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The Burial Of Polynices In Sophocles Antigone

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The Burial of Polynices

Is one’s duty to their family more important than the law? What if the law is extremely unjust and unfair? An unfair law can be defined by its ethicality or its ability to bring justice. These laws are often common and affect many, because they are unfair and should be ended. In Antigone, an ancient Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles, the King of Thebes, Creon creates a decree to prevent the burial of his nephew Polynices, who waged war against Thebes to win back his throne. The protagonist, Antigone, disobeys this decree to bury her brother, claiming its her brothers right to be buried. After discovering what occurred, Creon sentenced her to death by exile. Antigone attempts to justify her decision to break the law, claiming that even though her brother committed treason, he should still have the right to be buried. Antigone uses gods law versus mans law to show Creon that she was in the right to bury …show more content…

Antigone believes burying her brother is a sacred duty that must be carried out by her, so her brother may rest in peace. “I will bury him myself. And even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory” (Sophocles 85-86). Antigone’s loyalty to her her brother is so strong that she is willing to risk her own life to bury him. She believes it is her duty to complete the god’s laws and bury her brother, even if it means disobeying the king. Antigone’s decision is also motivated by her belief in the god’s laws, and that they are more important than man’s laws. When Creon confronts Antigone about her actions, she responds “I did not think anything which you proclaimed strong enough to let a mortal override the gods and their unwritten and unchanging laws”(Sophocles 450). Antigone belives the god’s laws are timeless, and no human can override

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Antigone was right in her decision in disobeying Creon and his decree to not bury Polyneices. Antigone was right in her decision in burying polyneices because she was following what she thought was right. She decided to follow what her religion told her to do even if it would cause her death: ” But I will bury him; and if I must die”(Prologue,55). She was not afraid about dying because she knew that

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Furthermore, Antigone proclaims, “These laws —I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man's wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods.” Here, Antigone shows that she is more fearful of divine judgment than of Creon’s punishment. This is significant as it shows that Antigone would much rather face death than eternal punishment by the gods. Finally, Antigone demonstrates

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Antigone is the strong-willed and stubborn daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. Her argument is in opposition to her uncle, King Creon. Antigone is propelled by grief to unlawfully bury her brother. She argues that "I shall suffer nothing so great as to stop me dying with honor" (96-97). In her view, she believes that not burying her brother, dishonors both herself and her brother.

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In the play, Antigone by Sophocles when a new man Creon becomes king he forbids a traitor's body to be buried so that he would be an example, this man being Polyneices, Antigone’s brother. Antigone, fearless in her actions, will not let her brother's body rot in the street even if it's against Creon's rules, but Creon due to his pride will not listen to anyone including Antigone. This will lead to pain and suffering for Creon later in the story. The main character Creon is foolish, for killing Antigone for trying to give her brother a burial. Because he would not hear out Tiresias or others.

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In the play, “Antigone” by Sophocles, one of the main characters Antigone, shows us that through determination and bravery we can accomplish the things that scare us the most. Kreon, the new ruler of Thebes, has put a ban on burying Polyneikes, Antigone's brother because he betrayed the city. Antigone wants to go against Kreons law because of the respect she has not only for her brother but the respect she has for the Gods law. Antigone has learned what law Kreon has set for the people of Thebes, they were told that they must not bury the body of Polyneikes. She sets out to find her sister, Ismene, and tell her the upsetting news about their brother.

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In Antigone, it is evident that both Creon and Antigone made mistakes in spite of the fact that they had right intentions. Creon attempts to uphold the law in order to maintain structure and be what he considers to be a just leader, however, Creon’s mindset remains too rigid and his actions don’t adapt in light of the circumstances. Antigone wants to stay loyal to her family and save her brother’s soul, yet she isolates herself and shows disrespect for the law. Creon does not allow Antigone any grace for her actions because he explicitly adheres to the laws of the city.

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In fact, our new king Creon who is the uncle of the brothers has put forth a law that if anyone would try to bury Polynices, they would be put to death. This leaves us with an argument and the fate of one of our townspeople, Antigone. Many people of this city have been flustered and worried over what had happened in the past week. The question is now, should Polynices be buried to

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”(Sophocles Pg 4) Antigone is going to bury her brother but Ismene thinks it’s a bad idea and tells her to keep it on the low but Antigone thinks she is going to please the ones who agree with 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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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.

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Antigone breaks king Creon’s rules and buries her brother. In doing so she is breaking away from the rule of Creon. She is deciding her own destiny. She ends up getting caught and faces consequences, she put herself in that situation deciding her own fate.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

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

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“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.

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She does not understand why she is being treated so unjustly for trying to do the right thing. The chorus in the play tries convincing Antigone that justice is behaving in accordance to Creon’s laws but Antigone is stubborn and sustains to her convictions. Even though Antigone ends up dying she dies achieving her goal of wanting to bury her brother properly. Mostly everyone in this play goes against what the main character feels is justly because they want to follow the kings laws and they believe she is acting immorally. Antigone is not acting immorally, she is doing the right thing to follow the law of the gods.

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958 Words | 4 Pages

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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