ives. Even at the time of her death, the chorus make no bones about their view of her actions saying, Advancing to the limit of daring, you stumbled with your foot, child, against the high pedestal of Right (855-6). And so through Ismene and the Chorus we see that the view of the public is that Antigone is filled with rage and that her actions are imprudent.The final step to examining Antigones theological beliefs is to look at the consequences of her actions. It should be noted that the only direct results of her actions are her death, coupled with the deaths of Haemon and Eurydice. Also note that when Tiresias tells Creon the will of the gods he says that Polynices should be buried (e.g. Give way to the dead, and do not stab a fallen man. Where is the prowess in rekilling the dead (1029-30)?) and he prophesies misfortune for Creon. But what is most notable about his prophecies is what is not said. Although it is the will of the gods that Polynices be buried, Antigone is not mentioned at all in her quest to do this. If this is the will of the gods even absent of Antigones actions, then should we not assume that the gods would have had him buried regardless of them? Also, Creon is eventually punished for his actions, but once again what did not happen is more notable in that Antigone is in no way rewarded for her actions.Throughout Antigone, Sophocles has left us many clues as to the validity of the theological position that the title character held. We are disposed through our Judeo-Christian society to view Antigone as a woman who breaks the law because of a religious conviction and is thereby martyred, and, as such, as a woman deserving of awe and respect. Through the text he has left us, however, Sophocles shows that he had a much different conception of Antigones nature and of the validity of her actions. In the end though, we should acknowledge that regardless of whether Antigones theology was correct and her actions w...
