Antigone

As the heroine of Antigone, Oedipus’ daughter grapples with Fate on her own, not just as a child or a dutiful daughter. Her decisiveness and courage appear in contrast to Ismene’s passive timidity. In championing the laws of the god above the laws of the state, Antigone occupies the ultimate high moral ground, but she is not impervious to doubt. In Sophocles Antigone it is a story of stubbornness and conviction and a zeal for power. Upon her arrival in Thebes, Antigone learns that both of her brothers are dead. Eteocles has been given a proper burial, but Creon, Antigone's uncle who has inherited the throne, has issued a royal edict banning the burial of Polynices, who he believes was a traitor. Antigone defies the law, buries her brother, and is caught. When Creon locks her away in prison, she kills herself. Meanwhile, not realizing Antigone has taken her own life, the blind prophet Teiresias, Creon's son and Antigone's fiancé Haemon, and the Chorus plead with Creon to release her. Creon finally relents, but in an instance of too-late-timing, finds her dead in her jail cell. Out of despair, Haemon and Creon’s wife have by now also killed themselves, and Creon is left in distress and sorrow. Antigone’s speech (pg.39) is in anticipation of her approaching death by singing her own elegy and the chorus wonders if Oedipus’ sins condemned his daughter to her fate. The elders remind her sharply that her death was her own decision, sternly warning her death was her own decision, and not to compare herself with the gods, and even bring up the shame of her father’s tragic ordeal. Antigone comes to terms with the consequences of her decision, and sadness has replaces defiance. Like her father, Antigone brings her own demise. Antigone here seems to go against her earlier claim that all the dead must be treated equally. Her shift suggests that Antigone may be softening, giving Creon an opportunity to show mercy. A very evident theme throughout