Antigone 6

“Make these excuses, I will heap/ The earth over my brother’s body” (63).   Although no one would help her, Antigone took a stand against injustice and honored her brother by burying him, even though Creon said this act would be punishable by death if anyone committed this act of insubordination.   Especially in the age that Antigone lived in, it was considered foolish to simply go against a man’s orders, let alone the Kings.   Not to mention that Antigone was related to the King, making the situation even worse.   She committed a supremely precarious action, especially for a woman.   Not only does she bravely follow her morals, but she does a great job of justifying them in her arguments.   Antigone was a civil disobedient by disobeying Creon’s orders and accepting the consequences, but she did a great job of justifying them through her arguments throughout Antigone.

One of the reasons that Antigone is able to have the best argument is because of her great use of pathos.   In the begging of the play, she starts using pathos with Ismene when she tries to convince her to help bury Polyneices.   She says that if she does not bury her brother’s body, the dogs and birds will pick away at his body.   Also, she says that she will not dishonor him and that it is actually her “duty” to bury her brother.   Antigone refuses to “betray” him and will defend his honor by doing what is right and burying his body.   Antigone then challenges Ismene by asking her if she is willing to defile the gods by dishonoring their laws.   Another example of Antigone’s use of pathos is when she is defending her actions.   She does not make people pity her, but rather honor her actions because of how she is willing to die defending her brother’s honor.   The way that she explains her cause makes everyone but Creon admire her for disobeying the law and doing the right thing that no one else had the courage to do.   The last example of Antigone’s pathos is her last statement before she dies.   This...