Sophocles' Antigone: A Dilemma Between the Family and Law

In the play Antigone by Sophocles, a tragic thing happens where Antigone and Creon are torn apart between the law and family. The law clearly states that “Polyneices who came back from exile intending to burn and destroy his fatherland and the gods of his fatherland, to drink the blood of his kin, to make them slaves. He is to have no grave, no burial, no mourning from anyone; it is forbidden.”(Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone page 131). The King of the time is Creon and he has forbidden the burial of the fallen warrior, even if it is family, it does not matter if its family or if the law is immoral it is still the law and Antigone is wrong for the acts she did, no matter the circumstances. But the law is idiotic and it seems to have been created in the heat of the moment. In a way you can defend either side, was Antigone right for not obeying the law and putting family first or is the law so powerful that nothing else should matter. The role of fate and free will plays a huge part in all of the plays Sophocles has written, especially in Antigone in particular and it really shows.

Throughout The Theban plays you found out more about the family. Polyneices has been exiled from the kingdom and pretty much shunned out by his family. He becomes the leader of his army as they fight in a war for power and what is even crazier is that he is fighting against his own younger brother. During this all Antigone begs Polyneices to take his army back to Argos and end this fighting, “order your army back to Argos; now, before it is too late to save yourself and our city from destruction.”(Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Oedipus at Colonus, page 114) and Polyneices defends himself and proves his point. “Am I to endure the insult of exile, and the mockery of a younger brother?”(Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Oedipus at Colonus, page 114). Polyneices has grown much respect for himself and wants to prove to himself that he can be great and that he does not deserve what has happened to him. But it is so obvious that he has so much care for his sisters and wants them to be safe. “May the gods be good to you. God knows you have deserved it.”(Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Oedipus at Colonus, page 115). For a person who is looked at so badly, he seems like a stand up guy who would do all he can to protect his family. The sad part is, his family seems to not even want to give him the chance to regain his trust back into the family, except for Antigone. She shows this when she talks to her sister Ismene about the burial of Polyneices.”Is he not my brother, and yours, weather you like it or not? I shall never desert him, never.”(Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 128).

During the time the plays were written women's rights were not so much a thing. It seemed as if their fate was decided for them. One great thing about the Sophocles plays is that you don’t see as much hate for women, it is more about family and the respect you have for one another. In the play Antigone, you see Antigone and Creon share a moment that shows that Antigone is free to speak her mind; “Why then delay? There is nothing that you can say that I should wish to hear.”(Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 138). This was during the moment that Creon’s guards had captured Antigone as she was trying to perform a proper burial on her brother Polyneices. The guards capture her and bring her to Creon where he tells her that death is what is order for the defying the laws of the king. But it is very interesting to see that Creon lets her speak. She’s not defending herself but she is just trying to explain how it is her faith to perform the burial on her brother Polyneices. King Creon lets her speak, he hears out because it is very obvious that he is letting family play a very little role in his decision to let her speak so aggressively towards him. Creon shows that his fate has already been decided and nothing can change his mind, even though many try.

King Creon decided his fate by using the law as a defense mechanism. He would make sure everyone in the land would respect him and do as he says. He made it clear that no one was allowed to perform the burial of polyneices. “He is to be left unburied, left to be eaten by dogs a vultures.” (Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 131). He decided his fate that no one would defile him. It came back to bite him in the butt when his son kills himself after finding out about Antigone’s death. “Haemon is dead, slain by his own.” (Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 157). After hearing that bad news his wife ends up taking her life as well. “She is dead, your wife, the mother of him that is dead.” (Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 161). Creon was not able to accept the fact that he was wrong. He decided his own fate and it ended up hurting him more than anything possibly could. If only he would have let his own free will get the better of him, he could have seen the truth of everything. He let his reign of power get the best of him. Family is the most powerful thing in the world and sophocles made this clear by writing that play.

Antigone is a women who is living in a time where women are looked at as property and one of the greatest things that Sophocles has done is not let the inequality of men and women affect the play. Antigone’s fate was to bury her brother in an honorable way, she promised and was going to make sure it was going to happen. She doesn't care that Creon has forbidden it. Her fate has been decided and she explains this when she talks with her sister Ismene saying “He has no right to keep me from my own.” (Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 128). A women acting that way during the time that Sophocles wrote this would be in serious trouble. Antigone sees herself as having free will to speak how she wants. She talks back to king Creon after she was caught and it is something very impressive that would not be done by someone during that time. “Even so, we have a duty to the dead.” (Sophocles, The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 140). Antigone made it her duty to give her brother a proper burial. She was living in a mind where she had free will and did not care what anyone had to say about it. It is very impressive that someone from that time such as Sophocles was able to right something that was so ahead of his time. Women were able to think for themselves and have their own fate and that is amazing to read.

Then ending was so tragic but spectacular at the same time. After Creon sees all the people he loves die before him. He sees that his fate has been destroyed. Creon noticed that free will was once attainable for him at one time but not anymore, his family is gone and the people that meant the most to him are gone. The chorus stands by the law with Creon and you can tell he is annoyed by it and knows that he was wrong. “My last hour of fairest, my only happiness come soon. Let me not see another day. Away” (Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, Page 161). He wanted to die, all of his happiness was gone. He let power control his fate, you can tell he saw his free will as the way he ran everyone and the laws he made. Being wrong is something that can bring a man to his knees. Sophocles showed Creon as a weak leader who had no care for anyone else and used his power to control his fate. Antigone is the type of character many people wish they could be. We want the sense of care and free will that she has. She spoke for herself and showed that equality and immoral laws cannot change the way you feel. For Sophocles to write that during the time he wrote it is just amazing.

In conclusion, Sophocles created the fates for both Creon and Antigone and all the rest of the characters. But the great thing about it is that as a reader we are able to perceive what we think each characters fate is. Antigone was a character that was so driven on the power of family, in some way it was her fate to die and be with her brother. Her brother made a statement before his death when Antigone is begging him to turn around and not fight “That must be as fate decides, may the gods be good to you.” (Sophocles; The Theban Plays, Antigone, page 115) but the gods were not able to watch over Antigone. Creon saw his own fate as a way to become more powerful and be seen as a strong leader. He let his family die and that turned out to be his fate the whole time. Sophocles created one of the greatest plays of all time, where every character had the right to speak how they felt and do as they please. During that time it is amazing that he was able to create this amazing plays and keep the reader wondering for days. You can try and create your own fate but sadly everyone's fate is already decided for them.