Antigone Pride Quotes

Sophocles, a great tragedian, was the one who gave Greek tragedies their traditional form. An important part of traditional Greek tragedies is the presence of a tragic hero. All tragic heroes should have the characteristics of rank, a tragic flaw, a downfall, and a recognition of mistakes. The seemingly tragic hero is Antigone. She wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though this would be going against Creon, who is her uncle and the king. When Antigone buries Polyneices Creon sentences her to death because of it. In Antigone by Sophocles the tragic hero is not Antigone because she only meets the characteristic of a tragic flaw, hers being pride, but doesn 't meet the other three characteristics of a

We read that Creon has issued a law that if anyone buries the body of Polyneices they will be sentenced to death. Antigone plans to bury her brother regardless of the law set into place. She is going to try and do it in secrecy and to avoid detection. She asks her sister, Ismene, to join her in the burial, but she refuses. At this point in the play the you realize the fear setting in. Ismene believes

The outstanding play “Antigone” written by Sophocles introduces how Antigone can reveal the honor within a family. “Antigone” produces a tragic hero, which is Antigone because of her pride and imitation of action.

Like Creon, Antigone also never falters in standing up for what she believes in. Although Creon fights for stubborn pride, Antigone is trying to promote what is right and shows her higher reverence for God’s law rather than for Creon’s laws. In the eyes of the townspeople, Chorus, Choragos, and Haimon, Antigone is sacrificing herself to give her brother Polyneices the rightful honors due to the dead. Many side with this brave, honorable girl because she would rather suffer persecution and even death rather than give into Creon’s illogical demands. In the play, the chorus says about her, “You have made your choice, Your death is the doing of your conscious hand”. Antigone knew of the consequences before she acted and in doing so she chose her fate. At the time, she pleaded her sister Ismene to help her bury Polyneices but was rejected. Despite being alone in trying to rebel and perhaps she may have been afraid, Antigone goes out of her way and puts her life on the line to bring her brother respect.

In Antigone, two brothers shared the king status which was left by their father. One of the brothers, Polynices, wanted to start a war with the kingdom because he wanted the king status for himself and himself only. The main ruler, at the time, Eteocles and Polynices fought and they both ended up killing each other. Their Uncle Creon, who took position as King after the deaths of the brother decides that only Eteocles will have a proper burial and Polyneices should lay and rot with no burial. Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles sister, thinks that Creon’s decision is unfair and takes upon herself to give Polyneices a proper burial. When their other sister Ismene finds out, she is stuck between helping her sister bury their brother and following Creon’s demands. Ismene and Antigone are very different people; Antigone is brave while Ismene is tip-top. Two conflicting forces are Ismene's loyalty to her sister and abiding by the laws set out by Creon.

All throughout Antigone, the author Sophocles shows the audience how pride affects people’s actions and decisions. Pride is the causing factor of the play’s entire plot. It is clear Sophocles wanted his audience to see the results of what it can do. In Antigone the most revenant word to the play is pride because it causes the conflict and it controls many of the characters actions; such as Antigone and Creon.

She too has the characteristics that make her fit well with the description of a tragic hero. Like Creon, in the beginning of the story, Antigone is portrayed as a good, upstanding person. She is not a troublemaker at the time of her defiance of Creon’s decree, having not committed no crime prior to it. Nevertheless, Antigone possesses tragic flaws. Like her late father and uncle, Antigone is both stubborn and prideful. When she argues for why she defied Creon and buried Polyneices, she fails to see more than just her side of the situation. To Antigone, the burial of her brother is the most important thing to her, superseding compliance with any human law, including Creon’s. She takes immense pride in what she has done, but also neglects to see how her actions will affect her sister, Ismene, who pleads for her to follow Creon’s decree, and her fiance, Haemon. Throughout most of the story, Antigone stands by her action to the very end. She continually asserts what she did was right, even if the rest of society does not agree with her. Ultimately, Antigone stubbornness leads to her downfall and death. It prevents her from seeing that it might be for the benefit of herself and everyone involved if she followed Creon's decree by leaving Polyneices body

The Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, once said, “A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." The quote is a broad description of what a tragic hero is. In the eyes of Aristotle, to be considered a tragic hero, a character would have to have a fatal flaw that would lead to his and/or surrounding characters untimely downfalls. In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles, Creon harbors a belief that continuously impedes upon his life. His intransigent belief in the superiority of the state is his hamartia, and when fueled on by the actions of his foil character and niece, Antigone, leads to his own character’s demise and ultimately the death of Antigone herself, his son Haemon, and his wife.

To Antigone, it is not necessary that someone should obey their leader at all times. She believes what Creon declared to happen to her brothers was unfair and that the gods were telling her she needed to bury her brother. Antigone was unapproved to the treatment of women in these times, and that the king must be obeyed in all causes. She believed the gods were the true powers, and bad things would come upon you if you did not cooperate with their requests. When Haemon comes into the story, acknowledged as Antigone’s fiancée, who is the son of Creon, makes it clear why Antigone was even still alive. Although Creon was cruel and often harsh, there was still something or someone holding him back from simply killing her. Haemon told his father it would be wrong to kill Antigone and would bring great mourning to the people of Thebes following her death. He wants Creon to be open to others views, but Creon responds by calling Haemon a woman’s slave for backing up a woman and not his own father. A blind prophet advises Creon that he should properly bury Polyneices and release Antigone. He says if he does not he will greatly anger the gods, and might create his own misfortune for his disobedience. Possibly leading to his own death. As Creon ponders his possibilities and future, he finally decides to release Antigone and bury Polyneices. As he thought he was then making the right decision, he would soon find out what his

When Antigone confessed that it is her who resumed a burial for her brother, Creon asks, “did you know the proclamation for your action…..did you dare to disobey that law” (lines 492-494)? Antigone replies and says, “Yes it was not Zeus that made the proclamation; nor did Justice, which lives with those below, enact such laws as that, for mankind. I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override God’s ordinances, unwritten and secure” (lines 494-499). Up front, Antigone is announcing that the proclamation was not one received from God and in return she will not fall suit to such order. In a way, Antigone seems to be a very religious woman. In contrast, in Anouilh’s version, Antigone does not mention the role of God in deciding not to follow Creon’s order. In all, Antigone chooses to defy Creon’s proclamation simply because she believed that she should be able to follow no orders of the law, but to make her own decisions. Furthermore, in Anouilh’s version, Creon is able to get Antigone to confess that rituals are not vital. In Anouilh’s version, Creon says to Antigone, “tell me, Antigone, do you believe all that flummery about religious burial” (32), then Antigone admits, “It’s absurd” (32). Overall it becomes evident that Sophocles’ version and Anouilh’s version state a different reasoning for Antigone to bury her brother. In

In Sophocles’ play Antigone, there are two possible tragic heroes, Creon and Antigone. A tragic hero is a character who is noble, has one or many unfixable flaws, and experiences a downfall. While Creon could be considered, he is nowhere near as noble as Antigone, who lives by the law of the gods and dies for the dignity of her brother. His disposition is far from flawless, but he does not experience a downfall comparable to Antigone’s death. Antigone portrays all the components of a tragic hero; thus, she is the true tragic hero of Antigone.

Antigone’s brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, have recently died in war. Creon, Antigone’s uncle, rules over the city of Thebes. He tells Antigone that, because Polyneices was fighting against their city, he may not be buried and will die without honor. However, Antigone believes in family honor, no matter the circumstances, and wants to bury Polyneices. Like Okonkwo, Antigone believes in fighting for her beliefs, even if she is told not to. Antigone’s sister, Ismene, tells Antigone that going against Creon’s decree is immoral. However, Antigone does not care that Creon says it is illegal; she trusts her own morals: “And now you can prove what you are: A true sister, or a traitor to your family” (190). Antigone values honoring her family more than listening to the law. She believes that Ismene, not Polyneices, is the real traitor, just as Okonkwo believes that Nwoye is a traitor for not standing up for his culture. He and Antigone go against the people and the laws, they do not hesitate to fight

She decided to ask Iseme, her sister, to help bury him. Ismene didn’t want to help her because she would be going against Creon's law. Antigone thought that it was foolish. She was going to help her own brother whether Iseme helped her or not. Antigone thinks that Ismene cares more about what Creon would do to her in this life and not about what the gods would do in the afterlife. On the other hand, Antigone said “he has no right to keep me away from my own.” She says human law isn’t going to keep her from doing what’s right. So once again, she is the tragic hero for doing what’s

Antigone is portrayed as a heroine rebel who does not fear forces from governments, has a different mindset to that of Ismene, her submissive sister. She made the choice of burying his brother Polyneices' body that cost her life instead of leaving it in the open.

In a battle over Thebes, her brothers kill each other in hand-to-hand combat. Her family is dwindling away at a fast pace, dealing with the loss of a loved one can be overwhelming. Antigone’s grief over the death of her brothers is compounded by the ensuing controversy over the burial rights of Polynices. While Eteocles is considered a hero for protecting Thebes, Polynices is labeled a traitor for waging war against his homeland (Norton 610). On top of her losses, she faces the decision of going against a direct order from the state to leave Polynices corpse unburied. She easily decides to defy Creon out of her loyalty to Polynices, the gods, her duty as a sister. Antigone makes no distinctions between her brothers and when Ismene refuses to help her, she disowns her (Lawall). Babko writes, “Any loyalties are revealed in the first lines of Antigone, as Antigone announces that she will defy Creon’s order and bury her brother.” Antigone is well aware that the penalty for defying Creon’s order, she states, “…he won’t treat the matter lightly. Whoever disobeys in the least will die, his doom is sealed: stoning to death inside the city walls!” (41-41). Her devotion to her family, in spite of its consequences, is one of Antigone’s most admirable qualities, a quality that fosters compassion for her suffering.