A Family Affair

Upon finishing “Antigone”, I realized that Sophocles had masterfully created a tragic ending for both of the central characters. Whether the reader takes the side of Antigone or Creon, the ending will be depressing either way. Ironically, the ending could also be seen as somewhat comedic for the same reason since the “villain” (depending on who the reader sides with) also meets an unfortunate end. Just as Creon realized the error of his ways, he finds Antigone already dead and soon loses his son and wife. Sophocles provides a throughout examination of civic duty versus duty to one’s family because both Creon and Antigone are conflicted.

As king, Creon has the duty to act in the best interests of his people. By issuing the edict, he hopes to deter his subjects from instigating civil war in the future because it is so destructive to the community. Although, Polyneices is his nephew and Antigone is both his neice and future daughter-in-law. In order to do what he thinks is best for his subjects, he pushes the boundaries of human authority. As Tereisias says, Creon’s crime is putting one who belongs with the dead among the living and one who belongs with the living among the dead. He leaves Polyneices to rot in the elements and seals Antigone in a tomb.

Antigone is in a particularly precarious position because she has both civic and familial allegiance to Creon. He is her uncle, future father-in-law, and her king. Rightly so, she realizes that her duty to her immediate family (Polyneices) and her duty to the gods supercedes civic responsibilities. Antigone does not merely ignore Creon’s edict, she breaks it with resolute intention. She carries out an act of civil disobedience by breaking the law and fully accepting the punishment in order to show Creon that he is overstepping his authority as king.

A central theme of “Antigone” is well-illustrated in the episode of South Park where Stan Marsh discovers that his father is a member of the “The Hare Club for Men”, a secret society that protects the bloodline of Saint Peter who was actually a rabbit. They claim that Jesus put a rabbit in charge of the church because no human can speak for god or all of his subjects. Creon defies the will of both the gods and his people by making the edict. Therefore, if Creon were a rabbit, perhaps Thebes would not be such a tragic place. (408)