Sophocles play “Antigone” introduces a lot of debatable topics such as Human law vs Divine laws, pride, but most importantly the topic of woman’s movement for empowerment. Long before 442 B.C.E, women were belittled because of their gender however, after the birth of “Antigone” it demonstrated a strong outreach towards women and their roles in society ”Antigone, a woman who defines King Creon’s edict without any fear, doubts, or regrets. This courageous woman, the fruit of incest, has fascinated philosophers in the nineteenth century, inspired playwrights in the twentieth century, and intrigued feminist thinkers and activists for decades” (Söderbäck). Birth from a respected bloodline, Antigone doesn’t feel respected at all within her town, especially from her uncle Creon who became entitled as the King after Antigone’s blood …show more content…
King Creon was unjust with his actions towards Antigone, not only was he punishing Antigone but, he was also going to punish her sis Ismene by default. I believe the main reasons why he was going to punish Ismene was because she was related to Antigone by blood, and the fact that she was a woman; “Creon: You too Ismene, Snake in my ordered house, sucking my blood stealthily—and all the time I never knew that these two sisters were aiming at my throne!” (Abcarian, Klotz and Cohen 358). Pleading their case, which has no agenda of “aiming at his throne”, Creon is only worried about losing his power but in reality, it’s much more than power, I see it as males losing their authority over women. Creon, like other male figures of his time, feared the day when authority shifted over towards
Creon realizes what mistake he has made and knows that he has overused his power, but he was too late, people he loved died, and Creon had to suffer. The quote, “ Rebellion to tyrants is obedience
Power has a negative effect on those who are in power. It has a negative effect, because it causes unnecessary harm. For example, many leaders throughout history have used their power to demonstrate absolute control. In Antigone, Creon used his power in a negative way.
In Creon’s mind were attitudes allowed to man only. In addition, when Creon was arguing with Antigone about her disrespect, he said, “Go, then, below. And if thou must have love, Love those thou find’st there. While I live, at least, A woman shall not rule”.(590-92) He clearly stated that he would never accept a woman as his ruler and that a woman would never make the
Sophocles states, “Order you see gods paying respect to evil men? No, no for quite a while some people in the town name. Secretly been muttering against me they don’t agree with what I have decreed” (Scene 1 333-337 Exods). Creon also began to notice that people began to say things behind his back because they did not like that he was deciding and it was bugging him bit because he thought he was doing a good job at leading. Then his punishments
The famous feminist, Gloria Steinem, once said,”Women are not going to be equal outside the home until men are equal in it.” This central idea of equality is relevant to the story Antigone by Sophocles. Considering the circumstances of the story, the minor character, Ismene, is conflicted with standing by the beliefs that men are overall rulers and powerful over women. Ismene’s emotions and mood fluctuates through the story in a horrible manner. To tragedy unto despair is a major theme in Sophocles most famous tragedy, Antigone.
The roles and social status of women in ancient times are being described by many well-known playwrights and poets. Yet, different works shows different opinions towards “women power”. In this essay, I am going to compare Homer’s Iliad and The Code of Hammurabi along with Sophocles’ Antigone.
In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.
Him putting Antigone to death because she went against his power clearly shows his feminism towards women. This also shows that all males had full power over society, economy, and women, which isn’t fair. Antigone displays her feminist qualities when she goes against the most powerful male, the king Creon. Her going against him shows her disrespect for Creon, her doing this and speaking like a male figure shows her push for equality between the sexes. Antigone throughout the whole play pushed for equality but she never seemed to get what she wants.
Creon thought he had the most power over everybody but it turns out that the Gods were the ones with the power. In the play Antigone, Creon is a tragic hero which advances the play when he interacts with Antigone by acts of injustice, free choice and weakness. To begin with, Creon was unjust when he Punished Antigone for burying her own brother. “So she [Antigone] must die- that
When Antigone and Ismene tells Creon, they were the ones who buried their brother he says,“ And all the time I never knew that these two sisters were aiming at my throne!”. Creon thinks that people are trying to take his place in royalty. This is one of his flaws because he doesn’t want to hear people out he just does what he feels is right. There’s another example that shows Creon’s flaws, “Your temper terrifies them, everyone will tell you what you only what you like to hear.” This example show his flaws because he has a bad temper and the people are scared to speak up or do anything because they’re scared of what he might do to them.
The tragedy, Antigone by Sophocles is a well developed take on the fight between who is applicable to be the protagonist of a story. In most stories, plays, poems, written works in general from the first literary works discovered surrounded the Hero’s Journey. The tragedy of Antigone is the one play that seems to accept Joseph Campbell’s theory but master the ideals of a protagonist but still battle for the position at the same time. It’s more or less a toss up to put it simply, but there are strong events and decisions within the tragedy that unfolds somewhat who the antagonist and protagonist is. Similar to the characters in Finding Nemo, Nemo and his father, Marlin, are a debatable pair in deciding who is the lead in the film.
Gender roles play a significant part through ought the play Antigone due to the fact that men are treated on a higher scale than women. Sophocles portrays women as people with no rights nor freedom. Antigone is on a destiny for burial rights of her brother Polyneicis. Gender roles are expressed throughout the play Antigone by disrespecting women and men having power and freedom.
Antigone also falls victim to the excessive force and jaded complexity of her uncle, when he prioritizes patriarchal standards and his law over her moral act of goodness and makes it known that, “while I’m alive, no woman is going to lord it over me” (590). All the trouble Creon put his family through just to save face and show his dominance ends up destroying what was left of his family just to avoid, “never be rated inferior to a woman, never”
Sophocles’ Antigone, is a classic Athenian Greek play that discusses questions about the importance of following the law when one does not agree with it, and whether divine laws or man-made laws have more importance in society. While these themes are worth exploring, another interesting aspect of the play is the cruel treatment and punishment of the title character, Antigone, by her uncle and future father-in-law Creon, the king of Thebes. Creon’s harsh punishment, a parallel to the treatment of women in Greek society, can be seen in many of the dialogues of the play. Antigone is determined to provide proper burial for dead brother, Polynices, against the orders of the king, and goes to her sister Ismene for help. However, Ismene is distraught at the idea of defying the king (104).
Creon lacks the decency as a ruler to reign with fairness to his