the population of Thebes. He is also a prideful individual who is rigid and unsympathetic toAntigone's situation. He harshly criticizes Antigone for her treacherous act and even dismisses his son after he begs for Antigone's release. Creon demonstrates his absolute rule by saying, "My voice is the one voice giving orders in this City!" (Sophocles, 3.596). Creon also accuses Tiresias of being paid to upset him and blasphemes the gods before recanting his original decree.

Some scholars believe that Sophocles wrote this play as a warning about absolute power. The character of Creon could represent any modern tyrant or person with absolute authority in their given situation. Despite being challenged by his subordinates, Creon refuses to listen to them or exercise his judgment. He refuses to view the situation from various perspectives and stubbornly follows his own unpopular decision. The message throughout the play encourages individuals with authority to exercise good judgment and listen to opposing arguments before making absolute decisions. The play also encourages authority figures to not rely on their own intellect when making difficult decisions.

One of the key themes in this masterful tragedy is captured in the very difficult position that Antigone finds herself in. She has to choose between obeying the law of the land, identified in Creon and what he orders her to do in not burying the body of her brother, and obeying the law of the gods, which says that her brother should be buried as custom dictates. This dilemma is captured through the two opposing positions of Antigone and Ismene as the play opens. For example, Ismene says that she is forced to "obey / the ones who stand in power," whereas Antigone argues the opposite, as she says to her sister in the following quote:

Do as you like, dishonour the laws

the gods hold in honour.

For Ismene, she believes that humans who are not in power are "ruled by much stronger hands" and therefore they should submit to this rule. Antigone argues forcibly that human power is nothing to the laws and decrees of the gods, and that to be human we have to obey our conscience. It is impossible for her to "dishonour the laws" that are held in such high esteem by the gods. Antigone therefore makes reference to a higher system of order and belief than mere mortal power, and shows her loyalty towards those values.

The modern day significance of this dilemma is clear. Should humans who are placed in governments or countries where the law goes against higher human values and conscience obey their rules or obey their heart? For example, for Germans under the Third Reich, should they have conspired with the Nazis in the Holocaust, or should they have helped to hide Jews? Was Thoreau right to refuse to pay taxes that went to support a war against Mexico that he completely disagreed with? There are many situations that capture this dilemma in our modern age.

The theme of a literary work is its central message—the idea an author wants to convey about a particular subject. Many literary works have more than one theme, and this is certainly the case with Antigone. Here are two themes that are portrayed in the play; the one that resonates with you best is the one you’ll most easily describe as the "main" theme.

One angle you can consider is whether it is more important to follow the gods’ laws or man’s laws. Creon makes a law that directly contradicts the gods’ law to bury the dead; Antigone’s decision to bury Polyneices incites the primary conflict in the play. By the end of the play, Antigone is dead and Creon is bereft, so at first glance it may not be clear whom Sophocles favors. However, before Creon loses his family, Antigone says, "but if the guilt lies upon Creon who judge me, then, I pray, may his punishment equal my own." And indeed, his punishment is twice her own, two deaths, two family members lost. Thus, Sophocles suggests that Antigone is in the right and that the gods favor those who follow their laws in the face of adversity.

Closely related, but nevertheless distinct, is the theme of tension between individual morality and the demands of society/the state. Antigone follows her own individual morals rather than the laws of the society in which she lives. Creon, the leader of that society, suffers no societal punishment for his wrongdoing—he remains king when the play has finished. And yet Antigone dies at peace with her actions, while Creon lives on in despair. This suggests that Sophocles’ message was the importance of living up to one’s own standards, even if the laws of the land disagree.

Both of these two themes are relevant to modern audiences. In the United States, there have been many protests of unjust laws throughout history, such as during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and people continue today to protest laws they believe are immoral or unjust. The works of Martin Luther King Jr. are an excellent source of material on believing in divinity as a guiding light in the face of unjust human law. As for individual morality versus societal decree, you can look to today’s sanctuary cities, where local authorities believe the moral and practical good of protecting undocumented immigrants outweighs national laws barring their residence.