigone and he was furious that she went against his
Antigone is a play that’s part of a series of plays called ‘Oedipus Rex’, written by Greek philosopher and playwright Sophocles. This play in particular, being about Oedipus’ daughters, Antigone and Ismene. Antigone and Ismene used to have brothers, but both of them died in a war. But, as it turns out one of their brothers wasn’t buried because Creon (the king of Thebes) saw him as a traitor. Antigone then goes and attempts to bury his brother but is caught by Creon’s guards, and this causes Creon to get so angry, he is willing to execute Antigone. This causes multiple problems in Thebes, as people start taking sides with Antigone. The play ends with Haemon (Creon’s son) and Creon’s wife to die, causing great grief in Creon.