Creon's Belief In Antigone

J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, once said: “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it”. When one believes in oneself anything is possible when one doubts themselves nothing is possible. Antigone’s belief gives her the strength to face Creon and his power. Antigone is the story of Antigone and her belief in the gods. The play starts with Creon making a law saying that no one can bury Polyneices, Antigone’s brother. Antigone believes that goes against the will of the gods and decides to anyway. Creon discovers she is guilty of burying Polyneices. Creon decides to punish her, but not kill her himself, he imprisons her instead. In Antigone by Sophocles, the use of Antigone’s character conveys that

belief makes a person more resilient.
In the beginning, Antigone uses her belief to break Creon’s laws and face him willingly.

In the prologue Antigone tries to convince her sister, Ismene, to help her bury Polyneices. They go back and forth arguing. Antigone calls her sister a traitor to their family, and how the law Creon made was a mortal law and she follows the laws of the gods. This is where the reader first meets Antigone and her belief. In this scene, her belief and rebelliousness are heavily contrasted with Ismene’s lawful and peaceful attitude. In Scene II Antigone is brought before Creon by a sentry. Creon accuses Antigone of defying his law, she responds with a comment about how it was not a proclamation of the gods, but merely a mortal law. And says that she will die for this if she has to and that she would rather die than have let her dead brother suffer. Antigone is willing to be condemned for her actions because she is not ashamed of what she did. Her belief allows her to face Creon and possibly death. Also in Scene II Antigone controls the scene saying that others do agree with her but that Creon has silenced them. In addition, she tells him that he has no right to judge what is wicked and that the gods are the ultimate judges. Antigone stands up for herself and her beliefs. Belief gave her the power to overpower the voices of

others.
Later in the story, Antigone uses her belief to bravely face her punishment.

In Scene IV Creon decides to punish Antigone by locking her up in a stone prison. As she speaks to the citizens in Thebes she blames the curse of her father, while the Chorus blames her own free will. Antigone welcome the idea of her death, saying that then she will see her father, mother, and brother. Antigone may not take full responsibility, but she is willing to face the repercussions of her actions. She believes it is her fate to bury her brother and be punished. Even with this idea, she is still willing to be punished, due to her belief that the gods are behind her. Later in Scene IV, Creon orders the guards to take her away, and they hesitate. Antigone continues to tell them that she only listens to the gods, and if Creon was wrong in his laws then he will be punished. In the end, Antigone commands the guards to take her away. Antigone’s belief allows her to gain control over those who control her. She commands the gods because she believes that she was fated to go through this. That belief allows her to control the guards while still, following through with her punishment. She doesn’t try to command them to help her escape she gives the Thebesian people her last words and leaves or her person. In Éxodos a messenger tells the Choragos about how Antigone killed herself. He says that she hanged herself using her linen veil. Antigone believes she was so right in burying her brother, that she

would kill herself to follow through on her belief. She was strong enough to take her own life for her belief. She not only had belief in the gods but in her belief itself.
A person with strong belief has more defiance. Antigone’s belief allowed her to face her death and fate. Belief is a powerful state of mind. When one believes in themselves anything is possible. Children believe in everything which is what makes their world magical, once they grow up belief fades and so does the magic.