order to comply with the laws of man. These lawsI was not about to break them, not out of fear of some mans wounded pride, and face the retribution of the gods (1279). Regardless of whether the dead are deemed traitorous, Death longs for the same rites for all (1281). Antigone embraces her death so that she might serve the dead (1282). Before Antigone is taken away to her death chambers, she says to the chorus that her death is all for reverence, my reverence for the gods (1291). Antigones death is brought upon by her devotion to the gods and their laws. She values loyalty to the gods more than loyalty to the state.In contradiction to Antigone, Creon values loyalty to the city and its laws over the loyalty to kinship. Creons loyalty to the city over kinship is evident in his decree. Creon deems Polynices as traitorous and forbids the city to dignify him with burial or to mourn him at all (1272). To the Leader, he says, Never at my hands will the traitor be honored above the patriot, the traitor being Polynices and the patriot being Eteocles. His loyalty is evident when he states, whoever proves his loyalty to the state: Ill prize that man in death as well as life (1273). Here he is referring to honoring those who are loyal to the city and Eteocles, who dies fighting for the city. Creon places loyalty to the city above family by making an example of a traitor, his nephew. He denies Polynices burial rites because he sees him as Once an enemy, never a friend, not even after death (1281). Polynices is an enemy of the city that conspired against the state. Creon regards whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing (1272). As he speaks to his countrymen, he tells them to Remember this: our country is our safety. Only while she voyages true on course can we establish friendships, truer than blood itself (1272). He feels that the safety of the city and those who keep it safe can create a bond of fr...
