Choices That Mean Life or Death In Antigone The play Antigone was penned by Sophocles, a Greek writer, sometime in the This Greek tragedy uses a combination of literary elements in order tograb the readers attention. Two such elements are theme and conflict. Mostimportantly, Sophocless Antigone deals with themes, such as the conflict of familyversus state, the conflict of individual versus government, and the conflict of humanversus divine laws, that are still very prevalent in modern human societies (Nardo 16).The play, Antigone, has several primary themes. It raises the question: Whichlaws are paramount and most binding human or divine laws?(16). Antigone providesinsights into the human condition and also into the relationship between human actionsand divine will and judgement (15). Family ties and family loyalty are also themes inAntigone. Antigone as well as Creon were forced to decide who their friends were andhow they would treat those friends (Hogan 127). It is this conflict of family versus statethat really gets the reader emotionally involved in the play. It is a theme that mostreaders in modern times can relate to. The ancient values of kinship and state wouldhave been very interesting to the people in Sophocless first audience because of theway ancient Greece was set up. They knew that while one was to care for blood tiesand have allegiance to family members, one was to also think about the welfare of thecity-state (Allbaugh).Literary critic Robin Fox wrote that the conflict in Antigone is one in whichAntigones duties are not to individuality, selfhood, or to private affairs of the heart, butto her fathers family, and to kinship rites of burial. It is this duty which is in conflict withthe state edict. These dramatic scenes make strong cases for both kinship andpatriotic allegiance. The way the state is operated in the play goes even further. Itgoes into areas of the demands that blood relat...
