Summary
The Chorus sees the sentry who had resolved never to return approaching,
now escorting Antigone. The sentry tells the Chorus that Antigone
is the culprit in the illegal burial of Polynices and calls for
Creon. When Creon enters, the sentry tells him that after he and the
other sentries dug up the rotting body, a sudden dust storm blinded
them. When the storm passed, they saw Antigone, who cursed them
and began to bury the body again. The sentries seized her and interrogated
her, and she denied nothing. When Creon asks her himself, Antigone
again freely admits her culpability. Creon dismisses the sentry
and asks Antigone if she knew of his edict forbidding her brother’s
burial. Antigone declares that she knew the edict but argues that
in breaking it she defied neither the gods nor justice, only the
decree of an unjust man.
The Leader of the Chorus likens Antigone’s passionate
wildness to her father’s. Creon, calling for the guards to bring
Ismene, condemns both sisters to death. Antigone tells Creon that
his moralizing speeches repel her, and that to die for having buried
her brother honorably will bring her great glory. She tells him
that all of Thebes supports her but fears to speak out against the
king. Creon asks Antigone if she didn’t consider Polynices’ burial
an insult to her other brother, Eteocles, for the two fought as
enemies. Antigone insists that both deserved proper burials, regardless
of their political affiliations. She says that her nature compels
her to act according to love and not to bear grudges. Creon rebuffs
her, saying he will never allow a woman to tell him what to do.
Ismene emerges from the palace, weeping, and says that
she will share the guilt with her sister. Antigone refuses to let
her do this, arguing that she acted alone and insulting Ismene for
her cowardice. Creon declares both sisters mad, and again condemns
them to death. Ismene attempts to save Antigone by appealing to
Creon’s love for his son, Haemon, who is betrothed to Antigone.
But Creon stands firm, as the idea of seeing his son married to
a traitor repulses him. Creon orders his guards to bind the sisters
and take them away.
The Chorus sings an ode lamenting the fortunes of the
house of Oedipus, which once again stands mired in death and sorrow.
The Chorus prays to Zeus, guardian of kinship ties, whose law prevails above
all others.
Analysis
Antigone and Creon’s direct confrontation further clarifies
the nature of their disagreement. Antigone attacks Creon’s edicts
on the grounds that his interpretation of justice and the will of
Zeus is invalid. She may be correct in her assessment, but in saying
so she assumes the power to independently interpret justice and
the will of the gods, just as Creon did. Her accusations are wild
and reckless, and she seems to be trying to seize glory like the
bravados the chorus condemned in their first ode.
Nevertheless, our sympathies are most likely tipping toward Antigone
in this encounter. Just before the argument between Antigone and
Creon, the sentry gives a vivid and disgusting description of the
disinterment of Polynices’ corpse. Polynices’ rotting body is the
physical evidence, or perhaps a symbol, of the injustice of Creon’s
decree and of the ruin it will bring about in Thebes. The description
of the degradation of the corpse prepares the audience to be sympathetic
to Antigone’s arguments, even as she flies in the face of law with
a pride that easily matches Creon’s. Antigone draws a distinction
between divine law and human law, between the “great unwritten,
unshakable traditions” and the edicts of individual rulers such
as Creon (502–503).
