LRJ #2

Celia Byrne
Ms. Peifer
English 10IB
Hour 4
24 November 2008

Sophocles uses a lot of imagery in his work Antigone. In one symbolic scene, the findings of Antigone's body is described in a way that contrasts what is being illustrated in the text. "We saw her lying: she made a noose of her fine linen veil And hanged herself. Haeman lay beside her, His arms about her waist, lamenting her, His love lost underground." (Lines 58-62.) This scene creates almost a sense of a romantic death. Antigone has chosen her death without regret while her loved one lays beside her. Although depressing, it almost makes you feel relieved that Antigone had died without pain and suffering in a cave for eternity. The imagery used in Antigone helps the reader feel more personal with the characters and provides a simpler understanding of what is going on.
A character in the play that acquired a deep fatal flaw was King Creon. He was an arrogant man who over bared his pride. When his son, Haemon threatened to take his own life if his father does not release Antigone, he told his guard, "Let him do, or dream, more than man-good speed to him! But he shall not save these two girls from their doom." (Sophocles.) He displays being overconfident when he is so sure that Antigone will realize her wrongdoings. "And there, praying to Hades, the only god whom she worships, perchance she will obtain release from death; or else will learn, at last, though late, that it is lost labour to revere the dead." (Sophocles.)
The moment Creon realizes what a mess he has made is captured in his Anagnorisis. "Surely a god Has crushed me beneath the hugest weight of heaven And driven me headlong a barbaric way To trample out the thing I help most dear." (Lines 94-97.) This occurs after the realization of what his perverse actions have cost him; the loss of his own beloved family members. Reversal fate, Peripetia, is shown with Creon when he sees his own dead son. "When Creon saw him the tears rushed to his eyes." (Lines 63-64.) With the dramatic deaths and Creon's Anagnorisis, the audience lets go of the fear, Catharsis, they held throughout the story of what will happen next.
Women are characterized in Antigone as passionate and emotional. Antigone is passionate and straight forward of what she wants to do for her brother, while Ismene is a bit more cautious and sensitive. With the death of her son, Eurydice takes her own life as well.

Works Cited:

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

Sophocles. "Antigone." Malaspina University-College Website. Trans. Ian Johnston. May 2005.
Malaspina University College. 28 November 2008 .