What Is Wrong In Antigone

Every community has their own ideas on what is right and wrong, what is just and unjust. One of the concepts that influences how people decide what is just is virtue. This is the idea that a community has their own set of moral standards for their behavior “cultivating the attitudes and dispositions” (Sandel 8) of individuals. To decide whether a situation is just or not, one would reflect upon their own morals and what their community believes to be morally right. They may consider the virtues of love and loyalty, along with their faith to determine what actions bring justice. In Sophocles’ Antigone, translated by Richard Emil Braun, the character Antigone relies on the concept of virtue throughout her journey to achieve justice for her family.

Polyneices was the rightful king of Thebes. Polyneices brother, Eteocles, thought otherwise. The two brothers battled over who had the right to be the king, and it ended in the death of both brothers. The uncle of the brothers, Kreon, became the king. Kreon believed that Polyneices should not be allowed to be buried because of his actions, and he created a law to prevent his burial. On the other hand, Eteocles would receive a proper burial. Kreon explains his law by saying, “I shall never let criminals excel good men in honor. I shall honor the friends of the state while they live, and when they die” (Sophocles 29). Antigone felt that this was unfair and unjust, so she decided to break the law by burying her brother. She explains herself by saying, “if I die for doing that, good: I will stay with him, my brother; and my crime will be devotion” (Sophocles 23). This shows that Antigone considers her loyalty to her brother to be more important than the law, especially when it is unjust. This is where The Hero’s Journey, as described by Joseph Campbell,

After Kreon exiles Antigone, she decides to take her own life, and because of this Haimon responds in the same manner. Kreon then returns home from the deathplace of his son to learn that his wife had taken her own life as well, after being informed of her son’s death. Just as Teiresias had predicted, Kreon had lost “a child of [his] own loins” (Sophocles 62). These consequences bring clarity to who had been the one fighting for justice. Had Kreon not punished Antigone for what was truly just, his family’s lives would not have ended in such a tragic manner. The fulfillment of the prophecy shows that gods were truly unhappy with Kreon’s actions. In the culture of ancient Greece, the gods determine what actions are just and unjust. In this play, the gods penalize Kreon for his behavior, making it transparent that the king had committed an unjust act towards Antigone and the