How Morals Are Thrown Around Through The Actions And...

Andrew Robb In the tragedy â€Å"Antigone† many ideas of morals are tossed around through the actions and speeches of the characters Creon and Antigone. Though these morals seem logical at first, it can later be seen that these two characters represent an over fixation on singular ideas, or morals, of life when it is taken to the extreme. This close mindedness ultimately leads to these character’s downfalls with Creon revealing that his moral extreme is the â€Å"political sphere† of life and Antigone, the â€Å"private sphere† holds the truth. She wants to bury her brother, Polynices (Galens). A proper burial for those killed in battle was essential for the Ancient Greeks (Fletcher). To give Polynices his proper burial, she infringes upon her Uncle Creon s laws that specifically forbid her from burying Polynices as he was an enemy of the people. She wishes to follow and interpret the traditions and rituals the divine gods expect, and hence clashes with Cr eon s governmental status. Through focusing their entire lives to these causes and desires, they have damned themselves to their own demise by being so close-minded of the world around them. Creon is a fatigued, wrinkled man enduring the weights of leadership and has now surrendered himself altogether to the throne. Unlike Antigone, he has totally ceded his wishes to take upon the mantle of administration. As he tells Antigone, his only interest is in political and social order. This obsession with the state and civil order causes himShow MoreRelatedtheme of alienation n no where man by kamala markandeya23279 Words   |  94 Pagesï » ¿ANTIGONE KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING This tragedy is set against the background of the Oedipus legend. It illustrates how the curse on the House of Labdacus (who is the grandson of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the father of Laius, whose son is Oedipus) brought about the deaths of Oedipus and his wife-mother, Jocasta, as well as the double fratricide of Eteocles and Polynices. Furthermore, Antigone dies after defying King Creon. The play is set in Thebes, a powerful city-state north of