Antigone - Divine Intervention in Characters Fate - Essay Example

With the repeated pleas of Antigone’s sister Ismene, the collective opinion of the people of Thebes was disregarded and severely neglected when he passed his decision of not allowing Polynices a respectable burial. Moreover, the harsher decision of sentencing Antigone to death because she vehemently protested the dishonorable events that Polynices was made to undergo in not allowing a proper burial, was another nail in the coffin for Creon.

Through the voice of Sophocles the need for showing mercy, giving benediction, and forgiving was impressed upon the minds of the audiences, the people of Athens. Through the series of misfortunes on Creon and the unusual turn of events that brought him from the royal throne of Thebes to the grave of sorrow and great anguish was a clear portrayal of God’s will holding sway over man’s mortal wish. The play Antigone serves as a guide for a solution to the eternal questions of the individual versus the community or, God’s rule versus man’s rule through the foreboding of Sophocles, the forewarning of Tiresias, and the various events where mercy and forgiveness were asked for.

These were clear signs of Nature’s law, God’s will, and the community’s prosperity being sacrificed for the safeguarding of one man’s monarchic ways. Every time that a greater good was sacrificed for a man’s stubborn decision, Sophocles was heard lamenting the grave decision. According to Tiresias’ reasoning, there are certain acts that should not be done because they are against the meaning and nature of God’s creation. For example, the burial for Antigone underneath the earth alive was a direct defiance of a creature’s purpose, it was merciless and atrocious.

Tiresias warned Creon not to bury Antigone alive as it was improper of letting a body perish underneath the earth alive. In this play, the tussle or indecision Creon causes him the loss of his wife, son, and daughter-in-law. His ignorance of good omen and obedience to the greater cause, the advice of the Chorus caused him deep agony and misfortune. He was still the king of Thebes but had lost his near and dear ones only because the rules of man, his self-developed rules about monarchy prevailing and anarchy being kept at bay, was the cause of misfortune.

Through the depiction of such events and consequences in this play, Antigone serves as a guide as to the eternal questions of God’s will versus man’s will and the individual versus the community.