Antigone

The play Antigone by Sophocles takes place in ancient Thebes. Two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, fight for the throne. In the final battle the two brothers slay each other and their uncle Creon becomes king. Eteocles had supported Thebes in the battle, so the new king Creon proclaimed that Eteocles would be buried with full rites as a hero. However, his brother Polyneices would be left unburied as a traitor and anyone who defied this edict would die. Antigone was the sister of both Eteocles and Polyneices. She could not let one her brothers be left unburied and so she performs the rites of burial on Polyneices. In the first passage, Creon and his son Haemon had gotten into an argument. Creon discovers that his own son doesn’t support him and in anger Creon sentences Antione.

“I’ll take her down a path untrod by man. I’ll hide her living in rock-hewn vault, with ritual food enough to clear the taint of murder from the City’s name. I’ll leave her pleading to her favorite god-Hades. He may charm her out a way to life. Or perhaps she’ll learn though late the cost of homage to the dead is: labor lost.”(Pg

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Also, from the passages we can see the treatment of women in ancient society. He was trying to save Antigone but he did nothing heroic. First, neither man considers Antigone point of view. But it is the deeper similarities between the two that illuminate many of the themes in this play.

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. Sophocles wanted us to see that doing the right thing always isn’t right and when it comes down to it good and bad guys are both just human. After Creon insulted him, Tireseas threatened Creon and left. Creon would be expected to treat women unfairly, but even Tireseas gives them little thought. We often misjudge Tireseas as the protagonist and Creon as the antagonist, which maybe true, but both did what they thought they should do and nothing more. Meanwhile, Tireseas, who is thought to be one of the heroes of the play, delivered his speech and nothing more. Tireseas says that Creon’s actions have doomed him and that Creon must not punish Antigone. While, Tireseas

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sought to bring peace to Thebes and to save lives. The passages show how lowly women were thought in ancient times. Hurting Creon would not save Antigone.

Approximate Word count = 1242
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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