In the play, Antigone, by Sophocles, Polyneices and Eteocles, have killed each other and Creon orders Eteocles to have an honored burial while Polyneices is to be left without a burial. Antigone tells Ismene, who are both sisters of Polyneices and Eteocles, that they must bury Polyneices, Ismene tells her she can not so Antigone buries Polyneices alone in defiance to the state laws. Creon and Antigone have conflicting values. Creon holds the laws of the city higher even when other beliefs state otherwise. Antigone, however, feels that the laws of the gods should be obeyed above all others, especially when it comes to family. Although Antigone knows she is committing a state crime by burying her brother, Polyneices, she knows that the right …show more content…
Antigone strongly believes in the god's beliefs and not in Creon laws, “What laws? I never heard it was Zeus Who made that announcement … I never thought your announcements Could give you a mere human being Power to trample the gods' unfailing, Unwritten laws… No man could frighten me into taking on The gods' penalty for breaking such a law.” (Antigone, 450-460). Antigone states again that the laws of the gods are above a man's law and nothing would make her back down from what she believes in even when confronted by the king and death. Antigone goes on to say that death is nothing to her but if she had disobeyed the gods by not burying her brother then that would have been more painful than anything else, "So if that's the way My life will end, the pain is nothing. But if I let the corpse my mother's son Lie dead, unburied, that would be agony.” (Antigone, 465-468). Antigone and Creon have different ideas of what laws should be followed. Antigone believes in the laws of the gods and the honor of her family, while, Creon is concerned with the laws of his city. Creon believes that if someone dishonors the city then they must be punished, “He was killing and plundering. The other one defended our land.” (Antigone,517) which is his reasoning for dishonoring Polyneices. Antigone does no care for the law of man because she follows the laws of god and the love for her family, “I cannot side with hatred. My nature sides with love.” (Antigone,
Antigone Relevance In the book Antigone by Sophocles the main character is Antigone and her sister Ismene. Their close brother Polyneices has died in a battle against his brother over the city. Antigone wants to give her brother a proper burial but Creon the new ruler, announces that if anyone buries Polyneices they will be put to death. Creon believes Polyneices was a traitor.
However, Creon becomes a ruthless leader who did not abide by the laws of the gods and rules by his own will. In the book, Creon decides not to bury Polyneices after being told by Antigone that it is against the gods to not bury someone who fought with valor. After being told numerous times by Antigone to bury Polyneices, he decides to punish her by imprisoning her. This shows that Creon believed that not even the gods can go against his decision. In other words, Creon is concerned only with his
Around 441 BCE, the ancient writer Sophocles wrote the tragedy Antigone, a play about loyalty, betrayal, and pride. Throughout the scenes of the play, calamitous occurrences take part, mainly involving the two main characters: Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, and Creon, King of Thebes and uncle of Antigone. Antigone, an independent, uncompromising young woman, simply wants to bury her deceased brother who was recently killed in battle. However, Creon, seeing Antigone’s brother as nothing but a traitor to his country, enforces a law which makes it illegal to give a burial to the remains. Not only does Creon’s unyielding decision cause conflict between himself and Antigone, it will also prove to be a fatal decision.
To begin, Antigone believes that Creon’s authority is much less important than that of the Gods. For example,
In their interactions, Creon is motivated by his pride in ruling as king. Antigone believes Hades the God of the dead, “still desires equal rites for both” (line 592), meaning she believes the Gods wanted the same for both brothers, no matter what side they were
Antigone being the one to fight for her beliefs and obeying the god's laws attempts the burial of Polyneices and goes against Creon’s law to prove to him that he’s in over his head that he has too much pride in himself, in lines 15-35 Antigone claims that she is going to go
Antigone is the daughter of the late king Oedipus, and Creon is the king of Corinth. The conflict that these two face is the burial of Polyneices, who was Antigone’s deceased brother. Creon was not allowing Polynices to be buried, because he had fought against Athens. To Creon, this was correct: “And yet you dared to overstep these laws?” (Sophocles Line 458)
In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.
Antigone broke his law by burying Polyneices and not leaving her own brother out to be eaten by wild animals. This action that Antigone took angered Creon because he did not like the fact that someone disobeyed him. Also the way that Antigone spoke to him contributed to to his anger. Creon reacted to her pride of burying her brother by saying in the play Antigone that “This girl here was already very insolent in contravening laws we had proclaimed. Here she again displays her proud contempt—having done the act, she now boasts of it.”
(lines 510-516). Antigone has been captured by the guards and taken to Creon where he ask why she dare break the law that he has set forth. Antigone’s honor lays with the gods and overrides any law man has set forth. Antigone states her beliefs and stands on them with reference to divine law which is a clear conflict of Creon’s decisions. This challenges Creon and stirs up further conflict over who is right and wrong over the matter at hand.
In the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone is a tragic story of the bold Antigone who defied her uncle, King Creonʻs, edict by burying her brother, Polyneices, who died attacking the city of Thebes, trying to take the power away from their brother, Eteocles, who refused to share the throne with Polyneices. Even though Antigone knew that going against Creon and burying her brother would not end well for her, she still choose to risk her life to do what is right. After being caught breaking the law, Antigone is appointed to be locked away, isolated in a cave until she dies, but she hangs herself at the end. At the same time, things for Creon are not looking good, as everyone around him seems to be against him in his decision for punishing Antigone. Everyone Creon cares about kills themselves from a curse that is put on Creon for not following the Godsʻ laws.
In Antigone, it is evident that both Creon and Antigone made mistakes in spite of the fact that they had right intentions. Creon attempts to uphold the law in order to maintain structure and be what he considers to be a just leader, however, Creon’s mindset remains too rigid and his actions don’t adapt in light of the circumstances. Antigone wants to stay loyal to her family and save her brother’s soul, yet she isolates herself and shows disrespect for the law. Creon does not allow Antigone any grace for her actions because he explicitly adheres to the laws of the city.
His free choice is represented by a quote from the guard surveying Polyneices body, “We saw this girl giving that dead man's corpse full burial rites—an act you’d made illegal” (337). Although Creon's own niece turns out to be the one that went against his word, he still chooses to follow through with the punishment even though the deed Antigone did was morally right. The punishment that he lays upon Antigone is excessive and unjust considering the crime. While in an argument with her, he calls to his guards proclaiming, “Take her and shut her up, as I have ordered, in her tomb’s embrace [...]
Antigone felt that Creon’s laws were prejudiced against her belief in God's proclamation and her personal morals or core values. She put her family first the whole time,
Laws have maintained the order and stability of society from old days of ancient civilization to today’s contemporary society. As law-abiding citizens, we allow the laws to be enforced through punishments and consequences; however, when these laws threaten ethical values and justice, they are challenged in a non-violent method known as “civil disobedience.” In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone challenged the political authority of Creon in a defiant act that related the struggles between her duty as a citizen of Thebes and her loyalty to her family. In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written by Martin Luther King, Jr., King protests racial injustices and systemic racism throughout the South and laments the need for civil disobedience to be used