Antigone Analysis

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Obedience to Whom?
In Antigone, written by Sophocles, the protagonist, Antigone, and the antagonist, King Creon put their obedience to opposing laws. Throughout the drama, there is a struggle between the gods’ laws vs. man's law. Antigone believes in the gods’ law. She says, “I know I please where I must please the most” (Sophocles 487). King Creon says to his son, Haemon, “Anarchy – show me a greater crime in all the earth” (Sophocles 502). King Creon believes that man’s laws hold a higher priority than the law of the gods (Sophocles 502). There is tension between Antigone and King Creon because of their opposing opinions.
Throughout the drama Antigone, King Creon and Antigone had conflict between one another regarding the issue of how her two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, were going to be buried. Both brothers agreed to rule together when their dad passed away. Eteocles and Polyneices were supposed to take turns ruling, starting with Eteocles. However, Eteocles exiled Polyneices under his rule. Both brothers battle each other and both were killed in battle. (Sophocles 481)
King Creon thought Polyneices was a traitor, so he believed that Eteocles should be the only brother to be honored. King Creon believed Eteocles was fighting courageously to protect his city. King Creon took it in his own hands to decide the fate of the two brothers’ burial without even considering the law of the gods. Some of the citizens chant in the chorus, “Zeus hates . . . the mighty boasts of men” (Sophocles 488). According to that line King Creon is doing something the god Zeus hates.
After King Creon has made his chose on how the burial of Eteocles and Polyneices were to be handled, Antigone opposed it. Antigone strongly thought that Polyneices...

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...nored and buried properly. Antigone feels that all the other citizens have a similar belief, but are scared to get in trouble, so they keep quiet.
Her own sister, Ismene, does not want to violate the laws (Sophocles 487). Antigone says to her sister, “I have longer to please the dead than please the living here. . . Do as you like, dishonor the laws the gods hold in honor” (Sophocles 487). Even knowing that she is going to have to stand on her own, she knew she would be dead longer than she would be alive, so she chose to stand up for what she believes in (Sophocles 487). Antigone actions were out of love. She tells Ismene, “I’ll suffer nothing as great as death without glory” (Sophocles 488).

Works Cited
Sophocles. Antigone. Literature and the Writing Process. Backpack Ed. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan and Susan X. Day. Illinois: Longman-Pearson, 2011. 484-519. print.

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