Lexi Nguyen Mr. Palko Period 8 27 October 2022 Haemons Speech In Antigone, Haemon uses figurative language and appeals to pride to argue that Creon must be a good leader and learn to take criticism by other people, encouraging Creon to forgive Antigone and let her be free. In Antigone, Haemon uses Figurative language to argue that a good leader can take others' criticism. In his speech to his father in the palace he argues that a leader can listen to the citizens' opinions, in order to make a better decision to free Antigone.
The character Antigone from the play Antigone best represents Stage 6th ,Universal Principles, of Kohlberg’s Stage Of Moral Development because she believes that individuals should have natural rights. In the play Antigone has a sister called Ismene and two brothers, Polynesis and Eteocles. Polynesis and Eteocles killed each other for the throne. Since Polynesis attacked Eteocles first Creon decided to leave Polynesis dead body in the street, so Antigone believed that Creon’s rule was unfair and it was against her natural rights so she decided to break the rule and bury her brother’s body.
Antigone’s Moral Development The play Antigone by Sophocles, is about a girl who faces a family conflict over her deceased brother. The protagonist is Antigone and she stays the same morally throughout the play. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development helps people understand the stages individuals morally move through as they mature more. Because of Antigone’s decisions and ideas at the beginning and the end of the play, she is a morally static character through the story.
Antigone is a play written by Sophocles that focuses on the consequences of Antigone's decision to defy her uncle the king and bury her brother Polyneices. The play presents Antigone as a brave and noble character who is willing to sacrifice her life to bury her brother, which is a death sentence. Although her uncle, King Creon, sees her decision as treasonous, Antigone's actions are justified when she honors her brother in ways only known. First, it is important to note why King Creon feels guilty about Antigone's actions. Creon makes it clear that the body of Polyneices must not be buried because he is a traitor and an enemy of the state.
In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, the dichotomy between power and weakness in Kreon’s character is crucial to the play’s meaning because it expresses his inner struggle, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Kreon decides to decree death on Antigone, his son’s fiance, which takes everything from him despite his trying to prevent that very thing. Because Kreon has a stubborn personality and allegiance to his power, he chooses not to go back on his word and reverse his mistake. His perspective on the importance of maintaining power clouded his judgment and made him believe that he was protecting his throne when, in reality, he was ensuring its demise. Ismene, Antigone’s sister, pleads with Kreon to reverse his wrongdoings and save his family and her own.
“A city which belongs to just one man is no true city.” (lines 838-39) Throughout the play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, the character Haemon constantly tries to persuade his father, Creon, to listen to the people of his city and to become a more humble leader. Haemon’s words, actions, and ideas contrast with Creon’s character. Which results in the two characters having continual conflicting motivations.
“Antigone” is a Greek tragedy that was written by the playwriter Sophocles. It is the final play of a trilogy that also includes “Oedipus the King” and “Oedipus at Colonus”. Throughout the play there are many lessons to be learned but none are as important as the concept of the relationship between individuals and the state. The problems within the play that relate to this issue are as present within our society today as they were during Sophocles’ time. The lack of influence in government from its citizens leads to injustice and cruelty because the government is following their own agendas.
In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, a woman’s individual conscience trumps state law when Antigone displays time and again that she values her divine motives higher than those of the state throughout the tragedy. Her continued defiance of the state’s authority marks the importance of her individuality through various scenes in Antigone. Knowing full well her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, Antigone goes beyond the powers of the common man to carry on morals of herself and family exceeding beyond immortality and death. Engulfed in the menacing misogyny King Creon set forth in the state, Antigone is determined to thrive and keep the sacred deeds of herself and family in tact despite the fate it bears. The character of Antigone exhibits
Antigone is a story about social and family relations that serves as an example to the reader of how emotions can overpower reason. Sticking to one thought process even when circumstances change can be dangerous, especially when dealing with life threatening situations. In the case of Antigone, the stressful relations and lack of logic used by the characters are used as a lesson to the audience showing what can happen when emotions get out of hand. There are two scenes in the story which best exemplify this.
The Importance of Family in Antigone Following one’s heart does not always mean following the law. Civil disobedience is justifiable when dealing with family. Devotion to family is significant, especially in Greek culture. The play Antigone by Sophocles, stresses the importance of family and how the disturbance of traditions may lead to conflict.
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.
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.
In addition to the chorus, Creon’s son Haemon turns against him as well. In the play, Haemon and Antigone are in love, but Creon’s decree to execute her will abolish this. Creon confronts Haemon, and states that “[he has] to feel within [his] heart, / subordinate to [his] father’s will in every way” (Antigone 713-714). This statement exposes how Creon feels that his power alone gives him sufficient justification to execute Antigone, but Haemon disagrees, and states that “he should not be quite so single-minded, self-involved, / or assume the world is wrong and [he is] right” (Antigone 789-790).
Sophocles’ Antigone, is a classic Athenian Greek play that discusses questions about the importance of following the law when one does not agree with it, and whether divine laws or man-made laws have more importance in society. While these themes are worth exploring, another interesting aspect of the play is the cruel treatment and punishment of the title character, Antigone, by her uncle and future father-in-law Creon, the king of Thebes. Creon’s harsh punishment, a parallel to the treatment of women in Greek society, can be seen in many of the dialogues of the play. Antigone is determined to provide proper burial for dead brother, Polynices, against the orders of the king, and goes to her sister Ismene for help. However, Ismene is distraught at the idea of defying the king (104).
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).
