Moral Choices Life is full of choices. Sometimes it’s easy for a person to make the right choice, but other times it seems a bit harder. The writer J.K. Rowling once said, “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”. She clearly states that choices are the fundamentals of our future, since our choices are what lead to our actions. Our choices can lead to happiness, sorrow, grief, anxiety or even bravery.
Sophocles’ Antigone is known for being a very politically charged play, staged and restaged during times of political unrest. However, Antigone is not only a play about the politics of the polis and a tyrannical government, but about a young woman who only wanted to do right by her dead brother and give him the rights that he deserved. As Antigone is being sentenced to death, she makes the statement of “I am a stranger!” (Sophocles, 956) because her uncle, the new king of Thebes, and a group of men meant to represent the citizen of Thebes tell her that she is as much an outsider as a slave, and that her behavior is not one that is accepted in Thebes. Moreover, her long family history alienates her from her fellow Thebans, who have not suffered like she had, though a woman born of the gods has experienced a
In the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic story of the bold Antigone who defied her uncle, King Creonʻs, edict by burying her brother, Polyneices, who died attacking the city of Thebes, trying to take the power away from their brother, Eteocles, who refused to share the throne with Polyneices. Even though Antigone knew that going against Creon and burying her brother would not end well for her, she still choose to risk her life to do what is right. After being caught breaking the law, Antigone is appointed to be locked away, isolated in a cave until she dies, but she hangs herself at the end. At the same time, things for Creon are not looking good, as everyone around him seems to be against him in his decision for punishing Antigone. Everyone Creon cares about kills themselves from a curse that is put on Creon for not following the Godsʻ laws.
When people defend what they believe in or who they love that is sacrifice. In order to be certain that her two brothers she loved had a proper burial and that their souls could rest, Antigone sacrificed her life. Regardless of the potential outcome; even if that means that she was going to have to challenge her uncle (King Creon), she plans on pursuing her quest. 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).
Every civilizations in each period of time has had codes of virtue, moral excellence and standard. From The Greeks, to The Romans all the way to Medieval European cultures have expressed these traits in different ways and meaning each more valuable than the last but often interrupted quite different. These differences lie among the great stories of individuals who embody these characteristics of a person and there way of life it takes you inside how a person deals with individual danger. The most articulated value in Greek is virtue the word actually means something closer to being the best you can be or reaching your highest human potential. In Antigone (Fiero 92-98) Antigone is often opposed to her older sister Ismene with blond hair who is beautiful having curves of such beauty and grace.
In Antigone, a play by the famous philosopher Sophocles, a tale of a brave martyr Antigone, who puts her brother to rest despite the decree of the king is sentenced to death for her betrayal of the kingdom. Death runs rampant throughout the story making it a tragedy of epic proportions. A Martyr by the name of Antigone is named a true tragic hero when she sacrifices her life for a moral and just reason. When looking at Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, Antigone would be the one who is the true tragic hero considering the sacrifices she made regardless of the cost.
Antigone Antigone was wronged and Antigone is tragic hero because she wanted to get a proper grave site, Creon was her uncle, Antigone was the good one. Antigone wants her brother to be buried but her uncle wouldn’t let her. Her uncle Creon was a very mean man.
In the play, Antigone, by Sophocles, Polyneices and Eteocles, have killed each other and Creon orders Eteocles to have an honored burial while Polyneices is to be left without a burial. Antigone tells Ismene, who are both sisters of Polyneices and Eteocles, that they must bury Polyneices, Ismene tells her she can not so Antigone buries Polyneices alone in defiance to the state laws. Creon and Antigone have conflicting values. Creon holds the laws of the city higher even when other beliefs state otherwise.
In Greek culture, it is a custom to bury the dead to please the gods. The Greeks also believed that when you don’t bury someone they will wonder the earth. Antigone wanted to give Polynecies a proper burial because it is right in the god’s eyes. She also wanted him to have an afterlife. She never lied to Creon when she was caught burying the body.
In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles there are two people that could be considered a tragic hero. It has been up for debate who the actual hero of this play is, but many people believe that Creon and Antigone could both be a hero. A tragic hero is considered a character who’s known for being worthy of something and doing something right for someone. There are many qualities out there that you have to follow for you to be able to become the official tragic hero. Also in this play there is only aloud to be one tragic character.
Antigone and the city’s rights are not made fairly and obeyed equally by all people. Creon uses his power to make choices that put him above everyone. Antigone’s rights and fate depends on Creon’s actions and proclamation. In Sophocles Antigone, Antigone faces harsh consequences for her actions throughout the story.. Why is Antigone going to lose her life?
In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, a woman’s individual conscience trumps state law when Antigone displays time and again that she values her divine motives higher than those of the state throughout the tragedy. Her continued defiance of the state’s authority marks the importance of her individuality through various scenes in Antigone. Knowing full well her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, Antigone goes beyond the powers of the common man to carry on morals of herself and family exceeding beyond immortality and death. Engulfed in the menacing misogyny King Creon set forth in the state, Antigone is determined to thrive and keep the sacred deeds of herself and family in tact despite the fate it bears. The character of Antigone exhibits
A tragic hero is defined to be a hero who, despite being virtuous and great, also possesses qualities that lead to their downfall. This downfall is often predestined and is a common theme in Greek literature. Antigone is the tragic hero in Antigone because of her bravery, but also because of the dangerous loyalty and stubbornness that lead to her downfall. Antigone is a tragic hero because of her headstrong loyalty to her brother and the morals of the gods, which leads to Creon’s retaliation and her downfall.