Examples Of Sacrifice In Antigone

In Sophocles’ Antigone, the title character sides with the laws of heaven despite the consequences. She believes that her brother has the right to a burial and goes against state laws to make sure he receives one. As a result, she is to be executed by Creon, the king of Thebes who is fixed on obedience. Consequently, the book hints that she will be remembered, maybe even honoured for her sacrifice. For these reasons, Antigone is a martyr. A martyr is someone who deeply believes in a cause and will risk anything for it. Likewise, instead of Antigone following the laws of state, she follows those of heaven. By strongly believing in giving her brother a burial, she will do anything despite the consequences. For example, she knows that the penalty for burying the body “is to be …show more content…
Furthermore, Antigone believes so deeply in burying her brother that she is risking her relationship with her sister. While Ismene is concerned and “afraid for [her sister]” (33) since her sister might die, Antigone doesn’t really care about her and tells her to “look after [her] own skin” (33) implying that she should mind her own business. She risks their relationship by making their brother her priority and putting her sister to the side. Antigone not only risks her relationship with her sister, she also risks her potentially happy marriage with Haemon by putting him against his father. When Haemon was talking to his father, Creon tells him that he “seem[s] to have caught Antigone’s disease” (51) since he is trying to convince his father that he shouldn’t kill Antigone. Since Antigone knew that Haemon was loyal to his father and that Creon has a temper, she puts him against his father to get back at Creon and risks her marriage at the same time by manipulating him. Unfortunately, the depth of her belief comes with consequences. A person can’t be a martyr without suffering and/or dying for a cause. Similarly, Antigone not only suffers emotional pain, she also dies