preview

Antigone Disobeying Creon Analysis

Decent Essays

FAITH VS. CIVIC DUTY: WHICH COMES FIRST?
What if both of your brothers had killed one another? In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, the hero of the story, Antigone, was in this very situation. After one of her brothers, Eteocles, had killed her other brother, Polyneices, Antigone was enraged to learn that the new King, her uncle Creon, had forbidden Polyneices from receiving the proper burial rights as punishment for leading an army against his own country. Additionally, he was giving the traitor Eteocles a proper burial. Antigone decided her brother would not be disrespected in this manner and buried him in secret one night. Creon was furious upon finding he’d been disobeyed, and he knew at once who was responsible. Some say that Antigone should have disobeyed Creon’s edict because she was sticking by her principles and following Greek tradition. However, Antigone should not have disobeyed Creon’s edict because when one is deciding whether to follow one’s principles or whether to follow the law, as in all situations, one must weigh the benefits of doing either. The benefits of obeying Creon outweighed the benefits of disobeying Creon because burying her brother wasn’t the best course of action to give Creon his just deserts, Antigone endangered her own life, and she inadvertently caused the death of several other people.
Eteocles and Polyneices had originally agreed to share the position of King, but when the time came for Polyneices’ turn to rule, Eteocles refused to give up

Get Access