Sophocles' Antigone Essay

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

At the beginning of the play Antigone decides that her morals are more important than civil law. When the play starts off, Antigone’s brothers have just died in battle against each other. One of her brother’s Eteocles has been given full military honors in his burial. While on the other hand, her brother Polyneices has been decreed a traitor. Creon declares that no one is to bury Polyneices or they will be sentenced to death.

In the past empires have crumbled due to tyrants and their pompous self-confidence. Sophocles’ Antigone is set during King Creon’s of Thebes short-lived but revealing rule. In the play, Creon’s niece Antigone upholds a resounding respect for theoi, which contradicts Creon’s interest in social and political order. When Creon announces his decision to ban the burial of traitors, especially Polyneices, he contradicts religious law and his irritates Antigone who intentionally glazes her brother’s corpse with dust. Antigone’s recalcitrance clashes with his inflexible dignity, spurring conflict throughout the play.

Our group; Damian, Isabella, Luke and I chose to do a comedic, reality television series parody of The Real Housewives. Through this style we were able to portray to the audience the key focus, in 'Antigone' by Sophocles being, abuse of power and the idea of family. We chose to use The Real Housewives to deliver these topics because it would be an engaging, comedic approach on simplifying the message behind Sophocles work. We understood the generic conventions of reality television to feature a television episode with real people, not actors with real situations, appear to be unscripted, follow a story, conflict, largely edited for entertainment, include interviews during key situations to see personas view, transition scenes of the show's

These statement is lays broadly on the shoulders of Creon, who throughout the play shows a series of judgment calls that can be questioned. It is shown when he sentences his Antigone to her death, because she stood up for the honor in her family. He also did this so that he doesn’t look like fickle king to his citied and had to stand by his decree. Creon’s judgment in ruling is also shown to be flawed and clouded when the prophet comes to him and addresses him about his decision to put Antigone to death. He says that Creon is wrong and should let Antigone go.

The moral compass of planet Earth intends to point north at all times. This isn’t always the case. People make mistakes, and others immediately judge their decision. Are they right, or are they wrong? If they are right, then perfect -- no harm done. If they are wrong feelings of guilt and shame may overcome. It is at this moment in time where the wrongdoer needs to make a decision in accordance to their actions. In an excerpt from Antigone, by the classic Greek playwright Sophocles, the wise Teiresias observes, “Think: all men make mistakes, But a good man yields when he Knows his course is wrong, And repairs the evil: The only Crime is pride.” Teiresias statement is valid. The time period in which this poem was written does not remove its

Creon is perceived to be the evil of the play, a character who would choose his state over his people despite being a political leader. Aristotle claims that “the true politician seems to have put more effort into virtue than into anything else, since he wants to make the citizens good and law-abiding”(Book 1, Chapter 12). Without deeper thought it may seem at first Creon is a “true politician”. After all, he is only trying to do what he believes is best for the state. His reasoning for exiling Antigone is with his own “good” intention. Aristotle would argue, yes, he is in good authority and power if he did not disregard the words of his people and son. Like Antigone, he is extreme. He does not think about the consequences of his actions, or if the outcome is truly pleasant and will lead to happiness of any character. In fact, Creon puts the state of his authority before any actual other persons. If he was truly a good leader thus possessing right virtue, not only would Creon want to make citizens good, he would do so through actions which are pleasant as stated previously by Aristotle are according to virtue. By these standards, supposed before his change of heart, Creon fails as a true leader of the state. The effort which he puts forth to is instead put into making citizens fear him, to obey him without question in a truly authoritarian state. The judgement of Antigone

The true tragic hero of the play Antigone, by Sophocles, has been a question many people have been asking. Creon, the king of Thebes, gives one of Antigone’s brothers, Eteocles, a proper burial, but leaves her other brother’s, Polyneices, body to be eaten by birds and wild dogs. Because of this decision, he ends up losing his entire family because of his pride, or hubris. Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, does not want her brother’s body to be shamed in such a way, and creates a plan to secretly bury the body against Creon’s orders. She tries to persuade her sister, Ismene, into helping her with the plan, but she refuses to disobey Creon’s law.

"The state approves your caution, the gods my courage." Antigone angrily flung these words at her sister Ismene before she defied the law and buried her brother, Polynices, who had been killed fighting against Thebes. After their father Oedipus fled Thebes, his two sons were to rule jointly. One son, Eteocles claimed the throne as his own and would not yield to his brother, Polynices. Polynices gathered seven armies and attacked Thebes. In the midst of the battle both brothers fell, and Creon, their uncle, claimed the throne. After giving Eteocles a proper burial, Creon decreed that Polynices' body should lie unburied to be devoured by dogs and crows. Oh, Polynices, lying in the dust, unwashed and unclothed, body to be ravaged by beasts and spirit to wander without rest, the curse of your house destroyed you. The sacrilege caused by the desecration of the body led Polynices sister, Antigone, to bury him, and in doing so flout the law and risk death.

The opening events of the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, quickly establish the central conflict between Antigone and Creon. Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices, who tried to burn down the temple of gods in Thebes, must not be given proper burial. Antigone is the only one who will speak against this decree and insists on the sacredness of family and a symbolic burial for her brother. 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. He sees Polynices as an enemy to

In Sophocles’ play “Antigone” she has heard the news that both of her brothers are dead. She has also learned that her brother Polyneices has not had a proper burial. The new King of Thebes, Creon has decreed Polyneices an enemy of the state a traitor. Polyneices and his brother Eteocles fought over the kingdom of Thebes and died at each other’s hand. King Creon wants Polyneices body to go unburied, to rot in the sun for the animals to have their way. Antigone’s asserting the supremacy of divine law buries her brother Polyneices. She is willing to speak out against injustice, not adhering to conventional restrictions and inflicting laws. Antigone’s civil disobedience resembles twenty-century Martin Luther King, Jr., who also stood up for injustice. Antigone’s like King took the law in their hands and because of what they believed went against authority.

Sophocles wrote about kings. Mythological, or at least long dead, the regal protagonists of fraction of Sophocles’ surviving work embody the political realities of the ancients’ time. By examining and analyzing the origins and nature of kingship in Sophocles, one can glean a sliver of insight into a civilization that has all but disappeared. Sophocles’s kings were great human leaders, reaching their position through impressive deeds or standing in the community. Although they wielded great power and were dispensers of justice, ultimately, they answered to the gods and were beholden to divine power. The gods oversaw severe punishments for kings that defied them or proved wanting in any way. Both Oedipus the King and Antigone demonstrate how Sophocles’ kings rose to their position on a meritocratic basis, tasked with dispensing justice and protecting their community, and answered to the gods in the end.

A hero is a person who shows courage or noble qualities in the face of danger. There are many different types of heroes in literature and media such as superheroes saving the world, or an everyday fireman saving a kitten from a tree. Deriving from Greek literature, tragic heroes are common among early literature. Tragic heroes are defined by Aristotle by the following requirements, they must come from royalty and have excessive pride in themselves, create a sense of fear and pity in the audience that comes from unmerited adversity, and lastly, a tragic hero’s own death or great suffering must originate from their own flaws or errors in judgment (“Aristotle & The Elements of Tragedy”). In Sophocles’ play “Antigone”, King Creon fits all the requirements of a tragic hero. Creon believed that his own decisions and rulings would benefit his kingdom for the better. However, his decisions and rulings end up leading to his downfall when Antigone decides to bury her brother, Polynices, which Creon ruled was against the law to do. Being the fair king he is, Creon believed he had no other choice but to punish Antigone for her actions. Creon’s decision to punish Antigone ultimately ends up in tragedy for him.

A play written by Sophocles circa 445 B.C., Antigone, depicts the tragedy of a young woman who stands firm against an obstinate new ruling force-her uncle Creon, in what was right by her family and her gods in antithesis to that which was better for her country. The altercation involves the burial of her brother, Polyneices after staging a coup against his brother’s regime which resulted in both of the brothers’ deaths, in order to protect his soul from the eternal isolation and

To Aristotle, Greek tragedies had a special purpose. In general, he considered poetry to be of higher importance than history, since poetry was able to convey complex ideas and philosophical thought as opposed to simply the retelling of events. For Aristotle, the most important function of tragedy is the feeling an audience gets after they see one of these plays. It is a cathartic experience that is meant to cleanse the audience of their own fears and doubts and ultimately uplifts them and attempts to help them transcend their own issues. The way a tragedy draws on the emotions of the audience is to get them to relate to the tragic hero, and that is why it was so important for a tragedy to have a proper one. Antigone features the perfect example of a hero in a tragedy. In Antigone, King Creon is the tragic hero since he is adherent to a moral mean, he is life-like, he exhibits a tragic quality which results in a plot reversal, and ends in a moment of lament.