Sophocles’s Theban plays tell the story of families afflicted by generations of personal tragedy. Unlike epics such as the Iliad, whose portrayals of whole-scale war, death, and destruction convey a sense of near-apocalyptic despair, Sophocles’s plays achieve power by setting tragedy on a more intimate...
In Sophocles’ play Antigone, Kreon, the warrior King may overrule Antigone, a mere woman’s, struggle for political power, but can he match Antigone’s resistance in a fight for political authority? Political power in a state rises from the presence of a force that exerts dominance....
The word “feminism” was first officially coined by French socialist Charles Fourier to be used to describe equal rights and social standing for women in the 1890’s. Throughout time, the meaning has changed, but the underlying principles have remained the same. Even before the coinage...
While it is likely that Oedipus Rex is the only character who completely embodies Aristotle’s idea of a tragic hero, there are many characters who possess enough of his defined characteristics to qualify as the tragic hero of their respective drama. Creon, the King of...
Antigone written by Sophocles, speaks about the power struggle between Antigone and her Uncle Creon who is the King of Thebes. Both characters seemed to have their own beliefs in how Antigone’s brother Polyneices should be buried. With both Creon and Antigone being strong-willed individuals,...
The play Antigone is written by Sophocles. The protagonist, Antigone, and the antagonist, Creon, goes against each other regarding the issue of Antigone’s brother’s burial. Antigone’s and Creon’s actions are fully supported by their own values. Considering his style in the play, Sophocles appears to...
Though it was written over two millennia ago, Sophocles’ Antigone features one of the preeminent symbols of female defiance in its title character. The play centers on the exploits of Antigone as she openly goes against the king’s decree in the name of honor and...
In his play Antigone, Sophocles portrays the character of Creon in a multitude of ways but particularly as proud and uncompromising. Because he is ruler of Thebes, many of his actions drive and shape the course of the drama. Significantly, it is also through the...
It is not often in Greek myth or tragedy that a woman is found portrayed as a tragic hero. However, Sophocles makes the hero of his Antigone, the third and last play in the theme of Oedipus’ life, a woman. And though this is out...
Even though it was forbidden, Antigone decided to defy the state’s law and give her brother a burial. Antigone was right to defy King Creon because she had the right to bury her brother and her brother deserved a respectful burial so they could honor...
Creon is the leader or person of status in the play, “Antigone” by Sophocles. His status was the new king of Thebes right after the previous kings Laius and Oedipus had fled. As the king, he seems to care more about the loyalty and the...
Sophocles presents us with a high standard of moral courage and character in his play Antigone. Among the many thematic questions raised, Sophocles pursues in depth the issue of whether it is best to obey the law or to follow one’s conscience. Antigone displays the...
In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the characters of Antigone and Creon remain contrary to one another. Small time, Polyneices, the sibling of Antigone and the nephew of Creon, has been pronounced a swindler of Thebes. Antigone would prefer to pass on than leave her...
The “Golden Age” of Greece is notorious for its many contributions to the creative world, especially in its development of the play. These primitive performances strived to emphasize Greek morals, and were produced principally for this purpose. Antigone, by Sophocles, is typical. The moral focused...
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon, the King of Thebes, is entrusted to care for Antigone and Ismene, the daughters of the deceased Theban King Oedipus. However, Creon and the strong-willed Antigone clash on the issue of the burial of Antigone and Ismene’s brother Polyneices. Polyneices and...
In both Homer’s The Odyssey and Sophocles’ Antigone, violence and war seem to be considered honorable; great fighters such as Antilokhos, Akhilleus and Odysseus of The Odyssey and Eteocles of Antigone are glorified and celebrated as exemplary figures in their respective societies, courageous souls willing...
Author Shannon Alder once said, “Often those that criticise others reveal what he himself lacks.” Essentially what Alder is saying is that the things we find fault with in other people are really the things that we do not have and therefore desire. In their...
Throughout Antigone, Creon maintains complete confidence in his belief that, in order to prevent anarchy and chaos, the rule of a king must be obeyed even it contradicts proper morals and/or the will of the gods. The decisions that he makes in an effort to...
Everyone loves the hero of a story. A hero inspires you and gives you a sense of hope and security. Heroes are characters who are admirable, noble, brave, intelligent, and powerful. They are great examples and positive role models. But what if the hero is...
The idea of hubris is monumental in a plethora of Greek mythological works. In many ways the excessive pride of certain characters fuels their own destruction. This is certainly true with respect to the characters of Pentheus, Antigone, and Oedipus. All three of these characters...
What happens when pride takes control of a human? In the plays Oedipus Rex and Antigone, Sophocles paints a dismal picture of what happens, where pride is depicted as both an obstruction to sight and an obstruction to hearing. According to Sophocles, the pride of...
In Sophocles’ play Antigone, the two sisters, Antigone and Ismene, have opposing opinions concerning which to value more – the dead or the living. Antigone places greater emphasis on her duty to honor her dead brother, Polynices, while Ismene feels that it is more important...
Antigone, the title character of Sophocles’ Antigone, faces the moral dilemma of whether to honor divine or mortal laws. While King Creon has decreed “no one shall bury [Polyneices],” the laws of the Gods dictate that all corpses must be buried (Prologue. 20). As such,...
Creon out of his pride kills his own wife and son out of selfishness which make him a true tragic hero. Creon is a character who so caught up with what others think. Creon is isolated character who keeps to himself his plans and acts....
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Sophocles’ Antigone both develop a complex plot structure and show many similarities and differences. They share some common tragic illumination along with some uncommon tragic illumination, as well. Each of the plays ended in some sorts of fatalities, but...
Creon requested that Eteocles, who passed on protecting the town is to be covered with full respects , while the figure of Polynices, the intruder is left to decay along these lines, Creon announced that any individual who set out to endeavor covering Polynices will...
Through the many tales of heroic deeds that have been told over the centuries, a picture has been painted as to the appearance and interpretation of the archetypical character of the hero. This character has been portrayed as a masculine figure who conquers all monsters...
There is no shortage of violence and death in the stories and myths adapted to the stage by the Ancient Greek tragedians. However, these actions are almost never depicted explicitly onstage: murders play out offstage while the audience is only privy to the sound of...
In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the characters of Antigone and Creon remain contrary to one another. Small time, Polyneices, the sibling of Antigone and the nephew of Creon, has been pronounced a swindler of Thebes. Antigone would prefer to pass on than leave her...
In the play Antigone by Sophocles, a tragic thing happens where Antigone and Creon are torn apart between the law and family. The law clearly states that “Polyneices who came back from exile intending to burn and destroy his fatherland and the gods of his...
Antigone, Ismene, Creon, Eurydice, Haemon, Tiresias, Sentry, Leader of the Chorus
Symbols/motives
The gray world, Creon's attack, Eurydice's knitting, the chorus, tragic beauty, the tomb/bridal bed
Influence
The ideas presented in Antigone are relevant in the modern world and indicate that modern society is not as developed as we think. We still have issues of gender equality, democratic voice and religious faith. Antigone is trying to show everyone the power of women in the face of male power.
Quotes
"Nobody likes the man who brings bad news."
"I have no love for a friend who loves in words alone."
"You are always defying the world, but you're only a girl, after all."
"It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands."
"We have only a little time to please the living.
Interesting facts
It is said Sophocles died while reading aloud Antigone.
The asteroid (129) Antigone, which was discovered in 1873, is named after the heroine.
In 1944 the French playwright and screenwriter Jean Anouilh published the play Antigone, the production of which in Paris occupied by German troops received a huge response.
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, called his daughter Anna Antigone.
References
1. Murnaghan, S. (1986). Antigone 904-920 and the Institution of Marriage. The American Journal of Philology, 107(2), 192-207. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/294602)
2. Honig, B. (2009). Antigone's laments, Creon's grief: Mourning, membership, and the politics of exception. Political Theory, 37(1), 5-43. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0090591708326645)
3. Rouse, W. H. D. (1911). The two burials in Antigone. The Classical Review, 25(2), 40-42. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-review/article/abs/two-burials-in-antigone/5F435DF66023E724D84BE90BCA655AAA)
4. Meltzer, F. (2011). Theories of desire: Antigone again. Critical Inquiry, 37(2), 169-186. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/657289?journalCode=ci)
5. de Fátima Silva, M. (2017). Antigone. In Brill's Companion to the Reception of Sophocles (pp. 391-474). Brill. (https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004300941/B9789004300941_007.xml)
6. Davis, C. (1995). The Abject: Kristeva and the Antigone. Paroles gelées, 13(1). (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8qt465qh#main)
7. Margon, J. S. (1970). The Death of Antigone. California Studies in Classical Antiquity, 3, 177-183. (https://online.ucpress.edu/ca/article-abstract/doi/10.2307/25010605/33738/The-Death-of-Antigone?redirectedFrom=PDF)
8. Marini, F. (1992). The uses of literature in the exploration of public administration ethics: The example of Antigone. Public Administration Review, 420-426. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/976801)
9. Benardete, S. (2014). Sacred Transgressions: A Reading of Sophocles' Antigone. (https://philpapers.org/rec/BENSTA-7)