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Relationship Between Creon And Antigone

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The conflict between allegiance to the ruler and faithfulness to family honor and the gods is a distressing problem for Creon and Antigone. They each express and are committed to extreme opposite views on where loyalties should be placed. Creon’s strict definition of citizenship calls for the ruler to come first, a commitment to the city’s laws that causes him to believe that Polyneices forfeits burial rights because he attacked the city. Antigone, however, is devoted to the gods and family above obedience to the ruler and believes loyalties to both gods and family outweigh loyalty to the city, and so disobeys Creon and buries her brother. It is the responsibility of all citizens to figure out whether Antigone is guilty or not guilty of the …show more content…

Antigone was willing to follow man’s laws if both of her brothers had not died; she promised she would not do anything to against Creon or the city law. However, after Polyneices and Eteocles killed each other she could not accept the law, established by Creon, which stated that Eteocles would get a proper burial, but Polyneices would be denied one. Antigone testified that this law was totally against the will of the gods. The gods say that if a person is not buried, his soul will wander the earth forever. By burying Polyneices, she believed that the gods do not dictate through a ruler, but rather through individual beliefs; therefore, she could not just sit back and be unconcerned about the improper burial. By committing the act of burying her brother, she believed that a woman's duty was not to the men who rule a domain, but rather to her own instincts and her own sense of right and wrong. It was Antigone’s responsibility to fully respect her brother and the gods, and, thus, she is not …show more content…

Ismene was afraid of Creon, thus, acted more carefully than Antigone as a form of self-preservation. Following the typical role of Greek women, Ismene’s nature was to obey men. She believed the men who rule Thebes must not be disobeyed because men are stronger and their will must be respected. This was clear when she stated in court, “Our own death would be if we should go against Creon. And do what he has forbidden! We are only women, We cannot fight with men, Antigone!” (line 45). However, Ismene’s obedience did not mean that Antigone’s act was wrong. For one thing, Ismene testified that it was a woman’s role to bury family members properly. Antigone should not be considered guilty if she was doing what society expected of a woman. Ismene also revealed that she warned Antigone that whoever buried Polyneices would be put to death. The fact that Antigone buried her brother anyway shows that she believed she was doing the right thing even if it meant her death. Antigone never had any regret for upholding her family’s honor and the gods’ will and was willing to die for both, and thus, she should be not

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