Antigone

It is hard to critize the actions of Antigone in the play, considering what she had gone through. Watching her entire family perish around her dishonorably, I would say that her actions were justified in trying to gain some little honor for her perished brother. Though the rest of society might have critized only one of Antigone’s brothers for his actions, Antigone obviously did not see it this way. She had no personal bias against either brother, and from her perspective Polyneices did not do any more wrong than Eteocles. Thus, she felt that it was unfair that Eteocles was honored with a proper burial while Polyneices was left in the streets to be eaten by the birds.
Antigone felt that she had to right the wrongs against Polyneices by giving him a proper burial, even if it meant her own death. She had nothing left to live for, as the rest of her family had already perished. The only point of criticism is that she was leaving her only remaining family, her sister, Ismene, by herself. Still, Antigone felt that her brother deserved honor with a proper burial and that as his sister, it was her duty to uphold his honor. In Greek culture, family and honor were two very important values, and for her brother, her family, to be dishonored was not acceptable. If I were put in the same situation, I would uphold the honor of my family, even if it meant breaking the law. In Antigone’s perspective, she was only breaking law that she believed was unjust and wrong, and as a result felt justified in her actions. She did not fear death, as opposed to her living sister, and it seemed that she wanted to perish like the rest of her family had. In her actions, Antigone was regaining the honor lost by her father and her brothers, and wanted to die with this satisfaction.