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Examples Of Stubbornness In Antigone

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In the tragic story of Antigone, the characters demonstrate how determination is not always a virtue. Kreon, the king of Thebes, buries one out of two of Antigone’s brothers. Antigone rebels and decides to bury the body of the second brother. Antigone is caught and brought before the king. She admits to burying the body and believes that what she did was right. Both Kreon and Antigone are stuck in their ways and refuse to listen to each other’s arguments. These disagreements reach their climax when several characters kill themselves because of Kreon’s stubbornness. Throughout this play, obstinacy leads several characters to their ruin through their single-mindedness and their lack of respect for the opinions of others. Antigone demonstrates her own stubbornness when she explains to Ismene …show more content…

One scene where he shows his stubborn streak is during his conversation with his son, Haimon. While Haimon politely argues for the life of Antigone, Kreon dismisses Haimon’s ideas and immediately assumes that Haimon is “threatening” (51) him. This example shows the reader how quickly Kreon jumps to a conclusion. Throughout the exchange, he reiterates with a childish passion that Haimon will “never marry Antigone” (51). The audience can see that Kreon’s stubbornness stems from an immature impulse. Haimon appears to be the fatherly figure during this argument while Kreon seems ornery and adolescent. Kreon also shows his unreasonable views while he speaks to the prophet, Teiresias. Teiresias tells Kreon to bury the body of Polyneices and to let Antigone out of the tomb. Kreon fires back, saying “No, not if the eagles rip him for food, not if they carry him to the throne of Zeus! I’m not even afraid of that” (61). He would readily become a martyr and refuses to look at any other points of view. This demonstrates his inability to see reason. As was Antigone, Kreon is dedicated to the belief that he is

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In the Greek tragedy Antigone, Creon is the best example of “unshakable will power” through his efforts to punish Antigone for her attempt to defy the state law. In the story, Creon punishes Antigone for burying her brother Polyneices, whom Creon specifically made a law about, stating that no one shall propose a proper burial for him. Instead of thinking about the situation logically, Creon’s arrogance and ignorance takes over, causing him to be the one at fault by the end of the tragedy. Creon exhibits unshakable will power throughout the story through his abuse of power as a leader and through his determination to kill Antigone. One way that Creon displays unshakable will power is through is arrogance and ignorance as a leader.

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Antigone, who feels the same love for both her brothers, decides to bury her Polyneices, even though Creon will put anyone to death that tries to. She tries to get Ismene involved, but she refuses to break Creon’s law. Antigone gets caught in the burying of her brother and Creon sends her to

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In the play, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus learns about the death of her two brothers (Eteocles and Polynices).Creon, the new king of Thebes passed a decree to the city on the burial of the two brothers. In the decree, Creon declares that Eteocles body should be buried with honor and fame for his courage of saving the city from the enemy. Whiles Polynices body is left unburied and rotting for beasts to feed on because he came to destroy the city and enslave the people. Antigone defies Creon 's decree, buries Polynices body and gets caught. Creon imprisons her

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In the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic story of the bold Antigone who defied her uncle, King Creonʻs, edict by burying her brother, Polyneices, who died attacking the city of Thebes, trying to take the power away from their brother, Eteocles, who refused to share the throne with Polyneices. Even though Antigone knew that going against Creon and burying her brother would not end well for her, she still choose to risk her life to do what is right. After being caught breaking the law, Antigone is appointed to be locked away, isolated in a cave until she dies, but she hangs herself at the end. At the same time, things for Creon are not looking good, as everyone around him seems to be against him in his decision for punishing Antigone. Everyone Creon cares about kills themselves from a curse that is put on Creon for not following the Godsʻ laws.

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She will only accept complete or no help at all, demonstrating how her decision is made in absolutes, with Antigone considering no other factors or consequences that may come as a result. Antigone demonstrates her resolve and her solitary motivation, as she brushes Ismene off harshly at any hint of hesitation. To do that indicates that she tolerates disloyalty to an extreme level, even if it comes from another member of her immediate family, even her own sister. This also reveals the fatalistic nature Antigone, as she says she is ready to die by breaking the law.

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The play, Antigone, is a tragedy written by the Greek poet Sophocles. A common theme among tragedies is that they have a tragic hero, and Antigone is no different. The tragic hero of this poem is Creon, the King of Thebes. Creon is faced with the difficult task of punishing his niece, Antigone. She has broken one of his laws stating that no one is to give proper burial rites to Polyneices, Antigone’s brother, because he tried to overthrow Creon.

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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).

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Haimon , Creon’s son warns him that the people of Thebes sympathize with Antigone. Haemon tells his father, I beg you, do not be unchangeable: Do not believe that you alone can be right. The man who thinks that, The man who maintains that only he has the power To reason correctly, the gift to speak, to soul–– A man like that, when you know him, turns out empt.

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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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In the story, the relationship between Antigone and Creon is very important and contrasts greatly. If they had found a way to resolve their differences, the story may have ended differently. The tension between these two characters is based on Creon’s actions and thoughts in regard to Antigone’s brothers and the brother she buried. Creon left Polyneices, her brother, to rot outside of the city. He commanded that if anyone buried Polyneices, they would be put to death.

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Kreon does not believe Polyneices deserves a proper burial for Polyneices was not noble in Kreons eyes. Polyneices was fighting against Thebes and causing terror. He does not want to give him a proper burial, as shown in the quote “... Polynecius, who died as pitiably - Kreon has proclaimed that his body will stay unburied, no mourners, no tomb, no tears, a tasty meal for the vultures” (Sophocles 22). Antigone is distraught at the thought of her brother being left to be “a tasty meal for the vultures” and soon vows to bury him regardless of the law.

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In Antigone, there was two brothers who shared being the King and one of the brothers, Polynices, wanted to start a war with the kingdom because he wanted to be the main ruler. Polynices and his brother Eteocles fight and they both end up killing each other. Their Uncle Creon, who takes position as King when they are both killed, decides that only Eteocles will have a proper burial and Polynices will be left to rot. Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles sister, thinks that Creon’s decision is unfair and takes upon herself to give Polynices a proper burial. When their other sister Ismene finds out, she is stuck between helping her sister bury their brother and following Creon’s demands.

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In the play Antigone, Sophocles demonstrates the conflict between family and God through the characters of Antigone, Ismene and Creon. Antigone being ambitious and strong willed throughout the play, fights for his brothers honor and proper burial while Ismene on the other hand, is more timid fears the consequences that may occur if the laws are broken. For Creon he is the King and holds most power, until the Gods feel he is incapable. Antigone, Ismene and Creon all use logical and emotional appeals to achieve a compromise to either bury Polynices or not.

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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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