The Burial Ritual In Antigone

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Antigone was a religious person who tried her best to live the way her religion taught. She honored the gods the way she was taught by her parents by giving them sacrifices and worshiping them. One way she honored them was by defending them from be overruled by Creon. Even though Creon was the king Thebes and was able to make laws, Antigone knew he had no right to make divine laws. She expressed this by saying, “I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override God's ordinances, unwritten and secure.”1 By telling Creon this, she basically told him that he could not forbid a humans burial. Antigone was trying her best, even if it cost her life, to follow her religions laws. So because of this, she defied Creon and tried to bury her brother. So by trying to bury her brother she had to do the a burial ritual that she was taught to do. The burial ritual was part of Antigone's religious beliefs and if not done, a burial could not take place. Antigone …show more content…

And what her conscious deemed right was to disobey Creon and bury her brother. Antigone told Ismene “It is not for him to keep me from my own.”3 Saying this, Antigone was telling Ismene that Creon could not morally forbid the burial of their brother. Antigone knew that when Creon forbade this act it, Creon disobeyed their gods. So when he did this, Antigone knew his beliefs were in the wrong and that hers were in the right. Once she had confirmed this thought she decided to bury her brother no matter the consequences. Antigone also knew that it was wise to rebel against Creon, the king, then rebel against Hades, the god of the dead, and the other Olympians. Although the gods of Olympus were not real, Antigone still believed they existed and feared the punishment of the gods. For this reason, she obeyed the gods rather than the king bye burying her

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