Honor In Sophocles Antigone

(Sophocles 193). Antigone is confident and even surprised that Ismene wasn't willing to join her in her protest. Creon is a tyrant that was power hungry, and too controlling of his family and the people who lived in his city. Antigone saw this overuse of power and could stand to bear it anymore. She had to bury her brother because that was what she believed was right.

In the play, Antigone, the title character challenges the king when she decides to bury her brother, Polyneices, who has been named a traitor. King Creon, her uncle, has come to power after the death of Oedipus and his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. Creon takes his role as king very seriously as he works to be a pillar of morality and uphold the laws of the city. After he deems Polyneices a traitor, he forbids anyone to properly bury the body: "leave him, unwept, untombed" (line 29) allowing the body to be "a rich sweet sight for the hungry birds beholding and devouring" (30). Throughout this play, several themes, namely human law versus divine law, are at play.

Creon has a rational, important reason to deny Polyneices a burial and to punish Antigone for her actions: doing only what is best for Thebes. As King, he announces to the populace of Thebes that he plans to “follow the course that he knows is best for the State” (1.197). By giving a speech to garner the trust and respect of his citizens, and making the promise to do what is “best for the state”, Creon demonstrates his commitment to governing wholeheartedly. His directive on the burial of Polyneices directly reflects Creon’s ethics of putting the cohesion of the city before anything else. He wants social order and stability, so Antigone breaking a direct order from the throne makes Creon seem fallible.

This scene shows dramatic irony. It creates tension and suspense for the audience as they wait for Creon’s reaction when he finds out it was Antigone. Since the audience already knows Antigone isn’t a man and Creon says how the man who did this will regret it. Sophocles also exposes dramatic irony when Creon says, “when the laws are kept how proudly this city stands, when the laws are broke what of this city then” (Lines 21-22). In this section of the book Creon is going to put Antigone to death because Antigone was trying to keep the laws of the gods, by giving Polyneices a proper burial.

Antigone's character displays the trait of being honorable through her quest to give her brother Polyneices a proper burial. She would rather "die an honorable death" instead of one with worst consequences (Sophocles). Antigone sees that there is no better way to die that a death with honor and faithfulness to her kin. Knowing the consequence of breaking Creon's law was death, she knew that if she were ever caught, she would "nobly die" (Mckay, line 5). Oedipus's stubborn daughter is not afraid to die, for she knows her death will not be for nothing.

Creon also faces internal conflict in his decision not to bury Polyneices, as it offends and disrespects the gods. During a time of intense beliefs, religion was a big part of Theban life. Therefore, appropriate measures were taken to ensure the gods do not curse you for being disrespectful. This puts Creon in a difficult situation, as he must decide on whether following his own laws of the state or laws based on religion is the better course to take. This struggle incorporates the theme of justice and power, especially in giving different perspectives on the same scenario, which helps to provide insight into the “political” message of Antigone.

Antigone chronicles the fictional events within the fabled Ancient Greek dynasty of Thebes, Antigone (daughter of the former King Oedipus Rex and late Queen Jocasta) and King Creon (brother of the late Queen Jocasta) after the war of succession between the late Eteocles and Polynices (Antigone’s brothers; Creon’s nephews). The play illustrates the complexities of autocratic rule with Antigone and Creon’s ideological clash, with Creon advocating for an absolute upholding of his own mandate of improper disposal of Polynices’ remains, which he justifies by his own proclaimed divine right. Sophocles portrays King Creon as not only a tyrant but a warning for the inevitable dangers of absolute rule within autocratic, absolute monarchies. This analysis

This passage from one of Creon’s speeches to Antigone in Jean Anouilh’s Antigone illustrates the views of people with power on people who don’t have power. When a person is given power, such as Creon they will tend to view people who don’t differently than ones who do. Creon also shows that he has preconceived views of Antigone, who he talks a lot about during this passage. After explaining the context of this passage , it will be analyzed by the following salient details: Jean Anouilh 's vision of the world, the character of Creon, the use of repetition, the conflict of Man versus Man. There will also be echos from things earlier in the play that will be discussed.

In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.

Antigone is a play written by Sophocles that focuses on the consequences of Antigone's decision to defy her uncle the king and bury her brother Polyneices. The play presents Antigone as a brave and noble character who is willing to sacrifice her life to bury her brother, which is a death sentence. Although her uncle, King Creon, sees her decision as treasonous, Antigone's actions are justified when she honors her brother in ways only known. First, it is important to note why King Creon feels guilty about Antigone's actions. Creon makes it clear that the body of Polyneices must not be buried because he is a traitor and an enemy of the state.

In the play, Creon makes many decisions based on his intuition, and it is these choices that develop him as a tragic hero. An example of an event that contributes to his eventual downfall is when Creon declares his proclamation regarding the fate of Antigone's brother: "Polyneices, who returned from exile, eager to wipe out in all-consuming fire his ancestral city and its native gods, keen to seize upon his family’s blood and lead men into slavery—for him, the proclamation in the state declares he’ll have no burial mound, no funeral rites, and no lament. He’ll be left unburied, " (Sophocles, lines 227-234). In this passage, Creon shows his self-assurance in his authority as a ruler. His belief in his own judgments and unwavering commitment to punishing those he deems traitors based on his own assumptions demonstrates his trait of being self-assured.

Creon believes that he is right in executing his sister’s daughter when all of his workers, sentries, sons, and subjects know that he should not have sentenced Antigone to death for his own goals. The chorus of the play, which represents the thoughts of the commoners, begin to question Creon’s actions when they say, “Then she must die?” ( scene II line 183). This suggests that the chorus has begun to waver in their trust of Creon, and proves that his thoughts have not been fully examined by himself because he thought that what he was doing was completely just but the chorus thinks

In the play “Antigone,” Sophocles uses the medium of storytelling to deliver his moral message through the tale of a stubborn Antigone and a prideful king, Creon.. One message he delivers through a conversation between Creon and his son, Haimon. To convince his father to not punish Antigone,

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 for giving him a proper burial. In her fight for justice, Antigone exhibits strong beliefs of fairness to her community regarding family, rights and morality in her battle against a seemingly unjust leader, Kreon. Sophocles’, in Antigone, displays the type of justice called fairness. He pulls the laws and unjust teachings of his time and puts them into a play for all to see and analyze.

In ancient Greece, a common saying that all citizens had in their very core, a traditional Greek principle, was this: love your friends, and hate your enemies. This rule seems pretty straightforward and would appear easy to apply in real life. However, in the timeless play Antigone, Sophocles shows his audience a situation where this maxim does not apply. Sophocles concentrates on a complex story where the values and principles of the ancient Greek culture come into conflict. Religious or moral versus secular, family versus community, and living versus dead: all of these conflicting aspects are explored in Antigone.