Theories on Tragedy in Antigone
Many dramatic theorists have documented their opinions of Sophocles' tragic play
Antigone. They have presented their interpretations as to the motives and moral
character of Antigone and Creon. I will attempt to encapsulate the basic logic behind the
arguments of the critics Brian Vickers, A.C. Bradley (who interprets Hegel), and H. D. F.
Kitto, and venture my own humble opinion as to their validity.
Brian Vickers clearly favors the character of Antigone. He challenges Hegel and
Hegel's view that both Creon and Antigone were essentially right in their beliefs. Vickers
sums up Hegel's theories in a single diagram (Vickers 526), showing Creon and Antigone
as forces in
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Oedipus' unyielding quest for the truth fits his self image as a man
of action, the revealer of truth, and the solver of riddles. Knox adds that the hero's
determination to act is "always announced in emphatic, uncompromising terms." (Knox
22). Oedipus proclaims his intention of finding Laius' killers by saying, "Then once more
I must bring what is dark to light." (Sophocles 49). The hero cannot be swayed by threats nor reason; he will not capitulate.
Creon, after being accused by Oedipus of conspiring against the king, retorted, "You do
wrong when you take good men for bad, bad men for good. . . . In time you will know
this well." (Sophocles 58). Oedipus, however, never learns in time; he remains
unchanged. Oedipus, after his terrible self-mutilation, realizes that he treated Creon unjustly:
"Alas, how can I speak to him? What right have I to beg his courtesy whom I deeply
wronged?" (Sophocles 70). But later, Creon has to remind Oedipus that he is no longer
king when he starts issuing imperious commands such as: "But let me go, Creon!"; "Take
pity on them; see, they are only children, friendless except for you."; "Promise me this,
Great Prince, and give me your hand in token of it."; "No! Do not take them from me!"
As the tragedy concludes, the chorus issues its final words: "Pray for no more at all. For what is destined for us, men mortal, there is no escape," demonstrating how justice remains impartial to the prejudice of men; those who make imprudent judgments will ultimately suffer from the consequences of their actions. In Sophocles' Antigone, these prejudices notably surface in the form of paternalism as demonstrated through Creon's government, highlighting the importance of gender roles throughout the play. Therefore, analyzing the motif of gender roles and its effect on the definition of justice through the perspectives of Ismene, Antigone, and Creon enables the audience to understand how Sophocles' macroscopic analogy to humanity's
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
Sophocles, a great tragedian, was the one who gave Greek tragedies their traditional form. An important part of traditional Greek tragedies is the presence of a tragic hero. All tragic heroes should have the characteristics of rank, a tragic flaw, a downfall, and a recognition of mistakes. The seemingly tragic hero is Antigone. She wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though this would be going against Creon, who is her uncle and the king. When Antigone buries Polyneices Creon sentences her to death because of it. In Antigone by Sophocles the tragic hero is not Antigone because she only meets the characteristic of a tragic flaw, hers being pride, but doesn 't meet the other three characteristics of a
Creon has to live with the consequences of his actions. His bad characteristics overcame the good but lost in the end. He
Creon starts off in the play as the king of Thebes, which I found ironic because in Oedipus King he pretty much said he would never want to be king because there is too much
“Tell me briefly—not in some lengthy speech— were you aware there was a proclamation forbidding what you did?” (503-505). The actions, context of Antigone’s words, and also the ideas she proposed, very indepthly contrasted with Creon’s character. Thus resulting in there being a verbal confrontation between the two characters. The conflict between the two caused conflicting motivations such as stubbornness, disrespect, and anger to be projected with Creon’s character. Ultimately, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by portraying that he knew, the decisions he made were of error, and the character interactions advance the plot by causing conflict throughout the play. Creon had also begun to change throughout the play,
Antigone, a Greek a tragedy, is the third of the Three Theban Plays by Sophocles. Throughout the play, readers are introduced to few, but intriguing characters, one being the protagonist of the play, Antigone. Antigone is the tragic hero of Antigone; she presents recognition of the gods, exemplifies good virtues, and possess a fatal flaw, or hamartia. A tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat.
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
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
Pride acts as another major theme; it is what got Creon in this situation in the first place. Creon has too much pride to admit to anyone that maybe he was wrong. Even when he has Antigone he has too much pride to let her go. Creon's own son questions him and he replies, "Am I to stand here and be lectured to by a kid? A man of my experience"(1063)!Creon shows that here he is too proud to change his decision for his own son even if he made the wrong choice. The king's friend the Leader tries to convince Creon to change his mind by telling him "My king, ever since he began I've been debuting in my mind, could this possibly be the work of the gods"(1050). The Leader was trying to tell
Poetics, where he defines what makes a tragic hero. Aristotle suggests that a tragic hero is a
This essay will compare two of the characters in “Antigone”, Antigone and Creon, in an effort to determine the identity of the tragic hero in this tale.
Also, when Creon asks Oedipus the possibility that he is wrong when accusing Tiresias and himself, Oedipus disregards the needs and rights of other people in order to avoid the truth of the suffering that Tiresias has bestowed upon him: “‘What if you’re wholly wrong?’ ‘No matter-I must rule’”. Oedipus became rash and selfish when faced with suffering when he threw away the rights of the citizens for his own self pleasure despite the lack of evidence and reason to do so. Therefore, when Oedipus is faced with suffering, he blames others for his own fate to avoid the truth until it is right in front of him. Therefore, unlike Tiresias and King Laius, Oedipus is more hasty and selfish when faced with suffering.
3. What are the larger issues behind the conflicting positions of both Creon and Antigonê? Is either person or position clearly wrong?
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.