ANTIGONE AND THE AENEID

The Ethical Tensions In Antigone And The Aeneid

The Ethical Tensions In Antigone And The Aeneid

This paper compares and contrast ethical tensions in Antigone and The Aeneid. For this purpose this paper will focuse on the tension between the collective and individual good from Antigone and Aeneid and how do these issues parallel each other in the two works? How do they differ? Tension is the central struggle in a play or novel. It is essential to the novel because it creates interest and captivates the audience. Without it, a story would be quite irksome and dull. One type of tension is when a character opposes the will of the majority. This type of tension is shown in Antigone an helps present the character traits of the antagonist, Antigone. On the other hand The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC (29-19 BC) that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed.

The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad; Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Rome and a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous piety, and fashioned this into a compelling founding myth or nationalist epic that at once tied Rome to the legends of Troy, glorified traditional Roman virtues and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes and gods of Rome and Troy.

Antigone's character traits are reflected by her actions. When Antigone went against her Uncle's law, it showed that she was brave and fearless. This changes later on in the play when she was faced with death. Antigone was also very strong minded. Once she decided on a course of action, she did not veer off course even if it meant certain death. Antigone was also very strong willed. She did not let Creon's power intimi. Antigone also did not accept the stereotypical role that was placed on women during that time period. In her opinion, she was just as capable as the king himself. Antigone shows great loyalty to Polynecies when she defies against Creon's law. She is the one person who is brave enough to oppose the king. Antigone states that she not only buried her brother to be loyal to her family but also to obey the gods. She did not care about the consequences of burying her brother because she was loyal. There are many conflicts throughout this play, each one leading to the ...