Antigone

5 Pages 1321 Words

Antigone, in Greek legend, was the daughter of Oedipus. When her brothers Eteocles and Polynices killed one another, Creon, king of Thebes, forbade the rebel Polynices’ burial. Antigone disobeyed him, performed the rites, and was condemned to death for what she had done.
Now the question arises, "Did Antigone take proper action?". Was it just to go against her Uncle Creon’s wishes and go ahead and bury the brother that was to be left out for the vultures? Would it be better to leave the situation how they are? Could she go on about life trying not to think of how she left her own blood out in the open? Could Antigone act as if she did not care?
Afterlife to the Greeks back then was far more important and sacred than living life itself. Everything they did while they were alive was to please the many gods they worshipped. They built temples for their Gods, made statues to symbolize their Gods, and had a different God to explain things that we now say are an act of mother nature. It may seem rather foolish to us when we study their beliefs and compare them to modern day beliefs. I am sure the Greeks would have considered us to be heathens and put us to death for our ways and beliefs.
I think Antigone thought her act was courageous and valid. I myself would not have risked my life to ensure a proper burial for anyone, whether it was in modern times or back then. To go against authority and break the laws given by the monarch was a plain senseless act. When someone is dead we now know there is nothing else anyone or anything can do for them at that point. It is too bad the Greeks did not believe that. As I stated before, afterlife to the Greeks was more important than living life itself. The Greeks seemed to spend most if not all of their lives preparing in some way for their afterlives. The lives they led back then were consecutive to please the Gods. I feel that she deserved her punishment because of the fact that she knew what ...