contemporary Antigone essays

contemporary Antigone essays Society cannot escape contemporary moral issues. We are continually exposed to situations that bring into question our very system of beliefs. In response to these ethical dilemmas we are forced to adapt and reevaluate our present frame of mind resulting in both positive change and unavoidable struggle. Throughout the play Antigone, Sophocles clearly demonstrates the adversity one must face in the fight against injustice. One need not look very far to find immediate parallels in our own present-day society. The central conflict in Antigone is very recognizable: the struggle of a strong minded individual in direct conflict with the established rule of another. In the case of Antigone this rule comes in the form of King Creon. The story unravels as Polynices, Antigone's brother, dies while attacking the city of Thebes. By order of Creon Polynices's body is left to rot in the streets, a seemingly fitting judgment for a traitor. Regardless of her brother's actions Antigone believed he deserved a proper burial. In her eyes Creon's power wasn't limitless. "I did not think your edicts strong enough to overrule the unwritten, unalterable laws of God and heaven, you being only a man." Unwilling to yield her convictions Antigone was found burying her brother and sentenced by Creon to die. Her fiance Haemon, the son of Creon, discovered Antigone's dead body. Stricken with grief he killed himself. Upon hearing the news of his death Eulydices, Haemon's mother, also took her life. Creon, al one and responsible for the deaths of three people, finally understood his failings and weakness as a king. The relationship between Antigone and her sister Ismene clearly illustrates two opposing views. Both women, sickened by the news of Polynices's death reacted in a contrasting manner. Regardless of the consequence Antigone was ready to protect the rights of her brother. Ismene, however felt powerless, filled with fear and unable to...