Antigone 10
"The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins." (Kierkegaard) In terms of Antigone, this quotation makes a lot of sense. If a tyrant's, or a cruel dictator-like person's, role is to diminish, he/she will not necessarily die, but his/her popularity will most definitely decline. As the contrary is true for a martyr, or a person who suffers so as to keep his/her faith and/or principles. He/She will pretty much never die. Through the old, Greek play Antigone, written by Sophocles, this quotation appears evidently true in the roles of King Creon, Antigone, and Ismene. In the quotation above, "The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins," Creon portrays the part of the tyrant very well. His regards for the laws of the city cause him to abandon all other beliefs. He believes that everyone should obey the laws set forth by him, even if other beliefs, moral or religious, state otherwise. He enforces these laws very strictly. At the beginning of the play, Creon orders the people not to bury Polyneices because of his dishonor towards Thebes. Furthermore, if Creon catches anyone burying him, he/she will be killed for disobeying his order. This alone makes the quo
her. She will receive pain any day over backing down from her beliefs. Even though her own sister tries not to let Antigone commit the "crime" of burying her brother, she still goes ahead with this dead. Just so that her brother obtains the respect he deserves from her, she goes against everything she needs to. Even when confronted by the king and sentenced to death, she refuses to back down from her opinion. Her reasoning goes as this, "And if I must die/ Now, before it is my time to die,/ Surely this is no hardship: can anyone/ Living as I live, with evil all about me,/ Think Death less than a friend? This death of mine/ Is of no importance; but if I had left my brother/ Lying in death unburied, I should have suffered./ Now I do not." (Antigone, 679) Standing up to Creon only makes Antigone appear that much stronger to the people. They understand where her words come from, and therefore she shall never die. When King Creon sentences Antigone away for death, she goes along with it. She knows that she committed a "crime" under the laws of Creon, so she therefore will pay the consequences for it. She does not mind paying the price because she knows that what she did, no matter what anyone else thought, was right and needed to be done. Antigone even dies for what she believes in. the Sentry discovers Antigone as the culprit, he brings her in to the King. Creon sentences her to leave and be faced with death. "I will carry her far away/ Out there in the wilderness, and lock her/ Living in a vault of stone....And there let her pray to the gods of hell:/ They are her only gods:/ Perhaps they will show her an escape from death,/ Or she may learn, though late,/ That piety shown the dead is pity in vain." (Creon, 688-89) Not many people believe that what Antigone did is wrong. In fact, many would do the same if placed in her shoes. So again, this becomes another reason for the people of Thebes not to agree with King Creon. Once Creon realizes what he did by sending Antigone away for death, he wants to bring her back. He goes to obtain her and when he gets there, he discovers Antigone's dead body. This only makes the relationship w
Some common words found in the essay are:
King Creon, Creon Creon, Antigone Ismene, Creon Ismene, , Furthermore Creon, dies rule, Standing Creon, dies rule martyr, tyrant dies rule, dies rule begins, rule martyr dies, rule begins, martyr dies, rule martyr, martyr dies rule, tyrant dies, king creon, quotation tyrant, creon antigone, Creon Antigone, people thebes, play antigone,
Approximate Word count = 1456
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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