Out of the classics of Greek mythology, Sophocles brings to life the tragic story of Antigone. The character Antigone is faced with a crippling moral dilemma as she is forced to choose between following the word of King Creon and obeying the edicts of the gods. The plot follows the death of Antigone's brother who is declared a traitor by his homeland and denied the rites of burial, leaving his soul bound between life and death. According to Creon, the person who buries the traitor's body will be killed; but leaving the body unburied is to leave Antigone's brother to a fate worse than death, a fundamental crime to humanity. Antigone faces her internal conflict as she considers defying the rule of the king and society to secure for her brother his proper funeral.
Creon regarded honoring the dead body of a traitor to be a sin. From the start of the play, Antigone's sister Ismene is pleading with her not to risk Creon's wrath, because the consequence is death. Regardless, Antigone repudiates Ismene, buries the body, and is condemned to being entombed alive by Creon. Antigone speaks no word in her defense, but vehemently challenges Creon to continue defying the will of the gods. It is revealed that the entire society agreed with Antigone's actions but refrained from speaking out due to fear of Creon; the conflict of Antigone was not a singular person's moral conflict, but the will of a society oppressed by tyranny. A prophet tells Creon that his actions have brought down a curse from the gods; Sophocles describes the resulting catastrophe of the "curse from the gods" as Creon's son and wife take their lives because of Creon's actions.
In this play, Antigone meets a grim end because of her conflict, but Creon, the instigator, is left with a far worse fate. Sophocles clearly demonstrates that in the conflict of the gods' will versus man's will, to defy the gods is to invite disaster. Antigone accepted the consequences of her actions because she believed the alternative to be far worse.
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I don't really know what to say except that it was well done; it's direct, but effective and does a good job of bringing the plot summary back to addressing the prompt.
ReplyDeleteThe explanations of the motivations behind the conflict were presented well.
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ReplyDeleteyour essay is SUPERB! the summary was perfect, especially for someone like me who didn't read Antigone. i understood exactly what was going on :) you addressed the prompt directly and succinctly...very effective argument!! :)
I thought this essay was well written; I always love the way you write! Especially since I didn't read Antigone, I thought you did a good job of explaining the story just enough for me to understand your argument. I also thought it was good that you discussed both the internal and external conflicts, as well as the conflicts of the society as a whole. Well done!
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