Antigone Tragedy Analysis

Sophocles’ Antigone is a text rich with layers of meaning. In this essay, I intend to uncover some of these layers in order to assert the extent to which Antigone is responsible for her tragic end. I will argue that the protagonist is responsible for her own actions – actions that by her own choice result in her death. The catalyst for said death, however, is the result of other characters and events. I will focus particularly on the edict of Creon and his role in the tragedy, as it is the juxtaposition of their beliefs, which results in both of their tragic endings. Throughout the essay I will analyse scholarly works on the subject, as well as the events in the text itself, in order to weigh the ultimate accountability of Antigone.
Firstly, I will look at the character of Creon, as his denial of Polyneice’s burial rites is what acts a catalyst for Antigone’s actions. The story begins with a conversation between Antigone and her blood-sister Ismene discussing the tragic deaths of their two brothers. Antigone tells her sister of the two brothers fate, that one’s body is to be respected, while the other is “to have no lament, but to be left buried and unwept” (Sophocles. Antigone.20-30). This initial event is what ignites Antigone’s determined mindset to find her brother and honour him with the proper rites of the dead. However, some scholars argue that Creon is well within his rights as the ruler of Thebes to deny certain persons a proper burial. Kerri Hame and Vincent Rosivach in their analyses on Antigone both argue this idea. Hame (2008, 7-8) notes the legitimacy of Creon’s claim to not have Polyneices buried – if he were not on Theban soil. Rosivach (1983, 193) highlights the refusal to bury traitors and temple robbers, referen...

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...e learned to see what’s right – but far too late” (Sophocles. Antigone. 1260-1280). This therefore shows that fate is yet another factor which affects the portrayal of blame as solely on Antigone.
Ultimately, I find that Antigone is a play that can be interpreted in many different ways. Through the examination of characters, events and scholarly arguments I have attempted to show that the catalyst for Antigone’s tragic end stems from the edict of Creon, an edict that as a ruler he is within his rights to make – but which Sophocles ultimately forces Creon to acknowledge as wrong. However, whilst the actions and events leading up to this event cause Antigone to disregard the law in order to pay burial rites to her brother, her treatment of Creon and acceptance of her fate must show that she herself accounts for a decent share in the responsibility for her own death.