Moral Choices In Antigone

In this growing world, people have learned to challenge rules and test boundaries to get what they want and to stand up for what they believe in. The play Antigone by Sophocles is an example of a story that tells an important moral of always doing what someone believes is right, despite the consequences. In the story, Antigone confidently gives her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial, despite her uncle Creon's wishes not to do so. Creon finds out and takes actions against Antigone and sentences her to death, resulting in turmoil for his family and city.

Along the way faces many challenges such as societal norms, suicide, and questions of morality. Was Antigone a tragic hero, or was she to stubborn to foresee the cataclysmic results of her actions? Or was it simply society and the role it played in this story? Antigone was young and a woman, but it had no effect on her willingness to do what she believed was

Antigone represents a courageous woman that risked and lost her life defending her rights. She disobeyed ruler Creon’s decree that forbade anyone from burying her brother. She rejected this law because she felt that it was unjust and robbed her from her freedom. Referring to Creon she said: “He has no right to keep me from my own” (Sophocles. Antigone).

I, I was the slayer, I say it,” (Sophocles 71). Creon tells the guilt he feels, it shows the burden that lays on the king as he feels as though his free will has led him all to his tragic fate; yet the story depicts Antigone to be the main character and the tragic hero as she herself is the definition that Aristotle depicts as a tragic hero. Antigone has excessive pride, flaws, free will that is led to her fate, and a reversal of judgement. To conclude, the story Antigone brings some thought into the definition of a tragic hero as we are left with characters such as Antigone and Creon.

Fate or Free Will? Does life pass on by the people’s decision? Or do the gods decide on the events in everyone’s life? In the book Antigone, the author ,Sophocles, goes from fate to destiny countless times.

Living is not easy when you know you caused the death of three loved ones. In the Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles, Creon is the most tragic hero in the play because he has to live with so much guilt and regret which he cannot repent for until he is dead himself, but by then it is too late. Antigone is a tragic hero because her hamartia was getting locked up in a cave by Creon. When Antigone says ”All these men here would praise me Were their lips not frozen shut with fear of you.”

In Sophocles’s play Antigone, the throne of the city of Thebes has fallen into the hands of Creon, Antigone’s uncle, after the sudden and tragic death of Eteocles and Polynices. Under his rule, a new law forbidding anyone from burying Polyneices causes Antigone to decide between staying loyal to her country or to her family. In the play Antigone, the most real tragic hero that prevails is Creon because he embodies all the characteristics that a tragic hero must have while Antigone lacks some important characteristics. To begin, Creon conveys goodness because he chooses to punish Antigone for her crimes to keep Thebes as safe and orderly as possible.

unchecked by humility can turn into recklessness and eventually death, whether physically or emotionally. This was meant to be a lesson to the Greek people to practice moderation and not to overindulge in virtues that would eventually become vices. Though Sophocles’ Creon can be well fitted with other famed tragic heroes, Antigone however cannot be put in the same category for the simple fact that she lacks the characteristics of a tragic heroine. In Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics he asserts that ‘’goodness is a quality known only to men of high social standing.’’

Sophocles was one of the three great dramatists who wrote a trilogy of plays about the legend of Oedipus. Throughout Sophocles’ writings, the protagonists displays unshakable will power. In the story Antigone, and true to the title, the character who displays the best example of unshakable will power is Antigone. Some people consider unshakable will power as a flaw but it is actually a virtue for Antigone.

A Greek tragedy would not be complete without an evil or immoral character. In Antigone, Creon was not only the tragic hero, but he was also the most immoral character. Creon’s excessive pride results in his downfall, and it negatively influences many of the other characters in the play. If it wasn’t for his title of ruler of Thebes, readers would not act as sympathetically towards Creon throughout the play. The most obvious immoral decision that Creon made in Antigone was the decision to deny Antigone a burial for her brother, Polyneices.

n Sophocles’ play “Antigone”; written in 441 B.C., Antigone is a woman of impact, and her choices as a upstander affect the other characters. She was righteous in her pursuits to restore justice with her choices, that are taken because of Kreon unjust ruling. The first move was his, when she lawed the burial of Polyneices, whom is unhonored for being soldier of the enemy. Her choice to secretly bury him affected not only her life, but also Kreon and his family. She impacted her own life with her choice also to kill herself, and the lives of others.

A theme that is communicated in the play Antigone, by Sophocles, is constructed around the saying, “Your actions have consequences in the future.” This is shown when Antigone defies the law of burying her brother Polyneices, who she knew was destined for death: “I knew I must die, even

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’s most important trait is also the fatal flaw that leads to her own demise. Antigone is so loyal ad determined to bury her brother that she would go against the word of the king to do so. It is because of this determination that she antagonizes Creon into sentencing her to death. Sophocles not only portrays Antigone as a tragic hero, but also as a martyr. She believes in something so much that she is willing to go against the law, and in turn die for it.

The search for justice is never ending. Justice may be delayed, denied, or postponed, however, the search is timeless. To be just is to argue for fair rights for all. It is to be someone that will help the people of the community. However, many times justice is not sought and not given to those who need it most.