Antigone vs Creon

In Antigone, by Sophocles two brothers named Eteocles and Polyneices kill each other. Eteocles gets to be buried but Polyneices doesn’t. So Antigone goes against Creon for her brothers right to be buried.

Throughout the story Antigone doesn’t turn her back on her family and stays loyal to her family. Antigone says, “That must be your excuse, I suppose. But as for me, I will bury the brother I love” (Prologue,68) This shows that Antigone is loyal to her family because she doesn’t care what others think, as long as she gives her brother the respect he needs. In the prologue Antigone states that her brother must be buried because it is the law of the gods. Creon doesn’t have any respect for his family but is loyal to the state. Creon says, “As long as I am king, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man’ (Scene 1,49). He is loyal to the state because he thinks that he is better than everyone and everyone lives under him and the law. In scene 1, Creon says that Polyneices will not be buried because he went against the law. That shows that he is not loyal to his family because he respects the law more than his family. This shows how Antigone and Creon are different because they have respect for different things.

Both Antigone and Creon can also be the same in some ways. Antigone says, “Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way” (Prologue,36) In scene 2 Antigone tells Creon that she did bury Polyneices and she was scared or ashamed of her actions. Creon also takes pride in his decisions and actions. Creon says, “Whatever you say, you will not change my mind” (Scene 74,76). Creon doesn’t care about what Terisias says, he just has too much and doesn’t want to lose it by burying Polyneices.

Overall Antigone and Creon aren’t that much different. They both let their pride get to the best of them. Although the difference is, is they have respect for two different things.