From the first sight, Antigone seems to be an incredibly courageous woman who fights and dies for something she believes in truly. She does not accept what the King says just because he is in authority. Antigone denies that mortals can establish rules that will overrule the divine laws and believes that she must obey the norms of the gods before those of Creon and bury her brother:
“That you, a mortal could overrule the laws
Of the gods, that are unwritten and unfailing.
For these laws live not now or yesterday
But always, and no one knows how long they appeared.” (Antigone Lines 500-503). She believes that laws of Gods are eternal and much stronger than those of men. Even knowing the consequences, Antigone still sacrifices her life to put the soul of Polynices to rest. She shows incredible commitment to Gods and love of family. All these seem to be heroic and indicating the greatness of intrepid Antigone, but if we examine her motives and believes closer, we might have to think of her differently. As Antigone explains her motive is to complete sacred rituals, please Gods and to bury her beloved brother but is she doing this deed for Polynices or it is just her pride, egotism, and lust for the attention of public that drives her? Why are the motivations behind Antigone’s deed unvirtuous?
Before elaborating why her motivations are unvirtuous, we have to examine why so many people perceive her as an unquestionably virtuous heroine. Antigone is an independent woman who goes against King, a man in authority. It was commonly believed that
“The city must be obeyed in everything-
In small things . and what’s Just, and the opposite.
There is no greater evil than lack of rule.” (Lines 720-723), but she does not obey the laws of Kreon because she does not recognize the power of authority of the king. Also, no woman can oppose the men
“And we must never be defeated by
A woman better to be overthrown,
If we must be, by a man; then we will not
Be said to have been beaten by the women.” (Lines 732-736). Ismene explains why Antigone’s plan is crazy
“ We’re born as women; we’re not brought into being
To war with men; and second, that we are ruled
By those strengths is greater, and we must yield
To this and much, that’s worse than this.” (Lines 75-79). Antigone does not believe that mortals can overrule the laws of the divine “That you, a mortal, could overrule the laws of the Gods, that are unwritten and unfailing.” (Lines 499-500) Antigone can go against the rules even though she acknowledges the consequences. She is intrepid, firmly committed to the desires of God and love of her family. Her primary goal is to fulfill the rituals and make gods happy and bury her brother, but are these her real motivations?
Antigone explains to her sister:
“With loving ties to him;
I’ll lie with him who is bound by love to me,
I will commit a holy crime” (Lines88-90).
It seems that Antigone is driven by her love towards Polynices and is determined to go against the law and even die to give him a proper burial. But Antigone knows that her brave deed will bring her respect and renown that will last long after her death. Antigone gains admiration, fame, and one of her motivations to bury his brother is to make her name immortal. When Ismene tells her that she will keep silence Antigone answers:
“Oh, denounce me! I’ll hate you even more if you
Keep quiet and don’t proclaim all this to everyone” (Lines103-104).
Therefore, Antigone’s only aim is not to bury Polynices and execute the wills of God, but to gain renown for her deed:
“What greater glory could I have gained than by
Properly burying my true brother?”(Lines 552-555).
She wants to be glorified for her deed, but one could argue that Antigone’s pride is nothing compared to her strong belief in laws of Gods and love for her family. But she tries to cover her real motivations of her action and attach to Laws of Gods as immutable commandments that cannot be wrong. But does she know what the Gods truly desire? Gods are at odds with themselves, and Antigone has no grounds to have unquestioned belief. She just believes that “it’s Hades who desires these laws” (line 572) and sacrifices her life without any direct source from Gods. “But I know I am pleasing I must please most” (Line 106). It is possible “that there is war among the gods, and terrible enmities and battles and other sorts of things our poets tell” (Socrates, Eutheprho) and “The gods quarrel and disagree with one another and that there is enmity among them” (Socrates, Eutheprho). As Antigone cannot surely know what the Gods desire, then what she does is changing one authority with which she does not agree with another one she does not fully understand.
Antigone’s real love for Polynices might remain as an argument for her heroic deed. But she contradicts herself:
“For I would never have assumed this burden,
Defying the citizens, if it had been
My children or my husband who died and had been left to rot away out there” (Antigone, Lines 966-970).
Antigone contradicts her first explanation of her motive to bury her brother because of love that ties with her. But if Antigone would not do the same to her husband or children just because she could easily get another one, does it mean that her first statement is false, and she is at odds with herself? Does it show that her commitment to her love of family is untrue? If Antigone would not commit the same deed for her husband than her devotion to Polynices and loyalty to family are not real and are used only to cover her true motivations.
If the only goal of Antigone is to complete burial for her beloved brother and fulfill the desires of God, then why she does not want to be saved? When Creon asks Antigone “did you know it was proclaimed that no one should do this?” (Line493) She had a chance to stay alive by just saying that she did not know. Antigone fearlessly admits and states that she did it because, “it was not Zeus who made that proclamation” (Line495) and told him plainly that she does not fear death but rather, embraces it as an honorable end of her life.” One could argue that she did not want to lie to the king even though she did not believe in his authority, that it would be shameful for her to commit such a deed. But Antigone could even avoid that situation because she buried her brother twice. As guard explains Kreon:
“I’m telling you! That corpse-just now some person
Has buried it and gone, and he sprinkled it
With thirsty dust and performed the proper rites.”(Lines280-283).
Antigone succeeded, she buried her brother, completed rituals and pleased Gods, so if her goals were these, then why does she go to the grave and complete rituals second time? Because Antigone wants to suffer, die and gain love and renown both in Gods and men that will last forever.
One could say that it is virtuous to sacrifice yourself for the immortality of the name. Achilles is considered as a noble hero who sacrificed his life for the immortality and fame that would last forever. He made a choice between happy and calm life and heroic death in the battle of Troy. One could argue that Antigone is no different from Achilles and is the virtuous hero as she made her name immortal. But we have to examine this comparison closer. Antigone’s case is entirely different because she is not brave enough to confess that the primary motivation of her action is to gain renown and admiration. She lies to her sister and family and hides her true motivation with the love of brother and duties towards the Gods. But her fake motives are debunked as she could bury her brother, complete rituals and go on living happily, but she chooses to die and suffer to be remembered and revered. Antigone even lies to herself, she perceives herself as a religious criminal “I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear” (Lines 56-57). Her belief that her deed is a holy crime is self-deception as Antigone ‘s deed is not solely based on desire Gods. Even after she is caught and punished, Antigone blames others for her death, even though that is something she craved so much. She does not take responsibility for herself in her downfall. Although Antigone is strongly committed to burying her brother, Polyneices, she does not show the strength needed for self-reflection. Antigone does not think of consequences that might lead to the punishment of her sister and future husband. She begs, “Be a witness for me, denied all pity, unjustly judged!” (Line 226) Implying that she is just a victim of unjust circumstances. Antigone tries to blame her death on fate and curses. Then she blames her parents for her end, saying, “Unspeakable, horror of son and mother mingling: Their crime, infection of all our family! O Oedipus, father, and brother! Your marriage strikes from the grave to murder mine.” (Line 226) Instead of confessing that she is the only reason of her death. “The blasphemy of my birth has followed me,” (Line 226) implying that it was Oedipus’ fault she is going to die. Antigone feels comfortable in self-deception that she was already cursed by Gods and her father is the reason of her death, although it was her choice to die. As The Chorus asserts, “You have made your choice, Your death is the doing of your conscious hand,” (Line 227) however Antigone does not accept these words. Antigone insists that she has “not sinned before God…But if the guilt lies upon Creon who judged me, then. I pray, may his punishment equal my own.” (Line 228).
So, even though Antigone was brave enough to act independently and go against the laws of a king, her motivations behind the deed are unvirtuous. She did not indeed want to fulfill the rituals to make gods happy; she wanted to become immortal and remembered as a heroine who went against the authority of the King and sacrificed her life for the commitment to Gods and love for his brother. She loves her suffering and does not want to be saved. Antigone lied to herself when stated that she was going to commit a “holy crime.” However, she is wrong; it is not the holiness and devotion to divine that carries her, it is egoism and craving for admiration that motivate Antigone, and even though her deed seems to be holy, it can never be because the motivations behind it are unvirtuous.