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Comparing Sophocles Antigone And God's Law

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Humankind through history has always struggled with the line between man’s law and God’s law. In the play “Antigone” written by Sopholces, the author tries to show that God’s natural law is superior to man’s law by using Creon as the pusher of man’s law and Antigone wanting to follow God’s law, Creon is a selfish ruler, but he changes dramatically. Creon is not a follower of god’s natural laws. He only lives by the laws that he creates and has no sympathy for Eteocles’ death. No one is allowed to give him a proper funeral, because of Creon’s belief that traitors do not deserve to be buried properly. Antigone a relative of Creon wants to go and bury her brother, she wants to do what she believes is the right thing.
“Is to have no burial: …show more content…

784) After Antigone made plenty of reasoning for her attempt burial of Eteocles, Creon still believes his law is the proper law to be followed. He is afraid that if he shows weakness by letting Antigone get away with this crime he will lose some power over the people he is ruling. Creon is not taking in consideration that Eteocles was Family, and should be given his proper burial so his soul can be released. Creon’s son Haimon comes to talk to his father about the arrest of Antigone. Haimon tries to explain that what Antigone did was the right thing, but his father is sure that she went against his law and had to be punished for it.
“Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish” (pg. 807) says Creon when he realizes that he was not listening to anyone and just worrying about his power. After Antigone died, Haimon killed himself to be with his fiance. Once Creon’s wife also died after finding out what happened to her son. Creon finds out what happens and suffers knowing that he is the one that caused all of these deaths. He wishes he took everything back and allowed Antigone to bury Eteocles. He didn’t want any of this to

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In the story of Antigone, Eteocles and Polyneices are both fighting to be the king of Thebes. They both die in the fight but Eteocles is buried while Polyneices is left to the vultures. Antigone is both Polyneices and Eteocles’ sister, With both brothers dead the throne was given to their uncle Creon, who believes Polyneices is a traitor and should not have a burial. Antigone strongly disagrees with Creon, thus sneaking out and giving him a proper burial. This action was considered punishable by death.

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In Antigone, Creon is the king and wants to keep Thebes in control since it is a mess and has a law where one does not bury an enemy “Aren’t you ashamed to differ from them? So disloyal!” Antigone thought that was wrong because everyone deserves to rest in peace “Wasn’t Eteocles a brother too cut down. Facing

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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.

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In the play Antigone, Sophocles tells the story of the titular character as she buries her traitorous brother in defiance of a tyrannical despot. Through this action, the play asks the question of whether the laws created by one man “could override the gods, the great unwritten, unshakable traditions,” (504-5). Some may argue that Creon's decree is merely one of necessity, an unavoidable evil to allow the city of Thebes to heal and unite. He is a patriot holding his city together in times of strife. While Creon may believe this, saying "our country is our safety" (211), it is actually his lack of love that causes him to deny Polynices his burial.

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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.

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As such, when determining culpability, Creon is responsible for the deaths of Antigone, Haemon, and his wife. Despite the fact that Creon made a decision that was in accordance with the law and the legitimacy of the throne, he failed to realize that he had a responsibility towards his family, namely his son and his wife, in addition to the people who he governed. Sophocles also depicts that Creon had a responsibility to bend to the will of God, which trumped his responsibility towards the law. In the play, Antigone informs Creon that the laws of God “ were, and shall be, Operative for ever, beyond man utterly” (Sophocles). After the tragic deaths of his wife and son, Creon is informed by the Chorus that there is “No wisdom but in submission to the gods” (Sophocles).

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The scene thorough lines 450 to 540 involve Creon and Antigone in a furious argument. With Creon’s ruthless attitudes he condemns her for her actions however, Antigone seems to be indomitable and fights back. They’re arguing due to the fact that Antigone wants to bury her fallen brother, Polynicies, while Creon has prohibited the burial. In Creon’s mind, everyone from Thebes should hail the estate and obey his orders, while many disagrees with him, only Antigone has the courage to follow the gods rules and honor her family. “Because it wasn’t Zeus who pronounced these things to me.”

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Subsequently, King Creon finally becomes aware of the disclosure that state law has displaced him from his own son, to which he springs to action. His efforts are inspired, yet meaningless when he finds that “Haimon is dead, and the hand that killed him is his own” (Sophocles 49). Creon’s dejected reaction to the death of his son reveals that even though the fatality was due punishment for the treason Haimon committed against the state, Creon’s individual conscience diminished the hubris he formerly had. The death and relationship of Haimon and Antigone, Antigone’s pursuit of God’s authority over that of Creon’s, and her burying Polynices display the theme of individual conscience vs. state law.

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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)

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The character Antigone strongly feels that the Gods should be respected always especially in the matter of family. When Creon orders that no one shall bury Antigone’s

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“You may do as you like, Since apparently the laws of the gods mean nothing to you.” (Sophocles, et al. 192). This argument, though quite passive aggressive, is more ethical. The religion of the people of Ancient Greece was held to the utmost of importance, which is why such epics are written about them when someone dares to defy them. In this case, Antigone calls out Ismene for choosing to obey the rule of Creon rather than the rule of the gods.

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In Greek tradition, the act of burial is left to the females of the house. Without proper burial, it was believed that a soul would never reach heaven. Antigone broke Creon's law and when captured proclaimed, “Your edict, King, was strong, But all your strength is weakness itself against The immortal unrecorded laws of God” (359-361). Antigone is adhering to the law put in place by the gods. Antigone may have broken Creon's law, but since it was to obey the laws of the gods, the act is justified.

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In the Greek drama Antigone, by Sophocles, Eteocles has been given a proper burial, but Creon has issued a new law that banned the burial of Polyneices. He is not allowing anyone to bury him because in Creon’s mind, he is a traitor. Except, Antigone wants to bury him so he can go to heaven for all eternity. Antigone thinks that everyone deserves a proper burial, especially her own family. But, as a result to this there is a rift created between Creon and Antigone.

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She was outraged when she found out that her brother Polyneices was going to be left to rot and be eaten by animals, because he was a traitor to the city. Antigone believed that her brother deserved a proper burial even though he tried going against the city unlike her other brother Eteocles. She asks Ismene (her sister) to join her in this act of rebellion but Ismene does not want to get in trouble for going against her kings orders so Antigone does it on her own. Creon feels disrespected and punishes Antigone for not following his rules. He seals Antigone while she is alive, inside a tomb.

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