Antigone the Ideal Leader - Essay Example

In Sophocles' famous tragedy Antigone, the central character Antigone is presented and unraveled amidst a unique and peculiar set of circumstances, where she is a hapless witness to the dereliction of the cherished morals and ideals, not only by her near and dear one's like her sister Ismene but also by the people who are supposed to uphold the righteousness in Theben society, like Ceron, who comes to power in Thebes after the civil war. At the center of the tragedy lies the body of Polyneices, Antigone's brother and one of the important leaders of the Thebe's civil war.

The new king of Thebe, Ceron decides to deprive the body of Polyneices of all the holy rites and decent burial, by ordering it to be left lying in an abandoned and disgraced state on the battlefield, to be consumed by carrion animals. Such a dishonor of the body of any political rival and opponent was considered to be the harshest punishment in the times in which the tragedy unfolds itself. Thus, the body of Polyneices stands to be a symbol of state repression and the annihilation of civil rights in the play.

Antigone despite being a woman dares to restore the sanctity of humane values and civil rights by giving a decent burial to her brother's body. She manages to do so irrespective of the repeated warnings and forebodings of her sister Ismene, who decides to choose safety and well-being by abiding by the state dictums. She even tries to dissuade Antigone by invoking the fear of the death penalty. In a hearing before Ceron, Antigone dares to argue in favor of the morality of her actions and openly questions the integrity and propriety of Ceron's actions and intentions.

Eventually, Antigone is buried alive for her beliefs. In today's troubled times, how rare it is to come across leaders like Antigone, who dare to defy power and authority to uphold righteousness.