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Antigone: A True Hero

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Antigone is a proven hero in Ancient Greek Literature. She has a strong sense of morals when it comes to following the people’s laws or the laws of the Gods. She has a profound braveness and is not afraid to act for the sake of what is right, no matter the consequence. Antigone shows that she is a hero with her honor. More specifically the honor she is giving to her family. Antigone is a hero who lives by her honor, morals, and bravery. Antigone has strong morals, she knows what is right and wrong and is not afraid to act upon it. Some people would say that Antigone was reckless. While it may have been a little reckless it was the right decision. In the closing of the play, the leader of the chorus says “Good sense is crucial to human happiness. …show more content…

This was not how Antigone thought, she clearly loved her brother and wanted the best for him both in life on Earth and in the Underworld. She told Keron “I’d never let any man’s arrogance bully me into breaking the gods’ laws” (Sophocles lines 496 and 497). This may sound like Antigone showing her morals, but it is in the form of honor. She is telling Keron that the Gods require bodies to be properly buried to be admitted into the Underworld and that the Laws of the Gods and the honor of her family come before the laws made by Keron. Antigone’s Honor is fueled by her anger towards Keron and the way he treated Eteokles and Polyneikes differently. Antigone tells Ismene “It’s Keron. The way he’s treated our brothers. Hasn’t he buried one with honor? But he’s shamed the other” (Sophocles, lines 27-29). Just like her morals, Antigone knew that her family’s honor was a top priority from the beginning of the tragedy. Antigone’s Actions are to make up for the honor that Polyneikes did not receive from

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Antigone is a caring, strong minded person who sticks up for her

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On the other hand, Antigone may be prideful, but not like her father; instead she is more arrogant towards her actions that she thinks is just. For instance, in the illegal act of burying her brother, Antigone doesn’t show any guilt as to committing the offence, she instead tells her uncle “I should have praise and honor for what I have done. All these men here would praise me were their lips not frozen shut with fear of you.” This is a bold statement said by Antigone as she tells her uncle that he is wrong, for leaving her brother unburied and that she acted in virtue not haste for what he had done. In saying this Antigone shows that she is prideful in what she had done and that others will agree with her upon it.

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One could argue that Antigone did not act for the benefit of her society. She ignored Kreon’s proclamation that prohibited anybody from burying Antigone’s brother, Polyneices, challenging his authority, and was more focused on doing what she believed was right, burying her brother and giving him the proper burial rites, and relinquishing herself of any possible guilt for not doing so. However, one can further argue that, even though Antigone’s primary intention was to revere her brother, she did act for the benefit of her society, as she indirectly fought to preserve her society’s value of honoring the dead. Antigone does realize that she has the people’s support for her actions, as she says, “my action pleases all of them, if fear did not lock up their tongues” (Sophocles 40). The latter part of Antigone’s statement suggests that people do not reveal their disapproval of Kreon’s proclamation, due to his authority and power.

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Her scrawny and less desirable features make her an outcast compare to her sister. Who is the epitome of grace and desire in this time and age. Because of this Antigone knew it was her duty to bring justice to an unjust law. Being an outcast to society gave her the courage and strength to do what her sister Ismene could never do. She challenged the law.

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Tradition is a theme found in both the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and the play Antigone by Sophocles. In both stories tradition is used as a tool to force people to conform to the “norm” of society. In “The Lottery”, the people of the town revolve around their annual lottery. Everyone is quick to help each other get ready for the event and also show no remorse for the end of the ritual. Nobody objects to the continuation of the lottery, although Mr. Adams brings up the rumor that a nearby village were talking about giving up the lottery but he was quickly shut down by Old Man Warner.

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Antigone, a brave heroine or a foolish girl? Antigone is a story about a girl whose brothers had fought in battle and killed one another. From this the ¨tyrant¨ Creon makes a proclamation that Polynices, one of the brothers, shall not receive a proper burial because he was traitor. This kicks off the story of young Antigone and her fight to give her brother a proper burial.

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Antigone died with great honor and pride with aside her brother, she succeeded in being a

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In the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"

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This law, by King Creon unhinged Antigone’s wrath and sorrow about the situation. Antigone’s tries to get her sister to consider helping her in the inception of the first episode, but Ismene tells her sister that it’s better off if they don’t end up the same as their brothers and father (Lines 60-81). That means if Antigone still wanted to proceed, it was going to be alone. Due to the fact that in Greek mythology, their belief was that the dead

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In the play, Antigone, Sophocles reveals a story of a character who responds significantly to an injustice. After a war between brothers’ Eteocles and Polyneices, both brothers are slain, but Creon, Antigone’s uncle, refused to bury Polyneices due to him fighting against the city. Antigone, the main character, decides to bury her brother against Creon’s orders, resulting in a conflict between the already cursed family. With the unjust refusal from Creon to not bury Polyneices, Antigone decides to stand up against this injustice, even if it means losing her life. Sophocles writes about a stubborn Antigone who believes she is following God’s law, in order to create justice between the cursed family and solve the unjust created by Creon, to

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Antigone’s actions are motivated by her allegiance to her family, moral conscience, and religion amid Creon’s political injustice and tyranny. Antigone’s actions motivate her to demand Ismene to prove whether she is “a true sister or a traitor to your family” (26-27). Antigone maintains loyalty to her brother despite his actions which threatened Thebes. Her inability to bear the thought of her brother’s corpse being picked apart by animals and not being honored with proper funeral rites forces her to act. Antigone’s fierce allegiance to her family is laid bare as she is willing to sacrifice her life to honor her brother and defy the law in an act that she believes is morally just.

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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (Martin Luther King Jr.) Antigone takes the decision to resist Kreon, and insists on burying Polyneices. The act is something that brings her into a sharp conflict between familial duty based on divine law, and the commands of the king (Kreon). Leaving Polyneices unburied means that he becomes part of nature, as vultures and wild dogs will feed on him.

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Aristotle describes a tragic hero as a man or woman of high standing who is capable of great suffering. He or she possesses many good qualities, but displays a single, fatal, character flaw which results in the character's downfall. Because of Aristotle's definition, Antigone would be considered a tragic hero. Antigone is a tragic hero first because of her high standing. She is the daughter of Oedipus and a princess of Thebes.

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She was outraged when she found out that her brother Polyneices was going to be left to rot and be eaten by animals, because he was a traitor to the city. Antigone believed that her brother deserved a proper burial even though he tried going against the city unlike her other brother Eteocles. She asks Ismene (her sister) to join her in this act of rebellion but Ismene does not want to get in trouble for going against her kings orders so Antigone does it on her own. Creon feels disrespected and punishes Antigone for not following his rules. He seals Antigone while she is alive, inside a tomb.

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The drama Antigone places the culture of Greece on display by showcasing the many values that this culture held in reverence, including remaining loyal to family, honoring the dead, and honoring the gods. In Sophocles’ renowned drama entitled Antigone, one of the main values that Antigone chooses to honor is loyalty to family, even when that means that she has to forgo loyalty to her city and community. Even though her uncle the king, Kreon, forbade anyone to bury Polyneikes’ body because he had been on the opposing side in the battle, Antigone felt a duty to her brother to bury him. When speaking with her sister, Antigone says that Kreon’s command “…threatens our loved ones / as if they were our enemies” (Antigone 14-15).

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