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The Role Of Family In SophoclesAntigone

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Antigone The play Antigone was written by Sophocles in 441 B.C. during the festival of Dionysus, god of Wine and Fertility. The Greek tragedies were plays where every character eventually dies for their actions one way or another. The writers of the time wrote plays on serious topics to teach people of their society how to respond and behave on such problem. In the play Antigone we read a major conflict between the question should we owe more to the government or to our families? The numerous clashes seen are between family and loyalty to one’s country throughout the play. In Antigone all the family connections are split by family devotions, and deteriorates through the strong beliefs the characters, Antigone, Creon and Ismene believe in.
For Starters, Antigone’s actions throughout the play refer to the word oikos, Greek concept of a family or family property. Oikos was a basic unit of society for Greek city-states that date back three generations of a family descent. It can further represent the importance of family. Oikos represents Antigone, because throughout the play she remains steadfast in the belief of her family. She even scarifies many luxuries to stay strong in her obligation to family. The importance of family to Antigone is symbolic as the king’s sentry thought of her as a “mother bird” (Sophocles 10), because Antigone kept returning to Polynices and caring for his body after his death. On the other hand, polis is the opposite of oikos as it symbolizes the body of citizens. The polis displays citizenship by people abiding in the laws of a country. In the play Creon deeply professes his allegiance to his country through his actions to prove what he believes is right. In the play Creon, being the king, made a law making no one allowed to bury Polynices as he tried to attack Thebes. While Eteocles, Polynices counterpart shall die with dignity. The importance of Creon not burying a family member is it goes against the laws of the gods. In their era when a family member dies other family members sacrifice the body to the gods as it would please the gods. With Creon being rational minded about the rules and laws. Him going against the gods is significant as that rarely happens. The importance of

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