Antigone

=**Title of the Work**=

//Antigone//

=Author=

Sophocles

=Nationality/Ethnic Background=

Greek

=Genre and Sub-genres=

Greek Tragedy

=Pertinent Biographical Information= Not much is known about Sophocles' personal life, besides the fact that he was a wealthy Athenian citizen and a good friend of an important statesman, Pericles. Sophocles was born in 497 BC, a few years prior to the Battle of Marathon, in Attica. Sophocles, a prolific playwright, was one of just three ancient Greek tragedians whose works have survived to the present day. Of the 123 plays he is said to have written, only seven have survived in their complete form. He acted as a city treasurer and a naval officer when he was not writing. He was a renowned playwright in his own time and is said to have won first prize at the Athenian festival of plays eighteen times, and was well known as an expert in the arts by age 16. Sophocles had one son, Ariston. He lived a long life, but died before the downfall of Athens. =Literary Historical Period/Movement and Pertinent Background=

=Major Characters, Their Relationships, Their Conflicts=
 * **Literary Historical Period/Movement-** Ancient Period
 * **Pertinent Background-** Antigone was written during the time of Greek national fervor but shows no focus on political propaganda, impassioned apostrophe, or patriotic interests. The play instead focuses on the characters and themes.

=Brief Plot Summary= At the beginning of the play, the chorus provides the audience with a prologue, recounting the events of //Oedipus Rex.// The revelation of King Oedipus' incest and patricide forces him into exile from Thebes, and a feud breaks out between his two sons over who has the right to the throne. Etocles, the younger of the two, exiles his older brother Polyneices, who then strikes back by attacking Thebes with a powerful army. The brothers kill each other in the ensuing struggle, so the throne goes to Creon, a relative of Oedipus. Creon rules that Etocles be honored as a hero of Thebes, while Polynieces be outcast as a traitor and not be given proper burial rites. Creon even decrees that anyone who tries to bury the body faces the death penalty.
 * **Antigone-** Is the play's tragic heroine. Superficial, unattractive, and scrawny, she struggles with her identity and would rather be a boy. She is the daughter of the accidental marriage between Oedipus, king of Thebes, and his mother, Jocasta. Antigone is the sister of Ismene, Polyneices, and Eteocles, but is especialy jealous of popular and beautiful Ismene. After Polyneices' death, Antigone struggles to find a proper burial for him because he is a traitor in the eyes of the people of Thebes. Antigone's stubbornness about Polyneices burial leads to her death. Antigone commits suicide by hanging herself after she is entombed alive.
 * **Creon-** Antigone's uncle. Present king of Thebes after the death of Oedipus, Polyneices, and Eteocles. Though he is part of the family, Creon distances himself from Oedipus' children, placing his main focus on his own political power. Creon is forced to punish Antigone for her disregard of the law about Polyneices though only because he selfishly orders Polyneices not to be buried in an attempt to preserve his own power, and to avoid backlash from the community.
 * **Ismene-** Antigone's younger sister. She acts as Antigone's foil, being the "good girl" of the two, but is also strikingly beautiful and rational. She tries to stop Antigone from attempting to bury Polyneices, to save her from trouble. After this attempt fails, Ismene tries to take the blame for Antigone's actions, but Antigone will not let her.
 * **Haemon**- Creon's son and Antigone's fiancée. Haemon loves Antigone and loses respect for his father when Creon refuses to pardon Antigone's punishment. Haemon later attempts to murder his father and kills himself over Antigone's dead body.

Antigone becomes irate after learning that her brother will not be given a proper burial. Against the advice of her sister Ismene, Antigone goes out to the battlefield to perform burial rites on her brother in order to put his spirit to rest. When guards arrive to stop Antigone and excavate the body, she allows herself to be captured. Antigone and Ismene are brought before Creon, who sentences Antigone and Ismene--thought to be Antigone's accomplice--to death. Haemon, Creon's son and Antigone's fiancee, begs for Antigone's release, but Creon mocks his pleas.

Creon abruptly changes his mind about Ismene's guilt and sends only Antigone out to a cave to starve to death. Shortly afterward, the prophet Tiresias warns Creon that the gods are angry with his refusal to bury Polynieces and that his actions will result in his son's death. Creon at first mocks the wise Tiresias, but upon realizing that the blind prophet has never been wrong, Creon fears for Haemon's life, and begins to question his previous decision.

Creon makes haste in performing burial rites for Polynieces and setting out to free Antigone. However, the damage has already been done, and Creon is too late to save either. Antigone has hung herself by a rope, and is found Haemon weeping beneath her. Haemon attempts to kill his father, then stabs himself and dies, holding Antigone's body. Creon returns to the palace only to learn that his wife, Eurydice, has commited suicide upon hearing about her son's death.

The play ends with Creon being led away by his citizens, wishing for death. =Motifs (Recurring Images, Ideas, Figures of Speech, Symbols, Colors) & Their Thematic Significance=


 * **The Chorus (motifs)-** A representation of the subjects of Creon.
 * **Tragic Beauty (motifs)-** Antigone is regarded as an ugly outcast throughout the play, and finds beauty only in hitting rock bottom, because her emotion is able to shine though her exterior.
 * **The Tomb/ Bridal Bed (motifs)-** The tomb where Antigone is left to die becomes her final resting place, but also her bridal bed with Haemon. The two fiancees die together, and so the tomb becomes their place of union.
 * **The Gray World (symbol)-** Antigone speaks of a gray world, or nowhere, when returning from her brother's burial. This foreshadows her death and pass over into such a place.
 * **Creon's Attack (symbol)-** a symbol of Antigone pssing beyond state power and into the realm of men.
 * **Eurydice's Knitting (symbol)-** Knitting was a symbol of her life, and the only activity with which she occupied herself. When she stopped knitting, she died.

=Other Significant Thematic Elements (Significant Character's Names, Significant Quotations, Significant Actions/Events)=

Chorus and Guards
The Chorus and the Guards are able to comment on the action of the play objectively. The Chorus often indicates an impending death and help to advance the play. The Guards are able to comment on individual characters actions, or on the overall scene of the play. =Major Themes=

Free will cannot always be blamed for certain actions because our fates may be predetermined
The characters use of free will is important, but their fates in the play are predetermined. Antigone's choice to ignore Creon's edict concerning Polynieces eventually leads to her death, and also triggers Haemon's and Eurydice's deaths. Although this is an act of Antigone's free will, it is her fate to do so and leads to the other characters fates. The only way the characters feel that they have taken any control of their own fate is by committing suicide or actions that lead to their death. This indicates that mortality is the only way the characters feel they have control of their fates, even if their deaths in that way were fated to happen.

Womens' roles in society may not be correct
Antigone rejects the societally acceptable role of a woman through her actions within the play and even in her being the lead character of the play. Women typically have secondary roles in society and in plays, especially in the time period of the play. This play challenges this belief of womens' secondary role in society by showing Antigone using free will. In the end of the play, all of the characters have been punished for Antigone's actions outside of societies acceptance. The reason this happens though, is because society punishes her for revolting against her role and being an individual. The play never actually takes a side on weather or not women should reject societies expectations of them or not.

**Sisters' Rivalry**
Antigone and Ismene, though sisters, are polar opposites. The good and well loved Ismene plays the foil for the moody and disobedient Antigone, and their actions frequently bring tension and disagreement between the two. Such a structure is common in plays of this genre, and helps facilitate the major conflict of the work. The sisters' differences also highlight the expectations of women, as Ismene is praised for her beauty and femininity, while Antigone is cast out for her boyish nature and plain looks.