"Sophocles, Antigon" Reflection

  "Sophocles, Antigone"Reflection

     Antigone, a character from Greek legend, is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, born from their unknowingly incestuous relationship. She and her sister Ismene accompanied their exiled father after he blinded himself upon discovering his tragic fate. Returning to Thebes, they attempted to reconcile their feuding brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices. Both brothers perished in battle, and their uncle Creon assumed the throne. Creon granted an elaborate funeral for Eteocles but left Polyneices' body unburied, labeling him a traitor. Driven by love for her brother and a belief in injustice, Antigone secretly buried Polyneices, leading to her death sentence by Creon. She was entombed in a cave and took her own life, while her beloved, Haemon, also Creon's son, committed suicide. In an alternate version, Creon ordered Haemon to kill Antigone, but they wedded in secret and had a child. When Creon discovered their son, he executed the child, and in grief, Antigone and Haemon ended their own lives. In "Antigone," the story delves into significant themes, including love, family ties, authority, the interplay of laws and order, human mortality, divine intervention, and self-sacrifice. The narrative unfolds with a conflict between two brothers who end up on opposing sides of a war, leading to the heartbreaking loss of both siblings. I love those themes that take place in the story. Also, one sentence that caught my attention: "No, sister, do not strip me of death's tīmē, |545 but let me die with you and make due consecration to the dead". This made me put in the same position as Ismene because I would do the same for my sister. In this sentence, it involves the brotherhood.