obedience and passivity. In the same passage, Ismene says: “we’re underlings, ruled by stronger hands,” (76) a representation of men’s aggressive and “stronger hands” that dominate women and treats them as second-class citizens. The only woman in Thebes who desires to break free from these chains is Antigone, who stands up against Ismene’s passivity urging her to “submit to this,” (77) and defy Creon by burying Polynices. By breaking Creon’s edict, Antigone challenges the traditional gender roles
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council. One of his central themes is ‘friends’ of the state and ‘enemies’ of the state. From the beginning, he addresses his audience as ‘friends’ and stresses about how they remained faithful throughout the turbulence of the recent power struggle in Thebes. He then points this loyalty as being directed to the state and those who have lead it. The
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understood. Antigone and her sister, Ismene, are the daughters of Oedipus, from the play “Oedipus Rex”. Eteocles takes control of Thebes and his brother Polynices raises an army to attack the city; both are killed in the battle. This is where the story of Antigone comes into play. Creon, Oedipus’s brother in law and uncle (Oedipus married his mother) is now King of Thebes. He issues a decree for Eteocles to be buried but for Polynices to be left where he was killed and not to be buried. He honors Eteocles
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Egypt Ancient Egypt is one of the first pristine states. Before Egypt there were many ancient civilizations that were considered secondary states and not pristine states. The secondary states only met some of the criteria needed, not all six. Egypt has been well documented in which it provided the ways of becoming a pristine state. The six criteria needed to become a pristine state were population pressure, intensification of agriculture, warfare, hereditary leader, storable grains, and impaction/circumscription
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In the beginning of the play, Creon has returned from the Oracle at Delphi. He comes back telling Oedipus that the plague that has come upon Thebes will be lifted once the man that killed the former king is banished. The prophecies of the Oracle are an overwhelming theme of Oedipus Tyrannus. This is the question of fate versus free will. Or in the case of the Greeks, it corresponded to how much the gods may have meddled in their lives. At one point, Oedipus and Jocasta talk about whether prophecies
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Creon The Dynamic Ever wonder what makes a book so great to read? Is it the good plot scheme that leaves people hanging on every word, or is it the nail bighting suspense that drives people mad. To many, people like the characters that are very powerful and dynamic. One character who comes to mind is Creon from the book “Antigone.” In this book Creon portrays himself as a noble king ruling over his kingdom, but suddenly becomes a ruthless leader. He also finds himself impervious to the laws of god
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that Antigone was stubborn and foolish for not letting go of her beliefs but she was portraying her free will and freedom to do what she thought was right. A perfect example of this was when Creon asked her if she was the one who committed the ‘crime/burial, “Do you deny you did this, yes or no?” “Antigone replies, I did it. I don’t deny a thing” (Antigone- 1322). She had the courage, guts, and tenacity to exercise her own discretion and did not fear adversity. The Youngers, on the other hand, are
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development as a tragic hero, and to the plot of the play. In “Antigone”, the two brothers of Ismene and Antigone, Polyneices and Eteocles, end up killing each other due to supporting different sides of the Thebes’ Civil War. Creon, the new ruler decided that Eteocles will have an honorable burial, while the other will be laid unburied for the animals to eat upon.
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weaknesses (Meyer 1424). Based on these definitions, Antigone and Creon both have the potential to be qualified as protagonist. They both battle forcefully for something that they believe strongly in. In Antigone's case, she fights for the honorable burial of her brother. She does this because she considers the laws of the gods to be greater than the edict laid down by
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reader on a journey of power, heroism, and feminism. Oedipus’s sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other in a battle over who will take over their father’s throne. Creon, the current King of Thebes, has now declared that Polyneices betrayed him and forbids him to have a proper burial. Antigone, sister of Polyneices, feels that her brother’s body needs to have full respect and decides she is going to bury her brother. She discusses this plan with her sister Ismene who sends her off with
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