Table of Contents
Conclusion
Works cited
Introduction
Ancient Greek writer and philosopher Sophocles was born in around 496 BC in Colonus, Attica, near Athens. Of all the ancient playwrights, he won the most in theatrical competitions and won the most important Dionysian Theatrical Festival 18 times (Johnston). Antigone, by Sophocles, written over 2,400 years ago, is one of the masterpieces of ancient Greek playwriting with a tragic and dramatic ending. Traditions and gods were especially vital in shaping the lifestyle of the ancient Greeks. This influence is reflected in the themes of this play, including pride, tragedy, destiny, gender, betrayal, love and rivalry between siblings (Diercks). These issues have made Antigone's play an influential story for the audience, because the events and their reflection on the characters of the story is something that has been more or less experienced in human life.
Summary of the story
Oedipus had unwittingly killed his father, Laius, and married his mother, Jocasta. He and Jocasta had four children together, two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene. After they discovered they were mother and son; Jocasta hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself and was exiled from Thebes, the city he had ruled with Jocasta (Woodruff). In a more accurate narrative, Oedipus vowed to leave his contaminated family and homeland, but Creon (Jocasta’s brother) asked him to stay for a while. During this time, Creon ruled as viceroy. Oedipus' sons, Etheocles and Polyneices, later ascended the throne and expelled their father and he died in exile.
Antigone, who had accompanied his father into exile, returned to the city of Thebes after his death and witnessed his brothers fighting for power (Jebb). Both brothers were killed and Creon, Antigone's uncle, takes power. Creon ceremoniously buries one of the two brothers, Etheocles, who had defended the city as a hero. While, he considers Polyneices a traitor (because he was leading a foreign army) and orders that his body be left in a corner to be preyed upon by animals (Johnston). (In Greek religious terms, it was the equivalent of burying someone outside the churchyard: it meant that his soul was not accepted in the afterlife).
Antigone, apart from her love for her brother, condemns such an act as contrary to divine commandments. For this reason, she decides to secretly bury Polyneices’ body. She asks Ismene for help, but her sister refuses to help. After this disobedience, Creon orders Antigone to be imprisoned in a cave to be buried alive (Diercks). Haemon, the son of Creon, who was Antigone's fiancé, defended Antigone and protested his father, but to no avail. Haimon then went to the cave where Antigone was imprisoned, but was confronted with Antigone's body, which had hung herself. Haimon tried to hit his father with a dagger, but then killed himself. Creon's wife, Eurydice, also committed suicide after hearing of her son's death (Woodruff). I believe that, like many great works of art, Antigone is too complex to summarize all the subjects, and that in-depth and comprehensive study of the story requires more extensive research. However, analyzing some of the characters and events in the story can help us better understand and relate the events to the moral and social issues of our time.
Antigone’s character and her performance review
Described as "the first female heroine of Western drama", Antigone has been described by critics as a heroic martyr on one hand and a staunch fanatic on the other. Because she causes both her own death and two other innocents, she does not do her duty to society well and her action has a negative impact on other people (Nasrullah). In my point of view, Antigone is the image of a resilient and a courageous woman who has both deep family feelings and is willing to sacrifice herself to advance what she thinks is right. Antigone accompanies her blind father in exile, and this shows the feeling of sympathy and responsibility she has for her father. She does not tolerate disrespect for her brother's body and is willing to bury him in the right way, contrary to the ruling. Antigone acknowledges her action, but despite Creon's insistence, does not plead guilty. Her resistance to power also reflects her desire for justice, great love, the attainment of the ideal, and the adherence to moral norms that take precedence over general norms (Adams).I agree with this idea that Antigone can be called a “justice seeker”, because she is willing to stick with her own beliefs, and when she realizes that Creon has called her an "inhuman", she consciously greets death. Her action well illustrates the mindset that the gods can only determine destiny, and she eagerly awaits judgment in the afterlife (Miller).
Adaptation of Antigone’s action with a recent example
The example of Antigone's attempt to bury her brother has been repeated for centuries, with many women risking their lives to bury their lost dears (Nasrullah). For example, in my country, Iran, because of the dictatorship, any protest is accompanied by arrest, torture and execution. In addition, in street protests against the regime, young people are often killed by direct fire from government officials. In most cases, the autocratic regime in Iran quickly and secretly buries the bodies in mass graves without informing their family members, to prevent further protests.
We know the sisters, mothers and wives who bravely stood against this dictatorial act and have tried hard to obtain the bodies of their loved ones and bury them properly. Iranians believe that by paying respect to corpses and observing the correct customs of burial, their soul will be calm. Nevertheless, the dictatorship leading Iran ignores this tradition for their own political interests. Of course, like the historical idol Antigone, many of them even risked their lives, stood against the law of tyranny, and endured the consequences of long-term imprisonment, torture and execution.
Conflict between two main characters
The confrontation between Antigone and Creon reflects the logic that has prevailed since ancient Greece and in all political, social, moral and legal aspects of life. The author uses the tragic conflict of the two main characters to paint a picture of the conflict between morality, family and duty to the law (Adams). Creon, in a way, represents a duty to law and government. On the other hand, Antigone, who plays the protagonist, respects the orders of the gods and the responsibility of the family more than any man-made law, and willingly disobeys Creon's orders, leading to her arrest and death (US IB). In my opinion, the tragedy of Sophocle’s Antigone addresses various moral dilemmas, but the main one is the conflict between the individual and the rule of law.
After becoming ruler, Creon tries to exercise his power by showing that any illegal activity leads to punishment. Prohibition of burying Polyneices is an unfair and immoral punishment. Antigone does not follow the law and buries her brother in an attempt to follow the existing traditions and divine laws. As Miller explains, the conflict between Creon and Antigone can serve as a platform for discussing the relationship between divine and secular law. Creon's position is linked to government power. However, they can sometimes be incompatible with cultural norms, divine laws, and moral choices. Thus, in a democratic society, secular laws seem to have more power, but family and traditions should always be taken into account when dealing with issues and conflicts (Nasrullah).
Compare the roles of two sisters
In this play, two sisters named Antigone and Ismene are present together. Sophocles takes us to ancient Greece, a society dominated by men. Like any other society, people differentiate themselves based on gender, where women are weaker than men and fall into the category of "second-hand" people (US IB). Antigone's sister, Ismene, agrees that women are low-ranking people. This is revealed during her argument with Antigonus over the burial of their brother Polyneices.Addressing Antigone, she says; "We have to remember that we are born women who are not capable of confronting men. And being ruled, with more powerful than ourselves, we have to hear these things and worse." (Johnston). I believe that, in her view, women have a duty to obey powerful men in power. For instance, it is the duty of men to organize the funeral, which is why she does not resist the king's inhuman sentence against her brother's body. Although the law interferes with Christian burial rites, which Ismene is a believer of, she obeys the ruling, despite violating her religious rights. I think she is the image of women who believe that their duty is to obey at all costs. As a compassionate sister, Ismene also reminds Antigone to think about the consequences of breaking Creon's law.
On the other hand, I think Antigone portrays the role of strong women who are able to make informed decisions. She portrays brave women who fight the abuse of men and risk their lives to defend their rights and their families. In my opinion, different ways of thinking about disparate roles of women are still evident today. While some still hold the ancient belief that women are weak and should always have the support of men. (Like Ismane). Others, like Antigone, believe that women have as much power to decide and assessment as men, and may be even stronger in some areas. Sophocles successfully and well reveals and portrays these different roles of women in society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the themes raised by Sophocles in this literary masterpiece are closely related to modern society. Antigone is one of the most important and perhaps the most powerful female characters of ancient Greece and that could be one of the reasons why this play is constantly gaining popularity for new generations. Another point is that although at first glance, the play seems to be about the unusual confrontation between civil and religious law, but the aspect of honoring the family against inhuman, unjust and immoral laws is what I think has made this work lasting and attractive to modern audiences. In my point of view, when the laws of the country are in conflict with human justice, or when the central government no longer acts as a sympathizer of the people and issues anti-human orders for its own interests, these actions by the government may lead to violence or even a revolution. For example, disrespect to Polyneices’s corpse, and Antigone's courageous attempt to bury her brother's body. In this case, Antigone's action seems not only fair but also necessary. Antigone represents this ideal of revolutionary struggle. It is no coincidence that this play attracted twentieth-century writers such as Bertolt Brecht, who translated it in the late 1940s: “Whenever there is tyranny, there will be Antigone to remind us of the importance of doing the right thing”.
Works Cited
Adams, S. M. “The ‘Antigone’ of Sophocles.” Phoenix, vol. 9, no. 2, 1955, pp. 47–62. JSTOR,
Diercks, G.F. “DE TRAGEDIES VAN SOPHOCLES." N.V. Drukkerij De Spaarnestad, Haarlem
1952. Klassieke Bibliotheek deel 3.
Johnston, Ian. “Sophocles, Antigone." Malaspina University-College. Nanaimo, BC.
Jebb, R. C. “Antigone by Sophocles." Classics.mit. A64k text-only.
Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone." Literary Theory and Criticism.
Literariness. July 29, 2020.
Miller, Peter. "Helios, vol. 41 no. 2, 2014 © Texas Tech University Press 163 Destabilizing
Haemon: Radically Reading Gender and Authority in Sophocles' Antigone". Helios. 41
(2): 163–185. (2014).
“US IB English-Antigone (Sophocles): Summary & Analysis.” American School of Madrid. Jun
Woodruff, Paul. “Sophocles, Antigone." Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge.