Crazy Decisions In Antigone

Love is powerful and can make people do crazy things without really looking at how their decisions could affect them in the long run. People show love in many different ways, sometimes it’s intentional and other times they are just standing up for what they believe in. This is seen many times throughout Antigone as Sophocles makes love an apparent force through actions and relationships in the play. In one of the choral odes Sophocles shows how love is powerful and even people who don’t think they are affected by it can be swept up and make crazy decisions. Love can cause people to make decisions they never thought they would be strong enough make which is shown through many of the actions of Antigone throughout the play.
Antigone shows …show more content…
He doesn’t approve of Polyneices burial because he tried to inflict harm upon the people of Thebes and Creon says “he came back hungry for our blood” (199). Creon also feels that Polyneices would have made his people into slaves so this makes Polyneices unfit for a proper burial. For Eteocles on the other hand Creon feels as though he fought for the city and died for it and “he shall be sanctified by every burial rite” (196). All Creon wants is for people to be “a true friend of [the] city” and he will treat them with respect (209). Although for Antigone this doesn’t seem right Creon was trying to look out for his people, but it could have gone to far. Creon feels differently towards Antigone’s brothers because he feels disrespected by one of them and he says he will “never call a man [his] friend if he is hostile to [the] land” (187-188). This is proved by how he handles the brothers’ deaths so even though no one is quite sure if this is right Creon did hold to his promise to his city. At this point I think love or the type of love could have clouded his judgement some because if he had shown more love for his son he might have been able to see his point fully before making any rash decisions. Sophocles focused on this because it shows how love or lack of love can cause …show more content…
She isn’t driven to save her brother like Antigone is and she isn’t in a relationship to show romantic love. I think this is caused by the fear she feels towards Creon. Antigone doesn’t let fear get in her way of making her opinions known. The only point that Ismene makes her opinion known is when she tries to convince Antigone not to bury their brother. This is familial love to an extent, but not as much as Antigone shows. Ismene doesn’t play a huge role in the burial because she feels that women are “subject to [men] because they’re stronger” (63). This causes her to try and be a voice of reason for Antigone, but since Antigone has such a strong motivation, her sister doesn’t change her mind at all. Also Ismene feels as though she has already lost enough because her father, mother, and now her two brothers have all died. I think she feels compelled to try and save her sister because if something happens to Antigone then she will be all alone. Ismene may feel some love towards the city of Thebes because she says “I cannot possibly take arms against the city” (79). This could be love, but it could also be her fear of disobeying Creon. I think it seems more like fear, but there could be a hint of love for either the city or for her sister that causes her to feel that way. Ismene plays a smaller role in

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