Being a good citizen often includes doing something out of the ordinary in order to help others and sometimes that may involve going against the will of others. In Sophocles’ Antigone becomes a hero with noble qualities of mind, heart and soul because she is willing to sacrifice her own life, doing what she believes is the right thing. Antigone believes in the authority of religious law and tradition. Although King Creon has ordered that the traitor Polynices should not be buried, Antigone insists on following the religious law requiring that females bury the deceased of their family. Antigone says herself that she has experienced “no private shame, no public disgrace, nothing” that cannot be experienced (Antigone, pg._) Antigone and her
In this growing world, people have learned to challenge rules and test boundaries to get what they want and to stand up for what they believe in. The play Antigone by Sophocles is an example of a story that tells an important moral of always doing what someone believes is right, despite the consequences. In the story, Antigone confidently gives her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial, despite her uncle Creon's wishes not to do so. Creon finds out and takes actions against Antigone and sentences her to death, resulting in turmoil for his family and city.
In Sophocles’s tragedy “Antigone”, loyalty is a big part of the story. Creon voiced loyalty to his people by keeping his word on the his laws. Antigone expresses loyalty to the family by giving her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial. She also would rather die than leave her brother unburied. She is able to truly defend her ethics to the King, Creon.
One could argue that Antigone did not act for the benefit of her society. She ignored Kreon’s proclamation that prohibited anybody from burying Antigone’s brother, Polyneices, challenging his authority, and was more focused on doing what she believed was right, burying her brother and giving him the proper burial rites, and relinquishing herself of any possible guilt for not doing so. However, one can further argue that, even though Antigone’s primary intention was to revere her brother, she did act for the benefit of her society, as she indirectly fought to preserve her society’s value of honoring the dead. Antigone does realize that she has the people’s support for her actions, as she says, “my action pleases all of them, if fear did not lock up their tongues” (Sophocles 40). The latter part of Antigone’s statement suggests that people do not reveal their disapproval of Kreon’s proclamation, due to his authority and power.
Whenever people are willing to sacrifice themselves for their beliefs and actions, there are always others who view them with honor, respect, and admiration. Thus, Antigone already had a couple strong elements to her argument, but she presents even stronger ideas in her argument with Creon over her attempted burial of her brother. During this argument, Creon constantly points out how Antigone is breaking the law and burying a traitor (Polyneices) who slayed her honorable brother (Eteocles). Antigone refutes his points through a strong assessment that stresses important ideas that many could understand as being reasonable. For example, Antigone refuted Creon's statement about her insulting her brother Eteocles by refuting, "The dead man would not say that I insult it.
Antigone, left with no help, continues to fight for the burial of her brother. She states, “I will bury him myself. And even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory,” (63) which is another example that demonstrates how loyal she is to her family. She represents great bravery and independence as a young woman through the act of willingness to die for someone she loves. Antigone sees this as she is pleasing the most, but Ismene sees this as she is hopeless.
I am so afraid for you." (Ismene, 88) "I will not ask you, or if I do, you will not come." (Antigone, 89) Antigone's decision to defy the king's decree and bury her brother represents an act of civil disobedience, which challenges the authority of the state and raises questions about the limits of state power. Antigone's actions also represent the tension between personal beliefs and state authority, as she believes that her moral duty to give her brother a proper burial overrides the king's decree.
In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, burial customs of the ancient Greeks play an extensive role. The women of the family perform the burial rites, and believed that if their distinct methods were not followed, the soul is destined to suffer between worlds until the correct rites were performed. Antigone, the sister of Polynices and Eteocles, is aware of this and is not going to stand by and let her brother, Polynices, linger between worlds in pain, after being killed by Eteocles. With her ambition and determination she does the deed, and of doing so she follows the god's laws, but breaks Creon’s laws in the midst of it. Creon is also aware of the burial rites but still decides, through his stubbornness, that Polynices shall not be performed these rites, because of his actions against Thebes.
In “Antigone” Sophocles proves that it is a moral choice to do something that will result in our death if we have a good enough reason to do it because it shows bravery, proves the importance of human rights, and can create role models for
In the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"
Sophocles’ Antigone committed civil disobedience by burying her brother, Polynices, against King Kreon’s order. Antigone’s defiance was solely based on her religious views. Furthermore, Antigone knew that her disobedience would lead to the
n Sophocles’ play “Antigone”; written in 441 B.C., Antigone is a woman of impact, and her choices as a upstander affect the other characters. She was righteous in her pursuits to restore justice with her choices, that are taken because of Kreon unjust ruling. The first move was his, when she lawed the burial of Polyneices, whom is unhonored for being soldier of the enemy. Her choice to secretly bury him affected not only her life, but also Kreon and his family. She impacted her own life with her choice also to kill herself, and the lives of others.
You can easily link the events within Antigone to the Stanford prison experiment and the idea that people will assume roles because of their dispositions and/or their situations. This applies especially to Creon because before Oedipus left and his nephews died, he stated that he didn’t want the role of king, only the rights a king had. But as soon as he had to become king, he took to the role very quickly. He became a serious threat. He was quick to anger and couldn’t be reasoned with.
“Ismene, I am going to bury him”(Sophocles pg). The story of Antigone, written by Sophocles, all starts out, when Antigone states she is going to bury her dead brother. She shows the readers what it is like to stick up for what you believe in and what is right. Antigone shows that no matter what the consequences, you should always stick to your own beliefs. Similar to this story, two articles about school dress codes and an oil pipeline debate also show the same concept displayed in Antigone.
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).
The drama Antigone places the culture of Greece on display by showcasing the many values that this culture held in reverence, including remaining loyal to family, honoring the dead, and honoring the gods. In Sophocles’ renowned drama entitled Antigone, one of the main values that Antigone chooses to honor is loyalty to family, even when that means that she has to forgo loyalty to her city and community. Even though her uncle the king, Kreon, forbade anyone to bury Polyneikes’ body because he had been on the opposing side in the battle, Antigone felt a duty to her brother to bury him. When speaking with her sister, Antigone says that Kreon’s command “…threatens our loved ones / as if they were our enemies” (Antigone 14-15).