Sophocles ' Antigone : The Power Of State And The Rule Of God

Gender and its roles are exposed in the story of Antigone as the central themes. Roles and rules are set and followed by several people in this era, this is appreciated in this text. Ideas of contradiction to these rules were not explored. In Greek mythology, several women held positions of power, but none of these women were human, making the idea of a powerful woman godlike and unattainable, as if to keep woman in their place, which of course, was always under the rule of the superior gender, the male. To challenge a patriarchy with feminism was dangerous, for both sexes were equally protective of it, leaving the challenger desolate in the battle against it. To rely on women to help other women rebel against this social norm was not probable, in the contrary, women held each other accountable for complying to these rules and punished those who didn’t. Women were their gender’s prevalent critics and suppressors, not only because they feared the repercussions, but since they didn’t have the means to rebel against it.

In Sophocles’ Antigone, gender roles are a major conflicting theme throughout the entire play. The setting of the play was written during the Greek mythological days, around 442 B.C. During these days, men were dominant and held all of the power, so women were automatically treated as less. Antigone and Creon portray the conflicting sides between male and female, and Ismene and Haemon portray opposing sides to Antigone and Creon’s actions. Antigone, Ismene, Creon, and Haemon each show differences in behavior due to their sex versus the actions each character chooses to take. Antigone tells Ismene about her plans to bury their brother, Polynices, which is going against Creon’s orders. Antigone and Ismene, have contrasting perspectives on

In the Greek play Antigone writer Sophocles illustrates the clash between the story’s main character Antigone and her powerful uncle, Creon. King Creon of Thebes is an ignorant and oppressive ruler. In the text, there is a prevailing theme of rules and order in which Antigone’s standards of divine justice conflict with Creon’s will as the king. Antigone was not wrong in disobeying Creon, because he was evil and tyrannical. The authors of “Antigone: Kinship, Justice, and the Polis,” and “Assumptions and the Creation of Meaning: Reading Sophocles’ Antigone.” agree with the notion that Antigone performs the role of woman and warrior at once. She does not only what a kinswoman would, but also what a warrior would do.

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.

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

Antigone is the sister of Eteocles and Polyneices. Both Eteocles and Polyneices agree to jointly rule Thebes as mutual kings. After one year, Polynices distrusts his brother, resulting in Polyneices fleeing from Thebes, only to later return with an army. In the battle, both sides are massacred. Eteocles and Polyneices kill one another, consequently giving their power up as king to in Creon, Antigone’s uncle. As acting king, Creon orders that, “Eteocles who died as a man should die, fighting for his country, is to be buried with full military honors, with all the ceremony that is usual when the greatest heros die” (Sophocles, line 160). As for Polyneices, Creon passes a law for Polyneices to be left unburied, to rot for every citizen to witness. Antigone viewed this law as immoral and unjust, for one brother to be buried with military honor and not the other. Antigone, expressing her love for Polynices, rises against Creon's higher authority command

The play entitled Antigone was written by a man named Sophocles, a scholarly author of philosophy and logic. The play Antigone is probably one of the most prominent interpretations of a tragic drama. The two main characters of the play are Antigone and Creon. There is much conflict between Antigone and Creon throughout the play, both of them having their own ideas and opinions regarding divine law versus human law. The theme that I am going to analyze is the conflict of divine law vs. human law. The reason for this is because this theme seems to control the whole play. It is an issue of which law is the "right" law, and if Creon's and Antigone's acts were justifiable.<br><br>The play Antigone can be summarized by the following: King Creon

In Sophocles’s Antigone, we can see that the deeply misogynistic society of ancient Greece has manifested itself into Creon, a despotic ruler, despising dissidents, traitors, and especially women. His hatred of women manifested into several examples of misogyny throughout the play: He assumed that the criminal who buried Polyneices was a man, he looks down on Antigone’s defiance as improper defiance of a mans order by a woman, and he virtually disowns his son Haemon for disagreeing with him and listening to a woman.

Ismene (Antigone’s sister) points out to Antigone, “Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men,” (Sophocles p.646). This strict patriarchy is symbolized by King Creon, who makes a decree that is opposition with the gods and forbids the proper burial of Polynices (Antigone’s brother).

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.

To start, Antigone was written by Sophocles to make the people question their faith in both their religion and their government. Putting a young woman in a position in which she had to choose between staying loyal to her country and staying loyal to the gods, Sophocles showed the men of Athens in their comfortable lives that there wasn’t always a simple solution to all of life’s problems. It is important to note that it was only the men of Athens that were shown because they were the only ones that were able to see this remarkable play because of its depiction of women, specifically through Antigone. In a way, if women had been able to see this play, being

One perspective of oppression in Antigone is demonstrated through the conflict between Creon and Antigone regarding the burial of Polyneices, Antigone’s brother. Creon is the king of Thebes, and constantly has to assert his power, even if it means suppressing others’ opinions. When Antigone disagrees with his decree of allowing the burial of only one of her brothers, she defiantly performs a burial ritual for the other. Creon is outraged and issues the punishment of death upon Antigone, and condemns her sister Ismene for the same crime “for they are but women, and even brave men run when they see death coming” (Sophocles 460-465). It is clear that the main issue is not about Antigone breaking the law; but that she is an inferior woman who is expressing her opinions against someone of a higher standing. Creon oppresses Antigone for her gender and refuses to acknowledge her perspective because he would rather “lose to a man, at least”

For centuries men have been finding ways to gain control over everything and everyone. One group that has been oppressed by men throughout history are women. Men have placed rules and regulations upon women making them seen as unequal and inferior. Was it fear? Was it the hunger for power? Was is the highness of superiority? Whatever the reasons were, men had to be seen as the highest being next to whom they worshiped. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the audience is exposed to the roles of men and women in an ancient Greece society known as Thebes. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society where women had as much freedom as a slave, Sophocles’ main character in the play, Antigone, is an example of a brave, strong-minded woman who goes against the limitations that were unfairly set upon women during that time to do what she believes is right. In this play, gender roles assists in the process of portraying the story since it affects some of the decisions of the characters and helps lead the story into the climax.

Antigone is a play that was written in ancient Greece by the playwright Sophocles. It is the third play in a trilogy of tragedies about the city-state of Thebes, revolving around Oedipus Rex. Antigone starts the day after a civil war fought between the two sons of Oedipus Rex after his death. The civil war ended in death for both brothers, so their uncle, Creon, assumed the role of King of Thebes. The main conflict of the play begins when Creon gives one brother, Eteocles, a burial with honors, but passes a law forbidding a burial for the other brother, Polyneices with the penalty of death. One of the sisters of Eteocles and Polyneices, Antigone disagrees with this law, and decides to bury Polyneices, resulting in Creon sentencing Antigone to death. A conflict emerges between Antigone and Creon, who appear to be opposites. However, despite Antigone and Creon’s different stances on law, they are ultimately more similar than different because of their shared value of loyalty and their shared characteristic, hubris.

The Importance of family and cultural values is proved in the Greek playwright written by Sophocles. Sophocles helped us understand each character as we meet them in the first scene. Antigone, we learn that she is the antagonist as she rebels against her uncle, Creon, and her love of her own blood, and that she is not one to stand down for any man. Antigone, Ismene and Creon are characters that are of discussion in the play of gender roles.