Character Change In Antigone

The conditionality of burying the dead shows that gods’ law is less sacred for Antigone than she claims to be. Neither does she care about her living families. She humiliates Ismene publicly, causing Creon’s death indirectly and set her uncle Creon in a dilemma where he needs to punish his daughter-in-law. Her real incentive is individual reputation, for she excludes Ismene from standing by her and asks Ismene to spread the news about her defiant act. She seems to use religion and family as elegant reasons to achieve honor. On the contrary, Creon, as a king, weights the interest of the overall state more than his own family. After experiencing the civil war caused by Polyneices, he understands the great need of the polis for order and thus enacts harsh laws to punish people causing riots. Unanimous obedience to law would also encourage his people to fight bravely in the war by being “loyal and dauntless at his comrades’s side”. Creon has to retain the validity and effectiveness of the law, because if every citizen can pursue any personal interest without fear for grave consequences, the entire social operation mechanism would break down. Punishing Antigone is necessary to retain the order of the polis.

For Antigone, loyalty to her family was more important than any law. Antigone plans on burying Polyneices to honor the gods but Creon made a law that no one could bury Polyneices. Antigone wants Ismene to help her bury their brother but Ismene does not

After a war between Eteocles and Polyneices, the result is both brothers perishing. Following this, Creon the new king decides Polyneices shall not be buried because he believes he is a traitor just because he wanted a chance at the throne as their late father promised him and Eteocles. Upon hearing this news Antigone doesn’t take well to it and knows she must do something about this. This is because without a proper burial Polyneices will not be able to be rise to the next world and will therefore be stuck and left to rot for the rest of existence, this was her concern. Antigone has to make a decision here between what the law of mankind calls for or the immortal law of all existence that has created the earth and heavens, or more importantly mankind. She takes it upon herself that the better choice is to listen to the gods’ law and bury her brother because that is more important so he can live forever in the world to come. This goes hand and hand to what Saint Augustine says about evil that isn’t caused by god. “On the other

One has the capability to determine from right and wrong and having the determination to stand up for what one believes in, no matter what the price is. In Sophocles’ Antigone, a written dramatic play, Sophocles portrays the theme that at times of one’s life, it is necessary to follow moral law and ignore political law. In the play, a determined and courageous woman named Antigone is loyal to her beloved brother by granting him a proper burial and having to suffer the consequences for revolting. Throughout Antigone, several incidents occurred where the political law was of no importance to the individual. Conflicts between Antigone and Ismene and then with Creon and Antigone are examples of the theme. The theme also ties with the

In Antigone, Sophocles introduces the struggle between loyalty to civil law versus familial loyalty and divine law, which is a central conflict in the play. Antigone has a firm belief in upholding family values and honoring the gods and deceased by burying her brother. In contrast, Creon wants to do what is best for the city which is, in his opinion, forbidding the burial of Polynices. Both Antigone and Creon believe that their point of view is more important, and neither is willing to change perspective, causing the chain of destructive events in the plot. Loyalty causes the deadly dispute between Antigone and Creon because of their conflicting perspectives about precedence.

Antigone believed that the actions she took were done for the right reason, because they adhere to the law of the Gods. In opposition to that, Creon believes that the actions he had taken were in fact the right ones, because he believed that Polyneices was a traitor to the land, and that anyone who should give him a proper burial would suffer the penalty of death. So, the actions that were taken by both of them individually were the right ones, in their own minds at least.<br><br>Antigone, in her plan to give her brother Polyneices a proper burial, kept in mind the consequences that she would suffer for having followed through with the plan. This doesn't necessarily mean that Antigone does not obey the human law that is set up by King Creon, it just means that this particular rule conflicted with the law of the Gods, something that Antigone believes highly in obeying, especially when it deals with her family. Antigone disregards the Olympian Justice that governs the land and also presides over the set laws that make civilized life attainable (Segal "Antigone" 172).<br><br>Antigone goes up against human law, by burying her brother Polyneices, knowing well that she will have to sacrifice her own life. She does this only because it is morally and ethically right, and this is why she stakes her life based upon her strong beliefs (Segal

The only person in the city who is ready to defy Creon’s law is his niece, the sister to Polynices, Antigone. She is overcome with grief by Creon’s order, and sets out to bury her brother. She believed that Creon, “a mere mortal,” did not have the power to “…override the gods, the great unwritten, unshakable traditions…” surrounding the rights of a dead man (Line 503-505). Her loyalty was to her family, not to the new king of Thebes. When Antigone goes to her sister Ismene to plead for her help in burying their brother, even she is too afraid of Creon’s authority to assist her only family. “I must obey the one’s in power,” she says. “...defy the city? I have no strength for that.” (Line 79-80, 93). She is lead to go against what she feels is morally right because she is fearful of the consequences. Even though Antigone is aware of these deadly consequences, she is willing to face them and stand up for what she believes is right. Discovering that Antigone has gone against him, Creon immediately sentences

When a messenger comes to Creon, bringing the news that Antigone has buried her brother, he begins his arguments why Antigone has broken the law. He begins by stating that a man shows what he is made of by his "skill in rule and law." In other words, the law is everything and as a ruler, he must do everything for his country. He considers Polyneices an enemy of the city and a threat to the security of the city as well. Thus Polyneices will be called a traitor in life and in death and dishonored. The scene when Antigone and Creon face each other is the opportunity for both to defend themselves. Creon questions Antigone. She bases her responses on that the city laws proclaiming her as illegal are not the laws of Zeus or laws proclaimed by gods, but rather, laws made by a man that one day will also die. She will honor her brother's death because this is what the gods have proclaimed for all mankind. (lines 460-463)

Moreover, Antigone and Socrates relied on the belief that what they were doing was in accordance with the divine and just. After she was convicted of her brother’s burial, in response to Creon, Antigone said, “Nor did that Justice, dwelling with the gods beneath the earth, ordain such laws for men. Nor did I think your edict had such force that you, a mere mortal, could override the gods, the great unwritten, unshakeable traditions.” (Antigone, 82). In this reaction to Creon’s claim that she was breaking the law, Antigone expressed her belief that the laws of human beings do not compare with those of the divine. It is clear that Antigone thought that what she did was the right thing to do as she was following the traditions and customs of the gods. By burying her brother, Antigone was simply honoring the desires of the divine through an act of justice. If Antigone had not given her brother a proper burial, she would have been

In addition, Creon also has an inaccurate view of his place in relation to the gods. He believes that man’s laws are more important than the laws of the gods. Antigone tries to defend her decision to bury her brother by proclaiming, “I do not think your edicts have such power that they can override the laws of heaven…If I transgressed these laws because I feared the arrogance of man, how to the god’s could I make satisfaction” (line 408)? Creon’s hubris causes him to think that he must put Antigone to death because she chooses to follow the god’s laws over his.

In contrast to Creon’s opinion that ultimate authority rests with the king, Antigone believes that everyone, even the king, should follow the gods’ laws first. She does not want to betray her brother or “be a traitor…to the gods” by not burying him (line 48). She follows up with this assertion saying, “He [Creon] has no right to keep me from my own” (line 50). These statements demonstrate that her priorities lie first with the gods and second with her family, both of which she places above the authority of the king.

Antigone refuses to let King Creon dictate what she does with her brother’s dead body. Antigone states, “he has no right to keep me from my own” (Sophocles, 441 BC, line 48). Antigone feels that nobody has the right to dictate how she plans to bury her family member. In addition, Creon demands civil disobedience above all. Creon believes that the worst thing an individual can do is act against authority. In contrast, Antigone believes that state law is not absolute. Meaning one should be able to act against the law in extreme cases to honor the gods. Divine law could be proved valid, for example, “the fact that Polyneices’ dust-covered corpse had not been disturbed by animals could be taken as a possible sign that burial was accepted as valid by the gods” (Sourvinou-Inwood, 1989, pg. 142). Sourvinou-Inwood is stating that because the animals had not touched the dead body, it could be a sign from the gods that a proper burial should be in order. That Creon could have been wrong and the gods wanted Polyneices buried. Moreover, the Greeks supported absolute monarchs, however, simultaneously they also believed in divine law and had a profound amount of respect for the gods and their laws.

The play “Antigone” is a tragedy by Sophocles. One main theme of the play is Religion vs. the state. This theme is seen throughout the play. Antigone is the supporter of religion and following the laws of the gods and the king of Thebes, Creon, is the state. In the play Creon has made it against the law to bury Antigone’s brother, something that goes against the laws of the gods, this is the cause of most conflict in the story. This struggle helps to develop the tragic form by giving the reader parts of the form through different characters.

In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, King Creon created a law that denied proper burial rites to anyone who invaded or betrayed the city of Thebes. Antigone defied this law by burying her brother, Polynices, after he was harshly accused of being a traitor. Both Creon and Antigone showed a tenacious passion toward their perception of justice, unwilling to accept that honoring the law and honoring the individual conscience were both justified in different ways. The stubbornness that they shared led them both to meet their downfalls, which conveyed the idea that being too proud to accept guidance from others ultimately leads to dire consequences.

The argument between the law of the state and the law of the gods, or religious, is mentioned many times throughout the story. Creon refers to Antigone's brother as one who betrayed his city and he upholds an order for Thebes, forbidding Antigone's brother to be buried. Antigone refers to burying her brother as a moral responsibility. Creon is astonished when he finds that she has disobeyed his