Law Over The Gods Or The State in Sophocles’ Antigone

The state of Thebes cursed with many tragedies, where two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles, fought for the crown of Thebes after the death and curse of their father, Oedipus. When both brothers died from the cause of each other, the new King of Thebes, Creon, their uncle and brother-in-law of Oedipus, is left to decide how to handle their funeral ceremonies. The characters of Sophocles’ “Antigone” prove to have separate opinions on the matter of their burials, which leads them to cause conflicting decisions. Antigone and Ismene, Oedipus’ last two living children, are puzzled to find that Creon had decided to only hold one ceremony for Eteocles and none for Polynices; thus, Creon and Antigone struggle with one another to pay loyalty to their family or to follow laws enforced by the state. Antigone views Creon’s decision as an opposition against the laws of the gods. For when she tells Ismene, “You may do as you like since apparently, the laws of the gods mean nothing to you” (Sophocles 475). Antigone takes action to bury her brother’s corpse, while very well knowing that Creon would refuse to allow this to happen, leading Ismene to agree with her sister but also agreeing with Creon’s law of the state. Many critics view Creon’s breakage of the unwritten civil laws as corrupt, but many also view his decision as an act of righteousness. As said, “To some, he is the patriot, sincere in his convictions, but narrow-minded in conceiving and obstinate in enforcing the duty to the state. To others, he is the tyrant, egotistic and suspicious, whose consciousness of the insecurity of his position leads him to assert his power…” (Peterkin 263). By denying Polynices his right to a proper burial, Creon has dictated his rule over the right of the people, while as Antigone declares the right of the people, and the law of the gods, over the set laws of the state. Antigone’s and Creon’s breakage of differently proposed laws gives Sophocles an

The state of Thebes cursed with many tragedies, where two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles, fought for the crown of Thebes after the death and curse of their father, Oedipus. When both brothers died from the cause of each other, the new King of Thebes, Creon, their uncle and brother-in-law of Oedipus, is left to decide how to handle their funeral ceremonies. The characters of Sophocles’ “Antigone” prove to have separate opinions on the matter of their burials, which leads them to cause conflicting decisions. Antigone and Ismene, Oedipus’ last two living children, are puzzled to find that Creon had decided to only hold one ceremony for Eteocles and none for Polynices; thus, Creon and Antigone struggle with one another to pay loyalty to their family or to follow laws enforced by the state. Antigone views Creon’s decision as an opposition against the laws of the gods. For when she tells Ismene, “You may do as you like since apparently, the laws of the gods mean nothing to you” (Sophocles 475). Antigone takes action to bury her brother’s corpse, while very well knowing that Creon would refuse to allow this to happen, leading Ismene to agree with her sister but also agreeing with Creon’s law of the state. Many critics view Creon’s breakage of the unwritten civil laws as corrupt, but many also view his decision as an act of righteousness. As said, “To some, he is the patriot, sincere in his convictions, but narrow-minded in conceiving and obstinate in enforcing the duty to the state. To others, he is the tyrant, egotistic and suspicious, whose consciousness of the insecurity of his position leads him to assert his power…” (Peterkin 263). By denying Polynices his right to a proper burial, Creon has dictated his rule over the right of the people, while as Antigone declares the right of the people, and the law of the gods, over the set laws of the state. Antigone’s and Creon’s breakage of differently proposed laws gives Sophocles an even greater plot to leave his viewers and readers in question, to who is in the right between each of their decisions? I support Antigone’s claim due to Creon overstepping the powers he has no decision in, the right of the people.

Persistency has a crucial role played by Antigone and it is accountable for initiating the conflict, man versus man, between her and Creon. The conflict, man versus man, induces the theme of the play, which is largely the theme of fate, but it also induces the heroine from Antigone. She is persistent to bury her brother’s corpse, even when her sister refuses to become involved in her plan. Antigone believes all the citizens should know of her actions and that nothing will stop her from doing what she acknowledges to be right, even if it brings her “death.” Most critics view Antigone as a strong-minded character and even implied by Ismene in the prologue. According to William Robert, “If tragedy is a matter of excess, of pushing on and even through ultimate limits, then Antigone stands as its representative figure, for Antigone is excessive”. Antigone is an excessive character through her conversations with Ismene and with Creon. Antigone needs to be a persistent character to be true to her excessive behavior and uplift the rights of the people of Thebes.

The being of Antigone as a persistent and excessive, also stubborn, person leads to her predictable fate. The central idea of fate is defined in the play as the development of the events and actions taken by the characters, as they do what is set and destined for them. To act as if an excessive person would, you first need to have a constant goal-oriented mindset to which you want to complete, which concludes with acting in persistence. An excessive person is one who goes beyond their task and completes more than what they proposed. Antigone proves to her excessive nature when confirming that she will bury Polynices’ body without speaking to Creon first, and not holding back on her intentions. She builds tension to a greater extent when performing a physical action against the state law than a verbal action towards Creon, thus, creating an impactful event.

Antigone fits the definition of an excessive person and goes beyond the limits, pointing to her demise, to overcome the said edict by Creon. Antigone is viewed by most critics as a person for the people. She is a representation of the state of Thebes’ version of a democracy, where the citizens should have rights, and especially the right to one’s opinions. As Robert further discusses, Antigone is fascinating in her actions to resist against Creon’s dominant statute to the citizens of Thebes. Creon had set forward dominance of the state when sentencing Antigone to death, and so he “terrifies” the people. Antigone’s excessive resistance leads Creon to reconsider his decision on leaving Polynices’ corpse in the “fields” and without a proper burial. Although he reconsiders, Antigone is unfortunately found to have committed suicide, also with his son, Haimon, Antigone’s fiancé, committing suicide, and finally his wife, Eurydice, also committing suicide, all due to Creon not listening to Antigone’s statements. Eurydice’s death is what completes Creon’s regret, which he would have never had to face if he considered Haimon’s argument to reason with Antigone and do right for the people of Thebes. Creon states, “And the city proposes to teach me how to rule?” (Sophocles 482) and in response to Creon, Haimon remarks, “Ah. Who is it that’s talking like a boy now?”. Antigone’s actions to bury her brother, after his death from the Thebes civil war, exposes Creon’s overstepping authority to the citizens and fulfills her plan for the justice of the people. Only after, does Creon realize his mistake for punishing Antigone, but his realization was too late, and he couldn’t reverse the damage he had caused to his reputation viewed upon by the people.

Antigone, as said before, is provoked by the conflict to become a heroine against Creon and his exceeded power. It is obvious how Creon views women as subordinates to men, as he speaks of Antigone, referring to her as a “woman” and implying that she has fewer rights and virtue than himself. Once again, he strives for power, but this time specifically over women, noble or not. Creon comments, “The man who has done this thing shall pay for it! Find that man, bring him here to me” (Sophocles 478). When Creon first hears of a person attempting to bury Polynices’ body, he believes for the perpetrator to be a man and does not think twice about the person being a woman. And when his son comes forward to him, Creon accuses him of selling out to a “woman,” suggesting that men should only side with other men than with women and seeks to make a mockery of his son. Haimon’s main intention is to help him understand his wrongs, but Creon perceives him to only be helping Antigone. Creon seeks to imagine, and create in a sense, a state full of women opposite to the manner of Antigone’s nature, thereby enhancing her purpose and meaning. Antigone’s actions, towards Creon and the state, are not how women would be thought to be acting as such during the 5th century BC. Robert states, “She is a woman who speaks and acts out of place. As a woman, her “proper” place in her ancient Greek context is the oikos: home, hearth, household”. Antigone has a strong-willed mindset and can step out of her expected boundaries to prove to Creon that a woman could do what a man could also do. Creon proceeds to not understand or give any chance to women, leaving Antigone to her demise but in the end having been proved wrong by a woman.

Another reason for the “fate” of the characters and Creon’s decision to favor the state, is his pride. Creon, like Antigone, is a stubborn character, but he is quick to judge or determine a conclusion in his own opinion, and so he bases his verbal and physical actions upon his pride. His stubbornness evolves from the constant arguing he’s done to allege Polynices and Antigone against other people. Creon first asserts his pride when he admits his contempt for governors who are frightened to do what is best for their state. He believes all his decisions done for the state are in the best of his own judgment, and so he presumes that he oversees all laws, including those of the gods. According to Bernard J. Paris, “Filled with the pride of being king, Creon exceeds his authority, trying to rule where he should obey… When he is named ruler of Thebes on the death of the sons of Oedipus, Creon becomes obsessed with power and command”. Without knowledge of himself becoming king, because it was expected for only one of the two sons to die, he must have been shocked and overjoyed to the point that he did not know how to properly rule Thebes, which determined his failure as a king.

A king should certainly be a prideful person because a gloomy king could not assert their ruling of the throne, similarly, an over-prideful king could not rule to the extent where they feel the need to encroach the rights of the citizens. Pride is the satisfaction and pleasure brought to oneself from an accomplishment of an admirable task. Pride is also defined by the bible to be the root, or source, of all that is evil, furthermore, God resists the proud. It is to no surprise that this definition is connected to Sophocles’ “Antigone”, as ancient Greece was known for their religious praises, so Sophocles created Creon to represent the biblical definition of pride.

Creon has easily viewed himself as a prominent figure since the beginning of the play until he drastically meets his fate towards the end. According to Paris, “Creon encounters a series of challenges to his wrong-headedness, first from Antigone, then from Haemon, and finally from Tiresias [blind prophet]. Each challenge offers him an opportunity to recant and save himself, but instead, he becomes more determined to carry out his will”. Creon’s feelings of acting as a prideful king cease him from ever considering the challenges and arguments he faced against others. As mentioned previously, he also denies believing the statements said by Tiresias, an old-blind prophet to whom Creon owes a debt, even though he’s always listened to him. Full of pride, Creon accuses Tiresias of “selling out” for money, thus his second repetition to accusing someone of selling out, due to the pressure he is holding from his current situation. Creon concludes with us, “Fate has brought all pride to a thought of dust” (Sophocles 488). Creon leaves the audience with a powerful conclusion, to which he has lost all his pride due to his fate. Creon’s fate was to be cursed, and to lose the people he cherished the most, his wife and son since pride was the root of all his sins.

As the audience further understand Sophocles’ purpose of writing his play “Antigone,” they can view the importance of the everlasting tension between Antigone and Creon; the two tragic heroes. Antigone is compassionate to her family and respects the law of the gods, and ultimately dies, remaining persistent to her beliefs and completing her plan. Creon, adversely, respects the law of the state and remains over-prideful and too stubborn to realize his mistakes, which causes the loss of his pride and family, which is all he had. Sophocles’ incorporation of these specific characteristics constructs the compelling representation of the struggle, to gain achievement you must sacrifice.

Works Cited

• Paris, Bernard J. “Antigone.” Imagined Human Beings: A Psychological Approach to Character and Conflict in Literature, NYU Press, New York; London, 1997, pp. 105–116. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qffv8.10.
• Peterkin, L. Denis. “The Creon of Sophocles.” Classical Philology, vol. 24, no. 3, 1929, pp. 263– 273. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/262849.
• ROBERT, WILLIAM. “Antigone’s Nature.” Hypatia, vol. 25, no. 2, 2010, pp. 412–436. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40602713.
• Sophocles. “Antigone.” Literature: A World of Writing. Ed. Ana M. Acosta and David L. Pike. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2011. 474-88. Print.