Sophocles’ Antigone committed civil disobedience by burying her brother, Polynices, against King Kreon’s order. Antigone’s defiance was solely based on her religious views. Furthermore, Antigone knew that her disobedience would lead to the
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.
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.
You can easily link the events within Antigone to the Stanford prison experiment and the idea that people will assume roles because of their dispositions and/or their situations. This applies especially to Creon because before Oedipus left and his nephews died, he stated that he didn’t want the role of king, only the rights a king had. But as soon as he had to become king, he took to the role very quickly. He became a serious threat. He was quick to anger and couldn’t be reasoned with.
In Antigone, the character is Antigone and she is loyal and independent. Her brother was considered to be a traitor and shouldn’t be buried she goes against the rule to bury him anyways because she thought it was right even though her brother did many wrong things. In the reading it states, “Polyneices sought to taste the blood he shared with us,and lead the rest of us to slavery. You shall leave him without burial, you shall watch him get chewed up by birds and dogs and violated. But he that is loyal to the state in death, in life alike, shall have my honor.”
In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, burial customs of the ancient Greeks play an extensive role. The women of the family perform the burial rites, and believed that if their distinct methods were not followed, the soul is destined to suffer between worlds until the correct rites were performed. Antigone, the sister of Polynices and Eteocles, is aware of this and is not going to stand by and let her brother, Polynices, linger between worlds in pain, after being killed by Eteocles. With her ambition and determination she does the deed, and of doing so she follows the god's laws, but breaks Creon’s laws in the midst of it. Creon is also aware of the burial rites but still decides, through his stubbornness, that Polynices shall not be performed these rites, because of his actions against Thebes.
Antigone wants her brother to receive proper burial rites in the play “Antigone”, written by Sophocles. In the lead up to the play, two brothers fight till death in order to receive the beloved power over Thebes. In the dual between the two brothers, Polyneices met fatality while bringing mischief upon the city of Thebes. Consequently, the King, Creon, declared that Polyneices’s proper burial rites should be revoked. Antigone was driven by tradition and her family values to bury her deceased brother; thus forthe, she was readily willing to suffer her punishment.
In “Antigone” Sophocles proves that it is a moral choice to do something that will result in our death if we have a good enough reason to do it because it shows bravery, proves the importance of human rights, and can create role models for
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?"
When people defend what they believe in or who they love that is sacrifice. In order to be certain that her two brothers she loved had a proper burial and that their souls could rest, Antigone sacrificed her life. Regardless of the potential outcome; even if that means that she was going to have to challenge her uncle (King Creon), she plans on pursuing her quest. Polynices and Eteocles killed each other in battle for control over Thebes, leaving the city to the new King, Creon Jocasta’s brother and Antigone’s uncle. Because of the actions that Polynices took during the war, Creon labels him a traitor and halts any burial process, leaving his body for the animals (222-234).
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
Antigone, a play by Sophocles, was written thousands of years before some of the world's greatest rebellions and acts of martyrdom, such as Mohammed in Tunisia in 2010, yet it still portrays the same human nature of defying laws of the land. The main character, Antigone, rebels against the king of Thebes by burying her brother, knowing the harsh punishment for doing so, therefore making her a martyr for her personal beliefs. The news of her death sentence brings outrage to the people of Thebes, including those close to King Creon. In Antigone, Sophocles develops the universal theme of martyrdom and rebellion that is demonstrated through Antigone because of how the characters defy laws and react to her rebellion, which mirrors Mohammed Bouazizi’s case in Tunisia 2,500 years later. There never was, and never will be, a time when every person agrees with the laws and restrictions of the land, and the cases of Antigone and Mohammed Bouazizi are quintessential examples.
In literature, the theme of duty and sacrifice is a common element explored in various ways and genres. It is a theme that raises ethical questions about the morality of one's actions and often emphasizes the idea that sacrifices should not be made lightly. Duty must be balanced with morality; blindly following tradition or authority can lead to tragedy. Through a close examination of various literary works, such as "Antigone," "The Lottery," "Dulce et Decorum Est," and "The Things They Carried," this essay will explore the different ways in which the theme of duty and sacrifice is portrayed and how it highlights the importance of considering the morality of our actions. In "Antigone" by Sophocles, the conflict between Antigone and Creon raises questions about the morality of following duty versus following personal beliefs.
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.
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).
