Antigone Character Analysis

In Antigone, Antigone braves through all of her hardships and decisions with her morals

and set of values. She dies with pride and no regret for she died because she acted doing what

was morally right. Many Greek writers disagree with these traits that Sophocles has given her but

it is appropriate because she needed these traits to show defiance and be able to stand up for what

is right. Antigone is a tragic heroine who believes in her duty to her family and is willing to

sacrifice all things to do what is morally right.

Antigone’s powerful foundation of her morals and values keep all who try to stray

her away from her task powerless. When Ismene tries to persuade her sister into staying

away from burying polynices her sense of obligation to her family creates a barrier to all who try

to keep her away from this task. Another strength that Antigone shows is her boldness. When she

speaks to Creon she blatantly calls him a fool and undermines his authority. Such bravery could

leave open a mind that can be freely spoken so that her ideas are expressed. Antigone also shows

bravery in the fact that she knowingly died for what was right no person with such bravery could

accept an unnatural death, making her a martyr.

Antigone is a martyr of Thebes. She sacrificed her own life for her own beliefs and stood through

all her hardships with a set of morals and values. Before she is buried she preaches…

... I call you all

To witness that I die with nobody

To shed a tear for me, the victim

Of an unjust law. Who'd like to go with me

To an eerie heap of stones, a tomb that is no tomb,

A no-man's land between the living and the dead

I see I have no friends to say good-by.

No friends, no tears for me, no marriage to look back on.

Never again to see the face of the sun

She wants the people of Thebes to feel bad for her so that she becomes a martyr. The words

unjust, eerie, tear and no friends suggest that she is the victim of a horrible crime. Making