The Story of Antigone - Essay Example

The story of Antigone Philosophy: the story of Antigone Antigone is an ancient Greek myth written by a Greek playwright Sophocles. Antigone is the daughter of King Oedipus of Thebes and Jocasta. She was begotten out of the incestuous marriage King Oedipus and Jocasta. King Oedipus becomes king of Thebes after killing his father, Laius. Unwittingly, Oedipus marries King Laius’s wife Jocasta who happens to be Oedipus real mother. Oedipus and Jocasta realize this after they had got children from their marriage. Jocasta commits suicide by hanging herself while Oedipus bans himself out of Thebes. Oedipus entrusts the kingdom to Creon who is Jocasta’s brother since Oedipus sons are still young to rule. In addition, Creon is to take care of Oedipus children, that is, Antigone and Ismene, and Oedipus sons, Polyneices, and Eteocles. When the two sons of Oedipus become of age, they start to fight over who is to rule Thebes. Polyneices being the older brother believed to be the rightful heir to the throne Thebes since he had the birthright. However, Eteocles causes an uprising against Polyneices and ousts him out of power. Polyneices retaliates with an army in a battle where the two brothers kill each other. Creon ascends to the throne once again. Conflict arises in Thebes when the new king Creon makes a decree that it is only Eteocles that will be honored with a befitting burial since Eteocles fought for Thebes. On the other hand, the body of Polyneices was to be left in the field to rot and be eaten by animals for leading a violent uprising against Thebes using a foreign army. The decree of Creon, which prohibited anyone against burying Polyneices was to serve as an example to Polyneices followers (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). Creon declared that Polyneices did not deserve a honorable burial since Polyneices waged war against Thebes and, therefore, a traitor of Thebes. The declaration does not go well with Antigone, who asserts that her brother Polyneices deserves to be buried even though he was a traitor of Thebes (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). A conflict arises between Antigone and Creon since Antigone believes that they have a divine duty to the gods to bury the dead. In addition, antigone is determined to bring honor to her family by burying her brother. Antigone saw it as immoral and dishonorable for the body of their brother to be left in the fields unburied like someone who had no family. Antigone makes an emotional appeal with Ismene for them to bury their brother since even though Polyneices is guilty of betraying the state, they should show him sisterly love and the love of the family by burying his body (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). No crime was sufficient to warrant a dead body to be left unburied in the fields to be eaten by animals. Antigone believes that the dead should be pleased since they cleave to higher law than that of the rulers making them bigger than the rulers due to the power of the divine law. On the other hand, Creon believes as a king of Thebes he has a duty to uphold the law of the land and punish the offenders of the law. Antigone believed to be bound by duty of burying Polyneices summons her sister Ismene to help. However, Ismene declines asserting that women were not supposed to go against the decisions of men since men were stronger. In addition, it was not a mere man giving out an order against burying Polyneices but the king. Antigone disowns Ismene and goes on to bury Polyneices alone by sprinkling dirt over Polyneices body to symbolize burial. Meanwhile, Creon has summoned the guards to the throne where he seeks their support since Creon is now king of Thebes. Creon further instructs the chorus that the body of Polyneices was to be left unburied. As the meeting with the chorus is in progress a guard reports to Creon that someone attempted to bury Polyneices (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). Creon becomes furious and does not agree with the chorus that it might be the deed of a god. The guards are instructed to remove the dirt from the dead body and lay in wait of whoever tried to bury Polyneices. Antigone is caught by the guards as she tries to rebury Polyneices and is brought before Creon where she confesses to the crime (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). The scene when King Creon and Antigone come face to face presents an avenue where both of them present their arguments to the conflict that has arisen. Creon interrogates Antigone on why she is going against the decree of the king that presents the rule of law. Antigone responds by telling the king that any law that goes against the laws of Zeus is an illegal and immoral law. The laws of Zeus are the laws of the gods and have weight over the laws that are made by man since every man will one day die as well (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). Antigone becomes adamant that she will honor her brothers death by burying him since this is the law of the gods that is binding on all mankind. Creon asks Antigone the reason an enemy of the kingdom should be honored. Antigone responds to Creon by saying that Polyneices was her brother and family therefore she loves her family and owes a duty to her family. Her family is not her enemies even though Polyneices has betrayed Thebes. The king inquires from Antigone the reason she is the only one defying the kings decree. Antigone asserts that a lot of other people are against the kings decree, but they have not defied the kings decree due to the fear of the consequences that would attach for defying the kings decree. The King Creon tries to reason with Antigone to renounce the crime of burying Polyneices, and the king will give her total indemnity. Antigone was also to go on with the marriage between her and Haemon, who is King Creon’s son as planned. If Antigone renounced going against the king’s decree, the reward would be a happy life. However, antigen is unmoved by the king’s proposal of a happy life and argues with Creon about the immorality of the decree of not burying a dead body (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). Antigone prefers death rather than join in the political schemes of Creon that were against the rules of the gods. She believes that good will come out of her death and that death will unite her with her family. The king is incensed by the stubbornness of Antigone and decrees that Antigone has to die. Creon calls Antigone a criminal who has to face the wrath of the law. He views himself as a good ruler who cannot let his family go against the law unpunished least the other people be motivated to break the law. In addition, Creon feels that if he lets Antigone live he will appear as weak and a untruth person in the public eye. Further, Creon interrogates Ismene to establish if she was part of Antigones scheme. Ismene is desperate to be associated with Antigones crime so that they can die together. However, Antigone refused to allow this to happen (Sophocles & Johnston, 2007). In addition, Creon’s son Haemon tries to talk to his father to be lenient on Antigone and withdraw the death sentence. Creon remains stubborn and holds that the death sentence decreed against Antigone must stand. Harmon becomes furious at Creon and threatens to die with Antigone. Creon decrees that Antigone was to be buried alive in a cave in the midst of Antigones wailing as she defends her cause one last time. Antigone pleads with the gods to punish Creon for disrespecting the divine law of the gods as she is led away to the tomb. Tiresias, the prophet of the gods, supports Antigone’s stand that the gods demand the body of Polyneices to be buried. Creon dismisses the prophet alleging that the prophet has been corrupted by Antigone to advance her cause. The prophet warns Creon that the decree has angered the gods since it was against their will. Creon stubbornly defends the decree and abuses the gods of Tiresias. The king holds that the law of the king and the land is the supreme law and binds all beings disregarding the importance of the law of the gods. The prophet is angered and calls Creon a tyrant and warns him that his son will die as a result of disregarding the law of the gods. Terrible calamities befall Creon after the death of his son as well as his wife. Creon appears to be punished for regarding the law of the state of the unwritten divine law that Antigone and the prophet represents. The chorus is torn between loyalty between Creon and Antigone as they express sorrow for what has befallen Antigone as well as recounting of harm that come to those who subverted the laws of the gods. The basic conflict between the law of the state and the unwritten law of the gods plays in the story being propagated by Creon representing the law of the state with Antigone standing for the law unwritten law of the land (Sophocles, 2007) In the conflict, the two individuals in the basic conflict of burying Polyneices depict different characters. Both Creon and Antigone are established as stubborn individuals who are bent to defend and stand by their convictions. Antigone is used to depict an individual who has strong religious beliefs to the unwritten laws of a supreme deity (Williams, 1997). Antigone is not willing to neglect her divine duty towards the gods and she is bent to defend her beliefs and will of the gods. She regards the duty to her family is more important than the duty she has towards the state. In addition, Antigone is not afraid of the consequences that would befall her for going against the law of Creon but was determined to bury her brother. Antigen is used to represent the right of a person to stand against a society’s violation of their freedom to perform a personal obligation since the law of the state is not absolute. The law should uphold the rights of those it binds. On the other hand, Creon is used to depict an individual who regards his will and the law of the land as more valuable than the demands of a god. Creon feels political pressure to punish the offender and set it as an example to others (Williams, 1997). To Creon, civil law should be regarded since it creates order in the community. The law is more important than any single individual. Creon places a bigger importance and value to laws than his family, son, wife and his daughter in law. Both Creon and Antigone claim divine punishment for their actions. Creon believes that Polyneices has to be punished under the law for leading a foreign army against the kingdom. Therefore, when Polyneices leads foreigners to Thebes, the act revokes Polyneices citizenship making him as one of the foreigners. On the other hand, Antigone believes that in defying the order of Creon she was following the unwritten law of a deity that had higher sanctions than the law of Creon. Antigone illustrates that there is a price to be paid by those who stand up for heroic inflexibility. Antigone chooses to die rather than compromise the law of the gods that leads to her destruction (Williams, 1997). Creon is also destroyed by his inflexibility and confidence, qualities that make Antigone beautiful and pretty. The fate of the two individuals is ultimately decided by the nature of the cause with Creon admitting that Antigone was right, and he was wrong. Creon pride lets him not listen to the prophet or his son that would have solved the conflict in a rational way. Sophocles edicts the law of the gods being higher than the law of the state which Creon represented (Williams, 1997). Lloyd-Jones (1971) asserts that Antigone is depicted as a strong feminine heroine. Antigone is born in a dysfunctional family with Oedipus being her father and brother at the same time. Antigone s the trauma of this fact as well as the tragedy of seeing her father wander away to exile after he realizes the truth of the incestuous marriage with his mother. Before Oedipus vanishes, he pronounces a curse to Antigone who was accompanying him. In addition, after her two brothers slay each other in a violent uprising led by Polynices against Eteocles, Antigone finds herself in the middle of an intense conflict with the decree of King Creon against the burial and mourning of Polyneices who is viewed as a traitor of Thebes (Lloyd-Jones, 1971). The decree drives Antigone to a suicidal confrontation with the authority of a masculine king. Antigone is not afraid to die in the pursuit of what she holds as a moral duty as she dialogs with her sister who is afraid of the consequences of going against orders of men. Ultimately Antigone dies after refusing to compromise with what she holds as right defending her dead brother. In addition, Antigone does not abandon her cause even after being promised a happy life by Creon if she abandoned her cause. The act of refusing to be bought out of her resolve and stand depicts Antigone as incorruptible highlighting her heroic status. By refusing anyone dictate and influence her choice is an act of heroism by itself. Antigone refuses to be talked down of what she holds as the truth even when enticed with the happiness that would accrue if she compromised her stand and backed down against disrespecting the decrees of the king. When Ismene refuses to partner with Antigone in burying their brother, Antigone does not back down due to this setback but instead she goes on alone (Lloyd-Jones, 1971). When Ismene later wants to carry the blame for Antigone’s misfortunes, Antigone stands firm to rebut this from happening and faces the consequences of her sentence alone. It is established that Antigone is a fearless individual. She is not afraid to confront a masculine king even though Ismene advises against it. When the king asks her why it is only she that is despising the decree, she boldly tells the king that the other people fear the consequences of standing against the king. Antigone is brought out as a feminist heroine who stands up against the tyrannical regimes to agitate against the excesses of the ruling class (Lloyd-Jones, 1971). References Sophocles, ., & Johnston, I. C. (2007). Antigone. Arlington, Va: Richer Resources Publications. Lloyd-Jones, H. (1971). The justice of Zeus. Berkeley: University of California Press. Williams, R. R. (1997). Hegels ethics of recognition. Berkeley: University of California Press. Read More