Differences Between Antigone And Creon

Antigone, a famous tragedy written by the ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles, follows after the civil war between the two sons of Oedipus. In the war, the two sons of Oedipus, Eteokles and Polynices fight for the throne, but by each other’s hands, both sons die. Due to their brotherly feud, Eteokles and Polynices’s uncle, Creon takes upon the role of becoming the new king of Thebes. As a new king, Creon creates a law forbidding the burial of Polyneices, the brother who attacked Thebes. Polyneices, the exile who rebelled against Thebes. Meanwhile, Eteokles, who defended the country from the attack, would be honoured with a proper burial. He furthermore stated, if the body of Polynices were to be buried by someone, the burier must be executed. This law, however, is disobeyed by the daughter of Oedipus, Antigone, whose values were a contrast to Creon. Antigone’s value system contrasted Creon’s values throughout the play. However, all these conflicts were worsened, because Antigone is a woman and is refusing the traditional passive role of

the gender.

Postwar, Creon creates a law which declared that Eteokles, who defended the country from the attack should be honored with burial rites. On the other hand, Polyneices who attacked on Thebes should be left unburied and should not be honored with proper burial rites:
Eteokles, who fought in defense of the nation
And fell in action,
Will be given holy burial,
A funeral suited to greatness and nobility,
But his brother, Polyneices, the exile,
who descended with fire to destroy his fatherland and family
gods,
to drink our blood and drive us off slaves,
will have no ritual, no mourners,
will be left unburied so men may see him
ripped for food by dogs and vultures. (237~242)
Creon then stated, that the burier will be executed by stoning or if the person will perform prohibited acts will also undergo execution:
“Whoever shall perform any prohibited act
Shall be liable to the penalty of death by stoning
in the presence of the assembled citizens.” (39~41)
He created this law, because he wanted to have a stable authority with justification.

Because Creon was new to the throne, he wanted people to have more fear against him to not let people underestimate him.He did not want his authority to be questioned or to be overlooked. ]

The creation of the law went against Antigone’s values. Antigone valued the divine law with deep respect and believes that the divine law supersedes Creon’s law. Throughout the play, Antigone’s perspective on the divine law is illustrated to be very powerful:

I didn’t suppose your decree had strength enough,

or you, who are human,

to violate the lawful traditions

the gods have not written merely, but made infallible.

These laws are not for now or for yesterday,

they are alive forever;

and no one knows when they were shown to us first.

I did not intend to pay, before the gods,

for breaking these laws

because of my fear of one man and his principles.

(555~564)
As shown above, Antigone holds the view, that it is crucial for humans to not violate the divine law, and that the morals of the divine law should be respected more than the other laws. Due to her uneasiness of not having a proper burial, Antigone buries her brother Polynices. Not having a proper burial was considered an offense towards the gods Antigone buries her brother Polynices.This meant, that the unburied corpse soul was not able to enter the underworld, and was doomed to wander around the earth forever. As a result, Antigone makes a fatal decision to break the law. This attitude is seen, when she is talking to her sister Ismene, about burying her brother:
The living are here,
But i must please those longer
Who are below; for with the dead
I wills stay forever.
If you believe you must,
Cast out these principles which the gods themselves honor. (92~97)
From this, Antigone’s perspective about her obedience towards the divine law can be seen. Therefore, Antigone’s value of respecting and obeying the divine law is reflected in her actions and resulted in her conflict between Creon.