Antigone 1003ces and Eteocles, both seek the throne, which results
in a war between them. There are different versions
of the story behind this. One holds that Polyneices
and Eteocles agreed to share the kingship, ruling by
turns, and that Eteocles ruled first, then refused to
hand over power when it was time for Polyneices
to rule. The other version is simpler, holding only
that, seeing an opportunity, Eteocles seized power
and banished Polyneices from Thebes. From the
start, then, the play is troubling as Polyneices was
the eldest of the two and, according to the laws
of primogeniture, would have been first in line for
the inheritance. In any case, what follows next is
not open to debate: Polyneices raises an army of
conquest and attempts to overthrow Eteocles and
Thebes.
Both Polyneices and Eteocles are killed in the
ensuing battle, creating a power vacuum that is
filled by their uncle, Creon. In an attempt to restore
order as well as denounce Polyneices’ treachery in
the strongest terms, Creon orders that Eteocles be
buried with full honors, while Polyneices is to be
left outside the city: “. . . none shall entomb him or
mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome
store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at
will.” Horrified that without the proper burial rites
he will be unable to enter the underworld, Antigone,
sister to both Polyneices and Eteocles, slips out of
the city at night and casts a handful of dust over
the body as a ritual burial, even though she knows
that doing so constitutes a breach of Creon’s decree
that is punishable by death. When this is discovered,
Creon erupts in anger and threatens the guard who
brings him the news with torture and death if he
does not find out who has broken the prohibition.
Already, we see that Creon has in him the capac-
ity for the abuse of power, and this, along with his
increasing insistence that his will is more important
than either the needs of the polis or its laws, is one of
the reasons that readers of the play have sometimes
seen Antigone as an exploration of the problems that
occur when an individual’s conscience is at odds
with the demands of the state.
To the modern, democratic audience, the gravity
of Creon’s decree, as well as his attitude regard-
ing power and the attendant horror this evokes in
almost everyone, but particularly in Antigone and
Ismene, is as confusing as the revolt of Antigone
against what she sees as an abuse of power and an
affront to the gods is laudable. It is important to
remember, though, that to the ancient Greeks, the
polis was ruled by a divinely appointed king, and to
go against the laws of the city-state was in itself an
act of defiance against the will of the gods.
It is discovered that Antigone is the one who has
“buried” the corpse of Polyneices, not once but twice,
and she is brought before Creon. In the ensuing
exchange, Antigone insists that the natural, divine
law trumps the laws of man and that to refuse burial
for anyone, including the enemies of the polis, is
in direct conflict with the gods’ ordinances. Creon
insists that an enemy of the polis is an enemy for all
time, even in death, and that as such, his decree is
not only legitimate but must and will be enforced.
It is important to note that Antigone never con-
dones the actions of Polyneices and does not seek
to vindicate them, nor is she driven by revenge or
a desire to disobey Creon per se. To her mind, she
is not disobeying the king of Thebes; rather, she is
obeying the gods in general, and Hades—the ruler
of the underworld—in particular. Creon condemns
Antigone and Ismene—who refused to help with
the burial and is thus innocent—to death.
Antigone’s refusal to bend, even when faced with
imminent death, is often read as a heroic vindication
of the rights of the individual in the face of tyranny.
This interpretation is bolstered by the increasingly
heavy-handed behavior of Creon, who will listen to
no one who supports Antigone, which results in her
death as well as the deaths of two other members of
his family.
Grant SiskJuStIce in Antigone
Antigone explores many important themes, one of
which is the concept of justice. The question of
justice is touched on from the very outset of the play
as Antigone seeks to enlist the aid of Ismene to help
her bury their brother Polyneices, who has fallen in
battle against Eteocles and the Theban army. As she
will do throughout the play, Ismene seeks to dis-
suade Antigone from her defiance of Creon’s edict.
One of the arguments she mounts is that as they are
women, they must defer to men because men are