Free will is what causes Antigone's death in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).
Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone is aware of divine curses on the Theban royal house of which she is a descendant and current member. But there is no mention of any specific prophecy regarding her fate. Additionally, she chooses to break a royal law for which any violation carries an automatic death sentence.
In the excerpt from Antigone, the line that reflects her helplessness is when she acknowledges her family's tragic history and the inevitability of their fate. She expresses a sense of being trapped by the weight of her family's curse and her own predetermined role in their tragic narrative. This realization underscores her lack of control over her destiny and the tragic legacy that haunts her choices.
That she obeys the gods but receives the death penalty is the way in which Antigone's fate is ironic in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone faces a situation in which two authority figures conflict. Divine will indicates that she must give her brother Polyneices a below ground burial, which a recent royal edict forbids. Antigone knows that the gods rule and that her choice is correct. But her uncle King Creon sentences her to death for breaking his law.
That she believes that the gods rule is why Antigone accepts her fate in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone accepts the gods as the ultimate authority in life and death. She believes in the divine will that guarantees to all Thebans rights to below ground burials. When she chooses to break a royal edict in order to obey a divine law, she therefore chooses to accept the death sentence for her civil disobedience.
Controlled by fate, dominated by the gods and eclipsed by death is Antigone's view of life in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone believes that the life of each mortal is custom designed by the Furies of fate. She concludes that the all knowing and powerful gods rule in life and in death. She feels that life is brief and dominated by the far greater part of human existence being spent in the Underworld of the afterlife.
She was buried alive.
In the excerpt from Antigone, the line that reflects her helplessness is when she acknowledges her family's tragic history and the inevitability of their fate. She expresses a sense of being trapped by the weight of her family's curse and her own predetermined role in their tragic narrative. This realization underscores her lack of control over her destiny and the tragic legacy that haunts her choices.
That she obeys the gods but receives the death penalty is the way in which Antigone's fate is ironic in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone faces a situation in which two authority figures conflict. Divine will indicates that she must give her brother Polyneices a below ground burial, which a recent royal edict forbids. Antigone knows that the gods rule and that her choice is correct. But her uncle King Creon sentences her to death for breaking his law.
That she believes that the gods rule is why Antigone accepts her fate in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone accepts the gods as the ultimate authority in life and death. She believes in the divine will that guarantees to all Thebans rights to below ground burials. When she chooses to break a royal edict in order to obey a divine law, she therefore chooses to accept the death sentence for her civil disobedience.
Controlled by fate, dominated by the gods and eclipsed by death is Antigone's view of life in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone believes that the life of each mortal is custom designed by the Furies of fate. She concludes that the all knowing and powerful gods rule in life and in death. She feels that life is brief and dominated by the far greater part of human existence being spent in the Underworld of the afterlife.
She was buried alive.
That she is the cursed and that her behavior does not make her fate better are what the choral odes say about Antigone's fate in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone is described and self-described as the cursed daughter of a cursed royal house. The chorus is not sympathetic to Antigone's downfall. In fact, chorus members observe that like father, like daughter Antigone gets the fate that her uncontrolled behavior wins for her.
Belief in gods and fate is Antigone's religious view in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone believes in the gods of Mount Olympus. She considers the gods as the sources of cherished Theban traditions for organizing life and preparing for death. She makes a promise to her father, disgraced Theban King Oedipus, that she will try to be happy all the while that she accepts her fate.
The statement by each sister that the consequences will be death is the way in which Antigone's fate is foreshadowed during her opening scene with Ismene in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.)Specifically, Theban Princess Ismene tries to talk her sister Antigone out of burying their brother Polyneices in volation of King Creon's edict of non-burial. She mentions that the consequence of breaking Creon's law is a death even more miserable and painful than that of their parents, disgraced Theban monarchs Oedipus and Jocasta. Antigone makes about the same kind of prediction when she says that the consequences of her civil disobedience will be no more than an ignoble death.
Consequences, fate, family and the gods are the four main points in Antigone's goodbye speech in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone declares that because of her divine obedience and royal disobedience she will die childless, friendless and loveless. She identifies fate as leading her to such an ignoble death because of the curse on her parents and her great-grandfather. She indicates that family ties are strong because she has no competing allegiance to husband or children. She points to the gods as her guidepost and as the ironic cause of her death.
Antigone views her impending death with a sense of resolve and dignity. She believes that honoring her brother and adhering to her moral principles is worth the sacrifice, as she prioritizes familial loyalty and divine law over human law. Rather than expressing fear, she embraces her fate, seeing it as a means of achieving eternal honor and integrity. Her acceptance reflects her strong convictions and the belief that true freedom lies in standing up for one’s beliefs, even in the face of death.
To give a hint of future happenings is the way in which foreshadowing is used in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, foreshadowing is a literary technique by which the author hints at what may happen to a main character. For example, in the beginning of the play, Theban Princess Antigone foreshadows her own fate. She declares that the worst that will happen to her for breaking the law is an ignoble death. Death by live burial becomes her punishment, but hanging by her own hands becomes her actual fate.
Theban King Creon sentences his niece, Antigone, to death for disobeying his recent decree while respecting god-given traditions. The punishment for violation of the law is death by stoning. After interacting with Antigone and then Haemon, her cousin and husband-to-be, the King changes the sentence to death by being walled up in a remote cave. Why does King Creon appear to change his mind about Antigone's fate? His reasons are a 'gesture of piety'; protection of the city from the defilement of Antigone's life and death [Lines 873-874]; and a show of the lonely, powerless 'waste of breath' it is to respect the god of death [Lines 876-878]. The King then changes his mind again about Antigone's fate. He decides against her death by isolation and starvation. Why does he go through yet another change of mind? He learns from Teiresias the blind prophet that woe is in store for his household because of his offenses against the gods in not allowing the disloyal Theban dead to be buried and in not letting Antigone to live, marry, and have children.