FREE ESSAY ON ANTIGONE

ANTIGONE

Antigone
In Ancient Greece, life was full of complicated questions centered around the expanding
field of science. Freedom of religion was encouraged to be exercised in the city-states
and man was focused on more than the Gods or heavenly concerns. As a result many new
ideals and beliefs surfaced. These new ideals and beliefs, though good in intentions,
often conflicted with one another and created complex moral dilemmas. Such was the case
in Sophocles play Antigone that was written in this era. In the play, Antigone and Creon
battle a philosophical war concerning their ideals. They both base there actions on what
they believe is right and wrong. The conflict arose when their ideals that backed up
their actions on the burial of Polyneices clashed, creating a contradiction between
morals. 
Antigone's side of the conflict held a much more divine approach, as opposed to the
mundane path Creon chose to travel. Antigone feels that Creon is disregarding the laws of
the heavens by ordering it unlawful for anyone to provide a proper burial for her brother
Polyneices. Antigone's opinion is one that supports the Gods and the laws of the heavens.
Her reasoning is set by her belief that if someone were not given a proper burial, that
person would not be accepted into heaven. Antigone was a very religious person and the
acceptance of her brother by the Gods was very important to her. Creons order was
personal to Antigone and his edict invaded her family life as well as the Gods. An
important ideal in Ancient Greece was the belief that the government was to have no
control in matters concerning religious beliefs. In 
Antigone's eyes, Creon betrayed that ideal by not allowing her to properly bury her
brother, Polyneices. She believed that the burial was a religious ceremony, and Creon did
not have the power to deny Polyneices that right. Antigone's strong beliefs eventually
led her to death by the hand of Creon. 
Creon's actions are guided by the ideal that man is the measure of all things. Creon
believes that the good of man comes before the Gods. An example of Creons belief was the
unburied body of Polyneices. Creon doesn't want to give honor to a man who attempted to
invade and conquer his city. He denies burial for Polyneices to show respect for Thebes.
From this standpoint, Creons decisions for denying burial for Polyneices are completely
just and supports the ideals. Creon's reasoning's coincide with the Greek ideals except
for two that strongly contradicts his actions. The first is that Creon exercises complete
domination of political power. He defies this ideal by holding Antigone as his prisoner
and not the publics. The people of Thebes supported Antigone but were too scared to do
anything about it. Creon found out about this through his son Haemon. The second is
freedom of religion. By denying Antigone to perform burial ceremonies for Polyneices, he
is denying Antigone the ideal that supports freedom of religion.
The contradictions between the beliefs of Antigone and Creon are strong throughout the
play. Neither of their arguments dominates the other even though they are both right and
wrong at the same time. Antigone is following divine law while Creon is trying to protect
the integrity of the city-state. In the end, Creon was convinced to set Antigone free
after he weighed the factors and debated the ideals. But it was too late. The
contradiction of ideals was the cause of Antigone's, Haemons, and Megareus death. Both
sides were just and all beliefs were supported. The downfall is that Creon had to decide
the unanswerable, and determine right from wrong when there was no clear answer.