Authority In Antigone

When you think about your feelings toward family and toward authority which one holds a higher standard in your life? Sophocles, a famous play writer, writes a play called, Antigone, about a woman named Antigone who shows her own free will and power by defying the government and not staying put to the king’s laws. In this play Antigone represents the idea of family morals by wanting to bury her brother even though the king (Creon, also her and her brothers uncle), referred to her brother (Polyneices), as a traitor and was not to be respected or have a proper burial. Creon represents the idea of authority trying to overpower family morals, by stopping Antigone from burying her beloved brother. Creon is thinking about his place as king above

family, defying his family morals. In the play Antigone Sophocles voices his opinions on family and authority, he puts forth his beliefs that family morals should be held with a higher respect and importance than your authority and power.
Using his characters to portray his ideas on society Sophocles presents the idea that family should be taken more seriously than any form of authority and power.

In this play all Antigone wants to do is give her brother Polyneices a proper burial so his body may lay at rest. Even when the law forbids her from respecting her brother she disregards it and goes on to help her brother lay at rest, because she feels it is the right thing to do. In return Antigone is shown as a hero and Creon, the one defying her right to bury Polyneices, is portrayed as the villain. “This death of mine is of no importance; but if i had left my brother Lying in death unburied, I should have suffered, Now i do not” (Allen, 1083). In addition Antigone is looked upon as the hero when she asks her sister Ismene to help her bury her brother. When Ismene denies she is giving in to the law and not respecting family, in this context it makes her look weak, in return Antigone looks strong and brave. “But think of the Danger! Think what Creon will do!” (Allen, 1070). Furthermore in the end Antigone did die but she was honored by the gods and proven once more that she was the real hero standing by her family and never letting anything or anyone get in the way of her family morals. “Come with me to the tomb. I buried her; I will set her free” (Allen, 1101). Over all Antigone stuck with her beliefs through everything even when it meant death and still came out being the hero, this is how Sophocles voiced his

opinions on society.
At the same time as Sophocles presents Antigone the hero for wanting to stay by family, he presents Ismene as weak and disrespecting. When Antigone pleads for Ismene to help her bury Polyneices Ismene declines many times. “The law is strong, we must give in to the law” (Allen, 1070). Ismene does not think her life is worth risking to help her brother, she feels that the law is to be respected and never to be disobeyed. Although later in the story when Polyneices has already been buried and Antigone has been captured by Creon Ismene comes back trying to share responsibility for what happened. Ismene did nothing to help her sister but she comes back to take blame. After thinking about the consequences Antigone will receive Ismene realized that she will be all alone having no family left. Ismene wants to follow Antigone in death because to her death will be better than not having anyone left and being alone forever. “But now i know what you meant; and I am here To join you, to take my share of the punishment” (Allen, 1086). Furthermore Antigone denies any sign of Ismene helping to once again save her family. Another reason for antigone denying that ISmene had any play in the burial is that Antigone knows that Ismene did not do anything and she doesn’t want Ismene to be created for something that she did not take any risk for. Ismene did nothing to risk her life and Antigone does not feel that it is fair for her to get any credit for what she didn’t do. “The dead man and the gods who rule the dead know whose act this was” (Allen. 1086). In the end Ismene is not respected as much as Antigone was, for she did not help her family when she had the chance instead she chose to give in to the law, again portraying the idea that the ones showing respect for family are shown as the brave heros.
In the light of Ismene being portrayed as weak and disrespecting, Creon is portrayed along the lines of a villain.

Creon is a ruler that gets his power from fear, ruling on fear he is accustomed to the idea that people will listen to him and he will always get his way. When Creon made it clear that Polyneices was not to be buried under any circumstance he did not anticipate that any person would defy this law. “Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial: no man is to touch him or say the least prayer for him; he shall lie on the plain, unburied; and the bird and the scavenging dogs can do with him whatever they like” (Allen, 1074). From Creon’s first words he has defied family and sworn to never let personal relationships come before his duties as shown here, “but we must remember that friends made at the risk of wrecking our ship are not real friend at all” (Allen, 1074). After Antigone is locked away to rot for eternity Creon seems to have life moving on as usually but then fate comes his way. Teiresias, the prophet, come bearing horrible news, she tells Creon that the gods are angry for what he has done to Antigone and Polyneices. Teiresias tells Creon the gods are angered by his choice to deny Polyneices a proper burial and lock Antigone away for wanting to praise her brother. In favor of Creon’s good fortune it seems there is a way to repair what he has done “Think: all men make mistakes, But a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, And repairs the evil. The

only crime is pride” (Allen, 1098) The gods are not so much angry about his actions but about his pride in not accepting that what he did was wrong. No person would ever want the gods to be mad at them so Creon rushes to right his wrong and let Antigone out of her cell. When he arrives at her cell she is hanging dead, strangled by her own veil. Before Creon could even process what was happening Haemon (Antigone’s fiance and Creon son) comes running in, at the sight of his dead wife he goes to stab his father but instead stabs himself and dies with Antigone in his arms. Realizing that Creon can not right the wrong of Antigone he hurrys to Polyneices body to give him a proper burial, when they arrive his body has ripped to pieces by animals. Now he can not right any wrong he has done, cursing him to the gods. Eurydice (Creon’s wife) who spent the majority of her life locked away trying to avoid the curse of Oedipus heard the news of her son’s death. She was is not much grief that she killed herself. Therefore in the end Creon was left with absolutely no one, his wife and son were dead and he is left with the guilt of one death and Polyneices fate. Even though Creon did not die he came out with the worst punishment of all. “O port of death, deaf world, Is there no pity for me?” (Allen, 1105).
In your life you make many choices one of which refers to whom you are loyal and your limits to what you would do to keep that loyalty secure. Some people's loyalties are held until authority and the strive for power steps in. Many could argue that Creon was the lucky character that did not meet death, but others think he met the worst death of all. Creon was not a beloved king of his people, ruling strictly on fear, all he had left was his family. Haemon and Eurydice were both killed by there own hand, Antigone and Polyneices were both wrongly disrespected on the hands of Creon. Even though death did not take him he has the worst punishment of loneliness and guilt for the rest of his life. Even though Antigone died she was respected and given justice from the gods. Some define death as the last straw of cruelty but if you really think about it death is over, but living forever in a lonesome hateful life has to be worse than any punishment, even death. Family has the strongest loyalty of all friendships, even through death family should hold that loyalty for eternity, never ever give up on the respect and love that holds inside of your loved ones. Through life and death loyalty should be taken seriously and your boundaries should be never ending, loyalty is an eternal bound to fulfill the rights of each other, never ever leaving the others side.