Essay on Antigone

Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, a writer of close to 123 plays, was written sometime between the years 496-406 B.C.E. A reoccurring theme in this play is the theme of rules. Throughout it’s many lines, a common conflict is portrayed as to whether to follow the rules of the gods, or to follow the rules of the state. Creon, being the King, feels that his say is final and everyone should respect and follow it, thus wishing to follow only the rules of the state. This ultimately leads to Creon ruling as a tyrant and only wishing to follow the irrational rules of man, which he put forth, as opposed to following the more rational rules of the gods. This essay will be discussing why Creon rules as a tyrant and how his excessive pride is what stands in his way of heeding the warnings and pleas of both Teiresias and Chorus before it was too late. Due to his inflated pride, best portrayed in the scene when Teiresias is first introduced, Creon shows how severely his pride gets in the way of his judgment, which ultimately leads to the destruction of everything which makes him happy.

“Make these excuses, I will heap/ The earth over my brother’s body” (63). Although no one would help her, Antigone took a stand against injustice and honored her brother by burying him, even though Creon said this act would be punishable by death if anyone committed this act of insubordination. Especially in the age that Antigone lived in, it was considered foolish to simply go against a man’s orders, let alone the Kings. Not to mention that Antigone was related to the King, making the situation even worse. She committed a supremely precarious action, especially for a woman. Not only does she bravely follow her morals, but she does a great job of justifying them in her arguments. Antigone was a civil disobedient by disobeying

Full of drama and tragedy, Antigone can be used to relate to current conflicts. One such conflict is that between Haemon and his father Creon. Haemon looks up to Creon with honor and pride, but as conflict arises, that relation is disassociated and new feelings grow. The first conversation between them is what initiates the downfall of their bond. While it seems that Creon is the most important person in Haemon’s life, Antigone is in fact the one that has won Haemon over.

Throughout the story, both Antigone and Creon are symbols of the theme of pride and power that is shown throughout the story. In Antigone, the theme of pride affects the plot because if Creon was self-less rather than being prideful, he would have understood Antigone’s following of the unwritten laws and accept her feelings, which would prevent her suicide. In conclusion, while there are multiple themes that appear throughout the play, pride and power are both the most

In Antigone, Creon’s mind is pulled in two opposite directions: His hubris, and, in contrast, his human duty to the gods. His decision to not follow the gods’ decrees and the consequences of that decision are used by Sophocles to remind the audience to stand with the gods.

In Antigone, Sophocles characterizes Creon as a prideful and stubborn individual, who strives to gain power over others, especially the gods. Despite his own son threatening to commit suicide, Creon does not recognize his hubris as his fatal flaw until the very end. One significant power struggle in the play Antigone, is the conflict between Creon and his son, Haimon, who is engaged to Antigone. Creon uses his permanent place as ruler, to decide that Polyneices should not be properly buried, because he is a traitor to their kingdom. Not only is he gravely wrong, he is not swayed by anyone’s opinion, even his own son’s.

“Zeus did not announce those laws to me. And justice living with the gods below sent no such laws for men. I did not think anything which you proclaimed strong enough to let a mortal override the gods and their unwritten and unchanging laws.” (lines 508-513) Antigone’s character contrasts with Creon’s character causing the two to have conflicts. These conflicts bring out anger, disrespect, and unreasonableness in Creon’s character.

“You there you with your face bent down towards the ground, what do you say? Do you deny you did this or admit it.” -Creon “I admit I did it. I won’t deny that.” -Antigone (Line(s) 498-500) Antigone’s words, actions and ideas contrast with Creon’s character to the point of these two characters having conflicting motivations. These conflicting motivations cause the characteristics of Antigone, Teiresias and Haemon to be highlighted within Creon’s character. In the end, these conflicting motivations develop Creon as a tragic hero by his flaws, hubris causes his downfall. He will not listen to anyone, he’s stubborn and his pride is too great, and the character interactions advance the plot when Creon sentences Antigone to death, after she’s sent off, he later realizes she didn’t deserve that but when he realized it then it was already too late.

The Different Notions between Antigone and Creon In the story of Antigone, both Creon and Antigone have distinct views on prevailing loyalty. Antigone demonstrates she values the divine law when she chooses to give her brother Polynices a proper burial despite the consequences. On the other hand, Creon’s loyalty lies with the civil law, which he enforces by creating an unjust law.

The newly crowned King of Thebes, Creon has proclaimed a decree that his nephew Polynices would not be buried as he is a traitor. Praising his power as a leader Creon ultimately broke the higher law of the gods that all should be buried. One of many steps that Creon fall to the pit of corruption of his power as more power he has the poor judgment he makes. Creon’s leadership comes in question by his nieces Antigone, he is furies and blind by his rage he sentences her to death. Then proceeds to justify his actions as she directly disobey his orders that her death will be a message to

Antigone’s actions and discredits Creon’s by offering a prophetic glimpse of the view of the gods:

Antigone Essay In any story or piece of literature, there will always be the main characters to fill the pages with incessant adventure. The characters whose names appear on almost every page and the characters whose actions the story revolves around. However, a story will also always have its minor characters. These are the characters that contribute heavily to the plot, yet aren't mentioned quite as often and are underestimated regarding their importance in the story.

“If you try to cure evil with evil, you will add more pain to your fate,” said Sophocles. This quote ties in perfectly with Creon’s action in the poem “Antigone”. “Antigone” is a play written by Sophocles in 441 BC. The play is about a bold, daring girl named Antigone and her timid sister Ismene. The two decide to return to Thebes to help Eteocles and Polynices, their brothers, settle a dispute over the throne, which will lead to their deaths as predicted by the oracle. Upon arrival both brothers are dead. Eteocles has received a burial, but Polynices has not due to Creon. Antigone, being brave, buries her brother at the risk of breaking the law. Creon punishes her and places her in prison only for her to kill herself. However, the other characters, including Hameon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s fiancé, and the chorus unknowingly beg for Creon to release her. After Creon agrees he finds her dead with Hameon who ends up killing himself in despair. Overall, Creon’s fatal flaw, which lead to all this mayhem, is his arrogance that ultimately leads to his poor leadership abilities, his distress, and lastly his downfall.

Once Antigone disobeyed the decree against Polyneice’s burial, he was outraged. Creon and Antigone were both flawed with great pride, neither able to empathize with the other’s perspective. Antigone was a dutiful voice of the people of Thebes; she acted out of faithfulness and duty to her family’s beliefs. Creon was engrossed in public defense and common good. While both were devastatingly flawed, both Antigone and Creon were right in their beliefs and intentions.

Throughout the context words of Creon and Antigone contrasts their perspective on their belief. Creon would often decide all the rulings of his country with no hesitant because of his strong pride being a King. On the other hand, Antigone’s strong bond, love for her family, commitment to bury her brother which objects the rule against Creon. In disobedience towards Creon, Antigone says her “...honours for the dead must last much longer than for those up here” (Sophocles, 275), as well as speaking that “there’s nothing shameful in honouring my mother’s children.” (Sophocles, 273). Antigone’s words expresses her love and the