Antigone, Ismene, Uncle Creon, and Cousin Haimon combine for a lot of drama in just a few short scenes. The story takes place 2500 years ago, but lots of it seems like it's straight out of reality TV or Gossip Girls. They fight about love of family rather than love of rules; a leader is convinced someone has sold him out; a younger sister desperately wants her sister's approval; a parent is willing to sacrifice his son's love for his fiance in order to prove a point; someone doesn't want to share the glory, and so on. Think about these themes and pick one to write about: which one resonates with you? Why? How is it still relevant today, to you? Why? Be specific, and feel free to reference movies or TV or books that play with your theme.
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ReplyDeleteThe drama in Antigone is very similar to drama that happens today. One theme in the play is the sacrifice of family in order to enforce the rules. When Creon made the law of burrying Polyneces, he did not care that Polynecias was his niece that he had helped raise. He wanted to stick to his word and be stubborn. Today, many parents enforce rules to show power just like Creon did. Sometimes these rules or actions can harm the family and a member of the family. Creon was all about the power and wou;d do anything for the people tp obey him and follow his orders. He wasn't really that upset that Antigone burried her brother, he was more upset that she disobeyed and ignored his rules. I think parents today can relate very much to this.
ReplyDeleteThe drama in Antigone has many modern elements. One element is betrayal. Creon, who is not only a father in this situation but also a king, he is in a great position of authority. Creon is willing to sacrifice is family to prove a point about his power to the people of Thebes. Antigone doesn't want to share the glory of her courage. She doesn't want her sister Ismene, who chickened out to receive the same recognition for the action of burying her brother which Antigone feels extremely strong about. A theme that is constantly being brought up in this story is being a traitor. People are choosing to stand up to what they think is right instead of obeying their family. "This boy, it seems, has sold out to a woman" (221). This is said by Creon when he speaks to Haimon, his son. Haimon is telling his father that he disagrees with the actions and beliefs of Creon toward the burial. Haimon tells Creon that even the city disagrees, they are just too afraid to speak up. Overall, Antigone is very realistic to today in which there is drama about fighting, love, family, and authority.
ReplyDeleteThe themes in Antigone are easy to relate to today. One theme that is seen a lot in modern media is rebellion. The idea of a child rebelling against their family because they believe they know what is best. In the play, Antigone doesn't just break the rules, she breaks the law, a law set by her uncle/ father in law to be. She believes that his rules are not as important as the Gods, so she buries her brother. Haimon and Creon also have a similar theme seen a lot in modern media today. They show an example of a relationship where the father will not listen to the son, although it turns out the child is right. These themes of parents, children, and rebellion throughout Antigone are very relatable today.
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ReplyDeleteA general theme that appears in Antigone is family. In both plays the Author Sophocles kept us on the edge of our seat waiting for what was to happen next, he continues tossing in the most peculiar plot twists that causes a lot of irony. The family theme comes in to place very frequently in Antigone, starting off with Antigone going against her uncle Creon’s will and burying her brother, The dramatic irony usually ends up with the good guy winning or the bad guy getting what they deserve. Today in most television series the good guy miraculously comes out on top. A show that I enjoy a lot that has a similar idea of the good guys coming out on top is Blue Mountain State. The football team runs the college, every episode there is a different situation but the football team is a family. Blue Mountain State is a bit of a different example of family because the drama isn’t as negative as it is in Antigone.
ReplyDeleteA theme I've noticed is that love and family beats everything in terms of following your heart, something which you see in many movies today. Even though there were rules, Antigone thought of family first, and followed what she believed was right even though she could have been severely punished. Haimon kills himself to be with his fiance. Love and family over everything is such a common theme.
ReplyDeleteMany of the themes mentioned in Antigone are still relevant in everyday life. For example, younger siblings seeking the approval of older siblings. This theme is illustrated by Michael Jordan, who picked up basketball in an attempt to be like his older brother. This theme resonates with me, because I feel as though every sitcom and T.V. show has an episode about sibling approval. Also, I have an older brother, who I wanted to be like when I was younger. All of these themes are still relevant today. These themes all play into human emotions, and every day situations. This is why they will remain timeless. This is also why most can connect to The Oedipus Cycle.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed a family first theme. It seems that the sisters are very family oriented, and will do anything for each other. This is an important theme for everyone. Even thought centuries, this has still remained a vert important, almost motto. Family has to stick together. This has been the premise for a lot of movies and tv shows. Also there is a theme of being with people through what ever it takes, like how Haimon kills himself to be with Antigone. She said she was ready to see her father, mother, and two brothers in the after life. Creon even realized that family was important, and that he was going to be killed, but he did realize. And that is what matters.
ReplyDeleteThe drama in Antigone closely resembles almost all of todays reality TV shows. The love, the fights, and a whole lot of overreacting. The story shows a lot of confusion and then a lot of people handling it the wrong way. One of the main things that I notice is the lack of understanding. No one in the book seems to be understanding of one another, they all leap to conclusions and think that their opinion is that only one. It reminds me of Supernatural (TV show). In the show there are two bothers that are a little like Antigone and Ismene. Sam the younger one looks up to his brother, and even though his brother makes bad choices he still helps out and follows him just like Ismene. He is also a rule follower always wanting to do the right thing, think things through, and not take risks. Dean, the older one will do anything to protect his brother, he would sacrifice himself without hesitation if it meant Sam's safety just like Antigone.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main themes in Antigone is that love is stronger than the government, and that having human emotion is more important than brainlessly following whatever rules your leader has set in place. Antigone loves her brother Polyneices and is confident that burying him and giving him honor is the right thing to do under god’s laws, even when it goes against Creon’s. On the opposite end of the spectrum, King Creon starts off as an emotionless, unbending and power-driven leader. He seems to be almost inhuman in his pitiless punishment of Antigone and his resolve to keep his power over the Thebans, whatever the cost. This resonates with me because I, like Antigone, believe that love is more important than following the rules of a government. This idea of human emotion/love vs. government is still very much alive today. The theme seems to be very prominent in many dis-utopia books, such as The Giver and 1984, as well as the musical The Sound of Music, which deals with the choice between country and family.
ReplyDeleteAntigone’s themes closely resemble that of the Disney Movie Frozen. In Frozen, Anna must save the kingdom of Arrendale from her sister, the ice queen Elsa, who has accidentally locked the kingdom in eternal winter. What stands out is that all of her life, Elsa has shut out Anna. While Anna doesn’t exactly like her sister because of how Elsa turned a cold (literally) shoulder on her, she still tries to help Elsa control her powers, in the end eventually thawing the ice and saving Arrendale. This resembles Antigone because despite Polynices being a traitor, Antigone still stood up for him and buried him. This relates to my own life because I have a brother. And though we get into argument and throw stuff at each other, in the end he’s still my brother and no matter what I have to appreciate him. Family has to come before everything even if it means breaking the law and risking your life.
ReplyDeleteAntigone, Ismene, Creon, and Haimon fight about love of family rather than love of rules; a leader is convinced someone has sold him out; a younger sister desperately wants her sister’s approval; a parent is willing to sacrifice his son’s love for his fiance in order to prove a point; someone doesn’t want to share the glory, and so on. Someone not wanting to share the glory resonates with me the most. This is so because I have an older brother who sometimes steals the glory for something that we did together. However, Antigone and Ismene didn’t work together in the play. That is why this is relevant to me today.
ReplyDeleteThe play Antigone is very focused on family, whether it is betraying or being loyal. Antigone, Ismene and Haimon all have an extremely loyal mindset. Antigone and Ismene are sisters who want the best for the family and are very loyal to eachother. Ismene says "I want to die with you"(212). Proving that she has no other family to go to if she dies. Ismene really cares about her sister and doesn't have anyone else, being the younger sister she also looks up to Antigone. The theme of the younger sister valuing the older one has been used many times and as a younger sibling I can relate to it.
ReplyDeleteThe most important theme of this play in my eyes is family first. There's a lot of arguing between Antigone and Creon and Antigone brings up multiple times that what she did was right because it was family. It's definitely still relevant today as there are many ways people can be "corrupted" and put things such as work, money, friends, and more over family. Creon was being very stubborn and towards the end of the play he finally decides to do the right thing but he is too late. Creon being a straight-forward king talked about money a lot throughout the play, more than anybody. It was clear that he had became corrupted from the power that king gave him and thought that his laws are more important than people who share his blood.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main themes from this book was family and love. Throughout everything you seem to notice how it always comes back to the family and how their love shines through. For example Oedipus exiles himself to save his family because he loves them, but in Antigone she displays her love to her brother by burying him. She does know what she did was wrong, but she describes it as "holy" and "lovingly." This also can be close and similar to many T.V shows that you see now. Many drama shows have a theme that is currently used, which is family. Family is constantly displayed because it is close to the heart. Even throughout the fights that the families have at the end of the episode or season the family will always come together and be their for each other. Just like in Antigone how Ismene wanted to be there for her sister when the ruling was getting called. "I want to die with you"(212) says Ismene. Antigone does fight with her sister about how she wants Ismene to save herself because she did not do any of the act. This can also be like real life with siblings. It is common for the older sibling to get blamed while the younger sibling wants to save their sibling. But the older brother or sister does not agree and takes the full blame.
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