AntigoneLong Essay
...o death rites are due the enemy, Antigone questions: “Which of us can say what the gods hold wicked?”(Pg 85), asserting, “There are honours due all the dead.”(Pg 85) In her most revealing self-assertion, Antigone declares: “It is my nature to join in love, not hate”(Pg 86). This battle of wills happens for no other reason than their beliefs in what they think is right or wrong that god has more power than the state and vice versa. Therefore in their own way they are both right. Antigone believes whole-heartedly that what she has done is right and that the gods in heaven will honour her, therefore she is not afraid of dieing which is the punishment she is given. In one way she is right to believe that what she has done is the proper thing to do. All she wanted was to bury her brother whom she grew up with and loved because he was her brother. She wanted to make it possible for him to have a chance to go to heaven, even if he what he did was wrong. She wants to feel that she did all she could too help him, even if it means disobeying the law. Although by not thinking ahead and planning she rashly decided to kill herself moments before Creon was coming to free her it is this action that makes her slightly to blame. Creon as the king is the one in power it is his job to lay down the laws and make sure that they are all abided by and if they are not then the appropriate action must be taken. Creon blinded by his new power as king makes the despicable decree that Polynices body must not be buried. It is this decree that sets off he tragedy. Creon although stupid as he was, was only doing his job. Moreover if he had retracted the decree it would have made him seem a very weak king and he would therefore have no respect. So put in a difficult position by Antigone he can do the only thing that one in his place can, and that is, do his job. It is his stubbornness that makes him not see that this option although the best for him is not the best and even though at the end he tries to stop what he has started it is too late and the effects of it have already occurred. It is not just the difference in their beliefs, but also pride and arrogance that makes it impossible for either to back down. Pride and its effects are a central part of Antigone. It is a common trait to many characters in Greek tragedies and this is no exception in Antigone. It is a trait despised by the gods, who bring suffering to the proud, but to the Greek mind pride is also an inextricable part of greatness. Both Antigone and Creon are incredibly proud, making it impossible for either one of them to back down once they have taken a stand. Creon’s pride makes him a great leader and makes him able to make decisions quickly if they are necessary but also makes him unable to give in if he realises a decision is wrong. If Creon had backed down and let Antigone bury her brother then the city would be out of his control, as he would be seen as a weak and inadequate leader and he would lose his power over them. He cannot bear to be defied, any more than he can bear to watch the laws of the state defied. He has Polynices' body defiled while Eteocles is honoured because he feels that he cannot give equal to share to both brothers when one was a traitor and the other was loyal. “Then how can you render his enemy such honours, such impieties in his eyes?”(Pg 85) He does not recognize that other forms of justice exist, and in his pride he condemns Antigone, defies the gods, and brings ruin on himself in the form of the death of his wife and son. He does not see how pride has blinded him even when Tiresias says “Stubbornness brands you for stupidity - Pride is a crime”. Antigone and Creon are both extremely proud people, and part of Antigone's pride is her unwillingness to yield to the laws of man. In her case, pride is an affront to the state rather than an affront to divine law. It is this pride, which also doesn’t allow her to back down from what she believes in, and makes her stick to he belief that Polynices should be given a proper burial. She believed that if she did not do what she did she would feel the wrath of the gods. “Nor did I think your edict had such force that...