Book Report Antigone

Characters:

• Antigone- daughter of Oedipus and Iocasta

• Creon- Antigone’s uncle, brother of Iocasta and present king of Thebes

• Ismene- daughter of Oedipus and Iocasta and sister of Antigone

• Teiresias- messenger/guard

• Chorus- composed of Theban elders and stalwarts of the throne

Summary

In the late 400 B.C., lived Antigone and her sister Ismene, the remaining children of king Oedipus and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. Their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices fought each other for the throne of thebes and both were killed each other in the battle for power. Creon the new ruler takes one brother’s side. Eteocles was honoured and received a proper burial for being a hero. However, Polyneices was not buried because he was said to be a traitor

Creon was crowned as the new king of thebes and believed to be the chosen by the gods and to rule in their stead. Creon, highlighted that as Polyneices was a traitor therefore, he shall not be buried and his body shall lie on the battleground for the food for birds and worms. Herein lies the dilemma; in Greek culture, the spirit of a body that is not buried by sundown on the day that it died cannot find rest but is doomed to walk the earth. There is a conflict between the law of King Creon, and the law of the gods. Antigone faced a hurdle that whether she should she accept the law of Creon and leave her brother to rot? Or should she disregard Creon's order, follow the law of the gods and bury her brother?Antigone and Ismene talks about which law comes first - the religious duty of citizens, or the civil duty? However, Creon is the king, and Antigony knew disobeying the law enforced by Creon would result into her death. On the other side of the argument, the law of the gods rules over all, even the king. According to the Greeks, the punishment for breaking the law of god is not death but something far more eternal and everlasting. Since the gods decided that Creon should be the king, then should it not therefore be gods will that Polyneices be punished? Possibly not,because the Greek gods are far different from the God of modern religions. The Greek gods were not omnipotent, they had their

Creon believes because that he is the king by the gods will and therefore placed his that his punishment is the one befitting the crime of Etocles. Antigone believes that according to divine law her brother should ne buried no matter what he did as divine law is above human law, and this leads the both of them into conflict. However, it is easier to sympathize with Antigone than with Creon and this leads Creon to be placed in the role of possible antagonist. Because both Antigone and Creon have their own ideas of what is right and wrong, it is harder to judge them then one might think. This is to say that one should not make assumptions about what is truly right or wrong, unless the answer to that is apparently clear. Antigone believed that the actions taken by her were right as they adhere to the law of the Gods. On the other hand, Creon believes that the actions he had taken were in fact the right, because he believed that Polyneices was a traitor, and if anyone who gives him a proper burial should be punished to death. In essence Antigon is arguing that divine law will ultimately overpower human law in every situation. Creon, on the other hand, devours Antigone's claim and remains convinced that since he is the king what he says goes. The actions that were taken by the both of them individually were the right ones according to them. However, in the end, it is the god's