Ivan Umana James Reed English 1301 05/1/2024 Is Antigone’s Behavior Justified? In Sophicles’ play Antigone, the main conflict in the story happens as a result of Creon’s decision to forbid Polyneices, one of Antigone’s deceased brothers, from being given a burial by law. This enrages Antigone, causing her to go against the king, Creon, and find her brother’s body and provide it the proper burial she believes it deserves. The conflict featured in the play raises a question, which is if Antigone’s behavior throughout the play is justified or are Creon’s decisions justified. Numerous individuals believe that since Creon’s decisions are the law as a result of him being king, that Antigone should therefore have no right to disobey the law by giving her deceased brother a burial. This, however, is proven incorrect by the fact that Antigone was merely …show more content…
In the beginning of the play, Creon states that Eteocles “shall be buried in his grave'' due to him perishing in a noble manner. Creon then proclaims that Polyneices shall not receive a burial and prohibits anyone from honoring him by giving him a grave or mourning him. The reason as to why Creon prohibits the burial of Polyneices is due to the fact that he was “a returned exile” that “sought to burn with fire from top to bottom his native city, and the gods of his own people” (Sophicles 2010-2011). This explanation given by Creon provides the reader with a reason as to why Polyneices is not deserving of being honored with a burial. Creon being the current king of Thebes signifies that his orders are meant to be perceived as the law. When Antigone is challenged by the fact that Creon has forbidden the burial of her brother, she states that it is not Creon’s right to keep her away from her own. This highlights the fact that Antigone is aware that it is against the law,