the greek theater play Antigone is the dramatic continuation of Oedipus King of Sophocles. After the tragedy that occurred in the first play, the disgrace seems to have been the legacy left by Oedipus to his four children (Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone and Ismenia). With their departure into exile, the children struggled for power and reached an agreement to take turns in charge each year. However, Eteocles, who was the first to govern, at the end of his term, did not want to give the place of power to his brother Polynices, who in revolt went to the neighboring city and rival of the great Thebes.
There, assembling an allied army, Polynices faced his brother aiming for the throne of Thebes. The conflict ended with the two killing each other, and then Uncle Creon, brother of Jocasta, wife of Oedipus, who also died in the first play, took power. Using his power, Creon established that Polynices' body would not receive the traditional honors of funerals, as he had fought against the motherland. As for his brother, Eteocles, the king ordered that such funeral honors be given. In addition, he ordered the death penalty for anyone who disobeyed his orders.
However, Antigone, sister of the heirs and protagonist of the play, understood that this procedure by Uncle Creon, now king, was arbitrary, not respecting the most ancient or divine natural laws that established that every man should have his due burial. It was an ancient belief that the rites of passage were important so that the soul would not be wandering eternally aimlessly. With this preoccupation, Antigone chose to risk death to bury her bereft brother.
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It was up to Creon's son Hemon, Antigone's fiance, to arrest and execute her in the name of state law when he learned that he had disobeyed orders and buried Polynices. In love, Hemon married Antigone in secret and eloped with her, but his father's stubbornness, Creon, it was such that he, Hemon, ended up having to serve his sentence, killing Antigone and then himself same. Creon's wife, upon learning of her son's death, also took her own life and ended the tragedy.
We must realize that the divine laws, embodied in the religious woman Antigone, were in conflict with the human laws determined by the agency of Creon. The purpose of the tragic work was precisely to combat the two extremist positions, punishing both for not seeking an agreement and wishing to prevail over the other. On Antigone's side, there was disobedience to the laws of her country. On Creon's side, there was disobedience to traditions. That was how each was punished in the end, Antigone, for her disobedience, caused the death of two more people. So she became a hero of values, but she didn't enjoy any prizes. Creon, for his ambition and his despotism, lost his son and his wife, showing that we must think about the responsibility of our actions in the world.
By João Francisco P. Cabral
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Philosophy from the Federal University of Uberlândia - UFU
Master's student in Philosophy at the State University of Campinas - UNICAMP
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
CABRAL, João Francisco Pereira. "The tragedy in the play “Antigone”, by Sophocles"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/filosofia/a-tragedia-na-peca-teatral-antigona-sofocles.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.