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Ethos, Pathos and Logos in 'Antigone' by Sophocles

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Aristotle founded the idea that all the best arguments have three key parts: ethos, pathos and logos. Translated from latin, this means ethical, emotional and logical. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the characters frequently make use of these tools when attempting to persuade another character to conform to their beliefs and thoughts. Antigone tries to get her sister, Ismene, to help her in a crime that she believes is just. Haimon attempts to lessen Antigone’s sentence by lecturing his father about what it means to be a good leader, and the Chorus is just trying to help out anyone they can with wise words from a third party opinion. In Antigone, Antigone, Haimon and the Chorus use the appeals from ethos pathos and logos in their attempts …show more content…

“You may do as you like, Since apparently the laws of the gods mean nothing to you.” (Sophocles, et al. 192). This argument, though quite passive aggressive, is more ethical. The religion of the people of Ancient Greece was held to the utmost of importance, which is why such epics are written about them when someone dares to defy them. In this case, Antigone calls out Ismene for choosing to obey the rule of Creon rather than the rule of the gods. “I shall be hating you soon,” (193). Antigone then transitions into a more emotional form of persuasion, by threatening the relationship between them if she is to not join in on her plan. This targets the guilty conscience of Ismene which is normally what tends to push people to agree with the arguer, although it can be seen as a slightly manipulative tactic. Despite Antigone’s passive aggressive argument with Ismene, she fails to convince her to join the burial and carries out her mission on her own. However, the sentry Creon sent to spy on the grave spots her and brings her to Creon as the guilty

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For example, when she puts aside her grave fear of consequence to traverse the bridge. Antigone is overwhelmed by her own stubbornness, which leads to a tragic situation. Antigone refuses to compromise with her sister, Ismene, whom when she first learns of her brother's death. Antigone's unrepressed emotions gives a voice of dissatisfaction with Creon’s. Ever since Antigone gets herself in that situation facing Creon’s wrath, but still she doesn’t make a decision on how to bury her brother.

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506 Words | 3 Pages

In Sophocles` play, Antigone, he shows a story of a crazed man who lets pride takes over his actions causing the deaths of his loved ones. This essay will discuss Haimon, King Creon`s son, through statements that Sophocles himself wrote and inferences of his perspective. During the story Haimon does major actions such as; plea for his fiancée, commits suicide and even cast death upon King Creon. I believe that Haimon plead for Antigone`s life for more than one reason. He pleads for her because she was his fiancée and also because he heard the rumors the citizens passed around about King Creon.

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The burial of Polyneices is viewed nobly, yet Antigone is not faultless in that act. One of Antigone’s largest mistakes is that she burns bridges with those that care about her. Pleading with Antigone, Ismene laments “why would I care to live when you are gone?” (548). Antigone dismisses this heartfelt plea by deferring Ismene to Creon, thus isolating herself from her only kin.

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406 Words | 2 Pages

In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.

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Creon probably wouldn’t have had anybody die in his own hands if he had did what the gods wanted and not what he wanted for his own pleasure. Another reason why Antigone is correct is because she did what the whole city would have

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By declaring this, Haimon shows his love for Antigone is so strong that he would give up all contact with his father to keep the love of his life alive. Haimon’s love for Antigone further exhibits

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At the end of the play, the tragic flaw is unveiled to the tragic heroes in what is called a moment of recognition or anagnorisis. In this play “Antigone” there were two central tragic heroes, Antigone and Creon, with both similarities and differences. Antigone’s tragic flaw was relatively due to a positive quality, which is extreme loyalty to her brother in addition to another negative quality, which is being revolutionary. On the other side, Creon’s tragic flaw had a negative motive of extreme tyranny and stubbornness against the laws of nature and gods and human emotions, which caused tragic effects that could not be reversed despite his efforts at the end; consequently, Antigone and Creon’s characters meet at the point of recalcitrance. In this artistic drama, the writer delivers a significant message that utmost obstinacy and pride results in harsh punishments known as “the blows of fate” which are surely acute for anyone to

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Irony, Choices, and Tragedies In Antigone by Sophocles, the sentry was faced with a difficult decision when his loyalty was forced to be established between two things he was deeply devoted to. The sentry had to choose between his individual conscience or his loyalty to his king and state. Viewing the sentry's struggle allows the reader to perceive the tragedy because even though he was able to choose an ideal situation where he acquired both self-preservation and loyalty to others, the outcome of his decision was still tragic.

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Although human beings have evolved in many ways over time, the human intellect has remained relatively unchanged throughout time. It is this stagnation of the human mind that makes past literary works recognizable and relatable. Most people can relate to a work of some sort due to the fact that the author and the reader both have similar emotions and face similar problems. A specific piece of literature, Antigone, portrays similar conflicts and emotions that the modern reader today would most likely face. There are many themes in Antigone that are identifiable now, a sense of entitlement to all ( fairness), rebellion against restraints, and the importance of communication, but mainly the theme of entitlement.

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Haimon and Teiresias defend Antigone and demanded for her freedom. Antigone, Haimon, and Teiresias all use logical and emotional appeals to be persuasive towards a goal. Antigone uses logical and emotional appeals to persuade Ismene to go against Creon ’s words and help bury Polyneices with her.

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1307 Words | 6 Pages

Antigone, much like Elektra, wants to stand up for what she believes in as well as abide by the gods. Antigone and Ismene’s dynamic is similar to Elektra and Chrysothemis’ in Euripides’

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Antigone uses both logical and emotional appeals to persuade her sister Ismene that their brother Polyneices should be honored and have a proper burial. During an argument between Antigone and Ismene, Ismene believes that the law should be obeyed therefore she will not help Antigone. Antigone states, “Polyneices, who fought as bravely and died as miserably…no one shall bury him, no one mourn for him… his body must lie in the fields (Sophocles et al.190).” Antigone is trying to communicate to Ismene through the use of an emotional and logical appeal by explaining that he was, left to be decomposed by the birds. In the Greek culture, having a burial is a civic and religious duty which is necessary to proceed to the afterlife unaffected.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

People have been using ethos, pathos, and logos quotes for a very long time in order to get something that they think is necessary. In Sophocles play as translated by Seamon Heaney, Antigone says these types of quotes in order to justify the burial of her brother Polyneices. In Antigone, there are many wonderful examples of Antigone using ethos, pathos and logos in order to get what she thinks is right. Antigone believes that it is the right thing to bury her dead brother's body even if he was a traitor. “For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate”, a quote about argument by Margaret Heffernan, a famous author.

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313 Words | 2 Pages

In every person’s life there are laws that they follow, whether they be set by the authority in the country or their belief in a higher deity. The laws one follows while leading their life can sometimes be in conflict, in Antigone divine and state law are incompatible forcing the characters to make difficult decisions. Antigone’s personal obligation to following religious rites and traditions puts her at odds with Creon’s insistence on enforcing his will as the king. Sophocles examines the conflict between rules and order to illustrate how adherence to the law of the state can be mislead. Through the conflicts between characters in the play, Sophocles exemplifies that in his best world divine or religious law is obeyed over the law of men or

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958 Words | 4 Pages

In ancient Greece, a common saying that all citizens had in their very core, a traditional Greek principle, was this: love your friends, and hate your enemies. This rule seems pretty straightforward and would appear easy to apply in real life. However, in the timeless play Antigone, Sophocles shows his audience a situation where this maxim does not apply. Sophocles concentrates on a complex story where the values and principles of the ancient Greek culture come into conflict. Religious or moral versus secular, family versus community, and living versus dead: all of these conflicting aspects are explored in Antigone.

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