Antigone Review

The Tragedy of Antigone

The tragedy Antigone was written by the first Greek playwright Sophocles and released around 442 BC. The action of Antigone occurs after the Theban civil war, in which the two brothers Polynices and Eteocles perished while squabbling for control.

Family Obligation and Determination

In accordance with their father’s instructions, Eteocles had refused to give his brother the crown (Sophocles and Campbell 17). By failing to bury his remains while Eteocles enjoyed privileges, the new king Creon condemned Polynice to be ashamed. The two brothers’ sister Antigone swears to disregard Creon’s order and bury Polynice’s body, despite the fact that her sister Ismene declines to assist out of fear of the death penalty.

The Role of Women and Heroic Actions

The characteristics of Antigone are of that of the Greek drama because it depicts the themes that existed in the society such as family obligation, determination, pride, conflict, the role of women, mortality and heroic actions.

Antigone as a Heroine

When compared to her docile and beautiful sister, Antigone is illustrated as a heroine who identifies her familial obligations. She discovers the unjust decree and sacrifices her life to rectify it despite being abandoned by her sister.

Love and Kindness in Time of Need

Based on the Antigone traits, the drama delivers the message of taking care of the family members despite the legal or any other form of obstacles. Besides, the devotion to bury her brother illustrates the love of a sister to brother and kindness in a time of need. Polynice could not bury his body which symbolizes the personal problems that need relative intervention. Antigone helps show the theme of taking care of our family members when they are in need. Although there is a rule of the king not to bury Polynice’s body, Antigone stands her ground which indicates that family affairs are more important than citizenship (Sophocles and Campbell 28).

Pride and Determination

It is clear that pride in the situation of Antigone is the character loathed by the gods and castigated with no mercy which was part of the Greek traditions during the ancient days. Pride permit men to establish laws that surrogate the divine values given that Creon makes rules since he believes it is the celestial will. When Tiresias delivers the news that Creon will suffer, the king realizes the terrible mistakes but refuses to admit by bending the message because he wanted to preserve his life (Sophocles and Campbell 67). Additionally, determination is the universal character trait among the cast of Antigone. In spite of the significant role of fate in the lives of Ismene, Creon and Antigone are stubbornly driven to achieve their aims.

Conflict in the Antigone Drama

The major conflict characteristics in the Antigone drama include society versus character, law versus conscience as well as divine rule versus human law which were prevalent in Greek and the modern world. The Antigone play continues to be powerful and subversive with the inspiration for the dissidents and rebels. Antigone is at odds with the state given that Creon had issued the ordinance that she finds to be immoral.

Conflict Between Ruler and Society

The conflict between Creon and Antigone enhances the themes of how tyranny and stubbornness lead to destruction. Creon acts stubbornly by declining to listen to the Antigone’s disturbing need to bury her brother. Further, Creon acts like the oppressor by referring himself as the ultimate authority. When begged by Haemon to release Antigone, he responds by saying that the city belonged to the ruler instead of the king belonging to the city (Sophocles and Campbell 69). The conflicts between the ruler and the society lead to suffering because Antigone is sent to jail and finally dies. The characteristics of the Greek drama illustrate that conflict is bad in the community especially when existing between the government and its citizens. Leaders enforce rules without considering the impact of the law on the ordinary people. During the 20th century, the conflict between the power of the state and individuals was pressing for the Greek audiences. Antigone is seen as a threat to the status quo because she invokes the celestial law as the security for her acts.

The Position of Women

Additionally, Antigone characteristics are set to illustrate the position of women in Greece during the ancient time. The freedom of ladies in Greece was limited because of the strictures and rules placed on prohibited equality. The resistance from Antigone is threatening because it upsets hierarchy and gender roles. Men were considered stronger thus they were supposed to be obeyed, and women could not defeat a man in any way because it is against the divine law. Ismene tells Antigone that women were not born to compete with men which display ladies’ passivity and obedience (Sophocles and Campbell 71). Also, Ismene insists that they are governed by stronger hands which represent men’s stronger and aggressive hands that dictate and treat women as second-class citizens.

Conclusion

Conclusively, Antigone characteristics resemble the Greek drama because the play is set in a manner that depicts the themes that existed in Greek society. The work illustrates the themes of determination, the position of women, mortality, family loyalty, and pride of the king as well as the consequences of dictatorship. Additionally, Antigone acts like the figure for French resistance since she rises against the state power. People are encouraged to remain focused and condemn any form of social injustice that occurs in the community without fear.

Work Cited

Sophocles, and Lewis Campbell. Antigone. Lanham: Dancing Unicorn Books, 2017. Print.