What is the play Antigone about short summary?
Antigone is a tragedy written by Sophocles in the year 441 BCE and is a play about the aftermath of a civil war in which the two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, kill each other, where the new king and their successor, Creon, tries to punish Polyneices for his disloyalty by not burying him properly.
What is the main lesson of the play Antigone?
In Antigone, the moral of the story is that of fate. This moral is incorporated through the actions of both Creon and Antigone. The moral also corresponds with a recurring theme of the abuse of power, something that Creon is more than guilty of.
What are two plays associated with Antigone?
“Antigone” is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, written around 442 BCE. Although it was written before Sophocles’ other two Theban plays, chronologically it comes after the stories in “Oedipus the King” and “Oedipus at Colonus”, and it picks up where Aeschylus’ play “Seven Against Thebes” ends.
What happens to Antigone at the end of the play?
Antigone has hanged herself and Haemon, in desperate agony, kills himself as well. On hearing the news of her son’s death, Eurydice, the queen, also kills herself, cursing Creon. Alone, in despair, Creon accepts responsibility for all the tragedy and prays for a quick death.
What is the tragedy in Antigone?
Antigone’s tragedy comes because of her unswerving loyalty to her brother, Polynices, and her determination to give him burial honours despite the personal danger. Her defiance and disregard of Creon leads to him imprisoning her alive in a tomb, where she commits suicide.
What is the moral conflict in Antigone?
The major moral conflict in Antigone by Sophocles is the conflict over which value is most fundamental. The play presents the moral conflict over whether the god’s law or the city’s law is more powerful. This seems to be the most prominent theme.
What is the significance of Antigone?
Antigone came to symbolize democracy and resonated with Greece’s war of independence against the Ottoman Empire, as well as America’s struggle against communist Soviet Russia during the Cold War.
Why is the play called Antigone?
Although Creon may have displayed a devotion to duty, Hadas believes the play is justly named for Antigone because she sacrificed her life and love for an ideal. However one may perceive Antigone, the play would continue to be performed.
What does Creon do at the end of the play?
At the end of the play, Creon shows he has learned this lesson at last when, instead of mocking death as he has throughout the play, he speaks respectfully of “death” heaping blows upon him (1413–1419).
Who is the real tragic hero in Antigone?
Creon
In Sophocles’ Antigone, translated by Ian Johnston, the overall tragic hero is Creon. Creon becoming king brings new laws that are not accepted by everyone’s morals and they do not all follow the laws of the gods.