Antigone

What is the context and how did that influence the work?

Antigone is a tragic play written by Sophocles in 441 BC and is the third of the three Theban plays written by him. However, Sophocles actually wrote Antigone first rather than doing it in a chronological order. The title of the play is named after the main character in the play Antigone who is the daughter of Oedipus, the famous king of Thebes who accidentally fulfilled his destiny, which was to kill his father and marry his mother. In the play, Antigone is condemned to die after giving one of her brothers proper burial rights even though it was forbidden by her uncle, Creon, the new king of Thebes. Creon condemning Antigone led to the death of his niece (Antigone), his son (Haemon who was in love with Antigone and about to marry her), and his wife, who was heart-broken by her son’s death. When he realizes what his actions and decision had caused, Creon is heart-broken and realizes his faults, feeling the pity for himself and he became overridden by the guilt. He also realized that his actions were against the laws made by the gods, and now knows that his actions had specific consequences chosen by the gods. 

What is the artist communicating and how? 

Although there are many themes within Antigone the two major themes depicted in the play are the differences between Man Made Law and Divine Law and Fate and Free Will. The play is centered on Creon making a law that forbids the burial of one of Antigone’s brother because he had committed treason to the state. Antigone, out of love and respect for her brother, refused to obey that law and buried him in the darkness of the night. She believes that under the law and watching eyes of the gods, she has the right to bury her brother and her brother has the right to be buried. Not burying her brother would cause severe consequences to the city of Thebes and she refused to obey a man-made law when the divine law held much more importance and authority. Creon, angered and betrayed, condemned Antigone to death for not obeying his law but by the end of the play realizes his mistake of not following divine law. The other theme, Fate versus Free Will, is shown multiple times throughout the play. Antigone had the free will and determination to bury her brother based on divine law and refused to let anyone hinder her free will. Creon’s fate, based on his terrible actions and decisions, was that he would be left all alone to dwell on his mistakes and mourn the deaths of his niece, son, and wife because of only him. 

Why do you find it beautiful? 

Antigone is one of my favorite plays. I had just read it this year for my AP English Literature course and I fell in love with all the themes involved and the overall meaning and point in the play. The themes of the play are so evident and similar to the problems that we still have society that it is so easy to relate to it. My favorite character, surprisingly, was Haemon because even though he loved his father with a passion and would do anything for him, he saw the evil behind his father’s actions and refused to go through with it. His love for Antigone was so much stronger and he felt that he should stick up for her so he was willing to take his own life, in front of his father’s eyes, just to prove him wrong. By doing this, Creon saw his own evil and mistakes. It’s a beautiful tragedy that makes you think about your own mistakes and about the laws that we have ourselves and how different they are from the divine laws that are placed on us. We also see a lack of leadership by the female characters and Antigone seems to overcome the usual “men are better than women” rule that most ancient societies had. This is another problem in our society that is shown in such an ancient play and that we still haven’t fixed.