Antigone's Morals and Tragic Fate Essay

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Antigone is the dutiful daughter of Oedipus, whose own tragic fate was passed on to Antigone and her siblings, as Antigone points out in the very first lines of Sophocles’ Antigone, translated by Robert Fagles: “My own flesh and blood—dear sister, dear Ismene, how many griefs our father Oedipus handed down!” Yet in spite of her misfortune, Antigone is never bitter about her fate. She is committed to honoring her brother, killed in battle, by burying him properly that he might be received into the next world—the afterlife—in spite of what the tyrannical Creon has warned (i.e., that anyone who tries to bury the young man will be executed, as Creon considered the son of Oedipus to be an usurper). Polynices, Antigone’s slain brother, is forbidden proper burial: “A city-wide proclamation…forbids anyone to bury him, even mourn him. He’s left to be unwept, unburied, a lovely treasure for birds that scan the field to their heart’s content” (Sophocles). Antigone disobeys Creon’s command and buries her brother, knowing full well it will spell her doom. She does it because she wants to ensure that he is honored and given a chance to be at peace in the next world. She sacrifices her own life that his soul might find admission to the afterlife. Her actions set off a chain of reactions that end in tragedy for everyone—including Creon whose own son despairs at finding Antigone dead in her tomb. The play pits Antigone’s selfless gesture against Creon’s selfish one and shows that selfishness always leads to chaos, loss and personal tragedy.

The morals of Antigone are based on her sense of the demands of her religious system. She understands and believes in the myths she has been taught.

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Because she believes in them with her whole heart and mind, she is devoted to doing what is right according to that system, even if it conflicts with a rule or decree from an earthly authority—i.e., Creon. In her view, Creon is not above the gods and therefore cannot make laws that violate the laws of the gods. The gods demand burial of the body—and Creon’s law forbidding the burial of Polynices is unjust in this light. Even Creon’s advisors advise against making this decree because it disrespects the will of the gods and risks bringing ruin to the life of Creon himself. When Tiresias warns Creon of the error of his edect, Creon brushes him off and says that the prophet is “mad for money” and this lacks credibility and should not be believed. But of course Tiresias was right when he advised Oedipus, and he is right when he advises Creon—it is just that Creon’s pride will not allow him to be moved by common sense and this sets in motion the tragedy. In his pride, he disregards the advice and enacts the decree anyway. He wants to see Polynices despised and barred from the afterlife. He has no mercy or pity and that puts him in the same camp as the once despised Oedipus, who violated the will of the gods by….....

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