...Lots of people with power do not know how different they truly are without their power. The two plays Oedipus Rex and Antigone by sophocles is about greek tragedy. The main character Creon starts to change from not wanting power to enjoying his power when he gets it. When Creon gets power he starts to become mad with power. When Creon is mad with power he starts to lose all his family. Creon is slowly making his family lives miserable because he wants everyone to obey him causing them to kill themselves. While in Oedipus Rex when Creon did not have so much power Creon is nice and merciful to oedipus even thought he killed the previous king, however, when Creon gets more power and the title of being king in Antigone Creon starts to become selfish and greedy....
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...From reading Antigone, a person can gather that it is a man’s world back then and the women had little to no say in anything. As the story goes on anyone can see that the writer is portraying the women as a strong, being able to take care of herself and more than capable of her making up her own mind about things that deal with her family and her. The writes shows the difference in the sisters on how the women should act and maybe did act in some cases. I could see a lot of women standing their ground back then as Antigone did. Antigone’ sister Ismene shows how women did as they were instructed to do and listen to the man. Antigone was the one who broke the rules and stood up for what she wanted and did not care what anyone thought. Creon is the leader that made his viewpoints known to everyone about the roles of woman and men. He never hid his thoughts on the general roles of men and woman. Antigone expresses her own convections when it came to the fact that she could not leave her brother out for the animals to come feast on him. Her love for her bother makes her want to break the law and bury him to give him and her peace I feel like. That part of her shows the compassion that a women has for another human being. One of the things that makes Antigone stand out just to start with is when she goes against the law that Creon has set and buries her brother because for it was not right to leave her loved one there to be eaten by other animals. Creon did not see her love for...
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...Sophocles’ Antigone A tragic hero is defined by Aristotle’s Poetics as the protagonist in the story to whom something happens that elicits pity from the audience. For the most part, a tragic hero is a “virtuous” person whose life changes from being prosperous to being a life full of misfortune (Aristotle, Poetics). In other words, the tragic hero is someone of great social standing who begins the story at a very high point, but suffers their downfall because of a tragic flaw. In Sophocles’ Antigone the central theme of this play is the struggle between Antigone and her uncle Creon. The issue of burying Antigone’s brother Polynices is based on the ancient Greek philosophy of death, where any unburied body condemns its soul to torment. Basically, it was the duty of the family to bury their dead. Yet, this issue extended beyond family loyalty to a decree of piety by the gods. However, in the play, Creon goes against this celestial decree because he sees Polynices as a traitor for warring against him as a member of another army. As a means to set an example about the repercussions of disloyalty, Creon issues an edict to leave him unburied. As a man who starts the drama in as the respected king of Thebes, he gradually loses his family, his objectivity, and his power to his stubbornness and hubris that ultimately results in his downfall. Hence, Creon is a tragic hero in the Sophocles’ Antigone because his unbending pride results in tragic downfall as king of Thebes. One way Creon is...
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...Stephenson 0Antigone Paper Being a part of a family forces one to have responsibilities and duties that are needed to be fulfilled. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, Antigone has the responsibility of being loyal to her brother, Polynices. Her intuition and strong will discourages her from listening to the power of the state, thus disobeying part of her family, to respect her immediate family. Her devotion leads to the destruction of Creon and herself. Proving that Antigone’s role as a part of a family, does not stand in her determination to do what she believes to be right. It is for this reason that she is willing to destroy herself and Creon to fulfill her duty to both her immediate family and the Gods above. In order to understand Antigone’s actions and motivation, it is important to understand the importance of what a proper burial is to the people of ancient Greece. Unlike most religions, the Greek did not believe in the reward and punishment concept after death. They did not believe that good people went to heaven, while the evil suffered in hell. They believed that life after death was a sad and miserable affair, and the dead deserved to rest in peace. They believed in the importance of a proper burial, as proposed and supported by the gods. The gods mandated the way people lived their everyday life, and how they lived their life after death. The general belief of the people, was that those who did not get a proper burial would not get any peace. They would spend...
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...in Antigone between the two main characters, Creon and Antigone, is an issue that is directly dependant on the gods. In this case, it is Antigone who is right and Creon who is wrong in their decisions. Antigone's reasons were just and accepting of the gods' control when she accepted her fate, while Creon indirectly assumes control for himself by disregarding and disrespecting the gods which results in his unprepared outcome. It is important to understand the reasoning behind the characters' decision-making and how these decisions relate to the gods in order to understand the purpose of the story's outcome and it's sound chain of events. It is known that following the gods with respect is a sign of good fate and righteousness. Antigone is respectful of the gods throughout the story and even complies with her fate as she makes her final decision of whether to go through with her burial plans for Polynices. However, Creon is disrespectful many times towards the gods, in particular when he insults Zeus, when talking about Polynices' dead corpse, by saying " But you will never cover up that corpse, not if the very eagles tear their food from him, and leave it at the throne of Zeus." (Antigone, lines 1039-1041). Creon is wrong in disgracing Zeus' throne and presuming his own commands stand stronger than Zeus'. It is clear in the text that Creon has forgotten that the power that has been bestowed on him as a king would never amount the power of the gods in his own fate. Creon has...
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...Antigone Antigone is very much her father’s daughter, and she begins her play with the same swift decisiveness with which Oedipus began his. Within the first fifty lines, she is planning to defy Creon’s order and bury Polynices. Unlike her father, however, Antigone possesses a remarkable ability to remember the past. Whereas Oedipus defies Tiresias, the prophet who has helped him so many times, and whereas he seems almost to have forgotten his encounter with Laius at the three-way crossroads, Antigone begins her play by talking about the many griefs that her father handed down to his children. Because of her acute awareness of her own history, Antigone is much more dangerous than Oedipus, especially to Creon. Aware of the kind of fate her family has been allotted, Antigone feels she has nothing to lose. The thought of death at Creon’s hands that so terrifies Ismene does not even faze Antigone, who looks forward to the glory of dying for her brother. Yet even in her expression of this noble sentiment, we see the way in which Antigone continues to be haunted by the perversion that has destroyed her family. Speaking about being killed for burying Polynices, she says that she will lie with the one she loves, loved by him, and it is difficult not to hear at least the hint of sexual overtones, as though the self-destructive impulses of the Oedipus family always tend toward the incestuous. Antigone draws attention to the difference between divine law and human law. More than any...
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...Antigone Acting the role of: Antigone ‘Antigone’ is a Greek tragedy written by the playwright Sophocles, about a girl named Antigone who defies the law to bury her brother who was considered a traitor, who died at war fighting her other brother, who was given a proper burial. I played the character of Antigone, and I thought I used my vocal skills, facial expressions and body language to portray her as a brave, strong-willed and fearless woman. At the very beginning of the scene where Creon, the king, is confronting Antigone for the crime she has committed, I say the line ‘I admit it; I deny nothing.’ As we used levels for this scene with Creon standing on the podium to illustrate the power and authority he holds, I wanted to show the audience that he did not scare me. I used my vocal skills to portray this to the audience; I spoke calmly and put extra emphasis on the word ‘nothing’ to show that Creon does not intimidate Antigone, and she doesn’t care about the punishment waiting for her. I stared Creon straight in the eyes with a blank expression and didn’t break eye-contact whilst saying the line, to portray Antigone’s fearless nature to the audience and to illustrate that she is not ashamed of what she has done. I stood with my arms by my side and good posture, to reveal that Antigone has respect for Creon as she should rightfully have as he is the king. However, I did not hunch over or close myself inwards as this would’ve portrayed Antigone as a cowardly person and...
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...Justice in Antigone and Measure for Measure The concept of justice hinges on the beliefs of any given individual, human influences must always ultimately crumble and be brought to justice in the face of what is morally correct and divine. Punishment, conflict and pursuit of justice are major themes in both Sophocles Antigone and Measure for Measure. Antigone is laden with violent imagery; countless arguments causing conflict between Antigone and Creon as well as Creon and Haemon; and the blatant violence of the various murders and suicides present in the play. Moreover in Measure for Measure, is the conflict between justice and mercy, and whether justice and punishment would be served through strictly following the law or by showing mercy. "The law is strong, we must give in to the law in this thing, and in worse. I beg the Dead To forgive me, but I am helpless: I must yield”. (49-51) Why are Punishment, disagreement and pursuit of morals such a strong theme in both of these ancient works? Both Sophocles and Measure for Measure William Shakespeare lived in more primitive times when there were weakly enforced written laws concerning justice and fair play. The common solution for most problems were along the lines of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" which were better represented in Sophocles Antigone than in Measure for Measure, retaliation were definitely used as a method of justice. When Antigone buries her dead brother in the story of Sophocles’ Antigone, Creon's...
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...Rachel Arber Professor Herron Literature 201 November 16, 2013 Antigone: A Rose Amongst Thorns In his fifth century play, Antigone, Sophocles invites the reader on a journey of power, heroism, and feminism. Oedipus’s sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other in a battle over who will take over their father’s throne. Creon, the current King of Thebes, has now declared that Polyneices betrayed him and forbids him to have a proper burial. Antigone, sister of Polyneices, feels that her brother’s body needs to have full respect and decides she is going to bury her brother. She discusses this plan with her sister Ismene who sends her off with her disapproval to bury their beloved Polyneices. Antigone is caught red handed by Creon’s guards and they bring her in to the king. Antigone admits to the fact that she has gone against the law and has given her brother a proper burial, but defends her actions saying that the gods would have wanted this. As a consequence for her actions, Creon sentences Antigone to her death and banishes her to a cave. After much deliberation he regrets his decision. However, it is too late as Creon finds Antigone has taken her own life. Through her actions of bravery and defiance Antigone exemplifies true feminist ideals. She is a shining example of a woman who stands for what she believes. Antigone proves to be a hero in every generation, but especially in her time. In fifth century Greece women were seen as having no influence...
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...Antigone is a Greek tragic piece that stresses the use of power and morality versus the law written by Sophocles. Both Antigone and Creon, the main characters in the play, could represent the tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character who is known for being dignified and has a flaw that assists to his or her downfall. In my opinion, Creon best qualifies for being the tragic hero and fitting the definition read in the previous sentence. The things he said, did, and the comments that were made by those around him show how a man with everything could lose it all due to his own behavior. To open, the things he said showed how he changed and became the tragic hero of the play. Many of his statements reveal his personality including his admirable parts and his flaws. When Creon says: "I call to God to witness that if I saw my country headed for ruin, I should not be afraid to speak out plainly," (Sophocles, scene 1,24-26), it shows his strong sense of nationalism and leadership which catches up with him in the end. "The inflexible heart breaks first, the toughest iron cracks first, and the wildest horses bend their necks at the pull of the smallest curb" (scene 2,76-79) is what Creon says to Antigone after finding out she is the one who buried Polynieces. He thinks that if Antigone wasn't so headstrong and arrogant then she could have avoided the consequence he was about to give her. I think Creon was being a hypocrite because he is just as stubborn as she is. The reason why Creon...
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...of the People is about a small town on the southern coast of Norway and how it perceives and accepts truth. The town is governed by Peter Stockmann and doctored by his younger brother, Thomas. The main conflict flares up between these two siblings and then spreads throughout the town as they both try to do best by the community. Dr. Thomas Stockmann is a public-minded doctor in a small town famous for its public baths. He discovers that the water supply for the baths is contaminated and has probably been the cause of some illness among the tourists who are the town's economic lifeblood. In his effort to clean up the water supply, Dr. Stockmann runs into political cowards, sold-out journalists, shortsighted armchair economists, and a benighted Citizenry. His own principled idealism exacerbates the conflict. The well-meaning doctor is publicly labeled an enemy of the people, and he and his family are all but driven out of the town he was trying to save. This is an early dramatization of something we know better a century later: the difficulty of translating medical scientific knowledge into political action. Ibsen's well-intentioned blustery doctor heroically fails. This is partly because the local democratic processes are quite cynical (powerful people prevent him from getting his information to the citizens). Dr. Stockmann also suffers from a professional blindness that keeps him from understanding how anyone could possibly disagree that his scientific "truth" (he uses the...
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...Intelligence” (Clouse 1, line 54-55). We usually reach this stage between the ages of 12-18. The play “Antigone” by Sophocles focuses on a girl named Antigone, who is currently going through this stage and the ordeal she goes through accomplish what she believes is the honorable act to uphold. By the end of the play, you start picturing Antigone as this naïve girl that just wanted to do the right thing but none one supported her. The reality is, Antigone was a person’s whose personality was similar to the system of a ticking time bomb waiting...
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...1) How do the texts you have selected EITHER challenge or reinforce conventional ideas about the following discourses? a. Gender b. Power (& Leadership) c. Identity d. Nature e. Culture The societies encountered by the Theban woman Antigone is Sophocles' Antigone, and the 19th century Englishwoman Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre, can be seen as highly unfavourable and disdainful of women. Both Antigone and Jane Eyre struggle and resist against a society which places men above them, and which sees expressions of female autonomy and liberty as unfavourable trends. Antigone and Jane Eyre both live in societies where a patriarchal culture dictates how these women should act within society, and what type of behaviour is acceptable, and which isn't. The control and subjugation of women – and the way they express themselves – can be seen as a consequence of discursive formations which aim to define the intrinsic qualities of men and women. It is in this context that the stories of Antigone and Jane Eyre can be seen as challenging conventional notions of gender and gender stereotypes, a highly pervasive discourse which affects a cluster of other ideas. This essay will argue that the characters Antigone in Sophocles' Antigone and Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre are characters who challenge gender discourses which were very prominent during their time, and subsequently, the ideational influences which structured leadership, the creation of identities, opinions regarding natural...
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...This conflict has claimed the lives of about 2 million people, which the population of Colombia today is 47 million, within that internal war has killed 4,2% of the current population (NoticiasCaracol,1). It is a very high percentage with regards an internal war of 60 years. That's why Colombia has suffered from armed conflict for several years and it has negatively impacted the country's development. To understand the issue it is necessary to see the origins of this conflict and also how this has affected the country. The conflict dates back to 1946 when it began a civil and political conflict between supporters of the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party for taking control of the State Power. But the outbreak was the assassination of the Liberal presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán. Gaitán was the leader of poor agricultural producers and represented the interests, created jobs and economic opportunities for them to take advantage (Downing,1). But since the death of Gaitán, farmers lose their representation in politics and its future had been vanished. Because of the economic problems and tensions between liberals and conservatives, Colombia entered a period called "La Violencia " (The Violence) which lasted from 1948 to 1960 until they reached an agreement between liberals and conservatives. In this period of violence, diverse groups outside the law as the National Liberation Army (ELN), comprised of university students inspired by the Cuban revolution and Che Guevara...
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...the story suggests that she is a necrophiliac. Necrophilia typically means a sexual attraction to dead bodies. In a broader sense, the term also describes a powerful desire to control another, usually in the context of a romantic or deeply personal relationship. Necrophilia’s tend to be so controlling in their relationships that they ultimately resort to bonding with unresponsive individual with no resistance with dead bodies. Mr. Grierson controlled Emily, and after his death, Emily temporarily controls him by refusing to give up his dead body. She ultimately transfers this control to Homer, the object of her affection. Unable to find a traditional way to express her desire to possess Homer, Emily takes his life to achieve total power over him. Antigone is very much her father’s daughter, and she begins her play with the same swift decisiveness with which Oedipus began his. Within the first fifty lines, she is planning to defy Creon’s order and bury...
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