Through examination of Antigone’s and Kreon’s origins of pride and reactions to consequences in Sophocles’ Antigone, I found that Antigone herself drew more of my sympathy. Her brother’s improper burial as her basis of pride along with her steadfastness through times of retribution appeals significantly to the pathos of the audience. Such qualities—especially in contrast to Kreon’s selfish hamartia of hubris—provide for a tip in the scale of sympathy in favor of Antigone in the Greek tragedy. The initial moment in which Sophocles presents an opportunity for the audience to sympathize with Antigone arises at the first mention of Polyneices. Antigone introduces the plot-defining circumstance with “[h]as not Kreon honored only one of our
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The use of remorseful diction and disturbing imagery furthers Antigone’s character’s appeal to sympathy. Sophocles sets the scene with Antigone mourning her brother, enlightening the audience of her reasoning for all of the actions she will take by the end of the play. Antigone feels so strongly toward honoring her brother, that she is willing to die for the cause; to her “…it’s fine to die performing such a deed. / I’ll lie there, dear to him, with my dear friend, / when I’ve performed this crime of piety; for I must please / those down below a longer time than those up here, / since I shall lie there always,” (72–76). …show more content…
To her, fighting for the honor of her brother significantly outweighs the retribution she will face. “If you speak so, you’ll be a hateful enemy / to me, and justly hated by the dead man too,” Antigone notes, justifying her passionate actions, “Let me and ill counsel that derives from me / suffer this awful fate; what I shall suffer will be far less dire than dying an ignoble death!” (93–97). Despite being sentenced to death by Kreon, she does not deny the source of her actions and how she feels about them. She remains loyal and committed to her cause and thus greatly gains sympathy from the audience. “Oh, my paternal town in the land of Thebes! / Oh, my ancestral gods! / Now I’m led off, / there is no more delay,” she exclaims, showing yet again that she will not back down from her stance, “Look on me, oh rulers of Thebes, / the last of your royal house who remains, / see what I suffer, from what kind of men, / for revering reverence,” (937–943). In Sophocles’ Antigone, both Kreon and Antigone vie for literary sympathy from the audience. The origins of their actions and the consequences associated with them serve as methods for gaining such sympathy. Despite Kreon’s eventual realization of his wrongdoings, Antigone appeals more notably to pathos through her unwavering loyalty and more merited source of
The use of remorseful diction and disturbing imagery furthers Antigone’s character’s appeal to sympathy. Sophocles sets the scene with Antigone mourning her brother, enlightening the audience of her reasoning for all of the actions she will take by the end of the play. Antigone feels so strongly toward honoring her brother, that she is willing to die for the cause; to her “…it’s fine to die performing such a deed. / I’ll lie there, dear to him, with my dear friend, / when I’ve performed this crime of piety; for I must please / those down below a longer time than those up here, / since I shall lie there always,” (72–76). …show more content…
To her, fighting for the honor of her brother significantly outweighs the retribution she will face. “If you speak so, you’ll be a hateful enemy / to me, and justly hated by the dead man too,” Antigone notes, justifying her passionate actions, “Let me and ill counsel that derives from me / suffer this awful fate; what I shall suffer will be far less dire than dying an ignoble death!” (93–97). Despite being sentenced to death by Kreon, she does not deny the source of her actions and how she feels about them. She remains loyal and committed to her cause and thus greatly gains sympathy from the audience. “Oh, my paternal town in the land of Thebes! / Oh, my ancestral gods! / Now I’m led off, / there is no more delay,” she exclaims, showing yet again that she will not back down from her stance, “Look on me, oh rulers of Thebes, / the last of your royal house who remains, / see what I suffer, from what kind of men, / for revering reverence,” (937–943). In Sophocles’ Antigone, both Kreon and Antigone vie for literary sympathy from the audience. The origins of their actions and the consequences associated with them serve as methods for gaining such sympathy. Despite Kreon’s eventual realization of his wrongdoings, Antigone appeals more notably to pathos through her unwavering loyalty and more merited source of