...friends or society. And maybe, some people feel that they have power in this world, and, therefore, have the ability to create their own rules or think that rules don’t apply to them. A great example of determining right vs. wrong would be in the play, “Antigone,”...
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...In the play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, Antigone embodies the tragic hero because she achieves recognition of the will of the gods, she displays better character traits and morals than the other characters, and she has a desire to do good for her family. Throughout the play, Antigone achieves recognition of the will of the gods regarding the death and burial of her brother, Polyneices. Antigone strongly believes that the fulfillment of the will of the gods is much more important than obeying an order from Creon, a mortal king. For example, Antigone retorts to Creon, “Nor did I think your orders were so strong that you, a mortal man, could over-run the gods’ unwritten and unfailing laws” (Sophocles 14). Antigone explicitly states that she will not obey Creon’s orders since they infringe on her duty to the gods. This statement reveals Antigone’s tenacity and passion for fulfilling this duty. When Antigone states “unwritten and unfailing laws” it shows how she believes...
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...Antigone vs. Creon: Struggles, Beliefs, and Morals In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, Creon and his young niece Antigone encounter many struggles in their lives because of moral views and political laws. Conflicts would arise when the values and actions of these two individuals disagreed with one another. Antigone’s conflict in the play held the approach of god’s law in the way, and on the opposing side, Creon chose his way of political beliefs that he would personally create as king. In my paper, I will discuss these characters, and interpret why and how their actions reflect their own personal beliefs and morals as individuals. The difference in beliefs, moral views, and opinions seen through-out the play were constantly disputed between Creon and Antigone. Antigone felt that Creon ignored the laws of gods through his laws. When she was captured after giving her brother proper rites and brought to Creon, she said, “Your edict, King was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God. They are not merely now: they were, and shall be operative forever, beyond man utterly” (Rand, 4). Antigone supports the laws of the God’s in heaven and believes that if someone is not given proper burial rites after death, they will not go to heaven. Her religious views were very important to her and the love for her brother would ultimately sway her decisions to go against the law of the king. Creon’s laws and orders became very personal...
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...King Creon once said “the inflexible heart breaks first”. In the greek tragedy Antigone, from the trilogy Oedipus Plays, by Sophocles King Creon is an extremely cruel man. King Creon rules his kingdom with fear and force. He is cold heartless, and selfish. These traits make his life end in immense tragedy. If people live their life without an ounce of compassion, sympathy, and empathy they will be lonely and miserable. In the beginning of Antigone Creon demands from all his citizens that no one buries the “traitor” Polyneices. Creon sends his son's bride to die in a cave alone, despite what others think. He also ignores his wife’s and his child’s requests and feelings. They both end up committing suicide. Creon rules the country of Thebes. His hierarchy is fragile and his system is corrupt. His two nephews, Eteocles and Polyneices, went to battle against each other. Eteocles fought for Creon and Polyneices fought against him. Since Creon's hierarchy is already so fragile anyone who acts as a threat to his crown is considered a traitor and an outcast. Both Eteocles and Polyneices end up killing each other during their battle. Eteocles is given a proper burial ceremony, but Polyneices is left...
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...and who is wrong in Antigone between the two main characters, Creon and Antigone, is an issue that is directly dependant on the gods. In this case, it is Antigone who is right and Creon who is wrong in their decisions. Antigone's reasons were just and accepting of the gods' control when she accepted her fate, while Creon indirectly assumes control for himself by disregarding and disrespecting the gods which results in his unprepared outcome. It is important to understand the reasoning behind the characters' decision-making and how these decisions relate to the gods in order to understand the purpose of the story's outcome and it's sound chain of events. It is known that following the gods with respect is a sign of good fate and righteousness. Antigone is respectful of the gods throughout the story and even complies with her fate as she makes her final decision of whether to go through with her burial plans for Polynices. However, Creon is disrespectful many times towards the gods, in particular when he insults Zeus, when talking about Polynices' dead corpse, by saying " But you will never cover up that corpse, not if the very eagles tear their food from him, and leave it at the throne of Zeus." (Antigone, lines 1039-1041). Creon is wrong in disgracing Zeus' throne and presuming his own commands stand stronger than Zeus'. It is clear in the text that Creon has forgotten that the power that has been bestowed on him as a king would never amount the power of the gods in his own...
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...In Sophocles’ Antigone the protagonist’s actions are justified through the principles of civil disobedience due to the utilization of direct action, the opposition to the government structure, and the willingness to give up natural rights as exhibited in Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Antigone’s actions are mainly plausible through the direct action in which she exploits to bring justice to her deceased brother. After Antigone buries Polynecies the guard describes the direct action as “The corpse- someone hath just given it burial, and gone away,- after sprinkling thirsty dust on the flesh, with such other rites as piety enjoins” (Sophocles 10). Antigone decides to...
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...English 132 April 8, 2012 Creon’s Tragic Fall: A Look at Sophocles’ Antigone A tragic hero is defined by Aristotle’s Poetics as the protagonist in the story to whom something happens that elicits pity from the audience. For the most part, a tragic hero is a “virtuous” person whose life changes from being prosperous to being a life full of misfortune (Aristotle, Poetics). In other words, the tragic hero is someone of great social standing who begins the story at a very high point, but suffers their downfall because of a tragic flaw. In Sophocles’ Antigone the central theme of this play is the struggle between Antigone and her uncle Creon. The issue of burying Antigone’s brother Polynices is based on the ancient Greek philosophy of death, where any unburied body condemns its soul to torment. Basically, it was the duty of the family to bury their dead. Yet, this issue extended beyond family loyalty to a decree of piety by the gods. However, in the play, Creon goes against this celestial decree because he sees Polynices as a traitor for warring against him as a member of another army. As a means to set an example about the repercussions of disloyalty, Creon issues an edict to leave him unburied. As a man who starts the drama in as the respected king of Thebes, he gradually loses his family, his objectivity, and his power to his stubbornness and hubris that ultimately results in his downfall. Hence, Creon is a tragic hero in the Sophocles’ Antigone because his unbending pride...
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...English II 23 May 2024 The Tragic King of Antigone Aristotle has a theory about a Tragic Hero, describing them as a character who is inherently good, but because of a serious mistake in judgment loses those they love, and usually their own life too. They have three major qualities: hamartia, peripeteia, and anagnosis. Pride, reversal of circumstances, and the recognition of the character’s flaw, usually too late to fix. In the play Antigone, King Creon displays all of these qualities, making him a tragic hero. In the play Antigone, pride is a major theme, being the reason that Polyneices isn’t buried, and the reason the conflict begins. One of the major characters in the play, King Creon, is an example of this extreme hamartia, or pride....
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...The True Tragic Hero of Antigone Since early Greek and Roman times, authors havecreated stories following the life of a tragic hero. Tragic heroes, though they are noble, have a hamartia, or a fatal flaw that causes their inevitable downfall. Sophocles utilizes the role of tragic hero to develop the theme of pride in Anitigone. The protagonist of the play is repeatedly misconceived because Sophocles develops the roles of multiple characters into ones that could be interpreted as a tragic hero. Creon is a member of the royal family of Thebes who becomes king. In assuming this role of immense power and responsibility, he faces misfortunes that lead him to tragedy. The often-misunderstood Creon is the true tragic hero in Sophocles’ play...
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...specific people and things emerging in that special period. "ANTIGONE" and "The King is Dancing" are two wonderful videos which can show those changes in ancient Western World. First of all, I will talk about the "ANTIGONE". It is a video that can give us some information of ancient Greek. Polyneices and Eteocles, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes' civil war, have both been killed in battle. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles will be honored and Polyneices disgraced. The rebel brother's body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lay unburied to become the food of carrion animals. Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the dead brothers. Antigone wants to bury Polyneices' body, in defiance of Creon's edict. Ismene refuses to help her, fearing the death penalty, but she is unable to dissuade Antigone from going to do the deed by herself. A Sentry enters, fearfully reporting that the body has been buried to Creon. When, Creon knows Antigone do that, he is very angry, and imprisons Antigone in a cave. Antigone is fiancee of Creon's son. Therefore, his son kills himself after he begged his father but did not success. Creon's wife knows her son's dead feels very sad, and kills herself, too. At that time, Creon blames himself for everything that has happened, and, a broken man, he asks his servants to help him inside. The order he valued so much has been protected, and he is still the king, but he has acted against the gods and lost his child...
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...In Antigone, the protagonist Creon is a tragic hero who struggles with internal dilemmas. The fatal decisions that set him down a tragic path are rooted in his inner conflict. Creon must discern between the importance of civil law and divine law, and this tension created illuminates the central idea that defying the Gods ends in detriment. The conflicting force of civil law is most appealing to Creon. This starts to build his tension towards the God’s principles. Creon has the most power and control under civil law. By being a new, inexperienced king, he feels a need to prove to his people the strength and supremacy he can guarantee. In consequence, he makes a narrow-minded law, where no one shall bury Polynices due to Polynice’s betrayal to the state Whoever defies this ruling will face...
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...in Antigone and Measure for Measure The concept of justice hinges on the beliefs of any given individual, human influences must always ultimately crumble and be brought to justice in the face of what is morally correct and divine. Punishment, conflict and pursuit of justice are major themes in both Sophocles Antigone and Measure for Measure. Antigone is laden with violent imagery; countless arguments causing conflict between Antigone and Creon as well as Creon and Haemon; and the blatant violence of the various murders and suicides present in the play. Moreover in Measure for Measure, is the conflict between justice and mercy, and whether justice and punishment would be served through strictly following the law or by showing mercy. "The law is strong, we must give in to the law in this thing, and in worse. I beg the Dead To forgive me, but I am helpless: I must yield”. (49-51) Why are Punishment, disagreement and pursuit of morals such a strong theme in both of these ancient works? Both Sophocles and Measure for Measure William Shakespeare lived in more primitive times when there were weakly enforced written laws concerning justice and fair play. The common solution for most problems were along the lines of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" which were better represented in Sophocles Antigone than in Measure for Measure, retaliation were definitely used as a method of justice. When Antigone buries her dead brother in the story of Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon's immediate...
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...Original Rivalry: Conflict in Antigone Antigone is a dramatic piece of literature written by Sophocles and translated by Robert Fagles to portray, but not limited to, one major conflict. The major conflict portrayed is Antigone against the state but as the story unfolds another conflict begins to become apparent. This conflict is the never-ending conflict of men against women. These conflicts quickly become apparent as the story begins. The conflicts become apparent as the drama’s main “villain,” Creon, is making it his priority to keep his control over Antigone and the state. In doing this he is also trying to retain his dominance over the female kind. After the death of her brothers, Antigone deliberately violates Creon’s law by burying her brother who was viewed as a traitor. Not only is she breaking state laws but also breaking the barriers of women in this time period. Women in this time period were required to be obedient, loyal, and viewed as feeble. However, Antigone shows acts of courage, which was unheard of for women of this era. When her sister, Ismene, worries for Antigone, she pledges that the king “has no right to keep me from my own” (58-59). Another prime example of the secondary conflict being expressed is when Ismene responds, “Remember we are women” (74). This reiterates their attitude towards how they are seen in the era they live in. She continues with, “we’re not born to contend with men” (75). Ismene, contrary to Antigone, serves as a comparison and represents...
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...Two brothers, the sons of a king, the heirs of the throne, both dead battling for their joint destiny. Therefore, the king of Thebes became their uncle, Creon. The laws of Ancient Greece do not allow a traitor to be buried, as a result one of the brothers is buried with glory, whereas the other, the traitor, is left behind, dead on the battlefield. Antigone, Creon’s niece and his son’s fiancé, a brave woman, did not obey his law. She decided to bury her brother as she follows up on her standards, as she understands that the law of Gods requests the internment of a dead body. However, this just contradicts the human’s law, which sentences to death the one that buries the country’s traitor. After Creon became aware of Antigone’s crime, he declines to perceive the obligations of a familial love that attach Antigone to her sibling, Polynices. He rejects the Gods laws...
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...defeat.” Though Creon at points can fill the role of a tragic hero in Antigone, Antigone is the only character to truly play the part of one. Sophocles writes tragedies, which are named after the tragic hero in each specific play. As in Oedipus Rex, the piece of theatre is named after the tragic hero, Oedipus. Thus only clarifying why Sophocles named one of his plays Antigone, the title being based off of the main tragic hero role. Antigone is a more appropriate title for the play Antigone because of Antigone’s immense bravery and individuality in behalf of her late brother, creating the plot in the play due...
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