God V Man In Antigone Essay Research

God V. Man In Antigone Essay, Research Paper

Choragos: There is no happiness where there is no wisdom;

No wisdom but in submission to the gods.

Big words are always punished,

And proud men in old age learn to be wise. (158)

Throughout Sophocles drama, Antigone, there are many themes that can be traced. One of the most predominant themes is god versus man, which appears not only in Antigone, but also in many of the classic Greek tragedies written in Sophocles time. This quotation above serves as the moral for this tragedy, which includes an illustration of the theme as it was applied to the play. In the drama, Antigone, the theme of the inner struggle between allegiance to human law versus divine law can best be seen through Antigone s reverence for the gods in relation to her actions, Kreon s realization of the effects of his selfish pride, and the people of Thebes observations about Kreon s decisions.

Antigone has the most direct struggles with human law and a higher law in the drama, for it is the application of this theme that decides her fate. Faced with the decision to defy the King and properly bury her brother, Polyneices, or leave his body unprepared for death as Kreon wished, she chose to obey the wishes of the gods and bury him. At the time of the drama, the Greeks believed that a decent burial was essential for the soul to be at rest. Kreon accused Polyneices of fighting against his own country and forbade all citizens of Thebes to prepare his body. Instead, it was left to decay on the field on which he was killed. When Antigone first hears this news, she immediately reacts by telling her sister, Ismene, that she wants Polyneices soul to be at rest, and therefore is going to bury him on the field. Fearing Kreon s reaction, Ismene declines the offer to help her sister, and Antigone goes on without her. She justifies her blatant disregard for the King s law by commenting,

Antigone: But I will bury him; and if I must die,

I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down

With him in death, and I shall be as dear

To him as he to me.

It is the dead,

Not the living, who make the longest demands:

We die for ever (140).

Antigone feels that her crime is a display of respect for her dead brother, and her intentions were, in no way, criminal. Antigone s love for her brother and her reverence for the gods’ wishes help her to overcome her fear of punishment for her actions. She makes the final decision to go through with the preparation of her brother s body and his burial after coming to terms with her religious beliefs and their prevalence over Kreon s demands. A sentry catches her in the process of covering her brother s body with dirt, and brings her before Kreon. Antigone openly admits to her actions, as seen in the following passage:

Kreon: And yet you dared defy the law.

Antigone: It was not God s proclamation. That final Justice

That rules the world below makes no such laws.

Your edict, King, was strong,

But all your strength is weakness itself against

The immortal unrecorded laws of God.

They are not merely now: they were, and shall be,

Operative for ever, beyond man utterly. (146)

Antigone argues with Kreon that even though she may respect his decree, she cannot go against the law of the gods, for they are the true rulers of the land and its people, and they will outlast any law that mortal man could conjure up. Her faithfulness is obviously with the rule of a higher power, which Kreon does not approve of. Kreon sentences her to death by locking her in a stone vault and leaving her to fend for herself. She makes one final plea to the people of Thebes in defense of her actions before leaving the presence of the King . . .

Antigone: Thebes, and you my fathers gods,

And rulers of Thebes, you see me now, the last

Unhappy daughter of a line of kings,

Your kings, led away to death. You will remember

What things I suffer, and at what men s hands,

Because I would not transgress the laws of heaven. (153)

Before the guards take Antigone away, she makes a point of telling everyone that she buried her brother, not to disobey Kreon s orders, but instead to be loyal to the gods and tradition. She is almost asking the people how they can watch the King condemn her for being respectful to her brother and not feel badly about it. Antigone applies the theme of the conflict between divine law versus human law by taking responsibility for her opinions and actions, despite their negative consequences.

Throughout the drama, Kreon is also greatly effected by the struggles that he has between his pride and divine law, and their effect on his rule over Thebes. As the play begins, he is very selfish in his reign, looking to no other source, other than his own ego, to aid him in making the right choices for the people of Thebes. His earliest ideology can best be understood by looking at a conversation that he has with his son, Haimon, who is trying to convince him that he is not right all of the time, and needs external influences to help him make decisions:

Kreon: My voice is the one voice giving orders in this city!

Haimon: It is no City if it takes orders from one voice.

Kreon:

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