Published Writing Piece #1 "Antigone's Struggle"

John Stallone

Professor Bradry

English 102

17 Feb, 2023

In Socrates' play Antigone the main protagonist and tragic hero Antigone not only buries her brother after the new king Creon forbade it. But she felt she needed to make it known that she did so. This is because she feels her brother has a right to be buried to honor his memory and that Creon is wrong in not allowing it. This is where the true conflict between these two characters occurs. Creon, who wants to protect Thebes and fill the shoes of Oedipus, feels that her brother was a traitor and has lost the right to be buried. While Antigone feels that he must be buried to respect not only him but their religion as a whole.

When Antigone buries her brother and eventually gets caught by the new king Creon she states when confronted “There is nothing shameful in honoring my brother.” (Antigone 1143) This shows that a large reason for going against the law on burying her brother was to honor his memory and him as a person. And a large reason for her believing this is her religion. In many religions burying those who have died. For example in the Roman Catholic religion “bury the dead” is a Corporal work of Mercy stated in the Bible. The same can be said for even the Ancient Greek religion. That burying a body is a show of respect and honor. This can be shown in Creo edict where he wants to deny Polyneices this right “But the unhappy corpse of Polyneices he has proclaimed to all the citizens, they say, no man may hide in a grave nor mourn in funeral, but left unwept.” (Creon 1131) Showing that by allowing his burial he allows people to pay their respects to him and for his soul to be “happy.”

Secondly with this differing opinion between Antigone and Creon whether to bury Polyneices or not the main conflict of the play occurs between the two characters over the matter. And with Antigone wanting to honor her brother shown previously Creon does not want Polyneices to be buried because he feels he is a traitor to Thebes and has lost that right to have that respect. This is shown when he says “ This man who came to burn their pillared temples,their dedicated offerings… do you see the gods as honoring criminals? This is not so.” (Creon 1138) Showing he sees Polyneices as a criminal and not a person worthy of a burial. Creon also feels that he must save Thebes and fill the shoes of Oedipus who did just that. He says “ Oedipus saved our city and then when he died you remained with steadfast truth to their descendants.” Creon (1134) Showing he has respect for the king before him and wants to do what he did. In this way Creon is a lot like the historical leader Napoleon III of the Second French Empire. Who was elected to power in the Second French Republic but like his Uncle before him he crowned himself Emperor of France. And he tried to regain the Glory of Napoleon trying to expand France's dominance. But with his lack of leadership skills, over ambition, and his Hubris. The fall of the Second Empire to the Prussians was an embarrassing defeat leading him to be dethroned and humiliated in his time and history. In this way once Creon sees the death of Antigone he starts to regret what he has done and by the end of the play wants to end his own life because of all the mistakes that occurred. Showing the real conflict here was Antigone's loyalty to her religion and her brother versus Creon's own pride and misguided belief he was doing the right thing for Thebes.

In conclusion Antigone wants to not just bury her brother but she also wants to honor him. To show him the proper respect she feels he deserves because of her values within her own religion as well as within her family. Withthis caused the conflict with Creon. Who sees her brother as a traitor to Thebes and a criminal. In his mind he is doing the right thing for the kingdom even if a lot of it has to do with misguided beliefs and his own pride to back down from his own decision. Showing each person's motive for doing what they do and what drives the main conflict throught the whole play.