Antigone

Conflict of Values in Antigone

Contentions between Divine Law and the Civic Rule of Law

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Sophocles brings to fruition the recurring theme of the finitude of man 's knowledge and the futility of his dissent against the universal laws of the divine in the last part of the trilogy : Antigone . In the play civic law is put at odds with contrary prevailing customs and set against the belief of the eternal values held sacrosanct by the ancient Greeks . On one hand

, Creon represents the ephemeral and fallible decrees of men and on the other , Antigone , along with Teiresias and Creon 's own son Haemon , mounts a strong defense for the ineluctable laws handed down by the gods at the risk of suffering the pain of death as punishment Like the two dramatic plays that came before Antigone , the overzealousness of man in pursuing an ideal that runs against the grand scheme of nature once again brings personal destruction to those who stand in opposition even if it is done out of ignorance and good faith

At the onset the play picks up from where the trilogy has left off in Oedipus of Colonus with Antigone 's narration of the death of her two brothers Eteocles and Polyneices , and how Creon honored one , and dishonored the other (Sophocles 162 . Antigone shares to Ismene her resentment that one of her brothers remains unburied , and is presently being chewed up by the birds and dogs and violated (168 . She then reveals her plan to defy Creon 's proclamation by stealing Polyneices corpse and giving it proper burial despite warnings of a grave penalty that will be meted out if she disobeys Creon 's s . Ismene continues to dissuade Antigone and reminds her that they are only women , not meant in nature to fight against men , and that we are ruled , by those who are stronger to obedience in this and even more painful matter (163 . Antigone replies that she is bound by her religious duty to protect the interests of her brother even at death , and that the decrees Ismene tries to uphold shall have no persuasive sway against the values honored by the gods (164

Creon 's complete fixation for his civic and legal duties as the ruler of Thebes is no less powerful than Antigone 's desire to fulfill her duty as the living relative of the desecrated body of her brother . King Creon believes that his assumption of the throne provided him with every legal means to serve the interests of his kingdom . He honors the laws of earth and justice of the gods he has confirmed by oath (Sophocles 175 Creon has no other choice but to stick to the written laws for showing leniency to those who challenges his decrees in open defiance would only speak volumes against his own incompetence . Leo Aylen , in his critical juxtaposition of moral and legal values in Greek Tragedy in the Modern World , writes...