Sophocles' "Antigone"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the characters of Antigone and Creon and discusses how they embody the two sides of a conflict that raises important questions about the precedence of duty to the Gods and to the State. It shows how the play is one in which the public and private realms clash. The focus of the paper is on how these characters represent these realms and how they are finally united.

From the Paper:

"The entry of the Chorus establishes it as the reflection of the attitude of the populace. The first speech is a hymn to the recent victory in which the city repelled the attack by Polyneices and the Chorus is triumphant and sure of the city's continued good fortune. It is the voice of the city that praises the gods for delivering them from Polyneices' attack and displays the anger the people felt toward him. As Polyneices stood over the city prepared for victory Zeus, "who hates the most / the boasts of a great tongue . . . struck him down with hurled fire, / as he strove to raise the victory cry" (143-48). The Chorus, like the rest of the city, now sees the moment as one for celebration and wonders, as Creon approaches, what he wishes to propose. Creon's announcement of his vengeful plan toward Polyneices' body raises no overt objection from the Chorus. But, as Gellie notes, there is considerable visceral reaction to his edict. Although this procedure may have had "support in Greek law and in war-time practice" Sophocles stresses the "physical nastiness" of leaving bodies exposed and, political or religious concerns aside, "we are made to feel in our stomachs that this is no way to treat the body of a human being" (Gellie 33). "

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