In the play Antigone, Sophocles demonstrates the conflict between family and God through the characters of Antigone, Ismene and Creon. Antigone being ambitious and strong willed throughout the play, fights for his brothers honor and proper burial while Ismene on the other hand, is more timid fears the consequences that may occur if the laws are broken. For Creon he is the King and holds most power, until the Gods feel he is incapable. Antigone, Ismene and Creon all use logical and emotional appeals to achieve a compromise to either bury Polynices or not. Antigone uses both logical and emotional appeals to persuade her sister Ismene that their brother Polyneices should be honored and have a proper burial.
However, many times justice is not sought and not given to those who need it most. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, he demonstrates the many ways an unjust leader can overpower those who fight for what is right (Adams, 1). In Antigone’s case, she fought for the just treatment of her brother in his afterlife and bringing him a proper burial. In her fight for justice, Antigone exhibits strong beliefs of fairness for her community regarding family, rights and morality. In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, he displays a variety of different types of justice.
In the play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, the author conveys various moral hierarchy stages through character traits, reasoning, and moral development within the character Antigone. Sophocles’ character Antigone is very determined, which can be shown by her strong will to give her brother Polyneices the proper burial. For instance, Antigone says, “I will bury him myself. If I die for doing that, good.”(Sophocles, ll 87-88) She is bent on making sure her brother is going to be taken care of and strongly believes she knows what he deserves. At this time, Antigone is a very independent character in that she wants to bury Polyneices on her own.
Antigone declares that Creon’s commanding is coming out of “some man’s wounded pride” (Sophocles, Antigone 510). To Antigone, Creon is just like any other Thebian, and that even though he is the king of the land, his power is irrelevant compared to the gods. When Creon declares himself ruler of the land, he develops hubristic qualities. Creon abuses his power in that he believes his word is absolute. Antigone sees this pride as damaged, and believes that he does not use logic in his reasoning.
How would you feel if you were locked away to rot by one of your own family members because you did something they didn’t approve of? In Sophocles play, Antigone, this is just the case for the niece of Creon, King of Thebes. After getting word that her “own two brothers [...] slaughtered one another and brought about their common doom” (Sophocles 318), Antigone is distraught. What makes her infuriated is when she learns that her uncle, Creon, has decided that one of her brothers, Eteocles, will receive a proper burial and be honored while the other brother, Polyneices, will receive no burial and be remembered as a traitor. Soon after, Antigone takes action and performs a secret burial and ritual on her dead brothers corpse, but she is also
Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. In the beginning of the book, we find out that Antigone’s brothers have killed each other in war. One of the brothers, Polyneices is considered a traitor and Creon, the king, refuses to give him a proper burial. Antigone decides to disobey the king and give her brother a proper burial. Antigone loves the idea of a noble death and it drives her decision-making at the end of her life.
Antigone and the Law The major theme in the play, Antigone, is the two contrasts between divine and human law. In the beginning of the play, Antigone’s two brothers, Polynecies and Eteocles kill each other in a battle to become the king of
However, Antigone’s obsession with burying Polyneices stems from her desire to obey divine rule, an aspect that was considered imperative in Ancient Greek society. Here, Sophocles stepped away from traditional gender roles and unconventionally used a female protagonist both to honor the Oedipus myth, as well as to shock the audience into grasping the message of following divine rule in Antigone. Sophocles’s characterization of Antigone only emphasizes the female stereotype in Ancient Greek society, as well as reflects the Ancient Greek peoples’ need to obey the rule of the
How can it be that a play written over thousands of years ago effectively delineates today’s problems regarding gender inequality? Sophocles tells of a very adamant and fervent woman, Antigone, who fights for her desires while simultaneously disregarding Creon, the king, and his laws. As punishment, Antigone was placed in a dungeon, but sadly was unable to handle the isolation and committed suicide. In Sophocles's Antigone, women’s efforts to change any aspect of their lives are futile because they will inevitably be subjected to inferior perceptions and treated as so. Antigone’s efforts to execute her will on Creon and his men resulted in her being viewed as weak.
“Antigone” is a Greek tragedy that was written by the playwriter Sophocles. It is the final play of a trilogy that also includes “Oedipus the King” and “Oedipus at Colonus”. Throughout the play there are many lessons to be learned but none are as important as the concept of the relationship between individuals and the state. The problems within the play that relate to this issue are as present within our society today as they were during Sophocles’ time. The lack of influence in government from its citizens leads to injustice and cruelty because the government is following their own agendas.