How Does Antigone Show Loyalty Lie

In Antigone written by Sophocles and translated by David R. Slavitt, Antigone decides to risk her own life to be able to bury her brother in a respectful way in which she thinks is right. Antigone had an enthusiastic determination about it, approached it without regret, and also choose her destiny and her sisters. Her father’s fate was a big affect on if she was going to precede with burying her brother or to no give him the respect like the rest of the surrounding community. Even though Antigone risked her whole life and her entire future she made the right decision by burying her brother and sticking to her own judgment.

Loyalty means sacrificing something of yours; whether it be your life, your job, or anything of importance to you, in order to stay true to an idea or person. The Encyclopedia of Power mentions two types of loyalty, blind faith and moral obligation. Blind faith is when someone follows a leader and remains loyal no matter his wrongdoings. Being loyal to one’s morals means following a person because you believe he is just and righteous, and if he were to do something immoral, you would retract your loyalty (Encyclopedia of Power). These two types of loyalties can coexist, but can also conflict with each other and within each other. What is important to understand is the root of these two loyalties and where they originate from.

Within the play, Antigone makes a major decision whether to express her loyalty to her family or to the law under Creon ’s rule, in which she ultimately chooses her family. The first image that is under the family side of the poster is a picture of Antigone and her two brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles. After the death of her father, Oedipus, Antigone had a sense of responsibility to return to Thebes to try and save her brothers from a fight that was most likely going to end in death. When she arrived, she was given news that they had both died, but only Eteocles had a proper burial.

This quote shows how the king will not let anyone bury him. Why would anyone but his family bury him and Antigone and her sister are the only ones left in the family so no one else will do it. So if Antigone doesn't do it her brother won't get buried.

In this moment, Antigone knows that her moral law should be above the decree of the king. Antigone shows this when she says, “What Creon says is quite irrelevant. He is my brother. I will bury him (Sophocles 4)”. Antigone is set on the fact that she will bury her brother even if it is against the law.

One has the capability to determine from right and wrong and having the determination to stand up for what one believes in, no matter what the price is. In Sophocles’ Antigone, a written dramatic play, Sophocles portrays the theme that at times of one’s life, it is necessary to follow moral law and ignore political law. In the play, a determined and courageous woman named Antigone is loyal to her beloved brother by granting him a proper burial and having to suffer the consequences for revolting. Throughout Antigone, several incidents occurred where the political law was of no importance to the individual. Conflicts between Antigone and Ismene and then with Creon and Antigone are examples of the theme. The theme also ties with the

Antigone chose to give her brother Polyneices a proper burial even though it was against the king’s law. She tried talking her sister Ismene to join her on her quest because Polyneices was both of their brothers, but Ismene did not want to disobey Kreon’s order (Blondell 19-24). This left Antigone to handle this on her own, which takes a lot of courage and dedication to what she believes in. Antigone went on with her plan to bury Polyneices and his body was eventually found by a guard (Blondell 30). When the guard brought the news to Kreon he was furious and the Chorus had suggested it was a Gods doing, which led me to believe that they did not think anyone one else was willing to risk it all by not listening to their kings orders (Blondell 32). A good lesson to learn from Antigone is that even if you break the law you have to admit your doing especially when you know what you did was morally right and what you stand for as an individual. When Antigone was accused of breaking the law and burying Polyneices she did not even hesitate saying, “I don’t deny it; I admit the deed was mine.” (Blondell 38). She even goes on to tell King Kreon that his choice to not allow the burial of Polyneices is morally wrong and how he is disobeying the God Zeus who is offended by improper treatment of a corpse (Blondell 38). Though Antigone knows the consequence for disobeying the king, she continues to fight for her brother’s honor and makes sure to point out the king’s foolish decision. Even in her last words she questions what kind of men can make suffer and then gives her respects to the town, gods, and rulers.

In Antigone, Sophocles introduces the struggle between loyalty to civil law versus familial loyalty and divine law, which is a central conflict in the play. Antigone has a firm belief in upholding family values and honoring the gods and deceased by burying her brother. In contrast, Creon wants to do what is best for the city which is, in his opinion, forbidding the burial of Polynices. Both Antigone and Creon believe that their point of view is more important, and neither is willing to change perspective, causing the chain of destructive events in the plot. Loyalty causes the deadly dispute between Antigone and Creon because of their conflicting perspectives about precedence.

Antigone’s motivation is love for her family- she puts it above all else. In fact, she is willing to sacrifice her life to defend that love. Antigone goes to great lengths to bury her deceased brother, who according to an edict issued by King Creon, died in dishonor, consequently making it illegal for anyone to bury his body. Through her actions to comply with her motivations, it is revealed that Antigone’s actions are also fueled by her strong beliefs that, first, the gods’ laws

Like Creon, Antigone also never falters in standing up for what she believes in. Although Creon fights for stubborn pride, Antigone is trying to promote what is right and shows her higher reverence for God’s law rather than for Creon’s laws. In the eyes of the townspeople, Chorus, Choragos, and Haimon, Antigone is sacrificing herself to give her brother Polyneices the rightful honors due to the dead. Many side with this brave, honorable girl because she would rather suffer persecution and even death rather than give into Creon’s illogical demands. In the play, the chorus says about her, “You have made your choice, Your death is the doing of your conscious hand”. Antigone knew of the consequences before she acted and in doing so she chose her fate. At the time, she pleaded her sister Ismene to help her bury Polyneices but was rejected. Despite being alone in trying to rebel and perhaps she may have been afraid, Antigone goes out of her way and puts her life on the line to bring her brother respect.

     Antigone's decision to bury her brother caused harm to many people. First, she tried to convince her sister Ismene to help her. She did this by trying to make Ismene feel guilty if she did not; stating it was Ismene's brother too. She says after Ismene tells her she is on a hopeless quest "If you say so, you will make me hate you and the hatred of the dead, by all rights, will haunt you day and night."(Act I: Scene I: Line 57) This threat brings Antigone farther apart from the only living family member that she has left. She has her mind set so much on burying her brother that she will stop at nothing, not even threatening her opposing sister to do it. Since Ismene has been through the same

Her core value of commitment of her loyalty to family is an important value for her to have. She believes that family comes first. “But I will bury him, and if I must die, I say that crime is holy.” “But as for me I will bury the brother I love.” “But I will bury him, and if I must die, I say that crime is holy.” This proves that Antigone is loyal to her family because, no matter the consequence she is determined to bury her brother. This is because to her, her brother deserves to be honored. Antigone puts her family before the law. “But as for me I will bury the brother I love.” This proves that Antigone has a

Both Antigone and Penelope expressed their commitment to their respective households by dutifully fulfilling their roles. Antigone’s subversion of the law by burying her brother was not encouraged by the polis, but her loyalty to Polyneices and her duty as a woman of his household led her to bury him nonetheless. Seemingly heartless, Antigone exclaims that she would not have committed the same act for a husband or child by professing, “Let them lie, putrefied, dead; / I would not defy the city at such cost for their sake” (Ant. 906-907). Upon a closer reading, this exclamation serves to provide a deeper basis for kinship and loyalty to Polyneices. She can replace a husband or child, but “there is no ground to grow a brother for [her] now” (Ant. 912).

In the play Antigone, written by Greek playwright Sophocles, loyalty to family seems to be a recurring theme. We first see it when Antigone defies King Creon's order to keep her brother, Polynices, unburied as a punishment for his betrayal of their country Thebes. We also see how Antigone's sister, Ismene, accepts partial blame for the burial (even though she refused to actually do it) in an affectionate, loyal act. Creon is also family (their father's brother), but he, however, betrays this family trust and loyalty when he sentences Antigone to death for disobeying his law. There are, however, repercussions for this death sentence, that prove that there are two central tragic heroes in this play. She is

Being that Antigone is the protagonist, her character is important in the play. She made the decision to bury her brother knowing that it was against Creon’s law. Ismene refused to help Antigone, which left her angry, yet still determined to bury her brother. She knew that burying her brother could lead to her own death, but she continued to show courage, strength, and determination throughout her role. In the beginning, Antigone says, “Dear god, shout it from the rooftops. I’ll hate you all the more for silence/ tell the world!”(17,100-101). This was said to Ismene, when they were discussing burial plans and Ismene was telling Antigone that she was against the plan. Antigone’s dialogue shows that she is not worried about being punished or worried about who knows what she has done. It is clear that Antigone is sincere about honoring the gods, her actions show that she feels that she is pleasing the gods and that is all that matters to her. “These laws/ I was not about to break them, not out of fear of some man’s wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods.”(30, 509-511). This demonstrates how she feels about man’s law vs. divine law. In the plot, there was not one time where Antigone denied