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”.…
One of Antigone's flaws is her loyalty to the gods and, on the other hand, her disloyalty to the state. Antigone seems to value religion more than the law. At the beginning, Creon orderes that Polynices, Antigone's brother, must be kept unburied because Creon thinks that he was a traitor. This is offensive to Antigone, and she is willing to do anything to honor the gods and bury her brother, even if it means getting killed for defying Creon's laws.…
Similarly, both women's decision and actions starts their tragic path. Antigone is decided to bury her brother, Polynices, being aware that disobeying will lead to death. While talking to her sister, Ismene, she said "he has no right to keep from my own"60. Antigone believes that as the woman of the family is her responsibility to bury her brother and it's the law of god which should overrule the law of state. She doesn't fear confrontation and admits to Creon that it was her who bury his body at the time of accusation. Antigonie says "give me glory! What greater glory could I win than to give my own brother decent burial?"561 She believed her death was her glory. Her pride and ambitious way to be remembered made her fearless of death.…
In Sophocles' play "Antigone”, the ideas of obeying the law of one’s community and following ones own moral beliefs come into conflict. The plot revolves around two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices having killed each other in an attempted to gain rule and their Uncle Creon gaining power after their deaths. He orders Eteocles given an honorable funeral and Polyneices to be left in the streets to rot. Creon believes that Polyneices' body shall be condemned to this because of his civil disobedience and treachery against the city. However, the dead brothers’ sister, Antigone, believes this unfair to Polyneices and insulting to the Gods.…
In “Antigone” Creon the ruler decides to create a rule right on the spot for these two brothers that came back to the land, but one brother will not get the welcome back like the other did “I here proclaim to the city that this man shall no one honor with a grave and none shall mourn. You shall leave him without burial you shall watch him chewed up by the bird” (1197). Now there is a problem, while he made this rule up. His son’s wife Antigone wants to bury her brother’s body because in ancient Greece “They gave careful attention to proper preparation of the…
Antigone believed that not burying her brother Polyneices and burying her other brother Eteocles due to the command of her uncle Creon was a very wrong thing to do and being the loyal person she was she did not accept this law carried by her Uncle and disobeyed him with the mindset knowing burying her brother Polyneices was the right thing to do know the consequences that came with it.…
From reading Antigone, loyalty comes in all different forms. One is how Antigone expressed her loyalty to family by giving her brother, Polynices, a proper bruial; even though she wasn't being loyal to the rules of Creon, king of Thebes. Humans are faced with basic conflicts of loyalties—to state, religion, and family. Personal happiness is another powerful and legitimate pull. But perfect balance among these compelling factors is impossible; hence suffering is inevitable. In this play, loyalty expresses through Antigone's eyes with respect to the family, as she showed devotion to them, by giving her brother a proper burial.…
Antigone proves herself to be a very loyal family member when she states, “That must be your excuse, I suppose. But as for me, I will bury the brother I love” (Pro. 64-65). She cares not of the law set forth by Creon when it conflicts with her beliefs concerning loyalty to loved ones. She chose the law of the gods above all other decrees, disregarding that the cost is her life. Even after the body’s guards brush off the thin layer of dust to negate the effect of the prompt burial given by Antigone, the heroine risks life and limb to see that Polynieces receives a proper burial, and she is arrested in the process. Her retort to Creon’s accusations was, “I do. I deny nothing.” Antigone is confident in her choice at this point. She even stands up for Ismene’s fraud confession, and she will “not have [Ismene] help” because Antigone’s loyalty to her family is too great (1. 132).…
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…
Antigone says the gods want her to bury Polynices, which she does. While burying her beloved brother, she is caught by the guard, taken to the palace where she awaits her fate. When she's is being questioned by Creon for her crime she announces to Creon “take me and kill me-what more do you want?” (Line 266). She accomplished what she needed and buried her brother. She does this bringing out Creon’s determination to kill anyone who buries Polynices, Even if it’s his son's fiancee. So determined to stick to his morals he responded “Me? Nothing. With that I have everything.” (Line 267). When she announced what she did to Creon it brought out his determination to kill anyone who buries Polynices, and nothing would stand in the way of his punishment, even if it meant deeply saddening his son with his Fiance’s…
First of all, Antigone says to Creon “But if I’d allowed my own mother’s dead son to just lie there, an unburied corpse,then I’d feel distress.” (227-229). This quote shows how Antigone is doing the right thing by burying her brother and what Creon is doing to her brother Polyneices an act of injustice. This also shows how Antigone and Creon are different because she is being driven by the love she has towards Polyneices and Creon is being driven by the hate he has towards him. Second, Antigone says to Creon “But where could I gain greater glory than setting my own brother in his grave?” (570-571). This quote shows how Antigone is willing to disobey the law to give her brother a proper burial because of how much she loves him. This quote also shows how Antigone is determine to do what she thinks is right which is bury her brother Polyneices even though she would be disobeying orders. He doesn’t think women are the same as men because they disobey men’s…
Continuing on, knowing the consequences of her act, she will bury her brother because it is the will of the gods that a family gives its members a proper burial. And because of this, she will face the punishment of death for disobeying Creon’s order. For fighting against Thebes, but Antigone being an honor sister will give him a proper burial knowing what he did. Creon by doing this will let the city know that by unburied Polynices action will show others to think before thinking in betraying their city if anyone had the intention to do it. Also since he's the king, he needs to gain the respect of the people. When at the same time it was…
When she was questioned by her uncle why she broke the law she the law was wrong and stated “nor did I think your edict had such a force that you , a mere mortal, could override the gods, the great unwritten, unshakable traditions”( Sophocles ,1117,505). Antigone is saying that burying the dead is an important religious duty that needs to be done to respect but the gods. Creon also is aware of this because earlier in the play when one of his guards suggested that the gods buried the body he questioned why the gods would care about “a corpse” (Sophocles, 1112, 320). The main conflict in this play is the religious duty versus the law of the land. This forces Antigone to either be true to the law or true to her ethical or religious beliefs. Antigone chose standby her religious beliefs and to rebel against the unjust rules of her uncle. This ethical conflict put the whole plays plot into…
Antigone is an outstanding example of someone who did what she thought was right, while she was among fools, many hardships, and people who were discouragingly uncourageous. Although we may not defend the self-sacrificial actions of Antigone, or may not have the strength to do something similar, we should follow principle behind her actions. Antigone believed, as did most people of her time, that a dead person's soul could not rest if that person's body was not buried. Creon, the King, ordered that the body of Polyneices, Antigone's brother, be left to rot unburied because he had died attacking the city, a traitor. This presents a huge problem for Antigone; she feels she must obey the laws of the gods and bury her brother, but the penalty would be earthly death.…