Part 1 of Essay
In Antigone, Sophocles examines the age-old conflict between the requirements of human and divine law. This universal problem is crystallized in the dispute about the burial of Polynices, in which Creon's understanding of the public welfare is opposed to Antigone's conception of her religious duty. The central character o ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... role is smaller, Antigone is the more difficult character to understand. Some have judged her to be guilty of the sin of pride and overwhelmed by an immature or masochistic desire to martyr herself. Others consider her a woman of innate nobility and idealism, unwilling to compromise the truth as she sees it, who suffers a cruel and undeserved punishment. In either case, it is important to realize that Antigone is driven by her principles and a reasoned analysis of the situation. The positions of Antigone and ....