God Versus Man in Sophocles Antigone Essay example -- Antigone essays

God Versus Man in Antigone Throughout Sophocles drama, Antigone, there ar galore(postnominal) themes that can be traced. One of the most predominant themes is beau ideal versus man, which appears not only in Antigone, but also in many of the classic Greek tragedies written in Sophocles time. ChoragosThere is no happiness where there is no wisdom No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise. (158) The quotation in a higher place serves as the moral for this tragedy, which includes an illustration of the theme as it was applied to the play. In the drama, Antigone, the theme of the inner struggle between allegiance to human jurisprudence versus divine law of nature can best be seen through Antigones reverence for the gods in relation to her actions, Kreons realization of the effects of his stingy pride, and the people of Thebes observations about Kreons decisions. Antigone has th e most direct struggles with human law and a higher law in the drama, for it is the application of this theme that decides her fate. set about with the decision to defy the King and properly bury her brother, Polyneices, or take leave his body un getd for death as Kreon wished, she chose to obey the wishes of the gods and bury him. At the time of the drama, the Greeks believed that a decent burial was essential for the soul to be at rest. Kreon accused Polyneices of fighting against his own country and forbade all citizens of Thebes to prepare his body. Instead, it was left to decay on the field on which he was killed. When Antigone prototypical hears this news, she immediately reacts by telling her sister, Ismene, that she wants Polyneices soul to be at rest, and th... ...edited by Dudley, Lavinia P. et alii. New YorkAmericana Corporation, 1957. vol. 2. Segal, Charles Paul. Sophocles Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone. In Sophocles A Collection of vituperative Ess ays, edited by doubting Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Sophocles. Antigone, Trans. by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Adventures in admiration/Pegasus Edition. Orlando Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Publishers, 1989.Sophocles In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork Macmillan publish Co., 1984. Woodard, Thomas. Introduction. In Sophocles A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Watling, E. F.. Introduction. In Sophocles The Theban Plays, translated by E. F. Watling. New York Penguin Books, 1974.