In the Greek tragedy Antigone translated by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, Antigone responds to Creon’s unjustified decree by honoring her brother Polyneices, after he dies. After Antigone’s father dies, her two brothers fight for the throne. King Creon, the new King of Thebes, sides with the other brother Eteocles and buries him with honor and for him to seek happiness after life. However, Creon leaves Polyneices to decay as a way to tell his people that Polyneices will be going to hell and find no happiness in his afterlife. Not only does Creon leave Polyneices alone to rot, he creates an unjustified decree to forbid anyone to show honor towards him in any way. Antigone opposes Creon’s biased decree. Antigone’s decision to defend Polyneices…
Creon, as the ruler of the land, is obligated to carry out social order. He has ordered that the body of Polynices should be left to rot because he was a traitor to the city. Antigone has disobeyed Creon’s orders by digging up her brother’s grave after his proper burial rites were forbidden. She has already buried her parents and brother Eteocles, who died fighting Polynices, and feels obligated to honor her brother’s life. Antigone is also determined to obey the gods, because it is against morality to leave any corpse unburied. She informs Creon that “Death longs for the same rites for all”.…
Additionally, violating the law brings harm to others. For example, in Scene 5 it states, "The burden you carry in your hands is heavy, But it is not all: you will find more in your house... The Queen is dead." (Lines 1000 & 1002). Due to Antigone breaking the law it lead to the death of many. Antigone's one decision to bury Polyneices consequently caused a chain reaction of negative outcomes such as harm to others.…
The most significant theme in Sophocles’ Antigone is whether or not the law of man conquers divine law. Amidst the play, the newly crowned king Creon proclaims that the body of Polyneices will not receive a proper burial, but instead will be publicly shamed and left to be preyed upon by wild animals. Upset with Creon’s mandate, Antigone mourns the death of both of her brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, and gives Polyneices a proper burial so he can move on to the afterlife.…
The play Antigone supports Creon’s claims that the rule of the king must be obeyed even if it is wrong in order to avoid anarchy and chaos. It is tragic that so many lives had to be lost. It is hard to be a king and maintain the rule of law. King Creon is a strong king that demands to be obeyed no matter what the cost. Tragically he lost so many that he cared for. First his brother dies, then his two nephews fight over the throne and end up killing each other. Eteocles was the king however his brother Polyneices fought to take his place. To no avail they both die. Eteocles was giving a proper burial for a king where Polyneices was just left to rot on the battlefield.…
One of the illustrations of civil disobedience comes at the actions of Antigone. For many years, civil disobedience is understood as being the right to resist government against laws that citizens believe are morally incorrect. Antigone portrays this type of defiance towards King Kreon. She, in an act of disobedience, directly violates a command put by the king, which states that her brother Polyneices will not be given a proper burial. Since Antigone strongly believes this is morally incorrect, she attempts to still give honor to her brother by burying him. Antigone`s disobedience towards Kreon`s rules is portrayed by the following quote, “You must be as you believe. I will bury him myself. If I die for doing that, good: I will stay with him,…
The concept of justice is a tricky one and thus it comes as no surprise that the differing views on what is morally right between Antigone and Creon result in the tragedies of Antigone. In Antigone, Antigone and her sister Ismene return to Thebes after they discover that their brothers were waging war against one another to determine who would rule Thebes after the death of their father, Oedipus. When Antigone returns, she discovers that her brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, already killed each other. These deaths result in Creon becoming the king of Thebes. Upon his rise to the throne, Creon declares a law which holds that those who oppose the state cannot receive a proper burial with formal rites. King Creon specifically notes the importance of keeping the city honorable and thus enforcing this new law, “Such are the rulers by which I will guard this city’s greatness; and in keeping with them is the edict I have published touching the sons of Oedipus.…
In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone, on the other hand, believes her act of civil disobedience to bury Polyneices was justified due to her belief that the laws of the gods should be carried out above any man made law, including those declared by Kreon and that those who have passed away before her must be honored. In the beginning of the play, Antigone tries to convince her sister, Ismene, to bury the body of her brother. Ismene, at first, was skeptical, for she knew it was Kreon’s decree that no one shall bury Polyneices for he was a traitor to the state. However, Antigone thought otherwise. Antigone states, “I’ll lie there, dear to him, with my dear friend, when I’ve performed this crime of piety; for I must please those down below a longer time than those up here, since I shall lie there always. You, though, if you think it best, dishonor what is honored by the gods” (Sophocles 22-23). Antigone believes burying her brother is of higher standards than to follow the laws of Kreon, for the gods must be worshiped above all else and she follows her principles to the very end. A king may rule the land, but the gods rule all and it is this mindset that Antigone possesses that allows her to fulfill the gods’ wishes. Later in the play, when Antigone is questioned by Kreon himself, she denies nothing and bluntly states that his mortal laws are no match to the laws of the gods. She claims, “It was not Zeus who made this proclamation; nor was it Justice dwelling with the gods below who set in place such laws as these for humankind; nor did I think your proclamations had such strength that, mortal as you are, you could outrun those laws that are the gods’, unwritten and unshakable. Their laws are not for now or yesterday, but live forever…” (Sophocles 38). Antigone followed through her decision to bury her brother because the gods’ laws are eternal. It was Antigone’s strength to stand by her…
In the tragedy Antigone, there are two central characters who serve as foils for one another. The main protagonist and heroine, Antigone, defies the wishes of the king of Thebes, who is also her uncle named Creon. Beginning as a man devoted to art patronage and falling into a position of power after the death of his brother, Creon begins the play with a declaration that says Polynices, one of Antigone’s brothers, cannot have a proper burial. Antigone disregards Creon’s law and covers Polynices in dirt, sending his soul to the underworld. The author Sophocles’ uses Antigone’s defiant actions to show Creon’s obsession with maintaining the subordination of women. However, it’s important to note that Creon’s obsession may not just pertain to having power over women, but also power over everyone in general.…
Civil disobedience is defined as a rising up against an established law in order to expose the lack of morality in the law. In Antigone it is clear that what the king was trying to do was unjust and unfair. Antigone was arrested for burying Polynices, her brother, after the king refused to bury him. If Eteocles, her other brother, could be buried with full military honors, then why could they not do the same for Polynices. Similarly in 1872 a woman named Susan B. Anthony was arrested because she "defiantly registered and cast a ballot" in Rochester, New York (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia).…
The play Antigone is a tragedy play that most of the characters were killed at the end. The central theme of this play is “civil disobedience” and is about the controversies between gender, power, age, religion, beliefs, and laws. The script begins with Antigone asking Ismene to bury their brother because Creon, their uncle passed down a decree saying no one is allowed to bury Polynices because he betrayed his country can killed his own brother. Antigone chose to disobey the law and was sentenced to death. Every one advised Creon to rethink his decision, but he didn’t listen until the end when everything was too late. There was a total of 11 actor used in this production (9 male and 2 female). This production is not a traditional play that have all the performer stand on stage and speak. It included the uses of music. Slow movement/dance, and the inclusion of English and Ancient Greek. The play started with Creon sitting on a podium facing the Leader of Chorus that was standing on another podium on the…
Antigone declares to all that she and she alone perform the burial rites for her brother, Polynices. A debate between civil law and natural law ensues between Creon and Antigone and with both sides unable to reach an agreement. Antigone in disbelief of his disposition in his principals will ask, how can Creon not think the gods do not find his law to be “uncorrupted or pure?” Creon acting as if an authoritative deity supplied him with the power to decide the fate of the dead will respond: “Never. Once an enemy, never a friend, not even after death.” The overall consensus: Antigone continues to uphold the law of the gods and Creon continues to defend his own law. However, Creon the arbitrator of Thebes orders the execution of…
Antigone is a tragic play wrote by Sophocles about the conflicts between family members. Oedipus the king of Thebes and his wife both killed themselves due to a mistake that they made in the past. After Oedipus died his two son Polyneices and Eteocles killed each other to see who will be the next king. Both die and Creon, Oedipus’s brother in law, is the next in line to became king. The first law that Creon made since he became king is no one is allow to bury Polyneices body because he is a traitor to Thebes. Anyone who buries Polyneices will die. This law has everyone involved in suffered greatly. Creon has suffered enough for his actions and the Thebens people should not punish him any further.…
Antigone, being Polyneice’s sister wants a proper burial for her brother because he after all no matter what action he may have taken is still her brother. She believes that if Creon orders Eteocles to receive a hero burial, her brother should deserve the same ending. However on the other hand, Creon refutes this idea and decides to bury Polyneice’s body in the field of battle to rot. He also proclaims that anyone who tries to honor the traitor’s death will be sentenced to death.…
A woman executed for burying her brother’s body. Thousands of citizens denied the right to vote because of the complexion of their skin. Millions of men, women, and children tortured and murdered due to their beliefs. Strong and powerful governments should not tolerate this complete absence of human rights. Civilians deserve the right to oppose a prideful or biased leader’s ideas if they contradict their beliefs.…