Explain the conflict between the individual and the community in Sophocles' Antigone
What will be an ideal response?
Antigone deals with many issues: it explores the conflict between the rights of the individual and the laws of the state; between dedication to family and loyalty to community; between personal and political obligations; between female willpower and male authority; and, finally, between human and divine law. It reflects Sophocles' effort to reconcile human passions, the will of the gods, and the sovereignty of the polis.
The tragic action in Antigone springs from the irreconcilability of Antigone's personal idealism and Creon's hard-headed political realism. Creon means well by the state; he is committed to the exercise of justice under the law. But, he ignores the ancient imperatives of divine law and familial duty. His blind devotion to the state and his unwillingness to compromise trap him into making a decision whose consequences are disastrous.
But Antigone is also a victim of self-righteous inflexibility. In an age that confined women to the domestic household and expected them to conform to male opinion, Antigone threatened the status quo. Her heroism derives from her unswerving dedication to the ideals of divine justice and to the duty of the individual to honor family, even if it challenges the laws of the state.
Sophocles perceived the difficulties involved in reconciling public good and private conscience. In Antigone, he offers a moving plea for sound judgment and rational action, for harmony between the individual and the community.
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During most of the fourteenth century, the popes ruled the church from
A. Rome. B. Avignon. C. Milan. D. Madrid.
Petra is a very talented graphic designer and a valuable employee. Petra's partner just got an overseas job assignment, and Petra will be going with him. Which of the following is the best option for Petra's employer if it wants to keep Petra as an employee:
a. the employer should allow Petra to set up a virtual office b. the employer should promise to hold her job for her until she returns. c. the employer should allow Petra to pick her own successor d. the employer should offer Petra disability benefits.
After the departure of Count Bardi from Florence, which nobleman became a leading patron of the arts and continued the tradition of the Florentine Camerata?
a) Emilio de' Cavalieri b) Jacopo Corsi c) Vincenzo Galilei d) Giovanni Maria Artusi