Sophocles's Antigone Essay

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Sophocles’ Antigone Creon is a prideful and ruthless king who rules over his territory with an iron fist. He became king when Antigone’s grandfather Oedipus left the throne to her two brothers Eteocles and Polyneices, who ended up dying when fighting over it. Antigone is the fiancé of Creon’s youngest son Haimon, and for the most part a good citizen of Thebes. Creon buried Eteocles because he fought for Thebes and left Polyneices to rot in the desert for betraying the city. Antigone wished to bury her brother so that he could have honor and because she loved him. Creon however, made it law that no one should bury Polyneices, so Antigone would have to defy the king in order to give her brother the honor he deserves. She eventually did and was sentenced to death. It was normal for people to bury their loved ones and give them honor. Was Antigone in the wrong for burying her brother? She was wrong in the sight of the law, but in the sight of honor and family, she was right. The law was made out of pride. King Creon represents the prideful and narcissistic mentality that many people have today. They only care about themselves, are “always right,” and think that everyone else is inferior to them. This is a sick way of thinking.
Technically, King Creon was in the right for enforcing his law. In line 83 of act two, Creon says, “Who is the man here, she or I if the crime goes unpunished?” It wasn’t until Antigone, Haimon, and his wife died that he understood his law was unproductive and made in

Parrish 2 vain. Death wasn’t enough for Creon, he had to shame Polyneices. The people thought that she should be allowed to bury her own brother. Creon’s law was harsh and only made in order that he was exemplified as a powerful and mighty ruler. Despite the allegations of harshness, Creon made his wish a law so that surely, no one would bury Polyneices. Antigone however, defied this law and gave honor to her dead brothers’ body. Even though she knew this rebellion would result in death, she loved Polyneices enough to accept the penalty. She would rather die and give honor to him than live and leave her brother’s corpse in the desert for the vultures and dogs to eat. Creon was outraged and sentenced her to death, despite the fact that she was the fiancé of his youngest son Haimon. Upon her punishment, Haimon killed himself because he would rather be dead and in hell with Antigone than living without her. Creon’s wife also killed herself, because she was disgusted by this act of killing their children. The ultimate problem is that even though Antigone was right in the way of morality, she defied the law and if anyone went against Creon’s word, it was infringing on his power and image, he would not have this. The actions of Creon may seem extreme, but I see no difference between his ways and the ways of modern humans. People go after an image that they think is dominant and better than everybody else. They are only looking out for themselves and are worried about their own needs, not those of someone else. Many do this today. Creon hated Polyneices because he was a traitor of the city. As a result of his hate, he declared law that no one is to bury his body or give him any honor. Burying the dead was a popular convention back then just as it is today. If you did not bury someone, it was very taboo and looked down upon. Creon’s hatred and pride went as far as to prevent his burial, a major disrespect. He was ready to kill anyone who
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