Antigone says to Ismene that Creon has made it clear that he will give the proper burial according to Antigone and Ismene's family customary rites, but is not doing the same for Polyneices. Antigone asks Ismene if she would help her give Polyneices the proper burial, but she declines because she "... can't act against the state. That's not in my nature." ( 100, Sophocles). Although the people were forbidden to bury Polyneices, Antigone did so anyway.
Creon is announced as the new King and states that brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, have killed each other. Creon explains why he is taking the throne; "And so I have the throne, all royal power, for I’m the one most closely linked by blood to those who have been killed." (200-203, Sophocles). …show more content…
"Eteocles, who perished in the fight to save our city, the best and bravest of our spearmen, will have his burial, with all those purifying rituals which accompany the noblest corpses, as they move below. As for his brother— that Polyneices, who returned from exile, eager to wipe out in all-consuming fire his ancestral city and its native gods, keen to seize upon his family’s blood and lead men into slavery—for him, the proclamation in the state declares he’ll have no burial mound, no funeral rites, and no lament. He’ll be left unburied, his body there for birds and dogs to eat, a clear reminder of his shameful fate. That’s my decision." (225-241,