Antigone vs. Creon: Struggles, Beliefs, and Morals

In Sophocles’ play, Antigone, Creon and his young niece Antigone encounter many struggles in their lives because of moral views and political laws. Conflicts would arise when the values and actions of these two individuals disagreed with one another. Antigone’s conflict in the play held the approach of god’s law in the way, and on the opposing side, Creon chose his way of political beliefs that he would personally create as king. In my paper, I will discuss these characters, and interpret why and how their actions reflect their own personal beliefs and morals as individuals. The difference in beliefs, moral views, and opinions seen through-out the play were constantly disputed between Creon and Antigone. Antigone felt that Creon ignored the laws of gods through his laws. When she was captured after giving her brother proper rites and brought to Creon, she said, “Your edict, King was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God. They are not merely now: they were, and shall be operative forever, beyond man utterly” (Rand, 4). Antigone supports the laws of the God’s in heaven and believes that if someone is not given proper burial rites after death, they will not go to heaven. Her religious views were very important to her and the love for her brother would ultimately sway her decisions to go against the law of the king.
Creon’s laws and orders became very personal to Antigone, and she took offense and felt as if his law was invading her family and going against the gods. Antigone says, “…I will bury him myself. And even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory. I will lie with the one I love and loved by him”(Sophocles, line 85). In her eyes, she believed that the burial was sacred and thought that Creon had to authority to refuse Polynices