Antigone Paper

Lynn Hodnett

Ms. Peifer

10IB Period 5

November 26, 2008

Ismene: Guilty As Charged

It is known to every person in the land that the man Polyneices was cast out of Thebes after losing the crown to his brother Eteocles. Instead of leaving permanently, Polyneices returned with an army to defeat Thebes and his brother. Both perished on the other's sword and left behind two grieving sisters and their uncle who became king in Eteocles' place: Creon. The new king announced that Eteocles be buried with distinction and honor, but Polyneices would not because of his actions against Thebes. Antigone, sister to Polyneices, evidently did not agree with this proclamation and completely ignored the law. She proceeded to give her disgraced sibling a burial. Previous to her crime, Antigone informed her sister that she planned on going through with this plot. Ismene did not tell a single soul of what Antigone told her and following the discovery of Antigone's crime, Ismene confessed to being an accomplice. These two pieces of evidence are plenty to prove that Ismene should be prosecuted along with her treacherous sister Antigone.

The very first thought that crossed Ismene's mind when she heard Antigone's plan should have been this: notify King Creon at once. However, Ismene did no such thing. Instead of doing her civic duty and informing Creon, she said this to Antigone: "But no one must hear of this, you must tell no one! I will keep it a secret, I promise!" (Fitts 817). This quote shows that Ismene willfully kept silent on this matter even when Antigone herself told her to speak of her plans to someone. A person who is aware that a crime will be done in the future, stands idly by, and allows it to pass is guilty as well as the doer of the crime. Ismene did this, thus making her an accomplice to Antigone's crime.

A confession to an offense is, of course, sends a very clear message: "I am guilty and I know it." This is what Ismene said directly: "Yes, if she will let me say so. I am guilty." (825). She continued to say, "We are equally guilty." (825). Since Ismene already knows that there were eye-witnesses to prove that Antigone did break the law, she cannot possibly be trying to save Antigone from her fate. Ismene knows that if she confesses her participation in these traitorous actions, she will be severely punished. So why would she confess to a crime that she did not take part in? The answer to that question is this: Ismene would not. She is not a brave soul: "We were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things." (Jebb par. 5). It takes a brave person to confess to a crime that they had nothing to do with and Ismene is not one of those people.

Ismene, sister of betrayer Polyneices and sneaky Antigone, is an accomplice to Antigone's crime of breaking King Creon's law. As such, she needs to be punished for her deeds. Ismene is clearly deserving of suitable discipline because she did not inform King Creon of Antigone's planned actions and she confessed to being a part of Antigone's law breaking. This, certainly, is enough evidence to prove that Ismene is guilty as charged.

Bibliography

Sophocles. "Antigone." The Internet Classics Archive. Trans. R.C. Jebb. 04 Oct 2000 . Classics.mit.edu. 23 Nov 2008 http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html

Sophocles. "Antigone." Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: World Literature. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001. 814-826.

Antigone LRJ #2

Burial practice imagery is repeated throughout the play. When Antigone talks about her brothers to Ismene she says, "Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will" (Sophocles par. 5). In fact, it is such an important tradition that Antigone risks her own life to see that her brother has the proper burial rites. This is, of course, the foundation, the spark that the play is based upon. If Antigone had not gone and buried Polyneices, she would never had disobeyed Creon and thus would not have been sentenced to death. The imagery of burial rites goes hand in hand with another reiterated image: Antigone's love and loyalty to her family. She says to Ismene, "I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found." (par. 11). She says this as well: "I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love." (par. 17).

Creon's fatal flaw is his arrogance. Specifically, he doesn't take any one's advice and always thinks he is in the right each and every time he speaks. This is shown when Creon and Haemon are arguing: "Men of my age are we indeed to be schooled, then, by men of his?" (par. 151). Creon also says, "Am I to rule this land by other judgment than mine own?" (par. 159). It is Creon's arrogance that causes his family to kill themselves one by one. His willful blindness to Haemon's love for Antigone resulted in Haemon committing suicide and Haemon's death led up to Creon's wife killing herself. Teiresias warned Creon of this, but, once again, Creon took his place on his high horse and would not dismount.

After Creon discovers that his beloved son is dead, he says, "Woe is me, for the wretched blindness of my counsels!" (par. 260) and "thy spirit hath fled,-not by thy folly, but by mine own!" (par. 260). This is the anagnorisis of "Antigone". The peripeteia comes soon after, when Creon discovers the horrible truth of Eurydice ending her own life because of her grief. Creon realizes that he essentially caused the deaths of his wife and son. The catharsis arrives after Creon delivers these lines: "Lead me away, I pray you; a rash, foolish man; who have slain thee, ah my son, unwittingly, and thee, too, my wife-unhappy that I am! I know not which way I should bend my gaze, or where I should seek support; for all is amiss with that which is in my hands,-and yonder, again, a crushing fate hath leapt upon my head." (par. 179).

The manner in which women are characterized in the play "Antigone" is a combination of weakness and strength. Ismene is pictured as timid and ruled by her fears and emotions, as was commonly thought of women in those days: "Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things" (par. 14). On the other hand, Antigone is the very essence of loyalty, and love. She is ruled by her moral compass as shown here: "I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that" (par. 15). A piece of Creon's dialogue also reveals what was thought of women back then when he says, "Better to fall from power, if we must, by a man's hand; then we should not be called weaker than a woman" (par. 147). This one statement packs a huge punch and sums up the general characterization of women.

My Two Lazy, Wonderful, Fat, Hilarious, Somewhat Dumb Witted Cats

I would just like to brag about my cats. They are orange tabbies named Tyler and Stripe (I know, I know, Stripe is about the most unoriginal name anyone could have come up with. But hey, I was 8.). Ever since I can remember, (February 23rd, 1994) I have wanted a pet.
"What kind of pet?" you may ask. "Not just any pet" I would answer. "A cat! Two of them, actually."
And this is what happened on the 23rd of July in the year of our Lord 2001. Wait, that might not be the exact date, but who really cares? Anyway, back to our heroes who were in the midst of the greatest peril imaginable! Oh, sorry to get your hopes up, but that's a very different story than from the boring blog you're reading. You have my deepest apologies, sir or madam, for it is most impolite of me to do such a thing to a dear creature such as yourself.
And so my dream became real. Now my furry children are 7 years of age and are all of the adjectives that are in the title of this blog. In spite of this, I love them tenderly with all my heart. All right, I admit, that was a little cheesy at the end, however true.

I also own a ball python named Amduat. He's a cutie.

Antigone: Dutiful Princess or Horrendous Traitor?

It was yesterday that a most astounding action occurred: Polyneices, nephew of King Creon and known traitor, was discovered buried. A palace sentry reported the news hours after the body was found. King Creon had just the previous day declared that no one should give the estranged prince a proper burial due to his great betrayal of Thebes. Polyneices had been exiled to Argos after losing the battle for the crown with his brother Ecolycles, but came back with a vengeance, not to mention an army of five thousand strong. A one on one battle between the two princes resulted on both perishing on the other's sword.
To catch the perpetrator of this crime, the palace sentries set a trap. Lo and behold, this scheme worked like a charm. However, the person caught was someone nobody thought would do such a thing as disobey the king: Antigone, princess of Thebes!
Following her capture at her brother's grave site, Antigone was thrown before the king and accused of her crime. She had no apparent wish to save her own life, but acknowledged the charges and confessed her actions to the entire room. She stated that she thought it was her duty to give her brother post-mortem rights. The king scoffed at her words and bade the guards to bring in Antigone's sister Inmene. She, too, acknowledge the burial of Polyneices and owned that she had been in on the plot to bury him.
Both are awaiting a punishment of death... perhaps worse.

Technology Experiences... Revised!!!

After Ms. Peifer had us look at other people's blogs today, it made me realize just how boring my blog was. Here is what I should have written.

I am not a person who spends a large percentage of my life in front of the glowing screen of a computer. I don't even have a facebook... yet. My iPod (I call him Boris) is the most advanced piece of technology I own. But now he is old and decrepid in the swiftly passing iPod years. If you feel old, imagine how he feels. I hope to give him a quiet, peaceful funeral soon after I get a new iPod (it's going to be orange! ORANGE!!!!!). I'm excited. To be fair, Boris has had a long and prosperous life that an iPod should have. *sigh* I'll miss that iPod. Actually, not really. Have I mentioned that my new iPod is going to be orange?! Orange!

Technology Experiences

I am definately not a technology savvy person at all. All I really know how to do is to buy music off iTunes, use the internet and use word processing. I go on the computer maybe once or twice a week, not everyday. A lot of times, I feel like I'm really missing something when I don't have a facebook or whatever. I don't try to use more technology so I end up not knowing very much about it.