Antigone's Fall

Antigone's fall

Introduction

Antigone is a tragic story about a princess with a life full of turbulence. From the untimely death of her parents (linked with their shadowy past) to the tragic outcome of the fight between her only brothers which led to the demise (both of them), Antigone has been constantly haunted by 'grief and pain' to the extent that she even considers her life to be pain itself. As if to add further troubles into her life, Creon (or Kreon), her uncle and the current king of Thebes, passes a verdict that Polynices (her brother who rallied against Thebes) shall not be granted his last rites of funeral and anyone defying this verdict shall be branded a traitor and punished accordingly. Antigone's sense of morality and justice cannot allow this injustice to happen and decides to bury her deceased brother and grant him his last rites. She succeeds the first time only to be caught burying her brother the second time. When presented in the presence of the king, she does not deny her actions and displeases the king further by stating that his verdict holds no value against the law of the gods above and below. She further displeases him by stating that she would not face the retribution of the gods by following his order (from fear of hurting his pride). She is sentenced to be taken away only to be executed later on and her sister (who had no part in her actions) to be treated the same as her. Creon blinded by pride looses all reason and starts an argument with his son (who is soon to marry Antigone). No matter how much his son reasons with him, Creon refuses to think over his decision regarding Antigone. It is only after the blind prophet of Thebes foretells him of the impending doom (which will result from his stubborn decisions), that Creon rethinks his decision and departs to relieve Antigone of the punishment he wrongly imposed on her. His arrival, however, is too late and Antigone commits suicide, and Creon's son does the same upon seeing the dead body of his would be bride. Saddened by the loss of his son Creon returns to the palace only to find that his wife has killed herself too after receiving the news of her son's death. Creon is left alone, devastated and longing for death.

The story follows the actions of Antigone based on her sense of justice and belief in the existence of an absolute law of the gods. This law is referred to as 'Antigone's law'. Philip Nonet's reading of Antigone provides us with great insight into this law. He believes that Antigone's fall is not a consequence of her defying Creon's verdict or as a form of punishment. This paper shall look into this direction of belief in detail and try to understand what Philip Nonet tried to express about Antigone's fall.

Discussion

The Laws

There are in general two main laws in the story of ...