Oedipus, king of Thebes, unwittingly married his own mother and became the father of four children, two boys, Polyneices and Eteocles, and two girls, Antigone and Ismene. Antigone was very devoted to her family and was quite outspoken. She respected God and followed his beliefs to obey him. She was a stubborn girl and resistant to any dictator who contradicted her beliefs. The loyalty, respect, and faith that Antigone showed for her family and her God resulted in heartache and disgrace for the royal family of Thebes.

Growing up in a royal family, Antigone captured strong values ​​and shared a mixture of love and friendship with her two brothers and sister. Upon the death of her two brothers, Antigone’s values ​​were questioned as she faced a matter of life and death. Antigone’s tragic life begins here, but she doesn’t resonate with the reader until much later. At this point, the reader has no opportunity to form a relationship or special feelings towards the characters of Polyneices and Eteocles, as little is known about each of the children. The feelings that Antigone represents begin to form the tragedy.

Antigone learns of the decision of her uncle Creon, king of Thebes, to leave Polynices’ body where it lies. The King of Thebes rules that Polyneices does not deserve burial. Antigone’s strong will and resistance pursues and overrides the King’s decision as she deals with her brother’s corpse. She shows noble traits as she goes through life with the ideas of God, and not the decisions of a king. Ismene, learning of her sister’s decision, disagrees with Antigone’s choice and wishes her sister well. The differences between the characters of the sisters are represented through the decision to do good on the part of her murdered brother, left to the wolves. The character of Antigone is very loyal to her family and she does not give in to the pressures of life. She is a strong and stubborn leader. Unlike her sister, Ismene is a shy girl and is afraid of going against the rules established by her superiors.

Through the depths of Antigone’s grief and loss to her siblings, she knows what must be done. Antigone does not let the sentence stop her and will not betray her ideas about what is right. She has something of an activist, she defends what she believes, without fear. Her respect for her brother and for her death gives Antigone the courage to face the king of Thebes without remorse. “This death of mine is of no importance; but if I had left my brother lying in death without entombing him, I should have suffered. Now I do not.”

Even after Antigone, Creon’s son Haimon, and the townspeople show resistance to his decision, Creon’s stubbornness to stay true to his word causes misfortune for the entire royal family. Creon does not retract his judgment of Antigone and destroys the relationship he once had with his son. The tragic end is predicted with a last goodbye between Haimon and Creon. Responding to the threat never to marry Antigone while she is alive, Haimon strikes back at her father: “Then she must die. But her death will cause another.”

Haimon’s conversation with his father provides a window into what is to come. The story of Creon’s stubbornness and inability to see the light represents the idea of ​​karma and in a very dramatic way, teaches Creon the ways of it.

Tragedy strikes the lives of the royal family when Antigone decides to take her own life rather than let the king take it from her. She is too proud. As predicted by Haimon’s conversation with his father, Haimon lays down next to Antigone and continues on his way. Upon hearing the news of her son, the queen, Eurydice also takes her own life.

The pain and suffering put on Antigone when her brothers were killed now fell on the king, doubly so. Now able to grieve for his loved ones, the king of Thebes regrets the fact that it was all an unnecessary chain of events that he set himself in motion. With the attitude of being above everything, Creon lost everything that mattered to him.

The strength that Antigone represented was a blessing as well as a curse. She was strong and stood up for what she believed in; however, she not only cost her own life, but she also perpetrated the death of her fiancé and her Queen. Her actions were noble, with unfortunate effects. The story was a lesson to the king, a man who thought he knew everything and controlled everything. He was wrong, and because of that, the tragic loss of his family occurred.