Similarities Between Antigone And Billy Bud

On the surface, Billy Budd and Antigone seem fairly similar. Although not much is known about Antigone’s personality, both of the characters appear to be liked by most people, and both of the characters committed a crime. The crime, and the nature of it, is what separates the two amiable people. Antigone becomes the greater person because of the reasons for her actions, the situation that she was in, and the crime itself. Antigone had a couple different reasons as to why she decided to bury her brother. The first was familial loyalty. She felt that it was her responsibility to bury him because he was her brother. She would never have another brother because her parents were dead, so to leave him unburied would worse than to leave a husband or son unburied. The second reason was that she thought that punishment from the gods would be much worse than any punishment that Creon could give. Billy Budd did not have the reasoning. Billy’s only reason for his action was anger. He was given

Antigone buried her brother, even though it was against the law, and Billy murdered someone. In the stories, the punishments for both of the offences, was death. Legally, both Antigone and Billy Budd were in the wrong, but Antigone’s actions could be considered morally right. Antigone followed what she believed was right in the eyes of the gods. She thought that it was more important to obey the gods than Creon, because Creon was an earthly king, and his punishment would not last as long as a punishment from the gods would. Billy Budd did not believe in a higher power, so he acted against the laws of the power that he submitted to. It is possible to justify Antigone’s actions because she thought it was the right thing to do. Billy Budd did not think that murdering someone was right, but he did it anyway. Billy went against the highest authority that he believed in, while Antigone did