Essays on "Antigone"

[Üye Bilgileri]

Antigone vs Creon

"Ah Creon! Is there no man left in the world-" Teirsesias
Greek theatre played a large role in Greece. The citizens
were supposed to learn from the mistakes made in tragedies.
The citizens should have learned what not to be like as a
citizen or person. In a Greek trilogy written by Sophocles
there are two ma in characters, Antigone and Creon. They
are both strong willed and stubborn people. Both being
unwilling to change, they both seal each others fate. Creon
is passionate. . Antigone is full of rage. They are both so
similar they can not see eye to eye . Although they may
seem quite different, Creon and Antigone share many
similarities throughout the story.

They are both very independent people. Antigone is
extremely independent.. She doesn't mind doing anything on
her own. For example, in the beginning of the story when
Antigone is talking with Ismene, she asks for her help .
When Ismene refuses she is furious with her. Then Ismene
decides to act independently. Creon is also very
independent. He refuses to accept anyone's opinions except
his own. When his son Haimon comes to talk with him he
refuses to listen , claiming that Haimon is "girlst ruck!"
and corrupted . Teirsesais comes and tells him a morbid
prophecy. Creon will not listen to this either. He claims
that Teirsesais has been corrupted by money, like many
prophets at that time. He finally listens to the Charagous
when reminded th at Teiresias has never been wrong.
Antigone has no problem working by her self either. She
demonstrates this when she slipped by all the guards that
were protecting the dead body of Polyneices. Creon and
Antigone are both independent, and they are both very
loyal. They are loyal to their views. Creon is especially
loyal to his laws. Antigone is loyal to her beliefs.

Creon will not change his laws. An example of this occurs
when he and An tigone argue. He calls her "A traitor" For
giving a burial for her dead brother Polyneices. He is so
loyal to his own laws that he fails to see that he is
disobeying the law of the gods. Antigone puts the laws of
the gods ahead of the laws of the state s. She goes ahead
and buries her brother. Which was strictly prohibited by
Creon. This shows her short-sightedness is because she only
does what she thinks the gods want. Instead of abiding by
the law that Creon decreed. Creon is also short-sighted
because he refuses to believe any other opinions or laws
than his own. Creon and Antigone are both so loyal which
can also make them very extreme. Creon is an extremist in
reason. He thinks his law is the most important. Antigone
is an extremist of passion. Creon is unwilling to put the
god's law above his law. He is u nwilling to listen to the
passionate pleas of his son to let Antigone live. He
instead puts his laws first, and states that if he lets
Antigone live after she has broken his law, "How shall I
earn the worlds obedience?" His extreme will, later leads
to his son's death because he thinks his son has been
corrupted by Antigone. Antigone is equally as extreme and
she will not listen to the reasoning of her sister Ismene.
Ismene reminds her of the problems and dangers she is
undertaking when she goes ou t to bury Polyneices. Antigone
will not listen though, and this ends up killing her as
well. Because Creon and Antigone are very extreme in their
ways this can also make them cruel and foolish people.
Creon is quite cruel to everyone around him. He never once
listens to anyone, but instead he acts foolishly and hurts
everyone. When he is talk ing to his son Haimon, he retorts
that Haimon is "a fool" and that he is, "Taken in by a
woman!"

These words and his fathers attitude hurts Haimon and he
becomes filled with rage towards his foolish father.
Antigone is also cruel and foolish. Especial ly to her
sister Ismene. Ismene tries to help Antigone in the start
of the play. When she tries to tell Antigone not to risk
everything to please the gods. Antigone won't listen
though, She just tells her "Go away Ismene. I will be
hating you soon", in a striking example of her cruelty.
Ismene and Antigone have been caring sisters until suddenly
Antigone abandons her because she does not agree to help
bury their brother. Creon also is cruel to his old friend
and prophet, Teirsesias. Teirsesias co mes to warn him that
if he does not free Antigone that bad things will happen,
but Creon doesn't believe him. He claims that Teirsesias
has "sold out" as a prophet and shows how foolish he is not
to trust a long standing friend who has never been wrong.
Creon and Antigone are both plagued by hubris.

Creon wants to stand by the law he has made. Antigone is
willing to risk it all to stand by the law of the gods and
what is right. Creon's stubbornness is clear when his old
friend and prophet Teirsesias. Tells him to free Antigone.
Creon stubbornly refuses and remarks to the old wise man,
"Bribes are baser then any baseness" Creon does not even
listen to Teirsesias, who made him king in the first place.
He is so stubborn that he refuses to listen cl aiming that
Teirsesias had been corrupted by money and so his pride
hampers his good judgment. He is so concentrated on
everyone being corrupted that he does not even listen to
common sense. His son, Haimon tries to come tell him that
he should not s entence Antigone to death. Creon is
outraged by his son siding with her. He tells Haimon that
he is a "Fool, adolescent fool! Taken in by a woman!"
Haimon responds to this by saying that he is "perverse"
Creon, even more outraged, calls him a "Girls struck fool"
Haimon storms off with a loathing hatred for his father's
arrogant pride and stubbornness.

Antigone has equal hubris herself. She is so passionate on
burying her brother that she will not listen to reason.
Full of arrogance and indignati on, she will not listen to
the words of her sister. Ismene warned her of the dangers
of burying their brother Polyneices but Antigone will not
listen. She calls Ismene a "traitor" for not coming to help
her and Ismene shakingly replies "I am so afraid o f you".
Antigone, instead of listening to the common sense of her
sister, snaps back that "You need not be: you have yourself
to consider, after all". Later in the story Antigone is
arrested for burying her brother and Ismene comes crawling
back to her. Ismene breaks the conversation between
Antigone and Creon by admitting that, "I am guilty, if she
let me say so". Antigone will not let her and retorts
coldly, "No, Ismene. you have no right to say so. You would
not help me, and I will not have you h elp me" This reveals
clearly how arrogant and stubborn Antigone can be. Even
after her sister wants to share in her punishment and
crawls back to her. She will not accept it to her own
demise.

Creon and Antigone are both remarkably similar people.
Ironically, they are both so much the same that they can
not see it. The flaws they share make neither of them
willing to listen to the other. Many of their traits are
identical, but their opinion s are so different that they
can't stand each other. Sophocles did an excellent job in
portraying the two vast extremes of the spectrum, passion
and reason. This story hopefully proves to people that
neither extreme passion nor extreme reason, but rather be
in the middle and achieve arete.

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[Üye Bilgileri]

Who is tragic hero?

The debate over who is the tragic hero in Antigone continue on to this day. The belief that Antigone is the hero is a strong one. There are many critics who believe, however, that Creon, the Ruler of Thebes, is the true protagonist. I have made my own judgments also, based on what I have researched of this work by Sophocles. Antigone is widely thought of as the tragic hero of the play bearing her name. She would seem to fit the part in light of the fact that she dies in doing what is right. She buries her brother without worrying what might happen to her. She "Takes into consideration death and the reality that may be beyond death" (Hathorn 59). Those who do believe that Antigone was meant to be the true tragic hero argue against others who believe that Creon deserves that honor. They say that the Gods were against Creon, and that he did not truly love his country. "His patriotism is to narrow and negative and his conception of justice is too exclusive... to be dignified by the name of love for the state" (Hathorn 59). These arguments, and many others, make many people believe the Antigone is the rightful protagonist.

Many critics argue that Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone. They say that his noble quality is his caring for Antigone and Ismene when thier father was persecuted. Those who stand behind Creon also argue that Antigone never had a true epiphany, a key element in being a tragic hero. Creon, on the other hand, realized his mistake when Teiresias made his prophecy. He is forced to live, knowing that three people are dead because of his ignorance, which is a punishment worse than death. My opinion on this debate is that Antigone is the tragic hero. She tries to help her brother without worrying about what will happen to her. She says, "I intend to give my brother burial. I'll be glad to die in the attempt, -if it's a crime, then it's a crime that God commands" (Sophocles 4). She was also punished for doing what was right. Her epiphany came, hidden from the audience, before she hung herself. Creon's "nobleness" of taking in young Antigone and Ismene is overshadowed by his egotistical nature. He will not allow justice to come about simply because he wants to protect his image. He says, "If she gets away with this behavior, call me a woman and call her a man" (Sophocles 13). These elements prove that Antigone is the tragic hero. Creon, understanding his ignorance may lead one to believe that he is the true protagonist. But, if you define the word protagonist you would find that a protagonist is one who is a leader or supporter of a cause. Antigone is in support of her own actions in the burial of her brother Polyneices. She entrusts that she is doing what the Gods want, contrary to the belief of Creon. Many readers and critics may say Creon suffered greator hardships. Some may say Antigone never had an epiphany. Who would understand it if their own brother were left to the birds and dogs. There would be no rational thinking involved in a act like this. These are arguments envolved in deciding who is the tragic hero of Antigone.

Critics, to this day, still argue about who is the tragic hero of Antigone. Many say that Antigone is the heroin. Others say that it is Creon. My research favors Antigone as the perfect protagonist. No matter who the reader sides with, it is agreed by most that there is a valid argument either way, in light of the fact that they both endure great hardships.

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[Üye Bilgileri]

Divine Law vs Human Law!

Possibly the most prominent theme in Sophocles’ “Antigone” is the concept of divine law vs. human law. In the story the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices have slain each other in battle. The new King Creon, who assumed the throne after Eteocles’ death, decrees that because Polyneices committed treason against the king, he shall not be buried, but instead “He shall be left unburied for all to watch
The corpse mutilated and eaten by carrion-birds and by dogs” (Sophocles). Herein lies the dilemma; in Greek culture, the spirit of a body that is not buried by sundown on the day that it died cannot find rest but is doomed to walk the earth.

This is the Crux of the theme, the conflict between the law of King Creon, and the law of the gods. In fact, according to Greek belief, Creon would have been ordained by the gods to be king, and thus, should not his law be their law as well? This is the hurdle that Antigone has to face; should she abide by the law of Creon and leave her brother to rot, under penalty of death? Or should she disregard Creon’s edict, follow the law of the gods and bury her brother? Creon is a brother to Jocasta, and thus next in line to become king after Etocles is killed in battle. The king is believed to be the chosen of the gods and to rule in their stead. Why then would the king attempt to punish Polyneices after death and so blatantly violate the rules of the gods? However, Creon is the king, and the penalty for disobeying this law of his is very real and very brutal, death.

On the other side of the argument, the law of the gods rules over all, even the king. The punishment for breaking the gods law is not death but according to the Greeks something far more eternal. Since it is the will of the gods that Creon be king, should it not therefore be their will that Polyneices be punished? Possibly not, because the Greek gods are far different from the God of modern religions. The Greek gods were not omnipotent, or omniscient, they had their own human flaws and they did not pre-ordain, in fact they spent much of their time bickering amongst each other. Another question is whether or not Creon ever thought or realized that he was breaking a divine edict with his decree to punish Polyneices. Or whether or not he cared.

Antigone believes that Creon is not rightfully king, she is resentful toward him and feels that he has slithered his way into the throne after the fall of the rightful rulers, Oedipus, her father and Etocles, her brother. Therefore, it is possible that she does not take his command seriously or she thinks she will be spared from punishment, or perhaps she simply doesn’t care. Either way, she chooses the gods over Creon and buries her brother. Creon, not wanting to appear weak, wanting to make an example of Antigone, sends her to her death. It is then that he is visited by the blind prophet Teiresias and made aware of his mistake (quote from Teiresias). Creon then goes to Antigone to free her but finds that she hanged herself, in the cave; with her he also finds his son Haemon, her betrothed. Haemon rushes at Creon and takes a misstep and falls on his own blade, killing himself. When informed of the news Eurydice takes her own life, leaving Creon and Antigone’s sister Ismene the only members of the family left. Feeling unworthy, Creon abdicates the throne, and thus Ismene is left all alone, this is where the story ends.

In the story of “Antigone” there is no clear antagonist, it is more of a battle of two protagonists. Creon believes that because he is king, put in his place by the gods, that his punishment is one befitting the crime of Etocles. Antigone believes that no matter what her brother did, divine law is above human law, and this leads the both of them into conflict. However, it is easier to sympathize with Antigone than with Creon and this leads Creon to be placed in the role of possible antagonist, when he quite simply is doing what he believes is just as well. Because both Antigone and Creon have their own ideas of what is "right" and "wrong", it is harder to judge them then one might think. This is to say that one should not make assumptions about what is truly right or wrong, unless the answer to that is apparently clear. Antigone believed that the actions taken by her were taken for the right reason, they adhere to the law of the Gods. In opposition to that, Creon believes that the actions he had taken were in fact the right ones, because he believed that Polyneices was a traitor to the kingdom, and that anyone who should give him a proper burial should be punished along with him as a traitor. So, consequently the actions that were taken by the both of them individually were the right ones, in their own minds at least. However, in the end, it is the god’s will that triumphs over man’s will, as it always does. Unfortunately, man was too arrogant to realize this until he was ruined by his own blindness. Only then did he truly see.

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