Antigone Essay Examples - Argumentative Topics for Research Papers

Oedipus the King and Antigone

Corey Marvin defines binary oppositions as “simply a pair of theoretical opposites or thematic contrasts” (1). In Oedipus the King and Antigone by Sophocles, there are many binary oppositions, but the most important oppositions are the following: calm versus irascible, male versus female, blind versus sight, and polis (city) versus oikos (family). While calm versus irascible and blind versus sight are only in Oedipus the King, male versus female and polis versus oikos is in Antigone. The binary oppositions in […]

Best Thesis Statement for Antigone Characters

Backround Information on Euripides Around 485 B.C. a man named Euripides was born in Athens, Greece. Euripides mother’s name was Cleito and his father’s name was Mnesarchus. In Athens Euripides father worked as a retailer. Euripides had two marriages that both failed. Euripides is most known for his influential Greek myths which seem to always have dark or alternative meaning. He was also an author of 90 expressive plays. For example, the play of “Medea” contains unfortunate concepts that relate […]

The Reality of Love in Antigone

For many, love is defined by a marriage or a happy family. People picture a high school romance or the affection between their grandparents. Despite these commonly pictured relationships, love is often more complicated than one might think. For some, the path love takes can be travelled at the expense of life altering results. Sophocles explores this idea in his play, Antigone, by creating love and death within one family. Although Haimonr’s affection is never directly shown on stage, he […]

The Difference between Sophocles Antigone and Jean Anouilh Antigone

Reading the two versions of the tragedy of Antigone, it was a really interesting experience. Just to see how different the characters are, to see a similar storyline but it is played out differently. This is a book you should really attempt to compare with the original Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles and the Jean Anouilh version, (Which is the more modern one) about the whole plot of the story and characters. Both of the playwrights have the same storyline, […]

The Adversity One Must Face when Fighting for Justice in Antigone, a Play by Sophocles

Society cannot escape contemporary moral issues. We are continually exposed to situations that bring into question our very system of beliefs. In response to these ethical dilemmas we are forced to adapt and reevaluate our present frame of mind resulting in both positive change and unavoidable struggle. Throughout the play Antigone, Sophocles clearly demonstrates the adversity one must face in the fight against injustice. One need not look very far to find immediate parallels in our own present-day society. The central […]

Oedipus Civil Disobedience

Fate is often said to be inevitable, an adverse outcome, condition, or end and free will is the ability to choose at your own discretion. In our everyday life, we make decisions and are often told that life is about making choices. It is because we have free will that we make choices which may lead to positive consequences if the choice is rational and yet other times our decisions lead to negative consequences. Free will plays an important role […]

Ancient Greece’s Three Types of Heroes

The definition of the word hero is quite skewed. People tend to have their own definitions and interpretations of what the word means. However, people can usually agree on who a hero is and what makes a person a hero. In most cases, a hero can be described as one who shows great courage and is admired for noble achievements and noble qualities. Greek heroes show all of these qualities. They were admired for achieving incredible mythological feats and were […]

Martin Luther King Civil Rights

The civil rights movement was considered to be one of the greatest key factors that helped African Americans gain their true freedom. Throughout the twentieth century, African Americans faced discrimination and were considered to be less than white Americans. When the civil rights movement got introduced by the government, the African American population saw this as an advantage to fight for the freedom that they sought. The turning point of the civil rights movement didn’t happen until the 1950s & […]

Aristotle States about a Terrible Legend

In Aristotle’s Poetics he portrays an unfortunate legend as a character who is overwhelming and through destiny and a defect they pulverize themselves. Moreover, Aristotle states over the top pride is the hubris of an awful saint. The legend is extremely self-included; they are ignorant concerning their environment and submit a terrible activity. A disaster depicts a story that summons trouble and stunningness, an option that is overwhelming. Moreover, a catastrophe of a play results in the annihilation of a […]

Medea as a Powerful Woman

Sometimes, in life, we do not know what we are capable of until the moment comes. Hiding emotions could be crucial. We live in a society where males and females could do the same act, and the male always comes to the top because he has more dominance. The society we live nowadays tolerates more when a man leaves their spouse for someone else than vice versa. While a woman needs to swallow their pride and keep on going to […]

Medea as an Uncivilized and Wild Medium

Critique of the play ‘MEDEA’ Synopsys In this tragedy Euripides demonstrates Medea as an uncivilized and wild medium who was also princess for her father was a King, from where she came from. Euripides exhibits a play that could be relatable to the humanity, a story that proved pain, hostility, rage and broken promises. Moreover, Medea pledged to reattribute on her husband Jason after he chose to live her and marroed king Creon’s daughter. When Creon heard Medea’s evil words […]

Revenge is in the Blood

1.Background Information on Euripides: Euripides was an amazing author/dramatist, creating many great tragedies. He was born in 480 BC and died 406 BC. He had two wives, one daughter, and three sons. He wrote the famous Medea And Other Plays. He wrote all his plays and stories in Salamis Island. He had a different style to his plays, and they later became very popular throughout Greece and the rest of the world. Euripides didn’t just make tragedies, he made […]

Creon and Moral Obtuseness

Justice is often a set of rules or guidelines, outlining consequences for various actions. Yet, with every situation being individual in some way, there can’t simply just be one set of guidelines which is applicable to all situations. This is why in her book Love’s Knowledge, Martha Nussbaum analyzes phronesis and situationally aware justice. There’s a certain interplay when looking at justice and goodness, which becomes increasingly clear when analyzing our judicial system. Every society has a set guideline, rules […]

Feminism Outline

I. When looking through this story with a feminism view point it is clearly shown that two sisters are two sides of the same coin, complete opposites. A. Antigone strong female 1. “If my present actions strike you as foolish, let’s just say I’ve been accused of folly by a fool,” (657). 2. Antigone clearly shows that she has no respect for Creon in the slightest, she does not care that he’s a powerful male (a king) in a […]

Medea Women Empowerment

His power is derived from gods who are not as powerful as compared to the rule of people. He retaliates to those who are defiant by locking them up. Jackson is seen to be pleading with Medea to have a final touch on the bodies of the children, but Medea doesn’t hear any of his cries as she considers him as an enemy and a betrayer. This betrayal can be considered to be a political motive to ends Medea ambitions […]

Creon is King

Power can can cause a leader to neglect his conscience. In Sophocle’s Antigone, Creon unexpectedly becomes king over Thebes. He opens up his inaugural address by stating three qualities that make a king an efficient leader. He additionally makes a law stating that it is forbidden for anyone to bury Polyneices, the former prince, for he is considered a traitor. Shortly after Creon’s speech, the princess of Thebes, Antigone, defies Creon’s law and buries Polyneices. While Creon is king, he […]

Golden Age of Athens

The beginning of the Golden Age of Greece or Athens started with the Persian war, when the Persian army was defeated by Greeks. One of the main defining features of the Golden Age of Athens are that Law comes from men not the gods as we can see in the book of Antigone, another one is explaining history through the actions of people not the gods, as we can see in the book Odyssey, and the last one is focusing […]

Sophocles Tragedies

There was once a time and a place where the greatest playwrightters in the world existed. That time was ancient Athens. One of the most notable playwrightsters was Sophocles. Sophocles was born in 496 B.C.E and was born into a relatively rich family. This paper will tell about his day-to-day life, how he changed the world and his typical play. Sophocles was an amazing play writer and maybe the greatest theater artist to this day. Sophocles was born into a […]

Women in Sophocles Motifs

As a wise man once said “Asking for help isn’t weak, it’s a great example of how to take care of yourself.” The chorus, of Sophocles’ play “Antigone”, portray this as they sing to the God Dionysus, asking for his help. The Exodus, or ode number 6, use the motifs woman are carriers of the family, yet frail, divine law s city law, as well as repeat the word dance in the last stanza to explain to the Ephebes how […]

Creon’s Stubbornness

CHORUS LEADER Isn’t this action possibly a god’s? … CREON Or have you seen them honor wicked min? It isn’t so. This exchange shows that it is a common opinion that proper honorary burial rites are desired by the gods, even though Creon doesn’t think so. Furthermore, Creon’s response shows his disrespect for both the chorus and the gods and that he believes what he is doing is just. Even though Creon is breaking their cultural traditions and violating the […]

Feminist Criticism in Greeks Myths

Throughout many Greeks myths, you can find the common theme of feminist criticism. Examples of a Patriarchal system can be seen within the stories of Medea and Oedipus. Feminism in these stories challenge the Greeks lifestyle of a patriarchal society and showing the equality of women. Within the stories Antigone and Bacchae you will notice the common lifestyle of a male dominated society and once again trying to prove that women are just as capable of accomplishing tasks as men […]

The Helladic Period

The age of Greece was a wonderful time for immense accomplishments and discovery in science, literature, art, language, philosophy, and many other fields of knowledge. Even the alphabet that we use today is derived from the ancient Greek alphabet that they developed from the Phoenicians. Greek mythology is also still popular today in many stories and movies on the big screen, even though the modern sciences have replaced them as sources of truth. Some of Greece’s largest and most prominent […]

Position of Women in Society

The ancient world and classical world both have a different weltanschauung when it comes to the role of women in society. In different periods of time throughout history, the way women were viewed varied by culture. Gilgamesh- A Verse Narrative was written depicting the period of the ancient world. Antigone, written by Sophocles was based in the classical world time period. Both texts display a world where women were inferior to men. Despite the fact women were considered inferior to […]

The Role of Woman in Ancient Time

The role of woman in each of these works play a significant role in each yet they are all portrayed in different aspects. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a very old story yet still the role of women in the story is very much important. You can get the idea that it might actually not be so old since it shows that woman’s role as that of in today’s society. If you take it from the biological perspective, the females are […]

Political Power in the Three Theban Plays

Throughout all of the Theban Plays, there is an elemental connection that plays a role of politics in Ancient Greece. In the Theban Plays, there is an emphasis on how a democracy is important, rather than a dictatorship. The idea is brought up that one person does not have the authority to rule a country or nation individually. It is seen throughout the plays that two minds are better than one, which means that a democracy can make better decisions […]

The Story of Oedipus

The story of Oedipus is a true Greek tragedy in that the main character, Oedipus, rises to power in the city of Thebes only to be told of a prophecy saying he, although unknowingly, committed fratricide and his wife, Jocasta, is his biological mother. When all of this information gets to Oedipus he is rightfully shocked, but his mother/wife commits suicide and with her pin, Oedipus blinds himself. Oedipus is the framework of a tragic Greek character because he has […]

John Locke Core Belief

John Locke values the idea of natural right, which he divulged in his book Two Treatises of Government. A shown in Sophocles’ play Antigone the character Creon idealized the opposite philosophy. The idea of natural right, as developed by John Locke is that all people have the right to life, meaning, having a basis of equality within a society. the liberty of basic freedoms, and the right to property. On the other hand, Creon, the king of Thebes leads with […]

The Roles of Women in Candide Vs Antigon

Throughout time the roles of women have been defined by society. As women we are told how we should behave and what is expected of women. In the past women were expected to play specific roles such as homemakers and caregivers. Women enjoyed very few privileges because of their gender roles in society. Over time the roles of women have changed and it has become more acceptable to see women in nontraditional roles. However, in the two stories of Candide […]

Antigoner’S Brother Died

Whether one is planning out their life or not, everyoner’s life is predetermined. In the Hindu religion, it is believed that oner’s life is based on how they have lived in their previous lives before. This has to do with how people lived their lives before and how they treated others. In Antigone by Socrates everyone lives their lives based on their social class and gender. The characters in Antigone also have a destined plan of how they should live. […]

Creon the Good Guy

Creon the Good Guy Antigone is a tragedy that deals with conflict and despair at the end of the story. Creon who is the King, creates a law that states no one is to bury the body of Polyneices because Polyneices was the brother who started the fight between him and Eteocles in Thebes. Eteocles was the only brother who received a proper burial. When Polyneices and Eteocles sister, Antigone arrives at Thebes and hears the news decides to give […]

About Antigone
Playwright :	Sophocles
Chorus :	Theban Elders
Genre :	Tragedy
Date premiered :	c. 441 BCE
Place premiered :	Athens
Original language :	Ancient Greek
Characters :	Creon, Antigone, Ismene, Haemon, Eurydice of Thebes, Tiresias, Sentry, Polynices

Essays on Antigone