Antigone is the last play in the Oedipus cycle written by Sophocles. In the play, Antigone, the Oedipus's sister-daughter challenges her uncle, Creon, who has ascended the Theban throne after he brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles, are killed in battle. In the play, Antigone defies Creon's mandate that Polyneices should not be granted a proper burial because he is an traitor and an enemy of the state. Because of her opposing views, Antigone can be considered to be a social and political outcast.

While Antigone can trace her roots back several generations, her opposition to Creon's mandate causes her to be considered a traitor by her uncle and those that follow him. Furthermore, because she is her father's daughter, as the chorus comments "Like father, like daughter: both headstrong, deaf to reason! She has never learned to yield. She has much to learn," she cannot allow herself to defy divine law...
[ View Full Essay]