Antigone Breaks the Law

Kelsey Vandegrift
Ms. Peifer
Hour 5 10 IB
26 November 2008

Antigone was the daughter and niece to two kings. Because she comes from such a political family, she should have known her actions against the government would not be accepted. Antigone was acting deliberately and was fully aware of it when she broke Creon’s law. Although Creon is her uncle, his laws still apply to her as much as anyone else. This fact proves she is guilty.

Antigone is very determined to give her brother Polyneices’ the proper burial he deserves. Her plan to do this is already set when Creon’s finalizes his new law, “They say that Creon has sworn no one shall bury him, no one mourn for him” (Sophocles 816). Antigone says this to her sister Ismene soon after their brother’s death. This shows that although she understands the king’s law perfectly well, she is still intent on burying Polyneices. Ismene replies to her idea, telling Antigone, “Bury him! You have just said the new law forbids it!” (816). The words even pass through Antigone’s mouth, proving she knows she is breaking the law.

Antigone accepts the fact she is breaking Creon’s law at the precise moment she has decided to bury Polyneices. However, she believes breaking the law is essential for doing the right thing and therefore feels her actions are just. “But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death” (817). In her heart, breaking the law, disobeying her uncle and dying are all worth it if she can give her brother the respect he deserves. Her conscious is innocent to her because the law has no meaning to her. Polyneices served his city just like his brother Eteocles and earns all the same honors.

However, even if Antigone herself feels she has not committed a crime, she still has. She knowingly broke Creon’s law. Creon has every right to create a law; it is his right as king. Antigone broke her uncle’s law and it resulted in her aunt’s, her lover’s and her own suicide. Now Creon, the innocent king, must deal with the death of his family which was started by Antigone breaking his law.


Works Cited
Spohocles. "Antigone." Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: World Literature.
Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2001.
814-826