Antigone plays, what I believe to be, an extremely proud and independent female in this play. She is not like her sister who is somewhat uncertain and confused about the situation going on with her un-buried sibling. Antigone knows what she must do not only for the gods to accept him into the afterlife, but to be at peace with herself. It is a great representation repaying the love her brother has always shown her, demonstrated on page 1132 of Antigone by Sophocles (Antigone 83-84) "I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me." Antigone is heart-broken over the loss of her brother who has definitely had a positive impact in her life. She not only feels obligated to bury Polyneices for his sake, but for her to come to peace with losing her brother.
(Antigone 79-85) "I would not urge you now; nor if you wanted to act would I be glad to have you with me. Be as you choose to be; but for myself I myself will bury him. It will be good to die, so doing. I shall lie by his side, loving him as he loved me; I shall be a criminal but a religious one." This is a very passionate quote from Antigone and one that clearly defines her actions to go against King Creon’s rule to leave the defeated body of Polyneices to decay and be nothing more than food for birds and dogs. She admits her acts are one of a criminal, but also acts of a religious person. It is almost an action against civilization to allow a former Theban to just lay dead in the streets to rot away and never be touched or given the proper burial. The gods, and religion, where such a key factor in these ancient civilizations and some believe, a certain ritual must be performed in order to enter the afterlife. Antigone makes this defense on page 1142 (Antigone 496-498) “I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override God’s ordinances, unwritten and secure." Antigone is calling out Creon for doing the work only a God should be capable of, and that in death no man should have to right to deny another man the right of a proper burial. So in a sense Antigone is acting for the God’s and doing the morally correct thing. To add to her decision to go against Creon, she also is not ashamed of what she is doing but proud of it. (Antigone 99) "Oh, oh, no! shout it out." Antigone says to her sister Ismene when the sisters have their first argument in the play. Knowing the penalty is death yet willing to take full responsibility and to let everybody know, shows her passion for what she is doing. Antigone shows a lot of passion and dedication throughout the play to her brother, regardless of his actions against Thebes.
This play demonstrates a clear example of "written law" versus "moral law". It is made clear the penalty of removing the dead body, so the written law is set. The idea Antigone is willing to go against this law for more moral reasons can make a great argument of who is right and who is wrong! I believe there is no simple answer for this but the actions of Antigone and the way she goes about it, not trying to hide the truth, shows great bravery and dedication to her family and the God’s.
