In the tragedy of Antigone, by Sophocles, the Greek rituals and ceremonies have a big part in the play. They influence Antigones decision to bury her brother. These rituals also explain why Creons punishment for Polynices was so serious. Antigones stance on the issue was right and just with the gods. Both Creons and Antigones decisions rely on their respect for the gods and the laws of the gods.
In Greek rituals concerning burials it says that the obligation to bury the dead belong the immediate family. (Luce 4th paragraph) An unburied body meant a soul condemned to torment. (Magill 86) These rituals were not just out of family loyalty, it was requested by the gods. Antigone, obeying the rituals of their culture and obligation from the gods, takes it upon herself to do the deed of burying her brother. She does this knowing that it would be disloyalty to the state and king. Antigone knows what will happen if she is caught and is steadfast in her decision. (Magill 86-87) One belief was that the unburied (ataphoi) could not enter the underworld and were condemned to haunt the Earth (Adkins, 421) It was important to cover the body, corpse or ashes, with dirt to allow the dead to depart into the underworld, it also prevented it from contaminating the gods or their temples. (Adkins, 421)
In Greek culture the dead was either buried or burned. (Adkins, 421) At Athens and possibly other cites, soldiers killed in warfare were only rarely buried on the battlefield. (Adkins, 421) Polynices, a traitor to the kingdom of Thebes, should be put to death, seeing that he is already dead Creon decrees that Polynices should not be buried. (Magill 87) A conscientious ruler, he is concerned about loyalty to the State. (Magill 87) Creon makes the kingdom his main concern, because of this he must stoop to the gods. The gods are unyielding, just as Antigone was deprived of a husband and child, Creon was robed of family. (Magill 87) However, it is wrong to see Antigone as a perfect heroine or Creon as a willing malefactor (Magill, 87)
Antigone chooses to serve the gods, or divine law (Magill 87) Antigone is just in burying her brother which makes her unreasonably callous to Ismene. We feel compassion for her when she is speaking of her deprived chance for a family. (Frank Magill 87) As far as character goes, there is no difference whatever between Antigones self-righteousness and Creons. Both are hard and unyielding.(Magill 87)
We see that Antigones act in burying her brother was justified with the gods. We also see that if the burial ceremonies were not important in the Greek culture, Antigone would not have made the decision she did. Creons decision to punish Polynices as he did would not have been so important and he probably would not have made that the punishment. Creon, the imperfect hero, tries to do what is right for his people, he makes a wrong decision but in the end he sees his fault and corrects it. Creon and Antigones views about what is right are different , they both are stubborn and unwilling to compromise, this eventually brings the downfall of both.
Works Cited
Guide to Life in Anicent Greece. 421.
Luce, Patricia. "Greek Burial Procedures."
Magill, Frank. 1, 300 Critical Evaluations of Selected Novels and Plays. 1907th ed. Vol. 4. Englewood Cliffs, 1978. 86-87.
Already have an account? Log In Now
5946