Antigone | Reading Pointers for sharper Insights

Reading Pointers for sharper Insights

As you read Antigone, be aware of the following:

  1. The conflict between civic responsibility and personal duty:

    • Creon focuses exclusively on civic responsibility. He believes that a citizen's commitment to his city comes before all else; as ruler, his duty to the city is especially sacred. He says,

      …my country is
      safety itself, and only when she is upright
      can our sailing find friends. With laws like these
      I will make our city grow.

      In the interest of Thebes, therefore, he declares that Eteocles will be buried, while Polynices will be left unburied:

    • Antigone ignores civic responsibility and thinks only of the obligations to family sanctioned by traditional religion. She sees her duty to Polynices as a requirement of the gods. She breaks Creon's rule in the name of divine law, and even anticipates gaining the reputation of a “holy outlaw”:

      …could my fame be more gloriously
      established than by placing my brother
      in a tomb?

  2. The difficulty of resolving this conflict:

    • Neither Creon nor Antigone is the hero of this play; both are inflexible, and both cause suffering by their stubbornness. Both, however, are noble characters driven by principle towards goals the Greek audience would recognize as morally good.

    • Moreover, the character who advises compromise, Ismene, is no more heroic; in fact, she seems weak in comparison to her sister.

      How does the conflict between two good characters with reasonable explanations for their actions make the plot more complicated than a play with a clear hero and villain?

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