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The Oresteia
In Sophocles's Oedipus the King and Antigone, the state is the perpetuator of abuse, and the mortals in power are punished by the gods. However, in Aeschylus's Oresteia, individuals err, and the...
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Antigone
Early in the play, Creon proclaims that he is the kind of ruler who has "nothing but contempt for the kind of Governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is...
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Antigone
Sophocles took a rather nuanced view of humanity, and Antigone epitomizes that perfectly, mostly in the speeches or comments of the character Creon, who assumes the throne upon the deaths of...
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Antigone
One of the lasting debates about Sophocles’ Antigone focuses on whether the main tragic figure in the play is Antigone or Creon. Antigone is a more sympathetic character than Creon, and she also...
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Antigone
In Sophocles's tragic play Antigone, Creon, the ruler of Thebes, makes a decree that Polyneices's body will be subjected to public shame after the civil war led by the rivaling brothers (Polyneices...
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Antigone
Sophocles' Antigone was written and initially performed in 441 BC. It would have been performed initially at the annual festival of Dionysus in Athens, and thus was as much part of a religious...
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Antigone
In Antigone, Sophocles communicates the importance of being humble. At the end of Antigone, there is a profound sense of emptiness. We have seen Creon and Antigone collide with one another...
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Antigone
Antigone and Ismene open the play, discussing the recent battle and the death of both of their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices. Creon declared Eteocles was to be buried with full honors because...
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Antigone
One possible thesis statement is that Romeo and Creon are both tragic heroes because they make flawed decisions that bring about their destruction; however, Romeo's decision is motivated by love,...
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Antigone
Antigone is not really a psychological drama "about" a single character. It is a play about the conflict between characters and more generally about the conflict between human and divine law. The...
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Antigone
The quotes featured reflect traits of Creon and Antigone that play a formative role in the drama's resolution. "The folly of stubborn men" is the Chorus's way of expressing Creon's error in...
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Antigone
In ancient Greek drama, the chorus is a group that comments collectively on the play's action and context. The role of the chorus is to provide information not revealed in dialogue, such as context...
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Antigone
Antigone is the third installment in Sophocles' trilogy about the disastrous fate which torments the royal house of the Greek city-state of Thebes. The first two stories mainly concern Oedipus, who...
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Antigone
The Chorus in Antigone reflects the attitude of the citizens of Thebes. At first, the Chorus supports Creon’s position, as he is the King of Thebes and is trying to return Thebes to stability...
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Antigone
Antigone and Creon believe in principles which result in a unbridgeable gulf. Antigone embraces loyalty or obligation to family and observance of religious law as important to her identity. These...
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Antigone
As a prophet, Tiresias speaks words that represent life lessons. This is very much the case when he speaks about people's mistakes: “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows...
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Antigone
In Sophocles's Antigone, Creon orders that Antigone be entombed alive as punishment for her act of burying the body of her brother, Polynices. This sentence is given in lieu of a public execution,...
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Antigone
Creon’s original decree prohibiting the burial of the bodies of any of those who had fought against Thebes set the punishment at death by stoning. However, when he is faced with the reality that...
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Antigone
In analyzing a quote like this one, you will want to comment on its face value meaning by providing a paraphrase or literal explanation; comment on any interesting use of words, literary devices,...
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Antigone
Antigone shows her strong-willed nature throughout the play, never wavering in her resolve to do the right thing. She is willing to die for what she believes in and won't give in or allow anyone to...
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Antigone
In Antigone, Creon decided that Antigone, as punishment for burying her brother, Polynices, would be entombed alive. Creon ordered that Antigone be sealed in a cave with food, as he claimed was the...
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Antigone
In Sophocles' play Antigone, Creon thinks that those who do wrongful deeds do not deserve the honor of burial, and he considers this to be a logical cause-effect argument. In Creon's eyes,...
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Antigone
Polyneices, the son of Oedipus and Jocasta, has been left unburied because Creon, king of Thebes and brother of Jocasta (both uncle and grand uncle to Polyneices) has issued a decree forbidding his...
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Antigone
Pride Creon's chief flaw, and ultimately his downfall, lies in his refusal to admit that he is wrong. By the time that he does, it is already too late to save Antigone. He only admits to his pride...
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Antigone
In the Prologue of Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone calls her sister, Ismene, out of the palace to speak to her. She wants to tell Ismene privately about Creon's edict that Polyneices, their...
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Antigone
The conflict between divine law and civic law drives much of the plot in the tragedy Antigone. Antigone represents divine law because she has chosen to bury her brother to fulfill the requirements...
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Antigone
Antigone wishes to bury her brother, Polyneices, who has been killed in a battle with her other brother, Eteocles, and she wants her sister Ismene to help her. The problem is that Polyneices...
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Antigone
In the play, King Oedipus has died, leaving his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, to battle over the throne. When both Eteocles and Polynices die in combat, Creon becomes the king of Thebes. As...
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Antigone
Creon speaks these words to the Chorus about Antigone (and in the presence of Antigone). Prior to this speech, Antigone explains why she went against Creon’s orders and buried her brother. The...
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Antigone
The manner of Antigone's death is grounded in the religious beliefs of the Greeks. Creon has decreed that it is forbidden to bury the body of Polynices, Antigone's brother, as he was a traitor to...
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Antigone
Antigone opens with a dialogue between Antigone and Ismene, the daughters of Oedipus. In their dialogue, the two sisters discuss the death of their brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, as well as the...
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Antigone
Creon tries to treat Antigone as best as he can considering her sympathy towards her brothers' deaths. Creon is now the ruler of Thebes, much to the dismay of Antigone. She is much more of a...
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Antigone
To answer simply, Antigone and Ismene are sisters. They are the sisters of Polynices and Eteocles, who die prior to the start of Antigone. They are the daughters of Oedipus, and Creon is their...
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Antigone
There are certain classic characteristics that Western heroes and heroines tend to exhibit in literature and plays. These characteristics are flaws, determination, compassion, a sense of justice,...
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Antigone
The simple answer here is that the chorus in Antigone is not composed of Maenads. To help you as you study Greek tragedy, this answer will unpack your question and address the role of the chorus,...
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Antigone
This is an interesting question because Creon is usually not a character who is associated with bravery. Typically, Antigone is seen as the heroine in this story, even though her bravery ultimately...
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Antigone
Creon's view of women were very much grounded in the society in which Sophocles was raised. Ancient Athens was what is sometimes described as a strongly "homosocial" culture, one in which men...
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Antigone
Antigone is one of the classic Greek tragedies and many contemporary plays continue to draw inspiration from it. In the play, Antigone faces off with Creon, the new king, who orders that she cannot...
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Antigone
In addition to the several excellent distinctions drawn in the previous post, we can take a thematic approach to distinguishing Julius Caesar and Antigone. While both plays deal with issues of...
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Antigone
Antigone and Creon are opposed to each other in Antigone, but they both show their courage in a similar way. These characters represent different sides of a political dispute. Antigone values...
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Letter from Birmingham City Jail
Rule breakers come in a variety of forms. Possibly the first kind of rule breaker that comes to mind is a basic criminal. The connotation of criminality is that the laws being broken are in place...
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Antigone
Among the many notable elements of Antigone that might be discussed in analyzing the play, we might look at (1) the essential and highly important thematic differences between the characters of...
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Antigone
The external conflict between Antigone and Ismene is detailed at the very start of Antigone. It begins when Antigone details to Ismene that: Creon buried our brother Eteocles / With military...
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Antigone
Antigone was not married and had no children. She is engaged to be married to Creon's son, Haemon, but because she is sentenced to death and ends up killing herself, Creon has taken away her chance...
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Antigone
The conflict between Haimon and Creon mirrors a conflict that routinely occurs in the play, which is the conflict between the old and the new. This conflict reignites between Haimon and Creon....
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Antigone
Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus, an evil character in Greek legend who sacrificed his son, chopped the son up, and served the child to the gods in a stew. For this, he was eternally punished in...
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Antigone
In the Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, Creon's primary conflict is with himself, although he doesn't see it that way until the end of the play. He believes he is struggling with Antigone,...
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Antigone
In the opening scene of Sophocles's drama, the discussion between Antigone and Ismene reveals different examples of conflict. As the drama opens, both sisters are struggling with the law that Creon...
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Antigone
The question of whether Creon or Antigone acts with greater honor is a central issue in Sophocles' tragedy. The area of disagreement between the two characters is whether Polyneices, Antigone's...
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Antigone
As Sophocles' tragedy Antigone opens, Antigone is explaining to her sister, Ismene, what she plans to do and asks her to help. Antigone intends to give her fallen brother, Polyneices, a proper...