Antigone: A Persona From the World of Ancient Literature

Antigone
Jim Mo
Antigone
Antigone makes for one of the heroines studied from the world of ancient literature and whose exploits in the classical texts still echo in contemporary and modern works of literature. Antigone is a female mythological character in one of the classical plays by the great Greek playwright, Sophocles. The Greek playwright uses Antigone to explore various themes including state control, the adulteration of man-made laws, the supremacy of the divine law, and devotion to family. Antigone is a representation of the outlined themes in Sophocles’’ classical Greek tragedy. These issues are also recurrent in the contemporary historical era as modern societies are characterised by different social injustices and social disorderly behaviors that would suit Antigone’s brave pursuit of justice. It is, therefore, no surprise that she reincarnates in contemporary literature in the same capacity as an adamant activist for social justice. Sara Uribe’s Antigona Gonzalez makes for one of the contemporary works of literature alluding to Sophocles’ heroine in highlighting the social injustices facing modern society. The Mexican author offers a metaphorical representation of Antigone in delivering the plight of thousands of Mexicans seeking to find their loved ones lost in the federal government’s war on crime. Like in Sophocles’ play, Uribe’s text uses the Antigone persona to explore various themes echoing the issues presented in the classical text. The characterization of this ancient persona also provides an interesting aspect of analysis to identify any similarities or differences in its presentation across both texts. A comparison of Antigone’s presentation in the two texts creates an effective platform for understanding some of the aspects defining the historical moments from which they emerged.
Sophocles’ presentation of Antigone highlights the quest for justice and upholding moral standards of operation in a society characterized by state-sanctioned socio-political injustices. Antigone goes against all odds to seek justice for her slain brother, Polyneices, who is denied a proper burial by the state. Polyneices’ demise follows a political disagreement with his brother, Eteocles. The socio-political injustices begin with Antigone’s deceased siblings as Eteocles refused to follow their father’s decree to leave the throne for Polyneices. The ensuing political instability leads to a war between the brothers leaving them both dead. The rightful heir, as per their father’s decree, remains unburied and his corpse left for the hungry bird’s beholding. Polyneices is a victim of the socio-political injustices characterizing the Kingdom of Thebes as he is denied access to his rightful place on the throne and further disgraced by Creon’s decree denying him a proper burial. Creon, who becomes the king of Thebes after the demise of the two brothers, exercises state control over individuals by enacting oppressive laws and decrees across the social, political, and cultural spectrum. Antigone witnesses these injustices and alludes to the natural or divine laws of the gods in an attempt to provide a proper burial for her late brother. She believes that denying Polyneices a proper burial is against the divine law of the gods and thus infringes on the personal rights, freedoms, and responsibilities of individuals within the Thebes community. She is determined to exercise the divine and moral obligation of mourning and burying her brother and thus showcasing the quest for justice and upholding morality in a state-controlled society marred by socio-political injustices.
Sara Uribe’s Antigona Gonzalez, on the other hand, reiterates Antigone’s quest for justice by recreating her journey in contemporary Mexican society. Both texts depict a society characterized by widespread socio-political injustices orchestrated by state apparatus that deny individuals the ability to exercise their natural rights, freedoms, and responsibilities. Uribe captures the aftermath of the war on organized crime by the federal government that wreaks havoc across different Mexican states. Like Antigone, Antigona Gonzalez desires a proper burial for her brother, Tadeo CITATION Uri16 \l 1033 (Uribe, 2016). The federal government’s war against organized crime led to the disappearance of thousands of individuals, with their loved ones seeking to find even their bodies for a proper burial and closure. However, the search for their loved ones is characteristic of state-controlled frustrations and disappointments arising from the long federal processes of identifying the bodies of the lost CITATION Uri16 \l 1033 (Uribe, 2016). The corruption of the natural law allowing for the mourning and burial of loved ones upon their demise is also evident in Sara Uribe’s presentation of Antigone. Both the government and criminal gangs in Mexico are dissuading individuals from seeking the truth about the disappearance of their loved ones and thus denying them the opportunity to exercise their rights, freedoms, and responsibilities to the dead in society. It suffices, therefore, that Sophocles and Uribe present Antigone as a champion for justice in oppressive regimes existing in the classical or ancient era and modern society, respectively.
The presentation of Antigone in both Sara Uribe’s and Sophocles’ texts further reiterate the justification of civil disobedience as an effective means of holding state apparatus accountable to the public. The oppressive laws in both texts evoke Antigone’s rebellion against the man-made law in favor of the natural law that allows one to do what is right. Antigone decides to go against Creon’s sta...