Antigone's Peripeteia

Antigone’s peripeteia is when she is sentenced to death by Creon. It was the EXPIATION that she had to make for burying Polynices. She broke his decree by burying Polynices and Creon overreacted. His punishment was HEINOUS when it should not have been. Creon says, “I’ll have her taken to a desert place where no man ever walked, and there walled up inside a cave, alive with food enough” (Sophocles 147). He decided to send her to a cave with only a small amount of food so that he would not feel guilty about killing her. He did not want to be the one to take happiness from his son but death would. This implies that Creon is unwilling to take responsibility for his actions which shows that he is not the ideal ruler of Thebes. Creon punished her because she broke his decree not the law of the state which made him feel disrespected. Even Haemon told Creon that even the city of Thebes does not believe Antigone’s act of burying the body was dishonourable (Sophocles 146). Although Antigone's peripeteia was tragic, she did not deserve everything because she was only trying to do the right thing by honoring her brother . Creon’s peripeteia was when his son killed himself and his wife killed herself. He lost everything but he both deserved it. Oedipus’ peripeteia was when his mother/wife hanged herself and he blinded himself with her brooches.

#cavelife