Antigone

4 Pages 898 Words

In the play, "Antigone" written by Sophocles, Antigone and Creon battle a philosophical war based on their beliefs of what is right and wrong. The conflict arose when the principles that backed up their actions clashed with each other, making it a contradiction between morals. Antigone's side of the conflict held a much more heavenly approach, as opposed to the mundane road that Creon chose to follow. The difference in the beliefs, opinions, and moral values of Antigone and Creon were seen through out the play.
Antigone felt that Creon was disregarding the laws of heaven through his edict. After she is captured and brought to Creon, she tells him, "Your edict, King was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God. They are not merely now: they were, and shall be, operative for ever, beyond man utterly." Antigone's staunch opinion is one that supports the Gods and the laws of heaven. Her reasoning is set by her belief that if someone is not given a proper burial, that person would not be accepted into heaven. Antigone was a very religious person, and acceptance of her brother by the Gods was very important to her. She felt that "…I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Creon's order was personal to Antigone. His edict invaded her family life as well as the Gods. In Antigone's eyes, Creon betrayed the laws of the Gods by not allowing her to properly bury her brother, Polynices. She believed that the burial was a religious ceremony, and Creon did not have the power to deny Polynices that right. Antigone's strong belief towards the burial of her brother is what, in many cases, led her to her death by the hands of Creon. Since Creon was ruler, whatever he said was the law, and since Antigone broke this "said" law Creon was in a sense to blame, because if there was no law Antigone wo...