Nature Motif in Antigone
From the use of nature as a central idea in Antigone, Sophocles’ underlying theme is the connection of the wishes and actions of Antigone and the protagonists of the play to physis, nature, saying that physis aids them in their deeds. In turn, it is Creon’s refusal to accept the signs of physis and thus favor nomos, the law, which eventually lead to his downfall. As is seen in many polytheistic religions, “The gods in the Greek pantheon are given human form, but are first and foremost personifications of the forces of the universe.1” Because of this it can be interpreted that the conflict between physis and nomos in Antigone could have been, to Sophocles, a representation of the dominance of the gods over mankind and his law. Additionally, as Creon’s power over Antigone grows throughout the story, the presence of nature in the story becomes more dominant over the men and women of the play as physis slowly leads to the decay of nomos. The nature motif comes in stages, with the earth being most prevalent in the beginning, water in the middle, and animals at the end. The use of the earth and dust as a symbol of physis is predominant particularly in the first scenes of the play as noted by the Sentry:
Not buried really, but as if they’d covered it I was sitting in my chair of augury, at the place Although the middle of the play is almost empty of direct impact on the characters by nature, there are multiple links made to natural ideas using a variety of literary techniques, many in relation to water. Most of these are located in the Odes and the words of Antigone and Charagos. Later in Scene II Charagos, noting the arrival of Ismene, states, “Those tears are sisterly, the clouds/ That shadows her eyes rains down gentle sorrow.” Having just come from a section of sharp stichomythia between Antigone and Creon, this line ornamentally emphasizes the shared grief felt by both Ismene and Antigone through a common symbol of sadness in rain. In the Antistrophe I of Antigone in Scene IV the idea of rain as a symbol of suffering is present again: If your birds-if the great eagles of God himself You have kept from the gods below the child that is theirs…This is your crime:
Some topics in this essay:
Scenes II,
River Acheron”,
Scene IV,
Additionally Creon’s,
Ode II,
Creon Sentry’s,
Antigone Sophocles’,
Creon Sentry,
Scene II,
II Charagos,
scene lines,
nature gods,
repeated stressed syllables,
makes reference,
law nomos,
gods animals,
reference water,
scene ii,
scene iv,
makes reference water,
repeated stressed,
nature motif,
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Approximate Word count = 1878
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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