LRJ TWO

There is a lot of imagery used through out Antigone, but an image that you can see repeated a great deal is that of a proper burial for Polyneices. To this society, having a body go unburied one of the greatest insults imaginable. One can tell because of the amount of care she expresses on the subject. “Yes. I’ll do my duty to my brother—and yours as well, if you’re not prepared to. I won’t be caught betraying him.” (Sophocles 56-58) The thought of the body going unburied is too much for Antigone to handle. “He’s to have no funeral or lament, but to be left unburied and unwept, a sweet treasure for the birds to look at, for them to feed on to their heart’s content.” (Sophocles 34-37)

A fatal flaw can be seen in Creon. It is his stubbornness and lack of cooperation. Creon is in a position of great power, but with great power comes great responsibility. He decides to not allow the burial of Polyneices. This was a foolish mistake and even after he subconsciously knows that he is wrong he will not bend simply because of his pride ”Do you want me to show myself weak before the people? Or to break my sworn word? No, and I will not.” (Sophocles 217) His pride is once again brimming when he speaks to Teiresias “You can be sure you won’t change my mind to make yourself more rich.” (Sophocles 1190-1191)

The Peripeteia seems to happen when Creon is talking to the Choragos after consulting with Teiresias. “Ah me, 'tis hard, but I resign my cherished resolve,-I obey. We must not wage a vain war with destiny.” (Sophocles 288) However Creon comes to the peirpetia
Too late and despite his best efforts there is nothing he could possibly do to stop what had been set in motion. The following chain of events (The deaths of Haemon, Antigone and Eurydice) is what leads to the Anagnorisis. Creon falls to the lowest point he has been in the play and lets his heart out “Oh Hades, all-receiving whom no sacrifice can appease! Hast thou, then, no mercy for me? O thou herald of evil, bitter tidings, what word dost thou utter? Alas, I was already as dead, and thou hast smitten me anew! What sayest thou, my son? What is this new message that thou bringest-woe, woe is me!-Of a wife's doom-of slaughter headed on slaughter?” (Sophocles 840) It just so happens that this point in the play is also the Catharsis because Creon has nothing left, he is left in a depressed pitiful state, leaving one feeling great sorrow for him. He even wishes death upon himself “Oh, let it come, let it appear, that fairest of fates for me, that brings my last day,-aye, best fate of all! Oh, let it come, that I may never look upon to-morrow's light.” (Sophocles 840)

In Antigone, Women are depicted in two different ways. The first is seen through Ismene. She is timid, afraid and feels like she must obey the unwritten law regarding a women’s place. “Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer.” Through Antigone the second depiction is seen. Antigone is strong, confident and knows what she is doing is right. Her statements to Creon show all of this. “So for me to meet this doom is trifling grief; but if I had suffered my mother's son to lie in death an unburied corpse, that would have grieved me; for this, I am not grieved. And if my present deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge arraigns my folly.” (Sophocles) There is a massive difference between the two portrayals; one might say that they are opposites.

Spohocles. "Antigone." Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: World Literature. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 814-826

Sophocles. "Antigone." The Internet Classic Archive. Trans. R.C. Jebb. 04Oct2000. Classics. mit. edu. 24 Nov 2008 http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html.