Antigone Character Analysis
Essay by 24 • June 5, 2011 • 617 Words (3 Pages) • 2,648 Views
In Antigone, Antigone braves through all of her hardships and decisions with her morals
and set of values. She dies with pride and no regret for she died because she acted doing what
was morally right. Many Greek writers disagree with these traits that Sophocles has given her but
it is appropriate because she needed these traits to show defiance and be able to stand up for what
is right. Antigone is a tragic heroine who believes in her duty to her family and is willing to
sacrifice all things to do what is morally right.
Antigone's powerful foundation of her morals and values keep all who try to stray
her away from her task powerless. When Ismene tries to persuade her sister into staying
away from burying polynices her sense of obligation to her family creates a barrier to all who try
to keep her away from this task. Another strength that Antigone shows is her boldness. When she
speaks to Creon she blatantly calls him a fool and undermines his authority. Such bravery could
leave open a mind that can be freely spoken so that her ideas are expressed. Antigone also shows
bravery in the fact that she knowingly died for what was right no person with such bravery could
accept an unnatural death, making her a martyr.
Antigone is a martyr of Thebes. She sacrificed her own life for her own beliefs and stood through
all her hardships with a set of morals and values. Before she is buried she preaches...
... I call you all
To witness that I die with nobody
To shed a tear for me, the victim
Of an unjust law. Who'd like to go with me
To an eerie heap of stones, a tomb that is no tomb,
A no-man's land between the living and the dead
I see I have no friends to say good-by.
No friends, no tears for me, no marriage to look back on.
Never again to see the face of the sun
She wants the people of Thebes to feel bad for her so that she becomes a martyr. The words
unjust, eerie, tear and no friends suggest that she is the victim of a horrible crime. Making her a
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