Antigone Essay

The first 200 words of this essay...

Karly Hall

September 30, 2002

Period 3

Antigone Essay

In any story or piece of literature, there will always be the main characters to fill the pages with incessant adventure. The characters whose names appear on almost every page and the characters whose actions the story revolves around. However, a story will also always have its minor characters. These are the characters that contribute heavily to the plot, yet aren't mentioned quite as often and are underestimated regarding their importance in the story. In the Greek masterpiece, Antigone, the author Sophocles construed a myriad of minor characters that contributed to the story in numerous ways. Ismene, one of Oedipus' daughters, was created to foil the main character, Antigone. Haemon, the son of Creon, took the role of adding controversy and showing his father revenge for all the trouble he caused Thebes. And finally, Tiresias, an elderly blind prophet, was constructed to diminish Creon's hubris.

Firstly, Ismene's character was created primarily to foil that of Antigone's. When Antigone initially discussed her plans to contest the King's orders, Ismene was against it and tried to argue with her sister, hoping to dispel the plan from