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Controversy In Sophocles Antigone

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Sophocles, with his intelligence and creativity, presented numerous ethically correct and incorrect circumstances in his play Antigone, also consisting of arguable traits. With every character shadows a dilemma that the reader has to interpret for themselves, and this is one of the reasons that it is as intellectually challenging as it is presented. One of these characters within the controversy is Antigone, the daughter of the former king of Thebes. To understand Antigone’s moral controversy, one must know the reasoning behind her actions. In the plot, Antigone is furious over the disrespect Polynices, her dead brother, is given. Because of Polynices’ actions of betrayal towards the city of Thebes, he is denied a proper burial from Creon, …show more content…

He states, “Exactly when did you last see the gods / celebrating traitors? Inconceivable!” (Sophocles 326-327). This delivers the argument in reference to Antigone’s beliefs of glory that it is merely impossible to imagine the gods giving glory to those who honor traitors, regardless of their relation to one another. He is stating the unimportance of following the laws set by the gods in regards to dealing with citizens who have the incentive to become traitors of their own city. His incentive behind his thought process is born because of his duties set upon him as a king but because of this statement, he produces a questionable response pertaining to Antigone’s actions in the plot. After analyzation of Antigone, it is safe to state that many questions dealing with morality in the culture of Sophocles’ time have ascended. With the diverse quantity of opinions fluctuating around our society about morality so frequently in life, arguing and debating over these questions is inevitable. The question consisting of the laws set upon us and our obligation to them is still present in the culture of our society today, and it will continue to be an issue in the

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n Sophocles’ play “Antigone”; written in 441 B.C., Antigone is a woman of impact, and her choices as a upstander affect the other characters. She was righteous in her pursuits to restore justice with her choices, that are taken because of Kreon unjust ruling. The first move was his, when she lawed the burial of Polyneices, whom is unhonored for being soldier of the enemy. Her choice to secretly bury him affected not only her life, but also Kreon and his family. She impacted her own life with her choice also to kill herself, and the lives of others.

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Having witnessed the demise of her family due to horrible curses and fates, she knows that reverence and adherence to the Gods will comes before any earthly pursuits. The tragedies of her father, mother, and brothers has left her extremely dedicated to family, and to the Gods. When questioned by Creon, Antigone justifies her action “Your edict, King, was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God. They are not merely now: they were, and shall be…” (2.208) Antigone justifies that there will never be a higher authority than that of the gods, and that the laws of the gods are paramount to anything. She reveals that she finds honoring the gods more important than her life, and accepts her death at the hands of Creon.

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The scene thorough lines 450 to 540 involve Creon and Antigone in a furious argument. With Creon’s ruthless attitudes he condemns her for her actions however, Antigone seems to be indomitable and fights back. They’re arguing due to the fact that Antigone wants to bury her fallen brother, Polynicies, while Creon has prohibited the burial. In Creon’s mind, everyone from Thebes should hail the estate and obey his orders, while many disagrees with him, only Antigone has the courage to follow the gods rules and honor her family. “Because it wasn’t Zeus who pronounced these things to me.”

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Antigone’s beliefs proclaim that “Hades longs to see these laws fulfilled” to honor the burial of Polyneices corpse (Sophocles 519). She emphasizes her conviction that “it was not Zeus who made this proclamation” (Sophocles 450). Antigone has profound respect for the gods and the traditions of her people. Her actions are accomplished to pay homage to the Greek gods. She maintains that her actions are

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