Sophocles "Antigone" Analysis Essay Arts Research Paper (Essay Sample)

Name
Professor
Course
Date
Sophocles Antigone
‘The tyrant dies, and his rule ends, the martyr dies, and his rule begins,’ was a quote by Soren Kierkegaard. This quote alludes to the life that is lived by tyrants who often die in an inhumane way, either they get killed or by suffering to death. Equally, the martyrs are the people who, despite dying, their name, legacy, vision, and spirit lives on. Kierkegaard was, therefore, trying to discourage tyranny because even with so much power, tyrants live a life full of suffering and misfortunes (Visweswaran pg45). In the Sophocles Antigone, Creon suffered because of his tyrannical ruling, while Antigone appears to be loved because of her spirit.
The play begins with an account of two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles killings each other while fighting for power. However, King Thebes only honored the body of Eteocles and disregarded Polynices. The King is believed to have disregarded honoring Polynices because of the beliefs that he was not loyal to his city (Cairn pg30). As a way of punishing Polynices even after death, his body was not to be sanctified by holy rites and that his body was to remain unburied on the battlefield, which was the harshest punishment that was subjected to a person believed to have betrayed his city.