Irony in Sophocles Antigone Essay - 2352 Words

Frank Jevons in â€Å"In Sophoclean Tragedy, Humans Create Their Own Fate† comments on Sophocles’ irony: In this connection we may consider the â€Å"irony of Sophocles.† In argument irony has many forms That which best illustrates the irony of Sophocles is the method by which the ironical man, putting apparently innocent questions or suggestions, leads some person from one preposterous statement to another, until, perhaps, the subject of the irony realizes his situation and discovers that when he thought he was most brilliant of impressive, then he was really most absurd. . . .(62). Let us explore the irony, in Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, and see if we don’t conclude that, as it applies to King Creon it brings quite the same†¦show more content†¦Tradition pays homage to â€Å"Sophoclean irony† (a rival of â€Å"Socratic irony†), which implies a twofold dramatic situation, known to be twofold by the audience in spite of the fatal delusion of a character. . . . 7). The twofold situation in Antigone involves the audience’s knowledge of what happens between Antigone and Polynices prior to the time of the drama, when the brother requests that the sister assure his corpse of burial at the time of his death, mindful of the penalty to be paid if the body remained unburied. Also it involves, as Watling describes: â€Å"listening to a tragedy somewhat in the attitude of a Christian audience at Nativity or Passion play, familiar with the accepted version of the story. . . .(12). The drama begins with Antigone inviting Ismene outside the palace doors to tell her privately: â€Å"What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame?† Antigone’s offer to Ismene (â€Å"Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?) is quickly rejected, so that Antigone must bury Polynices by herself. Antigone is a religious person who respects the laws of the gods more than those of men: Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever.Show MoreRelatedExamples Of Tragedy In Antigone713 Words   |  3 PagesAntigone the Tragic Hero Antigone is thought to be a tragic hero because of everything that had happened to her throughout her life. She lost her father Oedipus through a curse and her brothers through battle. The only one that was left was her sister Ismene. Her brother Polyneices died in battle being a traitor to his family. There was a rule made from the king of Thebes stated that no one can mourn for or bury him. 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