Theme Of Antithesis In Antigone

The literal meaning of the word antithesis is ‘the exact opposite’. It is a type of rhetorical device used to put two opposite ideas together. Human law versus the divine law, madness versus logic, and love versus hate are some prevalent themes used in the play Antigone. The play opens when Polynices and Eteocles have already killed each other. This puts Creon back to the throne. Creon being an impartial king punishes Polynices by not giving him a burial and leaving his body to be fed by the animals. Creon does this because he is an impartial king who thinks that the blood cannot be put above the state. According to him, anything is the truth if it is written or is part of the law. This brings the theme of human law into action. When he punishes Polynices and denies him a burial his hate for the people who defy the state even when the person is the kings own nephew. When Creon punishes Antigone severely and does not listens to the blind prophet Tiresias, Creon’s excessive pride (hamartia) is visible to the audience. According to Aristotle, an error in the character itself causes

There is a conflict the law of the state which Creon follows and the law of the god that Antigone follows. Antigone considers the divine law as the supreme and above all thus disobeys the decision of Creon .she does this even though she knows that this defiance will cost her of her life but anyways goes and does it as she fears god more than Creon. ForAntigone, the religious duty of hers, her right to bury her brother came prior to her civil duties. For her the law of the god ruled above all. In the 5th century B.C., the women of the society were not allowed to come out of their homes. They were only a handful of occasions when they used to come outside and one of these occasions was the burial. Therefore, when Creon took the right of burying her brother from Antigone away, she