Sophocles Antigone The Third Of The Three Theban...

Sophocles’s play, Antigone is the third of the three Theban tragic plays and was written around 440 B.C. and is still well known today. Sophocles s play Antigone tells a tragic story about family honor and a sister’s love for her brothers. After Antigone’s two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles died in battle, Creon became the new leader of Thebes. Creon orders that Eteocles have a proper burial while Polynices’s body remain unburied, simply left to rot. Antigone refuses to let her brother’s body be disrespected and decides to go against Creon’s orders and bury her brother herself. After being caught, Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s love, fails to persuade his father to spare Antigone’s life. In the end of the play Antigone, Haemon, and†¦show more content†¦Antigone was born into royalty and her life was forever changed once her two brothers were killed. Antigone must prove herself and prove her reason for buryi ng Polynices to Creon. Instead of her father, Antigone attempts to fix her uncle Creon’s evil mistake of deciding to only bury Etonicles. All in all the character Antigone, although female, fits the multiple characteristics that are commonly known to coincide with the hero archetype. In the culture present within this play, it is a common belief that a deceased citizen’s burial will affect their afterlife. Once Antigone heard that Polynices would not be buried she began to worry. She believed that if he wasn t buried properly, with the proper ceremony and rituals that she would not be honoring the law of the gods and that he would not receive the proper afterlife. Antigone’s motivation to provide her brother with the best afterlife possible was the incentive to go on the quest to bury Polynices. The main themes that are present within the play Antigone are femininity, determination, and rule and order. Antigone is affected by all of these themes as she battles with Creon. First, the theme of femininity affects Antigone when she is not only looked down upon for being female by Creon but also her sister, Ismene. â€Å"Ismene: Remember we are women, we’re not born to contend with men. Then too, we’re underlinings, ruled by much stronger hands, so we mustShow MoreRelatedThe True Tragic Hero of Antigone879 Words   |  4 Pagesevery Greek tragedy, there is the tragic hero, defined by Aristotle as a character who is an extraordinary person, with both good and bad qualities. Although the character reaches a level of insight, a tragic flaw, such as hamartia, leads to their failure in the end. A perfect example of this can be found in Sophocles’ trilogy, The Theban Plays which follows the struggling city of Thebes and the efforts of its rulers to escape their misfortune. 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