Antigone
Antigone defies King Creon's command and buries her brother Polynices, placing family duty and divine custom above royal law.
The Story
After the failed attack on Thebes, both Eteocles and Polynices lay dead.
Creon became ruler.
He ordered that Eteocles, who had defended the city, should receive an honourable burial.
Polynices, who had attacked Thebes, was to remain unburied.
In Greek religious thought, denial of burial was a profound punishment.
Antigone refused to accept the order.
Polynices was still her brother.
She believed that the obligations owed to the dead and to the gods stood above Creon's command.
Her sister Ismene was afraid to join her.
Antigone acted alone.
She performed burial rites for Polynices.
The act was discovered.
Creon demanded obedience to the law of the city and condemned Antigone despite her relationship to the royal family.
Antigone defended her choice openly.
She had knowingly broken the king's order.
But she argued that Creon's command could not override unwritten divine obligations.
Creon refused to change course until warnings from the prophet Tiresias made clear that the gods rejected his actions.
By then it was too late.
Antigone died.
Her death triggered further tragedy within Creon's own household.
The ruler who had insisted that political authority must be absolute finally recognised that his refusal to listen had destroyed those closest to him.
Key Figures
Why It Matters
Antigone became one of the most enduring Greek stories about the conflict between state authority, conscience, family obligation and divine law.
Traditions & Variations
Sophocles' Antigone dominates the later reception of the story, but traditions concerning Antigone existed outside that play. Her fate and relationships are not identical in every ancient source.