Antigone

Creon was happy once, as I count happiness;

Victorious in battle, sole governor of the land,

Fortunate father of children nobly born.

And now it is all gone from him! (Fitts and Fitzgerald 912).

In the Wertenbaker version, the Messenger says that Creon was once a man to be envied, a man who saved his country from its enemies and then ruled that land:

When a man loses all that gave him joy I say that man is no longer alive. He's no more than a living corpse. Go on, gorge yourself with riches, live the life of tyrants, but I wouldn't give the shadow of smoke to any man for any of these things if there was no joy (Wertenbaker 54).

In both cases, the story of Creon is presented as a cautionary tale to shape the lives of others who would want to avoid his fate.

Eurydice emerges from the palace, appearing for the first time in the play only to hear the news of her son and husband. The Messenger tells her the details of what has happened, relating how he followed Creon to where the body of Polyneik

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main characters, to Creon and Antigone, and yet they are different from those characters and serve as balances. Ismene is asked by Antigone to participate in the burying of their brother, but Ismene refuses. She is arrested along with her sister, but she is spared because she did not participate directly. This allows Creon to believe that he has been even-handed in his sentencing, though in fact it is the law he has passed that is flawed and that makes any sentence at all unjust. Ismene and Eurydice are the non-participants who suffer for the actions of their sister and husband respectively. Both become victims because of the larger sins of their relatives. Ismene is punished and suffers because of Oedipus, her father, just as does her sister. Eurydice suffers because of the actions of her husband. Ismene will not aid Antigone, and this only spurs Antigone to stronger action on her own. Ismene finally wants to die with Antigone, but Antigone will not allow this. Eurydice kills herself and gives Creon one more reason to suffer and to want to die himself. The two women represent a different aspect of the lives of the two main characters and become victims in the conflict that develops. 5. The play is structured to r
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Chorus Chorus, Antigone Oedipus, Creon Antigone--Creon, Antigone Haimon, Fitts Fitzgerald, Oedipal Gilligan, Messenger Creon, Sophocles Oedipus, Ismene Eurydice, Episode Exodos, moral sense, central figure, books 1988, oedipus complex, creon broken, guilt father guilt, father guilt, truth creon, power impose, guilt father, suffering responsible,
Approximate Word count = 4007
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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