Sophocles’ was himself a political writer using universal themes. Things can get messy when we consider the cultural, social, and religious context of ancient Greek era. First of all the play upraises the gender related social issues as the hero of the play was Antigone herself, then the role of King Creon directs the audience towards law of ruling and the sentiments and draws a fine line between the two for punishing his own niece for the disobedience. The play raised issues over the representation of a woman as a strong ideal character brave enough to act in breaching the regulation, and then followed by the act of second burial. The second burial is said to be still discussed and debated as an unnecessary act just to give disclosure of the culprit being caught in disobedience of the tyrant king who gives an impact on audience to be fair but firm.
The conflict of second burial by Antigone of her brother Polyneices where she poured the dust over his dead body and completed the religious implications abide to her as a sister. After her act in religious context, the soul was released and sent to the afterlife but Antigone had to run back and cover the uncovered body herself again fulfilling the ritual and caught in the act of disobedience. This act was justified as the necessity of the plot and the continuation or the beginning of the other leading tragedies. The text that will be studied in order to conduct the research include "Creon and the" Ode to Man" in Sophocles' Antigone by Gregory Crane, “Ismene's forced choice: Sacrifice and sorority in Sophocles' Antigone” by Bonnie Honig. Furthermore, the work by Kendra Jones, "Approaching Antigoner a Critical and Performative Analysis Of Sophocles' Antigone, Spurring The Creation Of A New Post-Dramatic Work, No More Prayers", "An Alternative Date for Sophocles'" Antigone" by R.G Lewis and lastly "Biopolitics In Sophocles's Antigone" by Jyotirmaya Tripathy will be analyzed. Commentators argue on the Chorus’ observation and security guards’ description saying it might be the gods doing the first burial but some say the second burial took place to complete the libations left behind in the first. Now the position I state is she had to be obsessed with idea of second burial to lead all the other deaths plus she was a tragic character being backed by emotions for her brother and her duty was to cover him once she was overwhelmed to see him uncovered.
The research will shed light upon “the second burial was an act of conflict with issues of interest to the ancient Greek audience but it is wholeheartedly an act of emotional gratification of Antigone to see her dead brother’s body uncovered.”
Work Cited
Crane, Gregory. "Creon and the" Ode to Man" in Sophocles' Antigone." Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 92 (1989): pp. 103-116.
Honig, Bonnie. "Ismene's forced choice: Sacrifice and sorority in Sophocles' Antigone." Arethusa 44.1 (2011): pp. 29-68
Jones, Kendra. "Approaching Antigoner. A Critical And Performative Analysis Of Sophocles' Antigone, Spurring The Creation Of A New Post-Dramatic Work, No More Prayers." Interdisciplinary Humanities 31.3 (2014): pp. 6-17
Lewis, R. G. "An Alternative Date for Sophocles'" Antigone"." Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 29.1 (1988): p. 35.
Tripathy, Jyotirmaya. "Biopolitics In Sophocles's ANTIGONE." Explicator 71.1 (2013): pp. 26-30
