Looking At Death Through Antig Essay Research free essay sample

Looking At Death Through Antig Essay, Research Paper Looking at Death through Antigone s Eyes- Obey the Gods or the King In Sophocles drama, Antigone, the chief character Antigone is faced with a atrocious calamity ; her two brothers have merely died contending each other and now one of her brothers, Polyneices, is non given proper burial rights by the male monarch, Creon. In Grecian times, when a adult male dies there is a great trade of regard and congratulations given, and a proper entombment is ever necessary to back up the way to the hereafter. When Antigone hears about this deficiency of regard for her brother, we see her side come out. She disobeys the male monarch and in secret buries her brother, interrupting the Torahs of the polis. Why did she interrupt the metropolis s Torahs? In analyzing decease through Antigone s eyes, it becomes evident as to why she broke the Torahs set by Creon to go forth Polyneices unburied. This scrutiny will turn out that obeying the Torahs of adult male is secondary to obeying the Torahs of the Gods, and that Antigone is really passionate in her positions about decease. In order to explicate Antigone s feelings about decease, allow us foremost travel over what the whole drama, Antigone, is approximately. The narrative takes topographic point in Thebes, and Antigone is the girl of Oedipus and Jocasta ( who are non really in the drama ) . One of Antigone s brothers, Polyneices, left Thebes and went to Argos, because when Oedipus died the two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, were excessively immature to govern so they alternated old ages of opinion. At Argos, Polyneices gathered an ground forces to assail Thebes so that he could go the lone swayer of Thebes. During his onslaught, he gets involved in a battle with his brother where they both kill each other. The new male monarch after their deceases, Creon, does non desire to give Polyneices a proper entombment because of his perfidy against the polis, which Creon believes is the most of import thing of all. Creon is a really austere, important swayer who tries to exert his power every bit frequently as he can. So, these Torahs that he makes are concluding, and there is nil Antigone can make to convert him to make what the Gods would desire, which is give Polyneices a proper entombment. Antigone is really disquieted by this failure by Creon to bury her brother, so she in secret goes and buries him against the orders of the male monarch. Once Creon finds out she is the perpetrator, he vows to hold her killed for her lese majesty, even though Antigone is the bride of Creon s boy, Haemon. He is so disquieted with Antigone that he goes to any degree that he has to in order to turn out that he is the 1 in charge, and that cipher can acquire away with intentionally disobeying him. This dissension between Creon and Antigone shows throughout the whole drama, and this leads to the disclosure of how Antigone sees and feels about decease. When Antigone finds out about her brother non buried decently, her foremost thought about his decease is utmost sorrow. She is a follower of the regulations of the Gods, and for him to be unburied is a immense job. If a adult male is unburied, the spirit can non traverse over to the otherworld, and they can non imbibe from the river that will do them bury the yesteryear. The spirit will so come back and stalk its kinsmen until buried decently. She weeps continuously to her sister, Ismene, about how this sort of day of reckoning could go on to a loved 1. She is besides the girl of Oedipus, so she has experience with atrocious deceases in her household. She can non stand that Creon is making this, and a feeling of responsibility comes to her head ( which will be talked about subsequently ) . This initial feeling of sorrow that she has is what we would see from any individual today if a household member had died and left unwept. However, we see that these feelings become more serious af ter her initial response, and now she has developed much more passionate positions about the decease of Polyneices, and about decease in general. Antigone believes that decease is sacred and that every adult male deserves to be mourned suitably. From the sorrow, she realizes that if she does non bury her brother decently, she will neer be able to forgive herself. This sparks her to in secret bury him, and creates the plotline for the remainder of the drama. The following feeling about decease that Antigone has is that it is a expletive on her and her household. She thinks about Polyneices s decease, and it sparks up ideas about the history of her whole household. Her male parent, Oedipus, had died with a atrocious repute and hated by most people in Thebes. Her female parent, Jocasta, killed herself in the aftermath of Oedipus s destiny and her two brothers died on the same twenty-four hours. That has to be some sort of evil destiny. This theory makes sense in Grecian civilization because every adult male is supposed to hold his ain prophet and way set for him. This way is destiny, unchangeable. Well, seeing the history of her household s destinies, we can see how Antigone sees decease as a expletive that she will ever hold to cover with. In happening out of Creon s Torahs that Polyneices can non be buried, Antigone feels a sense of responsibility to bury him decently. This causes her to interrupt the Torahs of the polis in order to make what is right for Polyneices. What she is making is right in the Gods eyes, and that is much more of import to her than Creon s Torahs. She does non believe that Creon, merely one adult male, should be able to make over the Torahs that the Gods set in the beginning. We see this trueness to the Gods and to her household when Antigone is captured for B urying Polyneices. As the guards go to hotfoot her, she does non even flinch. This is because she believes that this is what the Gods would desire. She is taken into the castle where Creon accuses her of the offense against the metropolis. He is outraged, ready to penalize her with decease, and Antigone stands up to the whole thing. She is so speedy to take the incrimination, no affair what the effects are, because at least she would hold given Polyneices proper burial. Death should be treated the same manner for any individual, whether or non that individual died contending for the state ( Eteocles ) , or died contending against their state ( Polyneices ) . She believes she has done no offense, she merely has done her responsibility for her household, and what would be right to the Gods. Antigone states when she is confronted by Creon, What greater glorification could I win than to give my ain brother proper entombment? ( 84 ) She will decease to make what is right for Polyneices an d to the Gods, and her admitting to the offense shows how passionate she truly does experience. This sense of responsibility brings up another of her positions about decease, glorification. Antigone develops feelings of glorification and award when she thinks about her ain decease. Antigone has broken the metropolis Torahs, sentenced to decease. However, in the aftermath of her sentence, alternatively of seeking to avoid the inevitable, she approaches her ain decease with glorification and prestigiousness. She expresses that her death would be deserving it every bit long as she was able to mourn Polyneices right. In add-on, she has been through so much hurting and sorrow so far in her life that to decease before anything worse happens would be a addition. Furthermore, Antigone approaches her ain decease with an unfastened head because when she does go through away she will be reunited with all of her household that has already died. She shows so much award in the aftermath of decease that even though she has gone through so much torment, and has cipher to mourn her ain decease ( which is her ultimate fright ) , she still believes it was deserving it to honour her brothe r and the Gods. She poetically provinces, No 1 to cry for me- they take me off in all my hurting But now, Polyneices, because I laid your organic structure out every bit good, this, this is my wages. ( 104 ) Antigone gave her ain life to function Polyneices, and her bravery that she showed in the eyes of decease is equal to that of a hero. Antigone shows more glorification and award in her ain decease because she did non desire anyone else to endure for her interrupting the Torahs of the metropolis. When she is captured, Ismene comes to take some of the incrimination for the entombment of Polyneices in support of her sister. However, Antigone would non let it because she did non desire decease to take another one of her household. She would instead take duplicate the incrimination so that Ismene can hold a hereafter. She states to Ismene, Save yourself. I don t score you your survival Live your life. I gave myself to decease long ago, so I might function the dead. ( 88 ) Antigone Acts of the Apostless like a motherly figure about decease, she would instead hold the hurting inflicted on herself instead than anyone else that she loves. Even though Antigone shows award and pride in her ain decease, she besides shows that she is sad and down. She realizes that her life was filled with so many atrocious things. She cries about the atrocious destinies of her household, and about how she has cipher who will be mourning her decease merely as she had done for her household. At the same clip, she does non cognize what to anticipate, except that her household will be at that place waiting to recognize her. She thinks that she is a alien in her ain place, because she is the lone one brave sufficiency to oppugn the male monarch s Torahs. This brief fright about decease that Antigone has is non characteristic of her, and it seemed that she had changed in to a wholly different individual when she has those ideas. Through all of the feuding that this drama had in respects to positions on decease, it is evident that Antigone s positions did learn Creon something. Ironically, right after Antigone and Haemon had taken their ain lives, Creon has an epiphany where he decides to hold Polyneices buried decently and Antigone s life spared. He does this because he finds out that the metropolis of Thebes agrees with Antigone, and that they are really disquieted with what Creon has done. Unfortunately, as in most Grecian calamities, it was excessively late to save Antigone s life ( because she had already taken her ain ) . It turns out that after her decease, Creon was much worse off than when she was alive. Nevertheless, Antigone s positions did learn Creon that the Torahs of the Gods will ever be much more of import and have much higher value than any jurisprudence of adult male. He now knows, as Antigone tried to state him throughout the drama, that mourning a adult male s decease, no affair who that adult male is, is necessary in order to maintain nature in order in the polis and avoid farther penalty from the Gods. In analyzing Antigone s positions on decease, it is evident why she went to such great lengths to bury Polyneices decently. She showed that her positions about decease are the traditional 1s that the Gods created far before she was of all time born, and those can neer be tampered with or changed. She is so strong willed and passionate about these positions that any adult male would woolgather to hold a lovingness, supportive individual like her to be at that place for them in a clip of demand. If merely Creon had listened to Antigone before, but so you would non be able to name the drama, Antigone, a true Grecian calamity.