Sophocles's Antigone - Essay

Sophocles's Antigone attacks one of the most difficult subjects man faces: "what is right and just?" From the beginning, it is apparent that two viewpoints are going to be clashing throughout the plot. Creon, the consummate pragmatist, and a true believer in the authority of the state, believes that what is good for the state is what is right. Antigone, on the other hand, believes that there are divine laws, a set of morals, she is bound to live by regardless of mortal decrees.
The conflict begins almost immediately as the play opens with Antigone planning a way for her to be able to defy Creon's edict and bury her brother. She is doing this on the principle that every man has a fundamental right to a proper burial and it is her duty to obey the gods. Antigone's seemingly treasonous actions infuriate Creon who had written the edict to preserve political stability. He believes that the gods favor his point of view because his laws are designed to punish those who are guilty in the eyes of the state.
During Antigone and Creon's fierce debate, Antigone states repeatedly that man has no right at all to challenge the "unchanging statutes of heaven." She says that the authority of the gods has existed from the beginning of time and thereby overrules any decree that might pass from a mortal's mouth. Creon is adamant in his assertion that by honoring a treasonous brother, Antigone is dishonoring her other brother who died as a hero. In breaking his public edict, she is committing a crime against the state and the people and must be punished.
After being sentenced to death, it is interesting to note that Antigone is initially not as sad as one might expect. This is because, as a believer in divine justice, she feels that the gods will duly reward her in the afterlife. Later, her confidence in the gods begins to wane as her execution draws nearer and nearer until she has almost given up hope that the gods are even listening to her. Creon, rebuked by several