Sophocles and Antigone
Theatre is a form of art created to express the ideals or feelings of various groups of people. Widely held beliefs state that it began as a ritual, and through the performers' repetition of a certain event in front of an audience, the ritual became a performance and theatre was born. In ancient Greece, the theatre was an outlet for religion because it worshipped Dionysus, the god of wine, crops, and reproduction. As theatre developed, undefined rules came into practice, and the process through which a playwright produced a play as well as the distinguishing traits characteristic of a successful play became in-depth and understood by all involved parties. It is the pinnacle of Greek theatre and Sophocles, a budding young playwright, has written a new play entitled Antigone. To successfully produce his play Sophocles must follow specific guidelines set up by the state by first making an appeal to the Archon, a high official who chooses three contestants to participate in the Dionysiac Festival. Sophocles must present Antigone as part of a group of three tragedies and one satyr play, and if deemed acceptable by the Archon, the Archon in turn will provide him with a chorus of fifteen men, a lead actor, and a Choregus. The Cho
In context and in performance, the tragic heroine of Antigone is in fact Antigone, niece of King Kreon, sister of Ismene, and fiance of Haimon. In the opening of the play, Antigone is in opposition with Ismene over the conflict of the burial of her slain brother Polynices. Prior to the beginning of Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles, the brother of Polynices, Antigone, and Ismene, engage in a dual that takes the lives of both. King Kreon orders a proper burial for Eteocles but not for Polynices, and Antigone refuses to allow this to happen by continuously covering the body of her brother with dirt and even going as far as digging a grave for him with her bare hands in broad daylight. When King Kreon discovers what she has done, he insistently tries to convince her to follow his orders, but she repeatedly refuses, stating that it is her fate to say no and die. At the end of the play, Antigone hangs herself in her cell, Haimon stabs himself in his own misery, and King Kreon is left alone. By further examining the character of Antigone, one can conclude that she in fact fits the pattern of a tragic heroine as outlined by Aristotle. Aristotle believes that the chief character in a tragic play should be a person of great consequence and one of exalted station. This person should have a mixed nature of both positive and negative qualities, and her errors and weaknesses should lead her into misfortune. Such a mixture of good and evil makes her seem more like us, thus more quickly arousing our sympathy and compassion. The crimes suitable for this tragic heroine may be committed either in ignorance or intentionally, and the overall effect of this character is to allow the audience to experience catharsis, the purging of the soul through pity and fear. Antigone fits this description of Aristotle's ideal tragic heroine because her insistence on her desire to bury Polynices to the point of her own death locates her in a line of tragic heroes, specifically that of Oedipus, her father. In the prologue of Antigone during a conv
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1373
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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