Antigone

Because she respects the gods, her family and her hometown Antigone is seen as a good person in the play "Antigone."

Specifically, mortals are expected to obey divine laws. In the case of Antigone, she respects the divine law that all Thebans are to receive divinely ordained funerary rites and below-ground burial procedures. No one - not even Theban King Creon - has the right to deny Thebans such as the disloyal Polyneices of these god-given rights. Antigone disobeys human law and obeys divine law by burying her disloyal brother.

According to ancient Greek culture, this is the correct and good thing to do. In fact, to do otherwise is not only blasphemous and disfunctional to the family but also dangerous for Thebes. Not following proper, divinely ordained procedure pollutes people and the entire environment. Antigone's uncle and sovereign therefore contaminates not only himself but all Thebans and all Thebes when he prevents the burials of Polyneices and the other disloyal Theban dead.

Courage and loyalty are Antigone's good traits in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone shows courage when she breaks the law, buries her brother, confronts her uncle, King Creon, and goes to her death. She manifests loyalty when she stands by her family in life and in death. She also expresses loyalty when she refuses to give up on divine will and cherished Theban traditions.

How to punish Antigone is Creon's internal conflict in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon wants his non-burial edict to remain on the books. He knows that Thebans are not in favor of whimsical applications of their god-given rights to below-ground burials and proper funeral rites. So he has to make an example of any and all law-breakers, in such a way as to discourage similar defiance of his will.

It is a hateful attitude that Creon has towards Antigone in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon characterizes Princess Antigone as having a lifelong track record for foolishness. He also describes her as exactly like her father, disgraced King Oedipus, in her rashness and stubbornness. He even goes so far as to call her too evil to be the wife of his son, Prince Haemon. He never indicates any regret about her death sentence or her death.

That almost everyone dies and that the most prominent survivor is ruined is the way in which the resolution stresses the tragic nature of the characters in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the resolution describes the ending just before the final closing comments by the chorus. It ends with disgraced Theban King Creon being led away for house arrest pending divinely expressed punishment. Creon is miserable because his persecution of Polyneices and Antigone boomerangs and costs him his family, home, job and reputation.

That she is the daughter of a frightened king, the lover of the chief god, the mother of a great hero and the originator of the Latin culture of modern Rome is the story of Danaë.

Specifically, Argive Princess Danaë is the only child of frightened King Acrisius. Her father imprisons her in the hope of keeping her from having a son who is prophesied to grow up and kill his famous grandfather. Danaë nevertheless has a love child, the subsequent hero Perseus, with Zeus the chief god. She and Perseus escape even though her father locks them in a chest and tries to drown them. She becomes the founder of the ancient city of Ardea, in the Latium province of central-west Italy where the area now is taken up by the city and province of modern Rome.

His two daughters, his twin sons, and his wife make up the immediate family of Theban King Oedipus. His young daughters are Antigone and Ismene. His twin sons and royal heirs are Eteocles and Polyneices. His wife is Theban Queen Jocasta, who also is his mother.

The extended family of Oedipus includes his brother-in-law, Theban King Creon. As Jocasta's brother, Creon is uncle to Oedipus. He also was brother in law to Jocasta's first husband, Theban King Laius. Laius was the father of Oedipus. But he isn't part of the living family of Oedipus. In fact, he died during a street brawl with a stranger who turned out to be none other than his son, Oedipus.

Zeus is the god's name in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Zeus is the chief god. Both Theban Princess Antigone and King Creon mention him. The chorus and characters reference other gods as well: Aries the war god, Bacchus the wine god, Hades the Underworld god and Persephone the Underworld goddess.

That others know who is guilty of Laius' murder and that Oedipus does not know is an example of the dramatically ironic knowledge of the audience in the play "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. -- 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Laius, the previous king of Thebes, is killed without the guilty being sought or punished and without cleansing rituals being carried out. Teiresias the blind prophet, Queen Jocasta's most trusted servant and audiences familiar with the Oedipus story all know in advance that the killer is Oedipus. This is dramatically ironic since Oedipus has no clue that the person he promises to track down and punish is himself.

That she seeks to share her sister's punishment or possibly effect a lighter sentence or even a pardon may be reasons why Ismene admits to being guilty in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban Princess Antigone admits to breaking her uncle King Creon's law and burying the body of her disgraced brother Polyneices. Her sister, Princess Ismene, does not help but suddenly claims to be an accessory if not a participant in the crime. She gives no explanation other than that she does not want to lose her only sister. But she may be claiming guilt so that her sister does not die alone. Or she may claim guilt in an attempt to get a lighter sentence or even a pardon from Creon, who favors Ismene and disfavors Antigone.

Sisters and cousins is the relationship between Antigone and Ismene in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Antigone and Ismene are the daughters of disgraced Theban monarchs Oedipus and Jocasta. Their parents both are direct descendants of Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king, but by different grandchildren. Their parents therefore are cousins to each other as are the sisters Antigone and Ismene.

Presenting a situation in which two authority figures conflict is the purpose of Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.) in writing "Antigone."

Specifically, divine law guarantees all Thebans of below ground burials. But a recent royal edict lets those rights be respected for Theban loyalists and denied to Theban traitors. Theban Princess Antigone must decide whether to honor or dishonor divine or royal authority since her brother Polyneices is given a traitor's non-burial.

That they seek to overthrow him and that they are cowards in the pay of his enemies are what Creon assumes about the motives of those who disobey him in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Theban King Creon issues an unpopular edict whereby god-given below-ground burials are denied to the disloyal Theban dead in the recent civil war over the royal succession. Creon assumes direct and indirect involvement in the breaking of the law. He accuses his enemies of seeking to overthrow him but of not doing the deed themselves. Instead, his enemies bribe others who actually do the deed for money. Either way, Creon sees his opponents as despicable cowards.

Theban is Creon's nationality in "Antigone" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Creon is king of Thebes. He is a Theban born and bred. In fact, he is a direct paternal descendant of Cadmus, Thebes' founder and first king.

The play "Antigone" was set in the kingdom of Thebes.

Most of the action took place in and around the royal palace of King Creon. Some of the action took place in the forsaken area in which the dead Argive invaders and their equally dead Theban allies were left exposed to the elements, dogs, and birds. Some of the action also took place in the isolated, rocky cave that became Antigone's last home on earth.