The Ideals of Sophocles on What Values The Greek Community Should Hold in Antigone

Sophocles presents Antigone as a strong woman who is both dedicated to her family and her community. Much conflict arises between these two dedications. In this paper, I will give examples of Antigone’s different individual responsibilities and her philosophies and explain how they conflict with the commitment that she is to have to her community and indirectly, her king. Ultimately, I will argue that Sophocles demonstrated his ideas as to what values the Greek community should hold at the most profound level through Antigone’s internal conflicts regarding family, the way of the gods, and doing what is right versus the commitment towards her community.

Within the first few hundred lines of Antigone, Sophocles shapes the reader’s perception of Antigone and her philosophical beliefs as to right and wrong. When speaking to Ismene about her plan to bury their brother, she states “I’ll do what’s honorable, and then I’ll die”. Antigone’s willingness to die for a cause that she feels is honorable and right demonstrates what she values highest. Antigone shows that the conflicting nature between her beliefs and the king’s beliefs on how to deal with Polyneikes’ death will not hold her back from doing what she believes is right.

As a member of the Thebes community, Antigone felt a strong sense of responsibility towards the gods and what they expected from their people. Antigone continued to challenge her sister by declaring that Ismene was about to “defy laws the gods expect us to honor”. In Ancient Greece, the people believed that the gods set forth a certain way that one was to go about their life. Due to the assumed consequences of disobeying such a high power, it was important for citizens to honor the word of the gods. In Antigone, this is for her brother’s corpse to be buried in accordance with the rituals expected by the gods. As god of the underworld, it was believed that Hades had certain rules that the people of Greece had to follow. As Antigone states “Hades will still expect his rituals” (Antigone, 761). Antigone demonstrates that she is responsible to Hades, and it is her duty to assure that her brother is buried. This is an example of an individual responsibility that Antigone felt towards the gods.

As the sister of Polyneikes, Antigone also feels a sense of familial responsibility. Antigone demonstrates this to both Kreon and the leader when she states, “But I wouldn’t have taken that task on had I been a mother who lost her child, or if my husband were rotting out there… But with my father and mother in Hades, a new brother could never bloom for me”. Through this statement, Antigone gives reason to her actions by explaining that she would only have taken such action for her family, as Polyneikes and Eleokles were the only brothers that she would ever have. This demonstrates the value of family and the responsibility that family members have towards one another.

In the play, Sophocles writes of Kreon as an objectification of the community commitment that Antigone feels. As the king of their community, Kreon sets the laws that the citizens of Thebes are to follow. When speaking to his son, Kreon states “Citizens must obey men in office appointed by the city, both in minor matters and in the great questions of what is just”. This statement shows the power held by the King and the weight that his decrees hold. Even though the community members did not exactly agree with Kreon’s decision, he still has power as the representation of the community. Due to this power, Antigone should listen to his decrees; however, because these rival her own values, this creates conflict.

Throughout the play, Antigone must deal with conflicting ideas and thoughts as to whether or not her commitment that she has to her community, and therefore, to her king, is more important than her personal beliefs. Antigone demonstrates her philosophies of what is right and also the responsibility she feels both towards the gods and towards her family. Her values conflict majorly with the ideas of Kreon. Antigone is reminded of her commitment to her king by her sister when she states “Think how much worse our own deaths will be – abandoned as we are – if we defy the king’s proclamation and his power”. Antigone navigates fairly quickly through this conflict to reach her decision to follow her own values.

Although Antigone’s responsibilities and beliefs do win out, the commitment to her community is still present. She demonstrates this when she explains that she would not have done such an act had it been anyone but her brother. However, she believes that she is just due to her familial responsibility that she feels. This fine-line between what was right and wrong was something that Antigone had to navigate carefully, and came to the decision that her values and responsibilities were more important than the commitment to her king.

Sophocles demonstrated his values through the decisions that Antigone made throughout the play. Antigone struggles throughout the play to follow her beliefs as to what is right and what she is responsible to do due to the decree set forth by the king. Antigone’s choice to disregard her King and indirectly, her community, shows what Sophocles’ valued most. Sophocles showed that he found family and the care that one has for their family to be a very important value through Antigone’s decision that she would do whatever she could to honor her brother instead of listening to Kreon. Sophocles also showed that he greatly valued the world of the gods through Antigone’s constant desire to do what is correct by the gods. Finally, Sophocles showed that he valued doing what was right and honorable by writing of Antigone’s decision to follow her beliefs instead of simply going along with what the king said.

In Sophocles’ play, Antigone’s conflict between her responsibilities and values and the commitment that she has to her community and her King showed the ideals that Sophocles valued and wanted to share with the Greek community. Antigone showed her value of family, the word of the gods, and doing what is right by going against the King’s decree. This act of defiance showed the true influence that these values hold. Sophocles showed that these values were most valuable to him by writing of Antigone’s decision to see these values as more important than the word of the King. Antigone demonstrated the level to which Sophocles valued family and putting family first, the word of the gods and the respect that one must pay, and the knowledge of the difference between right and wrong and taking the right path. By putting emphasis on these values, Sophocles demonstrated them as crucial ones for a community to have. Overall, through Antigone, Sophocles demonstrated and established the importance of the people of Ancient Greece abiding by these values that he held at the most profound level through the actions taken by Antigone in regards to the conflict she experienced between her responsibilities, philosophies, and commitment that she has to her community and king.

Ultimately, in Antigone, Sophocles displayed the ideals that he valued through the actions taken by Antigone. By placing these ideals that he valued in literature, he shared these values with his audience members. Antigone placed emphasis on the values of family, the way of the gods, and the difference between right and wrong, all of which are values that Sophocles attempted to influence his audience to adopt. Through this play, Sophocles aimed to validate these values to his audiences because he felt that such values should be demonstrated by society as a whole. While this play was written around 440 b.c.e., Antigone demonstrates the importance of these values to audiences and communities even now.

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