Antigone

Neither Antigone or Creon is a dignified superior character in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone and King Creon deliberately behave badly towards each other. Neither one comports him or herself in a fashion that can be called dignified or superior. The phrase may be applied to the chorus leader, who is the only character to behave in a consistently controlled way. Everyone else resorts to emotional outbursts at one time or another.

Accepting bribes and telling lies are the offenses that Creon suspects the sentry and Teiresias to be guilty of in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon believes that powerful but secretive enemies oppose him. He feels that they have the money to bribe others to tell lies in order to discredit and overthrow him. He suspects that such is the case in the specific examples of the sentry who guards the unburied bodies of the disloyal Theban dead and of Teiresias the blind prophet's criticisms of the non-burial edict's impact.

That she chooses to attempt not to bring out a softening of an unpopular law, that she chooses to do what she knows to be illegal, that she chooses to make no attempt to hide her illegal act, and that she chooses to speak in inflammatory and insulting ways are the reasons why Antigone's choices affect her fate in "Antigone" by Sophocles (496 B.C.-406 B.C.).

Specifically, Antigone decides that she does not like the law issued by her uncle and future father-in-law, Theban King Creon. But she decides to disobey the law instead of trying to meet with Creon and change his mind. She likewise decides to carry out her disobedience in very obvious ways that only can serve to get her arrested and punished. Once arrested, she decides to approach her close relative and sovereign in ways that will not save her life or that will get the disloyal Theban dead buried in accordance with their god given rights.

Creon suspects Ismene of being Antigone's accomplice in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon decides to honor divinely ordained burial and funeral rites only for some Thebans and deny them to others. Princess Antigone, his niece and future daughter-in-law, goes ahead and buries her brother Polyneices even though he is on the no burial list. Creon thinks that Antigone does not act alone and therefore accuses her sister Ismene of aiding and abetting in the disobedience.

The story of Oedipus and the fate of the shirtsleeve relatives of the gods is the myth background of "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone is the daughter of disgraced Theban King Oedipus. She therefore is great-great-great granddaughter of Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king. As a result, she also is the great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of Poseidon the sea god. Consequently, she is the great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of Gaia, the mother goddess who through her incest with her son Uranus is the ancestor of gods and heroes.

It is in the burying of Polyneices that the main conflict is revealed in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the main conflict deals with which authority to identify as the ultimate over human lives. The choice is between the divine authority of the gods and the royal authority of Theban kings. Antigone selects the gods, which puts her into conflict with King Creon.

Assertive is what Antigone's personality is like in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone is not afraid of arguments, conflicts or debates. She knows what she believes in - family and the gods. She refuses to back down once her mind is made up.

Indirect or silent opposition is what Thebans think about Creon's decision about Antigone in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone and Prince Haemon characterize Thebans as fearful of currently reigning King Creon. They describe Thebans as in depressed, frightened, silent opposition to Creon's edict of non-burial of the disloyal Theban dead. Ironically, Creon recognizes that opposition exists since he is quick to say that enemies oppose him and what he does in Thebes. He says that the opposition is indirect in that his enemies hire financially needy people to do deeds that challenge community security and governmental stability.

That the play deals with the mother-son interaction is what 'Oedipus Rex' has to do with psychoanalysis pioneer Sigmund Freud [May 6, 1856-September 23, 1939]. In psychoanalysis, healthy male development requires successfully passing through childhood, during which a mother's influence may dominate. But in adolescence, a father's role modeling for adulthood needs to take over.

Some mental and social problems that overwhelm some males in adolescence and adulthood may trace back to a rocky passage through childhood. Such males may be said to suffer from an 'Oedipus complex'.

The term 'Oedipus complex' comes from the basic problem in the play. Albeit unknowingly, Theban King Oedipus kills his own father and marries his own mother. A kind of symbolic death is given to the father and a kind of symbolic incest is given out by the mother when the male child heeds the maternal influence and doesn't heed the paternal enough or at all.

That it derives from the good will of the gods is the way in which Antigone speaks truth to power in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone is confronted with a situation in which royal law is in conflict instead of harmony with divine law. Antigone interprets divine will as the ultimate authority source and the gods as the ultimate authority figures in the world of the here and now as well as in the Underworld of the afterlife. She considers royals as holding powers by the grace of the gods.

That Polyneices' body is buried and that the perpetrator is long gone is the news that the sentry brings on his first visit to Creon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon denies to his perceived enemies their god-given rights as Thebans to below ground burials. He enforces his prohibition by a royal edict. He has guards posted immediately after making the edict public. But a sentry lets Creon know that his edict already is violated and that Creon's disgraced nephew Polyneices' body already is covered with a dusty layer that constitutes a partial burial.

The thirteenth century B.C.E. most likely is Antigone's era in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, no information on ages or timelines is given in the play. But from other sources it is known that Antigone's nephew Thersander is a Trojan War contemporary if not participant. The war may be dated to 1194 B.C.E. - 1184 B.C.E. Thersander is no more than a child at the time of Antigone's death. So the play's events most likely take place some 20-30 years before the Trojan War, 1214 B.C.E. - 1224 B.C.E.

It is through his heritage, reputation, and role modelingthat Oedipus causes Antigone to suffer in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, disgraced Theban King Oedipus carries over to his daughter Princess Antigone the divine curse on the descendants of Kings Polydorus and Labdacus. He contributes to that curse his reputation as his father's killer and his mother's husband. Additionally, he is a negative role model in allowing himself to get out of control and in being stubborn.

That she seeks to honor Polyneices in the same way as Eteocles is the way in which Creon says that Antigone's act dishonors the latter in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, all Thebans have divine guarantees to below-ground burials and funeral rites. But Theban King Creon denies these rights to Polyneices, who dies attacking Thebes, at the same time that he honors them for Eteocles, who dies defending Thebes. Princess Antigone, Creon's niece and Eteocles' and Polyneices' sister, wants the rights of both brothers honored regardless of how they die.

Respect for her family, gods and traditions packaged with a temper is what Antigone reveals in terms of noble qualities and faults in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, noble describes qualities that are worthy of emulation and that work to individual and collective well-being. The description fits Theban Princess Antigone when she defends and respects demanding gods, fragile traditions and vulnerable family members. But at the same time, nobility is lacking when Antigone lets loose with her violent temper.

That the protagonists are female and that they challenge earthly authority are reasons why "Antigone" and "Electra" are radical female plays by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, protagonists are main characters or heroes or both. What with the emphasis on great deeds, the role is more likely filled by males than females. In the case of the above-mentioned plays, females meet the heroic requirements of being the main characters, doing great deeds and influencing the course of all actions.

People who do it for money and are in the pay of his enemies are those whom Creon thinks bury Polyneices in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon says that there is opposition to his recent edict on the non-burial of disloyal Theban dead. His opponents have money with which to corrupt others. In Creon's mind, they therefore are the ones who think up the deed, but they pay people who need money to actually do the deed.

Because of the reality of the situation and because of his culture, Oedipus ends up marrying his own mother in the play "Oedipus Rex."

Specifically, according to the facts of the situation, Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx and thereby saves the entire city of Thebes from destruction and death. The reward is marriage to widowed Theban Queen Jocasta and the throne of Thebes. But an additional explanation is that Oedipus' fate is being carried out inexorably despite all attempts to the contrary. In fact, according to prophecy, he will end up killing his father and sovereign and marrying his mother. That is exactly what happens.

Persuade Creon to reverse his bad decisions and actions and thereby end the current pestilence in Thebes are the purposes of the character Teiresias in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Teiresias is the blind prophet of Thebes. He is skilled in interpreting divine will, in identifying the causes of and solutions to problems in Thebes, and in advising every Theban ruler since the founding of Thebes by the city's first king, Cadmus. He therefore must get Theban King Creon to realize that issuing an edict contrary to divine will, refusing to honor the guarantee of all Thebans to proper Theban-style burials and funerary rites, and sentencing Theban Princess Antigone to death are all wrong and must be reversed.

No, the city does not agree with Creon's actions according to Haemon in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon passes a non-burial edict that contradicts divine law, denies his perceived enemy dead belowl-ground burials, and sentences to death Princess Antigone, his niece and intended daughter-in-law, when she tries to bury her brother Polyneices. Prince Haemon, Creon's son and Antigone's groom-to-be, says that Thebans hate Creon for the edict and the non-burials and greatly admire the courage of Antigone's convictions and actions in the face of a cruel bully.

It is divine law that Antigone recognizes as supreme law in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, there are two sets of laws in the ancient city of Thebes. There is the set of changing laws specific to a certain king for sorting out the economics and politics of running the governmental apparatus. There also is the set of unchanging laws by which the gods organize the lives and deaths of Thebans.