Eteocles and Polyneices, brothers of Ismene and Antigone, are in battle for the reign of Thebes. This is all occurring after their father, Oedipus’s, death. Both brothers die and Creon becomes the new king and decides to Bury Eteocles with honor and leave Polyneices’s, “For fowl to watch, gloating upon their prey!” (Antigone, p. 2) This was a huge thing for Greeks, since they thought that one could not go to the afterlife without being properly buried. Antigone, who feels the same love for both her brothers, decides to bury her Polyneices, even though Creon will put anyone to death that tries to. She tries to get Ismene involved, but she refuses to break Creon’s law. Antigone gets caught in the burying of her brother and Creon sends her to
In the Greek tragic drama, Antigone, by Sophocles Ismene is a foil of her sister. There are many characteristics that exhibit this, such as, Ismene’s lack of courage, how she chooses to follow civil laws over the laws of the gods, and finally, how Ismene cannot stand up for herself. There are many instances in the play where these traits are are exhibited.
In Antigone, it is evident that both Creon and Antigone made mistakes in spite of the fact that they had right intentions. Creon attempts to uphold the law in order to maintain structure and be what he considers to be a just leader, however, Creon’s mindset remains too rigid and his actions don’t adapt in light of the circumstances. Antigone wants to stay loyal to her family and save her brother’s soul, yet she isolates herself and shows disrespect for the law.
Civil Disobedience is an effective method of change that has been used throughout history against unjust laws.
Loyalty to the state should not undermine a person’s loyalty to their gods. When the king challenges or ignores the authority of the gods, he is headed for failure. Sophocles trumpets this message throughout his tragic play, Antigone.
The definition of moral is this: “Concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character.” But, what is right, and what is wrong? Is there a straightforward, universal answer to that? The play Antigone addresses this. The two main characters are both acting upon what they see as morally just and right. However, while they both have the same intentions, their actions conflict heavily, and situate them on opposite sides of a matter. Because of this, there is not a clear good or evil person; almost every aspect of the playwright is up to the reader’s interpretation. But, it is not impossible to make a compromise between two people about their values, even if it seems the values could not be more
Martin Luther King once stated in "The Letter from Birmingham Jail", "Any individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment to arouse the conscience of the community over it injustice is in reality, expressing the highest respect for the law" (King 411). King meant that, if anyone feels a law is unjust and needed to expose its injustice, should willingly accept any penalty that comes in their way to help arouse people 's conscience in changing that law. In “The Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King explains the four powerful steps of the nonviolent campaign he used to protest against racial injustice for African-Americans
It is well known that for much of history, females have been largely oppressed and given few rights, unlike the male gender. Traditionally, a women’s role in society was to be a submissive housewife and to raise children. In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, a young woman goes against the law to give her dead brother a proper burial, defying the typical role expected of a female during this time period. Antigone can be seen as a role model for women because she knows her own mind, stands up to her uncle, and sacrifices herself for someone she loves.
Polynices and Eteocles killed each other in battle for control over Thebes, leaving the city to the new King, Creon Jocasta’s brother and Antigone’s uncle. Because of the actions that Polynices took during the war, Creon labels him a traitor and halts any burial process, leaving his body for the animals (222-234). This law, by King Creon unhinged Antigone’s wrath and sorrow about the situation. Antigone’s tries to get her sister to consider helping her in the inception of the first episode, but Ismene tells her sister that it’s better off if they don’t end up the same as their brothers and father (Lines 60-81). That means if Antigone still wanted to proceed, it was going to be alone. Due to the fact that in Greek mythology, their belief was that the dead
The objective for the feminist movement is to find equality between the sexes. Since the start of this movement, women have acquired the right to vote and have become big competition for males throughout the workplaces. Even though the feminist movement has been big throughout the past 200 years, there are lots of examples in history that show characteristics of feminism. One of those examples is that show characteristics of feminism. One of those examples is the book Antigone by Sophocles.
Gender roles play a significant part through ought the play Antigone due to the fact that men are treated on a higher scale than women. Sophocles portrays women as people with no rights nor freedom. Antigone is on a destiny for burial rights of her brother Polyneicis. Gender roles are expressed throughout the play Antigone by disrespecting women and men having power and freedom.
The roles and social status of women in ancient times are being described by many well-known playwrights and poets. Yet, different works shows different opinions towards “women power”. In this essay, I am going to compare Homer’s Iliad and The Code of Hammurabi along with Sophocles’ Antigone.
In Antigone, there was two brothers who shared being the King and one of the brothers, Polynices, wanted to start a war with the kingdom because he wanted to be the main ruler. Polynices and his brother Eteocles fight and they both end up killing each other. Their Uncle Creon, who takes position as King when they are both killed, decides that only Eteocles will have a proper burial and Polynices will be left to rot. Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles sister, thinks that Creon’s decision is unfair and takes upon herself to give Polynices a proper burial. When their other sister Ismene finds out, she is stuck between helping her sister bury their brother and following Creon’s demands. Ismene is very different from her sister Antigone. Antigone
Sophocles’ Antigone, is a classic Athenian Greek play that discusses questions about the importance of following the law when one does not agree with it, and whether divine laws or man-made laws have more importance in society. While these themes are worth exploring, another interesting aspect of the play is the cruel treatment and punishment of the title character, Antigone, by her uncle and future father-in-law Creon, the king of Thebes. Creon’s harsh punishment, a parallel to the treatment of women in Greek society, can be seen in many of the dialogues of the play.
Aristophanes and Sophocles both wrote similar arts that have been studied over the years. Antigone by Sophocles and Lysistrata by Aristophanes are two works of art that have many differences but they both assess an important point at the end. Out of all the differences between both of these plays, the one I consider most important is how each play ends according to the type of style it is. Even though the main characters of both of these plays were women, in Lysistrata, both the women and (eventually at the end) the men praise her for her beliefs, while in Antigone, almost everyone goes against what she feels is right which results in her death. The reason why this difference between Antigone (tragedy) and Lysistrata (comedy) is most important