Tabassom Abrari
Professor Rima Gulshan
English 112
12/14/2016
Antigone The tragic play “Antigone” was written by Sophocles, one of the three great writers of tragedies in ancient Greece. Antigone is one of Sophocles’ Theban plays. Theban Plays consist of three plays which are Oedipus the king, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone (Russello). These three plays represent the history and faith of Thebes during king Oedipus’ and king Creon’s Kingdom. The play starts with Antigone talking to her sister, Ismene to help her bury one of their brothers, Polynices. Burying Polynices was forbidden law with the death penalty and it was made by Antigone’s uncle, Creon. Antigone buried her brother all by herself and even though she was aware of the law of the …show more content…
In addition, based on Aristotle’s definition, Sophocles could easily arouse a feeling of pity and fear in his reader’s mind which made this play an excellent example of tragedy. At the first of the play, when Antigone and Ismene started talking about burying their brother who is left out to die without a proper burial, readers will start to feel pity for two sisters. After that, the readers will be informed that Antigone has a plan which is against the law of the state and its penalty is death. However, she is going to bury her brother with accepting the fact that she will be sentenced to death. In this point, the fact that Antigone is going to commit a crime and bury Polynecis’ body will create fear in reader’s mind that what would happen to Antigone if Creon finds out about her crime. As the play moves on, these feelings will build up until the end of the play, which readers figure out that Creon is left alone with three dead bodies of his loved ones. The readers will experience both emotions in this play, which makes it a great tragedy. Moreover, in this play, we see a struggle between the central power of the state with other laws such as the law of the God, law of the family and the law of the individual conscience. Not burying Polynecis’ dead body was a law which was made by King Creon, but on the other hand, Antigone could not resist and watch …show more content…
Antigone can be considered as a tragic hero because of her tragic flaws (Bobrick). Antigone’s loyalty and love for her family is her biggest tragic flaw which will cause her to be sentenced to death. Loyalty to a family member or the God’s law is not considered as an error in itself, but Antigone is extremely influenced by her love for her family that not only it brings about her downfall, but also it causes more problems in the palace of Thebes such as her fiancé’s and Creon’s wife’s death. Her stubbornness and strength is another tragic flaw in Antigone’s life which is another reason for her, being a great example of a tragic hero in this play. Being strong and stubborn is also not bad at all in itself but Antigone’s stubbornness is too strong that she does not even consider other ideas such as not burying her brother and obeying the law for once. In addition, Creon is also another main character in the play who can be considered as the main protagonist since he is more present than Antigone and other characters. Also, Creon is the only character in this play who experiences some concepts of Aristotle’s tragedy such as peripeteria and anagnorisis. According to Aristotle, perpeteria is when a situation reverses from bad to good or vice versa. Creon experiences this concept when he transforms
Professor Rima Gulshan
English 112
12/14/2016
Antigone The tragic play “Antigone” was written by Sophocles, one of the three great writers of tragedies in ancient Greece. Antigone is one of Sophocles’ Theban plays. Theban Plays consist of three plays which are Oedipus the king, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone (Russello). These three plays represent the history and faith of Thebes during king Oedipus’ and king Creon’s Kingdom. The play starts with Antigone talking to her sister, Ismene to help her bury one of their brothers, Polynices. Burying Polynices was forbidden law with the death penalty and it was made by Antigone’s uncle, Creon. Antigone buried her brother all by herself and even though she was aware of the law of the …show more content…
In addition, based on Aristotle’s definition, Sophocles could easily arouse a feeling of pity and fear in his reader’s mind which made this play an excellent example of tragedy. At the first of the play, when Antigone and Ismene started talking about burying their brother who is left out to die without a proper burial, readers will start to feel pity for two sisters. After that, the readers will be informed that Antigone has a plan which is against the law of the state and its penalty is death. However, she is going to bury her brother with accepting the fact that she will be sentenced to death. In this point, the fact that Antigone is going to commit a crime and bury Polynecis’ body will create fear in reader’s mind that what would happen to Antigone if Creon finds out about her crime. As the play moves on, these feelings will build up until the end of the play, which readers figure out that Creon is left alone with three dead bodies of his loved ones. The readers will experience both emotions in this play, which makes it a great tragedy. Moreover, in this play, we see a struggle between the central power of the state with other laws such as the law of the God, law of the family and the law of the individual conscience. Not burying Polynecis’ dead body was a law which was made by King Creon, but on the other hand, Antigone could not resist and watch …show more content…
Antigone can be considered as a tragic hero because of her tragic flaws (Bobrick). Antigone’s loyalty and love for her family is her biggest tragic flaw which will cause her to be sentenced to death. Loyalty to a family member or the God’s law is not considered as an error in itself, but Antigone is extremely influenced by her love for her family that not only it brings about her downfall, but also it causes more problems in the palace of Thebes such as her fiancé’s and Creon’s wife’s death. Her stubbornness and strength is another tragic flaw in Antigone’s life which is another reason for her, being a great example of a tragic hero in this play. Being strong and stubborn is also not bad at all in itself but Antigone’s stubbornness is too strong that she does not even consider other ideas such as not burying her brother and obeying the law for once. In addition, Creon is also another main character in the play who can be considered as the main protagonist since he is more present than Antigone and other characters. Also, Creon is the only character in this play who experiences some concepts of Aristotle’s tragedy such as peripeteria and anagnorisis. According to Aristotle, perpeteria is when a situation reverses from bad to good or vice versa. Creon experiences this concept when he transforms