In 441 B.C. a well known playwright by the name Sophocles wrote the Greek tragedy entitled Antigone. Sophocles was an undisputed master in writing the Greek tragedy; in fact, he has six others that survived and are studied today. Even though only seven remain today, Sophocles was believed to write over 100 plays in all. Sophocles can be counted as a factor to what made the Golden Age of Greece, the time period that Sophocles and other Greek playwrights authored in, just so magnificent. Judging by the remaining seven plays, including Antigone, Sophocles titled his plays by either the main character, or by a pivotal character in the story. Antigone, as a title, has no importance other than establishing the character in which the entire play is based on. In that matter, the title can be regarded to as significant, however not very creative. (Wilson and Goldfarb 12)
The plot of Antigone is borrowed in most instances. The story of Antigone is based on a Greek myth about the daughter of King Oedipus (Wilson and Goldfarb 11). Antigone and her sister Ismene are the only two surviving children of King Oedipus after his death and after the war for control over Thebes. This war for control of Thebes ensued after their father King Oedipus died, and their brothers Polyneices and Eteocles could not agree on who should rule his kingdom. After all is said and done with, both princes kill each other and ruler ship goes to the next of kin: Uncle Creon (Oedipus’ brother). In a fit of anger and disgust, Creon orders that Polynecies not be given a proper burial. Against the better judgment of her sister Ismene, Antigone ignored her uncle and set out to put her brother to rest and send him honorably into the next world. However Antigone’s plan did not go according to plan in all respects. Antigone got caught burying her brother and is brought forth for judgment in her uncle’s, and her king’s, court. After hearing of the mockery that Antigone made of his decree, King Creon set out to make an example of his nieces Antigone and Ismene, even though Ismene had nothing to do with Antigone’s rash actions and actually tried waning Antigone from this course. He sentences them both to death. Creon’s son Haemon, who is to be Antigone’s husband, catches word of this foul deed and confronts his father about it. After a powerful argument, Haemon swears off his father if he follows with his sentence of death. Antigone is then sent to a tomb where she will be imprisoned either to live there forever, or to kill herself. A prophecy to the kingdom of Thebes, Teiresias, comes forward and warns that if King Creon does not right his terrible sentencing, then he will lose all that is dear to him and ultimately his kingdom. King Creon listens to the prophet and goes personally to the cave where Antigone is imprisoned, only to find his son Haemon dead at feet of Antigone who had hung herself. The play ends with Creon blaming himself for the death of everyone he once loved. (Wilson and Goldfarb 13-31)
The play definitely classifies as a tragedy. The plot is very intense and in depth given the fact that the audience is brought in by a brief exposition by Ismene and Antigone herself. The theme of the play is arrogance and how pride should not be a leading role in how a kingdom is run. Creon’s pride prevented him from forgiving his niece Antigone for her transgression against his decree, and ultimately led to the demise of everything he once held dear. On the reverse side of that coin, Antigone’s pride and sense of doing what she thought was just, cost her life, and the lives of some of her family. So I believe that the mistaken idea of pride was the theme in Antigone.
The points of the plot chart are quite obvious. The rising action was the argument between Ismene and Antigone about Antigone’s plan to bury her brother Polyneices, and Antigone actually doing so. The Conflict was established as Antigone being brought before her uncle and sentenced to death, as well as Haemon swearing of his father and his father’s kingdom in the name of love. The Climax could be interpreted either of two ways I believe. On one hand, a reader could say that Creon following though with the sentence and imprisoning Antigone was the climax. On the other hand, I believe a reader could also say that Creon attempting to right this wrong after hearing the advice of the prophet and finding Haemon and Antigone both dead, could be the climax of the play. Either way, the denouement remains the same: Creon’s descent into madness as he has to live with his actions. (Wilson and Goldfarb 13-31)
The main character is obviously Antigone, who was going to do what she thought was just, even if it caused her own death. However, I believe there are several supporting main characters. These are Ismene, Creon, Haemon, and the prophet Teiresias. Ismene was Antigone’s sister who was the logic behind the argument against burying Polyneices against Creon’s will. Creon was Antigone and Ismene’s uncle, Haemon’s father, and most importantly ruling King of Thebes that, like his niece Antigone, had a pride issue. Haemon was the prince of Thebes and proposed husband to Antigone that swore off his place in the kingdom for love. I also believe that the prophet Teiresias should be considered a main character because his prophecy of the kingdom after Creon’s actions ultimately caused Creon to reverse his sentence and find Antigone and Haemon dead. I believe that Teiresias should be considered a main character because he dramatically changed the outcome of the play. The secondary characters include the Guard who caught Antigone burying her brother, Eurydice, Creon’s wife, the Messengers, and the Chorus of Theban Elders. The Chorus of Theban Elders provided the details that made the play fit together, in a way they were a type of narrators. (Wilson and Goldfarb 13-31)
While reading this play I was completely and utterly intrigued! Believe it or not, but I found that this ‘ancient’ plot was absolutely amazing! Although the script was hard to follow at some points because it was translated into Old English, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this play and was completely entertained! I would have never expected Creon to follow through with his sentence of Antigone after he found out it was her that buried Polyneices. And when he did, I would never have expected him to put his pride aside for the sake of the kingdom after advised to do so by Teiresias the prophet. I think when Creon did this, it was his major turning point in that he was trying to make things right again. This definitely had the most impact on my experience reading the play. I think that Antigone‘s major strength was its excellent plot, and its major weakness was the translation of the script in that it was hard to understand because of the dialect. I am now curious to see if all Greek tragedy is as interesting and fun to read as Antigone.
