Who is Antigone?

Antigone is a figure from ancient Greek mythology and Greek tragedy, a strong heroine who sacrificed her life by prioritizing human ethics and divine law over state law (the king's command).

She is famous as the protagonist of the play "Antigone" written by the tragedian Sophocles, and here we will explain what kind of woman she was, along with her story and characteristics.

1. A princess born into a cursed lineage
Antigone is the daughter of the tragic King Oedipus, who blinded himself. Her brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, engaged in a fierce civil war over the throne and both died after killing each other in a duel.

2. Resistance to state law (the king's command)
Her uncle Creon, who became the new King of Thebes, considered her brother Polyneices a "traitor" for betraying the country and leading a foreign army to attack it, and issued a strict law (decree) stating, "The body must not be buried. Let it be devoured by birds and dogs. Anyone who defies this will be sentenced to death.".

However, Antigone rebelled. Even if he was a criminal, burying the body of a blood relative is a "law established by the gods (natural affection)." Without flinching from the fear of death, she secretly covered her brother's body with earth in the middle of the night and performed the burial ritual.

3. A martyred end that upheld her beliefs
Caught by guards and brought before the king, Antigone did not back down. When asked by the king if she knew about the law, she proudly asserted, "The command you issued cannot override the laws of the gods.".

Enraged, the king had her locked alive in a cave tomb. Refusing to be starved to death like a slave, she proudly took her own life by hanging.

Summary of her character: What is "great" about her?
Antigone is not just a "tragic heroine."

• A symbol of individual conscience standing against absolute power (the state)

• A person with an intense will who does not fear death for the sake of her beliefs

Since the modern era, she has been repeatedly discussed in the worlds of philosophy and literature as a "symbol of resistance against absurd power."

Related Articles
Bushido Chapter 17 #15