Patriarchal ValuesIn Sophocless Antigone, Antigone and Creon represent opposing sets of values. Antigone stands for the matriarchal beliefs while Creon stands for the patriarchal beliefs. Antigones beliefs are founded upon the sanctity of kinship and the ritual association with the gods of the earth. She places these values of universal humanity above the laws of man and loyalty to the state. Creon, on the other hand, stands for the loyalty to the city and its laws over the loyalty to kinship. He associates loyalty to the state with the unquestioning obedience to the king. Also, he is skeptical of the gods to the point of impiety.In the earlier scenes of the play, Antigones reverence to family and the sacred ties of kinship are evident. Antigones two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, kill each other in battle. Creon, the king, decrees that Polynices is traitorous and therefore must not be buried or mourned. Antigone believes in loyalty to family over loyalty to the state. This loyalty is seen in the first scene when Antigone asks her sister, Ismene, to help her bury Polynices. Antigone says, Ill bury him myself. And even if I dies in the act, the death will be a glory (1269). She views her defilement of the decree as glorifying. Antigone is aware that the penalty for her defilement is death and she is willing to die for her convictions. When Antigone is caught burying her brother, she is taken to Creon. When Creon confronts her and inquires why she breaks the law, she responds, that to die is precious little pain. But if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpsethat would have been an agony (1279). Antigones devotion to her kin is more important than death. After Creon sentences her to death, she insists that he give [her] glory! Antigone views her execution as noble and feels that it is glorious to give [her] own brother decent burial (1280). Creon accuses Antigone of being disloyal to the city ...
