According to German philosopher Hegel, at the center of Sophocles’ Antigone we find not a tragic hero but a tragic collision. However, Antigone and Kreon have different positions on what’s right and what’s wrong. I agree with Hegel because this conflict is not between good and evil but between one-sided positions, each of which embodies some good. Antigone’s obligation to give her brother a suitable burial and King Kreon’s edict that enemies of the state should not be allowed burial are both justified in the play. Antigone believes the laws of the gods and her family, while Kreon believes the laws of men and power to help the city. To begin with, Antigone holds the beliefs that the Gods are higher than any other laws. She feels that the laws of the gods should be obeyed especially with family and being the hero. Antigone was a liberated and outspoken person who went for what she believed in. Thus, when Antigone heard about Polyneices not receiving a burial, Antigone was infuriated and wanted to do something about it. She told Ismene, but she did not have the same reaction. However, Antigone’s strong mind and the laws of the god remind Antigone that she must show respect and love towards her brother and must give him a proper burial, even if she had to rebel against the law of the men. When Ismene said, “We must remember, first, that we two are by nature women and not fit to fight with men” (Sophocles, 61). Antigone responded with, “you, though, if you think it best,
In Sophocles’ piece, King Kreon prohibited the burial of Polynices, Antigone’s brother, because he was seen as a traitor to his country. Antigone blatantly disobeyed King Kreon’s proclamation because she thought that Polynices ought to be buried not only because he was blood- family, but because the gods law states that burial is a necessary ceremony. Her sister, Ismene, tried to warn her of the trouble she could find herself in, if King Kreon finds out that it was Antigone who had buried her brother, the traitor. (Blondell, 21). In addition, Antigone does not hesitate to admit to this illegal deed when the guards catch her in the act (Blondell, 37,38). While she acted out of respect for her brother and the gods, it was selfish in the fact that she was only thinking of herself. She did not hesitate to disregard King Kreon’s law and did not take any factor into consideration. Antigone accepted that her life was the price to pay for her civil disobedience, but her actions also, unintentionally, led to the death of two other people. Although, in the end, King Kreon sees that Antigone was right, the reason for which she had fought, and ultimately lost her life for, had no significant positive effect on anyone else.
Antigone’s self-certainty is one of her mistakes that contribute to her tragic fate. She regards burying dead people as absolute just behavior under any circumstance. This rite is important in Ancient Greek culture, but weather or not gods desire appropriate arrangement of Polyneices’ body is under question. It is Zeus that brings death to Polyneices because
Antigone was willing to follow man’s laws if both of her brothers had not died; she promised she would not do anything to against Creon or the city law. However, after Polyneices and Eteocles killed each other she could not accept the law, established by Creon, which stated that Eteocles would get a proper burial, but Polyneices would be denied one. Antigone testified that this law was totally against the will of the gods. The gods say that if a person is not buried, his soul will wander the earth forever. By burying Polyneices, she believed that the gods do not dictate through a ruler, but rather through individual beliefs; therefore, she could not just sit back and be unconcerned about the improper burial. By committing the act of burying her brother, she believed that a woman's duty was not to the men who rule a domain, but rather to her own instincts and her own sense of right and wrong. It was Antigone’s responsibility to fully respect her brother and the gods, and, thus, she is not
In the play, Antigone written by Sophocles, Kreon and Antigone did not always agree with one another because of their different views and thoughts. However, in some aspects they were also similar. Some characteristics they shared with each other were their arrogant attitude and their devotion to sticking to their beliefs.
Being that Antigone is the protagonist, her character is important in the play. She made the decision to bury her brother knowing that it was against Creon’s law. Ismene refused to help Antigone, which left her angry, yet still determined to bury her brother. She knew that burying her brother could lead to her own death, but she continued to show courage, strength, and determination throughout her role. In the beginning, Antigone says, “Dear god, shout it from the rooftops. I’ll hate you all the more for silence/ tell the world!”(17,100-101). This was said to Ismene, when they were discussing burial plans and Ismene was telling Antigone that she was against the plan. Antigone’s dialogue shows that she is not worried about being punished or worried about who knows what she has done. It is clear that Antigone is sincere about honoring the gods, her actions show that she feels that she is pleasing the gods and that is all that matters to her. “These laws/ I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods.”(30, 509-511). This demonstrates how she feels about man’s law vs. divine law. In the plot, there was not one time where Antigone denied
In the play, Antigone does not respect Creon's laws. Creon decrees that no one shall bury Polyneices but Antigone believes that she has a divine right to bury her brother. She blatantly goes against his decrees but she does it in secret. The gods say that everybody should have a proper burial. That being so, Antigone believes in the divine laws of the gods above any law of the land. Ismene, Antigone’s sister, on the other hand is more cautious. “Antigone. Ismene, I am going to bury him. Will you come? Ismene. Bury him! You have just said the new law forbids it. Antigone. He is my brother. And he is your brother, too. Ismene. But think of the danger! Think what Creon will do! Antigone. Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way.” (Sophocles 651) She does not believe that Creon's laws should not be broken. Even though Polyneices is her brother too, Ismene does not want to disturb anything.
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
In Sophocles’ Antigone, a major conflict arose over Antigone’s and Creon’s beliefs on right and wrong. Antigone stands for the laws of the Gods and family morals. Creon chose to stand for the values of the state and his will to be king. Although one’s decisions appear to be more reasonable and sympathetic than the other, both characters’ decisions in society can be equally validated.
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
After a war between Eteocles and Polyneices, the result is both brothers perishing. Following this, Creon the new king decides Polyneices shall not be buried because he believes he is a traitor just because he wanted a chance at the throne as their late father promised him and Eteocles. Upon hearing this news Antigone doesn’t take well to it and knows she must do something about this. This is because without a proper burial Polyneices will not be able to be rise to the next world and will therefore be stuck and left to rot for the rest of existence, this was her concern. Antigone has to make a decision here between what the law of mankind calls for or the immortal law of all existence that has created the earth and heavens, or more importantly mankind. She takes it upon herself that the better choice is to listen to the gods’ law and bury her brother because that is more important so he can live forever in the world to come. This goes hand and hand to what Saint Augustine says about evil that isn’t caused by god. “On the other
In Antigone, Antigone’s brothers had a fight for who would succeed their father’s position as King of Thebes, but they killed each other. This made Antigone’s uncle, Kreon, the King of Thebes and he declares that Eteocles, one of her brothers, should receive the traditional burying, but the other brother, Polyenes, should be left to be eaten by the wilderness. Kreon makes it a law that he can’t be buried and that he must be left to be eaten. As King of Thebes, Kreon was able to abuse his power and make unethical laws that went against their religion. However, Antigone is against letting her brother be eaten by wild animals and she wants to give him a proper burying. She decides that she is going to give him the proper burying and she tries to convince her sister, Ismene, to help her. When Antigone is trying to convince her sister to help her, she says, “I would not urge you otherwise, nor would it bring me pleasure if you did now wish to act with me. You be as you think best, but I shall bury him. To me it's fine to die performing such a deed” (Page 22, 69-72). This shows that Antigone is going to defy the King’s law and bury her brother as she knows it is the right thing to do even if her sister is against it.
Creon vs. Antigone In the play Antigone written by Sophocles, Antigone’s decision to override her Uncle, Creon’s edict and bury her brother is rational because Antigone believes that he is too proud and arrogant and he is overstepping his boundaries as a leader. Creon doesn’t want anyone to bury Polyneices’ body because he believes that Antigone’s brother, Polyneices was a traitor, and Creon doesn’t believe that a traitor's soul deserves to be put to rest. Antigone goes against Creon’s law because she knows that Polyneices only made a mistake, and deserves to be buried because making mistakes is a part of life.
Antigone wants to be redeemed in the afterlife through her act of burying Polyneices. This is especially clear when she decides that she will bury him and die before she has even appealed to Creon. The only route she can see is one that results in her death. Not until she is directly confronted by her uncle does she attempt to dissuade him from dishonoring Polyneices. Even then, she seems to be simply defending her own actions rather than accusing him of being wrong, as she so adamantly has done with Ismene. He needs to implore her to “Speak!” (166, 442), and when she does, she is flippant and prideful. Antigone only engages in real dialogue with him when he forces her to. This could be interpreted as her simply understanding his position and accepting it, but I find that unlikely. She clearly fundamentally disagrees with him and his interpretation of the gods, but instead of trying to persuade him to recant his decree and bury her brother, she capitalizes on the position she’s in and thrusts herself into martyrdom. Even by the gods’ standards, this does not seem to be justice or “rightness”. Her surface level loyalty to her family may initially appeal, but I find it insincere and not right when I explore it more closely.
Antigone chose to give her brother Polyneices a proper burial even though it was against the king’s law. She tried talking her sister Ismene to join her on her quest because Polyneices was both of their brothers, but Ismene did not want to disobey Kreon’s order (Blondell 19-24). This left Antigone to handle this on her own, which takes a lot of courage and dedication to what she believes in. Antigone went on with her plan to bury Polyneices and his body was eventually found by a guard (Blondell 30). When the guard brought the news to Kreon he was furious and the Chorus had suggested it was a Gods doing, which led me to believe that they did not think anyone one else was willing to risk it all by not listening to their kings orders (Blondell 32). A good lesson to learn from Antigone is that even if you break the law you have to admit your doing especially when you know what you did was morally right and what you stand for as an individual. When Antigone was accused of breaking the law and burying Polyneices she did not even hesitate saying, “I don’t deny it; I admit the deed was mine.” (Blondell 38). She even goes on to tell King Kreon that his choice to not allow the burial of Polyneices is morally wrong and how he is disobeying the God Zeus who is offended by improper treatment of a corpse (Blondell 38). Though Antigone knows the consequence for disobeying the king, she continues to fight for her brother’s honor and makes sure to point out the king’s foolish decision. Even in her last words she questions what kind of men can make suffer and then gives her respects to the town, gods, and rulers.
In the text, Antigone wants to bury her brother, Polynices, after hearing about what occurred with their brother, Eteocles. Polynices and Eteocles had an argument over who should be the king and they ended up slaughtering each other to death in a battle for the throne. Polynices is looked at as a traitor. Antigone did not care and still wanted to bury him. The obstacle in the way her uncle Creon. Creon was the king and he proclaimed that the body of Polynices shall not be buried. Both Antigone and Creon followed separate rules and laws. That causes the difference in viewpoints between the two. With Antigone, she believes that it would be right to bury him, so she did. Once Creon found out, he was very angry. With the body of Polynices being banned due to the proclamation