Discuss Sophocles' Antigone
...e who prioritise justice before civic obedience. It is in fact Creons’ transgression of the Gods that drives her to accuse ‘if my present actions stake you as foolish, let’s just say I’ve been accused of folly by a fool’. The play draws a clear distinction between the authority of state and mortal laws, and those of the heavens above. The whole basis of her argument, the ‘great unwritten, unshakeable traditions’ of the Gods are symbolic of the people of Thebes whilst Creon symbolises tyranny and ox-pride stubbornness, falling ever deeper in his hubris as the tale unravels. His tyrannical nature is best demonstrated by the Chorus of Theban Elders, a Council of Advisers traditionally noted for their wisdom, who themselves fear to raise the public concern to the King. And so it is only later once tragedy has befallen, Antigone, Haemon and Eurydice now all dead, we witness the proud Creon lamenting his great folly. It is less so Antigone’s courage acting in defiance of a death penalty that the play concerns itself with but tyrannical hubris and the importance of civic order as opposed to strife. Haemon is arguably the hero of the play, although initially he is an alliance of his father, bound by fierce blood loyalty, he later voices the concerns of the people, supported by the Chorus. Tragically he dies for Antigone, and tragically Eurydice dies soon thereafter for him. The excerpt is a general basis for ethical traditions pertaining to burial that should theoretically be unquestionable, but it fails to identify another motivating factor that drives Antigone to honour Polynices. Her blood ties to her family are paramount, in contrast to a fearful and obedient Ismene suspending them as polar opposites at the beginning of the play, but who later fails at attempts to support Antigone, because she has realised the importance of family, only now does she want to ‘share in the tribute of honour to him’. Antigone dares, as Creon accuses, to honour one brother whilst shaming the other, the proud defender of the city, Eteocles, but it is doubtful whether in death such blood feuds would persist, as she rightly argues. All that plagues her mind is the equal honouring of all, and as she strikes back, she has little knowledge of the laws and ways of the Heavens above. In another passage she characteristically prioritises her duties to her family, after all she obediently accompanied her father Oedipus in his exile, and places kinship love above marital love. Haemon is barely a figure she considers in her duty. Interestingly her character is emasculated; the manly att...