There are many different underlying themes in the plot of the play Antigone. I believe Sophocles is trying to show us not only an intense example of a Greek tragedy but also a story of a cynical power absorbed man who goes on a journey to self discovery.
Kreon is a central character in the play and when read literally can seem like quite a mean man with no sympathy for anyone. I actually have the most sympathy for Kreon of all the characters presented. Kreon has just started to hold the role as the King for his society and is faced with many both emotional and mind puzzling issues.
In the play Antigone fights for an honorable burial for her brother Polyneices, a man who Kreon greatly disliked. Kreon is hesitant to perform the rituals and give Polyneices his formal burial, and I do not blame him for this. If we were asked to bless and bury our worst enemy it would be a very hard thing to do. When the Greeks buried the dead they were honoring the person and it was a remembrance of them. If you did not like the person or support any of their beliefs while they were living, then why h
It was discussed in class whether or not the character of Haimon was valuable to the plot of the play. My stance on this is that he is one of the most important characters and that some of the dialogue in the play shared between Kreon and Haimon is critical to Kreon’s turning point. Throughout the play no one could stand up to Kreon or even impose his or her ideas onto him. It is his young son Haimon who through the love of his father makes him realize the intensity of his values and the poor choices he is making. Haimon truly loves his father and he tells him so in the play. I do believe Haimon is trying to save Antigone from her doomed fate, but I also believe he is trying to relate to his father the values that he always should have embodied.
Eurydice, although a small character in the play, does have a great impact on Kreon. She is his wife and when she finds out of what Kreon has done she kills herself as well. You must wonder what she had left to live for. Kreon had doomed Antigone, her son’s only love, which caused Haimon to kill himself. She had lost her only child and
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