The Burial at Thebes

This play is ultimately concerned with one person defying another person and paying the price. Antigone went against the law of the land, set by the newly crowned King Creon. Antigone was passionate about doing right by her brother and burying him according to her religious beliefs even though Creon deemed him a traitor and ordered him to be left for the animals to devour. Creon was passionate about being king and making his mark from his new throne. Although they differed in their views, the passion Creon and Antigone shared for those opinions was the same, they were equally passionate about their opposing views. Creon would have found it very difficult to see that he had anything in common with Antigone however as he appears to be in conflict with everyone, in his mind he has to stand alone in his views in order to set himself apart as king. Before he took to the throne Creon took advice from the prophet Tiresias who had so often had been his spiritual and moral compass, and yet in this matter concerning Antigone he will take advice from no one, not from the elders of Thebes, or even his own son Haemon.

The book also has conflict between Antigone and her sister, Ismene. In the opening chapter, Ismene becomes central to this moralistic tale as she stands for all that was expected of women in Greece in 5BC. She alone, in her dialogue shows us, right from the beginning why Antigone is so brave in her decision to bury Polyneices when she says; “Two women on our own faced with a death decree – women, defying Creon? It’s not a woman’s place. We’re weak where they are strong. Whether it’s this or worse, we must do as we’re told.”

Here we see the age old conflict of women the world over from then ‘til now facing gender ine...

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...itive progression of our society and yet on the flipside, if we play our part by voting we need to back it up. In America there was such a positive drive behind Barack Obama’s road to presidency and yet in the two years hence, having been pummelled with a Messiah expectation from the electorate his popularity has decreased rapidly. Living up to the voters, and a nations expectations on you must be incredibly hard, especially if results are sought so quickly. Let’s hope that Obama is given the space to be the person America hopes he is whilst Americans get on with being the best that they can be for each other, not for themselves.

The only way in which characters like Creon, Bush, Blair and so on can really make themselves immortal for the right reasons is by asking themselves what’s going to work best for all of us, instead of what’s going to work best for me.