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Antigone is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles, that centers around a young female, Antigone, after the deaths of her two brothers. Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, were battling for the throne of Thebes. As the brothers were dueling against each other, they ended up defeating one another. Since Eteocles was the King of Thebes and was seen as defending his land, he was treated like a hero and given a proper burial. While Eteocles was treated like a hero, Polynices was not given the same fortune. Creon, who is now the King of Thebes and the soon-to-be father-in-law to Antigone, declares that Polynices would not be buried and that anyone who tries to bury him would be a criminal.
After that being said, Antigone was then caught multiple times trying to bury her brother even though it went against Creon’s wishes. Since Creon had declared that whoever buries polyneices is a criminal, Antigone would have to be sent to death for her actions. With her fate pretty much set, Antigone took her own life by hanging herself. This action then set forward a chain of suicides in Thebes. Haemon, Creon’s son who was set to marry Antigone, killed himself due to the loss of his soon-to-be wife.
Following that, Creon’s wife Eurydice finally finished her knitting and committed suicide as well, leaving Creon all alone. I believe that this Theban tragedy relates to the core themes of our class, “the good life” and “me against the world”.
One of our course’s core themes is “me against the world”, and this relates perfectly to Antigone. First of all, the character Antigone can be seen throughout the whole play exemplifying this theme through her actions and dialogue. First of all, Antigone is the only one trying to give her brother Polynices a proper burial, even though Creon had forbidden anyone from trying to do so. She is willing to break laws put in place by a kind in order to appease her personal wants. For example, Antigone said to her sister Ismene, “He forbids me, too. And now he’s strutting here to make it plain to those who haven’t heard-that if anyone does what he forbids he’ll have them publicly stoned to death” (Sophocles 4). Antigone had clearly known that what she was doing was more than likely going to lead to her death, but it was her against the world so to speak, and she was going to bury her brother no matter what. Her grief was stronger than the world’s political morality. She was willing to put herself ahead of the king’s rules and proves to be a very individualistic attitude. Along with Antigone, Creon behaved very similarly throughout the play.
After he was informed of Antigone attempting to bury Polynices, he sentenced her to death because she had forbidden him. However, he was warned by both his son Haemon and the prophet Teiresias. Haemon warns him that a majority of the citizens believe that it would be wrong for him to kill Antigone. Teiresias also warns him that killing Antigone would upset the gods and if he did not listen he told him that, “an ambush awaits you-slow, crippling avengers, furies sent by Hades and the gods above. You will be tangled in the net of your own crimes” (Sophocles 48). Creon showed the same him against the world personality, like Antigone, and obviously did not listen to them. He behaves according to his beliefs even if they don’t align with what others may believe to be true. If he would have taken their advice, his son and wife would not have killed themselves. In addition to “me against the world”, Antigone also relates to the theme of “the good life”.
It can be seen throughout this tragedy that it also relates to our other core theme of “the good life”. For the duration of this play, Antigone has the opportunity of choosing between two opposing moral conflicts. She had the first choice of sticking with her beliefs and the beliefs of the gods by giving her brother the burial he deserved. On the other hand, she had the option to go by the morals of the city and of Creon by not burying Polynices. For example, Creon declared that Polynices should receive, “No burial of any kind. No wailing, no public tears. Give him to the vultures, unwept, unburied” (Sophocles 5). I think that in Antigone’s eyes, the good life for her would be to honor both her brother and the gods by giving Polynices the proper burial that she thought he deserved. For instance, when Ismene was asking Antigone if she was going to go against the city’s law and bury Polynices, Antigone responded saying that, “But he is mine. And yours. Like it or not, he’s our brother. They’ll never catch me betraying him” (Sophocles 5). Antigone was willing to go as far as dying for this cause which both she and the gods thought was the morally right thing to do. This can be observed when Antigone says, “I will bury him. I will have a noble death and lie with him, a dear sister with a dear brother” (Sophocles 6). Despite Antigone reaching her “good life” and dying for the honor of her brother, it ultimately hindered Creon from reaching his. Creon thought he was doing the right thing by standing by his moral codes, but he should have listened to everyone else. His wrongdoings led to both his wife and son committing suicide, leaving him all alone. This clearly is not what Creon had envisioned his “good life” to be, and only has himself to blame.
Up until now, it is clear that the themes of “the good life” and “me against the world” have been focal points of all the literary works that we have read so far, especially in Antigone. These themes are highlighted throughout its dialogue and within the personalities of the characters, as well as their actions. When I think of what it means to have “the good life”, I think of a life where one lives with luxury and ease, enduring very few worries. Happiness protrudes from them. When looking at Antigone, it is evident that both Creon and Antigone are searching for this. However, both Creon and Antigone had a “me against the world” mentality for them to try to acquire their “good life”. Both characters did not adhere to the advice that was given to them throughout the play and had they listened it might not have ended so gruesomely for them. While both characters were searching for their “good life”, this play is ultimately a tragedy, and that it is how it ended. Even though Creon’s life ultimately ended in tragedy, I don’t think the same can be said for Antigone. Although she did end up taking her own life, I believe that she did get to her “good life” because she lived her life by her morals and by the morals of the gods till the day she died.
Works Cited
- Meineck, Peter, and Paul Woodruff, translators. Theban Plays. Hackett Publishing Company, 2003.
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