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| Introduction to English Literature(2020-1) |
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The Will of Gods(Antigone) vs the Law of the State(Creon) Antigone and Creon thus represent the two sides that may be taken toward any issue of great importance. Antigone defends the will of the gods, emphasizing the bond that she has to her family more than that which she has toward the state. Creon defends the need for law and order in a community, viewing civil law as more important than the will of the individual. While these two points of view come into conflict in the Antigone, Sophocles does not regard them both as equally correct. Every character in the play, including the chorus and even Creon himself in the end, declares that Antigone was right and that Creon was wrong. Yet the justice of Antigone’s cause is not sufficient to save her. Many characters in Sophoclean tragedy suffer, not despite being right, but because they were right. The Antigone illustrates, therefore, that there is a price to be paid for heroic inflexibility. It is unthinkable that Antigone, as Sophocles has drawn the character, would choose compromise rather than death. Her destruction follows inevitably from her unswerving devotion to the cause in which she believes. Nevertheless, it is one of the ironies of the Antigone that Creon also suffers because of his inflexibility and confidence. The very quality that made Antigone seem admirable makes Creon seem stubborn and petty. In the end, their fates are determined less by the nature of the cause that they defend than by the manner in which they defend it. Respect for Death A modern audience may find some aspects of Antigone’s tragic conclusion baffling, given that nearly every main character dies for reasons that could seem foolish today. But death, and particularly ensuring that death—as a concept and as a deity—receives the respect that it deserves, is one of Sophocles’s major concerns. The inciting incident of the play occurs when Polyneices is denied his right of burial, which Teiresias describes as akin to Creon “killing the dead twice over” (line 1140). Leaving Polyneices unburied is a punishment intended to harm him beyond the grave, ensuring that he will never be able to reach the afterlife in peace, and this disturbs the way in which death is naturally organized in ancient Greek society and religion. This injustice, not death itself, is the crime that Antigone is willing to die herself to rectify. In the case of Antigone, some of her earliest lines with her sister Ismene concern the grief their family has suffered. Antigone’s life proves no different from those of her forebears. But Antigone’s role as a “lover of death” is not just simple morbidity. For the ancient Greeks, death is a proud force that is not to be reviled, but rather to be respected. Given the inevitability of death—the extent to which Antigone and everyone else is fated to die—it might make more sense to conceive of death as a necessary rite of passage. For Antigone in particular, death offers the only opportunity for her to be among those she loved. It is not the case that Antigone desires death, however. When she is led to the tomb in which she takes her own life, she reveals her fear of death and admits that she does not want to die. It is not a desire for death that leads Antigone to action: it is a respect for death as a natural and good progression for all living things. Because of her respect, there is a sense in which Antigone’s death serves as a reward for the suffering she endured in life. Creon, on the other hand, disrespects death by attempting to usurp its power for his own. His punishment ultimately involves all of his loved ones coming together in death, leaving him alone and miserable. As the chorus reminds him that he will have to wait for his time to die, there is a clear sense in which Creon’s continuing life is actually a punishment far worse than death. In this way, Sophocles shows death as something decidedly solemn, yet not entirely unwelcome. Gender Roles Antigone, as a character, can be something of a paradox, in that she is both powerless and powerful. As a woman, she holds no political power, which Ismene reminds her about when they speak together early in the play. And yet, Sophocles does not depict powerless women. Indeed, even Ismene’s reminder—“Remember we are women, / we’re not born to contend with men” (lines 74–75)—is almost self-contradictory. Her broader role within mythology as well as within the Oedipus trilogy helps the audience to understand that even Ismene herself likely doesn’t believe the content of this line to be true. It may be helpful, therefore, to draw a distinction between political gender roles in ancient Greek society, on the one hand, and socioreligious gender roles on the other. It is true that Antigone, and women in general, have very little political power within a city-state such as Thebes. Despite being Oedipus’s direct offspring, neither Antigone or Ismene inherit the throne of Thebes; instead, it goes to Creon, Oedipus’s brother in law, simply because he is a man. However, as is clear from the conclusion of the play, political power is not the only form of power. The ability to create and sustain bloodlines is one directly endowed to women, as is the duty to provide for the rights of dead relatives. Sophocles reminds the audience of this distinction in traditional gender roles in order to show the specific religious realm in which Antigone has power and Creon does not. Creon is in control of his realm, and Antigone is in control of hers. Even despite her lack of political power, Antigone’s ferocity of will proves more effective than that of the king himself. Indeed, Antigone effects change and causes Polyneices to be buried. She rises up in the hearts and minds of Thebes as a pious heroine. Creon, on the other hand, does not issue any effective orders, at least in the ways he intends. Among Creon’s character traits is also a recurring misogyny, a hatred for women that even an ancient Greek audience would find peculiar. He consistently blames those he opposes for being womanlike and asserts that women are forces of anarchy (line 751). He is categorically unwilling to yield to a woman’s will, as to do so would be, in his mind, emasculating. The irony of this sentiment, within Sophocles’s construction, is that the audience knows that Creon is the one who is being anarchistic and irrational—the very things he believes make women hateful—and that yielding to the will of women is precisely what he will eventually do. As such, even as Sophocles shows women within gender roles that are honest to his time and context, the women of Antigone are not powerless and do not restrict themselves to traditional roles. Instead, Antigone embraces her power as divinely ordained, and she uses it skillfully and effectively. In the end, Antigone sees Polyneices buried, and the only hand that causes her death is her own. |
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The Will of Gods(Antigone) vs the Law of the State(Creon) Antigone and Creon thus represent the two sides that may be taken toward any issue of great importance. Antigone defends the will of the gods, emphasizing the bond that she has to her family more than that which she has toward the state. Creon defends the need for law and order in a community, viewing civil law as more important than the will of the individual. While these two points of view come into conflict in the Antigone, Sophocles does not regard them both as equally correct. Every character in the play, including the chorus and even Creon himself in the end, declares that Antigone was right and that Creon was wrong. Yet the justice of Antigone’s cause is not sufficient to save her. Many characters in Sophoclean tragedy suffer, not despite being right, but because they were right. The Antigone illustrates, therefore, that there is a price to be paid for heroic inflexibility. It is unthinkable that Antigone, as Sophocles has drawn the character, would choose compromise rather than death. Her destruction follows inevitably from her unswerving devotion to the cause in which she believes. Nevertheless, it is one of the ironies of the Antigone that Creon also suffers because of his inflexibility and confidence. The very quality that made Antigone seem admirable makes Creon seem stubborn and petty. In the end, their fates are determined less by the nature of the cause that they defend than by the manner in which they defend it. Respect for Death A modern audience may find some aspects of Antigone’s tragic conclusion baffling, given that nearly every main character dies for reasons that could seem foolish today. But death, and particularly ensuring that death—as a concept and as a deity—receives the respect that it deserves, is one of Sophocles’s major concerns. The inciting incident of the play occurs when Polyneices is denied his right of burial, which Teiresias describes as akin to Creon “killing the dead twice over” (line 1140). Leaving Polyneices unburied is a punishment intended to harm him beyond the grave, ensuring that he will never be able to reach the afterlife in peace, and this disturbs the way in which death is naturally organized in ancient Greek society and religion. This injustice, not death itself, is the crime that Antigone is willing to die herself to rectify. In the case of Antigone, some of her earliest lines with her sister Ismene concern the grief their family has suffered. Antigone’s life proves no different from those of her forebears. But Antigone’s role as a “lover of death” is not just simple morbidity. For the ancient Greeks, death is a proud force that is not to be reviled, but rather to be respected. Given the inevitability of death—the extent to which Antigone and everyone else is fated to die—it might make more sense to conceive of death as a necessary rite of passage. For Antigone in particular, death offers the only opportunity for her to be among those she loved. It is not the case that Antigone desires death, however. When she is led to the tomb in which she takes her own life, she reveals her fear of death and admits that she does not want to die. It is not a desire for death that leads Antigone to action: it is a respect for death as a natural and good progression for all living things. Because of her respect, there is a sense in which Antigone’s death serves as a reward for the suffering she endured in life. Creon, on the other hand, disrespects death by attempting to usurp its power for his own. His punishment ultimately involves all of his loved ones coming together in death, leaving him alone and miserable. As the chorus reminds him that he will have to wait for his time to die, there is a clear sense in which Creon’s continuing life is actually a punishment far worse than death. In this way, Sophocles shows death as something decidedly solemn, yet not entirely unwelcome. Gender Roles Antigone, as a character, can be something of a paradox, in that she is both powerless and powerful. As a woman, she holds no political power, which Ismene reminds her about when they speak together early in the play. And yet, Sophocles does not depict powerless women. Indeed, even Ismene’s reminder—“Remember we are women, / we’re not born to contend with men” (lines 74–75)—is almost self-contradictory. Her broader role within mythology as well as within the Oedipus trilogy helps the audience to understand that even Ismene herself likely doesn’t believe the content of this line to be true. It may be helpful, therefore, to draw a distinction between political gender roles in ancient Greek society, on the one hand, and socioreligious gender roles on the other. It is true that Antigone, and women in general, have very little political power within a city-state such as Thebes. Despite being Oedipus’s direct offspring, neither Antigone or Ismene inherit the throne of Thebes; instead, it goes to Creon, Oedipus’s brother in law, simply because he is a man. However, as is clear from the conclusion of the play, political power is not the only form of power. The ability to create and sustain bloodlines is one directly endowed to women, as is the duty to provide for the rights of dead relatives. Sophocles reminds the audience of this distinction in traditional gender roles in order to show the specific religious realm in which Antigone has power and Creon does not. Creon is in control of his realm, and Antigone is in control of hers. Even despite her lack of political power, Antigone’s ferocity of will proves more effective than that of the king himself. Indeed, Antigone effects change and causes Polyneices to be buried. She rises up in the hearts and minds of Thebes as a pious heroine. Creon, on the other hand, does not issue any effective orders, at least in the ways he intends. Among Creon’s character traits is also a recurring misogyny, a hatred for women that even an ancient Greek audience would find peculiar. He consistently blames those he opposes for being womanlike and asserts that women are forces of anarchy (line 751). He is categorically unwilling to yield to a woman’s will, as to do so would be, in his mind, emasculating. The irony of this sentiment, within Sophocles’s construction, is that the audience knows that Creon is the one who is being anarchistic and irrational—the very things he believes make women hateful—and that yielding to the will of women is precisely what he will eventually do. As such, even as Sophocles shows women within gender roles that are honest to his time and context, the women of Antigone are not powerless and do not restrict themselves to traditional roles. Instead, Antigone embraces her power as divinely ordained, and she uses it skillfully and effectively. In the end, Antigone sees Polyneices buried, and the only hand that causes her death is her own.
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