Antigone: Total Sacrifice for Love. Literature & Language Essay

Antigone: Total Sacrifice for Love
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Antigone: Total Sacrifice for Love
Of all the emotions afforded by mankind, love is the most powerful. There is no better illustration of this fact than the sacrifice offered by Sophocles’ Antigone for a dead brother. Polynices and Eteocles were involved in a battle for the throne left vacant by their banished father. Although they had agreed to share it by alternating the period of rule, the latter betrayed the agreement and refused to let go off the reins. This prompted the aggrieved Polynices to make up an army and attack the kingdom ruled by Eteocles. The two brothers died in the ensuing battle and Creon, the uncle who became king, decided to give his predecessor a respectable burial and leave Polynices’ body to rot in the battlefield. Antigone, however, insisted that Polynices’ had to be given a fair and respectable treatment even in death. Her quest for justice and fairness resulted into her death. In the end, nevertheless, her actions were justified. By hanging herself, she achieved so much more than she probably would if she were alive. This paper strives to justify Antigone’s sacrifice for a loved one. Of importance is the impact she made in her struggle to ensure that her brother received fair treatment in his death.
Love in Life and Death
King Creon made it clear that anyone who defied the order regarding Polynices’ burial would be publicly stoned. The edict, nonetheless, did not change Antigone’s mind. She went as far as attempting to get her sister Ismene in her plan to get their brother a fitting burial. Thinking that it was beyond anyone’s ability, Ismene declined to help her sister. Antigone, nonetheless, could not be stopped and went ahead with her plan and buried her brother’s body according to the customary rites even thou...