Views Of Antigone And Kreon's In Sophocles '

A personal analysis of the views of Antigone and Kreon’s in Sophocles’ Antigone

In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone’s familial loyalty and steady devotion to the gods, despite Kreon’s direct orders, leads me to sympathize with the defiant Antigone more so than with the uncompromising and authoritarian Kreon. Resulting in her death, Antigone directly defies Kreon’s commands, resulting in the public supporting her personal cause of fulfilling what she thought to be her brother’s religious rights. Kreon’s inability to empathize with Antigone’s cause and its importance to her, as well as his inability to empathize with the people’s wishes and views, demonstrates an obvious disconnect between himself and the people he governs. Again, because of Antigone’s familial and religious loyalty, and Kreon’s authoritarian methods of governing, I sympathize with Antigone more so than with Kreon.

Antigone places her loyalty to family over most

Her display of this loyalty causes the people of Thebes to side and sympathize with Antigone. The public’s support is displayed when Haimon speaks to Kreon, saying “that she [Antigone] among all women least deserves to die the evilest of deaths for deeds most glorious.” Antigone’s familial conflicts as a result of the past tragedy of Oedipus causes her to value family and prioritize familial relations at a higher level than before. From the events of Oedipus’s tragedy and on, every subsequent loss of family takes a greater toll on Antigone, and she feels a greater need to respect each family member. As an individual who prioritizes family and regularly demonstrates familial loyalty, my views on the importance of family somewhat mirror those of Antigone’s, leading me to sympathize with her plight, rather than Kreon’s struggle to rule. I believe that family is the first community one partakes in, and therefore is a source for the deepest connections one could have in life. Parallel to Antigone,