Sophocles Antigone: 441-442bc

Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, a writer of close to 123 plays, was written sometime between the years 496-406 B.C.E. A reoccurring theme in this play is the theme of rules. Throughout it’s many lines, a common conflict is portrayed as to whether to follow the rules of the gods, or to follow the rules of the state. Creon, being the King, feels that his say is final and everyone should respect and follow it, thus wishing to follow only the rules of the state. This ultimately leads to Creon ruling as a tyrant and only wishing to follow the irrational rules of man, which he put forth, as opposed to following the more rational rules of the gods. This essay will be discussing why Creon rules as a tyrant and how his excessive pride is what stands in his way of heeding the warnings and pleas of both Teiresias and Chorus before it was too late. Due to his inflated pride, best portrayed in the scene when Teiresias is first introduced, Creon shows how severely his pride gets in the way of his judgment, which ultimately leads to the destruction of everything which makes him happy.

Antigone is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. ONE OF THE three surviving tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Euripides, and one of the great dramatists of world literature, Sophocles spanned in his long life (497-406 B.C.) the cultural flowering of Athens in the fifth century(Segal 1). Antigone is named after the daughter of King Oedipus of Thebes, a young woman who stood against the king’s decision and believed in the gods’ law. There are many arguments regarding who is the real protagonist and antagonist in this play. The protagonist is generally regarded as the good guy and antagonist is the bad guy. Antigone is a protagonist as she is the title character in the

“Your temper terrifies them” (Sophocles 222). In Sophocles’ tragedy “Antigone”, Creon, the obstinate king of Thebes, embodies the stereotypical monarch. Ancient Athens, where Sophocles called home, used plays to educate their audience and persuade them to think a certain way; thus, Sophocles wrote of the struggle between Creon, and his son, Haimon, from the perspective of a member if a democratic government. Sophocles sought to influence his audiences political beliefs by creating the character Creon, the King of Thebes’, whose power hunger and temper makes monarchies appear absurd; however, strengthening stereotypes as a political weapon did not cease in Ancient Greece. In the past century, American screenwriters have

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

Standing for what you believe in and know what's right and wrong is important . In the play, Antigone, Sophocles demonstrates that through the conflict of the character. The play is a well-known tragic drama about the conflict between Antigone and her uncle Creon who is king of Thebes.Both character have different believes, idea and opinions regarding divine law and civil law. In Antigone the author Sophocles demonstrates the how important one's moral beliefs is, through the actions of the characters and how the beliefs impact the outcome of the play.The conflict between civil and divine law through Antigone and Creon, shows the important one's beliefs and how it impacts the outcome of the play. A reader can Identifying which law is more important in the play by looking at how the laws impact the characters and the outcome of the play. Both Antigone and Creon go at it expressing each others believes and whether one is right or wrong.Throughout the play civil law is more significant and powerful.

The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.

Sophocles’ Antigone is a Greek tragedy that transcends 5th century BC Greece due to its complex analysis of justice and integrity. In the case of Antigone and Creon, it is not clear who in the end is suffering from injustice. In Creon’s defense, Antigone is the one committing unjust acts according to Theban law. As the king of Thebes, it

The play Antigone by Sophocles is a play like no other. There are three major themes or ideas which have a very important role in the play. The first major theme is fate, on how the play comes about and the turn of events that come about throughout it. Another main theme or idea is the pride the characters have and their unwillingness they have to change their minds once they are set on something. The last major theme is loyalty and the practical problem of conduct involving which is a higher law between the divine laws and those of the humans. It is an issue of which law is the "right" law, and if Creon and Antigone's acts are justifiable or not. The issues that Antigone and Creon have between them

For one example, Sophocles uses Creon’s actions to create problems that later affect the wellbeing of his people as a whole. The scene where Creon made a decree for Polyneices’ to be “left unburied [and] his body there for birds and dogs to eat”(line 36) contradicts Antigone’s view in which she sees the Polyneices to be a “sweet treasure for the birds to look at, for them to feed on to their heart’s content” (lines 36-37). Creon and Antigone demonstrate polar opposite beliefs, creating a conflict between them about whether or not Polyneices should be buried. Similarly, Antigone’s punishment for burying Polyneices causes a dismantled society in which many of citizens felt that her consequence was not just. Haemon, Antigone’s fiance, and Creon’s son, ends up murdered “by his own hand- angry and his father for for the murder” (line 1310).

In Ancient Greece, new ideals surfaced as answers to life's complicated questions. These new beliefs were centered on the expanding field of science. Man was focused on more than the Gods or heavenly concerns. A government that was ruled by the people was suggested as opposed to a monarchy that had existed for many years. Freedom of religion was encouraged in city-states. These new ideals, though good in intentions, often conflicted with each other creating complex moral dilemmas. Such was the case in Antigone, a play written by Sophocles during this era of change. In the play, Antigone and Creon battle a philosophical war exemplifying the conflict existing in the Greek ideals.

Sophocles extrapolates the Apollonian-Dionysian dichotomy of the cosmic mythology into the societal realm of the tragedy. Through a polis entrenched in Apollonian simplistic uniformity, the opposition precipitated by Antigone underpins the political agon within the tragedy, exposing the instable dichotomy the foundations of democracy and legal justice. Sophocles heightens this by subverting the pluralist origins of democracy into the underlying agon, with Creon’s mechanistic individualistic desire for power manifesting in his attempts to overrule divine justice under the guise of public welfare and Antigone’s psychic collective anarchism under the authority of divine justice (“great unwritten, unshakable traditions”). Although Antigone

In Ancient Greece, as the government turns to democracy, an important political debate arises between two crucial topics, authority and family. If a leader, for example, creates a law to restrict his or her people, but a member of the leader’s family breaks the law, he or she must decide where loyalties lie. Sophocles enters this debate in his play Antigone when Antigone, Creon’s son’s fiancée, breaks a heavily enforced but possibly immoral law. Although Sophocles emphasizes the importance of authority, Antigone illustrates that family is held in higher regard, exhibited through Creon’s tragic downfall.

Unlike most Greek tragedies, Antigone is not essentially about the opposing powers of good and evil. Instead, the play demonstrates the conflict between one’s duty towards their family and their country and social expectations. “Antigone presents a conflict between family loyalty and loyalty to the state, between demands of the state and the will of the individual” (MacKay, 166). The king

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.

Sophocles lived in Athens, the most progressive city-state at the time. Athenian society was ruled by a king who enforced laws interlaced with divine ideals. The king acted as a bridge that conveyed divine ideals and monitored society’s compliance. If a law was broken, a harsh punishment-- often exile -- was to follow. Sophocles wrote the play Antigone in the midst of a revolution in Ancient Greece. Around 500 B.C., radical thinkers sparked a movement that challenged the way government was run (Hammer 109). A change was required after the monarchy became corrupted by tyranny as the king claimed more control and gave less control to the common people and the gods. In order to create a balanced society, the first democracy was created in Athens around 450 B.C. The new system of government did not run smoothly from the start, however. Persons of high status including the king and his nobles wished to continue ruling with absolute power while the radicals fought to end corruption. Many years of tumult would follow as the conflict between divine and human law persisted. Sophocles demonstrates the conflict of divine versus human law in the play Antigone as the characters defy laws that bring upon them serious consequences.